“There are around two thousand more making their way from Dathmir, my scouts tell me,” he continues, “and more than that will be on their way from Sefindarg City, having come in by ship from the capital. If we keep this up, we’ll be as much of a thorn in the Emperor’s side as Thondormark and the Confederacy.”
“You’re not worried about more enemy troops coming?”
He sighs. “I know our chances don’t look good. If we stay the way we are and they keep sending more, then they will overwhelm us eventually, lass, for sure. But think of this – if those Imperial troops are not in Dathmir, then rebels in that city may finally have the chance to strike. There is a tremendous struggle that lies ahead. And if I can lend my sword to that purpose, I will.”
His sword. I am reminded of the ongoing struggle to gather the Genke artifacts, and I look at the greatsword, once again admiring its hilt with the copper-colored crossguard.
Perhaps Dakkir, too, thinks of the important and secretive nature of the weapon, for he changes the subject. “If we can inspire more places to rise up, then the odds could start to tip in our favor…”
I have stopped listening to the old knight, however.
I am staring at a glittering milky pearl-like stone, cut like a diamond, which is set in the sword’s pommel.
For I have seen stones exactly like that before. And I think I might know where they are.
* * *
“Potions?” I say, approaching Coruff. I have hurried off into the city, but pause when I see my friend working with some vials near the entrance to the amphitheater.
She pats my shoulder with her broad paw, and nods. “More conflict is coming. Between us, we have been working on a stock of potions of healing, and we have also started to prepare some antidotes to the poisons that the Imperials were using against the lizard folk.”
“You and the coven?”
“Yes. Finally, we can work in the open. And we have had the chance to purchase magical ingredients, with the help of our contacts here. Not everything has been replaced, but we are getting there.”
“That’s great news.”
“That reminds me,” she adds, taking a very unusual-looking black metal coin from her pocket. It has a complex rune carved into it. “We carried out the enchantment on the coven as we had planned. You will need this to be able to enter the building from now on. Keep it safe.”
I nod and place the coin carefully into my money pouch. “So you are all staying in Katresburg?”
“Josa told me about your speech at the safe house, Daria. You are right. There are a great many talented witches, sorcerers and healers in the city. We can work together to support the revolution and build a better world. Perhaps we can even start to put the ancient enmity between different magic guilds behind us, and return to research, and to the teaching of youngsters.”
“I’m relieved that you have somewhere safe to call home at last, Coruff,” I say. “But there is still a threat. And it could be worse than ever, if the Knights of Dawn are able to achieve their aims.”
“I know. Josa and Ta’rox have been talking about setting out to gain the rest of the artefacts before it’s too late. I hate to ask, but if you are willing…”
“Of course, Coruff,” I say, interrupting her. “I am going to see this through.”
She nods. “Either way, I would have given you these – but it’s heartening to hear.” She holds out two more of the red-colored healing potions, and I take them. On a whim, I pull the two empty glass vials from my pack, and hand them over. “Thank you, Coruff, it is appreciated. And perhaps you might need more of these?”
With that, I hurry off, keen to get to the city jail. As I go, I mull over Coruff’s previous words.
Build a better world.
But who are we building it for? This issue puts me in mind of Connor Champion; I still haven’t managed to find the slippery knight. At the tail end of the battle, Zakira said something about having another look for him, and then hurried off into the backstreets.
And while the matter of the city’s survival has been settled at least for the short term, I am feeling increasingly stressed about my confinement in the gaming pod. It’s not just the sense of claustrophobia that it induces, though that is bad enough. I can’t see my family again until I get out.
Soon I reach the jail; perhaps because I was visible enough in the defense of the city, the guards let me through without question, I make my way down a set of stairs and begin to walk past a row of cells. Each of them is very much like the cells in which Lugg and I were was confined in Nimroth: square, with bars at the front and a bunk. For all the detail of Shadow Kingdoms, nobody put too much thought into this location, it seems.
I stop at a cell where a white-haired elven warrior is sitting on the bunk, and he looks up, glaring at me with anger in his eyes. “You couldn’t resist coming to gloat,” says Snagaras.
I smile. It is good to see him locked up, I must admit.
“How’s your head?” I ask mischievously.
He scowls at me. “What do you want? Perhaps I should remind you that you are a traitor and a criminal, and when the Imperial Army arrives, your head will be set on a pole outside the capital.”
I sniff. “You stole a necklace, do you remember? Years ago. On Zagra.”
His face is already the color of chalk, but if anything it becomes paler. “You,” he mutters. I notice his eyes flicker down towards his chest before he looks away, silently.
“You still have it,” I say, stepping closer to the bars. “Don’t you?”
He shrugs, baring his teeth. “What’s so special about this necklace, anyway?”
“Guard!” I call out. “Can you please check under this prisoner’s tunic? Is he wearing some kind of necklace or amulet under there? If so, it should have been confiscated together with his weapons. It could be dangerous.”
One of the Katresburg soldiers strolls over to me without any sense of urgency. “We have all of the prisoners’ possessions in a crate through in the guard room, Madam. You can take a look if you like?”
