"What are you planning to do with that Ick… Ikt… thing that they bought back?" Istvan asked warily. “If it ruins the land, why do we have it here?”
Soma beamed. "I had a brief look over it while supervising the defense of the wall, and I’m fairly certain we can reverse-engineer the magitech to turn this one into a shield generator. That would be marvelous - our mages wouldn’t have to stand out there in the open while shells are raining down on us.”
“Assuming a shell doesn’t hit it and the whole Fortress is driven mad with mana poisoning.” Istvan grunted, reaching for the wine jug. Vash shot him a piercing side-long look. The Captain cleared his throat and sat back, then jumped as Soma slammed his utensils down on the table.
"Are you compelled to shit on every tiny victory we have, Arshak?" He demanded. "Really? You have been nagging me for months that we have won nothing, and the day that we secure not one, not two, but three significant victories for the defense, you harp on me?"
Istvan tensed like a bird of prey about to launch itself forward. "Victories? For the problems that YOU caused! Who sent Vash out into the swamp alone? Who left the Western Wall undermanned, despite my orders to the garrison!? Who insults and demoralizes the Yanik scouts we need to discover Ik-tankos or whatever the fuck those devil machines are? Who, Soma?"
A tic started by Soma's eye. "And who is drinking himself to death, bad-mouthing my every word, sowing dissent and demoralizing the men? Did it occur to you that the staff on the Wall might have coped if they weren't made miserable by your backbiting gossip? Or by the way you overlooked the way those Meewfolk mercenaries undermined the discipline and health of the force? Their fleas spread disease, they gamble, they were all weak for drink-"
"But you did send me out to die in the swamp." Vash motioned to him with the end of his pipe. No one seemed to hear him.
"The Orphans are soldiers, not automatons! Of course they gamble and drink! They were also brave, and willing to die for Myszno despite the contempt we humans show for them, and they deserted because of YOU!" Istvan nearly shouted. "By Solnetsi’s platinum tits, have you ever accepted responsibility for anything in your entire life?"
"Guys!" I held up my hands. "Fucking cool it off!"
Istvan sunk down, his face a mask of loathing. Soma glared back at him. Karalti continued to shovel food in her face, watching the argument with the curious impartiality of an apex predator.
"Seriously. The Wall was nearly breached today. Put it behind you and focus on the present." Suri added. "Or you and everyone you care about are dead."
"I managed a university faculty. A workshop. I have personally overseen the testing of every airship ever sent out of Litvy with my family's craftmark on it." Soma's blue eyes hardened as he eased back down. "Every engine I ever built, every spell I wove, I tested myself. Those ships, the ones that saved your life and the lives of thousands of other people in Karhad, were built by my House. And before all of that, I vest my life into the research and magic and math that goes into those ‘automatons’. So the answer is yes, I can and do accept responsibility for my decisions. But a craftsman can only work with the materials he has, and if the materials are of poor quality, even the best blueprints will produce a bad product. Shit in, shit out."
Istvan threw his hands up. "And there you have it. Right there. Exactly what I was talking about. Going ahead and insulting-"
"Did I mention you?" The lord leaned forward in his seat, which groaned under his weight. "Did I say it was the people here? No. I did not. I mean materials. We need better weapons and magic, Arshak. Weapons capable of arming ten thousand against fifty thousand shambling corpses. We know they’re weak against fire and water. The cannons and mortars we have are all that’s standing between us and the dead, and we could be doing so much better if we had the blasted caravans from Boros. But where are those?"
The Captain sunk back down, exasperated. "I put the Starborn onto it."
I nodded. "The caravan issue is next on our bucket list, Soma. We're supposed to get the details from you."
"I am busy. My Weaponeer, Viktor, shall furnish you the details. You can find him in the munitions warehouse tonight and tomorrow morning," he replied crisply. "May I offer the lady some more to eat?"
Karalti perked up. She had finished her plate and had been eyeing Istvan's, which was almost untouched. "Yeah! Uhh... I mean, thank you."
