Delvers LLC: Obligations Incurred

by Blaise Corvin

  She read the description and saw it even had a plasma-enhanced cutting edge. It included modifications to reduce its encumbrance to the user, too.

  Due to its energy output, it required magic stones for power. The description stated it used them up rather quickly, which was probably the only reason it was even in Uluula’s price range.

  Uluula was in love, but the weapon would still come in second place to Jason, though. Nothing at this point could replace her tall, messy-haired Terran. Thinking of him made her bring up a viscap she stored of him in her neuralcomp. She especially liked how, after gently making love with her, always so gently, he’d kiss her nose and…

  She shook her head. Neither the time nor the place for thoughts like that. She walked over to stand by Mareen, but only half paid attention to her friend. It was crazy that a year ago she hadn’t even known for sure that Terrans existed. She’d never thought she’d have a Terran friend, much less a Terran lover.

  Then there was Henry. She didn’t hate Henry, but she had no idea why Jason and Mareen cared about him so deeply. She admitted that he had a kind of efficient pragmatism and a number of talents. Deep, deep down, she had to admit that in some ways he reminded her of herself. So yes, she didn’t hate him, but if he ever got himself killed, she wasn’t planning on wearing mourning clothes.

  No use in being insincere.

  The truth was she still didn’t like Terrans very much in general. The mere thought of them didn’t terrify her like they once had, but she was still suspicious of Terrans, and Terran salesclerks in particular. She loved Mareen as a sister, bonding over their shared awkwardness, and she was going to marry Jason. In fact, she had to hurry her marrying of the fool man so she could start growing his household.

  She knew he wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea, and she didn’t want to push him, but she agreed with Mareen that neither Henry nor Jason knew how important establishing their families would be on Ludus.

  No, Uluula truly didn’t want to make Jason uncomfortable, but with the type of political snake den they could be walking into, he needed all the support he could get. She refused to lose him. It had taken her over 40 years to find the man, so she would not allow him to get himself killed because he had worried nerves about marrying her and another woman or two.

  It still stung her why he felt that way, that he focused on the carnal aspect of it. Did he not trust she’d pick worthy suitors? Not for the first time, she had to remind herself that he was from a different culture. A stupid culture. An incredibly stupid culture if people really got married to one person “for life,” only to get divorced and make the same vows again to other people.

  It was madness.

  It is common sense that with more than one wife in a household…Uluula’s thoughts trailed off. She stopped thinking about bizarre Terran customs and made her decision about the magic items.

  “Mareen, I think I’m ready to try buying what I want.”

  “Oh?” answered the darker-skinned woman. “You finally found something you like?”

  “Actually a number of things.”

  “How much will everything cost?”

  “About three times more than I have with the money you lent me.”

  Mareen arched one eyebrow at her. “You want to haggle, don’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Don’t you ever get tired of spending all day trying to wring every coin you can from a deal? I mean, if you can get the price down to a third of what they’re asking, I’ll be impressed, but why do you think it’s even possible?”

  “Because I saw Henry’s old axe he sold. Remember the “Badaxe”? It was very distinct-looking. I know what we sold it for to the Guild, and I know what they’re selling it for here, so I can guess at the general markup in the store.”

  “I see.” Mareen sighed. “What all are you trying to get?”

  Uluula’s smile was predatory. “You will have to wait and see. I have to fight this battle first.” She stalked down the stairs of the Enchantment Emporyum to find the old snake that had first greeted them. The war had begun!

  * * *

  Two hours later, Uluula and Mareen were walking back to Henry and Jason’s house. Uluula admired Mareen’s fearlessness to live with Henry so quickly. The thought of living with a man still made her nervous, even though she had activated her sexual bridge and was having…relations with Jason.

  “I wish I had the nerve you do,” she said.

  “What do you mean?” asked Mareen.

  “The way you live with Henry. We talked about this before.”

  Mareen shook her head. “You make no sense at all. You can kill monsters five times your size, you rarely ever show any fear about anything, but you’re still afraid to live with a man you’re already sleeping with? Seriously?

