by Jez Cajiao
“What he’s trying to say, Lord Jax, is that we’d like to work on the ‘Freedom’ as well as the warship; she still needs work. Is that all right?” Hanau stepped in, looking put upon. I couldn’t help but grin as I responded to them both.
“Of course, it is; feel free to work on the ship whenever you want, but I’d like her to be ready for a flight in another day. We’ll be heading out to check on the village that the warship raided on the way out, and I’d rather not leave our people worrying needlessly, after all. Oren said your ship was a lot faster than his; I know it took us five hours to reach the lake, a trip which Oren said would have taken a full day before the repairs were done.”
“How long would you say it would take the ‘Freedom’ to reach?” Decin looked at Hanau, and Hanau looked at me with a gentle smile.
“If you hadn’t guessed, I also work as navigator on the ship, Lord. I’d say about three hours, if we go carefully; two, if we go all out.”
“I think I should have just made you captain and had done with it, Hanau,” I said, half-jokingly. “I mean really, what does Decin actually do?”
“He’s great at making the crew work, and gives amazing back rubs, but yeah, that’s about it, in all honesty…” Hanau replied, a smile quirking the edge of his lips, as Decin started growling.
“Fair enough; I suppose we should leave him as captain then, for now…” I said slowly with a straight face, winking at Hanau where Decin couldn’t see. “But if he loses his edge any more…”
“Don’t worry, Lord. If he doesn’t give me a backrub on time tonight, you’ll know about it…”
“…And you’ll be captain from tomorrow,” I finished for him, as Decin elbowed him in the thigh and glared up at me.
“Ye better be careful there, laddie, or he’ll be looking to trade up fer a Tower next!” he grumped, and Hanau and I laughed. He couldn’t help himself, joining in after a few seconds, before the pair walked away together, calling their ship’s crew over and arguing good naturedly with Oren over the allocation of engineers. I turned to address Ame, Barrett, and Flux, who had been standing nearby and waiting patiently.
“Okay, then, it’s time for a serious look at skills and spells. Ame, you’ll be coming with Cai and myself to look at the options. Flux, Barrett, what do you need?” I asked, and Barrett spoke up quickly.
“It’s not much, Jax, but the addition of Flux’s team makes a huge difference to our forces; also, they’re skilled hunters and scouts. I want permission to spread them out amongst my people and the hunters, and I want to start sending them out to explore the surrounding area, maybe bring back some fresh meat.”
“Are you good with that, Flux?” I asked him, receiving a nod in confirmation. “Then that’s fine. Keep a team close by, so we have some fighters in the tower at all times but start pushing the teams out in a rotation to explore the surrounding area. Also…” I turned and beckoned to Bob, who stepped forward.
“Bob here wants to take a more active role in defending our people, so perhaps you could plan to integrate him into the groups going forward?” Barrett blinked, then grinned at Bob.
“That would be amazing, but can you do that? I thought you could only communicate with Jax and Oracle?” Bob stood still for a minute, long enough for the excited smile to start to fall from Barrett’s face, before the skeletal minion pointed at him and slowly nodded.
“What he means is that he can communicate with others. It’s not as clear or as simple as when Oracle or I give him direction, but he can understand. Essentially, make the orders as simple as you can. He understands that ‘yes’ is one nod, and ‘no’ is two, so tell him what you want, carefully, and ask if he understands. We only just realized he could respond like this, so go slow, but try it and see how it works.” I felt a little sad that Bob would be out fighting without me, but I was also proud of him.
“O…okay… yeah, we can make this work!” Barrett said, his smile back as he clapped the skeletal construct on one armored shoulder, having to stretch to reach it.
“Be careful with him, though. If he dies, he’s dead and gone, understand?” I said firmly, “Don’t risk him for no reason.”
“I won’t,” Barrett said, nodding soberly. “I know Bob is there to help, not to do all the work, and I’ll make sure everyone understands that. He’s there to protect us if we need him.”
