by Sarah Lin
"Sounds troublingly familiar. Any idea where it is?"
"They say it's in the hills around the city and I have a few potential directions based on the history of it, but I'm not sure. I was hoping that Meara would be able to get us to the exact location."
"Reasonable enough." Gharavi paused and glanced around before looking back at her. "Would you like a drink? I could use one."
The fact that someone as smart and beautiful as Gharavi wanted to spend time with her made Danniah happy, but she had to tap on her helm. "I can't really drink through this thing, I'm afraid. And I don't know, I've been drinking so many potions that I can't feel thirsty anymore. Is that actually dumb? Will I die without drinking other things?"
"No, most potions have a fair amount of water to hold the main magic ingredients. You'll be fine."
"Oh, really? I always assumed they were... made of pure magic, I guess..."
Gharavi went on to talk to her about potions and Danniah was glad to focus on her words, since it helped her keep the haze in her mind at bay. The sorcerer was as good at explaining magical things as Bloodwraith, and though Danniah couldn't do that sort of thing at all, she always found it so interesting. They ended up talking more about links to fire and Danniah got thinking about it before Meara appeared behind them.
"If the two of you are drunk enough, I've found our man. Ready to go?"
They nodded and followed her out of the bar. Danniah thought she should look around carefully and check to see if they were being followed, but the looking around part left her head spinning. Meara noticed and helped her take her helm off so she could drink another potion, without saying a word about it.
Their path took them through lots of tiny little back alleys until Danniah had no idea where they were. But then, in the middle of a dingy alley, there was a building with a sign, a wand and a staff crossing one another. That seemed like it was definitely their location, then.
Inside, they found that the owner was a surprisingly young blond man. He grinned at them when they entered, looking entirely out of place in Edsdam. "Welcome, welcome! You look like well-equipped adventurers... can I hope you're here for an expensive commission?"
"Indeed I am." Gharavi set her staff down on the table in front of him and began to explain the design she needed. The man nodded and asked questions, smiling all the while. He smiled so much that Danniah stopped feeling comfortable and started wondering how many bodies he kept under his floorboards, but if Meara had chosen him, he must be trustworthy enough to do the work.
"Excellent, excellent." The man picked up the staff and examined it more closely. "Your plans are superb and I'll have to struggle to keep up. Except... I can't help but notice that your staff will be lacking a magical core in the main length. Could I interest you in a crystal spindle? We have-"
"I already have something for that." Gharavi's tone left no doubt that she intended to keep the core to herself, so the enchanter merely nodded.
That was the main thing they'd needed to do, but Danniah decided that she wanted to ask while they were there. "Excuse me... do you enchant metal stuff too? My shield is getting pretty old and I'm starting to think I'll need something else..."
"I'm afraid the axe blades are the limit of my smithing contacts," the enchanter said with an apologetic smile. "There aren't a lot of people in Edsdam who use heavy armor, you understand. I could try to come up with something, but I don't think it would be better than your present equipment."
"Oh... what about enhancement potions? I imagine people here all want ones that enhance speed, but what about ones for toughness? Maybe fewer people go for those?"
"All of those will be rare, of course, but you're right: enchantments for heavy warriors are in less demand here. I don't sell anything like that myself, but since you're giving me such an expensive job, I'll throw in a bit of information for free..."
The enchanter gave them some names of merchants and Danniah struggled to focus on his words. It was too many names and directions and her head was spinning a bit, so all she got was that they seemed a bit suspicious. She trusted that Meara would remember the names and help them figure it out later, though.
"If the three of you are in the market for valuable items, I might have a suggestion." The enchanter leaned closer and lowered his voice. "One of my colleagues is developing a hide armor especially for barbarians, but he lacks adequate materials. What he wants is the hide of something called an 'Alpha Wolf' - they're so rare as to be almost legendary, though. It's a long shot, but if you happen to find one, he'd be very interested..."
To Danniah's surprise, Meara responded with a loud groan. Everyone looked at her, but she refused to explain, just had them say their farewells and head out. Once they were back on the street, Danniah glanced over at her.
"What was that about?"
"This is another setup for Raigar." Meara shook her head. "I doubt there's even such a thing as an Alpha Wolf, at least not as a separate monster species in reality. But Bloodwraith fought one in the Forest of Beginnings and received the pelt. Most likely he was supposed to use it here and receive some sort of unique armor."
"Oh, that... actually, didn't we sell that back in Cresthaven?" It seemed like such a long time ago that she wasn't sure, but she remembered being desperate for coin and selling all their components. Meara nodded with a strange smile.
"I wouldn't worry about it - most likely his current armor is better than that would have been. Besides, we need to move to take advantage of any of this, or our opponent will burn the whole city down."
Mentioning that woman definitely brought things back to a more serious tone. "Right, yes..." Danniah cleared her throat. "I actually asked adventurers about that as well and I found out where the nearby drakes live. Apparently most of them aren't fully grown because they keep getting hunted, but they live in a special cave area outside Edsdam. Do you think we should go try to fight them?"
Gharavi glanced at Meara, then down at her. "I think that's up to you. How are you feeling?"
