A Soldier's Life - 355 - Uninvited

Chapter 355: Uninvited

The halfling smirked, ignored my black spear leveled at her, and hopped onto my bed. She put on her best to flash a sexy smile—but it wasn’t working for her. I was not interested in a miniature human, and she tended to rub me the wrong way. “Well, it is your fault I am here.” Her eyes switched to studying the black spear. She had probably figured out I either had a storage artifact or a dimensional space.

Heartseeker vanished. “Get out!” I growled, not caring for her explanation.

She ignored my request, leaned back against the headboard, and kept talking. “The Sect of the Venomous Serpent was very well connected. When we attacked, there were six city guard captains and two magistrates in the Morning Sky Tower.” A little heatedly, she spat, “I lost a lot of good friends that night and have been hiding in some of the most hideous places.”

She slowly regained her affable smile, “Then I thought of you—already leaving the city on a nice, safe ship. I could have sold the information that it was you who attacked the Serpent Tower—I did not.”

I scoffed, “After attacking them? Unlikely. They would have killed you, too.” I stepped aside to let her leave, “I’m not going to be responsible for hiding a stowaway.”

The halfling illusionist complained with sorrowful eyes, “But all the nice cabins are taken. I’m small, and you wouldn’t even notice I’m here—unless you wanted to.”

I lost my patience, raising my tone. “Out! Go present yourself to the Prosperity’s captain. It is a long voyage, and you don’t want to find yourself tied to a mast so that the gulls can eat your eyeballs.”

The door opened abruptly and Konstantin was there with his sword drawn. He looked from me to Lesna and slowly sheathed it. “Eryk, what did you do?”

“Harpies tits, Konstantin. This wasn’t me,” I said, exasperated. He clearly thought I smuggled her aboard. “She invisibled herself aboard. I think if we throw her overboard, she can still swim back to shore.” Lesna crouched, putting on a defensive stance.

I focused aether to my eyes, watching her expertly manipulate it without her fingers moving. She must have incredible aether shaping skills to achieve this feat. I warned her with a casual tone, “You make to cast any spell, and one of us will take your head before you finish.” Konstantin’s hand slipped back to his hilt in support.

The aether evaporated, and her jaw hung slightly open. “How did you know I was…”

A barefoot sailor was walking behind Konstantin on the deck. “Hey, there’s a stowaway in my cabin!” I called out as he passed. The sun-beaten man paused to process my words. He looked into my cabin, confused, but upon seeing Lesna, his expression tightened.

“I will get the First Mate. Make sure the rat doesn’t scurry away.” He jogged off. Stowaways were often called rats.

Lesna pouted, “That wasn't very nice.” She seemed completely unconcerned when two burly sailors approached, shackled her wrists, and led her to meet the captain. I hoped I had done the right thing.

I wasn’t surprised when, later in the day, Lesna was walking around on deck without any shackles. The halfling seemed like someone who could take care of herself. Gilda later learned that she had traded her skills as an illusionist for her passage. She would entertain the crew and officers during the long voyage and even received her own tiny cabin—more like a converted closet.

She had a habit of winking at me whenever we saw each other on deck, so I started using both my earth speak and aether sight to check my cabin every time I entered. The earth speak was quite hazy, as earth essence did not conduct well through wood, but it could alert me to someone who was invisible. I wasn’t sure if my aether sight night vision could pierce her invisibility, but I wasn’t going to ask her to experiment.

Even with three weather mages on board, the voyage to reach the city of Yuetsen was going to be eight weeks. By the time we arrived, we would have sailed completely around the world. Konstantin was fairly certain we could use a portal to Gramney from Yuetsen. It likely wouldn’t be cheap to be teleported 1,800 miles, but the only other option would be to take a ship up the coast.

A ship would make numerous stops and likely take two months or more. Even with the dangers of portaling, I was willing to pay the coin for the expedited return to my friends and deliver the essences to Castile. With neither of us needing much sleep, we traded the amulet, Konstantin taking it during the day while I took it at night. Konstantin chose to maintain a lower profile on the voyage, so we did not practice with our weapons and limited ourselves to training individually in our cabins.

I was fortunate that my cabin was located at the stern of the Prosperity. The fumes from my alchemy were drawn out the window, so I didn’t aggravate the crew or other passengers. My efforts to refine an aether restorative was going far better than I could have hoped. My current process used the seeds of six golden figs, and as long as I didn’t make any mistakes, the resulting brew could restore my entire aether pool, which equaled over sixty relative aether. It was an excellent amount for any mage.

I didn’t think I could do much better with my current ingredients. I updated my notes and processes and planned to send them to Maveith. Maybe the Goliath Eternis Council had decided to utilize the dungeon resources. If goliath alchemists could match my most recent iteration, it could be a phenomenal export for Maveith’s people. I estimated its viability was almost six months if sealed immediately after catalyzation.

I had meals with Konstantin in his cabin, and we discussed our experiences in the dreamscape amulet. Gilda rarely joined us, and I was not quite sure where she disappeared for most of the trip. No crew members or passengers came up missing, and Konstantin was not concerned.

The only interesting encounter on the ocean voyage was a massive pod of whales—over five hundred, but a true count was impossible. They reminded me of the right whales from Earth. While I watched them from the railing, the captain informed me that they swim in such large pods to protect themselves from the ocean’s true predators: krakens and dragon turtles.

The voyage was relatively relaxing—even Konstantin mellowed out after a few days, ensuring that none of the crew or other passengers were more than they appeared. Still, there was relief when the crow’s nest occupant shouted, “Land fore!” Most of the passengers and crew crowded the bow to verify the sight. It was a welcome sight after 55 days of seeing nothing but water in every direction.

