Into the Storm

by Christopher Johns

  Balmur nodded appreciatively. “I don’t know how you got ‘em, but that’s a nasty scar. I’d like to buy you a drink in brotherhood.” Balmur showed his own scars, lifting his arms and showing his face. “As to the business? We can offer funds, protection, and food storage.”

  “Protection?” Scar snorted, his wheezing laughter surprising. “Ye think ye can beat the oceans? The beasts that lurk within?”

  It was my turn to smile and laugh. “No, but Storm Company is capable, and we can do a little of all of it. We’re pretty handy.”

  “I think I’ll be needin’ a show of strength, then.” Scar sat back. “However, ye prefer to do so be fine, but do not harm this place.”

  I blinked and looked at the others, Vrawn shrugged and let us think.

  You want to show off, or you want me to? I asked the others.

  I think we all should, James offered. His plan after that seemed interesting enough.

  “I’m waitin’.” Scar’s voice rang out in irritation.

  The first thing that happened was that I held my hand up and flexed my will, pulling the shadows in the room to me with a mental yank. As the shadows passed toward us, Jaken’s body pulsed red, taking Scar’s attention. James hopped onto the table with lightning crackling around his fists and ki cycling through his body.

  “How’s that for a show of force?” Balmur asked from beside the broker who flinched visibly.

  “Ye used yer other skills to distract me?” Scar’s question seemed more accusation than anything else. “That won’t work on the beasts of the sea.”

  “That’s okay, we have other means.” James sighed deeply, and the ki in his fists dissipated, slowly. “But, our request remains.”

  “I will inquire.” Scar motioned for us to leave. “When do ye wish to leave?”

  “Three to four days from now,” Balmur answered readily. “We’re staying with Katja.”

  Scar stilled. “Katja?” Balmur nodded, and the broker whistled. “Ye do have balls. Good, I’ll inquire for ye and come to ye with the deal. I require a ten percent fee if I can find ye someone to take yer deal.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Balmur looked at us, then back at Scar. He laid three silver on the table in front of the man and motioned to his magical eye. “We’ll see you then.”

  Scar nodded, and we got up and left for Katja’s.

  Chapter Seven

  “How was the rebuild?” I asked the next morning as we ate breakfast together. Yohsuke had spent most of the night awake and out of the city with Bea and Kayda collecting antelope to store once our commissions were completed.

  “It went well enough, but Tmont noticed we were being followed.” Bokaj took a bite of some fish and grimaced. “Nowhere near as good as Yoh’s, man.”

  “That’s fair.” Balmur grimaced as well. “Needs something. Less salt and more lemon, maybe?”

  “Can we get back to the fact that we were followed?” Muu growled softly, his teeth still covered in bits of food.

  “They just followed us to the area before the docks, there’s no reason to be too concerned.” Bokaj waved the worry away with vigor. “And that ‘guard’ came by last night. She seemed nice enough.”

  “Oh, I bet she did, and it could be,” Balmur sighed thoughtfully. “I have a plan. Some of you may not like it, though.”

  “You want to lure them out and use these two to do it?” James yawned and took a sip of water before stretching. “It’s predictable of us.”

  “A little bit.” I grinned, but Balmur shook his head at me.

  “We need you to make sure that Vrawn is ready to go, so take Bea with you to the island you stashed the hoard at and collect more loot for us to use as a payment,” Balmur explained and stopped me before I could gripe about it. “I know you guys have a lot, and I have my share too, thanks to Bokaj, but we may want more. Money never hurts.”

  “And what, while I’m away, you guys get to play?” I snorted indignantly, shaking my head and pointed at all of them. “There’s no fucking chance.”

  “I agree with Zeke.” Vrawn put a hand on my shoulder in support. “Splitting everyone up like this isn’t a good idea.”

