by Seth Ring
Thorn gave the still fuming half-Orc another friendly smile and walked back to the fire, adding a few more pieces of wood. Behind him, Priss was swearing under her breath as she watched his back.
“He’s something, huh?” Bluefire said in a quiet voice as she walked up next to her friend.
“He’s definitely related to Athena, that’s for sure.” Priss shook her head. “Same crushing presence, same silver tongue.”
“Hah, it's true. But seriously, you better get used to it. We both know what choice Athena would make if forced to choose between the Society and the kid. So do everyone a favor and don’t make her choose. Besides, do you really want to get into a fight with him?”
A moment passed as Priss thought about Bluefire’s words, but before she could gather the words to respond they heard a scream from Hollowgen.
“It's a bird!” Hollowgen was freaking out as she pointed to the black mass in the sky. “It’s an absolutely massive bird!”
“An Imperial Roc to be exact.” Mina took great delight in the dumbfounded expression on Hollowgen’s face.
The dark shadow rapidly got closer until everyone could see the shape of the Emperor of the Sky blotting out the light from the stars. Heidi and the ladies from the Society backed up as far as they could when the Emperor landed on the mountain top, his massive wingspan stirring up a small storm of snow as he touched down.
[Thorn, buddy! How's it going? You look much better than you did before. Did you get your curse solved? You certainly smell much better. Like the plants in my mom’s garden. Oh, did you meet up with the thief guy I sent over? He was pretty funny. He was so scared I don’t think he moved a centimeter the whole trip. But I heard you need a ride back to the capital. I can get you pretty close, but like I mentioned, the defenses on the floating city are pretty legit so I don’t want to get too close.]
Grasping the slight pause in Vento’s mental barrage, Thorn grinned and waved.
[Hey, Vento. Thanks for picking us up.]
[Oh sure, oh sure. No problem. I’ve had more fun in the last couple weeks than in the last twenty-five years. Haha, at this point I’ll turn into a regular taxi.]
As Vento spoke his head kept shifting as he kept his gaze on Akira, who was sitting on Thorn’s shoulder polishing off the last piece of fruit. Curious, Thorn glanced at her but did not see anything out of the ordinary.
[Let me introduce you to my companions.] Gesturing for the others to come out of the cave, Thorn introduced them one by one. [Bluefire, Heidi, Vivi, Hollowgen, BrokenBlade, and Priss. They’ll be riding with me back to the capital if that is okay. Oh, and you know Akira.]
[Akira? That’s the same pet you had before? Whoa! I was wondering when you got an ancient species as a pet, but to think that she upgraded? That’s crazy hard. Ancient species are hard to come by you know. There are only a few of us left in the world. At the last conference there were only three and none of them were Ailuridae, believe me, I would have noticed. Just me, the dumb griffon, and the stuck up unicorn. Can you believe that? Only three of us left. There used to be hundreds. Anyway, glad to see you found a fourth.]
Chewing up the last piece of fruit, Akira jumped from Thorn’s shoulder, expanding in size as she fell through the air. Taking her battle form, she was about half of the Emperor’s height when she sat up. Looking up at the Imperial Roc she lashed her tails in greeting.
[Hello! I am Akira, the best Ailuridae!]
[Hello, Akira, you certainly are the biggest Ailuridae I’ve ever seen. Anyway, nice to meet you. I’ll let you know when the next conference is if you’re interested. We just had the last one about thirty years ago so there should be one coming up some time in the next ten years or so.]
“Um, Thorn,” Heidi tugged at Thorn’s clothing, keeping a nervous eye on the Emperor’s gigantic form.
“Yeah? What’s up?”
“Um… My contract is completed.”
“Of course.”
Thorn smacked his forehead. He had been so focused on the next thing that he had completely forgotten that Heidi was currently on a mercenary contract. A contract that actually ended as soon as they had gotten out of the tomb.
“Here is the gold I owe you. I’m adding a bonus because you were legitimately awesome. You’re a great tank.” Transferring Heidi a stack of gold, Thorn scratched his jaw. “Have you considered joining a guild? If you are interested, there is a spot in Nova Luna for you. With your skill level getting a professional contract would not be a problem. I’d be happy to have someone reach out with details.”
“Hey, slow down there big guy.” Before Heidi could say anything, Priss’ tall body stepped in front of her, blocking Thorn’s sight. “You have to get in line if you want to offer a deal.”
“Oh?” Thorn’s eyebrows rose as he shot a glance at Bluefire who nodded.
“Yeah, we’ve invited Heidi to try out for our team.”
“Isn’t the Society capped at sixty people? I thought that was the maximum that Athena’s skill could support.”
“It is, but she thought it was time to start expanding. You’ll have to ask her for the details if you want more than that.”
“Will do.” Thorn turned back to Heidi with a friendly smile. “Regardless, you’re more than welcome in Nova Luna if you decide you want to.”
