Disclaimer: I do not own Magic: The Gathering, only my own characters.
CHAPTER 39-Ers
As the Keepers and Eva joined the crowd converging towards the gates of Ers, Arrathir looked nervously about. He knew if anyone saw his ears he'd have to make a quick getaway. He tightened Khell's cloak around himself and checked that his tail was still safely wrapped around his waist.
"What is your business in Ers?" asked the guard by the gates in a bored voice. It was only mid-morning and he was already looking forward to his shift change.
"None of your damn business!" snapped Arrathir before anyone else could answer.
"Hey, I'm just followin' orders," said the guard "Nothing personal."
"I apologize for my friend's rudeness," said Khell, stepping forwards. "We come to Ers because we seek a ship to leave the continent."
"Fine," grunted the guard, waving them one "Go ahead."
"You didn't need to do that, Arrathir," reprimanded Khell when they'd passed the gates and entered the city "There was no need to loose your temper."
"Well, in case you haven't noticed," said Arrathir "There are some people who want me dead! The harder I can make it for them to find me, the better. That means letting as few people as possible know where I am going."
"Khell's right," said Charles "You can't just snap at a guard like that. What if he had decided to arrest you or something?"
"Christ!" said Arrathir "Why are you guys all against me? I make one little mistake and you're all over me!"
"We just want to avoid trouble," said Khell "Stick together. If we get separated, meet in at the gates. First order of business: getting you guys some new clothes."
Erik descended to the smoky ground level of the inn. He'd had a fairly good rest, at least better than the other Keepers must have had on the hard ground. Sitting himself down at a table in the far corner of the room, he looked around for someone to bring him some food.
The room was as crowded as the previous night. Humans, dwarves, and many other strange creatures ate, drank, played cards, or gossiped loudly around their respective tables. Ever now and then, a plume of smoke would rise from a table to join the cloud of smog that hung above the crowd. Waitresses circulated between the tables, bearing trays laden with food and drink, bringing their food to the customers.
"Good morning, sir," said a female voice beside Erik "What'll you be having?"
Erik looked up, slightly shocked at how someone had snuck up on him so easily. Then again, his senses were dulled by the atmosphere of the room, so he wasn't very alert. A waitress stood by his table looking inquisitively at him. She wore a simple brown work dress and an apron that may at some time have been white, but was now covered with various stains. Her long red hair was tied into a bun. Overall, she was not ugly. Her face bore the marks of fatigue and she had bags under her eyes but she still seemed ready to do her job. In fact, Erik thought with some proper clothes she would look quite attractive. Her dress did nothing to flatter her figure, but Erik could tell she was well filled out.
"I'll have eggs, sunny side up, grits, al dente, and a cappuccino."
The woman looked at him, confused. "I beg your pardon?" she asked.
Right. They probably don't have that here.
"Ah, give me," he said, grappling for something they might have "A bowl of stew."
"Of course," said the waitress. Giving Erik one last confused glance, she turned back into the maze of tables towards the kitchens.
As Erik waited, he eavesdropped on the table behind him. The five occupants were talking so loudly he barely had to strain himself to overhear them.
"It's the truth!" one of the men exclaimed. He spoke with a high-pitched, excited voice. Erik wondered for a moment if he wasn't a eunuch. "There's something rotten in Ers. They found seven men, all dead, in a back alley."
"So?" snorted another man. This one had a low, gravelly voice. "Dead people turn up every day."
"Oh yes," said the first man "But these ones nobody knows how they died. Not a scratch on 'em."
"Poison?" suggested a third man.
"No," said the first "Bodies looked perfectly healthy. Nothin' out of the ordinary."
"Bah!" said the fourth man "Probably bandits. Rotten bunch the lot of 'em. They got what they deserved. Streets 'll be a bit cleaner now."
"I tell you!" said the first man "This here's the work of a summoner! Nothin' else could kill without a trace."
"A summoner? In Ers? You've been going too strong on the ale, Des," laughed one of the men. His companions joined him as the laughed uproariously at their companion's ludicrous theory.
If only they knew how right he was, they wouldn't be laughing.
The waitress returned with Erik's food so he diverted his attention from the men. Paying the waitress, Erik attacked his meal. It wasn't the best stew. The mean was overcooked and the broth seriously lacked salt, but it was warm and filling. When he was done, Erik returned his key to the innkeeper and left in search of the other Keepers.
