-1Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo or Diablo 2, I'm merely playing around in their universe for fun.
He That Seeks Flesh
Chyemme
Morning came and I awoke with warm, desert sunlight on my face. I yawned and stretched. I rubbed my head and my eyes. My dreams last night had been troubled to say the least. I could smell the savory aroma of sweet meats coming from the kitchen of Ryelass' house. I heard his mother, Yvette, humming pleasantly. I looked around. Laurella was still sleeping on the rug next to me and Alminus was snoring lightly in the window sill where he had fallen asleep taking watch. Scorpious, Ryelass, and Cloudyous however, were gone.
"Good morning, Chyemme dear. Ready for breakfast?" Yvette asked as she walked in.
I saw Alminus' nostrils flare and his ears perk. Just like that, he was awake in an instant. "Did someone say food?"
Yvette laughed heartily. "Some people never change. I'm glad to see a good lad with a healthy appetite."
Alminus blushed. "Well, ya know me . . ."
I heard Ryelass laugh as he came into the room. "So like you, Alminus. Thinking with your stomach before your brain."
"Ya, well I could break ya in half if I wanted ter, ya bein' so skinny 'n all. Gotta keep up ma strength," he said playfully in his defense.
"Hmm? What's everybody laughing about?" Laurella asked groggily as she rolled over.
"How Alminus is a big guy," I chuckled.
Laurella yawned. "Where are Scorpious and Cloudyous?"
"Scorpious is downstairs saying his prayers and Cloudyous took Bibo and Belthem out for some air," Ryelass explained. "Both said they'll be up shortly."
"Shortly means now. Good morning everyone," said Scorpious with his usual gentle, serene expression.
"G' morning'. We'd better hurry, righ'? We gotta meet tha others 'n go see Atma," Alminus observed.
"You are staying for breakfast, right?" Yvette asked, a hurt expression coming to her face.
I looked to Scorpious, who was about to say something, but Ryelass cut him off.
"Off course we have time, mom," he said placatingly.
The look on Scorpious' face at first suggested otherwise, but he consented diplomatically without saying a word. We followed them into a rectangular room with a small table and four chairs.
"I apologize, but I'm afraid I'm not used to having so many guests at one time. I don't have enough chairs for all of you," she apologized.
"That's alright," said Cloudyous, as he, Belthem, and Bibo came in. "The earth makes for a fine table."
"Don't worry I'll sit on the floor too," Ryelass said with a charming smile at Laurella and me, "there are ladies here that should sit at the table."
I grinned and Laurella blushed, but we both took a seat at the table.
Yvette beamed with pride. "I raised you right."
"Yvie, I'll sit on tha floor too. I don' wanna break yur chairs," Alminus offered.
"Well alright then. Everybody have a seat and I'll be right back," Yvette instructed and left the room.
"What time is it?" Laurella asked curiously.
"The sundial in the square says it is half past the seventh hour," Cloudyous informed.
"I don't mean to sound rude," said Laurella slowly, "but aren't we supposed to have met Vendra, Sovellis, Maria, and Piricus already?" Laurella asked.
"They can wait," Ryelass snapped. "My mother got up at the crack of dawn and worked her ass off for us. The least we can do is take a few minutes and appreciate her hard work."
"Take it easy buddy. We like yur mom. Ain't non'a us gonna be rude ter her," Alminus assured, just as Yvette came back into the room and set a large ham and a bowl of boiled eggs on the table.
"Thank you, my Lady. If you would permit, I would like to say a prayer over this meal and your efforts," Scorpious requested politely.
"Of course, I wish you would," Yvette said with delight.
"It's a good thing Piricus isn't here," Laurella said with a laugh.
"Who's Piricus?" Yvette asked curiously.
"The bane of human existence," Ryelass growled.
"Come now, surely it can't be that bad," Yvette said playfully.
"Trust 'im Yvie, it is. He's one of tha meanest people I've ever met and a necromancer ta boot," Alminus said with distain.