  “Uluula, you just bargained in a shop for hours and even shouted at that poor old man. I think he let you have everything you wanted just to get you out of the store. The fact you are so nervous about natural things just makes no sense. Have you talked to Jason about it?”

  “Yes, he said I can move in with him whenever I want, that he loves me,” she answered uncomfortably. Well, at least Mareen was right about how she’d gotten everything she wanted at the Enchantment Emporyum. She had to admit she felt a little smug. The plasma halberd, the mist spear ring, the movement bracers, a shield ring, and the concealment cloak had all been purchased for slightly less than all the money she’d had.

  She’d spent a small fortune, but she knew she had stretched every coin.

  Still, she reflected again on how lucky she was there were so few Areva in Mirana. With more small-statured people frequenting the Emporyum, she didn’t think she would have been so lucky. For instance, her shield ring was marketed as a “large shield.” Full-body shields in the shop were priced more than triple what the standard shield devices were. If the people running the stop had realized that the dimensions of a “large shield” would completely cover her body, they probably would have marked up the price.

  Uluula thought for a second before slowly saying, “Jason being comfortable with it doesn’t mean I am. You wouldn’t understand. Cohabitation is a big deal in my culture, more so than sex or even having children. Some married people don’t even live together.”

  “That…doesn’t make any sense. Not only that, aren’t we basically planning to push Henry and Jason to deal with this thing that makes them uncomfortable? Isn’t your resistance kind of hypocritical?”

  “No, because my hang-up isn’t going to put my life in danger,” Uluula replied with a raised eyebrow.

  “Well, I guess you have a point. I just don’t like being devious like this. It feels wrong.

  “But I have a change of topic. I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while…why are you buying all this enchanted gear? Why didn’t you just take an orb? I know we don’t know what kind it is since Keeja’s been gone, but wouldn’t the orb have solved all your gear problems?”

  Uluula missed a step but kept walking. She’d known this question would come, and would probably come up again, too. Unfortunately, she couldn’t tell her friend the truth. She hadn’t given up on her dream completely yet, what she’d been aiming for ever since her sister had been killed. Uluula knew she may never be an admiral now since she was stuck on Ludus, but that didn’t mean she had no chance of ever attaining an Artifice in her lifetime.

  Of course, she had to get off this planet first and take Jason with her, but it was her dream, her passion, to earn an Artifice.

  Still, it was more than passing odd that she never heard anyone mention Artifices on Ludus. Nobody ever discussed how Dolos was obviously trying to mimic Artifices with the Dolos orbs.

  She was almost certain that Keeja was a high-grade Artifice Holder, too.

  Uluula was raised to always watch her words, to always observe the world around her. Until she understood why nobody on this planet so far talked about Artifices, even people who should have known of their existence, she wa
s keeping her mouth shut.

  “I have my reasons,” was all she said.

  “There you go being mysterious again.” Mareen sighed. “Fine. Have it your way. But I’m bored and I don’t really have anything to do. Later today, want to test out all your new enchanted gear?”

  Uluula gave a genuine smile. “I’d like nothing better.”

  Fancy Nuptials

  Rark-han crossed the street to join the meeting at Henry-ibbi and Jason-ibbi’s house. He agreed with Bezzi-ibbi about meetings—less was more. He sighed.

  As the air exited his mouth, he felt the stub of his tongue and winced. This in turn made him think of his missing arm and he winced again. Rark-han was maimed. He was a shadow of himself. The world was unjust; he hadn’t deserved to be banished from his Clan, but the incredible shame and debt he’d acquired by standing by and doing nothing while bandits tormented innocents…there was no way to atone for it in a lifetime.

  His only hope was to follow the wisdom of the Hero, and in turn follow the leaders of Delvers LLC as his liege did. Rark-han knew his very soul was on the line. There was no room for error.

  Such a man as he had no right to complain about anything anyway. A missing arm and tongue were nothing compared to the evil he’d witnessed while he had frozen in indecision, questioning whether he should break his promise to Bandit Thod. He’d agonized over his honor until he’d realized he had none left. He’d never be that foolish again.

