Chapter 1.16

Karson

When I got back to the top of the hill, I could see the house was nearing completion. The walls were up, and long wooden beams were tied to it to form rafters and roof trusses for a peaked roof. Stone wrapped around the base of each beam where it touched the wall, tying it all together. I could see Ax straddling a rafter, conjuring sheets of copper to use as roofing tiles. Two other villagers were up there with him, taking each sheet and laying it down to overlap the sheets lower on the roof, and hammering them down with small iron nails. Each sheet was being nailed only at the top, overlapping enough to cover the nails of the layer below it.

Ax saw me, so he slid down the beam to the edge of the wall closest to me. “Hey, can you make another trade run into town? Xene says we don’t have enough money to make payroll and do some recruiting. I cranked out a few dozen tools this morning.”

“I can do that,” I said. Then I switched to English. “Did we ever tie the coin box to the geothermal pump?”

“Oh,” he said. “Shit, no, we didn’t. That would help, too, wouldn’t it?”

“It would. Are you working on wagons today?”

“Within the next few days, yes I am. I need to get armor cranking, and I want to make some machines for that. Do you think we can get the machines to put basic enchantments on the armor, also?”

“Hmm, I didn’t think of that. Maybe? Tomorrow, let’s plan on working together on that stuff. I bet if we set the armor to absorb heat above, say, eighty or eighty-five degrees…”

“We’d have self-powering, air-conditioned armor?”

“Exactly,” I said. “Especially with the helmets - I bet those get hot as hell.”

“Okay,” said Ax. “After you sell off the tools, you want to swing through the refugee camps and see who we can add? Looking for craftsmen and soldiers. I’m going to conjure stone bunk beds in here, so we’ll be able to fit eighty, ninety people. I sent off Crathis to the local farms, see if there are any oxen pairs to buy. I expect we’ll be up to a half-dozen or more wagons by the time we’re ready to leave. All of that needs people to make the boards and do the construction.”

“No problem,” I said. “I’ll fill you in tonight, I know where we’re going.”

“Great.”

Xene showed me over to a pile of tools, and I had to admit I was impressed. There were a half-dozen heavy splitting axes, a few broad-bladed chopping axes, saws, hammers and shovels. There were even two plowshare blades. I pulled out my magic sack and was able to load everything in except for the blades. I handed the bag to Xene, who was astounded at how light it was. The bag bulged only slightly, and weighed perhaps ten or fifteen pounds, even though it was filled with nearly four hundred pounds of metal.

To my surprise, Zahra and her two bodyguards came over to us.

“I would like to see this town,” she said. “I’ve seen little of the Hellenic towns.”

“You are welcome to come,” I said. “I enjoy your company.”

She looked a little surprised at that. “Few people enjoy do.”

“I can understand that,” I acknowledged. “But I am not most people.”

She gave a small smile. “Indeed you are not.”

Since Jin Song and Jin Hai followed Zahra everywhere, that rounded out the five we were allowed to bring into town. None of Ax’s myrmidons were getting light duty today. I saw them carrying rocks up and down the hills earlier. Antiope was among them, easily carrying rocks as if she could do it all day, laughing at one moment and shouting commands the next.

We walked the distance to the gates, entering the refugee camp after about a half mile of walking. The camp was a mix of rough huts made of branches and tents of canvas. There was a scattering of wagons with donkeys or oxen staked nearby, and a few places that had actually framed a rough structure out of cut branches. Children scampered through the refugee camp, while the men and women sought to build what they could with the scraps available to them. If I was to guess, there were likely a few hundred of them, far more than we could help. What was painfully obvious to me was the lack of food. Odds were good that many would be starved by springtime, if they survived even that long. The war seemed scarcely begun, and the civilians were losing already.

Zahra seemed delighted to watch the children’s games, although I noticed that she’d gloved her hands even in this heat and kept them crossed over her chest to prevent touching anyone. Her eyes watched everything, and she came alive as she talked with refugees. Her good humor carried her as we approached the gates to the city.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I said.

