Ch: 134 Dragging The Line

In a surreal darkened workshop, or something like one, a blurry, out of focus entity was telling the most extraordinary fable. It spun an unlikely tale, of a starman fallen to earth… The creature was evasive on several points. Its mad tale wound through untold gulfs of time, with wild supposition and insane claims sprinkled throughout.

It rambled on about vast conspiracies and world spanning schemes, of demons used as weapons of mass destruction and deception. It even went so far as to suggest that the gods themselves had been deceived and abused in some otherworldly ‘grift’.

“...so in the end, the status quo, your religion and entire culture are built on a nasty little lie and a lot of butthole murder. Think on that, next time someone says that an unjust act is just, because it’s the law and tradition. I gotta run, my kids are waking up bro.”

#

Duke Abed had experienced viscount Kline’s gift a number of times, the man could package his memories of events and sensations, into a short nap’s worth of vivid dreams. Sharing that dream remembrance was slightly tricky for everyone but his wife… one had to sleep holding hands with the man to share his dreams.

On this occasion, unlike every other experience in the man’s dreams, things were strange and murky. No faces could be seen, beyond those of his own troopers, accompanying the lord on his mission. Every other face and form was blurred and distorted into an unrecognizable fog.

Even the structure and its surroundings were unclear and ephemeral. Strange shadows loomed and moved in the corner of his eyes, much like being on the verge of a terrible nightmare.

Viscount Irving Kline woke and stretched, feeling awkward at sharing a bed with his liege. “Do you have any further questions, your grace?”

“I do! Why was every face obscured and nearly every detail rendered blurry and inchoate?” He demanded, with an audible grind of his teeth.

“I know not my lord… I saw everything clearly in my mind’s eye. Was there some interference?” He asked mildly, while cursing his gift internally.

“This madman, the moontouched fool you spoke to at such length, do you believe he is the source of these many reports and rumors? Do you believe he had some hand in moving the fringe?” Abed asked softly, desperately.

“Possible, my lord, but unlikely. The man I met was young, not even fully fledged into iron rank. I doubt one barely ranked apprentice Adventurer and a team of greenies did anything of note.”

“No? Tell me about them, lord Kline, I would hear your opinion.” His duke muttered sourly.

Irving took a deep breath and launched into it with as much gusto as he could manage after so many days of hard riding.

“Imran Khan and his second, Killeen Maus travel with the troop I met, they are not known to be mages, though doughty warriors of good reputation.” He continued when the duke nodded.

“Trelawny Belen led the party, she is not renowned for magical skill, beyond her own formidable arts. There was a young woman, dark skin, braided hair, she seemed… intense and driven, almost… I hesitate to say ‘touched by the divine’…” The lord paused for a moment, considering.

“Yes, Becky will be a force to be reckoned with, but she too was unranked and certainly too young to be the author of such wonders.”

A young woman slipped in through the door with a smile and a nod for Irving, but an elegant and well practiced courtesy to the duke. “Tea is served, your grace.”

“Thank you Mathilda, Irving, please continue.” Mubarak said gently. Irving smiled wanly and searched for his lost mental thread.

“There were two hillfolk smiths, a giant man and a woman nearly as large, they are no doubt formidable in battle…” He shrugged. “Ivy, a young orphan mage seemed skilled in the art, but again, she is unranked. There was a warrior, Liam was his name, very steady for one so young. Unless I miss my guess, he had only four Contracts. There was a small, quick lad, with a very strange whip, but he too…” The lord shook his head.

“I am unwilling to say they are definitely not the answer… but it seems desperately unlikely.”

“Tell me more about the boy, the moontouched one. Are you certain he was not deceiving you with some magery? Wizards can be subtle and sly.”

“The boy I spoke with at length is quite harmlessly mad. You heard his tale of lost gods and unclean cults, world spanning plots and strange rituals. A sad case, but hardly worth your grace’s attention.”

Mathilda’s snort of derision shook the two men out of their conversation. “That boy in your dreams is less mad than he is strange… eerie, unworldly, otherworldly. He’s a dangerous creature and I’ve no doubt, mark my words.”

“Mathilda! His grace…” Irving began, until the duke silenced him with a gesture.

“You saw these dreams? Saw clearly?” He asked intently, the duke leaned close, when she nodded.

“My husband can’t help but share his dreams with me, your grace.” She bent another elegant curtsy and took a seat at the tea table, pouring with grace and skill while she spoke.

