Portals of Infinity: Reprisal

by John Van Stry

  Fel nodded, "But you don't."

  "How long have they been coming here? And why haven't they been around before this?"

  "This end of the portal that they're using has a tendency to 'drift.' Most of their portals to our worlds do, because of the negative energy they embody. It probably came free of the rocks sometime in the last decade or so, and they only rediscovered that it was open recently."

  "Wait, don't you know?"

  Fel shook his head, "No. I cannot see the portals from the underworlds, nor can I see the creatures that come here from them. Because they are not natural to this plane, and are created of different energies, I cannot detect them. I can only see them through the eyes of you or my clergy. Just as I can only know about them, if you or the clergy know about them."

  "Well that's going to make things harder," I grumbled.

  "At least we now know the real reason why the flask was stolen," Fel pointed out.

  "That was kind of stupid though," I sighed.

  "You're dealing with people descended from peasants and bandits, Will," Fel chuckled. "Haven't you noticed that they're a bit slow on the uptake? That some of them are kind of stupid and petty?"

  "Laria seems to be pretty quick," I pointed out.

  "She gets that from her mother, who isn't a local."

  "Why would a woman want to move to that place?" I asked curious.

  "Because she murdered her husband and fled into the mountains. Rodd may look like he's in charge, but Karia is the brains in that household, and while he may not admit it, he knows enough to listen to her in private and treat her well."

  "Murdered her husband?" I blinked.

  "Don't worry, he deserved it. Some of the villages and small city-states up in the mountains are even more backwards than this village."

  I nodded. "So, what do I do?"

  "Find a way to close that tunnel, obviously."

  "Got any high explosives?" I sighed.

  "Not in this sphere, Will, sorry."

  "Magic?" I asked hopefully.

  "In order to have enough, I'd have to send Nara and a large number of my best priests up there, and I can't risk that, Will, sorry."

  I thought about that a few moments.

  "Do explosives work here? Or doesn't anyone have the ability to make them yet?"

  "Most of what you know, won't work here, just as they won't work in Hillshire, those that might, well you can't introduce anything that doesn't already exist, because you're my champion, and there aren't a lot of resources to make anything else up there in the mountains anyway."

  I nodded, "Good point. You do want me to stay here and fix this, right?" I myself was a bit torn, these people did need help, but I did have to get back to dealing with Cenewyg soon. As they weren't part of the kingdom, or Fel's religion yet, I didn't know that I really had much of an obligation to them.

  "You did take the girl, Will," Fel pointed out.

  "Yeah, I know, and I'm not planning on giving her back, either," I sighed guiltily.

  Fel laughed, "Can't say that I blame you either! They may not be the smartest, but they sure know how to bait their hook! But yes, I want you to take care of it, and spread the faith while you do. There are other, worse things, which can come through that portal, and the trolls will eventually attract their attention."

  I nodded, "I'll get a temple going then, Gunis still owes you, I think I'll just grab that tavern of his." I thought about that a moment, "I can bless things, right?"

  "Of course you can, you just need holy water."

  I sighed, "I don't have any with me."

  "Try using what's in the flask."

  "I hadn't thought about that! Thanks, Fel."

  Fel smiled, "Good night, Will,"

  "Night, Fel."

  Six

  Hidden Vale - Meeting Hall

  8 Months

  I looked around the hall; this was the only 'community' property, other than the wells and the wall, which the village had. I was honestly surprised that the building itself was in as good a shape as it was.

  There were long benches for the people to sit on, and a dozen or so chairs up here in front, seven of which were occupied by the same seven who had stolen the flask, plus the blacksmith, and Karia, who apparently was the village scribe and was taking notes. I was surprised she could read and write, literacy was not a common skill in small villages like this one.

  I'd slept in until noon, or rather Laria had been entertaining me until then and I was more than happy to let her. She definitely was developing a healthy appetite when it came to sex. Then again, it was new to her, and I suspect I was showing her more affection and attention than any man had given her in her life, even her father.

