We grouped back at Amoris' Temple. Crue handed off the care of his brother to some other healers. Lotte wanted to go talk with Commander Tagert right away but we convinced her to send one of the gate guards to fetch him instead. We all needed warm food, a bath, and sleep. All of which could be had at the temple, if we felt like staying over. I'd been gone longer than anticipated so I wasn't even sure if Marge still had my room available. Crue sent one of the temple children to go and check.
We decided to bathe first. Commander Tagert would take a while to get to the temple so Lotte had some time. Illia and Ave joined her. Crue rushed through his washing and didn't even get in the hot springs. He wanted to check in with the healer in charge of Sturgis.
I didn't soak as long as I wanted, but it was just enough to soothe my tired muscles. My back was aching to the point where I had considered visiting one of the temple's healers before the bath. It was most likely due to overstraining my back carrying Sturgis these last few days. The bath helped, muscles I didn't even know were tense were beginning to relax.
If I had stayed in longer I might have fallen asleep. I came out of the bath smelling of oranges thanks to the soap I'd used. The smell made me hungry.
I sat down at a table in a room just off the kitchen. Tuck had propped the door open so he could see when people were coming in. He waved at me when I sat down and started to dish up a meal.
Tuck had made roasted chicken with potatoes. He also had fresh rolls and butter. It smelled great and looked amazing. I was hungry as hell, but I just wasn't able to stomach the chicken. I picked at my roll and waited for more people to show up.
The child Crue had sent to Marge's came back. While they had let out my previous room, they had another room that had opened up. They would move my stuff that they had placed in storage into the vacant room and I could pay when I returned. I tipped the child for his errand.
Crue joined me a short while after that. He gobbled down his chicken with gusto. I kept an eye on Tuck as I moved my chicken to Crue's plate. Crue nodded at me in appreciation.
"Darcy thinks that there must have been some sort of toxin or venom on the Cave Bear's teeth or claws. She's sent for a consult from the Erasmus temple. They have a person there that is an expert on poisons and toxins. She should be able to help. They will need to examine the Cave Bear carcass though."
"That's good news. Just tell me where you want me to put it. When they are done, can they have someone send it to the Guild for us, or do I need to come back and pick it up?"
"For something like a King Cave Bear the Guild will actually send people to come get it. They will give us the pay later." He tore a piece of chicken off and placed it in the middle of his dinner roll.
"Speaking of which I owe you and Illia money."
"For what?" Had Crue really forgotten?
"For the Red Wolves, we killed before we left to hunt the Cave Bear. I turned them in after the Guild declared them 7 silvers each"
"Right, so much has happened I honestly forgot. Do you think the Guild is still paying 7 silvers?"
"Don't know. Seemed to me that there were still a high number of wolves around the town. Hopefully, they continued the monetary incentive to kill them."
"Monetary incentive, look who's talking fancy." Ave walked into the room with Illia and Lotte on her heels.
"Commander Tagert will be here in a half-hour. We have time to eat and discuss the news we got at the gate," Lotte chimed in.
"Don't you think we should talk to Commander Tagert first? He might have better information?" I asked her.
"Maybe but the core of the problem should be the same. We've got Undead walking around and we need to find them and kill them before they make more Undead." Lotte sighed and bit into her chicken.
"Not to mention most of those Undead are murdered guards," Illia turned to Tuck. "I don't think I could stomach meat right now Tuck. Can I just have some carrot sticks and maybe some of your pickled beets and eggs?"
"Sure thing," Tuck went into the pantry and came back with a bowl of pickled beets and eggs for Illia and two carrots he was going to cut up for her. I eyeballed the offering and signaled to Tuck that I wanted some eggs and beets as well.
"How though?" I asked. "I thought that Undead didn't create Undead. So how are these guards who have been murdered popping up as Undead?"
"More to the point why are they becoming Undead so soon? As far as I know, the earliest I've heard an Undead rising after death is about three months. So how are they rising so quickly after death?" Illia added.
"The Undead can be killed, what I'm more concerned about is who is killing the guards in the first place. No dead bodies no more Undead." Lotte punctuated her point by stabbing her knife into her chicken. At least she was talking to us again. I think a new problem had shaken her out of her funk.
"I might have an idea about that..." trailed off Ave. "It would answer both of your questions, but it's so far fetched..." She sighed and started ripping her roll to little bits on her plate.
"What is the one creature that can control the Undead?" She finally asked when we sat there blankly watching her massacre another roll.
"I don't know? Is there a monster that controls the Undead?" Crue looked at Lotte and Lotte shrugged like she didn't know either.
