Searching for a way to reach the capital, Noah takes a job doing protection work for a barge and finds trouble on the way.
Snarl
The forest gave way to fields of tree stumps, then farmland, and Noah encountered more and more people on the roads, from peasants and commoners to adventurers and armor-plated soldiers. Guarded by ramparts of hewn logs, about a hundred wood and brick buildings stood next to the Paleon Channel. Villagers and adventurers, both human and dwarf, filled the open streets without fear of the monsters in the woods.
It was like the town of Clive, having the same medieval charm that enticed Noah’s inner nerd. Of the four inns in the village, only one had a room left available, and he snatched it up before anyone else could claim it. His horse was fed and tended to in the stable out back, and Noah entered the familiar scene of a crowded tavern. All the tables were occupied, so Noah sat at the counter. Behind the bartender were three large barrels full of booze and shelves of bottles and jugs. Nearby was the entrance to the kitchen, with two servant girls tending to the customers.
“I’ll take the house special and a mug of whatever is in that left barrel.”
He was given a pint of ale in a dirty glass and a plate of burned wolf meat with wheat porridge slopped on the side. He shoveled it down and left a few copper coins on the counter. Perhaps he should have asked Mary to make him lunch for the road.
“Do you know who I can talk to about hitching a ride down to the coast?”
The bartender grunted and pointed his chin to the corner, where a potato-headed bargeman was sitting across from a long line of adventurers, each signing a ledger for guard work. Noah watched from a distance and listened to all the questions being asked and answered.
From what he could tell, guards were paid for the head of every bandit and monster that attacked the ships, and anyone who didn't fight when things went wrong would be thrown overboard or worse. They also had to bring their own food and shouldn’t expect a roof over their heads. ‘Henry’ was the name he signed after he got in line.
“There is a shipment of slaves heading out the day after tomorrow. Be at the docks at dawn,” said the bargeman.
Noah now had a room and a way down the channel, so the next step was to get a town layout. He went to his room to leave his luggage and perform his usual sweep. He checked every inch of the walls, floor, and ceiling for anything suspicious, as well as the straw mattress for anything hidden inside, living or nonliving, and he tested the reliability of the door. Everything appeared safe, but Noah still hid his possessions under the bed.
Now lightened, he set out into the muddy streets, surrounded by villagers at work and play, and livestock either pulling carts or being carried in them. He passed through the market and examined the wares of each merchant under tents that kept the summer sun at bay. Furs and fabrics, fresh meat and preserved vegetables, weapons and tools for survival—all were for sale and examined and purchased by members of all professions.
Took’s location on the channel made it a prime trading hub, allowing goods to be shipped directly to and from the capital from deeper within the mainland. Children, either homeless or freed from chores, hid in shadows and blind spots, searching for loose pockets and dropped coins. They repeatedly bumped against Noah, pretending it was an accident, and he’d swat at their thieving hands.
There were certain things he’d keep an eye out for wherever he traveled. He’d study the ground, looking for areas with bad footing. He’d step into stores, seeing which of them had back exits. He checked the alleys in search of places where he could ambush others or where others might ambush him.
He took note of every way in and out of the village, creating a mental map of the best routes. He wanted to know if there was anything in this town he could use or had to be wary of. Numerous chaotic and violent lifetimes had burned this lesson into his mind.
He made his way to the docks to see the channel, separating Vandheim from Uther. He arrived at a cliff made of stacked logs, where ships were either waiting silently, being worked on, or exchanging cargo. What intrigued Noah was how close the other side of the channel was, maybe just five hundred feet of open water, and if the map was to be believed, it retained that width with perfect straightness.
He followed the banks, looking for a place low enough to taste the water. It was brackish due to freshwater from the land and rivers forming a layer over the seawater deeper in the channel. The bedrock would have had to be split open for such a thing to occur. It was like a tectonic crack filled in by the ocean. How deep did it go? Whether or not this information could help him, he wasn’t sure. It was merely a little factoid to brighten his day. This world was fascinating, and interest was the closest he could get to happiness.
It was the middle of the afternoon, so Noah returned to the inn. There was still work for him to do. He locked himself in his room and began pulling out all his gear and possessions. It was time for the part of adventuring that stories never told: maintaining equipment. His blades had to be sharpened and oiled, clothing and anything else made of leather or fabric had to be cleaned and mended, and he had bags of harvested plants ready for mixing into useful concoctions.
He worked while invisible, not wanting a chance to train to escape him. The setting sun and his rumbling stomach eventually pulled him from his room, and he went downstairs for dinner. Townsfolk and adventurers packed the tavern, all eating, talking, laughing, and arguing. Servant girls maneuvered around the crowded tables with trays of food and drinks.
