The Fairhaven Chronicles Boxed Set: The Revelations of Oriceran

by S. M. Boyce

  Two ogres interrupted Bertha as they smashed into each other nearby, growling as if they were at war. They grappled for several seconds, each trying to overtake the other. Bones snapped, and one ogre finally fell to the ground, nursing his shoulder. The victor roared into the sky and ran off to find someone else to mutilate.

  Audrey gulped. “I take it those are runners?”

  Bertha chuckled. “Indeed. And that, dear one, is what makes Berserk the prized sport of Fairhaven. Being on a proper Berserk team is a path to fame and glory down here. The only rule is no magic, and everything else is fair play.”

  “You actually want me to go on that field? Strategically, won’t all those massive ogres just try to flatten me at once?”

  “That’s a solid strategy, yes.”

  Audrey frowned at Bertha’s indifference. “Awesome.”

  “But that’s why we have our runners, little one! They’ll intercept anyone who tries to take you out. Usually.”

  Audrey leaned against the barrier around the field, suddenly doubting how much she wanted to play this game. Something about trusting strangers to keep her from being crushed beneath a giant ogre didn’t sit well with her.

  Bertha pointed again at the net of indestructible creatures nearby. “When you catch one of the fidgets, the opposing team will try to steal it. To protect you, a runner on your team will likely come to take it from you so you can focus on finding another. There are four rounds, fifteen minutes each. Get the most points by the last buzzer, and your team wins. It’s fairly simple.”

  An ogre roared at centerfield, digging his claws into another ogre’s side as they faced off. Audrey gulped. “Yeah, simple.”

  Bertha nodded. “You’ll fit right in.”

  “Are you, uh, trying to kill me? Serious question.”

  The shopkeeper laughed so hard she held her sides. “Always the funny one, you are. You will catch the fidgets, little one. That’s all. The others will protect you.”

  “Time!” one of the ogres shouted. The team members skidded to a halt, some patting each other on the back while others limped toward the healing wizard, who sat and read a book at the opposite end of the bleachers.

  The ogre who had called time jogged over to Audrey and Bertha, smiling despite the bruises on his face from practice. Bertha stood and hugged him over the wooden fence separating the field from the seats. “Edgar, you’ve gotten fat!”

  “You and your compliments,” he said with a chuckle.

  Audrey laughed weakly. Ogres, man. Freaking ogres.

  “Is this the recruit?” Edgar asked, nodding to Audrey.

  “She is. Quite the quick learner. I think she has some Oriceran blood in her,” Bertha said with a wink.

  “Let’s see what you can do, little one,” he said, extending a hand.

  Audrey took it, and he flung her over the barrier in what must have been an attempt to simply help her over it. She stumbled a bit as she found her footing on the other side, but thankfully she didn’t eat dirt during her first meeting with the team.

  “Sorry! You’re light as a pillow,” he said.

  Audrey shrugged. “It’s okay. What do I need to do?”

  He lifted the net filled with fidgets. “Catch as many of these as you can before I call time. Ready?”

  “Do you have any advice on how to—”

  “Go!” He pulled open the drawstring on the net and tossed it a good twenty feet toward centerfield. The fidgets jumped out and tore off in a dozen directions, fast as cats running from a bathtub of water.

  Audrey bolted toward the nearest one, a gold fidget. It zigzagged. Careful and focused, she tensed, preparing to pounce. It bolted left.

  Patience.

  It bolted right.

  Hold on, almost there.

  It bolted left again.

  Now!

  She jumped, putting her full weight on the fidget as she trapped it beneath her body. It squirmed, its skin surprisingly like the slick body of a dolphin, but she kept it in place. She lifted it over her head like a trophy. A pair of eyes peeked at her through a gap in the creature’s round body, and its tiny pink tongue blew a raspberry at her.

  Bertha clapped, and Edgar whistled from the sidelines. “Good! Eleven more to go!”

  Audrey grinned. This was actually kind of awesome.

  ***

  Completely and utterly focused on the moment, Victoria lifted her arms and summoned the largest shield she could hold continuously. It protected her head and most of her chest, but she needed both hands to hold it. It overburdened her like a barbell carrying just a bit too much weight. She gritted her teeth, straining every muscle in her body to keep it upright.

  The static charge of another of Fyrn’s attacks crackled through the air, and she braced herself for impact. She needed to learn how to take a hit, but God did it hurt.

  Sure enough, the bolt crashed into her shield, knocking her backward. She slid across the ground, rocks scratching her back as she bounced over the rough floor. She cursed as she rolled the last few feet.

  Ow.

