Chapter 70 Around the Crackling Fire.
There’s nothing like a campfire in the wilds.
Nothing like a chuckle of the friend you trust with your life.
Nothing like a warm soup and a wild tale.
Nothing like the howling monster in the distance.
Gather up around the fire, adventurers.
For you are only a few days away from glory.
Tonisha, the Lady of Ventures.
Leaving Sharla behind on her log, the camp is actually quite lively. Salik and Berthold’s laughter is overshadowed by Lezere's loud cackle, followed by Loyal's snort when the group calms down.
"It didn't happen like that!" Kolag protests.
"Sure did, metal man. You rolled down the hill, hit the tree and the tree fell down!"
"What was that Lezere? Start from the beginning!" I join in, eager to hear of the exploits they made during my absence.
"Ah. The twisted shaman gave us many training missions. I'll tell you another!"
"You forgot the time you ran from bees, my friend," Kolag echoes, determined not to be the target of laughter again.
"Graa that was shameful!" Lezere covers her face with her palms. The gesture is too odd for massive muscular woman.
I can tell Kolag is smiling behind his helmet. "We were out in the wilds and we stumbled upon a brown bear. Lezere charged it without hesitation. The bear turned and knocked off a beehive, we..."
"You have a metal shell, I don't have a metal shell. Bees hurt!"
"Afraid of pain now?" Kolag teases her mercilessly.
"Stop it!" Lezere covers her face. "Stop it or I challenge you, metal man!"
"You're on my friend." Kolag accepts, and the two begin to spar with their arms and legs. My heart clenches in my chest. So much I missed with these two... I wish I didn't have to run away... they kept on without me... and now...
Now I have some catching up to do... nothing's wrong with that.
"Bet you the orc wins." Berthold whispers to Salik.
Salik snorts. "I'll take you up on that. Ten scales."
"I'll take you up on that too. I'm betting on Kolag. " I join the two as we watch the fight. Lezere skillfully dodges Kolag's blows, landing a few loud hits of her own when she can. Each hit Lezere connects, leaves a deafening thud in the clearing, but Kolag shrugs these off like they're nothing.
"Smart." Salik notes. "You see kid, every time she punches him, she hits metal. Pretty sure that's adamantine armor there. It's been a while since I've seen one, so I can't be sure. She won't even make a dent. Orc or not, she'll exhaust herself first."
"Adamantine?" I ask.
"Yeah. Dwarves and gnomes dig this metal deep underground; you won't find it in any mine with an entrance on the surface," The mercenary replies. "Even a dagger made out of this stuff costs a fortune, no idea how he got his hands on a full suit of plate armor, but..."
It wasn't the armor he wore back when I knew him... "I think the hag might've given it to him," I note.
Salik nods. "Yeah, that would make sense. She should have the means to acquire an armor like that."
"How much would such an armor would cost?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.
"Honestly? No clue, I'm not a merchant." Salik scratches his shaved chin. "It depends on where you buy it of course. If you go to the mountain state of Quagamil, north of Kresh, for example. And you buy it from the dwarves yourself. You can probably get an armor like that for around half a million golden peas? You'd better pay in precious gems though, not your magical gems, just anything that's precious gems. Emeralds, Sapphires, Rubies. Dwarves like them. Anywhere else, it's going to be even more expensive..."
Five thousand magical gems' worth?! Holy venom! "Expensive..."
"Yeah... It's really expensive, it's why you don't see more of these," the merc notes.
The spar ends when Kolag kicks Lezere's shin, and she collapses in a panting heap. "Kaka! Always fun to spar with you, metal man," she says. She refuses the hand Kolag offers her, and remains on the ground, laying on her back.
"You don't know how to quit, my friend." Kolag sits near me with a huff, wrapping a hand around my shoulders.
A grumpy Berthold passes silver coins to me and Salik.
"You were betting on me?" Kolag asks, surprised.
"Of course. Did you expect me to bet on Lezere?" I lean my head on his metallic shoulder.
"I guess not... no..." his resounding voice sounds pleased.
Ryon who was chewing loudly near the fire until now, stands up in front of Lezere, eyes not moving from the half orc’s heaving chest. “Let’s snake!”
“Ha! Beat me first, kitten!” The brutish half-orc stands up and towers over him. She’s two meters tall. Ryon is smaller than me in both height and weight; he doesn’t stand a chance.
"Twenty scales on the orc." Berthold starts again.
"You're on, kid!" Salik smirks.
"I'll join this bet." Kolag echoes. "Twenty scales on Lezere."
Before I can join the bet, Ryon moves back and jumps forward with a kick toward Lezere’s abdomen.
