Either way, he was happy with the decision to use up the bronze. Jason felt the comforting presence of his sideways space storage and the reassuring knowledge it now contained plenty of throwing knives to ruin someone’s day.
His sword, Breeze, had gotten an upgrade, too. Actually, most of the group’s weapons had gotten at least one enchantment courtesy of Thirsty. Jason had actually acted on a hunch based on his conversation with his orb and asked Thirsty to enchant Breeze with air and fire magic. So far, the sword just burned things and created tiny gusts, but Jason was hoping the two elements would somehow combine to create a new enchantment.
Keeja started speaking again and Jason snapped back to the present. The entire group was taking a rest from traveling. The demigoddess said, “Just the fact I can’t say anything should speak volumes if you’ve been paying attention.”
Jason nodded. He’d already figured out what was probably going on. He had even talked to Uluula, Henry, and Gonzo about it. It was time to tell the group, and it was a good time to call everyone together since they were all slowly heading back to the Battlewagon and magicycles.
“Okay, everyone, circle up! We need to have a chat!” Jason hollered.
“Can you please keep your voice down?” Henry called down irritably from the Battlewagon turret. “Do you want to let every fucking monster for miles around know we’re here?”
Jason absently nodded. He had to concede that Henry had a point. Of course, he knew the real reason his friend was irritated was because he’d already had to gun down two flying monsters that day, and one had been a wizened owl demon. Henry hated them. Jason wasn’t sure if Henry was more creeped out by how they looked, or outraged at what Ludans called them.
As soon as the everyone was present, Jason cleared his throat and reluctantly gave the news. “Okay, I know everyone is on edge. We all feel watched. Some of us can see the thing that comes with the mists at night, and some can’t. Some of you think it’s a spirit or a monster. Unfortunately, the reality is probably worse.” Jason sighed and said, “Gonzo, please tell everyone about our best guess.”
“Right,” said Gonzo, stepping forward. “As you can probably guess, even if you haven’t seen it, there is a lot of orb-Bonded violence all around the world right now. This is obviously a result of Dolos’s planet-wide message. I have gotten reports suggesting that some groups are even attacking orb-Bonded and Mo’hali Heroes in a semi-professional manner. They look like adventuring parties at first glance, but they’re actually focused on hunting Heroes and Bonded.”
“So, basically we have a PVP situation on our hands,” said Jason.
“PVP?” asked Vitaliya.
In English, Jason responded, “Player versus player, or person versus person.” He switched back to Luda and said, “It’s the first term that came to mind, and it’s somewhat accurate for this situation.”
“No it’s not,” scoffed Henry. “We’re not talking about gamers. These are murderous assholes scoring some easy wealth by hunting other people. Also, I thought you hated acronyms.”
Jason glared at Henry for a second, but didn’t say anything. The smug SOB had a point. Christ, I’m even thinking in acronyms. Did I always do that? Jason shook his head and ignored Henry, saying, “Realistically, our feeling of being watched and the figure in the mist are all connected, and they’re probably related to one of the PVP groups.”
Henry snorted, and Jason briefly imagined teleporting his friend above a lake. He didn’t have the ability to teleport other people, only himself, but he could dream. Trying to learn the ability was definitely on his to-do list. He wasn’t sure if it was possible, but Henry made him want to keep trying.
“So what do we do?” Aodh asked, his voice trembling.
“Well, I figured we should ask the person in our group with the most experience with caravans. Yanno-ibbi, can you give us your suggestion?”
Yanno-ibbi took a step forward and made a curious gesture, dipping his head and eyes down. He said, “I must make it known I probably have far less experience with caravans than High Priestess Keeja.”
“You are a nice boy, Yanno-ibbi.” Keeja smiled. “Yes, I do know a thing or two about, well, pretty much everything—”
“Yeah, but she’s useless,” interrupted Henry. “Just let us know what you think, Yanno-ibbi.”
“Useless?” Keeja raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, we all know you can crack the land and boil the sea, whatever, who gives a shit? What you’re actually going to do is sit on your ass and listen to more shitty disco music. The one time you actually did anything was to go blow up a mountain with Jason, and that was only so you could listen to the Bee Gees or whatever in the first place.”
