When Bowen stepped forward and started to remove his glove, the group around us gripped their weapons tightly. For a brief second I thought they were going to attack. That would have been quite inauspicious after all the effort we had spent finding them in the first place. I am certain that they suspected some sort of trick. If it came down to us or them, though, I would do everything I could to make certain that it was us walking away, even if it would severely pain me in the aftermath.
They didn’t immediately attack, though. That was promising after out rocky start. I heard Bethany gasp as she caught a glimpse of Bowen’s hand. The people surrounding us were far more stoic. I didn’t know whether it was because they couldn’t believe what they were seeing or they suspected some sort of trick. My mental question was answered, though, when Segerick spoke.
“What sort of trickery is this?” he said.
“Oh, its no trickery,” I said. “Aleyda, care to demonstrate as well?”
She pulled off her left gauntlet and started wriggling her hand. This elicited another soft sound of surprise from Bethany, but it appeared our hosts still weren’t fully convinced. What in the hell was it going to take? I was starting to lose patience. I could admire a certain degree of stubbornness but this was starting to become absurd.
“What about you?” Segerick asked.
“Oh, I’m just like the rest of you, but my appearance is cloaked with magic,” I replied. Then, I pulled off my glove and removed my ring. Nothing we had done before had produced much of a reaction but that certainly did. In one fell swoop, I reverted from six-fingered Dakota Brown to five-fingered me. That caused a few of the people surrounding us to take an unintended hop backwards. That was fine by me. If they had to wonder what other tricks I had up my sleeve it might stop them from doing something we all would regret.
“How do we know your original from isn’t the real one and this one is just an illusion?” Segerick blurted out.
“You don’t,” I said. “But you are sorely testing my patience here. You either need to shit or get off the pot. If we are going to fight, let’s get it over with. If we are going to sit down and have a serious discussion, let’s get on with that. Caution is good, and I’m in this to make a better life for as many five-fingered humans as I can, but I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that you are starting to piss me off.”
“One moment,” Segerick said, and then he retreated to huddle up with a couple of the people from his group. Turning, I winked and Bethany who was staring at me flabbergasted. Then I formed my own little huddle with Aleyda and Bowen.
“If this comes down to a fight we need to attack decisively and rout them,” I said. “I think if we take care of a few of them immediately, they others will break. If things turn violent, Aleyda I want you to take out Segerick as quickly as you can. Bowen and I will watch your back. I think most of these people are like I was when I reached this world. They have no idea how to fight effectively.”
“Ten seconds,” Aleyda said. “I think if you can keep them off of me for that long the fight will be over. He doesn’t look like he has any clue about how to hold a sword, much less swing one.”
“Come on, you can do better than that,” I said with a smirk. “Are you slipping?”
She punched me in the shoulder. Getting hit by her gauntlet hurt. I stood there for a few seconds rubbing my arm but I didn’t say anything. I deserved it.
There was quite an animated discussion taking place in the opposing huddle. They were trying to keep their voices down, but weren’t always successful. It was clear that they were still worried that I was scamming them. Finally, I decided to up the pressure a little.
“Your days of idyllic living up high on the mountain are rapidly coming to an end. A pair of armies have started vying to take over the island. One of them intends to build a magical portal to link with a military base on the mainland. When that happens, I expect you will have to contend with well equipped military expeditionary forces. I doubt things will go very well for you then.”
“Idyllic living?” one of the people guarding our backtrail scoffed. “Have you encountered what passes for the local wildlife around here?”
“Several times,” I replied. “We won, they lost.”
“Oh, really? What did you fight, some rabbits and squirrels?”
“First there were three, five foot tall, nasty birds. That’s how we met Bethany. Then, we killed a larger group of six-fingered, which is how we saved Sawwar over there from bondage. We killed some cats and I am carrying their pelts. We fought and defeated a couple of ugly ten foot long lizards. We ran away from a wolverine because that seemed prudent. Finally, we killed a large bear. Unless those are what you consider to be rabbits and squirrels, then no, that’s not what we fought.”
“Oh, there’s worse than that up here on the mountain,” he replied.
“Hey, we could only fight what we encountered,” I said. “Why don’t you tell me all the nasty things you have slain, oh great hunter? Sawwar told me you lose people all the time.”
This was degenerating into a junior high pissing match, which had not at all been my intent. I am human, though, and there was something extremely grating about how we were being treated. Like anyone else, I have a temper. While my fuse is pretty long, it had just about burned itself out. Minutes continued to pass and finally I had enough.
“Alright, this is going nowhere,” I said. “You are so full of misgivings that you can’t recognize when a good thing has landed in your lap. We’re going back down the mountain to find others that are willing to accept an offer of help, an offer of a better life. Sawwar, you can either stay or come with us. The same for you, Bethany. If you are going to try to stop us, let’s get to it. I suspect that at the end of the day, we will be the ones still standing and you will be cooling down to ambient temperature at the side of the trail. I’ve lost track of how many times I have had to fight for my life since I arrived in this world.”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“I’m going with you,” Bethany blurted out. Sawwar looked more conflicted. Frankly, I didn’t much care how he resolved the conflict. Leaving these people alive opened us up to a greater risk of discovery but I was so damn sick of being here and watching them flap their gums that at that moment I didn’t care. I found that I didn’t have it in me to kill them all just to protect our secret. That would definitely change, though, if they attacked us.
So, we turned and started trudging back down the trail. The loudmouth that I had previously been conversing with stepped forward and said “Segerick hasn’t given you permission to leave yet.”
