Born a Monster

Chapter 79: Born A Monster, Chapter 79 – Bloody Footprints

Born A Monster

Chapter 79

Bloody Footprints

There were six of them, atop the rise of a hill, and our cart rose to meet them. Phoenix stopped the cart when their speaker tapped a spear butt on the ground.

Philecto emerged to speak with them. Speaking turned into shouting, and shouting turned into a blade thrust into the mail at his side.

There was no conflict. We won, and left them prone behind us.

“What the hells was that?” Peretta asked.

.....

Philecto inspected the torn mail links on his side, the gambeson somehow not cut all the way through beneath it. “They say we crossed from Red Tide lands into theirs, and wouldn’t listen to reason.”

He turned to Awta. “Whether it was you or your brother, you ought not to have begun killing them. We’ll be hounded by loyalist and rebel alike until we reach Narrow Valley.”

Awta said something to Faraj, but he felt no need to respond.

What followed was like a war in miniature. Eight Uruk slain here, a valley we were travelling through lit on fire there.

We’d not have made it without the support of our domug scouts and centaur allies. A wealth of used weapons accumulated in the back of the cart, with the cover burned away by the time our now ragged band cleared the official border of Black Fist lands.

“This is where we part ways.” Deek said. “We saw you safely there, and safely back. Our word is fulfilled.”

I placed a fist against my chest. “Your contract is well and truly fulfilled. I, Rhishisikk, Speaker of the Truth, do hereby so witness its completion.”

“Well... a bit fancier than we’re used to, but we’ll take it. Live well, lizard-kin.”

“Live well, Deek of the Greywood domug.”

The centaur were a bit less formal, waving to us from a distance, and heading off toward the northwest.

“We sleep in armor tonight.” Philecto told us.

And a good thing we did, too. The moon was full, and the Black Fist followed us, two dozen warriors and perhaps four to six more.

Remember what I said about heroes and champions, and then common soldiers? I couldn’t hold my own against a single Uruk warrior, with my newfound weakness. But the others – let’s just say that there weren’t enough Uruk, and when we harnessed in the horses and left our camp behind us, there were over a dozen Uruk unable to stand, perhaps half of those no longer among the living.

But they were not gone without cost to us; it took Faraj three days to heal, and Philecto most of six.

Narrow Valley was surrounded by wooden watchtowers outside of the now filled in trenches, and a circle of freshly burned terrain some half mile thick surrounded that.

“Well, when the troops come in the fall, at least they won’t have surprise.” Phoenix said.

“Philecto, I’ll meet you at the inn in a day or so.”

“Oh? What do you need to do?”

“I have reports to deliver to the shrine, the Guild, and the city. And – if I can get an advance, I need to replace these bloody cloths with a fresh set of linens.”

#

The last thing the Hellene wanted to hear is that we’d failed.

The last thing the Guild wanted to hear was that I wanted an advance. Coins were normally paid at the end of a contract.

The last thing the mayor and town council wanted to hear was that there was a third siege coming, possibly the largest yet.

So what? The truth remains the truth, whether you want to hear it or not. No matter how you object, or curse, or vilify your Truthspeaker, we literally cannot change the facts, only the words we use to render those truths in, and there isn’t much latitude in how we do that.

Kyle and crew returned north to Whitehill, taking with them the vast bulk of treasures looted over the course of a month.

The town was already putting out the decorations for Harvest Week, a month before the actual celebration.

The early pumpkins were ripe, and pumpkin dishes in the markets, pumpkin pies in the inns and taverns.

Rina and I exchanged greetings at the inn, but we lacked the knowledge of each other’s languages to communicate further. We spent the time touching objects and speaking the words for them to each other.

And then Rina tried teaching me the looping calligraphy used by her people for writing. There are worse writing systems, but... at the time, that just baffled me, especially because it was written from the right to the left.

My sanity was saved by Philecto’s return just prior to dinner time. Food prices had risen slightly, but I wrangled two meals for three tin coins. Boiled chicken on a bed of cubed potatoes mixed with onion bits, with leaves of spinach between those and the plate, the whole thing slathered with butter and garlic. I also paid for a loaf of green spinach bread, with acorns sprinkled throughout the loaf.

It was good to have coins again, even if I must wear sandals in public.

Awta and Faraj had eaten at the market, and arrived after the meal to order a pitcher of beer, which they shared with others. I had pine bark tea, sweetened with a dollop of sap.

And then we were back to business. Dina had found or made a map of the town, with the current position of the walls, gates, and towers. Someone had picked up pogs, which were small stones with various illustrations drawn or runes carved into them.

Or, when there just weren’t enough, simple colors painted on the stones worked. A proper pog, I am told, is a thin cylinder, like three or four poker chips. Ours were not proper pogs.

