[WP] The silver melts in your hands.

...

The silver chains melted in my hands, affixing themselves into my skin with the unmistakable caustic scent of blood magic. Tiny flickers of metal seemed to flush along beneath my skin. Not in my veins truly, but instead right beneath my flesh like odd tattoos pushed in a layer too deep. Each one slid along, forming their image of a metal link as if a slithering snake wrapping head to tail, and soon all three nestled quietly along my right forearm with a harsh sting.

I've said it before and I'll more than likely say it again, but almost everything I've found difficult to understand in this world generally provides an underwhelming explanation in the supernatural. From every angle, magic is in use as if it wasn't some sort of godly power: Utilized for mundane and trivial matters such as keeping beer chilled or a street lit, to summoning and manifesting fireballs for the pure intent of raining hell upon an unfortunate enemy.

There is a notably large possibility I'm jaded, having come into all this from a place where magic wasn't exactly readily available; I'll admit that. But honestly, after what might have been a year's worth of travelling about and seeing the sights, the topic has lead me a to wonder if the supernatural arts were all just a cultural poison.

Can't solve a problem? Don't go pondering it for years, or god-forbid: Dedicate your life to coming up with some tool or device rooted in the laws of reality to deal with it. No, no, no! Any rational mind in these parts would steer you away from that avenue and politely suggest that you just throw Mana (or hire someone to throw mana) at the issue until whatever it was has resolved itself.

Need a gear to stop breaking? Don't design a better alloy through painstaking research: Enforce it with Magic. Need a light to stay lit? Shove it full of mana instead of air. Need to lift something heavy? God-forbid you build a pulley system when you can have a Mage just loft the object into the air with a constipated grunt of exertion.

Cheating the system, that's what magic tends to be. If this world had it as difficult as mine, thye'd probably be colonizing Mars bow now. They could have skyscrapers and airplanes, who even knows what else? I mean, they have multiple intelligent species here- not just humans alone. I'm sure there could be some potential I'd overlooked if they hadn't been handed the universal easy-route for almost everything.

But as much as I find these things a troublesome, there are times when I find magic equally fascinating. In an odd way, it brings up a completely separate set of dilemmas outside of considerations I'd normally make. A series of questions all based on the following premise: What to do when a person needs to solve a Magic-related problem?

Therein comes a mentality of fighting fire with fire; and I certainly don't make claims to know how I go about solving any supernatural problems without some allied form of supernatural assistance (unless the solution is to shoot, run-over, or otherwise break whatever is causing the conflict irreparably.)

Even if magic feels a bit like taking the easy route on some grand scale, I suppose it's only fair to rely on the tools you have. For dilemmas of a more intricate nature, when breaking whatever mystic-imbued person, place or thing isn't an option, I'll admit using magic might be preferred.

For example: Need to stop a captured Magic user from disobeying you? Why, just chain them up with spooky magic-imbued metal and then take a drop of their blood. Add in some expensive and unfamiliar runic carvings with a short ritual- and viola! You've gone and gotten yourself three loyal slaves, a large debt, and a terrible guilt-complex to boot.

The bowing on their part really didn't help matters much either.

"Please stop doing that." I mumbled, slowly rising from my rough seat on the bed to a shaky stance- part standing, part hanging onto a ceiling rack in the trailer until I could get a handle on the uncomfortable swaying sensation that came with the motion. "This is more than awkward enough as is without you all grovelling."

"We are sworn to you: We must show our gratitude." The tallest of the trio bowed even deeper as he spoke, arms now free of the chains that had once wrapped him. "Our lives are owed as debt. All of us."

Beside him, the other two also bowed- perhaps following the outrageous example. The woman beside him actually let out a sob of relief, and the youngest of the trio was visibly getting snot on my linoleum. I'd had more than enough of this.

"Sola, we're coming out. I need some fresh air." I shouted towards the cracked trailer door, slinging the rifle over my shoulder with a grimace of agony. My stomach ached, as did my leg. "Is it safe?"

"We're in the West Jake" Her shout replied from behind the door, "Nothing is safe out here."

"Just tell me if I'm likely to get hit with an arrow or something. I'm coming out anyways, I'd just rather be mentally prepared." The trio behind me rose to follow with disturbing quickness as I roughly pressed out into the dimming light of late afternoon.

My eyes adjusted to the change with relative ease, as I carefully stepped down to the black sand of the ground with a wince. The taste of dust and stone was fresh, lofted up by horses or boots, and I watched the odd trickle of fairies float about on the wind currents of the dry air, mingling with the traces of smoke coming from any number of soldier's campfires. The sight of the Northern Crusade was still odd to witness, even after being afield for several weeks.

"You look terrible." A shovel tapped the ground with emphasis as the Dark elf carrying it stepped in closer, spare hand already pressed against my forehead. "Go back to bed before you fall over dead."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"I'm fine." A slow and strenuous effort was what it took to bat her hand away. "And I will, in a minute. I just need to figure out what to do with these three." I motioned to the dark-robed figured behind me, each one making sincere efforts at standing solemn and obediently. A quick glance though, confirmed all three were ogling Sola with more than mild confusion. "Where is Lars this evening?"

"He's in the High-undying, listening to the voices of the dead queen." She grinned. "He's fascinated by them."

"It's hyundai- Nevermind. That's fine, more kids his age should listen to rock anyways." I heard music playing softly from the vehicle to my left as I suspiciously eyed the tires of the trailer, marveled they were still in one piece. The faint glow of reinforcement magics I'd paid for seemed to hum about the rubber. Magic never ceased to amazed it seemed. "Lars seems to have been driving alright recently, you both have been doing great with that." Carefully I inspected the scratches on the paint along the undercarriage; some of them seemed pretty nasty, but considering the terrain I wasn't too surprised. "Any problems I should know about?"

