Alix was three days out of Galdea when he finally reached the place. The morning after his meeting with Javin, he had quickly found a weapons shop, nothing as fancy as the places he had shopped at before, and made some purchased. The first was a new sword, one suitable for a beginner adventurer that wouldn’t draw any attention. He had thought about having the dark elves craft him one from their new alloy, but he decided to leave that for another time. He outfitted himself with a short sword instead. It wasn’t anything special, but it was well made and the freshly worked leather scabbard hanging at his waist at least made him look slightly professional.

As the Sixfold Sanctum had taken on the job, he usually wouldn’t have been allowed to have access to the details, but Evory was able to be persuaded that just this once, it was necessary. It still amused Alix how seriously she took the job, following at least the majority of the rules to the letter. He marked on his map the location where the ship was said to be and set off early, hoping to beat the young party there. He would feel bad if they missed out on the reward, but it was for their own good that they didn’t see what was there, assuming there was anything to see in the first place. If he found the place to be empty, he would leave them to explore it as much as they liked, no harm done.

As he walked, he studied his map, and saw clearly that the location of the shipwreck was miles away from Mortlake. If it was indeed the Ghost’s ship, it was miraculous that it had ended up so far away. Alix couldn’t understand how it hadn’t sunk straight away. His instructions to the men had been clear and they couldn’t have refused them. He had heard the explosion himself. It had to be another ship, but he still had to check it out.

The location was far to the west of Mortlake and Galdea, in an area known as the Ekaiza Marshes. It was hard to tell from his maps but he thought it looked like it was a place where the furthest reaches of the poisoned waters of Mortlake and an offshoot of the tainted waters of the Dreadloch pooled in a lowland area, surrounded on most sides by inhospitable rising crags. If the job hadn’t been ranked so high because of the potential criminal activity involved then it would have warranted it from the landscape alone. It was utterly miserable. He hoped there would be nothing to see there so that he could get back to solid, dry ground as soon as possible.

A rough animal path led up through the steep peaks surrounding the Ekaiza Marshes. Even if the Sixfold Sanctum managed to make it here, he doubted Weiss would be able to make the arduous climb with his large, unwieldy armour. Alix tried not to look down as he climbed, but soon the ground was hidden from sight as thick fog rolled in. Several times he thought he saw dark shadows pass through the fog around him, but as long as nothing came out of it at him, he was content to just ignore it and keep going.

Alix knew he was close when the smell from the marshes hit him. The dank smell of stagnant water and rot was overlayed with an acrid metallic scent that burned at his nose and eyes. He quickly checked his stats but there didn’t seem to be anything dangerous in the air. Just as he was about to take a fortifying potion, a scream rent the air, echoing wildly around the craggy peaks.

Damn kids!

They were the only ones that could be there. It sounded like one of the girls was in trouble. Alix picked up his pace, moving as fast as he could without tripping along the barely perceptible paths.

The buggers must have marched through the night!

Alix reached the bottom of the slope after a few dodgy moments, almost falling over a drop hidden in the fog several times. The slope led straight onto soggy marshland, which looked identical in every direction. Another cry echoed through the fog, and this time he could hear more shouting from the other men. It sounded like they were fighting. He took off in their direction, trying to keep his feet as dry as possible but after only a few steps he was already soaked to the knees.

The hulking ruin of the ship appeared out of the thick mists a few moments later, like the beached corpse of a deep sea creature, skeletal ribs beginning to show through peeling skin. He almost ran right over the top of Millie in his haste to reach it. She was lying on the ground as if she had collapsed. Alix quickly dropped down to check on her. She didn’t appear to be wounded at all, but she didn’t respond to his presence. Instead she kept staring straight at the rotting mass of splintered timbers a short distance away.

It only took Alix a moment to recognise the ship. It was definitely the same one from Mortlake. He had noticed debris higher up the slope, which told him that the marshes were in a way tidal, or it had recently had a major flood. It would explain how the ship had ended up on land. He hoped the waters wouldn’t suddenly return until he could get back up to higher ground.

“Millie, what the hell happened?” Alix asked, shaking the girl to try and get a response. She lifted her hand weakly, pointing in the direction of the ship where the sounds of fighting could still be heard.