Yvette frowned. "A necromancer? As in the stories Fara used to tell? About raising the dead?" she asked seriously.
"Unfortunately yes. A lost soul if ever there was one," Scorpious answered.
"And a lost cause," Ryelass hissed.
"He may be deep, but he's not beyond hope. There's always hope even in the darkest of nights. At least, that's my experience," Scorpious reminded gently.
"You're deluding yourself," Ryelass snapped curtly.
"Do ya honestly think he's goin' ter change? I mean truly? Come on, Scorpious. Don' lie," Alminus said disapprovingly.
"Honestly, I don't know if he will or not. I can hope and pray, and better yet, refuse to give up hope. And that's what I will do. I don't think I'm the only one," Scorpious said with a smile, looking at me.
I felt myself blush, and I didn't say anything. Everyone gave me an odd look.
"At any rate, he's scary," Laurella said with a shiver.
"All this time, you've let someone like that hang around you? He could have . . .he still could . . ." Yvette gulped in clear disapproval and concern.
"He won't," I said truthfully. "he may be mean and rude, but he's not stupid. Trust me ma'am he knows he'd have to face all of us if he ever tried to harm any of us. But, for all his talk, I really think he just wants to be left alone. He's not all bad, after all, he's saved my life before," I protested in his defense.
"Still . . . " Yvette shivered. "I would have been better off not knowing about him."
"Don't worry mom, I'll kill him if he even comes within sight of you," Ryelass huffed defensively.
Yvette sighed and ruffled his hair affectionately. "Don't be so dramatic. Your old bird's got some fight left in her. Nobody or nothing could talk me down without a fight."
"Mom . . ." Ryelass said with a grin.
"Thank you, Ms. Yvette for the meal, but I'm afraid we really need to go or Piricus probably really will track us down," I said politely.
"If he's even coming," Ryelass said with a scowl.
"You know he will be. He wants out of here so badly he'd do anything," I said with a laugh.
"Well heaven knows I ain't leavin' here jus' so I can pleas' 'im. If wer late, wer late. We had good reason," Alminus said as he rose from the floor.
"Thank you. All of you. I know you're busy. Just . . . " Yvette said quietly. "Be careful . . .".
Ryelass nodded. "We will. You can expect us back before the sun sets," he said gently.
Yvette looked hesitant, then looked to Scorpious, who nodded to her. "Don't worry my lady, we will be back as soon as we're able, safe and sound. I have no doubt the good Lord will watch over us and bless us in our endeavors."
"Don't worry, Yvette. I'll stay here and keep you company. Maybe if she feels like it, Bibo will sing for us," Cloudyous said with a smile.
Yvette nodded. "Oh that's right! Your arm! Oh well, I guess it won't be so bad if I have someone here with me."
Cloudyous nodded, then locked eyes with Belthem. After a few moments, he nodded to us. "He's prepared to go with you, he's dead set on the hunt. He says the monster got away from you last night, and he never lets prey escape. He's ready when you are."
"How can we talk to him?" I asked. "What if we need to tell him something?"
"He'll understand. Remember, it's about tone and body language. You're not going to be able to talk to him and carry on a conversation like a human, but if you need him or he needs you, you'll know," Cloudyous assured.
"He also said he's ready to protect you, which is a great honor. Wolves only go to such great lengths for members of their pack. He considers all of you his friends," he added.
"Don't worry Cloudyous," I said as she ruffled Belthem's scruff affectionately, "we'll do our best to watch out for him too."
"Alright, le's go," Alminus said and after we each received a hug from Yvette we armored up and left the house onto the busy city street.
I was amazed at the sheer number of buildings that were crammed into such a tight space and even more astounded at the number of people on the streets, even when there was supposedly such a dangerous monster lurking directly beneath their feet. This city was definitely bigger than I had originally thought. For the most part, no one paid us any mind, looking around, there were far more exotic people besides us. I saw several people that looked to be of Sovellis' complexion, and several more people that were pale enough to be akin to Piricus.
