Chapter 51 The Gift of Gab

 
 
The wind was whipping past my face, burning my eyes and stealing my breath away as I pitch downwards. By instinct I bring my arms forward to shield my face so I may see what I am falling towards. My right arm whips forward, getting lighter as it does. When I look to my hands, I simply see the metallic stub of my right arm breaking off, one part at a time, and before I can react the whole prosthetic falls away, leaving just the small remnant of flesh and scale jutting angrily mere inches from my shoulder. In panic, I reach for my connection to the divine powers, to find myself alone.
With the stinging in my eyes increasing I close them, not caring about where in this horrible void I may land. The gifts I had been given had helped me a great deal, and allowed me to protect my loved ones, but at what cost? What pain had been caused by forcing a soul to reside inside the shell of my right arm? And now that it was out, what calamity have I wrought on the world? And now That I didn't have my arm, or my power, what could I do to fix it?
I can sense a glow on the other side of my eyelids, and I open them to find myself plummeting towards a burning pit, the flames beckoning me in. Is this to be my fate? Did I anger the divine so much I am being cast into the hellish planes? They would have to do better than mere fire for that. But as I think that, I can feel my arms get cooler, and shock pulses through me realizing I can feel both arms again. It is almost an alien thing, feeling my right arm once more. Something is wrong however, and as I look I find that my arms are now the flesh of a human, the same form I had taken in that despicable club in Laketown. The fire below me turns a more golden yellow than a normal fire, and starts to go out in the middle, leaving a void in the light, as if something was rejecting the light from coming in. The great pit under me is now seemingly rushing at me, getting closer and closer, the center turning into a pupil of some great golden eye.
“Come!” I can hear some cacophonous voice in my head, reverberating around in my skull. “Come home!” The voice is so loud the vibrations hurt my neck and upper back, as if my body will simply be shattered from the thunderous baritone. The eye is so big now, I cannot see anything in front of me besides the chasm of the black pupil “Come Home!”
With that final soul rendering sound, I open my eyes to tremendous pain. Lying in the bed that Bellia and I are sharing, she has somehow shifted in the nest of blankets and pillows we had, pressing her knees into my back, which had caused such a pain. Taking a few deep breaths I adjust myself in the blankets to a more comfortable position. I love my wife, but she does tend to wiggle too much when sleeping. When I finally fell asleep again, I was questioning where Home was, and if was a metaphor for something or if I should just go back to my parents village. The last image to float through my mind was when my father would lift me up using his axe handle, and a very small Wondrous Inferno giggling as I was raised higher and higher. There wasn't anymore falling that night.
I woke up to the feeling that I Was being watched by a tiny humanoid. “Bellia.” I whispered into my partners ear, “Darling. I think your daughter is awake.”
“Yes, But I am not.” she insisted. “If you distract her with food you may be able to get five more minutes of sleep.” For someone not awake, she was being very coherent. It was a good idea too.
“Ok To'Li, let's get you something to eat.” I started untangling myself from limbs and blankets, and finally extricate myself to stumble into the shared rooms we have. With a tiny war cry of “F'apjak” my daughter went tearing into the small kitchen. I followed her and found the necessities to make flapjacks. It may not be enough for a the small army we had, but it would be enough for some of us.
I had just cut into my second flapjack When Yun comes into the kitchen. Rubbing their face, I stop chewing when I see that something is very much wrong. One of Yun's pale eyes is missing, the socket open and undamaged. If the Eye had been there, I would have never been able to tell something had happened, but someone missing an eye was kinda obvious.
“Yun. Buddy. What happened to your eye?” I was trying to sound casual about it as I didn't really want To'Li looking away from her project, which was currently mixing butter and syrup together to make a flapjack house of some sort. She was burbling happily to herself, and that's what counted.
“It seems the book has taken my eye.” Yun responded, grabbing a plain pancake. “or at least that is what I am guessing. The eye in the book seems to be much paler than it was, matching my unchanged eye. I wonder if it would change when I do..” They trailed off, eating the cake. On the hand holding the cake I can see that the tattoo has expanded, tracing out more of the bones on the hand, lines starting to grow faintly on the wrist. “I think I saw some glass eyes at that curio shop were I got the armor,” Yun continues around a mouthful, “I'm going to head back and see if I can find some.” Before I can come up with all of the reasons why that is a terrible idea, Yun is gone, heading out to find an eye. And with the distraction, To'Li has expanded. Her flapjack house which now occupied her entire plate had annexed part of the table with a pancake patio.
