They stopped to take one look back, then passed over the rise that cut off the last view of Micaforo. Glorm sighed deeply. "I will miss that Beer."
Delrin looked at him quizzically. "You've got a fair load on the mule, don't you?" Glorm's pack animal had been replaced, and what remained of his stock after the Urakai dungeon was strapped to the animal's back. It and El Sid's black charger were the only horses they owned, having concluded that the beasts, while speeding up travel, were just too expensive to replace and transport.
Glorm nodded in response to his question, "yes, yes, but that is trading stock. It is not to be used for the standard drink."
Delrin smiled. "But you have your OTHER trading stock, so you can afford to drink the beer." He was referring to the half a dozen or so crystal insects encased in glass they had purchased from Greffen for twenty gold. With Tristan dead, they had no idea exactly what they could get for the items in Kethem, but Greffen suggested they could double their money if they found the right buyer, and El Sid recalled that the odd bits and pieces from the Crystal Forest did bring a fair price.
Over the course of the next eight days, they made steady progress. Delrin's create food and water spell was supplemented with small game Fuji brought down with a bow, and the horse and mule ate grass and occasional oats from El Sid's saddlebag. One day was lost to heavy rain, but otherwise the weather seemed to favor them. They gave the Crystal Forest a wide berth on this trip. On the sixth day, they spotted riders on a hill some miles distance, the sun giving off small flashes that must have been coming from armor. Since the riders appeared to be riding hard, and disappeared quickly, they decided not to divert from their path and continued on. On the eighth day, they came across signs that a large party on heavy horses had come through the area not long before, perhaps a day at most. Delrin estimated at least a hundred riders, and El Sid found some traces of blood that might have been from a wound. The tracks were going from north to south, cutting across their westward trail at a ninety degree angle.
Delrin stood after examining a trampled area more carefully. "War horses, I think; they look to have been in some kind of marching order, a little disarrayed."
El Sid nodded. "Not a surprise if they have wounded."
The Don spoke up. "Skip it?"
El Sid frowned, but nodded agreement. "Yeh, a hundred bloodied, pissed people are not who we wish to mess with. A hundred heavy horses sounds pretty heavy duty. Must be the local lords warring on each other."
They continued on for several hours, not wanting to be in the path of potential pursuit of the nameless horsemen, then set up camp. The night passed without incident, and two days later, they saw the first signs of civilization. A few hours later, they were in Negrata. The town had not changed in the month that had gone by, and they gladly turned over the two gold to the farmer that had let them "rent" his house before.
Krinn grinned, hauled out a dagger, and announced that anyone who wanted the bath before her could fight her for it. There were no takers, and she hovered over the farmer's son anxiously as he brought hot water from the fire and filled the metal tub, then pushed him out of the small room and slammed the door.
The others had more of the stew and black bread they remembered from their last time in this house. "Plain, but it satisfies in a way those conjured up meals never will" gloated the Don. "No offense intended, Delrin; we couldn't have made that kind of time without your spells, but it just doesn't stack up against real food."
"No offense taken" Delrin replied meekly.
They settled down in front of the fire and ate greedily. The farmer's boy kept the bowls full until they were sated. "What happened to the big one?" the boy asked.
Glorm spoke up "He died in battle. A fine warrior, he slew ten Urakai before falling to their battlemagic."
The boy's eyes grew wide. "You were fighting Urakai? So the rumors are true?"
Glorm suddenly sat up, more alert. "Rumors be rumors, some true, some not. What rumors do you speak of?"
The boy spoke eagerly. "Riders from Helseki rode through two weeks ago. There were rumors of a Urakai attack on Cherifyr! Though they would not speak of it, the men acted as if they were headed into battle."
Glorm frowned. "Men riding to battle do not necessarily mean a Urakai attack." He quickly motioned El Sid over.
The boy was intent enough not to notice El Sid's silent tread.
"Yes, but several months ago, Cherifyr was attacked by a black ship as large as Gozami." Glorm looked at El Sid.
"Pranan name for one of the ring islands. An exaggeration, I am sure. But at least a heavy warship."