I looked to my left and for some reason, I noticed a single face among the crowd. It was a middle-aged woman with long, black hair, streaked with white all the way through. She was wearing a midnight blue robe and had the most piercing blue eyes I had ever seen.
My inner sight flared and I heard someone talking, it sounded like Celeste, the Blood Raven, and then another voice, presumably the woman in front of me. She got a very surprised, then very nasty look on her face as she surveyed me.
Keep walking, amazon, but beware he that seeks flesh, came a strange voice that was completely in my head. I blinked, and the woman was gone. I wondered vaguely, what just happened.
"Everything alright, Chyemme?" Scorpious asked me as he looked over.
"I think so," I said uncertainly as we came in sight of a large building that was open on one front.
"This is it," Ryelass said as we walked to the doorframe.
"There you are," came the cold voice of Piricus from behind us. I jumped when I realized he was an inch away from my ear. "One night without adversity and you let your guard go completely to hell. A good way to end up dead, amazon."
I turned around and shoved him roughly away from me. "For your information, my night was full of adversity. What did you do last night?" I asked plainly.
He laughed. "That's none of your business, amazon. What happened paladin? What the hell took so long? Did your morning babble turn into a lecture on gibberish?"
Scorpious sighed. "We were being polite to our hostess. Which of course, I would have done anyway, but the others were in agreement, so it was not entirely my fault," Scorpious answered bluntly.
"Found a nanny for a ninny then, have we?" Piricus snorted.
Ryelass hissed loudly. "Don't you even start. If you insult my mother I swear I'll . ." he began crossly.
"You'd go home to her in a body bag shorty, we've had this conversation before. Say something interesting for a change, I'm bored," Piricus yawned mockingly.
Ryelass cursed at him and Piricus raised an eyebrow with a sly smile. He loved watching people loose their cool, while he just sat there, unaffected in the least.
"It's a good thing yur so calm, Piricus. I bet ya won' be after ya see wha' we saw las' nigh'," Alminus said with a scowl.
"What happened to your armor, paladin? Did you try to help an ornery cat down from a rooftop? I hope you fell of course," he said rudely.
"We had a run in with an undead creature of some sort last night. Ryelass' mom said it--" I began.
"--was carrying people away in the night and eating their flesh? I heard about that," said Maria as she seemingly materialized out of the crowd from nowhere.
"You heard about that?" Laurella asked.
"We all have. Anyone with ears knows about it," Piricus said bluntly. "People are like parrots especially when the news is bad. They love to squawk."
"But, you actually faced it last night?" Maria asked, going serious.
"Yes. We would have killed it, but it ran away," I said apologetically.
" News flash, amazon. Things generally tend to do that when they're getting their ass kicked. That was pretty damn pathetic to let it get away where it only becomes stronger and nastier," Piricus growled.
"Yeah well, we didn't exactly have an easy time with it," I grumbled.
Scorpious nodded. "I have no idea why, but it was immune to my holy powers."
"Maybe that's because you use magic, moron, and not some divine gift. Your god is pretty pathetic if some undead bastard bested you. Isn't that like the ultimate let down for you zealots?" Piricus asked scathingly.
"I didn't say my powers failed me completely," Scorpious snapped. "And if you notice, the creature put a rend in my armor and not in my body so I must be doing something right. I maintain what I always have, God watches over me. Were we not able to drive it away, Chyemme?" Scorpious asked briskly.
I nodded. "We were, but I'm sorry Maria. I lost your knife," I apologized.
"My knife?" she asked interestedly.
"Yeah, the silver one with the inscription on it. You dropped it before we all parted ways the other day. I was going to give it back to you, so I put it in my belt for safekeeping and that became the only thing I could reach after the creature grabbed me. I stabbed it in the eye, it was the only thing that worked, but the knife got stuck and the creature ran away with it," I explained.
Maria scowled. "I'm going to need that back."
"Why? Don't you have other weapons?" Laurella asked. "Was it enchanted or something?"
Maria shook her head. "No, but it is something of value to me and we'll leave it at that. That doesn't surprise me that the knife worked when all else failed," she answered bluntly.
