Chapter 19

Immediately upon returning to Coastall the men headed to G’Vaddle’s to see if they could snag the things on Mu’tumbo’s list. The door of G’Vaddle’s rang with the same precession of tones.

There were a few other customers in the shop which made the cramped aisles in the front of the small store incredibly unnerving. When the men reached the counter G’Vaddle was leaning over and greeted them in his singsong high gnomish timbre,

“Why hello! It’s always nice to see repeat customers!”

“Hey G'Vaddle, we are kind of in a hurry. Do you have any of the things on this list?” Roden said, passing over the scroll given by Mu’tumbo.

“Ooo okay, let me see here. Hmmmmm yes, yes, yes, oh drat. Well I have a few of the things you need. The rest you will have to get elsewhere.”

“That’s great, we will take whatever you have. Do you know where we could get the rest?” Riakon said, taking the scroll back from G’Vaddle.

“Hmmmmm, usually I’m not one to promote the competition, but in this case I’ll make an exception. I would bet my hat you could find all of those things at the Cracked Cauldron.”

G’Vaddle paused for a moment in thought and continued, “ I will warn you boys, it's not a great neighborhood. Whatever you do, don't linger about over on that side of town. Now let me gather your things.”

G’Vaddle was the ever reliable professional, in minutes he had everything they needed packaged up. While Riakon and G’Vaddle haggled over the price, Errrkkkk and Roden stepped outside so Errrkkkk could stretch his wings.

They walked down the street to the tree they had stopped by on their first trip to G’Vaddle’s and sat under its shade.

“Hey Errrkkkk?”

“Yes, cacaw?”

“I was wondering, do you ever worry about Riakon?”

“What do you mean, cacaw?”

“Well I’ve noticed that he seems to be preoccupied with something. Like whenever he is truly idle there is something eating away at him.”

“Oh that… Well Riakon is just Riakon. He has a lot of things he doesn’t know about himself and wishes he did. That’s why he was all over Bo’s library, cacaw.”

“I know he mentioned before that he was found and hatched at the temple. That kind of stuff?”

“Yeah I think its hard on him to not know anything, cacaw.”

“I hear that, a man can only stand so much uncertainty in life. You seem to manage just fine.”

“I figure, if I’m meant to know then the goddess will make it known to me.”

“That is pretty pious for a monk who shoots chi at monsters.”

Errrkkkk shrugged his big wings, “I take things as they come, cacaw.”

“What about Riakon? Does he have faith like you?”

Errrkkkk thought for a long moment, “Nah, he’s not a very good paladin, he believes in the gods and all. He just isn't as diligent as most, cacaw.”

“Who’s not as diligent as most?” Riakon’s voice cut through the conversation as he settled into the shade of the tree.

“You, cacaw.”

Riakon thought for a moment then conceded, “Fair enough, are we ready to get going? G’Vaddle threw in the directions with our purchase.”

“Cacaw” the others responded in unison, with Errrkkkk giving Roden a dirty look, while searching for any mocking in his tone, with none to be found the men carried on through the streets of Coastall.

Riakon took the lead, while Errrkkkk and Roden walked side by side in his wake. After too many blocks to count, the architecture of the buildings made a dramatic shift. Brick and mortar structures were rapidly replaced by timber and nail.

Nearly all of the buildings leaned one way or the other, some even leaned into one another creating an equilibrium of falling. This section of the city stood as a perfect example why not to use untreated wood near the sea.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Roden knew this section of the city was incredibly old and had been rebuilt time and time again. Roden also knew they were being followed. He was proud of himself for spotting their tail without even knowing for sure if he was actually back there yet. They were walking into an ambush.

A pathetic ambush that barely qualified as a nuisance, but an ambush nonetheless. Roden elbowed Errrkkkk and discreetly pointed out the assassin on the roof up ahead. Errrkkkk nodded letting Roden know he was prepared when Roden made his move.

As they neared the point Roden knew the ambush was set to take place, he sprung an ambush of his own. He whipped around and flung his hand out. A vine sprang from his hand and wrapped around the forearm of his target.

The figure he struck was a man in a dark robe with a hood covering his face. When Roden yanked on the vine, it activated and pulled the cloaked figure toward him in a rush.

“Riakon catch!”

As Riakon turned he was confronted with the cloaked figure stumbling at his feet. He looked up in confusion as Errrkkkk flew past him towards his target’s hiding place. A crossbow bolt sprouted from Riakon’s shoulder as he looked on.

Roden followed the trajectory the bolt most likely took and made a guess at where the shooter had to be hiding.

He ran towards the nearest building, when he was within reach he stepped onto the side of the building as if he was going to run up the wall, but instead of running he jumped up the side of the building and landed on the roof.

The sensation of propelling himself through the air under his own power as if he was bounced on a trampoline was still new to him, but in the heat of the moment it was as easy as breathing.

Once on the roof, Roden could see the poor excuse of an assassin huddled behind a half collapsed chimney. In the middle of his run to engage the hiding assailant, Roden had a terrible realization.

While yes, these men were trying to kill them. It really was all just a misunderstanding. He couldn’t kill this man over a misunderstanding.

So instead of conjuring his flame blade and driving it through the unaware man. With a flick of his wrist his vine snatched the man from behind. Rather than just yank the man to him, Roden unceremoniously stepped off the roof dragging the man down with him.

