by Tim Paulson
Celia laughed, “I guess I'll take that as a compliment?”
“Oh, he's coming.. I can smell it!” the owner said, waving a clawed hand in front of her little black nose.
This was followed by footsteps outside of the door and a soft knock.
“Come on in,” Celia said. “Join the ball.”
The door opened and a tall light-colored weaselman entered. It appeared to be a she though. What did you call that? A weaselwoman? Celia had no idea, she'd only ever met the one, though he'd seemed like a pretty good guy.
The new entrant held Vex in her arms, whom she placed on the table.
“This is Elzbieta, she's the apothecary who mended your leg and brought down your fever,” Vex said.
“Thank you,” Celia said, grabbing a hunk of chicken. “I hope you don't mind if I talk and eat... I'm starving.”
“I know,” Elzbieta said. “The good news is that the break was clean and it has been set. You should recover fully in about two... oh no, you're human... make that six weeks. Go right ahead and eat. I'll leave you to it.”
The other was holding her nose. “Yes, goodbye. Enjoy your food, don't forget my offer.”
Celia waved they both exited and the door closed.
“How are you feeling?” Vex asked her.
She shrugged. “I've been better,” she said, taking a huge mouthful of chicken. Next to her Kev was staring, watching as each bite went to her mouth. She swallowed. “Yes, you can have some... SOME.”
Kev nodded, taking a piece of chicken.
“How do we have money for food? Or a bed? Don't the dierlijt dislike things like... like you?”
Vex's hands came together. If they were not made of fabric he might even be tenting his fingers. It reminded her a little of what he'd looked like before.
“Let's just say... I have some things they want, they have some things we want. We made an exchange.”
Celia took another large bite of chicken and spoke, even though her mouth wasn't yet completely empty. Giselle would have given her a hundred dirty looks just for thinking of it. “What kind of things?”
“It's remarkable what can be done when one is bound. I am not allowed to describe to others how to do magic. But those who chained me, so to speak, neglected to make certain other processes unspeakable.”
“Such as?”
“He taught the inkers something great!” Kev said, also through a mouthful of chicken.
“Inkers? You mean the dierlijt who do those drawings on the skin.” Celia had seen it. Sometimes sailors would get the designs drawn on them. They were said to bring luck, protection, but she'd stolen from many a man with them regardless. Nothing protected a man who'd drunk himself into a stupor, certainly not a bit of paint.
“In the skin, and yes,” Vex replied. “You see... it's an ikkibu, a forbidden form of magic. The dierlijt were taught long ago by the salmu, my people, to do it. We hoped it would allow them to become free. It did not,” he said.
“They were slaves?” Celia asked.
Vex nodded. “Oh yes, as were all salaven, all people born without the gift of sorcery. The creatures you call the dierlijt are special, however. They were created by people like me to fulfill our every whim. Some were made for war, some for security, and some for pleasure.”
“Ah,” Celia replied, filling her mouth with a large spoonful of creamed turnips. They'd been drenched in cheese as well. Delectable!
Vex sat down on the little table, hanging his feet over the side. “I happened to notice some of the symbols that had been carved into the flesh of the dierlijt and offered to correct the mistakes. It seems that over the centuries, the truth of it has been forgotten. Suddenly I was surrounded and taken to an enudu who was very interested in my plans.”
“What's that?”
Kev's eyes widened. “You don't know about the old mother?”
Celia had heard rumors, but little more. “Not really.”
“Suffice it to say, she is as uninterested in the continued operation of the Veil Company, as we are.”
“That's great!” Celia replied through a mouthful of cheesy turnips.
“I thought you'd think so,” Vex replied. “They gave us this place to stay and... I'm going to make sure you have some very fetching ink.”
Celia's eyes widened. “Really?”
“If you don't mind, of course. The advantage is that you will become very powerful,” Vex said, his tiny fake goliath eyes staring at hers.
“And the disadvantage?” she asked.