After wandering the streets of Ers for a while, the Keepers had finally found a tailor's shop. As they entered the small one-room store, Charles informed them he had located Erik.
"He's a couple streets northeast of here," he said.
"I'll go get him," said Khell "Here." He tossed a small bag full of coins to Arrathir to pay for the clothes and left.
The tailor was a short, bespectacled old man. He seemed positively delighted by his two customers. Grabbing Charles, he dragged him over to a wooden stool and had him stand on it while he bustled around him with a tape measurer, taking the Keeper's measurements.
"Actually," said Charles "We're in a hurry, so do you have anything ready right now?"
"Oh yes," said the tailor "I have plenty of clothes ready in my backroom, but I need to know what size to bring you."
Charles shrugged and allows the man to continue his work.
"I see," said the tailor when he'd finished "I have just the thing for you!" He dashed off to the backroom and returned a moment later with a set of splendid blue robes. The trim was done in a deep blue velvet and there were several inner and outer pockets. "Excellent quality!" said the tailor "Go on, try it on."
Charles donned the robes and was surprised to find they fit him perfectly. The material was warm and weighed lightly on his shoulders.
"This is excellent!" said Charles "I'll take them!"
"Splendid, splendid," said the tailor "Your turn, sir."
Charles relinquished his place to Arrathir. As the tailor ran around him, taking measures, Arrathir grew increasingly worried that his ears or tail would be seen.
"Sir," said the tailor "You'll have to remove your hood so I can measure your head."
"No, that's fine," said Arrathir "Just skip that measure."
"Sir!" said the tailor "I pride myself in my work! I must get your full measures to ensure your cloak will fit you perfectly. Remove the hood."
"You know what?" said Arrathir "It doesn't matter. Just estimate and give me whatever you have."
"Enough of this nonsense!" said the tailor, reaching up and pulling off Arrathir's hood. He gasped when he saw Arrathir's furry rat ears. Backing away in horror from Arrathir, the tailor looked like he was about to bolt from the store.
"See why I didn't want to remove it?" said Arrathir "I am a half-demon. Don't worry; I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to buy a cloak."
"I-I'm sorry, sir," said the tailor "I didn't mean to offend you."
"None taken," said Arrathir "Just finish your measures."
The tailor apprehensively approached Arrathir and resumed his work, his eyes continuously flicking to Arrathir's ears.
"Wanna touch 'em?" asked Arrathir.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Come on, I know you're curious," said Arrathir "I won't hurt you." Arrathir leaned over until his ears were within the man's grasp.
Slowly, the tailor reached up and poked Arrathir's left ear. It twitched, making the man jump in surprise. Regaining his composure, the tailor reached up again and stroked Arrathir's ear. He gave a nervous laugh and a small smile crept onto his face.
"Well," he said "I'll be. I must be the only tailor in Ers to cater to half-demons."
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention this to anyone," said Arrathir.
"But of course!" said the old man. He'd regained his cheer and he quickly brought Arrathir a black hooded cloak. "Nothing for the pretty young lady?" asked the tailor as Arrathir got out his money to pay him. "A nice red dress to compliment those beautiful eyes? I have the finest silk available."
"No thanks," said Eva, blushing at the tailor's compliments.
"It's OK, Eva," said Arrathir "If we're getting new threads, you may as well."
"Well, maybe a travel cloak," said Eva, taking Arrathir's place on the stool. After a few quick measurements, the tailor brought out a super dark-red cloak. Eva immediately declares she adored it. After paying and thanking the tailor, they left the shop and met up with Khell and Erik as they rounded the corner into the next street. Erik had swapped his business suit for a brown tunic, black pants, and leather bracers.
"Spend a good night?" Charles asked Erik.
"Not bad," said Erik "I actually slept in a real bed, unlike someone I know."
"Where'd you get the money?"
"If you must know, Wainscot," said Erik "It was donated to me by someone who no longer needed it."
"What do you mean?" asked Khell "Did you summon?"
"I was attacked," said Erik "What was I supposed to do?"
"You idiot!" said Khell "So much for remaining incognito! Now all of Ers knows we're here!"
"Hey, dead men tell no tales," said Erik "Nobody knows we're here."
"You killed them?" asked Arrathir.
