by Pirateaba
“Miss Selys. I am pleased to see you here.”
“I’m not.”
Selys glared at Pisces. The [Necromancer] returned her look blandly as he licked his fingers noisily.
“Why are you here? This isn’t your affair.”
“No? Well, I may not be a citizen it is true, but I was in need of entertainment.”
“And you think this is entertaining?”
“Vastly. The incompetence of your Watch only matches the amusement of watching fools reap their just dues.”
Pisces nodded at the girl and chuckled. Even the other Drakes around him gave him looks of disgust and moved away, leaving Selys and Pisces together in an opening in the crowd.
“Incompetent? The Watch might not have found her, but she had magical artifacts that hid her—”
“Oh, I’m sure. What I was referring to was not that, but the speed with which they have expedited her sham of a trial and condemned her to death.”
Pisces nodded at the Captain of the Watch, Zevarra, as she stood with Klbkch, Relc, and the other Senior Guardsmen. The Drake was watching with a scowl as Tkrn moved the girl further from the gates.
“Drake and Gnolls do not care about Humans—your people have in arrogance and panic forgotten to ask the most pressing questions.”
“Such as?”
“Oh, the most basic of questions. Why is this girl here? Who are her people? She is clearly the runaway of some noble house or lineage—why not keep her for ransom or at least contact other cities by mage spell?”
That was what Selys had been thinking, but she would never have admitted it to the condescending mage.
“We want her out of the city. The Gnolls want her dead, and this is the best compromise. Besides, Liscor doesn’t deal with Humans.”
“How memory fades. I recall just a few decades ago this place was a hub of trade between cultures. But ever since that unpleasantness during the Necromancer’s attack…ah, well, at least everyone is happy. Except for you, I note.”
Pisces peered at Selys and she leaned away from him, frowning. But he was right. And in lieu of anyone else to talk to, Selys reluctantly confessed her opinion. She lowered her voice, although she and Pisces had plenty of space.
“I’m all for punishment. But this—”
Selys waved at the girl, who was trying to fight her way past Tkrn into the city. She was desperate, but the Gnoll was unmoving. He kept shoving her back into the snow.
“—This is murder.”
“It isn’t murder if it’s a Human. I believe one of your friendly fellow citizens told me that.”
Selys had a pretty good idea of who. Lism had not been quiet after the attacks, and worse, no one was telling him to shut up. She sniffed and twitched her tail in irritation.
“Not everyone hates Humans. And she’s just a child.”
Selys squinted at the girl as she gave up and just knelt in the snow, sobbing.
“Isn’t she?”
“She’s quite young. That’s good. If she dies it will be less trouble to reanimate her.”
Selys turned her head to gape at Pisces in horror. But that was right—he was a [Necromancer]. The mage looked offended and spread his arms wide.
“What? I’m on your side here. The girl gets punished, everyone’s happy, and I get a free body.”
The Drake edged away from him.
“You’re a monster.”
“I practice my craft without harm. I don’t disturb your graves.”
“Because you’d be killed in a second if you did. I’m surprised the Watch let you in the city! You have a criminal record. You were a thief—you went to villages and scared folks into giving you food and coin!”
“I repaid my debts.”
“Only because Relc made you.”
“I paid three times what I took. In the eyes of the law, my debt is settled.”
That was sadly true. As an apolitical city of commerce, Liscor’s laws meant that someone who had committed a lesser crime could pay off their fine and wipe their slate clean. It didn’t apply for murderers and so on obviously, and the fines were harsh, but it was a testament to that law that even a [Necromancer] with a personality like Pisces could walk through the gates.
“It appears our little show is at an end in either way.”
Pisces pointed, and Selys saw the girl had given up. She was slowly trying to make her way north, through the snow. She kept stumbling and falling into the frozen ice, though, and she was still crying.
“She’s going to die.”
