It had taken three days, but the paddle boat finally came to a stop and Julie was grateful. She had enjoyed being pampered by the faelings at first, but she quickly realized that she didn’t really have any stories to tell them. Outside of the story of her battle with Robert Two-eyes, she only knew stories that other people had told to her, and the faelings had apparently already heard all of those. She had tried telling them stories about her life on the farm, but they just weren’t interested. They had all been very kind in telling her that, but it still made her feel boring and inadequate.

What did make her feel better were the many things Ms. Ravenhair gifted her on the journey. First of all was a wonderful new sword that she had pulled out of her small glittery backpack. It was much lighter than the hardened steel she had been carrying, and seemed to be made for small hands even though it was almost as long as her leg. The handle was slim, with a large rounded hand guard that Julie thought was very dashing, and Ms. Ravenhair showed her that it would protect her hand as well. Secondly was a new set of armor, seeming fresh from a forge with a glaze as fresh as summer grass. It was enchanted with wood-walking according to Sevil, who snorted and coughed when he saw it. Julie had a vague idea that it would help her blend into foliage. The third gift was the best gift, even so. It was her company.

They shared a room for three happy nights, with Ms. Ravenhair telling colorful tales of her adventures during lessons on swordplay. The room was tiny and cramped, and Julie had suggested practicing on the deck, and Ms. Ravenhair had replied that swords were usually used in cramped places. Julie assumed it also had to do with the many other boats they passed on the river with bright, inquiring faces on the decks.

Lines and lines of grass, combed with water lacing through like muddy threads, it was incredibly quiet, and peaceful. And humid. Muggy, sultry, and Julie immediately started sweating. The smell was like the lake where she used to live but at the same time it was very different. It had a tamed quality, and all of the plants looked the same. Her eyes scanned in every direction, and as far as she could see it was just steppes of land covered in green plants and water. It was beautiful in an eerie and dead sort of way.

Julie asked, “What is all this? What are you farming in all this water?”

Tertius smiled, “It’s rice, my dear sparrow, you quite enjoyed it, remember. The white stuff on your plates?”

Julie felt herself flush. She had heard of rice before, and she had eaten it almost everyday on the boat, but she didn’t know what the plants looked like. Rice was something that people in Chalkstone knew about, but everyone ate wheat flour and meat. She looked at all the water again, and instantly realized that wheat wouldn’t grow here. “It’s all you can farm on your land then?” She asked without waiting for an answer, “That’s so sad.”

“Well, we also raise eels and crabs. And further south we raise water chestnuts, and all manner of things.” He trailed off and paused, then added, “We even put in some cranberries, I think. Barron knows, he can tell you all about it if you’re interested.”

Julie smiled when she saw little minnows swimming around the bottom of the boat. They made their way off the dock, and she was very grateful to be on land again. Even if it was soggy, disgusting land. Seeing plants and hearing birdsong were things she had always taken for granted, and she wondered what it would be like to live in a city where things were said to be rare. The journey through the rice fields was a long and muddy one, and the trio had fallen into a sullen silence. This was broken occasionally by harsh, whispered words between Sevil and Ravenhair, and Julie was left wondering why.

She tried breaking the silence, “I just wanted to say thank you. For getting me out of Willet like you did,” Tertius was far enough ahead that she didn’t think he would hear her low voice, “I don’t know what would have happened if you wouldn’t have been there.”

In a rare burst of conversation, Toby said, “Hanging. Probably, or the guillotine.”

Ravenhair slapped him on the chest, and he smiled good-naturedly, she said, “Don’t mind him, he’s always whistling past the graveyard these days.”

Sevil said, “Don’t worry about it. You’ll repay the favor someday.”

In the distance Julie spotted an immense structure that seemed to rise out of the ground. When she realized that it was there, she realized that she should have seen it a long time ago. It rose from what looked like a spider’s thread base up and up into the sky growing as it went until it was a massive cylinder that grew into what could only be described as a castle. It was like a castle from a child’s nightmare though. Perhaps an unhappy child’s nightmare. She stopped in her tracks and pointed, “Is that where we’re going?” She asked.