He took an open seat at the counter adjacent to a cloaked figure and ordered himself a plate. This wasn’t like a modern restaurant with a menu—everyone ate whatever the cooks happened to have on hand. Dinner was bread, sausages, and a baked potato.
While eating, he listened to as many conversations as possible to pick up information. ‘Ogre,’ that word was being muttered. One had been spotted prowling around the streets before dawn, a scout checking the town’s strengths and weaknesses. As always, Noah went to bed that night with a knife under his pillow.
The crying of a rooster, such an ugly sound, but every sound is atrocious when it pulls one from a pleasant slumber. Noah sat up in bed and yawned, finally enjoying a full night’s sleep since leaving the last town. Despite being a teenager so many times, no amount of experience could alleviate his adolescent circadian rhythms. He had to exhaust himself every day to have any hope of falling asleep before midnight. Living without screens helped.
He got out of bed and splashed water on his face from a nearby wash basin to pry sleep’s tight fingers off his mind. He put on his clothes and gear and left his room. The inn's employees had just woken up like him and were lighting the kitchen flames. Breakfast was not on his mind right now. He stepped out into the street, yet to receive the sun's direct light, and devoid of all but the earliest risers. Noah stretched and then cast both of his spells. He set off in a jog, using his depleting mana as a timer.
To adventurers, running was for chasing down prey or escaping predators, so Noah did his workout with all of his weapons and anything else he might carry in the field. He ran through the town, putting into practice everything he had learned the previous day and testing out every escape route he had concocted. With both spells going at once, Noah's fatigue accumulated faster, but he pushed through. He had reached a wall in his magic training, one he hoped to break through with enough practice.
Out in the village outskirts, his strength finally left him. He sat down beneath a tree growing at the side of the road and closed his eyes. Meditation seemed to be the best method of restoring his mana without falling asleep or using potions, and Noah was closing in on the breathing pattern that would best rejuvenate him.
The sun had fully risen, and the birds were making their presence known, each screaming desperately to have sex. It reminded Noah of high school. His stamina was slowly replenishing, and his altered breathing no longer required his focus, allowing his mind to wander.
His thoughts drifted to the farm and the words of the bandit he had interrogated, how they spoke of gods. Noah had searched for a hint of the divine in countless realities, whatever power might help him understand his reincarnation ability. Lifetimes of searching, all of it fruitless, yet this world offered him some small hope. To claim that magic came from the gods was no different from any other faith declaring the influence of their deities, but since no other reality had magic, perhaps his search had not yet lost its meaning.
Once rested, he returned to the inn, grabbed a quick breakfast, then returned to his room and pulled off his gear. Next, he performed an exercise routine that he had cultivated over several lifetimes, incorporating yoga, calisthenics, and various other techniques. It developed specific muscle tissue, oxygenated the blood, and purged his body of lactic acid and toxins. As an adventurer, muscle mass accumulated naturally, though not always in the way he needed it to. Adding this workout would push his body in the right direction.
Like during his run, he performed the routine with both spells activated, wringing every drop of mana out of his body. The floor became damp from his pouring sweat, and its evaporation fogged the nearby window. When he ran out of strength, he’d meditate like before. This was how he spent his time from dawn to dusk, stopping only to eat and run errands.
Sleep came quickly that night, and the sunrise, all too soon. He left the inn with breakfast in his pocket and headed to the docks. He had already sold his horse, his riding gear, and anything he couldn’t carry. The morning was foggy, and the overhead clouds meant it wouldn’t clear up soon.
At the docks stood four adventurers: an adult man, two young men, and a young woman. Farther off, he saw the cloaked figure from the inn, carrying a rucksack over one shoulder and a cloth-wrapped bow over the other. Beside the dock, a ship was being loaded with supplies. It was about a hundred feet long, with triangular sails and two levels below deck.
“You guarding this ship too?” The question came from one of the adventurers, a teenage boy with a short sword and a shield.
“That’s right, I’m Henry. So, I’m guessing the four of you are a party?”
“Fought through thick and thin for over a year now!” said the young woman beside him. Judging by her robes, she appeared to be a mage. “I’m Jen, and this is Pinot, Steven, and Jock.” Steven was taller than Noah and a few years older. He was armed with a crossbow and a confident grin. Jock, the final member, had a thick beard and a mace, but looked friendly.
“You folks ever do guard work like this?”
“I’ve guarded ships on the open sea. These three have never guarded anything bigger than a chain of wagons,” said Jock.
“I’ll have you know that those wagons attracted every monster in the area, and we fought tooth and nail to keep them safe,” Steven replied.
“I know. You brag about it in every bar we go to.”
“That’s because it works. Women love adventurers’ scars.”
“The women you meet just love adventurers’ money,” Jen said.
