by Edward Brody
I stared at the man a moment, and although he was shady, I didn’t get the feeling that his questions had bad intentions but rather he really was just curious. Still, I knew little about him. “Why don’t you tell me about you first?”
His brow creased. “About me? What would you like to know?”
You have failed to inspect your target!
“What are you?” I asked. “I mean, don’t take this the wrong way, but if you’re human, you’re unlike any other human I’ve seen in Highcastle, or anywhere else for that matter.”
“Oh, I see,” Windell said. “You’re not familiar with greybloods?”
I shook my head.
“You won’t find many of us near here. Most all of my kind stay on the Dark Isle… Without magic, it takes weeks, if not months—depending on the boat—to sail there.”
“So why are you in Highcastle, sneaking about and selling illegal goods? Do you have anything to do with the Sparrows?”
Windell huffed. “Sunlight doesn’t bother me as much as it does most greybloods, so I set out to capitalize on my talents and earn some coin. Not as much work to be had on the isle.”
“Talent smuggling goods?” I asked.
“Sightseeing.” He leaned in closer and curled his lip a little. “The demand in and around here is high. You wouldn’t believe how many of the higher ups are consumers—commanders even; you wouldn’t know just by looking at them. As for the Sparrows, I have connections, but I work independently. I don’t wish to be tied down by any faction, as I’ll return to the Dark Isle once I’ve gained enough wealth.”
“Maybe one day I’ll have a chance to visit your island.”
“I hope you like darkness,” he said with a grin. “But now that you know about me, why don’t you tell me about you, or at least what your plan is with an advanced disguise kit?”
I turned to look at the mountains rising up behind Inner Highcastle. Though I still wasn’t sure about the man, I felt confident he had no reason to try to hinder my immediate plans. “I’m going to try to enter the Wastelands to find someone. Hopefully, with the disguise kit I can look around and explore a little without a fight.”
He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. “As an orc?”
“Yes.”
“And you’ll enter through where?”
I shrugged. “The Wastelands entrance, I suppose.”
The man shook his head. “That’s a death wish.”
“How so?”
“The orcs in the Freelands are there for a reason, and the orc soldiers are most certainly under a chain of command. You might look like a deserter abandoning your post if you try to walk through the front of the Wastelands all alone. If you do that, you better have a damn good excuse to give whatever orcs are guarding the front gate, even with a disguise kit. You’ll do better to take another route if that’s your plan.”
I scratched my head. “I had no idea there were other routes. How else can I get in there?”
Windell licked his lips and smiled. “For the right price, maybe I can help you. Or if you make another purchase, I’ll throw in some help for free.” He stuck his hand in his bag and lifted a small sack of white powder. “Kroka?”
I waved my hand in front of me and shook my head. “No kroka…”
He dropped the sack in his bag and shrugged. “Through the gates it is.”
I sighed and acted more disappointed than I really was. I had already planned on picking up some joojak, so if I could use that as a way to get some information, all the better. “How about I buy some more joojak?”
Windell smiled and started rummaging in his bag. “I just happen to have some fresh joojak right here. I’ll charge you the same as last time.”
I proceeded to count out 450 gold and handed it to him. He, in turn, handed me a particularly full sack of dried joojak leaves. I could smell their unique, pungent smell through the bag.
“Pleasure doing business with you again,” he said.
“Yeah, of course. But tell me a safer way to get into the Wastelands.”
Windell pursed his lips. “‘Safer’ is in the eye of the beholder, but there’s a secret path behind the Arena I can show you that… if up to me… I would risk taking over walking through the gates. There are monsters you’ll have to deal with, but if you make it through the pass, you should be able to sneak into the Wastelands unnoticed.”
“What kinds of monsters?”
“Wild animals and elementals if nothing has changed recently. You may be able to avoid trouble if you keep your wits about you. I can take you there now.”
I hadn’t planned on going to the Wastelands so soon, but I also hadn’t been sure if I’d actually land an advanced disguise kit. I wasn’t prepared for the journey, but there was plenty of time left in the day and no reason for me to not go ahead and try to get the quest over with. “Can you wait for me here?” I asked. “I need to buy some supplies and drop some things off at home.”
“How long do you need?” Windell asked.
“Probably half an hour. Surely no more than an hour.”
“In that case, find me behind the barracks. I don’t like sticking to one location for too long, so I’ll wait for you there.”
“You’ll just be standing somewhere behind the barracks?” I asked.
“Don’t worry. I’ll find you,” Windell said with a grin. “Or you’ll find me. We always find each other when we look hard enough.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
2/21/0001
“Where’d you sneak off to?” Aaron asked, when I walked back into the village. He was sitting near the campfire having a conversation with Jax, Jeremy, and Keysia while holding the sleeping orc child in his arms.
“I’m just here to drop off some gold,” I said. “I sold the blade and some other items.”
“How much did you get?” Aaron asked.
“8,500 just for the blade. Around 16,000 after everything else.” I said with a smile. I wasn’t anxious to tell them I had spent 11,000 of it on a trash spell and a disguise kit.
