This command was precise and loud. The griffins landed and the air quieted. We waited like this for ten minutes. Ten agonizingly long minutes where I had no idea what was happening.
“Thank you for your patience, we are going to land at the docks. It was my mistake as much as it was yours for what happened in Uhara. We have amazing hearing, and we never slowed or quieted to listen for the ambushes. Now we did. The city is clear. There are some cats and rats but that is it. Well, fish in the bay… But no Horde. Something is off here. I would not eat or drink anything. There are skeletons everywhere with signs of battle.”
I then cued into his line of thought. The populace had clearly died. The Horde knew this as it was never sacked – bypassed to focus efforts elsewhere. Why would you leave it intact city undisturbed unless you knew you have eradicated the threat this many people would pose? Maybe it was left untouched as a future bartering tool? There were many what-if scenarios running through my head as we flew to the docks.
The docks were not expansive or deep. They reminded me of mere fishing structures. A few shallow dingies had succumbed to the neglect of time and ravages of storms. They breached the shallow water partially submerged. The long narrow sections of extended docks raced out for hundreds of feet. Perfect for fishing with plenty of pillars and shade for meandering fish to live. The narrow plankways led to a wide wooden section where abandoned vendors, strewn about chairs, and tables rested. It was a perfect gathering place for us.
Our twelve man team was covered in blood from dealing with the bodies in Uhara earlier. My first order was a strip down and bath. Addilyn, of course, was against this. Her upbringing as a proper princess prohibited her from being naked in front of others. So I tossed her into the four foot deep water armor and all. This got a mix of an evil stare and a smirk. Those eyes said she would get me back. I had no qualms getting naked and quickly hopped into the shallow water. A school of small fish gobbled up the gore as I washed it into the water.
“Gryff,” Nate said getting my attention. “What do the griffins think happened here?”
I knew I was not the only curious one. I found ten sets of eyes looking to me for an answer. Tammy was shielding Addilyn while she quickly bathed. Girls… “Well it is an educated guess but we think poison. Either airborne or from the water. The bodies are mostly face down that I noticed. So maybe a slow fatal poison. I have no way to confirm that.”
Janice raised her hand. “I may be able to reveal some truth to the matter. I went and graduated from the mage academy in Deltan and learned us water mages can taint water. The catalyst is a heart from a sea monster found not too far offshore here. They are incredibly hard to kill though. This was a hushed closed door type lesson. Most didn’t want it getting out that water mages could kill so thoroughly without notice.”
I scratched my growing beard. Instantly Pipi was forefront in my mind. I let her fade as I assessed the situation. “We have an intact city, with long dead skeletons in it. There was no battle here, and shamans do not know water magic. So…” I let my sentence hang.
“Yes Gryff, this city was murdered by a human. The next logical conclusion was a deal was struck. I wonder if we find more cities like this. There were no other reports. Maybe that water mage is teaching at the academy. Maybe they are in another world. I wish I knew more but I can say it wasn’t me or anyone I know who uses water magic based on age. Unless it was an instructor from Deltan. It would be hard to prove without a confession though.” Janice said while scrubbing her toned body.
I glanced over my shoulder and Addilyn had swapped into regular clothing and had her armor on the docks to dry. I went over to my bag on the shore and did the same. Fully dressed in casual clothes I kept my sword on my hip.
“The griffins can hear everything, and I mean everything. They tell me there is no ambush I trust them. You can decide what to wear. No looting yet, I want an idea of what is here. If you see something you want, remember to mention it tonight at dinner. Take the next two hours to explore. We light a fire here once the sun sets and we sleep in these estates near the water. Any questions?” I asked and most shook their heads no.
I went over to Addylin who was drying out her black hair. Her brown eyes bore into me then softened. “It is funny, I bug you to adapt to Vin, and I fail to adapt myself. If I am in the field with you, we will communally bathe. Are you okay if I get naked in front of other men?” She asked.
