Chapter 133
Gula POV
Despite getting what it wanted and pillows for comfort, at the first waking moment of morning, my body made certain sore spots along its back, legs, and neck well known. I turned left to see Eli's bare backside as he sat upright on the bed's edge, seemingly trying to get up without waking me. His head of grey hair still had some unruly bits on its sides. Beyond him on the left wall were windows revealing early morning sun only just pushing back night over a swirling ocean.
After a second of consideration, I couldn't help but admit that it was a good kind of sore. Why certainly involved how Eli got up and stumbled as he made his way to the jacket lying on the floor in front of the desk. The way he was struggling to even walk straight, to a degree the shifting floor of the ship couldn't fully explain, made me finally accept that perhaps rebellious flesh had a wisdom of its own.
The world went black as I performed a quick morning stretch, sending my upper half out of the warm, red blankets. Cold air whisked away any heat on my back and chest, having long stripped any from my face.
"Failure isn't the best way to start a day," Eli said with a grim tone in the darkness.
I opened my eyes to see him standing next to the desk, rummaging through a leather coat. His strong chin had an irritated jut that matched the frustration in his green eyes. Thankfully, the coat only reached to his stomach. We stared at each other for a moment, then I did a purposeful look down to his loins, absorbed said contents, then looked back up.
"Do you want my lips? Mouth or otherwise?" I announced with a push down of the red blanket using my feet, baring green flesh to Eli's matching eyes and biting northern air.
"Jesus, Gula." He said with puckered lips that still told of temptation.
"I was serious, Eli. As much as you want, when you want it, how you want it. What I've demanded of you so far, even before that fat toad…. I could never repay. Let me compensate you with what little I can offer."
The way he slowly shook his head and smiled, all in clear struggle not to accept, made my heart race.
"No one will see you pushing out a village of my children and think I'm not being given my due."
Heat came to my cheeks, forcing my gaze to the right where the double doors lay, unable to meet his gaze. When footsteps announced his approach I turned back just in time to see him only a foot away, lips puckered for a kiss. I closed my eyes in preparation.
"Keep them open," Eli commanded.
The world returned just in time for me to see Eli's lips land on mine. There was probably something that should have been happening with my hands and his loins as we commenced, but the man's gaze held too much love for me to concentrate elsewhere. After nearly a minute, he broke the kiss with a pop.
"Pervert." I scolded him with a pouty lip. A smug smile was all he gave me.
When Eli got off the bed and started getting dressed, I took in the movement of his various bits as the pants and shirt were fixed into their proper places.
"Do you have tools for measuring size?" He asked as he took out a flask from his leather coat.
"Yes. Plenty."
"Get measurements for his lower backside. Putting it anywhere else is asking for irritation on soft skin or constriction of the neck. Considering he's covered in eyes, I'll have to deploy smaller crafts around them. If there are any on his lower end, at least."
I nodded as he chugged on the flask's head. When he finished, the drink was offered to me. It felt a little early for such things, but my right hand took it and tipped liquid down my throat all the same. A fruity mixture, spicy yet sweet, filled my mouth and even reached through to my nose.
"A meal and a drink. Or that's what I tell myself when I skip lunch."
I gave him a nod as I handed it back.
"And how is the city coming? Any big news since we last talked?" I asked as the last bit of spice lingered on my tongue.
"It's going in leaps and crawls. Sometimes both. Thankfully the biggest issue with the orcs is resolved now that they've gotten near the river in large numbers." Eli mused as he fit the flask inside his coat.
"What was the issue with us and the river?"
The question was more urgent than the last one, even making me pull up to the side of the bed and sit at the edge.
"Now it's too hard to pull you out," Eli said, fixing the leather coat's collar as he explained. "Technically, that isn't true, but if anyone examines the blueprints, they'll see that it's a lot harder no matter what anyone says. If they had acted on the tunneling sooner, I'd have to feign poor planning for why we can't excavate down to the bedrock. Being near the river, even if we cut off the water, presents too many issues with the surrounding complexes."
"Do they know we're already under your city?"
"Pff!" Eli huffed with a heavy shake of his head. "They've known for a while, even if the exact details are unclear to them. Sheer bureaucratic inertia and a heavy dose of self-preservation have left them paralyzed. If they had acted sooner…. But that's not my problem anymore.
Governor Ashe will be fitted with a black eye, and the two replacements for the associations will probably get replaced themselves. No one breathed a word of any of it to me, and who can be expected to anticipate orcs getting magic crafts? The outcome is already fixed in….Stone. The kind magic can't move aside."
It was a delicious scheme, one I would never get to see the conclusion of. The missed opportunity dampened my mood ever so slightly.
"But that's in the future," Eli said with a look out the window as the first bits of orange started peeking over the horizon. "The now is filled with enough problems for both of us."
Those green eyes absorbed the endless ocean outside before turning back to me with hesitance. I leaned back a few inches and stuck my hips out.
"You're free to take, Eli. Whenever. However." I declared with a boldness I didn't quite feel.
His lingering gaze and licking lips sent my heart pounding.
"Another time, temptress." The quad mage said before retrieving the cloth face covering from the desk and fixing it in place.
He parted with a final nod. As he opened the window, some cruel voice said to let him see more of what he was leaving behind. I stretched upward, making sure to shift my body into a wider display just as he was halfway down to the footholds below. Raw hunger in those green pools made my heart race, yet he still had to shimmy out of the window. His eyes narrowed, letting me know there was some punishment for the distraction in my future. My lips trembled in fear as he closed the window, making him roll his eyes at the last moment.
I ended the stretch by leaning onto the left headboard. Then I took a deep breath and released it into the cold northern air before looking down at my bare body, appropriately sore from last night's exercise.
Are you happy now?
Neither breast or spine deigned to answer.
I did one last, and this time genuine, stretch before getting on with the morning routine.
The rest of the day went on with little difference from any other save how it started. Cassie came by with some apology for the words exchanged before my departure, and I agreed that both parties were at fault. Another order of food for the Underground was offered, but the helper/vice captain, Geoff, suggested it be delayed, saying that we would be moving southward soon. Businesses with Crasden could then be facilitated with a number of intermediaries. I agreed to that with little attention.
More than two weeks passed as I waited for what would be an appropriate time for correspondence to reach our healing mage benefactor and receive an answer. Getting cargo from a payload was waiting with more words. Negotiations with smugglers willing to bring food from us to Crasden were conducted with bare interest. The only times I felt mentally present were the visits with Eli, but even then, awareness only persisted until the window of my cabin closed. It was only at the waking hour of the fifteenth day that the world stopped resting.
The instant I woke up, I threw the bedsheets downward and scrambled to get off the mattress to find clothes. A white shirt from the top of the desk was pulled over my head and brown pants hoisted up to my hips. It was only as I was putting on boots at the bedside that I registered the sound of men working outside the cabin. I got as far as fitting my left arm in the red coat before a knock at the double doors drew me away from dressing.