Alix left Millie’s side and ran towards the ship, deciding the others probably needed his help more from the sounds of things. The ship looked way more intact than he was expecting, especially considering the last command he had given and the sound of the explosion he had heard. He had been certain that the ship had been blown to pieces, burned up and sunk.

“How is this ship here?” Alix asked out loud, only half to himself.

“The waters of Mortlake are toxic. You didn’t notice how the ship floated higher above the waters than usual? It is generous calling the lake water in the first place, it is more chemicals. It seems the increased buoyancy of the ship in the lake stopped it from sinking and the chemicals in the water preserved it.”

“If they preserved the boat then they probably preserved what’s inside as well,” Alix said, although his mind was more focussed on what they were fighting inside the wreck.

A large hole in the side of the ship afforded him a quick entrance, likely the damage done by the explosion. The keel of the ship was missing around the hole, but somehow it had managed to remain afloat. He had expected to be hit by the stench of death but the hold just smelled damp and mouldy. He could make out white lumps he tried not to look too hard at, but everywhere he turned there was more of them. What remained of the bodies of the Ghosts were piled in every corner, pressed against the ribs and littering the floor. Half of them had been picked clean to the bone, while the exposed remaining skin of the others held a waxy hue. White shards of splintered bone pincushioned the inside of the ship.

Large cages lay haphazardly around the hold among the corpses, the ones that had at one time been destined to hold the captive Ringtails. Now they held what looked like giant nests.

The sound of fighting continued to echo from somewhere else in the ship. Alix looked around and spotted a ladder hanging at an angle that led up to gun deck. He made his way over to the ladder with more than a little difficulty. The entire surface beneath him was slimy or littered with preserved remains, that turned to mush at the slightest touch. Footprints crushed into the bodies told him he was going the right way. What had possessed them to go further into the ship?

In the darkness of the far reaches of the hold Alix could just make out small barrels scattered all over the floor. Text hovering above the closest ones read Gunpowder Barrel. Before he could grab any, the yelling above intensified and he turned back to the ladder. The ladders rope railing was thankfully still intact which allowed him to drag himself up the steps. He found the gun deck in chaos.

In the low light, it was hard to understand what he was seeing. The rest of the Sixfold Sanctum (Celeste, Bjorn, and Guillem), were crowded around the hole while Weiss was wildly swinging around a morning star, trying to knock away a flock of giant birds that swarmed in the air above him, while at the same time trying not to get his weapon stuck in the low ceiling. Alix was impressed the heavily armoured Weiss had managed to make it up the stairs.

“What is going on here?” Alix shouted into the fury of wings and feathers. Celeste, Archer class, jumped at his sudden arrival, but like Millie she seemed shocked into silence.

“Terrons!” Bjorn yelled above the screaming birds. The ring revealed his class as Berserker, but at that moment he looked terrified. The ship was filled with oddly metallic sounds, as if the birds were wielding swords and striking back at Weiss. “They got Faisal!” he said, pointing at a prone form Alix had missed lying at Weiss’ feet. The amount of blood pooled around him didn’t look good.

“Can you help?” Guillem, an Adventurer class like Alix, asked in a quiet voice, staring at him with wide eyes.

What are Terrons? Alix asked the ring, the name sounding familiar for some reason. They looked like normal herons to him, if slightly larger, and a lot more aggressive.

They are very bad news. You need to get them all out of here, now. There is nothing they can do.

“I can only help if you, Celeste, and Bjorn out of here, right now,” Alix replied to Guillem. It looked like they had all completely lost the ability to think for themselves. “Grab Millie and get as far away from this place as you can.”

“What about Faisal and Weiss? We need to help them,” the young man said, turning back towards the battle continuing down the gun deck.

Alix grabbed Guillem by the arm and dragged him back, and then slapped him full across the face. “If you don’t get out of here now I will throw you out myself.”

Guillem finally seemed to find sense as his hand went to his stinging face.

“What are you going to do?” Bjorn asked. He at least had heard sense and was about to head down the ladder.

“There’s enough gunpowder left in this ship to destroy it completely. It will be too much of a hazard if it gets washed away again into a busier river. I will get rid of it here, and deal with these terrons while I’m at it.”

