by Han Yang
“He saved my life, and I owe him a life debt,” Asha said, telling mostly the truth. “I apologize, but I’m not for sale.”
She stomped over the hay covered stables and said, “We wish to join your party. I’m Countess Mariee, and my adventuring company has every mage class within its ranks, all at least level ten. If I can’t buy him, I’d like to join you in your large earnings.”
I smiled and said, “Five cyclops rest in the valley, or there's a series of troll cities to the southeast. But we’re done fighting for now. Heading west and trying to stay out of trouble.”
“No one goes west. Everything is infinitely harder there, and I only have three healers,” the Countess said as if I would care. “Wait, you're serious.”
“I seem to be getting that a lot,” I said with a shrug. “I’m here to shop before we head to the sea and build a boat to cross the ocean. The trip from Tarb left us low on supplies.”
This clearly was a lie, but the story held some merit.
“What?” her eyes shot to Bell. “He’s a loon. You follow a loon?”
“He changed my life for the better,” Bell said with a smile.
She snapped her fingers, bobbing her head as if she had unlocked some great secret. The Countess said, “Ah, you’re a cult. What god?”
“Caitlyn,” Bell, Asha, and I said at the same time in a spooky manner.
Countess Mariee shrugged and sighed. “A cult got lucky crossing the valley. I guess I’ll have to convince the boys to grow some balls and try the valley ourselves.” She batted her eyelashes at me and said, “Would you please draw me a map?”
“Asha will. I have dogs to load. Tired of fighting every night,” I grumbled as if it were a truth.
She looked down at me with skepticism. “You’re not from Nara. I’d know because I track all the sanctioned parties hunting our lands. If you go northwest, expect trouble.”
I didn’t need another enemy and told her, “I respect Nara and the rules it has in place. I didn’t lie when I said I was from Tarb.”
This placated her enough to leave me alone. Asha drew her a crude map, and she left a moment later.
I helped Larrin load up our twenty Zorta in purchases. Each of the puppies wanted attention, and the yipping caused a big smile. Nothing like forgetting a rude woman by being given love from a dog.
Dwarves hauled out two more wagons and a carriage, staging my caravan outside the walls. The rams pulling the carriage were tethered to a heavily laden wagon filled with supplies. A long string of rams waited behind the last carriage, and I glanced at my new cavalry mounts with a sigh.
I headed over to one of the long, wool animals, noting a shine on the coat.
“Are you ready for an adventure?” I asked, reaching out with my left hand to pet the ram.
The head turned, the snout lanced forward, and the ram smashed two of my fingers in its mouth.
A few things transpired in a flash. I screamed from the broken fingers -not in pain but in a rage.
The damn thing bit me. What the hell? You’re going down.
I didn’t heal my hand. I tucked my head and rammed the side of the ram.
Even with the busted fingers, I reached under the torso to snatch the outer legs and yanked in hard to topple the animal.
The ram slammed into the courtyard road, gasping in shock. I snatched a horn, kneeling on the chest, and glared into the surprised eyes.
“You will obey!” I commanded with a bellowing shout.
A black magical power boomed out of my core as one the rams laid down.
Shit, what spell was that?
I willed my fingers to heal, hearing them pop into place.
“Neat trick,” the human in the heavy armor from earlier said. “Something only a demon should be able to perform.”
“I’m Damien, and I assure you, I’m human,” I said with a sneer.
My anger still roiled inside me. His insinuation had hit a sore spot. I was a demon, reborn into a dead man, converted to myself through the power of gods. Pointing that out to me openly only made me angry.
“Are you challenging me?” the man asked, his evil grin spreading.
“I don’t know the customs and would rather not offend my hosts,” I said, finding my tactfulness.
Gronbri waved us both down. “While allowed, I highly discourage any such notion.”
“The demon is scared and using our hosts as cover,” the man said, more of his party arriving to back him up.
Within a few minutes, fifty of the humans egged on their man, wanting to see a fight.
“The rules?” I asked Gronbri.
