by Han Yang
“Maggie became too much of a priority over him. He said to pick, and I did,” Bell said while staring down at Maggie with love.
“Aw, Bell, I’m sorry to hear that,” I said.
She shrugged, dragged in the line, and saw the empty hook. Without a moment’s hesitation, she reached into the dirt filled bucket and dug out a worm. A quick cast later, the acorn bobbed in the waves.
“It’s so rare to see you without a clump of guards hovering around you,” Bell said.
I thumbed up to the patrol road where a dozen guards waited. “They’re never too far.”
“I take it there’s some in the water?” Bell asked, and I nodded. “Smart. I -” She jerked on the rod, and a six-inch fish came flying at us.
Bell controlled the water around the fish to slow its flight. The fish stopped, and the water carried it to the stringer near me. I bashed the head in, attached it to the stringer, and hung the chain in a quiet section of the jetty.
You have connected to a pinfish. (Claim) (Consume) (Drop) - Drop selected.
The pinfish will drop .003 Zorta. Confirm drop. (YES) - (NO) - Yes selected.
I plucked the colorful orb out of the air and handed to Bell. “Gee, thanks.”
“What brings you here besides to outfish me?” I asked with a friendly smile.
Bell reached into her bust and pulled out a note.
“Don’t let anyone else read this,” she said with a bit of a blush.
I frowned, not loving secret notes. A goblin waited with my guards to silence the area. When I unfolded the note, I noticed it was wet.
Some lessons are hard to learn. I stuck my nose to the wetness, not noticing Bell getting splashed by any water. I couldn’t smell it and made the mistake of licking the liquid.
My eyebrows raised in shock.
“Milk?” I blurted. “Does he know?”
Bell rolled her eyes. “I’m not pregnant, you goof. It is a known fact that adoptive mothers can produce with enough stimulation. If Tarla is going to be gone every other week, I wanted to be able to feed Maggie,” Bell said.
“Ah, so that is why you were blushing. I - I come from a place where this stuff was just getting normalized. Thank you, Bell. I mean it. Tarla is gung-ho for being more than a stay at home queen. If she does that, someone has to pick up the slack, and mom, well, she has changed,” I said.
“You mean the fact she has been working with your dad to fix the gate? Yeah, it’s nice to see them working while you’re on a mini-vacation…” Bell pointed to the note.
I finished unfolding the message and sighed at the sight.
800 waroni are missing. We think Cecil is up to something. - Nee
I crumpled up the paper and tossed it to my guards behind us. “Burn it. Teeto, get down here and bubble me and Lady Bell.”
“Yes, your Grace,” the goblin said.
Bell readied the hook and flung the bait a few dozen feet into the waves. We both zoned out on the small object until a yellow bubble enveloped us.
“You think I’m taking a day off?” I asked.
Bell watched Mags becoming grumpy. “Bounce her please. Yes, not that we all don’t deserve a day of fishing now and then, but you didn’t offer to take Maggie with you. You just spent the morning with her for a short bit before putting her care in my hands.”
“Are you overwhelmed?” I asked before saying more.
“Yes and no. I want my own baby. It’s weird and I have all sorts of hormonal mood swings at the moment,” Bell said, fighting back emotions.
“I’m here for you Bell and I can get more help,” I said.
“Call me crazy but I want you to help,” Bell said in a stern way.
I nodded. It stung a bit. I knew Mom felt the same way, however. Not everyone knew everything.
“I’m a king, Bell, a champion king. I often compartmentalize and hide truths for tactical advantages. I’m not here to feed the fish or even to catch them.” Bell frowned when I said this. “As a matter of fact, I need you to hold Mags while I check on something.”
“Wait! You’re plotting?”
“Always, Bell. I’m always up to something. Those waroni left three days ago on my orders,” I said.
“But Nee said they just vanished. Poof. One day there were thousands, the next, there’s a bunch missing,” Bell said.
“Yup, exactly how I intended it.”
Bell huffed. “We’re in a bubble, and you clearly trust me. The suspense is testing my patience.”