As the others woke up and came to eat, I filled them in on where Yun had gone off to. Marda and Max went to ask about local amenities, while we all talked about what had to be done. With the news of a possible Soulstone we could use, we would have to get to This red dragon's domain. Bloody Charring. What a cheerful name. Once Max and Marda get back, they announce the existence of a local bath house, complete with a spa. Max also lets me know of a blacksmith shop that may let us use their equipment, although payment may be needed for it. Deciding that I would watch over To'Li if Bellia wished to partake of the spa services, we could all then see about the permits to leave the city, and possible shop work for Max and I.
The time I had with To'Li that morning was all the spa treatment I needed. I didn't have to worry about someone taking her, or some dangerous animal attacking the ship. There was apparently a danger about extra dimensional portals, whatever those were, but it couldn't have bothered me at the time. By the time Bellia and the others got back, my sides were sore from the laughter, and the side of my face hurt from smiling for two hours straight. When it came time for Max and I to start looking for the local shop, To'Li was yawning, and getting ready for a nap. Giving her a big hug, I took her to bed, gathered up my packs, and set out with Max.
The directions he got were not stellar. Meaning I could have navigated by the stars and got there quicker. Max had received the directions from the apartment owner we were renting from, and had not really known how convoluted the towers and bridges were, so after getting lost a few times we had to get them converted to street directions, meaning we had to find people who knew of the shop, then how to get there. From departure to arrival was just about three hours but it was hard to tell as we passed through a couple of portals while lost, and I'm pretty sure we were not in this plane for one of them. Finally stopping outside the shop, we see a well made, but faded sign saying Ro'gair's Hammer.
The owner of the shop was a red Dragonborn, a bit younger than me, and about the same build. The shop itself was old, well used and loved. As high up on the tower as it was, the fourteenth floor, I was surprised to find the materials used to make the walls and floor were all stone, worn smooth over many many years of walking on them. The smoke from the forge was pulled out of the tower by some sort of vent, which also provided a cool breeze through the entire shop. Probably some magic effect, but it would have been an absolute blessing working over the hot fire with constant cooling on your back. The tools were aged, but looked to all be in working order, with both new ones and old scattered throughout. While other shops we had passed had been flashy and gaudy, this was a place of work and Humility While there were multiple anvils to use, the primary work area had been configured for one person. Fitting more people in may be tough, but Max seemed happy with the shop, so it was worth a try.
“Greetings,” I started. “My name is Druss Panathalax, this is Max Corbin. We are going to be in town for some time, and were hoping to have a place to work. We are both master smiths, Max specializes in weapons, I in armor. Would you be amicable to us working here? We heard that your shop allowed outside work, and we would gladly help you with any work you needed done.”
The shop owner continued his work on the piece he was working on until it cooled, and set it back in the coals. Laying down hammer and tongs, only then did he look at us. His eyes simply bore into us studying us like stock to see if we should be used or tossed away. His eyes lingered on my dragon scale armor for a heartbeat longer than than the rest of me, glancing over my armored vest. The craftsmanship of my breastplate was under the fabric, it was still obviously good make, but it didn't seem to make an impression. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, he shrugged and picked up his hammer again.
“Name is Geon'Ma. It will be one hundred gold for the both of you to work here, for liability reasons.” He picked up the hammer and moved to continue his project. “I have some horseshoes you can make, and once those are done you can work on whatever you want. The shop closes at six, and you pay for whatever materials you need.”
“Just to make sure the deal is clear, we pay you one hundred gold, and we can use the shop for our needs?” I ask. That was a lot of money. Over two weeks worth of sales to make that back. Of course, we had recovered so much money from lock boxes and other sources that I could afford that. But it did seem a little exorbitant. It would allow Max a place to work however, so digging out my purse, I count out the money in platinum and gold. “Deal. Max, I'll take care of the horseshoes, you take these fish scales and see what can be done with them. Where are the materials for the shoes?”
