by C A A Allen
I gazed at the board in awe. Soon team Beeston will have a slot up there. On the same board all the greats had been listed, including Giovanni Mondavi.
“Boards to the right show the current gold coins per day pay for all ranks,” Dread said. “Boards to the left list accredited questers available to hire. One contains fighters and thieves, the other breaks down magic users. Rank, special skills, in-and-out marks, and several other pieces of information are listed for each quester. Now you will excuse me, I see a bet I need to make.” Dread took two long-legged strides toward the moneychanger line.
I grabbed him by the back of his shirt. “Get back here cousin. We got time-sensitive business to deal with here. Let’s go take a look at the available magic users’ board.”
“Fine.” Dread hesitantly turned around and walked back to the board. “Feast your eyes on this team. From wizards, to magicians it looks like we have over sixty magic users to choose from.”
“I like it,” I said. “We should take a good look at the top twenty and start interviews.”
Chaz looked over the board. “Do you see how much gold a top twenty magic user makes? We have bottom of the board finances, so let’s just feast our eyes on the bottom of the board.”
I examined the top of the board and my chest tightened. The magic users here were making six times the amount we estimated.
Chaz walked up close to the board and scrutinized the lower portion. “Raff are you seeing this? All these magic users are out of our financial reach. Even the ones at the bottom are several times more than what we agreed on. Looks like we will be going off the board for our hire.”
A young smooth faced man slid in front of us. “Did I here you say off the board hire? I will run with your team for thirty gold coins per day, that’s half the price of a magician. A real bargain.”
We rounded on him. He didn’t look promising—too…soft, as if a cold breeze would send him running back here for a spot by the hearth.
“What are your spells?” Tigress asked. “Were looking for someone with good defensive capabilities.”
The man scratched his cheek. “Uhh, defense is overrated. Behold, the Ball of Bludgeon.” He held out his palm. An apple-sized iron ball covered with spikes materialized and floated above it. “I can direct these deadly balls one after another at any enemy in my area. That is, if they don’t run away at the mere sight of my magic.”
Dread held his finger to the tip of one of the balls spikes.
“Don’t touch that!” Said the man. “Er…the spikes are poison dipped. Very dangerous!”
Dread touched the tip. It poofed into what looked like a pink ball of fluffy cotton, and dropped down to the man’s palm.
Dread pinched off a piece of fluff and put it in his mouth. “Fairy floss.” He spat it to the floor. “And it’s too sweet. This spun sugar won’t hurt anything but my teeth. Keep it moving pseudo magic faker.”
A wide-shouldered, well-dressed man approached us from behind the moneychanger area. He shooed the smooth-faced man away and stood tall looking at Dread. “Well if it isn’t Dread Jenkins and Beeston’s first questing team.”
Dread shook the man’s hand furiously. “William, my main man.” He then turned to us. “I usually place a few bets here when I do business at Moe’s store, William has had to pay me a lot of gold over the years.”
“That I have.” William looked about the age of my father, which hinted at experience and some know-how. Maybe he could point us to a magic user. “But now you’re here in a different capacity. Introduce me to the team.”
“No doubt,” Dread said. “This is my cousin Raff, Chazekial, Tigress, and Mustela. Team, this is William Ladbroke, the tote board master here at the tavern.”
Ladbroke. I knew that name-questers and gamblers talked about this man. He handled everything that had to do with the boards and gambling here in Trosworth, some said unfairly.
William took a couple steps back and looked us over. “A few questers came into the tavern from Chilwell this morning with word of your team’s formation. I can’t wait to post an over-under on Beeston’s first questing team. Betters for sure will be lined up at the moneychangers to drop gold on you all. But first things first, I’m sure you’re thirsty after that long ride, let me buy you all a round of drinks. I’ll need some information to get your team accredited, and up on the tote board.”
“A drink sounds wonderful,” I said.
William waved his hand in the direction of the moneychangers. A barmaid soon lined five cups of ale up on the small bar table in front of us.