"Oh, Gods Above..." Illia whispered. Seems like she had a clue. Though her face paling by several shades didn't bode well for the answer.
"Not a monster, a creature," Illia whispered. "Do you remember the battle Aequitas had with the Demon Lord Megedagik during the war to subdue Apep?"
"Aequitas and Megedagik fought to a standstill until she was able to seal him away. She couldn't defeat him in battle, but she was able to seal away his power and make him sleep for all eternity. Or something like that, I think." Crue said. "What does that have to do with this?"
"It's more than that. Megedagik's demon power was control over the Undead. He could make any dead body rise," Ave explained.
"Wait," Lotte interjected, "are you saying that the Demon Lord Megedagik is up and roaming around Yellow Springs?" Lotte actually laughed at the absurdity of it. I couldn't blame her. Demon Lords running amuck was crazy.
"No, I'm not. One of Megedagik's abilities was to turn living people into Undead as well. Those Living Undead beings could control the Undead as well. I think what we have here is a Wraith or a Necromancer. A Wraith has given up on their soul while a Necromancer still has their soul."
"But Megedagik's magic made these Living Undead right? So how could you have one here?" I thought it was a legitimate question. "Are there other ways to make Living Undead other than Megedagik's power?"
"I've never heard of them. Are you sure they are real things and not some child's story?" asked Lotte.
"They are real, there are mentions of them in a few of the historical texts. There have been a few Necromancers born during wartime. They used the bodies of the fallen soldiers against their enemies," Illia told Lotte.
"There are ways to turn yourself into a Living Undead," Ave answered me.
"So people choose to become Living Undead? Why?" Crue asked.
"Power, mental corruption, they are forced into it by another party, there are a few reasons. I think the most common one would be a combination of the first two. Someone goes insane, wants power, and does the unthinkable in order to achieve it," Ave explained.
"I'm not going to tell you the ritual to become an Undead, but I will say that it involves the sacrifice of innocent people. The death of the first few guards would probably have been enough for the start of the ritual. Then once the person changed they continued attacking the guards and raising them as Undead."
"This is insane. If it was that easy to become a Living Undead every serial killer would be one," Lotte told her.
"There is a ritual, and the temples and governments around the world try very hard at keeping that ritual out of people's hands. Still, it's possible that someone found out. This is a place with a lot of tourism from many different kingdoms. There is more information shared here than in most places outside the capital.
"Missing guards popping up as Undead isn't the only reason I think a Living Undead ritual has taken place. There have been other occurrences that match up as well. There has to be a surplus of dead bodies nearby for the ritual to work. Livestock found butchered with the blood drained, but they didn't take anything except the blood. The same with pets. This person would need three of each. Then they'd need the blood from three innocent people. There are some other things. I'll bet money on it, that weird priest has had a few of his cadavers come up missing recently."
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
"You know for sure that pieces of this ritual are being put together?" Crue asked her.
"I'm fairly certain it's already been complete. I don't know if that priest is missing dead bodies or not because I left before I could check on that part. Three would be needed though." Ave sighed and shook her head.
"That would be something to ask the Commander, I think," I commented.
"Ask me what?" Just as I said that Commander Tagert walked through the door. He looked worn down and haggard. He'd missed shaving, and had a patchy sort of beard growing in. His eyes would rival a raccoon with how dark his circles were. I felt sort of guilty for making him come to us.
"Sir," Lotte jumped up and gave a salute.
"I'm too tired for that right now," he waved her down. "What is it you wanted to ask me?" He looked around the room at the gathered group picking at dinner. His stomach gave a loud growl. He looked hopefully at Tuck. Tuck smiled and began to plate him up a chicken dinner.
"Ave has a theory on what is going on in town," Crue told him when Lotte remained silent a little too long. We had been waiting for her to say something, but when she didn't Crue interjected.
"Really? I'd like to hear it. I'll take anything right now. We are at a complete loss as to what to do. If this goes on much longer we'll have to request aid from the knights and the capital," He sighed and then thanked Tuck for the dinner.
"Have you ever heard of a Necromancer or a Wraith?" Ave asked him.
"A what?"
She explained the same things she'd been telling us. Giving some details as to why she thought that someone had been starting the ritual when she left, but since she was gone she hadn't had time to check to see if the rest of the prep-work for the ritual had been completed.
"That's why I'd like to know if that priest who deals with dead bodies has had any of his charges come up missing," Ave stated.
"As far as I know he hasn't. If he has he hasn't reported them missing. It's probably worth sending a man out in the morning to go ask him though. If you're right and he does have some bodies missing, do you really think we are dealing with this Living Undead thing?"
"I believe so, yes."