“Oh, I sit on my ass? Have you been gazing upon my figure? You know all you need to do is ask and you can come taste the forbidden fruit.” Keeja hand her hand down the side of her body. Then she put a hand by her mouth and said in a stage whisper, “What about your little wife, though? Does she know you’re propositioning me?”
Henry frowned and gave her the finger. Keeja smiled wildly and fanned the fabric of her frilly top. “You know what that gesture means, right? Are you asking? If you are, you might want to get some healing potions because I might break a few bones…of yours.”
Mareen gasped and visibly restrained herself. She glared at Henry and Keeja.
Jason put a hand over his face and sighed. Everyone had been getting along just fine, but now that the group was facing an actual danger and needed to stick together, they were all acting like children. It didn’t help that Thirsty Zha Zha was laughing and shouting, “You go, girl!”
Jason prayed for patience.
Uluula looked like she was about to say something, but Jason gave her a very small shake of his head. He glanced at the other members of the party. Aodh appeared ready to pass out from fright at any moment, and Vitaliya was slowly but surely making her way over to her cousin.
What a bunch of weirdos. Jason reached into his sideways space and pulled out a throwing knife. He used it to rap on the Battlewagon a few times. Everyone immediately stilled; Jason wasn’t sure if it was because of the noise or because he had just pulled a knife from midair. Ultimately, he decided he didn’t care.
“Look, let’s just get this over with. I know everyone’s on edge but just…chill, okay?”
“Be cold?” asked Bezzi-ibbi.
Jason groaned. He’d just pulled a Henry and hadn’t thought carefully enough about what he was saying in Luda. He corrected in English, “I meant ‘chill.’ It’s slang.” He switched back to Luda and said, “Yanno-ibbi?”
“Yes, thank you, Jason-ibbi.” Bezzi-ibbi’s uncle scratched his head, partially unsheathing his claws as he did so. “We’re already doing a lot of what we should be. Whether someone is watching your caravan with magic or from the top of a cliff, you should never show the length of your claws.
“That is to say, you hide your strength. Staying prepared for a fight is good. We’ve already been doing that, but we should increase it. Lastly, we should slow down. If we travel slower, there is a higher chance we won’t walk as deep into an ambush before noticing one.”
“Excuse me.” Thirsty held up a hand. “Why don’t you all just…go somewhere else? If you know someone is looking for you and they wanna throw down, why keep heading towards it?”
“That’s actually a good question.” Jason nodded. “Basically, we don’t know where the enemy is or what they plan. It’s the same reason we’re not directly trying to do anything about the shadow in the mists. I’ve already talked to Gonzo about misinformation. Basically, we could try to appear as strong as possible and maybe whoever it is would leave us alone, but there is no guarantee of that.
“This is an entire planet of people and we are being hunted. If we appear strong, given enough time, someone could just get reinforcements or build a better trap.
“By trying to play dumb and hide our strength, we might force our watcher to play their hand and ma
intain our own advantage. Basically, since we’re probably up against other orb-Bonded, there are a lot of dangerous unknowns.”
Thirsty asked, “So why not just go back to that city you were in before? Mirana, right?”
“If we head back, we could be hit en route. Plus, being in a city might result in our enemies being stronger, or end up hurting innocent people. But most importantly, I don’t think that’s an option. I don’t think we can stay in this country while refusing the orders of the queen.”
“Correct,” declared Gonzo. “For better or for worse, you’ve been given a mission. The only way to realistically get out of your task would be to find the deepest, most monster-infested forest you possibly could and live a dangerous, miserable existence. The fun thing about being orb-Bonded is that the rest of your life can be hundreds of years. This means you could really drag out the boredom and loneliness unless you get eaten. You’ll probably need to eat a lot of the natural, edible plants in the forest to survive, too.”
“Rad,” muttered Henry.
