by Pirateaba
“Stop, stop!”
Tor paused and looked over at her. Erin pointed.
“Outside. Do that outside, on a table or something. And after that, clean up—no, nevermind. I’ll clean up this mess, you start getting rid of those scales, okay?”
The skeleton nodded. It carefully stuck the kitchen knife between its ribs to hold it in place, lifted the huge fish with both hands and walked out of the kitchen with it. Erin stared until she heard the screech of wood on wood as the skeleton began dragging a table towards the door.
“I—don’t even know. I just don’t know.”
She stared down at the mess of scales and blood on the kitchen floor, and then at the pile of eviscerated fish parts. It was a mess.
But—was it because they were disassembled? Somehow, Erin could tell what she could do with the fish guts now that they were in manageable pieces. Without the scales, she could fry them, use them in soups, bake them after breading them…
“I guess [Basic Cooking] doesn’t include scale removal. Or—scale removal on killer fish.”
That reminded Erin. She walked back to the entrance of the kitchen and called outside.
“Get rid of the teeth, bones and fins too!”
She heard no response, but she was beginning not to expect one. With a sigh, Erin walked back into her kitchen and stared at the mess.
It really wasn’t that hard to clean up. And the skeleton had found a new food source. Or rather, it had transformed an old food source into an actual source of food. For her. It had done it for her.
That was nice. And Erin had finally thought of a name for it thanks to all the online chess games and conversations she’d had with foreign players. The Dutch had some pretty cool names.
It was all fine. Even her conversation with Krshia—
“Wasn’t that weird?”
Erin murmured to herself as she began separating the obviously unusable parts of the fish on the cutting board. The guts squelched horribly but her mind was elsewhere.
Home. She really had tried not to think of it. But now that she had, it called to her. And it was still so far away. A mage? An archmage? Where the hell was she going to find one of those? But it was also something to focus on. A goal.
And that was good. It was all good. Except that now Erin was back in the inn, she’d remembered something. Or someones. Rags and Pisces were gone. Well, obviously they’d both left once they realized she wasn’t getting back in time for dinner. And that was good too. Erin didn’t think she could face them right now.
The fish guts were all separated and Erin had the teeth, bones and miscellaneous bits ready for Tor to take out and dispose of. Far away. She’d have to tell him that. He could toss them back in the stream.
She stared down at the mostly descaled bits of fish. The blood and guts stared up at her. She could cook them, though. She could turn them into something useful. It was a valuable Skill, and one she’d gotten without even having to practice. It was practically like magic.
Erin’s fist hit the pile of fish guts.
“Damnit.”
She hit the fish again. Bits of blood splattered her face, but Erin punched harder.
“Dammit. Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit.”
She punched the flayed fish, ignoring the squishing and the splatters of blood. She kicked the counter, hit the fish until her hands were raw and tingling, and then stopped.
“Fuck. Stupid, stupid—”
There were no right words. And all the ones she knew sounded so hollow and pitiful. Erin put her hands over her face and took them away instantly. Bits of fish clung to her skin. She looked around.
The counter and floor were even more of a mess than they’d been before. So were Erin’s clothes and her hair. She reeked of the smell of dead fish now. It would take a long time to clean up, even with Tor’s help
If she were a mage she’d be able to clean it all up with a spell, or a wave of her wand. If she were a mage, she’d be able to cook everything and relax without having to worry about a thing. If she were a mage, she might even learn how to bring herself back home.
If she could use magic…
But she couldn’t.
A few tears ran down Erin’s face. She would have wiped at her eyes, but her hands were dirty. She was dirty. And she had no magic to make it all go away. She couldn’t even dream of magic. Because she had none. And knowing that made it all so much worse.
Her tears fell onto the cutting board and mixed with the blood and death below her. Erin didn’t care. She let her tears fall, and heard the sound of an owl’s wings flapping and heard the high pitched tones of a celeste and far off in the distance, horns and violins.
For a moment she wore robes and held a wand that sparked and glowed. In that instant she could fly, albeit with a broom and there was nothing that she couldn’t solve with a few latin words and a spell. For a moment.
But the magic was gone. And only Erin was left, covered in dead fish and lost.
Alone, and dreaming of home.
“…Damn it.”
1.11 R
The five people sat around a table and studied each other carefully. They were all warriors, and all but one of them was human. And while some of them were friends with each other, they weren’t here to socialize. This was business, and right now they were all arguing about one thing.
The first to speak was the Minotaur. Calruz, captain of the Horns of Hammerad wasn’t one for waiting at the best of times, and his patience was already stretched thin. He hit the large table in the Adventurer’s Guild lightly—at least in the sense that his fist didn’t crack the wood. Two of the other adventurer captains jumped from the impact as everyone stared at him.
“Have you no spines? Here is the opportunity of a life time and you all hesitate to step forwards! Grab your axes and let’s enter these ruins already!”
The woman sitting next to him shook her head. She was a fair-skinned woman with blonde hair and polished silver armor, completely contrasting against Calruz’s bare chest and impatient nature. But he and she were in agreement.