"Well hell," he turned to Illia. "I'm going to need all the information you've got about these Living Undead. Do you think you can let me into the library so I can borrow those books?"
"Tonight?" Illia asked him.
"If possible. I know it's irregular, but this could be a time-sensitive situation."
"I'd recommend talking to the priests at Aequitas' Temple. They know a lot about her fight with Megedagik and his power," Ave suggested.
"I'll go by there after I get the books from the library." He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I've already talked to Darcy about Sturgis. She was my first stop since I'm hoping she can get my captain up and running again sooner rather than later. Did you guys really take down a King Cave Bear?"
Lotte was willing to supply him with that story at least. She told it from her perspective. I'd distracted the bear long enough for them to get into position. Once in place, they fired arrows and magic at the bear. Only, arrows weren't penetrating. I had some special arrows that worked. We were able to wound the bear enough with long-distance magic and the magic arrows to provide an opening for Amisi to attack. She didn't know how the captain got attacked.
"So this is the tamed monster my man told me about," he looked at Amisi as she sat curled up in my lap.
When we had reached the gate to the town I'd been expecting some trouble getting Amisi into Yellow Springs. However, the gate guards were too worn down to argue with all of us over it. They agreed to send word to the Commander about where we were headed and that we had a new tamed monster. They were of the opinion that they would let him deal with it.
"I've got some paperwork for you to fill out for her. I can't give you your permit, but I can get the registration started. I trust that I heard correctly she's goddess Blessed?"
"That's right Amoris Blessed her with Communication. Amoris made the harness." I lifted up Amisi so Commander Tagert could read her tag. She waved her antennas at him and sent out an image of greeting. Two bees meeting over a patch of dandelions. He blinked at her a few times then nodded.
"Good, after you fill this out. You'll need to take the class at the Guild. Once you've done that you bring the certificate of completion to the guard's offices and we can give you the permit."
"Class?" I turned to Crue hoping he'd answer this one.
"You have to read a book, take a test on the book, then spend the day with a licensed Guild member who has the Monster Taming skill. You should be able to get the book and the test out of the way tomorrow, but scheduling with someone who has the skill might be trickier. We don't have many tamers in Yellow Springs," he answered me.
"But Amisi will be able to stay with me until I get it all completed, right?" I asked the Commander.
"Yes, if anyone questions, show them this." He handed me a handwritten note that looked like it'd been a piece of scrap paper at one point. It said, 'I know about the bee. It's been handled. Commander Tagert'. Well, it was a bit slap-dash, but if he said it would work I'd trust him.
"I doubt anyone is going to question the taming skills of someone who has a Queen Death Bee following them around," Ave commented.
"True enough, not worth picking a fight over that," Tagert gave a very slight smile. "I don't think anyone is going to question how you got the tamer skill to a high enough level to tame a Queen Death Bee either." He gave me a look over his cup of tea. The Commander wasn't stupid, he knew something was going on.
"Amoris, is partially to blame, I'm afraid," I sighed feigning a deep weariness. "Goddesses." I shook my head the eternally suffering mortal male.
*Skill Gain- Acting~
"Amoris is one of the more unpredictable goddesses," he paused realized where he was and blushed. It was odd seeing an old bearded man blush. "No offense intended." He said to Crue and Tuck.
"None taken," Crue waved it off. "We are well aware of our Lady's reputation and her eccentricities."
"Well a goddess being involved would explain it," Tagert sipped his tea his color going back to normal.
Amoris only got involved after I'd tamed Amisi. He didn't need to know that though. I'd have to explain my Blessings and I'd already been warned not to be telling people about them. Somehow I felt that even though Tagert was a good man, he'd be one of those people who would feel obligated to report it to his superiors. Then who knew how far the information would go.
"The three of you are the only Surveyor trained trackers we have." He nodded at Lotte, Crue, and me. "I can expect Lotte to help in this since it's her job, but tomorrow I'd like to put in a formal request to borrow the two of you from the Guild as well. If we can get you lot up and scouting the town we can get to the Undead hopefully before they start attacking the civilians. Would that be alright with you? You'll be paid your standard Surveyor pay plus any hazard pay if you do encounter an Undead."
"I need to take these tests for Amisi tomorrow. I'll need to schedule this outing with the other tamer too. Other than that, I'm fairly free," I told him. Ave hadn't come out and told me what she wanted me to do, but I could guess. I figured helping out in the subjugation of the Undead was the correct move.
"I won't be able to help much. Most of my energy is going to go towards healing my brother. Once he's stable and awake, then I should have more time to help," Crue explained to the Commander.