  Battered and bruised, Victoria struggled to stand. Her arms and legs shook, weak from having done this for hours already. Down here in their little training cave, she had no idea what time it was or how long they had been here, but she tried not think about it. All that mattered was learning to control the Rhazdon Artifact’s powers, and she would stay for as long as it took.

  Above her, Styx chuckled softly. For whatever reason, he got a kick out of it every time she tumbled head over heels into the shock grass.

  “Tiny little traitor,” she said, shaking her head.

  “Good job, Victoria,” Fyrn said with a nod, tapping his staff twice on the rocky ground. It seemed to be his version of applause—at least the closest thing to it she would ever get from him.

  “Again,” she said, bracing herself.

  “It's important to rest, Victoria.”

  She dug her heel into the rocky floor, eyes focused on him as she prepared for another attack. “Again!”

  ***

  Audrey jogged to where Bertha and Edgar waited on the sidelines, shoulders heaving as she caught her breath. “How’d I do?”

  Edgar blinked rapidly, his mouth gaping. “How... how did you...”

  Bertha laughed, the hearty sound carrying across the field. “I told you she would be a good fit!”

  “All twelve! You caught all of them! That’s impossible. You even caught the green ones!”

  Audrey grinned. Those had been tough at first until she realized the gold irises of their eyes peeking through the grass gave them away. After that, it was cake.

  “You’re just a small human! How did you catch all twelve of those fidgets?”

  She shrugged. “You said I had to.”

  Edgar chuckled. “Astounding. Yes, obviously you’re on my team. Don’t dream of going to another one, do you hear? I’ll never win again if you do. If you have a twin, we need one more fidget finder.”

  Audrey beamed, grateful for the compliment and certain Victoria would love this game. “What’s our team’s name? The Snarxes? The Trevor Beetles? What’s our mascot?”

  “The Plits!” Bertha clapped her hands together, laughing almost too hard to speak.

  Audrey hesitated, glancing between the ogre siblings as she tried to figure out if it was a joke. “Like the fruit?”

  Edgar rolled his eyes. “I lost a bet.”

  With a chuckle, Audrey shrugged. “The Plits it is.”

  CHAPTER 22

  Back from her afternoon at the playing field, Audrey effortlessly sliced a melon in half with her new sword, a congratulations gift from Bertha. She smiled, pleased with her progress in weapons training. She had started to turn her chores into training exercises, and it was paying off.

  She wiped the blade on her pants and laid the sword on the table. Gathering the melon slices in her hands, she poured them onto the paper wrapper Bertha had laid out for the customer waiting outside the shop. A few fol
ds later, Audrey hefted the heavy packages of sliced melon in her hands and walked outside.

  A regal elf in an ornate red gown stood with her hands folded in front of her, a warm smile on her lips as Bertha spoke about a recent trip to another city.

  “It was a beautiful kemana, but not nearly as wonderful as our Fairhaven,” Bertha said with a wink.

  “Not much can compete with our fair home,” the elf said, her voice as lovely as her face.

  Audrey smiled and offered the wrapped melon. “Here you go.”

  “Thank you, sweet soul,” the elf said, taking the package.

  “Until next time, Merida,” Bertha said with a wave.

  “Farewell,” Merida said, joining the crowd. She stood out like a sore thumb, a stunning crimson beacon in a sea of green, gray, and brown.

  “Who is she?” Audrey asked.

  “An old friend from my home kemana.”

  “Where’s that?”

  Bertha’s shoulders drooped, and she sighed wistfully. “That’s a story for another time, but I can say I’ll never return. It was overrun, and the ogres were forced to flee. Elves like Merida ensured we could travel safely.”

  “Whoa, heavy. What happened?” Audrey tentatively patted Bertha’s shoulder, but the ability to comfort others didn’t come naturally.

  “We’ll discuss it another day, little one. For now, be grateful for what we have here. Kemanas like Fairhaven are coveted by the powerful. There are those who want what we have, who want to control the city and those who live in it.”

  Audrey watched the crowd as strangers passed, still too many types of creatures to name even though she was getting used to it here. It had never occurred to her that there might be unrest here, or occupation and war. It was such a beautiful, peaceful place.

  “Are you okay, Bertha?”

  The ogre nodded, smiling. “Thank you. I’m fine. You take your break. I’ll watch the front of the store for a bit.”

  “Okay, I will...” Audrey lost her train of thought as a familiar face bobbed through the crowd, and it took her a second to recognize him as the thief Victoria had tackled not long ago. His shifty eyes scanned the crowd and settled on something she couldn’t see. Quick as lightning, he snatched a pouch off a goblin’s waist, fingers apparently light enough that the goblin didn’t even notice. The thief darted through the crowd and slid down an alley.

