Mythica, book 1, Chapter 21+22.

Chapter 21.

Orren was relatively quiet as they made their way back to the road that would lead them to Hammerhead’s Tavern. Sabine had feared that he would pester her the entire way, but his brush with death seemed to put a damper on his enthusiasm once he had a chance to think about it. Hamish had collapsed soon after Sabine had accepted Orren into their group, his small reserve of mana finally running out. She was able to scoop his bones into the coin pouch for later use.

While they walked, Sabine checked on her progress toward rank three.

Sabine Giroux.

Revenant, Rank 2.

Gnessos’ Favor: 711/1000.

Mana: 100%.

Dealing with the necromancer and his minions had granted her a sizeable chunk of favor, but not quite enough to reach the next rank. She had high hopes that officially completing the goblin bounty with Hammerhead might push her over the finish line to rank three, but she wasn’t exactly sure how Gnessos granted her favor.

Despite Hamish’s system, the numbers from the god seemed arbitrary and hard to predict. It also begged the question of whether Gnessos could take away his favor. What if he decided that she wasn’t working quickly enough and pulled his power back from her?

“Sabine, do you mind if I ask a question?” Orren asked. Sabine looked over and nodded, the road they were on was relatively safe and she was confident that little conversation wasn’t a threat.

“It was written in the compendium that you had only around sixty days to complete your task. Does that apply to you, or is the difference between you and a regular revenant enough that your time limit is extended?” Orren asked.

“I don’t think I have a hard limit on time and I’m pretty sure the gods would have mentioned it if it was important. There is some urgency, but that’s more due to the threat that I’m trying to eliminate rather than any restrictions on my physical form,” Sabine said.

“Do you mind if I keep notes on our journey? There is a linguistic code my family invented for use in our work. If I use that language, you don’t have to worry about anyone finding the compendium and revealing your secret,” Orren asked.

“I don’t have a problem with that, as long as nobody can read it. Come to think of it, I had a question for you. How do you use your magic? I can see the mana color is blue, but it feels different than what I use,” Sabine asked.

“Well, it kind of just happens when I find a possible entry for the compendium. It feels like a warm breeze passes through my body and I can’t focus on anything but what I’m writing about. From what I understand, it’s an ability granted by our family bloodline, so it's not like I tutored under a mage to understand things better. Other than documenting in our compendium, I can’t really use the power for anything else,” Orren said.

“Have you ever tried?”

“No, what do you mean by try?” Orren asked.

“Try to touch the energy inside you and use it to do something other than turn you into an oblivious scribe at the worst possible time. I don’t know, this is all a bit new to me, but I can use my power, my mana, to infuse my weapons and armor. It also heals my wounds when I’m injured,” Sabine advised.

She watched Orren concentrate, and for a moment, she thought that she could detect blue whisps of energy coming from his chest. She focused on the blue energy, the strange mana that Orren used. It was hard to see, like a ghost or echo of what was going on inside him. The more she focused, the clearer the picture of Orren’s mana was. Suddenly, Sabine felt a sharp pain behind her eyes, causing her to stop and grunt. The sudden noise broke Orren’s concentration and the mana that she had watched in him dissipated.

“Are you okay?” Orren asked.

“I’m fine, just something strange happened when I tried to observe your mana. Let’s keep moving,” Sabine replied, the pain began to recede and when it finally subsided, a new system prompt appeared.

Your Eyes of Undeath ability has evolved. It will continue to show you the presence of the living and the undead, but now it can also allow you to view mana in other beings and inanimate objects.

This was good news, if Sabine could watch other mages at work, maybe it would help her to control her powers better. Orren was exhausted from his efforts so she couldn’t pester him more at the moment, but maybe tomorrow. This upgrade to her ability should also help if she ran into another magical trap, like the one in Giramore’s journal.

One thing that was strange to Sabine, this latest message was, once again, not something she felt was linked to either Gnessos or Ana-Sett. She could feel there was power behind the message, enough that it could alter her mana and change her abilities. Whoever, or whatever was behind the message was no god, but had at least as much power as one. Was this new power benevolent, or was it going to try and use her for its own ends like the gods were doing?

The situation with Orren and their subsequent discussions had slowed the pace of their journey, but despite his weariness, Orren wanted to push on to Hammerheads rather than sleep in the open. Sabine continued to work on her mana, herding the threads into swirling in the same direction. It was dark, and Hammerhead’s Tavern could be seen in the distance when her work was finally rewarded.