Noah detached himself from the conversation, quickly devolving into an argument that had probably already happened several times in their group. It was ended by a crowd approaching the ship, though most of its members were bound in chains. The cargo being shipping to the capital was slaves.
Slavery was common in these lands, though the four adventurers still went silent at their approach, perhaps because of who was leading them. He was a gruff man with a scarred face, missing fingers, and numerous kills under his belt, judging by the look in his one good eye. He approached Noah and the adventurers, accompanied by soldiers to keep the slaves in line.
“I’m going to say this quick. I’m the captain of this vessel, and you don’t need to know my name, but you do need to know my rules.
First rule: None of you go below deck for any reason. I don’t care what falls from the sky, be it rain, hail, snow, or arrows; you stay up top where I can see you.
Second rule: Unless I say so, or we come under attack, you will remain at the stern for the duration of this voyage. I don’t want you getting in my men’s way.
Third rule: If we come under attack and I catch one of you trying to hide or avoid the battle, you’re going overboard, either on your own or with your pockets filled with stones.
Fourth rule: You won’t get any food from us, so I hope you packed well for your sake.
Fifth rule: Your job is to guard my ship, my men, and my cargo, and should any of them receive so much as a scratch, I will hold all of you responsible. Am I understood?”
“Yes, Captain,” Jock replied, the only one to speak.
Men, women, and children were brought below deck, and Noah noticed something as they passed by. Many of them weren’t entirely human. Animalistic features, such as tails, scales, feathers, and pointed ears decorated many of their bodies. Beastmen. Noah had heard of them before, but this was his first time seeing them in the flesh.
They were the result of humans dabbling in shamanism—magic that channeled the power of nature through the body, allowing the caster to take on animal characteristics. This faith opposed the worship of the elemental deities, adding another level of complication to Uther’s war of expansionism.
Noah, Pinot’s group, and the cloaked figure were the last to get on board, and as the ship left the docks, they took their place in the very back of the deck, out of everyone’s way. There was no current to carry them south, only a persistent wind coming in from the west that filled the sails. Unless something happened, there was nothing for Noah and the other adventurers to do but try to make themselves comfortable for the voyage.
Noah glanced at the stranger from the corner of his vision, keeping their distance from everyone else and not making any movements, allowing them to blend in perfectly and slip from people’s memories. He had watched them since he arrived at the docks, noting their actions. The large hood did well in hiding their face, and what it couldn’t conceal, they compensated for by subtly turning their head or looking away from everyone else, controlling what angles they were seen from. Even Noah had barely caught a glimpse of their complexion, and the gloves on their hands offered no clue.
Whoever they were, they were good at avoiding detection, which, ironically, interested Noah. Stealth measures allowed one to hide from those weaker than themselves, but it drew the attention of those with equal or greater skill.
“So, Henry, what brings you down to the capital?” Jen asked, pulling his focus from the stranger.
“I’m just traveling, you?”
“The three of us are enlisting in the Utheric Knight Academy.”
‘Now we’re talking,’ Noah thought. Information on the academy had been spotty during his travels, so meeting these youngsters was a stroke of luck.
“This will actually be our second attempt,” said Pinot.
“What, did you get kicked out or something?”
“You could say that. None of us managed to pass the screening program last year. That’s how we met. We decided we would train together and give it another shot.”
“What’s the screening program?”
“Well, the only way to get in is to receive a letter of recommendation from a noble,” said Steven, “but there isn’t a limit on how many letters they can give out, so plenty of lower-ranked nobles will back a large number of applicants in the hope of increasing their influence and power. The academy needs to weed out the weaker ones or else they’ll be overwhelmed.”
“What did they have you do?”
“Tests of strength and mana, that kind of stuff. Ugh, I still remember the laughs of those rich kids when I was given the boot,” Jen groaned.
“Most nobles send their own kids if they can, but the upper-ranked don’t have any kind of screening. It’s more like they just buy their way in.”
“Not true,” said Jock. “The situation is improving from how it used to be. The academy was originally founded for noble houses to earn prestige and titles, or at least something to brag about. Those who graduated returned home with their ceremonial swords and no real experience. However, when Uther started growing its borders and its list of enemies grew, the regular army could no longer deal with all the internal and external threats, so something had to change.
Around twenty years ago, Sir Adwith Tarnas warned the king that our military strength was severely lacking and that the academy needed reforming. No one knows why the king listened to him, this man who came from nowhere, but authority over the academy was taken from the nobles, and all graduating knights fell under the direct order of the royal family. Likewise, the training methods were drastically harshened to create a new, stronger league of knights to protect Uther.
Fighting on the front lines for king and country turned the knighthood into a more respectable profession, one based on merits and abilities that earned prestige. If not for that, the nobles would have pulled all support from the program or outright rebelled into a civil war. Just opening it to the public on the condition of being backed by a noble nearly started a bloody coup.
