Lograve entered the headman’s manor, waving off the guard posted at the door as he almost tripped on the small rise in the floor. “There’s already enough broken eggs to be walking on more shells,” he murmured angrily to himself. It was an emotion that came to him more often than he let the world believe, though recent events were making that control slip. The fact that he had not fully recovered yet despite having level three endurance was another aggravation on top of everything else.
To be fair, everyone in the village was under some amount of strain. Only the hermits hadn’t lost anyone they’d known. At least Murdon’s control over who knew about the dragon was keeping morale high at the moment. Still, I can't help but feel that secret will hurt us in the long run. Murdon looked up as Lograve entered the office. He didn’t normally have so many visitors and recent events were causing his scaly neck to develop a crick. One of the draconoid’s hands was shaking slightly. The other noticed but said nothing. The weight of the Octyrrum is the hardest on him, Lograve thought.
“Is Kob in position?” Murdon broke the uneasy silence.
“Yes, though I hardly find this farce necessary. You’re taking this too seriously.” Lograve clicked his tongue and added, “No, you’re taking the wrong thing too seriously.”
Murdon glanced at the closed window. “The dragon isn’t in my village.”
“The dragon is a dragon is a dragon. And it’s a real son of a bitch, I can tell you that much. That young man could be anything, and of those things, he is likely just a human. Remember all that math I tried to fit in your head at the start of this disaster? Remember how I told you throwing away people on missions with low survival odds was a bad thing?” Lograve tapped the table with a long, scarred finger. “We aren’t in a position to start randomly killing Blessed because you have a bad feeling about them. Or anyone at all for that matter! Crest, Murdon, that’s how Tyrants think.”
“We’re not killing him unless we have to.”
Lograve glanced in a direction that met a wall and hid something larger behind it. “You told me to have Kob respond to any sort of fighting in the village with lethal force! What do you call that?”
“I told you to prepare him as a worst-case intervention. Is that what you told them to do?” Concern and grim amusement colored the words.
“Oh shit.”
“It’s fine.” Murdon stopped his friend from running out of the room with a hand. “Kob is smart enough to know what you meant. Besides, they should be here soon and there’s more to discuss.”
“Will it change anything or do you just want to stop me from questioning your morality?”
The concern remained as amusement faded. “I’m starting to question your supposed recovery.”
“I fought a dragon and lived, what more do you want?”
The rasp Murdon let out wasn’t of anger but defeat. Those unfamiliar with his kind commonly confused the two. “He’s a Spiritualist.”
Lograve blinked. “Murdon you’re right. My injuries are more severe than I thought. I fear I’ve just blacked out and missed the careful explanation you made giving context to that statement.”
Better, Murdon thought. Though I shouldn’t have had to bait out sarcasm. “I made a more thorough debriefing of Janice yesterday and she mentioned something else. Daniel was calling his ringcat ‘he’.”
“Oh,” Lograve took the point.
“A gestalt in the stables confirmed it. I think.”
“So he’s insane. There are a lot of crazy people in the world Murdon. Some of them spend hours talking to gestalt when they should be saving lives.”
“That right there.” Murdon rattled the desk with a fist. “You keep defending him. Why?”
“Because you’re blowing this out of proportion!”
“Or you were affected by a level 9 charm power.”
…
The rest of the walk was awkward. Gadriel kept his gaze fixed fully forward and constantly walked fast enough to be ahead of Daniel while not breaking out in a run. It doesn’t make sense, Daniel thought. Sure his charisma was terrible, but it shouldn’t be bad enough to provoke a Hero into fighting him.
Also, charisma is weird when it’s a stat you have instead of just a concept. I just bump up my numbers and I’m suddenly attractive? The fact that he’d easily climbed a tree after acquiring a strength score made him consider dumping every point he had into the sixth attribute. He hadn’t exactly left anyone special behind after what happened happened, and he could use all the help he could get. He considered advancing charisma now but decided against it. Not in front of the angry incarnation of justice.
They crossed into the town proper without much fanfare. The tents were generous enough not to be staked to the permanent structures, but it was a close thing. Similar to the bridges he’d seen before, every building in the town was solid wood. Like a statue carved from marble, it seemed like they’d been cut from a larger block rather than assembled from smaller planks. The houses had porches on the front where people loitered, this area no less crammed than the tents.
Gadriel walked past a store that caught Daniel’s eye. Its sign indicated a general store, with a painted on addition marking it as permanently closed. That wasn’t the surprising thing, it was the language. Each character had either a swirl or full circle somewhere, giving the text a bubbly appearance. It wasn’t English, and yet as long as Daniel didn’t focus on the fact that he was reading another language he could understand it.
“We cannot delay for shopping!” the Hero’s gruff voice called out from down the street. He’d walked so long without noticing Daniel’s absence that he had to shout.
“Sorry!” Daniel started walking back and pointed to the sign. “What language is that?”
“We have no time for your pointless questions either.” Gadriel had calmed slightly, though the Hero was in no mood for idle chat.