The Manipulate Mana ability has improved. Your mana efficiency for all abilities is improved by 4%.

As with the first night she arrived at Hammerhead’s, the place was crowded with an eclectic group ranging from drunks using their last coins to successful bounty hunters and everyone in between. The pair of them were given little attention as they walked in, and when they approached the bar where Hammerhead was pouring drinks, the burly dwarven proprietor of the place finally noticed the pair.

“It’s you, the one that was going to handle the goblin problem and split the coin with me. I take you’ve given up on the task?” Hammerhead said, quickly ignoring her before turning his focus to Orren.

“Master Cavendish, welcome back. A parcel has arrived for you, I’ll have Rawhead go fetch it,” Hammerhead showed Orren some deference, which was interesting, maybe his family was as successful as he had hinted at. She had also been successful, at least in her latest endeavor, and it was time to prove it to Hammerhead.

“I took care of the problem, and I’ll take my half of the bounty now, thank you,” Sabine said, digging into the pair of sacks from her pack that held the ears and the ghoul's head.

“Well, where’s the proof, let’s see it,” Hammerhead said impatiently, ignoring her for a moment to collect some coin and pour more drinks.

“Here you go, and here’s a letter from Elder Gilroy at the village,” She said, dumping first the bag with over 30 goblin left ears, and then the sack with now very ripe-smelling ghoul head. She passed the note from Gilroy into a shocked Hammerhead’s hand. He stopped what he was doing and read the note, pausing only to bark at a few impatient customers who were waiting for their drinks.

“You did all this?” Hammerhead asked, waving at the pile of gory trophies.

“I told you I would, now how about that coin?” Sabine said.

“Well done lass, and according to Gilroy, the work was a bit more involved than he initially thought,” Hammerhead said, as he reached under the counter and stacked five shiny gold coins onto it for Sabine to take.

“Listen up everyone!” Hammerhead shouted, getting the entire tavern’s attention. “This little lass has finally completed the oldest bounty on the board. The goblins troubling Golden Harvest Village are dealt with, and she even bagged a ghoul along the way. Too bad there’s was no bounty on that ghoul,” he said. The crowd gave a cheer and after Rawhead handed Orren his package, the orc walked over to the bounty board, and with some flourish, wiped away the now completed bounty.

“I can’t get ‘ye any coin for this or the others will all expect it every time they run across some critter that they manage to kill. I may not be giving you coin, but you’ve got a bit of my respect and a free room for the night. Will you be looking for other work?” Hammerhead asked.

“I’ll be looking for more, and I’ll take you up on the offer of a room,” Sabine said. Hammerhead handed her a room key and went back to work while Sabine perused the bounty board once again. She filtered out everything that would be too difficult, too time-consuming, or outside her areas of expertise. She wasn’t going to recover someone’s lost valuables and didn’t have the connections to track down fugitives. Despite the limitations, there were more than a few interesting things on the board this time.

1. Aggressive beasts killing livestock, 15 gold.

2. Bandits along Westwall Road, 25 gold.

3. Deep denizens of the forlorn pits, 30 gold.

When she looked over the appropriate bounties, one stood out to her. She could feel a pull on her mana when she looked at the third option. Somehow, she knew that Gnessos wanted her involved in this bounty. It was also the most lucrative of the three. It was odd that Gnessos had been quiet the last time she looked at it. Sabine wanted to ask Hammerhead the details of the bounty, but he was neck-deep in customers and waved her off when she asked. She figured once the place started to die down, she could get his ear.

Orren waved her over to a small table he sat at. Sabine was still a bit worried that he’d run off and try to turn her in, but he seemed to be keeping up on his side of their deal for the time being. He had opened the wrapped package that his family had sent, and promptly passed over the coins he owed her. Sabine dropped them in her coin pouch, noting a few patrons looked her way. Everyone in the place knew that she had just pocketed a few gold coins already, and now a handful of silver.

She didn’t think anyone was dumb enough to try something in Hammerhead’s, but she would have to be on her toes when she left the building. There was a better than even chance someone would be waiting to try and waylay her when she left. Orren was busy writing a note down, one that appeared mundane and didn’t involve his magical abilities.

“Sorry for the delay, I wanted to respond to my family now before I forget. I’ve requested a copy of our most recent Golgotia Compendium as well as payment for the training you’re going to give me. It’ll go out tomorrow, but it may be a week or two before I get a response back. What are your plans now?” Orren asked.