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because the knife was made of truesilver, a rare metal that's only found in the northern mountains. But it's highly prized both as a monetary object and for its magical properties. Truesilver has an innate ability to disrupt energy flow. It's just the nature of the metal. Mages used to both love and fear it. You should ask Vendra and Sovellis about it when they show up," Maria explained.
"Ask what?" Sovellis asked as he came out of the crowd. I looked and immediately noticed that Vendra was not with him.
"About truesilver. Where's Vendra?" I asked curiously.
"Ah truesilver. It very strange thing. Vendra no with me, she ill," he said, though there was something strange about what he said.
Maria picked up on it too. "Ill? With what?" she asked keenly.
"Me no know. Drognan Elder say best she stay. I concerned. She no fight with him. She listen instead of be feisty one," he said with concern.
"Wow, if she admits she's sick it must be serious," Laurella said with alarm.
"Whatever it is, that means she's not going to be here to bitch and whine about everything. And my head won't hurt from her incessant screaming. We all know how much that bitch loves the undead," Piricus said brightly.
"That's not a blessing," Scorpious said seriously. "We're down by two then and this thing is stronger than ever. To be honest, even with everything I've seen, I've never seen this before," Scorpious admitted seriously.
"I don't think anybody has. Maria?" I asked curiously.
"I've heard about things like this, but never dealt with it. You should ask Piricus, he's the necromancer," she said glowering at him coldly.
"Well?" Ryelass asked, turning to him.
"I could have told you this was coming, imbeciles. I could feel undead the second my feet hit the sand. This thing, I did some research of my own last night, is a mummified mage," he announced, "although it's strange, because I don't feel a single other necromancer here," he said as plainly as if it were the only logical explanation.
"Maybe you're not looking hard enough," Ryelass hissed.
"We'll find out soon enough. I know someone that might could help us, we should go see her after we speak with Atma," Scorpious interrupted.
"Someone should maybe ask Lord Cain about it too," I pointed out.
"Excuse me," came a soft-spoken voice from the door. We all turned around to find a middle-aged woman with dark brown hair tied up in a bun wearing a purple and gold dress. She looked terrible, there were bags under her eyes and wrinkles all over her face.
Ryelass immediately softened. "Atma," he said mournfully and embraced her.
"Ryelass, is it really you?" she asked, taking a step back to look him over.
"Yes, it is. I'm here to help you, and these are my friends. Mom told me what happened," Ryelass said gingerly.
Atma's eyes misted up. "Did she? Well, I guess it's no secret. Please, all of you come in and have a seat."
We all followed the tavern keeper into the building and set down at the bar.
"My Lady, how can we help you?" Scorpious asked gently.
Atma sniffled as she looked at Ryelass. "He was so like you, Nathan. I remember when you two used to play together. And now he's . . ." she began, but stopped herself.
"It's okay Atma, we already know what happened. You don't have to say it. Jerhyn said you wanted to see us, so here we are. We'll do anything we can for you," Ryelass assured.
"Forgive me, this past week as been, well, just terrible. It's hard to adjust to life all alone," she sobbed. We all waited patiently for her to finish and Ryelass handed her a handkerchief. She dabbed at her eyes, then gathered her composure.
"I don't expect this of you, but if you want to help me, I'd be grateful. In the sewers below our city there lurks a horrid creature that hungers for human flesh. The creature has killed many, including my son and my husband. If you destroy it, I will reward you. But be careful, this creature has already taken many. The sewer entrance is currently watched over by Griez himself, but he'll let you through once you tell him Jerhyn sent you. It's just up the street near the gate," she said quietly.
"We'll do it Atma. We'll avenge them," Ryelass vowed.
"Yes," said Scorpious, "and the only reward we will require is your peace of mind."
A tear slid down Atma's cheek, as a burly man in the corner teetered in his chair calling for more ale loudly. "Back to business, I guess. Nathan and his father wouldn't just want me to give up on the tavern that we've spent so many years building and maintaining. Now, it's all I have left of them. If you'll excuse me," she said ruefully and went to serve her patron.
