by Noah Layton
Tables filled with hysterical drinkers of all species were crammed in amongst the tavern floor. It was evident from the laughter and shouting that they were responsible for the half-full bottles. On the right-hand corner was the source of the music; a trio of goblins playing instruments.
Through the ruckus we crossed to the bar. I ordered a flagon of the house mead which seemed the safest thing on the menu; Ariadne ordered a wine similar to the one we had drank our first night together, while Alorion ordered-
‘Morinthian’s,’ Alorion said.
The bartender shot him a confused look.
‘Top shelf. The blue bottle.’
The dwarven bartender pulled a small stepladder out from beneath the bar and clambered up it, reaching right to the back to find one of the only full bottles on display.
‘You sure, imp?’ He asked gruffly. ‘Even the trolls do not drink this. If I put a naked flame in the neck it would blow the cove into the river.’
‘Definitely, kind sir,’ Alorion replied. He turned to me. ‘This is my favourite drink.’
‘You’ve got a gap in your memory for basic locations but you can remember your favourite drink?’
‘Working with Marlo drove me to drink on more than one occasion, I must confess. But it is just one drink. What harm could it do?’
A lot, it turned out, but I would find that out later. All I knew now was that water wouldn’t quench my thirst, and aside from the wine that I had shared with Ariadne, I hadn’t had a decent drink in some time.
A negroni was my usual poison of choice; gin, vermouth rosso and campari atop some ice, a bitter and hard-hitting mix that I couldn’t get enough of, but it would likely be a while before I found how to recreate the taste and potency in this world.
We took up our drinks while I paid the bartender 2GP. Not bad at all.
‘Cheers,’ I said casually, holding my drink up.
‘… What?’ Ariadne smiled curiously.
‘You know, you knock your glasses together, and then you drink.’
‘Why would you knock your glasses together?’ Alorion asked.
‘Because… It doesn’t matter.’ I shook my head and took a hesitant sip of the foamy golden liquid. It was icy cold with a sweet taste and a crisp finish.
‘So,’ I continued. ‘Any of these drunks look like the kind of person that could help us out?’
We stood out of the focus of the room at the end of the bar. I thought back to every videogame I had played as a kid.
What do you do when you need information? Ask the one person who speaks to everyone.
‘A necromancer?’ The bartender repeated a few moments later. ‘Dangerous stuff. Might wanna keep your voice down when talking about such things. Of course, for a few coins I might be able to divulge some forbidden information.’
My head had been turned to the side, one ear facing the dwarf as I listened carefully. When I looked up he was staring back at me and smiling creepily. As if it couldn’t get any worse, he raised and lowered his eyebrows suggestively a few times.
I shook his hand and sent a few more coins his way.
‘Over there,’ he said, nodding at the corner of the room at the opposite end of the bar.
‘Over where?’ I asked, stepping out and looking over to where he was indicating. I took a few moments of staring into the darkness to see the figure.
It was seated at a small table shrouded in shadows. A small, single, half-full glass of a spirit sat on the table before it, and a longbow and brown-leather quiver where hooked over the back of its chair.
Together we crossed to the table, away from the scattered masses in the bar, and took a seat across from the figure.
A hood was pulled up around its face, completing shrouding it in darkness. It connected to a long cloak that covered its body.
‘The bartender tells me that you’re the one to ask about necromancy.’
Silence. The figure didn’t move.
‘Are you expecting a bribe just like him?’
Another long, protracted moment of silence. Then-
‘Funny word, necromancy. Do you know what it means?’
‘Sorcery,’ I replied. ‘Someone who practices magic. That’s what it means in my world, anyway.’
‘The practice of contacting the world of the dead. Because only in the dreams of the dead should such powers exist. Or, at least, that’s what some idiot told me once.’
The figure leaned forward into the light and pulled down its hood. Even with the weirdness of the voice I still hadn’t pinned down that I would be face to face with a girl, and a pretty damn hot one at that.
The girl sitting across the table was around 24 or 25. Purple hair cut in straight dark waves fell down either side of her head, framing a pretty face and a pair of inquisitive hazel eyes atop a mischievous smile. She was human – at least from her face that I could tell.
‘So you’re the necromancer?’
‘No,’ she smiled widely, tight-lipped. ‘But I know where you can find one. Too many people around here tout them as being dangerous people, but really they’re just out to make some coin by training up idiots who end up accidentally setting themselves on fire with their fancy new powers. Are you an idiot…?’
‘Might be,’ I smiled back, deciding to play along. ‘I’ll just have to see after I’ve set myself on fire. So where do I find this necromancer?’
‘You paid Rook at the bar a little coin. That was the first part of your journey. This is the second part. I don’t care about necromancers. I care about the reward.’
I already had the spell scroll, so there was no need to buy anything, except for the services of the necromancer – once we found them, of course.
‘So it’s gold you want? How much?’
‘A lot,’ she grinned, ‘but not from your pocket. What I require is your assistance.’
‘… I’m listening.’
‘There is a small party of mercenaries that have been terrorising travellers of the western trail. The information I have sought out tells me that it is none other than Ga’lash, a bastardised manticap that lurks in a cave on the jungle’s edge, just a few miles from here.
