by Isaac Hooke
“This man was mistreating the dogs,” Malem said. “They were malnourished. You could see the slats of their ribs. Their fur was falling off in patches, exposing their hides. As I watched, he slammed one of the cages repeatedly to discipline a dog that had merely yipped at him for a second.”
“It’s not your business how this man treats his property,” Robert said.
“Actually, it is,” Malem said. “Especially when that ‘property’ as you call it is a living thing. No one can really ever own an animal.” Well, that wasn’t entirely true, in Malem’s case. But that was beside the point. “Animals hold a special place in my heart.”
“The laws of man place our rights above those of animals,” Robert said. “In fact, as far as I know, animals don’t even have any rights in this town.”
“The laws of man,” Malem said. “I never really did respect those laws.”
Robert nodded gravely. “You have admitted your guilt twice over then. You don’t respect our laws. And you released the property of this man, and threatened him with your sword. Lift your hands away from your weapons, please. I’m going to have to take you in, charge you with public mischief.”
“No you won’t,” Malem said, making no move to comply. “We don’t have time to be arrested. I told you before we were on a sensitive mission for King Goldenthall.”
“Who has no authority here,” Robert said. “This is the Midweald. We have a different king.”
“While that may be true, we’re not going to jail,” Malem said. “If we have to cut a path all the way to the city gates, we will.”
To emphasize his point, he rested his hand on his hilt.
The moment he did that, the militiamen drew their swords, to a man. Meanwhile the dog merchant, still seated behind Robert, had grown very pale, looking like he wanted to be anywhere else but there.
Gwen laughed suddenly. It was more a hearty cackle, and it carried sharply across the thick tension that had formed between the two parties. She struggled to fight if off for several moments, finally getting herself under control.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Gwen said. “But just look at them. They don’t realize how pathetic they are. They’re all terribly out of shape. The armor barely fits. I’m willing to bet most of them don’t even know how to use those blades.”
“Yes, it’s time to see how serious this so-called militia is,” Xaxia said, gazing at the different men in turn. “How many of you are truly willing to die for your city? In an attempt to jail a few travelers, whose only crime is saving some dogs? If you back down now, the only thing you’ll lose is your pride. Think about that. Is pride really worth more than your lives?”
To their credit, none of them moved. Robert opened his mouth to speak but Malem forestalled him.
“Abigail, Weyanna, perhaps a little demonstration is in order?” he said.
Abigail rolled up the sleeves of her robes and her arms ignited.
Some of the soldiers gasped.
Weyanna in turn raised her hands, and from the tips of her curled fingers, icicles expanded into deadly-looking claws.
“We can’t fight this!” one of the soldiers said. “Not mages!”
“As I said, our mission is of utmost importance,” Malem said. “I have mages in my employ, and more.”
Gwen lowered her hood. “I’m a monster, for example.” She bore her teeth in a feral grin.
I’m really wishing I had Ziatrice’s pointed teeth right about now, she sent him.
Robert seemed unfazed by it all. “Party tricks don’t scare me.”
Malem drew Balethorn, and that triggered Xaxia to unsheathe Biter, and Gwen to slide Wasp down from her shoulder and nock an arrow.
Malem pointed the magic blade at the dog merchant and Balethorn hummed to life, as before. The man whimpered, covering his eyes.
“Boss, maybe this isn’t—” one of the soldiers beside him began.
“Quiet!” Robert said. He glanced at the dog merchant behind him. “Do you wish to proceed with the charges?”
The dog merchant quickly shook his head, and his jowls shook somewhat comically.
Smart move on the part of the commanding officer, Abigail sent. He found a way to back down and still save face with his men.
It’s gotta be tough, leading civilians, Malem agreed.
Her energy bundle emanated amusement. Isn’t that what we are, for the most part?
Good point.