“Exactly,” I said, and Flux and Barrett saluted, deep in discussion before they’d gone a handful of steps. Bob looked to me, nodded once, and followed them.
“They grow up quickly,” Ame said, and I turned to regard her, one eyebrow quirked quizzically. “Our children; I’ve heard it said they grow up quickly and judging by the way you look at that creature, you obviously created it yourself.”
“I did. Well, no, I summoned and built him. I gained the option of sentience for him, and as he grows over time, he becomes more self-aware, so I suppose he’s his own as much as he’s ‘mine’…ah, fuck it.” I shook my head, dismissing the confused thoughts of Bob’s sentience, and looked over at Ame. “You ready for this?” I asked her.
“I have never been more ready for anything in my entire life,” she stated quietly.
“Glad to hear it. We’re just waiting on Cai; he’s confirming a few details with Isabella, so why don’t you go over and wait with him? I need to speak to someone, so as soon as you’re both ready, head up to the Hall of Memories together, okay? He knows the way.” She nodded and walked over to him as Oracle and I set off toward the stairs.
“Where are we going?” she asked me, and I grinned at her.
“Well, there’s one more person we need to speak to, remember, about both the Runecrafting and about the healer…Jenae!” Oracle smiled back at me, twisting her flight into a roll in midair and heading for the stairs, well aware both that I intended to relax a bit in the Hall while I spoke to her, and that I was getting a terrific view of her legs and cleavage as she flew around me. The teasing little sod…
It didn’t take long to jog up the stairs to Oracle’s old home, and we strode in, relaxing as the crystal doorway closed behind us. Oracle had resumed her full size, and the sight of both her naughty smile, and the little black cocktail dress she’d summoned from somewhere was hugely distracting, especially as I took a seat on one of the sofas, and she hopped up to sit on the arm of the one opposite me, showing an incredible amount of tanned leg in the process. I groaned and closed my eyes, well aware that she was getting exactly the result she wanted. When I heard her laugh, I reopened my eyes, and she had shifted again, back to her diminutive usual form and dressed in jogging bottoms and a halter-neck top. It wasn’t covering her as much as that outfit would any other woman. She’d somehow altered it to stick like rubber in places, but it was a lot less distracting than she had been a few seconds before, at least.
“You just do that to get a rise out of me, don’t you?” I asked her, getting a grin in return. “Thought so. Okay, I’m going to talk to Jenae.” I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath, pulling mana in and concentrating. I felt it build and build, until I was sure there was enough. For the second time, I imbued it with Jenae’s name, and a sense of who she was, then I knelt, pressing the knuckles of my right fist flat against the ground, and my left to my chest, and released it.
There was a soundless wave of pressure that spread out from me, and a second later, the sense of her presence was there, filling my mind.
“Jax, you called to me?”
“Hi, Jenae. I wanted to ask a few questions if that’s okay?”
I asked her, getting a sense of amusement back through the contact as she replied, and I stood up, moving back to my seat.
“You may ask, Jax; I’ll answer what I can, but if it involves specifics, I can’t, and you understand that you’ll have to use the boon I granted you?”
“I do. Look, I’ll just tell you what I need to know, and you answer what you can, okay?”
“That seems sensible. Go ahead.”
“Ame, a Ru
necrafter from the Mer village, has joined us. However, she also wants to learn some healing… I need to know if she’s a good choice for the healer we need, I need to know how we can get Runes from spells, and I need to know if Tommy is still alive…Anything you can tell me about those, first?” I asked her, conscious that there was one more question I needed to ask.
“As far as Ame is concerned, that’s a choice you need to make. Magical aptitude is different among the races of the UnderVerse. The Tia’Almer-atic are rarely gifted with any use of magic, beyond their natural uses in camouflage, but those that do have it tend to be powerful. I would, however, suggest that you think on it very hard. Runecrafting is a rare art, and to have an extremely skilled individual give it up to become a healer? Consider well. Also, runes are specific magic, and can be hugely powerful. They are, however, a form of crafting…and as such, perhaps researching something in the Constellation of Secrets would help you. That’s all I can say on that unless you want to use the boon?”