She tucked Maggie tight with a loving embrace.
“I’m raiding Yookree,” I said.
“In the middle of the day?” Bell exclaimed.
My smug shrug and cocky grin didn’t completely tame her curiosity. Her squinting eyes were joined by an angering baby, and I caved.
“Yes. A key element to fighting is surprise. How do you surprise hyper-alert elva with keen hearing and sight?” I asked.
“You dig underground,” Bell said with a confident nod.
I opened my mouth and huffed. “Well, shit. I didn’t think of that.”
I tapped a foot while giving the words thought. Maggie started gulping like a fish, and Bell adjusted her robe. Feeling awkward, I turned while the two became one.
“Not anything you haven’t seen before, and she’s growing,” Bell said proudly. “Focus on this big reveal.”
“Oh, right,” I said. “Digging might have worked. I have no idea how underwater tunnels keep from collapsing. This just seemed easier.”
“You lost me,” Bell said with a scowl. “Define ‘this’.”
The waves continued to crash into the rocks below us. I pointed, and Bell watched with confusion. A minute or so later, a skeleton emerged from the water and onto the rocks. On the end of the spear, a fish rested.
“Oh, that is cheating,” Bell said. “I should have sensed the water. I know they can go underwater. We all know this, and I think I get where you’re going with this.”
“They’re not very deep. The light armor keeps them weighted down,” I said.
She frowned and said, “Won’t that make the metal rust?”
“Sure will. Who cares, though? Famo said it’s a bit of work, but rusted metal can be salvaged with time. They’re on a suicide mission anyway. Well, not these ones guarding me, but I gave them wooden spears,” I said and accepted the flopping fish on the sharp wooden point.
A quick bash of the brains, and I added it to the stringer.
“Well, where are they?” Bell asked.
“Under Yookree’s port. The last hour has been me preparing the best I can. I wanted it to look like I fell asleep fishing while I command the fight. Hence why I’m here. Maybe the enemy scouts from up high will see me and think there’s a second necromancer or fear me more than they already do,” I said.
“Oh, well, the view is lovely. Maggie is content, and it’s best to have someone watch over you, so I shall stay. If you find yourself suddenly underwater, that’s me protecting you,” Bell said in a motherly way.
“Thanks, Bell. I mean it,” I said and leaned back against the rock. I closed my eyes and muttered, “Death is power, and I demand obedience. Death is power, and I demand obedience. Death is power, and I demand obedience.”
I shot out of my body, feeling nothing to the east for me to fly to. A small swarm to the south called to me, and I shifted their direction.
My mind’s eye zoomed over the waves, mere inches from the white peaks. The sunny day caused a sparkling on the water between the crashing sections.
I honed in on my minions, diving under the surface.
The vastness of the ocean was always something I struggled to comprehend. I never dove a reef and at most had snorkeled the shallows. While this wasn’t a large lake filled with hydras, the depth kept visibility low, and the distant flight gave my mind time to wonder.
Yookree rested three days south of Moonguard City. While running under water in the shallows was slower than a wagon. The skeletons didn’t sleep and
journeyed day and night to reach their target.
The big issue had been entering the channel. I had lost two waroni to a rockslide from the jetties last night, and another was gobbled up by some large mouth fish this morning.
The distance strained my abilities, and I could feel my projection power fading, asking for a return to my body. I pushed harder, ignoring the fact that I really should be on a boat or wagon closer to the action.
My glide transitioned through jetty rocks, and I saw almost a thousand skeletal waroni with green hues under the docks of Yookree. I glided to the single goblin my waroni had carried with them. This goblin was coated in hydra skin with a hat that was a rotting fish. I figured the fish hat would give me cover if anyone saw me trying to surveil the area.
I entered the goblins body, allowing for the connection to sync. The plan was simple; send a unit into the heart of the enemy’s city. Once there, I would unleash mayhem based on what I figured was the best outcome.