“Yup,” I said and left it at that. I was wanting to go exploring and not get dragged into a masculinity debate. If my wife was covered in blood, she needed to get clean, so be it. She had the same body parts I saw on Janice. Although much nice and younger. Well, everything was better about Addilyn naked, but my point was valid.
“Okay, only in the field and if it is needed. I will try to be more a member of the team and less a princess. Now… this city was famous, one of the few that stuck the slums in its own walls. Let us go tour shall we?” She crooked her elbow and I fastened mine into hers. Tammy trailed behind us silently and when Addilyn noticed she extended her arm for her. “My right arm Tammy. Perfect. Not for this trip but the skeletons have to go. The amount of wealth here could work one of two ways. Sell the estates as is… or send it to a central city. Maybe Deltan once Savloni is gone and things stabilize. What do you think husband?”
I walked by children dead in the street, their parents or strangers collapsed beside them. There were bleached remains everywhere. “I am thinking that necromancy better not be a real thing. It is in stories, and this world is as close to a story as it gets. If these little kids rise up and try to kill me I will be one upset man.”
Tammy fielded this one. “No necromancy ever recorded. It would be a game changer for the Horde. Thankfully it is beyond everyone. It is sad. Janice can test the water right. Actually, I know that girl. She probably headed right for a water source with Victor.” Tammy said as she pointed at the biggest three story estate with waterfront views and dock access. “Why not look into this one? It is the largest one on this block.
We had only wandered a dozen feet from the docks. The road was marbled and dirty from time. There were sidewalks here, only ones I had seen anywhere. Again marbled and even a step up to prevent wagons from easy access. We approached a lavish gated fence that was open. The hinges and the frame itself were in need of a fresh sanding or paint. Which got me thinking, how did the people of Vin avoid rust?
“Addilyn, this is rust, how is it dealt with?” I asked and Addilyn shook her head.
“May I mistress?” Tammy asked.
“You would be the one to ask in the first place,” Addilyn said with a huff.
“Well, rust is air and water mixed to eat away at the metal. I simply apply a blast of air…” Tammy focused her thumb and index finger at an orange hinge and blasted the surface with a torrent of pressurized air. The result was instant and the dull metal looked freshly formed. “There you go… Easy breezy.”
Of course, we all chuckled but it really was not that funny. More or less the damper of the Uhara and the dead of Livina were being deflected by fake laughter.
The gate led into a small seating area with a round table. Again a white marble. It became obvious a while ago there was a quarry nearby somewhere. A fact I might have to hide from Amber if the griffins had their way. Honestly, I didn’t care for aesthetics and moving large quantities of stone was hard. I wouldn’t volunteer to haul it via cart for the month long trip it probably was – if not longer with the stone loaded down.
The first floor of the structure was open and breezy. This had to be where the servants worked because it was a kitchen, laundry room, and storage. There were a few bodies down here all face down. We walked up the stairs for the second floor and found the family. This was a greeting area. Four bodies huddled together. I noticed there was a view here and we toured the room. Everything was frozen in time. Sure some things had decayed but most of it was still fine. The third floor held the master suite and no de
ad bodies. There was a large bedroom overlooking the bay. A private table rested on the balcony. Fine decorations were everywhere. The art on the walls depicting nature instead of the battle I was used to seeing. Tammy helped herself to the jewelry box and had Addilyn clasp a fancy necklace for her.
“Well, there goes our money problems. We don’t need a castle when we got the pick of the places here. I am laughing so hard at my sisters who scorned you for marrying Pipi. Sure they had nicer tits, wider hips, and could probably pop out a hundred little ones. But they missed the point with you. You were special because you were different. If there weren’t dead bodies in this home I would ravish you so hard right now.” Addilyn said to me and her eyes sparkled with lust.
“We will remove them later and I will give you a baby tonight, fret not, dear wife. We need to check in with Janice. I want to see what she learned. You two ready to go, or do you want to stay?” I asked intending to leave but seeing they wanted to stay.