Soma glanced at me, then delicately picked up and placed the other half of the chicken he'd been eating onto Karalti's dish. I shifted, suddenly restless, but Suri squeezed my hand and I forced myself to ease back down.
“We need to conscript,” Istvan spoke while the Lord was occupied. “Word is spreading beyond the Fort that we have a dragon, three Starborn, and the Iron Monk on our side. I ordered the singers to go to villages to the north-west and start telling the stories. Soon, every young man and half the women will be primed to fight. We need every one of them.”
“And how do you propose we feed them all?” Soma retorted after sitting back. “Swamp-weed stew?”
Istvan glared at him. “If we must. You need living bodies to fire those witch-fire weapons you place so much faith in.”
“Good gods, man. My House is ready to ride forth from Litvy with weapons, soldiers, the caravans and airships... as soon as we know we’re not going to be blown out of the sky over the bloody Pass!” Soma finally raised his voice.
“Look, guys, you can have both,” I said. “You need the militia, if for nothing else than logistics. But the bigger problem is that there is no fucking strategy here. None. Nada. The Demon’s main force is, what, seven hundred miles away? Assuming they’re working around the clock, we have ten to fourteen days to prepare. Where are the earthworks? Why aren’t we skirmishing them out in the swamp, reducing their numbers? Digging out Ix’tamos and cutting off their supply train? What the fuck is going on?”
The Count and the Captain glared at each other. Then they glared at me.
[Leadership check failed. You have insufficient Renown.]
“Desperation is what’s going on,” Vash said. “Desperation and fear. I can help with the fear, if you would let me minister-”
“Absolutely out of the question,” Soma snapped. “Not only would you be pressing your pagan religion on the men, but we saw what became of you and your last batch of disciples on what was supposed to be a very straightforward scouting mission.”
The temperature in the room dropped several degrees. Karalti looked between the pair of men like a fan at a tennis match.
Vash drew on his pipe. “Straightforward indeed. Your coordinates were very precise, my lord. Almost like you knew we would arrive there to find a small army of the dead and the Grand Old Cunt Swamphag.”
Soma’s broad shoulders lifted in a brief shrug. “I knew no such thing. I suspected you would find an Ix’tamo. I researched them back at the college, many years ago, and the degradation of the land jogged my memory. That was the goal all along, for reasons I have already explained.”
“You know, if this was about anything else, I’d actually believe you. You can barely organize your robes on the privy without taking a shit on them, and it’s exactly the kind of ridiculous coincidence that only a true idiot could engineer.” Vash exhaled a plume of smoke. “But this is your ego we’re talking about. You’re always clever when that’s at stake.”
The lord’s tone soured. “By the gods, Dorha – you’re as thick as a rock. You don’t have a choice in your position here, do you understand? I gave you that mission as a way for you and your rabble to make an honorable exit.”
“So you sent him out to die?” Istvan’s face turned a dark purplish color as he boiled up from his seat. “Are you mad? And so brazen that you’d state this before witnesses?”
“Hold your tongue. I’ve had a gutful of you too, you insubordinate dog.” Soma also stood. He had at least a foot of height and a hundred pounds of muscle on every other man at the table. “As for you, Dorha. Next time, I’ll send you stra
ight to the gallows for inciting mutiny. Does that suit you better?”
The tall, wiry monk held Soma’s cold blue gaze with his own intense gray one. “Go ahead, you self-stroking peacock. The noose will reject my neck, and every soldier in this fort will turn on you. Maybe you will remember your humanity as they lynch you on the gallows. You may not know the names of the men you sent to die, but they do.”
Even Suri’s eyebrows arched.
The lord flashed Vash a barely concealed look of disgust. “They were pagans who worshiped the Black God, like you do. If you got your cultists killed, that is your fault. Now you will be dismissed in front of the general assembly tomorrow and made to leave in disgrace.”
“Look. No. Just no.” I stepped up now. “No one is being sent out in disgrace, not unless you want a mass desertion.”
“Do not speak for me, Oathbreaker.” Vash rounded on me like a cobra, complete with spit.
“Oathbreaker?” Istvan and Soma said at the same time.
I shot Vash a dark look.
