“Aye. Thank ye, lass. ‘Twas a hell of a fight out there, wasn’t it?” Karl snorted as he rolled his sore shoulder and lifted his mug with the other hand. “But we bested them arseholes like we always do.”
Parker raised a glass. “To victory!”
“To victory,” the rest of the fellowship responded.
“What do you think, Karl?” Hannah asked. “You want to try out one of those man-kites?”
“I’m sure I could fit a harness for you,” Aysa added. “It wouldn’t have to be very big. You know, to account for the weight and all.”
“No-bloody-thanks,” Karl said. “I’ll leave the flyin’ to the damn birds.”
Sal looked up from his spot in the corner and grunted.
“Dragons too, of course,” Karl added. “But I like ta keep me boots on the deck, and I’d prefer it if my enemies agreed to do the same. Looking up at those flyin’ bastards put a crick in me neck."
Aysa watched as Hannah stepped up behind Karl. “How about a little magical healing for you?”
“Scheisse, sorceress. Ye know a rearick heals faster than a bent blade of grass. But I’ve been around long ‘nuff to know if yer offering, I’d be a damned fool to deny.”
“Well, accepting doesn’t mean you’re not a damned fool, but still…” Hannah’s eyes blazed red for a beat as she placed a palm on her friend’s meaty shoulder and Aysa saw the pain leave his eyes. No matter how many times she saw Hannah’s skills in action, they still amazed her.
“There’s no shame in needing healing,” Aysa said. “An old man like you has to take care of his joints.”
“You keep it up, lass, and I’ll give ye somethin’ ta be sore over.”
“What about Sal?” Vitali asked. “He looks unwell. Maybe he could use some of your healing.”
Parker laughed as the dragon’s stomach rumbled. “I think that’s indigestion. The lizard needs more veggies in his diet, less kaffe and pirate.”
Karl raised his mug. “Every man has an elixir that gives him the strength of the gods. Seems like that beast has one too.” He nodded toward the kaffe vat on the serving table. “We need to keep the little junkie moderated, though, or we might all pay fer it.”
Parker rubbed a mark on his temple. “Speak for yourself. I say we hop Sal up and let him loose on any threat we find. Those pirates weren’t pulling punches today. We all took our licks.”
“So did the Unlawful,” Aysa added. “I inspected her, and she is certainly beat to hell from the boarding. She’s got a few more scars from the fight, but I’m not sure if it was enemy damage or the junkie dragon slamming into her. Whichever it was, I’m going to need to set her down somewhere for repairs. If I bring her back to Gregory like this, he’ll kick my ass.”
“Aye, girlie.” Karl laughed. “Kick yer own ass. She’s yer boat now. Yer the cap’n, not that nerd a thousand miles away.”
Aysa nodded; Karl was right. The Unlawful had been built by Arcadian engineers, but she was its steward now, and she was in charge of the ship’s good health. Aysa also knew that no matter how often she blamed Gregory for wanting to keep the ship in top condition, the vessel had become her baby. She wished she’d had more of an opportunity to pay back those who’d hurt her today.
She glanced at the crew, her eyes landing on Hannah who gave her an encouraging nod. “Before we all started drinking away our injuries and patting ourselves on the back for a battle well fought, I pulled out the charts Lilith left for us. The maps of this region are pretty vague. Hell, I have no idea if the people who made them were a bunch of kids doodling to burn time or explorers charting the unknown, but if the maps are right, there’s a city a half a day’s journey from here. I expect we should be able to set down there and mend the Unlawful.”
“A city?” Parker exclaimed, sitting up straighter in his chair. “It feels like we haven’t passed anything remotely close to civilization in months. It would be nice to get some grub that wasn’t burned to death by the rearick. No offense.”
“I’m only offended by yer snooty lowlander tastes,” Karl added. “But I wouldn’t turn down a chance to sample some local brew.”
Hannah turned to Vitali. “Whatever you think.”
Hannah leaned against the wall, crossed her arms, and nodded at Aysa. “I think we listen to the captain. Good job. We set sail for this city then, to right the ship and wet our whistles.”