“As your people say: It's going to hurt like holy hell,” he replied.
Celia grinned, swallowing her food. “Bring it on.”
Chapter 18
"You see that lass? The birds are all heading for the coast. That's a bad omen. Damn things always take cover before a nasty storm.”
-Boatswain Oakley Dixon of the HMS Attack, 1618
Through Wen's eyes Mia looked out over yet another set of orchards. Though the trees had no leaves left upon their snow-dusted branches, they still posed a tripping hazard for her light goliath. Luckily Wen could be counted on to handle most of it himself. She supposed being trained in Ganex, he had much experience navigating wheat fields and orchards. The countryside here seemed populated with little else.
That made her wonder... where exactly were they?
It had been a week now since they'd passed Eizenholz, the fortified city built up against the sharp western face of the Aeyrds. Not that it had done them any good as there'd been few supplies to be had.
It was hard for her to tell where they might be. There was no lay of the land in her mind. Mia had never spent much time in Ganex. Even in the decades she'd served Christine, they'd lived in all the surrounding countries, Fenasia, Willen, Vuchen, Scarosia, but never Ganex. Ganex had always been the enemy, the hated monster next door.
As they'd traversed the country Mia honestly wondered why. It was beautiful. Cold, sure, but it was winter now and livable surely, if one knew how to prepare. There were long low hills full of orchards and fields of wheat and hops, all buried under snow at the moment, but she'd seen their markings and trampled them with Wen's feet. It made sense the country was as large and powerful as they were. There was a lot of productive land.
A goliath appeared on the crest of the hill to her right. The markings were red, though the eyes were the same aqua as Wen. It was one of her current squad, the ones she'd been feeding herself with the veil power that now seemed to pour from her like a torrent. It was almost like being a mother, she thought. Except her children were forty feet tall and made of steel-reinforced stone.
The goliath on the rise signaled with an arm gesture.
Unknown goliath spotted, the gesture said.
“Let's go,” she said to Wen, imagining him heading up the hill, but not exactly straight on, with a curve to the left. It was good to be prudent and the prudent goliath knight never ran in a straight line.
Wen agreed heartily.
He'd been doing it automatically, walking everywhere in a curve or a zigzag. It had annoyed her at first until three days ago when a flight of four javelins landed just next to them, exactly where they'd have been if they'd gone straight forward.
Just another technique for survival, but useful surely. It was the one way to defend yourself against enemies you didn't know were there. Mia would certainly bring this knowledge forward to her next goliath.
Wen seemed hurt.
Mia patted the stone.
“Don't worry about it. It's not your fault. I'm not a scout knight. You have no idea how hard I have to check my aggression to be with you.”
Wen had noticed.
“Someone once said that was something I needed to learn,” she said, thinking about Marcus and his faithful goliath Marian... good God. The thought struck her.
Marian... Could it be?
There was a loud crack ahead that drew her attention up. A flock of starlings was rising from the other side of the hill.
The goliath who signaled them from the top had been hit. It was stumbling somewhat, but regaining its footing when a loud series of cracks announced a second volley that hit it square in the chest.
Cannon fire. The enemy had to be close.
Their colleague was teetering back on its heels now. That Ganex goliath was a light one, like Wen. It didn't take much to knock them down.
“Here we go Wen,” she said.
Wen did not like it.
“Come on, we have a sword, I know how to use it. Just do as I tell you. We'll be fine,” she said.
Wen was unsure.
“A week Wen, we've been together for more than a week now,” she said. “They need our help. We're going.”
Reluctantly Wen agreed. They were just about to crest the top of the hill when a Javelin came down from above and impaled the Ganex light goliath's right leg, pinning it in place. It had turned toward them.
“Let's cut him free,” Mia said.
Wen did not like it. She could feel his fear spiking. It was making her own breathing speed up.