  “I'll be right back, Bertha,” Audrey said. Before the ogre could protest, Audrey ran into the crowd, chasing him as fast as she could without bumping into anyone on her way. She entered the alley he had taken, a dark place with no foot traffic, just as he turned down another alley not far off.

  Careful to measure her breathing and keep her pace steady, she raced after him, slowing only to carefully look around each corner before she followed. She was gaining on him, only about twenty feet off now, when he paused and jogged up some stairs onto a back porch.

  She slowed, keeping to the building’s wall as she neared.

  “...and the girl?” a familiar voice asked.

  Dread shot clear to her toes as she recognized the voice, and Audrey stopped dead in her tracks. Before she could help herself, fear hit her like a cold wave as she relived her last run-in with the elf she had shot in the bank parking lot.

  Luak.

  “Her name is Victoria Brie. The friend is Audrey, but I haven't figured out her last name.”

  “Where do they go?”

  “Mainly the ogre's shop. Victoria goes off in the mornings, but I can't keep up with her.”

  “And the incident in the gang district?”

  “Yeah, it was definitely her. I saw her myself. She’s a host. I knew she was unnatural.”

  “Tell no one.”

  “But—”

  “No one.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The familiar clink of crystals reminded Audrey of all the times customers had handed over a small collection of them to pay for the week's groceries. It seemed the thief was being well compensated for his information.

  “What are you going to do with them?” the thief asked.

  Around the corner and thankfully out of sight, Luak chuckled darkly. “They’ll get what they deserve.”

  Audrey tensed. As much as she wanted to kill this guy, she couldn’t face Luak alone, armed with only her sword and a couple days’ training. Footsteps thudded on the stoop, and she pressed herself as close to the alley wall as she could to hide as they left.

  The footsteps faded, but she waited a good five minutes before she headed back to the shop.

  Luak had found them. She had to warn Victoria.

  ***

  Back at home, Audrey aimlessly polished her sword’s blade as she replayed the day in her mind. What a rollercoaster.

  The door swung open and smacked against the wall. Audrey jumped, caught off-guard. Victoria ambled in like a zombie and crashed face-first on the bed.

  “Hello there, buttercup,” Audrey said dryly.

  “My everything hurts,” Victoria mumbled through the comforter.

  “You didn’t think revenge would be a cakewalk, did you?”

  Vitoria pushed herself upright and leaned against the headboard. “Thanks for the sympathy.”

  Audrey blew her a kiss and set her sword aside.

  “What’s that for?” Victoria nodded toward the blade.

  “Bertha’s training me to fight.”

  Victoria quirked an eyebrow. “Bertha can fight?”

  “I know, right? And she’s really good.”

  “That’s awesome. Are you enjoying it?”

  Audrey nodded, smile wide as she relived her first day in the training room. “I swear she has every weapon in existence. It’s like walking into a museum of death.”

  Victoria grinned. “Sweet.”

  “Bertha also introduced me to a game they play here called Berserk. It’s really fun. She got me onto a team and everything. Since we don’t have our kickboxing classes anymore, I think you should join.”

  “Ha, right. Fyrn would love that.”

  “Who knows? Maybe you could spin it as a training exercise. You’re clever.”

  Victoria chuckled. “If you say it’s fun, I’ll give it a try. What do you do?”

  “Catch little round creatures that look like balls while ogres and elves tackle each other around you.”

  In the stunned silence that followed, Victoria grimaced a bit and stared at Audrey. “This place is so weird.”

  “I know. It’s awesome.”

  Victoria yawned deeply, stretching her arms as she fell back onto the bed. “I’m beat. I think I’ll hit the hay.”

  Audrey’s smile faded. She didn’t really want to share the news about Luak, but Victoria would fall asleep any second, and this couldn’t wait another day. “Wait, I have to tell you something first. It’s bad. Really bad.”

  Victoria sat up, her eyelids drooping. “What is it?”

  “Luak found us. He knows you’re here, and they’re watching Bertha’s place.”

  “Shit.” Victoria rubbed her eyes.

  “Pretty much. What do we do?”

  Victoria’s jaw tightened, and she stared out the window for several minutes without saying a word. Audrey waited, not wanting to interrupt the train of thought puffing down the tracks in Victoria’s brain.

  “We wait,” Victoria finally said.

  “Are you crazy? He knows where we live! Again!”

  She gritted her teeth. “I know, okay? I know. Don’t you think I want to hunt him down more than anything? But let’s be real—he knows where we are, and we have no idea where he is except that he’s close. He must have followed us, which means he can do it again. Our next move should be strategic, and running out of here in the middle of the night would raise flags. I’m not ready to face him yet, and he hasn’t done anything here I can nail him for. He’s likely planning an attack, so we’ll plan our own. We got lucky with this info, but let’s not rely on luck anymore. Deal?”