I noticed Lesna flitting in between the people, trying to get to the railing. The halfling adventurer illusionist looked apprehensive, and I don’t think she had ever been outside of Godok before. I told myself she could take care of herself. All she needed to do was register with the local Adventurer’s Guild, and she could get by.

Our course was adjusted, and we entered a wide river hours later. We traveled in the middle of the river and could barely make out the shores. With the spyglass, I could see the shores had mangroves, palm trees, and coconut trees. A thirty-foot alligator was sunning itself on a sand bar as we passed. The first mate yelled to everyone not to attack the behemoth. It could reciprocate and damage the ship.

The weather mages were working overtime to push the Prosperity against the gentle current to expedite our arrival. After entering the basin, we still had almost forty miles to Yuetsen. We began passing by small shoreline communities—a blend of agricultural and fishing. Through the spyglass, the people appeared to be of Hispanic descent.

We passed large trade and naval ships infrequently, but it was clear this route was well traveled. When the city finally came into view, it was built on a small bluff overlooking the river. By their beige color, I guessed that the distant buildings were made of sandstone. It was not nearly as impressive as Godok in scope or as stunning as Telha or Artiria.

A large number of ships were moored in a massive eddy below the bluff, and that is where the Prosperity soon dropped anchor. The first mate shouted to a small gondola, and soon several barges headed from the shore to collect the passengers and cargo. Since we had purchased the luxury cabins, we were allowed on the first barge to reach the shore. The language sounded like a derivative of Spanish, but I was no linguist. There were enough Latin words mixed in that I could almost follow along. It probably helped that I was wearing the amulet of clarity at the moment, but I would switch it for the aether shield amulet after we registered in the Adventurer’s Guild Hall.

The wide steps carved into the bluff were a quick ascent. Several lifts and cranes hoisted larger loads up to the city as well. It took several steps for the solidness of the steps to feel normal under me. “Where are we headed?” A voice from below me asked.

“Lesna, you need to find your own way,” I told the halfling without looking down. She must have used her invisibility spell to sneak off the ship. I should have figured she would do that, and it would have been appropriate to accidentally knock the halfling woman into the water.

“But you are the only brute I know in the city,” she replied, unconcerned and not leaving my hip.

Konstantin did not want to get involved, “I will walk the city and see if I can find some transportation.” He headed into the cityscape of sandstone buildings, Gilda on his heels.

“Oh, what kind of transportation? I always wanted to learn to ride,” Lesna offered in good humor.

“You should go buy a horse then. The bigger, the better,” I replied and paused at the food vendor stall. It took a little time to translate, but he was selling marinated barbecued alligator meat. I got four skewers and was glad to see that Lesna had gone. I sent out an earth pulse to confirm and sighed in pleasure. After sending so many earth pulses into wood, this one finally returned a crystal-clear image.

The entire bluff was limestone, and there was an active undercity and sewer below that. I needed to send out three more pulses to confirm Lesna had wandered away. I knew there were two local dungeons, one deep below the city and the other out on the grassy plains. I hadn’t had time to enter the queue for the dungeon in Godok, so I doubted I would be exploring these dungeons either.

The Adventurer’s Hall was a squat sandstone building featuring an open-air common room. This design was due to the city’s summer heat. To cope, an undercity had been carved into the sandstone. I secured three rooms for us and then observed the other adventurers while I waited for Konstantin. Not wanting to engage, I waved off a few adventurers who asked to join me. The language barrier was frustrating, and if they had spoken Elvish, I might have made an effort.

Konstantin arrived before Lesna and sat with me. His clothes and face were covered in dust, and I suspected he had circled the outer walls. I pushed the picture of a warm ale and a clean mug to him. He poured himself a drink and nodded contentedly. “Fairly small as capitals go.”

“Does that include the undercity?” I asked.

His mug paused to his lips, “How big is it?”

“About the same as the surface, maybe not extending to the outer walls,” I replied a little haughtily. Konstantin would have slipped if he hadn’t explored the undercity.

He ignored the insinuation of an insult, “Still maybe half that of Telha and about the same as Gramney. There is only one Displacement Mage in the city that takes outside contracts. I will approach him this evening.” He looked around, “What did you do with your little woman?”

“I told her to go buy a horse,” I said, grinning.

“Being an ogre’s ass to a woman who has magic is never wise. There are somethings Fortuna cannot protect you from—an irate woman is one of them,” Konstantin said in a lecturing tone.

“She started it,” I said, sounding petulant and regretting it. Konstantin rolled his eyes in disappointment and left me after downing the rest of his mug.

I people-watched for the rest of the evening while waiting for Konstantin. The attire for the city mostly consisted of thin, loose-fitting clothing. They preferred whites and off-whites, probably because they were cooler in the sun. The adventurers seemed to prefer a curved sword, but I guessed the number of mages here was higher than normal-- at least with my aether sight, I observed several of them utilizing aether during the afternoon.

I did spend an hour talking with an elven water mage. She was recruiting a group to capture lions in the plains surrounding the city. I listened politely to her pitch and asked the appropriate questions, but I told her I planned to rest a week after the long sea voyage. When Konstantin returned, he ordered a large pitcher and food for himself before sitting with me.

“It is done. He can do it in three teleports. I have a passage for the three of us,” he said tiredly.

“Is he a good displacement mage? How much?” I questioned.

“I took care of the payment. He is as good as they come. At least, I have been told he has been doing it for more than a decade.” I nodded at that. A bad displacement mage would not have lived that long. “Gilda and I will ask around tonight to ferret out his reputation but we leave an hour after sunrise.” I toasted his success and soon retired to my room, looking forward to the reunion.

The next morning, as we left the Hall, Lesna was outside holding the reigns of a massive pony. Konstantin walked past her, and Gilda followed to let me explain to the halfling woman she was not invited.

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