Delvers LLC 5, ch 8

Here is ch. 8!

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I probably should have called him to me.  Oh well.  “Thato Jacobs.”  Aodh had approached Thato and the woman sitting next to him.  The wind on the sky ship’s open deck was pleasant, not too loud or harsh to be heard over.

Thato stood.  “King Aodh O’Breen.”  The man gave a rueful grin.  “I don’t know what the protocol is anymore for greeting royals, but I’ve been in the palace for a while now and nobody has corrected me.”

“It’s fine.  Just call me, ‘Your Majesty’ and speak respectfully.  There is a limit to how casually I can allow people other than family to talk to me, but the last few Berber monarchs haven’t been really big on bowing and things.  With orb-Bonded abilities and magic users with far sight, or heat sight, it makes identifying and killing us that much easier.”

“Ah.  I see.”

The two of them studied each other for a few moments.  Behind him, the Royal Guard who’d come along, Henrietta, tried to look menacing.  Aodh thought it was kind of funny.  Even if Thato was only half as dangerous as his reputation suggested, he’d be a truly formidable enemy.  Tanushree hadn’t wanted to take the man aboard at all.  Aodh understood--being in close quarters in the sky with a relative stranger who can kill you is usually not wise for a king.  But Thato obviously wanted something, and more importantly, he was Mareen’s da.

With all of that in mind, Aodh broke the silence with, “I know Mareen.”

“I’ve heard.”  Beside him, Nicole frowned and elbowed him in the side.  Thato coughed.

Aodh cocked his head and gestured for Henrietta to bring him a chair.  Not bringing his own chair, things like that, he also still had problems with sometimes.  His tutors had been very persuasive, though.  He said, “You came with a petition.”

“Yes.”

Henrietta returned with two chairs and Aodh understood why when Tanushree put a hand on his shoulder.  Tanushree smiled.  “Hello, Thato Jacobs.  I am Lady Tanushree Bobrik.”

“Lady Bobrik,” said Thato.  He inclined his head.  Beside him, Nicole did the same a second later, following his lead.

“Sit, please,” said Aodh.  After they were all comfortable, Aodh said, “From now on, we can talk more casually.  In the palace it’s different, but we’re up in the air in the middle of nowhere right now.”

“Oh, thank God,” said Thato.  “I hate fussy protocol.  It’s one reason I never stayed long in Mensk or Taretha when I was still an adventurer.”

“You are an adventurer right now, Tom,” said Nicole.  She was frowning and staring daggers, but Thato just winked at her.

“Tom?” asked Aodh.

“It’s a long story and it’s part of why I’m here.  I’m assuming it’s alright to talk about it now?”

“Yes, go ahead,” said Aodh.  “I know you’ve been waiting a while, and we have the opportunity.”

"Have you heard, or rather, are you aware of a town called Action?"

Aodh frowned. "The name sounds familiar."

Tanushree reminded him, "It was near one of the portals to Brecken, an attack by the Asag cultists.  Someone shut it before the Berber military had arrived."

Thato nodded.  "That somebody was us.  My team has petitioned to be paid for stopping a threat to Berber and saving Action, but nobody gotten back to us."

"Why?"

"Because we are one small adventuring team and they do not know who I am."  Thato shrugged.  "At least that is the best I can figure."

“He is still going by, 'Tom' most places," added Nicole.  “The paperwork sent in was done by someone named Diore, and would have named ‘Tom’ as a participant.  Uh, Majesty.”

Aodh gave Tanushree a questioning look and she said, "It's definitely possible it was ignored.  The capital has gotten a thousand applications from people claiming to have stopped the true-demon attacks, looking for a reward. The pursers are not supposed to just ignore a request, though. Especially not from a licensed adventuring group. You are licensed, correct?

"Yes," answered Nicole.

"And what is the name?"

Thato and Nicole shared a look.  "Dolos' Chosen," Nicole finally said.

Aodh's eyebrows went up and Thato explained, "The group’s leader Diore is a serious Dolos worshipper."

"Old leader," said Nicole.

"I don’t want the job," muttered Thato.

Aodh hid a smile and asked, "What happened in Action?"

Thato said, "True-demons attacked. We killed them."

Nicole turned in her seat to give Thato a look.  "Really? That is all you’re going to say about it?  We are standing in front of the king of Berber, the king who can actually pay us for almost dying about a million times, and that’s your pitch?”

“Yes.  He will either accept it or he won’t.”

Aodh was actually enjoying the conversation.  He could tell just from talking to these two that they were not originally from Ludus.  Ludus-born people tended to be much more intimidated or even terrified by the fact he was a king.  He pursed his lips and said,  “That is sort of true, but I would still like to know what happened.  And I’d like to know why Thato Jacobs has returned from the dead.”

Thato frowned as Nicole took over speaking.  “Well Your Highness, is it okay to call you that?”

Aodh nodded.

“Well, my adventuring party got to Action right before the true-demons attacked the place.  The things began killing people and we mobilized the town for defense.  We still almost all died, but barely held on.  The town lost a lot of people.  One of my teammates got hurt really badly.  At one point I found out who Thato really was and he decided to get off his ass and do something.”

Aodh interrupted, “So he was living in Action?”

Thato answered, “Yes, I was.  And I don’t want to talk about why, Your Majesty.  Please respect my wishes for now.”

“Alright.”  Aodh filed that question away.  He didn’t think he’d gain anything from pressing too hard.  At least not unless he wanted to completely change his style of rule.

Nicole continued, “So Your Majesty, the first large attack by the true-demons was stopped--barely--and there was a lull.  I went with Tom--Thato, to destroy the portal they were coming out of.”

Aodh raised his eyebrows.  “By yourselves? That is very, very impressive.  I’ve seen a portal.”

“We went through one,” said Tanushree grimly.

Now it was Thato’s turn to show surprise.  Beside him, Nicole paled.  “Really?” she asked.

“Yes,” said Tanushree.  Her expression was stony.  “It was how we got to Mensk--started elsewhere.  We crossed part of Brecken and came out of the palace hellgate.”

“Oh,” said Thato.  His body language changed subtly.  Aodh wouldn’t have even noticed it a year ago.

Nicole’s reaction was a bit more obvious.  She breathed heavily and leaned back against the ship’s railing, crossing her arms over her chest.  “Going through…” she murmured and exhaled.

Thato said, “If that’s the case, then you know what we faced.”

“We do,” said Aodh.  “And I will make sure you get paid.”  He smiled.  “To be honest, it’s enough you are my friend’s father and a living legend.  Berber Intelligence has confirmed your identity a while ago.  But before we make any of this official, I want you to tell me honestly why you came here.”

“What do you mean? I already told you.”  Thato paused and added a, “Your Highness.”

Aodh shared a look with Tanushree and she winked at him.  She's taught me well.  It helped that he’d basically been comfortably running without sleep for months now, just living off of life energy in a way that was only possible through the synergy between Vampire Stabber and his deadly dagger.  He said, “No, because if you wiped out the demon invasion, that means you killed plenty of cultists, too, and a number of them likely would have been orb-Bonded.  That means you probably netted quite a few Dolos orbs as rewards, maybe even a fortune worth.  There is no way you are hurting for money, even if you were broke as rot before that.”

Thato frowned.  “We are still expecting a lot of money from the Berber government for basically risking our lives to save the country.”

“Yes.  Regardless of your motives you deserve to be paid.  But you chose to come out of hiding and reveal yourself, even if only to me and my inner circle.  I still think there is a reason beyond what we’ve heard so far.”

“I don’t like being called a liar, Your Majesty.”  Thato’s eyebrows lowered and he began to glower.  The man was obviously extremely powerful, and even Aodh wasn’t entirely unaffected.  He’d come a long way from being a farmboy working outside of Mirana, though.

Aodh shrugged.  “I’m not calling you a liar, and I think you know it.  You’re just hoping I let it drop.  I meant what I said, though.  All of this could be considered suspicious and I would like to know more of what is going on.  You are an internationally known celebrity who has basically been living in hiding.  I’ll honor your wishes and I won’t ask why, but work with me here.”  He used the last phrase that Henry said to people sometimes when he was convincing them of something.

Thato stared at him and didn’t move, but Nicole said, “Ugh,” and shook her head.  “He’s the king, ‘Tom.’  And he knows your daughter.  Just tell him the truth.  It’ll make everything easier.”

“Mareen,” Tanushree suddenly said softly.  “His daughter. Ah.”

Thato had a complicated expression on his face before the tension seemed to just drain out of his body.  It seemed he’d made a decision.  He leaned back, entirely relaxed again and said, “There are actually two other reasons.  We have a team member who needs an orb, but we don’t have one that is right for her.  Her name is Pasha.  It would be ideal to find one to buy or to trade for, but orbs are not staying on the market for long, even though more of them are being found than ever.  Times being what they are, rich people are no longer just buying more life, they’re wanting to feel protected, too.  An orb is a powerful weapon.  Even with all the money in the world, it might be difficult to find a specific kind, now.  What we need is rare, too.  Demand for orbs is through the roof.”

“Yes, it is,” Aodh agreed.  He thought, The right orb for the person, huh? And he felt a fresh wave of guilt about Vitaliya.  His cousin had needed an orb immediately or she would have died.  But the result of having a regeneration-based Dolos orb meant that while she could use the full power of her fire magic now, doing so would cause her agony, burning her as she healed.

