Season of Bloom - 22. Bandit Bravado

Faes stared at the sealed scroll as they travelled. A letter for a man from Absalom. He knew of only one such man, a merchant in Ismenia. Perhaps he was the man Shaynih’a spoke of. All he could do was ask.

Of course, if he knew what the letter was, and the name of the one it was addressed to, it would make delivering it so much easier.

“Don’t even think about it.”

The hollowborn’s head turned, hooded eyes glaring at Valerie.

“Reading another man’s letter would be against the law. More than that, it is utterly rude to pry into the private thoughts of someone else. You would make a horrible messenger.”

Faes scoffed at the thought, tucking the scroll back into a saddlebag.

“Who ever thought I would make a good one?”

“The Tulip, apparently,” Valerie frowned.

“Her name is Shaynih’a. Not that I’d expect an ex-noble of some Brevic family to be able to pronounce such a name.”

“Which is why she gave us a better name to call her. Because some people actually think before they come to a new land. What kind of a name is Faes anyway?”

“Nice try. It’s not polite to pry into people’s pasts,” the hollowborn smirked.

“I seem to recall a discussion about a certain bard’s past last night,” Valerie pointed out.

“An invited discussion. I asked, Linzi answered. You asked, I declined to answer. Your questions are not invited.”

“Please, enough fighting,” Tristian spoke up nearby. “You two squabble worse than a pair of parrots over a piece of fruit.”

Faes scoffed, nudging his horse up toward the front of their party. Lapis and Kiba were much better company anyway.

“A huntress…” Lapis murmured, his eyes on a map as they rode.

Ears swivelled constantly, offering the amurrun perception through sound as he trusted his horse and Khemet to see them along the road. A finger ran along the map, the catfolk looking back suddenly.

“Tristian, you’re well travelled. Do you know of a hunter’s lodge around here?” he called.

Faes groaned quietly as the cleric moved up beside them, his silvery horse snorting at their proximity to a large tiger.

“I believe there is a lodge on the borders of our lands, my lord,” Tristian provided. “There is a lizardfolk village… or, there was a lizardfolk village, right where Lake Candlemere meets the Murque River. The lodge should be directly south of it, no more than three or four hours.”

“Are there any others that you know of?”

The cleric shook his head.

“No, my lord.”

“Then that’s where we will go after this. We’ll move through the Kamelands, stop by this lodge to rest, and head north to Oleg’s Trading Post before returning to Ismenia,” Lapis decided.

“What? Why?” Faes demanded sharply. “That journey could take weeks!”

“Because there is a dwarf who asked me to help him reclaim a family heirloom that had been sold off to several traders in the area,” Lapis replied evenly.

“Fuck the dwarf! I don’t want to travel that far!”

“Then you are more than welcome to return to Ismenia,” Lapis said coolly. “I suppose you miss your warm baths and your playtime with Regongar.”

Faes’ ears burned under his hood, the hollowborn staring at the amurrun with such rage, it was a miracle Lapis wasn’t on fire.

“I have never touched an orc in my life,” he snarled.

“Well you might want to try. It’s actually rather fun,” Lapis shrugged, making a note on the map.

The amurrun rolled the map up, sliding it into a bag before nudging his horse into a quicker walk.

“There is a hag that’s said to live out here. We’ll ask her if she’s seen anything.”

Crickets chirped slowly in the twilight as they approached a wet part of the bog. Kiba’s stomach growled and the kobold clutched at it, grumbling quietly as he swayed on Khemet’s back. The world around them was foggy, even early in the evening, and Kiba could see his breath clouding in front of him. His body was chilling fast. It wouldn’t be long before he had to sleep. But sleeping here would be bad. If he fell asleep in this cold, he might never wake up again.

The Sootscale dens were always warm, even during the winters, and the kobold found himself wishing for that same warmth and protection. But not even Apsu could make the tribe accept him again.

“Lose your way. Lose your mind. Lose your life.”

Kiba gasped at the draconic words, words that sent fear stabbing into his heart.

“Did anyone else hear that?” Linzi demanded, looking around warily.

“Someone was speaking Osiriani,” Lapis said, scanning the area himself.

“No, that was Kellish,” Tristian frowned.

“I heard Taldane,” Valerie offered.