“What information do you need from us William?” I asked.
“You might be surprised that I already know a lot about all of you,” he said. “You three are excellent fighters, and were the odds on favorites to win the Mondavi Scholarship. A lot of my patrons were very disappointed you didn’t win that, Raff.”
They weren’t the only ones.
William fluffed the fur atop his full-length cloak. “I’ve known Dread’s father Mack for a long time. He’s a legendary thief. I’m sure the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. And then there’s the thing I’m very pleased about. Meeting your belette Mustela is a real treat. She has given birth to some of the best sniffers ever. I’m positive she’ll do well for you in the Cave Maze. What I do need to know about is your map, and the obvious absence of a magic user on your team.”
“We’ll be going with the house map,” I said quickly. “And hiring a magic user is our first order of business here.”
“Ouch.” William cringed. “Having a good map is always a problem with virgin questing teams. The house map is tried, true, and free but it won’t take you anywhere gainful. There are much better maps available at the store, or even off the black-market.
“We will be good with the house map,” I said “That, along with all the information we’ve gathered from questers coming through our shop in Beeston will do just fine.”
William shrugged. “Well let me help you sum up the available magic users then. Have you had a chance to look over the board?”
I took a pull of my ale and focused on the bottom portion of the board, a familiar name jumped out at me. “Chawett Loinchop? I thought he was dead.”
“Oh I get it,” William said. “Chawett’s from Beeston just like you all. He’s not dead, and he’s quite available too.”
“I remember Chawett,” Chaz said. “He is a Questing University flunky. Judging from his position on the tote board he is a Cave Maze flunky too.”
“Well we know him,” Dread said. “He just may give us the Beeston family discount.”
“I’ll have my runner call on him.” William waved in the direction of the boards. “Putnum! Get Chawett! Tell him he has a job offer.”
William turned his attention back to us and lowered his voice. “I know he’s your friend, and from your hometown and all, but Chawett is at the bottom of the board for good reason. I know a few top thirty magic users that would be interested in joining your team, I could arrange interviews.”
“No need for that,” Chaz interrupted. “The magic users on your board are not within our budget. If Chawett does not work for a discount we will have to go off the board for our magic user. I’m going to ask around about his reputation, and the availability of off the board help.”
“Off the board, in the grave,” William said smugly. “That’s what they say. I’m not saying they’re all bad, but there’s usually a reason why they can’t make it up on my board.”
“Duly noted,” Chaz said. “And I’m sure you don’t get kickbacks from any of these recommended questers on the boards, do you? Like I said, I’m going to ask around.”
I downed the remainder of my ale in one flowing gulp. “Sounds good Chaz. You just do that.”
“I will.” Chaz spun around and headed into the crowd.
Now that he was gone, I focused full attention on William. He was our ticket in with potential magic users. We couldn’t risk this connection. “How l
ong before Chawett gets here?”
“Let’s give the man some time to get presentable,” William said. “I’ll have him meet you on the pub side in a while. One more question, are you the one I am going to be listing as team captain, Raff?”
“Yes, but I don’t want to be listed as Raff Jenkins. I want to change my last name.”
“That’s a bit unusual,” William said. “I guess we all got things to hide. What’s it going to be? Captain Raff what?”
CHAPTER 14
“Orcslaughter!” It took a full mule-ride and a head-scratch to think up that last name.
“Really Raff?” Dread said. “Orcslaughter?”
“I’m not going to let the Jenkins name do anything to bring this team down,” I said.
“Consider it done Mr. Orcslaughter,” William said.
I swallowed down my ale. “Thanks for the snort, William. We’re going next-door to the store, we’ll be back to rectify the magic user situation later.”
The provisions store had a small front with a door in the center, and two square windows at either side. Once in we found the building was narrow, extremely long, and cluttered with questing equipment. A jovial bald man approached. “Dread! Good to see you. I sure hope you’re here to sell me some more chest-busters. I’m willing to pay you three times the gold I paid for my last order.”