The ebony-skinned woman catches his foot and lifts it. Ryon performs a somersault backward with a whip-like kick to Lezere’s chin. He lands on his feet. Crouching, with his right slender leg stretched to his side. He grins wildly at Lezere, tilting his head to the left.
The half-orc is stunned. Feeling her chin, she clacks her jaws and cracks her neck. “Ok, kitten! You’re…”
Ryon doesn’t wait for her to finish. He throws a powder toward her face and sends a sweeping kick to her left knee, causing her to stumble. He pushes himself past her with his hand, moving fast and close to the ground. He tugs Lezere’s long hair, making her fall back on her ass. He then locks and wraps his hands around her neck and nape in a sleeper choke. He keeps moving backward, and drags her to lay down on her back.
“I beat ya! Now we snake!” he declares.
I hold my breath, I did not see that happening. She must be exhausted from her fight with Kolag...
Lezere’s face is covered in a white powder, her brown eyes are wide open. She blinks a few times. Reaches back. Grabs Ryon’s hands, and pulls them off her neck, the muscles on her arms bulging. She releases herself from his hold by pure strength alone.
Now it’s Ryon’s turn to be shocked, he did not account for her monstrous strength.
She pulls his right hand and twists it. “Ha, you fox! I’ll break your hands!”
“Don’t break his hands Lezere, I don’t have any way to heal it.” I intervene. Maybe I should ask Ryon to teach me how to fight with my hands. Our body figure is similar, we’re both half elves, and if he managed to get that far against Lezere, then he’s damn good… and if he had my magic with that set of skills, Lezere would be dead by now…
“Yes, Chief.” She lets him go.
Ryon gets up to his feet and observes the brutish woman with a creepy grin. She takes out her alcohol flask and gulps loudly. “Imma beat ya next time! Then we snake,” Ryon declares.
Lezere wipes her mouth. “Ha! Don’t count on it, little fox! If you don’t knock me out, you won’t beat me.”
Salik passes Berthold and Kolag a handful of silver coins. “A close call there, I almost had you two.”
Berthold shakes his head. “He never stood a chance boss, look at her! I don’t think you could take her down either!”
“Never judge a vase by the décor, kid…”
“I just took her out,” Kolag says with a quiet echo.
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“Kaka metal man, you can't take me out without your armor!” Lezere protests.
“You can wear armor too, my friend.”
“I’m a wolf, not a turtle!” she gulps more of her alcohol.
A shocked silence falls onto the camp when a duplicate of Lezere joins us near the fire. “I’m a wolf, not a turtle!” she exclaims, copying Lezere’s tone and mannerisms. “Kaka metal man, you can't take me out without your armor!” she gulps from an empty flask and nods to herself.
“Errr Chief?” Lezere gives me a questioning look.
“Errr Chief?” The duplicate asks, mimicking Lezere’s exact expression.
“That’s enough, Sharla.”
The air around her blurs, and she shrinks back to her original form. Even her clothes change to the autumn leaves dress she previously wore.
“Ria’arikal.” Lezere declares in her language, a sneer etched on her dark glistening face.
Sharla wears a delicate smile. “Kra’, al ria’arikal, ria’a a’ari,” she responds. The growling language of the orcs sounds odd from someone as delicate as Sharla.
Lezere backs off from her, almost as if she had seen a ghost.
“What did she say?” I ask.
“That she’s a traitor chief, that she’ll betray the pack eventually.”
“Ria’arikal means many things,” Sharla says with a roll of her large starry eyes. “It means a shapeshifter for one. It also means a traitor or a poisonous snake, and not in the Sinteo definition of a snake… it’s also the word for chameleon and the Silio race. Orcs aren’t very adaptable to changes.”
“It means one who puts their own needs before the clan’s!” Lezere protests.
“Oh yeah, it means selfish too. That’s true.” Sharla nods sagely. “To an orc. Being selfish is a crime, and being a coward is a crime. Cowards and selfish people serve the greater good by becoming slaves to the tribe, am I wrong?”
Lezere growls. “Not slaves, sheep. What about it?!”
“I just find it weird you’d travel with...” Sharla points at Kolag with a slender finger. “…a believer of Noxi who opposes slavery to the very heart of the idea.”
“Lezere is not a slaver,” Kolag’s gets up and stands near Lezere. “She’s a friend. We’ve been through thick and thin together, and I trust her with my life.”
“And so do I!” I join in. “Something I can’t say about you, Sharla. Whatever point you’re trying to make just say it plainly without any mind games. I’m sick and tired of mind games, I’ve had enough mind games with the hag.”
