Eight 5.7a: Gearing Up

Author's Note: This is the first part of chapter seven. That's all I could get done while also preparing Eight 4 for publication and spending time with family visiting for the Thanksgiving holiday. I'll release the second half as soon as it's finished.

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Silasenei presumably left the reeve’s residence as easily as she’d infiltrated it. I lost track of her presence once she was out in the hallway. We’d arranged to meet again at the town’s west gate the next day.

The rest of the evening passed uneventfully. The bed was comfortable, but I missed having Fala by my side. I ended up putting her figurine on the pillow, so I’d have something to look at while we chatted.

###

The next morning, I thanked Maleina for a restful stay and also declined her escort to the gate. She had better things to do, and I didn’t want to trouble her any further.

Once my hidden party and I were away from the reeve’s residence, I slipped into the land to walk through Huwata unnoticed. I had an errand to run before meeting Silasenei, which was to buy another spear. The one purchased in Bashruuta was simply not good enough.

I also eventually needed to replace the armor that had been destroyed while on expedition, but that would wait until I could visit Goost and Pleik’s in Albei. I shopped there almost exclusively these days, and it was where I planned to outfit Fala too; the quality of the shop’s armaments was top-notch.

I found a hunter’s spear that would do until I could replace it with something better. Then, I had second thoughts and bought ten more. I went through the damn things like maple candies.

Breakfast afterward was a bowl of vegetable soup topped with a layer of fried cheese. I grabbed three bowls from a street vendor, paying extra to keep two for Fala and the Deer God to eat later.

Interestingly, while I was chowing down, the same team of land soldiers walked past four different times from four different directions. Likely they knew someone or something powerful was nearby but couldn’t tell exactly what or where.

In response, I sank deeper into the land.

I handed my empty bowl to the vendor and made my way west, avoiding the crowds starting to fill the streets, a mix of militia crews repairing the town’s infrastructure and people going about their everyday business. The water some of them carried was bright in my awareness, as were the basins and tubs in the homes around me.

Two blocks away, a young servant washed bed sheets, and I felt the hot, soapy water shake vigorously as she worked. In another residence, a man used a wet cloth to wipe an elder’s body clean; the care evident in the slow, worried movements.

The soup earlier had been invisible to me. While liquid, it was no longer water. The cooking process had transformed it into something else. And yet, the soapy water was still conceptually water, and it bent to my will as a result.

Neither the servant nor the man washing the elder were within my sight, but they were in the range of my influence. Blessings upon you both, I thought, for your hard work and for your care.

My authority rushed to infuse the water used for each task.

The bed sheets would be cleaner than they’d ever been before. At same time, the elder breathed easier; I felt it in the rise and fall of his chest. I cast a Healing Water spell on the washcloth for good measure, and Owl’s Ears picked up the exclamation of surprise in the distance—the joy of a miracle appearing from nowhere. A father’s recent injury had been healed.

I couldn’t help the small, satisfied smile that came to my lips.

###

Silasenei met me under the sign for a dockside tavern called the Slanted Pine. The actual building itself was gone, washed away by the nearby river when it had overrun its banks. All that was left of the establishment was the post from which the sign hung.

Everything else dockside not sturdily built was also gone. It was usually monsters you had to deal with, but this was a reminder that nature could be the biggest monster of all.

The grandmaster wore buckskins along with a wide-brimmed hat. She had a spear and bow clipped to her pack, neither of which seemed to be enchanted. All in all, she looked like a run-of-the-mill hunter. We left with hardly a person noting we were there to begin with.

There were enough travelers on the road south to Albei that someone was usually in sight—either on foot or with an ox or mule. At first, Silasenei didn’t say a word, then about halfway in the journey, when it finally seemed like we’d be alone for a while, she passed me a silver pin etched with a wave-like pattern.

I felt a shift in the air when I took it from her. The sensation was similar to the anti-divination enchantment on the conference table in Iseld’s office, but without the associated dampness.

“This is amazing!” I signed.

“It’ll last three weeks,” Silasenei replied. “Afterward, you’ll need to feed the enchantment with your own mana to power it.”

Silasenei then handed me a pouch, and inside were the three gold charm bracelets carried by the Maltran saboteurs my team had killed on the way to Old Baxteiyel.

“These will disguise your spirit,” Silasenei said. “They match the one you took from Sulwa. Pour your mana into a charm to activate the false map within it, and the enchantment will fool any magics or talents that attempt to read your identity.”

“Including divination magics?” I asked.

Silasenei made a “so-so” gesture. “Some, depending on how the targeting is done. Between the two items, you should be able to get past most detection magics without causing alarm.”

I put one of the bracelets on and infused it with my mana. Almost twelve points’ drained out of me before I felt the enchantment trigger—a thin wriggling net that freed itself from the bracelet, crawled up my arm, and covered over the rest of me.

Interestingly, my Status camera did work on myself afterward. It never had before.

Eight the Traveling Merchant (Human, Dawn)

Talents: Natural Appraiser, Eye for Remedies, A Good Sort

Yuki came forward to appreciate the magic. ‘Silasenei has the coolest stuff.’

She totally does, I thought in reply. I feel like a secret agent now. Then aloud I said to Silasenei, “This is helpful, thank you. The saboteurs also had a way to change how they looked. Do we know how they did that?”

“We don’t,” she replied, frowning. “A spell, a talent, an enchantment—it could be any number of things, none of which we have access to. Now that we know our enemy is capable of it, though, I’m going to advise our land knight to tighten the land soldiers’ security protocols.”

“The last word means ‘a way of doing things?’ Right?”