"It was self-defense," said Erik "They got what they deserved."
"Nobody deserved death," said Khell "Who are you to decide otherwise? Now, if you're done patting yourself on the back, we have a ship to find."
They spent the rest of the day scouring the city local pubs for possible captains that would take passengers to Shiv. However, there were few ships headed for the land of dragons. With each passing pub they visited without success their frustration increased.
"OK, there's got to be a ship headed for Shiv," said Khell as they left the seventh unsuccessful pub "Let's head down to the docks and find out."
As they approached the port, Arrathir could smell the salt water and hear the gulls squawking as the fought over morsels of food. When the reached the docks, they learned there was a ship headed for Shiv. They were taken aboard a schooner, the Silver Drake, and brought before the captain.
Captain Quales was a tall, muscular man in his late fifties. After spending the past twenty years sailing the seals, his skin was tanned and wrinkled, like old parchment. A long scar ran from his left ear down his jaw line and ended at his chin.
"So," he said in a gruff voice "You seek transport to Shiv, eh? Why? Most people would avoid the land of dragons, yet you seem eager to get there."
"Look," said Khell "Why does it matter for you. We'll pay you a fair price. No questions asked."
"Well," said Quales "I like to know what I'm transporting, so it's going to cost you extra. Fifty gold pieces, all in advance."
"Fifty gold?" asked Arrathir, incredulous.
"Take it or leave it, kid," said the captain "I don't run a ferry ship."
"We can pay you ten gold pieces now, plus another sixty when we reach Shiv," said Khell.
"Seventy, eh?" said Quales "All right. You've got yourselves a ship. We cast of tomorrow at ten in the morning. If you're not there, we leave without you. Got it?"
"At ten," said Khell "We'll be there." Taking out a pouch, he tossed it to the captain who duped out its contents on the table. After counting the coins, he gave a satisfied grunt and dismissed them.
Night was falling when they left the Silver Drake so they set about finding an inn for the night.
"Last good night's sleep we'll get in a while," said Khell as the entered the Rose and the Thorn inn. "I don't think we'll sleep much on the ship." Upon inquiring about vacancy, the learned only three rooms remained.
"Eva gets her own room," said Arrathir immediately.
"Right, but who bunks with whom?" asked Khell.
"Well, we can't leave Charles and Erik in the same room; they'd probably kill each other," said Arrathir.
"So I'll stay with Erik," said Khell "You owe me."
"Sure thing," said Arrathir.
After a quick meal, they retreated to their rooms for the night. Arrathir immediately fell asleep, while Charles conversed with Chiburuu.
;So, a sea voyage. What are your thoughts?;
;It'll be great to be among my element. The voyage should prove interesting;
;Wonder if Erik'll get seasick, arrogant bastard;
;I hear you. He really needs to be cut down a few notches. However, we need him. He is a Keeper of Mana so, like it or not, we need him for the Awakening;
;Chiburuu? Do you think Arrathir's serious about having second thoughts about the Awakening?;
;I think he was just feeling so guilty about what happened with Eva that he wasn't thinking straight;
;Is he ever going to stop kicking himself for that?;
;Until Eva can completely forgive him, he'll keep blaming himself. I've noticed he's been keeping away from her. He really does lover her if he's willing to be miserable so Eva can be happy;
;It'll sort itself out;
;Yes, most likely. Good night, Cannon;
''Night, Chiburuu;
The moonlight cast a silver ray across Arrathir's pillow, illuminating one of his ears. The ear moved gently up and down as Arrathir breathed. Occasionally, it flicked in response to a sound somewhere in the inn or street. If the sound was not judged to be a threat, the ear returned to its immobile state. Suddenly, there was a new sound; a loud (at least to Arrathir's ears) pounding. The tempo was regular, like a well-tuned metronome. It was a two-tone beat, like a pulse. In fact, it was a heartbeat.
The heartbeat increased in tempo, growing faster as the being's body from which it emanated released adrenaline into the body in response to stress. As the beat reached its climax, a piercing scream cut through the night, awaking Arrathir.
Groggy as he was, he recognized Eva's voice. Jumping from his bed, he scrabbled about in the darkness for the doorknob.
"Arrathir?" said Charles' voice from the darkness.
