Blessed Time II - Chapter 4

“That’s a heavy tale to take in before your morning bitterroot tea,”  Trevor leaned back into the pile of cushions with a shake of his head.  “Dungeon breaks and wandering monsters are one thing, but I’m not sure how I feel about squaring off against a daemon lord.  It doesn’t sound like the sort of endeavor that a man who wants to live a long and healthy life undertakes.”

“Prince of Elsewhere,” Micah corrected quietly, his eyes buried in the Ageless Folio.  “Daemon lords are summoners that have gone mad with power, not actual daemons themselves.  The Princes are worse than any daemon.  Most entities from Elsewhere are incredibly powerful, but ultimately they’re creatures of instinct.  They stalk and destroy because that’s all they know.  A Prince can actually plot and reason.”

“Oh good,” Trevor grunted unhappily.  “It’s significantly worse than I initially thought.  That has improved my outlook on this venture entirely.  I am now all smiles and buttercups about the prospect of squaring off with an immensely powerful being that can apparently also strategize and plan against us.  Seriously Micah, just give me a Drake or a Colossus.  That’s a hard opponent, but at least one I can contemplate fighting.”

“Honey,” Drekt replied with a sigh.  “I can make you some bitterroot tea if that will cheer you up, but we’ve talked about this.  When Ankros puts a task before you, trying to run from it will only cause suffering.  It’s a heavy burden to bear, but the gods would not have given it to Micah unless they had a good reason.”

“I can second that point about suffering,” Micah mumbled to himself, paging through the Ageless Folio.  He frowned slightly, trailing his finger along the pages of the book as he read through the information Mursa had inscribed in the magical book while he was talking with the deities.

“I’m not sure bitterroot will fix the fact that we can’t just drop everything and go gallivanting off to some ancient ruins to save the world.”  Exasperation weighed down on Trevor’s voice as he picked up one of the pillows and threw it into the air before catching it on its descent.  “We have obligations now.  Never mind the entire guild that relies on us, Esther and Eris need our help and guidance.  There’s no way I’m leaving them behind while we run off to fight some sort of apocalyptic evil.  At the same time, I’m not going to feel comfortable putting my little girl and kid sister at risk while we fight some sort of monster beyond imagining.”

“It might not even be that far,” Drekt interjected, putting one of his massive mitts on Trevor’s forearm asn he tried to soothe the man.  “Karrell is a big place, but historians placed Dakkora’s fall on this continent, it would make sense if-”

“The gods moved it,” Micah corrected, slapping the book shut.  “They didn’t want adventurers finding it and accessing powers beyond their control and comprehension.  It’s on the other side of the world.”

Drekt and Trevor stopped arguing for a moment, both of their faces falling at Micah’s revelation.

“The good news is that Mursa has provided me with a route to get there,” he continued, fighting off a sigh.  “The bad news is that her itinerary involves traveling across the Emerald Ocean in the next three to four weeks, followed by crossing the Grass Sea en route to the Dalima Wastes once we get to Okkadan.  Dakkora’s Tower is buried deep under the wastes, and there are pages of directions on how to navigate the tunnels and defenses once we get there.  The journey will take at least a year.”

“That’s barely enough time to complete our current mission,” Trevor groaned, dropping the pillow he had been tossing.  “It certainly doesn’t give us the time we’ll need to prepare for the journey and get things set up for our absence.”

“The Serpent’s Teeth are going to erupt in just over a month and make the entire Emerald Ocean unpassable for half a year,” Micah replied, tapping the Ageless Folio.  “Unless we head out now, the Third Prince has a good chance of beating us to Dakkora’s tower.”

Trevor frowned, looking from Micah to Drekt.  “Serpent’s Teeth?”  He asked hesitantly.

“Trevor.”  Drekt shook his head in exasperation.  “They’re a range of volcanic islands that stretches across the Emerald Ocean.  The nations bordering the Ocean have any number of minor wars over putting supply stations on them, but once every thirty or forty years a wave of eruptions wipes the supply depots out and fills the sky with soot.  Never mind the lack of supplies needed to cross the Ocean, the air itself turns toxic and the constant eruptions destroy any ship foolish enough to make the attempt.”

“Of course,” Trevor’s eyes lit up.

Micah smiled at his brother.  Trevor wasn’t always the most aware of what was going on, and it had certainly cost the two of them from time to time, but there was no question that his heart was in the right place.

“If no one can sail across the Ocean for half a year, that’s going to do a number on trade,” Trevor continued enthusiastically.  “We can use your book of future predictions there to put together a list of trade goods that are going to explode in price and have Mom and Dad stockpile them.  That way the guild will have enough attunement to not fall apart in our absence.”

Micah’s thoughts screeched to a halt as he just blinked at Trevor.

“That,” Drekt began heatedly, only to catch himself.  “Honestly, that makes sense.  If we have to drop everything to follow the gods’ plan, we will follow Ankros’ will.  Of course, if there’s a way to protect those that rely on us, we should.”

“But Micah would have more experience with this sort of thing,” the big man nodded somberly toward Micah.  “He would know more about how time loops interact with trade and economics.”