“Holy smokes!” Aaron said, jumping out of his seat excitedly. “That’s a hell of a bag for just one blade.”
“You outdid yourself,” I said. “The vendor in Highcastle was impressed.”
Aaron smiled cockily and placed a hand on his hip. He looked to everyone else around us. “Did you hear that? The Sizzler is im-pressive.”
“Ready to get the kid out of here?” Jax asked. “If you need help, I’m free.”
I grinned, slid my hand in my bag, and eased the disguise kit out just enough so that he could see it.
“What are you showing off?” Jax asked. “Is that a spell book?”
“Actually, it’s a disguise kit,” I said.
Jeremy’s eyebrows rose. “You’re kidding, right? Did you go back to Knuckle Bay?”
I shook my head. “I found the guy who sold me kroka, and he was able to get me one. It cost an arm and a leg, but…”
Jax shook his head and whistled. “I’m not even going to ask how much.”
“Too much,” I affirmed. “But hopefully it will pay itself off. Maybe if I actually complete the quest, I’ll get a random item or reward.”
Jax turned to Aaron who was looking down at the baby like it was his own child. “I don’t understand you Reborns… I mean, I do—you haven’t been here that long—but—”
“I know this orc thing is crazy,” I interrupted, “but part of being new here is learning new things. Let me learn this, learn about the Scourge myself, and at least give the quest a chance.” I placed my hands flat in front of me and pulled them apart. “One chance. If I fail, it’s over.”
Jax looked down and rubbed his index finger over his upper lip slowly. He looked worried but didn’t say a word.
“Are we good?” I asked.
He remained silent.
“Jax?”
Jax took a breath, pulled his finger away from his face, and leaned back. “Fine, but try to hurry, Gunnar. I can
feel the agitation from the High Elves growing. If we don’t get the orc out of here, my mother—” He shook his head. “Queen Faranni will… will… Fuck, I don’t know what she’ll do but it won’t be good.”
“Alright, I’ll drop off my gold and head out now,” I said.
“Are you sure you don’t need any help?” Sung asked.
“I’d love for you to tag along, but I’m going to recall to Highcastle, and I only have one disguise kit. I’ll try to knock this thing out as fast as possible.” I paused and looked around. “What about the Scourge? Any more goblin attacks since I’ve been gone?”
“Not a peep,” Aaron said.
“Today is boring as hell,” Jeremy said.
“Boring is good,” I said, “at least ‘til the Scourge is gone.”
“Some of the dark elves have started venturing deeper into the forest, away from our village,” Keysia said.
“Why?” I asked. “Is something wrong?”
“Searching for food mostly,” she explained. “We don’t have enough here for them to eat.”
“That’s a bit of a problem,” Aaron said. “I think we should start the colonization process, or else more of them will start straying. Once they’re gone, they’ll be harder to get back.”
I scratched my head as I thought. We were providing the dark elves some basic protection, but why weren’t we providing them food as well? “We can feed them, right?”
Everyone looked at each other but no one answered my question.
“I mean… Jax, Sung, and Jeremy, you all can hunt and forage for food, right?” I asked.
They all nodded.
“And Keysia, you can cook, right?” I questioned.
“Sure,” Keysia answered, “but I don’t have the tools to cook enough for that many elves.”
“What do you need?” I asked.
“A large pot would be a good start,” Keysia said.
“Fine,” I said. I pulled out my remaining gold and tossed it to Jeremy. “Make another run to Thorpes and buy Keysia whatever cooking supplies she needs. Use the rest to buy some food rations, and sell the rations for a markup until we have hot food ready to go. Since we have all the resources for collecting food here in the forest, the production cost should be low, so allow the dark elves to trade whatever they want for food if they don’t have gold.” I looked to Jax and Sung. “You two, coordinate with Keysia and gather whatever ingredients she needs from the forest.”
“Damn, bossy boss,” Aaron clucked.
I scratched the side of my head and grinned. “Am I being bossy?”
“Nah, I’m just joking with you,” Aaron said. “You’re falling into the guild leader role well. This is what we need from you.”
“I agree,” Sung said and stood up. He walked over and gave me a fist bump. “We need leadership, and this gives us something to cure our boredom while we’re guarding the forest.”
“If this works, we could open an eatery,” Jeremy suggested.
“Hell yeah!” Aaron shouted, then looked down and quieted when he remembered he was holding the child. “Should we try to colonize now?”
I turned to Keysia. “What do you think?”
“We can try,” she said.
“Anything I need to know, or do we just ask them?” I questioned.
“Just inviting them should be all,” Aaron explained. “The game is pretty good at recognizing these kinds of things.”
“Game?!” Trynzen shouted as he scrambled into the center of the village. His paws were covered in blood, and he was holding a dead rabbit and a squirrel in his hands. “Trynzen want to play game!” He threw the corpses near our campfire. “Trynzen hunt food for eat for friend.”
“Good job, Trynzen,” I said with a chuckle before turning to Keysia. “Can you use those?”
She eyed the mutilated corpses, and her lips tensed. “Maybe if we clean them up...”
