Tsaimath
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Chapter 156
🕑 Added 2019-06-19 16:01:00 +0000 UTC
We made our way towards the inn, well, Sigmir and Adra made their way, with Rai and me staying in the shadows, slinking after them. There was something in the air of Yaksha, almost like an electrical charge, setting me on edge.
On the way towards the inn, Saya, the Caprakin we met at the guild when we were in town the last time intercepted us.
“You have some nerves, coming here again.” she said, looking at Sigmir for a moment before focusing on me but not pushing away the shadows that concealed me.
“Why do you say that?” Adra asked, frowning at the accusatory words, even as her tone was conversationally.
“Three guys, Travellers, they claimed that you broke the peace of the hearth, killing them during the night. And when the wolves came from the woodworks, they said that you had slaughtered some of them, making it sound like you are responsible for them blockading the town.” Saya explained and I was getting a little annoyed at my inability to directly talk with her. But if I understood her right, the three stooges had poisoned this town for me. Wanting to speak directly with her, I asked in a whisper if we could go into the guild to talk. She just nodded and led us towards the guild, opening the door with a small key, hinting at quite sophisticated locksmithing-techniques.
We trooped in and once inside the dark building, Saya quickly lit a small lamp, bathing us all in soft light.
“Now, care to tell me what happened?” she asked, curious. “When you were here last, I thought you were a monster, but a sensible one. So, breaking the peace of the hearth in an inn seems out of character for you.”
“Depends on your definition.” I started, stepping from the shadows, “Yes, I attacked and killed them. But only after they tried sneaking up on us in the middle of the night, I had placed a ward to prevent just that, as we had a small confrontation with them before and I’m a little paranoid.”
“So, they stepped where they shouldn’t? Not a huge surprise, I’ve got to tell you. They felt, I don’t know, shifty. The kind of people that try to gain any advantage possible, no matter how.” Saya paused for a moment.
“Still, you should have told the innkeeper, not just walk away as if nothing happened. People have the bad habit to believe those who accuse first.” she continued.
“Well, true, but I wasn’t aware that there was such a thing. To me, an inn is just a place where I rest my head. And in the last inn we have been in, we got into a little trouble without getting any help to uphold such a thing.” I explained and Sigmir nodded along.
“Ah. Well, in most communities that host a lot of travellers inns are safe-spaces were nobody fights. Simply, to make sure that people can rest there, in peace.” Saya answered.
It was a sensible rule, if people started picking fights in towns and especially inns, damage would quickly accumulate, especially with the amount of power a single person could hold.
“That could cause problems..” I said, thinking of all the things that might go wrong. In addition, I wondered if the three stooges had lain in ambush, waiting for us, or if they simply used their status as Travellers to go out and hunt, bringing back food for the town.
“Most likely, yes. If I were you, and there is no reason to stay in town, I would hike it. The townsfolk will simply hunker down for a while, the food stores are easily able to last the winter and I doubt that the wolves or the wind raptors will try to actually destroy the town.” Saya gave valuable advice, if we stayed, the stooges would undoubtedly try to make things difficult for us, or rather ,for me.
“Why do you think the town won’t fall? And why are those beasts acting that way at all” I asked, curious while weighing the possible ways forward in my mind. It rackled that they had been able to make me unwelcome in yet another town, but maybe that was just what I had to expect, I had chosen a built that focused on personal, magical power at the expense of social graces, talents and traits. If they were even just average in that regard, they would likely be able to spin a tale that made me look like a total monster, not that my actions had been far from one.
“Oh, the wolves could definitely destroy the town. But they would need some serious motivation to do so, as they would have to sacrifice a lot of pack-members to do so. They move around, year-round, coming into the vicinity from time to time but never causing too much damage.” Saya’s answer made me swallow hard, I had a feeling that my, or rather, Ylva’s presence would count as motivation, after all, I had used Blood Magic to suck one of their Alpha’s dry, even usurping the divine bloodline they carried, feeding it to one of their adversaries. Yeah, if they got wind of that, I had no doubt that they would want to voice their displeasure. And the Wind Raptors, they had to know that I was responsible for the wild magic that had not only ravaged their numbers but stained the valley they used.
“The Wind Raptors, I’m not sure what has their feathers in a bunch. They live in the nearby mountains and hunters regularly cull their numbers. There has never been a case of such a massive flock coming into the lowlands.” Saya continued with a shrug. As she talked, she kept an eye on me and must have seen something. “But you look like you know what is going on with them, care to share?”
“Well, I might. You gave us a quest to hunt them, remember? Well, we might have been more successful than planned and hunted them into what I now believe is their roosting-area. There were dozens, maybe hundreds of Wind Raptors nesting in a bowl-valley and they used their combined magic against us.” I explained and noticed that Saya looked slightly sick.
“You followed monsters into their breeding-space and lived?!” She blurted, her eyes wide. It sounded like it was a well-known fact that monsters would defend their breeding-areas with impressive ferocity.
“That is getting tiresome, the lack of information.” I growled softly, wondering why Sigmir and Adra did not know such a thing. I would have to ask them later.
“Anyway, the birds tried to use their magic against us and I took their challenge, winning it. Their magic got out of control, killing some of them in the process and creating an area of wild magic in the process.” I continued.
“That would do it, yes. But, wild magic? You are either lucky, skilled or insane. Probably all three. It changed you, didn’t it? There is something different about you, something that I can’t quite put my finger on.”
“Maybe. As we have established that staying in this fine town would be a bad idea, why don’t we settle the quests you gave us and we will be on our way?” I asked, thinking about the herb-lore book I was carrying. After reading it, I knew that the herbs we had taken from Tegi were useless to me, but still, I had given my word that I would bring it back. Maybe the herbalist wouldn’t mind a nightly visit.
“Sure, we can do that. Show me what you got.” she agreed with a grin, so we started to pull out the wolves and wind raptors, stacking them on the floor, making a neat pile of either trophies or simply dead bodies. We would get paid for either, so it wasn’t that much of a difference.
“You have been busy, haven't you.” Saya noted as she started counting the amount of kills we had brought.
Just as she sat on a small stool, to allow her ease of counting despite her wooden leg, the door opened and another hunter peeked in.
“Saya, good that you are still here…” he started before taking in the scene, focusing on me and a frown marred his face.
“You! You are the one the other travellers talked about, the one who brought the wolves to our door.” he started yelling, his voice accusatory, causing the people on the square outside to gather. Apparently, one of them was a friend of the innkeeper and he added fuel to the fire, yelling about, me, breaking the peace of the inn. Next, I heard a squeaky voice, calling me a monster, a nestling-slayer and noticed that the snowbold had found his voice, undoubtedly thanks to the forming mob-mentality. It felt unnatural the quickness with which the group changed from people simply milling around, going about their business now that the wind raptors were no longer in the sky, into an angry mob. I had a sneaking suspicion that my Outsider-trait was making up for the time I had spent away from people, doing its best to get me into trouble.
The shouts continued and I had no doubt that we were moments away from a rather nasty fight, unless someone could frighten the mob back to their senses.
