“Right,” the other twin said, his words a little slurred. “So we have twice the chance of winning.”
Nathan snatched the stein from his brother. “No more drinking for you. We need to sober up before the fight.”
After frowning at the lost mug, Richard sighed. “I’ll get us some water, then?”
We nodded, and the squire ventured over to the bar.
“I have some things I want to sort out beforehand. I’ll meet you in the battle room,” I said to Neville and Nathan as I stood. Before I took more than a few steps, I turned back to the squires. “I almost forgot to thank you guys for offering to fight with me. At least now I might stand a chance.”
Neville dismissed me with a wave. “It’s not a problem. You did save our ship after all.”
“I wasn’t alone,” I said.
Every single crew member worked their asses off to defend the Stalwart, and I’d only completed the rune which destroyed the enemy vessel because Casey had primed the prot-field cannon.
Now, I needed to make sure she was doing okay.
I left the galley and headed for the enchantry at the end of the passageway on Deck 2. When the doors opened, I stepped into the workshop, and Joseph Roman glanced up from the semi-circular bench. Sparks flew from the Dust-drill in his hands, and the tool powered off as I made my way over to him.
The enchanter lifted his goggles to sneer at me before fixing them back over his eyes. “Bugger off,” he said as the drill buzzed again. “She doesn’t want to see you.”
Joseph was working on King Justinian’s gloves, carefully tracing over the runes with a fine-toothed tool. I figured the enchanters had gathered the required Arcane Dust to repair the rune, and I wondered again why the captain was so intent on collecting the late king’s armor pieces.
My thoughts were discarded when I heard a groan from the back room. Casey stumbled through the doorway, and my eyes focused on the metal brace wrapped around her leg. Massive screws extended from the device, and I winced at thinking how much pain she must be in. The enchantress held crutches underneath her arms, but she smiled when she saw me.
I made a move to help the injured woman, but Joseph snarled at me and I stopped in my tracks.
“Don’t you dare,” the old enchanter said. “You’re the reason why she’s injured in the first place.”
He threw his drill onto the workbench with a clang and helped Casey sit on a stool. The enchantress laid a placating hand on her grandfather’s chest.
“It’s alright Grandpa Jo,” she said. “I can handle myself. Mind giving me a few minutes alone with Nick?”
The old enchanter hugged Casey’s head to his chest and kissed her bright red hair. Then he gave me one last scowl before storming out of the workshop.
Casey winced as she reached down to massage her leg. Her fingers pried at the bolts along the side of her brace, but she seemed unable to loosen them sufficiently. I knelt in front of her and tweaked the bolts she indicated.
“Ugh . . . this thing hurts like hell,” she said as she leaned back. Sweat patches marked her white singlet, and I wondered the extent of pain she was in.
“Can’t you take some of those painkillers you tried to give me?” I asked.
“We’re all out,” Casey said with a sigh.
“Can we get some more? Surely there’s a station somewhere along the way to Ecoma.”
The enchantress shook her head. “Not really. The captain doesn’t want anyone knowing where the Stalwart has gone, and he’s in a rush to get to our destination.”
“It’s not safe traveling without sufficient medicine,” I said. Even though I was happy to be a member of the ship now, I still didn’t like the flippancy of its operations.
“You worry too much, Nick.” Casey laughed, grimaced a little, and coughed. “I’ll be fine. There are some stronger painkillers I can take, but they dull my mind. I need to be sharp so I can keep working on those gauntlets.” She gestured toward the items.
I followed her pale and slender fingers and looked at the late king’s burnished gold items, but I didn’t allow myself to ponder their mystery for too long. The captain had promised I would know more in time, and I didn’t want to risk his good graces by prying.
“Dr. Lenkov’s going to pick up some medical supplies on Ecoma,” Casey said. “I can endure until then.”
“Maybe I can have a word with the doctor about getting you something. Surely she has some emergency supplies,” I said. The sight of the beautiful enchantress in so much agony disturbed me. “Dr. Lenkov seems to like me.”