  “We’re big boys, guys.” Jaken chuckled, his easy-going grin, then he cut a stern look at both of us. “You still haven’t gotten over that fight in T’agnolian Val. That would’ve happened whether you and Balmur had been there from the beginning or not. And you…” He pointed at Vrawn. “You’re just afraid to learn how to swim. If we have to turn it into a vote, we will, but you will lose.”

  I growled at all of their smiling faces but saw the wisdom of what they were saying. This needed doing, and no one else would be able to be there for Vrawn the way that I could.

  I held out a hand to Balmur, the raven I used to message in it, and he took it with a smile. “We got this, and don’t worry—we won’t be heroes.”

  Muu grinned. “Because we already are.”

  “Jaken, you think we’re heroes?” James snorted as I rolled my eyes.

  The Fae-orc shook his head. “Nah, man. Heroes do the shit we do and make it look good for the glory of it all. We just do our best not to get killed or look too stupid doing things.”

  “Then that means Muu is sure as fuck, not a hero.” Bokaj howled with laughter at Balmur’s jab at the dragon-kin.

  I rolled my eyes at their antics and mentally told Kayda what she was to do while I was away. She wasn’t too worried about the others but knowing how Vrawn and I felt about the water, she knew what I was doing was necessary. She did, however, send Bea racing through town to get to the inn.

  We will not leave you completely unprotected. I could feel an air of superiority from her and rolled my eyes as a knock on the front door resounded through the building. Katja opened the door, and Bea made her way in, the woman cursing in surprise.

  “She’s with us, Katja!” Balmur called as she produced a blade to strike. Bea made a straight line for me and tapped the collar at my throat and filtered in.

  “We’re going upstairs to get out of here,” I explained to the others, their breakfasts in various states of being eaten, though Muu piled more food onto his plate as I spoke. Katja’s discomfort having been forgotten. “You had seriously better get a hold of me if anything goes wrong, and wait half an hour for my cool down before you leave, get it?”

  The others muttered, “Got it.”

  And I finished with, “Good.”

  I stood with Vrawn, and we made our way upstairs into our room. I had spoken to Maebe last night and according to her, it had only been half an hour since our last discussion. The veil had thickened, and it seemed like time was passing faster here than it ever had.

  “I hope to be fully recovered soon, my love. Please be safe,” she had implored me simply. I had nodded and told her I loved her before I had gone to bed beside Vrawn.

  Now, we stood together with our hands clasped and I cast Teleport to get to the island. Thank god for my higher intelligence because I was able to make it there with ease now.

  Our feet lifted as a veil of darkness overtook us, and the sensation of being weightless for a second took hold of me. Then the squeezing began and ended as abruptly as it had come, leaving us standing next to where the cave with our hoard inside.

  Business came first, and that meant going into our prehistoric bank and making a withdrawal. The cave was as we had left it, plenty of gold and coin littering the floor, at least there seemed to be a little less than there had been before. Some of the armor and weapons appeared to be missing.

  “Damn, someone found the hoard,” I muttered to myself as Vrawn wandered around the pile that was still there. “Okay, I’m going to gather all of this that I safely can. Feel free to take out anything you like, it’s more than we need, and you’ll need to care for yourself.”

  She nodded, her face slack in shock from the amount of loot before her. “If I see something I like, I can take it? What if one of you can use it?”

  I shrugged as I began to
press pile after pile of coins into my inventory. “Let me know, and I can tell you if it might be something we can use. Also, any weapon you find that you like, I can enchant for you. So keep hold of it.”

  We pored through the place for a while, but the amount seemed to still be present. No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t seem to hold enough coin to get it all. And that was with more than two hundred thousand coins in my inventory. After that, there wasn’t a way for me to have any more money go in at all.

  That wouldn’t do, and no matter how much money we had, there would always be a call for more.

  I found a wooden chest with a small clasp on it that looked to be unsecured. I touched it, my fingers sliding all over it to ensure there was nothing odd about it. I lifted the clasp slowly and cast Diamond Skin on myself, one spell I didn’t use nearly as much as I should, and opened it all the way.