“Yes. Quite soon, I believe. Incidentally, I wanted to talk to you about entering the Adventurer’s Guild in the city. Do you have a moment?”
Pisces turned from the struggling girl to look at Selys. The crowd was beginning to disperse, but the Gnolls and many Drakes were still watching the girl slowly disappear into the distance.
“What? You? Entering the guild? You have to be joking.”
Selys stared at Pisces incredulously, but he only smiled enigmatically.
“I have my reasons. Being short of coin for one thing, but combat—and the opportunity to acquire fresh corpses is another.”
“Well, good luck. But I’m off duty. Go bother the receptionist at the desk and good luck, because we don’t have to admit you.”
“I know. That is why I’ve come to you.”
Selys laughed.
“If you think I’ll help you because you know Erin—”
She broke off, and hesitated. Her head turned, and she stared at the Human girl. She’d fallen in the snow again, and this time she hadn’t gotten up.
“Erin.”
“Yes, I know Erin. And I provide important services to her, such as the skeleton who assists her in her work. I am an asset, a valuable one you will make full use of if you know—”
Selys raised one clawed finger. She stared hard at Pisces. Now that she looked at him, the mage appeared different to her. He was still the same arrogant jerk he’d always been—he still looked like he was sneering at everyone and everything—but he looked different.
Ceria had helped him buy new robes, but they weren’t good ones. They were thick wool, and already slightly stained. They hung loosely on his frame, and Selys thought Pisces had lost weight. He had always been thin, but now his cheekbones stood out more. And come to think of it, every time Selys had been at the inn recently Pisces had been there. Erin usually only gave him one meal a day, even if it was a big one…
Selys looked back at the girl and made up her mind. She nodded to the girl who’d managed to get to her feet and lowered her voice even further.
“Help her, and I’ll figure something out.”
Pisces frowned at the girl, but didn’t react in any other way. His voice was equally quiet, and he put an annoyed look on his face and brushed at his hair as if offended.
“Help her? Why should I? And how, pray tell?”
“Tell Erin. She can help. If she decides to, I mean.”
“She most eminently will. Very well. Curious. I suppose I could deliver a message. And if I will, you will approve my request?”
“Consider yourself a Bronze-rank adventurer. But you can’t go now. Everyone’s watching and they’ll know I spoke to you!”
Pisces smirked at Selys.
“Please. I am a mage, am I not? I will go back into the city, hounding you about my request, and then cast the spell as soon as you slam the door to the Adventurer’s Guild in my face.”
Selys blinked at Pisces.
“You’ve got that planned out?”
“Any neophyte from Wistram is well versed in the subtleties of politics and subterfuge. If you would raise your voice and call me several names? I could suggest a few.”
Selys nodded. She was no [Actor], but insulting Pisces was easy. She looked back one last time at the girl, now a speck in the distance, cresting a hill. She was a thief, but she was not evil. And maybe she didn’t deserve the die. Selys had given her a chance. A slight one, but a chance.
She hoped that she wouldn’t regret her choice. Or Erin hers.
—-
It was done. Krshia watched as the thief left the city and felt not a thing. The other Gnolls around her muttered as the girl finally disappeared from the hilltop, but none went to follow her. The Watch’s presence here was as much to exile the girl as to make sure she died from the winter’s cold, rather than at a Gnoll’s hand.
It was a sensible decision, and Krshia applauded them for it. She bore Zevara no ill will, although the Drake clearly did not feel the same way. The Watch Captain kept staring at Krshia, possibly looking for signs of anger. But Krshia felt none.
She was hollow. And the girl thief’s fate mattered little to Krshia in any case. She knew the rest of the Gnolls in the city did not feel the same way; Tkrn had offered to cut her down even though it would mean his job, but Krshia had forbidden any action.
The thief was punished, and her few magical items taken away. She would die in the frozen wilderness, or she might live if she met a caravan or traveler on the road. But so what?
The damage was already done.
