The Long Road of Adventure- Blue Storms and Black Sand

by Ian Rodgers

  “And these are a common threat up north?” Lily asked incredulously. The merchant shrugged.

  “Somewhat, though it’s mostly on the coasts of Orria and Nora closest to the Isle of Worms. It’s too cold elsewhere, or too distant. Certainly, they’re more common nowadays at least, what with all the visits to their home on the island. Thankfully the insects don’t seem inclined to start breeding over here. I don’t want to think about those creatures spreading.”

  “What kind of terrible place is this Isle of Worms?” Lily gasped in horrified awe.

  “Oh, I can answer that,” Gaelin spoke up. Now that the red-head’s questions were being answered by someone else, the merchant ordered the caravan to move on now that the threat was passed.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, really. See, the Isle of Worms actually belongs to Partaevia,” Gaelin revealed as the started the march again. “It used to belong to another nation, but when the empire conquered them, it took all their colonies as well.”

  “The Isle of Worms is in the northernmost part of the Bluestar Ocean. It’s a large island filled with subterranean volcanic activity and hot springs that keep it mostly warm, even close to the arctic,” Gaelin began to explain. “Very little plant life grows there. Plenty of supersized fungi though, especially in the tunnels. It’s entirely populated by massive insects. Some magical, some not. The underground heat sources are what allows them to dwell and stay active most of the year.”

  “Why would anyone want to live there?” the archer asked in disbelief. Gaelin scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

  “Well, to be honest, they don’t. There’s only a single settlement on the island; Goliad, the Fortress Prison. It’s Partaevia’s answer to Varia’s Tower of Chains. It’s basically a fortified penal colony, where all sorts of criminals who cannot be executed or dealt with swiftly end up. They serve as forced labor making dyes and other goods for sale in the empire. The only way off the Isle of Worms is by boat, and those are strictly monitored for human escapees.”

  “I see. If the island itself is so inhospitable due to the vicious insects that already thrive there, then trying to live off the land would be futile. But why not swim off?” Lily asked.

  The dark-haired halberdier snorted. “Sure. Swim. It’s close to Nora, which means half the year the water is freezing cold, and the other half it’s only slightly warmer while also being infested with Dire Sharks who’ve come to know and love the taste of human flesh due to idiots who’ve tried to escape that way before.”

  “Goliad is infamous for being the last stop for sinners. Only nine people have ever escaped from it, and a mere two of those have been since it was taken over by Partaevia three hundred years ago,” Gaelin said as he shook his head at the very notion of anyone breaking free.

  “People really are strange,” Lily uttered. She was silent the rest of the walk, unable to cope with the idea of giant, ravenous insects or that anyone would want to build anything near them.

  .

  The rest of their journey was uneventful. The most excitement was when a pack of Ice Wolves circled their camp on the second night, but the tundra dwelling animals had wandered off when they sensed the group was too well defended.

  After that though the trip went as planned. Although the weather had changed not all of the snow had melted, which slowed the wagons and horses down in some places. It wasn’t too bad, though, and even Lily had grudgingly admitted the mud was not intolerable.

  At last the caravan reached the outskirts of the powerful northern city. They were still a few hours away, but the large, well-fortified settlement was hard to miss as it sat on the flat plains leading up to a rocky beach. A large cobblestone road could be seen ahead leading from the gate of the city to link with the myriad smaller paths that led to famous northern port.

  “So, that is the city of Jetty. Impressive,” Lily muttered. Gaelin nodded in agreement.

  The port city was isolated behind tall, imposing walls that made the entire settlement look as if it had been built inside of a cliff. You could barely see the tops of the tallest buildings behind the defensive line that protected Jetty!

  The only other part that could be seen was the port, but that too was walled in. Somehow the architects had managed to create two arm-like walls that protruded from the city proper into the water itself. Protecting the entrance to the docks were a pair of watch towers, and from the looks of the giant winches that could just barely be seen, could raise some kind of chain or net to block off the port from sea-bound invaders.