  When we'd finally gotten out of her bed, I went and found Rodd and told him I wanted to speak to everyone this evening. He'd spread the message and everyone who mattered was now seated here, waiting for me to speak. Mostly it was a couple hundred of the men in the village, though there were some women here as well.

  I detached Laria from my side, smiled at her, then stood. I wasn't a big fan of public speaking, but at least I'd gotten used to it.

  "Okay, everyone knows that the giants attacked last night, right?" I asked.

  Everyone nodded.

  "I managed to kill two of them, but the other two got away. Not before I managed to follow them back to their lair. It's in a deep cave, in a box canyon, well to the west end of the vale. Tal can tell you where it is, if you need a more exact location."

  "So when are you going to kill them?" someone in the back asked.

  "I'm not," I said looking at them.

  "But," he said surprised, "you're a champion! It's your job!"

  I picked him out of the crowd; he was a younger male sitting in the back. No one that I'd seen before.

  "I'm Feliogustus's champion," I corrected him. "I protect his priests, and his followers, even Hiland, the kingdom of which he is the official god. How many of you are his followers here?" I asked and looked around.

  Laria raised her hand, and I smiled down at her. She really didn't know much about Fel, just that I worked for him, but apparently that was good enough for her.

  I looked back at the rest of them; no one else had raised their hand.

  "Now, if there were followers of Feliogustus's here, I'd be more inclined to do something about this. Or if this place was a part of Hiland. Which apparently is another idea no one is very fond of."

  "You can't just leave us here!" Another person said.

  "I didn't say I was going to, yet," I said and smiled.

  "What can you tell us about the giants?" someone behind me said. I turned and noticed Tal had spoken.

  "They're not from here," I said and a few people looked up and rolled their eyes in their head.

  "And by that I mean, they're not of this world. They come from the underworld, and they come here via an ancient portal.

  "Because they're not from here, they are bigger, tougher, and harder to kill. And because we can't go through the portal they take to come here, I have no idea of how many of them there are. But we do know that the sunlight kills them, so they can only come out at night. They're also not very fond of fire."

  "So how do we destroy this 'portal'?" Tal asked.

  "You can't."

  "Can you?"

  "No, I can not. However," I said and looked at the crowd.

  "Yes?" Tal prompted.

  "There are other ways of dealing with the problem." I turned and looked at Gunis, "But it's going to cost you."

  "But we gave you Laria!" Gunis said jumping to his feet, "What more could you want?"

  "Laria was the price of my coming here and seeing what your problem was. There still remains the matter of the punishments for the group of you, for your transgression, and then there is what it will cost to deal with these giants, before they kill and eat all of you."

  Karia looked up at me in shock, "Eat?" she said in a soft voice.

  "Why do you think they
are coming here?" I asked looking at her.

  "I, why I..." she shuddered in her seat, "I had no idea."

  I nodded, "We're not much more than cattle to them, except perhaps tastier."

  "Will you help us?" She asked.

  "Feliogustus wants me to help, but first," I looked over the room, then back at the eight seated behind me, "he wants a church built to recognize him."

  "But, that will take weeks, maybe months!" Gunis said.

  "Nope, we're using your tavern. We'll convert it over into a church."

  "You can't do that!" He said jumping back to his feet.

  I took two big steps until I was standing next to him, and looked down at him. "Care to bet on that?" I growled. "This is your punishment, the others will be punished as well, but you were the leader, you get the worst of it.

  "Besides, look on the bright side," I smiled at him rather toothily.

  Gunis shivered at my smile and shrunk back a little. "Yes?" He asked in a shaky voice.

  "Your 'donation' will help save the village and the people in it."

  He nodded a little shakily. "Can I remove my wares from it, before you turn it into a church?"

  "Probably not," I said. I turned to walk away, then stopped and turned back to him, and held out my hand. "Oh, the flask please?"