Instead, it galvanized them into making their children as skilled and powerful as possible before reaching the academy. Their parents wanted to give them a head start for when they became knights and made names for themselves. No one, not even future dukes and duchesses, can get in and graduate without adequate abilities. Still, the great families fight tooth and nail to hold onto their influence in the academy to get their children preferential treatment.”
“Is this common knowledge, or should I applaud that explanation?” Noah asked, prompting Jock to chuckle.
“This year, things are really getting exciting,” said Pinot. “I heard one of the Zodiac twins is going to be teaching, so anybody who’s anybody is going to try to get in and train under them.”
Noah remembered when he arrived at Took and how crowded it had been. Most of those adventurers were probably like him, riding the channel down to the capital to enter the academy. He looked over to the hooded figure, sitting away from the others and keeping so still that it was easy to forget they were there. Perhaps they were also planning on entering the academy as well. He then noticed they were up to something.
It was done with little movement, pulling a small bottle out of their robes and letting the dark liquid inside spill onto the deck. Noah cast both of his spells and got up with his clone saving his space and giving everyone the impression he was still there. The figure didn’t sense Noah’s approach or see the liquid on his fingers as he examined it. It was blood, but from what?
Should he rock the boat on the chance that this is something dangerous, or see what comes next and enjoy the ride? He had made his choice before he even came over. He returned to his spot and canceled his spells without anyone suspecting his movements. He kept the stranger in the corner of his view, curious about what would happen next.
Several hours after leaving Took, a wordless snarl echoed from above, drawing all gazes to an ogre standing at the top of a nearby cliff. It glared at everyone on board with its single hate-filled eye, then put a horn to its mouth and released a thunderous bellow that swept across the landscape.
“Steven!” Pinot yelled.
“I know!” he replied, raising his crossbow and taking aim.
Before he could shoot, an arrow was planted in the ogre’s chest, and Noah turned to the stranger, armed with a bow like none he had ever seen before. It was made of a material he couldn’t identify, forming web-like struts that gave it the shape of a compound bow. Two large monster talons extended from the ends like Karambit knives.
“More will be coming,” the stranger said. It was the voice of a woman.
“Captain,” said Noah, “if you have any tricks to make this ship move faster, now’s the time to use them.”
Gripping the steering wheel with his knobby hands, the captain shouted to his men, “Extend the oars! Put the slaves to work!”
Below deck, the slaves lined up on benches with their hands bound to long oars extending out of the ship’s sides. They began rowing with all their strength out of fear of getting beaten. Noah could hear shouts and roars from either side of the channel. Their enemies had the high ground.
Noah turned to the young woman and conjured his bow from within his ring. “You take port, and I’ll take starboard. Steven, if any of them try to swim towards the ship, you deal with them. Can any among you use magic?”
“I can use offensive and defensive water magic at medium range,” said Jen.
“Then you, Pinot, and Jock will fight any that manage to get on board. Here they come.”
Alongside the channel, the ogres appeared, chasing after the ship with weapons taken from their victims, and arrows soon began to rain down. “Water Shield!” Jen cast, producing a blue magic circle. A protective dome of water formed over her head for her and her friends to hide under.
Noah and the woman moved across the ship's deck with agile steps to keep from being targeted. Even with arrows falling, Noah’s curiosity made him glance at the woman whenever he could. Her movements were light and trained, similar to his, but she was doing it spontaneously; there was no communication between them, and neither was imitating the other. Interesting.
They countered with arrows of their own, the two only taking a moment to focus each shot. Her speed and accuracy proved her to be the superior archer. She was pulling arrows out of her rucksack and firing them with a speed he had never seen before.
Up above, the ogres were taking hits and retreating from the banks. Anything short of an instant kill failed to stop them, and they had no trouble keeping up with the ship. The captain kept the ship sailing down the direct middle of the channel, his one eye swerving back and forth between the narrowing sides. They were passing through the roots of a mountain, where the bedrock was exposed. When the land cracked open, the areas with more soil widened with time because of erosion, but the cliffs were closing in here.
Now in range, the ogres began throwing spears and stones, each impact damaging the ship. The captain ordered his men to go below deck, though Noah and the others had to fend off these predators. It became all the more difficult when an ogre’s lucky arrow struck Noah in the back of the leg.
“Goddamn arrows! Every fucking time!”
“Jock!” Pinot yelled, following a groan of pain from the man.
Noah looked over, seeing him lying in a pool of blood with a stone next to him. With no time to waste, Noah ripped the arrow out of his leg, loaded it into his bow, and shot it back at the ogres. Next, he pulled out a healing potion, emptied half of it onto his leg, and then tossed the bottle to Pinot. “Get him below deck and give him this!”