“This has the most amazing views. The only three story estate on the wharf. The best one for certain. We will stay and make it presentable for our lord's temporary estate. The way I understand Sandworm Isle, we will be coming back here to stay between farming sessions. You go ahead and we will remove the bodies. Love you, babe…” Addilyn said as she ran over and planted a deep kiss on my lips. I went down the stairs and I heard her squeal in delight. “This place is amazing!”
Glad she liked it, it was rather nice for a graveyard of a city. The sun had about an hour before it set. I called out for a griffin escort to help find Janice and Traz was nice enough to guide me to her.
“Conclusions?” I asked as I approached Janice and Victor. The two were in a heated debate.
“Poisoned, and I have an idea of who. Victor was arguing with me. He is a third cousin to Instructor Zaman. It adds up, Zaman said he came from a humble beginning and got lucky leaving before the Horde arrived. He wrote an article on this very spell that was cast. There are numerous ways to cast it, this was done exactly as he instructed in his writings. As if he wanted to be caught later if anyone found out his sins. It also adds up to how he became extremely wealthy and an instructor at the mage academy. You either were extremely talented or extremely wealthy. He was wealthy, his aura barely bigger than mine is now with decades of more experience. Sorry Victor, it all adds up, and I know we are a potential for long term love but this needs to be told. I will hand it to Gryff and I hope you forgive me.” Janice said.
“Wait, can you clean the water?” I asked before they spiraled into a lovers' quarrel.
“Oh yeah, the spell had almost run its natural course. The water is clear now didn’t even need a catalyst.” Janice said with a proud smile at her achievement.
“Perfect. Look, you are both vital to me. You need to trust each other. Janice is right, it could be your fifth uncle. Victor is also right, it could not be. Let me look into it though. Well, I will probably have Lamont look into. The key thing is, you need to trust each other or we will have problems.”
They nodded at me and I left them to go to the docks. I saw Donnie and Nate rowing to the shore. Both had concern etched on their faces. “Traz update?”
“Nothing new what have you got?”
“Nate and Donnie racing back to shore in a rowboat…” I said as Traz passed feet above me. The griffin shot out to sea quickly. I watched as Nate and Donnie wave to him in warning. Traz didn’t care though because fifty griffins were on the way to him as back up. I saw him feel the barrier rotate back inside and dive into the water. Most griffins I knew hated water, never seen one go in before. “And?”
“Merkvina are here, they are an aquatic species we used to trade fish for goat. The ratios were always favorable to us. They can talk to us unlike humans and other sentients. Not sure why. Really simple beings. You can only express one or two words in a sentence. They wish to trade with Lord Nova. Give us ten to thirty minutes or longer and we will get back to you.” Traz said quickly.
I kicked a stone in frustration. I literally had moments earlier mentioned trusting teammates. I wanted to know now though. Oh, I saw Nate and Donnie docking the raft.
A few bounds later I was at their side. “Alright… the griffins are playing diplomats, what did you see?”
Nate had to calm Donnie. “They have been nesting in our ships. I wanted to see what condition they were in and found them covered in feces. It was a weird, mostly puddles of grey goo. No other way to describe it. Well, we got past that after pinching our noses and found babies. They were clumps of blue animals at first, I had no idea what they were until we ran into a mom or dad. The creature has gills on its neck and a fin on the back of its head. There is a torso almost like a human and then a tail like a lobster. Do you know what a lobster is?” I nodded yes when Nate asked. The whole time he drawing the description of the body of the creature with his hands. “Under this tail are small legs and tiny feet maybe forty but would have to know more to find out. It gurgled at us angrily and pointed for us to leave, so we did. What is Traz up to?”
Nate and Traz were friends so it made sense he recognized him flying that way.
“They are engaging in diplomacy, I trust they will let us know later… Ah speaking of Traz,” I said as Traz soared above us and snagged our rat as well as our fish bag. He did a one eighty and head back to the Merkvina. “Hey, I got a nice estate picked out. Why don’t you two pick one out each? A gift from me to you. Tell the whole team they get a single estate to pick out on the waterfront only. Everything inside included.”
