COMPANION

He spent a lot of time with Ellen and Sarah learning the hot and cold water spells. Ellen had him try a variety of methods. It worked if he started the water flowing, touched the edge of the basin and sang the casting starting pattern then a single three note. When he fell silent and released the edge of the basin the falling water was colder. The five note made the water nasty hot. Ellen told him it also worked on the bathing pools. He wanted to run off to his room at the inn and try soaking in a cold bath, but he still needed to find Todd.

Companion checked the training yards, but Todd wasn’t there. He asked the guards at the forest gate. Todd was much harder for Companion to say than Alex, but he finally got his question across. The guards told Companion that Todd didn’t go into the forest. Companion tried the back gate with the same result. Companion even tracked down Harry, who was the commander of the guards. Harry was almost as good as Companion’s podmates at understanding selkie words. He quickly told Companion he hadn’t seen Todd since lunch.

Thinking about lunch, Companion realized he missed his. He decided to get something from the inn. Perhaps they would have some of the spinner meat. The dining area was mostly empty at this hour. The innkeeper emerged from the back room and asked Companion if she could help him.

“I am looking for Todd,” Companion said. He meant to say he wanted some lunch, but his mind returned to his main goal.

“He’s in the back,” the innkeeper replied. “Working on one of his specials. You can go on back. Did you want anything to eat after?”

“Is there any spinner?” Companion asked.

“There is, fresh in from the southern halls. I will boil you some up.”

Companion gruffed his approval. He followed the innkeeper into the back room. Todd was in the farthest corner of the room standing over a steadily steaming pot. The heat coming off the pot reminded Companion of the legend of underwater volcanic geysers. He could not understand how his friend could stand so near. Todd’s spear wasn’t actually in his hands, but was close by leaning against the wall. Companion still held his ax, since he didn’t make it up to his room. He leaned it against the wall next to the spear.

“Companion,” Todd announced. “You are just in time. If I fall to the floor, cast a heal on me.” Companion wondered if this was part of his training. He mastered the tier three heal and the self-heal. An involuntary shudder ran through his body at the thought of the self-heal. It was the most painful thing he ever experienced and he almost died before the Elder’s party found him. When he came back to consciousness with the cut on his arm healed he saw how it could be useful, but he cringed at the idea of using it again.

Todd took a long handled spoon and dipped out a tiny amount of liquid from the pot. He sipped from the spoon.

“Yep,” Todd said with a strange accent to his words, “I can’t feel my tongue.”

“Heal now?” Companion asked.

“No, not yet. I have a theory. Let's see if it gets worse,” Todd responded. Companion remembered Ellen’s strange questions about poisons the other night. He watched as Todd started poking his tongue with his finger and worried about what might be in that volcanic pot.

“I think the feeling is coming back,” Todd said around his finger. Or at least that was what Companion thought he said.

“I wanted to talk to you about something important,” Companion said.

“Go ahead,” Todd said. “I’m listening.”

“I have asked the Elder if we can go to my selkie home shore next to gather spells. She set me the task of asking each party member after warning of the danger,” Companion said.

“Ok,” Todd replied, after removing his hand from his mouth. He ran his tongue over his lips. “I should have timed that,” he commented. Looked down at the long handled spoon.

“My people might react violently to our arrival,” Companions started to explain.

“I meant I’ll go,” Todd said, interrupting Companion. “I’m not going to stay here if the Elder is going.”

“She won’t go unless everyone in the pod agrees,” Companion explained.

“Oh,” Todd replied. “And you want to go?”

“Yes,” Companion responded.

“And the Elder will go with us if we all agree?” Todd responded.

“Yes,” Companion said.

“Ok, it is fine with me,” Todd answered. “Remember if I fall to the ground, heal me.” Todd dipped the spoon back into the pot and sipped the liquid again. Companion thought it might be a little more liquid this time.

“It could be dangerous,” Companion tried to explain. How could he get the point across to a human who appeared to be sipping poison? “If they react badly enough, it could be war,” Companion squeaked. “It could come back here.”