Slowly, the Gnoll looked down at the small thing in her hands. All else was ash; and this was the only hint of what had been.
Her heart felt like that ash. It was blackened by grief and beat too faintly in her chest. She had lost everything. The Gnolls in the city from her tribe had lost everything. It was all gone.
One of those Gnolls, a tall [Butcher] named Dreshhi growled low as the thief finally disappeared from sight. He had been one of those who wanted to kill the girl—and then chop her into bits and eat her. He was still furious, both at the Human child and at the city itself.
“Hr. And this is what passes for justice here? She has taken much, yes? Much from all of us, but you especially. And the city merely exiles her and does not repay you. If you had been a Drake—”
Krshia sighed. Best to cut him off. Dreshhi was a good person, but his words were too loud, and she knew many of the young ones in the crowd around her shared his opinion.
“It matters not. What we have lost would not have been replaced in any case. The girl will die either way.”
“Even so—”
Krshia did not want another debate, especially where there were ears which might listen. She cut Dreshhi off again; an offence, but acceptable given her loss.
“The bonds we have built here are more important than vengeance, yes? The goodwill we have won is all we have left.”
“Goodwill will not sway hearts or minds among the others, Krshia.”
That was true, and Krshia felt the weight of it pressing down on her. She sighed.
“Yes. We will have to discuss this. But for now, let us go, yes?”
The Gnolls hesitated, but Krshia had rank, or more accurately, worth. Worth was what governed Gnolls; seniority or power were lesser concerns for them. And until yesterday, Krshia had been most worthy of them by far.
Worth. She still had some of it, still had the debts of old to call upon and the goodwill fostered within this city. But old worth grew stale quickly, like meat. Now that Krshia had lost her shop, what worth could she have?
She could rebuild. Krshia had the coin, but she didn’t have the time. Even if her shop got up and running again, all that she had worked for was already lost.
Dreshhi knew it as well. The Gnoll spoke to Krshia as the Gnolls loped back through the city streets in a pack.
“We must hurry. The tribes already begin to move. If we have nothing to bring to the gathering, our voices will be lost.”
Another truth. But Krshia saw no good answer to the problem before them. They had had something worthy of bringing, something that would have made their clan great. All the clans brought things to share for all Gnollkind, and thus grew in worth and made their voices louder. But the Silverfang Tribe’s hopes had burned with Krshia’s stall.
“We have nothing.”
“We can try again. We have the coin—”
“Not for this. Not for more than one or two trifles. No, it is Erin we must rely on, I think.”
Dreshhi fell silent. That was not a comforting thought, but it was all Krshia could think to give. Erin Solstice. Upon her shoulders, all of Krshia’s hopes now lay.
At first, helping Erin had been such a small thing. An act of charity and aid to a Human who was worthy of both. But now—now she was all Krshia had left. All else was ash.
Krshia stared down at the thing in her paws. A fragment; that was all she’d salvaged. She crumpled the fragment of the spell book and let it fall to the ground.
Who would have known? And even if there had been a fire, non-magical flames would not have damaged the rare collection of books hidden in the back of her stall. Twenty three books; the sum of the efforts of the Silverfang Tribe over these long years.
All gone in an instant. Krshia still remembered the fireball, still remembered throwing herself out of the way just in time. Would that she had leapt towards the burning orb, intercepted the blast.
But how could she have known the spell was that powerful? It had been so secret, the books. They were safe there, with a Gnoll to quietly watch the market each night. Safer than Krshia’s home, which had been broken into twice by petty thieves.
A small mistake, but one that had cost everything. Krshia closed her eyes. She was still most worthy, and thus, on her back fell all the responsibility for the Gnolls she had led to this city. It was heavy, and she was tired.
“I must talk to Erin, perhaps tomorrow. For now, I will go and rest.”
The other Gnolls were instantly solicitous. They offered to walk Krshia back, but she refused. She moved through the streets slowly, nodding as Drakes offered her condolences, slowly ascending the steps to her small home.