"We're almost ready to go, captain," Geoff called from behind the wood.
"Excellent! Shove off the instant we're good." I responded with a smile breaking out despite the early hour. It took a few more seconds before I was fully clothed. Bits of hair were still stuck in the shirt's collar, yet work called me out the door.
True to his word, the men on the deck were in the process of loosening the sails as I stepped onto the railing outside the captain's quarters. Taking a deep breath of the cold air, I turned right towards the coast. It was icy sea leading up to a poor beach, beyond which lay a landscape of strewn rocks. All as lifeless as any spot of land could be.
Yet so much happened here.
For the better.
Hopefully.
"Captain?"
I turned left to the deck below. Geoff was standing off to the lower right, previously supervising the goings on before his green eyes locked on me.
"It seems I've grown fond of these rocks," I admitted with a shrug. "Still, we have a big toad to see."
The leathery-skinned man nodded before turning back to the men. I turned back to the cabin and continued waiting.
After weeks of waiting, days passed seemingly in minutes under the constant strumming of fingers and nervous pacing. That was until we came within range of the toad's border. Geoff and I had since devised a meeting that would deliver the needed information about whether the all-encompassing spirit connection gave him the ability to read lips, a bit of deception was fast approaching.
I was sitting at my desk, looking over the same figures I had for days when the expected buzz finally rolled over my skin, to the usual chorus of curses outside. Only a minute passed before a knock at the door drew me away from the papers.
"Captain, the men are wondering what the plan is." Geoff's voice asked from behind the door.
"That depends," I answered, trying to sound casual as I kept my heart on as tight a leash as possible. "Thousand Screams Toad, I have news of the crafts."
The bait was thrown.
Seconds passed with no avalanche in my head or booming voice coming through the spirit connection.
A sigh of relief was forced down. This may not be definitive proof that the toad couldn't read lips, but it was a good sign, and such things were scarce enough that I wouldn't bludgeon this one with further doubts.
"If you hear a thud, try to make me comfortable," I yelled to the door.
"Aye," Geoff responded.
Taking a deep breath, I concentrated on the back of my forehead and tentatively pushed out the spirit connection to meet the one covering me.
'I have news from the healing mage.'
The toad huffed a gale wind that filled my ears even as no sound brushed against them.
'And what has she said?' He rumbled inside my skull.
'She's willing, depending on the parameters. We're to measure your lower backside for the crafts to get an idea of what size is needed. Whatever it ends up looking like, they're willing to add more if its not enough to absorb the local mana.
One issue is your sheer size. It goes without saying that no one's used healing crafts on such a large mass of flesh before, at least over a long period. It might be a while before we get a good idea if any amount, short of a full encasing, will be enough.'
A mountain cracked, the sound coming in just low enough for the huff to be distinguishable.
'Good. It is the trickster who comes with endless assurance of success. But this exchange is not a charity for me.'
'Yes,' I agreed, nodding to the empty air. 'She also wants us to check what trade we'll be dealing in. A good grasp on the amounts, expected profits, things of that nature.'
'Testing the waters of both shores. Fine. The fairy brought a ship capable of traversing the death clouds, waiting for the agreed inspection of its capacity. An ability that one of mine has confirmed. I'll inform them of your arrival.'
'Actually, I would like to come with them on the trip. I don't remember if this was covered, but the mage also wants to know what opportunities lie in the beast lands. There will be four of us in total.'
'So be it.'
I nodded to nothing again. This time, curiosity bubbled up. I struggled with it for a second; any interaction with the toad was fraught with danger and thousands of unseen consequences.
'Are you uncomfortable?' The question boomed in my head, fulfilling its initial concern.
Well, it appears his spirit connection allowed him to pick up general emotion rather than lip-reading. Or I hid my emotions as well as clear glass. The latter, I had to admit, was probably the culprit.
'Just curious, if you don't have any problem with answering two questions.'
'I may just have the chance of obtaining eternal life. A few questions for the orc who brought it about is nothing.'
Leaning back into my chair, I released a breath. Making a mental note of our better relations, the words were formed and ordered into their places.
'Why didn't you stop us on the first trip through? You had no guarantee we would be back. And why us? Surely another healing mage would come along for you to work with. One you could put more thoroughly under your thumb. Or, webbed hand, whatever it may be.'
Again, the mountain cracked with low rumbles going up and down in volume. After a few seconds, I realized he was laughing. It took another booming chortle for him to get it out of his considerable system.
'Just find another?!' He asked with disbelief coming clear through. 'Pah!'
Another strong guffaw, and the storm settled.
'Two questions; One answer.
Scarcity.
Working with the healing mage has clearly distorted their kind's numbers in your mind. In the centuries I've been here, I've not met one. And probably never will. Healing mages have no need to venture to dangerous lands, much less ones with lower mana.
That is also why I didn't stop you the first time. My attention was first drawn when I detected members of my kind on board. When it was apparent they weren't slaves, I kept to my usual distance.
Then you came back. Now with the older ones moving a bit more spryly.
You may not know this, orc, but our skin is not the toughest. We rely on our innate healing to make up for the usual scrapes and bruises. Your frojan? They healed from splinters, feet scraping on the floor, and sunburn faster than what even we should be capable of. I will admit, it took me longer than it should have to realize what the secret was.
After a few hours of treading my waters, I had every eye watching to see what could prompt a force so wealthy to visit my domain. When it was apparent this was a simple trade, possibility forced an introduction.'
My head bobbed up and down to empty air.
'A final question. Where will we be meeting?'
'Frojan's Rest.'
I blinked at the ceiling.
'That city we visited?'
'Yes.' He answered with a thundering boom.
Since there were no more words coming from his end, I considered the conversation over. Two of the biggest questions had been answered in minutes of our arrival. Yet it would still take many days or even weeks before the airship above would be informed of such. An odd thing I quickly dismissed before getting back to the hundreds of tasks my station demanded.
Hours of nothing passed before night came to an end with an eager slinking into relatively warm sheets. That nothing continued for a few more days before the time of arrival was finally at hand. I was on the right side of the ship, sack in hand as the sun beat down from a clear blue sky.
Coming over the horizon was the endless open mouths of straw that formed the city, apparently called Frojan's Rest. Our approach confirmed that it was much the same as last time. I sucked in the air, only now truly registering the taste of sea on the breeze. As great as the day was promising to be, I was still the captain.
"Are we ready to disembark?" I yelled as I kept my gaze on the city coming into view.
"Yes, captain," Geoff called from somewhere behind me.
"Remember, we're under the toad's boot. Don't give him a reason to press down." I said, not taking my eyes off the city getting bigger with each second.
"Aye."
