by Hans Bezdek
"Trust me, you won't have to fight anyone," said Farr. "If things get out of hand, the three of us will take over."
Khuwa looked unsure of herself but nodded. The orc pulled out her two massive axes off of her back and took a few steps forward. Farr's fingers tingled as he summoned the necessary magic, then he pointed them at Khuwa. Electricity sparked around the axe heads, making occasional zaps as she thrusted them out before her.
Turze's eyes bulged as he saw the dark green orc flex and slice her sparking weapons through the air. Khuwa let out a frustrated shout, causing the guards to stumble backward. Yri stepped out of Khuwa's way, Cupcake floating around the warlock's head in excitement.
"Have you ever seen an orc barbarian go on a full rampage?" Farr asked Turze. "I have. I've seen a lot of things in my life, but my stomach always turns a bit when I see the broken bodies that Khuwa leaves in her wake when she gets this made."
"I-I d-don't think t-this is n-necessary," stammered Turze.
"Agreed," nodded Farr. "Why don't you go ahead and pay us what you agreed to, and I'll make sure the big scary orc leaves with us before she paints this room red?"
Turze hesitated. Khuwa gave a nervous glance back at Farr, who winked at her. The orc turned back to the mayor and let out another roar.
The mayor didn't need any more prodding. He snatched up a quill as quickly as he could a jotted some numbers and his signature onto a piece of paper. Turze pushed the paper in their direction and immediately drew his hand back before Khuwa could chop it off.
"Much appreciated," said Grex, taking the paper and shoving it into a pocket on his feathered robe.
"Pleasure doing business with you," said Farr, bowing to the mayor. "Let's go, Khuwa."
Yri and Grex led them out while Farr and Khuwa were the last to leave the room. The orc continued to wave her axes in random circles before her, only stopping once they were out of sight and Farr killed his magic on them.
"Great work, Khuwa!" exclaimed Grex as they hurried through the halls. "You really put a fright into them!"
"Thanks," said the orc, blushing as she put her axes on her back. "It was all Farr's idea, though."
"I'm just glad we got our money," shrugged Farr as they left the building. "The Accountant would've bitten our heads off if we came back with anything less than the full amount."
"Now let's hope the town's portals aren't down for maintenance," said Yri. "I'd hate to give Turze time to rethink this and send his whole army after us."
"I doubt he'll do that anytime soon," giggled Cupcake. "I haven't smelled fear that yummy in a long time."
CHAPTER THREE
King Valdrick let out a long sigh and leaned back in his throne. He had reached his early 50s and his hair was now more silver than brown. While he strived to stay in shape, said shape had become a tad more circular than he'd have hoped.
"Is... is something the matter, sire?" asked Commander Brudor, hesitating in the midst of his presentation to the king and his advisors.
The large, stone courtroom was always a little too cold for Valdrick's taste, but it was one of the most secure rooms in all of the U'Raze Kingdom. He had half a dozen advisors with him, all of whom had their own agendas and ideas. Still, they were some of the smartest men and women that Valdrick could possibly surround himself with, and he tried to take their input seriously.
"This whole matter simply reminds me how in debt we've become," replied King Valdrick, shaking his head.
"I-I'm terribly sorry," said Brudor, bowing slightly. "Unfortunately, we must find a way to repair the infrastructure across the kingdom."
"We've done perfectly fine since the... incident," chimed in Helga, one of the advisors. She was only a few years his junior and had been with him for many years. "I think you overestimate the need to fix a handful of bridges."
The incident which Helga referred to was one of the biggest embarrassments of Valdrick's reign. For seemingly no reason, trolls from the Tenebris Mountains struck all across the realm in the middle of the night, destroying roadways, wagons, and bridges. There was hardly a useable roadway in most of the northern and eastern parts of U'Raze. Valdrick had purposefully outlawed any expansion deeper into the trolls' mountains, partially to keep somewhat friendly relations and mostly because earlier attempts to mine the mountains had been completely unfruitful. He had a feeling some had disregarded that decree, and now his people were paying for it.
