When Zara whistled, he added, "That's a young dorrock, too. The big ones have wingspans as long as this house. Had one of those come for me the only way to survive would have been to dive into the water and hope that it wasn't willing to come after me. Adult dorrocks have taken on fully crewed galleys."
Zara whistled softly. "Terran took on a peryton and won. Pretty much single-handedly."
Terran was glad that Luna hadn't come with them, or there'd be a noisy protest, but the mayor appraised him speculatively, looking down his nose.
"Is that so?" asked the mayor.
"It was a tough fight," said Terran. "But I managed to come out on top in the end."
Mayor Arabast nodded. "If you were able to bring the Rock Leaf Elf settlement back from extinction, I can assume you're telling the truth." He paused. "Maybe we can find a way to open up trade between our two towns. I believe the Rock Leaf Elves have exotic mushrooms and other goodies for exchange."
"Yes," said Terran brightly. "We might even be able to offer whisperweave again."
The mayor grunted, his eyes alighting with greed. "Yes, I recall the histories. Whisperweave was valuable to sailors for providing high strength, low weight materials to make stronger ships, and weapons easy to carry even if one falls in the water. If you can make whisperweave again, then we might be able to have a very profitable business. Yes, we could even help you trade it with the other settlements along the coast."
Terran cleared his throat, hoping he'd set the hook deep enough. "Yes, uhm, whisperweave. We have everything we need to make the material except for one thing, which as it so happens, you have in your town."
The mayor clapped his hand on Terran's shoulder. "Then it should be a done deal. Tell me what it is that you need, and I'll make it happen. Nothing in this town happens without me."
The mayor, sensing his tenseness, stepped away.
"The thing we require is an arborist," said Terran.
The mayor's face hardened as if it were rapidly drying out in the summer sun. "To Huracan with you." He jabbed his meaty finger into Terran's shoulder. "Get out! You lying elf. You knew what you wanted when you came in here. How dare you bring up that foul name in my house!"
Chapter Nineteen
The room froze with tension. The mayor had no visible weapons, but there were short axes on the wall, and he glanced to them briefly before staring them down with barely bridled rage.
"My apologies," said Terran, holding open his hands. "I was aware that there was trouble, but I didn't realize the extent of it. I should not have brought it up."
Mayor Arabast stared back, red-faced, looking like he wanted to strangle someone. Eventually he blew out a breath and paced away, punching his fist into his other hand.
"I would have hung him in the town square had Gloricia not asked for mercy," said the mayor as he faced the unruly sea. "How she can be so kind in the face of that elf's malicious sorcery is beyond me."
Zara stepped forward. "Forgive us for not understanding, Mayor Arabast. We thought his crimes had been minor trespassing, or something light like that."
Terran had to hide his surprise at Zara's easy duplicity, which normally came from Flynn, but that was probably why the mayor answered, subdued by expectations.
He ground his teeth as he explained. "That arborist, as you call him, enchanted my beautiful wife and was having his way with her when I came in, and before I could rip the limbs from his body, he entrapped me in a cage of roots. Such betrayal, after we'd welcomed him into our town with open arms. Gloricia had been studying with him, learning the art of horticulture." Arabast shook his head. "It will be a long time before I can trust again."
"I see," said Terran, biting his lower lip. "Can we still discuss the trade deal?"
The mayor stared back, blinked, then shifted his mouth to the side. "It can be done. But I am not in the mood now. Let my servant know where you're staying in town, and I'll send for you to discuss the next phases, if I don't change my mind."
"Thank you, Mayor Arabast," said Terran as he withdrew from the room.
Before they'd completely left, the mayor said, "And no more mention of that beast that masquerades as an arborist. If I think you're still looking to acquire his services, then the deal is off, and you can count on me as an enemy from now until eternity."
Back outside the mayor's house, standing amid the manicured bushes near the gate, Terran put his hand on his head.
"That didn't go so well," he said.
"It could have gone worse," said Flynn with a shrug.