“And have some fun,” Aysa said, and the Bitch and Bastard Brigade cheered right along with her.
Chapter Nine
The mop’s water diluted the pirates’ blood but didn’t completely wash it away. It didn’t bother Parker—much. The older burgundy stains in the wood told stories of the many foes vanquished on the Unlawful, and he knew there would be many more to come.
“You’re pretty good with that thing,” Hannah said, her voice breaking the morning silence.
He turned. The dawn sun shone on her face and made it look even more angelic than normal. There was a strange look in her eyes, something he couldn’t put his finger on. Not contentment, but something adjacent to it. Maybe it was hope for something better not far beyond the horizon.
“Yeah,” he finally said, leaning on the mop. “I guess it isn’t much different from my spear, except for the amphorald blaster on the tip.”
“Actually, I was thinking of those weeks you worked scrubbing floors at Sully’s Tavern.”
Parker laughed. “This pirates’ blood is nothing compared to that splattered beer and puke, and gods know what else was spilled there. I lasted longer than a few weeks, didn’t I?”
“Ten days, actually,” Hannah said, leaning against the rail of the ship. “It took me ten whole days to convince you the work of an honest man wasn’t worth it.”
He nodded. “Well, you would know. You were kind of worthless on the streets without your leader, weren’t you?”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re excused.” He stepped toward Hannah and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close. “I mean, we were on a pretty equal playing field back then.”
Hannah pushed herself up on her tiptoes and gave him a long, slow kiss. Chills ran down his spine as she lingered for longer than he’d expected. They had officially been together for years, but her touch never failed to overwhelm him.
She stepped back. “Equals, huh? Believe what you want, Parker from the Boulevard, but this girl from the slums was the one who freed you from your chains.”
Hannah was right, and he knew it. Although she was joking, her words held weight for him. Since they were kids pulling simple cons on the streets of Arcadia, he had always followed her lead. For Parker, there was no shame in this. It just worked. And now, after Hannah developed her skills and was juiced up by the blood of the Matriarch, he was proud to be at her side as her wingman.
“Do you miss it?” she finally asked.
“Sully’s? Like an ingrown toenail.”
“Arcadia. The Boulevard.”
Parker stood quiet, his eyes cast out over the bow toward the land that lay before them. He could see miles of forest and trees, all coming to an end at the small mountain chain ahead. Her question struck him like none had for some time. Did he miss Arcadia? Miss his home? He really didn’t know. Things had not slowed down enough to miss anything.
“I have no freaking idea,” he answered. “I mean, sure. I miss aspects of it. And maybe I would miss it more if you weren’t here with me.”
“That’s sweet.”
“No,” Parker said. “That’s not what I mean, but I’ll take boyfriend points wherever I can get them. You’re my anchor to that place. When I think of Arcadia, in many ways, I think of you. You carry the best of the place with you. We are my memories of there. My memories of then. Sure, I miss my mother. I miss having a place. Why, are you thinking about settling down?”
Hannah shrugged. “Who wouldn’t want to settle down?”
“You have a funny way of showing it, flying this ship all over Irth.” Parker s
miled. “Doesn’t seem like settling-down behavior.”
“I’m not sure,” Hannah answered. “Maybe I think there’s something out there for us. Someplace we can build together. You know, like Zeke tried to do with Arcadia. But maybe, just maybe, we could make it right. Make it the way it was supposed to be from the beginning without—”
“Without an Adrien stepping in and screwing the whole thing up?”
Hannah moved toward Parker and took his hand. He could feel the heat transfer between their palms. “Would it be crazy if I said yes?”
Parker interlaced his fingers with hers. “There are Adriens everywhere, and in every time. Hell, even Adrien wasn’t Adrien when Ezekiel was building Arcadia.”
“Maybe,” she said. “But maybe not. Maybe we have a chance to build something real. Something whole. Maybe we find someplace that longs for redemption. Maybe there’s a city out there big enough for us.”
The morning light shifted as the Unlawful crested the hill-line.
“Like that?” Parker said, pointing across the bow toward a city on the horizon that was bigger than any he had ever seen.
