Second Skin: Fractures

by M Damon Baker

Khorim offered a toast to our future profits, and we happily resumed our revelries. While Broda and Khorim continued drinking at a rather prodigious rate, the elves and I maintained a much more modest pace. Regardless of our various rates of consumption, Jessah seemed to always appear with a fresh tankard as soon as anyone’s was emptied. But the good mood of the evening was abruptly spoiled for me when Wil and his brute of a companion sauntered into the inn.

  I watched in disgust as they sat lazily at a table on the far side of the room, and the two of them leered shamelessly at Jessah as she took their orders. My blood began to boil at their blatant ogling of the young woman and my anger only grew when Wil took a swipe at her backside as she passed by. But Jessah, obviously no stranger to such rude behavior, deftly sidestepped the clumsy attempt. The two joked as she walked away and made rude gestures that left no doubt as to their thoughts. They were clearly no better than Nedd, and I had no doubt that Jessah, or any other woman for that matter, would be in serious jeopardy if she found herself alone and at their mercy. I was both disgusted by their antics and unsure that I would be able to contain my anger if I had to watch them any longer, so I excused myself.

  I stalked up to my room angrily and threw the door open before I slammed it shut and quickly locked it behind me, and my rage only surged as my mind contemplated the injustice of it all—those filthy animals were able to bully and abuse innocent people, seemingly without consequence. The Bloody Hearts even went so far as to hunt me down and make my life miserable simply because I defended myself against one of them. It was all just so wrong, and I knew that the horrible cycle of senseless violence needed to be stopped somehow.

  As my anger slowly simmered, I came up with a plan for action. I realized that, while I might not be able to eliminate the Bloody Hearts’ reign of terror, I certainly could put an end to a small portion of it. So, while I solidified my idea, I began to prepare myself for what I intended to do.

  There really wasn’t much to do right then, since I needed to wait for early morning to set my plans in motion. Still, I made use of the time by going over the details and trying to anticipate anything that might go wrong. Finally, I settled down to wait; for my plan to work, I had to be ready well before dawn. I couldn’t risk oversleeping, or I would miss my opportunity, so I simply sat back, watched the night sky and waited for the first sign of dawn that would set me in motion. But I had only just begun my vigil when a soft knock came at the door.

  “Dae,” I heard Venna’s whisper through the door. “I just wanted to check on you.”

  I didn’t want to answer any uncomfortable questions Venna might have seeing me fully dressed for battle, so I quickly removed my quiver and the new pair of swords I had slung over my shoulders before I unlocked the door

  “Hello, Venna. I’m fine,” I said, as I opened the door and welcomed her inside.

  “Oh, good,” she replied, as she took a seat on the edge of the bed. “You left so hastily. I know that merchant makes you uncomfortable, so I thought I would make sure you were alright.”

  “I am… and thank you. I just couldn’t stand the sight of him anymore, and I had to get away,” I replied truthfully.

  “I understand,” she sighed. “The two of them are still down there being rude and staring at every woman in the room. To be honest, that’s why I finally left as well. Stel is a man of nearly infinite patience, but I was concerned that they were testing even his limits.”

  “Then why doesn’t anyone stop them?” I asked her bluntly.

  “You should know the answer to that question better than anyone. They are afraid of repercussions from the Bloody Hearts,” Venna answered.

  I let out a dejected sigh before I replied. She had hit upon the exact issue I had been struggling with just before.

  “So where does it end? What will stop them from terrorizing everyone?”

  Venna let out her own deep sigh in response.

  “I don’t know,” she replied. “I’m sorry, I… I just don’t know.”

  We sat together quietly for a while, but the silence, rather than being awkward, was comforting—the calm quiet of two friends sharing a moment together.

  After a while, I faked a yawn and told Venna that I was getting sleepy. While I enjoyed her company, I needed to get back in the proper frame of mind to execute my plan. Venna graciously excused herself, and as she left, I made a hasty addition to my plan.

  “I may have some Deathless things come up in the morning,” I told her as her hand reached for the doorknob. “If I don’t answer when you try and wake me, don’t worry; I may just need a while to finish some things.”

