by Pirateaba
Krshia growled and spat. Erin stared at the glob of spit dripping from one of the Gnoll’s dressers and wondered if she was going to clean that up later.
“That is why to this day [Mages] from Wistram are not welcome among the tribes and why we do not trade with their island. And that is why even if you go, you must not trust them Erin Solstice. The mages of Wistram do not trust any who do not have magic they recognize.”
Erin nodded. Krshia’s story sounded like a case of good old-fashioned racism, or maybe just ignorance. Either way, she understood the Gnoll’s ire. But it didn’t change things.
“I’d still like to talk to a mage. Or—a mage besides Pisces, at least.”
Krshia shrugged, tired from telling her story.
“There are several in the city. But Drake mages, the strong ones fight with their army, yes? And magic is not as widely practiced in these lands. Perhaps you would find one wise enough to help you, but you would search long.”
“So Wistram’s my only option? I mean, I’m not saying I’d just get up and head over there but—”
“If you wish to return home, that may be your best choice.”
Erin sat still for a while, staring into her tea cup. She raised it to her lips and took a long drink of the bitter and now cold tea.
“Okay. Okay. That’s—that’s something to aim for, at least.”
“It is good to have a goal. And perhaps that is something we may assist you with.”
“Really? I mean, why? And how? Is it that hard to get to Wistram?”
Krshia shrugged.
“Perhaps not hard for one with much coin, but it is a long ways away and dangerous for a lone human female who is not a warrior, and even one who is, yes? Anyone may attempt the journey to Wistram, but it is another thing to make the journey and survive.”
That didn’t sound good. At all. Erin frowned.
“What’s so hard about it? You hire a carriage, get to a port city, jump on a boat and you’re nearly there, right?”
Krshia laughed quietly and tapped Erin on the shoulder. Again, Gnolls had a heavy tap that was more like a shove.
“It is good to be young and eager. But it is not good to stop thinking, yes? Wistram is protected by more than mages. The seas around the college are calm at times, but at other times they devour ships and sink fleets. Especially in the winter.”
She shook her head at Erin.
“Even if you left now, winter would freeze you at sea as you travelled north and the storms would crack the hull of any ship foolish enough to brave the oceans. And there is the cost to consider as well.”
“Oh, right. Hiring a ship would be really expensive, right?”
“You would seek passage on a ship to Wistram. That would not be as expensive, but I talk of the cost of the journey. To travel north to the port cities safely would require joining a caravan that hires adventurers. That costs coin. A good place on a good ship with an able captain requires coin. A bodyguard or one who would protect you costs coin. And seeking lodging in Wistram—”
“I get it. It costs a lot of coin, right?”
Krshia sniffed at Erin and flicked her forehead lightly like one would a child. Only in this case it really hurt.
“Ow! Stop that! Your claws are sharp!”
“Apologies. But you are still not thinking. Say you reach to Wistram after so travelling far. Tell me Erin Solstice, how do you plan on finding a mage to bring you home?”
“Well…”
Erin paused and blinked.
“I uh, hadn’t thought of that. I guess I’d just go to their headmaster and ask for help?”
Krshia laughed hard and long.
“That would be a sight to see. Yes, and talking to such a leader among mages would be an achievement in itself! You are just a child speaking of other worlds. Even if you could prove your truth which is simple enough, how would you convince them to help you?”
“Well—I’m from another world. Isn’t that enough?”
“Perhaps to some. But to mages? Many would not care. And those who would care—how would you find them?”
Erin’s heart sank.
“So you’re saying I’d need to pay a mage to help me?”
Krshia nodded.
“Either to pay a mage to assist you or to find a mage worthy and willing to help you. That is the real cost I speak of.”
Things were never so simple as they were in books. It was Erin’s turn to rub at her head with her hands. If this were Harry Potter she’d be able to walk up to Diagon Alley and—well, she was a muggle and she’d forgotten the password so they wouldn’t let her in, and even if she did walk around asking people if they were wizards—
“This sucks. You’re telling me I have to pay to go home?”
“Is it not always so?”
Erin scowled at Krshia, but the Gnoll just smiled back. Erin reluctantly began to think, counting off on her fingers.
“Okay. Say that is my goal. How much money would I need, do you think? A hundred gold pieces for the journey? And then maybe another hundred pieces to find a place to stay? And—um, let’s call it six hundred for finding a mage willing to help me? That’s…a lot.”
“Too much, I think.”
Krshia shook her head at Erin.
“You have no idea of pricing, yes? For sixty pieces perhaps I could bring you to Wistram. It would be a longer journey and you would need to find one to guard you. But it could be done. And a hundred gold pieces would last you several years even in Wistram. But the real price is in the mage.”
Erin’s heart sunk even lower.
“Six hundred gold pieces not enough?”
“It is not about money. Mages have much money, and offering to pay them may work or it may not. Your money would be of little interest to all but the greedy ones. They are not what you want, I am thinking.”
“No, definitely not.”
“We spoke of archmages, yes? They are the ones you seek. Finding an audience with them through wit or bribery—that is your challenge. For that I would take as much money as I could bring, and something to attract their attention.”