“Hey, I said—” The woman silenced the captain by sending an arrow flying past his head and leaving a small cut on his ear.
Up ahead, impatient ogres were starting to jump off the cliffs to try to swim over to the ship, and they’d soon be able to land directly on the deck. Noah looked over to Steven, downed by a thrown spear. Noah tossed him a healing potion and moved back along the deck to the woman.
“I’ll go high,” she said, “you go low.”
“On it.”
He stepped onto the ship's bow and began shooting at the ogres in the water, rendering them still or causing them to thrash in pain and panic. Despite their bulk, they were fast swimmers, and more were leaping off the cliffs. Behind him, the woman took aim, and her bow was shrouded in mana with runes appearing in the air.
“Scatter Shot!”
One arrow was loaded, and five were launched—the other four made of condensed mana. As per the name, they spread like buckshot as they flew and took out two falling ogres like clay pigeons. She repeated the action with lightning reflexes, swiveling her focus to the left and right sides.
One ogre finally managed to land on the deck, causing the floorboards to buckle under its weight. It went after Pinot, the smallest defender, and swung at him with a wooden club. His shield saved him, but the swing tossed him into the air. The woman ended its life with an arrow to the back of the head. Before she could turn around, an ogre landed behind her and lunged. It managed to rip off her cloak and separate her from her bag.
Late teens, close to twenty years old, with porcelain skin, piercing eyes, and upswept golden hair. She was wearing a blue battle dress, a garment made of a strong fabric for wearing underneath armor. She spun around, her dress billowing with each movement, and slashed the ogre's throat with one of the talons at the ends of her bow.
Another ogre attacked her with a downswing of a sword, and she blocked with her bow. Her weapon should have snapped like a twig, but the material was resistant and coated with thick scales. Holding the spine of the bow with both hands, she swung at the ogre and slashed its wrist. The string, sharp and serrated like a wire saw, cut deep enough into the ogre’s flesh to sever the vital arteries.
A third, charging towards her with a dagger in hand, was stopped when Noah stabbed it in the back. He grabbed the ogre’s blade, turned, and threw it at one of its kin that had climbed onboard. He and the woman looked at each other and exchanged a nod. Neither knew anything about the other, but if there was one thing they could trust, it was each other’s skill. Noah couldn’t remember the last time he encountered someone like this with such professionalism and competence. He was starting to get excited.
The oars slowed as the slaves ran out of strength, and the sails started to slacken. The slowing vessel allowed more ogres to climb onboard. They closed in on Noah and the woman, now standing back-to-back. With no fear or hesitation, they both went on the offensive in a storm of slashes and stabs.
Noah wielded his longsword, hacking off limbs and carving open flesh. Two ogres came at him from opposite directions like charging bulls. He swung at one, but it blocked with its shield. At the same time, Noah drew his short sword and stabbed the second in the chest. Thrust, key-turn, remove, and back in the sheath. The first tried to grab him, and he caught its wrist. Twisting its arm exposed its guard, jabbing it in the eye with the hilt of his sword stunned it, and a slash to the throat finished it off.
Two more were coming at him. Noah activated both spells briefly, leaving his clone where he stood and lunging forward. He slashed one across the stomach, spilling its guts, then beheaded the other from behind. He released the spells as another ogre charged and dispatched it with a slash from shoulder to hip.
In the corner of his eye, he saw the woman spinning back and forth, slashing and hacking at any foe approaching her. The talons and string on her bow carved through flesh with ease, and she could block attacks by flipping the bow over in her hands.
One such opponent came at her with a club, and she parried the downward swing. She then pounced like a lioness, hitting the ogre in the chest with her knees and riding it down to the ground. As soon as its back hit the floor, she slit its throat, then immediately dodged the executioner’s swing of a sword-wielding ogre. She rolled across the deck, grabbed an arrow embedded in the floorboards, loaded it, and released.
“Cluster Shot!”
Like her other spell, four mana arrows were launched along with the real arrow, and all found their mark in the ogre’s chest. She ducked down, avoiding a horizontal swing of another sword, then spun around and kicked her opponent in the temple. The blow disoriented it long enough for her to grab another arrow and plant it in the center of its eye.
Looking over, Noah saw Pinot’s team trying to guard the captain. All of them were bloody and struggling to hold their enemies at bay. Despite the battle, he didn’t miss the sound of wood smashing or the vibrations under his feet. He looked over the railing and saw a large hole in the hull's starboard side, with both ogres and water streaming in.
He turned to the woman and handed her his quiver. “I need to go below deck and try to buy us time before we sink.”
“I’ll handle things up here.”
“Steven, Jen, come with me!”
He pulled them from the captain’s side, and they followed him down below deck, where the slaves were supposed to be rowing. Three ogres had gotten in and were fighting with the crew. The water was at everyone’s ankles and getting higher.