  “Oh, certainly. I understand. Sleep well,” Venna said, as she closed the door behind her.

  Sleep was definitely not on my agenda, I thought to myself as I resumed staring at the dark night sky.

  The night passed slowly for me as I watched the stars and cast Enhanced Sight repeatedly. Then, before any sign of dawn could be seen, I heard the tell-tale sound of voices down the hallway. I listened to them closely, and could just discern the smarmy tone of Wil and his henchman as they made their way downstairs.

  I had hoped to get out before they even woke up. My plan was to leave at first light and get ahead of them on the road. But they were up long before I thought they would be, and I would need to hurry if I wanted to be in position. I could only hope that they would eat a leisurely breakfast so that I could make up for lost time.

  Once I opened my window, I climbed carefully down the side of the building. As soon as my feet hit the ground, I rushed out of town and into the woods, avoiding any hint of the few people that were awake at such an early hour. Once I was hidden inside the cover of the trees, I ran as fast as possible alongside the road Wil would have to take out of Clermont. Then, as soon as I was a sufficient distance outside town, I slowed down and began to search for a likely stretch of road that would allow me to implement my strategy. Once I found a good location, I settled in to await Wil’s arrival.

  Fortunately, I was lucky and didn’t have to wait long. Riding a wagon along the road allowed Wil to travel much faster than I had. As the wagon rounded the bend in the road, I saw Wil and his goon perched in the seat of the wagon joking loudly amongst themselves, clearly unconcerned with the dangers the road often held for unwary travelers. They undoubtedly believed themselves immune to the perils the rest of us feared, and I was about to prove them very wrong.

  I drew back on my bow as the wagon approached and aimed my first arrow at the center of Wil’s chest. The arrow shimmered in midair, and then two shafts buried themselves deep in his rib cage. The reigns were wrapped around Wil’s hands, so as the arrows’ impact rocked him backward, his hands yanked back as well and brought the wagon to an abrupt halt.

  The brute sitting next to Wil hadn’t seen the twin shafts strike his companion and seemed confused by the wagon’s sudden stop. He turned towards Wil, clearly bewildered by the turn of events, and his lack of awareness became his undoing.

  I had noticed the heavy leather jerkin the goon was wearing the night before so, as I took aim at him, I infused my arrow with Ignore Armor and let loose another shot. The arrow took flight, and I caught the expression of understanding as it finally crossed the brute’s face right before impact. The goon struggled to speak as he stared down in shock at the shaft that had suddenly sprouted from his chest. I kept my eyes on him as I nocked another arrow and left the cover of the trees to approach the wagon.

  Wil remained unmoving as I drew closer, and with the two shafts protruding from his chest, I was certain he was already dead. His friend, on the other hand, was still alive, at least for the moment.

  As I reached the wagon, the dying man was still trying to speak, but no words passed his lips. Only a stream of frothy crimson bubbles managed to slip from between his blood-stained teeth. I watched, expressionless, as his labored breathing worsened. I took no pity on him—this man, if I could call him that, was a ruthless killer and merciless oppressor of the weak an
d helpless. It was only fitting justice for his end to come like this. I felt nothing but grim satisfaction when his struggle finally ended, and the life drained out of him.

  Once I had slain the two criminals, the next part of my plan involved throwing off any suspicion. After I retrieved my arrows, I took the daggers from their belts and used their own blades to conceal the wounds I had made. I sliced into their bodies and transformed the small wounds my arrows had inflicted into deep gashes. Then I cut off both their purses and deposited the coins in my own pouch. When I finished with them, I pushed the mutilated bodies into the back of the wagon and tossed the now-empty coin purses on top of them. Then, I hopped off, gave the horse closest to me a quick slap on its hindquarters, and watched as the two animals pulled the wagon away down the road.

  With any luck, their deaths would not be discovered until the wagon was far away from Clermont. Hopefully, the scene I had arranged would cause the attack to be attributed to highway bandits. As the wagon vanished from sight, I returned to the cover of the forest and rushed back to town. All I had left to do was get back to my room without raising suspicion for my plan to be a complete success.