“Did I address you? No, I did not. This is a Tuun matter." Vash snapped at Soma.
"I am the Commander of this garrison, and anything that affects the cohesion of the defense is a matter I am entitled to know about." Soma's eyes narrowed to thin blue slits. "Dragozin will furnish me with the details. Get out of my sight."
"My absolute pleasure. I will see you later tonight, Istvan." Vash rose, swept into an exaggerated bow, then stepped back into the shadow cast by the flickering candles and disappeared.
Slowly, I got to my feet. Rin, Suri and Karalti followed suit.
"Where do you think you're going?" Soma demanded. "I order you to tell me what this 'oathbreaker' business about?"
"It is a Tuun matter. From one peer to another, that matter is none of your fucking business." Something black and hard rose in me and bled out in my voice, turning every word into a cutting stroke that lay on the room like a whip. "We have quests to do. You two can go right ahead and keep jerking each other off."
The women rose from their seats and headed for the door as I did.
“You do not get to lecture me, you savage,” Soma called. “I’m to address the men tomorrow morning, and I will not-”
I turned back to look at him, and whatever he saw in my eyes caused the smug smile to freeze on his lips.
“Go right the fuck ahead.” I said. “We’re going out there to help the people of the garrison, and if you don’t like it, you can blow me.”
Chapter 26
The four of us split outside the door to the Officer’s Mess. Rin went off to the Hangar and the Gunsmith, Suri had to go to her training. Karalti lingered as I kissed Suri goodbye, glowering quietly from the side.
“Want to come to the hospital with me?” I asked her once Suri had left.
“No.” Her violet eyes were the sullen, dark purple of an approaching stormfront. “I need to fly and think. I don’t wanna talk to you for a while.”
“Karalti? Are you okay?” I took a step toward her, but she brushed me off when I reached to embrace her. Her hand was gentle, but she could have belted me across the face with all her strength, and it wouldn’t have been as painful and confusing.
“Uhh…” I hung back, unsure of what to do. “Did I do something wrong?”
Karalti’s face darted up. She stared at me for a long few moments, her lovely face as still as carved marble. After a heavy pause, her throat worked just before she looked away.
“No. Like I said. I need to think,” she replied. “I need privacy. I’m going to… go somewhere for a while. By myself.”
“Was it Suri?” Every nerve in my body was screaming for me to resolve this, comfort her, chase her as she tried to pull away. She had never pulled away from me before. Just then, I realized something – I couldn’t sense how she was feeling. Not in the way I was used to, when her emotions beat against my mind like radiant heat.
“Yes. And I will deal with it as I please.” Karalti glared up at me with eyes like chips of violet obsidian. In human form, the supernatural gravity of Karalti’s charisma, her presence, was not lessened. At a glance, maybe – but my lizard brain still knew that I was staring down the barrel at a predator who could burst out of her human suit and turn into a monster the size of a train carriage. “I’ll see you later. Okay?”
“Okay?” I echoed the question, too stunned to say anything more convincing. Every other time that she had lost her shit over Suri, it had been a flamboyant temper-tantrum of some kind or another. She had never withdrawn before. “Are you… are you angry at me, or…?”
“No. I’ll… I’ll be back later.” Karalti drew a deep breath just before she marched off down the corridor. As she left, I felt a piece of myself leave with her. She had never once insisted on privacy before. Not from me.
I was still brooding by the time I marched into the Fort Hospital and asked after Lazar. The Chief Medic was in the hospital's pharmacy, brewing and blending with what few herbs and regents he had left. I coughed to get his attention, and when he turned, his eyes widened.
"Your Grace! You’re back! Forgive me... one moment." Agitated, he pulled off his gloves and mask and bustled over. Before I had a chance to react, he seized my hands in his and kissed me on both cheeks like a Russian grandma. I fought the urge to lean away.
"Lord Dragozin, I cannot thank you enough!" His eyes brimmed with emotion as he dropped my hands and clapped me on the arms instead. "You and your comrades bought Vash Dorha back to us, you saved untold lives at the Wall... the stories of you and your dragon's battle with the undead has been flying around the hospital since the injured were carried in. A reanimated Brontosaurus, the noblest of the sauropods and the symbol of the House of Bolza... can you imagine the effect that a successful attack would have had on the soldiers?"
