It took us nearly half the day to track the giant snake to another den-like rocky mound. It was much further out from the town than the last one was and it looked much older and well used. We scouted around it for several more hours and didn't find the creature. The ground was hard and all of the tracks seemed older than the last few days. That was a little odd, considering we had followed a fresh track to get to the new den.
“It must be using the previous tracks to cover up its movement.” Maylia said. “I didn't think a snake would do that.”
“It might not be doing it consciously.” I said. “It could just be moving along very familiar patterns.”
Maylia sighed. “Hunter, if we don't find it...”
“I know.” I said. “Tracking it now is going to be a lot harder, and we can't rule out that it's going to double back and head towards the town again.”
“Then we should head back and concentrate on searching for tracks on the outskirts of the town, just in case.” Maylia said. “It won't stop the creature from attacking; but, it should make it harder for it to sneak up and take someone.”
“That puts us in danger of being attacked and taken.” I said. “Then again, if we stay on the horses and make lots of noise...”
“We don't want to scare it away. We'll never catch it if it moves on to another place.”
I sighed. “All right. It's getting late, so we'll do a holding pattern around the town until nightfall, get a room, then try again in the morning.”
Maylia climbed back up onto the horse. “This hunt isn't going as well as I thought it would.”
“Yeah. Finding it like we did that first time was probably pure luck because it was resting.” I said and flicked the reins on the horse, and we travelled back to the outskirts of town.
“We could cover more ground if we split up.” Maylia said.
“We'd also lose our mutual support.” I said. “No, we stick together and we'll get through this together.”
Maylia nodded and we patrolled the area outside the town until the day started to fade. We went back into the town and asked around to see if anyone went missing, and no one had. Although, to be fair, no one knew if anyone had gone missing and that didn't mean that some lone person hadn't been taken. It only meant that no one knew about it.
With that unhappy thought floating around in my head, we dropped the horses off at the stable and went back to the inn. The innkeeper saw my face and handed me the key to the room without a word. I nodded to him and led Maylia and Afyne up the stairs. I didn't feel like going out to eat, so we ate some of the food I had in my bag of holding for supper. After we ate, we started to strip off our armor so we could get changed into our nightgowns to get ready for bed.
*
The queen's fast carriage barrelled over the rough road and the driver flicked the reins to spur it on. Unlike during the rest of the trip, they were close enough to the town of Agotorn and their next stop that the driver could give them a good run before they rested for the night.
The guard that sat on the shelf on the back wasn't enjoying this part of the ride; but, he had accepted the duty and would fulfill his obligation to the queen. Despite what a lot of the other guards thought, he knew that the queen had personally approved hiring him as a guard to work in the castle. She had appeared unexpectedly as he and the other group of men had finished their guard training, and they all stood at attention for her.
The queen had walked along the front of the formation and nodded occasionally, then she passed in front of him and had given him an appraising glance and nodded sightly. He was in the Captain of the Guard's office an hour later and assigned to the castle, which was the most prestigious posting available. He wasn't just guarding the castle from potential attack, he was guarding the queen herself. He had even spent a month on her personal detail and enjoyed being at her beck and call.
Taking a bumpy ride is nothing. The guard thought with a smile. I would give my life for her.
The carriage slowed down as it approached the town and then came to a stop. The driver talked to the guard at the guard house, then drove over to the inn to drop off the passengers. He secured the reins and hopped down, helped the mage climb down from the front seat safely, then he went around the back and helped untie the guard.
“Is this it?” Imiryl asked as Allirynn helped her down out of the carriage. “Are we here?”
“The guard at the edge of town said that this was the only inn in town and this is where the adventurers are staying.” The driver said. “I'll take the horses over to the stable and park the carriage nearby, then I'll stay with it.”
“You won't stay in the inn with us?” The mage asked.
“My duty is the safety of the horses and the proper care of the carriage.” The driver said. “I have work to do to check it and make sure everything is fine.”
“And to make sure that no one tries to steal it or loot it during the night.” The guard said.