“No... No...” she said. “It'll be fine we jus-”
Then four goliaths crested the ridge from the other side. All solid mediums carrying large weapons. The first of them used a veil arming sword to chop both legs of the Ganex scout with one swing.
See! Wen filed her mind with anger.
Mia brushed it aside. There was no time to be upset or even surprised. They had to attack.
Though the sword Wen carried in his right hand was only a thin veil rapier, it could certainly take out an enemy, it just had to hit the right place at the right time. Mia instructed him to run to the right. The medium goliath on the left of their formation was an Assassin. Zeus had been in an Assassin chassis for years, Mia knew it well. It had weaker joints, especially the shoulders and hips.
Wen was a riot of fear in her mind. All he could think of was four on one.
Four of them. Just us. Four!
“Stop it!” she yelled at him.
They'd run around to the right and as fast as Wen was, the rest of the enemies had not caught up yet. That meant only one of them was close enough to strike, making it one on one, at least for the moment.
Mia had Wen nearly sprint, making it look like they planned to attempt an escape, before they slammed both feet down into the dirt of the hill, stopping on a dime as only the lightest goliaths could do and lunged.
One, two, three jabs of the glowing blue sword toward their enemy. The first missed, but that was expected, they'd stopped too hard for a precise strike, the second was high, at the head, it contacted the enemy's light shield as he brought it to bear, glancing away. However, the third strike was low, meant for the left hip. It landed perfectly, slicing right through the steel threading that connected the jointed hip of the Assassin. The goliath tried to take one more step, but the stress tore its leg free, causing it to fall.
Still three, Wen chimed in.
“I know!” she replied. “But look. They now have two down to move past. We'll keep circling right.”
They'll know... they'll know we're dangerous and be more careful, Wen added.
“So what? That could be good too,” Mia said.
Wen wanted to know: how?
Mia smiled, telling him to start circling their enemies to the right again but then stop and jump over the fallen Assassin.
This idea terrified Wen completely. They'd be in the center of them.
“No, just do it,” she said.
Wen hated it, but he did. He started running to their right. As he did, two of the enemies moved with him, getting ready to square up and face off, but then he stopped and jumped back, vaulting over the Assassin, whose rider now stood on top, watching as Wen blacked out the sky above him for a moment before landing on the other side right next to the fourth goliath, who was now alone with his guard down.
“Now!” Mia yelled and Wen thrust their sword. The first blow went straight through the enemy's left arm, but not deep enough to hit the torso in any meaningful way. The second stab was knocked away by the enemy's buckler. The third was a feint, meant specifically to draw their opponent into swinging the arming sword in his right arm. The knight did exactly that, expecting to contact her blade, push it aside, and follow through to their center. Instead, his sword swung through ineffectually, leaving him wide open.
“Yes!” Mia said as Wen lunged forth, driving the comparatively thin light rapier straight through the goliath's center, exactly where Mia knew the core to be. The eyes went dark instantly, and the goliath dropped to the ground.
Wen was already moving, however, but not to engage, to flee.
That was enough, his feelings said. The more they pressed their luck, the more dangerous it would become.
“What are you saying?” Mia replied. “It's now just two! If we could take four, we can take two.”
The final two had turned however and were moving in together, their bucklers high, arming swords pointed in their direction. Difficult, but not impossible.
No! Wen was adamant.
Then, from a line of trees behind their enemies, a goliath emerged. Painted red, it raised its right arm and launched a javelin. The spear pierced the rightmost of the purple painted goliaths straight through its chest. It was too high for the weapon to have impacted either the core or the rider, but that didn't matter because both were turning around to see who had attacked their rear.
“Now Wen! Now!” Mia shouted. They'd go for the one on the right. He was trying to help his comrade by cutting the javelin loose. It gave them a few seconds to attack.
Wen hesitated but he obeyed. The hesitation was enough , however. It gave their enemy time to use the buckler on their goliath's left arm to deflect Wen's thrust and follow up immediately with a thrust of his own. Wen tried to vault backward using his speed but it was already too late. The glowing blade drove into his torso. Light filled the rider's compartment as the veil sword entered.
