by Hans Bezdek
“There ain’t no easy way to say this,” sighed the dwarf. “Nurem was invaded just two days ago by Lord Kutarm’s forces.”
“You’re joking,” groaned Sloane.
Zeke tried to continue looking calm, but inside he was freaking out. Lord Kutarm was already in Nurem? Had he learned that the Fourth Staff was there, or was it just a coincidence?
“Do you know why he’s taken Nurem?” asked Zeke, trying to sound nonchalant.
“Presumably because of how close it is to the northern coast,” shrugged Winston. “Why do you ask?”
“N-No reason,” said Zeke. That made sense. Maybe Kutarm was just trying to get control of the oceans. That wasn’t cause for alarm. Yet.
“Are you saying that the city isn’t safe to enter?” asked Sloane. “I’m assuming you’re telling us this for a reason.”
“Ye should be able to get inside, although ye’ll probably have to get past a checkpoint,” said Donovic. “Once yer in, me people can help supply ya and give ya a bed for the night.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to save some money,” said Sloane slowly, glancing over at Delvin. “We’re now paying for three instead of two.”
The gnome smiled back at her.
“What would be required of us?” asked Zeke. “We weren’t planning on sticking around Nurem for very long.”
“That’s no problem,” smiled Donovic. “The Resistance can be found all over Linsuk. In fact, ye’ll probably find a warm bed for free in most towns if ya join up. All we ask in return is that ye’re willin to help out when ye can.”
“Give us a moment to talk it over,” said Zeke, pulling the others a few feet away.
“What are you thinking?” whispered Sloane.
“Seems reasonable enough,” said Delvin. “Why not join them? I’m no fan of Kutarm’s.”
“If we could get places to stay all across Linsuk… that could save us quite a bit,” added Sloane.
“We know how much you love saving money,” mumbled Zeke.
“What was that?”
“Uh, I’m just worried about what sort of commitments we’ll be making by signing up for this,” said Zeke. “Do we really want to be involved in a war?”
“It’s not like we’re going to have to do much,” shrugged Sloane. “I don’t think we’ll have to worry.”
“I don’t know…” said Zeke. People normally didn’t give you something for nothing.
“We could always flee if things get bad,” pointed out Delvin.
“Yeah, and you’re good at that!” said Sloane.
Zeke wasn’t sure if he should take that as an insult or not, but there was some truth in it either way.
“Okay, fine,” he nodded, turning back to Donovic and the others. “We’ll do it. Now what?”
“Great!” cheered Winston, while Munreck smiled.
“Happy to have ya on board,” laughed Donovic, reaching into a pouch on his vest. “Here, ye’ll use these to let others know that yer part of the Linsuk Resistance.”
Donovic handed each of them a small, red coin. Zeke turned it over in his hand as he inspected it. On one side was the inscription ‘LR’, while the other had two swords crossed over a shield. Zeke placed it in his pocket.
“What’s keeping someone from taking these off a dead resistance fighter’s body and pretending to be them?” asked Sloane.
“These are magically triggered,” explained Winston. “Two people are able to hold it in their possession for extended periods of time: the person giving the coin and the person receiving it. If someone else takes it and holds onto it for more than a few hours, the coin will change from red to black.”
“Good to know,” nodded Sloane, pocketing hers as well.
“Are the three of you joining us in Nurem?” asked Delvin, looking at each of them.
“Can’t,” said the orc, shaking his head.
“We’re needed elsewhere,” explained Donovic. “We should actually be on our way. I’m happy to have ye all aboard. Perhaps our paths will cross again one day.”
“Perhaps,” shrugged Zeke. He didn’t have any intention of seeing this dwarf again. After they got their hands on the Fourth Staff, they’d set off to find the Lost Citadel and leave Kutarm and the Linsuk Resistance to kill each other. It wouldn’t be his problem anymore, not that it was ever his problem to begin with.