"God I swear, everything has just gone to hell for her while I was away," Ryelass said angry at the situation.
"Well, cursing isn't going to get us anywhere. Let's go see Fara," Scorpious suggested, "Chyemme and I need our armor repaired and perhaps she will be able, as a paladin of Zakarum, to give us some weapons against this creature."
"One self-righteous jester is enough for me. I'll wait for you at the end of the street," Piricus said with distain and without waiting for a reply he walked off.
"Good. I don't want to make a bad impression with lady StrongFist," Scorpious said in relief and we all walked down the street, lead by Ryelass. We arrived in town square, and as expected, it was full of people, vendors and merchants of all sorts. Several called out to us to buy their wares as we walked by, and I briefly scanned their tables, looking for anything that could be of use.
There was a cloth merchant, a rug merchant, a wood carver, a jeweler and a man selling pelts. I noticed an old man in a tall red hat, not unlike Deckard Cain hand someone a red vial furtively. He looked at me with a funny expression and waved me on. We soon came upon an open end of the town square with a forge and an anvil and row upon row of weapons on racks. There, in the middle was a woman in a plain white shirt and black pants, with her sleeves pulled back, pounding a flat piece of glowing red metal. She had fire-orange hair, like Cloudyous and several deep wrinkles on her face, undoubtedly from years of hard work.
Scopious stood up strait and walked towards her. The woman, Fara, looked up at him and the gold cross upon his armor. Her smile was irreplaceable.
"Welcome brother paladin!" she said brightly.
"Lady Strongfist, your reputation precedes you. I am Scorpious of the new order of Zakarum, it is an honor," he said and bowed before her.
Fara nodded. "I was once a champion of the former Zakarum, but I have heard only wonders about the new order. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, my brother. What can I do for you?" she asked with a smile.
"Well," Scorpious began and beckoned me over. "My friend Chyemme and I were in a fight with the most foul creature last night and regrettably, our armor needs repair. Also, I was hoping, seeing as you are a former champion of the light, you could perhaps shed some light on this situation and give us suggestions for weapons we could possibly use. My lady, though it shames me to admit this, my abilities and the blessing upon my weapon were not enough to destroy the creature," Scorpious explained.
Fara considered to herself a moment. "I see. You must be going after Radament, he who seeks flesh. Yes, I see. A true task and a duty to one such as yourself. Regrettably, I have nothing which can aid you, I gave my best weapons to Atma's son and husband and to Griez's mercenaries that went after the creature," she said regretfully.
"Do you have anything made out of truesilver?" I asked, recalling Maria's words.
Fara shook her head. "No, but if I did that would benefit you greatly. I'm afraid what you're asking is a very rare metal. Though, Lut Gholein is the trade capital of Sanctuary. My guess would be that someone here has it. If you could bring me some, I would gladly fashion it into weapons you could use."
"Damn," Ryelass growled. "We don't have time to go shopping. We need to be in and out before nightfall."
"On the contrary," said Scorpious, "it will take time to repair our armor. Unless you wish Chyemme and myself to remain behind, because I will not suffer either of us to go unprepared and at a disadvantage, we have time enough to look around."
"Fara," Ryelass asked, "how long will the repairs take?"
Fara considered to herself. "These are simple tasks. No more than an hour I should say."
"Very well, an hour it is," replied Scorpious, as he unfastened and removed his breastplate and I gave her my bracer. "My lady, do you know where we stand the best chance to find such metal? Maybe limit down our choices?"
Fara nodded. "Aliana, the jewel crafter might have some. You might ask Lysander, the alchemist. Sometimes they use metals as a reagent, and then you might also ask Elzix, the innkeeper. He seems to have all sorts of knickknacks, or at the very least he'll know where to get them. He used to be a bandit," Fara advised.