  Gunis pulled out the flask, and handed it to me, I could see he was shaking slightly, I wasn't sure if it was fear, or anger. Probably both I figured.

  "Thank you," I said and I tucked the flask into my tunic, I could actually feel that it had an aura. I'd look at it later.

  "Does this mean that we are to become part of the Hilander kingdom as well?" Rodd asked, looking rather respectful. I suspect he was wondering what his contribution was going to be.

  "Yes, and I will impose upon the queen to station enough troops here that the next time any bandits come calling, they never call again."

  Everyone sitting on the bench seats all sat up straight rather suddenly at that pronouncement.

  "She'll do that?" the young male in the back asked.

  I smiled, "Of course she will, she values her people, she's not going to let you be preyed upon by bandits."

  "You're sure?" He asked again, looking uncertain.

  I nodded, "Very. As I've mentioned to your leaders here already, it was only a matter of time until we expanded our frontiers to include your village. If I tell her you're coming willingly, well let's just say she'll be a lot more inclined to not changing things much."

  "What about the women who have already been taken?"

  "Let's deal with the giants first, we can deal with the bandits after that, okay?"

  He opened his mouth to say something, but changed his mind and closed it.

  I looked around the room, "Anyone have any other questions?"

  "I do," I turned and saw it was Serrin.

  "Yes?"

  "What do we do next?"

  I smiled, "We take the best runners we have, and set up a relay. They'll watch the cave each night, and if they see any activity, they'll alert us so we can be prepared."

  "Prepared how?"

  "We're going to organize a militia. Tal can supply arrows and bows as required. Kasin will make sure those who volunteer are fed; you and Karl can help with that as well, Serrin. Ulris can help with any other weapons we may need."

  "What? Why do I have to help! I didn't go steal your precious flask!" Ulris said standing up. He was a pretty big male, with arms probably as thick as mine, though I was still half a head taller than him.

  "You live here, right?" I said looking at him.

  "That still doesn't give you the right!"

  I shook my head and looked around the room, "Let's get one thing straight. I'm in charge. I make the rules. What I say goes. My way or," I almost said 'highway' but that probably wouldn't make any sense to these folks. "Actually, it's just my way. The sooner we get this done and the giants dealt with, the sooner I can go home."

  "Oh yeah!" Ulris said and stood up, walking over to me. "Well, I don't want no part of this foolishness!" and he took a swing at me.

  I shifted into high gear, as always. I really didn't have any beef with Ulris, actually I could see his side of the issue. He just wanted to be left alone to do his thing. Problem was, as one of the village leaders, he had a responsibility to the people here.

  I stepped inside his punch, and wrapped my arm around his, trapping his wrist in my armpit, and then I head-butted him. I leaned down and put my mouth next to his ear while he was momentarily dazed.

  "You either make weapons, or you fight giants with me, take your pick," I whispered.

  I did a hip throw then and he landed on his back as I stood above him, looking down, with my foot on his chest pinning him there.

  He scowled back up at me for a moment, regaining his wits and thinking about what I said.

  "Okay, I'll make your damn weapons."

  I smiled down at him, took my foot off of his chest and offered him a hand to help him up.

  "Thank you, Ulris, I appreciate your cooperation."

  He scowled some more, but didn't say anything as I helped him to his feet.

  "Anyone else have anything?" I asked.

  "What can I do to help?" Rodd asked.

  "I'm not sure yet," I told him, "but I will have something, don't worry."

  He nodded and I turned to Gunis, "Let's go let your staff know about the change in ownership."

  He nodded slowly and got up, everyone else stood then as well, and taking Laria's hand I followed Gunis to the pub.

  "Why do you hate me?" he grumbled as we walked across the square.

  "Because you beat up a priest of Feliogustus and you insulted my wife," I told him frankly. "Besides, you're still alive, the town is going to be saved, along with your ranch, and if they still live, you'll probably get your daughters back."