Donovic and the others waved goodbye, then set off back the way they came. Zeke and his friends continued through the woods, more careful this time as they made ground towards Nurem. Delvin explained that lycanthropes occasionally did hunt in packs, which didn’t make the journey a particularly comfortable one.
Time ticked by as they pressed through the forest, but no other monsters passed by them. They occasionally paused when they heard rustling, but it always turned out to be a rabbit or squirrel just running by. Twice they heard voices from the direction of the road, but they were too worried to run into Kutarm’s forces to go and check them out.
They broke free of the woods as they finally arrived at Nurem. The city was easily twice as large as Gruvek and was usually much friendlier. By the look of things, that might’ve changed.
The walls that encased the city were topped with armed men looking out in each direction. Stationed around the walls were dozens of wagons, men on horseback, and makeshift tents. This must’ve been just a percentage of the force that came to take the city, which was frightening itself.
“Uh, d-do we really have to go in there?” asked Delvin.
They actually didn’t. Zeke hadn’t exactly explained yet that the Fourth Staff was near Nurem, not actually inside the city. It was someplace called Wizard’s Keep, but he wasn’t exactly sure where that was. They could just skip Nurem and wander around, but that would probably waste more time.
“We do,” said Zeke. “Let’s go ahead and get this over with. It’s not like they’ll arrest us for anything.”
“Yes they will!” cried the gnome. “Those new coins we have!”
“Just hide them,” shrugged Sloane, leaving them and heading for the main gate.
Delvin gave Zeke a panicked look, but the elf just smiled back. “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
The three of them approached the main gate, which was manned by a half-dozen guards. They were all human and wore the black and blue colors of Lord Kutarm’s crest.
“Stop right there!” demanded one of the men, holding a sword out towards them.
Delvin whimpered as Zeke and Sloane stood their ground.
“Is Nurem not free to enter anymore?” asked Sloane.
“It is,” said the man, “after an inspection. Place all of your weapons on the table over here.”
Zeke sighed as he and the others went over to the table. Pulling out Lucky, he laid it down on the table. Sloane followed suit with her bow, arrows, and sword. Delvin waited patiently.
“Do you not have any weapons, gnome?” asked the guard.
“N-No,” mumbled Delvin. “I’m a-Hey!”
The guard apparently didn’t trust him. The man roughly frisked Delvin, ultimately giving up after a few seconds of the gnome squirming.
“Very well, you may pass,” grunted the man.
“I-I’d like to wait for my fri-”
“Continue, or I’ll arrest you!” shouted the guard.
“Y-Yes sir,” mumbled the gnome, looking up at Zeke and Sloane with pure fear.
“We’ll be right there, don’t worry,” smiled Sloane.
The gnome nodded, then entered into the city.
The guard next looked over Sloane’s weapons. He carefully inspected each arrow, taking his time with it.
“Quite the arsenal you’ve got here,” he muttered. “Why do you travel with such an array of weapons?”
“You never know which tool you’ll need,” she shrugged.
“Very true,” nodded the man. He looked Sloane up and down, his eyes lingering a bit longer than Zeke felt comfortable with. “You hold yourself like a professional warrior. Wh
ere are you from?”
“I used to be in Goldsworth’s militia,” said Sloane.
“I see,” said the guard quietly. For half a second, Zeke could’ve sworn he saw a sadness in the man’s eyes. “I’m satisfied here. You may pass.”
“Thanks,” mumbled Sloane, grabbing her things and leaving without another word.
The guard watched as Sloane left. Zeke got the feeling the creepy guard regretted not frisking her as well.
The man turned back to the table, where only Lucky remained.
“This is all you carry?” asked the guard, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s all I need,” shrugged Zeke. That was, until he got an Arcane Staff. “This dagger is very special to me. Careful with it, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“I’ll do as I please,” the man grunted, picking up Zeke’s dagger. The man looked at it carefully, then rudely chucked it down at the table. Lucky caught the corner of the table, bounced off of it, and landed in the man’s thigh.
