“Thank you so much,” Billy said. “We've been through too much these last few days.”
The man cackled at that. “I can tell,” he said. “Though I don't suppose someone like you has many boring days, do you?”
“I suppose we don't,” Audelia sighed, though she was smiling.
The man seemed to regard them warmly, but he was deep in thought as he sized the two of them up as though he were considering something. “In any case,” he began, “You're welcome to have a seat as long as you'd like, but I can't provide accommodations for three people.”
“That's fine,” Billy said. “You've already been a real pal.”
Finally, the man called Iskar sighed deeply, happy with his success so far with the redhead. Now he had a chance to look over Billy and Audelia with more scrutiny. “You'll need bandages and ointments yourselves,” he said. And he quickly patched the two of them up with the expertise and gentleness of an experienced and devoted caregiver. As the cream hit their skins and he wrapped their wounds, both Billy and Audelia already felt better.
“You're incredible at this,” Audelia said.
“How much do we owe you in full?” Billy asked, opening up his satchel.
“Oh, I'll just charge you for materials,” he said. “So four silver pieces.”
“That seems awfully cheap,” Audelia noted. “Can I ask why the discount?”
The man shrugged. “When there are emergencies like this, I don't feel comfortable charging for a profit. Herbs to give you a hard-on, aphrodisiacs, things like that—that's where my money mostly comes from, and I'm fine with that.”
Audelia smiled warmly at Iskar. “You're a good man.”
“Probably too good for this world,” Billy noted. “People must take advantage of you all the time.”
The man laughed a bit. “I get by. I have friends in high places who keep the parasites at bay. Anyway, can I do anything else for you? Want stronger erections or more chest hair?”
Now it was Billy's turn to laugh. His muscles ached from the sudden contractions caused by his guffaws. “I think we'll just rest a while,” he said.
“There is an inn nearby,” the man said. “You can rest there and come back later if you'd like. Not that I'm asking you to leave. I don't mind the company.”
“Maybe tonight,” Billy said, looking to Audelia for confirmation. When he saw her nod, he continued. “I think we don't want to be too far from our girl given some of our recent... ordeals.”
The man nodded, and he pulled up a chair across from where they sat. “And what ordeals might those be, if I might ask?”
“Killed a wizard, got betrayed by an apparently immortal one-eyed man,” Billy threw his hands up in exasperation. “You know the drill.”
The man's eyes narrowed with a look Billy recognized as hatred. “You wouldn't be referring to Grint the Deathless, would you?”
Billy and Audelia shared a cautious look, but both had decided to trust this man. “Yes,” Audelia said. “He owed us silver but instead tried to kill us. We did a mission for him, and he didn’t want us to spread knowledge of our discovery until he had the opportunity to exploit it.”
“He's a right bastard, isn't he?” Iskar growled. “I'm sorry for what you went through. Knowing Grint, it's mighty impressive that you're still here to spin the yarn. He's no slouch on the battlefield.”
“I think he might take a while before he's ready to find us,” Billy said. “We killed his henchmen and chopped him into a few dozen pieces and threw him in the fireplace.”
The man's eyes widened. “Damn. That'll slow him down, surely. But if you were hoping he'd forget about you and move on to other pursuits, I daresay you've made an impression he won't soon be able to forget.”
Billy gritted his teeth. It was true. All he'd done was piss off an immortal. Now the bastard would likely hunt him to the ends of the earth. “How did he get that power?”
Iskar grumbled slightly before he managed to find words. “It’s a long story—or so they say,” he suddenly sounded nervous. “Some say cores are involved. Rumor has it that Grint the Deathless can absorb them, but between you and me, that’s not the case,” he said softly, leaning forward conspiratorially. Billy felt a tinge of anxiety at the mention of absorbing cores. He liked this man, but he wasn't ready to share his ability with him. Fortunately for Billy, though, Audelia apparently had fewer reservations about it.
“Billy can absorb cores, too,” she confessed. Billy's jaw almost dropped from her flippant admission. “He's absorbed three already.”
