Chapter 9

I Claim The Bounty!

There was a crowd ashore. Behind them, atop a rocky hill, was a village. The markets were open and busy. Busy with people. People who stood still, watching in awe and horror as Jack drove the colossal King Cyladon up onto the coast.

The body of the monster broke the coast and sent huge waves both to land and to sea. The sound of the collision was deafening. The impact was great enough to reshape the coastline. Behind us, at sea, were kilometers upon kilometers of the rest of the Cyladon’s body. It serpentined in an hour-long delay, distressing the sea and hiding the horizon.

Jack was running out of mana. I was running out of mana. Our mana resources were dwindling. Not that anyone cared but Jack and I. The surviving adventurers had one ting on their minds. Make it to shore. Before Jack lowered the upper body and head of the King Cyladon, adventurers had already begun to leap off, slide down, or use a number of magical aids in bringing them to shore.

Jack’s control was slipping. The Cyladon weaved and writhed as its head was forcefully lowered. An adventurer was ground beneath the hardened scales of the monsters chin. There was yelling from below. Screaming from atop the hill.

“I’m losing control,” Jack said.

“I’ll shield you,” I said. “Let’s go.”

We were the last to disembark our borrowed ride. We raced up the hill. The Cyladon shrieked behind us. It reared high in the sky, obscuring the sun, casting a long black shadow upon the village and the island. Suspended, the Cyladon writhed, as though throwing off an unseen rider. It screamed again, but its rattling scales were louder. Disoriented, the Cyladon whipped its head down into the coast. The impact shook the island with volcanic intensity. Apples and fruit rolled down the hill from a vendor's fallen basket of goods. Then the Cyladon threw its body out to sea and serpentined into the distance. Its body and tail would take an hour to follow.

“City guard!” O’Kallan said, hands on his knees, panting furiously. “City guard! We’ve got a zombie class adventurer!”

“City guard!” The captain said. One hand waved at the village crowd. The other pointed at Jack. Boule bared his teeth and an extreme smile from Jack’s shoulder. Jack tilted his head, cast his eyes at the zombie familiar, and Boule disappeared into the Pathogenik’s cloak.

The city guard showed themselves. They stepped through the villagers. Pikes led their advance as they quickly circled Jack. Their steel boots clattered a dozen until Jack was surrounded.

A higher ranking city guard arrived a moment later, relaxed and with no weapon. Instead, he was tangled in thick fences of chainmail. His head was but a cowardly pimple amidst the metal, and he threw his weight with each step. His voice was light and adolescent.

“I am Theero, son of Theerin. Theerin is the councilman to Bruje,” the small headed guard said.

“Bruje?” Jack said nodding to the village.

“Yea,” the guard said.

“Then we’ve arrived exactly where we planned.”

“What's this about a zombie class?”

“We were surrounded by a King Cyladon,” O’Kallan said. “This man sabotaged our ship by employing the use of his zombie class. We lost at least a hundred people. They drowned at sea after our ship was destroyed.”

The guard’s eyes made a frantic dance.

“What’s your name, sir?” He said.

“Jack.”

“Is this true? What they say?”

“It’s not true,” I said. “Jack saved as many people as he could. If it weren’t for him, we’d all be dead.”

“Can anyone else vouch for that?”

Many reluctant hands ascended.

“Arrest him, sir,” O’Kallan said. “He uses the zombie class. Does Vicen’s island not have a bounty on zombies and people who use zombie classes?”

“Arrest the man,” the guard said, throwing his weight behind him to step back.

“The monkey too,” our captain said with a snarl.

The guards under command did as they were told. Though they stormed Jack aggressively, Jack made no quarrel. Didn’t even bat an eye. He fought a smirk, until Boule was chased between his back and cloak, then yanked out by an arm. The monkey howled and shrieked. That’s when Jack’s face steeled with anger.

“Tosin,” Jack said. “Please look after Boullerd. I beg you. I’ll be free soon.”

“We’ll take good care of him!” One of the guards laughed, drawing out the laughter of his companions too. “We’ll put him right to work!”

“Tosin,” Jack said as the guards began to escort him through the village.

I gave a grim and determined nod.

The ranking guard in chainmail turned to bring up the rear of his minions. His armor slowed him and I easily caught up to him.

“Sir,” I said.

“Where are your men taking Boullerd?”

“We’re taking Jack to the dungeon at city hall. He’ll get room and board if a judge finds he’s broken the law. We’re taking the monkey to the bounty hall.”

“Jack told me that only one of the two zombie classes are legal. There’s no bounties on those. Boullerd is his familiar. You can’t turn him in.”

“Bounty says zombie. That monkey is a zombie.”

“He’s a familiar,” I said.

The guard stopped and turned to face me. When he did, he leaned back. He was irritated enough to confront me, but cowardly enough that the confrontation scared him. He opened his mouth to say something, but I interrupted him.

“How do you know that the monkey is a zombie? What is Jack is innocent and you’ve turned in a bounty that-”

“If it isn’t a zombie, the bounty merchants will turn me away.”

“Boullerd belongs to Jack, and if Jack is innocent, you’ll have stolen from a man. There’s got to be a law against that.”

“If the bounty merchants say this isn’t a zombie, then Jack will be fine. Besides, if no one else wants to claim the bounty, I'm taking the monkey in.”

The guard turned away and began shuffling after his guardsmen as fast as he could. He chose to slip between people, making it hard for me to follow at his side. I raced around people as fast as I could and finally caught up to him.

“Uh—I’m claiming the bounty!” I said.

The guard stopped, gave me a long look, then heaved a heavy sigh. “Fine,” he said. When we catch up to my men, we’ll hand off the monkey to you. You’ll go straight to the bounty hall, do you understand?”

“Yes sir,” I said. “Thank you.”

The guard muttered inchorenelty and shuffled onward.

The people of Bruje didn’t have a high opinion of the guard. Not a soul made way for us, nor the procession ahead of us. The market was alive. People bustled with a vigor determined to wear down the cobbled road as fast as possible.

I heard conversations of our arrival at Vicen’s island. Vicen’s name was often whispered and put sour expressions on people’s faces.

“Sir,” I said, slowing my stride to match the ranking guard’s pace.

“What?”

“Where is Vicen’s temple from here?”

The guard frowned.

“I hope you’re not one of those people,” he said.

That was all he said.