Mentally ordering my minions here was simple and basic. I had a problem, though. Scouting the port without revealing my intentions was impossible. If I sent Ossa or a fast boat, both would send instant alerts. I wanted surprise, and I did have a plan for finding the best way to hit the high elva.
I walked up the inclining sand toward the docks. The goblin’s frame slowly rose out of the water under a side section of the harbor. Inch by inch, I revealed more of the fish hat this minion wore until I could see.
My overly cautious nature proved needless. My minion could only see pillars and two hulls of sleek boats. I adjusted my angle slowly as I walked the shallow rocks under the dock.
Each step was careful. Every second that passed, I figured a high elva would shout from me making a mistake and revealing myself. Nearing boot thuds caused me to freeze.
“Barnoff, bad news, my friend. No fishing today. The council just put a hold on everything for ten days, and there’s a lot of angry crews,” a voice said from above.
“Oh, come on, Targi. What do you mean? We’re told to hold for at least another week,” Barnoff replied.
I glanced up to see boots blotting out the straight lines in the dock. A second set paced close to the first, and I swore I heard a back slap.
“I promise this is fine. Ten days is nothing. The council doesn’t want to risk an open engagement with the locals. If the Whispering Willow gets dragged into a fight, the whole region might become a target,” the friendly voice said in a partially pleading tone. “I get it. I do. Last thing we need is the regiment on shore leave causing trouble because you thought the rules don’t apply to you.”
“I got a crew to pay, a family to feed, and a ship that needs a new rudder. I -” Barnoff fumed and stopped himself. “I really wish this curse never arrived in our land. We should be fishing because the demon is hiding.”
“Fortifying, but I agree. Do yourself a favor. Swallow your pride and get a council handout. King Korbi sent Zorta for this very purpose. Come, I will walk you into the office so you can save face. I know how much you detest handouts,” the friend said.
The boots clomped away until they faded. I waited a few seconds before moving again. When I reached around the first boat, I froze at the sight.
The harbor was packed with fishing ships. Maybe three hundred vessels bobbed in the mostly calm waters. Every dock slot was filled, and anchored ships rested inside the jetties.
The idea of stealing a fishing fleet was great, except the enemy could raise the chains in seconds and block my exit. I didn’t have magic to set the ships on fire, and I bet there were charms or wards against that.
My understanding of the elva hate for magic changed when I realized they had Daggers of the Creator. I knew the minotaurs had warding magic, and it wouldn’t shock me if the enemy also had something to protect their ships from fires.
One thing was clear - no one knew we were there. Rowboats shoved off from the docks to ferry crews, guards walked casually on the jetty paths, and the elva in the ballista towers lazed about as if bored. If they did know, they were doing an amazing job of acting
The constant sound of people walking the docks didn’t surprise me. The city was jam packed, and it was without their naval fleet. I kept watching and listening. Fish circled my body, picking at the dead fish hat I wore.
For the first time in a while, I found myself angst ridden on what to do.
I could swarm the docks, kill a few hundred elva and maybe, just maybe, reach this far to raise a few dead. The ships intrigued me more than bodies.
I stayed put, hoping to hear another revealing conversation or see some shift in activity that provided an opening. When nothing materialized, I finally sunk back into the water. I walked into deeper waters, heading towards a section of jetties where I might be able to view the chain housing area.
If I could conquer the chain towers and keep the chains down, I could maybe steal some of the fleet.
The trip at the bottom of the harbor proved terrible. The goblin was lightweight, so I had to steal a long dagger from a waroni to stay at the bottom.
About half-way to the jetties, a sucking fish latched onto my hip, and I dragged the dumb thing until the surface spooked it.
When I could see the calm waters transition into daylight only feet above me, I moved ever so slowly.
The tedious process became tiresome. In my real body, I heard Maggie cry and Bell ordered for some shading to be brought. The whole time, I crept slowly for the surface.
The instant I breached and could see, I groaned inwardly. The jetties curved until they reached not only two towers that held chains, but there were doubles - as in a forward tower and back tower on each side. The defenses were twice as intense as I thought - much better than my port.
