“‘Cause they had stepped out of line, and I’m gonna need to discuss the terms of the contract with the Governess.” The halfling growled, shaking her head sadly, a frown taking over her face. “She should never have sent someone to compete for the contract once I had taken it. But, Manly Warbottom gets her bounties, yessiree. Now.” she came closer to the edge of the bars, remaining carefully outside my reach. “I know that you and your friends are tight-knit, so I’ll let you know right now that they’re safe, and as long as y’all behave, it’ll stay that way. I gave my word, and I mean to keep it.”
“What proof do I have of that?” Crestfallen that I hadn’t thought of my friends, or Kayda sooner. “Where’s Kayda? She’s not hurt, is she?”
“She’s on the mend. Nick, another one of my pals, isn’t always the most conscious of his meetin’s with animals. Loves ‘em. He truly does. But he gets too excited, and sometimes they get hurt.” Red clouded my vision, and she leaned back. “As for the evidence, well, you’re wearin’ it. We know that you’re all smart people, and though these cages are designed to hold powerful creatures, you still have your inventories. Hell, soon as Kayda’s feelin’ shipshape, I’ll let her come in here to be with you. Now, be warned, the cages are warded somethin’ fierce against magic used on them from the inside, so any spells you try are just going to rebound on you.”
“What if we double the contract fee?” I offered, more out of desperation than I was willing to admit.
“I don’t renege on my contracts, mister.” Manly squared her shoulders. “Not even for people I believe are innocent. And especially not the ones I like.”
She stood and walked toward the door before she stopped, turning back to look me in the eyes. “I am sorry, Zeke. I wish that we had met under better circumstances, but this is just business. Nothin’ personal.”
With that, she was gone, and I was left to my own devices.
First thing I did was try to melt one of the bars with flame-aspected mana. That was stupid. The red mana soaked into the metal, then coursed out of it and back into me, sapping 250 HP from me and draining my mana completely in recompense. Looking around, the floor was made of the same sort of metal as the bars.
It was large enough that I could lay down comfortably, but not large enough for me to fully stand. There was a pallet off to my right to sleep on, but nothing else.
I thought about summoning Magus Bane then and there to bust out of here, but the others would be in danger if I couldn’t get to them in time. They had been higher levels than us. Not the first time we had faced those odds, but we had never done it one on one in this kind of situation.
How would we get out of this? I mean, realistically speaking, yeah, we could go and just prove our innocence. It wasn’t that big of a deal, but it was just really inconvenient and potentially dangerous. What if no one believed us? What if they tried to throw us in prison? What if everything she had told us had been a lie?
And we had fallen for all of it so easily. What the fuck were we going to do?
We would likely have to slaughter half the city in order to escape, and that was just…more than we probably wanted to do to be free. Granted, yeah, we were at the point where all that kept us from going home was a few more of War’s generals. Three, if I recalled correctly. What was some time as fugitives?
Uh, fucking detrimental, that’s what. I growled at myself. And what’s worse, I couldn’t harm a hair on Manly’s head without breaking my word. She hadn’t hurt us first, not purposely. And I think that was what would keep the word from being broken. Especially, since I hadn’t gotten any notifications that she had broken her vow.
And besides, did I even want to hurt her? She had been cool to us, and this was, after all, just business, right? She was doing the best she could to survive. But I wondered how they had laid that trap…
The goddamn cart we were inside. They laid in wait and set their trap perfectly.
Especially since she had a wizard at her beck and call. I found myself wondering if he was an enchanter, because if he was, there was no telling what kind of traps could be in this place.
Which made breaking out not only risky, but stupid because navigating a pocket dimension, or series of them would be tricky. I reached for my magic and tried to focus on Teleport, receiving a sharp stab of agony in my mind shortly before my mana drained away completely with a healthy chunk of my HP bar. Teleporting out wasn’t an option, either.
We could break free when we got out of her grasp. Or go to trial.
I tried the earrings, Can anyone hear me?