Erin sat back in her chair, overwhelmed at the idea—not to mention the cost. Krshia laughed again.
“Do not despair. These things seem large, but they are not overwhelming, yes? Sit. Drink. And let me talk to you of what the Gnolls might do. And what you may do for us.”
Erin sat back in her chair as Krshia stood up. She let the Gnoll bustle around her home, refilling Erin’s cup with more tea, offering her more food and thought. She thought about the journey, what Krshia was proposing, and the danger and difficulty involved at every step. But she also thought of something else.
She remembered a quiet home, two people she knew she could go to with every worry. She thought of her bed, her friends. She thought of home and realized that was where she really wanted to go.
—-
When Erin walked out of Krshia’s home, it was nearly nightfall. The Gnoll insisted she walk Erin back to the gates and it was only with some convincing that Erin told her she’d be fine on the way back. She’d spotted a shiny bald…head with no hair or even skin attached hiding on a nearby hillside and she didn’t want the Gnoll to freak out.
It would have taken a lot for Krshia to freak out at this stage anyways, even if she’d known how to freak out properly. It had been a long conversation Erin and Krshia had had, ranging from the logistics of how one might travel from Liscor all the way to Wistram Academy, hundreds—perhaps thousands of miles away. Erin had forgotten to ask the exact distances, probably because she was too afraid to.
But between talk of money and the journey, Krshia had talked with Erin about her world, and extracted a promise for the human girl to tell her more at another time. That had been what had set the Gnoll’s stomach jumping, and was the main reason she didn’t pick up on the dead smell of bones, magic, and marrow blowing her way.
She watched Erin disappear into the night, ignoring the gate guard unti
l the human had crested a hill. She could hear Erin shouting something, but she was too far away at that point even for the Gnoll’s ears to pick up what she was saying.
Only then did Krshia turn to the guard at the gates who was deliberately ignoring her and nudge him.
“There is no one watching. You can drop the act, Tkrn. You are a terrible pretender of things in any case.”
Tkrn, the Gnoll guardsman who had been assigned to the gates for the last few days in a row grinned toothily at Krshia.
“At last you have come. I wondered whether you had taken the other option when I did not hear you coming. But then, I would have smelled the blood.”
Krshia scowled at the other Gnoll and jabbed him in the ribs. Hard. Even though the other Gnoll was wearing chainmail he still winced.
“I told you it would not come to that. And you and the others are fools for suggesting it and dreaming her disappearance would not be noticed.”
Tkrn scowled and rubbed at his side sulkily. But he didn’t dare talk back. Instead, he cast his eyes to where Erin had disappeared.
“She is no threat?”
“As I have said, so it is. She is no threat; merely a lost one seeking to return home.”
Tkrn shook his head.
“So it is true? She is from another world?”
“I sense the truth of it. Yes, she is one who came here by mistake.”
Again, the other Gnoll shook his head in disbelief.
“When I first smelled her, she stank of a place full of oil and metal and burning. Is her world like that?”
Krshia paused, thinking.
“From what she said—and did not say—it is a world of Humans. They alone live in it. Whether that is a better one than this I do not know.”
“But it is different.”
“Yes. Very. In ways that are disturbing and grand. But she did not speak much of these differences and I understood less. But she is—useful. She is important.”
“Ah, but she wants to go home. I heard you two speaking. Thus, we will have her do what we need, isn’t that right?”
Krshia gave Tkrn a baleful look and he wilted.
“You were supposed to be looking out for other listeners, not eavesdropping, fool. What point is there hearing what I will tell the clan anyways?”
“But it doesn’t matter, does it? No one was listening that I saw.”
Tkrn whined at Krshia, but the other Gnoll didn’t relent. She shook her head.
“We need Erin Solstice more than she needs us, yes? And we do not want her speaking with others who would know her value.”
Krshia prodded Tkrn none-too-gently in the chest.
“So be more alert! When she comes back I wish to know. And tonight, ask one of the Runners. Lv or Tshana. They must send a message to the tribes.”
Tkrn looked up. That was serious. He listened carefully as Krshia spoke.
“They must send more of our people here. Wise ones. I ask for counsel as well, of all I have learned. I will speak with all those in the city as soon as all can be gathered and send a second Runner. But this first one must go at once.”
“Will you ask anything else of them?”
“Ask them if they have found others such as Erin. And if they have not found, tell them to search! Tell them to look among humans for ones who stand out and speak and act differently. We have found some.”
“So far they have all been long dead.”
“Yes. That is why this one must not die.”
Tkrn straightened. He had a sword at his waist and a shield buckled to one arm. But he would have been dangerous without either weapon. His eyes glinted in the moonlight.
“Do you wish for me to gather some others to watch over her inn? We could set up camp a few miles away in secret.”
Again, for his trouble Tkrn earned another elbow that made him wince. Krshia flattened her ears and glared at him.
“Hst. You are foolish, Tkrn. Just like a pup on his first hunt. If we place others around her inn, she will notice, yes? But before she does, others will notice and ask questions. And we have few warriors in the city as it is.”