“GAA!” shouted the man, quickly prying the dagger out and chucking it away.
“Told you to be careful,” said Zeke, walking over to where the dagger fell. He paused as he heard the sound of a blade being drawn.
“You did that on purpose!” shouted the guard, taking a step towards Zeke with his weapon raised high.
Zeke backpedaled as quickly as he could, bumping into another man that had joined them.
“What is the meaning of this!” demanded the newcomer.
“Captain, he stabbed me with his dagger!” shouted the guard.
“No I didn’t!” said Zeke. “You threw it at the table and stabbed yourself with it!”
A few of the other guards around snickered, and the original guard’s face turned even redder.
“Is this true?” asked the captain.
The guard made a noncommittal grunt as he glared down at Zeke. The elf was pretty sure he had just made an enemy and would need to remember to not use this gate when they left. He also needed to get out of here as soon as possible, and he knew just how.
By being difficult.
“My weapons have been inspected and I’ve done nothing wrong,” said Zeke. “Am I being detained?!”
“Excuse me?” asked the captain.
“Am I being detained?!” repeated the elf, raising his voice. “Am I being detained?!”
The captain rolled his eyes and sighed. “I hate this job. No, you’re not being detained. Carry on.”
“But, sir-” tried the original guard.
“Leave it,” groaned the captain, turning his back on them both.
“Thank you,” nodded Zeke, taking Lucky back and moving towards the city. He glanced over his shoulder and added one more thing to the original guard. “Best get that leg looked at by a priest! Wouldn’t want it getting infected!”
A few of the guards snickered again.
The one with the stab wound wasn’t one of them.
Chapter 13
“What took so long?” asked Sloane as Zeke joined them. “I thought I heard yelling.”
“Just a bit of a miscommunication,” shrugged Zeke. “Wow, this place is big.”
Sloane nodded, but then tilted her head at him. “I thought you’ve been here before?”
“Uh, yeah,” said the elf, looking around. “I think they’ve expanded since then, though.”
Sloane thought about it for a minute, but then let it go. She could see a city as large as Nurem being built upon constantly. Dwarven towns weren’t known for their high-rises, but this one had very few single story buildings. There were even a few buildings currently be worked on. Even if he was lying, it didn’t really matter.
“Do you know where the thing is?” asked Sloane quietly.
“Not exactly,” replied Zeke, looking around. “I’d assume some elves in town would know its whereabouts, so let's keep our eyes peeled for some.”
“Shouldn’t be hard,” chuckled Delvin. “They’ll really stick out with all these dwarves!”
Walking the streets of Nurem, the three soon found out that wasn’t the case. While most of the people in the city were dwarves, there were quite a number of taller races about. Particularly, Kutarm’s men. The streets were filled with guards standing near alleyways and walking to and fro.
Sloane believed it was because of this that so many people walked around with their hoods up. This made it harder to distinguish elves from regular humans. Not only that, but everyone was averting their eyes. It seemed like everyone was afraid of getting the guards’ attention if they made eye contact.
“Everyone’s so scared,” mumbled Delvin, looking around. “Even the dwarves seem bothered by the presence of Kutarm’s men.”
“Wouldn’t you be?” asked Zeke. “I don’t think the elves in Re’Lus would be particularly welcoming towards people that took over the town.”
“Y-You’re right, I wasn’t thinking,” said the gnome.
“Don’t worry about it,” said Zeke. “We aren’t getting anywhere by just walking around and looking for pointy ears, though.”
“What do you suggest?” asked Sloane, smirking. “Should we go up to strangers and ask them their race?”
“Good idea,” said Zeke, turning to a man with his gray hood up. “Excuse me, are you an elf?”
“No…?” said the man, looking at Zeke like he was crazy. Sloane didn’t blame him. Sometimes, she thought he was crazy, too.
“Don’t you think that’s a bit rude?” she whispered, pulling Zeke back.
“It is, but how else are we going to get the information we need?” asked Delvin. “You see how many guards there are here. Do we really want to stick around?”