"With all due respect, no one in this room ever ventures out of Wilnam," pointed out Brudor. Several of the advisors shifted uncomfortably, but no one could argue that. "The roadways are hardly useable even ten miles east of the city. Not only are the common folk complaining about it, but it has slowed production of goods all across our land."
Which would only make their economy weaken, surmised Valdrick. This was bound to be expensive no matter what they chose to do. Getting retribution on the trolls wasn't even an option, as the creatures had less gold than it would take to fund the military to annihilate them.
"What is it that you need to rebuild?" asked Valdrick. "Workers? Lumber?"
Brudor shook his head. "We've got enough of each of those. What we are really lacking is iron."
Valdrick closed his eyes as the room filled with groans.
"Great, more opportunity for the Raptor Islands to charge us exorbitant amounts for their iron!" growled an advisor.
"We should storm one of the islands and take all they've got!" added another.
"I'd recommend against that," said Brudor, shaking his head. "The Epworth Empire is in an alliance with the Raptor Islands. We'd be starting a war I'm not confident we could win."
"Agreed," nodded Valdrick, which caused the advisor who recommended the attack to stammer on about how he was only joking. "So long as the Epworth Empire is protecting the Raptor Islands, we have no choice but to pay their high prices."
An advisor in the back loudly cleared his throat. Everyone turned as Denro, a sagely old man struggled to his feet. He and Helga made up Valdrick's inner circle, and their counsel had yet to steer the king in the wrong direction.
"There is another route to get the Epworth Kingdom out of the way," grinned Denro, the wrinkles on his face spreading. "One that won't take up the military's valuable time."
"I like the sound of that," said Brudor. "How would that work?"
"With all due respect to the Commander, it's best if only a few people hear what I have to say," said Denro, glancing sideways at the king.
"We'll figure something out and get back to you, Commander," said Valdrick, nodding for the man to leave. "Thank you for bringing this news to my attention."
Brudor's face hardened for a brief second before relaxing again.
"Of course, my King," he bowed.
"In fact, I think everyone but Helga and Denro may take a brief recess," said Valdrick, knowing that the others would interrupt Denro as much as possible, trying their hardest to get some piece of credit if Valdrick agreed with the man's plan.
The other advisors weren't thrilled at missing the opportunity but knew better than to argue with the king. A moment later, the doors closed and a deafening silence filled the room.
"Are you familiar with the god, Aodh?" asked Denro.
Valdrick did his best to remember which of the gods Aodh was. While a handful of the gods and goddesses were still worshipped and occasionally intervened in the world, most had left, died, or simply disappeared. Since he couldn't recall this one off the top of his head, he assumed Aodh belonged to the latter category.
"Refresh my memory," replied the king, not wanting to appear ignorant.
"Aodh was one of the most feared gods of the Wustitian Era," explained Denro. "As unpredictable as he was powerful, time has remembered him as Aodh the Mad God."
"The Wustitian Era ended over two thousand years ago," scoffed Helga. "I hardly see how mentioning this long-dead god is any help."
"You're wrong on two accounts," grinned Denro as he held up as many fingers. "First
, the Wustitian Era came to an end exactly two thousand years ago in five days. Second, and more importantly, Aodh isn't dead. He's simply been contained by several of the other gods and goddesses."
Helga glared at Denro for correcting her. "Why are you wasting the king's time with this history lesson? If a god is trapped and unable to escape, I highly doubt we can do anything about it."
"Wrong again," chuckled Denro. The man pulled a scroll out of his robe as Helga's face turned dark red. "The Mad God's prison will be weakened for the next several days. Our most esteemed wizards have been studying the phenomenon for many years now, and have concluded the magic of his chains must regenerate every one thousand years to keep Aodh at bay."
"This is all very interesting, Denro," said King Valdrick, quickly chiming in before Helga had another chance to argue with the man. "But are you proposing that we unleash a god so feared by the others that he was locked up? That would bring just as much devastation to our land as to the Epworth Empire."