Before he crashed into the ground Roden cast Instant Destination and vanished. He reappeared completely unharmed just as his victim slammed into the hard packed road with a thud that forced the man to release every wisp of breath in his body.

Roden knew a fall from that height wouldn’t kill the man, because he was no commoner. His prior knowledge was confirmed when the man’s hood slid back revealing a furry ratlike face beneath. Roden knew all three of them were from the White-tail gang, a sketchy gang of wererats who mostly worked as pickpockets.

Nothing made for a better pickpocket than one who could steal something valuable, then when out of sight transform into a rat and disappear up a drain pipe or into a sewer. Roden’s man was barely clinging to consciousness after his tumble.

That wouldn’t do for his purpose so Roden drew back his boot and kicked him hard in the head. The wererat gave a squeak as his eyes rolled back. Roden used this opportunity to cast his last unused Common tier spell, Cling to Life.

It did as its name suggested, it healed a person just enough to keep them from slipping into death throes. Roden looked around to see how the others had fared. He wasn’t surprised to see Errrkkkk had returned from his rooftop scuffle, which by the looks of Errrkkkk wasn’t much of a scuffle. Riakon had his man cowering in his clutches.

“What do you have there Riakon, cacaw?”

“Looks to me I have found a rat.”

“Okay rat, what do you have to say for yourself.”

“Aaaahhhh, I’ll never talk.” The rat man said in a near squeal.

“Ohhh he doesn’t want to talk, aye? Well then boys I think it’s time for a baptism.”

Roden laughed, “I saw a fountain a street or two down that would work perfectly.”

“Aaahhhhh, I won’t tell you hunters anything.”

“There, there, friend, a life of faith will do you some good.” Riakon’s calm intonation made the statement all the more concerning to his captive.

When the men reached the fountain, it was one of a very simple construction and was clearly in need of repair. On the top of the central pillar were three fish sculpted in a jumping motion that were supposed to serve as spouts for three separate streams of water.

In its current condition only the largest fish had what could be called a stream. The others merely gave a trickle of water that dribbled down their fishy lips and clung to the stone. With his prisoner in tow Riakon stepped into the basin of the fountain.

Their disturbance caused the build up of silt at the bottom to cloud the water giving it the look of a too creamy latte. With a firm grip on the man Riakon began his questioning,

“Why did you attack us?”

“Fuck y...” his word cut off as Riakon plunged his head under the water. While giving the invocation “In the name of the Sun.” when finished he pulled the drowning rat back up.

“Why did you attack us?” This time Riakon put more venom in his words.

“I’ll never betra…” bubbles escaped his lips as he tried to finish his reply. “In the name of the Sky.”

“Last chance, or your baptism will be permanent.”

“Okay okay, we attacked you before you could attack us.” The ratman said sputtering and spitting out water.

Errrkkkk and Riakon both looked incredibly confused. Roden slapped a hand to his forehead in a move of feigned revelation.

“The silver!” The other two paused for a moment as they considered it.

The dipping rat nodded his head vigorously, “yeah you damned hunters were buying up silver weapons to come after us. Well you’ll never get us all. We will get our reven…” Riakon gave the man a quick dunk to cut him off.

“Look at me and listen, we were not coming after you. We do not care about you nor are we hunting you. We needed silver for a different job in the Wilds.”

Realization dawned on the wererat like a tidal wave and the expression on his face rapidly shifted from disbelief to horror.

“Please don’t kill me, we didn’t know!! We’ll leave you alone!!! Please please please just let me go. You’ll never see me or ours again! I’m sorrrrryyyy!!” the groveling continued, but was indecipherable between sobs. Riakon looked to Errrkkkk and Roden who both shrugged.

“Okay okay we won’t hurt you. Go back and tell your people there was a misunderstanding and we meant you no harm.” the rat tried to agree, but Riakon spoke over him, “However, if you come for us again. We will hunt down every last one of you and call it a holy mission to clean up the streets.”

“Yes yes of course” the man nodded vigorously at Riakon’s words. With that Riakon released him and he scurried off, his gait had a ratlike motion even in his hybrid form.

The three men stood around a moment taking in what had transpired.

“I feel like we handled that pretty well.” Riakon said with a grin,

“It could’ve gone worse, cacaw.”

“They were so weak.” they all nodded in agreement.

“We should probably get moving, this place looks like a dump.”

It wasn’t long before they managed to retrace their steps and make their way to the Cracked Cauldron. The sign outside was a literal cracked cauldron with the words painted on the side with white paint in a shaky script. They entered the shop that was more like a closet.

The walls were jammed with hastily built cabinets and drawers that held seemingly random collections of things. The shop was barely big enough to accommodate all three men inside and it was unlikely any of them would say it was comfortable.

The obsequious man behind the counter was ecstatic to have customers and set to filling their order rapidly. The clerk was a human man in his middle years. His beard had gone gray in parts and was patchy along his jaw. He spoke very little when Riakon gave him their list.

He practically ran about the shop snatching herbs and vials from what looked more like hiding places than proper locations for selling purposes. While the man moved quickly it took him nearly a half of an hour to gather up everything in the correct amounts, the man repeatedly had to reference the list to make sure he had the right ingredients.

In a few cases he did not and had to backtrack for the correct item. After all was said and done the man presented them with a collection of everything left on their list. Riakon dropped the silver coins in the man’s dirty hands without a hint of haggling and the party quickly rushed out of the door.