"Did you hear that?" said Arrathir "It was Eva!" Finally opening the door, Arrathir bolted from the room, Charles on his heels. He barged into Eva's room to find her lying on the floor, looking about in terror as if there was something in the room about to attack her.
"Eva!" said Arrathir "Are you all right?"
Eva took one look at Arrathir and yelled, backing away from him.
"Eva! What's wrong?" asked Arrathir, approaching.
"Get the fuck away from me!" screamed Eva, hysterically. Arrathir was shocked.
"Arrathir, come here," said Charles as he and Khell entered the room. He pulled Arrathir into the hallway. Eva's scream must have been extremely loud because other people had begun coming out of their rooms to see what was the matter.
"It's OK," said Charles "She just had a nightmare."
"Just a nightmare?" hissed Arrathir "Did you see that way she looked at me?"
"Arrathir," said Charles "There's something I have to tell you: Eva had a nightmare about the demon's actions two nights ago. She relived the trauma of the attempted rape. She asked me not to tell you since she was afraid it would only hurt you more, but I guess now you know."
Arrathir was shocked. It took a moment for his brain to register what Charles had told him.
I'm still hurting her, even though I keep away from her. The cycle will never end, all because of me…
To be continued…
Author's Note: Geeze! At the rate the plot's going, they're never going to find the KoRM! Just kidding. The KoRM will awaken eventually, probably after they reach Shiv. On another note, this fic has reached 500 reviews. That's half a thousand, people. However, somebody though it would be funny to make nonsense reviews (glares at YM). I appreciate the gesture, but it was stupid. The number of reviews to me is the number of readers I have. If one reader makes more than one review a chapter, it doesn't accurately reflect the number of readers. Tho I guess it makes up for the readers who don't review. In short, thanks, but don't do it again, not even to push the reviews to 1000 (if that ever happens). If this persists, I will have to disable anonymous reviews, which would really be a shame since I know I have a few non-member readers. Also, props to the four people who caught the, rather obvious I must say, "Princess Bride" reference. For those of you who know my writings, you'll know I adore inserting pop-culture references in my stories.
Next chapter will be extra-long in honor of Chapter 40!
Anyways, until next week, прощание!
OP: Ooo! Advent Children! Haven't seen it, but I hear it's awesome.
MTDL: Well, downloading Apprentice (Google for it) would help, but it's not mandatory. Other than that, you don't need to download any files for the Academy. Also, you didn't mention the KoRM's demonic side in all the creatures you named.
ACS: Cannon doesn't have his Teleport spell yet. I really enjoyed making that last rant. Maybe I'll make my next one about n00b fanfiction authors. You know, the ones who make "Ten ways to…" and "Survivor" fics, despite being outlawed by FF's new guidelines. Welcome to bansville. Population: You.
CaI: Erik Morlock is an extremely clever and resourceful character.
Khell: Hell, just go into the Anime section (Yu-Gi-Oh is a particularly good choice since it's a double whammy) and search for any of the following: "I get sent to the Yu-Gi-Oh world," "A new girl comes to town," "A new duelist defeats Kaiba," ect…
S15: Don't worry. I'm just slowing the plot down a bit because it's been nonstop action since chapter 30.
DLA: Myrs? Well, I'll add it to the growing pile of suggestions, but I already have the decklist for the next enemy Planeswalker all ready.
YM: Yeah, the governments are assholes. Canada is in desperate need of doctors and we have plenty of qualified immigrants, but they don't hire them because "they don't have a Canadian diploma." Bullshit! In their home countries these people were respected people! Look at what you're doing to their self-esteem! I say, hire them! It can only help! And YM, I salute you for taking a stand against the discriminatory, racist, and totally fucked up policies of governments.
ROwned: Yeah, it was more of a "what NOT to do when writing an OC" guide.
OM: Erik doesn't have his wings, yet. I can't make any promises about using Kamigawa cards. The set was pretty cool, but my favorite is still the Onslaught block, partially because it's when I joined, and partially because it was a kick-ass create type set. I mean, when was the last time you had enough good elf cards to build a deck using cards from just one set? We haven't had any really good elf decks since Onslaught! It was awesome for all creature types! Elves, goblins, zombies, wizards, ect…
SH42: Love the Douglas Adams reference in your name.
CT: You have an idea for an MTG/YGO fic? Well, let's see it! Upload!
497: '-- (sweatdrop)