“I want to check on a bounty that’s posted, do you know anything about these deep dwellers of the forlorn pits?” Sabine asked.

“Never heard of them, but I’m sure Hammerhead will give you the details once he’s free. I believe he has a bit of respect for your ability after you dropped all those trophies on his bar earlier,” Orren replied.

“I don’t suppose you can get ahold of maps for me? It would be good to see what lies between here and the coast once I’m done gathering my funds. The easiest path to Golgotia is across the inland sea, but things have changed a lot in the last, well, let’s just say it’s been a while since I’ve been to this area,” Sabine said.

Orren might not be ready to know how long Sabine had been dead. The way the Mask of False Life functioned, she didn’t look much older than her late twenties. Orren knew much of her secret, but she didn’t want to overload the kid with everything just yet.

“I just had one map to get me to this part of Deira, and I didn’t plan on going anywhere near Golgotia. I’m sure there’s a cartographer in town, maybe we can head there in the morning to see what they have, and what they’ll charge. The cartographer’s guild seems rather keen to overcharge for their work. Maybe my family name will keep the bleeding of coins from our pouch to a minimum,” Orren offered.

“Good call, we can do that before we set out to deal with whoever these denizens of the forlorn pits are,” Sabine said.

There wasn’t much to say after that, and Orren busied himself with taking notes of his journey while Sabine watched the crowd for threats and waited for things in the tavern to die down.

Chapter 22.

After finishing his notes, Orren gave a big yawn and announced he was going to head up to his room for some sleep. Sabine kept her place at the small table and watched as things began to die down for the night. One of the fellows that had been eyeballing her pouch when she deposited the coins lingered nearby. He must have stayed past his welcome and was rousted out of the tavern by Hammerhead’s orc employee. The man left without trouble but gave Sabine a death glare that she returned without hesitation.

No doubt the man and probably some of his friends were waiting for her to leave the tavern. She had room here for the night and he was going to be very disappointed and cold if he thought he was going to get a chance at robbing her tonight. Being disappointed and cold beat being dead, which would have been the result of any attempted robbery by a tavern tough like the guy staring her down.

“Hammerhead, let me ask you about one of your bounties,” Sabine said as the last of the patrons were staggering from the Tavern.

“Oy, it’s late, so be quick about it, which one’s got you interested?” Hammerhead asked.

“The one about the deep denizens of the forlorn pits. What’s that all about?”

“Ah, that one is a bit special, I’m not sure you’re up for the task, being as how you’re all alone and without a party to support you,” Hammerhead said.

“I seem to recall dropping over thirty goblin ears on your bar along with a ghoul’s head a few hours ago. I was all alone when I took them on as well. Not to mention there were more than goblins troubling the village,” Sabine said, pulling the necromancer’s journal from her bag and sliding it over.

Elder Gilroy hadn’t wanted her to mention the necromancer, but she didn’t think that Hammerhead was one to blab about it. Hammerhead flipped through a few pages, then closed the journal in disgust before shoving it roughly back to Sabine. She packed it away as Hammerhead stroked his beard, deep in thought.

“I take it that since you have that journal, the necromancer has been dealt with?” Hammerhead asked.

“Yes, he’ll not trouble the world any longer. The zombies he created are also gone, and the mercenaries that he hired. Nothing will trouble that area for a long time,” Sabine replied.

“If you’ve done all that, maybe you can help me out. Come on, follow me. I prefer to have this conversation in private,” Hammerhead said, leading Sabine back behind the bar into the small kitchen area of the tavern.

Sabine hadn’t seen the tavern serve much in the way of food, but the kitchen seemed well stocked. To her surprise, the kitchen was also spotless, and she would have no qualms ordering a meal from it if she actually needed to eat. An older human woman was cleaning up and preparing things for the next night.

At the far side of the kitchen was a thick, iron-reinforced door that was barred with a thick wooden plank. Hammerhead removed the plank and opened the door, waving Sabine inside. It was a modestly sized storage room that was mostly stocked with the large barrels of the cheap ale that Hammerhead served. There were also bottles and smaller kegs of various, higher quality beverages for the occasional customer that might have more discriminating tastes as well as deeper pockets.

