Mythica, book 1, Chapter 13.

Chapter 13.

A small bell rang out a friendly note as Sabine entered the shop. There wasn’t a sign on the door, it was one of those places that the locals already knew about, and the owner figured there was no need to waste his time and money on a sign. A couple of villagers were in the shop, haggling with the owner. Zillman was a rotund, middle-aged man with a friendly smile. To Sabine, Zillman’s smile seemed forced, like the man was trying to force himself to be friendly despite their circumstances.

“Can I help you? You must be new in the village,” Zillman said after finally finishing the transaction with the villagers.

“Hello, I’m Sabine, and I’m here to help with the goblin problem your village seems to be having. Do you have any weapons and armor for sale? Sabine asked. She could see Zillman give her a skeptical look, something she was just going to have to get used to until she was able to kit herself out to look like an actual adventurer.

“Well, weapons have been a hot seller since the troubles began, and we typically don’t have much in the way of armor around these parts. You can take a look at what I have,” Zillman said, guiding Sabine to a small corner of the shop where a few weapons and some armor bits were displayed.

The shopkeeper had been correct, it wasn’t much of a selection. There were a few daggers, a rather poorly maintained shortsword, and a few hand axes that were better suited to cutting firewood than foes. One item did stand out to Sabine, one of her favorite weapons, a flail. It was easy to see why this one had been passed over by the simple villagers, it had a well-worn, leather-wrapped wooden handle with a chain just over a foot in length. The head of the flail was oversized with thick spikes to crunch through armor.

Farmers would normally be okay with using a flail as a weapon, after all, they used similar things to thresh wheat and other crops, but this weapon was unbalanced for the average user and would be as much a danger to the wielder as the target. None of that bothered Sabine, she had the strength and skill to use such a weapon. She would have preferred something better made, but this flail surpassed the aged shortsword and dagger she currently used.

Hefting the weapon, she gave it a practice twirl, finding her rhythm with the weapon quickly enough. The untold hours spent in the void going over her weapon forms and past battles paid off with the ease she found in wielding the weapon. Others in the shop kept clear and looked a bit worried that she was going to go out of control with the flail. Zillman must have had the same fear as he ran over to stop her.

“Please, that one is easy to lose control of, we don’t want an accident inside the shop,” Zillman said with concern.

“How much for it?” Sabine asked.

“Given the current demand for weapons but taking into account the fact that most folks are kind of scared of that one, I’d let it go for two gold,” Zillman said. Sabine wasn’t exactly rolling in coins right now, but maybe the gold bracelet that Hamish had dug up for her might cover it and then some.

“What about armor, is this it?” Sabine asked. There was a triangular wooden shield that looked like it has seen better days, and a small, padded gambeson. It was little more than a thick jacket bolstered by leather and padding in the critical areas. More often, it was typically worn under heavy armor to soften the blow and had fallen out of favor as a sole source of armor given its weakness to piercing weapons.

“A gold for that, the size is too small for many of my customers, but it might fit you,” Zillman said. Sabine thought she might have caught a gleam in his eye at the chance of moving two pieces of inventory that were otherwise destined to stick around for a long time before they were sold.

“Money is tight right now, which I’m sure is the case with most folks. Maybe we can work a trade. This should be sufficient to cover the flail and the gambeson,” Sabine said, pulling out the thin gold bracelet from her storage pouch.

The two began negotiating, and Sabine ended up parting with five silver in addition to the bracelet to pay for her items. She felt it was a fair deal for things that might save her life, and it wasn’t like there was much of a choice other than try to salvage weapons off the corpses of the goblins. Zillman was still friendly but didn’t look entirely happy with the transaction, which was usually a good sign they both had found a fair trade.

Not needing to eat or sleep helped cut down on the amount of gear that Sabine had to lug around, but she did opt to pay for a thicker burlap sack that could hold the ghoul's head which was threatening to ooze out of the sack she currently held it in. She also purchased a new belt with some thin leather straps to tie down the flail at her waist. Sabine knew several knots and used one that would undo itself quickly if she pulled on the flail but would keep it in place during normal movement. A good sharpening stone and some weapon oil rounded out her purchases. She also bought some jerky and a waterskin to keep up appearances.