  Luckily, things went well, and I made it back to town without incident. The only trouble I had was making the climb back up to my window; however, after a brief struggle and a few choice expletives, I finally managed to wriggle my way back inside.

  As I cleared the window sill, I let myself simply tumble down onto the bed. Once I was safe inside, I took a quick look over myself in the mirror to ensure that there were no blood stains or other obvious indication of my morning activities. When I was satisfied with my appearance, I snatched up my pack and strode out the door. As I strolled down the stairs and into the common room, I spotted my companions and joined them as they were just finishing their breakfast.

  “Sorry I’m late,” I excused myself. “Just had a couple of things to take care of.”

  “No problem, Dae,” Stel replied. “Venna told us you might be delayed by your… situation.”

  I smiled to myself as I grabbed a biscuit and a few strips of bacon from the platter in the center of the table and ate them as quickly as I could in an effort to minimize any further delay I might have caused. As I chewed a mouthful of food, Jessah stopped by and poured a cup of tea for me. She nodded back as I mumbled my thanks before she moved on to the next table. As I took a sip of tea, I realized I had forgotten to replenish my supply of healing crystals. So, after I washed down the last of my biscuit with a quick gulp of the tea, I excused myself.

  “I need to get a couple of things from the shop,” I said to my companions. “It will take just a moment.”

  “No problem,” Venna replied. “We weren’t planning on leaving just yet. Go on over, and we’ll meet you back here when you’re done.”

  I gave her a quick nod of appreciation before I hurried over to Carlon’s shop.

  As usual, the shopkeeper was behind the counter as I entered the store. My inquiry about purchasing healing crystals was greeted with a raised eyebrow; nevertheless, he produced a heavy wooden box from under the counter and opened it in front of me.

  Inside the small chest was an assortment of crystals in various colors and shades. There were even a couple of purple ones that I had never seen before, and I couldn’t resist inquiring about the new color.

  “I’ve never seen a purple crystal before, what does it do?” I asked him.

  “Ah, yes, those are a bit uncommon around here,” Carlon replied. “Although, in the more dangerous regions they are not quite so rare. It is a combination of both the health and aura restorative magics. Most commonly used by Evokers, but beneficial to anyone who relies on Aura-based talents.”

  The color had led me to suspect as much, but it helped to have Carlon confirm the crystal’s properties. Just knowing that the various crystals’ benefits could be combined was intriguing, and I wondered what other useful combinations I might encounter as I entered the higher-level areas. After rummaging through the various options, I picked out several red crystals to replenish my supply and inquired about the cost of the purple ones.

  “Well, I have to tell you, those are not cheap,” Carlon began. “The magic necessary to create them is quite difficult, so the cost is high. They start at ten Marks for the weaker ones and increase from there.”

  The price seemed outrageously high and was many times more expensive than the cost of simply buying one crystal of red and blue separately. I couldn’t understand the value—why wouldn’t someone just use a red and blue crystal rather than pay a ridiculous premium to have their properties combined? When I asked Carlon that very question, he gave me the answer.

  “You are quite correct, the cost is much higher than buying one red and one blue crystal,” Carlon responded. “However, there is an added benefit that occurs when the two magics are combined. Purple crystals also add regeneration of health, aura, or both, over time. The exact nature of the regeneration is both variable and, unfortunately, unpredictable as well. Two crystals that are roughly the same shade may differ wildly in the type, strength, and duration of regeneration, and there’s no way to know what you’ll get until it is used.”

  That definitely did explain the premium—even accounting for the unpredictable nature of the regeneration, the value was undeniable. So, since I had quite a bit of money from clearing the ruins and even more from my exploits earlier that morning, I decided to add a couple of the purple crystals to my pile.

  I had chosen the darkest red crystals he had and two medium purples, so the bill for my purchases came to 35 Silver Marks. Since the crystals might very likely save the lives of my companions, I counted it as money well spent. But when I reached into my coin pouch to pay, I was momentarily shocked when the total contained there registered in my mind.