“Not this time Moe,” Dread said. “What I need is some huo-yao to make more chest-busters.”
“I may be able to help you with that,” Moe said. “I should have a couple of sacks on my shelf in the next few days. I’ll be selling them for three hundred and fifty gold coins each if you are interested.”
“Three fifty?” Dread gasps.
Moe went back behind the counter. “It’s a crazy high price right. The hags continue to drive it up that way, they’ll pay three hundred fifty gold all day long.”
“Why do they want it so bad?” Dread asked.
“The hags give the powder to Talhoffer. They will do anything for that man and his experiments. Huo-yao has become extremely hard to come by Dread, once these sacks are gone I don’t think I’ll see any more for a long time.”
“I got a deal for you Moe,” Dread said. “Hold one sack for me until I get back from this run in the Maze. Do that, and not only will I pay your asking price, but I’ll also give you first crack at buying the chest-busters we make from it.”
Moe moaned. “Can’t do it, not with huo-yao. Give me a fifty percent deposit. That’s what it is going to take for me to hold it for you.”
Dread set a sack on the counter. “We can put a third down. There’s one hundred and ten gold coins in here.”
It hurt me to see that sack in play. Besides what little I had in my pocket, that was all the gold we got.
Moe sat the sack on the tray of a balance scale and snapped his fingers. Three oversized golden grasshoppers jumped in the other tray. Moe watched them balance and nodded his head.
Tigress wiggled her finger near the grasshoppers. “Cute, they look like real gold.”
“They’re partially mechanical,” Moe said. “Possibly a Talhoffer creation. They’re also excellent moneychangers. If the weight of this gold was off, or the coins counterfeit, they would know.”
One of the grasshoppers went to the edge of the tray, looked up at Tigress and rubbed its hind leg. A melodic chirp filled the room.
“Stop flirting Gresham.” Moe swished his hand causing the grasshoppers to scatter. “I’m trying to conduct business here.” He eyeballed the sack. “This is okay Dread. Your price is locked in, but no refunds.”
“All good Moe,” Dread said. “What we need now is some supplies for this run.”
“I was told you’re part of a new questing team early today,” Moe said.
Dread dug into his hair and gave his head a hearty scratch. “Word gets around these parts fast. This is Tigress, Mustela, and my cousin Raff. We’re going in tomorrow morning.”
Moe looked at us and nodded. “I have some great potions in stock that could really help your team be a success in the Maze, guaranteed.” He pointed behind him to a row of clear glass bottles filled with colored liquids. “Drink this pink one and your spit will paralyze anything it touches for half a day. This black and tan potion will quadruple an archer’s aim and arm strength for a full day.”
Too bad all our gold sat in the sack on his scales.
Dread elbowed Tigress. “There you go girl, that black and tan one there. That’s exactly what you need.”
Tigress rolled her eyes. “What’s with those?” She pointed to the highest shelf behind Moe. “The bottles with moving pictures in the liquid. That sky blue one is beautiful.”
Moe smiled at the potions. “Those are potions of teleportation. They are very expensive but well worth it. Drink one, and you get transported to the place pictured live in the bottle. That blue one you’re looking at is extremely rare. It will take you all the way to the Ambleinter Cathedral in Rettingham. The priests at the cathedral are very good at curing spells cast by the undead. This is a great potion if you’re making a run in the northwest area of the Maze. Take a look at this one young lady, it’s very popular amongst questers, we have plenty, and I can make the price right for you.”
Moe handed Tigress a triangle shaped glass bottle. There was a large dark cave surrounded by waving trees pictured in the light green liquid. A group of questers could be seen entering the cave.
“That’s a live picture of the main entry cave to the Maze,” Moe said. “Drink this potion and you will be there instantly. No need to pay the elves for the privilege of using their toll road, or risk your life traveling the Trollebotten path.”