"I understand, Sturgis takes priority in this case. Let's pray to the gods that he is well soon," Tagert lowered his head briefly.
"I'm not a Surveyor, but I'll team up with Eri to help." I expected Ave to volunteer in some way but I hadn't expected her to make herself my partner.
"It's not a bad idea to have someone more experienced at your back," Crue offered. "You are new to this."
"That's fine." I turned to Illia. "What are you going to be doing? You have some tracking skill now too."
"I need to get back to the library. I'll help the Commander with research. I think that's where I'll best be of use." She smiled at me. I'm glad she was smiling. We hadn't done much of that in the last few days.
"Right then, are you finished?" He asked Illia. She nodded and pushed away from the table. "Good, let's get going then." Lotte got up to follow them as they said their goodbyes.
I made certain that I handed Illia her portion of the profit from selling the Red Wolves we had killed before we'd gone on our mission, 2 gold 1 silver, and 90 coppers. I gave Crue his share at the same time. I didn't want to be carrying around their share when I went to exchange the wolves we'd killed while out tracking the King Cave Bear. The profits for that would be split five ways. With the exception of the two that Ave killed.
"I'll see you at the Guild tomorrow then?" Ave asked me.
"I plan on getting some serious sleep so I don't think I'll be going in until eleven. That ok?"
"That's fine, see you there." She waved and ran off.
"She's an odd one, but I don't think she's a bad person," Crue commented.
"I get that impression too. She knows more than she's telling us and that bothers me a bit, but she's not a bad person." I reached up and rubbed at my neck.
"Is your back still bothering you?" Crue asked. He reached out his hand and touched the middle of my back.
"It aches but it's not too bad." I lowered my hand and let Crue work. I could feel my muscles being forced to relax. It was like the best deep tissue massage, but it was given in under ten seconds.
"Eri, can you lift up your shirt for me? I want to check something." He began to tug up the hem of my shirt.
"Is something wrong?" I pulled my shirt up over my head.
"Lean forward over the table," he ordered.
I moved my plate out of the way and leaned forward. I could feel his hands moving over my back and pushing deep into my shoulders.
"Huh, well that's new," he muttered.
"What's new?"
"You should see your back man. It's like you grew extra muscles overnight. That must be why it aches." He poked at me again.
"It's kinda hard to see my own back without a mirror. I'll look when I get to my room. Other than that nothing is wrong right?"
"Not that I can tell. I think you might be starting a growth spurt too. You are at that age. Your bones are showing signs of readying for growth."
"You can tell that sort of thing?" In a way, healing magic had a one-up on modern medicine.
"It's the way the center of your bones feel. Make sure you are drinking your water. Get some extra dairy and vegetables in your diet. Lay off the alcohol. You'll be sore for a while."
"Thanks man." I stood and pulled my shirt back down.
"How else am I going to get you to lay down on a table for me with your shirt off?" Crue looked at my face and cracked up laughing. "Go get some sleep. Make sure you come here sometime tomorrow in between everything. Remember you still need to see the priest about Skill Stone Activation."
"Not to mention check on Sturgis," I added. "I'll be over."
He walked me to a room where I left the Cave Bear for Darcy and her expert to look at. The profits from the bear would be split five ways between us and the gold would be held for each of us at the Guild. Why hadn't I thought of that? I could just leave everyone's portion of the profit from the Red Wolves at the Guild and they could pick it up when convenient. It would save me running around town trying to meet up with Illia, Lotte, and Crue.
Sturgis' and Lotte's portions of the Death Bee honey would be sold to the Guild. Illia and Crue were fine with my hanging on to their portions. I'd use it to feed Amisi. We had an understanding that I'd pay them back with Queen Death Bee honey later when Amisi started producing.
Crue and I said our goodbyes and I walked to Marge's inn in the dark. It felt like there were more guards out than usual. It was either that or they were concentrating their forces near the Red district.
I checked my map, I didn't want to run into any Undead on the way back. There was one in temple row, but it was already being taken care of by the guards. I didn't think I needed to interfere. It was four to one. They should be able to handle it.
There was another two outside the town. They were roaming around outside the wall. They weren't a threat to the civilians so they could be dealt with tomorrow when I went out with Ave. If other adventurers didn't find them first.
So tonight I could just sleep. That would be wonderful.
Marge had me switch out my room keys. I paid her the 3 silver 75 copper rent for the week. She showed me a room that was right beside the bathroom. The room looked out over the alley where the stable was. Other than that the room was identical to the first one.
I changed my clothes and fell into bed. Gods, I didn't realize how much I'd missed sleeping in a bed. I didn't even need to take any sleeping medicine. I was out in seconds.