“Most of us don’t use axes, Calruz. And while you have a point, recklessness is the exact reason everyone else is hesitating. We need to move carefully and I’m saying it can be done.”
The Minotaur glared sideways at the woman, but he was wise enough not to attack his only ally in the room. He subsided back into his chair, grumbling.
“If we don’t get in there first, some Gold-rank team is going to organize an expedition and grab everything before we do!”
One of the captains sitting across the table shook his head. He was an archer, at least from the large longbow resting against the table next to him.
“That’s what Charlez said. He took his entire group in right off and they came back as zombies. Not a scratch on their weapons, but their armor was nearly ripped off. We all know what that means.”
“I don’t. Stop talking in riddles and spell it out for me.”
One of the adventurer captains leaned forwards. He was a burly man with an axe nearly as large as Calruz’s strapped to his back. He glowered at the archer-captain.
This time it was the man in robes sitting next to him that answered the captain.
“What it means Gregor, is that whatever Charlez and his group ran into, they didn’t even get a chance to fight back before it ripped them to pieces. And then something—it might have been another monster or the same one—reanimated them and sent them back out. That’s a serious threat.”
“And above our ability.”
That came from a scarred man who only wore a longsword at his side. He wasn’t armored like the other adventurer captains, but then, they’d all travelled through the night to make this meeting on time. He folded his arms and shook his head at Calruz and the female captain.
“We’ve all heard of how many Bronze-rank teams and individuals have been lost in those damned Ruins so far. True, most of them rushed in but Charlez was different. He was experie
nced and he went in prepared to retreat. Whatever got him was deadly. And you’re proposing we go in without knowing what the hell is down there?”
The woman in silver armor shook her head.
“I’m proposing we join together and launch a six-team raid on those ruins. We stock up on supplies, pool our best warriors and fortify along the way as we go as far as we can. We’ll have a far better chance if we work together and the Ruins are practically untouched beyond the first level. I hear Liscor doesn’t want to investigate themselves and is leaving everything up to the adventurers. If we want to get to whatever treasures are buried in there, now’s our chance.”
Calruz nodded emphatically, but the others didn’t appear convinced. The archer-captain leaned forwards and addressed the table at large.
“Why not let the other adventurers go in first and wait for at least one or two to come back for more insight? This isn’t like you, Yvlon. I could see Calruz wanting to go in, but how’d he manage to talk you into it?”
Yvlon, the woman in silver armor smiled at the other captain.
“Impatience and daring, Cervial. I was excited as the rest of you when I heard about the ruins. But you’re right. I am moving fast, but not because Calruz managed to talk me into it. I heard there’s a team of Gold-rank adventurers who’ve heard of the ruins. They’re travelling down south and they’ll be here in a week or less.”
That caused a stir at the table. The other captains muttered, and not happily too.
“Well that changes things.”
“Does it? Not in my opinion. The Ruins are still too dangerous.”
“But letting a bunch of golds take all the treasure? That’s different.”
“You think so? That’s not all I’ve heard. And my news is more disturbing.”
This time it was the mage-captain who spoke up. He glanced around the table.
“There’s a Named adventurer in the city right now. You might have heard of her. Gazi the Omnisicent.”
All the captains fell silent. They might not have heard of Gazi, but a Named adventurer was different.
Gold-rank was as high as most ranking systems allowed for in any continent. As a general rule of thumb, a Bronze-rank adventuring team wasn’t much better than a group of rookies, while a Silver-rank team was more than a match for a small city’s standing militia. The equipment and magic available to a group of adventurers like the Horns of Hammerad meant that they could take on challenges even a large garrison might not manage.
Beyond that, Gold-rank adventurers were experienced, highly-trained groups that could handle most monster threats with ease. At the top of that grouping, teams of adventurers were equivalent to small armies and could affect disputes between nations.
Some countries had weird ranking systems that extended beyond the gold rank into platinum, adamantium, and so on. But functionally speaking, if an adventuring party or individual reached that level of renown they were no longer ranked.
Instead, they were known as Named adventurers because their names were known throughout the part of the world where they travelled. They were living legends to adventurers with short careers like the Silver-rank captains in the room.
The scarred man with the longsword broke the silence first.
“Well, that’s different. Very different. If a Named adventurer is in the city, there’s probably only one real reason why she’s there. The Ruins. But the real question is: why hasn’t she gone in yet?”
“I’ll tell you why. It’s because she’s being cautious. And if a Named adventurer doesn’t want to go in just yet—”
“She might not have any idea what’s down there. It could be fine.”
“Or there could be monsters that would make the High Passes look like a small bear cave by comparison! No! My group won’t take part.”
“You coward. Where’s your sense of pride as a warrior?”
Calruz raised his voice and aimed it at the captain with the axe. The man flushed red and pushed his chair back angrily, but the mage at his side put a hand on his shoulder.
“None of us are cowards, and you’d do well to remember that before tossing around insults, Calruz. But this changes things.”
“Only if you’re taking the worst view of it.”
