by Jez Cajiao
Alternatively, though, I sure as shit wasn’t going to be letting anyone order me about again, so I had the choice of put up, or shut up. That meant it was time to grow, which I grudgingly accepted.
We trooped across the balcony and into the Tower, jogging down the stairs as I called out with my mind to the person I most expected to be there when I woke up, and the one that had been most noticeably absent.
“Oracle, you okay?”
There was a moment of silence, and then the sense of her presence appeared in my mind strongly enough it almost made me miss the next step.
“Jax!! You’re awake!! At last! Honestly, I was starting to think you were going to sleep the whole day away…”
I grinned involuntarily at Oracle’s contact. Even through this medium, I still got a feeling of the excitable wisp’s happiness that I was back in the land of the living.
“Yeah, I’m awake, and what do you mean? It’s barely past sunrise!”
“I’ve been bored for hours! Bob still won’t play with me, and you were asleep, and you snore! I didn’t know you snored!”
“I passed out drunk, Oracle. I’ve got the beginning of what’s probably gonna be a horrific hangover, I’m sure, and I was snoring because I passed out completely shitfaced. Don’t worry about it. Anyway, Cai, Oren, and I are going to talk to the villagers we freed yesterday. Where are you?”
“Bob and I are helping the completed Golems to fix the damaged one. It’s really interesting!”
“Ah, okay… I guess? Well, we’re going to be finding out what the villagers want to do, I guess. Come meet up with us when you get the chance; not sure where we’ll be.”
“Do you know where they are?”
“Ah, a couple of floors down, I think. Cai and Oren seem to know…”
“Okay, well, I’ll see you later!”
I broke the contact and focused back on the dark stairwell as we continued down. My DarkVision had activated instinctively, and I was having no problem seeing, but Oren and Cai were a bit more hesitant. Add lighting to the list! I thought to myself.
It took a few more minutes to reach the next level, then down into the next stairwell, and soon enough, Cai was leading us through the next floor towards a section set back from the rest.
The interior walls were still standing in this section, and as we turned the final corner, the sound of the voices we’d been hearing since arriving on the floor became clearer.
There were people ahead. They were arguing, and they were getting louder by the minute, their words echoing in the previously silent rooms.
We walked through the doorway, Oren shoving aside a curtain that had been hung across it for some privacy without slowing, and I got my first look at the people inside.
I followed Oren in, noticing in annoyance that the doors on the closest trio of rooms had been clearly broken into, the furniture had been removed, and what was intact had been dragged out into the common area. The other rooms showed signs that people had spent the night in them, on cold stone. I’d need to address that as soon as I could.
The rooms being broken into was an annoyance, as I’d have told them to do it if they’d asked me, most likely, but I also knew that the few rooms I’d managed to get into had contained valuables, like the Silverbright potion, and I doubted I’d be getting anything back from these rooms, judging by the man in the middle.
He was a little under average height, maybe five foot six, slim but expensively dressed, and he was flanked by two obvious henchmen. I glanced from them back to him and across at the group that faced them. He was seated behind a desk in a stone chair with a high back, which had been dragged in from another room, considering the scuff marks on the floor.
The second group stood huddled together, fear clear on their faces, as they’d been trying to convince him of something, though their combined wheedling, begging, and cajoling had clearly been falling on deaf ears. These people were dressed in far rougher clothing, their hands and faces worn and desperate. Several had elven ears poking through their hair and other non-human features, and I felt an irrational desire to snap at them to stand up straight as they hunched back, trying to vanish as they realized who’d just entered the room.
“No! That’s final!” The human snapped at the rest of the group and turned to glare at my small company as we stepped inside.
“Yes? What do you want? Have you no manners at all? The door was clearly closed!” he spat at me, and I felt my annoyance rising, even as I stood a little straighter, setting my naginata’s steel clad base down with a solid clang.
“Yeah, I saw the closed curtain, and the broken doors leading to the other rooms as well. However, given that it’s my goddamn Tower, and I could hear raised voices, I decided to see what was going on!”