“Why do you say that?” Micah asked.  “I’ve never done this sort of thing before.  When I’ve traveled back in time in the past, I had to keep a low profile to prevent the Royal Knights from enslaving or murdering me.  I spent most of my time living in a literal cave in the woods next to a teleportation formation.”

“Seriously!” He protested, raising his hands to ward off Trevor and Drekt’s incredulous glares.  “I don’t think the blessing is designed for that.  It’s meant for serious concerns, not me traveling back in time and putting bets down on dog races or something.”

“Open up your little book then,” Trevor replied, nodding at the Folio.  “There’s one way to find out if this is a workable option.”

Reluctantly, Micah picked up the Ageless Folio.  A moment of concentration later he opened the tome, instinctively knowing what page to flip too.  He traced his finger along a line of text, mouth moving silently only to slam the book shut with a groan.

“It’s in there isn’t it?”  Trevor questioned, not even trying to hide his smirk.  “This entire time you could have had thousands and thousands of attunement but you never bothered to look.”

“It’s there,” he acknowledged grudgingly.  “The Ageless Folio only records things I see and react too, but that includes when I take a walk through the market.  I don’t have anything like daily results, but I do spend a lot of time shopping for reagents for enchantments.  At least once a month there’s a fairly extensive writeup of the prices, advertisements, and announcements that I took note of while shopping.”

“And yes,” Micah finished, his voice heavy with defeat.  “That does include the outcomes of a number of dog races and gladiatorial battles.”

“You see?”  Trevor crowed.  “Me spending my free time at the dog tracks and forcing Micah to pick me up in person was beneficial after all!  Without me he wouldn’t have the knowledge we’ll need to pull this off.”

“That is some of the most tortured logic I have ever heard leave your lips,” Drekt snorted, shaking his head fondly at Trevor.  “And I am including the time when you were trying to convince me to go on a griffon ride as a ‘relationship building’ exercise for our anniversary despite knowing that I hate heights.”

Trevor blushed, face turning red as he mumbled to himself.

“I thought it would be fun.”

“It’s better than him drinking,” Micah intervened.  “Trevor didn’t lose all that much attunement at the tracks, and more importantly, it kept him out of trouble.”

“That’s true,” Drekt agreed with a curt nod.  “I’m not thrilled with it, but it's better than him falling into his old vices.  Plus, his visits to the track give me some time to spend alone with Eris.  As much as I enjoy training her in swordplay, it’s good to just… talk from time to time.”

“That brings up a final point,” Micah responded, closing the Folio for a second time.  “I can put something together for Mom and Dad to take advantage of my knowledge and set them up for life.  That said, what are we doing with the girls and the guild?  Are we bringing everyone with us or-”

“Eris and Esther come with,” Trevor cut in.  “If the gods are going to demand that we gallivant off to save the world, I’m not giving up years of their lives.  We can keep them safe while leveling them up along the way.”

“But Trevor,” Drekt began worriedly, “think of the risks.  We’ll be traveling across some of the most dangerous spaces on Karell before delving into traps and dungeons designed by the gods themselves.”

“Actually,” Micah interjected.  “I’m inclined to agree.  The girls, Telivern and Ravi should come with.  The Third Prince has at least some idea of who I am, and it might come after my allies.  Mom and Dad aren’t threats to it, and they’ll have the whole guild to protect them.”

“As for the girls and animals,” he shrugged unhappily.  They’re potential hostages.  Worse, if we let them run off on their own I’m almost certain they’ll get in over their heads.  Even without a host of malevolent daemons coming after them, they would find a way to challenge a dungeon twice their level.”

Drekt closed his eyes.  He clenched and released his massive fists twice before finally exhaling and looking directly at Micah.  Any indecision he might have had was gone.

“I may not like it.”  The big man inclined his head slightly.  “But I cannot find any fault with your reasoning.  What is your plan?”

Micah ran a shaky hand through his hair.  For the first time in the conversation, he realized that he was sweating heavily.  At the end of the day, it all came back on him.  It wasn’t really fair, Drekt had more experience and the cooler head outside of combat.  A small part of Micah urged him to rebel, to shirk his responsibility and ask Drekt to handle things.

He closed his eyes, mentally calculating his options.  They could break their contract, leading to a termination penalty, but that would also end in wild monsters running amok, disrupting the timeline and his projections.  On the other hand, it would take precious days to finish their expedition.  Only then could they turn around and return to Red Sand.

“We finish what we started,” when Micah finally spoke, he tried to infuse his voice with a decisiveness he didn’t even begin to feel.  “We will have time to purge the scarabs and shades from Clearwater Oasis.  Then we turn around.  On the way back I’ll put together a shopping list for my parents so they can stock up on commodities that will spike in value in the coming months.  If we combine that with a couple betting tips, it should be enough for them to sustain the guild comfortably and safely until we get back.”

He stood up, Trevor and Drekt joining Micah a second later.  A moment later, the three of them stepped out into the bright desert morning.  Already, the guild members had finished breaking down most of their camp, packing their tents and preparing to travel the final leg toward the beleaguered Oasis.

Micah looked up into the sky, shading his eyes against the oppressive glare of Luxos’ sun.  Unless something went wrong it would take them two weeks until they would reach a port.  More than enough time so long as they could promptly charter a ship.