“It might be war with Londontown,” Todd told Companion. Companion thought more than Todd’s tongue must be affected this time since his speech was particularly slurred. “I worry more about humans, they are ignorant of what the Elder is. Your people know.”

“I talked to Alex,” Companion countered, “he knows.”

“Well we all know,” Todd told him, he waved his hand around the room at large. Companion wasn’t certain if he was indicating the pod, or the residents of the entire shore. “But the rest of them,” Todd nodded unerringly to the north, “they don’t. Most of our tier five were drawn south by the true god. The Elder was the only one whose commitment to duty allowed her to resist the draw.”

“Surely in the past…” Companion started to say, then he stopped because he knew the answer to that. His people named Todd’s people newcomers and it was true. There was no deep past for them here in these waters. Their past lay elsewhere. Although he knew all these facts, he never really put them together like this before. His people were in this ocean longer than any of them remembered. Before his time with the Elder’s pod he would have sworn they were a creation of the true god.

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Now he wasn’t so sure. The Elder pointed out how the humans didn’t quite fit. That this world was not made for them. Companion was smart enough to see how his people didn’t quite fit either. To Companion this was even more reason why their two peoples should work together.

“I think it is good,” Todd said, stirring his pot.

“What is it?” Companion asked. Peering through the steam.

“It is a surprise for you,” Todd said. “To celebrate your mastery of self-heal. Although I got a late start at it and I am not certain the fermentation will be complete before we head out again. I had to throw the first batch out. This is my version of Londontown Stout.”

“Do you mean strong beer? But that is poison to humans,” Companion exclaimed.

“Well I am a higher tier than Alex and you notice I didn’t chug it,” Todd responded. “I warned the innkeeper and she won’t serve it to any human without a correct color healer standing by. Mostly it is for you.”

“I, I thank you,” Companion said, truly touched.

“I am curious to see if anyone else can drink it. Alcohol is just another kind of poison. I think the true god is already protecting us from some of its more bothersome side effects. Outside the god’s domains it affects us humans much more strongly. That is why Alex never drinks beer in the mage’s tower.”

“There is beer in the mage’s tower?” Companion asked, wondering how he missed that.

“I will show you how to order it from the machines the next time we are there, but remember my warnings. There are no healers on the mage’s tower and it is a long drive back to the entrance. Grandmother was very worried we might kill you with our food. We took samples of all your favorites and tested them with the machines. We decided several things we eat might be too dangerous for you and didn’t offer them,” Todd explained.

All of this went unnoticed by Companion. He was touched by the care his pod showed for him.

“There are other things selkies consume for enjoyment that might be dangerous to humans,” Companion admitted. “Perhaps you should take your own food.”

“You have to tell Alex he can’t drink the beer,” Todd said with a laugh. Companion shifted on his flipper feet and clicked his agitation. “Oh, and you have to tell the Elder she needs to wear blessed cloth. That way your people will recognize the danger that she is quickly. You do that and I agree to go.”

The boiled spinner was tasty. It was closer to dinner than lunch when he finished. He thought about waiting for Alex in the inn, but decided that he needed to get the bad news out of the way. He crossed the hard space to Alex’s shop. The windows on it were set to transparent. Companion could see Alex working away, arranging his pieces of furniture.

Companion tapped on the glass door. Alex looked up and hurried over to let the selkie in.

“What do you think?” Alex asked. Companion paced around the room. It seemed really full to him. His attention was drawn to a bowl of round rock. It was sitting on a round table made out of black iron. A twisted broken piece of oxidized bronze was held vertical by the stone. Something about the bronze reminded Companion of the Elder’s statue at the gallery.

“It is like the Elder’s statue,” Companion said.

“Yes, exactly,” Alex said with a laugh.

“Are you going out tomorrow?” Companion asked. “Your shop seems ready.”

“It is! I am so excited. I have hired Ted to help run it. We will open it together tomorrow. When we leave he will continue to run it alone until he gets low on stock or we get back,” Alex responded.

“I am happy for you, friend,” Companion responded. “I have come here on serious matters. You are my most stalwart friend and it pains me to say this, but when we visit the selkie shores, you must not drink the beer. I fear it will kill you.”