I retorted. I focused on him, though it didn’t keep me from seeing the others in the room shrink back from my obvious ire.
The only one that didn’t, predictably, was the human.
“And? I met you last night and you were thanked; what more do you expect? I am Lorek, the Reeve of the village of Dannick. I was made a Reeve by Lord Asher of Himnel himself, I’ll have you know! These are my vassals, and I demand some privacy while I deal with certain… internal issues. I will summon you when I’ve dealt with this, and we will leave for Dannick as soon as you have made the ship ready.” He was looking at me as though he expected me to bow and apologize for interrupting him, when Oren spoke up. Cai, meanwhile, was glaring at the man with his ears laid back flat.
“Aye, well, I dinna think LORD JAX cares about ye bein’ a ‘Reeve’, considerin’ ye didna bother to introduce yerself before now! Lord Jax does be the lord of this land; the Tower belongs to him, and the land itself acknowledged his lordship. Ye musta seen the notification? Old titles in these lands don’t mean shit if he dinna approve them!” Oren was visibly bristling now, the little dwarf in threadbare armor almost vibrating with indignation on my behalf.
“I saw it, and I don’t care! Lord Asher of Himnel` owned these lands, and his son Barabarattas after him! I bought the deed legally. I own the village AND its surroundings, regardless of whoever this imposter is!”
“Imposter?” I snarled, before stopping myself and holding one hand up, forcing myself to speak in as measured and calm a voice as I could manage. “Stop! Okay, everyone, stop right there and take a breath. Obviously, we’ve started off on the wrong foot here, somehow. So, let’s give it one more try to…”
“Why should I? I am a Reeve…” Lorek interrupted me hotly, hands on his hips as he tried to look imposing. The little shit looked more like Baron Greenback from Dangermouse than anything else, and I cut him off as he’d done to me.
“I don’t give a shit who you are, or what your pathetic title is! You’re an asshole that’s abused my hospitality since you arrived!”
“Your people seem terrified of you, and your title just means you supported that walking turd Barabarattas, as near as I can tell, so, for the final time, are you going to calm down and act like a civilized man, or are you going to get the fuck out of my Tower?”
I snarled at him, my rage clear. The naginata began to glow as I subconsciously readied my mana for a fight.
“What?! How dare you! I am Reeve Lorek! I…” he sputtered at me, his face going white as he noticed the glowing weapon being pointed at him.
“I heard you the first goddamn time!” I snarled, my voice dropping as I grew angrier. “Now, you hear me! I am the Lord of this Tower and you’re an asshole! I came here to extend an offer of protection to you, to ask if you wanted to join us, but…”
“Join you? Join this… rabble? No, a thousand times no! I’d sooner burn my village to the ground than allow you access to it!” he snapped; his terror being overcome by the outrage he clearly felt.
“The offer isn’t open to you anymore, you weapons-grade wanker!” I roared at him. “And good luck getting back to your village, it’s a long damn walk! Feel free to pack up whatever you brought with you and get
out!”
With that, I turned around and stalked out of the room, still furious. Oren and Cai followed me, even as I began to silently pull myself apart, trying to figure out why that had gone so wrong so quickly. I didn’t make it a dozen steps before I heard running feet and Oren unsheathing his sword.
“Hold it right there!” he snarled, and I turned back to find a panicked Elf woman frantically coming to a stop, raising her hands and backing up slowly, shaking her head as she tried to force her words out.
“We... no, please… it’s not... I’m not…” Cai took pity on her and laid a hand on Oren’s shoulder, gesturing to him to sheathe his sword.
“It’s alright, miamee, don’t fear my friend, Oren, here. You just startled us. What did you want to say?” Cai spoke soothingly to her, and she took a deep breath and replied to him, her gaze flicking from him, to Oren, to me, and back, in rapid succession.