“I saw that boy and his strange dwelling in Irving’s dream, as a misty and diffuse fog… though, perhaps more clearly for that interference. Everything about that boy is strange and unsettling, the shadow of death and violence lurks over his shoulder and none can say when it will manifest.”

She began trembling so fiercely while speaking, she had to pass the tea pot to her husband. “His story is utter lunacy, naturally… but the man is desperately dangerous.”

“I have recently received a secret communique from Belen, co-signed by Otho of Joy and Naiomi of Healer. A full quorum of additional nobles and clergy signed off as well. It details many of these very claims you have disregarded.” He smiled very coldly at the veteran knight and his deeply concerned wife.

The viscountess Kline huffed at her duke in irritation. “If I met that boy walking in the forest, I would flee for my life without hesitation. Couldn't you feel his aura of doom and dread? It was made even more awful by his cheery attitude!” She shuddered with dread as she spoke, even in the warm, cozy chamber.

The duke’s grim smile told Irving he would not be done with this any time soon. “Tell me everything you both remember… about this barely ranked duckling.”

#

Shai and Liam came back just as Gary and the kids returned from getting snacky. A bag of hot, greasy fried dough, sprinkled with spiced sugar seemed to have revived the sleepy crew.

“I hae found us a place, across the river, on the Oysterflats side an gained hire of a barge fer the horses and ponies. We need only tow her over an unload…” She announced, with a smile. “Liam does watch the barge, awaiting us a piece downstream.”

Once the fried dough was shared out and fingers licked, the little troop climbed aboard, while Khan and Luna rode the herd down the river road to the barge piers.

Low wavelets and a sluggish current made for smooth sailing. After an easy half mile, they slowly came about and backed up to a pier.

Shai waved them in, tying Seahorse’s aft line onto a cleat bolted to the broad, floating structure. With the stern secured, Becky tossed Shai the bowline and she pulled them in against the gently swaying pier. They clambered up a ladder onto the deck, nearly six feet up.

“This is one weird pier love… where are the horsies?” At the sound of his voice, Sandi’s mildly disgruntled whinny came from below.

“Shai… Is this a big ass barge?” He asked, peering through a grate into the huge space below. Annie, Sandi, Socks and the rest were down there, in stalls and less than happy. The rest of the enormous space was filled with crates, bales, boxes, rolls and bundles of stuff; a huge load of cargo, literal tons of crap.

“Shai… are you making a profit on this deal?” He asked quietly as she blushed and tried to ignore his question. “Seriously, you think I can tow this thing with Seahorse?”

“Aye, I believe ye can… an ye be motivated. Moreover, our destination be two miles upstream, on the other side of town.” She declared victory when Luna joined in on her side, wearing her ‘everything is cultivation’ smile.

#

Shai held the tiller, he sat at her feet, leaning back on her shins, his favorite seat on the boat by far. He softly chanted his mantra, drawing more energy from the depths.

“Shaiisapainintheass, Shaiisapainintheass…” While the pain in his ass steered and played with his hair.

They slowly dragged upstream, with a surging torrent behind the little boat, as he poured as much as his motor could safely handle into it. Foam and spray churned in their wake, with the figurehead rearing higher into the afternoon sky.

“I’ll be remembering yer little song, boy, when it’s time tae decide on big or little spoon taenight.” She whispered in his ear, with a nibble on the lobe.

“No fair, I never get to be big spoon…” He whined happily, through an exhausted grin.

“Aye, cause I do wake wi summat jabbing me in the backside er’y night… whatever could that great, warm knob, poking at me be? Hae ye any clues?”

The boy just smiled and leaned back against her knees. Her fingers running through his hair did a lot for his mana recovery…or so he claimed.

The rest of the troop rode the barge, lounging on the broad, sun warmed deck. They enjoyed a peaceful hour and a quarter’s ride upriver, at just under a human walking pace. Parking the barge was tricky at first, until a team with a shore mounted capstan helped haul it in close enough to drop a ramp.

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The horses came off first, while Shai was still uncoupling them from the barge. The party mounted up and signaled for Seahorse to follow, with Khan’s horn.

Shai took the tiller and the control, since Gary had passed out, still in his meditative pose. When the boat started up, he flopped over and let out a soft snore.

He woke at sundown, with Shai gently shaking him. “Would ye hae yer woman an bairns sleep in the cold an wet, boy? Wake and help wi the house.” Her red, rheumy eyes said she was worn down as well.