The boy was startled by El Sid's voice, but quickly chimed in. "Bigger. It is said that this ship stood over even a Kethemer's Heavy Warship like a house stands over a shed. Cherifyr had a lot of damage, and some sailors on merchants swore they saw Urakai on the large ship reflected in the light of the fires that were started. One of them told me himself when they last stopped here!"
"So, you put two and two together..."
The boy looked puzzled. "Two what?"
"It's an expression. Go ahead."
"So, I guessed that the men were on the way to Cherifyr, and that at last the Urakai had returned. They would not answer when I asked if it was true, but..."
El Sid had a worried expression on his face. "When was the last time a ship stopped here?" he asked.
"A little over two weeks ago. The weekly pickup of fish has been missed two weeks in a row now, so my father is very happy you have returned to rent our house."
El Sid and Glorm just stared at one another.
EL SID
They waited until Krinn was done with her toilet, which seemed to take an overlong time even to as fastidious a Saltan as the Sid. "Women." grimaced Fuji. Then the party gathered together, Krinn still drying her long hair. They invited the farmer to join them.
"So, what do you think of this Cherifyr business?" Sid queried.
"Blast the lad! He been runnin' off 'ta mouth ag'n insteada workin'? Well, he's boy, that 'un, he be." replied the man, eager despite his protestations to hob the knob with a party of paying travelers. "'Tis as you've said. Them men were outa Helseki an' ridin' hard. An' Walleye Burt ain't been by ta' pick up da fish in two weeks. Burt's a cuss, but a reliable cuss, he is. Las' time he was ov'r due this long was durin' the Gledis Uprisin'. Probably been c'nscript'd ag'n like las' time," he concluded, shaking his head, "D'dn't get free o' the Navee for three months, las' time, did Burt. Them fish'll go 'ta waste. Don't smoke so good this time o' season. Thas bluefins for ya. Best smokin' fish around 'alf the year, the other 'alf, ya best 'ta eat 'em fresh."
The fine points of bluefin tuna seemed a staple topic of discussion and debate in the area. After a few more minutes of bait and hook talk, Glorm steered the farmer back to Cherifyr.
"Now thas a town, Cherifyr is! 'Course, thas what they say. Don't get up that way me'self, 'course. Not what with the farm and takin' da boat out when I can, o' smeltin' in the stream in da spring run. Takes a lotta workin' to live 'round these parts. No offense to you sirs, o'course" he hastened after Fuji stiffened at the unspoken implication.
The farmer politically excused himself.
"Hmmm...we won't be getting transport from here if Cherafyr has pressed all the local shipping tonnage into service. Not unless we wish to trust smugglers" the Sid summed up. Trusting smugglers didn't seem a popular idea with anyone. "Now, I've left my map in my room, so we'll have to check, but it sounds as if we want to try to catch a released packet, we'd best mosey up to Cherifyr where they will all be. Also, this business about "black ships" needs checking out. Seems to be a recurring theme. They seem to show up at the oddest times. With the oddest things aboard. And generally mean trouble. Urakai on board, eh? That's odd, too. Too bad the Urakai half-breed is no longer with us. Without him, I don't see how we can pursue any Urakai connections. They'd kill us on sight."
"So how far is Cherifyr from a certain 'cursed' town we know? Would the locals want a secondary stronghold in case this raid is the leading edge of a new Urakai invasion?" asked the Don. "Maybe this would be an opportunity to put Plan B into action. We clearly can't walk to Kethem."
"Question is, what can we contribute to a truly large scale military venture if there is one shaping up? I like to show up to a knife fight with a sword, not vice versa" grimaced Sid. "We could be ambushed and robbed or killed. Or impressed into service. No obvious percentage in that for us."
"Well, I for one am not going to sit in this pisshole of a hamlet and pull my pud for three months" retorted Fuji.
"Why not? You've had plenty of practice at it!" chimed Delrin, laughing, taking the late Tanaka's role in the barbarian's banter.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. As if you would know how to do anything more with yours, tree-hugger," Fuji snickered good-naturedly.
"Any other matters or concerns? Then barring new developments, let's prepare to move north to Cherifyr" concluded El Sid.
As if summarizing their situation, the Don threw his dagger and skewered a cockroach crawling up the wall.