The driver nodded. “I'll secure the supplies in my bag of holding before I inspect the carriage.” He said and climbed back onto the carriage. “See you in the morning.”
The guard, Imiryl, Allirynn, and the mage walked into the inn while the driver drove the carriage over to the stable.
“Ah, there's the rest of the party!” The innkeeper exclaimed when four new people came in. “Do you want a room right next to the others?”
“Excuse me?” Imiryl asked, surprised. “How did you know we were coming?”
“Only two adventurers showed up the other day.” The innkeeper smiled. “We all knew that at least two more were going to appear eventually.” He said and looked at them. “I've only got two rooms left, so you'll have to share.”
Imiryl paid for the two rooms and took the keys, then she looked at Allirynn, because she was unsure of how to say what she wanted to say. He took one of the keys and handed it to the mage without a word, then he took Imiryl's hand and led her over to the stairs. The mage looked at the guard, who shrugged, and they followed the other two up the stairs.
“That was not how I thought they were going to share the rooms.” The innkeeper whispered, and his daughter laughed from behind him.
Allirynn took Imiryl over to the door the key was numbered for and unlocked it. Since the innkeeper was telling the truth, the next room was going to be the one they needed to visit first. He led Imiryl over to the door and knocked. The mage and guard walked up behind them and waited, mainly because they wanted to see the queen's personal vassal with their own eyes.
*
I had just put on my nightgown and taken the hair tie out of my hair when someone knocked on the room's door. I hadn't been concentrating on my Detect Mana Presence technique, since I had taken off my blast shield already, and it had faded from my perception. I brought it back to the forefront of my attention and looked through the door.
“Hello.” I said. “Maylia, guess who's here.”
“Who is... oh!” Maylia said as she looked through the door as well. “What are they doing here?”
“The better question is how they knew we were here.” I said and walked over to the door as I used Presence to fluff my hair out a little. “Is everyone covered?”
“Just a second.” Maylia said and adjusted her nightgown a little, checked Afyne to see that she was fully dressed, then they both nodded.
I opened the door and the four people there caught their breath at the sight of me. “Yeah, sorry. I must look horrible. You caught me just as I was about to get into bed.”
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“Is he kidding?” The mage whispered. “He's beautiful.”
I held in my laugh and looked at the tall tanned man. “You're looking much better.” I said and looked at Imiryl. “You look positively radiant.”
“M-m-me?” Imiryl asked.
“Well, the last time I saw you, the blood poison had colored your neck and face blood red. It was hard to see how pretty you were through that, even with the blue hair.” I said, and her face flushed red. “Yes, almost like that.” I frowned. “Wait, don't tell me the little bastard didn't completely heal you.” I said with concern as I stepped forward and touched her face and neck tenderly to see if it was mushy like it had been before.
“He didn't.” Allirynn said, almost angrily.
I looked at him and saw that his muscles were normal and not partially eaten away like they were the last time I saw him. “He only fixed you?”
“He didn't do that, either.” Allirynn said, this time anger was clear in his voice.
“What happened?” I asked.
“He only healed us enough to let us travel, then we suffered for a week while they took us to the capital.” Imiryl said. Her face was still a deep red; but, I couldn't feel the same texture as I had before, so I stopped touching her.
“You mean the queen's healers finished the job.” I said, and she nodded.
“They said it took part of the day and nearly all night to fix us, after we fell asleep.” Imiryl said. “Of course, there were a lot of them and they took turns.”
“I'm glad it worked for you, too.” I said, and they looked at me. “I spent some quality time with the queen's healers after I suffered magical damage from fighting a garglemacer.”
“A garglemacer?!?” Imiryl gasped.
“I can tell you about it later.” I said to try and direct the conversation where I wanted it to go. “What I want to know is what the hell those other idiots were doing for a whole week while you suffered?”
Imiryl was touched that he reacted that way to their plight. “I think the message we have for you from Queen Celestina will tell you what you need to know.” She said. “Allirynn and I can fill in the details in our own words later, if it's necessary.”