But they worked four our purposes, an ox pog for Rakkal and his brethren, red stones for the horde of Red Tide, and a very paltry number of blue pogs marked with the V of Narrow Valley.

We met the next two nights, mimicking the coming siege again and again. It seemed most likely that Rakkal would just break in one of the three gates, and proceed directly toward the town hall.

Our best plan was to meet him with the city militia, either just inside or just outside the town hall.

#

“Our immediate need is to find some paying work between now and the siege.” Philecto decreed. “I trust you’ve no problem with that?”

“It is a poor quest where the reward is expended in accomplishment of the task itself.” I agreed. Besides, I had only been able to wrangle a few coppers from Reynald, and that only because the Hellene had paid the Guild.

The spiders were dealt with, nothing was stirring to the east or north, or at least nothing that made people gather coins and hire adventurers.

So we had to make due with non-adventuring jobs for a month, as ridiculous as that sounds. My part was the lumber and carpentry of the new towers. As much as I’d been putting it off, my System did inform me of Carpentry being added to my crafting classes.

It came with an ability “Measure Twice, Cut Once”, which reduced the amount of lumber wasted during any carpentry project I was engaged upon. One of my earliest projects was a collapsible ladder-stool so that I could reach human carpentry benches.

There were twelve watchtowers, and each had gaps in the walls, leaky roofs, and such. There were four crews retained for the repairs. I learned things such as how to insert new boards into walls in such a way as to create a sealed seam, how to brace flooring properly to reduce the bending of the boards, and most importantly, how to make and set wooden shingles in such a way that they would endure more than one winter.

Singleton walls were made into proper double walls, grist and sawdust mixed and poured inside for insulation. It was hard work for a tin a day, but seeing the transformation from tall shacks to proper (if thin and spartan) habitations was truly rewarding.

And two weeks into that task:

[Maternal Biomass Loan has been repaid in full. Loan is is RECLAMATION status, and is now being removed from your System.]

[Maternal Biomass Loan removed.]

[Maternal Link removed.]

[System settings altered by your parent have been restored to default.]

Oh, gods! It was HORRIBLE! A pressure, a presence, a... sense of being I’d never noticed was suddenly missing from my life. It was as if the mother I’d never even met had been removed entirely from my life. The emotional turmoil that resulted from that kept me from working for two days.

By that time, I couldn’t even get a list of System settings that had been changed.

And, as much as I hated it, repaying that stupid loan had given me something to DO every day.

I did two coppers of feasting over the next few days, getting enough to flag back the increase to my Resolve statistic. It wouldn’t be done by the time the siege was here, but it might be done by the end of it.

#

Reynald called me to his office, or more accurately, had Cosimo call me.

“I understand there is a gap in your employment.” He said.

“There is nothing to do for the quest.” I said. “Is there employment through the guild available?”

“Not for a warrior, no. But be aware that as your guardian guild, we are taking fair wages from your – unauthorized crafting activities.”

I placed one copper and four tin onto the table. “I have no objection. There will be a contract drawn up for the work I am to do on the watchtowers?”

“And you will sign this document, releasing the Hellene from paying you for that same four week period.”

“Of course.” I said, reading the contract. “I may be missing the part where she begins paying me again once the quest resumes.”

“We can add-” began Cosimo.

Reynald stopped him with a raised hand. “There will be no more pay from the Hellene until further notice. As she has stopped payment to the Guild, your employment with her is pending official termination.”

“I – think I see.” I said. “And the guild is not paying me for any future days I must spend upon this quest?”

“In point of fact,” Reynald said, “It is you who shall be paying us for those days, as you are depriving us of your work.”

I snorted. “Please show me where that is in the contract I signed with the guild.”

He did so.

“I guess I’ve no choice but to agree.”

“And to pay in advance.” Cosimo said. “As your service has been requested on the wall, that pay is assessed at a silver a day.”

“At half a silver a day.” Reynald corrected. “We only charge half when we cannot guarantee the full term of service will be fulfilled. Do you have the silver and five copper on hand?”

“Does the Guild have my payment for the days I’ve worked for the Hellene?”

.....

Cosimo’s nostrils widened, but not Reynald’s. “A fair point. Once that payment arrives, the Guild has your authority to remove such funds in preparation of you taking three days off from your military duties?”

“Of course. Such days as only to be taken at time of imminent breach of the city gate, at which time I will need to stand with the heroes of my quest at or outside city hall.”

“Who would agree to such terms?” Cosimo asked. “A soldier who only mans the walls until he is most needed?”

“I already have Alderwoman Faith’s word on such a contract.” Reynald said. “There will be no side journeys? From the wall straight to the city council, pausing only to inform units of the watch and militia of the impending fall of the gate?”

“I believe that is an acceptable arrangement.”

The contract had already been drawn up. I paid a tin coin for a runner to tell Thanassis I wouldn’t be arriving for my carpentry work.

#

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