Tkrn whined. He didn’t like speaking to Krshia, especially because the punishment for making mistakes was so painful.
“How can we protect her if we cannot be seen near her?”
Krshia didn’t turn as she strode away. She spoke briskly over her shoulder as she went to talk with other Gnolls.
“We give her fangs to protect herself.”
—-
Toren was being chastised. Or rather, Toren was being yelled at. It was pretty much the same thing, but volume was the key difference here.
Erin walked through the grass back towards her inn, snapping at the skeleton as it meekly followed her, fish in hand.
“Why did you come all the way out here? Do you know what would have happened if the guard had seen you? He would have smashed you to bits and I would have probably gotten in trouble. Somehow.”
Toren the skeleton didn’t say anything. It couldn’t, but it wouldn’t even if it could. It felt bad, but also good, which was a confusing feeling. Bad because Erin was mad at it, but good because it had a name.
Toren. Or Tor for short. Although why the skeleton would want a shorter name was beyond it. But Erin had told it that was its name. Toren. It meant rook in another language, but what a rook was Toren had no idea. It was just a piece of carved stone on the board Erin liked to stare at so much.
Erin stormed through the grass, Toren meekly following in her wake. Her anger at the skeleton was rapidly dissipating, mainly because it was just taking all of her abuse. But her temper flared every time she looked back and saw the skeleton carrying the massive, and very dead flat fish.
“And what were you thinking? Were you even thinking? Can you even think? Why would you think grabbing one of those stupid fish was a good idea?”
Toren bowed its head meekly and made no reply. The dead fish he carried in both his arms flopped around as he followed her.
Really, the skeleton hadn’t intended to kill the fish. It had leapt out at him while he’d been filling the buckets with water. But by dragging it away from its watery home, Toren had learned an important lesson: fish couldn’t breathe without water.
It hadn’t been sure if the flat-fish were truly dangerous, but the skeleton was aware of their crushing strength and lethally sharp teeth. Moreover the skeleton now known as Toren or ‘Tor’ had felt there was something valuable to be gained. It was—yes, it was Level 2 already from battling the adventurers. Perhaps it could gain another level by killing fish?
After all, a level wasn’t much, especially at lower-levels. But the skeleton had felt the slight shift in its overall coordination, strength, endurance and overall fighting ability. The connection was simple in its mind. Levels were strength. So too was the [Sword Fighting – Basic] skill it had acquired.
It had orders. Do something productive. That could mean kill fish. So the skeleton had stuck its arm into the water and moved it around enticingly. Killing things was easy. Not like cleaning.
Thus, it had killed several of the large fish and taken them back to the inn. And it had brought one for Erin as something ‘useful’. Clearly, it had failed.
“Look, it’s not that I don’t like fish. I like fish. Dead fish that have a bit of lemon juice squeezed over the top after they’ve been roasted nicely. And maybe a bit of salt and pepper. I like those kind of fish. But this fish is bad news. I tried cutting its scales off once and nearly sliced my hand off.”
That sounded like a problem but Toren wasn’t sure what it was expected to do about it.
Erin kicked the door to her inn open, stopped as her nose registered the fishy smell, and turned to glare at Toren. The skeleton flinched back from her. Erin stormed into the kitchen and her exclamation nearly rattled the floorboards.
“What is this?”
Fish were easy to catch, especially since Toren didn’t mind if they latched onto its arm. But they were h
ard to get off, so it had had to hack at them with its sword. Thus, the fish in Erin’s kitchen weren’t so much dead as…
Disassembled.
The fish Toren was holding was the only one that was even close to intact. The other…bits Toren had carefully collected, washed to remove dirt and blood, and then deposited in a neat heaping pile on one of the cutting boards in the kitchen.
The fish guts dripped onto the floor. Toren automatically put down its fish on the counter and went to clean up the puddle of bloody water.
“Stop that.”
The skeleton paused with the rag in its hand as Erin rubbed at her face and tried not to scream. It could sense Erin was angry, but it clearly had no idea why. Erin sighed and pointed at the dead fish.
“You did this.”
The skeleton nodded.
“I think I get it. You wanted to be helpful. This is food. Which is…helpful, right?”
Another nod. Erin sighed.
“But look—I can’t eat this. No one can. Not even the G—well, maybe the Goblins. But we don’t eat food like…”
She waved at the mess of fish. Toren appeared confused.
“It’s the scales. See these?”
Erin pointed to the sharp, glittering scales lying all over the counter.
“They’re not tasty. And these ones are sharp. If we want to eat the fish, you have to get rid of the scales. And I—I can’t do it. Seriously. Like I said, last time…”
Erin broke off. The skeleton—she kept forgetting she’d named him Tor – was nodding. It dropped the rag, walked over and grabbed a knife. Then it grabbed the fish it had taken and raised the knife.
It had no cooking skills and probably no idea what cooking even was. It hacked energetically and completely ineffectually at the fish with the knife. Scales and guts went flying everywhere. Erin covered her face and yelped as the skeleton cut, pried, and generally ripped the scales and much of the flesh right off the fish.