Chapter Five.

I woke up the next morning feeling surprisingly refreshed and ready to take on the day. The bed had been a little lumpy, but compared to the last few months of sleeping on rocks it was practically heaven. Joan had shown me to an upstairs room after Leigh wheedled a few more drinks out of her and passed out on the table. I tried to drink a little more as well, but I honestly didn’t see what the big deal was. Part of that was the taste— which I didn’t really care for— and part of that was a surprising feature of [Outer Kindred] biology; Alcohol does nothing to me.

Leigh had been nearly despondent at our joint discovery of my immunity to, “one of the greatest simple pleasures of life”, and had vowed to drink twice as much from this day forward in honor of my sacrifice. I rolled my eyes remembering the shameless man’s antics and turned to the small chest Joan had brought to my room last night. Her son Rob’s clothing was inside, and while I didn’t know what she meant by him being “troubled” at first, it became immediately apparent when I opened the chest and was greeted by a wall of inky blackness.

Oh my god, her son was a goth.

Black pants. Black shirts. A black coat. Everything in the chest screamed “edgy rebellious phase” so loudly it felt almost physical. It was all styled a bit differently than what I’d seen people wearing around town, where most of the men wore fairly simple waistcoats and vests with white button-ups underneath. The coat in the chest would easily hang down to my knees, and was made of thick, well-stitched wool with wooden buttons down the center. A hooded poncho draped around the shoulders, made of a slightly different material that seemed weather-treated. It actually looked kinda cool now that I held it up…

Gah! You can’t admit you think it’s cool, man.

With a furtive glance at the door I hurriedly started to dress myself in the all-black ensemble. Everything was a bit big on me, which made me feel a little like a kid trying on dad’s clothes, but otherwise it was all surprisingly nice. I had an idle thought that Rob must be huge if he’d actually outgrown these physically and not just outgrown the phase.

Checking myself out in a small mirror nailed to the wall, it actually looked pretty good on me. Kind of a dark, steampunk adventurer look. I pulled the hood up over my head and my face was instantly obscured by shadow— except I now noticed my eyes were a lot more reflective than a normal person’s.

My eyes are glowing. That is so… awesome!!

A smile spread involuntarily across my face before I hastily wiped it clean as I heard footsteps approaching my door. There was a firm knock and then I heard Joan’s voice from the other side.

“Ray! You awake yet, lad? Breakfast ‘ll be ready shortly.”

“Yeah, I’m just trying on the clothes you brought up earlier.” I called back.

“Oh! That’s perfect. May I come in? I imagine I might need to adjust the hems a bit and I’d like to see how they fit on ya.” She replied cheerily.

“Uh… sure, hang on.” I quickly pulled back the hood and stepped over to the door to let Joan inside.

“Well! Don’t you just look fine in some proper clothes.” She said with a smirk after giving me an appraising look that had me blushing furiously. After laughing good-naturedly at my embarrassment, for the next few minutes she had me bend and stretch out to see where things weren’t fitting right.

“As I thought, still a bit big for you. My Rob takes after his father, and that man was near to a giant as a man could get and still be human. Not to worry, we’ll put some pins in to hold things for now so’s you’ve something to wear and I’ll adjust the rest for you while you’re out. Assuming a certain drunken priest ever gets his sodden arse out of bed!” Her volume had increased to a shout by the end as she marched over to the wall and gave it a good couple pounds with her fist.

An anguished-sounding groan came from the other side of the wall, bringing a vindictive smile to Joan’s face.

“Ah, it’s almost worth it to let him drink just to torment him while he’s hungover.”

I chuckled nervously as she rounded back on me and pulled some needles out of a pouch on her waist.

“Hold still a bit, and we’ll go have breakfast.” She told me with a no-nonsense tone.

“Yes, ma’am.” I answered meekly.

In a few minutes, she was done with the temporary adjustments and the clothes were fitting much better. When Joan finally gave her approval that I was “decent enough for polite society”, I followed her downstairs to the common room for a hearty breakfast of ham, eggs, and toast with enough butter to give a cardiologist an anxiety attack. It was delicious.

We were almost done eating when a low groan came from the stairs, followed by the *thud, scrape* of zombie-like footsteps. Joan smiled beatifically and stood as my guide half crawled his way into the room. Leigh’s previously perfect brown hair was disheveled, and his grey eyes were bloodshot and squinted. He flinched backwards as Joan practically skipped over to him.

“Why good morning to ya!” She called out loudly. “Isn’t it just the loveliest day? I think I even saw—” Joan rambled on aimlessly as Leigh whimpered under her onslaught. Eventually she’d tormented him to her satisfaction, so she allowed him to shuffle over to my table and collapse into the seat across from me. I couldn’t help a smirk at his bedraggled features and look of abject misery.

“You gonna live, man?” I asked.

He stared at me blearily for a moment.

“If the gods are kind… no.”

Joan guffawed and I chuckled while Leigh gradually came back to life and began to eat. After a few minutes there was a deep droning sound almost like a foghorn that rang out and Joan perked up.