“But we won’t get the reward if-”

“Will you boys stop thinking about nothing but money!” Celeste screamed, surprising them all. “Faisal is dead and it’s all because of his own stupidity and greed. I’m not going to risk my own life as well.” Celeste pushed past Bjorn and Guillem as they stood around stupidly, descending the ladder with a swift jump.

At seeing one of their own flee, Bjorn and Guillem finally saw sense and abandoned the ship as well. That left Alix to get Weiss out. The ring told him that Faisal was already dead.

Alix drew his short sword, hoping it wouldn’t be entirely useless against the vicious birds. He longed to draw Xilian and don Primal Ruin but he couldn’t risk Weiss or the others seeing them. The only part of Primal Ruin he allowed himself to wear were the gauntlets, which looked close enough to black leather gloves that he could get away with wearing them without drawing attention to their true nature.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

He took one last precaution. He pulled a potion from his inventory one of the dozens of experiments he had crafted in an attempt to find new and interesting things to sell to Javin. Unfortunately Javin had said that the potions were too good. Some were so rare that only kings or the richest of lords could possibly afford to possess them, and that wasn’t something he could explain selling in his shop.

Alix downed the Iron Skin potion, which left a horrible metallic taste at the back of his throat, and instantly made his tongue feel like a lead weight. Whatever the terrons had done to Faisal, he didn’t want the same happening to him.

Up until then, the terrons had kept their attention on Weiss, but as soon as Alix took a few steps closer, the swarm broke and dived on him as well. Alix swung his sword at the first attacking bird, but his blade bounced harmlessly off of its feathers.

“What the fu-“ Before Alix could finish his curse another terron swooped down at him, landed on his shoulders and began to peck violently at every part of exposed flesh. As the beak hit his spell-protected skin, there was a metallic sound. Are these birds made of metal somehow?

The terron showed no sign of giving up its attack, even as his skin continued to resist its hits. They still hurt, but so far the terron wasn’t able to puncture him. Alix wondered if this is what had happened to Faisal. The chinks in his armour wouldn’t have been any protection against the knife like terron beaks. He shook off the terron and ran as quick as he could over to Weiss, who continued to stand guard over Faisal’s body.

“Weiss! You have to get out of here!” Alix yelled. His armour seemed to be holding up well to the terron’s attacks, but it was badly scratched and dented all over. It was only a matter of time before they managed to get through his defences and attack the unprotected areas around his head.

“Help me with Faisal!” Weiss shouted, batting away another terron.

Up close, Alix could see just how badly wounded Faisal was. His body was covered in holes. The snapped off beak of a terron was lodged in his chest, likely the killing blow that had pierced his heart. .

“He’s already gone! We have to get out of here!”

“What? No, we need to get him to a healer.”

“There’s nothing in Galdea that can heal these wounds! He’s dead, Weiss!” Alix felt bad saying the words, especially when he saw Weiss’ tears and the anguished look on his face. He already knew there was nothing he could do for his friend, he just didn’t want to admit it. “Unless you want to end up the same way, get out of here! Everyone else has already gone.”

Weiss smashed his morning star over the head of another swooping terron, the air all around them a whirlwind of flying swords. The terron was slammed to the deck, but the attack didn’t seem to faze it at all. It shook its head and then began to advance on them again, taking sharp jabs at the air with its metallic beak. Weiss roared, and then charged off down the gun deck. Before Alix could ask him what he was doing, he jumped through a rotten gunport and disappeared into the fog outside.

With Weiss gone, the terrons turned their full attention on Alix. He worked quickly then, alternating between carving the wood beneath his feet and swinging his sword above his head. He carved the glyphs for fire and wind, then a delayed trigger. Once complete the spell circle looked awfully crude, but he thought it would do. It was a basic form of the Firestorm spell, which he felt would be over the top for his needs. The others could still be right outside. He still needed to give them time to escape.

Once done, he braced himself, then bent down to pick up Faisal’s limp form, the blood soaking his clothes making him difficult to hold securely. As soon as his back was turned the terrons dived on him, stabbing and pecking him all over. He could feel his clothes shredding under the assault, but his skin still held up, as did his gloves. With Faisal in his arms, he took inspiration from Weiss and ran for a hole where a gunport had once been and jumped out. He chose one on the opposite side of the ship as the others had taken. He didn’t want them to see what he was going to do.