With her future bounty secured, and her gear squared away, it was time for Sabine to start tracking the goblins. The late afternoon sun was setting and in an hour it would be dark. Sabine preferred to work in the dark, her undead vision was just as sharp, and even though goblins could see well enough in the dark, they couldn’t sense the lifeforce of nearby creatures as Sabine’s Eyes of Undeath ability could.

“Sabine, are you leaving?” Orren said, catching up to Sabine as she headed for the gate.

“Yeah, it’s time for me to get to work. Have you settled in?” Sabine asked.

“Yes, I think that Gilroy felt a bit guilty about not believing our story, so he’s letting me stay in a spare bedroom they have. Are you sure you don’t need any help? Going after goblins on your own can be deadly,” Orren asked.

“I work better alone, and even if I needed the help, I couldn’t afford to get you kitted out. We’ll work on the training you’re going to pay me for when I get back,” Sabine said.

“Very well, but if you do run into something interesting out there, you have to come and get me so I can document it,” Orren said.

“If I find something that would ‘interest’ you, it’s probably something that I’m already in the process of killing, so don’t hold your breath, Orren,” Sabine said, giving him a wave as she left the village. Orren wasn’t a bad sort, but with his ability to document strange creatures in his compendium, Sabine thought it best to keep him away when she was in combat if she could help it. She wasn’t sure how the magic worked that allowed him to capture a creature’s information, but it would be disastrous if it suddenly started filling out a revenant page for her.

The last few villagers from the nearby farms were trickling into the village, many gave Sabine strange looks as she left the perceived safety of the fence to head out into the wild. A few tried to convince her to return, but she brushed off their comments. War and battle had been her constant companion in the past, and a band of goblins wasn’t going to be enough of a threat to dissuade her from collecting her bounty.

As she left Golden Harvest Village, Sabine tuned into her Call of the Grave, seeking the nearest graveyard. There was one close by, something she had counted on the village possessing. With the living members of the nearby farms safely ensconced in the town, Sabine had a good chance to touch base with Hamish before she got on with the business of tracking the goblins.

The graveyard was a simple affair that was set on a small hilltop a couple of miles from the village. A split rail fence surrounded the cemetery and well-kept headstones were placed at regular intervals. It was very unlike the previously abandoned places she had visited, and she felt a twinge of remorse that she would need to call up Hamish here. He would take over the remains of a loved one for someone in town, which seemed wrong to Sabine, but there was little she could do about it other than blither around the countryside looking for some lost and forgotten graveyard.

“Hamish, are you here?” Sabine asked as she stepped through the gate to the cemetery, feeling the consecrated ground push back against her undead presence. It was stronger here than in the forgotten graveyards she had visited before, but as the force increased, the golden flakes of mana inside her began to heat up, countering the pressure she felt. Sabine stopped and concentrated on her mana, seeing the gold flecks as they rose to the surface of the roiling storm of mana, the goddess Ana-Sett kept her side of the bargain that she had struck with Gnessos.

Near the older part of the cemetery, the grass covering a grave was pushed aside as a badly deteriorated coffin rose to the surface. Sabine could feel her advisor’s presence inhabit the skeletal remains inside the coffin and begin to struggle with letting itself out. Sabine used her knife to pry open a corroded latch, allowing Hamish to emerge. He sat up from the open coffin and turned his empty eye sockets in her direction.

“It’s about time, do you know how boring it is waiting for you to summon me? Where are we? Are we close to the village?” Hamish asked in rapid fire.

“Keep it down, I don’t sense anyone nearby, but you’ll cause a panic if someone sees a skeleton coming out of a grave,” Sabine warned.

“Fine, I’ll lower my voice, but tell me, what is going on?” Hamish asked. He seemed more agitated than she had seen him before. Sabine had no idea what Hamish went through when he wasn’t called to help her, but she got the feeling it wasn’t a pleasant experience for her advisor.

“For someone that’s supposed to advise me, you sure have a lot of questions. Yes, we’re at Golden Harvest Village’s graveyard and I’m about to head out to find these goblins. Is there anything you can do to actually help me right now?” Sabine asked.

“Of course, my sage-like wisdom is always helpful,” Hamish started, his natural arrogance starting to overcome his disorientation. “First off, let me see what I can glean from this place,” Hamish said.

