The Duelist 6, page 8
“Hm.” Tharfin rubbed his square jaw. “I am inclined to trust you, but the sordid history between our kin has been fraught with betrayal.”
“But, Father--” Thas tried to interject, but I raised my hand and cut him off.
“I wouldn’t presume we have automatically earned your trust or respect right away even after a few good deeds,” I assuaged. “I don’t know much about your history, but I have come to understand words are just words, and actions hold more weight. Which is to be expected if you have a long history of betrayal, like you said.”
“Spoken like someone who truly understands,” Captain Tharfin observed.
“Ohhh, yeah,” I said. “I’ve been backstabbed lots of times. It makes it kind of hard to trust new people simply on principle. So, tell us. What can we do?”
“Yes, sir,” Zoie piped up and looped her arm through mine. “We are not afraid of manual labor. Please, put us to work.”
The large dome-headed man quirked another eyebrow at this and eyed my Varthan wife in surprise.
Then the tough man did something odd, and he stuttered, blinked, and looked away as if he was… shy.
My eyes slid back to my sly wife. She blatantly refused to look at me and swished her tail in a way that was far too innocent to be believed.
“U-Um, well, if the Lady insists…” Captain Tharfin’s cheeks darkened even more as his eyes darted everywhere but the cat-woman.
“Oh, I do,” she said, and my mouth hung open when the formidable tank of a man was yet again reduced to a squirming school boy.
“Ahem,” he cleared his throat and seemed to gather himself. “You are quite kind. We would all welcome your assistance in relocating our ill and infirm to the Mead Hall. We will clear the space in order to set up cots.”
“Count us in,” I said, and then I huffed a laugh. “To be honest, I thought it would take a little more than that to ingratiate myself to you and your people.”
“Oh, this isn’t the real test,” Tharfin remarked with an edge to his voice I wasn’t sure how to take. He was still as stern as before, but now there was a gleam in his orange gaze I couldn’t put my finger on. “The men in Minetown must partake in the hunt to provide food for our people.”
“Right, okay,” I said and rubbed my hands together. “What are we hunting?”
“Tell me, Ambassador,” the captain said with a sly grin I could relate to. “Have you ever heard of the fearsome wirms of Lower Terr?”
Chapter 7
“Are you sure you’ll be okay staying behind and looking after Amaya and Anwaar while we go on the hunt?” I asked my cat-wife as I took a seat next to her in the large mead hall at the center of Minetown.
We had all just finished settling the sick and injured into the large lodge-like building, and the town cook declared they dish out the last of the watery soup from their stores before the men-folk left for the hunt.
I didn’t know how long that would take, so I was attempting to soak up some time with Zoie before we were all rushed out the door to partake in a hunt.
“We’ll be more than fine,” she said and accepted two bowls of soup from someone passing them out from a large tray. “The captain set all of us up in the biggest room the Inn has for our trouble.”
“He has, has he?” I waggled my eyebrows at my wife as I slurped at the flavorless soup in my bowl. “What’s all that about, hm?”
“Oh, my,” Zoie purred like the minx she was. “Jealous?”
“Do I need to be?” I rumbled in my chest as I locked my heated gaze onto her ocean-blue orbs.
“You know you don’t,” she said as her foot rubbed along the back of my calf. “Truthfully, I have noticed the Terrans find certain… features appealing, so to speak, and I simply used my ‘wiles’ and ‘natural charms’ to my advantage in order to further convince the captain of our pure intentions.”
I snorted and toed my boot off so I could stroke the back of her calf with the top of my foot. She was still wearing her Village People clothes, so that meant almost every inch of her sinful legs were still on display.
No wonder Tharfin was thirsty. My wife was fucking hot, and considering the abundance of Varthan concubines in the Upper Echelon, I concluded she must be right about certain Terran proclivities.
“Wiles and Natural Charms, eh?” I asked as I hooked my foot around the back of her ankle.
