The others left once they had told their tales, leaving me and Numen to talk about the gnolls. Jeff carefully put aside his notes on the bandits, mindful of the fact that we were waiting for him. I’d shifted the chair back, Numen and I taking a seat on either end of the couch, or bench as it were.
“Sorry.” He said. “I just need some time to…” His hands reached beneath the desk. “Put… this… away. There.” He finished. “Thanks for waiting. Uh, who wants to start?”
It didn’t take very long for us to finish, especially since there really wasn’t much to say. Jeff would often ask questions that delved into the moment, what we saw, what we were thinking. Even so, he would rein himself in, asking if we were comfortable discussing said topics.
“Thank you.” He said. “I’ve never really met any other irregulars other than Sel, and she’s not always around.” He smiled. “I’ll put it down in the records, it’ll keep me busy.”
I cocked my head, but took my leave alongside Numen. He snuffed the candles, and as we left the building I heard him enter his room. “Huh, curious.” I said. They seem to do the same as the monks back in medieval times, though I couldn’t tell you when the records were started and when history became a historian’s job.
I winced, coughing as a bone shard shifted in my chest. I barely kept myself from reflexively bending over. Numen looked to me, concerned. “How badly are you hurt?” She asked.
“Ribs cracked.” I said, not mentioning the bone shard, by tomorrow it would be broken down by the nanomachines, it was a non-issue.
[Also, you don’t want to talk about how you are weaker than they are, skilled only as a consequence of having less to work with.] Page continued. I ignored it, though the comment stung. I didn’t like how it implied an inferiority complex.
“If you’re hurt you could take a rest.” She said. “It would be bad for you to die because you didn’t give yourself enough rest.” She looked to me, concerned. I shook my head firmly, refusing.
“If I did that I’d be resting all the time.” I replied, sighing. “I can handle this. Trust me.” I heal faster and my armour dealt with most other things. Hell, I was only hurt because the armour was reduced to disguise me. I breathed smaller, shallow breaths, to keep from aggravating the break.
It was quiet when we returned, no lights on the street or in the windows. Candles were expensive after all. We made our way up the creaky steps, and parted ways for our rooms. The door opened with a creak as I entered, and I lay myself on the bed after closing it behind me. I should’ve predicted that there would be captives. I thought. Dammit.
[Casualties are generally unavoidable in such situations.] Page remarked. [You know this.]
Generally. I replied. But they can be planned for, minimized. I didn’t even plan for them. I shook my head and sighed, wincing a little. I should sleep. I thought to myself. It was a mistake, but I couldn’t let myself wallow in self-gratifying pity, I couldn’t afford to be at less than my best while we had so much to do. I won’t let people die because I couldn’t give my all.
I stepped lightly down the stairs, two days here had told me all I needed about the steps that creaked. Frejr and Qent were downstairs, Qent waved to me, gesturing for me to come closer. “The Tower came to find us this morning, they have a job for us.” He said. I arched an eyebrow. “We’ll tell you all about it after Numen comes out.”
While we waited I took some bread for breakfast, practicing my Delving to view the room. Magic was everywhere, or rather the mana was, it permeated the surroundings, and where I was, which wasn’t really surprising, I had no soul to displace it. Frejr’s armour drew it in, as did her sword and something hidden in Qent’s robes.
I turned to look to Sel and Numen’s room, two souls were there, from the way they were it seemed they were standing. Different colours swirled into prominence, sometimes fire, sometimes water. Probably a response to their thoughts, so I’m supposed to be able to read personalities and intentions from this? I wondered. Hmm, even if I try now it’s never going to be an exact science.
They came out soon after, I watched them for a bit with my eyes, my head not shifting as I did so, and stopped Delving once they started down the stairs. Their steps caused Qent to perk up, Frejr stood up from her position against the wall. “What took you?” She asked, favouring Numen with her gaze. Numen smiled weakly, her head bowed and sheepish.
“Sorry, lost track of the time.” She said. “So what’re we doing next?” She said, looking slightly askance of Frejr’s gaze. Frejr smiled herself, a rare sight, and shook her head.
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“Come, we’ll talk about it once we are outside.” She replied. Sel waved us off, she had her own things to do and places to go. We said our farewells, then moved to a less crowded area.
“One of the Tower’s warehouse for magical artefacts was broken into, and said magical artefacts stolen. Most of them are harmless, if pricy, but some are inherently dangerous to those who use them.” Frejr explained. “They would like to ask us to retrieve the artefacts.”
Qent continued. “Well, they say that in return they’ll provide some political support for the movement, which really doesn’t mean much. They’re also talking about arranging a few apprentices like me to help us.”
“Aren’t there already mages among the irregulars?” I asked, grimacing internally as I realized I really should know this.