Robert nodded. “As you wish. Swords away!” He slid his blade into its scabbard, as did the others, and then returned his attention to Malem. “I’ll grant you lenience this one last time. But if I catch you causing mischief again, you’re going to jail. You are to leave this city immediately. We’ll escort you to the city gates.”
Malem sheathed his blade, signaling Xaxia and Gwen to put away their weapons. “We must purchase horses, first. And procure supplies.”
“Fine,” Robert said. He gestured in front of him. “Let’s go.” He glanced at the dog merchant. “Please, get down.”
The merchant swiveled down from the saddle in relief, nearly getting his leg caught in the stirrup. When he landed, he promptly jogged across the street, looking back over his shoulder only once to ensure Malem didn’t pursue.
“Where can I find a stable with good horses?” Malem asked Robert.
“Bathias, lead the way,” Robert said. “The rest of us will follow behind them.”
And so one of the soldiers led them through the street.
Malem wanted horses because the basilisks and the ghrip were too hard to ride, and there wasn’t enough room for everyone on the ettin. With proper mounts, they would make good time to Tartan’s Vale. Assuming the monsters could keep pace. Malem didn’t plan to press the horses too hard, so he doubted that would be a problem.
The stables were closed at that hour, but Robert sent an envoy to wake the owners—the soldier apparently didn’t want to risk Malem and company lingering any longer than necessary in his precious city, let alone staying the night.
When the stable keeper arrived, they bought horses under Gwen’s expert eye.
“Where did you learn so much about horseflesh?” Weyanna asked her.
“You can’t fool a farmer with a foal!” Gwen said.
Weyanna gave Abigail a confused look.
“It’s her favorite expression,” Abigail said. “It means she knows her horses.”
Malem could have Broken the animals and stolen them, but that would have meant giving up the powerful monsters he had in tow, something he was reluctant to do at that point. Besides, he had enough money on his person courtesy of General Rashan to buy the best horses in town, and then some. So he did.
He purchased two extra for Ziatrice and Rathamias, complete with saddles, and had Gwen lead the animals by the reins.
They mounted their new steeds, and then Robert led him to a late night supply shop. There Malem purchased fresh rations for the party.
“Do you have spider legs?” Gwen said.
“Eww,” Xaxia said.
“Actually, they’re quite good,” Weyanna said.
Xaxia shook her head and muttered to herself: “This is what happens when you travel with half monsters.”
“Sorry, no spider legs,” the bleary-eyed shopkeeper said from behind the counter.
“Too bad,” Gwen said.
He purchased salted meat and a variety of endurance herbs, had their canteens refilled, and spread the goods out between his, Gwen’s and Xaxia’s packs. Even if Abigail and Weyanna had packs, he probably wouldn’t have shared the load with them because of their injuries.
After that, Robert escorted the party to the city gates. Malem gave a mocking farewell to the soldiers, and then left the city behind.
As soon as the gates were hidden from view by the forest behind him, he lowered his hood, as did the women beside him.
“These robes are hot,” Gwen complained. “And I don’t mean in the fashion sense.”
“I know, but w
e can’t remove them,” he said. “Mauritania might have sentries watching the road. You need to keep your face hidden in case I don’t sense them before it’s too late.”
“My green skin kind of gives me away, doesn’t it?” Gwen said.
“Yes,” he agreed. “As does your dragon scale armor: only those in the employ of the Metals would wear them. As for you two.” He glanced at Abigail and Weyanna. “Spies might have shared your descriptions, too. I’d recommend wearing the robes, if only to fit in with the rest of us.”
Abigail raised her hood, cloaking her face in shadow. “Better?”
Weyanna did the same. He glanced at Xaxia, who shrugged.
“I’ll keep the robe, but my hood stays down,” Xaxia said. “At least until you raise yours.” She smiled sweetly.
He promptly raised his hood, and she did the same.
Weyanna glanced his way. “Tell me again why you can’t sense these sentries when you can feel other beasts and monsters around us?”