“A winter house with ocean views… My wives will divorce me. We simply… Its… complicated.” Nate said and I knew it was. He married his brother’s widows and had a loving wife. They were still in the process of moving to Fernlan, well Dais. Nate gave me a hug. He was conflicted and rarely showed emotion. I let it drop and nodded to him. Donnie the little shit was already gone. Scouring for the best loot. Don’t blame him one bit. “I will tell the others before I go hounding for loot. Got more than I need. Its moments like this I miss my son the most. He loved fishing, I dare say more than you.”
“I am happy for you Nate, we risk life and limb every time we go out. Let your poor wives who worry be rewarded. Also hell yeah to the fishing. I am going to gather some driftwood and get Victor to start a fire. This road is marble, it will have no problem handling the heat.” I said as I pointed to the road and we parted ways.
I made five trips for wood. The entire time I was alone with my thoughts – I expected Addilyn or Traz to interrupt, but it never happened. At the end of the last trip, Victor showed up with Janice.
“I agree it should be investigated. Sorry I cast doubt on the situation. We are very grateful for your gift. I do plan on marrying Janice, what would that do to the one house per person rule?”
“You get two. Congrats, we can have a large celebration together later. I am due for two marriage parties myself.” I replied. The strangest thing happened at this revelation. Victor got down on all fours and kissed Janice's feet.
“Glad you paid up for your lost bet. Rise my handsome soon to be husband. Do not doubt your lord next time. Emperor Gryff treats women as equals, not as property.” Janice said teasing Victor.
The rest of the team strolled in. They all mentioned more dead that were tossed into the shallows. I felt this would only force someone later to deal with the issue. We sat around the fire and cooked some ogre meat we set aside for tonight. It sizzled and popped as it roasted.
My stomach was certainly rumbling when strips of the juicy meal were handed my way. A few quick breathes to cool it and down it went. I ensured I drank my canteen water. I trusted Janice but I honestly didn’t want to risk it. None of us did.
We finished our meal and I was ready to get my post battle sex on when Traz and Lord Nova landed not far from our fire.
“Let us introduce you Gryff,” Lord Nova said to me while a blue creature exited the water and waddled up the dock ladder. The two
arms clasped the wooden frame and its tiny legs scurried out the water. It was indeed a lobster tailed humanoid that was dripping water onto the docks. The head was much smaller though. The arms thin, long, and webbed from elbow to hip. Gills ran down its side and the little miniature feet were something else. “This is Wie, Wie this is Gryff.”
I waved at the odd creature and it mimicked my hand gesture. We stood there awkwardly for a moment. The Knights were on edge but no one drew weapons.
“How did your talk go?” I asked uncertain what to say or do.
“They traded the old fish and rats for fresh fish. They will clean up the skeletons come tomorrow and ask to keep a few boats for spawning. It is much safer to have their young on the ships. They will trade us fresh fish and most importantly the rain pearls. Janice may know of these?” Lord Nova let a pearl roll my way. I snatched it up and tossed it to Janice. “They want a lot of dead rats… go figure, but they loved them. Do me a favor and hand a javelin to Wie please.”
Janice knew the pearl right away and her eyes lit up. “This is a weather catalyst, they are exceeding rare these days exactly like the tree worms. We can sell these to cities experiencing a drought or with improper irrigation. They dump a lot of water quickly so they even are great for a sunny day.”
“That is awesome, we do have two desert cities too. Great work Lord Nova. Markus can I get a spear please.” I walked over to Markus he went to hide his javelins.
“Gryff you have your own, you guys keep taking mine. My cousin Garin made these special for me on my eighteenth birthday.” Markus said and had a fair point.
“Okay hire Garin, he can work for me. Mine are god crafted. I am not handing the lobsterman my divine spears. Don’t worry I literally awarded you a house with probably more gold in it than you ever have seen before. I think that can buy me a javelin from you,” I said and Markus nodded. It was more than okay for him to be protective of his property. I walked over to Wie and handed off my borrowed spear. “I present this to you… And he is gone.”
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