Allirynn took out the sealed scroll from his bag of holding and handed it to me. I was about to break the wax seal on it when Maylia spoke.
“Hunter, don't make them stand in the hallway.” Maylia said.
“You're right.” I said and stepped back to hold the door open. “Come in.”
The four of them came in and saw Maylia and Afyne were in nightgowns as well.
“We're sorry for interrupting.” The mage said.
“You're lucky we just finished getting dressed.” I said and shut the door. “Otherwise, you would be seeing us dancing around in our underwear.”
“Can we do that?” Afyne asked, her voice full of hope and anticipation. “It sounds like fun!”
Maylia laughed and put an arm around her. “Maybe later.”
I walked over to them and broke the seal on the scroll and unrolled it. “What is... is this a spell?” I asked and read the first page and understood what it did, even though I couldn't cast it myself. “That spell gives me a few weird questions to ask.”
I slid it under the second page and started to read the actual message from the queen. As I read more of it, my face turned from a slight smile, to a blank face, then to a frown. I had also glanced at Allirynn once, at Imiryl twice, and at the mage and guard once.
“That answers them.” I said and made my face show no expression.
“What is it?” Maylia asked and looked over my shoulder to read some of the note for herself.
I sighed. “I have good news, bad news, and really bad news to tell you.”
“Good news!” Afyne exclaimed, and I smiled.
“The good news won't make sense until I tell you the bad news.” I said. “The bad news is that a lot of the creatures are not from this world and come here through cracks, where thousands more wait to come through.”
Afyne gasped and the guard took in a sharp breath.
“The good news is, the spell lets the cracks be located and they can be closed when found.” I said.
“What's the really bad news?” Maylia asked.
“The Emissaries of Light needed the direct help of their goddess so she could close the cracks.”
“That's what they were doing while we went to the capital.” Imiryl said.
“Yes, the sorcerer priest would recover just enough to get to the next crack, they would call her again to seal the crack, then they would move on to the next one.” I said, a little disgusted, and shook the queen's message. “What a waste of time and energy.”
“What do you mean?” Maylia asked as she finished reading.
“Remember my blessing and its conditions?” I asked.
Maylia caught her breath and stared at me, then she shook her head. “Those idiots.” She said with just as much disgust as I had.
“I don't understand.” Imiryl said. “What's going on?”
“The fools are giving up their time and energy for no reason.” I said. “They could have easily healed you with their energy before asking the goddess for help.”
“I knew it!” Allirynn exclaimed.
“That's not all, is it?” Imiryl asked.
“They've been asking her to completely embody one of them and take them over, so she can use her abilities to seal the cracks.” I said. “They don't have to. They just have to channel her power as a conduit and share time with her instead.”
Allirynn looked so angry that he could chew through Maylia's thick leather armor.
“Have you eaten yet?” I asked him, and he jerked a little at the odd question. I looked at the others and they shook their heads. “Have a seat.” I said and pointed to the table, then quickly took out enough food for them all to have a good meal. “It's cold; but, it still tastes good.”
“We can't impose on you like this.” The guard said.
“I can't ask Allirynn any questions while he's this angry.” I said and handed him a thick piece of meat. He took it and dug his hands into it, bit it, then tore off a big piece and chewed it. “He needs to work out some of his frustration.”
“You seem calm.” The mage said as she sat down and started to pick at the food I had put on the table.
“Only because I've had years of practice at hiding how angry I am.” I said and I motioned for everyone to sit. “I'm pretty sure I'd lose favor with god if I rushed back to the capital and killed Kara again.”
“You... killed...” Imiryl couldn't finish the sentence.
“It happened when they took over your care. The little bastard was there, so she didn't actually die when I shoved my weapon through her heart.” I said sadly. “I doubt I'll be forgiven if I did it again, or hurt the others again, now that I know who they are.”
“Who are they?” Allirynn asked and took another big bite of the mangled piece of meat in his hands.
“A pain in my ass.” I said, dejectedly.
“He's the summoned hero!” Afyne said and reached around the guard to pick up a few carrot sticks. “He's a man and he's the hero!” She said with a laugh and then started to crunch loudly on the carrots.
