Delvers LLC: Welcome to Ludus

by Blaise Corvin

  "I guess we'll have to see what we can do." Jason clapped him on the shoulder. "Hopefully we can find a way to celebrate once we get to Mirana."

  The Long Road to Mirana

  As soon as Henry was healed enough to walk and the caravan started moving again, he noticed a difference in how the villagers acted towards him. Henry knew he wasn't the best person sometimes at noticing others' emotions, but the expressions of fear, pride, and especially awe made him a little uncomfortable. From his perspective, when he'd fought the demon wolves, he just did what any decent person should have done.

  He patted his leg, a nervous habit he'd recently picked up, and thought, Well, I do have some hellacious scars. If anything was impressive, it was how his leg looked. Despite having healed, the giant bite mark on his leg was clearly visible. It looked sort of like a huge shark had chomped his limb to pieces before some mad doctor put everything back together again. Henry was deeply grateful for his healing ability. He would never take walking for granted again.

  He gave himself another day to heal before practicing magic again. Henry vowed to have more tools and experience the next time he had to fight for his life. Realistically, he was sure there would be a next time. Ludus was a dangerous world, and eventually he and Jason would probably be adventurers too. Life on Ludus would probably never be easy.

  Henry was getting seriously sick of following the same crappy, half-grown trail through the forest and eating bland hard tack every day. He and Jason eventually learned from the villagers that quite a few plants in the forest were edible, but they all tasted horrible. For the time being, Henry just kept eating the hard tack as the lesser of two evils. Too bad the demon wolves were pretty much inedible. At least we got some horns to trade for cash in Mirana.

  In the back of his mind, he kept thinking about the machete. George said that any blessed steel tools were insanely valuable. Henry wondered how much the machete would sell for. He didn't understand the local currency, but he'd been told that selling his machete could make him a lot of money.

  Henry talked to Jason about it, and they both thought they should get more information before making any decisions, but selling was probably a good idea. As soon as they got to Mirana, one of the first orders of business would be to sell the machete and start off their adventuring and future continent-conquering careers with a bang. A bang made of shit-tons of cash.

  Henry had almost no stress about finding money to eat or a place to sleep once they got to Mirana since they had valuable items to sell. All of that changed about a week into their journey.

  * * *

  Henry woke up early in the morning as he usually did and reached for his machete where he'd left it on the ground next to him. He fumbled around in the weak dawn light and became increasingly worried after he was completely awake.

  He eventually got up and searched around the wagon he slept under, hoping that he'd just misplaced the weapon. After a solid twenty minutes of frantically checking all the wagons and around where the night's fire had been, he had to face the reality that the machete was missing. He clearly remembered putting it next to him before he slept.

  Next he woke Jason up, and they went to talk to George. George woke the rest of the villagers, and at first there was confusion, then commotion. The mood of the entire caravan rapidly sunk when they all realized what must have happened. Jeth and his father, Yelm, were missing.

  After the villagers took inventory, they discovered that Jeth and Yelm had taken a couple packs and basically stolen every small, valuable item in the caravan that wasn't nailed down before they ran off. In addition to Henry's machete, they'd taken George's journal too.

  Henry barely remembered Jeth. During the past week traveling with the caravan, he'd gotten to know most of the villagers, and he liked most of them. However, Jeth and his father had kept to themselves when they weren't leering at the village women.

  Actually, now that Henry thought about it, he could remember an encounter he'd had with Jeth other than knocking him on his butt the day the demon wolves attacked.

  Mareen wasn't usually alone. She usually hung out with George or followed Jason around. However, Jason had been helping a villager with something, so Mareen was by herself when Jeth had sidled up to her. At first he'd just whispered while she shook her head, but then he began to talk under his breath in an agitated tone.

  Henry hadn't been able to hear what was said, so he just watched until Jeth tried grabbing Mareen's arm to pull her with him. When she resisted and Jeth wouldn't let go, Henry got up, walked up to the two, and gave Jeth a stiff-armed shove. "Leave," was all he said.