“Gotcha. I’ll have a think, and I’ll save the boon. Thanks, Jenae…and my brother?” I asked cautiously.
“I have seen no sign of him yet. I am sorry, Jax…”
“Okay then, there’s one last question I need to ask…”
Chapter Fourteen
It was only a few minutes later when I heard the muffled sound of a fist banging on the crystal doorway to the room, and having just finished my conversation with Jenae, I’d been idly admiring the view as Oracle contrived excuses to show as much flesh as possible while pretending she was doing no such thing. We’d both started to get entirely too interested in the game, and the arrival of Ame and Cai threw some much-needed cold water on our increasing ardor.
I concentrated, and the door vanished just as Cai tried to knock again, and I had to grin as the usually reserved catman staggered and let out an involuntary yelp of surprise.
“Hi Cai, Ame,” I greeted them, standing up and gesturing for them to come inside. They both entered cautiously, looking around the room with eyes wide in shock, the true wealth of the Great Tower on display.
“I…I never would have believed…”
Ame whispered, slowly turning around, gaping at the book covered shelves, the beautiful carpets and seating, and most of all, the hundreds of Memory Crystals where they lay in their individual niches.
Cai was having a similarly hard time as he attempted to stare everywhere at once. I knew I’d never get anywhere with them in the state they were in now.
“Both of you can have a quick look around before we start. I can see I’m not going to get anything from you until you’ve had that, at least!” I said, returning to my seat and closing the door. I concentrated as a stray thought crossed my mind, and I began looking around the room carefully, until I spotted him. Crouched down, almost invisible against the wall beside a bookcase, was Bane. I’d not seen him enter, and I’d damn well certainly not invited him along to this meeting.
“Bane,” I said flatly, and he straightened up, his reflexive camouflage relaxing as he arose.
“Yes, Jax?” he asked, and I shook my head.
“Bane, you’re a great friend, and a hell of a bodyguard, which I can see already, but you don’t need to be this close all the damn time. I need privacy, and when I call a meeting somewhere like this, unless I invite you, I don’t expect you to be here, okay? We’re in a sealed location in the center of the Great Tower. This is literally the most secure place we have; I don’t need to be guarded here!”
“That’s exactly how I’d want you to feel if I was an assassin.” he said stoically.
“What?” I asked, my train of thought derailed by the assertion, and I paused, letting him continue.
“If I was going to kill you, I’d want you to believe you were in the safest place you could be, so you’d let your guard down and get rid of your bodyguards,” Bane continued, and I shook my head again.
“Okay, look, mate, I’m going to be in here for a while, then I’m going to be in the Tower for the next two days probably: a day, at the least. I don’t need you in here, so please, go explore, relax and pick out quarters, do whatever you want…except guarding me!” I added as I saw him start to return to the corner where he’d been hidden. He stopped and stood there for a long minute and I sighed, giving in a little.
“Look, Bane, seriously, I’m safe here, and even if I wasn’t, you can’t guard me literally around the clock. It’ll drive us both insane. Go explore; if you want to find something useful to do, you could go out and kill something we can add to the food stores, or hell, explore the local area. There could be all sorts of things to find out there; we haven’t explored any of it yet. Just go, okay?” Bane hesitated for a second then clapped a fist in salute and headed to the door. I opened it and let him out, breathing a sigh of relief when the door had fully closed, and I knew I wasn’t being watched over anymore.
“You know he’s right, don’t you?” Ame spoke from right behind me, making me jump.
“Fuck’s sake, Ame! Not you, too,” I said, shaking my head and sitting back down.
“He has a point, though; if an assassin wanted to get to you, this would be ideal. After all, you’ve trapped yourself in here now with me, and how well do you really know me?” she asked, and I grinned back at her.
