image [https://i.imgur.com/qGhvdQg.jpg]

Farseed wasn’t big, but it was cosmopolitan by every definition of the word. Deep elves, humans, dwarves, and gnomes populated the settlement. Parts of it were more developed than Hawkhurst, while it lacked critical features. It had no public mail system, so I couldn’t check to see if Darkstep sent me another message. Farseed boasted no fortifications or defensive structures. Nothing protected it from monsters or raiders, and perhaps that was a good sign that the northern shores weren’t so uncivilized as I believed. More likely, the town possessed no strategic value. Its remote location and lack of resources weren’t worth attacking or protecting.

As we scanned for player nameplates, I studied the ensembles and gear people carried. Players used henchmen. For all my cloak and dagger efforts, I spotted no one with adventuring gear. Nothing exotic stood out that players were about.

As much as I wanted a hot meal, Fabulosa and I needed to charter a skiff to find out what Darkstep’s big advantage was supposed to entail. I turned to Fabulosa. “Do you know where we get tickets to Oxum?”

“Let’s ask someone in the market.”

Fabulosa and I explored the free market for passage to the Gray Manors. Most of the vendors were deep elves. I vacillated between speaking their native tongue and keeping Gladius in his sheath, and ultimately opted for the latter. Everyone spoke Common. With players mucking about, the less attraction I drew, the better.

Spamming Detect Magic revealed another one of Darkstep’s prying Improved Eyes, and I popped it with a quick Scorch. Yet none of the wares of this strange backwater market glowed, leaving no expectations for a magic shop.

Brill goods and byproducts were plentiful and sold in bulk. The free market catered to merchants, not domestic shoppers. Despite the minimum orders, the price of some goods was higher than anywhere I’d seen. Nuts, grains, and dried foods were high, and the only fresh produce included radishes, potatoes, and cabbage.

We got directions to a captain running an Oxum-bound skiff leaving in the afternoon. He was a level 6 deep elf named Ebenezer, and easy to distinguish from the rest of the crowd because he wore a large floppy hat.

He raised bushy eyebrows when I mentioned his destination. “A-yep. We’re going this afternoon. You’re lucky. We don’t hit it nearly as much as when the brill is in high season.”

“When will you leave?”

“I’m a-waiting for a dwarf with repairs for a friend’s aft-anchor. He’s refitting his skiff, and I told him I’d fetch him a new tripping ring.”

“Do you take lots of passengers?”

“Oh, yeah. Everyone knows to come to me in these parts. I’m your elf for the Gray Manors. I charge five silver a head.”

I gave him a gold for Fabulosa and me. “Has anyone else asked for passage today? Two women. One might wear a veil over her face.”

“Nay, yer the first, today.” He eyed Fabulosa’s fancy attire. “Will it be for the both of you, or should I make room for four?”

“No. We were hoping to go as soon as possible. Is there any amount I can give you that might get us there faster?”

Ebenezer soured at the suggestion. “I told old Farley I’d wait here for the tripping ring, and that’s what I aim to do. He’ll be here within the hour. It’ll give me enough time to rustle up some chow. You’ll need some for the trip. We don’t cater dinners. You’ll need to haul your own chow.”

“An hour?”

Ebenezer nodded his head enthusiastically, causing his hat to wobble. “I’m on the furthermost slip, just beyond the end bridge. I tie off there so I don’t need to push past other skiffs. It’s longer drayage, so if you’re hauling freight, you’ll want to cargo-up well before I arrive.”

I held up my hands defensively. “No cargo. We’ll be out of your way. We just want passage. How long is the trip?”

Ebenezer shrugged. “We’ll get there tomorrow afternoon, depending on the wind’s providence. This time of the year is fair. I expect no storms, and the moons are in favor.”

Owd remained the sky’s only visible satellite. I didn’t see an orrery nearby, but if lunar cycles influenced Blyeheath’s aerocline, perhaps the moon for arcane magic counted as a sign of good luck. If Duchess wore Bircht’s cloth armor, she’d receive only one benefit—it increased her spell casts and durations by 33 percent. If anything, it worked against her.

Fabulosa pawed through silk scarves while we bartered. While her hands focused on the materials’ textures, her eyes scanned the crowd. “This place isn’t very big, but they could be hiding in any number of buildings.”

“Eb says he’s leaving in an hour. We ought to get food and find a spot on his skiff. Let’s stay out of sight until he leaves.”

We found another stand serving a brill curry on roasted vegetables. We wouldn’t have risked eating in public, but it smelled delicious, and a canopied eating area offered a place to hide our telltale nameplates from Audigger and Duchess.

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Sitting down at a hot meal felt great, and we wolfed down our food with enthusiasm.

Fabulosa talked with her mouth full.

I wondered if our rustic habits would carry over into the real world.

Fabulosa pointed her spoon toward the aerocline. “In the old days, we would have lit out for aeroclast—you know, for its loot.”

“I know what you meant. The game feels different. It feels like everything is rushing now.”

“It’s like everyone can taste the finishing line.” Fabulosa stared at me for a moment. “The crazy thing about it is, I’m not doing this for the money.”

“I mean, I am, but it’s mostly to justify my gaming addiction to my parents. My dad isn’t into games, but he loves sports. He’d love it if his little girl won a national contest. People might tease me for having daddy issues—but as far as I can see, everyone has daddy issues.”