“You tapped out too?” He mumbled softly.

“Aye, twas the barge, that were pure avarice on my part love, I am sorry over this.” Shai seemed genuinely upset by how close to empty they wound up, when they finally reached their destination.

“It’s okie dokie love… we’ll put the kids to work on it.” He burbled sleepily, as shadows began rising from where he lay at the foot of the tiller’s bench.

Vague and diffuse figures climbed out of the little boat, becoming more recognizable by the moment. Starman’s face hovered in the shadows of one, while Dio’s regal nose peeked from another hood. Lanky Deano and quick, clever Sammy followed Satchmo and Jimi out into the darkened meadow.

Gary and Shai staggered out of the boat last, leaning on each other and Gary’s stick, heavily. “Hey gang, we’re dead on our feet… we need a little help to do that thing we do… could you all sit in a circle joining hands, wide as you can?”

With long suffering sighs and helpless shrugs, they all sat on the damp grass holding hands at arm’s length. “Now what, do we sing a song?” Luna asked, only partially mocking.

“Close… Kids, into the circle with Shai, please. Get comfy and warm up. Tallum… buckle up brother.” He murmured, as he sank to a patch of grass and lay back looking at the sky.

Tito and Santana were already huddled with Rio, Amy and Wilford, tapping something frisky on his little drum. Each of the other shady forms held a real instrument of some kind, taken from the madman’s seemingly inexhaustible supply of noisy toys. They built into a rollicking, rolling storm of rhythmic noise, percussive and crisp.

It began as a slow march, just drumming a cadence, flutes and guitars joined the ensemble, finding a place in the mix rather than taking a lead. Tallum’s low, rumbling voice cut through the music, chanting in his rumbling bass, rather than singing. But what he was chanting…

One evening, as the sun went down

And the jungle fire was burning

Down the track came a hobo hiking

And he said, "Boys, I'm not turning.

I'm headed for a land that's far away

Beside's the crystal fountains.

So come with me, we'll go and see

The Big Rock Candy Mountains!

Gary’s distinctive warbling whistle joined, playing counterpoint to the giant’s voice.

Well, there ain't no short-handled shovels,

No axes, saws nor picks

I'm a-goin' to stay where you sleep all day,

Where they hung the jerk that invented work!

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains!

I'll see you all this comin' fall,

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains!

“Boy, that were entirely undanceable.” Shai complained and laughed, when the song ground to a chaotic, rumbling end.

“Lover, if you dance a single step, Tallum will have to carry you to bed, after he carries me up.” The poor thing did look done in. “Where’s the big guy?”

#

The strange, cheerful song ended, leaving the big man confused and a little disoriented. While he was dazed, a tiny hand clasped his and dragged him through the new made garden gate and into their chamber.

“Ivy… what's wrong?” His petite mage had a strange look in her eye and kept tugging on his clothes.

“Nothings wrong Tallumz… shut up and get naked. If you wanna sing that again, I won’t stop you.” She purred… until the tiny mage decided he was stripping too slow. Then she glared and figited, while curling against him like an eager cat, pawing at his clothes and anatomy.

Finally she turned away, spun and pounced, wriggling inside his loosened shirt, through some devious means. She squirmed and nibbled like a mad thing, while somehow stripping him from inside his laundry.

Before the big man knew what was going on, his tiny, nude mate was clinging to his neck, tongue in his mouth and clutching his member between her bare feet in a very interesting way.

“Mfflthl hrflt nerf?” He asked, ever the gentleman.

“Boy, I need you to do me, right now.” She growled, when her face pulled free of his for a moment. “Until I say stop, I want more… All of you, everywhere.”

Her hungry voice and raking nails on his shoulders, roused something fierce and wild in the giant smith. “Ives… I don’t wanna…” He muttered hoarse and low, in desperation, as he wrestled himself under control.

With a growl she bit his neck, hard. “Nuhh Uhh!” The beautiful monster around his neck demanded. “I need you Tallums, all of you, you won’t hurt me. Go on, keep singing, I’ll take my mouth somewhere else…”

#

The rest of the band picked themselves up off the lawn, feeling exhausted and warm, the feeling of finishing a major task. Above them, the house loomed even taller than usual, with peaked turrets and gables. The wall had battlements that were clearly decorative, rather than defensive. Pennants and flags waved from every peak, in a dazzling rainbow of hues.