‘The rumors are that he has a great hoard of items that he has taken from the travellers that he has killed, including a power stone. I want those items, but more than a few of the other hunters in the area have gone missing in search of him. Lone warriors out for themselves.’
‘Wait, what’s a power stone?’
The huntress stared blankly at me, then burst out laughing.
‘You’re funny,’ she smiled.
‘Why?’
‘Not knowing what a power stone is. It’s a joke, right?’
I shook my head.
‘Good gods, you want to learn a spell and you don’t know what a power stone is? Who even are you?’
‘I’m new to the area,’ I smiled sarcastically. ‘Care to enlighten me?’
‘In order to use a spell you need to imbue a power stone with the same energy. A necromancer can teach a spell to you, but you can’t use it unless you have a power stone, and a charged one at that. Now you’ve got even more of a reason to come with me.’
‘Right. So I take it you’re not one of these lone hunters that you were talking about before?’
‘Oh, I am as lone a hunter as they come, but I am not stupid. I’ve recognised the danger that it represents. One hunter alone cannot kill this beast, but a small group would stand a chance.’
‘What’s in it for us?’
‘The location of the necromancer you seek, of course. Was that not our deal in the first place?’
‘It was, and it would have been, if you hadn’t used the word chance. I’m not risking my life or the lives of the citizens in my tribe for a chance.’
‘Citizens. So you’re a tribe master,’ she said, tilting her head to the side and raising an eyebrow. ‘And may I say a very handsome one, at least compared to the few others that I have met. No scars to mess up that pretty
face yet… You must be new in these parts.’
‘You could say that.’
‘It’ll change eventually. A chance. Me and my big mouth. All right. 25 percent of the loot.’
‘Fifty.’
‘Thirty.’
‘Forty-five.’
‘Thirty-five.’
‘Forty.’
‘Thirty-seven.’
‘Forty.’
The hunter lowered her head and stared back at me, gulping.
‘Forty it is,’ she finally conceded, holding out a hand.
I shook it and examined the conditions in the window.
Binding contract – 40% of loot from the death of Ga’lash.
After accepting, we both sat back in our chairs and took up our drinks.
‘So what do we call you?’
The girl set her glass down on the table.
‘Lara. And you?’
‘Jack. This is Ariadne and Alorion.’
‘A pleasure to meet you all.’ She took another drink. ‘Night will be upon us in a few hours. We should get moving if we wish to beat it.’
Chapter Seven
Alorion agreed to stay put at the bar while we set off on our hunt.
‘One more drink,’ he promised, ‘and I’ll spend the rest of the afternoon tending to our horse and keeping an eye on our supplies.’
Lara led us along to the peak of Ichabod’s Cove via a series of steps above the uppermost sections of the town. We reached the top of the cliff, which gave onto tropical forest almost immediately.
‘How far away is this place?’ I asked.
‘Not far,’ Lara replied simply. ‘Ga’lash’s camp is close but well-concealed.’
‘How do you know where it is?’
‘I am a hunter by trade. I have spent my whole life tracking and killing things. But the things I usually track stand on four feet, not two.’
I pulled back a little and turned to Ariadne.
‘Do you think we can trust her?’
‘I think that we should keep our weapons at the ready, master. She has no reason to kill us, but in the wilds trust is difficult to come by.’
I nodded in agreement and wrapped my fingers around the handle of my sword.
Keeping Lara ahead of me, we entered the forest and journeyed for fifteen minutes through the undergrowth. We could have been going in a straight line or travelling in circles for all I knew – I had totally lost track of where we were or what direction we were headed in.
If anything went wrong and we had to make an escape, our only option would be to head in one direction until we hit a road again – or went off a cliff.
That wasn’t necessary, though. Lara eventually halted us as the shrubbery began to thin, and together we crouched in the bushes and peaked out into a clearing.
Down a small dip in the land was the entrance to a cave, the innards of which were bathed in darkness. On a stool by one side of the cave mouth was a humanoid creature with a half-bottle of mead in its hand – I say creature because there was no other way to describe its head than-
‘Is that a tiger?’ I whispered to Lara.
‘A manticap,’ she replied. ‘Humanoid bodies with the head of a tiger. They’re just as lazy as tigers, and just as vicious.’
The manticap was dozing against the rock wall as Lara pulled the bow from over her shoulder and retrieved an arrow. She aimed through the large leaves and drew the arrow back.
I held my breath as we all fell still.
TWANG.
The arrow flew from the string and slammed straight into the manticap’s face, hitting him between the eyes.
His eyelids opened wide, and for a moment he had a look of confusion on his face that said what happened?
There was enough life in him to reach up and grab the arrow. He yanked it from his head, releasing a rushing flow of blood that trickled rapidly down his face.
Before he had a chance to drunkenly examine the arrow he fell forward onto his face. His stool fell to the side and the bottle that had been slipping from his fingers finally struck the ground with a dull thud.
Looks like we weren’t being drawn into a trap after all.
‘Nice shot.’
‘Thank you. Shall we?’