  “Does the city really need to be this heavily fortified?” Gaelin inquired, surprised by the sheer number and sizes of defenses it boasted.

  “Jetty sits on rather contested ground. It must defend itself from not just pirates and wild monsters, but from the barbarian tribes of Nora who like to raid and pillage. Jetty is the most heavily fortified of the Crawling Coast’s cities because it rests in a very dangerous area. It also has the highest concentration of mercenaries you’ll find in the Free Cities,” a helpful adventurer nearby offered. “And that’s not even touching on the Dire Elves who patrol their side of the Narrow Ice Strait. They do not like unannounced visitors.”

  “Mercenaries? And not adventurers?” Lily asked, picking up on that classification.

  “Adventurers like us have rules that state we cannot interfere with certain types of business between nations. As such, unless it is in self-defense we cannot fight back against the Noran raiders. Mercenaries, like the Unchained Legion, have no such qualms and can retaliate as they please when their client is attacked.”

  “Makes sense. Unless authorized by the Guild, we can’t even hunt down bandits. We are mostly called in to take care of monsters and the like,” Gaelin said in understanding.

  “Well, that sounds… anyone else feel the ground shaking somewhat?” Lily asked, cutting off whatever she’d been about to say about the concept of mercenaries.

  A few adventurers in the group were looking around in confusion, as the rumbling didn’t feel like an earthquake. The horses were certainly spooked, however, and it was taking a lot of effort to calm them.

  It wasn’t just them, either. Several other nearby travelers were noticing the vibrations.

  “Odd, they seem to be moving. As if there’s something underneath us…” one of the senior C-ranked adventurers mused, before realization hit him and he went pale.

  “There’s something burrowing below us!” he shouted. Everyone sprang into action, grabbing weapons or trying to find a safe spot to hide.

  Gaelin settled into a waiting stance with his halberd, ready to confront whatever tried to appear. Lily readied her bow, preparing to fire a merciless barrage of arrows at any target that presented itself.

  They did not have to wait long. From the ground a foot or so from the road a disturbingly familiar shape erupted in a spray of mud and stone. Over twelve feet long, but with heavily charred chunks all across its front half, the Razorpede from the first day appeared, a look of demented, animalistic rage in its sole undamaged eye.

  “Oh shit!” Gaelin shouted. That drew its attention, and it seemed to recognize the human who had helped drive it off after setting it on fire. The Razorpede released a keening shriek and lunged at the halberdier.

  It ignored everything else in its path to reach Gaelin, flipping over a cart as it charged through the caravan towards the halberd-wielding adventurer. The adventurer from Partaevia barely had time to raise his weapon in defense before the creature slammed into him.

  Gaelin was pushed back several feet. Only his Reinforced body allowed him to stay standing, and not be thrown to the ground by the Razorpede’s sheer weight.

  Holding his halberd horizontally in front of him, Gaelin managed to keep the mandibles away from his body. The enormous insect gnawed vigorously on the shaft, but it was unable to even scratch the surface.

  That was to be expected from a weapon blessed by the gods and formerly wielded by the World Paladin himself, t
hough. Gaelin activated another round of Reinforcement and shoved the giant centipede monster away from himself. It slammed into the ground and writhed for a bit as it tried to get back on its feet. No one dared approach while it was flailing around. Its legs were like swords, they were so sharp.

  Once it righted itself, however, the Razorpede’s eye fell on Lily who was standing nearby.

  “Lily, get back!” Gaelin shouted in fear as the monster’s rage redirected itself towards the red-headed archer. It emitted a screech of fury before squirming towards her with murderous intent, ichor weeping from the ruined sockets of the Razorpede as it stared at the one who had done so much damage to it.

  Terrified, Lily fired an arrow, but it did little more than chip the burned carapace. Still buffed by the Reinforcement spell, Gaelin counter-charged the insect monster with his halberd raised high.

  “Magic Edge!” Gaelin shouted, silver energy coating the blade of his weapon. He brought the halberd down in a vicious, overhead strike moments before the Razorpede collided with Lily.