“Magic and weapons between two competitors,” he said with a grumble. “No outside interferences allowed, and no combat to the death without assurances for a resurrection.”
“What if he had a horse or was a beastmaster?” I asked.
“Allowed if the horse or beast is there at the start of the match,” Gronbri said. “You can’t fight for twenty minutes, and then a dragon arrives to save you.”
The man scoffed and said, “We fight to the death. The loser pays the healer to get picked up and whatever wager we set.”
“You’ve got nothing worth my interest,” I said with a shrug, playing at his ego.
“I’ll wager my stallion to say… twenty Z I win. Three Z for a revival from the Countess,” the man said.
“Ah, you’re a healer,” I said, and she nodded. “Three Z for a revival is cheap.”
“We like entertainment. Keeps us on edge,” Countess Mariee said. “I can use the Z anyway. It’s not like I’m fighting within the next day.”
“And what if you get upset because I win and fail to pay?” I asked.
Gornbri said, “The offenders will trigger wards assembled before our time, and a resolution will be reached. The oaths allow for disagreements to be settled by combat.” He turned to the Countess and added, “I advise you to not take this route and leave before something bad happens.”
I understood he didn’t want a fight. I turned, willing to leave the situation. Ordan had an old bear I was interested in seeing.
An object hit my back, and I paused. It didn’t hurt, but it was offensive. When I saw a gauntlet on the ground, I realized it was meant to piss me off.
“The stallion for twenty Zorta, three for a revival?” I asked, kicking the gauntlet back to the man. “You’re that confident you’ll wager a fifty Z horse for twenty? Incredibly audacious. I hereby challenge… What’s your name? Likely going to forget it after I win.”
“Paladin Kirg, and I accept,” the man said, and now I understood his desire to duel me and the name calling. Paladins existed to hunt demons.
I bet he’s a holy mage. Which, yeah, will hurt a ton if he lands a spell.
“The battle of grudges has been accepted, and a ring will form right here,” Gronbri said, shouting his words.
A few dwarves abandoned their stalls, and a lot of the wall guards turned inward. Shouts of ale for sale dominated the area, and a small circle formed an arena.
I pulled out my sword, fumbling it.
“What manner of mage are you, demon?” Kirg asked.
“I’d rather not say. Asha, go stand by his horse they’re bringing over so when I win, they don’t try to take it,” I ordered.
The elva nodded and walked by the man to stand behind him. Gronbri knew what I was doing and kept a blank face. Bell came to my side and whispered into my ear, “We don’t need more foes.”
“I know, but I’d rather not die,” I said. “And that’s a nice horse. Can probably trade it for Charlie.”
“Fine, I really did like Charlie and Tarla was going to be pissed you got rid of him,” Bell said.
“We needed the rams,” I said with a shrug, mis-balancing my weapon.
“You keep pretending like you’re terrible with a sword, but it won’t help,” Kirg said with a snicker, his fellow soldiers laughing at my expense.
“Oh, you’re noticing my ploy? You paladins
are really smart,” I said as if I meant it. “Can we start this already?”
Bell tossed two orbs to Gronbri, and Kirg smiled.
“The grudge begins in three, two, and fight!”
The paladin danced on his feet, chanting a spell immediately.
I stood there and nodded to my minion.
Asha became a blur faster than I could track. Kirg never saw his demise as Asha’s blade swept out at the neckline.
One moment his focused eyes squinted with determination. The next, his head shot off his shoulder. The scowl remained, never changing to shock.
I had to give it to the other humans. They reacted faster than I thought possible. Asha was stabbed with daggers and left for dead almost as quickly as he had killed Kirg.
Golden bubbles surrounded the offenders immediately, powered by the wards of the city and the oaths that bound them.
Pandemonium ensued, and I walked over to heal the mortally wounded Asha.
His lips moved like a fish, his body pooling blood under him. I seethed with a barely controlled rage at seeing my friend in such a manner.
“Up… gr… Up…” he barely managed.