Gazing over the city, its features gradually turning from indistinct shapes to buildings, my eyes were pulled to the left of the city where memory placed our first embarkation to those canopies. For a moment, my brain struggled to place what the colorful mass of purple, pinks, teals, whites, and yellows bobbing on the ocean was. When it was finally able to see that it was a ship, I felt thoroughly less intelligent than I did seconds before.
The bow seemed almost painfully thin compared to my current home. Its body was purple wood, though smears of something glossy covered most of it in pinks, teals, and yellows. Contrasting this were white sails above the deck bundled into rolls on the top masts. Squares, triangles, and circles dotting the vessel, along with connecting lines, were also painted in white, though their paint seemed brighter than any of the other colors.
What took less time to comprehend was the boat sailing to us from the ship. No paddles were touching water from the dinghy's sides. Instead, two grey-skinned creatures with flat heads and grey robes held their hands up on its sides.
"It feels-s like the air here has life that it didn't in the north."
The familiar voice on my left finally drew me away from the sight. Lokan, the blue snake woman and long-time friend approached with Baloo in tow. Her vertical scar along her left eye matched mine, though it was hard to distinguish in the sunlight.
The lighter blue skin running from her snout's jaw to her breasts and the inner skin of her frill matched the frojan's smoothness, but along her back and tail were darker, harder scales more typical of her mute cousins. She was wrapped in a dark purple robe that contrasted with the tropical heat. Red irises with slits regarded me with amusement before turning to the approaching boat.
"Ready for your first bit of work in months?" I asked with a smile.
"Months-s?" She hissed in mock anger, swatting me with her tail as she came up to the left. "Who's been going over regulations for trade? And regional history?"
"That's reading, which for you doesn't count as work."
Her lips puckered as those red eyes moved their slits to me.
"This trip, however, is going to be actual labor." I continued. "I hope you haven't forgotten how to swim."
"I've done nothing but outs-side my room. I've also gotten quite good at getting bits of salt out of scales."
"Good. We're going to need your immunity to the poison when we get to the beastmen. One thing, I've heard and since confirmed with several people that there are colonies of feral enten about. Are you….going to be okay if we see such a band roaming by?"
The blue snake woman turned to the sea, staring off in the distance. I allowed her the time to consider her feelings. After nearly a minute of silence, she finally nodded.
"It's time I feel my people's land. Not just see it through words. I need to smell the soil and taste the mushroom spores that all my kind has. Yes. I will be fine. But if battle comes, I'm running below deck."
I gave her a small squeeze on the shoulder as the small purple boat came up to our wooden mansion. One of the sailors on the right threw the rope ladder down to the newcomers in greeting.
"With permission," A singing voice came up from one of the grey creatures in the back, his wide head bobbing with the boat. "We can use water magic for ankle and wrist shackles to bring them safely onboard."
"Are we to be prisoners-s?" Lokan scoffed.
"I don't fancy a dip in the ocean." I rebuffed.
Red eyes rolled before she huffed.
"Fine," The snake woman acknowledged with a grimace.
Shimmying down the ladder was pretty easy, as I had only a sack of clothes to weigh me down. Lokan moved with slightly less grace, swaying the ropes with more force than needed, yet we were magically hoisted into the boat without incident all the same. Two kelton guards also came down, one black and one brown, sporting light leather armor that proved a bit more difficult for the faeries to magically lift. Aside from the brown kelton suffering a pronounced smack of his curled brown horns against the side of the ship, our group was inside the boat without fuss. I found myself in the middle, across from Lokan, looking at the back where the colored ship lay beyond, while the two keltons took seats on the left with the brown one beside me and the black one sitting beside Lokan.
Our current captain near the back looked around with teal eyes before nodding to his fellows, shaking his pinkish folds of leafy skin where hair should have been. The way the boat did an almost standing turn in place made my stomach shift as the world swirled and I struggled to stay upright. I had some experience with rough waters in too thin boats, so I was merely queasy. The two Keltons were clearly trying to keep their meal down while Lokan turned around to the fairy leading this group. The bit lip between sharp teeth made it clear Lokan didn't need to say anything.
"Apologies," He sang to us, stretching bits of yellow and teal glaze on his skin as he did so. "We're a scouting crew foremost, not guest transport. Such turns are common for those who desire speed on the waves."
The blue snake woman silently turned back around to face me. I only shrugged as the boat took off towards their main ship, this time at a more gentle pace. Ocean spray lapped at my right side while Lokan held onto her seat as tightly as she could.
Our arrival at the side of our home for the next several days took only a few minutes. It was hard to tell its exact size as it bobbed up and down in the ocean, but it seemed to have at least three floors and a smoother bottom, presumably making it suitable for river travel. Mirroring our greeting, a rope ladder was thrown down when we stopped. Getting to it was a bit more difficult this time as the sun tried to burn my eyes when I looked up. It took nearly a minute of climbing for me to finally see the lip of the ship's deck.
I stopped near the top to grasp the railing, feeling the moist wood on my fingers before pushing myself forward onto the purple deck. A field of wide, grey heads surrounded me, most reaching only four or so feet high. Their teal and pink eyes inspected me with curiosity unblemished by any attempt to hide it. Besides the waves beyond, only their slits for noses moved. When Lokan came up to my right, they barely registered her or the keltons.
"And why do I pay these witless fools?!" A faerie's singing voice called from the left. It came from the back of the ship, where the only raised section served as a captain's quarters. In its doorway was another member of fairy-kind. This one sported a yellow cap on his wide head that had a bit of the yellow fabric go down between his now flaring nostrils.
"Did I dream the command to make ready?" He yelled again, pink eyes shooting back and forth, his voice still showing the singing tones of his kind, yet no less angry for it.
The crowd dispersed into a thousand different heads moving to one task or another. While they were all a good foot shorter than me, it was only the bounce of the yellow cap that let me follow the captain's approach. The instant he was in arm's reach, I put out my hand in greeting.
"Name's Gula." I offered.
An odd hiccup was his first answer, with even the odd fins sticking out through the sides of his robe swaying.
"Yes." He offered ruefully, coughing before extending his own hand. "You can call me captain."
I raised an eyebrow to him even as I shook his hand.
"It's considered very personal to give a proper name. With all our recent dealings, I've had to adjust to certain customs. I would advise using an impersonal title while on board. Most of the crew aren't as quick to maneuver as I am."
"Orc is good enough for me."
He nodded before moving down the line. He barely finished the first step before he stopped upon spotting Lokan. His puckered lips told of worry rather than surprise.
"You brought your own enten scout?"
"Is there a problem?" I asked, defensively moving closer to the blue snake woman.
"She's young." He said before putting out his hand. "And the one we brought is a spry lad. Either shouldn't turn, I suppose."
"Another?" I asked, raising both eyebrows.
"Male?"
I turned to give her furrowed eyebrows, which went unnoticed as she stared intently at the fairy.
"A reliable man." He continued, "Used him for several runs and never steered us wrong. Fortunately, he stays near the front of the ship."