  I hadn’t yet added the coins Stel had given me the previous night. The only addition I’d made to my pouch was the hasty pouring of Wil and his companion’s coins earlier that morning. I did the math quickly, and I realized that in addition to 1 Talon and a couple of Gold Bits, I had gained over 150 Marks, 20 Silver Bits and somewhat more than 300 Coppers from their purses. I had to shake off my surprise before I withdrew the coins to pay Carlon for my newly acquired crystals.

  As I left, I stopped on the porch outside Carlon’s shop for a moment and glanced around quickly to make sure that there was no one around. The hour was still early, and the street was clear, so I felt safe enough to pull out the bag of coins Stel had given me last night, and when I extended a few fingers inside the coin purse, the totals immediately came to mind. My share of the loot sold amounted to 2 Talons, 27 Marks, and 35 Coppers. It was a fair sum, yet it paled in comparison to the coin I had retrieved from the bodies of my two Bloody Heart victims. It was only when I dumped the contents of the bag into my own coin purse that I noticed a second small coin purse was attached to the pouch Stel had given me. As I opened the second pouch, I was surprised to see that it contained six more red healing crystals.

  I hadn’t taken Venna’s comment about owing me some crystals seriously at the time—I had simply perceived it as a bit of battlefield banter. Obviously, her words had been more serious than I had realized, so I added the red crystals to my own stash and pulled up my Inventory as I resumed my trip back to the inn.

  INVENTORY

  Encumbrance 63/209

  Clothing

  Recurve Bow, (54)

  Fine Short Swords, (18)

  Daggers, Fine (3)

  Archer’s Circlet

  Fine Leather Chest Guard (10)

  Fine Leather Pauldrons (2)

  Fine Leather Tassets (4)

  Fine Leather Bracers (1)

  Fine Leather Armguards (1)

  Fine Leather Cuisse (1)

  Fine Leather Greaves (2)

  Fine Leather Boots (2)

  Fine Leather Gloves

  Hunter’s Cloak (2)

  Fine Padded Shirt (2)

  Fine Padded Pants (3)

&n
bsp; Minor Token of Grace

  Ring of Encumbrance

  Never Ending Quiver of Arrows

  Camp blade

  Belt pouch, common:

  15 weak health potions, 14 red crystals, 2 cure disease potions, 2 cure poison potions, 2 purple crystals

  Coin pouch, Soul Bound:

  6 Talons, 6 Gold Bits, 237 Silver Marks, 111 Silver Bits, 517 Coppers

  Backpack 50 slot, 70% weight reduction

  I hadn’t looked over my Inventory sheet in quite a while. While I was aware for the most part of what was there, it was reassuring to actually see the numbers. Not only was my Encumbrance well under control, but just having a look at my coin and crystals was comforting. As I stared at the gaudy totals and realized that I still had no pressing needs, I came up with a worthwhile use for a portion of my sudden wealth. With a smile plastered on my face, I walked into the inn, and immediately scanned the room.

  Jessah was standing at the back of the inn, momentarily resting as the morning crowd had finally dissipated. I waved at my friends as I walked past to let them know that I’d only be just a moment, and Broda waved back dismissively, assuring me that there was no hurry. When I reached Jessah’s side, I took her by the arm and without a word, pulled her into the back of the inn, away from prying eyes. She looked confused but came along willingly, and once we reached a more private spot, I spoke to her.

  “I have to leave town today. Most likely, I won’t be back, so this is probably the last time we will speak, or even see each other,” I began.

  Jessah shook her head and started to speak, but I placed a finger gently over her lips before she could form the words.

  “Let me finish,” I said with both care and conviction.

  She nodded silently in response, and then I continued.

  I reached out with my hand towards her waist, and Jessah’s eyes flew open as she clearly mistook my purpose. When I only pulled open the strings of her purse, she relaxed, and her look of surprise was replaced by a questioning expression.

  Then I dropped a handful of coins into her purse, and as her eyes widened yet again, I had to place my finger over her lips once more to stop her from speaking. Her mouth fell open as I repeated the gesture once more and deposited another large handful of coins into her purse. Once I was finished, I let her go and took a step back from her.