I selected his body, Bell offering a purse of Zorta.
Hmm… upgrade my friend, or buy a bear mount?
“Ouch, Asha. Super ouch. I get it, you're almost dead. Why not let the hands claim your flesh at this stage?”
Elva Minion: Asha.
Health 27/27. Level 2.
Sapient Elva.
Fighting Abilities: Highly proficient.
Memories intact.
Upgrade Available. Consume 35/241 mana and 62 Zorta (YES) or (NO). Total Zorta required 268
“I see you’ve been lowering your Zorta cost. Do we have 270 Zorta?” I asked Bell.
She shrugged.
“I don’t have time to have you ingest it all before he dies,” Bell said.
I nodded, focusing on my friend. “I promise when my mana is higher or we have more Zorta prepared, I’ll upgrade you. This is not the time, sorry,” I said and genuinely meant it.
He sadly nodded in understanding, dying a few breaths later. I sat down, letting the mana exhaustion wash over me.
I saw the Countess break free of the bubble. She and Gronbri conversed in whispers. A dwarf walked over, chanting to raise Asha.
The chanting grew, and a golden beam from the heavens burst into my friend. The speed of the spell and the lack of a magical explosion resulted in me knowing the dwarf had decent healing skills. Obviously, our hosts didn’t want me to show my two magics.
Asha shuddered and then gasped, coming back to life. The moment he was back on his feet, the mana exhaustion faded. I felt bad for not upgrading him, but there simply wasn’t time, and he probably knew it was a long shot when he asked. The promise hopefully was enough to tide him over. He tucked his sword away, grabbing the stallion to take it to the traders market.
Good, I wanted Charlie.
Gronbri waved me over to join him and the Countess.
I expected her to be enraged, maybe eager to challenge me to another fight, but I found her horrified instead. She was clearly a warrior woman, but right now, her shocked face gave away her dismay.
Four of her soldiers were in golden bubbles, and a fifth lay decapitated.
“A fucking ‘mancer and you have a revived skeleton. Unreal. The odds were next to zero, and you had to piss off the paladin. You are a damn demon,” she said, recovering from her shock.
“Manners,” Gronbri said.
“Screw manners. What’s this going to cost me?” the Countess demanded. I stared at her blankly, and she pointed to the four men in bubbles. “You get to claim all their gear and lives if you want it.”
“Shucks, I just wanted your paladin to leave me alone,” I said with a shrug. “We’re leaving, and I want to go in peace, never seeing you again.”
“You’re an idiot ‘mancer. Nara’s Adventuring Plus doesn’t charge cyclops or war against armies. We come out to improve our lives and help the common folk of Nara. This,” she flippantly gestured to the men in golden orbs of magic, “will infuriate our king. Not a chance he doesn't hear that a strivian human outwitted me.”
“I’m afraid I might just be that idiot ‘mancer you called me. Where’s this going?” I asked.
“What is your punishment?” Gronbri asked. “Do you wish for their lives and gear? Do you want to let them go free? They have broken the oaths by attacking your magic. You dueled fairly, and they did not.”
“I want a bear I can ride,” I said with a shrug.
“A bear to have our transgression stricken?” the Countess asked.
“That would allow them to continue to trade with us. If not, their main revenue of gold dries up, and they miss significant profits,” Gronbri said.
“That and a pledge that if any party comes to hunt me, you and your soldiers here will recuse themselves,” I said, gazing up at the frowning woman.
She nodded. “How much is a bear?” she asked Gronbri.
“Ten stallions for an older mount. A cub is cheaper, but he stipulated - ride,” Gronbri said.
She nodded and said, “I accept our punishment and will adhere to the oath set by the challenged.”
The bubbles popped, and the fighters immediately sighed in relief.
“You could have had them killed, earned their Zorta, and claimed their gear as well as mounts. You literally held their lives in your palm and you spared them,” Gronbri said with a headshake.
“I… thanks. Wait here,” Countess Mariee said, leaving with her party, walking to Ordan.