“No, not here, we’ll raid other places for valuables, but not here,” Sabine said.

“Why? There is nothing stopping us from profiting a bit from others’ misfortunes,” Hamish asked.

“There’s a whole village over there, and these are their loved ones. It doesn’t seem too bad to go rooting through forgotten graves, but here, we’d be stealing from people with families that care about them,” Sabine said, not sure if her unease over raiding the graves here was getting through to her skeletal advisor.

“Bah, as you wish, but I think you’re a fool to not take what you can. Now, tell me everything you’ve heard about these goblins,” Hamish said.

Sabine recounted the information she had gathered; it wasn’t much more than Hammerhead had shared with her earlier. Hamish also thought that the behavior of the goblins was odd. A force large enough to take out the town militia and then raid the outlying farms should have pressed their advantage more. The only thing they could come up with was that the goblins had taken heavy losses in their fight with the militia and might be on their last legs. If that was so, Sabine had a good chance of wrapping this bounty up early. Ten left ears and she was done.

“Anything else you can offer?” Sabine asked.

“Just one, I’ve been thinking about your mana, and now that some of it is inhabiting my physical form, I feel something different. I was able to do some research while I was away. Tell me, when you concentrate, what do you see?” Hamish asked.

“It’s like a big burst of energy roiling around inside my gut. It’s mostly dark, with a few gold flecks that I believe are from the goddess that helped Gnessos create me,” Sabine told her advisor.

“Yes, the gold would make sense. Keep me informed if the nature of your mana changes, or if you see any colors other than black and gold appear,” Hamish said.

“Why? Oh, and before I forget to ask again, where exactly do you go when you’re not here, and how do you research things,” Sabine asked.

“Please don’t ask that of me again. Where I go is not a place any would wish to know about. There are opportunities for me to glean information, but the price is high,” Hamish answered. Sabine could sense a terrible fear inside her advisor, their link made emotions hard to conceal. As he answered the question, he was also filled with hopelessness.

“Is there anything I do to help?” Sabine asked. Hamish wasn’t her favorite person, but they were linked and she needed him focused on the task at hand.

“In our current state and at our current rank of favor, no. Perhaps in the future, but that is a long time off, I’m afraid,” Hamish said. Sabine felt the hopelessness inside her skeletal advisor diminish a bit, almost as if the offer to help was enough to help pull him out of his funk.

“Back to my original question then, Why do want to know of color changes to my mana?” Sabine asked.

“It’s an indicator that some other force is at work inside you. You had no magical ability when you were alive, so I don’t suspect that will be a problem. Since you’ve been at rank one for a bit of time, I believe you should begin to have more control over your mana,” Hamish said.

“Easy for you to say, I’ve been trying for most of the trip here to learn how to control it better,” Sabine asked.

“What you’re seeing inside you now is mana in its most raw state. It’s freshly pulled from the world around it and is currently volatile. It will resist your efforts to control it. Continue to work, gaining control over your mana is going to be key to growing in power. There isn’t much you can do at rank one, but your efforts now will set the groundwork for you to use it much more effectively and efficiently,” Hamish said.

“That’s all well and good, but how do I do what you’re asking. It’s not like this mana came with instructions on how to use it,” Sabine said, getting a bit frustrated with her advisor.

“I cannot tell you that, it’s a rare boon to have mana infuse your body. Mages and conjurers can touch on the ambient mana around us all, drawing it to them and using it for their spells, but that requires rare components and words of power to utilize. Other mages can even bind that mana and force it to bind to an item, such as a wand. You have that power inside you, and the more you can refine it, the more powerful you will become,” Hamish said.

“So, I should refine my mana but my ‘advisor’ has no idea on how to actually do that. Great, thanks for all the help,” Sabine said sarcastically, her frustration growing.

“I can only advise; I can’t do your work for you. This is a step you will have to figure out on your own. Now, are there any other questions?” Hamish asked.

“No, we’re done here. I’ll check back in with you once the goblins are dealt with,” Sabine said. The skeleton Hamish was occupying collapsed as her advisor’s connection to it was severed. The now-open grave looked out of place in the neat cemetery, and Sabine would have to check if Hamish could tidy up before he left next time. The last thing she needed was someone to suspect she was a grave robber.