Fortunately, we reached gate guards at that moment. I had no problems entering the town the day before, nor did we have trouble today. The militiamen were quite happy with us for taking out the archers the other day, and word was out that we had provided crucial support for ending the attack. We were waved through with a smile and a nod.

The town itself wasn’t particularly remarkable. It was surrounded by twelve foot tall walls, a mix of stone and timber. The walls were large stones up to a height of six feet, with the remaining six feet being made of rough hewn logs. There were no towers to speak of, and once inside, small platforms near the gates and periodically along the walls gave the only view from up top. The platforms were accessible by ladder, and some militia were posted along the wall, but there was no walkway connecting them, nor was there much space for more than one or two men at a time.

The gates themselves were not particularly strong either. They were about four inches thick, secured by a crossbar and braces that slotted into two holes in the road. The braces would lean against the two gate doors, preventing them from opening even if the crossbar was removed. This did nothing against the gate doors themselves being broken, and did little to prevent the gates from burning. Fortunately, that weakness was not my problem.

Inside the town was mostly a collection of houses. The poorer part of town was near the gate we entered, and was made of crowded wooden structures. Every available surface was covered in buildings, and many extended up several stories. It looked as though more than a few shared walls, and dark alleys wove through the buildings to access even more that I couldn’t see from the street. The town’s main street ran from gate to gate, with a single road splitting off in the middle of town to run up to the megaron in the center of town, presumably where Strategos Dadaces lived and held court.

Behind the megaron were the homes of the wealthy, with wide, spacious courtyards and elaborately painted and decorated houses. The road to the megaron wrapped around it to serve that part of town. In between the megaron and the poor part of town was the merchant homes and the marketplace. These homes were often a cross between a home and a shop, with a front workshop area and living quarters behind. Looming behind these homes were often barn-like structures for storing of goods and housing slaves.

The marketplace was at the crossroads between the main street through town and the road to the megaron. A significant amount of open space had been left around the crossroads, giving space for carts and tables to be set up, and commerce to happen. Food vendors, craftsmen, wood workers, tailors and clothiers and the like all competed for space and customers in a cacophony of shouted dickering and dealing.

Xene dove into the madness, leaving me and Zahra to trail in her footsteps. We wove our way through the crowd until we reached the far side of the market, closest to the megaron. It didn’t take her long to find a table with a small assortment of crude tools and start haggling. I quickly lost interest in the negotiation, and my attention wandered to nearby vendors. I spotted a well dressed old man selling vellum and ink. I wasn’t interested in the vellum, but the man was keeping himself busy behind the table by mixing oil, some granular black substance, and a bit of thick, goopy material.

“Are you making ink?” I asked.

“Indeed I am,” said the man cheerfully. “Ivory black, in fact.”

“Fascinating. Is that glue?”

“Yes, just a touch. It helps bind the ground char to the oil. Exact mix is my secret, understand.”

“Yes, I understand. How much for a jar?”

“In better times, I was selling for four drachma per jar. These days, I’m lucky to get two. Of course, I’m lucky to get real ivory. I’ve had to make do with animal bones. Truthfully, I can hardly tell the difference. It writes well enough, and doesn’t fade,” the old man smiled as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Oh no,” said Zahra from behind me. I hadn’t even realized she’d wandered with me, her bodyguards close at hand. I turned just as I heard Xene scream. She was being hauled by two guards from the crowd towards the megaron. I saw Strategos Dadaces and Lord Nyphron standing and laughing together, with two militiamen behind them.

“Oh hell no,” I said, and charged after them. I broke through the crowd only a few steps behind Xene and her captors. I immediately pointed at both of them, using my new bracers to fire the strength curse. Immediately they sagged. One dropped his spear, while the other released Xene completely. She twisted out of the other’s grasp and turned towards me to run. When she saw me she ran over.

Zahra and her bodyguards broke from the crowd at that point, too. I motioned for Xene to stand behind me. Behind her, I saw Dadaces had stopped laughing and was now glaring at me. He stalked over.

