Knights of Alchemy
Chapter Four: Embarcaderos
Armed with the token Cata insisted on calling the Sacred Rock of Not Getting Skewered, the five Adepts travelled the wide valley between the Kibombo and southern Suhalla mountain ranges freely. The proud tribesmen were predictable in not letting any of the adventurers into the pass that Jastyx had broken through, but they weren't forensics anyway. If 'forensic' was even a word on Weyard, it was still certain that none of them knew it. They were hunting, and again Meg proved useful.
"I don't much like the land around here, it all slopes in one direction and the plants are all tropical," she commented at one point. Meg had been checking to make sure they were still following the right tracks, and found a brightly flowered ivy caught on her boots. "Still, it's better than being stuck back in Naribwe."
"What do you mean, tropical?" asked Elys. "We're about thirty feet north of Daila."
"If you can look at that sun and tell me we're not a long way from home, then you're as blind as an extremely blind thing," said Meg, leaping onto her horse's back.
"Blind? If I look straight at the sun I will," Elys replied.
"You not Will. You Elys," said Cata, simply. Zak sighed and began scanning the horizon, muttering 'ramp-shaped rock, need a big ramp-shaped rock' until Cata slapped him lightly across the ear and nodded ahead, telling him to follow Meg.
They rode continuously as long as there was daylight and then a while longer, breaking their small camp early the next day and going on. None of the Adepts could imagine how Jastyx was keeping up this insane pace, especially since they were following her tracks, rather than those of any mount. On the second day of their free passage the Adepts came upon a farmhouse that was mostly intact.
The 'mostly' part included the house itself -minus the door, and very literally so- and what was essentially a barn. The fence had been broken in two places, a straight line going from where Jastyx has entered Kibombo toward the northeast. Along the way there was a splintered gash in the wall of a storehouse, and the aforementioned lack of a front door. Cata slipped off Zak's back and entered the house warily, the others following. She stepped quietly and carefully, which made little sense in her own head, considering why she was scared.
The first floor was all one room, with a large table and fireplace filling most of it. Shards of wood suggested that bits of the door were now mingled with the remains of a chair that happened to be in the wrong place, as well as a stain on the floor… Cata kneeled by it and noticed that it was slightly sticky, as well as a shade of red that sent terror through her spine. Trying to stay calm, she moved quietly upstairs.
The first intact door they had yet seen was at the top, and Cata opened it as carefully as she could. On the other side was obviously a bedroom, and in the middle of the floor was a man kneeling over a woman Cata expected was his wife. He looked up, saw Cata standing there, and barked an infuriated stream of Kibomban, but didn't move against her.
Below, Cata heard the others enter the house. "Elys," she called, "I think we could use some of that Mercury goodness up here."
Jastyx moved like an arrow, sprinting with inhuman speed across the wide valley. She took no notice of the terrain, took no notice even of what sort of food she was ripping with her teeth as she ran. It was a relief to use even this part of her available power, a joy she had been forced to avoid while in true Adept territory. The Kibombo were generally not powered, and wouldn't notice her except as a blur.
What is this? demanded the voice, like the growling of a great beast morphed into words.
"What?" she growled back.
You were not given such permission.
"It's safe here," Jastyx insisted.
You follow my orders at all times. That is our covenant. My power is yours to harness, your actions are mine to direct.
"Don't speak to me like a mere underling-"
You are an underling! As are all compared to me! You are a minion, and while you may be useful to me, do not make the mistake of thinking yourself my equal.
The pounding of her feet against the ground was simply a faint beat in the back of her mind. Jastyx did not notice the passing of miles. She was focused on the voice, the one that became so clear whenever she reached into this power.
Now, continue as I command you and we shall see how far you can go. Already your past and old name are irrelevant, so much greater are you now. Do not risk this single chance at your full potential.
It was gone then, the first time it had ever left Jastyx while she called on greater powers. She bit into whatever food she held again. Its nature was not important, only the fact that it was needed to keep going. The first step was nearing completion.
Cata stood outside of the farmhouse, along with Zak and Meg. Meg was searching for signs that it was definitely Jastyx who had cut through the place, since Cian hadn't yet managed to get much coherent out of the farmer, as he didn't quite understand the region's dialect. Cata was doing her best to help, largely by staying out of the way, and Zak was proving to the universe that he could be just as stubborn as any oh-so-intelligent biped.