“Thank you.” Heidi’s gaze was expressive as she locked eyes with Thorn, causing Mina who was watching the exchange to instantly be on guard. There was something about the Elemental Warrior’s direct gaze that made Mina uncomfortable, so she quickly spoke up.
“Hey, we should probably be going, shouldn’t we?”
“Yes, let me see if the Emperor is ready.”
[Yeah, I’m good. We can go any time. Should only take a couple hours to get there. Though, like I said, I can only get you within about sixty miles or so. But if that is good then we can go now.]
[Great, thanks so much for your help, Vento.]
Turning to the side, Vento spread his wing out, lowering the end so that Thorn and the ladies could climb onto his back. Once they were settled, he expanded slightly and launched himself from the top of the mountain, quickly climbing in the air until they were well above the clouds.
“This is unbelievable.” The awe in Bluefire’s voice was plain as she looked at the world passing by under them.
“Hah, just wait until he speeds up.”
The trip to the capital went swiftly as the continent passed quickly beneath them. Seeing Northern Angoril from this height just reinforced for Thorn how much he still had left to explore. Besides the capital, he had only really seen his own little corner of the northern continent. Furthermore, there was another entire continent to the south that he had yet to set foot on. With a deep sigh, Thorn sat down and began trying to answer some of the messages he had gotten while he was cursed.
One of the first things he had done after getting cursed was hire a number of managers to assist in the development of Nova Luna, but with the [Living Statue] curse he had not been able to respond to their messages and, as a result, had just ignored his messaging application which made it impossible to keep track of how things were going. Still, the managers had been sending regular updates to keep him abreast of how things were going, so there was a lot to catch up on.
As much as Thorn had been enjoying his adventures, the breakneck pace had been quite intense, and he was secretly looking forward to settling down in the valley for a while and focusing on building it up. Though, the more he considered the growing list of tasks he had to handle, the less likely it seemed that he would get time to rest.
Vento dropped the group off about sixty miles away from the floating city, and they crossed the remaining distance on foot. After taking the floating pagoda up to the city, they met Athena in the Society’s headquarters. There was still a day until the hearing, but Thorn had passed a message through Athena to the Noble’s circle and set up a meeting with Lady Sere and her mother who were acting as the representatives of the Noble factio
n.
“Hey kid! You’re looking much better than the last time I saw you.”
Athena’s smile was radiant as she hugged Thorn tightly. Letting him go, she gave Mina a hug and scratched Akira under the chin before turning to Heidi and taking her hand.
“You must be Heidi. The girls have told me about you. I’m very excited to see what you can do. If they’re telling the truth, I think you’ll be a great addition to our team. We’re actually holding the trials today and tomorrow, so you came just in time. Why don’t you follow Priss, she’ll get you settled so you can rest properly before the test.”
Completely starstruck, Heidi could barely muster a response before Priss led her away. Just as she was about to leave she turned to say something to Thorn but, seeing that Athena was talking to him, held her words in and followed Priss out of the room. Her action was not lost on Athena, Bluefire, and Mina, who all shared a glance.
“Where is Velin? I thought she was with you?” Smoothly moving the conversation, Athena pulled Thorn toward one of the couches. Sitting, she patted the seat beside her. “Don’t worry, I had all the furniture reinforced.”
“She opted to stay on the island for a chain quest. She said she could only complete it solo and that it would take a while. Hopefully, by the time we’ve cleaned up everything here she’ll be done and will rejoin us.”
“I’m sure she’ll be back soon.” Athena smiled gently and patted Thorn’s knee. “Alright. Let’s focus on what’s in front of us. It is time for you to clear your name.”
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
“Greetings, Lady Sere, it is always nice to see you.”
“The pleasure is mine, Baron Greymane.” Esme matched Thorn’s bow with a small curtsy and invited him in.
The Sere family mansion was located in an upscale part of the capital city, though upscale was really a relative term considering that the entire floating city was incredibly nice. The mansion included two wings and a large central building and was easily the largest mansion on the street, a testament to the family’s power. Following Esme into the grand hallway, Thorn gave his hat and cane to the butler and was brought to a library on the second floor of the main building.
Large floor-to-ceiling windows at the back of the room let in streams of light from the well-ordered garden. Inbuilt bookshelves covered the walls, filled with countless books and treasured objects, lending the room the air of an eclectic antiques collector, an air that was only furthered by the strange variety of furniture that sat in the center of the room.
A middle-aged woman in a pale pink empire-waisted dress rose to her feet from a green and purple chaise decorated with golden grape vines. Brown hair was piled on her head, expertly arranged into a messy updo that looked like it had just been casually put up. Perfect makeup complimented naturally beautiful features, revealing the smallest hint of maturity in the eyes that carefully examined Thorn. Used to being given the once over by all of his aunt’s friends, Thorn was not shaken by her scrutiny and simply smiled, taking the lady’s offered hand and giving her a bow.