“Help me move this,” Hammerhead said, gesturing to an oversized keg that stood in the corner of the room. It was heavier than it had any right to be, but between the two of them, they were able to shove it out of the way. Under the keg was a stout hatch bolted to the floor, with an iron bar sealing it shut.

Hammerhead unbolted the hatch and led Sabine down a stairway into what looked like an unused cellar. A few empty casks were scattered about, mostly broken ones that the dwarf had never got around to cleaning out. The only other thing in the seemingly abandoned cellar was a large iron grate that blocked a hole leading down into the dark. Several beams were placed over the grate, holding it in place.

“What’s all this?” Sabine asked.

“That, is an entrance to a place I wished I’d never entered,” Hammerhead replied, his eyes glazed over and Sabine knew that he was reliving a bad memory.

“Well, that’s a nicely vague answer, care to give a few more details?” Sabine asked, starting to get a bit nervous.

“It’s an entrance to the Darkrealm, and the source of the trouble for the bounty you asked about,” Hammerhead said.

Sabien had never been there, but she knew that the Darkrealm was the world beneath the surface. It was a series of large, interconnected caverns and tunnels populated by foul things that occasionally found their way onto the surface.  When entrances were located, sometimes local leaders would contract with adventuring groups to explore and look for treasure.

Gems, rare ores, and even magical items were occasionally found, but the most common thing the adventurers found, was death. Typically, once any loot had been found, the entrance was sealed up and forgotten about. Having one in the storage room of a tavern was asking for trouble.

“Why in the name of the gods would you build a fykin’ tavern on top of Darkrealm entrance? You should seal that up and be done with it,” Sabine said, a bit surprised the dwarf would take the risk of having such a thing right under his feet.

“My tavern was already built when it appeared and as long as I send some adventurers down occasionally to clear out whatever has taken up residence there, the danger is minimal. If I leave it for too long, whatever is down there will try to claw its way through my floor to do gods knows what to us,” Hammerhead said.

“Why not just move your tavern?” Sabine asked.

“And let others profit from the entrance? Not a chance. Sure, it’s a danger, and about half the time, the adventurers that go inside never return, but when they do return, my share of the loot is more than I make in a month from filling mugs with ale,” Hammerhead said. Sabine wasn’t surprised the dwarf was milking this entrance for all it was worth, and since he had the bounty board up, there was always a fresh stream of adventurers willing to take on the task.

“Aren’t these places picked over pretty quickly? Surely all the valuables down there have already been found,” Sabine said. Any loot near an entrance was usually found by the first few parties that entered, after that, the only thing they found were the denizens of the Darkrealm, and they were as deadly as they were varied.

“This one isn’t like any other I’ve heard of. Give it enough time, and it’s almost like the area rebuilds itself with denizens and treasure. I need it cleared every six months or so, and usually, it’s a pretty good haul. This isn’t an easy task, though. Sometimes, whatever has moved in down there is more powerful than normal, and the adventurers suffer for it. It’s been five months since the last party went through, so you shouldn’t have too difficult a time,” Hammerhead said.

“Just to be clear, you want me to go in there, clear out whatever creatures are inside, and then return with the treasure? I do this and you’ll pay me thirty gold on top of what I find?” Sabine asked.

“Aye, you get thirty gold regardless of what you find, but you do not get to keep everything you find, we split that evenly,”

“Why do you get half? I’m the only one risking her hide inside there,” Sabine complained.

“I get half because I own this entrance. You want to keep all of it, go find your own entrance and start there. If you want to use this one, we split the take. Now, are you up for this, or not? This place doesn’t really need to be cleared out for another month or so, and if you don’t want to do it, someone else will,” Hammerhead said.

It was a big risk and a big unknown she was jumping into. Despite the danger, it seemed that Gnessos was suddenly interested in this bounty, though Sabine was still a bit confused over why he hadn’t shown interest in it the first time she had looked at the bounty board. Maybe it was because she had increased her rank twice since then. Regardless, she needed the coin and wanted to try out her new skills and weapon. There was also no reason she shouldn’t try to improve the deal as much as she could.

“I’ll go, but you need to sweeten the pot. You said that there was equipment you might be willing to let me buy. Show me what you’ve got and give me a good discount and I’ll take care of this bounty for you,” Sabine offered. Hammerhead frowned and glared at her, which is to say, he looked at her like he normally did most folks.

“Fine, I need to clear out some room anyway, and that gear takes up too much space. Come on up to the second floor and I’ll show you what I’ve gathered,” Hammerhead said.