"So," he said to Cian's new horse, "ever been to Micastle?" The horse didn't even acknowledge him. "They have some incredible orchards there. Really. Apples the size of my hoof." This didn't appear to impress the new horse any more than any of Zak's other conversational gambits so far.
"I don't think he's just quiet, Zak," Cata commented. Zak ignored her nearly as well as his almost-friend was ignoring him.
"I visited the city just a few years ago. Went down with her father on some trading convoy. We were there during the harvest, too. To tell you the truth, I met an amazing filly down there, but her mare didn't think much of horses from out of town, and that bloody colt followed us everywhere." Zak was shaking his head, lost in distant memories. Cian's horse had wandered over to the wrecked wall of the storehouse and struck its head inside, looking for loose fruit.
Elys walked out, brushing her hands and looking around for a source of water before remembering and washing her hands the Mercury Adept way. "That's it. She's okay, no deep wounds and not much blood lost. Probably just in the way when Jastyx blasted the door down."
"Probably? I take it Cian's not having much luck," said Cata.
"Apparently they structure sentences the wrong way, or something. For a couple of minutes, he thought the guy was using 'applesauce' as a verb," Elys reported.
"They were talking about applesauce?" asked Cata, incredulous.
"Nope," said Elys, shaking her head sadly. Before she could explain any more, Cian came out of the house in a bit of a rush. He looked around to see that everyone was still there (in Zak's case, this was more a formality, since he was basically a few years in the past and many miles away at the moment) before speaking.
"Which way does the trail point?" asked the Lemurian.
"Northeast," Meg reported. "Straight as an arrow from Tisiphone."
"Good. We're going northwest," Cian replied.
"Sounds about right," Meg agreed. "Loses almost no time and still throws us way off."
"And gets her well out of the way. Apparently she doesn't much feel like tangling with us again."
"What on Weyard are you two talking about?" demanded Cata.
"The hunter and the artist are discussing the psychology of tracking," muttered Zak. "And, being heroes, they'll be right, because otherwise I might get to relax some time before the decade's up, and we can't have that, can we?!" This last part was screamed at the sky, and it was a moment before anyone spoke.
"Where are we going, then?" asked Elys.
"I managed to get a suggestion out of the farmer. I think he said that there's a port city to the northwest, a place called Embarcaderos, so I figured we should get back on the trail," said Cian.
"Why the rush? We stopped for them, surely they can help us out," Cata suggested.
"I don't think that'd be a good idea," Cian said, wretchedly, and the others noticed the door-hammering sounds coming from inside the house for the first time. They stared at the Lemurian, awaiting an explanation. "Um… I tried to thank him."
Cata sighed. "Saddle up."
While the others made sure everything was packed to continue their journey, Cian extracted his horse from the broken wall and found that he had more than an independent-minded horse to deal with. There was a conveniently opened box of carrots on the shelf directly below the new window, and its contents were moving.
Cian drew his sabre and carefully nudged the shifting orange roots. What followed could best described as the tuber equivalent of a firework, and when the chaos settled, a newly familiar shape was flapping out of the storehouse.
"'M not late, don't tell me I'm late, I've been flying like mad to find you," said the Jupiter Djinni.
"Zephyr. Took you long enough to find me," said Squall, appearing on Meg's shoulder.
"If you were anywhere near where I expected you to be, this would've been easier. What insane impulse sent you into Kibombo?" asked Zephyr.
"My Adept and her new friends. They're all crazy," Squall added.
"Good. I'll fit in."
"What's going on?" asked Elys.
"Oh, not you, entirely unsuitable- ally with a Mercury Adept? Me? Not a chance," said Zephyr, looking rather disdainfully at Elys.
"When things started shaking up back at the Kandorean Cliffs, I called to any Jupiter Djinn in the area. It's not a wide range, mind you, so I wasn't sure anyone would show up," Squall explained.
"And now?" asked Cata.
"Now, assuming that you're all Adepts and on a mission, which I would guess to be the case, from Squall's explanation, I'll need someone to ally with," said Zephyr. "Haven't gone adventuring in centuries, this'll be great fun."
"Y'can't have mine, we'd get a Psynergy imbalance," Squall stated firmly.