"Ah, but Aodh's cell is on Epworth's continent," grinned Denro.
Valdrick blinked.
"That's good and all, but my point remains," said the king. "Once the god has finished with the Empire, who is to say he wouldn't come to us next?"
"Gods can't cross over water, my liege."
"They... they can't?" asked Valdrick, tilting his head. "Then how are priests and paladins able to heal their allies when fighting in foreign lands?"
"It appears that the gods and goddesses that they worship can still send those that petition them help," shrugged Denro. "I'm no expert in this matter, admittedly, but I do know that they can't cross bodies of water."
"That seems a rather strange weakness..." said the king, glancing at Helga.
The old woman sighed and shook her head. "It pains me to say it, but I've heard the same thing."
"Is that so?" asked Valdrick, tapping a finger against his chin. If that was the case, then surely this could be a worthwhile endeavor. There was only one problem with it. "This sounds like a suicide mission for whoever does it."
"It would probably be best to send someone expendable," offered Helga.
"As harsh as that sounds, Helga is right," nodded Denro. "Although, who is to say that Aodh won't thank the one who unleashes him? Surely he will be thrilled to be out of his captivity after all of these years. It would make sense for him to spare the one who saves him."
"If someone has earned the moniker of 'the Mad God' I'm not sure we should bank on using logic," mumbled Helga.
Valdrick leaned back again in his throne. He didn't like the idea of sending someone off to certain death. Still, if he could distract the Epworth Empire for the foreseeable future, that would allow them to take over at least one of the Raptor Islands. They'd have all the iron they could ever want, free of charge. Kings did need to make sacrifices...
"Very well," said Valdrick, nodding to himself. "We will try this plan of yours, Denro."
"Most excellent, sire!" said Denro, the old man almost giddy.
"Who shall you send to the Empire?" asked Helga.
"I think Perkins would love this sort of task," mused the king.
Helga rolled her eyes, then remembered where she was and cleared her throat. "Perkins? Are you sure we want to trust someone like him for this important job?"
"I share the same concern," added Denro, now looking less thrilled. "While he certainly doesn't lack the fighting skills required should he be captured, I'm not sure we can count on him to stay the course and arrive on time."
The ancient wooden doors creaked open, cutting the conversation off. Valdrick and the others turned their attention to the woman poking her head in.
"Sorry to interrupt, my king," said one of Valdrick's assistant. "A Mr. Zane Ersten is here, requesting to speak with you at your earliest convenience."
"Ah, that's right," nodded Valdrick, remembering his next meeting. "It'll be just a moment."
The doors shut again, and the king's eyes brightened with possibility.
"What if we sent someone with Perkins?" thought Valdrick out loud. "Someone who could keep them on the right track?"
"It should only take one person to break Aodh's chains," said Denro, "but I don't see any problems with having someone else there, too."
"But who would you trust with guiding Perkins and setting the Mad God free?" asked Helga.
Valdrick smiled at the two advisors. "You're about to meet him."
CHAPTER FOUR
Farr and his team exited the portal and arrived in Runeford. The capital of the Epworth Empire had continued to grow ever since Farr was little, but enough of it had stayed the same for him to still feel a sense of homecoming whenever he returned.
"Ah, The Losers have returned," grinned one of the portal guards as Farr and the others passed by. He was the only elf, and leaned lazily on his pike as the other guards laughed.
"It's The Delinquents, Quinn," growled Farr. With the portal being a major entry point to the capital, the powers that be always had a handful of guards watching over it. Quinn was there more often than not whenever Farr had to come in or out of the city. Farr had known Quinn from years and couldn't remember a time when the elf didn't harass him.
"Same thing," shrugged the guard. "What did y'all do this time? Save a cat stuck in a tree?"
"We stopped a peasant's revolt," said Grex.
"No loss of life," said Khuwa proudly.
"Pssh, waste of time," said Quinn, shaking his head. "Only way to get rid of silly ideas is to permanently stomp it out."
"I've got a burning feeling they'll think twice before trying it again," giggled Cupcake.
"Cupcake..." warned Yri.