The top floor of the tavern held a dozen rooms for guests to rent, and Hammerhead had converted two of them into a shop of sorts. From what he told her, only those who participated in the bounty board could shop there, and the prices, so he claimed, were better than you could find in town. Some of the gear came from inside the Darkrealm and was of higher quality than what you could typically find locally.

“What exactly are you looking for?” Hammerhead said.

“Armor, something that can take a hit, but still leave me mobile. If you have a buckler that isn’t garbage, I’d be interested in that as well,” Sabine said.

“Hmm, you’re not exactly a common size, but I may have something that’ll work,” Hammerhead said, leading her to a far corner of the room where several breastplates were laid out on a table. Most were hardened leather, or softer material like the gambeson she wore.

One caught her eye, it had a thick leather backing, with chainmail bonded to it. It was the best of both worlds, giving her mobility, but better protection than something like the gambeson she had used before. Her old armor had been too battered to keep, but this would stand up to abuse and would be easy enough for a smith or even a good leatherworker to fix. It wasn’t that much lighter than a solid metal breastplate, but Sabine’s strength was greater than her size might lead others to believe, and she could carry it easily enough.

While it wasn’t a perfect fit, the breastplate had straps for adjustments to make it fit reasonably well and if she decided that she liked it, she could always pay to have it altered. To sweeten the deal, the breastplate came with a pair of vambraces made of the same material that would give her forearms some protection. Some greaves made of the same material would cover her boots up to her knees. Sabine’s upper arms and thighs would be unprotected, but she would still be much better armored than she had ever been.

“How much for this set?” Sabine asked.

“Five gold for the lot, and that’s a bargain,” Hammerhead offered. It wasn’t a horrible deal, and it was exactly what Hammerhead had paid her for the bounty. The dwarf wasn’t one to let any gold leave his establishment if he could help it.

“I’ll take the set, but only if you let me have the first pick of whatever I find down there,” Sabine countered. Reluctantly, Hammerhead nodded, and Sabine began to strap on the armor.

“This here piece is a nasty bit of work, that might suit you,” Hammerhead said, pulling a small metal buckler from a stack of gear. It was what she was looking for. Sabine preferred to fight with flail and buckler, but the knife in her off-hand hadn’t been a bad combo either. Hammerhead showed her how the rim of the buckler was as sharp as a blade, making it a deadly weapon as well as additional protection.

It cost another one gold, but it was worth it. She might have found something in town for a bit cheaper, but the buckler was well made and should hold up to a good bit of punishment. She also didn’t want to delay pursuing the bounty and waiting for the merchants to set up shop in town the next day would take longer than she wanted. It was also a good trek from the town to the tavern and with the riffraff hanging around this place, she was almost guaranteed to have someone accost her at least once on the road.

“I’ll take the buckler. Is there anything else of interest?” Sabine asked. He showed her various blades and weapons, but none of them could compare to Reckoning. A couple of flasks of oil, a small lantern, and a few torches went into her pack. She didn’t need the torches to see, but some creatures, especially those that lingered in the Darkrealm, were afraid of fire and light.

“If that’s all you need, I’m going to finish closing for the night. Just let Rawhead know if you want to buy anything else. He’ll give you the same prices I will, so don’t go pestering me every time you want to buy something. When do you plan to start working?” Hammerhead asked.

“I’m going to check with Orren, he may want to come with me. If he does, I’ll probably head down first thing in the morning. If he doesn’t want to go, I’ll head down right away,” Sabine said.

“Don’t go getting that lad killed. His family is well known, and I don’t want no trouble with the Cavendish’s,” Hammerhead said.

“You know I can’t guarantee his safety in the Darkrealm, but I can tell you that I won’t let him take any unnecessary risks,” Sabine replied.

“That’ll have to do, he’s a grown man as far as you short-lived humans are concerned,” Hammerhead said as he locked the room and stomped down the stairs to finish his work.

Sabine knocked on Orren’s door but didn’t get a response. He wasn’t that sound a sleeper she recalled from their short journey together, and she was concerned that something had happened to him. Heading downstairs to see if Hammerhead would let her in the room to check on Orren, she spotted him through one of the windows of the tavern.

Orren was dressed for travel and wasn’t just stepping out for a breath of fresh air. If he had decided to betray her, Sabine was going to make sure his last moments were painful ones.