I waited for a while and nothing. Could be the cage acting up, but it could also be the cart itself interfering.
So, with nothing but time on my hands and an enclosed space to work with, I let Bea out for a time to stretch her legs and work with her.
It was slow going at first as I had little to no food to give her as treats. Maybe Manly would give me extra food for her? She didn’t seem to have any issues with animals, maybe she wouldn’t mind helping with her?
Didn’t mean I was going to let the time pass without being productive, even if I couldn’t get her out much and feed her.
After an hour of us playing and building a decent rapport with each other, I brought her back into the collar so I could focus on my spell work.
I’d put this off long enough, and it was time to buckle down. The first thing I did was focus on my healing spells. The focus was to restore health. Was there a way to harness that healing power and use it with new elements?
Only one way to find out then, I grumbled. I sat in the center of the cell as best I could and meditated.
The first thing I did was take the base spell I wanted to tinker with, Regrowth.
The spell allowed me to regenerate my health faster by 6 HP per second for thirty seconds, per casting. It was a druidic spell I learned early on, not bad at all, but thanks to a reward from the Primordial Water Elemental, it had more than doubled in potency. All of us had received a boost to water, healing, or frost type magics thanks to our quest on her behalf. Hell, even Maebe.
Thinking about her made my heart pound as I prayed that she truly was fine.
I took that spell and mentally put it into the flaming forge in my heart, where I envisioned my Flame Tinkering ability. The last time I had done this, I had forged a couple of spells, one being Phoenix Burst, and the other a holy blade spell called Falfyre. Here’s hoping I struck gold again.
I stoked the flames, precious mana sinking into the spell, and hammered into it with my flame aspect. The nature spell was more stubborn than the holy spell, Purify, that I had used to create Phoenix Burst, so it was much harder and mentally taxing.
I poured my mana into the act and refocused my efforts, forming my intent and will into what I hoped would be enough.
“You seem focused, do you always meditate so fiercely?” A slightly familiar voice almost broke my concentration, but I ignored her. Just a little more.
I funneled the mana in faster and took a deep breath. There, done.
Renewing Flames – Flame invigorates the recipient's body and heals them for 30 HP instantly, and 8 HP per second for a short time. Duration: 30 seconds. Cost: 45 MP. Cooldown: 5 seconds.
Excellent. I addressed my new guest, “Not always, but a little bit of meditation keeps the hunger and boredom at bay, right?” I opened my eyes and saw a woman staring intently from just outside the bars. I recognized her outline instantly. “You must be Bonnie, right?”
She smiled, her fanged features taking a pleasant turn. She looked like a demon, complete with horns and tail, her skin a teal color, and her eyes a vibrant gold. Her ruby-red pouty lips flared into a larger grin as she noticed me sizing her up, but I didn’t think she was used to someone looking for her to be formidable. She was lean in all the right places like one of those ladies in the gym who lifted purely for physique, strong arms, and legs with well-toned muscles. Her jawline was strong, eyebrows done perfectly, and her silvery hair t
hrown wildly behind her horns that stuck out from her forehead and curved up and back a little.
“Enjoying the show?” She gave me a cocky grin, and I smiled in kind.
“I would love something to eat if you have anything?” I tried sweetly, my relatively low charisma had better work for me, or I’d be miserable.
“My question first,” she purred. Her eyes narrowed as she leaned on something. I looked and saw that it was a large wooden hammer with spikes nailed and banded together on one side. “Please.”
“Yeah, as far as views go in the present? Absolutely stunning.” I struggled to keep my biting sarcasm in check. “Unfortunately, I’m taken and happily so, so… looking is all that’s gonna happen, lady.”
“Tha’s fine,” another voice added as they walked through the door, male this time.
I looked over to see as a stout figure, a dwarf walked into the room carrying a tray of food.
“Ye weren’t s’posed ta be with the bounties, Bonnie, ye know tha’.” He stood next to her and scowled at her softly. He looked to me. “Best no’ ta get any ideas, lad. This one may look ‘n talk sweet, but she be a demon.”