“I’m sorry! Please, we’re not all like him. Reeve Lorek is… he’s… well…”
“He’s an asshole. That what yer tryin’ to say, lassie?” Oren said loudly, making sure his words traveled as he glared back toward the rooms we’d just left. The elven woman squeaked and covered her mouth with her hands, shaking her head violently before replying.
“No! No! He’s a good master, is Reeve Lorek...” she said loudly before dropping her voice to barely more than a whisper and shooting furtive glances at me.
“I… we… we’re sorry! Please, some of us—most of us—we want to stay! Please! We’re not safe out there. Reeve Lorek, he has arrangements with the local bandits, but still, please!” She was visibly shaking as she stared at me, terrified I was going to say no.
“Hell. Look, what was your name, Mamee?” I asked, trying to calm her down, even as my own blood still boiled. Cai coughed into his hand and unsuccessfully tried to hide a grin.
“Miamee, my lord; it means ‘little dove’ in elven, and it’s not a name, it’s simply a term of endearment.”
“Okay… what was your name?” I said, looking from Cai to the woman.
“Isabella, my lord.” she said, looking uncertain.
“Okay, look: I’m Jax—Lord Jax, if you must—but despite how that went in there, I’m usually not particularly bad-tempered, okay? The offer is still open to you and your people. I literally came down here to meet you all, and to make the offer to all of you. I need people; you look like you need somewhere to live, and as well as protection, I can offer training and a chance at maybe a better life. I need to talk to my advisors, but yeah, the offer’s open still.”
“We accept!” she said quickly. “I can’t speak for everyone, but most of us wanted to stay already!”
“Really?” I asked her, looking around pointedly at the crumbling walls and dirt coating everything. “You sure about that?” Cai casually stood on my foot, and while the pressure didn’t get through the armor, his point was clear, and I shut up.
“Isabella, can you gather your people so that Lord Jax can make the offer to them, please? Whoever is interested?” Cai said, shooting me a significant glance.
“Yes! Thank you! Thank you!” With that, she tore off, heading back to the group she’d just left, while I turned to Cai.
“Okay, first off, when the hell did you have time to not only meet her, but to get on friendly enough standing to be using a term of endearment like that? Damn, man, that’s fast work!” I grinned, getting an eye roll in return.
“It’s not like that, Jax. I met her last night at the party; she and her friends were feeling us out about life here, and…” Cai said quickly.
“And this silver-tongued devil had her fair near into his bed before I’d finished ma beer!” Oren laughed, elbowing Cai in the thigh, nearly sending him flying.
“It’s not like that! Honestly, Oren, you only see what you want to! She’s a lovely woman, and she’s well thought of by her people. I was trying to get her to join us!”
“Oh aye, ye were tryin’ t’ get her t’ join ye alright, in a wee moonlit stroll!” Oren grinned at Cai, before winking at me as Cai looked away. For a second, I’d been worried Cai was taking advantage of things before I realized that he was actually mortified by Oren’s accusations. I could see that Oren was winding him up, or at least I thought so, so I did what any friend would do.
I jumped in as well.
“Really, Cai? I thought better of you! Taking advantage of that poor girl…” I didn’t even finish my sentence before Cai had spun around and was waving his hands in negation.
“No! Honestly, Lord Jax! Please, I would never do such a thing…please believe me!”
“Hmmm. Well, there is one way I could give you one more chance, I suppose… but there’d be conditions…” I said, as though serious, squinting at his imploring face. “Okay, first, you stop calling me ‘Lord Jax’ when we’re alone like this. Just call me Jax! I’ve told you before, after all!”
“Oh…why, you…” he growled, taking a deep breath, and glaring at both Oren and me. “Okay, Jax, I agree. What’s the second condition?”
“Well, she seemed pretty interested in you; all I’m saying is she’s pretty, so relax, man. If you don’t use your position in any underhanded ways, have fun! The second condition is…you see what’s going on there, mate!” I grinned at him and turned around, making my way back to the stairwell as Oren casually spoke up from behind.