Horse shoes? Really? Normally work for a farrier, but if that's what it takes whatever. I wanted some mindless work anyway so making forty or so of the same thing will be fine. Geon'Ma accepted the money, dumped the gold into a crucible, and pointed to a barrel with bar stock in it. Without saying anything else, we all got to work for the last couple of hours. I found a light hammer that felt good in my hand.
The shoes were easy to make, and there were measurements for four different sizes, making ten of each. I'm guessing these were to be spares for an actual farrier, who would then adjust the shoe to fit the animal in question. At least that is what I kept telling myself for the first twenty minutes or so. I think the last time I worked on horseshoes was emergency repairs on a messengers horse. She had come with additional orders for us to march to a village to resupply. The nearby tribe of Goliaths had beat us there. They hadn't killed everyone. Just those who tried to fight.
The sound of the Hammer changed. Not only the tone was different, the echo was different too. Looking up, I was no longer in the shop I had paid for, and a short familiar figure was hunched over an anvil. Walking up, I simply wait for Daja to finish her work. As she finished the shape, she threw in in the quench barrel, and set her tongs down with a deep sigh of resignation. “So. You met my ex.” taking a cloth from a workbench, she wipes her brow as leather shaving and saw dust fall from the top of the bench.
I'm not really sure what to say, and I pause before responding. “Was he supposed to wake up?”
“No, He was supposed to stay in there.” She shrugged. “Honestly I'm not overly sure, we all make mistakes anyway.” She moves to an old rocking chair next to the forge. “ I am what my believers make me. To become a Goddess I have to gain notoriety. Dark things happened. I simply wanted to help people. And it helped you didn't it? You have been able to have a life, and a wife and kids. It wasn't all bad.”
“Yes.” I agreed. “It was most certainly helpful. I didn't want to break it, that may have been an over reaction. He threatened my family. I-I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't mean to insult your gift.” I added that part a little quicker, as I didn't want to anger a divine being in her own shop. “I have a friend who may be able to work on it some, that wouldn't sever any connection between us would it?”
She waved dismissively. “Oh no. You could replace it all piece by piece and it would still work. Real Ship of Theseus, not that you know what that is. No, any work would be fine.”
I hadn't realized it but I had been nervously rubbing my right wrist. “You won't be angry if I can't work for a while will you? I just don't want to appear to be ignoring you after you have helped me so much.”
“Bah!” She got up and went over to the work table to take a drink of some dark liquid. “This again Druss? No. I”m not going to be mad. You may not think you are doing anything for me, but anywhere you go you are crafting things. You are very useful to me. Anything you do reflects on me. Like coal in a forge, you spread my fire. Druss may have done that, but Daja helped. So your fire spreads to the next person, and that feeds me.” With another gulp she seemingly drains the cup. “Now no more of this existential discussion.”
“Could the arm now be used to store a soul? I mean, it did before right?” I was asking a dangerous question, since I didn't know the slightest thing about the magic that held a soul captive somewhere. Daja herself had said that Dark things were done, I didn't want to step into the realm of the taboo.
“Yes, it can still hold a soul” She responded. “Although, you would probably loose the gifts I have granted you if done so. A new soul not bound by me would probably interrupt the connection but it is hard to say. It might depend on the power of the soul.”
Well, that could be a last resort then. If we can't find a Soulstone that would work, could I give this up to save Marda? Would it be a good idea to do so is the better question. The last spirit had taken over some functionality, just think of what a Demon Lord could do. “Should we have destroyed the spirit that came out of the arm?” I ask, rather sheepishly. I wasn't sure if it was a proper question to ask her. “I may have told Melfina to destroy it if she could.”
The Divine Dwarf thought for a moment before answering, “That one may have been able to kill my ex, but we won't know now. He traveled pretty far from you didn't he? I could be fun to have an adversary...” I wasn't sure if this new adversary was supposed to be mine or hers. Picking up her tongs, she started working again. Thinking about my future, and the prospects of fighting that spirit, it got me thinking that most of the more robust divine warriors tended to become Paladins of their chosen divinity. I honestly wasn't sure what that would entail. And I definitely wasn't ready for that. We already had an evil spirit we were trying to get rid of, there was no point in picking a fight with another.
