140. NAVAL BASE: RUKU.
It was after midnight, and I was sequestered on the roof of a brothel. It was cold but relatively safe. The Naval Base was well lit up and still very active. I observed a change of shifts around 8 pm. The naval base was bigger than Obalno, and they didn’t have the Marine Training we had. The Empire didn’t train specialised troops for their ships but assigned regular platoons. There was a large barracks area. The problem was there were a lot of patrols, not just human patrols. There were dogs, wolves and a couple of cat species. I didn’t know if they were bonds or trained animals. I assumed a mixture of both. Wai will need to be very careful.
I had Wai skip past the Admin and barracks as there were too many people. We would explore the rest of the base and come back later. Early morning might be a better time. Past the main buildings was a series of warehouses and work spaces lining the wharves. We did a cursory check of each, but they were what I would expect. Ship maintenance and supply mostly. There were a lot of open spaces, and Wai was using Stealth and combining it with Camouflage and Water Sprint.
We were working our way to the end, but it was taking time. There was a building at the end I was interested in. It was backed up against the cliffs, and I only caught a glimpse as Wai worked his way closer. There was a Wharf with one ship decked at it, but there was a fence and additional guards. I was thinking secret project and maybe imprisoned enchanters. As Wai got closer, I could see the burnt-out remains of a second building. This was lining up with the story Abigail gave us. I still wasn’t sure how much to trust that girl. I would need to check out the top of the cliff as a possible entry point. I doubt the Navy neglected to guard it, though. I will ask Gwaed to send Esgyn over.
Wai slipped through the wooden fence easily enough. Finding a way into the building wasn’t quite so easy. He first went under the wooden floor and worked through the foundation piles. Several plumbing pipes were coming through the floor, but no cracks were big enough for him to squeeze through. He came out the other side of the building, and there was a forge and some other equipment I didn’t recognise.
Wai worked his way along the side of the building and found a window open a crack and shot through it. It was a bunk room with sleeping people. There were twelve beds, eight of which were occupied. We couldn’t see most of them well enough to work out who they were. We got a good look at four faces and the scent of all ten. There were eight humans, three males and five females, and two dwarfs, both male.
Wai slipped under the door, and there was a hallway. There was a kitchen and dining area opposite, and then a series of rooms set up as workspaces, and I recognised some enchanting equipment. There were two guards stationed in the building. It was looking extremely likely this was the place I was looking for, and those were possibly the enchanters and maybe Abigail. We definitely couldn’t get them through a busy military base, so the options were the cliff or coming in by sea. I know which I prefer, but we need to keep our options open.
I am going to see if Wai can get out by climbing the cliff. It will let me see what is up there. Wai reversed his direction and went back out the window. Wai was making his way across the open area to the forge when something excruciating struck his back. He ripped free, and Water sprinted to a wood pile. When I say ripped free, his tail was ripped off. He looked back once he was in the wood pile, and a large cat was spitting something from its mouth. On closer look it wasn’t a cat, it was a serval. Servals are a type of wild cat that is strong, fast and has an incredible capacity for jumping. It was definitely a bond. What it spat out was Wai’s tail. The good lad poisoned it.
The serval started looking around for Wai, and I could see its nose twitching. Suddenly a black winged shape flashed into view, and I saw Sugnwr’s fangs bite into the creature. The serval wasn’t down; they were known to bring down birds from the air. Wai was on the move again towards the serval for some reason. The serval was starting to swipe its paws to dislodge the bat, but Sugnwr flapped his wings briefly before coming down for a bit in a different place. Wai Water Sprineted onto the Servals back. I could tell through the bond that he had a poisoned Whirlpool Shield activated and ran over the wound Sugnwr had made, adding his poison to it.
Wai deactivated his shield for some reason and then ran onto Sugnwr’s back. Sugnwr took to the air, but the serval wasn’t done and leapt at Sugnwr, and Wai caught a glimpse of claws raking her side before falling away. I disengaged the sight as it was very confusing but kept the bond open. Sugnwr will be going to Gwaed’s place, so that is where I need to go. I climbed down and started making my way there, being careful I was not seen or followed.
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It took me about forty minutes to get to Gwaed’s apartment. I climbed onto the balcony, and she had the door open for me. Sugnwr and Wai were both there. I nodded to Gwaed, “Thanks,” and then I did the same to Sugnwr.
“Is that the right place?” Gwaed asked.
“Pretty certain it is,” I replied.
“I have given Sugnwr and Wai a potion each. Wai’s should help him regrow the tail in a few days rather than a week or so,” she said.
“Thanks again,” I said, picking Wai up. “You did great, Wai. I am very impressed. We need to get some fresh bugs for you.”
“The serval may survive. Sugnwr gave him rabies, so he will be out of action for a while. Combined with Wai’s poison, it may be enough to kill him, but a lot will depend on the vets they have on base and his resistance. If they realise and treat it fast, they might stop the infection from spreading. If not, it will be fatal. If they just treat Wai’s poison, that will give the infection time to take hold.” Gwaed said.
I nodded. It was going to be a bad time for whoever it was bonded to. “It is going to be a difficult job rescuing those people,” I changed the subject.
“Even harder if they are slaves now,” Gwaed said. “We may just need to kill them.”
I didn’t want that, but it was certainly an option.
“If you have anything at the guest house you want, it would be best to go and get it now. You can base yourself here now.” Gwaed said.
“You think they have enough to track back to me?” I asked.
“They have Wai’s tail. The first place they will check is the Inn and visitor accommodations,” she said.
“Shit. There are a few things there. I will be back before dawn.” I didn’t have a lot there, but I would clean the place out and come back via one of the scent-masking areas. That also means they will be increasing security on the enchanters. They might move them, but it looks like they were building something from the forge. Probably one of those fancy enchanted engines. I did make it back before dawn, just.
Just as I was ready to bunk down for a couple of hours' sleep, Gwaed handed me two vials.
“What are these?” I asked.
“Take that one first. It is a vaccine against Rabies,” she said.
“OK.” I tossed it down my throat to try to avoid tasting it.
“It shouldn’t have any side effects, and your Disease Resistance should go up. We will wait a few minutes to check.”
After about ten minutes, I felt no change, and Disease Resistance was at 2, so I said that.
“There will be side effects from the second one,” she said. “I suggest you take it and go and then drink water and lie down.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“It is a vaccine against our ‘if all else fails’ plan,” she said. “You definitely want that one.”
“That bad, huh?” I said.
She nodded, “It would cripple the city for months. It will probably kill most people with a Physical Consitution under about 60 and half the people with Consitution at 120, depending on their Resistances, healing abilities, access to potions etc. It will make most people sick for weeks unless your Physical Constitution is well over 200 or you have the right resistances.”
“So it will kill the young, old and weak and cripple the rest for a while?” I asked.
“That is what diseases do. It is amazing how much these ‘old’ and ‘weak’ people contribute to society. It can bring down a kingdom.” she replied. I had forgotten who I was working with for a while. This was the Gwrach Waed, The Elven Blood Witch, who had brought down a kingdom.
I checked my Constitution as I had a Physical based build, and it was only at 188. I also had a very high Regeneration and Poison Resistance, but now I also have the right disease resistance for it. I did start to break out into a sweat and felt like the world started to spin around me. I swigged some water and lay down.