“So let me get this straight,” said Thirsty. “You could be getting hunted by like thirty people who can throw around magic and shit, and you’re just gonna, what, keep doing what you’ve been doing? You are gonna put yourself, and by extension, my black ass in danger?”
“Basically, yes,” said Henry. “Because we don’t know if the danger will increase if we change something. If we keep trying to hide everyone’s abilities, slow down the speed we’re traveling, and stay ready for the shit to hit the fan at any time, we have a chance of giving anyone who attacks us a nasty fucking surprise. Plus, we have vehicles. It might be a matter of giving them a quick black eye and then getting away.”
“So we’re just screwed and trying to make the best of it with zero information? Well, y’all are making this decision, but it’s putting me in danger too?”
“Yeah, we’re pretty much fucked either way,” said Henry. “And you’d be dead as hell by now if we hadn’t found you anyway, so simmer down.”
“Okay, that makes sense.” Thirsty sniffed and looked at Jason. “Why didn’t you say what Henry said in the first place? Stop making everything so complicated.”
Jason clenched his teeth. He was about to answer when he noticed Aodh quickly move to the other side of Yanno-ibbi. Vitaliya was conspicuously close to where he’d just been standing, but the red-haired O’Breen woman maintained an attentive, innocent expression.
He still wasn’t convinced that Vitaliya was as insane as Tony claimed, but he had to admit she’d been acting more…erratic as the days passed.
Jason answered Thirsty, “I will keep that in mind next time.” He addressed the rest of the group. “Stay ready for a fight at all times from here on out. No displays of magic or power. Bezzi-ibbi, start wearing a glove or something in case whatever it is hasn’t noticed your hand yet. That metal part of your body is a dead giveaway that you’re a Hero.
“If we get ambushed, our first goal is to stay safe, whether that means trying to run away or fighting it out. Try to keep a positive attitude, do what you can to prepare for combat, but be sneaky about it.
“We’re only a few days out from Harmly. After that, we’re going to cut cross country and find the Stem River before heading north. Hopefully everything blows over.”
“So we should continue to avoid directly interacting with the shadow?” asked Uluula.
“Yes. Right now, it would be better if they only suspect we know about them watching us than be certain about it.” Jason clapped his hands. “Okay, everyone, let’s get going again. Since we’re slowing down our pace, start looking for nice campsites and we’ll start quitting earlier each day when we find one.”
Then Jason followed his own direction and hopped up into the driver’s seat of the Battlewagon. He really needed to talk to Henry about some way to focus the group and keep morale from dropping further. It was possible they were all heading to a nasty fight, maybe even to the death, but it wasn’t like this was exactly uncommon for adventurers on Ludus.
Maybe more music would help. He’d have to ask Henry if his friend could make Keeja’s music player get any louder. If Jason were being honest with himself, he’d have to admit he wanted to hear more music, too. It was weird to hear popular music from home while driving an armored vehicle on a different planet, but it did make the experience more enjoyable.
He just hoped that Keeja actually stayed with the group like she had been for the last two days. When she took off, her music player went with her.
* * *
Liangyu crossed her legs, the motion stirring her red silk Hanfu. The expensive outfit’s material was made from silk produced on Earth, not monster-created material. She absently tightened her black sash and adjusted the lethal little enchanted dagger she kept at her waist.
She was sitting in a rough-hewn chair on a military outpost. The furniture had belonged to one of the Tolstey soldiers manning the location until a few days ago. The outpost hadn’t been very large, only around 10 soldiers, probably chosen for their uselessness. Liangyu’s mercenaries had made short work of them.
Now that she thought about the mercenaries, she realized she needed to update them, too. She might as well have them attend when Ghinsja gave her report. She ordered one of her thralls over, this one some sort of feline creature with spider mandibles and spikes along its spine. She wrote a note for each of her three leaders, folded them all with the intended recipient’s name printed on the outside, and stuck them on the creature’s spines.
As the thrall scampered off to find Liangyu’s leaders, she smiled. The expression didn’t touch her eyes. She knew they hated when she used her creations to fetch them, but she didn’t have time to spare their feelings. The note to Raquel had also instructed the mercenary captain to ensure her group attended the meeting.