  Inside, there was a large gemstone on a pillow, the blue of it enticing and wishing for me to touch it.

  Do not touch it, Hubris chided me in my head.

  “What?” I blinked, and my ring glowed a bright blue on my hand.

  It will siphon your soul away if you touch it. That gem is meant to be used in another manner, and you are not strong enough to touch it. Only someone of supreme strength can get past that enchantment to the real treasure—or a chosen person.

  “So then what do I do with it?”

  Close it, and secure it before you put it into your inventory, I have found another vessel you may use for what you desire.

  I checked the area around me, the scepter nowhere in sight. “How did you know?”

  We are bonded, I know your mind, master. And I wish simply to aid you in becoming great.

  Ah. I thought to myself. That made sense then, I suppose, just weird that this item could anticipate my needs.

  It is because we are bonded, and my sentience allows me to know my master.

  The cool tone seemed less sarcastic and more matter of fact, which went a long way toward easing my mind.

  I closed the box and set it into my inventory with a desire to touch it spiking and then did my best to forget about it. I felt a small pulse off to my left, at about ten o’clock from where I stood and found a large, leather sack.

  This will do you nicely, master.

  I frowned and muttered. “I need you to not do that so much. It freaks me out a bit.”

  Silence greeted me, and the relief I felt was lovely. I thought about what I wanted to do, the way I would need to enchant this bag to ensure it was right.

  The leather of it was well made and a deep brown that reminded me of some of the cows I had grown up around. I took a couple pieces of platinum and held them in my disguised metal hand, channeling flame-aspected mana to heat them up and melt them together. Then I pressed the sides and edges to make a small placard for me to place on it. It didn’t look like it would work well, so I used my claws to punch a hole through the top of the sack and the placard.

  I found a bit of leather cording in my inventory that I pulled out and used to attach the small piece before engraving a funneling cloud of money signs to a pile below it in the shape of an infinity symbol.

  Next, I gathered my wits and will to begin the enchanting process. My idea was to pull the coins into this bag that would act as a bag of holding of sorts. Hopefully.

  Master, the secondary half of your engraving will kill you.

  I stopped, having just begun to pull my mana down the channels in my body.

  “You have a better suggestion?” I raised an eyebrow, uncertain as to how to do what I wanted.

  Call to me, and I will assist you.

  I frowned. “Won’t I need both hands?” I looked at the item and how oddly shaped it was. “I feel like I’ll need both hands.”

  Call me. I will help you.

  I growled and spoke the name, “Hubris.”

  The scepter appeared in my hand, and a warmth spread from it. The voice showed me how to cover the error the same way I had made the placard and now in its place were runes for holding and a rune that looked kind of like the pi sign, but small lines bisecting each different line of it. In the center of that symbol I engraved a circle with my own for money, the dollar sign.

  “What is that rune?” I asked softly.

  That is Naberious’ Incarceration, a rune that allows immeasurable weight to be held inside a container with minimal weight on the outside, though your rune does not make sense to me your intent will power the spell and the effect you desire should be possible. Hubris’s explanation was interesting. I will teach you many more of them if you will work with me to assist you. It is time to enchant the placard master. Is the item secured?

  “It is.” I ensured that the leather cord woven through the several other holes I punched into the leather so that it would synch closed when tugged shut.

  Excellent, I will assist you with this if you like? I didn’t see the harm in it, so I nodded. I want you to envision a wind that will pull loose coinage to this bag and store it for you to withdraw from on-demand by placing a hand into the bag and thinking of a sum. Once you have this sequence of events in your mind, begin to funnel your mana not into the item, but into me, and I will direct it in a more controlled manner.

  “My control is awesome, what’re you talking about?” Vrawn had joined me by now and eyed Hubris with clear disdain.

  “You had better know what you are doing with that thing, Zeke. Nothing like what happened last time, or I leave. Am I clear?”