"You're coming along… because you think it'll be fun?" asked Cata. "I'm not sure we can trust someone who's just along for the-"
"Hold on," said Zephyr, "you're a Jupiter Adept. Perfect."
"…What, me?" said Cata, startled. She was silent for a moment. "Still, I suppose we can use all the help we can get." Elys grinned at her friend slyly. "What? It makes sense."
"Of course it does, Cata," said Elys, patronizingly.
"Cata, eh? All right. Zephyr allies with Cata!" The Djinni spun in the air until she was simply a purple blur, and then spiralled outwards as a trail of Psynergy lights. They circled Cata, moving closer and then sinking into her skin.
"How do you feel?" asked Elys, noting the dazed expression on her friend's face.
"…Whoa," Cata explained. A crash came from inside the house, indicating that the farmer had managed to open the door and now intended to pay Cian back for making such a comment about his great-grandmother. The Lemurian leapt on his horse and kicked it into motion, followed quickly by Elys. The house's front door slammed open, and Cata had only time to say, in a detached but awed way, "That's a hell of a big scythe" before Meg threw her on Zak's back and rode away herself.
"Rather good time for me to find you, this," Zephyr commented. "I think we should be getting away from this place fast, before word spreads. The farmer's probably got a signal drum."
"How's that helpful?" asked Cata, returning to reality and holding tight onto Zak's neck.
"Well, you've got me, haven't you?"
"And that's going to help?"
"I am a Jupiter elemental."
"Still waiting for the help."
Zephyr sighed. "How do you feel about speaking in the third person?"
The farmer, far behind them, showed himself to be one of the few Adepts among the Kibombo by hurling Fireball Psynergy into the field around them. Cata was grateful for the distance they had already put between them and the farm, otherwise she expected they'd have felt more than a rush of hot air from the inaccurate explosions.
"At the moment, I can handle it," Cata replied quickly. Zephyr released a rush of information into her new Adept's head, all about how to call on the powers of Djinn. "…Whoa. Cool. Okay, here goes: Unleash Zephyr!"
The glowing spirit of a Jupiter Djinni floated up in front of Cata's face. "That's the way." Then she burst into a cloud of purple lights that swirled past the Adepts and their horses like rings of shining wind, and suddenly the ground was blasting away beneath them.
After a few minutes and as many miles, while the Adepts got used to the rush of sudden speed, Elys looked over at Meg. "Is this northeast?" The huntress sighed and called for Cian's attention.
"You're late, I believe."
"I'm precisely on time."
"Being assaulted in the cliffs didn't slow you down?"
"I made up for it on the plains."
"You know you weren't supposed to do that."
"Don't give me any of your lip."
"So obviously exclusionary? You'd no doubt accept it if it were Deo's."
"Don't even speak that name. What of yourself?"
"Successful, naturally."
"A ship, then."
"You need not leave. I returned early and already have our transport."
"Then why are we still standing here?"
"I enjoy the atmosphere."
"That's odd. I can't smell blood."
"You wound me."
"So I wish every day."
Embarcaderos was unusual, since it was in Kibombo territory but nothing like their proud tribal kingdom. The place was a port city, established more by foreigners than natives, and most of the buildings were of Osenian or even Lemurian style, rather than Kibombo. There was, of course, a massive market district, where a person with enough coins could buy nearly anything made anywhere on Weyard, as well as the services to have it repaired (or, if searching for something that wasn't made anywhere else, built).
The travellers stood in the plaza of Embarcaderos, down a sandy street from the main gate. People milled around them, not taking more than passing interest in the odd group aside from Meg's swords, which caused a fair number of Embarcaderans to make a wide arc around the plaza's centre.
"Anything?" asked Cian.
"I couldn't possibly follow a trail in a city like this. I'm no wolf," said Meg.
"What about Psynergy? Shouldn't we be able to sense her like that?" asked Elys.
"Plenty of Venus Adepts out here," Zak pointed out, pawing the sand distastefully. It always got into his tail and mane. All he had to do was look at the stuff.
"Jastyx was nasty," Cata countered. "We ought to be able to sense something malevolent about her Psynergy, shouldn't we? No normal person can call up Death whenever she wants."
"We're assuming that she's still on land," Cian remarked. "I doubt a thief would bother crossing the Kibombo border and going this far just to hide in a port city."