Before long, Liangyu’s subordinates arrived, each of them sporting different expressions. Biivan’s eyes were narrowed. Her entire frame spoke of barely contained violence as usual, even under her baggy clothing. The High Priestess’s dark eyes fixed on Liangyu as she entered.
Mourad was next into the room. The big, middle-aged mercenary wore her usual camouflage-patterned armor. The woman’s huge, blessed steel flamberge rode in a sheath on her back.
The big mercenary had a few pieces of enchanted gear, as did most of her team, but Liangyu had never cared enough to find out more. All that mattered was their effectiveness and willingness to follow orders.
Mourad was frowning slightly, and her deep-set eyes nervously watched the two thralls Yiangyu still had in the room. The big woman was surprisingly light on her feet, and tentatively found an empty place to stand at attention.
Next to arrive was Matilda, by far the loveliest member of the mercenary team. Her blonde tresses fanned out behind her in a wave, her dark tunic embroidered in decorative patterns of orange. Her tights were orange and her boots dark. Liangyu thought the clothes looked gaudy, like a rotting squash. The woman was lucky she had a sweet face.
Matilda carried her enchanted bow over one shoulder, her monster-wood rapier hung at one hip. Despite her attempts to take on airs and act the part of a mysterious ranger, the woman’s roots as a slum rat were obvious. Her lip curled in disgust as she saw the thralls in the corners of the room. Her every emotion was always plain to see.
Raquel was next in the room, her face homely, her eyes dull and hair ratty. The fire mage didn’t look like much, but she led her group with iron authority. Her clothing was just like the woman herself. She wore a thin coat with no decoration, but lined with so many knives it doubled as armor.
She carried a staff with silver ferrules. Liangyu had a suspicion that the staff was made of monster-wood just like Matilda’s rapier. The mercenary captain’s face was carefully schooled, her nod to Liangyu respectful. However, Liangyu’s experienced eyes caught the hints of disgust and anger. It was interesting that such a remorseless mercenary could still hold such stigma against reanimation magic.
> On Raquel’s heels came Anz’wei. The big Adom was of some reptile race. Liangyu thought she looked a bit like a walking crocodile, but then again, she thought most reptilian Adom looked like walking crocodiles.
Anz’wei didn’t need much gear; her body was a weapon. She wore some kind of flowing garment and a thick yucca leather vest with pouches. She had a strange, massive ring on her back, but she’d never done anything with it. The seven-foot-tall Adom took up so much space, Liangyu decided to send one of her thralls out of the room. The thrall was still wearing the armor he’d had on before he was killed; the crest on the back of his tabard was probably for the Tolstey guard outpost he’d been manning.
As he passed Anz’wei, the big Adom female’s nostrils flared. Her expression was otherwise unreadable. Her slitted, reptilian eyes offered no clues of her thoughts. Liangyu really didn’t like Adom much…well, living Adom. If Anz’wei were killed, she’d make an excellent thrall for a few weeks at least.
Last through the door was Ghinsja. The pale, Areva orb-Bonded looked wan. She’d been exercising her power almost constantly the last few days. She wore robes of blue and white, and now that they were actually on the hunt, she also wore a jacket made of yucca leather and plates of bronze. On her belt, she kept a hand crossbow and a sloshing water skin.
Her pale, pink-streaked hair was tied back in a ponytail, and her eyes tightened when she saw the thralls. Even after all this time, Liangyu’s magic made her nervous.
Now that the whole group had gathered, Liangyu stood up. It was one thing to remind everyone of her position, but staying seated any longer would have been pushing it. She said, “Thank you for coming. It will save everyone time for the whole group to be here during this report. First, Raquel, how does the hunt for raw material go?”
The mercenary captain answered, “Very well. The device the High Priestess ‘dropped’ and we ‘found’ has been very effective at attracting monsters from the surrounding area. Just today, we already killed six of them and laid them out for you to do your…magic thing, my lady.”
Delvers LLC: Obligations Incurred Page 18