Kiba drew closer to Khemet as the words repeated, quieter, as though they were drifting away… or someone was moving away. The kobold pulled out his sword, the very act steeling his courage. He started walking west, following the voice, and a dark leg stopped him.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Faes asked.

“Kiba finds voice,” the kobold said, holding up his sword.

“First rule of adventuring. Never split the party,” the hollowborn scowled “And the first rule of survival, don’t follow fell voices in a foggy bog.”

“So… we’re just going to ignore the voice?” Linzi asked suspiciously.

“Exactly. Let’s think about this rationally. We are in a bog, near where a hag is said to reside. If she wanted visitors, she would live in the city. What better way to keep intruders away than scaring them off or making them follow disembodied voices and get lost in said bog? That is, if the witch is even responsible for the voice. It could be wisps.”

He moved his foot again, letting Kiba go.

“Think before you act, or you could kill us all.”

Kiba grumbled, but stepped back on the dirt road. He kept his sword in hand as the party continued walking, just in case.

Voices filled the air, whispers that filled Faes with trepidation. His fire was out. The hollowborn was not about to give anything a good bright target to shoot at.

All around him was fog, freezing water that chilled him through his cloak. He would have to trade it out for warmer gear when they returned to Ismenia. Provided Lapis didn’t give all their money away to Kaessi again. Little thoughts kept the fear away, not giving the voices anything to latch onto.

Until suddenly the voices became real. Fire appeared in the fog, torches held high for light in a gloomy evening.

“How in the hells did you manage to lose the horse? What are we supposed to do now, drag the wagon on our own? This thing is a mess; I don’t even know why we hit it.”

Out of the fog, a wagon appeared, the body of a horse laying nearby and a group of men standing around the back of the cart.

“That’s them! Caught red handed!” Linzi hissed, pointing at the wagon. “Let’s show them what happens when they take someone’s things without permission-”

She stammered at the glare Faes sent her way.

“I mean… we’ll teach them a lesson,” the halfling amended quickly.

“I saw one of these things in Ustalav,” one of the bandits said brashly. “Alchemical transmuter. If you put it together and stick lead into the iron bits, the lead turns into gold. This will make us beyond wealthy. Now quit dawdling and get into the harness.”

Faes bit back a groan, rubbing his head.

“Calistria save me from morons…” he muttered.

“You’re sure this thing works?” one of the other bandits frowned. “Fine, but if it doesn’t-”

Lapis stepped forward suddenly, Khemet at his side. Kiba had climbed onto the tiger’s back at some point, and the kobold looked down at the bandits with his sword down, a tiny grin on his face.

“You have exactly ten heartbeats to get lost,” Lapis said firmly, staring at the bandits.

“Oh shit, he has a fucking smilodon!”

“Wait, that’s the new baron! This was his shipment?” one of the bandits yelped. “Denny, what the fuck did you get us into?!”

“Just run!”

The bandits scattered, a dwarf bringing up the rear. Faes sent a fireball at the bandit, burning a hole in his pants, and the dwarf howled, his short legs blurring as he tried frantically to keep up with his companions.

“You let them go?” Faes scowled at the amurrun.

“Scared them and let them go. They’ll think twice before robbing again.

A small grin appeared on Lapis’ face.

“That, or the wisps will get to them,” he added.

“Okay, great, we have the press. Can we get the fuck out of here now?” Faes demanded, as Linzi crawled over the wagon.

“Yep, all here,” she confirmed with a cheerful chirp. “Oh this is great! My very own printing press! I wonder what I should write first.”

“How about a bunch of cheap novels that can make up the money you stole from the barony?” Faes snapped.

“Better. Write something that would piss King Irovetti off,” Lapis smirked. “Show him you aren’t a puppet and that a good bard can write whatever they want. You shouldn’t be stifled by anyone.”

“Oh gods yes, throw the truth in Irovetti’s face. Though I would throw something heavier in his face if I could. But the truth will work for now,” Linzi grinned. “Thank you so much Lapis.”

“Can we at least get out of this bog now?” Faes demanded.

“Hold on. I want to get to the bottom of these voices,” Lapis denied.

The hollowborn stared at the amurrun in horror. They were going to wander around until they found the cause of the disembodied voices?

“Gods, I am surrounded by idiots.”