“Maybe you missed it, but his beast sense doesn’t work all the time,” Xaxia explained. “He didn’t sense the Eldritch that shot you down, for example. In the past, he’s missed black mages and the like. And he can’t detect humans at all.”
“There’s an interesting idea,” Gwen said. “What if Mauritania has humans watching the forest?”
“I somehow doubt humans can use Eldritch magic,” Malem said.
He spurred his steed onward. Capilet, he’d named the horse.
Ziatrice, we’ll meet you at the rendezvous point.
A few minutes later he called a halt and waited next to the forest that gird the route on either side.
The night elf burst through the trees with Rathamias. Malem wasn’t startled—he sensed Ziatrice’s approach the whole time.
But Xaxia leaped in the saddle and reached inside her robe as if to draw her blade. “Shit!” she said when she saw it was the night elf, and angrily pulled her empty hand from the garment.
Malem summarily tossed the two extra robes to Ziatrice and the orak, and the pair donned them before mounting the spare horses. He also gave them the gloves he’d bought from the tailor. With their hoods pulled low, and those gloves on their hands, it was impossible to tell Ziatrice was a night elf and Rathamias an orak.
They continued riding southeast. The beasts under his command followed alongside in the forest, staying roughly two miles away from the road at all times. He heard no sounds coming from them at this distance. The ghrip, ettin and basilisks could travel surprisingly fast, and when Malem had the animals move at a medium trot, the monsters were able to keep pace with the horses without tiring.
Garibaldi of course flew overhead, surveying the landscape from above. Its night vision wasn’t the greatest, however, and as the sun set and the forest below darkened, the eagle’s usefulness rapidly diminished.
Since he didn’t have to worry about waking up surrounding monsters anymore, Malem had the team ride on through the night. His night vision allowed him to navigate well enough; the half monster women had similar vision, as did the bigger creatures in the forest. Xaxia was the only one among them who couldn’t see, and for her benefit Abigail created a dim globe of fire that she kept hovering above the party.
They occasionally passed merchant caravans in the dark, protected by mercenaries who wielded torches, and Abigail always doused the light so as not to arouse any suspicion. The mercenaries gave them dark looks at they passed—but they were paid to look intimidating, so Malem didn’t let that bother him.
Besides, he had learned long ago that the forest isn’t a friendly place for the traveler. You couldn’t expect a smile from the people you passed, not out here. Especially at night.
The road branched off now and then, leading to villages and bigger cities along the way, but he kept to the main route. The members of his party had no use, nor time, for the diversions civilization offered at the moment.
The night felt long, and passed slowly. He ate the occasional ration to keep his hunger at bay, and chewed endurance herbs so that he wouldn’t steer Capilet into a tree out of weariness.
Abigail and Weyanna fared the worst among them. They continued to weaken over the night, so he kept feeding them stamina, further draining himself and the others. But there was nothing he could do about that. He was going to keep them alive, no matter the cost.
“Maybe you should just let me and Abigail go,” Weyanna said quietly at one point. “Cut us loose, so we don’t burden you any longer. It’s obvious we’re not going to survive this.”
“You are going to survive,” he told her. “You’re not going to give up after traveling all this way, do you hear me? You’re not.”
“I don’t intend to,” she said. “I just meant, I don’t want you imperiling the mission just to save us.”
“I won’t,” he lied. But the truth was, these women were the world to him. He didn’t care if the Alliance crumbled, didn’t care if Vorgon walked freely across the land, as long as these five lived. It was selfish, perhaps even cruel, but he couldn’t change the way he felt. They were the Light to his Darkness. Without them, his world wouldn’t exist anyway, so what did it matter if Vorgon was defeated at the cost of their lives?
Finally morning came, and as the light levels increased, so did the road traffic. Well, to a degree: the party still mostly passed merchant trains and farmers, maybe one in ten minutes instead of every two hours. There were few tourists on the road: not many wanted to risk travel in these dark times.