“That’ll be the all-clear then. Well! As we’re not to be dying today it seems I’ll have to start getting things ready for business. I’ll be in the back now, don’t be shy if’n you need something.” She smiled and patted my shoulder before walking off into the back room.

Leigh seemed mostly recovered with some food and water in him, so I figured I might as well get things going.

“Alright, so what’s the plan today?

“Please sir, not so loud.” He waved me off while holding his head. “If I showed too much weakness she’d have kept going. A moment and I’ll clear things up.”

Reaching into his satchel, he pulled out a small vial with a purplish liquid inside. Pulling out the cork stopper with a *pop*, he took a small sip and grimaced before noticeably perking up. The redness in his eyes cleared and his back straightened, and after a few quick adjustments even his hair was back to its usual perfect self.

“Bit of a waste, but needs must.” He said, tucking the vial back into his bag.

“What was that?” I asked curiously.

“Potion of Vitae— a lifesaver to be sure, though quite expensive. A few were gifted to me after… well, that’s a private matter. Suffice to say they are an excellent cure for many of life’s ails. Just don’t ask what goes in them.” He answered with a shudder at the end.

Ok then…

“Now then, before we set out I must ask a few things. I saw yesterday that you handled yourself quite well against the mob, have you had any training?” He asked seriously. I shook my head no and he stared at me contemplatively for a second.

“Natural Kindred aptitude then. Ah well, it should be enough. Have you any other talents of note?”

Thinking for a minute, I raised my hand and conjured a small galaxy of lights with my aura.

“I have some magic but there’s something wrong with it. The best I can do right now is…” With a bit of concentration, [Law] hardened into a familiar hex-patterned ward above the table. Leigh stared at it for a moment before his face paled and a horrified look came across his face.

“Gods above… a hex-ward, and you want to go see Lord Haethram, who just re-appeared…” He mumbled to himself. “Please tell me you aren’t his bastard son?”

A crash sounded out from the kitchen and suddenly Joan was standing in the doorway with an equally horrified look on her face.

“What!? No! I met him in— He just taught me magic! He’s not my dad, I swear.” I blurted out hurriedly. Both of them sagged with relief, Joan patting her heart with a pained smile.

“Thank the heavens for that, the Archwitch is a very jealous and very powerful woman. I can’t imagine what she’d do if she found any evidence of her husband being unfaithful.” She gasped out. All three of us shuddered— the other two from their imaginations, me from remembering the beautiful girl that had instantly cowed Veris and dragged him back to the surface. Up to that point, Veris had been the most powerful being I’d encountered in the Hollows, but his wife was on an entirely different level.

“Well, with that disturbing possibility out of the way, the ability to use warding magic will be a tremendous asset to our endeavour. True mages are rare enough outside of the delving companies, and a good warder is even rarer.” Leigh stood, putting on his gaucho-style hat and gesturing to the door. “We’ll be off to see the caravan masters then. Terland is an uncommon destination but not unheard of, so with any luck one will be departing that way soon and we can book passage. I’ll explain more on the way.”

He headed towards the door and I stood up to follow him, waving briefly to Joan as we left the building. She called out after me.

“Take care now, lad! Don’t let that scoundrel drag you into anything untoward.”

I think it might actually be the other way around…

As we stepped outside, I immediately saw crowds of people exiting their homes and making their way down the street. The unsettling atmosphere from my walk here had evaporated under the morning sun like mist. My first impression had been tainted by anxiety and paranoia over Leigh; I’d been jumping at every shadow and seeing the suddenly empty city so soon after my confrontation with the mob had me on edge.

This area was definitely not as prosperous as the streets closer to the Way-Lines (hey, Lineway, I get it now!) but it was far from a crime-ridden slum or something. Clothes were more work-centric than ‘adventurer chic’, with a balance of trades making for an eclectic collection of outfits ranging from factory workers to uniformed clerks. People were still tense, but there was a palpable sense of relief in the air like everyone was thinking, “Hey, at least we didn’t die last night!” It made me feel better and worse simultaneously as we walked down the street— to know that I’d misjudged these people while also threatening all their lives. To distract myself from my budding guilt, I asked Leigh a question that had been burning in me since I first arrived in Delmoth.

“So what exactly is ‘the surge’?”

“Wouldn’t we all like to know! There’s actually a significant reward for the first person to successfully help the Mysterium to understand what’s happening.” He said with a shrug. “Nobody knows for sure what the cause is, just that it started a few weeks ago. Magic running rampant across the world, enchantments overloading in droves, beasts rising from the depths not seen in millenia. It’s all very ‘End of Days’.”

Uh oh.

I had a very unpleasant thought all of a sudden. The exact timeframe was uncertain because I’d been kicked out of reality to a space beyond time and then spoken to a Void Leviathan who created and destroyed a micro-universe over the course of eons just to flex on me, but I’m pretty sure the timing of this is too close to be a coincidence. I (somewhat unwittingly) help close a breach in reality that the whole planet was built to seal and it just happens that some magical mayhem starts up right after? Yeah, I’m not that lucky. This reeks of another fate-spider-goddess-person-whos-name-I-still-don’t-know’s scheme.

I should probably learn her name…

“Ah.” I eventually said, lamely. Leigh looked at me quizzically for a second and then shrugged again when I failed to clarify.