"They said the drakes weren't that big... if I drink one of Meara's potions beforehand and we only fight one, I think I should be okay."
"Then I suppose we shouldn't waste any time. Let's go."
Though her body was feeling pretty hot, Danniah held off on drinking a potion until they got out of Edsdam. The rush only lasted for so long, after all, and she wanted it to be there if they had to fight a drake. Part of her was afraid that they'd be facing something as huge as the one that they had used against Daek the Knife - she was stronger than before, but she still didn't want to fight something like that!
As they got closer to the location of the cave, however, she saw reptilian tracks that looked much smaller. These drakes were probably the size of a horse, not a carriage. She could handle that. Still, she made sure to drink an extra health potion before downing a fresh potion from Meara and letting the new strength flow through her.
They came closer to the cavern and Danniah got more and more nervous... until she heard the roar. She hefted her shield and stared over it, seeing a drake charging toward them. It wasn't bigger than she expected, but it looked angry and it was running at them fast. Perhaps if she ducked low, she could...
A dagger flew from the side and bit deep into the drake's skull. It crashed to the ground immediately, skidding across the floor and already dead by the time it stopped sliding.
"You idiots again?" The black-clad woman appeared from out of the forest, scowling at them. "Do you have some way of knowing my exact assignments? Well, it doesn't matter, you're too late. I stole all the power the boss needs and I killed the drakes for good measure."
She started to walk toward the drake to retrieve her knife, but Gharavi released a burst of fire to ward her off. The woman dodged it with an irritable scowl, ducked underneath a lightning bolt, and spun up to face them again.
"You want more? I was thinking of just leaving you idiots behind, but if you really want to die..."
When she char
ged, Danniah moved in to block her, but Gharavi attacked first. It was a frenzy of spells keeping back Marrin and actually making it hard for Danniah to attack either. For a moment Danniah was surprised that Gharavi wasn't working together with her like usual, but then she understood:
Gharavi was defending her. She was trying to keep Marrin at a distance so that she couldn't add any more poison.
Though Danniah was glad that Gharavi was looking out for her, the fact made her mad. She was supposed to be the one to defend the others, to put her body on the line to keep them safe. If she couldn't do that... even that...
Anger welled up inside Danniah, joining with the growing heat in her head. She charged in against their opponent before Gharavi could stop her, holding her shield high. Marrin smirked and got ready for her, knowing that she could easily strike around her shield with her superior speed. Danniah knew that as soon as she got close, she would definitely be struck.
So she struck first. Before she arrived, she thrust her shield outward, letting her anger flow into it.
A wall of flame rushed from the front of her shield. Marrin took the blow directly and stumbled back, but Danniah was equally stunned. All she had wanted to do was strike with her shield skill as well as she could, not shoot out flames. Yet now that she did it, she felt even weaker, the heat rising all through her body...
Fortunately, Gharavi took advantage of the distraction to shoot a bolt directly through Marrin's body. Though it wasn't enough to stop her, it did make the woman hesitate. After glaring at them, she scoffed and sprinted in the other direction, soon leaving them behind.
"Yay..." Danniah collapsed a moment later, but Meara caught her before she could fall all the way. "That was flashy..."
"You shouldn't push yourself like this." Meara gently pulled off her helmet and felt her forehead before feeding her another potion. "You did well, but we worry about you."
"I just... want to protect people... I wish we could have... stopped her..."
"We did to a degree." Gharavi spoke from the body of the drake, where she pulled the knife from its skull. "She has more knives, but at least we can test this one. I'm not sure if we'll be able to derive anything from it, but it's better than nothing."
"The drake's skin might be useful too," Meara said. "I'm curious about what she said about the power being stolen. Surely it can't be taken from the box system itself... I'm interested in what will happen if we complete the drakeskin quest. Since it might be useful and we already have the skin, I think we should try."
"Should we be concerned that the Earthian Outsider might be able to read our messages to one another? That would give him an overwhelming advantage in intelligence."
"I don't think he can - he has a record of the system they set up for Raigar to find, not the changes that have been made to the box system itself. If they could access that, they would have been able to stop us long before now."
Danniah just nodded at everything either of them said, her head too fuzzy to argue or contribute much. She did manage to walk, leaning on Meara so that Gharavi could keep her arms free just in case Marrin came back to attack again.
They had a peaceful walk to the cave, however, where they discovered that every other drake had been killed and then consumed by some sort of acid. So they only had one skin after all... well, that was better than zero skins. Or so she thought.
Yet though she should have been happy, she mostly found herself thinking about how Gharavi had defended her. It shouldn't be that way... Danniah focused on the poison inside her, hoping that it would burn itself out, and ended up falling asleep before they got back.
Chapter 28
Though Bloodwraith had tried to extricate himself, he had still somehow ended up escorted to the Governor's mansion again. He dimly remembered irritating meetings from after the conflict with Daek the Knife and had never intended to repeat them, yet now he sat before a table filled with all manner of food. Since food was irrelevant to his goals, he simply ate enough to sustain himself, instead focusing on his options.