“Fine,” grumbled Sloane. She didn’t want to stay any longer than she had to. The faster they got the Fourth Staff, the faster they could move on towards the Lost Citadel.
Zeke spent the next twenty minutes going up to skinnier humans and asking to see their ears. This was met with a lot of confusion, and caught the attention of some guards once or twice. When that happened, they moved further into the city until they were sure no one was watching them. Zeke occasionally guessed right and found an elf, but they didn’t know what he was talking about.
“Are you sure anyone is going to know where the you-know-what is?” asked Sloane after Zeke came back empty handed for the sixth time.
“Someone’s got to know,” he said, rubbing his chin as he looked around for his next target.
“Couldn’t we just search for it on our own?” asked Sloane.
“We could… but let me just try one more!”
“That’s what you said last time,” pointed out Delvin.
“I know, but this time I mean it!”
“This is the last one,” said Sloane, getting fed up with all the time they were wasting. If the Arcane Staff was somewhere around here, it was possible Kutarm would start coming this way sooner rather than later. This city would become incredibly dangerous once that happened.
Zeke scanned the crowd, being more choosey now that he had only one more go.
“Bingo,” he said, snapping his fingers and heading for an elf manning a fruit stand down the street. Sloane and Delvin followed close behind.
The vendor, who wore a woolen gray hat that matched his outfit, smiled as he saw three potential customers approach. “Good day, you three! Can I interest you in some freshly picked fruit?”
“Perhaps,” said Zeke, brushing his hair behind his ears in the most obvious way possible.
“Ah, you’re an elf too, I see,” smiled the vendor, picking his hat up to reveal pointed ears of his own. “I suppose you’d like a discount then, yes?”
“Actually, I was hoping you could help me with something else,” smiled Zeke. “I’m from Re’Lus, you see, and am here about… that thing that is kept around here. You wouldn’t happen to know where I could locate it, do you?”
The vendor eyed the elf curiously, then looked over Sloane and Delvin. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re
talking about.”
“Look, guy,” said Zeke, leaning in. “You know what I’m talking about. I know you know. Just help another elf out, eh?”
“I wish I could help you, but if you’re not looking for fruit, then there’s nothing I can do,” said the vendor, growing colder to them.
Sloane was starting to understand now. The elves weren’t telling Zeke because they didn’t trust him. After Kutarm’s forces moved in, they were probably afraid to mention the Arcane Staff at all, even to other elves.
“We should get moving,” said Sloane.
“I’m sorry I didn’t have what you are looking for,” said the vendor.
“L-Let me buy some fruit for wasting your time,” said Delvin, pulling out some coins from his pocket. Sloane glanced down at the gnome’s money. What happened to him being broke? She then saw that all he pulled out were two silver coins, and a red one.
“Careful with that one,” she whispered, nodding towards it.
The vendor caught her motion and looked down at the three coins. His eyes widened and he stood a little taller.
“Oh… I didn’t realize who you all were,” he said, keeping his voice down. “Can never be too careful nowadays with giving out important information.”
“Ah, you’re with the… group,” said Zeke.
“I am indeed,” said the elf, lowering his voice to just above a whisper. “It’s not safe to talk about this on the streets, but I believe you’ll find that particular piece of produce at The Bloody Stag.”
“Ew,” said Zeke, wrinkling his nose. “It’s inside a dead stag?”
“Maybe he means bloody as in an insult,” offered Delvin. “Why are you so upset at this male deer?”
“Maybe it’s a magical deer?” offered Zeke. “Can deer be magical?”
“I suppose they could be-”
“Shut up!” hissed the elf, glancing around them as two guards walked near to them. The men didn’t pay them any mind and continued by. The elf continued when the coast was clear. “The Bloody Stag is a tavern a few blocks to the south. Head there now, and go to the cellar. You’ll find those who know the item.”
“You should really change how you say that to outsiders, you know,” said Zeke. “It’s confusing.”