"I..." I hadn't thought of it that way, but now he mentioned it, that was true. The Demon wouldn't have just broken through the Line - he'd have mindfucked the entire garrison. "No worries.”
“Gods, I didn’t even offer you something to drink.” The doctor began to look around frantically. "We have nothing to offer you, unless you need potions. Not even wine. My apologies, I will call-"
"Chill, man - it's fine." I held up my hands in surrender. "I have your herbs, and something even better.”
Lazar stopped flitting around and turned to me. "Better than medicines, or better than wine?"
"Both. I'll send you a transfer request. Hang on..."
I opened a transfer, and when he accepted, loaded the herbs for the sidequest from my Inventory to his, along with my share of the gold coins we’d liberated from the Swamp Hag Broodmother. “There: six hundred and twenty-five smackeroos. Should be pure enough for you to make Colloidal Gold.”
"By the Nine. This is... this is..." Lazar swallowed. "This is a gift of unparalleled generosity. I am touched, truly, and thank you a thousand times, my lord. I am forever at your service.”
[Congratulations! You have gained 340 EXP!]
[You have gained 34 Skill EXP (Herbalism)]
[You have gained 75 renown!]
[Your fame is growing! New Quests are available!]
[You have unlocked a new Hero: Lazar Skaliz (Rank B+ Alchemist - Myszno Defense Force)]
[Congratulations: You have unlocked your first recruitable hero! Would you like to learn how to manage heroes?]
Not right now, I thought back. To Lazar, I said: "There is something you could do, if you have time. I used my last Aqua Regia a couple of days ago. If you know how to make Hydrochloric Acid and Nitric Acid, can you teach me?"
"But of course!" Lazar drew himself up tall and pushed his glasses back from where they’d slipped. "Come with me - I have all the ingredients we require. In fact, Nitric Acid starts with these mushrooms and a solution of brine water..."
For at least an hour, Lazar taught me some elements of chemistry in a way no other teacher had ever successfully managed to: because he knew what it was like to not be able to read.
<
br /> "I struggled terribly with books and reading." He watched on as I attached a generator flask to a collection bulb and a flask of iced water. "The Skaliz name is well-respected, but by the time I was born, my House was too poor to afford me a tutor. I learned all the basics of healing from my father the way he had learned it, through memorizing by speech... and so I learned to read and write at the University. Can you imagine: a boy who can barely spell his own name, learning to read anatomical textbooks and herbals!"
“I know exactly how that feels." I added water to the flask, then a mixed flask of sodium bisulphate - created by mixing powdered salt into [Oil of Vitriol] - and more plain salt. "Now I turn the heat on, right?"
"Correct." He nodded.
I did so, then took a step back to watch as the assorted powders melted into the water. The solution dissolved quickly, turning yellow. Gas flowed through the tubes, white and wispy, passed through the collector and funneled into the beaker of bubbling water. "So that's turning into acid now?"
"Yes. Wait for it." Lazar stood by my shoulder, a small smile playing over his lips.
After a few more seconds of bubbling and popping, the entire contents of the beaker were suddenly and dramatically sucked up out of its tubes and into the collector with an audible shhhloop.
"Shit!" I jumped back like a cat. The doctor laughed uproariously.
[You have learned a new recipe: Hydrochloric Acid!]
"Fun, isn't it?" He beamed.
"Hell yeah. Not as fun as flying, but this is pretty great." I picked up the collector full of acid, and let my HUD focus on it. Sure enough, I got one of Archemi's somewhat surreal item identifiers: "Hydrochloric Acid: It's all fun and games until someone forgets the baking soda and perforates their colon!”
"You can also extract Hydrochloric Acid from the stomachs of Stingcrabs with a collector," Lazar said. "Not as fun as this, but given that you are an adventurer, you may find it easier to obtain the acid this way. You simply need a Collector and a vacuum flask."
Archemi Online Chronicles Boxset Page 103