“I’ll deal with the ogres. Steven, cut the slaves loose and get them to the stern, portside. We need to shift the weight of the ship. Jen, can you use your shield spell to try to block the hole?” The two stammered, barely holding it together with everything that was going on. “Whatever, do it.”
Only swinging lanterns pierced the darkness, and Noah felt no need to conceal his magic with the commotion and unreliable light. He activated both spells, letting his foes focus on the oncoming illusion while attacking their unguarded sides. Blood sprayed with every slash and strike of his sword, mixing with the water pouring into the cabin.
While Noah dealt with the ogres, Steven moved the slaves toward the back of the ship, and Jen used the water pouring in to create a shield and plug the hole. It was only a temporary measure, but it would have to suffice. As more weight was moved towards the ship's opposite side, the hole rose above the water's surface.
Noah approached Steven and handed him an oar. “You guard Jen. Knock back any ogres that try to come through that shield.” He didn’t bother waiting for their replies, and they had already accepted that he was the one to listen to, so he left them there and went back above deck. Outside, he found Pinot trying to steer the ship, with Jock guarding him and the woman shooting arrows. The captain was on the floor, either dead or knocked out.
“How are we looking?” Noah hollered.
Before he could receive a reply, explosions erupted across the ship’s bow, with much of the front half now ablaze. One of the ogres was launching fire spells, the last thing they needed.
“Any ideas?!” Pinot frantically shouted.
Noah looked around, focusing on every detail around him and coming up with a plan. “Keep the ship going and run it aground as soon as you see a place we can dismount. Jock, mash up these bodies and use them to put out the flames. I’ll do what I can to keep the masts from catching.”
“You can’t be serious!” Jock yelled.
“When life gives you grapes, stomp them to make wine.”
Noah worked on the rigging, unfastening and redoing knots on the deck and the masts. It wasn’t a one-man job, but while he didn’t have experience with this particular type of ship, he had spent enough years sailing to figure out the specifics. He had to pull the sails out of the reach of the flames, because if they caught fire, they’d be dead in the water.
As he worked, the archer continued shooting at the ogres. They had learned to fear her, and now those with magic abilities were stepping up. Beneath her flying arrows, Jock was using his mace to smash corpses into a bloody pulp and then toss them onto the flames. Minus the gristly sound and nauseating smell of burning innards, it was working perfectly, though the ship had about reached its limit.
“There’s open land ahead!” Pinot shouted.
The rocky cliffs gave way to earthen banks and forest, where the ogres were waiting. The archer stepped onto the bow and mowed down the ogres to clear a spot, with the ship finally running aground. Noah and the archer dismounted, grateful to be on solid earth. The ogres came out of the woodwork, carrying shields to block the storm of arrows.
Noah cast his first spell, seemingly disappearing into thin air as he closed in on his foes. The archer looked around to find him, soon cursing in the belief that he had abandoned them. If not for her, he probably would have. Noah went to work hacking and slashing at his foes, and their screams and the spraying of blood confused the tribe and Pinot’s team, which came to join the fight. Noah could only stem the flow; he couldn’t deal with them all, nor was he safe.
Blessed with blind luck, one ogre grabbed Noah’s arm and raised a hatchet. Noah couldn’t draw his backup sword, so he punched the savage in the eye. It screamed in agony, and Noah winced. The punch didn’t land right, and his finger was broken due to his ring.
He could still hold his sword, but he couldn’t wear the ring on his broken finger, and he opened up some distance and pulled it off. The ogre blindly tackled him as soon as it was removed, knocking it from his hand as he was pinned to the ground. Its meaty hands tried to close around his invisible throat, and he pulled out his knife and stabbed it in the temple.
Looking back, the ring, no longer concealed by his mana, was in the hand of a female ogre. He assumed it was female due to one of her tits hanging out like a Neanderthal. She ran off, sending Noah’s heart sinking into his stomach. Most of his equipment, money, and potions were in that ring, not to mention his letter of recommendation and bow.
Nearby, he heard shouts and screams from the ship as the slaves tried to escape, only for several to be grabbed by the ogres and carried off. “Jen, Steven!” Pinot shouted as his friends were beaten into submission and hauled away like luggage. The ogres were fleeing back into the woods. The battle seemed over, though it couldn’t be called a victory.
Fearful Pinot, about to chase after them, was stopped by the woman. “They’ll kill you easily if you chase after them. Leave it to me.”
“I’m coming with you,” said Noah upon releasing his spell.
“I can handle this.”
“One of them took my ring, and I’m not leaving without it.”
“Very well, we leave in two minutes.”
“I’m not letting you kids go off on your own,” Jock said as the woman gathered arrows and stuffed them in her bag.