  He’d follow Bezzi-ibbi into the bowels of giant Fenrir himself now. His own desires were no longer relevant. However, possibly rooting out the scorra that had funded the bandits and other insurgent groups in Tolstey was a mission he believed in.

  Not for the first time, Rark-han was humbled and appreciative for his chance to atone. He was a disgusting, fallen Mo’hali. But as long as he served his Hero faithfully, he had at least a small hope at redemption for his soul. It was too late for him in this life, but he was desperately fighting for his eternal future.

  Enough of that. He couldn’t effectively serve his liege if he moped about all day, dwelling on his missing tongue and arm. He had a prosthetic for his arm, and he never really spoke that much to begin with. Of course, that in itself had been a problem, hadn’t it? Perhaps if he’d spoken up, spoken for himself, he wouldn’t have been banished from his Clan.

  If he was patient, he knew his chance to rend and tear the enemies of his liege Hero would come again. Perhaps one day, his liege would even right the wrongs that had caused Rark-han to be rejected from his Clan.

  He donned his usual neutral expression as he opened the door to the Masters’ house and shut it behind him. As usual, the unpleasant odor of Terran occupation hit him, especially as he passed the bedrooms, but he endured. He couldn’t help twitching his nose, though.

  The rest of the Delvers were in the garage. Some of them were actually on the monstrous contraption Henry-ibbi had named the Battlewagon. Rark-han’s ears laid back when he saw it. Unnatural and far too powerful to be a battle tool of such a small group, he kept wondering if the gods or the ancestors would come down from on high to punish them.

  Then again, until recently they’d been travelling with Keeja, a demigod, a demigod that had sexually harassed Henry-ibbi. Every time Henry-ibbi had cursed at Keeja, Rark-han had wondered if they would all die. It hurt his head to think about it.

  Henry-ibbi was an idiot. Then again, so was Jason-ibbi, which was why they were having this meeting in the first place. Jason-ibbi had gone off on a mission by himself and come back.

  Rark-han slightly bared his teeth before he stilled his face again. The casual arrogance and irresponsibility of those with such earth-shaking power was something he would never understand.

  “Okay, everyone’s here,” said Henry. The man’s goatee and hair were newly trimmed. Rark-han figured Mareen had done it. Henry himself seemed only peripherally aware of anything around him these days other than his inventions. He had just started working on the “motorcycles” for Spy Gonzolez. However, against the far wall, Rark-han could see the outlines of four new contraptions, not two.

  Henry-ibbi was obviously building a couple extra magic machines. Why, Rark-han didn’t know. He just hoped it didn’t involve him.

  The big wolf man glanced around the room. There wasn’t a lot of space in the garage now, especially with extra people. Henry, Mareen, and Jason were on the Battlewagon. Uluula was at her desk. Aodh stood in the corner where he usually slept, glaring at Spy Vitaliya and unsuccessfully trying to hide it. Spy Vitaliya herself stood on the other side of the room, pointedly ignoring Aodh for the time being.

  Rark-han stood by Bezzi-ibbi and the boy’s uncle from the Jaguar Clan, Yanno-ibbi, near the door to the house. Spy Gonzolez remained by himself.

  Henry cleared his throat and said, “As you can all see, it’s been a couple days, but Jason is back. Jason, could you update everyone on what you were doing while you were gone and what we did this morning? Also, something I forgot to ask earlier is where you slept by yourself. I knew you’d figure something out, but I’m curious what you did for security.”

  Jason took a half step forward and rested his arms on the wall of the Battlewagon’s cargo area. “What I did was fairly simple. I traveled a long distance to obtain materials for the neutralization of our LEDF. This means we won’t have to wear masks anymore.”

  “LEDF?” Aodh asked.

  “The Left Eye Data Feed that Dolos initiated.”

  Henry looked smug. “I knew that acronym would come in handy.”