Daniel held his tongue for about a minute. “I don’t get what I did wrong.”
“As I said, no questions.”
“That wasn’t a question and it has a point.” He was out on a limb, on one of the farthest branches, but in that minute Daniel had remembered Gadriel was a Hero. He wouldn’t publicly execute someone in the middle of the town. Probably. Unless having the Hero class gives you a license to kill. It was too late to back out, Gadriel was looking at him for the first time since the bench with a displeased expression. “Something I did insulted you and I apologize. I just want to know what it was so I don’t do it again.”
Gadriel’s focused expression targeted Daniel. It unnerved him to the degree that it might have been a power, something that put opponents off balance in the lead up to a strike. One came, but it wasn’t physical. “You will not have me playing the fool again.” The sentence was like a belt of daggers, each word individually thrown at him. It was only curiosity from the thought that this too might have been magic that split Daniel’s attention from the forceful personality trying to knock him over.
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People were gathering. It’s a standoff. The thought made the situation too ridiculous to take the scene seriously. Daniel suddenly found himself unwillingly squaring off against an armored knight in a town that looked like it had a saloon instead of a tavern.
There was an appraising light to Gadriel’s glare now. “You have spirit to resist that power at level one. Is your will to make a mockery of me that great?”
Is this guy a hero? Daniel thought. Like, as a person and not a class. Heroes shouldn’t care what people think about them, or at least not enough to murder someone for it. His thoughts were torn away when movement caught his peripheral vision. The crowd was on all sides and their gaze was focused on him. They expected a verbal tennis match and the ball was in Daniel’s court.
He tried to stutter something and that made things worse, as Gadriel was now incredulous. “Have you no words for your actions? Must you continue to play the innocent!? Confess your sins!”
Those last words had a resounding quality to them. There was an urge, a rising impulse to shout something. Gadriel expected him to tell the crowd whatever he’d done to offend him but Daniel didn’t know what that was. He still would have done it if the crowds pressing in hadn’t left him breathless with fear.
It wasn’t the sight of Gadriel drawing his sword that made Daniel faint. It was catching sight of the thing taller than the houses approaching at a run. The giant’s gait was awkward but its steps made Daniel’s vision quake. It was a massive figure made entirely of stone that by all appearances looked like an animated statue. Its mouth opened in a mountain-sundering, drawn out shout as it reached an intersection.
“Kooooooooooooooob!”
…
“Amazing, Sir Cross!” one of the avianoids in the crowd said as the rest made way following Kob’s warning cry. “You’ve willed him into submission!”
Gadriel frowned and cautiously approached Daniel. It was no trap. The man breathed but did not move. “To correct you, good man, that wasn’t me.” He then glanced up. “Greetings Sir Kob. I am humbled to find myself in your presence. What do I owe the pleasure?”
“Help.” A nearby window wobbled as Kob spoke. They only had a meter of clearance on either side of the street.
“This charlatan has done himself in it seems. Though my duty remains.”
“Help.” The word was repeated.
“Are you in need of my assistance?”
Kob pointed a finger as wide as Gadriel’s legs at Daniel. “Headman.”
“Ah,” Gadriel patted Daniel’s cheek with an armored hand, but the Artificer didn’t get back up. “You are offering to carry him.”
…
Two axes were gripped in Murdon’s hands. They looked the same, but looks were deceiving. Both were of good steel and fine make. These two qualities in combination were important as a poor Smith could ruin good steel, and a good Smith could only do so much with poor steel. In the best case, nonmagical metal could make for a fearsome weapon even without the additional attention of an enchanter. Every advantage helped when fighting for your life, but dual-wielding was an odd choice for his class. For that reason, as well as the cost, Murdon had only gone to the trouble of having one enchanted to improve it to second level. The shield he normally used with his offhand was nearby but not on him. There were two reasons Murdon had the second ax, for when his shield was knocked away mid-battle, and if he wasn’t expecting the battle to last long enough to make use of it. If they were facing the dragon in the pass here and now, he would have an ax in each hand.
The helmet on his head was in two pieces, not one. The point of his snout made this a necessity and a weakness. If its straps were cut it would fall away instead of hang loosely like helmets that fit onto other races. His scales, bolstered by an endurance in the high 30s, deflected most light physical attacks in any case. Given its weakness and difficulty in donning, Murdon only wore his helmet for an immediate crisis. Such as the dragon in the pass.
“You look ridiculous.” A snarl of annoyance answered Lograve. The helmet was specially made to amplify the draconoid’s voice, though it also made him sound like he was halfway down a well. A small sacrifice for clear communication during a fight. Lograve wasn’t unprepared either. His lacquered armor had been ruined during the escape from the dragon he called a fight and needed replacement. Armor wasn’t unheard of for Arcanists though it was uncommon. Lograve’s had been acquired from the specialized crafters in Threst and the only one who could think of providing a replacement had been in Eido.