I snorted. “That’s true. But you’re right. It feels different and weird not having problems to solve. I’m still bracing myself for Ida to pop out of the shadows with disputes over job rotations or parcel prices.”

“Do you miss Hawkhurst?”

“No. I mean, yeah, but not really. It was time for me to move on. At least I left it in a good place.”

Fabulosa smiled. “Maybe you’re a problem solver. Your story about helping the lizardfolk against that swamp spirit…”

“The Manitou?”

“Yeah, that one. It’s just like you. You’re good at studying and putting out fires.”

I shrugged. “I felt like we owed it to them. We released the relics, and that had already cost them their tribe’s strongest members.”

Fabulosa nudged me with her elbow. “That’s what I mean. You’re a big softy for the NPCs. It’s a good thing. If you only stopped complaining about it, you’d make a good governor.”

We both laughed, but I held up my hand to protest. “No, wait. You missed all the good parts. Eventually, I stopped complaining.”

Fabulosa’s jaw dropped, mocking me with astonishment. “You? Really? When?”

I gave her a generous laugh but sobered up to show I was serious. “It’s weird how it happened. Rezan offered to let me go, and something inside me snapped. Having the option to leave Hawkhurst clarified what I wanted.”

“And what was that?”

“I wanted the settlement to survive. Hawkhurst was the only thing left I had of Charitybelle, and I couldn’t let it die. Rezan’s offer angered me so much that I stopped caring about anything else. I started giving orders without worrying about how people felt. My willingness to sacrifice myself gave me the confidence to give orders. That’s what made me a better leader.”

Fabulosa poked my side, finding a ticklish spot. “Or maybe he picked the wrong hombre to mess with. That message from Darkstep started it all. Was he right about that? You’re in love with Charitybelle—like true love love?”

I nodded before thinking about it. So many thoughts surfaced at the mention of her name that I found it hard to untangle them.

Fabulosa gave me a thin smile. “At least you know she’s there, waiting for you in California. Are you going to pursue her after the contest?”

I grunted in affirmation, but the possibility of not pursuing her hadn’t occurred to me. Yet how would that play out? I hadn’t had a long-distance relationship before, but the way everyone talked about it seemed to be impossible. Would she want to date a guy working part-time jobs to support himself? Her father was an army engineer—what if I joined the armed forces?

Being swallowed by a command structure as rigid as the United States Army wasn’t for me. I was too much of a loner to make it in the military. Besides, doing so wouldn’t solve problems with distance. They’d likely post me far from wherever she lived or went to college.

Without resources to travel, what chance did we have to keep together? The fear of losing her made winning the quarter-million-dollar prize all that more important. All along, I’d been playing The Book of Dungeons for myself, and now, this other need felt more pressing.

Fabulosa interrupted my reverie. She squinted, scanning the market’s shoppers after finishing her curry. “It feels good to eat spicy food again. I like to open a can of peaches after spicy food. Mmm-mmm. Just gimme that heavy syrup.”

I rolled my eyes as a food coma settled. After so much traveling, standing back up would be hard.

“I can’t believe I used up my spectrometer on that stupid air bag. I feel naked out here.”

“What do you think Darkstep is doing?”

Fabulosa shrugged. “I can’t rightly say. Part of me feels like he’s running us around the barn. Of all the players in the game, he worries me the most.”

“Not Toadkiller?”

Fabulosa shrugged and gave an easy smile. “I probably shouldn’t show this to you, but why not? Can you do a quick scan for Improved Eyes? I don’t want Darkstep to see this.”

“I just did and found one. I popped it with a Scorch.”

Fabulosa wiggled her fingers in the air. “Do it again. Improved Eyes propagate themselves.”

Detect Magic showed nothing in the area that glowed. “We’re clear.”

Fabulosa shielded her hand against her chest, blocking it from anyone but me. A pair of gem-encrusted bracers appeared in her palm. “Check out my little surprise for Toady.”

Item

Bracelet of Infernal Command

Rarity

Epic (orange)

Description

Level 40 wrist item

+10 armor

Item use—Bracelet wearer may supplant control of any demon wearing the collar.

They weren’t both bracelets. One was a collar for a demon. “You’ll need to get close enough to snap it on. What if it banishes you beforehand?”

“Is the collar light enough for Move Object? I reckoned you could clip it onto its neck.”

I picked up the collar. “This is very light. Yeah, I could do this.”

“If I have the bracelet and you have the collar, together we can wrangle it from Toadkiller’s control.”

The item’s description made no mention of curses, mind-melding, or any other dangerous business. Facing a powerful demon involved risks, but this seemed to be the easiest way to fight one. I liked her plan.

“And look at you! Planning before a battle. Are you sure you just don’t want to charge it to see what happens?”

Fabulosa ignored my tease. “Just don’t mention it on group chat. If we have to talk about it, let’s call them our rings.” She illustrated this by slipping a bracelet over her arm.

“You mean pretend we’re married?”

Fabulosa bounced her eyebrows and smiled. “Sure. But seriously, this is our ace in the hole. It would be nice if I could keep one secret from Darkstep. I found them in a place that I’m sure no one but me has seen.”

Placing the collar in my inventory felt like a solid plan, but with so many unknowns, I prepared myself for improvisation.