“You must be Baron Greymane. My, you are big.” The woman’s eyes opened wide and she covered her mouth in an exaggerated manner. “I am Countess Sere, Esme’s mother. Please have a seat, Baron. Would you like anything to drink? Battercomb, be a dear and fetch something to drink for the Baron.”
“Yes, madam.” Giving a small bow, the butler who had led Thorn and Esme to the library stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.
“How are you enjoying your visit to the capital, Baron Greymane?”
“Please, call me Thorn.” Replying absently as he cast a side eye at the chair that Countess Sere had offered to him. “I hope you don’t find it impertinent, Countess, but I have a bit of a size problem and I think it would be a shame to destroy one of your lovely chairs. I happen to have brought my own, so with your permission I’ll use it instead.”
Summoning his chair from his inventory, Thorn moved the chair that Countess Sere had offered and replaced it with his, sitting down comfortably. Watching him switch out the chair with curiosity, the countess sat down and then stretched out, lounging casually on her chaise.
“What a curious problem to have. Still, I’m sure being so large comes with advantages.”
“It does. The capital is lovely as always. Though I have not had a chance to really explore it, I’ve enjoyed what I have seen so far.”
“How wonderful. Ah, thank you Battercomb.”
Though the countess gave off an indolent air, Thorn could see the sharpness behind her eyes. She continued to make small talk until the butler had finished putting out the refreshments he had brought. Once the elderly servant had left the room and carefully closed the door, the countess glanced at her daughter and then smiled at Thorn.
“Well, Baron, it is probably best that we get to the main topic at hand. Your hearing is scheduled for tomorrow. Are you ready?”
“I was hoping you could help me answer that question, countess.”
“Assuming that our agreement still stands, I certainly can. You currently have three different charges leveled against you. Insurrection, holding resources unlawfully, and conspiracy with devils. Truthfully, none of them will stand. The hearing is simply a formality. We’ve arranged for the Interior Minister to be under significant pressure should he continue to oppose your use of the token, so we should not face any challenges in this. The more important part will come after the hearing is done.
“You will, as part of your closing statement, ask that the judge sign off on your use of the [Nobility Upgrade Token]. In order to do that, the judge will ask if the Interior Minister has any objections. When there are none, you will get your upgrade in court. Apart from asking for the judge to verify your use of the token, there really isn’t anything else for you to do.”
“That sounds simple enough. What about meeting the Iron Duke?”
“We’ll handle that as well. The developments on Rasyn have provided a wonderful opportunity for us. The Duke will undoubtedly be issuing a call to arms soon, so you’ll not only have a chance to meet him, but you’ll have the chance to fight under him. It is a tragic situation, but one that comes with many benefits for us.”
“A tragic situation indeed.” Thorn’s voice was grave as he remembered the sight of the slave collar on Princess Rychell’s neck.
“Thank you for coming to visit me, Baron Greymane. I look forward to our cooperation.”
Having seen Thorn and said what she wanted to, the countess summarily dismissed him with a wave, gesturing for her daughter to lead him out before turning her attention to a stack of letters that were on a small table at the side of her chaise lounge.
“It has been my pleasure.” Having been dismissed, Thorn rose and put his chair away, giving the countess another small bow before following Esme out of the room.
Once they were downstairs, Esme turned to Thorn and gave him an apologetic smile, her hands grasping the folds of her blue dress.
“My apologies, Baron Greymane, I know my mother can be a bit, er, overbearing. I hope you don’t take offense.”
“Haha, don’t worry about it, Esme. I’m more than used to it with my aunt. But please, call me Thorn. I’m not used to all the titles.”
Giggling, Esme covered her mouth, peeking at him over her hand as she teased him.
“You should get used to it, Lord Baron Greymane, the Moon Wolf. Soon you’ll have even more titles to add to your name.”
“I guess it is the price one has to pay.” With a longsuffering sigh, Thorn put his hand to his head, eliciting even more giggles from Lady Sere.
As they joked in the hallway, the door opened and a well-dressed man in his fifties strode through it. Stopping, his eyes scanned up and down Thorn before he turned to give Esme a hug.
“Hello Esme, who is this?”
“Oh, father, you’re home early!” Smiling with delight, Esme introduced Thorn. “This is Baron Greymane.”
Well built, the earl h
ardly looked like someone in his late fifties, grey hair just starting to pepper his beard and sideburns. After hearing Esme’s answer, his gaze became sharper and he gave Thorn another careful appraisal.
“Hello, sir. My name is Thorn. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“So you’re the one that the hearing is about tomorrow? Nice to meet you.” Giving his daughter a peck on the cheek, he waved to Thorn and walked up the stairs. “Well, you kids have fun. I’m going to get changed for dinner.”
“Ah, that’s right! We’re about to have dinner, would you care to join us, Thorn?”