“Okay, clean them up if you can,” I ordered. “And back to the colonization thing…”
“Oh,” Aaron piped up. “Unless you want to collect the tax yourself, you’ll need to assign an exciseman.”
“Exciseman?”
“It’s like a tax collector. They’ve got to bring their gold to someone,” he explained. “If it’s an NPC, the exciseman will automatically let the citizens know of any law changes, tax increases, etc. Gerard is probably the best, since he stays in the village and handles the treasury anyway.”
I took a deep breath. “This is pretty complicated.”
“Eh,” Aaron said. “Just like a strategy game back home, it may seem overwhelming at first, but once you get the hang of it, it might even feel a little too simple.”
“I’ll trust you on that,” I said. “Let’s do this. We’ll worry about an exciseman later.”
The guild and I made the short march to the area behind our main village where the dark elves had set up all their tents. Most of them were outside, sitting on stones and other makeshift seats they had put in front of their homes. They were talking casually, and the feeling was more relaxed than before, but I could still see the uncertainty and worry in some of their eyes.
I put my hand on Keysia’s shoulder. “Maybe you should start us out.”
Keysia tensed, stared at my hand a moment, and then made uncomfortably long eye contact with me. She licked her lips, moved her shoulder away from my touch and cleared her throat. “Everyone, listen up!” she yelled.
The low chatter of the elves immediately stopped, and they all turned to us.
“Gunnar would like to speak to you,” Keysia said, motioning her hand towards me.
I immediately felt a bit of stage fright as the numerous elves glued their eyes to me. Not sure how to start, I awkwardly asked, “How is everyone doing?”
“We’re safe,” one of the elves said. “That’s all that matters for now.”
“Please don’t force us from here,” one of the others said. “At least not until we know the Scourge has cleared the Freelands.”
“Yeah, they’ll be back!” another shouted. “We won’t have any protection if we leave now.”
I held both hands out in front of me and waved them around. “No, it’s nothing like that. Actually, I have a proposition for you all.” I waited a few moments for any interruptions, but when no one spoke, I continued. “I’d like to formally invite you all to join us here in our village. It doesn’t really have an official name, but we call it ‘Edgewood Village’.”
“You’re asking us to stay?” one of the elves asked. “Permanently?”
“Inviting,” I answered. “I welcome you to stay here under our rule and the protection of our guards.”
“Your rule?” an elf asked. He stood up from where he was sitting and smirked. “Humans ruling over elves in dark elf territory…” He paused and turned to the other elves. “We just need temporary protection, not a human ruler.”
“He’s not a human,” another voice said, and when people turned to the sound, Donovan walked out from behind one of the tents. “He’s a Reborn.”
“And this isn’t dark elf territory,” Keysia said. “This is simply elven territory. He’s been a great Ambassador for the elves so far, and the Queen has given him the right to build here.”
“Whether you see me as human or Reborn, I’m offering you all the chance to join our village and help it grow,” I said. “I’ll treat you all the same as anyone else.”
“Reborns colonizing dark elves in our own damn forest!” the same protesting dark elf said, standing and stomping his feet on the ground. “This sounds like the beginning of the end for our kind.”
Many dark elves stood, and some of them began taking down their tents. One of them looked our way and said, “I’ll be on my way. We’ll move further into the forest and be fine without your guard’s protection.”
I turned to Keysia and then to Donovan, hoping one of them would step in and help me out.
“I’ve known Gunnar since he came here,” Donovan said. “He’s as goo
d as any elf.”
“But he’s not an elf!” someone taking down their tent said.
“Yeah,” some of the others agreed in unison with subtle nods.
“I’m not an elf but I respect you all,” I said.
“We can handle ourselves,” the protesting elf said. “We can rebuild what we’ve lost and use your village as our trading hub, same as before! There is no need to take it any further.”
“Of course, you can,” I said. “In fact, I want to empower you all to do whatever you—“
“Stop!” a deep voice roared. Garrik stepped out from one of the tents and marched forward until he was right in front of me. He turned to face all of the dark elves. “Look at what he’s done. People used to fear Edgewood, but now he’s brought trade. We even have High Elves patrolling our forest. Things are changing for the better.” He raised a fist in the air. “This is our chance to be something more than outcasts—to join Gunnar and make Edgewood something more than it was before. All of you, stop your moaning and let us join them!”
“Exactly!” Keysia said loudly.
“Wise words, Garrik,” Donovan concurred.
“Are you with him?” Garrik asked, looking intently at the elves. He strafed closer to me. “Are you with us?!”
The protesting elf stood straight, shook his head and started to walk away. Several others also ignored his message and continued to take down their tents.
The vast majority, however, remained attentive, and eventually one of them said, “Okay! I’m happy to stay here. I want to have a safe home.”
“Me too,” another said.
“We plan to have food,” I yelled. “We’re working on that now.”
“I will join you!” another elf shouted. “But we can’t stay in these tents forever.”
“We’ll work on getting you all proper homes as well,” I promised. “We’ll have a castle, trade… give us time.”
“Me too!” several other voices rang out. “I’ll join.”
“Count me in,” another said.
I turned to Keysia, and she was smiling from ear to ear.