“Well, you’re not wrong…” Qent said. “The Tower is a place of formal instruction though, but it also binds people who learn there to serve in the army of their respective nations. For life.” He grimaced. “The ones you know either learned on their own or came from a part of the world where it isn’t as regulated, like the elven cities, or the far North.”
“The Tower restricts knowledge on magic to themselves, but they also like to take knowledge of magic from other races and people, preferably without giving anything.” Frejr notes. “They’re very pragmatic in their pursuit of their goals, which are to regulate the use of magic, though other institutions also rival them, some act differently, but the Tower has indisputable power.”
“The group is further to the north, another bandit company, though a lot more organized and entrenched. First we should get Rince, and while we’re at it the wyvern needs to be defeated.” Qent noted. I nodded, thinking back to the last fight with the wyvern.
“I’ll need to get a different weapon then.” I said. “My sword will just glance off most parts of the creature.”
Numen nodded. “I’ll need to get some different arrows as well. Maybe a few magical ones as well.” She said thoughtfully. “Those will be pricey…” She grumbled.
Frejr gave me a nod, and I went off to find the blacksmith. The one here in Lrash was less robust compared to the one in Soren, but I couldn’t afford to go anywhere else. You think we even have enough for one that we’ll need?
[Probably, what we were paid for the bandits was not insubstantial, if we cannot, we could always pilfer a spear from what we retrieved from the bandits themselves.] Page remarked. I nodded, I’d kept the spear I’d used from the fight, though it didn’t seem like it’d be very useful.
The blacksmith looked up at me as I entered, grunting. “What?” He asked.
“Looking for a pick.” I said. “Going after a wyvern, need something that will penetrate.”
His eyes settled on my armour for a moment, and he frowned at the request. Pacing for a bit he headed to the back of the shop. Some jangling was heard, and he came out with what looked like a long hammer. I arched an eyebrow and he placed it on the table. “Spike.” He gestured to the back.
I hefted the hammer, it was a decent weight, not too heavy for me to swing effectively, at least I wouldn’t need to learn a completely new style of combat. Even if I’d be using rudimentary strikes with it only. The spike was the length of my index finger, it would penetrate, but there were only a select few places where that would be a grievous injury. I fingered the head, thinking.
“I’ll take it.” I replied. “How much?”
The price was reasonable, if somewhat high. I sighed inwardly. At least I still have some brass siqs. I thought to myself. I’d just holster it besides my sword, at least it was a simple modification.
Qent told Numen of common wyvern lairs, whilst Numen tracked down the beast. The fort was now infested with scavengers and opportunists, occasionally we’d hear snarls and calls from it. The wyvern would be resting in its lair, having taken more corpses while we were gone, it would likely be digesting its meal, like a snake.
Numen led from the front, sussing out tracks while I watched. Frejr and Qent hung back, trying to keep from making too much noise as we made our way. It wasn’t too difficult considering the pace of Numen’s tracking, it was a slow process, even in the light. On the bright side, the creature left a very obvious trail, plants pushed aside and furrows left in occasion.
A chittering accompanied the spider that leapt onto Frejr, who used her arm to stop its fangs, and threw it off her. Qent leapt back violently, sprawling himself against the ground. I spun, arrow nocked and ready. The arrow grazed the creature’s leg, fired too quickly to be accurate. It bled, spurting fluids at a steady pace. The spider screeched, and Frejr brought her greatsword down upon it, causing it to explode from the breach in its exoskeleton.
Frejr gave no indication of displeasure at being sprayed with haemolymph, Qent himself had been shielded by Frejr, and so was mostly dry, while me and Numen had been too far away. Frejr knelt down and dug out the spider’s poison gland, then motioned for us to continue.
I retrieved my arrow and caught up to Numen. The burrow where the wyvern had made its nest was not very well hidden, loose earth surrounded in and plants had been uprooted. From above it would be hidden by the canopy, but here on the ground it was plain for any to find. Not surprising, it was one of the more dangerous landbound predators. Others like it would avoid each other, if only because it wasn’t worth the pain and energy.
Frejr pulled something from a pouch, holding it out to Qent. He in turn set fire to it, and Frejr tossed it into the burrow itself, smoke trailing from the object.
Frejr motioned for Numen and Qent to step back, while I pulled the hammer from my side and engaged my shield. A roar pierced my ear as the wyvern bounded out, Frejr moved forward to meet it, and they met with a crash. I stepped forward as they clashed, driving the spike downwards into its back. It swung and I dodged, wincing as the movement aggravated my chest. Frejr brought the greatsword down onto the wyvern’s head, cowing it as I caught its tail against my shield.
Several arrows drove themselves into the creature’s side, non-magical, just bodkin arrows. Its body arched with a pained hiss as it swiped at Frejr, knocking her back midswing. It turned, trying to dart away, but Qent had sunk it into the earth with magic, and I drove the spike down into it’s skull, twice.