The man's eyes glistened with something resembling hope. “Really?” he said. “That's incredible! Is it true?”
The bewildered barbarian nodded, eyeing Audelia with befuddlement, trying to nonverbally display his confusion at why she'd let this man in on such a guarded secret so soon after meeting him. Suddenly Iskar stood up and stretched, returning to his desk to pour over some documents.
“I suddenly remembered I have something to do. Would you mind coming back later?” he asked abruptly. “I promise your friend is in good hands, but there's something I must take care of.”
“Please don't tell anyone,” Billy said, fearing the worst from the man's sudden change of mind.
“Oh, your secret is safe with me,” Iskar said. “I promise. But I believe the gods sent you to me for a reason. Don't go far. Come back later. I swear you have nothing to fear.” Iskar the Apothecary had begun scrawling something down on parchment. Audelia and Billy looked at each other in confusion but nodded and dismissed themselves, giving and receiving warm goodbyes.
Suddenly the two of them were outside. “What were you thinking?!” Billy asked. “Why did you tell him?”
Audelia shrugged, but she was smiling. “I just felt... I knew we could trust him,” she said. “Don't you think so, too?”
“I guess,” Billy agreed reluctantly, “But we need to be far more cautious with who we tell from now on.” He found himself looking back up at the yellow moon in the space of every quiet moment.
Audelia looked down, a bit ashamed to be scolded by Billy for her loose lips but not at all regretful. She knew Billy was right, but Billy also knew that she wasn't wrong. Yes, they needed to be more careful, but if there was one person on their journey they'd met worthy of their trust, it was Iskar.
“Hey, it's fine,” Billy said. “I'm sure Iskar is a safe bet, but just... going forward, let's discuss it before we tell anyone, right?”
She smirked up at him weakly. “Of course. Agreed. Sorry.” Still, she felt in her heart that telling Iskar was the right move. Time would clarify the quality of her instincts one way or the other.
Chapter 11
◆◆◆
As dusk fell, the barbarian and his companion were surprised to see no less clatter and activity on the streets. They hadn’t bothered to find an inn in the end. They were too anxious to rest and far more eager to explore the city. Men and women were still out, selling wares and making trades, though the goods were of a different sort. Now, harlots with exposed bosoms and other provocative garb lined the corners of each street, some holding torches to better light their supple forms for their discerning clientele.
Billy was never the sort for such pursuits, and now he had Audelia with him, so it hardly seemed like a good idea to take up the hobby of a whore connoisseur now. He doubted he could focus on much else other than Kaya, in any case, given the dire state in which she was left in the care of the kind chemist. After they had killed some time, they headed back in the direction where they’d come from.
The dusty streets were an easy walk from the marketplace back to the apothecary door, and upon their arrival there, they knocked, though the sign still read “Open For Business” in the native script. Billy thought it looked hieroglyphic in nature, and he was surprised that Audelia could read it.
“You pick up these things when you travel as much as I do,” she'd said with a soft shrug that caused enough of a jiggle to tempt Billy's eyes downward
, but he resisted the magnetic pull of the battle maiden's breasts. He could entertain those desires when Kaya had safely rejoined them and they were secure in whatever hovel they could procure for the night.
Billy and Audelia ultimately found themselves back at the familiar doorway to the apothecary where they'd left Kaya in the capable hands of the healer called Iskar. They felt good about their decision to trust him, but the more time passed, the more anxious the two of them became at his sudden response and dismissal of them once he'd heard of the barbarian's rare gift.
His reaction spelled out clearly that the man had an agenda and that, at best, he hoped to push the agenda upon them with an appeal to a mutual best interest. At worst, he may decide to blackmail them to get what he wanted, perhaps throwing Kaya's life in the balance once again—but Billy did not figure that to be likely.
The door swung open with a creak, not unlike the wailing of a cat, but on the other side of it was a far more welcoming sound. “Please come in,” Iskar said, smiling. The handsome middle-aged apothecary seemed wearier than he had when they'd first conversed with him.