Everyone turned and looked at her at once, and she realized she’d committed yet another faux pas. She searched her mind for something to say, but was saved by Ravenhair yet again, she laughed heartily and soon Toby and Tertius joined in. Sevil was the only one left unamused, he said in a very solemn voice, “Why hasn’t that been torn down?”

Tertius turned to him and said in a heart voice that rang with indoctrination, “History of course! If we erase the past, we are doomed to repeat it, are we not?”

Sevil rolled his eyes and hissed between clenched jaws, “I’m sure that sounded fine when your father or whoever said it, but this is dangerous! It’s a monument to death. It’s a monument to fear, and mark my words it will bring you nothing but ill tiding as long as it stands there.”

“But you’re a wizard yourself!” Tertius exclaimed, “How can you be against magic!”

Sevil looked very solemnly at his feet and finally he muttered, “I’m not a wizard, I’m a mage, and I’m not against magic. I’m against idealizing Towered Wizardry and Thaumatism!”

The rest of the walk was very quiet after that. There was a palpable tension in the air. Julie tried to break it more than once, asking more questions as they got closer and closer to the village in the distance. At least, she thought it was a village. All she could see were great stone walls, and so she figured that there must people living in them. She grew up farming, and she knew just by looking around that this much land would take hundred and hundreds of people to cultivate.

The gate in the wall was massive, and there were archers prowling the walls behind crenellations with nasty looking crossbows. One of them called down “Oy! Who is it then?”

Tertius looked up at the man and said “You know damn well who I am, Smith!” His voice shook with exasperation, this was obviously an old argument.

Smith called down again, whining “What’s the password, then?”

Tertius wiped his forehead and said “I don’t know the password, I have been gone for three weeks!”

The man called Smith considered this comically and then turned the huge crank, a draw bridge swinging down with excruciating slowness, finally landing in a sick splash of mud. Julie had to skip backwards and still got specks on her new armor.

As they walked through the gargantuan walls, the air took on a whole new color and taste. Where there was green water before, there was dank mud and the smell of a latrine. She licked her teeth uncomfortably, and tried not to grimace. Tertius did not look or seem affected by the condition of the city. Everyone looked dirty and scared. He led the group quickly down the main street, leading towards the massive keep on top of the hill. As their elevation rose, the people seemed a little cleaner, and a little more eager to meet her eye.

A group of surly looking drunk people were loitering in front of the castle gate. One of them caught sight of Tertius and pointed, and they rounded on him. The leader was red-faced and bald with a large belly. Full of wine, Julie thought. He folded his arms petulantly and said “Oh the golden boy returns. Had your fill of bumpkin whores?”

Julie’s mouth dropped open, and the four of them looked to Tertius, who responded “Ah, Reginald! Captain of our illustrious guard!”

Ms. Ravenhair laughed loudly at that. “Hey, Tert? Why don’t you send out your illustrious guard instead of hiring bumpkin mercenaries like us?”

Reginald put his arms down, and scowled, trying to look intimidating. “Trying to do something useful, eh? Never known you to be interested in our affairs other than to drink the wine and drain the coffers.”

Tertius rolled his eyes, “Well, I need to talk to Barron if I am to be able to do anything.”

Reginald scoffed, “Ain’t that the truth. Well, he’s up in his bedroom. Taken a bit ill as of late, not that you have reason to know. Go on, William will fetch him for you. He’s in the foyer.” At this, he turned pointedly away, the rest of the louts falling in behind him. A disgruntled looking woman spit at Tertius as she passed. He did not seem to notice.

The inside was magnificently decorated with gold and silver trim on old burnished wood. The light filtered gold through high, dusty windows onto threadbare silk tapestries. Julie saw it even made her green armor look a bit dusty and brown. The hall was larger than her little village square, sparsely furnished with long carved sofas down the walls. A desk, dwarfed by the room stood in the center, facing the doorway. The man behind it seemed anxious and dreadfully bored. His white hair was wispy and smoothed wetly over his high forehead, and seemed as threadbare as the rest of the room.

Tertius beamed with an unusually boyish grin, “William! You look smashing! Your face brightens hard hearts today!”

William looked at him sharply and snapped, “Take that silly hat off! You are indoors. You were raised better than that.” He continued writing with a severely trimmed feather quill.

“Oh, master Will,” Tertius removed his hat happily, “I do miss your dour face when I leave here. It rings of home.”

