"Not so hasty now, Osibindah." I warn the monster as it twitches under the stores I have covered it up with. A quick round of inspections and I make sure everything is nice and secure. It's not a problem if any of it gets broken, especially not now. I eye the growing light in the shop and smell the smoke of freedom.
The divine owes me this one grave sin. They owe it to me. Now, if the transport gets too damaged, everyone will ward me off on the grounds of looking suspicious. Though, people are probably willing to turn a blind eye tonight. Still, moving poor quality supplies around might get me stuck in a stop and search.
Rolling my joints about and getting in a few stretches, I let this fresh energy in my body settle in. Now, off I go on my journey of shipping this towards the centre of town. I'm on my own, so I better get going now. I hook myself up and get everything into my hands, a long breath leaving me as I try to work with what little I do know.
I do not have a high reserve of internal-magic, I've not had the environment to grow in for that. All I have is my self-taught external-magic flow to stifle. Though my magic is a little useless here, as I never practiced it for the sake of enhancement. It was always for the sake of rusting metal.
Thankfully, my body is fit enough for the task and the wheels are well-looked after. All these years of manual labour around that miserable shop have given me some muscle. Simple grit and determination will have to do. I will finally reach the place of my dreams, the Great Brass Sundial herself...
Thrurstradtur-Suhurlodst!
Keeping the joyful thoughts in my head, I exert my grunts and get rolling. Swearing under my breath, I get some momentum going and the force needed slips away. Now, being the smart lad I am, I need to stick to some quiet roads. Too many stops and I'll exhaust myself in the middle of the crowd, all too aware of the oppressive feeling in the wagon.
Finding myself on a messed up street, I silently thank my cargo for the wreck and ruin. Unfortunately, I find myself having to slow down as a crowd of people leave a building. Bloodied woman in hand. My eyes narrow as one thoughtlessly tries to rummage through the wagon.
"Hey! Hands off. Don't touch that!" I struggle not to shout at the man as he goes through the things. I can't have people taking off the osibindah's cover. Not now.
"Look around you! Can't you see what's happened!?" one woman accuses, fingers flying in the air. I unhook myself and smack away the man as he fails to listen.
"I said do not touch!" I snap in his face, meeting his retaliatory glare head on with a growl.
"We need these supplies, anything we can get! Can't you damn well see what has happened!?" the man raises his voice over and I snort. This soon to be no-longer-a-neighbour is not worth the trouble. Especially not when all they ever do is complain with their petty entitlement.
"Find somewhere else to get supplies. These are not for you!" I firmly tell, getting the wagon into motion and using its bulk to get me through the annoyed crowd. Out of spite, a few hands snatch whatever they can and I speed up. Whatever, anyway. I'm leaving this awful Ravineer town soon!
None of them will stop me physically. None of them shall infringe upon my thoughts and force anything else on me. Strong winds are blowing my way right now. And I'll be dead before I stop to get along with them.
Finally breaking free of most of the crowd, I breathe in the freedom that it comes with. No more people to worry about now. Just the odd lurker around the bend of the road or building corner. My eyes shift to the night-time visage of Founding-Lord Brewbrt's estate. Out of everyone here, he'll probably be the one I miss the most.
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He was the one to get me interested in magic, after all. He even offered me a lesson or two a fair few years back. Nothing impressive, but enough to have a long-lasting impact. One that I will finally be able to make use of.
Reaching a crossroad, I mind where most of the town guards and others alike them are. I shift our direction towards the least looked after side at the moment. It's dark enough right now that someone would have to be fairly close to see what I am up to. Plenty of time to hide should they be coming my way, too.
Still, I'm helping an osibindah of all things into the walls of our town founder's home. I knew before tonight that my plans to get to Thrurstradtur would be a rough one. However, I think the gods can forgive me for not having the foresight to think a monster would be my partner out of here. Were it not for the fact I can feel the effort this is taking, I'd surely be dreaming.
Looking out of my head, I spot some debris that I most certainly am not dealing with at this moment. This is going to get annoying. If I have to take too many detours, my chance will slip. I turn back the way I came and watch the rising fire. No. I am getting out of here.
I have a choice. Either I risk being called out by what guards remain as I sneak in with this care... Or, I try to get as close as I can to the mountain serving as the town's spine. My cargo can climb the mountain there and vault the wall. I should be able too, if the osibindah is not willing to offer a hand.
Either way, both options run the risk of me dealing with guards. Which one lets me allow my cargo to ditch first, though I do not know. At least if they find him, I can hide fine. The attention will be off of me, anyway.
Enough for me to steal an animal and a wagon... Maybe enough money for a spiral-train out of here.
"No. Wait. Someone has a supply depot nearby..." I remember suddenly adjusting my course to get to that place. Finding the building, I turn us away from it to then reverse back towards it. The few guards nearby can't even give a care about this. Now, I just need to start unpacking some of these boxes.
"We there?" my cargo asks as his quivering and shaking disturbs the supplies. Taking off what I can, I do my best to form a wall between me and the open street. Enough to hopefully let the osibindah slip into the shadows of the nearest alley.
"Yes. Now, get going. Let's go!" I snap with a forced hush as I help the creature up to its feet. We stumble ahead and bang on the metal curtain door of the depot. I wince at the pain and the bug scurries off of me.
"You alright there?" a guard calls out from the other side of the street.
"Quick! Quick! Quick!" I repeat to my cargo as it aimlessly looks about in a panic. Shoving it the way of the alley, it grabs me and we end up in the slim line of forest behind the building. Thankfully, the guard didn't seem to catch wind of us as we got out of there. Maybe he'll buy into the idea I went inside...?
Still, the bug is getting on my nerves. It's being hunted by everyone in town but me, and it freezes up in fear!? How in the name of all the gods did this thing cause the trouble it has? How in All-That-Remains did it do that?
"Grab on," the bug orders, its claws digging into the mountain with resounding cracks.
"Grab what!? Your back is covered in spikes and cracks!" I point out, not sure what is wound-caused and what is meant to be there. I shiver at all the yellow gunk on its back.
"Well, if you want to come with me then you'll make do!" it barks, letting go of the mountain so its height can tower over me. Flinching, I find myself intimidated. I try not to let it show, but the truth of the matter is quite simple. Much as I want to be snarky, I'll have to put a lid on it, considering that this thing is a dangerous predator!
"Just make it quick... I am not sure how long I can hold on to your back, given the circumstances." I whine, my apprehension growing as I get closer.
"If you want quick, then tell me if there are any guards," the bug says, hoisting me up by my feet and smacking me on the wall. Clinging to it for dear life, I withhold the desire to swear with all I have. I do not like how casually it can pick me up and hold me up like this. I do not like it!
"A little higher." I whisper down to him with a seething harshness as I can barely glance over the top. The phrase repeats endlessly on my lips until I'm finally able to pull myself up the rest of the way. Getting my good look at the estate's interior, I gesture to come back down.
"Well?" the bug asks, its claws going back into the mountain so we can climb. My eyes linger on those limbs as my mind goes blank. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Founding-Lord Brewbrt hand-carved the mountain to be a bit flatter. Reinforcement and all that to stop break-ins. But none of that seems to matter to this bug's claws.