“One other wee point as well, Cai; ye just told her to get everyone together to meet the ‘great Lord Jax’, aye? Well, only thing is, ye did’na tell her where!”
Cai spun around and started swearing under his breath as he set off jogging along the corridor in the direction Isabella had gone.
“Tell them to make it the ground floor outside!” I shouted after him, having already decided that I’d need to be in the makeshift ‘command center’ I’d been using up to now.
“Yes, Jax!” Cai shouted back as he disappeared into the mess of rooms in pursuit of Isabella.
“Oh, he’s got it bad fer her!” Oren muttered, shaking his head in mock sorrow. “Barely known her a night, and already…”
“Give it a rest, man, he can’t hear you.” I replied, grinning.
“Aye, but ye see how quick he bit?” Oren let loose with a belly laugh as we headed downstairs. “Oh, I’m gonna have some fun wit’ this!”
Chapter Two
Oren and I set off jogging down the stairs, and despite the poor show he’d put on only a few days ago, he actually managed to keep up for a few more floors this time. When I asked him about it, he just winked and told me that he’d leveled after the battle and sunk a few points into stamina, as ‘All the ladies love a dwarf wi’ stamina!’
Cai caught up with us a few minutes later, and we continued as a group, people jumping aside as we passed. The occasional bow, curtsey, or wave from people, depending on their preferences, struck me as weird enough that I still flinched when it happened.
“How do we get people to stop doing that?” I asked after a particularly rowdy fight between two children had been cowed into fearful silence by their parents at the sight of me. We’d run on past, as I’d figured it was better to give them some room rather than telling the kids to get back to fighting.
“Stop doing what?” Cai responded, his feline grace being brought into even more prominence by Oren’s huffing and puffing as the dwarf’s short legs tried to keep up with us.
“The whole bowing and scraping thing. The look that woman gave us was as if she thought I’d kick the kids out of the window if they made noise, for fuck’s sake!” I replied, the exercise doing wonders for my hangover as I got my blood pumping.
“She probably thinks you might,” Cai responded sadly. “The simple truth is that we were slaves. She wasn’t one of my party, just one of the villagers that we freed yesterday, but in these lands, the strong do as they want. For all she knows, her children are in danger here; it’s just slightly less than elsewhere. It may seem unfair that they’re afraid of you but think of what they’ve seen o
f you so far. They were captured by a warship, made slaves, and their village stripped by a dozen or more soldiers. They then land at a Tower that they’ve either never known about before, or only heard of through dark tales. They fully expected to be sold as slaves, probably assaulted, and the best she could hope for was that her children might escape into the wild alone while she sold her life to give them that chance. Instead, you lead a band of frankly filthy people out of the darkness and slaughter the crew. You’re a High Lord, one that’s killed a creature she’s only heard of in bard’s tales and nightmares, and you declare war against cities like it’s nothing.”
“The… damn cat’s… got a point… laddie!” panted Oren. “Ye did kick… a ton o’ arse… yesterday!”
“You did it with me!” I protested. “You and Cai, and the crew. Damn, I wasn’t alone; we all fought!”
“True, but you were alone when you fought the SporeMother.” Cai shook his head.
“I know what you said about being sent to this world from your own, but Jax, entire legions have fallen to creatures like that and been raised again as its slaves. One man doesn’t kill something like that, not alone, at least not outside of the bard’s tales.”
“I wasn’t alone. I had Oracle and Bob!” I protested in vain.
“You mean your bonded companion and a summoned creature? No, people don’t consider either of them as ‘help.’ They’re part of you. Look; I know what you’re trying to say, I do. Just take a minute and think of the way it looks from our side. I couldn’t have done what you did. If I could, I’d have been free a long time ago! Same for any of my people. Sorry, our people!” Cai corrected himself. “We’d have tried to do some of it, and we’d have died. The other bits, we’d have fled or hid from, but you didn’t. You attacked everything you saw and beat it into submission.”