The gate stood open and welcoming, under a fanciful arch of stone. The gatehouse and stable were a mad confection of wide windows and gingerbread decorations.

“Amy… did you mess with the house, love?” Gary asked firmly, while giggling in exhausted mirth from his place on the lawn.

“Nope.” She announced, while the evidence of her lie slowly began gathering a swarm of dancing fireflies. “I dunno what you’re talking about. I’m hungry, when’s dinner?”

The exhausted family scrounged for leftovers and quick, easy stuff in the kitchen. The resulting hodgepodge buffet of reheated stew with toasted bread, sausages and beans over biscuits, put the whole group in a strange place, mentally and physically.

Becky and Tawny put the sleepy little ones to bed without even a demand for a story, while their parents were still barely mobile. The spent duo washed up on the sofa by the fire shortly after the meal, drifting in a haze of sleepy good feelings.

The crew slowly drifted to their beds in ones and twos, until only they remained, too drowsy to get up and go to bed; too awake to sleep. Shai finally surrendered, stretching out and taking over the couch, under a blanket he summoned for her.

He ambled into the kitchen, hungry again. A bit of sliced groundworm slapped onto the griddle with some sesame oil and ginger, followed by a messy pile of cold noodle salad left over from lunch.

“Whats that?” Tallum asked from behind.

“I’ma call it yakisoba… cause nobody on this world knows what it’s supposed to taste like.” He murmured happily while drizzling a sweet, sticky soy sauce over the sizzling mess. “Hungry? Didn’t see you at dinner.”

He kept working, building his steaming pile of seared noodles and meat even higher when his friend nodded eagerly.

“Shred me some more cabbage bro, and grab some onions. Ivy getting in on this too? Get some of those leftover sandwich rolls toasting…”

A large pan appeared on the stove, which he quickly filled with some leftover golden curried chicken. While that sizzled and popped, he kept stirring, with a wooden paddle in each hand.

“What are ye doing, boys? Making mud pies?” Shai grumbled happily as she joined the work. “Let me help thee wi… whatever ye are doing here.”

“This is men’s work, sit down woman… women.” Gary snarked, with a wink and nod at the disheveled and exhausted looking Ivy, staggering over to join Shai at the bar.

Gary was dividing his seared and sizzling noodle mess into portions, while stirring in the cabbage and onions his huge friend had shredded so finely. His curry had thickened and become a stiff, lumpy mess in the pan, clinging to the bottom. “Perfect… How’s the rolls bro? Split them open, it’s sandwich time!” He sang to the big smith.

“Toasted… uhh… yeah… wait, what?” He kept working, splitting rolls open with a wooden blade. “Are we making soup sandwiches? That’s kinda crazy…” Tallum muttered. “Gods, who am I talking to…”

Gary took his tray of rolls and stepped over to the stove with an evil giggle. “Curry and yakisoba breads at midnight, in a hotspring castle inn… sexy ladies and an outdoor bath… it’s too much fanservice for just one weeb.”

Tallum ignored his nonsense, while suspiciously giving his weird creations a taste. “How does that work? Stew in a sandwich? Noodles on a roll? It’s madness. Gods, look who I‘m talking to.”

“It’s good? Really?” Ivy demanded, while her man was shoving another noodle sandwich down his maw.

“Fie… I had doubts, an will again when I do think on this in the morning, lad. It dinnae make any sense.” Shai grumbled around a mouthful of sweet bread and spicy chicken stew.

The girls headed off, Ivy back to bed, Shai to the bath. Both were giggling and shooting their men sassy looks when the last strange sandwich was gone. “We’ll join you in a minute ladies, I need Gary’s help with something first.”

Tallum took his friend by the shoulder and pulled him into the lavatory off the common room.

“Whatcha need bro?” He asked, still thinking about the bath… and the pretty redhead waiting for him there.

The big man pulled off his shirt and turned around, displaying a mass of angry red scratches and claw marks on his flanks and lower back. “Can you help me with these…I don’t want Ivy to feel…”

“Ooo, she got you good, you two doing ok bro?” The musician had his violet goo between his fingers, kneading away. “Looks like she was having fun, at least.”

The big man hung his head sadly. “She always says I won’t hurt her…” He fell silent, flushed and cranky now that his scratches were tended. He dressed, then they sat down in the common room together for a bit of brotherly talk.

“I don’t know much about women… but if a horse came back looking like that, you would kick that guy’s ass.” The musician said softly. “Why was she riding you so hard, or was it you, holding back?” The smith flushed even redder and looked away in shame.