Lokan stood still, struggling to even unclasp her hands before stiffly putting them to her side.
"Your accommodations are down the stairwell on the first bunk to the right." The captain offered with a hand wave to an open doorway behind us. One of the faeries pulled away from the crowd to stand on my right, clearly waiting to guide us. I gave the captain a final nod, as did Lokan and the two Keltons. I moved to the right immediately. The blue snake woman hesitated for the barest fraction of a second. Not long enough to delay, but enough to be noticed.
When we came up to the hole of purple wood, I heard her sharp breath. Despite that, her footsteps still bounced off the walls with mine. There was a second floor that whirled by as we immediately went left to go further down.
At the third, and presumably, final floor was a wide array of bunk beds splayed out in neat rows, illuminated by the glow of two mana lamps at the front and back. The smell was moist and more resembled a forest after fresh rain than the smell of wood and oil lamps permeating the decks of my ship. Our guide gestured to the right, where our time would be spent for the next few days.
The bunks sported sturdy purple wood similar to the ships. They were also clearly sized for the shorter denizens of said ship. A quick mental calculation made it obvious my feet would be resting on air. I placed my bag beside the bunk directly ahead. A tentative push down on the top mattress through its white blanket at least told of comfort for my upper half. Lokan slipped by the left to lie in the lower bed, red eyes staring at nothing in particular as they perused the underside of what was apparently going to be my bunk.
The two Kelton guards took the bunk to the left, leaving a bare wall behind us when we slept. I had been thinking this trip would be spent doing nothing, but it was clear Lokan would be needing me, considering I was the only one with experience in any romantic matters. As unfathomable as that would have been in times past.
With most of the crew above deck, it was oddly quiet for such a large space. I decided to enjoy the bit of peace by lying on the top bed. Dangling feet felt unusual, yet I still felt some resistance to getting up when lunch was called.
Our group moved as one, with a Kelton man in leather armor in front and another in the back. The male enten didn't show up as we entered the second floor, nor when the lunch of fish and squid in a spicy lemon sauce was served. As we were going back down the stairs, a singing, high-pitched, yet still male voice called from above.
"We're approaching the mushroom clouds!"
If there was any disagreement among our group to go up and see the enchantments work, I didn't stick around to hear it.
I half-jogged up the steps to the right, slowed down by the meal and light beer. Taking a step onto the deck left me blinded by a long ray of sunlight. When my eyes adjusted, a sprawling open sea lay on the left where my head was pointed. Turning around revealed white walls sporting yellow spots. A second passed before I realized that I was looking at massive mushroom stalks and the infamous yellow spores.
The caps weren't too high, only two stories or so if compared to houses. They were thicker and wider than any house I had seen, perhaps spanning a good thirty feet in width each. Overall, I could only judge them to be distinctly ugly. The mushrooms gave an impression of being stubby, the white flesh had a too bright sheen, while the caps were puke green streaked with grey and wet muck. I was an ant to these giants, and judging from the corpses of birds, deer, and long rib cages of undetermined ownership sticking around the sides, they had good answers to any criticism. Among the bones were small bushes and patches of soil showing where the giant mushrooms were resting.
Lokan was on my left, and it took me a second to follow where her gaze was fixed. At the back of the ship was the previously mentioned enten scout. Male, judging from his broad, gold-scaled shoulders and lack of breasts flopping on his exposed chest. Scars abounded, with the nastiest resting along his right arm and one going horizontally across his head coming in close second. The latter scar didn't touch his rather large frill which had lighter gold on its inner side and his jaw the same way Lokan's blue did. The only clothing to be seen on his person was a pair of rather distressed brown shorts showing more gold scales through its holes. His slitted green eyes scanned the coastline, totally oblivious to anything else on the ship.
"Talk to him." A familiar voice whispered in my left ear.
I turned to see Lokan's red eyes staring at me, desperation shining clear through.
"Me?"
Her blue lips puckered for a second.
"Yes-s, you. You know more of men than me and …., if you get a bad feeling about him, you'll have more skill in determining why."
I could only sigh at the duty being foisted on me. She was right, of course. With a curated roll of my eyes, I stepped toward the golden enten. A few faeries needed to be walked around, but the trek was mostly a straight walk. He heard my approach and turned to me when I was only a dozen feet away.
"Hello, name's Penchen." He said. "I was-s told of an orc being the reason for this trip."
"That is certainly me," I said with a small smile. "We brought our own scout. I just wanted to make sure there wouldn't be any problems with her on board."
His head leaned to the right, those green eyes taking in the blue snake woman for only a second before moving back into place.
"I will be fine. She, however, is not mudded." Penchen said with a rather grave tone that matched his narrowed eyes.
"Mudded?"
Rather than answer, he extended his neck rightward, stretching his frill as he did so. Looking at the lighter gold scales, I saw bits of mud along the portion touching the neck. They were so baked in the sun that they escaped the first look over.
"It protects against the Mind-Devouring." He said rather simply. "But you have reminded me to apply more miss…."
"Gula. And besides our scout, I did have one other question. How difficult do you think our journey will be?"
His golden head bobbed back and forth for a second.
"The S-ship will probably have a straight s-sailing through. It's a major river with no trees to fall over or beavers to dam. The mushrooms typically rot in place when their course ends. Of course, judging a land before reaching it would be poor practice for any s-scout."
"Thank you for your time. Have a good day." I offered with a small nod.
"Same." He said as he hoisted himself onto the ship's side. Without another word, he jumped off with practiced grace and form so seamless he seemed to resemble his legless cousins as he slipped beneath the waves.
I turned back around to find Lokan waiting eagerly by the stairs, clearly trying to not rush over and demand answers. A smile came to my face as I approached. My amusement was not shared by the blue snake woman, who was looking at me with puckered lips.
"What did he say?" Lokan demanded as calmly as she could manage.
"Apparently, you're not muddy enough for him."
Those hairless eyebrows furrowed together. Despite how amusing it was, I knew this meant too much to her for any further teasing.
"He said the….Mind-Devouring is stopped by applying mud, I assume, along the neck where it touches the frill. Other than that, he seemed a man of few words."
She closed her eyes for a second before shaking her head, rustling the purple robe as she did so.
"We're s-so STUPID!" She growled, looking down to make it clear she wasn't talking about me.
"So slapping mud there doesn't work," I stated plainly.
Her head snapped up, red slitted eyes rolling with the motion.
"No! The books s-said people have cut the frills off, burned along the necks, everything you can think of. Doesn't do a thing." She said, sounding properly irritated. "Come on, let's-s see this enchantment in action."
My role complete, we all went to the port side where shores of white mushrooms waited.
Minutes of waves, wind, and the occasional slap of Penchen applying mud to his person filled the air before the break in mushrooms finally presented itself. It was a meager river that gradually revealed itself from between massive white walls, barely enough for two small ships to pass through. That didn't stop ours from tacking into its current.