"Anyone who'd give her a ship would need to be blind, deaf, and none too swift," muttered Cata.
"We should ask around," said Elys. "Find the docks and talk to people. You're right on one part, Cata, they'll remember anyone who looked like Jastyx."
"'M right on all of them," she grumbled.
The docks were easy enough to find, being in a small bay at the seaside edge of the city. Many ships were moored, others were coming in or leaving or unloading cargo. While the sailors tended to be gruff at first, they softened just a bit when seeing Cata or Elys, and to the point of jelly when seeing Meg, her hands comfortably resting on the hilts of her blades.
"Ach, I remember such a strange one as yer describin'," one of them admitted. "Yer not too late after her, either, she was just here an hour or so ago."
"Even with Zephyr helping us, she got here first?" demanded Cata, feeling that if thieves are going to cheat than there's little point in chasing them to begin with.
"What are a zeffer?" asked a sailor who looked to be at least half-dwarf. Not many people knew of the strange, stone-loving people of northwest Angara, but Cian remembered them from long ago with a smile at the amiably mangled grammar of the region.
"Where is she now?" asked Cian quickly, not enjoying the thought of Djinni-inspired commotion.
"Took off with some cowled fellow, di'n she, Torrin?" said the first sailor.
"Glad ter see th' both of 'em off, too," added the short and solid Torrin. "Looked like they were heading for Lemuria, te tell ye the truth."
"Lemuria?" repeated Cian, suddenly very worried.
"Aye, yer homeland, I'd suppose. Are ye worried? I wouldna be, even if those two were trouble. The Lemurians can and 'ave taken on many the invader over the centuries, and plenty of them have seen quite a few o' those centuries themselves."
"Two. Not good," said Elys.
"Double the fun," Cata countered.
"You aren't human," Zak muttered, and wandered over to wait in some of the sun-baked city's rare shade. They'd find him when it was time to go, and he didn't intend to hang around sailor who hadn't likely seen much fresh meat recently.
"The woman is a thief, carrying the Sea God's Tear from the sanctum of Daila. It is imperative that we catch up with her and retrieve the tear immediately, or our home will suffer," said Cian.
"Ach, we'd be pleased te help ye, but our ship just docked today, and we won't set out for a week or more," said Torrin's friend.
"People could die in that time!" said Elys, fury building.
"There's nothin' either of us can do te change it, lass," said Torrin, a bit wretchedly.
"Oh, don't call her 'lass'," muttered Cata. Torrin heard this, or at least caught the basic meaning, and thought quickly as he felt the air begin to grow cold. To tell the truth, there was no good reason not to call Elys 'lass', but Cata was going by literary tradition here, and everyone knows that the most powerful spellcasters always have something that sets them off. Torrin was included in that.
"Check in there," said the half-dwarf, pointing without much shaking down the street to a tavern. "Padriac's a good man, and makes trips to Lemuria all the time. Could be he'd be willing for an unscheduled one."
"How can we find him?" asked Meg, always on the lookout for the advantage in a hunt.
"He's got a bit o' yer friend's heritage in 'im. Could be why he likes the place so much," said Torrin's friend, gesturing at Cian. "Not many blue-haired folks about."
This seemed reasonable, but when the door swung open onto a heavily shadowed room, Cata would have preferred that this captain glowed in the dark. There were windows, though, and after a short time their eyes adjusted to the dark -Meg's did so almost instantly- and they saw a man sitting at a table by himself, removed from the bar and the other patrons.
They approached him, and Elys was the first to hazard, "Are you Padriac?"
Slowly the man looked up at them, showing a rough and amused face beneath thick dark hair that might have been blue, but looked black in the darkness. "If you were hoping to impress me with your unnatural cunning, you're going about it entirely the wrong way."
"Is that a yes or a no?" asked Meg, and in the dimness steel glinted.
"That's a bit more on the showy side there, thank you," said the man who was apparently Padriac. "I do prefer proper caution on the part of strangers, it lets them live longer. You've met me now, then, the famous eighth-Lemurian captain of the Great Eastern Sea. Is there more?"
"Eighth-Lemurian? That's not exactly impressive," Cata pointed out.
"More than anyone else in here," he replied, and drank again from a bottle that was no doubt quite lonely until the captain surrounded it with a few friends..