One of the healers stood over Kirg. She eyed me with disdain, and I said, “Can I claim him?”
“What?” the healer asked harshly.
“No, they are waiting for you to leave to bring him back. He won’t cope well and likely will cause greater offense,” Gronbri said. “Let sleeping dogs rest.”
“We say it differently, but I follow. Anyway -” I saw Charlie coming back with Asha on his back. “Charlie! Oh come on now, don’t get mad at me.”
“It was all his fault,” Bell said, letting the horse nuzzle into her breasts. She doted on the animal, and I left to let them bond.
Over the next half hour, the situation settled into a quiet ordeal. We finished loading up the last of our purchases. Right when I grew impatient with waiting, a cagey old bear lumbered over with a dwarf leading the reins. He tied the bear up to the back of the ram lines and that was it.
No threatening goodbyes, no ‘you’ll pay for this’. The dwarves thanked us, and I ordered the head wagon to roll towards our camp. Charlie free walked with us, clearly wanting to return to the tribe.
The second we arrived at our camp, the tribe rejoiced at all our new supplies. Without wasting any time, I had everyone load up and killed the joyful spirit. We were heading back into Ikara Valley. I needed to get distance on the Countess before she could scout and report what we really were - a strivian caravan.
CHAPTER 31
Ikara Valley
“How many?” I asked Asha.
“Lumpy counts in groups. Kill, maybe kill, and run,” Asha said.
I grumbled and said, “We need to know. Take what you need and properly scout.”
“Give me an hour or two please,” he said, and I nodded.
I rolled back over, canoodling into Tarla’s naked form. After two days of hard marching, we finally reset to sleeping during the day. Of course, the scouts had found a threat mid-sleep. I didn’t complain to the snoozing lady beside me. I simply joined her back in sleep.
∞∞∞
Hours later, I awoke to an eager lover. Tarla and I pounced on each other until Asha poked his head in to let me know it was time for a briefing.
I donned my travel robes, equipping my sword, and when I exited the tent, the fresh evening air smelled of lovely pines.
We didn’t find a clearing this time. Our group simply was getting too large. The pines split our camp into sections.
<
br /> The wagons and carriage did their best to create a circle around the campsite.
The three horses, twenty plus rams, the horde of puppies, the adult hounds, and the cerberus rested among the goblins.
The trolls meandered around the largest fire that boiled a large stew. My minions piled an assortment of local kills in a pile by the fire. A team of female trolls cleaned the kills while goblin fire mages preserved the hides.
The tents completed the interior, and I gazed upon the group in wonderment. So many beings coming together to not only survive but thrive.
Asha sat by the fire, a book in his lap. I walked over the crunching pine needles, eager to hear what he had to say. One of the rams diverted to get pets. I didn’t hesitate, reaching out. The head nuzzled into my touch.
“Damn straight,” I said, noting this was the ram who had bitten me before. “I guess I’ll have to name you at some point. Still, not a Sprinkles, though.”
“Naga, we found a naga nest,” Asha said over his shoulder. “Never dealt with them personally. This is a human guide to strivian creatures.” He lifted the book for me to see before returning it to his lap. “A naga is a snake humanoid of land and water. They tend to farm fish, rarely venture beyond their villages, and are extremely aggressive if approached. Observe from a distance, and like most strivians, unless you want a fight, you should avoid them.
“It says they’re fast in bursts and then they slow down. They have human mouths in a sense of molars in the back. There are fangs with venom in them. Grow to ten feet tall when erect on their tails, capable fighters, and generally a prime raiding target due to their lack of allies.”
How odd, something isn’t adding up.
“How do they manage to persist in such a savage world?” I asked.
His finger traced down the page, and he read, “They reproduce quickly and reach maturity at a young age. When a nest reaches a few dozen, it splits and then the two will split into four. Basically, they’re a small breeder race, not too different from trolls. Trolls tend to exile potential threats to current leaders, and those new tribes only peel off a fraction of the leader’s followers.”