“Brother, if she wants you, needs you… and you’re holding back… you’re cheating her and yourself. Trust her, like she trusts you, man.”

“She’s so… little.” He grumbled helplessly, dropping his face into those shovel-hands in despair.

“I feel you, I do the same thing, around little people. I feel huge when I go around with Becky, Liam and Dannyl. It must be like that all the time, for you.” He clapped a hand onto the man mountain’s shoulder.

“Ivy is gonna be my sparring partner tomorrow morning… well, this morning. You should watch her kick the ever loving hell out of me.”

He smiled winningly before going into the baths. “Then you should go fuck the hell out of her, in revenge for you fallen brother.”

#

The whole family stayed in bed until after dawn, staggering out one by one as nature called either to the privy, or the kitchen. Gary was still feeling experimental, when he found himself kitchenside.

When Luna and Khan came out he was making breakfast sandwiches on the big flat top griddle and the blazing arcane grill. Dannyl was making flatbread, stretching and grilling on one side, stacking finished naan on a linen covered tray.

Gary was grilling squash, sweet peppers and onions beside his brother, while frying a whole flock of fresh hens eggs on the griddle. Tallum had tongs in hand, loading the bread and slathering them with a yogurt, blackpepper, lemon and parsley sauce.

“Boys, they will place any old thing in some sort o bread an call it a triumph… I could deep fry an iron klinker an dust it wi coal ash sauce, served on brioche. They would all break their teeth an swear it were good.”

Luna and Ivy muttered agreement, while Becky was busy eating in the corner, pretending she didn’t hear.

“Do we still have some wallowbear bacon leftover from yesterday?” She asked, still ignoring the other women.

“Ooo, good call, people who aren’t skeptical and gender biased get first dibs.” Gary chanted, over the musical tap, tap, chime of his spatula on the flat top.

“Already on it!” Dannyl responded before he was even asked. Digging in the walk in for the bacon, he emerged with a treasure trove of odds and meaty ends. Bacon, sausages, even a few slabs of ham, both pork and monster.

Things started sizzling even more aggressively on the grill and griddle, as the boys got more serious.

#

“Probably the most frustrating part is, these are really good.” Luna grumbled to Shai and Tawny, while snagging another one. This time she hooked one with two eggs and a strip of grilled ham.

They ate in the garden sprawled on blankets, watching the sun finish rising over the trees. A few of them were looking over the house too. In daylight, even more intricate and silly details could be seen.

Flowering vines climbed towers that were too small to be anything but a novelty, ending in balconied chambers. Amy appeared in one and then another, scampering up and down spiral staircases too small for anyone larger than Becky.

In the house, rooms were in a near random order, including a strange chamber whose sunken floor was filled with bright colored balls of some strange material.

“Whae’s this for?” Shai asked, after breakfast, standing on the narrow ledge near the door.

“This? It’s a ball pit, it’s for this.” Gary said calmly, while shoving her off, with a gentle push between her shoulders.

“Gary!” She squealed, as the balls engulfed her. He and the three kids bounced in after, joining her struggling laughing, flailing form in the swirling madness.

“That does look fun…” Tallum muttered.

“Gives me other Ideas…” Ivy whispered hoarsely.

The big smith shook his head and took her by the hand, back to their rooms and sat her on the bed.

“Ives, what’s wrong? You’re wound up tighter than an old chain.” He said in that voice that rumbled her world so pleasantly.

“I think my gifts… Beast, Joy and Knowledge are doing something… I dunno, I just feel… I have a sparring match with Gary, I should be able to get some aggression out on him.” She said, while burying her face in his chest.

“Gary mentioned that, he said I should come watch…” He spoke very softly, since she was still pressed close enough to hear his heartbeat.

“He did, did he? That confident now…? I’ll see if he can swing a blade, as easily as he swings that jaw of his.” Her fierce, predatory whisper startled him a little.

“Did I scare you last night…?” Her question floated up from his collar, since she was still buried in his shirt.

“No, love, you didn’t scare me, I just wasn’t expecting…” He stalled out, slowly grinding to a halt and turning bright red in embarrassment.

“Oh… well then.” She said, suddenly a bit cold. “I’d better get kitted out, since your friend thinks he can put on a show and wants to send out invitations. I hope he remembers, I know his tricks.”

She growled a little as she shooed him off. “Scat, I gotta get ready to beat our boy like a drum.”

#