"Not quite," said Cian, stepping with impossible timing so that a ray of light from one of the narrow windows shone on his blue hair and glinted off one golden eye.
"Oh, very nice. Don't see enough of that these days. Now, do you want something or are you just looking for a little adventure? I've got no time for " Padriac seemed to be trying for a solid, mildly inquisitive gaze, but he was a little unsteady and didn't seem to be keeping focus.
"I think we'd prefer help from someone less drunk," Cata remarked.
"One day a year," said Padriac to no one in particular. "Just one, at the end of the season, when all the little merchants have brought their goods to Embarcaderos or Champoshi or Alhafra and don't need to go anywhere until the dry season.
"If we don't get to Lemuria and catch Jastyx, Daila's never going to have a dry season," Elys growled quietly. She glared at the captain. "You're no help then. Let's go, Cata."
"Just one day when all the memories aren't so bad, when the fangs go blurry and the claws are dull, when the fires don't burn and the screams don't pierce. Like a vacation. And then the next season begins, and I keep steady for another year," Padriac went on.
"What are you talking about?" asked Cata, more softly. "What memories?"
The captain looked at her owlishly and finished the bottle. "'M not going to tell you an'thin'. Sherves ye right for looki… ng in m' head an'way. Leave ye t' stew."
"I didn't look in your head. I've never bothered learning Mind Read," Cata assured him.
"Why are you even bothering with this dreg?" demanded Elys. "There's got to be someone actually helpful going to Lemuria."
"Goin'… te Lemuryah?" asked Padriac, who was in rapid decline but certainly not dulled yet.
"Chasing a thief to save our village," Cata replied.
"So much like her," Padriac mumbled. Then his eyes widened. "Thief? Thief on th' ocean? Pirates?" He leapt from his chair, carefully not tipping a single bottle on the table.
"Well, not exactly pi-" Cata began.
"PIRATES!" he raged, then stumbled backwards, clutching at his head. "Oh, Spirits… Th' might call it Cure, but it'll never cure this…"
"What's going on?" asked Elys.
"Um…" Cian hesitated, a little embarrassed. "Not many people know, since it's not common, but Lemurians go from normal to drunk to hung over very quickly. Just one critical level and it all starts." Elys sighed.
"I suppose you still want his help," she said, looking at Cata. The look was returned. "Oh, very well. Restore." Blue sparkles spun around the captain and suddenly he found that standing up straight wasn't so hard.
"What nature of pirates are we talking about here?" waving his hands aimlessly.
"I though you Restored him," Cata whispered.
"I am not drunk, though I have been accused of such more than once," said Padriac. His voice was like the waves- it fell and rose with a regular rhythm that was both strange and sort of soothing at the same time. "Don't ask, just tell me how the pirates fit into this and what you want."
"There aren't any pirates-" Cata began.
"But at best she's just never found her true calling," Cian explained.
"At the bottom of the ocean," Meg was quick to add.
"She's stolen the Sea God's Tear from Daila, and unless we get it back, the entire village could be destroyed. I won't let that happen, and I don't intend to let anyone else let it happen either," Elys growled.
"I'm inclined to go along with her," Padriac whispered to Cian, who was standing closer.
"That would probably be the healthiest choice," Cian agreed.
"Very well, let's talk terms. I will take you to Lemuria, you will catch this thief, and I will take all of you back to the mainland. You can go home with your Tear, and the thief is mine to deal with, as I see fit." The entire time Padriac gestured as though conducting an orchestra of words, ending with his arms dramatically wide.
"Why do you get the thief?" asked Cata.
"Because above all else I hate evil pirates," Padriac told her, with more of a steel tongue than a silver one. "They make my soul twitch."
"And that's hell for me," said no one.
"What?" asked Meg.
"Do we have a contract or not?" the captain insisted.
"I don't like the idea of leaving anyone's fate in your hands if you hate them that much. Somehow I suspect that the sea doesn't breed forgiving people," Cata replied.
"Hah, true enough," Padriac replied, a bit gruff. "But I hate the idea of letting them walk free even more. Very well. We go to Lemuria, bag the pirates, and then we can have a nice chat about what to do with them, savvy? It's more fun when they can hear you talking about it anyway."
"This is not the safest-looking ship I've ever seen," Cian commented.
"I am not getting on that thing! This is exactly what I was talking about when we left! No boats, no water, no way!" Zak spluttered, slowly being dragged toward the dock.
