Chapter 15: The Mayor

Jace “Quickshot” Leál

I followed Bear, expecting he would take me to the big mansion. Instead, we walked toward the mage’s tower. It looked even more ominous than it did the previous night. The brass gears of the clockwork devices along the side of the black stone left no doubt this wasn’t just any mage’s tower, but a technomancer.

When we reached the top of the steps, the brass double doors opened on their own. Just the kind of eerie show of power mages loved.

Inside, the heart of the tower is an open atrium, a vertical shaft where the ceiling is visible even from the ground floor. Dominating this space is an enormous celestial model. Concentric brass rings rotate on a single axis, each adorned with shining stars and other celestial bodies that orbit around a brilliant central sphere, illuminating the whole of the inside of the tower.

I turned to Bear. “I didn’t think there were any technomancers left outside Valenheim. How did the governor find one and convince them to move east of the Waste?”

Bear shook his head and chuckled. “You’ve got the wrong assumptions, but you’ll see soon enough for yourself.” He stopped walking once we were standing in the center of the tower.

Then we just stood there.

After a minute, I couldn’t help myself and finally asked: “What exactly are we waiting for?”

As if the tower itself had been waiting for me to ask that very question, it responded with a screeching whistle and the hiss of steam. Suddenly, it felt like the entire tower was spinning on its axis. No—not the tower. I realized, we were the ones rotating. We stood on a platform that was corkscrewing deeper into the tower’s bowels. As the platform lowered, the floor above us closed like the reverse budding of a flower.

After a tense moment of pure darkness, the walls opened to reveal a vast underground chamber. The walls of the chamber, lined with copper pipes, hummed and pulsed hotwhite like the veins of a great beast to an invisible heartbeat.

Around the room, several workers moved with purpose, inspecting crates and adjusting various instruments. They wore utilitarian clothing, marked with the emblem of a cloud and lightning, and their movements were efficient, almost mechanical. The air was filled with the soft hum of their activities, punctuated by the occasional hiss of steam or clank of metal.

At the center of the chamber stood a raised dais, atop which sat an ornate metal chair that was almost throne-like. Its back was to me and I could hear a harsh authoritative voice barking orders to his men.

To his right, was an immense glass-like container, only that inside it was a roiling black and blue clouded storm that flashed with tendrils of lightning.

The chair on the dais spun suddenly, and the thick-bearded gold haired mage raised a heavy clockwork arm and shouted: “Quiet.” And all the workers stood at attention waiting for instructions. Even the screaming pipes quieted, and there was an eerie silence, except for the rumbling of the captured storm.

More surprising than encountering a genuine technomancer was the realization that he was a dwarf. Dressed in elaborate robes interwoven with metallic threads and bearing an intricate clockwork arm, his presence was both imposing and enigmatic. As he stood before me, barking orders, it dawned on me that this technomancer was none other than Mayor Prospero himself.

Both the presence of a technomancer and a dwarf were unusual. Dwarves had suffered as much as other races during the war. They had been allied with humans against the elves, and renown for both their engineering prowess as well as their skills in smithing. Many of the most advanced weaponry the Dominion had produced were designed and crafted by dwarves. However, they weren’t, in general, particularly adept at magic. And yet here was one that radiated magic like heat from a forge.

“Mayor Prospero.” Bear greeted the governor with a slight bow. “As requested, I have brought the adventurer.”

“And?” Prospero asked.

“He is also a Branded one. He may be useful to you.”

“That remains to be seen.” The dwarf walked a circle around me. He placed a brass lens that was somewhere between monocle and looking glass. Then hummed and hawed as he studied me. “So, Jace Leál… That is not a family name I am familiar with. How is it you returned with Marcus’s wagon but he didn’t? What exactly is your story?”

I repeated the story I told Bear, all the while, the dwarf continued to study me through his monocle.

When I was finished, Prospero clicked his teeth and put the monocle into his coat pocket. “You speak mostly the truth.” He placed far too much emphasis on the word mostly.

I schooled my emotions. Was his monocle some kind of lie detecting device? If so, could he tell exactly what part of my story was an untruth?

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Do not be overly concerned, Jace. The only thing that matters to me is that you brought what is mine.” He gestured to the open crates along one of the walls of the room. Already, many of the crystals, relics and other goods that had been in Marcus’s wagon had been set on a table where the workers had been cataloging them.

I sighed, then took out the key in my pocket and held it up for the dwarf to see. “What good was locking up my stuff and giving me a key if you were just going to take it anyway?”

Prospero waved a hand dismissively. “We only took that which I hired Marcus and his men to retrieve for me. I left the weapons and your Striders. And of course the wagon.”

“What about our pay?”

Prospero arched an eyebrow. “Your pay? Did I have a contract with you? I hired the Turner company, not you. You will be given a finder’s fee, of course. But do not expect anything more.”