Jerro puts himself between us and Sharla, his fist clenched around the head of his cane.
"Ahh don' fight guys!" Ryon inserts himself between us. "We all one gang now, one gang! If da gang fights itself it dies to da other gangs, you don't wanna die to da other gangs!"
I squint. I thought he's a redcap psychopath... why would he care? Was I wrong about him? Or is it something else? Regardless... he has a point.
Ryon's green eyes settle on me. "Why are you lookin' at me like that, Boss Lady?" Before I can respond, he slaps his forehead. "Oh! Sorry. Mah mistake, it your job to stop fights, Boss Lady, not mine. ahm gona go away now..."
"It's alright Ryon. Speak your mind when you feel the need to." If he's a redcap psychopath... he'll lower his guard enough for me to notice it... and if he's not, he shouldn't be afraid to speak his mind. This isn't a gang. I turn to Sharla. "That goes for you too. Say what's on your mind, but avoid the mind games, I've had enough of those."
“I’m sorry!” Sharla raises her hands defensively. “We’re… an odd group ok? I was just pointing it out… and I find it odd to discover a reasonable person who believes in Noxi. Every Noxite I’ve ever encountered was a diehard fanatic. And I’ve been around for a while.”
“Wait… how old are you exactly?” It never occurred to me…
“Sixty seven.”
Salik snorts and shakes his head, mumbling something intangible.
“Are you a fairy?” The fire reflects Berthold’s glittering eyes.
“Oh my!” Sharla turns to him with a squeal. “Inara. Where did you find this precious boy? You’ve got to tell me!”
Jerro grumbles but follows her around as she circles Berthold with an appreciative look. Almost as if she’s looking at a fat slice of pork.
“Ahem… err… hello lady fairy?” Berthold mumble.
She stops and faces him with her hand on his cheek. “I’m a fairy, yes, but currently I’m first and foremost a slave. I can’t roam free, I belong in my forest… do you think you could help me get back there one day?”
“Err… ummm… I hope so? Umm… yes! You have my word! I will get you to your forest one day! I promise!”
Sharla giggles and kisses his cheek. “SunaYaknash! You know that right? I’ll make sure you honor that promise. Next time don’t make promises to the fae, unless you can keep them.”
“Um… what?”
“Sharla?” I intervene. “Enough toying with the poor boy. Whatever binding you did with that promise, undo it this instant.”
She grumbles. "I can't. It's done. Fae magic doesn't work like your magic."
I cross my hands. "I don't believe you. You can undo it, and you will undo it. I don't care if you have to pay a price for undoing it, you did it, you'll undo it. Do I need to make threats?"
“Fiiine. You're such a bully.” She turns to the wide eyed Berthold. "Isn't she a bully?"
He nods meekly. "She's also a killer..." he looks at me guiltily, like he just uttered his thoughts aloud.
"Sharla..."
"Fine fine! Here!" Sharla flickers Berthold’s forehead and turns to me. “You are free from your oath SunaYaknash. There! Released. Happy?”
“Do I have to keep an eye on you?” I raise an eyebrow at her.
Salik snorts again. He shakes his head and takes a gulp from his flask.
“I’m sorry! You have a delicacy here, I couldn’t resist…” Sharla whines.
“What do you mean by that?” I frown.
She waves her hand in dismissal. “It’s complicated, and it’s getting dark, I’ll explain another time.”
“Explain now.”
“Ok ok fine. Fae… we feed emotionally? Like humans need to feel that they’re loved, or loving someone. A part of a family or a group. Humans have that need to be connected to one another, which gives them this happy together feel, right? Or orcs have the need to feel that they’re a part of a tribe, following a strong competent chief and shaman and… well you get the idea… The fae has other ways to feel happiness, and it’s usually a mortal’s emotions that feed us. Berthold has a very childish view on the fae, it turns his emotions into a delicacy, that’s all. Can we go to bed now?”
I nod with a sigh. It makes sense… he did attract all these fae to him… now I get why… “Let’s get some rest, we all need it. Lezere and Salik will take the first watch. Berthold and Jerro will take the second, Kolag and I will take the third. Good night.”
*~*~*
Interlude 70.1
Berthold.
He knew the fairies love him! That fairy just couldn’t tear herself off him when she saw him there. He is loved by the fairies, tonight is the best night of his life! Until he comes home and sees his mother and sister healed that is… if he even survives that long.