William responded dryly without looking up, “I suppose you’re here for more money.” He put the quill down, shaking the ink out carefully, and began rummaging through the desk.

Tertius raised his eyebrows abashedly and said “I think I had better just talk to Barron.”

The man looked up, squinting his eyes distrustfully at Tertius through thick glasses, “Barron is sick. He certainly does not want to see you, or meet your dubious strays.”

Tertius sounded irritable “Well, unless you have one hundred thousand in that desk of yours, I do not think you can handle the matter on your own.”

He rolled his eyes and exclaimed “In the name of the nine gods of Feld! Has your gambling gotten so bad? Are these ruffians here to hang you by your garters?”

Ms. Ravenhair cut in laughing, “I might do that anyway!”

With a deep scowl at her, Tertius growled back. “I know where his bedroom is. If you won’t wake him, I will simply go up myself. You know how he hates that.”

With a long-suffering sigh, William blew on the sheet of paper and carefully tucked it into the desk and locked the drawer. He slowly climbed the spiral staircase.

As soon as he was out of sight, Ms. Ravenhair burst out laughing again. “Garters.” She gasped happily. “You know, I saw some on that ship of yours!” Tertius groaned and put his hat back on, the tall golden feather bouncing off the rim.

Julie had time to count all of the sofas, tables, tapestries and windows before William returned. The man that accompanied him looked far too old to be Tertius’ brother. He looked like he could have been William’s brother. Older brother.

Tertius’ smile was forced now, and did not meet his eyes. He opened his arms expansively and said “Barron! What a spring in your step!”

Barron wheezed, “Tertius, why have you come here?” He sounded far too tired to be malicious, but it seemed that he was going to make a good effort anyway.

Sevil interjected before Tertius could respond. “Why hasn’t it been dismantled?”

William snapped at him, “You will speak when spoken to in the presence of Lord Feld.”

Barron stopped on the stair and took a long rattling breath. “What are you talking about? The tower? Oh, now, did I go to school with you?”

Sevil said curtly, “How would you know? You would never deign to speak with a scholarship boy. Answer the question, Barron.”

William’s face flushed, and he scurried down the stairs toward him, “You shall not speak to Lord Feld in this manner!” He rounded on Tertius, waving a trembling finger, “Why have you brought these people here? Do we not have enough problems?”

Tertius said quickly, “I brought them here to solve a problem! They are adventurers, you know, apolitical mercenaries, for the sinkhole.”

William said, “We have never had to trouble others with our own problems in the past, and I am loathe to set such a precedent.”

Barron continued his painful descent and said, “William, maybe for once Tertius is right. Simon would not help. He does not need us anymore, it seems, and he has taken our finest with him.”

Tertius hurriedly explained the situation, and the price Ms. Ravenhair had quoted. William started sputtering, but Barron put a hand on his shoulder and said, “It seems we have little choice, but I would like to question his choice. Studying at the University means little. I should know.”

Sevil gave a rare smile at that, and flicked a card into his fingers. He proffered it gracefully to Barron.

Barron snatched it, examined it quickly and held it up to a beam of light for long moments. He looked back at Sevil with condescension. “This says you are a mage. Failed your thesis?”

Sevil snorted and rubbed his scar absently. “It was all politics,” he produced his pipe and lit it with his fingertip. Barron raised an eyebrow at that.

Ms. Ravenhair clapped her hands together and said loudly, “This shithole ain’t nothin’ but a stop in the road for us. We have better places to be than up to our ears in your godforsaken mud. We told you the price. Either pay, or quit wasting our time.”

Julie was genuinely becoming worried. The story Tertius had told was playing in her mind, and it fit very well with the scared people she had seen outside. They were farmers who had lost people to those creatures. They could stay in these walls, but if the crop was not harvested, they would starve to death.

William choked, “This is extortion! They are thieves! Nothing but thieves gone in the night! How can we possibly trust them?”

Barron smiled meanly, “Because Tertius will join them, and if he returns without it complete, he will never be welcome within these walls as long as I live.”

Tertius swallowed and cast his eyes at the floor as Ms. Ravenhair laughed long and hard.

The Feld family armory was a room filled with rusty steel. Tertius looked around, confused, and said “It wasn’t like this before! Simon must have drained our stocks along with our personnel.”