Jets of water suddenly shot out of the back, the water enchantments firing just as the faeries started wrapping up the sails. Right as the bow of the ship touched the river proper, the ocean died. Waves, so omnipresent they went almost totally unnoticed, suddenly stopped sending their regards. The subtle breeze lasted only a blink longer before the air stood still.
As the ship heaved with its first step up the river's right side, I looked around to see if I was going to have to jump in the water. Those yellow dots swirled around the ship like clouds. They were a bit closer than I would have liked, held back by an unseen shield only a foot or so from the deck's railing, but the invisible wall stopping them held firm despite my eyes saying they should have free passage.
Then a breeze blew over my back. I turned in place, wondering if I would have enough time to throttle the fairy captain before the spores took me. Instead of a cascade of yellow death, I saw a deck with unbothered faeries idling about.
"The mast!" Lokan exclaimed from my right.
Getting a feel for the wind, it did seem to be coming from the central wooden pole. Moving left and right confirmed the breeze's origin. Following the trunk upward revealed several disks that served no visible functions save those their array of white squares, triangles, and connecting lines hinted at. It's top sported a wide circle of leather with a function that totally escaped me as it was bereft of any shapes. Walking a bit further to the right revealed a white line going up its side, almost certainly feeding mana from a battery held elsewhere.
No matter how long it's been since Eli told me, it still felt weird knowing how magic worked.
Satisfied that my last moments weren't going to be spent choking, or at least that such an end wasn't imminent, I looked past the pole to see more of the yellow cloud swirling about the invisible wall. The novelty of moving through the spores wore off after a few minutes. Since our lungs were going to remain functional, I went below deck to enjoy the time off.
Around dinner, I talked with the fairy captain at the communal seating on the second floor of the ship. We discussed recent events, the coming trip, and other idle matters. The ship apparently had enough mana crystals to run for weeks, even with nothing from the outside being taken in, so the safety of our lungs on this trip was guaranteed. Of course, he was the actual captain of the ship, not a fake one like me, so he wasn't left with much time to chat.
The day eventually ended with a simple placing of my head on a too-small pillow. Early morning came, and any good mood immediately died. That big toad's spirit connection was still buzzing about every crack and pore. Even discounting how weird it felt, the sensation still left me feeling naked, no matter how clothed I was.
Lokan, being our enten scout, had a trek ahead of her which I walked up to the top deck to see off. Penchen was waiting on the back port side again as rays of sunlight pierced through the spores and clouds above to shine down on purple wood. When he saw us, the snake man turned and walked up to us without a hint of worry, something Lokan didn't match as she flinched when he came within arm's length. If the gold enten noticed her discomfort, he left it unacknowledged.
"I can't s-say I've seen you about this plot of mushrooms." He said, taking in my friend with a look up and down. Those green eyes made it clear they had some appreciation for what they were seeing.
"This-s is the firs-s-t time I've visited the enten glades." Lokan put in with a bit lip.
"Well, then you'll have to stick clos-se. Moving around is easy if you know how to move between the white walls."
A golden hand was put out to take hers. I couldn't help but feel a bit defensive for Lokan. Him thinking he could taste her, a goal plainly in mind, for nothing but a few honeyed words felt cheap. The way she deferentially took his palm and followed him to the port railing said the feeling wasn't shared.
"First, we should apply s-some mud to ward off the Mind-Devouring." He stated matter-of-factly, trying to discreetly take in her form as he did so.
"Of cours-se," Lokan damn near squeaked in excitement, the scoffing at such a 'stupid' notion totally gone.
I could only watch them get onto the railing and jump off into the water. He was all grace and Lokan…. Did well enough with her headfirst dive into the current. The blue and gold streaks in the water shot ahead just as the ship slowed to a crawl. Looking at the two streaks of color shoot ahead, I got a sense of foreboding that had nothing to do with our surroundings.
Seeing as how this was unmapped territory thanks to the spirit connection still dousing everyone, the enten scouts would have to be sent ahead to determine the rivers curves and speed, as the captain had explained to me during our meal. Ironically, he said the snake people's main use was detecting other entens. It was that latter task that made my heart fill with worry more than irritation at Penchen's presumption.
I took a single step back to go below deck when I hit something solid. It took a second of rebalancing for me to register the Kelton man I had just smacked into. His goat head of brown fur and same colored, curled horns nodded in acknowledgment while his black furred companion shifted to the left to place himself between me and the railing.
"Listen," I stated patiently, forcing down the worry in my gut. "This is a small ship, and I can't use my spirit connection right now. Keep an eye out, but constant monitoring is going to get grating after a few days. It also seems there are going to be conversations with Lokan I want kept between us."
Both nodded, backing off out of arm's reach. They weren't directly looking at me, yet some instinct said I was still under their gaze. If they wanted to watch me lean on various pieces of purple wood, I wouldn't deny them.
A good hour of watching the bits of bones surrounding the mushrooms gradually thin out to leave only bushes around the white behemoths finally ended when splashes along the starboard side of the ship announced their return. Lokan pulled herself onboard with a helping pull by the gold enten. She nodded to him with a big smile that exposed her fangs. Penchen returned the nod before moving to the right and entering the captain's quarters.
This time, I was the one who made the approach.
"What happened?" I demanded a bit too firmly.
She scrunched her eyebrows together while wringing her purple robe dry.
"We didn't….do it."
I felt anger heat my veins.
"I don't mean you getting bent over by him. I'm talking about being gone for so long. What if you had run into some…. Thing hungry."
"If we ran into feral enten's-s," She stated patiently, clearly seeing my true thoughts. "We would smell each other at the same time. Being near the river means we would be gone in the current and back to the s-ship before they could find us."
I took a deep breath, accepted reason, and grumbled in dissatisfaction.
"What would happen if he was too busy trying to get beneath those robes to notice the smell? And you too distracted in letting him?"
Lokan stared me right in the eyes, narrowing them as her mind scoured for a reply. After a few seconds, a snort escaped her snout.
"Well, it sounds-s like a rather romantic way to leave this-s world."
"Pff!" I scoffed, shaking my head as a smile forced itself past the resistance. "Go below deck and dry off."
Her smile matched mine as she turned right to go below deck.
"Yes-s, mother."
The slight kick I gave her tail elicited only a small laugh from the retreating enten woman.
Having the time and food to be bored was something I had little enough of in times past, so I felt I should appreciate when such occasions arrived and decided to spend the day leaning on various parts of the railing. Taking in the surrounding wilds slowly going by also allowed me to appreciate the determination of life itself. Whether it be the smaller critters moving between the roots of protecting bushes or the insects diving in and out of the river, it seems not even constant poison could keep the totally land barren. Something that was made a bit disorienting when none of the sounds from the activity I was seeing reached my ears.