This came from the archer-captain. He was thinking, stroking the handle of his bow thoughtfully as he spoke.
“I might, might be willing to give this a try. The Horns of Hammerad and the Silver Spears together represents a large fighting force. If I throw in my team, we’d have a party big enough to challenge even the deeper parts of the Ruins of Albez.”
“Don’t be stupid Cervial. You can’t expect these ruins to be the same.”
Cervial shook his head at the speaker.
“I’m not suggesting they are. But between our three teams we’re at least equal to one or two Gold-rank teams, and if the rest of you joined in it might work. Might.”
Calruz leaned forwards and addressed Cervial.
“If you’re with us, I’ll want your full commitment, not uncertain promises. My team has heard my decision and they are with us. If you lack their spirit, we do not need you.”
Yvlon winced and Lir the mage shook his head. Calruz was no negotiator. But Cervial didn’t seem to have taken much offense. He studied Calruz and then asked a question.
“What does Ceria Springwalker think about the Ruins?”
That caused another pause in the room. All eyes turned to Calruz. The Minotaur’s nostrils flared and he snorted angrily.
“Ceria does not lead the Horns of Hammerad. I do.”
“Yes, but she’s got more experience adventuring than this entire room does put together. If she thinks it’s worth the risk I’ll throw in with this plan.”
Gerald the axe-captain stared incredulously from Calruz to Cervial. He stood up.
“You’re all crazy and whatever’s down there is going to eat you alive. I’m out, and so is my party.”
The woman in silver armor sighed and shook her head. She glanced at the mage captain hopefully.
“Lir? You with us?”
The man in robes hesitated, and then shook his head reluctantly.
“I’m sorry, but Gregor’s right. It’s too risky, and my group needs more space to cast our spells. If we knew for certain what was below I’d join you. Cervial, you should think this through as well.”
The archer-captain paused, and then shrugged.
“I understand, but I’ll trust our resident Half-Elf on this one. If she thinks it’s worth the risk I’ll take my team in, cramped corridors or not. How often do you think we’ll get a chance like this?”
His words went unanswered. Gregor and Lir left the room, shaking their heads and talking to each other quietly. After a moment, the scarred captain stood up and followed after them, leaving the three captains behind.
“Well, that could have gone better.”
The female captain leaned over the table despondently as Calruz glared at the closed door.
“We don’t need cowards. If they lack the courage to risk their lives we were better off without them to begin with. Such weakness would only drag us down.”
“Yes, but now we have to fill their holes with Bronze-rank teams, and that is weakness. I guess it’ll come down to how many freelancers are hanging around the ruins. We’ll need more mages and more front-line fighters. At least we’ve got one team who can detect and disarm traps.”
The archer raised one hand warningly.
“If—”
“Yes, if Ceria thinks it’s worthwhile. But I believe these Ruins might even be bigger than Albez, don’t you?”
“Then why didn’t Ceria join us and lend her support while we were all arguing? If she had—”
Calruz snorted.
“Bah. She wanted to stay in Celum.”
“Why?”
“She was waiting for a Runner to come back. She made a mistake and gave her mana potions instead of healing potions right before she ran into the High Pass
es.”
The two other captains blanched. Cervial shook his head sadly, but Calruz was unaffected.
“I told her it would not matter. This Runner is no coward like the others. Mistake or not, she will survive the journey. And meanwhile we have an expedition to prepare.”
“You seem awfully confident about that, Calruz. The High Passes are no joke. If it were there we were going to explore, I wouldn’t feel comfortable even with all three of our teams working together.”
“She will survive. She is a Human worthy of my admiration and respect. She will survive.”
Yvlon raised her eyebrows at Cervial. It was rare that anyone heard Calruz talking about any Human positively, let alone like this.
“This wouldn’t happen to be that barefoot Runner I’ve heard so much about, would it? Was that the one who bailed your group out when you were fighting that Lich?”
“The very same. Her name is Ryoka Griffin and she is fearless.”
Cervial’s fingers snapped together lightly. The other two captains looked at him in surprise.
“I wondered where’d I’d seen her face. That girl—I believe I saw her last night. She ran straight into the city just before dawn. She’s here now, in fact. I saw her entering the guild.”
Calruz’s eyes widened. His mouth fell slightly open. The Minotaur’s long tufted ears went very still. He blinked at Cervial and then turned his eyes upwards to the ceiling.
“Ryoka Griffin is here?”
—-
It was odd. Ryoka was sure she hadn’t burned that many calories with her little light trick, but before she knew it she’d downed a hunk of cheese, half a loaf of bread and quite a bit of meat and an entire stick of butter.
Not separately of course; these came in the form of sandwiches, but it was still disgusting to think that she’d somehow eaten that much food in one sitting.
Ceria downplayed Ryoka’s disgust. She explained being ravenous was normal for someone casting magic for the first time, and mages in general.
“It’s why you don’t see many fat mages—well, at least among mages who actually use their spells in combat. After a really exhausting battle I’ve eaten an entire ham by myself.”