Tigress stared into the glass. “It’s amazing, where do you get these?”
Moe wiggled the potion from Tigress’ hand and placed it back on the shelf. “Most of them come in from questers. They find many unique and valuable things in that Maze. Then they sell them to me for gold or trade. I don’t ask questions.”
Tigress pointed toward a rooster in a square handled wooden cage. There were several of them, big and small. “Why do you sell these roosters, what do they have to do with questing?”
Moe picked up a crudely framed mirror from a stack at his counter. “I sell roosters for the same reason I sell these mirrors, you never know when you’ll run into a Rex.”
“What’s a Rex?” Tigress asked.
“Rex Goliath is the most vicious, and ill-tempered of all the cockatrice,” Moe said.
Tigress poked a seed coated stick into the rooster’s cage. “And what’s a cockatrice?”
“Cockatrice are not much unlike a rooster,” Moe said. “They have the head, torso and legs of a cock, but then it gets perverse. They have the tongue and tail of a serpent, and the wings of a bat. The creatures sparsely inhabit the Thorneywood Forest up and down the Trollebotten River, but wander here into Trosworth from time to time.”
He took our sack of gold off the scales and tucked it into his belt. “If you run into one beware, they have a poisonous bite, and their glance will turn you to stone. The people who live around here like to keep roosters as pets because their call means instant death to a cockatrice. Questers like to keep mirrors because they are a safe way to view a cock. Mirrors can also be used to deflect their glance back at them, turning them into stone. But you don’t have to worry about the cockatrice miss.”
Tigress pulled the now bare stick from the cage. “Why is that?”
“Because you have a fine looking sniffer on your shoulder. Sniffers are the passionate natural enemy of the cockatrice, they’re immune to their gaze and poisons. If a cock comes around, you’ll know by the reaction of your sniffer. She’ll go crazy with rage.”
Dread laid two torches and a flask of oil on the counter. “We won’t be needing any of your potions Moe. And thanks to Mustela here, we won’t need a rooster or mirrors. This is all for today.”
Moe walked us outside of his store. “You all need to watch yourselves in the Maze,
that thing is scorching hot right now. Take a look over there.”
Two bloodied men helped a shredded up man along the high road. Four others staggered behind them.
“No celebrating,” Moe said. “No flaunting of treasure. That team left town with a dozen men, they come back with…seven.”
“Where are they going?” Tigress asked.
Moe pulled a wadded betting slip from his pocket and tried his best to straighten it. “They’re headed to the church for healing. And to register their dead.”
Dread peeked at Moe’s slip. “Good thing you bet the under on them.”
Moe smiled and folded the slip into a neat, sharp square. “Yes, it is! The under has been a good friend of mine lately.”
A bit morbid, but that was how the Maze-game worked. Sometimes, a handful of deaths worked in one’s favor.
We walked back over to Lais Dijon Tavern. The tote board area was jam packed with excited patrons pushing and shoving each other to get in line at the moneychangers.
“What’s going on in the pit Dread?” I asked.
“That much commotion can only be created by one thing,” he said. “There must be a newly posted over-under. Judging by the amount of action being taken it’s probably Castillo’s team they’re betting on. We should get in on this—”
I held my arm up to block Dread’s way. “Hold up cousin. You know we’re not here for all that. We got a meeting on the other side.”
The pub area was standing room only. Team members, captains, and mercenaries jammed the place with boisterous questing conversation. Castillo Gabbiano and his team sat at one of the long tables having a gluttonous pre-quest meal.
“Team Beeston!” William said. “I got a private booth waiting for you all. Your friend Chawett is already there. Just go around the bar to the back, you’ll see him.”
Chawett stood to greet us from the booth. His clothes had holes in them, and he looked a lot heavier than before. He still wore the slumped cone hat that I remembered, only now it had a few ostrich feathers protruding from one side.
“Chawett.” I said. “Good to see you again—”