Elys had to agree with the Lemurian's view. The ship's hull was scarred and less than smooth, and the deck was rather severely lacking in safety equipment… among other things.
"No sail?" Meg queried. "How did you get a Lemurian ship?"
"This isn't Lemurian," Padriac replied, "nor a common ship. It's mine." He was roaming the deck, apparently checking up on whatever it was he needed to check on before setting out. Now that they were out in the sunlight, the others could see Padriac more clearly. He was taller and even more broad-shouldered than Cian, with a mass of bluish-black hair in a bit of a tangle, and his eyes were golden brown, showing a little of his Lemurian blood. "And not an easy thing to build, I might point out."
"And I pray we never have to do such a thing again," said the same no one.
"All right, what was that?" demanded Cata. "I was watching that time, you didn't speak."
"You haven't figured it out yet?" asked Zephyr, appearing in the air near her.
"They're slow on the uptake, I've found," Squall remarked.
"Djinn," Padriac mumbled, seeing Zephyr's appearance. "There's more to you than I believed."
"I hope this means I can come out now," said a sudden spark of blue, "because I don't intend to stay in there any longer than necessary. Blasted cities." A Mercury Djinn was now perched on Padriac's shoulder, glaring at the newly-boarded Adepts as if daring them to make comment.
"That's… Mercury?" said Elys, uncertain but intrigued.
"I'm Hail, welcome aboard the Tide Raven. If you don't like waves, stay belowdecks. If you want to earn your passage, stay up top, and I'll find something for you to do," the Djinni told them. She turned to Padriac. "Was that polite enough?"
"You're getting better," the captain admitted.
"Good. That's enough of that for one day, then."
"So, how do you-" Cata began, but Hail whipped around to glare at her.
"Avast, me hearties, we got one that talks! Ye'd best be makin' it quick, girl, or it's the brig for you! Stowaways don't fare well on the Tide Raven!" shouted Hail.
"Erk," Cata finished, not moving.
"Don't do that," Padriac admonished the Djinni.
"Arr, captain, ye can't be lettin' the landlubbers ta speak freely on the-"
"Miss Hail! Anchors aweigh, oars at the ready, let us move out!" barked Padriac.
"Aye-aye, sir!" Hail barked back, saluted with her pincer-tail, and leapt off his shoulder, speeding over to the grille in the middle of the deck and leaping through to check on the oar mechanisms.
"It's just the two of you on this one ship?" asked Meg. "I wouldn't claim to know much about sailing, but I was pretty sure most people used things like crews to make it all work."
"Right you are, and you may find that I do ask you for some assistance at one point or another, but I made this ship myself, and not without a few tricks," Padriac replied. With that, he stepped up to the helm -a much-ornamented wheel with a purple crystal at its hub- and pushed it into one full spin. At that, the crystal flared with light, an anchor flew out of the water, landed heavily on the deck, and the Tide Raven drifted away from the dock.
"This should be good," Elys whispered, looking on.
"Tell me when we're about to crash, I don't want to be conscious for it," Zak grumbled, and headed for the way down into the hold.
"Lemuria, then," Padriac murmured, spinning the wheel again, and the ship turned in the cove, facing the open ocean. "Yo ho." The crystal pulsed again, and the ship surged forward.
"I thought he said this wasn't Lemurian," Meg stated, trying to steady herself against the uneven push and slow of the ship as it gained speed.
"It's not," replied Elys, looking over the side with a touch of amazement in her voice. The others made their way over, occasionally jumping over a rope or other obstacle, and peered over the side. Giant, ghostly green wings rippled out from the ship's prow, pushing the water behind them and fading away to be replaced by another set. After a minute, the Tide Raven was speeding through the waves, and they were on the way to Lemuria.
"I hate evil pirates," Padriac said again to no one in particular. "They always gave the rest of us a bad name."
[Author's Notes] That was longer than expected. Still next chapter will be good, as more than one new thing is explained, further Djinn make themselves known, and Jastyx's partner is revealed to be… rather familiar. By the way, for those trying to put a time to this… I've made it intentionally difficult, and it's just going to get worse. *evil grin* Oh, and of course, my thanks to the muse for various forms of help, not the least of which being the concentration required to write one of these things. Now go review, it's good for you.