  Not for the first time, Rark-han had to admit he didn’t understand Terrans at all. The company masters were openly disrespectful to each other, they backed down and acted weak at times, showing the backs of their necks, but Rark-han had seen them fight. He’d even seen them lay waste to hundreds of other warriors like it was nothing. Rark-han shook his head. It was not for him to understand the strange Terrans. Bezzi-ibbi counted them as brothers; he could deal with them. Rark-han just had to follow.

  Jason ignored Henry and continued, “What I needed was inside a rare and dangerous monster. We were pressed for time, so I went myself. It was actually more dangerous than I was expecting, but I was able to kill it with a new ability I’ve been practicing.” Jason smiled.

  Rark-han felt a chill. Jason was already an incredibly dangerous man. He couldn’t imagine what deadly, terrifying new abilities he was perfecting, especially if it made him smile like that. Terrans scared Rark-han on principle, probably even more than Areva. However, the fact that Uluula was softly growling from her desk in the corner was straining Rark-han’s normal hierarchy of caution. He really wished she would stop making that noise.

  “To answer Henry’s question about security…” Jason turned to his friend and said, “I camped by finding small caves. I used null-time on my blade to collapse the entrance before sleeping. Then I would teleport outside to continue travelling. Coming back took me longer because I was tired and had to find safe-looking caves to rest in from time to time.”

  Henry chuckled. “That was smart. Now that I think about it, I probably could have done the same thing and just blown all the rocks out with magic when I needed to leave my cave. Good to know.”

  “Indeed. Anyway, I found seven of the items we need to make tinctures that will remove the LEDF. This morning, Henry, myself, Bezzi-ibbi, and Mareen already took a dose. We haven’t tested the effectiveness yet, but I don’t think we will need to wear masks anymore.” He leveled a meaningful look at Spy Gonzolez.

  Rark-han winced inwardly. If Jason and Henry were going to get involved in politics, they really needed to learn to better control their body language.

  Spy Gonzolez said, “I’m impressed. That was fast. However, I’m not sure why you invited Vitaliya and myself here to tell us this. I realize I may be more cynical than the average person, but you’re freely telling us about extra resources you haven’t used. You’re speaking of real wealth and power, especially in this world.”

  Ja
son rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on. Somebody or somebodies are going through a lot of effort to get us to Berber. If you sold us out for some monster parts, you’d not only be stupid, you’d probably also be dead. I don’t think your government would take kindly to such a thing. Plus, you’re basically turning us into nobles in actuality, since faking it won’t work. Pissing us off would be incredibly shortsighted, especially for a rational person like you appear to be.

  “We invited you here since we will be travelling together for a while. Everyone in our company stays on the same page at all times so we don’t have misunderstandings.”

  Maybe they’re wiser than I thought. Rark-han truly didn’t understand these Terrans, but occasionally they seemed to make surprisingly intelligent decisions.

  “Thanks, Jason,” said Henry. “We have two other things to talk about. First, we’re leaving in about a week. We should have the bikes done by then and all our gear ready to go. Everyone plan on leaving Mirana in seven days. Actually, why the fuck is a week on Ludus still seven days?”

  “Probably because the people populating Ludus are from other planets,” said Jason.

  “Bezzi-ibbi, do you know if a week is seven days long on your homeworld? What about you, Uluula?” Henry absently patted his leg as he glanced around.

  Bezzi-ibbi just shrugged, but Uluula replied, “Yes, a week has always been seven days for me. However, didn’t you just say you had something else to announce as well?” Her voice wasn’t unfriendly, but to Rark-han she sounded terse.

  “Henry, stop getting sidetracked. Just say what you need to say.” Mareen was scowling, but her voice was warm. Rark-han didn’t understand why Terrans never seemed to just say what they meant. Mareen tried to present a prickly front, but her body language and what he could understand of her Terran musk practically howled that she was deeply in love.

  “Well, I actually have two more things to say, not just one.” Henry looked hesitantly as Jason, who nodded. “Okay, first is that we’re giving our extra Dolos orb to Tony if he wants it.”