Normally I would have faded away by this point, or woken up or something, I wasn't sure what I was doing here. “Erm. I don't really have anything else... should I uh.. Go?” I wasn't really sure what to say. She I ask for her leave, orr....
“Horse shoes. I need forty of them if you please.” She gestured to the end of her bench. “Stock is over there, you will find the tools ready for you as well.” Her forge had changed to a double sided one, just like mine at home. “I'm sure you know how to make them right?”
Wonderful. “Yes mam.” getting to work, I skipped the apron, briefly wondering if divine soot would stain just the same as the mortal stuff.
Raising my hammer on shoe number forty-six, I stopped and looked around. Max was now leaning against the wall back in Ro'gair's Hammer, an amused look on his face with Geon'Ma staring openly at me. My shoulder hurt a bit, like I had held it in place for an extended time, and My mouth was a bit dry, but otherwise, I was still in the same place I had been when working on the order of shoes. In fact, I held one in a set of tongs, the shoe now cold. Standing up straight, I cleared my throat and moved by neck and back, which felt like they had been locked in place.
“Apologies Master Geon'Ma.” I said, looking at him. : I must have spaced out a bit there. I did not mean to hold you late if I did, nor leave my part of the bargain open with the shoes.”
“Uhm. There was no problem. We closed just a bit ago, and I wasn't ready to leave anyhow. Your Minotaur friend finished the last of the shoes for you, only three or four of them. You were talking in your- uh – sleep. Something about Having a magic carpet now, you should use it.”
Not really sure what that was about, I thanked him again for his understanding, and permission to work in his shop, and started back down the tower. We had just reached the ground floor when I heard Melfina's voice inside my head. “Druss, we are meeting at the Wyverns roost, we leave tonight at sundown. Do not be late.”
“I will be as quick as I can.” Shit, I was going to be late. Does she hear what I think or only what I say? Did she hear that? Bah, no time for this. I dash over to the nearest shop and ask the man behind the counter for the directions to the Roost. Giving me the best directions he can, he says it will take me about twenty five minutes to get there, which is about when sundown is going to be. Bidding a quick farewell to Max, I tell him to keep my family safe, and bolt through the thinning crowd, trying to get to the roost before it is too late. I'm not really sure what would happen should I be late, and I didn't want to find out.
Running through a City would have been easier if I had know the layout. Only being in the city for a little over a day and a half, and most of that spent indoors, I had some trouble. The directions I had involved going up towers and over bridges that 'should' be there. What took me the longest was waiting for the elevators, and once I used them it would cost me too much time to get back down. Multiple times I had to go out on rope bridges spanning great distances between towers, hundreds of feet up. The people who lived here must be absolutely mad using them, as several times I had to hang on the outside of the ropes to let people pass. My hand hand was clamped on those ropes so hard I thought I was going to sever them. There were times when the bridges were solid, and on three occasions I had to use my gifts to jump to something I simply would never have been able to reach. One of those times, I had disappeared from mid air just to land in a shower of sparks amid people who were about to watch me plummet to my death. With no time to apologize or explain, I had to keep moving. It was, above all, a horrible time.
The sun was below the horizon but color still touched the clouds when I burst into the Wyvern's Roost. Out of breath, I hope I looked cool pushing on the double doors, walking in like a man who couldn't bother to walk in just one door. I reality I had leaned on both of them in hopes they would prop me up for just a moment. I could see nearly everyone else there, and it wasn't until Marda moved from behind a very tall stack of papers that I counted everyone as present. She hurried over to me, and had me sign a whole bunch of papers necessary for the trip we were about to take. A fair haired elven Woman was talking to a captive audience, and Marda had clearly escaped from it to show me where to sign. It was a story that was clearly meant for anyone who cared to hear.