Toby was running his fingers over a halberd, he picked it up and swung it around a bit and then pushed it into Tertius’ hands. “Is this too heavy for you? Before you answer, hold it out in front of you like this for a few seconds.”

Tertius tested the weight of the halberd, and holding it at arms length only made his arms tremble a bit. He did like that it would put a great deal of distance between him and the attacker, since it was half again as tall as himself.

Ms. Ravenhair was looking around as well, “The guys on the wall had those nifty little crossbows, you got anything like that here?” She made a quick round of the room.

Tertius mumbled “I think they bought those themselves, anyway, I’ve got my ring so I should be well prepared now.” Sevil issued a hoarse laugh and Toby just shook his head ‘no.’ Tertius looked deflated. “It’s a proper ring of protection! Never seen one like it, cost a fortune!”

Sevil snapped “I have an S-class ring sitting in my bag right now. Couldn’t get 6 platinum for the one on your hand.”

Tertius held up his hands fearfully and brought them to his mouth. “I don’t have an S permit!”

Sevil shrugged and lit his foul smelling pipe. “No? Neither do I.”

Tertius looked relieved, “Oh, so that’s why it’s in your bag?”

Ms. Ravenhair shook dust from the ceiling with her laugh, and Sevil snorted, and with a flourish, he proffered a ring to Tertius. With a bored voice he implored, “I would like this back when we are done.”

They were a half hour outside of the keep, and the land was drying out considerably, to Julie’s relief. In the distance she could even see animals grazing. Tertius had not donned the ring, but Sevil had refused to take it back, so Tertius pulled it out of his pocket every few minutes to look at it. He would tuck it back away, a bit mournfully, every time. Julie had asked if she could have any magic rings to wear, but everyone had fallen deaf. Ms. Ravenhair told her a bit later that she just needed training.

They approached a large herd of horses grazing happily, right next to the path. Julie watched with interest, as her father had bred horses. These looked like fine stock, perhaps a bit wide in the knee for jumping, but must be solid workers. “Are these Shire horses?” She asked Tertius, pointing at the closest example.

Tertius answered tentatively, “I don’t rightly know, but we sure make a lot of them.”

Julie sounded excited, “Well, they have such large feet! I assume they do, but they look entirely made out of mud here. I suppose they are fine with it, but that field would crack our appaloosas hooves sure as anything.” Then she pointed, “Oh! There is a wrangler lying over there, I bet they can tell me if they are Shires!”

Toby had also seen the ‘wrangler’ and grabbed her shoulder when she started towards them. He bellowed “To arms!,” which made Tertius scream, but everyone else pulled out their weapons. The horses all started, running madly in a cloud of mud and thunder. The ‘wrangler’ stood slowly, entirely covered in mud. Julie gasped as two others rose.

Bolts sprung wetly from the figure’s chest, it was not moving at all like a human, and did not react. Ms. Ravenhair groaned, “Ghouls. I hate ghouls.”

Tertius rallied, “Leave it to me!” and shot a huge ball of fire right in between the three figures. The wet grass caught on smoky fire, sputtering out wetly after a few moments, leaving no trace except for a blackened circle. The figures looked lazily toward the quintet.

Then, with a dizzying burst of speed, they charged. Ms. Ravenhair shouted “Decapitate!”

The one closest ran straight for Julie, and with a swiftness she didn’t know she had, she swung the sword purposefully across its head. To her surprise, the sword sunk into the neck easily. The head hung for a moment off kilter before sliding off, with a spray of black ichor. The body collapsed a half-second later. Julie blinked and turned toward the rest.

Toby had a ghoul at his feet, but Tertius had poked the spike of his halberd into the ghoul’s torso. It flailed its arms and snapped at him, croaking eerily. Sevil was laughing, and Tertius squealed desperately. After Sevil caught his breath, he raised his hand and muttered a few words, and the thing’s head exploded. Ichor rained down on Tertius and painted his clothes, the gold feather turned black and stuck to his face.

Ms. Ravenhair smiled at Julie warmly and put her hand on her shoulder before glaring ferociously at Tertius. “You did not say they were ghouls!”

Tertius said innocently, “Well, how was I to know?”