They walked in, and suddenly a realization struck the barbarian that had never occurred to him before.
“Why does everyone speak the same language as me here?” he asked no one in particular.
Iskar looked caught off guard by the abrupt inquiry, but Audelia shrugged at the man.
“He's new to these lands,” she said, and then turning to the barbarian, she offered a concise explanation. “Billy, no one speaks the same language. We all speak the language of our peoples, but we hear each other's speech in our own tongue.”
Billy's eyes widened. “What?! How's that now?”
“Beilath the Charitable stole a tongue of flame from the gods some one thousand years ago,” Iskar added. “Since then, we can understand each other as though we all speak the same language. Most of the time, anyway.”
“Most of the time?” Billy asked.
“Very rarely, things like eclipses can interrupt the spell and complicate things,” he said. “But it's always a manner of minutes at the most. Awkward, but not life-altering,” he finished with a deep-voiced chuckle.
Billy nodded, “So the sign outside,” Billy began to ask.
“I had to learn that. Written language is still... hard to work out,” Audelia said. “Anyway,” she turned back to the apothecary, who'd been humoring them politely since they walked in, “Sorry about that. Can we see Kaya?”
He nodded with a warm smile that seemed to radiate outward, filling the hearts of the battle maiden and the barbarian with a sense of ease. “Of course,” he said, relishing their glad expressions. “Right this way.”
He led them up a primitive clay staircase with no railing or banister into a room that opened from the ceiling, not unlike an attic that Billy had had in his childhood home. The room that it opened up to was darkly lit, but there were windows that spilled yellow moonlight into the room, and Billy sighed a breath of relief as he saw that a moonbeam landed gently upon Kaya, who was sitting up in bed, drinking an herbal draught. Bandages were affixed to her various wounds, and some would likely scar, but she was still the same beautiful little thief, and the glow in her eyes, even in the dark, showed as much.
Audelia rushed over and gave Kaya a hug, which Kaya returned tearfully. “Thank the gods you're alright!” Audelia exclaimed.
Billy stood from a distance, allowing them their moment. He turned to Iskar instead. “You really did us a solid, bro,” he said, throwing his arm over the apothecary. “We definitely owe you big time.”
Iskar bowed humbly. “You most certainly do not,” he said, “But if you do wish to return a favor, I would ask only one thing of you.”
At that moment, Billy would have promised the moon. “Name it.”
“Meet with my sister. She is the high priestess of Turik, and she would love to meet you. She may be able to help you, as well. I must confess, I’ve already sent word to her about you, though I didn’t mention your abilities.”
Billy scanned his eyes for any hints of an ulterior motive but found none—there was only the familiar kindness that had been well-established.
“We'll do it,” he granted. “No worries. We could use more friends in town.”
“Excellent,” Iskar said, beaming at the barbarian. “I'll send a night courier to tell her of your coming. When shall you go?”
Kaya stood up with Audelia's help and they made their way over to the conversing men. “Where are we going?”
“To meet his sister,” Billy said.
Kaya nodded. “Okay, where is she based?”
“You can find her at the Temple of Amar'nak,” he said.
Billy's gut twisted at the familiar name. When he'd first arrived in this land, one of the first things that happened to him upon finding civilization was getting captured and manipulated into becoming a sacrifice at the Temple to Amar'nak in Sulkeia, that godforsaken town—the same town he'd met Grint in. Still, though, it wasn't all bad. He'd met Audelia there, too.
“I was kidnapped by Amar'nak's followers before,” Billy said with a pained grunt.
“Such is the way of the gods,” Iskar sighed. “You no doubt were an attractive sacrifice to them,” he admitted.
Billy eyed him skeptically. “That's all you have to say?”
Audelia looked apologetic, though, but not to Billy. “He doesn't understand our ways,” she said. “The gods are strange to him.”
“I understand,” Iskar nodded. “My friend, there is no doubt that the gods can be cruel, but they are still the gods. We all do as we must. You will not find a single god in this land that doesn't thrive off of sacrifice. Sometimes the sacrifices are willing. Sometimes, they aren't. I don't condone it, but it simply is the way of this cruel land.”