“Oh he was a good lad, Yes he was. My sister's neighbor boy may have been a shitting bastard, but he could make a nice cuppa. But bloody hell, when he hit his head, yes that was such a bad sight it was. Spilling himself all over the road he was. But he was a good boy and never fussed about it, just got a cloth and layed it right plum on his head. Yes. Eggbert never had a problem with him, always like to sniff, but never a hiss nor bite. No, not like that cunt of a Wyvern that Clarissa has. He is always snapping and clawing at something. Almost like how my sisters neighbors boy claws the the table when I have my Lemon drizzle cake over there, he really is such a nice boy, but he does eat his sweeties far too much, although mine are just the best around. Yes. I'll tell you what, you know the secret to my drizzle cake is to drizzle lemon juice on the shitting drizzle. It really brings out the zing.”
I found that I had simply stared at the woman for the short time it took her to get all that out, and I'm not sure she had taken more than one breathe. It wasn't that she talked fast, but that she simply Kept Going, like every story was connected to the next one. I finished up the paperwork, and we got it turned into the counter.
“Oh yes, that's lovely. My name is Petunia Luneshade, and I will be taking you all to your destination just as soon as well bloody well can get there, Yes. Eggbert is such a lovely fellow, He will be able to take us all there, including that nice big Dragonborn fellow over there, quite nice I'm sure.” Petunia led us out to her station, talking the whole way. Eggbert must be the name of her partner, Maybe Wyvern, it was difficult to tell, until we came up to him that is. “Yes, Eggbert is a good wyvern aren't you. Not like any of those silly bastards whole couldn't pull a barge of bollocks.” She started putting gear on Eggbert, wrapping a harness with glowing stones on it. A particularly out of place scale breastplate she put on herself. It was made of some sort of natural scales, not metal, but I couldn't tell what exactly.
The barge we were supposed to be getting on was about three times the length of Sylvio, Geno's mount and almost the same width, but the biggest problem was the railings. They came up to the bottom of my knees, and didn't appear very strong. I really didn't want to fall off this thing so I planned right then and there to take a position as close to the middle as I could get.
“The trip will take about a day and a half, and if we leave soon, we should make it soon after sundown tomorrow. Yes. But We will need to watch out for things that may like to eat us, so watch your selves. Oh, that is a nice turtle you have there,” Petunia said looking at spike, “I bet he is such a nice boy, I'm sure he would like some of my strawberry cream cakes here somewhere, would he like one?”
“Well, I'm sure he would like the strawberry at least.” Melfina replies, “Would you like to hold him for a bit while we ride?”
“As long as he isn't a little twat, it should be just fine for him to ride with me, I even have some nice treats for him in on of my saddlebags, yes I do. It should be nice to do that.”
We all got situated on the barge quick enough. I got on the the magic carpet in the middle of the barge with Geno, still on Sylvio, right behind me. I was privileged enough to rest my head on one of the large metallic feet, with some cushioning. Yun had simply tied themselves to the back of the barge on the railing. Can't fall off if you ware connected to it I guess. Playing the bone banjo, Yun serenades us with traveling music while the others read. They must have stopped at a book store at some point as they all had books to noses. Melfina and Geno had made small lights to allow them to read, but not too large to attract large predators. I couldn't quite make out what Marda was reading, but whatever it was, Melfina seemed to be interested too, as she kept peering over the shoulder of the halfling who was sitting against her. It was nice to see everyone relaxing. Geno had undone all the braids and tangles in his hair, and now the oil that normally coated his hair was splattering out the back, luckily going right over Yun.
Lying down in the middle of the barge, the same strange glow that had come from Eggbert's harness was glowing ever so slightly from all over the barge, which probably meant that we were magically connected to the wyvern which hopefully made pulling the platform easier. We were not overly high, flying just over the tops of the trees, which were pretty old. So my best guess was just over one hundred feet or so. I had planned to try and get some sleep, and seeing how it was dark out, I may as well try. Marda had given me a spare chain shirt in an effort to give me a blanket that wouldn't blow away, but it only covered my stomach. Well it was something.
Sleep was... not easy on the barge. I ended up tossing about a bit before getting comfortable, and Immediately started missing my wife's knees over the hard surface of the barge, even with the carpet. I woke up a few times just as I was falling asleep due to a particularly tall tree whooshing past. It was soothing to have Yun Plucking out a tune, not that it was something coherent. Simply chords played in complementary combinations. It was just gentle enough to keep thoughts from wandering in and creating havoc.