After lunch, I was perusing the surrounding marsh on the starboard side of the ship as we moved through a wider section of the river, taking in the deadly yellow clouds flowing with each gust of wind. In the blink of an eye, the spores flew around and behind the ship as the giant, thick mushrooms bent with their caps leaning away from some explosion further in the marsh.
The air enchantments, thank God, held firm. Even so, my fingers squeezed the purple wood railing with all the force they could give. The surrounding faeries only had a second to approach the railing when the source revealed itself.
A giant cylinder rose into the air to touch the clouds even as bits of mud were falling off it.
"Tree worm!" A fairy from somewhere to the right sang in panic.
My mind instantly placed it as being of the same species as the Devourer Eli had sent packing, admittedly shrunk down. It was a small tower at this distance, though its true dimensions escaped me. It could certainly fit this ship in its mouth, and that was more than enough to send a shot of terror up my spine.
"It's-s fine!" Penchen called from behind me.
The way the living column gradually teetered down resembled a tree. As its descent sped up, the gaping maw of teeth at the end curled down towards the ground. Penchen's words felt hollow as it fell with such force that the ship vibrated at the impact, something bits of white mushroom flying through the air only emphasized.
"This happens-s often enough," Penchen explained as he walked up to my right just past a blue-robed fairy. "Can't say why. Either they get forced out of their territory, or their senses under the dirt lead them astray. It's loud and dangerous on their first thrust in the air, but after that, the spores take their due."
I only stared ahead at the wall of white mushroom, waiting for the rumbling in the bushes and water to grow. True to the enten's prediction, the vibrations went down to a mere rumble that lasted a minute before all went still save the river rushing by. It took concentrated effort to pry my hands off the railing. Once that was finished, I decided that enough sightseeing had been accomplished.
The rest of the day was uneventful, save dinner. Our group was at a long table with the Keltons sitting opposite and Lokan on the left. As I was bringing a spoonful of spicy fish stew up to my mouth, the ever-present buzzing on every pore stopped. Agonizing blinks passed as the buzz peeled off until I was left feeling properly clothed.
A relieved sigh escaped my lips. Almost immediately, the noise in the room rose and smiles started showing on faces, no matter the species. Dinner seemed a little better tasting than usual, and its end more jovial. We still had to maneuver through a slight crowd to get to the bottom deck where the bunks were, but we soon made it to our designated corner.
Going to bed was a particularly enjoyable act despite the feet dangling it entailed. After a few seconds of resting my head against the pillow, the world went black. When some thump woke me up, my sense of time and general groginess said I had only slept a few hours. It was almost pitch black, save by the stairs where the noise came from. Even my orc eyes struggled to make out the odd shape moving in the bare starlight filtering through the stairway. If I hadn't seen it coming from below me, the figure being Lokan leaving her bed may not have been so obvious.
Seeing how she was presumably going to come back at some point, I stayed awake for her return. When several minutes passed and she didn't come back, I shimmied down to the floor as quietly as I could. Creeping away from the bunk and towards the stairs produced low creaks with each step. A deliberate decision was made not to acknowledge them being louder than Lokan's.
Moving up the stairs brought me to the dining area on the second floor. The room was somewhat illuminated thanks to its open windows, at least to my eyes' ability. More light, but no Lokan. Turning around, I trekked up the stairs as quietly as I could manage. On the mid-section turn, I saw a blue tail peeking from around the corner.
I stalked up to the flat floor just before the second set of stairs to find the tail's owner leaning against the steps. Her blue snake head stared intently at something ahead on the deck. The way her chest was heaving, it seemed like she had just sprinted up here.
"Lokan," I whispered. "Are you hurt?"
Her head jerked to me, red eyes taking me in as dark color touched her cheeks. The way her hand moved from between her legs to her side made it clear that rocking hadn't been from nursing an injury. Looking out over the deck, I saw Penchen lounging by the back of the ship. Thankfully, he was looking in the opposite direction of us and only his bare backside was left uncovered by his missing shorts. Lokan, however, had apparently seen enough earlier for her purposes.
I couldn't keep a smile off my face and turned down, teasing words on my tongue. Instead of embarrassment, the blue snake woman had a determined look as she finished adjusting her purple robe. Then a buzz came across my left shoulder.
'Downstairs-s!' Lokan commanded in my head.
My hands went up in surrender, smile still playing across my lips as we both left Penchen to his lounging. Once we were a few steps away from the stairs, Lokan came up from behind to stand in front of me.
'How do you take a man into you?' She demanded, a mixture of desperation and pleading coming through.
Any thoughts of teasing or playfulness melted away. Her slitted red eyes were hard yet a bit wider than usual. The blue snake woman's entire body had a slight shake, something her clenched fists were apparently trying to calm. From personal experience, I knew her veins were flowing with a drug more potent than any we had ever sold back in the swamps and directing away from its purpose was a hopeless task.
'On this ship? Do you want him to finish in a minute, because that's about all the time you'll get even if it's kept quiet.' I offered as I placed my hands on my hips, meeting her gaze as I did so.
That pierced through the fog, making her frame slow in its shakes.
'When we're on patrol, then. S-so, how do I get him up my vagina?' She re-affirmed, sounding a bit less feral this time.
A deep breath was sucked in as I prepared meager advice, ignoring the crude demand as I did so.
'You can't,' I announced. 'You can help get him ready. Make him more eager to do it. That moment when your bodies connect? Sorry, that's his moment. His…. Triumph.'
'Pff!' Lokan scoffed in my skull, her shakes now subsiding in heavy breathing. 'We were s-supposed to figure this out at the same time. But I suppose one of us having experience is for the best.'
'The same time? As in, the same man?' I asked incredulously.
'No.' She snapped back, puckering her lips. 'Just in the same general s-span of time. Within a day or two, at most.'
'And when did I agree to that?' I asked, scouring my memory of all our conversations.
'Well….' Lokan mused with a teasing smile. 'I decided a few years ago during one of your visits. You were probably s-sulking over the fate of your species or something at the time.'
My right hand swatted her gut of its own will. The smile coming over her face matched mine.
'Come on,' Lokan insisted, now sounding a bit more desperate than teasing. 'You got the love of an Ultimate mage. Has there ever been a woman who's managed to get the title of wife from such beings-s? There has to be something you can tell me.'
I sucked my lips in, fighting both mirth and an impulse to offer false humility. What was there to deny? A living, breathing Ultimate mage calls me wife.
How had that happened?
….
But this wasn't about setting up Loakn and Penchen for anything longer than an hour of tussling in the bushes. The first thing that came to mind was Eli's advice during our first coupling.
'Have fun,' I offered with a cross of my arms. 'Don't think you're going to be doing all these tricks and motions that's going to leave him unable to walk for days. It's a mutual rendezvous for a good time that won't last for more than an hour.'
Her head bounced right and left as she considered the words.
'Fine. But no more s-stalling. Tell me how to….You know, do it. Besides the whole 'It's his moment of triumph' bit.'