Instead, he had frozen ice to surround his vital areas. It looked like a formal suit but would provide the same protection no matter what it looked like. Aquakinesis was his most versatile power and the only reason he’d survived the lake. It was cold, but that kept the discomfort from the healing bruises and burns in check. The mana cost for heightening the feature from level two to three was the real pain.
In the distance, Kob briefly became visible through one of the alleyways. “Assume they are an enemy.” Murdon couldn’t whisper normally, and the helmet made it worse. “If they aren’t dead, it means they are charmed.”
“While Kob is fairly weak to such effects, you’re still an idiot.” Lograve flicked a shard of ice which bounced harmlessly off of Murdon. “What are you going to do when Kob hands you a dead body?”
“I would hate myself.” Murdon’s armored head turned to Lograve. “But I would not regret my actions. His nature is too suspicious to allow for our guard to be dropped.”
“Fine. But when I’m right you’re going to remember this.”
“Like you’d let me forget.” Lograve could sense the half smile behind the helmet and drew some comfort from it.
Kob turned onto the street directly leading to the Headman’s manor. It was next to the river and to one of the village’s two main streets. Kob still dominated the road but didn’t quite press up against the houses. Distant onlookers continued to observe the strange happenings, children shadowing Kob as they feared them the least. Gadriel walked a slight distance behind them. Few people had the bravado to risk walking in front of the ambling giant and the Hero just missed that mark. His expression was primarily of confusion but his pace was steady.
The giant stopped a few houses away from where the headman’s manor stood alone in a small clearing. Kob had seen Murdon and Lograve prepared to meet them in force.
“Where is he?” Murdon spoke in a guarded tone. Daniel was nowhere in sight.
“Sleep,” Kob said in a rumbling voice. Enough time passed that they spoke again. “Fear.” Opening one of their hands, they put Daniel on the ground. The hands had the consistency of stone. It would have been easy for the young man to have been scraped during the bumpy journey yet not a mark was on him.
“I regret to report that there was an incident of which the blame entirely falls on this man’s buffoonery,” Gadriel declared, stepping out from behind Kob and seeing a fully armored Murdon. “Commander, sir? Are we under attack?”
“What do you mean, buffoonery?” Murdon didn’t lower his axes. Lograve thought to intervene but didn’t. If Murdon was asking for information instead of charging, that was a good thing.
“Well,” the Hero blustered. “He had the gall to draw me into a conversation about advancement and my Heroic philosophy, only to attempt to make a total mockery of my path! I suspect those with knowledge of my history may have put him up to it. Someone like Sir St-“ Gadriel stopped himself from making a formal accusation and vented most of his frustration, delivering the rest of the report evenly. “He denied it, repeatedly and in front of witnesses. Honor bound me to reveal his lies.”
The axes did lower with that. Lograve guessed that this didn’t match any of the worst-case scenarios running wild in Murdon’s head. The Arcanist sighed softly. Kob had told them all they needed to know at the start and in far fewer words. “Was your use of some sort of inquisition-type ability right before Kob appeared?”
“What of it?”
“Do you know what happens when an innocent person is subjected to those powers and cannot resist it?”
“They, oh.” Gadriel looked down at Daniel’s unconscious form and then looked back at Lograve. “I still hold that he was trying to make a fool of me! Perhaps he just believed the lies,”he scoffed. “Though he said that he could advance his strength and his intelligence at once without penalty. Impossible. I take many things in stride, but not such empty arrogance.”
Lograve’s expression calmed. “Well, that proves it Murdon. He can’t fake that.”
“Explain.” The echoing distorted it, but it was an offer instead of a challenge.
“This young man, Daniel, was afflicted with the fear effect by an inquisition-type ability being incorrectly targeted,” he said with a pointed look at Gadriel. “Then he sees a giant level 4 Berserker, er, what were you doing Kob?”
“Congregation.”
“Ah,” Lograve nodded as if that explained everything. “Investigating the disturbance at what I assume was a healthy speed. Fear heightened to the terror effect which caused him to pass out. You can’t fake that unless you’re actually afraid of what’s going on.” He looked to Murdon expectantly.
There was a pause as Murdon thought. Idle chatter from the crowd filled the background as speculation on the day’s events rambled on. Anything that involved Kob drew attention and this standoff would be the subject of gossip around the village for days. Gadriel tried to ask a question, but he was ignored. Murdon lay one ax on the ground, the normal one, and approached Daniel.
He’s not going to, no, he wouldn’t, Lograve thought. Murdon is not becoming a Tyrant. He was caught off guard when the armored knight brought his ax down on the prone figure. Even Kob’s stony face registered surprise.
Blood was on Murdon’s ax. He looked at it and his shoulders slumped as something left him. Daniel was on the ground before him, unmoving, with a thin gash on one of his arms. “The sleep effect,” he explained, some self-hatred apparent in the voice. “He would have woken if he’d used that to fake what you suggested. This seemed too convenient an outcome. A level nine could have orchestrated the events to deceive us. He still could have-” Murdon cut himself off and shook his head. “Alright Lograve, I believe you, but he still needs to explain himself.”