“Very well, then,” I respond, peering suspiciously at Snagaras. “But I’ll find my own way. I want you to watch this prisoner while I’m gone.”
“Very good.”
I hurry off, and after trying a couple of doors, find the guard’s common room. It smells stale and unpleasant, and I look around, sniffing. Near the back are several barrels and a couple of large crates, and I can see a thin guardsman in a brown cloak just behind one of the crates.
And the man is holding up a necklace with milky-colored cut stones.
“Hey, I need that,” I say, hurrying forward.
“I got it first,” he says, snatching the thing away and putting his hand to his sword.
“It’s not yours,” I reply, approaching cautiously. “It was stolen.”
“And therefore you can steal it? No way,” he replies.
I weigh up my options. I have enough powerful friends that I could probably overrule this creep – not least, Mac-Shinter himself. But then again, the necklace is small, valuable, and easily concealed. If I let it out of my sight, it could be some time before it comes to light again.
“I don’t want to have to fight for it,” I say, putting my hand on my morning star and trying to look as bulky as I can. “But I will if I must.”
“There are a dozen of us on duty,” he replies. “Do you really think you have a chance?”
Intimidation failed, then. And I really don’t want to have to fight this guy, despite his actions; Katresburg needs all the soldiers it can get right now, even if they are jerks.
“I tell you what,” I say, lifting my hand off my weapon, “that thing isn’t worth much on its own, but it belonged to someone special, and it is part of a set. It would mean a lot to me to bring the pieces back together. So I’ll trade you.”
He peers at me suspiciously, still clutching the jewel. “What for?”
I reach down to my belt, and pull out Skizol
’s jeweled knife. “This belonged to a mighty warrior,” I say, holding it out. “It is the finest knife I have seen, and I’m trained as a blacksmith. What’s more, it’s magical.”
“I’m listening,” he says.
I sigh, feeling frustrated. “That’s not enough for you? Very well. These are hard times, I get it. The knife and thirty gold pieces. What do you say? Now that is a real bargain, I tell you.”
Increase in skill level: Persuasion level 17 (Spirit +3)
He sniffs, then gives a nod. “Fifty and you’ve got a deal.”
Chapter 50: Ready
We gather at the gates of Katresburg once again.
Lugg, Garner and I are ready to leave. Josa is coming with us as a representative from the coven. Van Turk, however, will stay in the city as one of Mac-Shinter’s captains.
Ta’rox is coming with us, at least as far as the Great Swamp. He wishes to return to his clan, and is happy to accompany us one last time. Safety in numbers – particularly with one of the Knights of Dawn at large.
I say farewell to Maleki, Coruff and Mac-Shinter, who are all staying in the city. “The ballistas are both in their places in the towers and in working order,” I say. “The blacksmith Amelia has agreed to make more bolts – she knows the specifications.”
“Very good,” says the old knight with a grunt.
I embrace the two witches with whom I have shared so many troubles over the recent days, and who I have come to trust with my life. Then I turn, ready to leave – but I see Amelia Prexis standing by the stadium, watching us from a distance. She looks serious, though not exactly sour-faced, and I realize that I should reassure her of my intentions.
“Wait here a moment, please!” I say to my friends, and then jog over to her.
“Master blacksmith,” I say.
“Daria. I see you are leaving.”
“I’ll be back in a couple of days, I promise. I’ve not forgotten about the work that I owe you.”
She nods very slowly, eyeing me up and down. “That will be very welcome, I must say. For I have heard positive things about how it went with those pieces that you forged.”
“I am sorry…”
“Nonsense,” she interrupts. “You saved the city. Many of my own friends would be dead right now if the Imperials had overwhelmed our defenses. You owe me nothing, in truth – quite the opposite. I should probably pay you for the work you did on behalf of the city.”
“Thank you,” I say nervously, “but I only did my best, like we all did. I was more fortunate than many in surviving the day.”
“Anyhow,” she says, not commenting on my deflection, “like I say, it would be welcome. For you to return to the forge, I mean.”
“You mean…” I don’t say the word ‘training’, but the implication is clear.
She is still looking serious, unemotional, but she does narrow her eyes, and gives me a hint of a smile. “It’s good to see someone who appreciates the finer points of a crafter’s trade,” she says after a pause. “And if you must go off with that lot” – she moves her head in the direction of my companions – “then be careful. And return soon.”
“Thank you, Master. We just intend to take some potions to our allies among the lizard folk. Some are suffering long-term ailments from the poisons that the Imperials put in the water supply. I’ll be back tomorrow.”
She nods. “One other thing – I have something for you.” I had barely registered, but she is wearing a bow over her shoulder, and she now unslings it. “I noticed that you were using a poor-quality bow.”
“I… lost my own one. I had to use the string for something. Sorry – that makes me sound careless with weapons, but I’m not. It was a genuine emergency. And this one I picked up on a ship. So…”
“Take this, then,” she says, “and look after it, for it’s a quality piece – if I do say so myself.”