"Well... We made the demon cry blue blood once or twice, it sprayed all over the glass before it wiped the tears away" Sola looked remarkably apologetic. "And we ran over an Orc. Three times. Lars backed up over it so we could make a turn."

Suddenly the discolored stains along the wheel wells were making a bit more sense.

"That's fine." I began to make my slow hobble towards the vehicle's hitch to check the chains, hand leveraging weight along the side of my trailer as I walked. "I take it Jarl and the Baron have decided we're making camp here for the evening?"

"Yes, they're with the forward force tying ropes to the Northern relic. With luck, they expect to tear it down tomorrow morning." Her hand caught the shovel, directing it to point in the direction of a looming stone obelisk beyond a stony hill. Even from where we stood I could see the off-color of concentrated magic humming about the area.

"Ropes huh?" Idly I felt at my beard, uncertain. Above the strange relic, a full moon seemed to haunt the sky ominously. "That looks pretty big to be pulling down with ropes."

"Well, Jarl and the Baron are confident that with the horses and the men here, we can topple the stone if he breaks the base with magic." Her shovel twirled in a wide rotation, flipping over her wrist with ease. "Soon as that's done we can all head back East, collect our payment."

"Ah.. right. Payment." She stopped cold beside me, eyes shifting as if guided by some sort of magnetic grip to lock with my own. I felt the guilt set in. "So about that..." I started.

Her brow furrowed. "About what, Jake?"

"Well... about that payment." My own stare tried to free itself, but somehow it couldn't. As her own eyes narrowed, it was as if we were locked in place by some unseen force. "You see, I might have taken a deal from Jarl-"

"A deal Jarl?" Sola's tone turned stormy (a notably rare occurrence for her) as she leaned in closer. Behind us, I heard quite audible swallows from nervous throats belonging to the unfortunate trio. "If he threatened you, I swear to the gods I'll brain him."

"Well, you see he didn't exactly threaten me... exactly." I tried to shift my posture, but Sola's free hand shot out and grabbed my right arm just as I tried to hide it, pulling back my sleeve to the three silver brands laying quietly on my skin. Her eyes widened.

"Oh no." Whatever worry or concern had transitioned towards a downward spiral of sadness. "How much did they cost?"

"Not that much," I tried to explain, "And I think they're going to be a huge help in getting-"

"But the bathes! We've been living out of a stable and washing in a river! What of the inns and the bathes?"

"It's not that much Sola!" I tried to stem the oncoming tide. "Only four Gold will be down to one Gold and a couple silver in change, just on the return trip after our payment. One Gold debt- we did it once!"

"But the Inns! The Beer! The Bathes Jake! What of the Bathes?!" Her shovel thumped on the ground forgotten as her hands gripped my shirt and shook me, eyes wide with horror. "If not for your metal wagon, we'd be sleeping in horse droppings!"

"I know!" I raised meager defense as she shook me. "I know, but-"

"I swear to the gods themselves- If I don't owe you a life-debt I would... Ah!" She threw up hands in disbelief. "It took us half a year to break free of that man the last time! I thought you told me that we were going to the ocean! You said we could live at an inn, drink beer and catch fish!"

"We still can-"

"Not with Jarl holding magic swords at our necks we can't!"

"Stop it! He saved our lives Miss Elf!" The youngest of the trio had stepped forward. "I'll work too, I'll pay the debt we caused."

Sola stared at him with disdain, then back to the other two; each of them looking more than just nervous. The black-robed mages watched warily, eyes glued to the Dark Elf like she was a highly venomous viper rearing back to strike at them. She held their attention, slowly bending down to pick up her shovel once more.

"I can't believe he paid four gold for the lot of you."

"Honored Gravekeeper." The taller man finally spoke, bowing again in unison with his partner beside him. "For one of your lineage to swear loyalty to this man as your master, it is truly an honor that he is now ours as well. We will serve him in all things he asks of us."

"Jesus Christ! Cut that shit out, I'm nobody's master!" I cut in, leaning against the car with a loud clunk of the rifle on my back. My side hurt again. "So stop the grovelling already, I'll figure out what we'll do with you all once we get back to the East."

"You have tamed the fae, a demon, and stolen a Dark Elf from the Blackened Mage himself. You have shown us, your enemies in this field, untold mercy and kindness, saving all of our lives from certain death." The man bowed even lower. "It is more than just an honor to serve you, it is a privilege Great Battlemage."

"An honor." The woman beside him also bowed.

Sola stared at them for a long moment before turning back to me with visible temper, eyes flared to visible frustration. Whatever further thoughts she had about this situation, she was letting them simmer and condense into a purer form of anger.

Slowly I let my head tilt back, thumping loudly against the cool metal of the car. "Oh, for fuck's sake-"

"WOOF."

I found my complaint loudly interrupted as the driver's side window rolled down with a quiet whirring grind. A large shaggy wolf head peered out from the car window beside me. Slowly it pulled back gums and growled with overwhelming menace, showing long rows of thick white fangs.

Woof. It said again, inflection harsh.

We all stared in silence: Myself and Sola, the trio of prisoners turned slaves- turned pledged servants, until the large wolf slowly withdrew, window rolling back up beneath the careful press of a massive paw. As the glass finished closing, we all waited in silence. Faintly, I heard a soft click followed by a quieted din of contained noise, muffled growling and howling along to an ever familiar melody.

"I'm a shooting star leaping through the sky"

"Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity"

"I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva"

"I'm gonna go go go"

"There's no stopping me"

I shook my head, hand nursing the growing pressure above my nose. With that, I decided that it was definitely time to go back to bed. I could sort this shit out in the morning.