“Half Demon, Nick, you know that.” She pouted as if he had ruined her fun but turned her eyes on me. “Mom was a demon; dad was a priest. Quite the scandal in both realms, but people seem to love me for my own quirks.”
“My dad left when I was a kid.” I gave her a little something to show I cared, a little. But it was the dwarf I had eyes for.
His armor was well kept and polished to perfection, and his fiery red beard had one section braided intricately over his slightly portly belly, with the majority of the rest fanned out behind it. His head was shiny and bald, likely polished as well, but it was his tanned skin that was odd to me. The other dwarves didn’t usually have that feature.
“I heard you’re the one who roughed up my Kayda.” I growled, coming close to the cage despite the burning silver wires.
The dwarf looked down, abashed. “Well, see, uh, ahem...,” he stammered, and finally, Bonnie took pity on him with a roll of her eyes.
“Hill dwarves love animals, and his family is a bunch of druids back home, so animals were always about, but he… what was it your parents had said, Nick?” She looked over at the dwarf who looked abashed and smacked his shoulder lightly.
“Oh? What, me folks? They said I weren’t ‘compatible’ with the magics o’ nature. Animals never seemed ta like me either I s’pose.” He scratched his head, frowning. “Had a heavy hand, I reckon. I didnae mean ta hurt her, lad. I swear on me beard. Now, ye may travel with a dwarf, but I be tellin’ ye, ta swear on yer beard—”
I interrupted politely, “Is a very serious thing to do.” I believed him and, as a show of that faith, muttered, “The hammer falls.”
I dismissed the notification that his word gave me, mentioning that as a knight of the Unseelie realm, oaths gave me a measure of security over someone. So, if he broke his, I would receive some sort of recompense.
He looked shocked, Bonnie had to sock him again, the tray in his grip almost tumbling out. He caught it and looked at me with new eyes as he finished, “An’ rises again. Well, this changes everthin’.”
“What’s it change?” Bonnie leaned closer to him curiously.
“Means we know he be likely innocent.” The dwarf smacked Bonnie excitedly, and she just smiled back. “Only kin be knowin’ our phrases an’ be brave enough ta say ‘em ta a dwarf proper as he did! He’s a righ’ proper follower o’ the Way, I reckon! Who’s yer clan, lad?”
“Mugfist.” I smiled. I was proud to have been adopted by the group of surly, battle-hardened assholes. Defenders of their city and their people. “And I follow the Way.”
“Respect from Clan Glennybrook, out of the Kuhn Plain Hills.” He bowed at his waist and pulled a latch on the bottom half of the cage, and a slit large enough for a tray opened. “This here be for ye, but I’ll be gettin’ ye more. I can nae do much, but I be a humble chef. And I’ll feed ye proper, aye?”
“That sounds nice, Nick.” I grabbed the plate. “I have a request, though, if you’ll hear me out?”
“I will nae let ye out lad, tha’ be more than any o’ us will likely do.” He shook his head forlornly. “We hold ta a code, much the same as I do the Way.”
“I thought not, but I would settle for some extra meat so that I can feed my familiar.” I took my food and set it aside for now.
“Oh, I be takin’ real proper care o’ her, Manly were insistent on it, though she be doin’ the feedin’ herself.” He bashfully smiled and nodded to himself.
“Thank you, but I meant the one I have with me, now, she’s a baby, so I can’t let you get too hands-on, but I’ll introduce you if you’ll agree to bring extra food?” He looked uncertain. “I swear on my clan name that I will not lie to you in this, Nick. Also, the others, Jaken, the Fae-orc, and Balmur, the Azer dwarf, are clan as well. The others are close family to me, and that makes them important to the clan. I would hope that you would see that they’re treated well?”
Warning!
You as both a Knight of the Unseelie Court and a member of a dwarven clan have given your word. While a broken oath will have dire consequences in either realm, failing to keep your word in this will have extremely dire consequences. If you fail to uphold your word as a Knight, your court’s honor will be besmirched, and your title in jeopardy. If you break your oath as a member of a clan, your clan can turn against you, or exile you.
