by Deck Davis
He woke Jakub up by splashing him with water. “Up and dressed,” he said. “We leave in an hour.”
Jakub was glad to be given the order because he felt like he might never leave Sanzance otherwise. He dressed in a new shirt, trousers, and a pair of leather gloves he’d bought from Sanzance market, gathered his things, and then stepped out of his alcove and looked at the town, wishing he could have just one more night to sit under the stars with a cold ale.
After giving his thanks to the Sanzancers who’d shown him hospitality he walked to the edges of town where York and the mules waited. He’d almost reached him when he heard a voice.
“Jakub.”
It was Helena. Like the rest of the caravaners, she’d gladly accepted clothes from some of the Sanzancers, she now wore a dress laced to let more of the eastern sea breeze soothe her skin. Her waist, just above her right hip, bulged a little from the bandages she had on.
Jakub held his hand up to York to acknowledge him and tell him he wouldn’t be long, and the hunter nodded.
Approaching Helena, he didn’t know what to say, He’d thought about it a lot, and he knew why she had barely spoken to him since leaving the slaver camp.
“When I cast myself into his body,” he began, “I didn’t know it was Gunar. I was too far away to see, and it was dark. I just saw…”
“You just saw a body, and saw a way to use it. Because it’s your nature, it’s everything you’ve learned to be for years. I was pissed with you, but that was mostly because being pissed was easier than getting upset about Gunar. I was thinking about it. I could no more be angry at you using necromancy than be angry at a lusk hunting for meat.”
“Not the most heat warming comparison.”
“If you hadn’t…used…Gunar like that, chances are we’d all be dead. And Gunar was already gone, so what was his body? Just flesh with the life gone from it.”
“You don’t believe that,” said Jakub.
“No, but I’m trying to. Because I like you, Jakub. You were good to Beate, and you came back for us when it would have been easier to try and ride your way out of Toil. Every single person owes you a debt.”
She took hold of string around her neck and she lifted it over her head, and there was a coin purse attached to the end.
“The slavers didn’t take that from you?” said Jakub.
“They took everything. I got this from the Sanzancers. You know the slavers who stowed away on the wagon with us? Turns out every one of those slaver bastards had a gold bounty on their head, dead or alive. The Sanzancers have been trying to stop slavery or years. We brought three of them in, so we get the bounty.”
“What about the undead?” said Jakub.
“They’re yours. Your bounty.”
Sensing a way to start balancing his corruption, Jakub shook his head. “You’ve got families to feed, funerals to arrange. Some of these kids are alone now. I don’t want to see a single coin of that gold.”
Helen nodded. “Thank you.”
“Where are you going to go?” he asked.
“Gunar always wanted to see the Peppen isles. I thought I might take a ship. See some of the queendom.”
“York’s going that way eventually. His son just moved there.”
“He’s a nice guy. Reminds me of my grandpa. But it’ll just be me and Beate for a while. I need some time away from people.”
“I know the feeling. Knew the feeling, at least. This is it, then. Take care, Helena.”
He was just going to leave when Helena grabbed him and hugged him tight enough that it was a struggle to breathe. Jakub had always been aware of his deficiency in that vital social skill called hugging, so he tried his best now, glad that his new gloves blocked his Wilting Touch power.
When they finally separated, he joined York and the mules. York struggled onto his saddle, while Jakub climbed onto his. The mule was a deep chestnut brown with a calm temperament that reminded him of poor old Albin.
Jakub checked his soul necklace and saw how full it was, and decided that after all the hell he’d been through maybe he could treat himself.
After he spoke a spellword under his breath, a circular portal of light opened on the ground.
It wasn’t long before a familiar four-legged friend leaped out of it, mouth open, eyes wild.
“Jakub!” cried a voice.
York flinched at the sight of Ludwig, and Jakub supposed it was natural for a hunter to get tense in the presence of a lion-like demon. He patted York’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry. He’s a friend. He’s going to travel with us for a little while; I owe him that.”
“It’s been years, Jakub,” said Ludwig. “Decades, maybe. You look so much older. You look…”
Jakub felt himself smile as Ludwig verbally assaulted his appearance. A flicker of sadness spread in him because he knew that this time, Ludwig was right about how much he had changed. His corruption saw to that.
But Ludwig wouldn’t care, the only thing he ever cared about was seeing Jakub and knowing he was okay, and so he just enjoyed his friend’s excitement and concern, and he closed his eyes and listened to his voice.
“Better go,” said York, breaking the spell.
York gave his mule a tap and Jakub did likewise, and necromancer and hunter rode away from Sanzance, making sure to keep Sun Toil way, way on their west side. Far enough away that they couldn’t stay into it, but close enough that the desert couldn’t creep up on them.
“Let’s get these mules on a gallop,” said York, looking and sounding years younger. “First to see the Rampant Lion tavern wins five gold.”
The End
Note from Deck:
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