  "Like I'd take them back," he muttered.

  "Gunis," I said softly.

  "Yes, William?"

  "Please don't make me change my mind about killing you," I growled.

  He wisely shut up after that.

  When we got to the tavern, he called the staff over and told them that it was being turned into a church, and that I was in charge now.

  "Do you have any kind of an office here?" I asked him.

  "A what?"

  "Are there any back rooms?"

  "Just for storage."

  "Okay, grab the cashbox and go." I looked at the three people who worked here, two of them were women, and one was a young man. The women were both rather attractive, one I'd say was probably in her mid-twenties, the other wasn't much older than Laria. "You three, stay a moment."

  "I'm his wife," the older woman said and nodded towards Gunis.

  "You can go if you want then," I said.

  She nodded and followed Gunis out the door. I noticed the young male had his eyes riveted to her butt as she left.

  "So, what do you two do here?" I asked them.

  "I clean, run errands, move things up from the storerooms, and helped Anita serve the customers," the young male said.

  "And helped Anita with other things too, I'm sure," I chuckled.

  He looked shocked and shook his head rather vehemently. "No, Sir! I would never!"

  The look on the young female's face was priceless.

  "And you?" I asked her.

  "I serve, the customers, and cover, for Stu here while he and Anita 'inspect' the inventory," she said grumbling.

  Stu looked like he was going to die of embarrassment.

  "Stu, if I was married to him, I'd cheat too." I laughed. "Now, show me around the place, and let me see what there is."

  "Gunis left without paying us," fem told me.

  "I'll pay you both, don't worry. I'll be needing your help for a few days at least anyway. Maybe longer. Where do the two of you live?"

  "Here, in one of the back rooms," she said.

  "Well, I won't be kicking you out anytime soon. So let's see what's here.
"

  The tavern itself was fairly typical, a long room, about twenty feet wide and fifty feet long, with tables spread through out, a fireplace against one wall for heat, and the bar located at the back end, with the main door at the front. There was a hallway past the bar to the left, which led all the way back to the rear entrance, where the woodpile for the fireplace was.

  There was a second, smaller fireplace in a small room at the back of the building. That room had two pallets made up for sleeping; one was definitely more comfortable than the other, which is where I guess Stu entertained Anita. Liz, the female then showed me the storerooms. One of them was completely empty; the other contained the kegs that were for the front room.

  "Only one type of ale?" I said to her, as I looked it over. "I'm surprised he had many customers."

  "Well, there were other things you could buy here," Liz said and smiled at me. I'd left Laria sitting in the front room with Stu to keep an eye on things.

  "Like you?" I chuckled.

  She nodded, "You're pretty handsome you know, care to sample the wares?"

  I smiled and shook my head, "Perhaps another time. Did Anita sell her favors too?"

  Liz smirked, "Her favors were free, but she was careful as to who she gave them to."

  "Oh really?" I said surprised. "Who was that?"

  "You know, you still haven't paid me."

  I just grinned and got out my money pouch. I gave her two silvers, which was probably more than she got in a couple of months, even with selling her body.

  "Whoa, sure you don't want a quick romp?" she purred looking at the money.

  "I prefer my romps to be long and arduous," I purred back at her, "Now, names?"

  She looked back up at me and licked her lips, "I'm sure you do. Let's see, Ulris is one of her favorites, along with Serrin, Kasin, and Karl."

  "Huh, busy woman. But not Rodd, Ed, or Tal?"

  Liz shrugged, "She's hot for Rodd, but that male is well trained, he doesn't stray at all. Ed is Gunis' cousin and best friend, so I'm not surprised she never gave him a go. As for Tal, he avoids her, and she him."

  "I'm surprised Gunis doesn't know his wife is stepping out on him."

  Liz shrugged, "He got three sons on her, that's all he cared about. That and his power in town. He stuck her in here to keep an eye on us, because he doesn't trust us with the money, and she doesn't care because she hates him."