Alix landed a pile of soft but stinking moss, got to his feet as quickly as he could and dragged Faisal’s body away from the ship. He counted the seconds in his head. Ten, nine, eight, seven…

There was barely anything for him to find cover behind in the marshes so he found a particularly large growth of moss and pressed himself into the ground. Three, two, one.

Wind rushed towards the ship and then the air filled with violent crackling, followed by shrill cries from within. Alix didn’t look but within seconds he could feel the heat coming from the other side of his hiding spot. He hoped the others had managed to get to safety. If they hadn’t started running before, they would be running now.

As the fiery tempest within the ship quickly spread, the air itself burning, the flames found the gunpowder stash and exploded with a boom that shook the earth. The cries were suddenly cut off and the echo was quickly dampened by the dense fog.

His notification bell went, telling him he had unlocked a new title and levelled up.

Title Unlocked: Ferocious Hunter. Increased damage against Beasts.

Reached Lv. 28.

Finally, his level exceeded his age, although he had expected it to be a lot harder to break that barrier. What was so special about the terrons that they had provided him with so much experience? Once again he wondered why the name was so familiar, but his thoughts were interrupted by a deluge of blades that began to rain from the sky. They bounced harmlessly off his strengthened skin, but some found their mark in Faisal’s body.

“It’s not your lucky day, Faisal,” Alix said as he bent down to pick out the terron beaks. “Actually, this is probably the luckiest day you have ever had, although I doubt you will see it that way.” Then he gathered up Faisal’s body and headed off into the fog before the others returned to see what had happened to the ship.

Alix didn’t stop until he found a flat spot a short climb up the mountainside. He was worried the rest of the party would come back looking for him and he didn’t want them seeing what he was about to do. He laid Faisal’s body down on the ground and then checked him over to see if was impaled with anything else, but it looked like he had managed to find all the terron beaks.

Once he was ready, he cast Revive on the prone form. Green light lit up the surrounding fog, which Alix cursed himself for forgetting would happen. He should have waited until he was in a more secluded area.

When nothing happened, Alix thought the spell had been a failure. Faisal’s wounds were too great and he would have to try something else. So far he had been unable to find the ingredients for a revival potion. He would have to ask Javin if he knew what they were and where to get them.

Suddenly Faisal took a ragged breath and then a coughing fit overtook him. Then he jumped to his feet and swung his arms around his head, as if trying to bat away phantom terrons. Then he collapsed to the ground again, the loss of blood still affecting him. He looked around in confusion, seeing nothing but Alix and the thick fog.

“What’s going on?” Faisal said through weak breaths, as if the holes in his lungs hadn’t quite fully healed yet.

“Ok, listen to me Faisal. This is going to be difficult but I need you to stay calm. You were attacked by terrons, remember? You died, but I managed to bring you back,” Alix explained as calmly as he could. He wanted to ask Faisal what had happened, what he could remember, but he thought it best to wait until another time to hear the whole story. He needed to get Faisal away from here. The others couldn’t see him.

“I died? But I feel fine. Did you give me a potion or something?”

“Not exactly. I don’t have any potion that could have cured the wounds you suffered.” Alix took out the terron beak from his pocket that he had retrieved from Faisal’s body and handed it over. “This was lodged in your heart. I had to use a revivification spell to save you.”

“This is a terron beak,” Faisal said as he examined it. “They are worth a fortune…wait, revivification? That’s impossible. It’s rumoured only the highest ranked members of the Church, or the Sorcerer Supreme of the Magician’s Guild, have access to such spells and it is obvious that you are neither of those. Aren’t you the one that just joined the guild? If you are done playing jokes, I think I should go and find my party now.”

Faisal tried to get to his feet, but the exertion was too much and he fell back down again.

“I’m afraid you can’t go back to your party. They saw you die, saw the wounds you suffered. How would you explain your recovery? They knew I was there, and I’m can’t let you expose me. Even if you tried to lie, Weiss’ Anointed Reliquaries would make you feel excruciating pain in their presence.”