Inside, Krshia slowly sank into one of the sturdy chairs she had bought with the first coins she had earned in this city, years ago. It felt like another life. And she had worked so hard, succeeding against all odds—!
This gathering would have been the one to make her Tribe famous. It would have improved all Gnolls, given them the power to cast magic spells. Their young would have prospered. But now—?
What would she tell her sister, the Chieftain? How would she face the others after her bold words and all that they had given her to undertake this grand quest?
Gnolls did not weep. At least, they didn’t weep pointlessly. Krshia had shed all of her tears already; now she only had sadness, pooling in her breast. Sadness, and only the faintest breath of hope.
She needed Erin. The girl had to have something from her world Krshia could use. Something worthy. Something that could make the Gnolls…
The Gnoll leaned back in her chair, and closed her eyes. The trouble was, she knew Erin. The girl was good-hearted, brave, and kind. But that she had something in her head worth a fortune? Krshia tried to imagine another world of metal ‘cars’ and the things Erin spoke of. But how different could it be if the girl was just like other humans? Did she know of a different kind of sword—a new forging process, perhaps?
Somehow, Krshia just couldn’t imagine that.
—-
“I see. And the girl will die soon?”
“To the best of my knowledge, yes, my Queen. She has no allies within the city, and the outside temperatures will freeze her without adequate protection.”
Ksmvr stood in front of his Queen and wracked his brains, trying to find something, anything, to add to his report. It was just a simply answer to the question put to him, but he knew it wasn’t right.
His Queen, the Queen of the Free Antinium within Liscor, sat before him, a massive creature hidden in the darkness of the massive cavern underneath Liscor. She was his Queen, his ruler and sole reason for living. And he knew he wasn’t good enough to serve her.
Ksmvr was the Prognugator of the Antinium, but he was new. He was inexperienced, and worse, attempting to fill a position that had once been occupied by Klbkch. The older, newly instated Revalantor was famous among the An
tinium, if that word could be applied to any one being in the Hives.
Above him, Ksmvr’s Queen sighed, and shifted ponderously. He had no idea if that was a good thing or a bad one. His Queen was too large to move, but did her movement signify impatience, or simply a desire to stretch her limbs?
“I see. And the Gnolls? Will they attack?”
“I believe not, my Queen. They will be satisfied with the Human’s death, and Krshia Silverfang has ordered no reprisals to be made.”
Another simple answer. But Ksmvr was sure Klbkch could have answered better. With more details perhaps, or some insight? But it would not do bother his Queen or offer unsolicited opinions.
Again, the Queen shifted. One large feeler waved towards the surface.
“This thief has cost them much.”
“Yes. They have lost the magical tomes stored in Krshia Silverfang’s shop, although I believe her reserves of coin are still hidden in her home.”
“Even so, a grievous loss. Perhaps unwelcome.”
Unwelcome? Ksmvr had no idea the Gnolls in the city were of interest to his Queen, but then, she played a far deeper game than he could imagine. If only Klbkch could advise him—! But Ksmvr was in disgrace with both his Queen and the other Antinium.
At last, his Queen shook her massive head.
“It may be this loss matters. Or not. Local Gnoll politics do not interest me. We will hear when these tribes gather to discuss later. To more important matters. The Workers.”
Ksmvr tried to stand up straighter. He was already standing at attention, but he knew this was the most important reason why he had been summoned.
“Yes, my Queen. We have begun testing the Workers as was suggested by the Individual known as Pawn. He and Bird—”
Ksmvr stumbled slightly over the names. They weren’t Antinium names, and what was worse, they had been chosen by the Workers themselves! It was as if they considered themselves to be the equals of Queens. And yet, these Individuals were desired by his Queen, for reasons Ksmvr did not understand.
“—They brought the Workers who had visited the inn together and attempted to recreate the conditions for reaching individuality.”