Chapter Ten
Although the dusty earth between Vitali’s toes sent a sense of comfort through his body, his feet weren’t used to this land. His place back in Kaskara was a jungle. The tough soles were accustomed to the squish of moss and the slop of marshy forests. But still, his people had stayed low to the ground for a reason. Even with his feline propensities, he preferred the low-hanging trees of the forest.
“Good thing I grabbed this from Super Nerd before we headed out,” Aysa said, waving a little black box in her hand just after hitting the ground behind him. “I, for one, am ready to go sow some oats.”
Aysa was one of his favorite members of the team. Hell, she was nearly everyone’s favorite, even if she volleyed insults at them, especially the men, with more practice than the rocks she lobbed from her oversized hand. The Baseeki girl was like everyone’s little sister, and Vitali had been taken by her as well.
“Sow some oats?”
“Yeah. You know, have some fun. I insist on having fun wherever I am.” She looked around the circle and then up the rope ladder they had just descended. Everyone was on the ground except for Karl, who was struggling down the rope ladder. “It’s easy to have fun with the Bitch and Bastard Brigade. Like this.”
Aysa grabbed the tail end of the ladder and whipped it, the wave hitting Karl on the legs. He squinted down at her, red-faced.
“Aye,” she yelled in her best Karl impersonation. “Move yer arse, rearick!”
She held the remote up, and Karl’s eyes got enormous. “Doncha dare, ye little pipsqueak.”
“No time to spare.” Aysa flicked the switch, and the amphorald core on the ship hummed as the vessel edged skyward.
“Scheisse!” Karl screamed from twenty feet overhead.
The rearick let go of the rope, and Vitali froze as the little man’s body plunged toward the dusty earth. Just before hitting the deck, he froze in place, hovered for a second, and then lightly drifted to his feet.
“Ye mangy, long-armed, sweaty piece of pubescent scum. Ye coulda killed me!” he screamed, stomping toward Aysa.
Looking over his shoulder, Vitali saw Hannah’s eyes shift from red to their normal color. “I’ve got your back, rearick.” She laughed.
“Ye shouldn’t hafta, Hannah. And what if ye weren’t—”
Aysa dropped to the ground, laughing. “See, Vitali? We have fun everywhere.” She stood and skipped over to Karl. “Come on, short stuff. I knew she had you.”
Karl’s face turned blaze-red. “One of these days, Aysa. One of these days.”
“What?” she asked. “You’re gonna ask me out on a proper date? I can’t wait.”
“All right, you two finished?” Hannah said.
“I haven’t even begun to deal with this ‘un,” Karl spat.
“Come on, Karl,” Hannah shot back. “It was pretty funny. Anyway, we need to roll. We have no idea what this place will hold, and it will be good to get inside the city walls before the sun goes down. We haven’t seen much in the way of civilization for many miles, so who knows how often these people get visitors?”
“Let’s move,” Vitali said, hoping that a good march would calm the rearick down.
He took the lead, with Parker by his side. The two of them had become close since Vitali had joined the team. Even with their differences, they were quite similar, not only in their fighting styles but also in their dispositions.
After nearly a half-hour of walking in silence, Parker finally noted, “It’s pretty dead out here.”
“Dead quiet,” Vitali agreed. “I mean, Hannah was right. There wasn’t much in the way of towns or even small hamlets lying off the border of the city, but there were plenty of farms. You would think that there’d be at least some farmers transporting their goods on this road or traveling back home after a normal day of trading.”
Parker nodded, his eyes scanning the horizon. “You would think that, wouldn’t you? Then again, I don’t remember the last time I arrived in a town where everything was normal. Hell, I have no idea what normal even is anymore.”
Vitali laughed. “Pretty sure we have been born into abnormal times, my friend. But maybe someday we’ll find a place that is good old-fashioned boring.”
Parker smiled. “Or make one.”
Vitali let Parker’s words drift between them. He knew enough about their hometown, Arcadia, and what had become of it. Over the months together, he had heard the stories of the slum Parker and Hannah had grown up in and the way they had fought to overcome the oppressive regent who ruled the city. He also knew the town was supposed to have been normal, or at least, that was what Ezekiel had intended when he laid its cornerstone so many years before.