We emerged from the forest with our weapons drawn and spread out as we approached the mouth of the cave. Lara took point due to her being the best if we were attacked from range, while Ariadne and I kept ours at the ready in the event that anyone got too close. Ariadne had the capacity to fight in melee range if it was necessary, but there was still a part of me that was wary about her fighting.
Even if she had already demonstrated herself to be one hell of a shot, it still felt strange fighting alongside the woman that I was sleeping with. I already cared for her, and I didn’t want to risk her getting hurt – but that was how it was here, and I would need to get used to it.
The passage through the cave became darker the further we went, until the flickering of firelight against the walls became apparent. We arced right on a slight descent for a few yards before Lara ducked her head around the corner and turned to us, pressing her finger to her lips.
Following her further with careful steps, we rounded the corner and ducked behind two large crates that barred half of the entrance to a much larger section of the cave.
A single flickering torch was suspended in a rusty holster in the cavern wall on the other side of the opening. Six or seven yards ahead, another manticap guard was keeping watch with a spear in his hand.
On the ground nearby was a cage, and it wasn’t empty – three humans, two men and one woman, were cramped inside. They had likely been screaming for help long ago, but all hope had gone from their faces.
‘What the fuck is it with you people and cages?’ I whispered. I turned to Ariadne. ‘Pass me one of your knives.’
She did so without question. I got a feel for its weight in my hand and checked my corners. The guard facing in the opposite direction was the only one to speak of.
I approached the guard quietly while checking my footing. I had done this before, but never to something with a freaking tiger’s head.
Grab and stab.
I was a yard behind him. In a swift, quick movement I grabbed the fur on the top of his head with one hand and swung the blade around towards his exposed neck.
It cut into his flesh and released a guttural choking sound immediately. I wasn’t done yet, though – I stabbed and stabbed at the same spot until his flailing arms gave up. Lowering him to the ground, the captives began to shuffle.
‘Don’t make a sound,’ I whispered, tapping the chest of the manticap’s corpse and bringing up his inventory. I took everything, mostly junk – including the key to the cage.
Ariadne and Lara moved to join me and kept an eye on the entrance to the next section of the cave while I unlocked the cage quietly.
I opened the door and ushered them out, pointing to the exit.
‘Just get out of here, and do it quietly.’
They definitely weren’t in the mood for asking questions, and I didn’t blame them. Once they had all quietly scurried off to the exit I returned my attention to the girls. They were checking the route ahead.
‘What now?’
‘His lair is just up here,’ Lara said.
‘How do you know?’
‘Listen.’
I couldn’t hear much. Ariadne’s large fox ears perked up, their tips twitching lightly.
‘There is laughter coming from down there,’ she said. ‘They sound drunk.’
‘Well, we can work that to our advantage,’ I said. ‘If they’re all wasted then they’ll be easier to take down.’
‘Or more resistant to pain,’ Lara suggested.
‘I can hear three,’ Ariadne said. ‘One sounds much more… Gravelly, than the others.’
‘That’s our man.’
‘The best approach we can take here is a sharp surprise, and then brute force,’ I said. ‘Lara, you take a sho
t the moment we get in there. If we drop one of them straight away, taking out the other guard and Ga’lash should be straightforward from there.
‘You too, Ariadne. If you can get a clear shot, take it, but only if you’re sure. Otherwise stay in melee range. Lara can weaken them before we move in.’
‘Let’s do this,’ Lara agreed. ‘Keep an eye out for any traps. Even if they’re so drunk they might set them off themselves, doesn’t mean they were drunk when they set them down in the first place.’
I tightened my grip on my sword. We all shared a look of readiness, and I initiated a countdown on my fingers.
‘Go.’
We hurried out from our hiding place and split up, I in the centre, Ariadne to my right and Lara to my left, and set eyes on the challenge ahead.
The small cavern was occupied by three others – two guards, who immediately dropped their bottles of liquor upon seeing us and reached for their weapons, and Ga’lash himself.
It was easy to figure out who he was. Never mind the fact that he was seated upon what I can only describe as a makeshift throne with his feet up on a treasure chest, but his size was unbelievable.
He remained in his seat, seemingly calm, but I could tell that he was no less than eight-feet tall. His body was wide, not muscular but fat with a brute strength, and his orange and white face littered with scars. Heaving breaths left his mouth as he struggled to keep his body up.
A huge, rusty longsword with a blade half a foot wide and six feet long rested against his chair, but he made no effort to reach for it for some reason.
Lara fired an arrow at the guard opposite her. It struck him in the chest, and he staggered back with the force, staring at it. It must have easily punctured his heart.
A vicious roar burst from his lungs, though, and he carried on towards her. He was weakened, but anger pushed him on. With Ga’lash showing no signs of moving and Ariadne ready to throw one of her knives at her oncoming guard, I ran towards him with my sword drawn.
The guard swung with his scimitar clumsily. I parried and blocked the shot, then pushed him back with the force of the blade. He remained on his feet as he staggered away.
I leaped forward while his back had been forcefully turned and slashed at him, slicing through his torso with a spray of blood. He yelped out and crashed to the ground.