Since arriving in Cresthaven, all he'd been able to accomplish was to determine that Belkarin and his Aesidh allies were threatening the city, but had only attacked once, days ago. It was only an instinct, but Bloodwraith suspected that the attack had been an attempt to draw Alan out of the Forest of Beginnings. Since the Earthians didn't care about anyone in Alliandelle, it had been ineffective.
If that was true, no one in Cresthaven was actually in much danger, but they didn't know that. Now that he was back, everyone was expecting him to go forth and save the city again. Even if he didn't hate Cresthaven quite as much as he once had, Bloodwraith had no intention of doing that and found all the attention extremely distasteful.
Spending time with his allies was one thing. Being accosted by random peasants and clinging political toadies was reminding him why he had become a lich in the first place.
He could deal with all of that, but he worried that being in such a high profile position could come back to bite him. Opponents might learn of his position and target him, or at minimum his efficacy would be limited. So far he hadn't been able to extract himself, as the Governor wanted to meet with him.
When the man finally arrived, he was just as Bloodwraith remembered him. Governor Andinn was a tall man who had supposedly once been an adventurer in his youth but had grown increasingly overweight as the years passed. He definitely filled out his grand robes of office, though the sword at his side looked real instead of ornamental.
"Raigar! So wonderful that you have come back to us in our hour of need!"
Bloodwraith stood up and bowed slightly to the Governor. "It's always a pleasure to visit you, Governor."
"There's no need for you to bow! Not when you saved the city!" Governor Andinn took his shoulder and pushed him back up with a grin.
"Thank you, Governor Andinn. I only hope that I can do so again."
"Good lad, good lad!"
[Affection +5!
Governor Andinn Affection: 47/100 (Friendly)]
The unexpected box brought Bloodwraith up short. Had he just learned something new about the Governor, or was the system not working properly? He and Meara had seemed to break it thoroughly and Danniah had reached the boxes' arbitrary maximum, so after Gharavi had reached N/A he had stopped thinking about it entirely.
It made no difference to his objective either way, so Bloodwraith simply grunted and nodded. "As it happens, I am hunting the one riding the dragon and his allies. I may need to pursue them past Cresthaven, however."
"So long as you get that dragon away from the city, that's fine with me!" Governor Andinn's smile stayed on his face, but something else moved beneath it. "But I was hoping that you could stay a little longer. We're having so much trouble these days... bandits, unrest in the streets, that awful madwoman trying to recruit adventurers..."
"Madwoman?" Bloodwraith didn't want to get pulled into the city's problems, but couldn't ignore such a strange note. "I haven't been in Cresthaven long - what do you mean?"
"As I understand it, she's some sort of adventurer who was driven mad. She's constantly on street corners yelling about needing to overthrow our oppressors, except she doesn't mean me. My informants aren't sure what she means, but apparently she's converting some to her cause."
Bloodwraith frowned and folded his arms, wondering whether or not to ignore the subject. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but perhaps it was another native of Alliandelle who understood their situation. "And you haven't tried to stop her?"
"I actually sent guards out against her once, but she defeated them and escaped. Without killing a single man, which was a surprise."
"Hmm. Where does she usually do her shouting?"
"Oh, it's different every day. But you can often count on seeing her in the central square and the street outside the Adventurers Guild." Governor Andinn leaned in, his smile growing. "Do you mean you're interested in it, lad? Though the dragon is obviously the danger we all fear now, all this un
rest could be the greater danger in the long run. It would do my mind good to know you intend to help."
"I..." Bloodwraith abruptly realized that he had no reason not to lie. "Of course, Governor Andinn. As soon as I take care of the dragon, I'll see if I can't help make Cresthaven more stable."
"Wonderful, simply wonderful! Why, I wish I was still a young man and could join you myself..."
[Affection +5!
Governor Andinn Affection: 52/100 (Weak Ally)]
[Relationship advanced!
Aid requests from Governor Andinn unlocked!]
Beneath his helm, Bloodwraith couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. The labels were different than they had been with Meara, which meant his previous theory had less support. But even though he didn't want to waste any more time with the Governor, he couldn't help but note that the system was likely designed to benefit him in some way. Perhaps...
"Governor Andinn, I will need support to take down the dragon. Can you offer me use of the Cresthaven City Guard?"
Though the Governor kept smiling, he rapidly shook his head. "Oh, I don't know about that, lad... the guard needs to keep the walls safe, after all..."
"Of course, I understand." He'd suspected it wouldn't be that easy and started with an absurd offer. "I will recruit adventurers to help me, but their armor may not be able to withstand the force of a dragon. Is there any chance the city could provide them with a bit of support? Consider it an early payment for helping to defend the city."
"Of course, my boy, of course! We can manage a piece of armor or two, to help our local adventurers fight alongside the Blade of Rage! What did you have in mind?"
Bloodwraith quickly described the type of shield Danniah used, trying to emphasize the types of enchantments it would need. Cresthaven might not be the most magical city, but it did armor very well. The Governor seemed happy that his request was so relatively simple - in fact, it was an absurdly cheap price for convincing someone to help solve all his problems.