“Am I interrupting something?” Hannah asked as she joined them.
“Just guy talk,” Parker said. “You know, big fights, hot women, cold ale.”
Hannah laughed. “Yeah. I’m glad my boyfriend isn’t a typical guy.”
Parker shrugged. “As long as I’m with you, I’m always with a hot woman and in the middle of a big fight.”
“And the ale?”
“That’s what Karl’s for,” Parker replied.
“Well, I don’t want to break up the bro-fest, but we’re coming up on the city.”
Vitali nodded, his eyes on the walls. “You and Parker take point. I’ll bring up the rear. It’s the way to go.”
Hannah forced a smile. He knew that she knew exactly what was going through Vitali’s brain. When you want to make friends amongst the humans, you don’t lead with the kitty-cat. It was common sense. He didn’t need her sympathy.
Ever since he’d left his homeland he’d learned to navigate this new world of being a freak everywhere he turned. Sure, Aysa had long-ass arms and Karl was the height of an overgrown kid, but they were nothing compared to the guy covered in fur who sported a tail and cat eyes.
“Yeah. And sorry—”
He held up a hand. “No need, Hannah. This is strategy, plain and simple. I also pretty distinctly remember the first time you and I met.”
Hannah smiled. “You were scary as hell, but it wasn’t just the way you looked. It was the thought of having to fight you.”
“Good thing we never exchanged blows,” Vitali said. “Pretty sure you would be using my hide for a throw rug in front of the fire on the Unlawful.”
“Slippers,” Hannah replied. “I had a nice pair of slippers in mind, but I prefer orange.”
“Oooh, I want some cat slippers!” Aysa cooed.
“I have a cousin you could fight. She's a pretty deep orange, with some flecks of blonde. Would make a good pair of cat slippers, and to be quite honest, I don’t think most of the family would miss her during the holidays,” Vitali said.
Sal looked over his shoulder at him, tongue shooting in and out.
“Hang out in back with me, Sal.” Vitali gave him a nod. “We frea
ks will stick together.”
The Brigade marched on in silence toward the city gate. While the others looked forward to nothing but a little rest and relaxation, Vitali didn’t feel quite so comforted by the foreign stronghold before him. Other than the empty roads leading toward the gate, there was something not quite right about the place.
He’d seen scores of cities outside of his homeland and every single one of them gave him the creeps. In his gut, he knew it was because off his native soil, he was, and would remain, an oddity at best. At worst, he was an aberration whom furless bipeds would be pleased to string up on the city walls by a noose or find a spike on which to fasten his head. Few were as accepting as Hannah the magician and her band of misfits.
Twenty yards farther along, the city guards came into sight. There was absolutely nothing extraordinary about them, just a few common men putting in a day’s work. As the Brigade halved the distance between them, the men stood at attention, making themselves look almost intimidating enough to scare off a remnant child.
When they were five yards away, the one on the left raised a hand motioning for them to stop.
“State your business in Solyr,” he growled with all the hospitality of a mother bear defending her cubs.
Hannah stepped ahead of the group. “I am Hannah of Arcadia. We travel from New Romanov on an adventure to chart these lands and the lands to the south. Yesterday, we ran into pirates who tried their damnedest to take our vehicle. They’ve been dealt with, but we come to you for a bit of respite from the road and supplies to repair her.”
The men exchanged glances and then looked back at Hannah. “And the rest of your group? Are they back with the craft?”
Hannah grinned. “We are the crew, friend. Now, can we enter your city?”
The men looked exchanged glances and spoke in low tones. Finally, the other shouted back to them, “Impossible! We know the pirates of the region well. They take what they want, and those journeying through the land if they are wise, give them what they ask. The foolish end up dead, or slaves. Four people, a beast, and whatever that is,” he pointed at Vitali, “could not best the pirates hereabouts. The farmers of this region pay a good percentage to keep them at bay.”
Solyrian Conspiracy - C M Raymond & L E Barbant Page 3