“Why? Those trinkets only work on the undead. I feel like death, but I am very much alive.”

“It’s not that they work on the undead, but on anything touched by the magic of Necromancy, as one cannot exist without the other. Unfortunately, that’s what I had to use to save you, which is what the reliquaries would reveal.”

Faisal’s face lost its last touch of colour. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Here, take this,” Alix said, pulling a tonic from his inventory.

“Keep your filthy sorcery away from me. Who knows what else you will try to drug me with,” Faisal said, pushing away the offered vial. “I’m going to report you to the guild for coming here to steal our bounty, as that’s obviously what’s going on here. You drugged me somehow and intend to rob me.”

“If I was trying to hurt you I would have just left you dead.”

“Better if you had. Where am I supposed to go now? I can’t return to Galdea with this taint on me. I don’t even have the strength to get up. Just leave me to die here.”

“I don’t have time for this, Faisal. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to cast another spell on you. You’ve already been touched by Necromancy, so what harm will one more do?”

“Nooo!” Faisal tried to scream and roll away but Alix’s magic was faster.

“Soulbind!”

Faisal instantly calmed and stopped his struggling. As weak as he was, he wasn’t able to fight it and he fell completely into a trance.

“I want you to know that I really don’t like doing this, but you left me no choice. I can’t risk you revealing my identity, but I couldn’t just let you die like that either. It’s not ideal, but just be thankful you are alive. Now, take these and start walking.” Alix pulled out enough dried foods to last Faisal until he reached the castle, and gave him enough tonics and potions to keep his strength up until he managed to get there to rest properly. He also gave him a cloak to cover his ruined armour and keep him warm. Then he gave him directions to the castle. He made Faisal take a few tonics to get his strength back and then set him on his way.

Mr Bones, Alix called through the ring, I’m sending someone to the castle. Could you get Brant to look out for him? He will be coming from the direction of Ekaiza Marshes.

I’m afraid Mr Brant hasn’t returned yet from his search for the Ringless.

Of course, I forgot about that. Well, I had to use Soulbind on the guy so he will show up there eventually. Make sure he’s looked after well until I return. He’s not going to be happy, but I couldn’t leave him to die here.

What are you doing in the Ekaiza Marshes, my lord? It is a cursed place.

That damn ship from Mortlake washed up here and a bunch of kids went investigating it. One of them was killed by a bunch of terrons that had taken up nesting in it. He’s the one I saved and sent to the castle. It’s an unpleasant place but what makes it cursed?

It is named for an ancient kingdom that once stood there. The harsh mountain ranges surrounding it kept it safe for many generations, until the tainted waters of Mortlake and the Dreadloch carved their way through the land and by some misfortune found each other there. The land withered from the poisons, driving the people mad until the kingdom collapsed. Now most that venture there never return. If terrons call such a place home then that explains it. They are fiercely territorial and very hard to kill. Be careful.

I will. I mean to be gone from here soon. I’m just going to take one more look around.

Alix cut the connection and ventured back down to where the remains of the ship lay, glad to see that there was no sign of the party. There was little left of the ship, the ground littered with scorched fragments of wood, and metal bones and bladed beaks. Faisal’s words came back to him at the remains having value, and as he bent down to pick up a piece, he noticed the text above it for the first time.

Terron Ossia.

Suddenly he remembered where he had heard the word before. Javin’s impossible job. Alix absorbed the piece into his inventory and searched the area for as many other pieces as he could gather. He was relieved to see that the explosion seemed to have erased all sign of the Ghosts from the wreck, and what was left was barely identifiable as a ship. The next high tide would wash all of it away. Before it started to get dark, he made his way back to the path through the mountains that would lead him to safer lands.

High among the crags, just as he was about to reach the ridge and begin his descent back down, he tripped over something hard on the ground. A dull echo rang out, and as he bent down to investigate he saw that it was a bronze bell. He was just able to make out a name engraved on the surface in the low sunlight.

Dromo.

The name didn’t mean anything to him but it had to be the ships bell, blown up here in the explosion. He absorbed the heavy bell into his inventory, and picked up his pace, keeping a wary eye out for any more terrons, or anything else hiding in the mists.