"Terran," said Newt, "I found where my book is."
"Book? Like the one that you need to help us find the ghost tower?" Newt nodded. "Let me guess, it was in the mayor's den."
"Affirmative."
Terran scratched the back of his neck. "So we have three quests that converge on the mayor, but it doesn't look like we can solve all three of them at once."
Zara lifted her axe. "Well, there is one way."
"I don't think murderhobo is the play here," said Terran, and before Flynn could open his mouth, he added, "Nor is outright stealing it, or breaking Ash out of jail."
"The bigger question is do we think that Ash did what the mayor suggested," said Newt.
"You're absolutely right," said Terran. "I don't think we can bring him back to the Glen if that's what he did." He looked back to the house. "But I don't think that's the whole story. Something seems off about the situation. Does anyone else think that Ash did that?"
There were rounds of glances. Zara tugged on her long red braid hanging over her shoulder. "He's eccentric, but I didn't get the skeevy vibe from him."
"I wouldn't put it past him to sleep with everyone in the settlement, but with their consent," said Flynn, shrugging. "As for what happened with the mayor, it's hard to say. We've only just met him."
When everyone looked at Newt, he said, "I do not have enough facts to support a statistically verifiable conclusion at this moment. I need more data."
"That's an excellent point," said Terran, and at that moment, he heard soft singing from the mayor's property. "Wait here. I want to talk to someone."
He left his friends at the gate to the property while he went around the house into the gardens. Colorful flowers burst from the bushes, a riot of visual delights. The aroma was intoxicating, especially in the crisp sea air. A sea dwarf woman in a light blue dress had her hands deep in the soil as she whistled a tune.
"Good afternoon," she said, lifting her head upon his approach. She looked like she'd been cut from a golden meadow with straw-blonde hair and lush brown eyes. "If you're looking for my husband, he's inside."
"I'm sorry to intrude, Gloricia, but I've already spoken to the mayor, and I wanted to speak to you," said Terran, trying to keep his voice low. "I'm Terran, leader of Gneiss Glen."
Gloricia sat back on her heels, knocking the black dirt from her hands, her forehead wrinkling with questions. "It's delightful to meet you."
Terran gestured around. "You have a lovely garden. You must have quite the green thumb to grow such richness in tough soil."
"I have my tricks," she said with a wink. "But I don't think you stopped by to compliment me on my garden."
Terran glanced back to the house, then moved closer. "Forgive me if this is indelicate, but we've come to Salt Luck in search of an arborist."
"Oh," she said, her eyes rounding before she glanced away. "I'm sorry."
"I take it by your reaction that the story the mayor told us is not your experience," said Terran.
Gloricia checked back to the house before nodding, inviting Terran to move closer as she stood. A rich scent of jasmine and cinnamon tickled his nose.
"My husband, sweet Arabast, is cursed not to be able to father a child. The curse happened years ago in the Silent Plains," she said. "As with all curses, there is a catch. The curse states that he cannot father a child until a seed grows in his wife."
With wide, sweet eyes, Gloricia stared back at Terran unti
l he said, "I see. You invited Ash into your bed in hopes of breaking the curse."
"No one else in town would dare," she said with a sigh. "But Ash was naive enough about town politics to accept my offer. I thought my dear Arabast was away on a fishing trip, but he'd come back early because his pole had been broken by a particularly large dunbass."
"Is there a way to get Ash out of this?" asked Terran.
Gloricia tugged on her light blue dress. "I did all I could to keep Ash from being killed. You could, of course, steal him away, but Arabast would never do business with your people again."
"Yes, and I cannot have that," said Terran. "We need the trade to grow."
"I'm sorry, I've made a mess of things for you," said Gloricia with a heavy sigh.
Terran was about to speak when he heard the mayor coming around back. "Gloricia, hun, who are you speaking to?"
As the mayor's leg lurched around the corner, Terran triggered his invisibility to a wide-eyed Gloricia. Her head snapped back as the mayor planted his feet firmly, hands on his hips.