“Shay taught me how to use my sensuality as manipulation,” she said with a small smile, and she blushed cutely.
“Well, you are deadly sensual,” I flirted and reached across to twine my fingers with hers. I brought her hand up so I could kiss the back of it, but then I paused when something occurred to me. “Hey, if you knew you could ‘sway’ the captain, then why didn’t you speak up from the beginning? I mean, he looked like he forgot how to convert oxygen for a second when he finally got a good look at you. You would have saved me a speech.”
“Maybe… I personally find it quite attractive to watch my Ambassador husband speak with authority.” She shrugged nonchalantly, but the heat in her gas-flame irises told me another tale.
“So, you’re saying I’m dead sexy when I have my Ambassador Pants on?” I waggled my eyebrows again like Jim Carrey in The Mask.
“I did not see you change your clothing.” She cocked her head and blinked those pretty blues at me, and I half-lunged over the table so I could peck her on her obstinate mouth.
“Nice try,” I said when I broke the quick kiss. “I know you know what I mean, you tease.”
“You like it when I tease,” she purred.
“I also like how sexy you are when you know how to out-fox people with all your Wiles and Charms,” I bantered back.
“Thank Shay for that,” she said, and at the mention of our phoenix-wife, we both sobered a little. “I hope she is well. I hope they both are.”
“They will be,” I said and smoothed my foot against her ankle again. “They are.”
“Alex, are you almost ready to go?” Sskern asked from behind me, and I turned to look at him. He was sporting his pack, and his rock-bladed whip was coiled around his chest bandolier-style.
“Yeah, give me a moment, and I’ll meet you outside with the hunting party,” I said curtly as I refused to look at him and resumed eating my soup, and the raptor-man shuffled on his feet before he nodded and left without another word.
“What is that about, may I ask?” Zoie paused with her own spoonful of the tepid soup in front of her lips. “Did Regent Sskern do something to upset you?”
“Maybe, ‘upset’ is a little too strong,” I said with a shrug and lowered my spoon back into the clear broth. A floating vegetable that looked like a miniature tumbleweed bumped against the side of the bowl, and I prodded it with my utensil. “I do have a bone to pick with him, though.”
“A bone?” she asked as one ear flicked.
“It means I need to ask him a few things I’m concerned about,” I explained. “For one, I was under the impression all Lower Terrans wanted to ascend, so to hear Tharfin might need some additional convincing wasn’t exactly what I was expecting.”
“Why do you think he kept it from you?” Zoie set her spoon back in her bowl, and she eyed the Regent as he left the mead hall.
“I’m not sure, but I’m on my way to find out,” I said as I pushed my bowl away, stood up with my pack, and then kissed my wife on her forehead. “Come say goodbye to me before the hunting party leaves.”
“Will do, husband,” she said and then resumed eating the rest of her meal while I went in search of the Regent.
I found him milling around out by the large stables where the mine-folk kept their impressive centipede mounts, and when he spotted me, he came over right away with a chagrined expression that meant he probably knew what I was about to grill him on.
“Alex, my friend,” he started, but I cut him off with one upraised hand.
“Why didn’t you tell me talking to the captain was going to take a little more strategy?” I asked the raptor-man before he could get into it.
“It was Leader Zerr’s idea,” he explained rather sheepishly. “In case you haven’t noticed, the captain suffers from delusions and paranoia from working in the mines for so long. He figured if you came overly prepared Tharfin would take that as some sort of duplicity or malice. Zerr thought we should trust you and see how you would fare on instinct alone, and I will say it couldn’t have gone better if even I had tried. For the first time, we have a chance to get these people out of here. But I do regret not informing you.”
“I understand,” I sighed and let it go. “But just for the future, I typically operate better with all of the information at my disposal.”
“Duly noted, my friend,” Sskern said and clapped me on the back. “With this in mind, I must tell you Zerr has mostly kept Tharfin in the dark about the true status of Upper Terr.”