Gloomy. Let’s not ruin the mood, today is a good day. Today he met a fairy and talked to her, and he actually remembers what happened. Before he can help himself, he approaches the fairy. She leans on a tree, bathing in moonlight, her back and head arched up toward the large moon in the starry haven above. Berthold could always see the moonlight. Not everyone can see moonlight, it must be because he’s loved by the fairies… and currently, the moonlight shines between the trees right on the fairy.
“H… hello…”
The fairy smirks at him, tilting her graceful head. She has a pair of large starry eyes that can swallow him whole. A silvery key flickers in her hand for a split second, then evaporates into the moonlight beam. “Oh my. Come! Sit! Let me tell you a secret only the fae are privy to.” She gestures at a fallen tree log near her tree.
A fairy secret?! Berthold sits down, his heart drumming in his chest.
She sits besides him, delicate fingers gliding on his chest. “Do you know what fly agaric is?”
Berthold takes a deep breath and nods. He knows this poisonous mushroom.
The fairy leans closer for a whisper, her breath tickles against his ear. “Don’t tell anyone. But if you pick enough of them and plant them down in a large circle you can call one of us. But you never know which one of us will come. Some may kill you for disrupting them, or just because you’re a human. Only do that if you’re desperate for help from the fae.”
Berthold almost forget to nod, she's so close. But this is a good thing to learn.
“Of course, if you know a fae’s name, you can call them by name and the one you called will show… unless they’re busy. It won’t work for me though, I’m still too young to move around…”
“H-how old do you have to b-be?” He barely manages this question, the presence of moonlight and the fairy swallow him whole.
“Oh at least two hundred years old. But many of the fae receive the ability to move around earlier in life. Most Nugle-Kar don’t survive that long. We’re too valuable to the magi and not strong enough to survive… not to mention there are four churches who hunt for all fae… you worship Tonisha, hmm? If you want fairies to truly love you, you should stop worshiping her… Though she’s not as bad as the other three gods who hunt us down… Her adventurers are just looking for a challenge…” The fairy moves away from his ear and eyes the general direction of the sleeping knight. “The Guardian of Light and the Princess of Dreams are the worst!”
“Koshavi?” That surprises Berthold. Why would the goddess of beauty and love want such beautiful creatures dead?!
“Yes, the Princess of Dreams. Did you know that the Dreamer and Tonisha used to be fae queens? Mayan too, but she is the only major goddess who stayed true to our ways… The fae monarchs wouldn’t bow down to the Dreamer, and now she holds a grudge against all fae. Nuriss may be the Goddess of Vengeance, but the Dreamer should hold that title. She’s a vengeful little bitch. I’ve been chased by priests of the Dreamer for half of my short life, and I’ve been almost killed more than once.”
“I… I see… that… that must’ve been awful…”
“It was! You have no idea how tough life had been for me…”
“I’m s-sorry… I d-don’t… I never talked to a fairy before…”
The fairy caresses his cheek. Berthold shiver with both excitement and fear. “Oh honey… Allow me to be the first then!” She plants a sweet kiss on his lips and the world fades away.
*~*~*
Power level: 3rd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10: formed: 1 gem replenished per five minutes.
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 66
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5: formed: 6 gems. Conversion ratio: 6:1
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 18 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 9 gems
Light: Affinity 3: formed: 14 gems
Water: Affinity 6: formed: 27 gems
Earth: Affinity 1: formed: 4 gems
Wood: Affinity 2: formed: 9 gems
Gravity: Affinity 9: formed: 40/41 gems
Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword. Shavi’s Hair Dryer, Aria’s Enhanced Hearing.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame. Effrat’s Firefly, Effrat’s Fire Breath. Sorladika's Lesser Heating.
Light: Noxi’s Light, Lako’s Blinding Light.
Water: Water Evocation, Water to Ice, Ice to Water, Water to Vapor, Vapor to Water, Mayan’s Icy Spike, Ayla’s Water Jet.
Earth:
Wood:
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burst. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s lesser shield. Imari’s Minor Telekinesis. Imari’s Jump. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light Body. Alino’s Heavy Body.
Spells known:
Gravity: Alino’s weightless bodyb.
Life: Brigit’s lesser cure poison.
Focus capability: 12 patterns
Social status: Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries.
Wealth: 1854 gems. 1421 golden peas, 17 silver scales, 37 copper bits.
Items:
Magical necklace. Contain a 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keep the pouches’ content fresh.
Fresh rose petals, 22g
10 empty soul bottles. Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 4/100
Companions:
Kolag of house Befar.
Lezere of the black fang tribe.
Salik.
Berthold.
Jerro.
Sharlafyn Nettledew
Ryon
Loyal
Languages:
Toml’a
Sinteo
Myrsha
Felul
Injuries and scars: