Delvers LLC 5, ch 7

Chapter 8 is finished and almost edited.  It'll be up today.

Chapter 9 is already being worked on.

Trying to pick up the pace.

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Teresa’s eyes opened.  She coughed up salt water.  The first thing that registered was how much pain she was in.  Second was that she was alive, which was a surprise.  She wondered where she was.  Sea water lapped up the back of her legs, leaving her cold and numb.  She was still exhausted, both physically and mentally.

Somehow she’d survived.  The sand she was lying on had to be the other continent.  Now she just had to hope that she hadn’t accidentally landed on the shore of Hanana or Tolstey instead of Berber--especially Hanana.

She laid her head down for a second to rest her eyes, but the next thing she knew, someone was shaking her shoulder to wake her. “--you alright?” she heard.

Teresa turned to see a couple of children staring at her with wide eyes--a girl and boy.  The girl looked about fourteen, close to the age of adulthood on Ludus.  The boy was much younger, maybe ten.

If children were wandering around, especially human children, it meant she probably hadn’t washed up on Hanana soil, and that there had to be other adults nearby.  Both pieces of news were very, very good.

She briefly considered what to do, forcing herself to think through her exhaustion.  Yata had trusted her with this mission.  She’d already gotten farther than she’d expected, and she had an obligation not to give up until she’d done as her friend had asked.

Any kind of display of her magic would probably not be a good idea now, not with the bounty on orb-Bonded still being in effect.  It wouldn’t likely help her, and it wasn’t like she was ready for too much showing off anyway.  It’d take quite an effort at this point to use any of her magic at all.

Maybe honesty and asking for help would be her best bet.  She could feel sleep coming again, and needed to do something before she passed out again.  “Please help me,” she managed to croak.  “Your parents, or someone.  Please.  Water.”

“Are you in trouble, miss?” asked the girl.

Teresa wanted to snort at the obvious question.  How should she answer?  “I am a refugee.  Need to talk to Berber leaders.  Please help me.”

Then she was out again.  As she lost consciousness, she thought about how messed up she had to be to not even keep consciousness as an experienced orb-Bonded.

There wasn’t much else she could do but place her hopes in a couple of children.

***

Teresa woke up in a bed this time.  She didn’t sit up right away, instead she surreptitiously checked out her situation.  It looked like her room was made of big stone blocks.  Her surroundings were small but clean, and she thought she caught the telltale medical scent that all hospitals had on Ludus--exactly like back on Earth.

The sheets were stiff with starch, bright with bleach.  The light overhead was a soft white from a magic-stone system powered crystal.  Yes, probably a hospital, she thought. Salamat sa Genoo.

She tried to use her other senses to gather information, but there wasn’t much else to glean.  The room’s door looked like extremely heavy wood and she didn’t have superhuman hearing.  It was quiet, peaceful even.  A little glass window set in her door allowed for viewing, but she couldn’t really see much out of it.  There was also a frosted glass window set high in the wall that allowed for some outside light to filter in.

For a few minutes she considered getting up to check the door, but the decision was taken out of her hands when it creaked open and someone stepped through.  “Oh!  You are awake!”

The woman in the door was older, dark-skinned with a shock of white hair.  She wore a white coat and smiled warmly, but Teresa immediately noticed the guard behind her.  No, not a guard, a soldier!  The armed woman was wearing a military tabard.

Why is there a soldier!?

A moment of silence passed and Teresa realized the white-coated woman was waiting for her to reply.  “Thank you for treating me,” she said, and held up one bandaged arm.  Teresa was dressed in a clean shift now, too.

“So what is your name?” asked the older woman.  She walked in and took a chair, sitting at the foot of the bed.  The soldier stayed in the doorway, keeping a neutral expression.

Nobody was actually threatening her, so Teresa relaxed slightly.  It didn’t feel like she was in any immediate danger, at least not physically.  This was good because she still felt weak as a newly hatched baby chicken.

She briefly thought about using a fake name, but reminded herself she was on a different continent now.  There was no point in lying, especially if she was going to convince anyone she was telling the truth.  “I’m Teresa,” she said.

The woman nodded.  “I’m Micahla, a doctor.  So what happened?  The children who found you said you were washed up on the shore, and what you were wearing, well, it looked like you were running from something.”

“Yes.”  She thought quickly again about how to answer, and decided to stick with the truth.  Until she found out exactly where she was and what her situation was, she’d just omit some details.  “I’m from the other continent, across the ocean.”

“So you came by ship?  Maybe a shipwreck.”

“Something like that.”

“And you are Filipino?” asked Micahla.

“How do you know?”

“You just pointed ith your lips.”  The doctor smiled.

“Oh.  Old habit.”

“It’s fine.  I’m Ludan but my mother was American.  She had a Filipino friend as I was growing up. It seems like over the last couple of centuries, a lot of Filipinos were transported to Ludus.   Anyway, you might be wondering where you are, and why there is a guard.”  Micahla nodded at the soldier at the door, or maybe to one side.

“The question did come to mind.”

“Well, the children reported that you said something about Berber leadership.  The powers that be are...jumpy these days, since we have a new king, and Queen Fiona was murdered.  You washed up right outside Fort Mercury, too.  Fort Mercury isn’t as high-alert as Fort Salt, and we don’t have as many soldiers here since most are at the FOB, but the soldiers here stay frosty.”  Micahla paused.  “You didn’t really understand any of that, did you?”

“No, can’t say I did.”

The doctor sighed.  “You are a little bit of a mystery right now, Teresa.  People don’t usually sail across the ocean, and there are rumors of war, and sightings of monsters...I mean, more than usual.  And then there was the attack on the capital a couple months ago, along with reported attacks all over Berber.  The entire country is on edge.”

What should I do?  Teresa had been in survival mode for a while now, so she kept second guessing herself.  What would Yata do? She wondered.  Her Areva friend was always brave and usually direct.  It seemed the Berbans were suspicious of her and it wasn’t likely that any amount of clever words would overcome that.  She decided to just continue being honest.

“I am here to warn your leadership of a terrible, terrible danger.  Please send a magic messenger bird, or send someone who can to talk to me!”

“Where did you come from, Teresa? Micahla asked again.

“I escaped from the Fideli invasion fleet heading to Hanana,” Teresa answered.

The soldier in the doorway spoke for the first time.  “Okay, that’s enough.”  She said, “It is time for me to take over, Doctor.  This is a military matter now.”

Micahla sighed and stood up.  “I understand.”  She gently took Teresa’s hand in her own.  With a bit of surprise, Teresa realized that the doctor had swordswoman’s calluses one one hand.  “Please be patient with the military, Teresa.  I believe you, but you can probably imagine that the government doesn’t let just anyone send messages to the nobility, or the senate, and especially not the king.  If you don’t have clearance, the magic messenger birds deliver their messages to a proxy office.  Otherwise the king would be getting who knows how many messages a day.”

“Little gold-hungry dautan nga espiritu,” Teresa muttered.  After all this time, magic messenger birds still creeped her out.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“So be it.  I am Captain Gina Rowan.  You may call me Captain Rowan.  I will be in charge of your military debriefing and determining your level of clearance, if any.”

“Great,” said Teresa and tried to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.  She knew how this was probably going to go.  While she couldn’t blame another country for being cautious about some random woman who washed up on a beach, she also couldn’t help feeling the minutes tick by, knowing that the Fideli invaders were likely slaughtering Areva to the North and could be coming this direction at any time.

At this point, after seeing the massive true demons in the ocean, Teresa wasn’t feeling optimistic about Berber’s chances.  The moment she’d fulfilled her promise to Yata, she was planning to run to Tolstey or something.  Maybe if a miracle happened, she could even find someone to rescue her friend.

Captain Rowan began her interrogation and Terersa tried not to roll her eyes.

***

“I understand why you asked Thato Jacobs to go… I think,” whispered Tanushree, “But what about that woman?”

“Thato wanted her to come with us too,” whispered Aodh back for about the sixth time.  Tanushree was very smart and incredibly capable, but she could be a pain about any perceived gaps in propriety.  What was worse is that she didn’t seem aware of it.

Aodh lightly patted Tanushree on the arm and pulled her closer to whisper, “This was my decision.  Just be patient and roll with it, my love.”  Saying something like this in public, even whispered, was a little embarrassing and a little thrilling at the same time.  He channeled a little bit of Henry and winked at her then before walking to the front of the ship.  

Tanushree tried to hide it, but the sparkle in her eyes showed he’d pleased her.

Good, thought Aodh.  Tanushree was his comrade and his future wife.  He needed her on the same page, and this matter wasn’t worth arguing about in the first place.

He watched the countryside rolling by below and walked to stand beside his Aunt.  She turned and shook her head, eyes filled with awe.  “You really are trying to change the world, aren’t you boyo?”  She gestured at the ship they were standing on.

Aodh’s uncle gently shook her elbow.  “He is the king, my heart.  Respect.”

“Apologies, Your Majesty,” Aunt Zonna corrected.

“It’s fine.  When we are in private like this, I really don’t care what you call me.  Just make sure you don’t slip up in the palace or in public,” he waid.

Uncle Teddy unexpectedly smiled at him.  “What she said before was right, you are the king and that will never change, but maybe it will be wise to ease into our new...relationshiop.  You have really grown, Aodh.  I’m proud of you.”  His uncle glanced back at Aodh’s ever-present shadow, Vitaliya.  “Keep watching over him, daughter.”

“Of course, Father.  I will always protect Little Aodh.”

Uncle Teddy grimaced.  Thankfully, even Aodh’s aunt and uncle thought Vitaliya was a little strange.  But Aodh felt the words he’d just heard bounce around in his head and tried to hide a blush.  A lot had happened in a very short amount of time.  It felt like years and years had passed sometimes.  Moments like these reminded him that less than a year ago, he was setting out on his own to be an adventurer.

Teddy coughed and nodded at the front of the ship.  “Is that really Thato Jacobs?  I thought he was dead.”

“So did everyone else.  I think you already know that this entire trip is top secret, right?”

“Yes, we’ve been told several times.  Agent Gonzolez flat out threatened us.”

Aodh sighed.

The ship was one of the three standard designs Henry had come up with to mass produce.  This one was the Firebolt, and was built for speed.  It had a light weapon loadout but was very nimble.

Jason had named all of Berber’s military flying craft.  Aodh was grateful for that.  The names Henry came up with sometimes could be a bit strange.

Aodh had taken along Tanushree, Vitalia, his aunt and uncle, Gonzo, a fifth rank orb-Bonded guard named Henrietta, his grandmother, and he’d asked Thato Jacobs to go, too.  The Firebolt was being crewed by four goblins, which thankfully all the newcomers had taken in stride.  They must have seen the goblins around the palace, protected by guards.

Rekkla was still visiting the Gobskulls.  Aodh had grown very fond of the little goblin woman, but he was also glad she hadn’t been around to force her way onto this mission.

He hadn’t expected to invite Thato along, actually.  They’d just crossed paths while Aodh was heading to the hangar under the palace, but he’d gotten a weird feeling in his gut.  Then he’d remembered how his grandmother had tripped and slowed down the group only a moment earlier.  If she hadn't, he wouldn't have seen Thato.

Aodh had a hard time thinking of anything as coincidence anymore.  He even wondered about his family showing up when they had.  The timing seemed awfully suspicious in hindsight.

Thato had been requesting an audience with Aodh for a while now, but the best he’d gotten so far was a quick visit with Intelligence.  That visit had resulted in Thato and his woman being allowed a room in the palace.  Aodh had been meaning to find out what the man wanted--it wasn’t every day that a legend came back to life and came to ask for a job.