“A way that’s shared by many,” she clarified. “A standard practice for a faction or an institution.”

“Okay, I understand.”

“Hand me the bracelet you took from Sulwa. I’ll have it tested to make sure it’s safe, then return it to you. The more options in your hands, the better.”

I nodded and did as she’d asked.

Then, in a rare expression of camaraderie, she placed her hand on my arm. “From this point forward, don’t let yourself be seen—not in Albei and not in Voorhei either. Your last location is Huwata. After that, you must seem to disappear into the wilderness. The less people who know your plans, the better.”

“But my family and my team—” I began.

She squeezed my arm as if to reassure me. “You can still communicate with them, but they will tell others you’re seeking solace without elaborating on where or why. The important thing is to open wide the range of your possible actions and force our enemies to imagine more scenarios than actually exist, diluting their efforts between these paths and probabilities.”

“I have to see my family, though. There are things I need to talk to them about in person.”

“Your… connection isn’t enough?” she asked.

“It is, but for this I’d prefer being face-to-face.”

Silasenei halted her steps. She turned to look at me, and her expression became complicated. I didn’t know how to read it.

Out of the blue, she said, “They’re going to die before you, you know. Now that you’re silvered, you’ll survive your family, your team, your business partners… everyone.”

I cleared my throat. “I do know, which is why I want to talk to my family directly.”

“The only true companions you’ll have are other silvered, and even then, this is a world of striving. Death comes for everyone eventually, often before it’s due.”

“A truth,” I said.

“A truth,” she repeated. Then Silasenei snorted and resumed walking. “Another truth is that Inleio’s apprentices know how to be stealthy. Meet your family if you must, but be quiet about it. Don’t embarrass your lodge, eh?”

I stood there a moment or two, just watching her walk away, and then I hurried to catch up. “I won’t,” I said.

###

About an hour from our destination, I felt a draw on my attention. Something or someone powerful was to the north. Silasenei must’ve noticed too, because she turned her head at the same time I did.

“Level 14 at a minimum,” she said, “and it’s not Knight Ithia. She’s in Albei.”

“You know that for sure?”

Silasenei pulled a calling stone hidden in the shadow of her arm. Her mana pulsed as she sent a message, then a moment later she nodded at the response received. “Ithia’s location is confirmed within the city.”

“Then we’d better investigate what’s out there,” I said.

“In this case, yes. Our land soldiers aren’t in a position right now to deal with threats this powerful. I’ll find you once you’re done and inside the city. I’ll have Sulwa’s bracelet checked by then, and there are some additional materials I need to give you before you depart for your mission.”

“You’re not going to hunt with me?” I asked.

“Do I need to?” she asked in return.

Feeling sheepish, I rubbed the back of my head. “No, I suppose not.”

“Just so,” she said with a brisk nod. Then she gave me a pat on the arm. “Good hunting.”

And so, our paths temporarily diverged—while she continued onward to Albei, I left the road to head north. My hidden allies had been paying attention.

‘I feel it too,’ Fala sent. ‘There’s a power nearby.’

Yuki’s qi nodded in agreement, then ducked away to let Mumu know our arrival would be delayed.

As for the Deer God, the desire each of us felt for this creature’s light was distasteful to him. He lumped it in with the other biological processes he didn’t enjoy, like excretion or having an itchy hide. That said, we were being watched by the interested eyes of a predator.

He pointed me to where a mixed gathering of white pines stood. I directed my Hawk’s Eye in that direction and saw a figure moving among the low branches. The shape reminded me of a large ape, vaguely baboon-shaped with a blue snout and reddish fur. His long, sharp teeth were matched by a single horn emerging from his forehead.

I reached for my bow, and at the same time my Status camera clicked.

Red Horn Bishkawi Alpha (Animal, Silvered)

Talent: Brutal Brawler, A Mighty Blow, Distrustful, Cannibal When It Counts, Hidden Agenda

I stopped to kneel in the grass to survey my surroundings and see if there were any other bishkawi nearby. The beasts usually traveled in troops, while this one appeared to be on his own. The Cannibal-based talent might explain that, but I’d prefer to have confirmation.

Well-practiced motions applied a mixture of chishiaxpe and ant-killer hornet venom to three of my arrows. Another application went on the best of the spears I’d bought in Huwata.

‘Eight,’ Yuki said to get my attention.

Don’t worry, I replied. I see him getting ready to charge.

The alpha had apparently watched me for long enough to feel comfortable attacking, because muscles bulged across his arms and chest in preparation. The moment he started to move, though, I cast a Camouflage spell and had Yuki teleport us to the trees behind him.

The bishkawi didn’t change plans—he continued his charge. So many creatures on Diaksha knew how to hide themselves, and the spot I’d just left was surrounded by grass. Admittedly, most of the stalks were lying flat after the recent storm, but it would still be enough to give away the position of someone moving sneakily. So: no motion in the grass should’ve meant that I hadn’t moved yet.

I cast my Dog’s Agility, then perversely took a long beat to calm my breath and draw the bow. It was rare to actually get this much time to line up my shots.

Bang, bang, bang. My arrows sounded like gunshots—their piercing, unerring trajectories targeted the bishkawi’s kidneys and the back of his right knee. I frowned when I saw I’d barely scratched his hide. He also didn’t slow at all, simply turning instead to charge back toward where the attack had come from.

The arrows were only Level 1, but my spells should’ve helped compensate for the power difference. Clearly, I would need to upgrade them if I was going to be regularly fighting dark and silvered creatures—an expensive proposition.

In the meantime, I thought, We’ll need your obsidian knife, love.