“Are you... it's not a lie, but...” Imiryl looked at me. “Only women are supposed to be heroes.” She said. “There's also only supposed to be four.”
I shrugged. “I had no idea what was going on when I came here and woke up captured by the elves.”
Only Allirynn and Imiryl reacted surprised to that.
“I pieced together some of what happened to me since I escaped them, then I had an out of body experience the other night and talked to god.” I said. “He told me the whole story of why I'm here.”
The mage and the guard reacted that time and dropped their food.
“I should tell you not to overreact and to take it in stride; but, I'm still surprised by it myself and can't do that, either.” I chuckled. “I hope we can all get used to it after a while.”
“Wait, what?” The mage looked at me. “What does that mean?”
“You don't know?” I asked, a little surprised, then I laughed. “I guess even good monarchs still play court games.”
“Hunter.” Maylia admonished me.
“You've been officially assigned as adjuncts to the queen's personal vassal.” I smiled at the mage and the guard. “Congratulations! You are now my flunkies! Ha ha!”
“Hunter!” Maylia exclaimed.
“What?” I asked and grinned at her.
“Don't stretch the truth.” Maylia chuckled.
“If I don't establish the ground rules now, they'll think they have a choice!”
“Hunter...”
“All right.” I said and handed the mage the letter. “It actually says that if you choose to, you can help me in the tasks she assigned me. The list she gave me before changed a little and the new one is there at the bottom.”
The guard leaned close to the mage and read the note as well. They both kept eating and took their time reading it. The guard was the first to lean back and smiled.
“If the queen deems me worthy to help you, then I can't refuse her call.” The guard said. “I will pledge my sword and my shield to the safety and welfare of her personal vassal.”
“Maylia and Afyne have badges as well.” I said, and the guard nodded understanding.
“I... I have to think about it.” The mage said. “I helped construct the energy spell and I know it's going to take a lot of mana to perform.” She sighed. “I might be able to save enough mana in my storage crystal to...”
“Did you say storage crystal?” I asked and cut her off.
The mage nodded and took out a thick round crystal about five inches wide. “It takes me half a day to charge it up, then I can wait a day and I'll have enough mana to perform the spell.”
There's no way I can adapt that to fit inside a Light sword. I thought. “They don't come any smaller than that, do they?” I asked, and she shook her head. “Well, we're hunting a giant snake that eats people alive, so we won't need the spell just yet.”
“What if it's using one of the cracks?” Imiryl asked.
I opened my mouth and looked at Maylia.
“That would explain why we can't find it, even though we looked all day.” Maylia said.
“Well, dammit.” I said and thought for a minute. “Okay. New plan for the morning.” I said. “We need paper to copy the spell, in case the paper or the spell is consumed when it's read, then we'll cast the spell and hope the closest crack isn't nearby.”
“I can't cast it in the morning.” The mage said. “I told you that I need...”
“Mana.” I said. “That's not a problem.”
“The queen said the same thing.” Imiryl said. “Why is that?”
“I should make you wait until tomorrow to tell you; but, you've had people delay you for no reason before.” I said and smiled. “The reason mana isn't a problem is because I can share mine.”
“Are you a mage?” The mage asked.
“Nope. I couldn't cast a spell to save my life.” I said. “I've tried.”
The four people at the table looked at me with wide eyes, and I laughed.
“I meant trying to cast a spell, not trying to save my life with it.”
“Oh.” The mage said. “Then how...”
“In simple terms, I can boost your mana.” I said and held a hand out to her. “If you're willing to share.”
The mage didn't hesitate as she took my hand, then I felt a small surge of mana from her. It hit my huge mana reserve and bounced back to her.
The mage gasped. “B-by... by the goddess Black Laura.” She whispered. “You can share that?” She asked and I nodded. “Then I'll gladly help the queen's personal vassal in his quest!”
“Please, call me Hunter.” I said and shook her hand, which made her laugh because she hadn't had that happen to her before.