  After Jeth had scurried off, Henry had gone back to ignoring Mareen so he wouldn't mess up Jason's game and promptly forgot the whole thing happened.

  Now that he thought about it, that had all gone down a few days after the demon wolves attacked, hadn't it?

  Hell of a thing.

  Well, now the greasy, ugly bastard had run off with his equally creepy father. If they hadn't taken Henry's machete and effectively stolen a fortune from him, he would not have cared. On the other hand, now he was stuck on an alien planet away from his family, and he was broke again. Following them wasn't really possible at this point either; they had too much of a lead, and the villagers still needed protection.

  The worst part, at least to Henry, was that evidence showed Jeth and Yelm had been planning to steal and leave for days. The rat bastards had actively plotted against their fellow villagers and the people who saved their lives in the fight against the demon wolves.

  Henry became more disgusted and agitated the more he found out about the situation. He began to wonder why he hadn't noticed any suspicious signs and how he could have forgotten Jeth's sleazy behavior before it was too late.

  Everyone dealt with the stress in different ways. Jason got very quiet and worked hard to get the caravan ready to move again. Henry, on the other hand, stalked out into the forest as he tried to get his anger under control.

  He hated worrying about money. He hated not having money. He hated worrying--worry, worry, worry. He hated being reminded that his mom was back on Earth and he didn't know if anyone was taking care of her. Was she all alone in the hospital with no hair, no visitors, fighting for her life as the cancer ate away at her body? Was that brave, strong lady all alone in a room? Did anyone even bother to bring her flowers anymore? Did she think Henry had run away from her, from his responsibility?

  Who was working to help pay for her medical bills? His useless sister probably still wasn't.

  Henry hated Jeth--he hated people who could do such shitty things to other people. He didn't understand how people could betray those they ate and survived with.

  "FUCK!" he screamed and punched the ground. Waves of force rippled through the earth before him and exploded, sending a shower of silt and clods of earth into the air. Same shit, different planet.

  First he'd had the cosmically bad fortune to come to Ludus in the first place. Deep down, he also felt guilty. Would Dolos have taken Jason if he hadn't been fencing with Henry? It weighed on his conscience, but then he thought he'd finally caught a lucky break.

  On purpose or on accident, Dolos had given them a way to really get an edge on this planet. But no, some random asshole had to fuck everything up, and now here he was, broke again, worrying about money again! Nothing ever changed!

  He was surprised his ex-wife wasn't here to gloat. No, she was too busy having the time of her life, traveling to Paris with the piece of shit she'd been fucking behind Henry's back for months while he worked sixty-hour weeks.

  Away from the prying eyes of anyone else, Henry began to cry, softy at first but escalating into full blown, chest-racking sobs. He punched the ground again and again, restraining his magic with an effort of will as his emotions raged and his heart broke.

  It was too much for one person to handle without strain. Two battles for his life, dredging up his warrior ethos, remembering combat and how to deal with it, being stolen f
rom... The pressure of keeping up his tough façade took a toll. He finally allowed himself to temporarily give in to despair until it was time to be strong again. Someone had to tough, infallible. George was a good man, but he wasn't a warrior. Someone had to lead in times of danger, and Jason wasn't ready yet.

  Henry sobbed in the woods because he had to. He finally let himself admit how scared he really was. He didn't know if he'd ever get home. And the reality was even if he ever made it home, it'd probably be too late to say goodbye to his mom.

  He had to be capable, he had to be strong, and that meant he had to get his shit together. He was just thankful his meltdown had happened away from everyone who depended on him.

  However, at that moment, if Henry had used magic to map the area, he would have felt a bush move. Someone else was there. That person was silent, watching him weep for a time before she quietly walked back to the caravan. Mareen didn't want Henry to know he'd been seen. He could grieve in peace.