“And why is that?” I eyed the dome-headed Captain as he tugged on the straps of a giant centipede’s saddle while Thas spoke to him.
“For a long time, one of the main outliers in the conflict between the Uppers and Lowers has been Tharfin and his clan of miners,” he explained. “It has been a longstanding worry that if the captain ever knew how depleted our military forces really were, then nothing would stop him from inciting an insurrection. After all, they have the access to actual steel weapons, the motivation, and the numbers behind them.”
“Really? You think these people have the numbers to pull off a takeover?” I challenged.
“According to research--” Sskern started, but I had to stop him again.
“Pal, forget the second-hand info and look around,” I said and gestured around the town square.
Any buildings that weren’t scorched by the unnamed arsonist were either dark or boarded-up, which gave the place an abandoned feel. The townsfolk who did manage to be out and about were reduced to mere handfuls here and there as people pitched in to clear up some of the damage done from previous fires and destruction.
“Hm.” The raptor-man cast his gaze around the square at my advice, and a frown crept into his expression. “I see what you mean. But all the same, I suggest we both avoid too many specifics about Upper Terr.”
I wanted to disagree with the Regent because miscommunication rarely led to anything good, but it was technically his call, so I backed off and applied myself to helping the other members of the hunting party load up for our trek.
“Do you have adequate supplies for camping?” Captain Tharfin asked a short time later. “The wirms live deep in the mines, and a typical hunt could last several days.”
“I think I’m all set,” I said as I patted myself down to check that I had everything on me. Pack, swords, and even my trusty crossbow for good measure.
“Excellent,” he said and regarded both Sskern and me. “I would like it if you would ride up front on my skitter, Ambassador Brightwood. According to my son, there is much for us to talk about.”
“Yeah, sure,” I said, and then I spotted a pair of velvet cat-ears accompanied by a set of silver horns weaving through the loose crowd of people helping the hunters get ready. “Excuse me, Captain. I have to go see my wife before we leave.”
Tharfin followed my gaze, and when he caught sight of Zoie, his eyes darted down and away. “Of course.”
I shook my head as I walked away from the fierce warrior. Seeing the stoic barrel-chested dinosaur-man turn into a quivering ball of nerves at the sight of a beautiful cat-girl was something I would never get tired of, I was pretty sure of that.
“Are you all ready to go?” Amaya asked me when I approached the two women.
“Yeah,” I said and kissed them both on their cheeks. “Hey, where’s Ana?”
“She’s resting,” the oryx-woman said with a small shrug.
“Is she alright?” I asked. “She seemed to take it pretty rough when Horus got hurt.”
“She is upset that she hesitated when he reached out for her,” she admitted. “But she’ll be okay. I just hope it’s not too much longer before we can meet up with those two again.”
“Same here,” I said. “Take care of yourselves.”
“We’ll be waiting for you when you get back, my love,” Zoie said, and she brought me in for a warm embrace. “If you are bored, you should casually mention your Varthan wife was displeased at being left behind on such a rousing activity.”
“Hah, okay,” I laughed.
“But you have to say it just like that… ‘a rousing activity,’” she repeated.
“Since when did you become a comedian?” I questioned as I pulled away so I could look into her far-too-innocent face.
“You won’t regret it,” she said instead, which only made me laugh harder.
Then I brought my cat-wife in for a deep kiss, followed by my lover.
“You must take care down in the mines,” Amaya said as she gripped me by the shoulders. “I was not planning on having to stay behind. Be sure not to stray from the path. The darkness down there will be deeper than you’ve ever felt. And whatever you do, try not to use your time-trance. While you’re away, Zoie and I will attempt to find this Mozz person, but until then, just remember not to overtax yourself.”
“I’ll be careful,” I told the oryx-woman until her grip on my deltoids finally let up.
“I have something for you,” she said and pulled out a small jar. “Clay from the natural spring. If you need to use it, apply it like I showed you the first time.”