"I see. Thank you, my lady, we'll return shortly," he assured, then turned to us. "Let's split up. Ryelass go with Laurella and Alminus to the jeweler. Sovellis and I will go see Lysander, and Chyemme and Maria go see Elzix."
Belthem gave a short bark and Scorpious smiled. "You can go with whoever you want to, just don't get lost."
Without really anyone saying anything, Belthem walked over to my side and nudged my legs. "Right, let's go Maria," I said and she nodded.
"I know where I'm going," she said, "I've been here many times before. Stay close."
We left the others and made our way quickly up and down winding roads, passing seemly more people everywhere we went.
"So where did you go last night Maria?" I asked curiously, wondering if she would answer.
"To see an old friend. Like I said, I've been here before. Though I never stay in one spot for long, if I had to say I've lived somewhere, this would be it," she answered without turning around. "However, I will not being staying there. If Ryelass permits, I will stay with the rest of you, if not, I guess I find a room at the inn."
"I don't know why he wouldn't let you. You two get along pretty well. His mother is very kind, I think she would like you," I offered.
Maria snorted. "I can get anyone to like me, at least for a little while. It's all about knowing people."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked with a shiver.
"It means when you do what I do, you'd better learn people very quick. You learn how to get them to loosen up, things that make them scared, things that make them reckless. You learn how to manipulate the situation so you're always in charge," she said simply.
"Is it an act then for everyone you meet? That you pretend to get along with us?" I asked in concern.
She shook her head. "No, I genuinely like some people. Though if I'm doing what I'm supposed to, you'll never be able to tell."
"You like Scorpious," I said bluntly and Maria stiffened slightly.
"I trust him. Trust and like are two different things," she replied. "Here we are. Just let me talk to him, he likes to babble and he did, after all, used to be a bandit. I don't want him cheating us out of what we need or our money."
Maria walked up to the building's door and knocked. Within moments, and old man in loose clothing surfaced into the doorway.
"Hi there, name's Elzix. What can I do for you? Looking for accommodations?" he asked.
"No," Maria said curtly, "we're looking for some exotic wares. We're told you're the man to see."
Elzix raised his eyebrows. "Exotic? What type of exotic we talkin' here? I don't sell the spice if that's what you're getting at."
"No, we're looking for a specific metal," Maria said, being unspecific. "Can we see your wares?"
Elzix looked around. "Oh, I guess so, come in," he said and let us into the room, which was lined with things of all sorts.
Maria and I scanned the room quickly, and I noticed some pieces of metals, but I didn't get the feeling that's what we were looking for. Maria too seemed disappointed. Then, she spotted something hanging on the wall, a shining, silver spear.
"How much is that?" Maria asked, nodding at it.
Elzix looked up. "Oh that, it's not for sale. It was my grandfather's."
Maria didn't give up. "So you can't put a price on it? How about a trade?"
Elzix sighed. "You'd have to have something really good, even then," he said uncertainly.
"I have a sapphire, a ruby, a diamond, three times its weight in gold, and several different potions, I can get just about anything you want," Maria said plainly.
"No thanks missy, I used to be a bandit, I've had more than enough of my share of gold. And if I wanted a potion, I could go see Lysander easy," Elzix said stubbornly.
"Isn't there anything you would take?" I asked, speaking up. Maria gave me a disapproving glare, but Elzix looked me over and smiled.
"Well now, I didn't see you before. You're a pretty lass. What's your name?" he asked flirtatiously.
I blinked and opened my mouth.
"She's not your concern," Maria snapped irritably.
"Well, hang on now missus. Hold your horses. I see something' I like," he said with a sly smile.
"No. She's not for sale, and she might just beat the tar out of you for treating her like a common whore," Maria scowled.
"Wait Maria. He didn't even say what he wanted yet," I said calmly.
"He's a man, what do you think he wants," Maria said pointedly.
"I didn't mean any disrespect, I'm just sayin'. If you really wanted that thing then a night of her company wouldn't be so bad. Nobody has to know. Come on now, I'm better than I look," he laughed.
I coughed. "I'm sorry, I'm a priestess. I'm not allowed to do such a thing," I said, turning red.