I thought about how I might respond. The governor did not sound the type who was open to negotiation. His was a bullshit excuse to avoid paying what the goods were worth, but what could I do in these circumstances.

Prospero snapped his fingers and one of his men rushed over with a box, then opened it in front of me. It was a chest full of coin. It wasn’t an insubstantial sum. I grimaced. If this was the finder’s fee, I could only guess what the going rate for the relics and crystals Marcus had found.

The dwarf grinned at me. “Aye. I know what you’re thinking. Take the coin and go. Or…”

I waited for him to say more.

Prospero harrumphed. “You ain’t the talkative type, are you?”

I didn’t bother answering. The dwarf chuckled and waved to his man to hand me the box. I tucked it under my arm.

“There was a job I had planned for Marcus. It is somewhat urgent. As a Branded, I’m thinking you could serve as a suitable replacement.”

I shifted my weight. Something about the dwarf’s manner of speaking put me on edge. “What’s the job?”

“It isn’t an easy one. But I will pay handsomely for results.” He began to pace. “I have big plans for Tempest. You see, it will become a pillar of strength in the east, as Valenheim is in the west. Not everyone is…amenable to this plan. ”

Prospero explained how his domain—he considered the entire basin Tempest’s purview—was beset by troubles on all sides. From the northern plains, he had to deal with frequent skirmishes with the elves, who harried their forts and villages, and kept pushing to encroach southward, often going so far as to attack supply caravans. His tone was particularly aggressive when discussing the eves.

When subtly probed, the dwarf’s presence crackled with a deathly aura. “They killed my daughter.” That was all he would say about that.

To the south, where the last fingers of the Waste extended east, there were monsters and bandits interrupting the mining operations to extract new relics and crystals from the known ruins.

But what the governor wanted my help with, and the thing that he claimed posed the greatest threat, was a corrupted greater spirit. “We should have seen the first rains of the season weeks ago. On a clear day, you can see the storm clouds over the Sybillan mountain range cast a black shadow with all the rain that ought to belong to the basin. And yet the rains are held back by the spirit. And when it does rain, it isn’t pretty.”

The spirit, the dwarf said, was controlled by a darkling, who sometimes attacked the reaches, and travelers trying to make it across the pass. It was imperative that someone took the job and eliminated the spirit and its darkling master.

While he spoke, the container with the storm thundered angrily. I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something the governor was leaving out of his story. As he had so succinctly put it earlier: What Prospero said was only mostly the truth. And he was leaving out some crucial details.

“You won’t be the only adventurer I hire for the job, mind you.” Prospero said, wrapping up his pitch. “I’ve already put out an open quest. Whoever can eliminate the threat and bring me the proof they did the deed, will be paid a king’s ransom.”

I thanked the governor for his offer, and for the “finder’s fee” he’d paid me. I told him I’d think about it. There was a moment when I considered asking him more information about the elven raids for Ayla’s sake, but decided against it. It wouldn’t be a good idea to reveal my interest to this man. His hatred for the elves was too visceral.

I begged my leave and Bear led me up to the surface.

“You should consider joining the expedition.” Bear said. His arms crossed, he tapped a finger on his arm as he considered me. “In fact, you should join my team. I know a hardened fighter when I see one. I could use someone who won’t piss themselves at the first sign of trouble.”

I adjusted my hat. “Like I told the good governor. I’ll think about it. I don’t like to rush into things.”

Bear nodded thoughtfully. “Fare well, Jace. We’ll be setting out in a week. Send a message with one of the gate guards. I’ll come find you.”

When I finally reached Ayla in our room, she was pacing back and forth and biting her nails. As soon as she saw me, I saw her take several steps forward then stop herself.

“Were you about to rush over to me and give me a hug?” Ayla turned bright red.

“Absolutely not.” She growled. Not five minutes ago, a man came to the door and said that I should pack my things and get ready to check out. They left without another word. I…worried something happened to you.”

“What happened was that we have exceeded our usefulness. Anyway, we got paid.” I held up the box under my arm. “It should be enough for us to get new digs and upgrade our gear. C’mon. I’ll take you to a market. I’ll treat you to some proper greasy food.”

Before we left the caravanserai, we retrieved our weapons, then checked our wagon. True to his word, Prospero had left the gear, guns, and supplies, and taken only the crates that were meant for him. I hitched the Sand Striders and we headed out of the governor’s property.

I wondered where we should stay next, then remembered the Golden Pony that girl Renn would be staying at. Maybe that would suit us. In fact, if we intended to take a trip north to approach the elves of the plane, having a guide who was familiar with the region might make that easier. Perhaps taking her up on her escort job wouldn’t be a bad idea. I was willing to trust her intentions more than the governor’s.

But before any of that, the market was my first priority. I couldn’t wait to see Ayla’s face when I introduced her to pizza.