I take the bow in my hand. It’s of around the same size as the bow that I had before, but this is a much finer weapon indeed. In comparison to my old shortbow which was a simple curved length of yew, this one is made entirely of metal – a light, springy alloy that I don’t entirely recognize – and is a recurve bow, each end S-shaped as it doubles back on itself. I am certain that it will suit me well in size and weight, and pack more of a punch than my previous one.
And it will be nice to be able to defend myself from a distance if we are to make our way into the swamp.
“One other thing – I picked these up from the slain Knights of Dawn, and haven’t had the chance to sell them. Is there anything you could do with them?” I hold out the signet ring that I took from Skizol, together with a similar jewel that Lugg was quick-witted enough to take from Valizor before we left the slain knight’s tent.
Amelia holds out her hand and takes them, then closes her fingers around them with a nod. “These are valuable, Daria,” she says. “If you like, I can find you a suitable dwelling in town in exchange…?”
I smile. “Thank you. I would appreciate that. I’ve been on the move a lot.”
My equipment and the contents of my money pouch now stand as follows.
Backpack: bedroll, broken spring traps (2), copper wire (5 yards), dart (silver, improvised), daily trail rations (4), empty glass bottle, healing potions (2), iron pot, lantern, light blanket, linen cloth, map (Katresburg), quiver with arrows (20), set of high-quality crafting tools, set of spare light clothes, waterskins (2), wooden box. Other items: belt, belt (enchanted), cloak, fine morning star, money pouch, fine recurve bow, waterskin.
Copper: 11 Silver: 2303 Gold: 151 Ruby (small) Black runecoin
With a final farewell to our coven friends, and to the sound of some light applause from the guards on the nearest section of city wall, we walk towards the gates of Katresburg, ready to make our way onto the trampled and bloodied fields beyond.
Just then, I hear the sound of running feet amongst the noise of the guard, and turn to see Zakira sprinting towards me.
“Wait,” she calls out, skidding to a halt just in front of me. “I got the door, Daria. It’s unlocked.”
* * *
As I continue to walk from Katresburg, safe in my friends’ company, I open my eyes in the real world, saying my own name inside my head in order to trigger non-immersive mode.
Not for the first time, I wriggle around and pull at the door, but this time, as I do so, it clicks opens easily. As I push it and it swings smoothly open, I hear voices just outside.
“Lucy!” calls a woman’s voice, that I think must be Asma.
And then there are two male voices as well.
I creep forward, feeling a little disorientated, and sticking my face out. “Kashif?” I say, recognising an unexpected face in the room outside. Then I look around. “Andros?”
In moments, I am out of the gaming pod, and my friends help me through to the next room with the couches, Asma following just behind. Beyond, in the outer office, I see a uniformed police officer standing by the external door, and I frown.
Kashif sits on the couch beside me, while Asma and Andros sit opposite. I take a moment to stretch my arms and legs, feeling surprisingly all right despite my lengthy confinement, and then sit down with them.
“What the heck is going on?” I ask. “What happened with Viperstar?”
I look around again; besides the cop, I haven’t seen anyone else around, and there is no sign of Connor.
“I’ve closed the office for today,” says Asma. “But what can I say. Your door had been secured from the outside, and I can only assume it was him. The other pods had been too, and some of the people inside there were really freaking out, with no way of contacting anyone.”
“Wow. That sucks. He would really do that?”
“It looks like it,” she says sadly. “And what’s more, a lot of money has been transferred out of the Viperstar account.”
“I did warn you about this guy,” says Kashif with a wry smile, and I look around and squeeze his shoulder. “Thanks for looking out f
or me, buddy. You know, I can’t believe you both came all this way.”
“We were genuinely worried,” says Andros. “Your uncle thought that you were staying with a friend in town, and we didn’t want to bother him, but…”
“We knew something was wrong,” finished Kashif.
“And you’ve still no idea where Connor is?” I ask, looking back at Asma.
She shakes her head. “The people who work here are furious. We hope we can continue without him. I did get a couple who were like, ‘no, surely not him’ and that kind of thing. But there seems to be general agreement now – he has betrayed us all, and run off. But all the same…” She shrugs, looking away.
“You don’t know whether to believe it?”
“Right. At least, we just don’t know what happened until we uncover a bit more evidence, or the cops do. They’re investigating. But what we do know is that Viperstar had made itself a target. Perhaps more than we realized. He might have been scared – desperate.”
I think about this for a moment. “So it’s possible that he has been taken, or has had to flee for his life? Wow.”
She looks back at me, and I think again that her eyes are very like Zakira’s. “Yes. That is possible. But then again, it’s also possible that he has stabbed us in the back and teamed up with the enemy. We just don’t know. But in the meantime, we need to be cautious. Be ready for anything.” Her eyes linger as she looks at me, and I wonder if she is talking about the game world almost as much as the real world.
We rise together, and after giving a brief statement to the cop, we make our way out to the bright autumn day in the street outside, the four of us together.
The Call of the Coven: A LitRPG novel (Shadow Kingdoms Book 2) Page 34