The meeting in the hallway had been extremely unlikely.

Aodh had mentally shrugged and waved Thato to join them.  He’d given the man five minutes to grab his gear and join the group.  They’d all needed to leave the palace and the capital as quickly as possible.

Now Thato was standing at the front of the ship like he didn’t have a care in the world.  His companion looked incredibly frazzled, though.

Seeing the man in front of him outside in daylight, Aodh could definitely tell he was Mareen’s father--it was the eyes.  He was tall and strong looking, with a square jaw.  Short-cropped hair and a neatly trimmed beard complimented his sharp eyes.  His dark skin looked weathered from hard work, but still healthy. He appeared early middle aged, younger than he probably should, but the Palace Intelligence staff had already informed Aodh that Thato was orb-Bonded.  Apparently, Berber Intelligence had always known.

Thato wore a strange harness over armor and all the pockets looked full.  He also wore several weapons, all of which looked enchanted.  The guard Henrietta kept staring at the man like he might turn into a true-demon any moment.  None of the Palace Guard had been happy about Aodh’s decision to only take a single guard, but the Firebolt class of ship was just not big enough to take an entire rotting army.

They hadn’t been happy about his decision to let Thato keep his weapons, either.

Thato’s companion was also dark skinned, but lighter than he was.  She was younger than Thato too.  Of course, she was orb-Bonded as well, and it could be hard to tell ‘Bonded ages sometimes.

Her name was Nicole.  Aodh didn’t know much about her other than that.  She was a pretty, curvy woman with some sort of Terran accent that reminded him of Henry and Jason’s.  Other than the big, fancy air pistol she wore on her hip, there wasn’t much about her that stood out other than her adventurer mask.  Thato wore one just like it.

The two of them had a couple other team members staying in Mensk, but only Thato and this woman had actually come to the Palace.  Aodh had been curious about the group ever since Thoto’s shocking arrival.  There just hadn’t been time to have a proper meeting.  He’d gotten reports on them, though.  It was how he knew Nicole was ‘Bonded.

Intelligence spies had witnessed Nicole practicing magic in a warehouse a week ago and had overheard her talking about her ‘Bonded abilities.  She seemed to be trying to keep her status a secret, which was prudent.  Meanwhile, Thato seemed very careful about what he said in public or in private.

Secrets, so many secrets, thought Aodh.  He eyed Thato and decided this last-minute trip might be a good chance to knock out some work while waiting to find out what his grandmother’s prophecy had been about.

But first, he needed to get to the bottom of his family tree.

“Aunt Zonna, I have questions.”

“Well, I am here, Your Majesty.  Should I get your grandmother?”

“No, let her rest.”  Aodh gathered his thoughts.  “So my mother was a princess?”

“Yes.  Fideli royalty from Kilish.  The country doesn’t exist anymore, but there are still people loyal to Kilish.”

“And my da was the son of the queen’s daughter, so the queen was my great grandmother.”

“That’s correct.”

Aodh was still wrapping his head around the fact that he’d witnessed his great grandmother being murdered.

“How did my grandfather meet my grandmother?”

“He was her guard and her Intelligence liaison.”  Aunt Zonna smiled and her eyes grew unfocused with memory.  “Our family has been working in the shadows of the Berber government for hundreds of years.  Everyone was very excited when your da was born.”

Aodh chatted with his aunt for a while about the secret family business, and about how the O’Breen family had kept their skills sharp over the years.  Apparently, the fact Mareen’s father and his farming group, practically neighbors back in Tolstey, had been killed under everyone’s noses was a massive wall of shame for them all.

Despite the heavy topics of conversation, his mood began to lighten a bit.  In that moment, he could admit to himself that he’d feared the revelations he’d gotten would change his relationship with his family.  They really hadn’t.

Of course, when he met the others again that had bullied him when he’d been younger, he might just crack them upside the head with a stick, though.  Telling them to stand still to do it seemed like a real abuse of power and he wasn't sure that being a bully for bullying would be justified.