The advice of the wives back at the Base came to me, which I relayed to Lokan. Most of it was, of course, focused on the man's stem and its proper care. That still left a few choice bits about kissing, though, how that would work for the snake people escaped me. It felt silly getting worked up over such descriptions so long ago, a view no doubt influenced by the fact I had since performed them. Lokan hadn't and her reaction was similar to my first one, if her dark blue cheeks were anything to go by. As the lesson drew to its finish, I crossed my arms again.
'Anything else you want to know?' I asked cordially.
'Ok.' She squeaked out in the spirit connection. 'No, I mean. No. I'm….quite instructed.'
Her immediate turn towards the stairs happened at the same time our spirit connection disappeared. We both quietly made our way to the lower floor and got back in the shared bunk. Not a word was exchanged as the beds gave slight creaks from our weight. Thankfully, I was too tired to ponder the conversation and almost immediately went back to sleep.
The morning came just as the last of the faeries made their way up the stairs. I commenced the first stretch of the day, then leaned over the side, a teasing smile playing across my face. An empty bunk greeted me.
Getting down after a second stretch, I made my way upstairs to the second floor and ate a breakfast of fish and vegetables, apparently uncooked, in a sour, citrus sauce that rendered them edible. Once that was shoved down, I went above deck. There were faeries ambling about, but neither the gold nor the blue enten were present for the early morning sun.
I walked across the deck, working around one group of faeries or another as I did so, and knocked on the captain's door. After a few seconds, he opened it. Hairless eyebrows were scrunched together, and grey lips puckered over sharp teeth.
"What's wrong?" He asked, a hint of worry coming through the irritation.
"Where's our snake scouts?"
Pink eyes looked back over the deck. When he finally saw what wasn't there, he moved past my left and started interrogating various crew members while I waited by the door. He came back with lips puckered in annoyance.
"Lokan thought there might be some disturbances in the water, the kind that might be from an obstruction in the river. She took Penchen with her and said they might be a few hours away."
Couldn't even wait for breakfast.
"As long as they're safe." I offered with a shrug.
The fairy nodded, his yellow cap remaining remarkably firm with the motion, and went past me to his cabin.
It was just at the end of lunch, as I was lounging on the top bunk, when I caught purple robe and blue scales in the corner of my eye before she dived below to her bunk. I turned downward only for my face to run into a spirit connection just as I got her in sight.
'It was-s amazing! The book's can't compare. Gula, the way he put me against the mushroom- Ah! I'm tingling just thinking about it.'
From there, I was treated to a barrage of lewd descriptions. Some would consider it rude to share such things. Fortunately, the details were too rushed, too haphazardly thrown together, for me to get a good sense of events. Aside from Penchen's biting down on her upper neck, which apparently made him a gift to every female enten. After a few minutes, I gave up trying to listen and let the words roll over with only the occasional nod. Lokan was clearly letting parts other than her brain do the talking, as I suspect I had been doing for a while. At the deluge's end, the blue snake woman let loose a long sigh.
'What rapturous-s joy.' Lokan purred as she stretched on the bed. 'Once we're in port, I might find some yook root, but-'
'WHAT?!' I yelled into her spirit connection, raising my head slightly in anger.
I looked down at the joining of her legs, covered by purple robe as it was. I turned back up to meet those slitted red eyes. She met my gaze for a moment before meekly shrugging.
'Really?!' I demanded. 'Your brain has completely fallen out. What were you thinking, allowing him that?'
'You're going to let Eli.' She pushed back with a petulant sting.
It took a good second of meeting her stare for blue hands to raise in surrender.
'We'll be in the fairy port by tomorrow.' Lokan offered meekly. 'And if it fails-s…. Well, being an aunt could be good practice for motherhood proper.'
Aunt?! How much was I picking up on this trip?
A biting quip about her assuming I would take on any such responsibilities was swiftly crafted. Then I pictured the scene in my head. If she came up to me, babe, or egg, in hand, I wouldn't refuse. Some grumbling tried to come up my throat, but I forced it down as I moved to lie on my back with the spirit connection following to rest on my left shoulder.
'Just make sure it's a boy. My daughters will have plenty of girls around growing up and an older brother would be good for them.' I grumbled to the ceiling
A snort came from below, followed by a kick through my mattress.
'What are you worried about? If my belly swells, the child will have all the food they could ever want. An amazing aunt and uncle, in all the ways anyone could imagine, to visit.'
I ignored the strike to allow the next words to land all the harder.
'I'm mostly worried by how casual you're being about this. A kid's….You're not appreciating what a big deal these past few hours could be for decades.' I said, my hands reaching to the purple ceiling in frustration.
Dead silence came through the spirit connection for a second, then she spoke with a wobble I had never heard.
'I don't have much time left, Gula. It….The death of the mind becomes more likely the older you get. If I'm ever going to have kids and not risk both our lives, they need to be made s-soon.'
My gut pressed inward so hard it squeezed all the air out of my lungs. The only thing to do was close my eyes and concentrate. I managed to recover after a few forced breaths.
'I wouldn't let that happen.' I declared.
'You'll do whatever needs-s to be done.' Lokan agreed, her grave tone implying far more than what I suggested. 'But all that may be a thing of the past soon. Maybe Eli will cure it when he's finished all those huge metal towers and ships among the stars.'
'He'll try. Between the magic and science stuff, I would say there's probably a cure to be forged.' I offered, hoping my complete ignorance of what such a thing would entail wouldn't be too obvious.
Silence fell between us for a second before the spirit connection withdrew. I could only be thankful the midday meal had already been served, leaving me to lounge without having to move for several hours.
The next day was thankfully more dull. At some point, when lunch was being served, we had passed into official fairy territory. No grand entrance from the local faeries was coming as this was more about proving the trade route's feasibility rather than putting on a show. Instead, a single boat would be sent to the port while we waited nearby to idle while the faeries changed their robes of blue for grey ones, while the old robes were washed in the stream with soap.
An hour after lunch, as the sun was just starting its descent, I went above deck. Around the ship were trees, moss, and patches of grass among endless waters. The absence of white mushroom walls and yellow specks merited no tearful goodbyes. Honestly, I felt more at home than anything else. The scene was more familiar than any other I had seen since leaving my birthplace behind.
Faeries gathered around a departing boat on the port side of the ship, shoving papers into a box for a shopping trip to the local town. A spectacle we watched from the starboard railing near the stairs. If an order of yook root for Lokan was among the stacks of papers, I didn't bother asking her.
The mixture of anger and worry still bubbled away in my gut. If there was any certainty in the driving force behind Lokan's decision being curable, I might have acted on it. Instead, I focused the emotion on the golden snake man coming from the crowd of faeries.
Yeah, Lokan consented. Spirits, she may have even been the aggressor in making it happen. That didn't change the fact that he managed to get her far too cheaply. And God help him if the seed takes and he tries to dodge his duty. Maybe I could dress up in vines and bones with Cell and help Penchen see the error of his decision.