"I was just talking to myself," said Gloricia.
Before the invisibility could run out, Terran hurried back to the front of the house, appearing behind his friends, startling them, and they reached for their weapons.
"Come on," he said, "let's get out of here."
Along the way back to the inn he explained the situation to his friends.
"At least we know Ash isn't a creep, but that doesn't help us with his situation," said Zara.
Flynn cleared his throat. "I could offer to sleep with the mayor's wife and break the curse."
Terran raised an eyebrow. "But what about Darkness Sighs?"
Flynn blushed, then crossed his arms. "It was just a theory."
Terran scratched the back of his head. "We can have the trade routes or Ash, but not both, and we probably can't have the tome at all, unless we're friendly with the mayor."
"Could you trade with Dagrath instead?" asked Newt.
"It's a possibility, but I hate to close off a whole town from us. Plus we'd have to go to Dagrath, and that's a good distance away," said Terran.
"But the rot is the priority," said Newt, flat-lipped.
"Yes, I know, you're right," sighed Terran. "But I'd like to find a way to thread the needle, if we can. We can't build an empire by burning bridges."
They strolled back to the inn as the sun dipped below the horizon sending long shadows across the town. A stiff wind blew in from the ocean, bringing a chill. By the time they reached their destination, the bustling town had emptied, leaving them as nearly the last on the street. When they stepped inside the Great Wheel, Jaina looked relieved.
"Oh, good, I was worried that you wouldn't return before dark," she said as she carried a heavy wooden bar to the door and set it in place.
Terran shared glances with his friends. "What's with the fortifications?"
Jaina shifted her mouth to the side. "In the last few years, there've been a number of disappearances. They seem to happen after dark and no one ever sees them again."
"Any reports of a monster? Something coming out of the sea?" asked Zara as she ran a finger next to the razor-sharp edge of her axe.
Jaina blinked and looked askance. "No. No one's laid eyes upon it, whatever it is. But there are nights when an awful smell, like a garbage heap has been dumped into the middle of town, creeps into the inn. Those next days are usually when we find out that someone is missing."
"Has anyone asked the mayor to do something?" asked Newt.
"He claims that everyone is hallucinating, that there is no problem," said Jaina.
Terran put a hand to his chin. "There's been something bothering me since I came to Salt Luck. I felt it when I was near the mayor's house. Something just isn't right. I wonder if this has to do with his curse."
"That he got it in the Silent Plains is telling," said Zara. "Do you think it has to do with Grimchar?"'
"Probably," said Terran. "When I fought him in Wunderlust Keep, he was using the essence in Lord Ostric's body to power some contraption. I think he uses other life forces for his nefarious purposes. Maybe he has a creature here to steal people away, take them back to his place in the Silent Plains."
"Seems a long way," said Flynn, hand idly resting on Skully. "Wouldn't that mean the creature would have to go past Gneiss Glen? Has anyone reported anything?"
"That's a good point," said Terran. "Either way, I think this means we're not getting any sleep tonight."
His friends nodded, while Jaina put her hand to her mouth in surprise. "Shall I fix you all dinner before you go? It'll be on the house. If you can get rid of this creature, the town can return to normal."
The four of them sat down for a meal of rosemary roasted chicken, fresh vegetables, and buttery potatoes, all washed down with a spicy dark ale. They ate their fill, and then Jaina let them back onto the darkened streets, barring the door behind them.
Newt created floating lights for them to see by, but the darkness seemed to swallow the lumination beyond a short distance.
"Like a totally different town now," said Terran.
"This is probably why the doors all have extra fortifications," said a clear-eyed Newt.
Zara hefted her weapon with her demon arm. "Yet this is more my speed. Give me something I can sink my axe into."
The wind whistled through the streets as they crept through the town, heads on a swivel.
"This isn't so bad," said Flynn. "Maybe there's no creature and everyone's just scared of their shadow."
A cat burst from beneath a wagon, startling Flynn into nearly tripping over his feet.