I can't tell if I am asleep or awake. The great Yellow Eye that I saw in my dream the night before blocks out the sky, or ground, or whatever I am looking towards. That great calamity of sound ruptures in my head again, “ You are close now Druss! Come home!” I can see the sky above me now, I could sit up and look around, but I suddenly feel like I just don't want to be here anymore. I could jump. How bad could it be? A warning shout from ahead pulls me up from the thoughts, but I can still feel them there, and I can't quite shake off the feeling, so I stay put.
Something large flies past us, with what appeared to be antlers. Kinda a tall distance for deer or whatever, so something else was going on, probably the reason for the warning shout. The best thing to do would be to stay down, out of the wind and easy reach, and see if I can hit things with ranged attacks. I can now hear more wing beats and before I can move, a squirrel falls at me from the darkness. As it hits the barge with a small wet thump, A great bird, easily the size of me takes it's place, and slides into me, trapping me underneath half the body Very much dead, the head is bent at a strange angle. Antlers or horns of some sort have caught on part of the barge, explaining the odd angle of the head. The creature was heavy enough that I couldn't immediately get it off my body.
“I need it's Blood!” I hear Melfina yell into the carnage. Normal battle talk, if it had been someone else I would have been worried. Knowing I couldn't properly defend myself, I tried to get out from under this carcass before something attacked me, but I was moving too slow. A figure flew out of the darkness towards me. It would have grabbed me if the barge hadn't suddenly tilted, causing the bird to crash into the body on top of my, transferring all that weight into me, knocking out my breath. As the barge continued to tilt, I slide backwards in a tangle of limbs, wings and blood. The flat surface quickly evened out, but not before I was awkwardly pushed against Sylvio, and as I got my hand free to summon my axe, Melfina's spiritual scythe cut clean through the second bird on me, killing it. With it's final effort heat and light burst forth from the dying creature, causing all my nerves to overload, my scales to tighten against my body. It felt like I had tensed all my muscles at once and held them like that, burning my nerves. Luckily it lasted only a short time, but now I was stuck under two corpses.
The barge had stopped moving completely, but we weren't plummeting to our deaths, so that was a plus. Marda had pulled her swords out, and was looking ahead, obviously tracking something in the air. Turning to me, she sprinted the short distance to the new pile of bodies on the barge, and jumped off it towards the front flourishing her blades downwards. Slicing the wings off a third flying monster, it too careens into me, drenching my upper torso in blood. Resigned to my fate, I simply sat there. “Yes. Thank you Marda. Just what I wanted.” No point in trying to get out, as I had at least twice my body weight on top of me, and it was now slippery. Sylvio was behind me, his metallic joints digging into my back, rather reminiscent of Bellia's knees. I suppose her knees aren't as cold as this metal though.
Soon enough, Petunia comes out of the air above us, apologizing for the interruption. It seems she was still talking to someone the whole time, probably Spike. “-So my friend Debbie's niece had come into this spot of bother and I says 'You should try to get out of town for a bit, let it all fade away.' It wasn't anything with the bastard law men, it was simply those shitting boys that were always chasing after them, the absolute twats.”
I couldn't quite make out anymore as She was now facing away from us, having Eggbert back in place so he could pull the barge again. Melfina started collecting parts and blood, and the others extricated me from the mass of unmoving feathers and flesh. Yun was nice enough to clean the blood off me and the carpet using simple magic so I didn't have to spend hours cleaning my armor and clothing. With a slight recoil, Melfina informed us that if we pulled the feathers out, it would radiant pain, which must have been what I felt. Those Feathers would be really nice to use on arrows though, and I briefly wondered if that radiance would transfer to something hit by them. But how to get them? It was a rather uncomfortable feeling, and pulling enough feathers off to make it worthwhile would have been agonizing. Remembering that Yun could manipulate things through magic and asking them we recovered forty before they simply got bored and went back to their banjo. At least it was something.
As the barge picks up speed, we can watch the sun come up, Which allows Melfina to process her samples easier. A full day of travel left, and now anything will be able to see us up in the sky. It was going to be a boring ride, or far too stressful. Either way, we were moving forward.