The gold enten made a noticeable move to the left where Lokan was lounging, probably due to the face I was no doubt making. He had a confident smile that was only betrayed by his green eyes purposefully not looking in my direction. From their head bobs and shoulder motions, I could tell one of them initiated a spirit connection.
Whatever the conversation, Lokan found it agreeable enough to move with him further to the right near the entrance going below deck. They lounged by the rail for several minutes until the boat left for its run, which seemingly prompted them to split with Lokan coming back to my right and Penchen going below deck.
"What was that?" I asked, taking in her small smile.
"An agreement. We're going to be coming around thes-se lands pretty regularly. That doesn't mean seeing each other won't take some planning. Just some minor details-s here and there."
I gave her a small snort and turned to look over the rail, taking in a wide bog of moss-covered trees.
"I'm pretty sure he already got the arrangement he wanted," I grumbled.
"Gula, what's-s the problem?" Lokan coaxed with the patience of a mother to her babe. Something I made a point to ignore.
"He didn't earn you. Just showed up with a smile and muscles and….I don't know. It just irritates me." I fussed to a dragonfly whizzing by.
I turned right to see her slitted red eyes regarding me with amusement.
"If 'I can s-save your entire people' was the baseline for every man to be worthy of a woman, no children would ever be born. And it is a rather wonderful s-smile, I'll have you know."
I rolled my eyes, feeling the anger bleed out ever so slightly.
"Besides-s, I'm not waiting as long as you did. He saved you several times-s and you two didn't have fun until we were stuck on the ship in those hills."
The mental perusal of my first bedding didn't match hers, so I sent a spirit connection to her shoulder.
'What are you talking about?'
She turned to me, hairless eyebrows furrowed.
'That time when Eli came back with the humans to launch us over the sea to frozen lands. And you and Salamede met him in the bedroom soon after.'
I could only pucker my lips as I met her red eyes. Lokan seemed to sense some hesitance from me, and lies never got past her, so I sighed before letting the truth out.
'We didn't. I left Salamede to tend to his needs. Our first time was before we saved the Waveborn.'
Her blue eyelids slowly closed and opened to reveal a disbelieving gaze.
'Are you telling me you spent all that time living under rock a married virgin?' She asked in disbelief.
I sucked my lips in, trying to come up with a retort.
'We kissed and slept in each other's arms.'
Lokan shook her head, the long blue frill along her neck swaying with the motion.
'I should be asking Salamede for advice.' She announced with a solemn tone.
I stared at her, eyebrows furrowing so tightly they showed in my upper vision.
'We married the same man.' I growled.
The snort that escaped her nostrils had a particularly dismissive undertone.
'And she got down to it. Thank the spirits Penchen took my lips and bled me. If I did things your way, my first kiss would have been on my deathbed.'
Something about her coyness settled like a piece of sand between toes. Aggravating, galling, yet seemingly petty. That didn't stop my tongue from rushing ahead.
'Well, the Ultimate mage likes what I give him enough that he'll perform miracles to get it. So I seem to be doing something right.'
Those red eyes went slightly wide as her lips formed a long ooh.
'Enough to get it? Gula, the food for trade, the healing craft for the big toad, and all the goods….Are you putting yourself up for exchange?' She whispered in my skull, sounding both intrigued and scandalized.
The fact that I had accused my body of doing as much left my jaw soundlessly moving for a second before some words could be summoned.
'No.' I offered mildly. 'I'm just….Putting stress on him with these requests. So it's only right that I help alleviate it. That's what marriage is, Lokan. Helping each other in all respects. Something I hope Penchen knows applies to women carrying his child, married or not.'
She shook her head and turned to stare out over the water.
'What will all those little green girls learning about you in the future say? Their great hero, a one cus-stomer prostitute.' Lokan mused, a slight smile showing on her scaly face.
'I know exactly what they'll say.' I shot back. 'Thank the spirits Gula held herself in reserve. She'd have no offering to save us otherwise. Unlike her brainless enten friend, who immediately gave everything to some bum in a mushroom bog.'
'PFF!' Lokan sputtered as laughter escaped her lips. Something that accompanied her tail smacking the back of my legs. 'He is not a bum!'
'Careful, Lefty. Your standards get any higher, they'll scrape the clouds.' I scoffed as I turned back to the water. Even if I wasn't looking at her, the chuckles from her still came clear through.
'You're horrible,' Lokan chided as the last few laughs died down.
Feeling the tension finally bleed out, we stood and soaked in the somewhat familiar landscape. It was a fair bit warmer, but the moss, trees now fully out of the ground, and plentiful offering of bugs spoke of home. Time passed, the faeries came back with a full boat of goods, and we shoved off for the trip's last stop going westward.
The captain nights before said there was a decently sized beastmen city past our destination whose food was typically sent upstream to a town of faeries who made it safe for human consumption. With our arrival at a closer watchpost, their goods would soon be sent in the opposite direction. He told me his government would be helping set up more production in this area, which most considered a useless backwater. Of course, we had to arrive at said watchpost to tell them this.
A proper smuggler would probably have a hundred different ideas for making money. The fiction of my current life, however, couldn't beat the thrill humming away in the back of my mind. An actual sibling species. Not even the fantasies of childhood touched such a thing, and tomorrow I was going to be living it. Night came slowly, leaving me pacing above deck until the stars finally showed. It was barely past evening when I wrapped myself in the bunks blankets, willing oblivion to come as I did so.
And it eventually did.
When morning finally came, I threw the blanket over my feet and onto the floor. I only just stopped myself from immediately rolling to the left. Once I looked down and saw Lokan wouldn't be crushed by the drop, I forced my still-waking body from the bed. Hitting the purple floor feet first shook some of the morning sluggishness out.
"Wha-" Lokan's faint voice grumbled from behind me.
Wadding up the blanket into a ball and throwing it back onto the bed took only a second, which was still somehow long enough for Lokan to rise from her bed. I first thought she might share my eagerness to meet the beastmen. Instead, the way she immediately ran up the stairs told of a visit with a bush.
The sailors were still getting up for the day. It took some effort to slow myself down, keeping my elbows out of the faeries faces as I ran up to wash then back down to scarf down a spicy fish stew for breakfast. After a too long ten or so minutes getting a cold rag bath, I finally made it above deck.
Our grey-skinned hosts in blue robes ambled about as the ship moved upstream. All around the endless marsh beyond soaked up as much of the early morning sun as it could get. Lokan came up behind me and scanned her surroundings for a second before moving to the left. The corner of my eye caught a bit of gold moving around where Lokan was heading.
Fine. As long as she stayed with me when we got to port.
The two Kelton guards came up from behind with swords in holsters fastened around their hips. They had given me space during the trip, but that bit of distance was coming to an end when we made landfall. An hour passed in pointless waiting until the bend in the river finally revealed our destination.