“The other reason,” Thato said with a frown, “is that I want to see my daughter.”  He hooked a thumb at Nicole.  “She had a hand in convincing me.”

Nicole shrugged.

Aodh blinked and asked, “But after all this time...why?”

Thato frowned deeper.  “There has been a true-demon attack on this world.  Things are changing, I can feel it.  If I don’t find her now, I might never see the woman she became.  And also,” he added, “I heard she got married.  I would like to meet my new son in law.” His eyes narrowed.

“I see,” said Aodh.  He shared another look with Tanushree.  This situation may get very interesting, very quickly.  He hoped for both their sakes that Thato and Henry ended up getting along.  A grim through crossed his mind, Actually, I guess we should hope that Thato doesn’t freak out about Mareen's...changes...or make her angry.  Aodh truly believed that Thato Jacobs was scary, even if only half his reputation and past exploits could be believed.  But he had a hard time believing Mareen could be cowed by anyone anymore.

***

Teresa leapt from a new hole in the stone wall and sprinted outside.  Even after all the rest she’d gotten since being washed up on the beach, she was not ready for anything like this.  Her magic reserves still felt bare, too.  It was like her orb-Bonded abilities had been strained.

But right now she had other, more pressing issues.  She was surrounded by violence and chaos.  Her memories of the invasion of Hilil seemed to overlap her current vision, like she was living two points of time at once.  A couple of Berber soldiers to one side knelt and shot their powerful air rifles. Two more stood in front of them, big shields up, ready to protect their comrades.

In a matter of seconds they were all squashed flat by a massive tentacle.  The impact destroyed the stone wall the soldiers had been standing next to, sending rubble shooting out like deadly projectiles.  One cut Teresa’s cheek.

She didn’t stand around to stare, she kept running.  If she was going to have a fighting chance of protecting herself, she needed to find a decent source of water.  She needed ammunition.

Other water mages were skilled at putting moisture out of the very air, but Teresa had never gotten very good at it.

The shadow of the massive true-demon towering over the Berber Fort weighed on her like a physical thing.  She didn’t look back, though.  If she did, she might falter, and deep down, she worried the thing had come for her.  She didn’t even know if it was possible for a true-demon to be that smart.  But if it was looking for her, it would be wise to go as long as possible without letting it clearly see her face.

Teresa ran on, stumbling over pieces of rubble from the huge fort she’d come out of.  She paused long enough to gather water from a broken fountain into the air, crafting a spear that she sent buzzing toward a man-sized true-demon that was about to pounce on a soldier. 

Madness surrounded her.  There were smaller true-demons all over the area, killing and eating the defenders.  Teresa knew from past experience that they traveled and survived like parasites, riding on the big creature’s back until it attacked.

A huge tower crashed down, and Teresa barely managed to avoid it.  She could see water ahead, like an inlet from the distant ocean.  If she could get to it, she’d be much more formidable.  There might be more enemies there too, though.  She hesitated.  Her heart told her that she was missing something, something important.

Please, please, she prayed.  Please Papa Jesus, please help me.  Save these people!  Evil is here on this world, Lord.  Please save us! Genoo tabangi kami!

She stumbled to one side, dust from cracked masonry temporarily blinding her.  A crack above signaled another portion of the fort being destroyed but she couldn’t entirely see what was going on.  She just hoped she wouldn’t be crushed in the next few moments.  The stone dust cleared for a moment and she saw a badly wounded Captain Rowan pulling herself along with a makeshift crutch cobbled together from a stick.  It was a miracle the woman was still alive.

Rowan slashed at a True-demon with her sword but it jumped back.  The thing looked sort of like a hairless batman without wings, and with pincers for hands.  Fleshy bumps on its neck and back had slits for gills.  Its long feet were webbed.

The captain was wounded in multiple places.  She stumbled and Teresa knew the other woman was about to die.  Captain Rowan hadn’t made a great impression on her, but she was still human.  She didn't deserve this!

And the only thing in this universe that Teresa hated more than traitors were true-demons.  “Patyon tika!” she yelled.  Her hand shot forward, delivering a hail of razor sharp ice at the creature’s head and chest.  It screamed, falling back and scrambling straight up a stone wall.

Captain Rowan nodded her thanks and waved at Teresa two seconds before another, similar true-demon lept on her from above, clawing and biting.  Teresa delivered another blast of ice blades but knew it’d be too late this time.

Bitter tears ran down her face and she ran again.  She didn’t know these Berbans, but she had to find a group of them that were holding out.  Trying to survive alone right now would probably be suicide.  “Please Lord, please.” She whispered.  “Help me kill these awful things.  Send your angels, I beg you.”