“I killed a fucking SporeMother alone and cleared this entire Tower before I even met any of you; how well do you really know me?” I asked, forcing my grin to take on a hard edge, and she took a step back, the instinctive fear of creatures she’d heard tales about all her life coming to the fore.
“Exactly,” I said, sitting back in my seat and looking at her. “I try to be nice to people, Ame, and I try to be patient, but remember, I’m the one that fought the creatures from your nightmares. I’m also the one that will do it again. I might act kind, but if I have to, I will fuck up anything that threatens me or my people.” My voice was hard, cold, and Ame stepped back again, aware of the change in the air between us. Before it could grow too intense, I straightened and gestured to the seat across from me, letting a softer smile return to my face. As she stepped between other furniture and took the seat offered, she nodded to me with respect.
“I understand; best to show the steel under the glove sometimes.” It was all she said, but we both understood, and when Cai moved out from between the shelves to join us, I knew he’d witnessed the interaction as well. I felt a touch self-conscious about it, but it needed to be done.
“So, Cai, Ame, we’re going to start a plan today to use the Tower resources properly. There’s a risk to using too many Spell and Skill books in a short time; you both know this, right?” I asked and got a snort from Ame.
“Of course! Everyone knows that,” she said, and I winced as I shook my head.
“Yeah, well, nobody where I came from told me that, so I’ll be clear about this. I used seven Spellbooks, and a handful of skill books, to get to where I am now. When I tried to use another, it backfired, opening a series of wounds in my brain and damaging other areas in here.” I tapped my forehead lightly as I made eye contact with them both, noting their shock over the amount that I’d used.
“Jenae, our patron Goddess, has told me that there are specialization paths for healers, much as there are for all professions. A ‘Reconstructor’ is the specialization I’d need our healer to take. However, the thing is, Ame…that’s not going to be you.”
“What?” she demanded.
“You’re not going to be the Tower’s healer, Ame.” I repeated, shaking my head. “Don’t get me wrong, I think you probably could become one, if you really wanted to, and you’d probably be amazing at it; I accept that. The thing is, though, you’d need to spend a fuck-load of time training up a replacement Runecrafter for us, since someone as skilled as you could make huge improvements to the Tower, to our weapons, hell, you could do all sorts of things. It makes no goddamn sense to retrain you, and have you retrain someone else to take your place, all so you can be a healer. Tell me truthfully: do y
ou actually want to give up Runecrafting, and spend all that time retraining to be a healer? Or are you afraid of the darkness you were trapped in, and you just want to make sure that doesn’t happen again?” Several minutes passed in silence before Ame sighed heavily.
“I wanted to make sure it doesn’t happen again; that’s all. I loved being a Runecrafter.”
She admitted, sitting back, and seeming to relax for the first time since I’d met her.
“Glad to hear it,” I said, smiling. “To be clear, I’m not saying ‘no’ to you learning healing magic, or any magic. Instead, I’m going to give you one Spellbook, and one skill book. The skill book will be for your Runecrafting, and the spell will be healing. If you find you like healing, and you want to go that way, then great.”
“You can help, as there’s always going to be a need for healing magic here, I think. I’ll also want you to take on at least one apprentice, as I think your Runecrafting skills are going to be massively in demand. Lastly, I’ll need you to help me with a little side project.” Almost on cue, Oracle approached, the books we’d discussed in her hands, and she laid them on the table between us, before disappearing into the depths of the Hall again.
“One last point,” I said as Ame reached out tentatively for the books, and she froze. “I’ve also spoken to Jenae about the Runecrafting. She’s informed me that there’s a way for us to learn the Runes for spells through her, so eventually, my ‘Battlefield Triage’ spell, the one that Oracle and I used to heal you and rebuild your body in several places, will be able to be made into a Rune.” With that revelation, Oracle put two more books down on the other side of the table, and Ame gasped in shock as she identified them. A single memory crystal had also been set down with the pair of books.