To make it worse, I saw a portcullis that had rusted at the bottom. That meant I had walked my troops through an open gate that likely could seal me in. The defenses here were built to keep out mermen and other amphibian species. I just managed to walk through when everything was open, and our port lacked this feature.
Dolphins frolicked in the waters near the gate, and if I had to guess, my skeletons didn’t trigger them for whatever reason. I was just about to say, ‘screw it, we were lucky to make it in and should wreak havoc,’ when the tip of a distant flag snapped from behind the towering gate.
I slunk deeper into the water, adjusted my angle, and rose out of the water ever so slowly.
Outside the protected waters rested a behemoth battleship. The scale of the ship was stunning, giving me thoughts of owning a mighty ship of my own. Then again why build when you can steal. I did connect the conversation from earlier to the bobbing vessel. The regiment they had mentioned would be the soldiers that came from this ship.
The flag that snapped in the brisk breeze was white with a golden willow tree - a ship from King Korbi’s realm.
I had to wager it would be almost impossible to defeat at sea. A portion of the crew was likely given shore leave during the day. Maybe. I didn’t dare quickly turn my head to try to view the residents.
A splash from the right caught my attention. A dolphin approached, honing in on my location. I plopped my dead fish hat off and crumpled in between the rocks. Then I ordered the skeleton to play dead and left his body.
I descended to one of the waroni near the gate. The port was at least a hundred feet deep, and I connected with a big waroni. I had to ask myself what to do and realized I wasn’t alone.
“Hey, Bell, got a question for you,” I said.
The jaws on the waroni moved, and my real voice said the words with a delay.
“Maggie is napping, and they just brought us some comfy padding and shaders. People will ask questions, Damien,” Bell said with a grunt.
“Huh? I need to ask you a question.”
“Yeah, I get that. Just, your Mom and Dad came to visit, and your guards said you were napping. I swore I heard your Mom complain about how I was with you instead of Tarla,” Bell said.
“Bell, the
drama can wait. I’m always there for you, and you know it. I couldn’t ask for a more loyal and caring friend. Let others think what they want. Now, my question. Do I attack a heavily armed boat that I have no idea how to sail and likely won’t capture, or do I unleash my minions on the commoners and kill as many of the citizens as I can?” I asked.
“Do you even hear yourself?” Bell replied.
Sadly, I hadn’t until she said that. I sighed without emitting any air. I ordered the skeleton army toward the battleship in the distance. Bell had a point. That didn’t mean I wasn’t going to quibble.
“This isn’t a war where we win hearts and minds,” I replied. “If the enemy breaks down our defenses, they won’t have mercy.”
“You want to go down that route? I don’t think that killing a mom and her kids is going to help win the war,” Bell said.
“Yes, it has before. It’s not the greatest tactic, and I will concede that the effort should prioritize infrastructure, trade, and military targets over civilians. I guess attacking the battleship does the same thing that attacking the city does. It puts the Yookree Council on notice. I can reach them whenever I want,” I said.
“Why not send the full army and sack the city?” Bell asked.
I threw my hands up in frustration. I would have to kill a whole lot of innocents to do that. The irony wasn’t lost on me, and I had considered the idea.
“The moment more than a fraction of our skeletons vanish, it will get noticed. Hell, it took even nosy Nee three days to figure out eight hundred were missing,” I said.
“Yeah… She bitched that it was really hard to count constantly moving skeletons.”
I chuckled. “We need to be extra careful, and I’m glad my plan worked. I think we have human spies inside our ranks. I’ve ordered Ossa to start killing all the pigeons and falcons who aren’t flown out of the keep,” I said.
“I figured as much. Enough about the problems here. What are you doing right now, and can I adjust you?” Bell asked.
“Walking along the ocean floor. Yeah, you can adjust me, just have my guards move me,” I said.
I felt my real body being lifted, and a moment later, soft pillows improved my resting place. The dual sensations always threw me for a loop. Once the jostling stopped on my real body, I entered a struggled run with the minions.