“The slaves have made their escape. The crew is still on board, and they’re injured,” she replied. “You need to look after them in case the ogres come back. We’ll track them down to wherever they set up camp and exterminate them.” She turned to Noah, mending his finger with a few drops of his last potion. “You ready?”
He shouldered his backpack, lightened for speed and easier travel. “Let’s go.”
They departed, diving into the forest with the heavy footprints of the ogres guiding their path. Their steps were fast and light, and they maintained a pace that allowed them to conserve their strength. No words were shared between them while they ran, and Noah liked it that way. This woman intrigued him the way few others ever had, and he wanted to savor the mystery. They worked well together, and the less they communicated, the more it impressed him.
After battling on the ship for so long, their stamina was low, and they finally had to stop. The sound of a creek and the dryness of their throats finally convinced them to stop, and neither of them could resist leaning on their knees and gasping for air.
“Break?”
“Break.”
They moved down to the creek, taking turns filling their canteens while the other stood watch. They sat side by side on a flood-swept log and ate lunch silently. Travelers’ rations were rarely appetizing, but hunger and fatigue were the best seasonings.
“That magic you used to disappear and reappear, what was it?” She spoke without looking at him.
“I’m not sure, really. I’m hoping I’ll be able to find out in the capital. Right now, what I’m more curious about is why the daughter of a noble would do something like bait a pack of ogres to attack a ship on a channel.”
“You’re wrong on both counts.”
“True, your dress and bow, despite their quality, don’t guarantee your lineage, and you’re clearly no stranger to the field, but everything else about you screams high society. From your skin and hair, I know you grew up with hot baths, soaps, and perfumes, rather than just a rough cloth and a rain barrel. And the way you move and your posture show not just combat experience. You learned noble etiquette and formal dancing. As for the ogres, I saw the blood you poured on the ship's deck. What was it, their favorite prey?” She looked at him with stoic eyes. “I’m not judging, just curious.”
She leaned forward on her knees, looking out across the creek. “I’ve been following that tribe for the past four days after they destroyed several homes in my family’s territory. The blood was from a pregnant female. Despite being ravenous beasts, the males furiously defend their mates and their young. They wouldn’t have tried their luck against a town as large as Took, so I decided to lure them to the channel with that blood.”
“And the fact that it was a slave ship had nothing to do with it?”
“I figured I could help them escape in the commotion.”
“Isn’t slavery the norm in these lands?”
“That is something I plan on changing. I fight for their freedom, and my own.” She got to her feet. “You can call me Audrey. Are you ready?”
“You can call me Henry. You lead, and I’ll follow.”
They set off once more, now at a quicker pace, with their breathing in sync. The ogre tracks were tantalizingly fresh, but they never saw the creatures themselves. They were a formidable race to keep running like this after chasing the ship so far. Eventually, the sun’s proximity to the horizon was beyond ignoring.
“Ogres only take prisoners to pit them against their young as training, then cook and eat them. When the sun sets, and the fires are lit, we’ll have lost them,” Audrey said as she ran.
“Don’t worry, I think we’re getting close.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“All of the largest trees around here were logged a while ago. There might be an abandoned settlement nearby where they’re bedding down.”
“Good thinking. These lands have been fought over for thousands of years. There are ruins and ghost towns everywhere.” She spoke with excitement in her voice, and while it wasn’t a smile, her expression had brightened.
True to Noah’s words, the forest gave way, exposing a derelict town built on the bank of a river that would join the channel. The wood had paled under the sun and rotted, and many buildings had even caved in as time passed. There was no telling when its original inhabitants disappeared, but it no didn’t matter, as it had now become the temporary home of the ogre tribe.
Noah could hear chanting and roaring in the center, along with the sound of metal on metal. The ogres had gathered by the light of a bonfire and formed a ring of their ranks. In the center, a slave fought for her life against an ogre whelp with a rusty sword.
“There isn’t enough time for recon. We have to get in there now.”
“Sounds like fun. Let’s go.”
No hesitation, they charged into the town, seeing the ogres up ahead with their backs turned. “Scatter Shot!” Audrey cast. She fired an arrow with several mana counterparts, each of them burying themselves in a fleshy target and drawing howls of pain. Their alarm broke up the fight, and all of the ogres turned to face the intruders. This time, it was more females than males, but they were just as bloodthirsty and charged with weapons overhead.
Audrey was shooting at full speed, and the ogres were spreading out to flank her and Noah from all sides. Noah cast his spells, and any ogres that came close met his sword. Like on the ship, they fought back-to-back, Audrey keeping them at bay and Noah dealing with any that managed to avoid her arrows.