“Mage! What is the meaning of this?” he shouted as he approached.

“Me?! Your militia just tried to kidnap one of my people!” I said in outrage.

“Your people? This is my town,” he snapped. “You just did something to my militiamen. Fix it, now.”

“They’ll be fine,” I said. “It’ll wear off in awhile.”

“So the girl is yours then? How much?”

“How much what?” I asked, afraid of the answer.

“To buy her, of course,” he said as if I were slow.

“My people are not for sale,” I replied.

“Nonsense. I won’t go higher than twenty drachma, so don’t bother trying to haggle for more. I know how greedy you mages are,” said the portly general.

“My people are NOT for sale,” I said again, gritting my teeth.

“Mmhmm. Well, think about my offer. I won’t be this generous for long.”

“I can see your generosity, but my mind won’t change.”

“My lord? The axes?” said one of the guards from the ground. He held up one of Ax’s conjured axe heads in a trembling hand, before quickly dropping it back down again. I pieced it together now. One of the militia men must have spotted the high quality tool and brought it to Dadace’s notice. He must have pointed Xene out as the source, and drawing Dadace’s interest.

“Ah, right. This is quality work. No hammer marks, so you must have magicked it. I have need of smithing. Would you consider a commission? I need of more helmets and spear heads,” he said. “And perhaps a new sword for myself.”

I didn’t want to arm this man’s forces further, but I also didn’t want to alienate him enough to drive us away. We still needed a few weeks to organize before we moved on to Iolcus. I was itching to be on the road. Now that we had a lead on where to find those murdering cultists, I didn’t want to wait. But poor planning had bit me in the ass before. I wasn’t going to do that again.

“I believe that can be arranged, if you have metal enough. How many are you talking?”

“I’m conscripting another seventy men, to fill losses and expand. I’ve got armor enough from the dead soldiers and so forth, but I’m going to need forty helm and sixty spear. Can you handle that?”

“My brother could do that, if you have sufficient materials,” I said cautiously.

“I’ll pay eight per helm, six per spear head. You buy the metal,” he said.

“Make it twelve per helm, ten per spear head, you provide the metal,” I countered. I didn’t want to share that we could conjure any amount we needed. It might convince him to try and keep us around, even if by force.

Dadaces snorted. “Haggling mage. Typical. Eight per helm, six per spear, but I’ll provide the metal, and give you two pair of oxen. Word has it you’re in the market.”

I had to give it to the man, he was sharp and well informed. We’d only just started sending our people out to find more animals.”

“Deal,” I said. “We’ll make delivery one week after we receive the bronze.”

He nodded, and I turned to go. But Zahra had other ideas. Her gloves were off, and she glowed with power. She stepped up to Dadaces swiftly, and caressed the side of his face.

“Your doom is upon you, Strategos, yet your fate is not sealed. Are you strong enough to defend your charge, or will you die upon your hollow throne? The choice is yours to make.”

The blood drained from Dadace’s face, and Lord Nyphron looked worried. Zahra stepped back again with a haggard expression on her face. Dadaces looked frozen in place for a moment, before his eyes focused on the sword at Zahra’s thigh and the bow on her back.

“I told you to keep your deviant warrior women out of my town! And this one is a witch!”

“Oracle, actually,” I said mildly.

“I don’t care! Get out!”

I nodded, and we left him in the street trembling with rage. We cut through the market and headed straight for the gates. I didn’t want to be inside the walls if he decided to try and arrest us.

“Thank you my lord,” said Xene.

“No thanks should be necessary,” I replied. “That was a horrible thing he tried to do.”

“Not many would stand up to a Strategos like that,” she said. “I’m grateful.”

“From now on, everyone in town sticks together,” I said. “Either Ax or myself goes with the group. We can’t let Dadaces try this again.”

Xene nodded, and Zahra smiled at her. “It is not your fate to stay in this town, Xene.”

“Oh… okay. Thanks?”

“Your welcome.”