“Segerick doesn’t control me,” I said, drawing my sword. “And the lot of you can go fuck yourselves if you think you can stop us. If you all are spoiling for a fight, let’s get it done so I can get on with my day.”
I headed down the trail headed directly towards the idiot. He had an ugly look on his face but the other four people around him looked much less sure of themselves. When I got within striking range, he pulled back his club in an exaggerated manner like he was about to swing for the fences, so I bounded forward quickly and punched him in the face with the hilt of my sword. Apparently, he was better at talk than at action because he crumbled to the ground. I then dropped the tip of my sword to his neck and glanced around at the other people in front of me, trusting that Aleyda and Bowen had my back.
“Anyone else have an objection?” I growled out to the people in front of me. It appeared nobody else did as they stepped off the trail to allow us to pass.
“I am so sick of this might makes right crap, but if its the only language you understand then you need to realize that this world has taught me to be pretty fluent,” I said.
“Wait a second, don’t be hasty,” Segerick called down from above us.
“Hasty?” I responded. “We have been standing on this mountain for half an hour watching you chat with each other. No matter how long you talk, though, nothing is going to change. You either accept our explanation, which we haven’t even had a chance to give, or you don’t. I didn’t come up here to get in a fight with anyone. I came up here to offer help. Either you are in love with the small bit of power that you’ve gained here and don’t want to see that threatened, or you’re so damn paranoid that you can’t believe your own eyes. Either way, this was not the welcome I was expecting. That’s fine, I guess. You be you. But your dictatorial tendencies don’t apply to me or my people. And, as I have said numerous times, if you try to force things you are not going to be happy with the result.”
“Can I get up?” the man at my feet asked.
“Not yet,” I replied. “If things turns into a fight someone has to be the first to die. That would be you.”
He could only muster a little whimper in response.
“Dictatorial?” Segerick said. “I’m not trying to be a dictator.”
“That’s funny,” I replied. “The first thing you told me was that I was not free to speak. Then your man here threatened me when you had not given us permission to leave. What does that sound like to you? It sounds like a man grasping for control to me.”
“I’m just responsible for so many people,” he said. “The pressure . . .”
“What’s hearing us out cost you? Nothing. It costs you nothing at all. If you don’t believe us, we can still fight when this is all over. Although I do have to say that if I see any of you trotting off to get reinforcements, the fight will start at that moment.” Gesturing to the man at my feet, I continued. “If this is an example of the might of your warriors, the fight won’t last very long.”
“Alright, if you will let my man up, you can have your say.” he said.
Withdrawing my sword, I looked at the man at my feet. “Remember how fast you got there,” I told him. “Next time I will be using the cutting edge.” Then, I reached down and helped him to his feet. He bolted up the trail to Segerick’s group, not even bothering to grab his club.
Looking at his companions, I asked them to rejoin the rest of their group. They happily complied. Then, I turned and looked Segerick directly in the eye for a few seconds before I began talking.
“My name is James Smith,” I said as I began outlining my story. I told them how I reached this world and about my trials and tribulations and growing pains. I let them know I was once like them, absolutely overmatched by this world. I talked about my lucky breaks along the way including acquiring wealth and essence crystals at the resource camp. I let them know I had been taken advantage of, abused, and had fought for my life. They heard about the focus of my life changing one day when I saw a bunch of slaves being marched out of Shroud Hallow. They learned about the subsequent auction, our arduous journey to Greynard and the home that we had built. I talked about the bandits and how we had lost one of our own in the fighting. And finally, I discussed how we got here to the island, and what I was trying to accomplish by traveling here. For all their earlier bluster, they were good listeners. They asked for clarification from time to time but otherwise I didn’t have to deal with very many interruptions. “Any questions?” I asked as my story wound down.
“You honestly aren’t proposing that we all head back with you with a third of us heading into captivity, are you?” Segerick asked.
“No, that was the old plan. It’s a horrible deal but it is the best one I could find. I justified it by thinking saving some was better than saving none. I originally anticipated adding a few people to our community. Probably no more than three or four. Knowing how many of you there are, though, has changed my thinking. I need to find a way to charter a ship to get you all off this island. The only way I can fund that, unless you have a ton of resources stockpiled somewhere for me to sell, will be to find a place out in the canyonlands that I know holds quite a bit of wealth and plunder it. All this will take time, but time is not something we are exactly full of here. What I said was not a lie. Governments are moving in. The best case scenario is I show back up with a ship in five or six months. There is no way I can accommodate another twenty five people at the farm. It would raise too many questions. So, we would need someplace to take you all. I have heard that some of the countries that border the inner sea do not practice slavery. Maybe we could settle you there. The best that I can offer you is the life of a poor immigrant. It’s still better than slavery or being eaten by the local monstrous wildlife while you are out hunting. I wish I had something more to give, but my wealth is not limitless.”
Then, we sat there as my audience conferred with each other. It took quite awhile and there was quite a lot of argument, harsh words and raised voices. Finally, Segerick spoke.
“Everyone will have to make their own decisions, but honestly I don’t think we can last long here on our own. We lose people every week. They go off to hunt or gather and we never see them again. I am not sure that’s very sustainable long term. We have harvested some resources that we would be glad to donate if you think that would help..”
“If those resources allow me to buy my way out of having to leave a slave for the company, I think they will help. I still intend to take a few people off the island when I leave.”
“Alright, let’s go talk to the others,” he said. Then, he stood and led us towards the cave that they were sheltering in. They seemed amenable to what I was offering but I had been tricked many times before. I hoped I was not leading us all into an ambush with overwhelming numbers.