Farr and his team left the unimpressed Quinn behind as they made for their guild's headquarters. Since the guilds of the Epworth Empire brought in a lot of gold, they were granted the lands closest to the portal for ease of use. Some of the older guilds, such as Wizard's Banner, Ulref's Soldiers, and The Iron Clobbers, had entire compounds on the main street. The Delinquents had started only a couple of centuries earlier and instead was only comprised of a few buildings several dozen streets back.
"I'm looking forward to some nice sleep," said Yri, stretching out as they passed by the large, impressive walls of the other guilds. "The beds in Hunera felt like sleeping on a pile of rocks."
"It wasn't that bad," said Farr.
"Maybe because you were given your own room, meant for visiting merchants. Us lowly plebs had to sleep in a communal room with the help."
"I tried to get them to let you guys have your own rooms, too," lied Farr. He had meant to do that, but it sort of slipped his mind.
"That's okay," said Khuwa, putting a hand on Farr's shoulder. "We know it's not your fault. Those are the privileges with being a higher rank."
After a few more minutes of walking, the group finally reached their home right as the day began to turn to night. The Delinquents' headquarters was comprised of five buildings. One looked like a typical warehouse, another was a large barracks, and the remaining three had the outward appearance of office buildings. It might not have looked like much compared to the other guilds, but Farr liked to think it gave them a bit more charm.
"We'll get a few days off now, right?" Khuwa asked.
"We should," nodded Farr. "I doubt we already have another job to do. I'll talk with the commander and check to be sure."
"I hate talking with that woman," shivered Yri. "She gives me the creeps."
"I think most people say that about you," oinked Cupcake.
Yri swatted at the pig demon, who narrowly avoided her hand.
"I'd rather talk to the commander than the Accountant," said Farr, his eyes slowly drifting to Grex.
"Don't worry, I'll be sure that the Accountant gets the paperwork from our trip," chuckled the gnome, patting his pocket as he went toward the warehouse.
"You're the best, Grex!" Farr called after him. "Let's all grab breakfast tomorrow and I'll let you know what I find out.
"
"Works for me," said Yri, heading for the barracks with Cupcake in tow.
"Tell Commander Indures I say hello!" said Khuwa, waving goodbye as she followed after the warlock.
Farr entered the middle office building, then went to the fourth floor. A gnome woman stood behind her desk, writing on a stack of papers nearly as tall as she was.
"Good to see you, Wendy," smiled Farr.
The gnome looked up in surprise, then went back to writing as she spoke. "Sergeant Farr, back already? I don't think the big boss expected to see you for another day or two."
"What can I say?" said Farr, leaning against the wall. "My team and I really know how to get results quickly."
"Like that time it took you a month to track down a councilor's missing pet chameleon?"
"Those things can change colors," protested Farr.
"Or that time it took you a week to find a fugitive that had been staying in the room next to yours the whole time?"
"I thought he was just a shy person..."
"Or how about that time-"
"Okay, I get it," said Farr, holding up a hand. "We might not be the fastest at what we do, but we never come back empty handed."
Wendy glanced up from her writing and raised an eyebrow.
"We rarely come back empty handed," said Farr on further thought.
Wendy giggled as she went back to writing.
"Is Indures in?"
"Commander Indures is in," said Wendy. "You can go on inside, if you'd like. She doesn't have any more appointments for the rest of the night."
"Perfect," said Farr, walking over and putting a hand on the doorknob. He hesitated. "Um, how has she been today?"
Wendy stopped writing and thought about her answer for a moment. "Sort of in a strange mood, I'd say. It's been like her thoughts are elsewhere."
"That's not that strange for her."
"Well, more than usual," yielded the gnome.
"I guess I'll have to just take my chances, then," Farr said to himself, then opened the door.
Commander Indures' office was spotless as always. The two chairs in front of the granite desk were placed equidistant from one another, perfectly mirroring one another. Farr always wondered if Wendy came in after every meeting and cleaned and fixed everything, so nothing would be the tiniest bit out of place.