"Like I said, don't ask don't tell eh?" he said with a grin.
"Enough of this, now you're wasting my time. Let's go Chyemme," Maria growled and grabbed my arm, walking for the door.
"Wait," I said considering to myself for a moment.
"What?" Maria asked impatiently.
"I'll roll you for it," I said noticing the dice on the table next to him. I'll give you what you want if you win, but if I win, you have to give that spear to us," I announced.
Maria blinked and so did Elzix. "Really? Well then come on girl! I love to gamble, have a seat!"
Maria looked at me, then a look of knowing crossed her face, though she said not a word. She walked over and placed a metal ring in my hand. "For luck," she lied.
"So, name your game?" I asked.
Elzix laughed. "I like guessing games, so how about this? I'll roll these dice three times, and if you can guess even one out of the three, you win," he suggested.
I nodded. "Roll."
Elzix took the dice, put them in a cup and then put the cup on the table, swirling them around. I put my hands on the table, with Maria's ring on my finger. He stopped, then lifted the lid to take a look. "What's your guess?" he asked.
"One on the right and one on the left," I answered.
Elzix laughed and showed them to me. The one on the right was a two. "That's one," he taunted.
Maria stood behind me the whole time, still as a statue and silent as the grave. Her eyes bore down intently into the cup as Elzix shifted them around once more.
Move your hand closer. I nearly jumped when I heard Maria's voice in my head. How in the name of Zerae had she managed that? I'd known her about a month and in that entire time I had no idea she was telepathic. Focus! She said forcefully, though Elzix was unaware.
"How about now, miss?" Elzix asked as he looked. "One on the left, three on the right," I said, sure I had it right.
"Nope. Gonna make up an excuse for the wife, this'll be fun," Elzix laughed.
Chyemme, when he moves his hand, Maria began mentally.
Move exactly opposite, I said back, unsure if she heard me, but a quick psychic affirmative from her told me she did.
"I've even got something cute for you to wear," Elzix laughed as he rolled the dice the third time. As he did, I discreetly clasped my hands together and leaned over the table. He lifted the lid. "Alright missy, last shot."
"One on the right, one on the left," I said with a smile. Elzix blinked. "I don't believe it! You're right! Okay, you cheated I know it," he huffed.
"How did I cheat? You saw me the whole time. I didn't rock the table in the slightest or peak or anything," I said truthfully.
"I don't know but that's really lucky. It doesn't matter, it's all in good fun, but I'm afraid you'll have to leave now," Elzix said sorely.
"Not without the spear," I said firmly.
"Oh that, did you really think I was serious? Come on now , its an heirloom!" he insisted bluntly.
"I'll tell you what's serious," Maria said plainly, "you will enforce your end of the bargain, or I will tell your wife about this. And I will tell Griez that all the spears you've given his soldiers are made of painted zinc and not steel."
Elzix gaped at her. "You have no proof!"
"Your wife is a jealous woman, I know that from everyone in town. And your ring is magnetic. While you were waving your hand around, the spears on the wall behind you were shuttering on their pegs. Spears made out of steel shouldn't be effected by such a small magnet," Maria said plainly.
Elzix sighed. "Alright, alright. You've got a point. Here, take the damn thing and get out of my sight," he said, tossing the spear at us and shoving us out the door. We walked away calmly, like nothing had happened before speaking once we were out of earshot.
"You're a telepath!" I exclaimed. "How the hell did I miss that?"
Maria sighed. "You're not the first."
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, offended.
"Because I didn't want you, or anyone else to know. Speaking of which, I don't want you telling people this, am I understood?" she said dangerously.
"Yes, but why did you use it now and not before?" I inquired.
"As a general rule of thumb, I don't use it. It drops the defenses on my mind and anyone or anything can get in. I only did it because one, you could hear me and I trust you more or less, and two, Elzix is not mage nor does he have even the slightest hint of mental or magical talent," she said bluntly.
"But it could help you in so many ways," I insisted.