Casey arched an eyebrow. “Is that so?”
“Ha, yeah.” I smiled awkwardly after I realized how the red-haired woman might have taken my words.
“Well, sucking up to her won’t do me any good. Even if she really, really likes you. The list for our ship’s regeneration chamber is a mile long. Almost everyone has an injury of some sort. Mine is bad, but there are half a dozen crew members whose wounds are life-threatening. I’ll be okay,” she said with a groan as she shifted her braced leg.
“So, I take it your grandpa is one of the crew who hasn’t forgiven me?” I asked.
She gave me a little smile as she reached down to massage her thigh muscles. “Yeah.”
“And what do you think?”
“I think you were only trying to do the right thing,” she said. “I’m a pretty good judge of character. It’s a rare gift.” She gave me a stern frown, and I got the feeling she didn’t think highly of my judgment.
She was probably right. After all, I’d been suckered into taking the mission from Duke Barnes to spy on the Stalwart’s crew. I didn’t regret it, though, since I wouldn’t have befriended Casey or any of my other friends on the ship if I hadn’t accepted the duke’s request.
“How are things with the other crew members?” Casey asked me. “I heard you have a few grudges to sort out.”
I nodded. “Leith and Olav have challenged me to a fight.”
The enchantress’ face paled, her freckles brown specks on a bone-white canvas. “Bad idea, Nick. They’ll beat you to a pulp.”
Casey’s doubt in my abilities hurt my pride, and I couldn’t help squaring my shoulders a little. “The other squires are fighting with me.”
“Then they’ll get their asses kicked, too. Leith and Olav aren’t against playing dirty. You’re a crew member so they won’t kill you, but that doesn’t mean they can’t do some serious damage. The regeneration chamber can heal you, but like I said before, the list is long. The healing process is also incredibly painful.”
“Do you doubt me? I fixed up your cannon, didn’t I? And I managed to take down Polgar’s warship with it. I’m a resourceful guy, Casey.” I winked at the enchantress.
She rolled her eyes at me. “You did a good job, Nick. But this is different. You step into the battle room, it’ll be your own fault.”
“I can’t exactly back down now,” I said.
“You don’t have to fight them. No one is forcing you.”
“If we beat them, they might back off.”
“I doubt that.” Casey’s tone dripped with skepticism as she shook her head, and I could almost read her thoughts. She figured the whole notion was ridiculous. I shared her opinion, but I couldn’t allow the knights to think me weak.
At least I wouldn’t be alone. My three friends would be by my side.
“What makes you think you can beat them?” Casey asked me.
“I’m an Outlander.” I grinned at the enchantress, but my stomach stirred with anxiety. We’d beaten the two Aquitanian knights on Tachion, so I hoped this sparring session would be more of the same.
“And?” the enchantress insisted.
“We always keep a few tricks up our sleeves.”
“Hmm.” Casey raised an eyebrow and shook her head. It was clear she didn’t believe me.
“What’s the worst that can happen? I’ll be laid up for a few days with some bruises,” I answered my own question with a sh
rug.
“If there isn’t an accident,” she said.
“Accident?”
“Like the kind where Leith and Olav get reprimanded, but you get dead.”
“You just said they wouldn’t kill me.”
“Yeah,” Casey sighed. “I hope I’m right.”
Chapter 2
After I left Casey in the enchantry, I decided to visit Elle. After the space battle against the RTF Bulwark, she had been impossible to catch, and I was eager to trade the items I’d gathered on the Tachion mission.
I went to my quarters, equipped my current gear, and gathered the items I wanted to sell. Feeling like a walking armory, I took an elevator to Deck 1 and found Elle behind her desk in the Stalwart’s cargo hold.
The point clerk’s office was positioned between four battle tanks. The square space was cramped, musty, dark, and a little noisy with the constant yelling and clanking machinery from elsewhere in the hold.