Maybe he could just order them to clean toilets, instead.

The clouds rolled by as the ship skimmed through the air.  Every so often the goblin pilot would give Aodh’s grandmother a look, and she’d either nod forward to keep their bearing, or nudge her head to either side to correct it.

Aodh had no idea what they’d eventually find when they got to wherever his Grandmother was leading him.  Deep down he wondered if they’d even find anything.  But either way, this little mission got him some fresh air and a break from the palace.

As the conversation with his family ended, he eyed Thato Jacobs and marveled at how reality was stranger than fiction.  He was a king, traveling on one of his own flying ships, and he was about to have a conversation with Thato Jacobs, one of the greatest adventurers of all time.

***

Teresa glared at her room's thick door.  Despite her best efforts to keep a calm state of mind, she was growing depressed.  

She’d been interrogated for a while now.  Her internal clock that synced with the tides told her it’d been two and a half or three days.  Every second of every day she felt a light sensation, like just the memory of insect wings against her skin.  The Mo’hali hero suppression she was under was light, but it’d stop her from generating too much power all at once.  She wanted to believe that her captors were still unsure whether she was ‘Bonded or a mage, but she assumed the worst, that the Hero had felt her power while suppressing it.

Suddenly, her door opened again and Captain Rowan stood there.  The military woman looked as sharp and formidable as ever.  “Teresa, I have good news.”

“Oh?  Can I send a magic messenger bird to someone at the capital now?”

“No, not quite yet.  Your case will be heard by my superior, Colonel Ellis.  There will be a debriefing set up for you.”

“What? A debriefing!?  It’s been days!  Have you heard what I’ve been telling you?  There is a huge invasion force coming.  It’s already hit Hanana!  There isn’t enough time for all this...bureaucracy!”

“It’s out of my hands, Teresa.  Your debriefing will  begin tomorrow and last about a week.  Once the--”

The sound of screams were faint, but unmistakable.  Teresa and Captain Rowan snapped their heads to one side.  Their eye met.

“You heard that, right?” asked Teresa.

“Yes.  Stay here.  I’m going to find out what is happening.”  The captain took a step towards the open door when the floor lurched up, bucking her from her feet.  She fell on her ass and sprang up again, hand going for her sword.  “Situation?” she called out the door.

A Mo’hali voice  came from the hallway, “I do not know, Captain.  There is shouting but I can’t make it out!”

The floor lurched again, first up, then to the side.  Teresa was launched from her bed and slammed against one wall.  Another temor accompanied a cracking, smashing sound.

“Attack. Right?  We must be under attack!” shouted Captain Rowan.  Then as Teresa watched in sick fascination, part of the stone wall caved inward.  Multiple blocks of solid rock hit the captain, one in the head.  The woman was dazed.  Through the gap in the wall, Teresa saw something mottled green, fleshy--vaguely familiar.

Then the gap was empty again, showing open sky for a moment before the broken wall began to crumble, some of it falling straight down with the floor.  Captain Rowan had a look of disbelief as she tumbled into the empty air.  Half of Teresa’s cell was open to the sky now, and she realized she must have been in a tower or in a corner room.

She stared outside where the wall used to be, and almost shouted when she saw movement again.  Some instinct inside her screamed a warning and she clamped hands over her mouth, staying silent and very still as a massive eye the size of a house passed by.  In the distance, she saw what looked like a huge tentacle come crashing down.   The sounds of screaming, and dying, and bows twanging were loud in her ruined room.

Now she was sure--she’d recognized that eyeball, or one like it.

Teresa didn’t waste any extra time gawking--she was through the open door and running in an instant.  The Mohali Hero, a shaggy-furred woman stationed outside her cell was staring at a smaller hole that had been a ceiling corner a few minutes ago.  Teresa shouted as she ran.  “Mo’hali!  Get your ass in gear.  Follow me!  Run!”

She turned forward and didn’t look back again to see if the Hero had listened.

This was bad.  Very very bad.