  A squeal of pain, a screech as magically enhanced metal tore through chiton, and a welter of pale blue gore followed as Gaelin barely managed to slice the creature in half. The front half skidded forwards, carried by its momentum, and crashed at Lily’s feet. She jumped back, instincts screaming at her to avoid the reach of its jaws which were still biting furiously, even as it died.

  Gaelin panted as he let go of the magic he’d been holding. The halberd stopped glowing and the silver tattoos faded. He was still not used to using multiple spells at once, especially not fairly intensive ones like Reinforcement or Magic Edge. He had a long way to go.

  Still, everyone applauded and cheered as they stared at the oozing remains of the Razorpede.

  “That was amazing!” the head of the merchants in the group claimed. Gaelin shook his head.

  “I only managed to cut through the carapace because it was badly damaged already due to the fire from last time. Even with my Magic Edge I could feel how durable its chiton was,” Gaelin stated humbly.

  “Do you want some help dismantling the Razorpede?” an adventurer inquired. Gaelin nodded, and soon he had a trio of helpers taking apart the useful parts and setting them aside while the rest of the caravan tried to reallocate the disrupted cargo. Two horses had to be put down due to the Razorpede’s attack, so the cargo in their wagons had to be divided among the remaining ones.

  “So, you can use their carapace as armor?” Gaelin asked as he hefted a large plate of chiton up off of the Razorpede.

  “Yup. Just sew it onto leather, and it makes a decent poor man’s plate mail. Jetty’s city guards love this stuff, since it’s lightweight but durable, and you can still swim in it if you fall in the water. Which is always a problem for the patrols around the harbor,” one of the adventurers commented.

  “And the venom?” The halberdier gestured towards the vials of poison they had extracted from its dripping pincers.

  “They’re used as a common reagent in various antidotes. After all, use poison to counter poison!”

  “And you’re sure someone will want to buy… this thing?” Lily asked, holding up a lump of knobby flesh that had been removed from the chest of the Razorpede. Blue ichor dripped down her hands and she repressed a shudder at the clammy feeling of the object touching her skin.

  “Oh, totally. The ganglions are one of the most valuable parts! They are used in all kinds of recipes. Grilled, boiled, roasted, you name it! It’s a luxury food for nobles.”

  “WHY?!” she cried, almost weeping in her disgust.

  “It helps blood circulation in older gentlemen who need help getting bedroom stuff done.”

  A look of horror crawled across Lily’s face, and it was only the fact that the lump of meat was worth several gold coins that stopped her from tossing it away in shock. She then looked at the rest of the massive insect and whimpered, knowing she had several more ganglion to extract.

  It took a while to strip the Razorpede of usable parts, but it was worth it in the end. Although half of its carapace was damaged by fire there was still plenty left. In total, Lily and Gaelin made off with a nice pile of gold. Fourteen gold and six silver, to be precise.

  “Sorry for making you wait,” Gaelin apologized to the head of the caravan.

  “Don’t mind it. You helped saved us twice without anyone hurt! Well, besides the horses, but to face off against a Razorpede and defeat it without any people getting injured? And having it happen two times? Very lucky,” the caravan leader stated.

  “Come on, let’s head into Jetty now that all this excitement is over.” With that, the convoy of horse drawn wagons moved on towards the high walls of the port, and Lily couldn’t help but look excited and eager to start her search for medicine for her wound.

  “What sort of things do you think we’ll find in there?” Lily wondered. It was rhetorical, as Gaelin could tell the curly haired princess was mostly just talking to take her minds off the blue stains on her hands that refused to get clean no matter how much snow and dirt she rubbed on them.

  He nodded along politely though. The halberdier was interested to see what Jetty was like as well. Not since Sanc Aldet had they enjoyed the comfort of city life, and he was intrigued as to what sorts of goods and services Jetty had within.

  He just hoped they didn’t run into any serial killers this time!

  Chapter 4: City of Shielded Water

  Thankfully, there were no psychotic murderers or dark god worshipping cultists inside Jetty. Or to be more precise, none that made themselves known to the public.