Be careful.
Fuck me. I hadn’t had any real thoughts of breaking my word before, but goddamn. So, this Fae thing was a double-edged blade, and it could easily be held at my throat, too.
He nodded fiercely, but Bonnie answered, “We may work a little underhanded at times, and get into some hairy situations, but we always treat our bounties with respect. You abide by our rules and our expectations of you, and we won’t harm a hair on you or anyone else’s heads.” She smiled, and this one seemed genuine, too. “I don’t have a beard to swear on, so I don’t know if you’ll believe me, but Manly is insistent that we treat people with respect.”
Fuck. These guys were making it harder and harder to want to destroy them. They hadn’t harmed anyone on purpose, and they seemed genuinely cool.
“Sounds like a good policy to have.” I gave them a genuine wry smile, my mood lifting a little despite the situation.
“It’s one we all signed on for when Manly and Dawn recruited us.” Bonnie gripped her hammer and lifted it easily before standing. “I’ll get out of your way, Nick. Do be careful, though. This one’s got some rage in him.”
“Aye, aye.” The dwarf waved her off, took out a little notepad, and a sheet of parchment. “What kind o’food ye be needin’?”
“Meat,” I stated simply. “Lots of meat. If you have anything living, like rodents, that would do nicely.”
“Manly keeps the live feed, but I’m sure she’d be willin’ ta part with some.” He scowled as he took notes.
“I’d be happy to pay for it,” I offered, more out of respect for their coffers than anything.
“She may just go for tha’,” he nodded and finished up. “Ye eat tha’ an’ I’ll be bringin’ ye some more from me personal stores until we get tha’ sorted, aye? Looks like we forgot a bucket for yer, uh, business. I’ll be bringing’ ye one o’ them too.”
“Okay.” I waited until he was gone and analyzed the food that was there. Meat and potatoes with what looked like some vegetables and a cold glass of milk.
I cast Purify on everything, but the base mana cost of the spell likely meant that either they hadn’t touched the food, or the stuff they had used wasn’t very potent.
I ate what was there swiftly and cleaned the plate with the shadows at my command. I’d be working with them as well, as there was no sense in wasting time.
I focused on shaping the shadows around me until Nick came back. Weird name for a dwarf, if you asked me. Must be a hill dwarf kind of thing.
“I’ll stay still.” I nodded and folded my legs beneath me. From the looks of him, I’d say that I’d have a bit of a hard time in a straight fight, given his level was equal to the mages from earlier. The silver on the bars wouldn’t help me, either.
He took me at my word and opened the door to the cell by flicking his wrist and motioning something I couldn’t quite make out, then a small shink, and the door was open.
Nick took the bucket and set it inside, I nodded my head. “Thank you.” Then he set the other food and a bag with blood on the bottom on the floor, just inside the cage out of the way of the door.
My eyes widened a bit at the blood, but he shut the door and explained as he did so, “Tha’ be the meat I promised. Figured if it were fer a wee beastie, getting’ ‘em used ta blood would be a good idea, nutritious fer ‘em.”
“That’s very thoughtful of you.” I smiled at his tone and had to laugh. “So it was all true, right? Being raised with druids?”
He thumped his armored chest. “Aye. Proud o’ me people, I be.”
“Well then, as promised, I’ll introduce you to Bea.” He looked to be extremely interested in seeing her. “Uh, just let me eat this food first.”
He nodded enthusiastically as he pulled a long pipe out of his inventory and packed it full of tobacco while I cast Purify over it. I turned my eyes up to see him looking at me with knowing eyes, but he paid me no mind.
I ate quickly and deposited the treats into my inventory before releasing Bea, again.
She burst into a run as soon as she was out and looked for food, eyes landing on the blood on the floor. She bolted straight at it, lapping it off the floor greedily.
Into the Darkness: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Axe Druid Book 4) Page 15