Billy sighed, clenching his fists. “I'll see her for you,” he said. “But know that I'm not going in with the most stellar first impression.”
Iskar nodded. “Understood. But I have a feeling my sister can bring you around, little by little. She's a good woman, though she does what she must in the service of Turik and Amar'nak.”
“We'll head there at dawn, then,” grunted the outlander. “Let's get it over with.”
“Very well, I'll summon the courier and send word. Thank you.”
“No, thank you,” Kaya said, kissing him on the cheek. The man blushed a profound shade of red that made Billy chuckle. No doubt he looked that way the first time he'd gotten a measure of affection from Audelia.
They left the apothecary to his own devices and headed out in the direction of the tavern. The city streets were utterly hectic by now, and it was clear that nightlife was indeed a thing in these lands, as men dressed in flamboyant robes promised impressive shows involving acrobatics, nude women and men, and fire-breathing beasts. Billy was tempted to see what all the fuss was about, but noticing Kaya still looking rather drained, he resolved instead to find a place to rest their heads for the night.
They came to a shoddy-looking inn constructed entirely of clay and something like adobe. It was a single-floor structure with many attached rooms and it took up an entire block. It reminded Billy of a motel back in his own world. There was a front desk where an older woman waited, handing out keys with strange symbols etched onto them, and Billy discerned all he had to do was pay for the key and take it to the door with the matching symbol. Theirs was an embossed eagle.
The door swung open swiftly with the insertion and twist of the key, and the interior of the room was simple to say the least. There was a single bed that couldn't easily cater to all three of them unless they got industrious with their spooning.
At last, though, they had secured a shelter to rest within. A sliding door led to a fenced-in patch of earth out back with scarcely enough room to walk three paces. There was also a shovel.
“That's where you relieve yourself,” Audelia explained. “Dig a hole, go, and cover it.”
“It stinks out here,” Billy noted
.
“Close the door, then,” Kaya groaned, her voice unusually nasally. As Billy walked back inside, he realized it was because she was holding her nose.
“We made it,” Billy said. “We're here, we're safe, we're all alive. That's a win.”
Audelia smiled as she lay down on the bed, taking up most of the space herself. The petite, shorter Kaya easily curled up next to her, but Billy was going to be a problem.
“Hmm,” he said. “I guess I'll sleep on the floor.”
“Oh, I can do it,” Audelia said. “Just give me a moment to relax.”
Billy shook his head, sitting down on the rough ground. “No, it's cool. You girls rest.” But Audelia and Kaya were already snoring. Billy couldn't help but chuckle at the promptness with which they fell into their slumber.
After everything he'd been through, having shelter over his head was enough for him to get a good night's sleep. He fell asleep soon enough, and this time he slept dreamlessly, though he felt blanketed by an unfamiliar sense of security and warmth that he sensed was connected to whatever entity had called itself his patron.
The next morning came, and Billy shot awake as he heard a rooster crowing off in the distance. He shook the girls back into consciousness, too.
“We're late,” he said. “We gotta bounce!”
The two women sat up reluctantly and stretched like sexy cats.
“Why the hell did you say we'd see her at dawn?” Kaya whined, pouting her lips as her eyes, still baggy from sleep, projected her ill-temper at Billy with eyes that stabbed at him questioningly.
“Okay,” he said. “How about I go alone then? You two just rest. Iskar only asked for me to meet her anyway.”
“Good plan,” Kaya said, thudding back onto the straw mattress.
“What?!” Audelia blurted, shocked at the thief's readiness to separate from the barbarian. “It's too risky. We stay together.”
Billy shook his head. “No, I actually think this will be fine. I made the decision to trust Iskar, and that means trusting his sister, too, if he vouches for her—”
Billy the Barbarian 1: The Heights of Dread: An Isekai Sword and Sorcery Harem Lit Adventure Fantasy! Page 10