  Your lack of it as you bled mana into me is what stole your life. Your survival and quenching my thirst was what bound us together. I am now an instrument for you to conduct your will into the world, and as such, I can more finely inscribe your intent into items. Will you trust me?

  “I do, Vrawn, thank you.” I turned my attention to Hubris. “That’s all fine, but if you try to kill me…” I gripped the wooden handle as hard as I could. “I will straight up give you to the primordial fire elemental. He and I are on good terms.”

  The scepter remained silent, so I took that as an assurance that it wouldn’t kill me and began to channel my mana into the weapon from where my hand was.

  Once the mana hit Hubris, the gem at the top began to glow slowly as I filled it continuously.

  Lower me to the item and tap the placard with my gem, and allow your mana to flow through me more vigorously.

  I almost lost my focus as I rolled my eyes, but the interest I had in seeing this through was a reliable focal point to keep me on task.

  I lowered Hubris slowly and tapped the platinum placard with the gem, and a peal ringing like a soft chime echoed out around me. More than five hundred mana funneling from me in the span of a heartbeat when I knew the item was completely done.

  Bagged Avarice

  When opened near loose coins and items of value, this bag will consume them for later perusal at the holder’s discretion. Only works if items are not on another living being’s person, or held down by a spell.

  At times one’s lust for riches becomes the better of them, and their fiendish desire to possess is given form. Be careful what you wish for.

  Item enchanted by adept enchanter Zekiel Erebos.

  That is good work, now to test it.

  “Stand beside me, Vrawn.” I motioned her next to me on my right and opened the bag.

  A rippling suction sound emanated from it, a soft wind whipping out and lifting coin after coin into the air before the small items began to fly toward the open mouth of the sack. Thousands of coins of all types and items twisted and floated on ghostly gusts of gathering air and funneled into the mouth only to disappear. The sack felt no heavier than what a small bag might if I had shoved a lunch into it.

  “This is awesome!” I couldn’t help my grin, and Vrawn drew closer to me.

  The bag had cost me only 839 MP total, including the engraving, and this was the effect! Amazing!

  “Thank you, Hubris.” The scepter warmed, and I dismissed it to where
ver it was that it stayed.

  “This is quite impressive.” Vrawn’s tone was careful. “How are you feeling?”

  I took a quick mental check of myself and shrugged. “Other than a slight mana headache, I feel peachy. Why?”

  “I wanted to be certain that it hadn’t harmed you,” she answered, and we moved forward so that the rest of the coins and goods would be lifted by the winds and carried to the bag.

  Ten minutes later, we finished, and the items that remained were a sword that was rusted and useless and a couple of other small trinkets that looked worthless. I touched each of them to ensure that they were, and found that not only were they worthless, some of them may have been why the dragon killed people. Who carried such rusted garbage?

  “I think that’s all that she wrote here, babe.” I grinned, and tossed the now-closed Bagged Avarice into my inventory. “You ready to go learn how to swim?”

  She shook her head with a small smile. “No.” she reached out and took my hand then squeezed it softly. “But now is the time for bravery.”

  “Good answer.” I smiled at her and we left the cave to search for a small bit of water. The island was much larger than I thought it was, the area around the cave entrance having been destroyed by the black dragon Riktolth’s influence and presence. That and his fight with the red dragon whose children still lived thanks to us, but no time to pat myself on the back there.

  It took the better part of half an hour for me to find the scent of water with Bea’s help. From there, we headed straight for it and would’ve started training immediately if it didn’t look like the water was almost too still. I closed my eyes and willed the shadows around us into it. I felt things down at the bottom of it. Living creatures, things that could breathe water, it seemed.

  “We may need to fight.” I pulled out my axe, then frowned and whispered Hubris’s name.

  “What are you doing?” Vrawn hissed, “I thought you said we were to fight!”

  I glanced at Bea, then her. “We are, and we will, but I want to be smarter about this. I can tell there are a few of them down there, but I don’t want to just rush in headlong in case they’re stronger than us.”