  * * *

  The mood around the caravan was melancholy for the next week, but at least there weren't any more monsters attacks other than two wizened owl demons. Both attacked at dusk and luckily were not silent like the bird they resembled. They screamed as they approached, their bearded, beaked human faces twisted and ugly.

  Compared to the pack of horned demon wolves, a single freaky owl-thing with a thirty-foot wingspan wasn't much of a threat to Henry. He knew from George that wizened owl demons were feared by farmers since they had large ranges and could carry a person off for food. To Henry, they were just a way to work off some stress.

  He used both owl demons as targets to test out a new magic technique he'd come up with that combined his stone acceleration power with a stone destruction ability. He called it "stone shotgun". Both times an owl demon had come screeching down from the sky, Henry grabbed one of the large stones he'd started keeping nearby. As soon as the creature got close enough, he tossed the stone up and punched it in the direction of the enemy.

  When his fist came close to the rock, he felt resistance like he was hitting a punching bag. The effect on the stone itself was impressive, though. In a fraction of a second, the stone split into dozens of pieces and hurled forward at high speed in a rough cone. The small pieces of stone didn't have the same speed or destructive power as a single large one. However, using stone shotgun, Henry could actually hit something.

  Both times Henry used his stone shotgun attack against a wizened owl demon, one shot was enough to almost instantly kill the creature, shredding its wings and body before it crashed to the ground. On the evening the second creature attacked, Jason joined him to make sure it was dead. It was definitely dead.

  Jason prodded the ugly thing with his foot and said, "You know, my magic is great for speeding up my mind, teleporting, that sort of thing, but I don't really have many tools to attack at range. At least none I've figured out yet. It's a good thing you were here to kill this wizened owl demon."

  "It's a stupid name," Henry said sullenly. "In fact, all the demons we've heard about so far have really fucking stupid names except the goblins. What gives?"

  Jason rubbed his nose and looked away. "Well, that's not entirely true. Think about the literal translation for 'goblin' in the Luda language. It's 'spindly cave demon,' right?"

  Henry frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "Yeah, you're right. So they have stupid names too."

  George quietly walked up next to them. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation," he said. "There is actually a local superstition about demon names."

  Henry knew George probably had Jason's undivided attention. Despite how absurd he personally felt discussing demon etymology over the cooling corpse of a wizened owl demon, he knew they should probably get the conversation out of the way, or Jason would never let it rest. He motioned with his hand for George to continue.

  "Well," said George, "according to priestesses of the Church of Dolos, all the demons on Ludus are descendants of monsters created by Lilith, one of Dolos' great archrivals."

  Henry blinked, "Huh?"

  George shrugged and said, "If you get a chance, find a book or ask someone about Earth's old myths concerning Lilith. It might interest you.

  "Popular superstition is that Lilith named her creations in the language of the gods. The demon names were translated as directly as possible into Quadrant, the language most Areva speak, then translated again the same way into Luda. So basically, demon names sound strange because they've been translated through several different languages and because people believe that changing a demon's proper name may invite the wrath of Lilith."

  At this point, Henry gave up pretending he cared about the conversation. The owl demon was dead, and nobody would be eating it. Apparently they tasted even more terrible than the horned demon wolves. They had creepy humanlike faces too. He walked back to the caravan as Jason and George continued yukking it up about mythology.

  Off to the side, he caught Mareen staring at him. She'd been acting funny for a while now. He idly wondered why she seemed to hate him.

  Oh well, they should have been getting to Mirana in another couple days. His time would be better spent trying to figure out what he and Jason were going to do about food and lodging after they got to the city than worrying about the pretty girl that loathed him.

  Henry had already talked to Jason about the possibility of staying with George's people and trying to make a life as farmers, but both of them were agreed that it wasn't a real option. They knew the villagers would welcome them and they'd be assets to the community, but both men felt they had too much to do. They had to at least try to get home again.