Maria stopped walking. "No, it's a curse. I almost died because of it. If I don't use it, I'm not at risk. We got what we needed, can I have my ring back?" she asked plainly.
"Oh, sorry," I said and handed it back to her.
"I'm surprised you knew it's magnetic," Maria said, more gently this time.
"I watched when you were picking up things in there to look at them," I answered. "I watched the dice too when you walked by them. I knew they were magnetic. Hence, two magnets tugging in opposite directions flipped the dice straight. Wow," I laughed. "We need to go confess to Scorpious and be forgiven for cheating like that."
Maria snorted. "We beat a player at his own game. There's nothing sinful about that. We didn't cheat, we leveled the playing field," she insisted, though it was the closest thing to playful I had ever heard from her. "Hurry up, the others are probably waiting," she said, going back to her normal serious demeanor.
We arrived back in the town square and as Maria said, they were waiting for us.
"Anything?" Ryelass asked, looking at us. "Because all of us came up empty."
I held up the spear. "We had to pull out some tricks, but we got this."
"Excellent," said Scorpious brightly, now let's take it to Fara and see what she can do with it."
We walked over and after Scorpious and I retrieved our repaired armor, we presented Fara the spear. After several moments discussing, we agreed to melt it down, then coat our weapons in it. Most interesting of all, Fara even made something for Belthem. She made a sort of sword that she attached to the tip of his tail. After we all coated our weapons, there was still some left, which she assured us she would leave in Scorpious' care after it had cooled. Before we left however, I took the liberty of buying a new dagger for Piricus and having that coated as well.
After settling in, we all walked to the end of the street, where Piricus was scowling readily.
"What in the hell took so long? I was wondering if you got eaten by pigeons," he growled as I tossed the dagger at him. "What's this for? I already have one," he scowled at me.
"Not one like that," I assured.
He turned the weapon over in his hands. Then realization dawned on him. "Truesilver? This will do," is all he said.
"You're welcome," I said and he just glared.
"I believe our preparations are complete. Let's go and slaughter this creature before it can do any more harm," Scorpious said as we walked up the street.
There was a huge trapdoor in the road that I could see and a large, armored man standing over it. We walked up and he scowled at us.
"Move along peasants. Nothing to see here," he scowled.
"You must be Lord Greiz. Lord Jerhyn sent us here to deal with the creature," Laurella said to him.
Greiz snarled. "I don't know about the lord part, but yeah, I'm Greiz. Jerhyn sent you to kill Radament? Hell, I sent more men than you lot down there three days ago and the only one that came back was half there," he hissed.
"Yes, well, we're competent," Piricus said bluntly. I expected Greiz to be mad, be instead he just laughed.
"Is that so? I don't think you'll feel that way after Radament has peeled the flesh off your bones and eaten you," he said plainly.
"Flesh and bone serve me, not the other way around. Now, out of the way fool, you're doing a Trag 'Oul damn good job standing around up here being useless," Piricus said rudely.
"I keep this city safe! If you notice it's me and my mercenaries, not the town guards! So it's me you should worry about, not Jerhyn!" Greiz snapped fiercely.
"I'd worry about you, or maybe even respect you if you hadn't let a thousand and one people be eaten and make me go through this forsaken mess to begin with to fix your incompetence," Piricus snapped back.
"Who do you think you are stranger? Tyreal?" Greiz barked.
"No. I'm a hell of a lot worse. Now move. Mind your own damn business and let me pass," Piricus snapped.
Greiz scowled and kicked the trap door open with his foot, revealing the dank, foul space below. "You want in so badly, go. I'll laugh if they even manage to bring half your body back topside."
Piricus laughed. "You know what, I think I'll bring the bones of your men back topside, just for you."
"You'll what?" he asked, surprised.
"It's not what you think," Ryelass hissed. "Don't ask."
Piricus didn't say anything else, instead he just jumped down the trap door and I heard him land nimbly below. "Hurry up fools. Let's get this over with," he called up and just like that, we followed him without another word.