  For three days Gaelin and Lily had enjoyed the sights and shops of the walled port. No cures for the wound Lily had suffered, but that hadn’t stopped the princess from looking in every store, no matter how seedy.

  That was how Gaelin found himself trying to hold back the furious spitfire who was trying to claw out the eyes and tongue of a much larger man who looked like he ate nails for breakfast, hammers for dinner, and washed it all down with a mug of hot sauce.

  “Let me go, Gaelin! He has to die!”

  “Stop it, Lily! You shouldn’t let his words get to you!”

  “Are you taking his side?!”

  The halberdier flinched at her caustic tone. “No, no, not at all!”

  A snort came from the slab of muscles posing as a person. “Listen to your man, red. If you get too worked up, all that hot air will rush to your head. And it’s already pretty big.”

  A sneer crossed his face and he leaned in towards Lily. “Not like the rest of you. Seriously, how’d they let a short stack like yourself become an adventurer? Maybe they were using a different system of measurement. You’d be a giant among gnomes, after all!”

  “Say that again! I dare you!” Lily screamed, continuing her struggle to break free of Gaelin’s Reinforced grip.

  “You. Are. Short,” the man enunciated, leaning in closer with each word. He then glanced down at her chest. “And. Flat.”

  A roar of primal, feminine rage erupted from her throat and it was only due to Gaelin’s enhanced strength that he managed to keep her from lunging at the man’s face and tearing at it as if she were a howler monkey.

  “I’m very sorry about her,” Gaelin apologized to the storeowner as he dragged his friend out of the shop. The merchant merely waved the young man off. Anything he may have said in response was drowned out by Lily’s incoherent snarls of fury.

  Gaelin continued to mutter apologies as he dragged her down the sidewalk, and felt himself die a little inside from all the stares they received from passing pedestrians.

  .

  “Have you calmed down now?” he asked the princess as they sat on the rim of a fountain. She huffed but nodded, her head cooled by time and the stiff salty breeze blowing in off the ocean.

  The fountain itself seemed to carry an aura of calm and comfort. The figures depicted in white marble were the three women of the Divine Family -Cynthia and her daughters Selika and Nia- holding up
an urn from which the water tumbled into the wide basin.

  Many people were sitting nearby, basking in the peaceful aura it carried. It was the perfect place to relax, and Gaelin was taking full advantage of its powers.

  “Sorry, but he was just so infuriating!” she griped, clenching her fists as the memory of the poor customer service.

  “Oh, definitely, the sheer gall he had,” Gaelin agreed, mostly for her benefit.

  “So what if I’m short? I’m still growing! Father was tall, and so was mother! I’ll be proper sized eventually! Top, bottom, and everywhere in between!” Lily ranted.

  Her halberd-wielding companion held back a laugh at that. “You might want to rephrase that.”

  “Can’t believe we bothered with that store at all,” Lily grumbled, finally settling down.

  “I told you before we entered he likely didn’t have anything we’d need. That was a supplement story for increasing physical attributes through a variety of methods. Not a place that caters to healing magic or curse removal,” Gaelin pointed out.

  “How was I supposed to know that ‘waist slimming treatments’ were for women who wanted to stop being fat?” Lily argued. “Or that half of the stuff in there was designed for people who think stuffing strange potions into their bodies will keep them healthy?”

  “To be fair, most people see potions as a sort of shortcut to good health thanks to the Alchemist’s Circle and their promotions of Healing Potions and the like,” Gaelin said. “Not to mention a lot of tales recount how adventurers and heroes were at Selika’s door, only to be brought back by a magic elixir of some kind.”

  Lily let out a distinctly unladylike snort before sighing in annoyance and massaging her forehead. “Alright. I’m calm now. And we’ve finally looked through almost all of the stores in Jetty that deal with healing and such.”

  “And yet, no results,” Gaelin added, his own disappointment clear. He was just as invested in this search as Lily, and not finding any hints or tips about curse removal was grating.