  With heavy thoughts, Henry stomped over to help the villagers build a fire. He was thinking so deeply he barely noticed or acknowledged when the villagers clapped him on the back or praised him for killing the second demon owl. When he noticed all the attention, it made him uncomfortable, and he retreated back into his thoughts.

  * * *

  A day later, the caravan came out of the forest into farm country right before night fell. Morale started to lift; they were almost there. The next day, the caravan finally reached Mirana. Henry had to admit he was impressed.

  The city was fairly large and surrounded by a wall. It looked like the wall was made of masonry, probably out of bricks crafted from nearby clay.

  Henry judged the city was home to tens of thousands of people. The surrounding farmlands were pretty large too, and he noticed that all the people looked healthy--none looked mistreated. He didn't see the telltale signs of second-class citizens or serfs. Things were looking good so far.

  As they walked to the gate of the city and got in line, he asked George, "Why did you guys leave this place again? Are you from here?"

  George shook his head. "No, we just passed through. We were worried it may be too expensive. Mirana was basically built around adventuring and trade since so many dungeons are nearby. This means the city is rich for its size. We were afraid the area would be too expensive for us to settle in."

  "I see." Henry turned back to watch the gate of the city. He asked, "How in the world did you get to the area where you built your village without getting eaten by monsters?"

  George shrugged and answered, "We hired a group of adventures. They had a pretty easy time of it. We only got attacked one night by a couple goblins." Henry translated the term George used to "goblins," but now he couldn't help hearing the literal "spindly cave demons" in Luda. The monster names on Ludus were so stupid!

  "I'm guessing that the increased demand for farmers around here has made it worth the risk to come back, right? That and this place isn't crawling with monsters like the old village."

  "Yes."

  Jason, who'd been walking behind them suddenly asked, "How did you find out about the city needing more farmers anyway?"

  "Magic messenger bird."

  Seriously? thought Henry, but he let it drop. So did Jason. Apparently neither of them were in the mood to learn
more about magic messenger birds. Yet another dumb name.

  It took while, but eventually the caravan reached the gates. As they neared, Henry noticed that both guards were women. They wore bronze breastplates, loose, red clothing, and bronze barbute helms. Each woman held a large spear and wore a huge dagger, almost a short sword, at her waist. The bored-looking guards asked George to state their purpose. After George said they were immigrating, the guards shuttled them off to the side and told them to wait.

  After about twenty minutes, a woman in official-looking clothing came out to greet George. The woman had slightly Mediterranean-looking features, and her handsome, middle aged face had smile lines. Her maroon robes hid her figure, but she held herself like someone who was used to being taken seriously. She had some sort of badge or crest sewn onto a white sash. Henry sat on a log by the roadside with Jason. Mareen was next to Jason as usual, and she wouldn't look at Henry. What did I do to make her hate me so much?

  After greetings, George seemed to be politely arguing with the woman. It didn't look like matters were going well. Then George apparently excused himself and slowly walked over to Henry and Jason. The robed woman stayed where she was at and waited. George looked at the ground, dry washed his hands, and said in English, "Bra, we got a sif problem, ja? We don't got 'nuff money."

  "What do you mean?" asked Jason.

  "I guess there ain't use in dik bek over it. I'll just tell you straight. Settling in this area costs a load of money, ja? To farm can make a lot of money now, but it costs to rent the land. They usually need a year of rent before you can be boers. The city counselor over there has a plot for us, and it even has shacks already we can stay in till we build somethin' better. She is even letting' us start with just six months' rent, and we won't have to pay for another year. Problem is... Jeth and Yelm stole most of the valuables. We don't have enough. We're close but still short just now."

  Henry mentally sighed and glanced at Jason. They had no obligation to these people. Any debt, real or imagined, had been repaid several times over. But he knew Jeth and his father had betrayed the villagers even worse than him and Jason. It didn't take a rocket scientist to understand the difficult situation George's community was in.