“Exactly?” I teased with an arched eyebrow as I remembered what else we did while applying the medicinal salve.
“Well, maybe not exactly,” she said with a deep blush.
I chuckled and bumped my forehead against hers before I stashed the small jar away in my pack. “Thank you. Both of you.”
After one last embrace between all three of us, I finally joined the hunting party as they prepared their caravan of crawlers for the journey.
The captain’s skitter was easy to find because it was the largest one, and it was at the very front.
The crawlers weren’t as big as the grubs Leader Zerr seemed to be so fond of, but they were big enough to hold multiple passengers, specifically two in the bench saddle on its boulder-shaped head, and two on the adjacent saddle in the middle of its back.
“Let me give you a hand,” Thas said and held out his hand for my pack.
“Thanks,” I said, and I watched him strap it to the netted saddlebag behind the docile creature’s neck along with his and Sskern’s.
Captain Tharfin was the last to mount the skitter, and when he did, he stood up on the bench-like seat so he could address his hunting party.
“The hunt begins!” A cheer rose up at this, and he held up his hands for silence until the crowd quieted. Then he stoically sat down and flicked the reins. “Onward!”
This Tharfin guy wasn’t really one for long drawn-out speeches apparently, which was fine because my head was on a constant swivel as our caravan headed out of the quaint mining town.
The closer to the mines we went, the more apparent it was that these people were almost completely extinct going off the ghost town vibes I was getting.
Several of the buildings obviously had some major structural issues because they leaned against one another like drunken men, and in the darkening twilight, I suddenly knew what Amaya meant about the darkness.
Each step that brought us toward the structure of the mines looming in the distance seemed to take us further from the weak light filtering in from above, even though we were technically going uphill on our way out of town.
It was a disorienting feeling, this heading upward into darkness business, and it took me a second to realize it was getting darker because the natural bioluminescence I’d grown accustomed to was absent. The slope we were trekking up was mostly featureless, apart from a wiry clump of scrub brush here and there.
After a while of my eyes straining in the dimness, the captain finally gave a low whistle that seemed to be just for the skitter.
The beast under me vibrated out a strong purr before two of its catfish-like whiskers raised up, and the bulbs on the ends began to glow like fog lights. When I glanced over my shoulder, I could see the five other crawlers behind me light up the same way, but I wasn’t sure if the light made much of a difference in the long-run because the starkness of the barren landscape was just as creepy as ever.
“We’ll be reaching the Throat of the open pit soon,” Tharfin said with his eyes glued to the quiet preparation plant we were passing under.
“This place looks dead,” I said as I followed his line of sight.
“The last time we were able to mine the ore was some time ago, after the Scourge slaughtered the last of our drillbeasts,” the captain said. “Drillbeasts are notorious for their long hatching and rearing periods, so the adults that were picked off were essentially the last of the species for at least the next two cycles.”
If I recalled correctly, a cycle translated to about eight Aventollian years, and therefore eight times two…
“Damn,” I remarked.
“Yes,” he said. “It really seems as if we are damned. We have not been able to harvest any ore since, which was over four farthings ago.”
“You’ve spent half a ye-- I mean season without being able to mine anything?” I asked.
“Nothing of significance that we couldn’t dig out of the open pit.” He pulled the skitter to a halt, and I could see we were perched on the edge of the large maw of the mine.
The open pit really was like a throat, and all around its funnel-like opening were a series of steps leading down like the bleachers in a stadium. Running to and fro from the different levels was a network of tracks and mine carts empty and left to rust. In fact, the only thing of real significance was the bright orange glow emanating from the “neck” of the mine’s funnel shape.
“Is that where we’re going?” I asked as I nodded down below.
“It is,” the captain said. “We will make camp at the bottom of the pit for the night, and then come morning, we will continue down into the Underground. It is there where the wirms gather to get as far away from the sunlight as possible.”