A strange black substance swirled around Elle’s head like serpents made of shadows, and the sight gave me the jitters. Each individual thread seemed to have a life of its own. One of the shadow fingers slipped free from the computer terminal and turned toward me as though it was now watching me.
The shadows vanished as Elle inhaled, and she smiled. “Nicholas!”
“I figured you’d be here,” I said.
“Didn’t go to my quarters first, did you?” The raven-haired woman gave me a knowing smile.
The last time I’d visited Elle’s quarters, I opened her door and stumbled upon her after showering. My mind filled with the delightful memory of Elle’s naked body in all its perfection, and I suddenly lost my ability to speak. “Uhh . . .”
“I’ve been rather busy while you were on Tachion,” the point clerk answered.
I swallowed and peered over her shoulder to look at the computer. “With what?”
“Nothing!” She quickly powered off the screen and whirled around. “Nothing at all.”
“So you’ve been busy doing nothing?”
Elle let out a long sigh. “I’ve been looking into the Stalwart.”
“Bad idea, Elle. The captain told me what they’re doing under the guise of humanitarian missions.” I paused for a second and questioned whether telling her about the crew’s true mission was a good idea. I considered the point clerk a friend, and she might stop digging around if she knew why the Stalwart seemed unusual. “They’re clearing portals for King Justinian’s armor.”
“I discovered as much while you were causing havoc on the last mission.” The point clerk gave me a playful smirk. I should have known she already knew what had taken me so long to find out.
“So, what are you researching now?” I asked her.
“This ship’s history. Remember when I told you that it was constructed with the various parts of missing starships?”
I gave her a nod. Even though I knew we should be keeping our questions under the radar until all the crew came to trust me again, I was intrigued.
“Well, I’ve been trying to work out where the crew found the ship. The knights suddenly appeared in the same manner as the ship did. Out of nowhere. I can’t find any record of them older than five years, except Moses.”
“It doesn’t matter where they came from,” I said, arguing with myself as well as Elle.
“There are other knights assigned to this ship, Nicholas. Where are they? There’s no record of their mission, so what are they doing?”
I’d only ever heard one reference to other knights on the Stalwart, a passing comment Moses made while we were at Salenum’s palace.
“I trust the captain now,” I said. “Whatever the other knights are doing is unimportant. We need to earn the crew’s trust. They already don’t trust you because you’re a point clerk. And I’m a newly reformed traitor.”
The words stung my mouth, and waves of shame rolled over me.
“You might not be a traitor,” Elle said. “But you are a gullible idiot.”
My mouth dropped open at the woman’s honesty, and then a chuckle burst from deep within my gut.
“Why are you laughing? I was telling the truth.” The point clerk frowned at me as if she couldn’t determine the cause of my mirth. The deeper her frown, the louder my laughter became.
Soon, she was giggling along with me, and it was a full minute before we caught our breath.
“I needed that,” I said as I stared into the beautiful woman’s brown eyes. “I’ll try not to be a gullible idiot anymore.”
“You should not make promises you cannot keep.” She shot me a small smile, and my stomach fluttered.
“I’ll keep it if you promise not to do any more digging.”
“Nicholas, you must understand how intriguing this all is. I cannot simply shut off my brain when--”
“Elle. Seriously. Leave it alone for a bit.”
“Okay,” she said, her shoulders slumping a little. “Only for as long as we’re on Ecoma.”
“Great.” I grinned broadly at her.
The golden PC coat was unbuttoned at her waist, and the black shirt she wore underneath pulled against her breasts. A triangular slit reached down from her collar, and I could see the beginning of her cleavage. The olive skin on her neck suddenly spotted with red blotches, and I quickly glanced up at her face.
Elle gave me a cool stare, and I guessed she’d seen me admiring her. “Did you come to my office for any purpose besides letting your eyes roam all over me?”
I fought against my own blush and felt a little guilty for my wandering eyes. “Uhh . . . I actually need to sell you some items and purchase new gear.” I pulled the items from my bag and laid them on her desk, and I was glad when they took the point clerk’s attention away from me.