Monster territory was relatively far away from this particular part of the forest, so most of those on the road probably thought themselves safe from any beast attacks. He could only imagine their surprise and dismay if they were to discover that four of the most powerful monsters in the entire forest followed alongside his party only two miles away.
The group continued passing the occasional city, but soon such places became few and far between. The road traffic also began to die down the closer the party came to the southeastern edge of the forest, until it ceased entirely.
“Why are the roads so empty?” Gwen asked. She gazed at the trees that enveloped either side of the trail, as if she expected an ambush at any moment.
“Mauritania is probably blockading the supply lines to Tartan’s Vale,” Ziatrice said. “To starve out the citizens during the siege. It’s what I would do.”
“So the roads are blocked ahead of us, somewhere,” Gwen said.
Malem nodded. “I’ll know well ahead of time, thanks to Garibaldi. And we can make the appropriate detour.”
When the party finally reached the eaves of the southeastern Midweald, he called a halt. The plains lay spread out before him.
“So empty,” Weyanna said. “So lifeless. The last time I was here, this road teemed with life. Hawkers had set up kiosks along either side, forming an impromptu rest area to offer food and drink to weary travelers. But now…”
Malem nodded. “I remember a similar sight. Though in my case, what stands out were the whores with the painted faces. They stood next to wagons, offering carnal delights to allay the burdens of the weary traveler.”
“You would remember that…” Gwen said.
“Did you actually sleep with these whores?” Xaxia asked.
He shrugged. “I might have availed myself to the services of a few. Though I didn’t pay, mind you.”
“Oh, of course, I forgot, you never pay for it,” Xaxia said.
“That’s right,” he said.
He felt the disapproving eyes of Abigail upon him, and decided it was best to change the subject. And quickly.
“We can either camp here and wait until nightfall, and then head out under the cover of darkness, ensuring the monsters don’t draw any unnecessary attention,” Malem said, pondering his options aloud. “Or we can continue onto the plains right now, in broad daylight. If the monsters are sighted, they risk bringing down local militia upon them. Not that I’m worried about the monsters chances, mind you.”
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“They might also draw the attention of any scouts Mauritania has hidden in the area,” Rathamias said.
“There is that, too,” Malem agreed.
Ziatrice was allowing the orak black mage more leniency to speak these days, Malem noted. He supposed she was beginning to respect the creature more, now that it had survived a few battles, even if those battles were mostly one-sided, with the orak doing little to change the outcome. Still, surviving a battle, especially more than one, was an achievement no matter how one looked at it.
“I think we can’t afford to delay,” Abigail said. “Already we’ve spent far too long crossing the forest.”
“If you keep the monsters well away from the road, there shouldn’t be any problems,” Ziatrice said. “Given how quiet it looks out there.”
Malem made up his mind. “We’ll press on. But first we’ll take a two-hour break. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m bone-weary.”
He led the way off the road and into the nearby forest, forming a camp amid the undergrowth. He forced himself to eat another serving of rations and gulped it down with a swig from his canteen, and then lay down, forming a makeshift pillow with his pack. He invited the monsters to dine on whatever forest animals they could scrounge, and instructed Garibaldi to find a rabbit for itself. Then they were welcome to sleep, if they could.
When that was done, he closed his eyes.
I don’t suppose you’re going to have that promised sex with me? Gwen asked hopefully over their mental link.
Not now, he pleaded.
He received similar requests from Ziatrice, Weyanna and Abigail. The requests were so close together that their words overlapped in his mind and he could barely understand them. The requests from Abigail and Weyanna seemed borne more out of desperation than anything else, as if they thought this might be their last chance to feel what it was like to have sex, before the Eldritch magic took them.
I need my sleep! He broadcast to all four at once. It might have been cruel to treat them that way, especially Abigail and Weyanna, but it was true. He couldn’t function if he didn’t sleep, and sex wasn’t going to help. I knew it was a mistake to bind so many of you!