“That’s not happening,” Alex said. “I tell you what, I will make sure Ellen or Grandmother is near before I do the tasting.”

“My friend, Todd said I must tell you before he agreed to go. It is important to me,” the Selkie responded.

“I hear you Companion,” Alex replied. “I see no problem here. You have told me. If needed I will confirm with Todd that you have.” Companion thought about that as Alex returned to his nervous adjustment of furniture.

“Yes, I see that it is so. But it still leaves one problem between us,” Companion replied.

“What is that?” Alex asked, puzzled.

“Todd also told me that there is beer in the mage’s tower.”

“Oh, my friend. You owe me for that one. Let me tell you of the most deadly of spells. Humans call it the ‘hangover’.” Alex replied.

TODD

Todd spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening preparing his Londontown Stout for fermentation and cooking meals for the inn’s dinners. He secured the stout in a corner of the room where he would keep an eye on it in the coming days. The inn kitchen was the only place he could really cook. The inn came supplied with a full set of cooking utensils. When the shops were rented they were mostly empty, with just a bare minimum of display shelving and the shop counter. The apartments were similar. The inn was different. The price of the rooms were set by Control, and the innkeeper only received a token amount. If there was no innkeeper, a visitor was still given access to the facility and could use the pay surface to rent their own room. The rooms were fully furnished and they cleaned themselves. The innkeeper really only rented the kitchen and dining room. The rent was low, but the prices were fixed on a lot of the simple food items. The innkeeper could set the price only on food prepared from gathered ingredients.

Once Todd thought he would become an innkeeper someday and maybe far back in his mind that possibility still lingered. The innkeeper here in Home Square was his aunt Sally. No one ever called her by name anymore. Everyone called her Innkeeper and Sally seemed very happy with that. She let Todd cook in the inn’s kitchen whenever he wanted, since the customers liked his food. It gave her a break from doing all the cooking herself. He was grateful to her for that.

Todd headed out when the main dinner rush was over. He ate in the kitchen, but when he stepped out into the dining room he spotted Alex and Companion sitting at Grandmother's table and decided to join them. They both held tankards of beer. Todd settled down into his chair at the table and set his spear against the wall beside him.

“Companion has done his duty!” Alex announced a little too loudly, “No beer for me in selkie lands.”

“I told him,” Companion gruffed.

Todd looked at the two of them and knew no one was really going to be able to keep Alex from at least tasting the beer. Especially since the young man was a good enough vocalist to communicate in a passable selkie. He would be able to order for himself. Todd made a note to warn Grandmother.

“Good,” Todd said. The purpose of the exercise was to make sure Companion realized poisoning might be a danger. Todd was certain Companion would get Alex help if he experienced a bad reaction to something. “Have you told Grandmother?” he asked.

“The Elder isn’t back yet,” Companion announced. Todd frowned, he wasn’t aware Grandmother was leaving the square. “She doesn’t come back until late. I’ll tell her in the morning at breakfast.”

“What do you mean she doesn’t return until late?” Todd asked.

“Well she hasn’t since the break began,” Companion offered. “I have been up early two days to speak to her.” Companion rubbed the whiskers of his face briskly. “I must, again tomorrow. Apologies my friend, it will be an early night for me.” Companion said this last part to Alex.

“I too must call it an early night,” Alex replied. “I have the shop opening in the morning.” Alex rose unsteadily to his feet and marched up the stairs. Companion gruffed his amusement, but he too took his leave, after chugging the remnants of both their beers.

It worried Todd that Grandmother was going out on her own. Companion believed her to be a lesser god and almost impossible to kill. Todd knew that she was only human and humans made mistakes. He has sworn to watch her back.

He was reassured that she was seen at least the last two mornings by Companion. That meant she couldn’t be going too far. Todd scolded himself for not keeping better track of her. He last saw her for himself four or five days ago. Then he remembered the transportation system, she could get a lot farther away than he realized if she was using that.

He thought about staying until she returned, but that seemed non-productive. Instead he too would rise early to catch her at breakfast. If he would follow her around all day if necessary to find out what she was up to and watch her back while she did it.