There was the poleaxe, the two-handed axe, the ring, and the prot-belt. The last article in the bag was the Overlord’s Heart, an amulet which allowed me to use an item two levels above my class. It was the most powerful piece of equipment I’d ever wielded.
Still, there was something about the amulet that raised the hackles on my neck. I grabbed the chain and dangled the obsidian jewel in front of Elle.
“You ever see something like this before?” I asked her.
The point clerk gasped softly and reached for the item, but I pulled it back so she couldn’t grab it.
“Nuh uh,” I said. “This one isn’t for sale.”
“At least let me scan it,” she said. “Do you notice how it seems to absorb the light in here? Strange.”
Every time I held the amulet, it swallowed light like a black hole. The more I stared at it, the less I wanted Elle to look at it. I slipped the necklace over my head, and the jewel warmed my skin.
“You’re not going to let me scan it?” The raven-haired woman’s mouth was agape, and she seemed genuinely offended. “You do know I am meant to register all items retrieved from RTF missions?”
“I know, but I’d rather keep this one off the books for a little longer.” I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why I didn’t want her adding the amulet to the database, and my reticence unsettled me. Even so, it wasn’t enough for me to hand over the item for inspection.
“Hmm . . . you are peculiar, Nicholas Lyons. I’ll give you a few weeks, and then I will need to have a closer look at the amulet.” She looked down at the other items I’d laid out on the desk. “I’ll scan these through and let you know how many KPs I can give you for them.”
I nodded as she scanned the equipment. While Elle was entering my items into her system, I examined the stats of each piece again from my prot-belt.
Weapon type: War Axe of the Deranged
Additional damage: None
Power class: Knight (Any Specialist)
Weapon effect: War - Gains 10% attack damage for every 20% loss in durability.
Runes inscribed: Derange
Rune class: Knight (unknown)
Rune effects: An armor-piercing strike causes an enemy to become deranged. Effect lasts for five second
s.
Weapon type: The Eidolon’s Bardiche
Additional damage: None
Power class: Knight (Summoner)
Weapon effect: Damage dealt with weapon increased by 10% if a summoned creature has struck the enemy first.
Runes inscribed: Offering
Rune class: Knight (Summoner)
Rune effects: Offering increases the strength and vitality of a summoned creature by 15%. Effect lasts while the weapon is in use.
Item type: Vampiric Band
Runes inscribed: Siphon
Rune class: Knight (unknown)
Rune effect: Grants the use of the siphon spell.
Siphon (spell) - leeches life essence from enemy. Life essence can be used to enhance runes.
Item type: Reliquary Belt
Power class: Knight (Any Specialist)
Item effect: Contains 2x runic batteries for the storage of life essences.
I didn’t want to give any of the items over, but I needed the KPs so I could take the knighthood examination.
Elle’s face paled. “The kingdom database doesn’t have a specialist role registered for the Vampiric Band. The closest related item belongs to the Lich class. Where did you get it?”
“That’s a long story,” I said, remembering my multiple bouts with the Aquitanian knight, Emeric. “Can you accept it?”
“I can’t give you as much as they’re worth because I can’t register the sale of Lich items on the kingdom’s database. I’ll have to use my local funds, but I’ll give you a good deal.”
“I’ll take them back,” I said as I reached for the items. I didn’t want her to buy them if it meant using her own money.
Elle placed her hand on my arm and shook her head. “I’ll buy them. I hear the lich role can really consume a knight, and I wouldn’t want that to happen to you. Besides, I can break them down into parts and scrape the runes for Dust.”
“Can I have a second to think about it?” I asked Elle.
She nodded and sat behind her desk. When I was sure she wasn’t paying attention to me, I brought up the statistics for the necklace I’d taken from Emeric.
Item type: Overlord’s Heart
Runes inscribed: Mastery (+2)
Space Knight Book 2 Page 2