“In any case, it’s made surface travel significantly more unpleasant by ruling out the safest option and making the others much more difficult. Enchantments are the primary source of protection against the various beasts out in the wilds, and with the surge ruining said enchantments in droves the caravans are all looking to hire on some extra muscle. Which is where you come in.”

“Me?” I thought about it for a second. “You want me to get hired on as a guard?”

“Exactly. Your warding skills will make you a shoe-in for the position, even without a formal certification. Once we’ve proven your capability they’ll be practically fighting each other to line up with offers for your services. It solves the issues of our passage perfectly!” Leigh said exuberantly.

I was a little unsure about this since I’d never had a security job before, but it seemed like a decent enough idea to start with. On top of that, we didn’t even know if there was even a caravan for us to go on yet— let alone if they’d hire me like this; so I decided to just go with things for now.

If I don’t like this, we can always try something else. There has to be a way for me to earn money…

We made our way through the busy streets back towards where I’d originally entered Delmoth from the Way-Station. The building we were looking for was actually just a couple down from the station itself; a large, five-storey, stone structure shaped like a crescent arched away from the main road to form a courtyard. Oversized double-doors were located at the apex of the crescent, made of burnished mahogany and gilded with blindingly polished bronze. Above them hung a red and gold crest with a stylized carriage in the center. Two guards stood to either side of the doors and eyed us suspiciously as we walked up.

“Don’t be intimidated by the fancy building. Or the guards. I’m well known here, they just don’t like that as a priest, I’m exempt from paying their guild’s various fees.” Leigh told me with a conspiratory wink. The guards grumbled and gave us both the stink-eye as he sauntered through the doors with a happy wave. Rolling my eyes at his antagonism, I followed him inside.

The foyer inside reminded me of a big bank, with marble/granite floors polished to a shine and columns of stone flanking the entrances to various hallways off the main room. A mosaic of the same crest that hung above the main door filled almost the entire room’s floor. Well-dressed people loitered around a series of desks circling the room, with no clear lines or delineations that I could identify.

Leigh spotted an open desk with a clerk behind it and walked over.

“Good morning! I’d like to speak to the captain of the next caravan headed to Terland.”

“Absolutely sir, if you’ll please fill out—” The clerk began.

“No.” Leigh cut in with a patronizing smile.

“—these… uh, excuse me?” The clerk stuttered, blinking owlishly.

“No, I don’t do forms. Your hideously bloated bureaucracy has no effect on me and I’ll not be delayed by such foul practices! Where is the captain?” Leigh’s sunny tone never changed and a look of panicked confusion came over the poor clerk’s face.

“But… this is just, uh, the standard? I don’t understand…” He trailed off quietly.

“Don’t worry about it. Your normal life of soul-crushing pedantry shall resume shortly.” Leigh said offhandedly as a man in an expensive looking red and black suit came out one of the side doors and made a beeline straight for us. The clerk looked vaguely hurt and then relieved as he saw the other man approaching.

“Mr. Rafeam, this—” The clerk began in a pleading ‘offload the problem to management’ tone.

“It’s alright, I’ll take it from here.” The man gave my somewhat obnoxious guide a resigned look. “Hello, Leigh. I’m quite certain I authorized you to approach my offices directly the last time you were here. And the time before that.”

“And miss the opportunity to shake this stuffy place up? Never! Besides, the clerks all love the little spark of adventure I bring in. Right?” Leigh retorted, turning back and pointing aggressively to the clerk who froze like a deer in the headlights.

‘Mr. Rafeam’ slowly raised up a hand to cover his eyes and massage his temples.

“Please stop tormenting my staff and come to my office.” He said with a sigh.

Leigh grinned triumphantly before waving at me to follow them. I’d been standing awkwardly to the side while he made a scene in the middle of the lobby, so I quickly took the offered exit and followed them through the door. We entered a small suite of offices where Rafeam sat us down in front of a solid, wooden desk and then sat himself behind it in a regal-looking chair. He opened up a drawer and began leafing through the folders inside.

“You said you were looking to go to Terland?” He asked.

“The Haethram estate, yes.” Leigh answered with a nod.

Rafeam nodded back absently and picked out an off-white folder.

“Ah! Here we are.” He opened it and looked over the inside, frowning for a moment before perking back up. “You’re in luck, it seems. The caravan was supposed to depart two days ago but they’ve been delayed by the surge, citing critical component damage caused by mana overload. Their departure schedule is unlisted until repairs are made, current captain… Teadran, solid man— caravan captain nearly fifteen years and a Terland native so he knows the route well. Lodged in bay twelve, so you’ll find him if you follow the crescent to the right. Anything else?”

The man seemed to be in a hurry to get us to leave, though he remained (mostly) professional in the face of Leigh’s antics. Leigh was still dedicated to his self-imposed role though, so he just waved imperiously as he stood up and pulled me back towards the exit.

“Nay, foul bureaucrat! I need no more of your assistance.”

Mr. Rafeam stared at us hopelessly for a moment and slumped in his chair.

“Please, by all the gods, just come straight to my office next time.”