"You were saying?" asked Terran, chuckling softly.
As they neared the jail, Newt lifted his head and sniffed. "Do you smell that?"
The scent hit Terran's nose like a wildfire. "Oh, that's awful."
Zara put her fist to her mouth. "I could wretch."
"This smells like if you crossed a garbage heap with a urinal," said Flynn, shaking his head while pinching his nose.
A surge in smell brought bile into Terran's throat. A presence ahead in the darkness moved to the edge of the light.
The Hunger - level 20 [Elite]
You might be its next meal
Terran lifted his staff, but his eyes watered as the stink made him dizzy. Zara raised her axe and charged towards the darkness with rage on her lips. She swung into the blackest point, only to get swatted away, tumbling over the cobblestones. The creature, which as Terran's eyes adjusted, looked like a hulking two-legged being made of mottled flesh, marched towards the redhead, tendrils reaching towards her ominously.
Before the Hunger could reach her, Newt lifted his hands and a nearby wagon sped towards the creature, slamming into it, but exploding into shards. The delay gave Flynn a chance to hurry to Zara's side, helping her onto her feet.
Terran hit the creature with a Vocal Slam, but like the wagon impact, the sonic damage barely affected it due to the creature's higher level. The Hunger marched to his friends, gray-green tentacles slithering across the ground to latch onto their feet. A seething ball of energy flowed from Flynn's hand, hitting the tentacles, which turned on each other, tying themselves into a knot, giving them a momentary reprieve.
Rather than grab, the Hunger used the knotted tentacles to bat Flynn across the street. Zara swung her axe, amputating the appendange, which dissipated into yellow mist, stinking of sulfur. But the creature regrew the limbs, which extended grotesquely from pulpy nodes.
Terran searched for deep stone, but found none nearby, so instead flung exploding rock shards at the creature to chip away at its health. Tentacles flew around Zara, who'd waded near, but Newt and Flynn kept the appendages busy with gravity and chaos.
As the Hunger ambled towards Zara, the beak of the creature split, revealing a toothy maw. It looked like a fountain of teeth. The stench made Terran's eyes water.
Terran brought forth two walls of stone, one on either side of the Hunger.
Newt picked up on his idea immediately, stretching out his hands, and when he surged them towards each other, the rock walls broke free, smashing the Hunger between. The creature screamed, a high-pitched warble that was unlike its exterior, bringing a round of questioning stares from Terran and his companions.
The damage distracted the Hunger, which gave Zara an opening to surge forward with her axe overhead, slicing the hard flesh of the creature right beneath its maw. Oozing, yellow pus splattered out, hissing with rot. They'd injured the creature.
"Serve one up for me," yelled Flynn from the far side, gesturing to the broken wagon.
Newt wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. Using his gravity pulse, he shot the remnants of the wagon into the air, and Flynn hit it with a seething ball of chaos. The impact nudged the broken wood to arc towards the Hunger's open mouth, right as Zara put a second cut into its belly, forcing its mouth to open again right as the wagon landed.
The wooden structure stuck perfectly in the middle of the toothy maw, and the Hunger strained to crush it. The obstacle was like a chicken bone getting caught in a throat.
"Pour on the damage!" yelled Terran.
While the Hunger struggled with the wagon, they hit it with everything they had, until it finally crushed the wood, sending up a spray of splinters. Its health well below half, the Hunger sent a sickly yellow cloud at them, which burned their eyes and skin and mouths, forcing them to retreat. In the space given, the Hunger lurched into the darkness, moving faster than something that big should be able to move.
"Don't let it escape," said Zara, arm over her face as she tried to move through the yellow cloud, but the welts forming on her skin kept her from following.
Terran hit the stench cloud with a Vocal Slam, which dissipated it enough they could pursue. They ran through the street, following the trail of stench, stopping only when it seemed it led to the jail.
They paused outside the nondescript building, lurching this way and that, looking for signs that the Hunger had gone elsewhere.
The Ghost Tower: A LitRPG Adventure Page 16