Their rhythm was then broken, quite painfully, by a shockwave in the form of a wind spell. It slammed into them like a runaway car, knocking them through the air. Noah had no idea which ogre sent it, and with his head spinning, he didn’t expect to find out. The force dispersed across their entire bodies, so minus one or two broken ribs, he wasn’t badly harmed, and Audrey was slowly getting back on her feet. The problem was that they had both dropped their weapons, and the ogres wouldn’t let this opportunity slip by.
Noah staggered to his feet, struggling to maintain his balance while his mind and body did a hard reboot. One ogre attacked, and by the skin of his teeth, Noah managed to draw his short sword and drive it into the beast’s heart, though its momentum ended up pulling the sword from his hand.
Nearby, he saw Audrey grab one of her arrows and stab a charging ogre in the eye. Noah looked around, seeing a nearby corpse with a bow on its back.
“Audrey!” he shouted as he tossed the bow to her.
“Henry!” she yelled simultaneously as she tossed a sword to him.
Both weapons were caught, and the battle resumed at full fury with arrows and blood flying. The ogre that had launched the wind spell revealed itself, hurling a ball of air from its hand that glowed like a neon sign. It shot at Noah’s clone and passed through it, striking a rundown cottage and causing it to collapse. Noah closed in on the mage and beheaded it with a swing while Audrey dealt with two ogres trying to launch fireballs. The last of the light came with the remaining ogres, the younglings eager to prove themselves, and they were dispatched with little trouble.
Finally, the battle was over. Noah and Audrey stood surrounded by corpses, their hands, faces, and clothes stained with blood, and their breathing ragged. Their ears were strained, trying to pick up any sounds of an ambush or survivors fleeing. Nothing.
“Thank you,” Audrey said.
“You don’t have to thank me.”
“I do, because you’re one of the few men I’ve ever met that I can wholeheartedly say it to.”
“You did it!” they heard. Steven and Jen ran towards them, both beaten and bloody but alive.
“You saved us!” Jen exclaimed.
“How are the slaves?” Audrey asked.
“Two of them were killed before you arrived, but the rest will live.”
“Are they still here?”
“Come and see.”
Audrey and Noah walked to the center of town, where the slaves huddled around the fire. As the four adventurers approached, they got to their feet, both fearful and defensive.
“We’re not going back,” one man declared, sporting a pair of broken antlers.
“Yes, you are,” said Audrey, “back to your homelands, or wherever it is you wish your feet to carry you. I did not take this job to deliver you to the capital, but to deliver you from bondage. What you do now and what happens to you is your choice. You are free.”
Their reactions were mixed, some skeptical and others relieved, and most hugged each other with tears of joy pouring down their gaunt cheeks.
“So what now?” Jen asked.
“We spend the night here, and tomorrow, we’ll make our way back to the channel to regroup with the others,” said Audrey.
“First, we should do something about all these dead bodies before something even meaner than an ogre comes prowling,” said Noah. “We can just toss them into the river and let the current carry them away. However, a female ogre stole my ring, and I absolutely can’t afford to leave it behind or lose it, so we’ll just move the males for now. Can I trust you all?”
A woman stepped forward. “You helped save us and free us. We are in your debt and will do whatever we can to aid you.”
While everyone carried the male ogres to the river, Noah scoured the village for the females. He had only the moon and a torch for light, but his vision went beyond that. When his magic was active, he became aware of the mana around him, as though his mana formed a lens over his eye. He couldn’t gauge someone’s strength, but he could tell when something carried mana, such as a monster recently summoned from a magic circle or, in this case, a magic ring.
He moved through the battlefield, the soil reeking of blood and voided bowels, searching for a twinkling light in the darkness. Some ogres weren’t yet dead, simply too wounded to move, and their mana gave them away. He’d finish them off, and the aura that shrouded them would vanish, like the heat leaving their corpses. He was starting to grow fearful before finally finding his ring next to a female with an arrow in her back.
The village was eventually cleared, and everyone gathered around the fire in the center of town, too exhausted to eat, not that there was much to eat anyway. They tended to each other’s injuries, with Noah distributing potions as needed. Still, he made sure to keep one for himself. Once finished, they fell asleep on the bare earth, though Noah and Audrey remained awake, staring into the flames.
“Tomorrow, I’ll lead Steven and Jen back to the ship and make sure that the rest of the slaves are freed, then I must return home to declare the ogre tribe has been vanquished,” said Audrey.
“I’ll keep heading south to the capital.”
They didn’t speak after that, but the silence wasn’t awkward. Instead, it was comforting. Nothing needed to be said; the quiet didn’t need breaking. When Noah lay back, ready to fall asleep, he turned to her and spoke. “My real name is Noah, by the way.”
It was the first time he had seen her smile, and then, he heard a small laugh. “I’m Alexis.”
moooow2Report
Chevyzr2Report