The attack wasn't perfect, it hadn't been aimed exactly for Wen's center but that didn't matter. The blade was wider than a rapier, wide enough to catch Wen's core with its edge, shattering it. The blade withdrew and the goliath went dark, falling backward.
Mia braced herself for the impact, gritting her teeth.
One, two... three.
The chassis hit the snow covered side of the hill with a solid thud, snapping the restraints that served to buffer the knight from blows. Yet to her own amazement, Mia found she hadn't suffered much in the way of injury. It took her a few moments to remember resilience to such things. Even now, she wasn't quite used to it.
“Porca miseria!” she snapped in Scarosian, pulling herself from the last of the snapped restraints and climbing out the exceptionally thin tube that served as the entry port for the light goliath. Just as her head emerged a purple-painted stone arm flew past. She ducked reflexively, before looking up. There she saw the other Ganex goliath, a massive Albtraum, standing over both enemies, holding a long two-handed blade which it was currently pulling from the cleaved torso of an enemy.
Mia pulled herself up, looking around for the spirit of Wen. Was he still nearby? It was nice that she no longer needed veil goggles, that was a definite improvement. She did see him but he was already remarkably far away. That was odd.
They'd just fallen, hadn't they? She checked her forehead looking for blood. There was none.
Then why?
The other Ganex goliath was approaching now, stomping toward her, its flags flying in the cold winter wind. Mia waved to it and it paused, tilting its head. Then it bent down low, taking a knee with its head tilted forward. A figure emerged from the back entry. It was a young woman with golden hair.
“Mia?” she asked.
“Greta?” Mia replied. “I'd hoped to see you again! I wondered what happened to you after Christine sent you off.”
Greta waved. “Christine? Who's that? I haven't seen you in months, not since Aeyrdfeld fell. You're with the Ganex now? I'm surprised
but also glad!”
Mia frowned. “We need to talk.”
* * *
The Scarosian Queen, flying Arden colors now, was drifting past the guns that protected the entrance to the natural harbor at the mouth of the river Naranjares. Huge numbers of ships were anchored here, including many of the enormous galleons with three full rows of guns up their monstrous sides; they towered above Robert's tiny ship. This was where they brought the vast wealth of the Pyrolian colonies.
“Why did you choose the Arden flag?” Wilhelm asked Robert. At least today he was wearing a shirt.
Robert smiled. “Because that's the direction we came from. I'm sure we'll have been sighted along the way. Even though Arden's no friend to Pyrolia, it's better to be a known enemy I think than an unknown.”
Wilhelm chuckled. “If you say so.”
Cemu leaned in between them, “Many Arden traders trade with Pyrolia, even if their government forbids it. Arden produces many goods that Pyrolia needs and Pyrolia has much gold and few goods.”
Robert gestured toward his first mate, “Precisely. We look like a shifty trader, just like all the other Arden ships. See?”
Wilhelm cupped his hands to his face, scanning the docks. “Ah... you're right. Almost all the smaller merchant ships are Arden.”
“There's nothing an Arden man cares for more than money,” Cemu said like he was quoting someone.
Robert frowned at him. “Sometimes we care about other things... The point is, we'll take the dingy to the merchant dock-master, pay the exorbitant fee, dock, and catch a carriage to Dridar.”
“You have money for the fee?” Thira asked him. She was sure she remembered a conversation back in Valendam where Robert had said he was broke.
Robert shook his head. “Of course not.”
Thira snarled at him. “Then how do we get off the ship?”
Robert turned to Rosa. “Our lady of the peg leg will handle it.”
Rosa frowned. “Idiota! Are you stupid? I don't have any money.”
“No... but you are a Pyrolian and you're educated which means you come from money. So you and I will leave the ship and acquire some of that money. We'll pay the fee, and offload... it.”