Chapter Six

  Tivani cornered me a little while after I’d left Vsara’s room. “Have some fun, huh?”

  I gave her a cool look. “Perhaps.”

  She snickered. “Perhaps, huh? Perhaps? Was it maybe someone else on the Melodia screaming about how they were cumming?”

  I shrugged. “Lots of people yell things all the time around here. Who knows who’s cumming and when?”

  She doubled over laughing with a hand on my shoulder to steady herself. There was something I was missing, because what I’d said wasn’t nearly that amusing. When she came back up, she said, “I’ll have you know, Runic Lord, that I was fielding a delivery downstairs. I had to stand there signing a fucking paper while someone was screaming about how they were cumming.”

  It was my turn to double over laughing while I imagined poor Tivani standing there, red as a beet, as Vsara and I went at it. A minute or two later, I could barely breathe as I stammered out, “Oh…shit, Tivani! I’m… I’m sorry!” After I got my breath back — for a different reason this time — I gave her a pained smile. “That must’ve been pretty awkward.”

  “You think?” She gave me a hard pat on the shoulder. “I’ll let it slide this time, as long as I’m the one screaming next time, huh?”

  The wink she gave me made me think that another round might not be out of the question in the near future.

  I stayed in the loading bay after that, fielding the nearly endless deliveries. After a while, I started inscribing highrunes onto various crates. As I sang, I could pick up everything, except for the biggest and most awkwardly shaped ones. I moved them into some of the adjoining rooms. I expected to have to move a lot of old junk out of the way, but I was shocked to open their doors and find them all pretty spotless with only a few things laying on the shelves. Apparently, Suli had gotten around to cleaning them between everything else that she’d been doing.

  Finally, nightfall came, and the stream of people and crates stopped. I went upstairs to find dinner nearly ready to be served.

  After we’d all sat down and loaded up our plates, I said, “So, we’re taking the Melodia into Stonecore’s lands.” I glanced at Tivani. “Our defenses will be enough, right?” Even discounting the cannons and their power, the defenses on the fort’s legs that we’d already been using had been infused with the ruinsong. Now they could obliterate anyone who tried to crawl up and assault us. We hadn’t actually field tested them, but I could feel the runic channels running down the legs. Based on the power the cannons wielded, it would be way more than enough. Still, I did want Tivani’s opinion.

  She paused with her fork halfway to her mouth. “Oh yeah. I think we’re gonna be pretty safe in here.”

  “Good to hear. Vsara, Oziin, what’re the biggest hurdles we’re going to face once we pass out of friendly lands?”

  Vsara was ready to launch into a speech by the looks of it, but she stopped when she noticed Oziin leaning forward. “Please, go first.”

  Oziin nodded. “There’s only one thing I want to bring up. If we’re taking the Melodia towards the Capital, there’s two real routes that we could use. Anything else would run through extremely uneven land. Craters and valleys, that sort of thing. The first one is coming to the Capital down the main trade route from Stonecore’s largest seaport in the north.”

  “It would take weeks to travel that far,” Vsara said. “And it would put us directly into their sight. I don’t think we could possibly choose a more high-profile route.”

  “I agree. I do not think we should choose that route.” Oziin paused and looked around the table. “The other option, however, is to go through Bloodgate.”

  Nearly everyone at the table groaned.

  “Its main thoroughfare is robust enough for the Melodia, and it traverses the massive and unstable chasm in that region better than anything else.”

  “But it’s Bloodgate,” Tivani said.

  “Indeed. You do not need to tell me. I was born there.” Oziin curled a lip and continued, “But there is another reason that traveling there would be advantageous. Bloodgate is home to the world’s foremost alchemists. I have heard that General Rilahn’s mysterious blood was collected after your battle, but Seren has been unable to make sense of it. I believe that we could recruit a skilled alchemist from Bloodgate for exactly the same reason that I myself joined you with little resistance.”

  “Life there sucks,” Suli said.

  “Yes. And that is a massive understatement. The alchemists enjoy a little more luxury than most, but even this comes at a price. They must work with the cragsblood intimately.”

  Tivani leaned over to me and whispered, “That’s what they call the red sludge that Bloodgate’s built over top of.”

  “Working with that level of toxicity always comes at a price. However, only the most skilled alchemists are able to do it.”

  “So,” I said, “I have to ask. It’d be nice to find out more about Rilahn, but is there any other reason to recruit someone from Stonecore?”

  “Ah, yes, there is. Your armaments could be further refined with such a person on our team. I have not bothered to bring this eventuality up before as they would need to be as good an alchemist as I am a stonewright. And… forgive me for saying… but I do not think anyone in Seren is.”

  “An alchemist,” Tivani said, “could actually do a lot for us. Assuming we could trust them not to poison us all.” There was a silence that descended on the table after her comment. It was meant to be a joke, but just as it left her lips, she too realized how plausible that situation was.

  Vsara tapped the table, pulling all our eyes to her. “This is a nice thought. While we’re there — I agree this is the best option — we’ll look into the possibility. Such a person would be a boon to us, but only the right person. But if they do exist and they can glean some of Rilahn’s secrets, I believe it would massively aid our cause.” She glanced over to me.

  “Ah, right. I might as well apprise everyone of what we found out in the fight.” I explained that Rilahn somehow had runic magic working automatically inside her body. I described how she resisted Vsara’s Soundless daggers and the magical nature of her blood. I had meant to have this conversation before, but it just kept not happening. Based on the shocked looks around the table, it looked like I would be getting some flak for that later.

  “The fuck is she?” Tivani said. “She had rotrunes inside her body? And they sang against the magic in Vsara’s weapons?”

  “Yep. She wasn’t singing, either. They just… activated.”

  Tivani shook her head. “I mean, runes like that are technically possible. They sort of reflect the magic, but they’re the height of golemry. Is she… a fucking golem?”

  “That’s the question we asked as well,” Vsara said. “The answer is that we don’t know. Perhaps she’s some hybrid that Stonecore was able to create. Such theories have been bandied about before, but this seems to lend some credence to them.”

  “I don’t think she’s a completely synthetic person, for what it’s worth,” I said. “I’m not basing that on a whole lot. Despite what I witnessed, she’s nothing like the latent golems that I can sense all over the world, the Melodia included.”

  “What could an alchemist even tell us?” Leena asked, drawing us back to the original topic.

  “Perhaps nothing,” Vsara said. “Perhaps everything.”

  Leena just scoffed.

  “We’ll see what happens when we get there,” I said. “But moving on. What happens afterwards? We can’t take the Melodia the entire way, correct? Stonecore lies inside a mountain, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Oziin said. “The region, above ground, is filled with peaks and valleys. There will be a place to hide, even if we do attract excessive attention along the way. Even for something as large as the Melodia. Probably. Then Alex and… whoever will go with him… can infiltrate Stonecore itself.”

  Well, that sounded like a massive if. But there was nothing else to be done. I needed the stillsong. And it wasn’t like we hadn’t been winging this entire thing the whole time, so what was I even worried about? We were much more dangerous and capable than we’d been in the beginning. We had this.

  The conversation delved into various practicalities that went largely over my head. I wasn’t familiar with the area, but I got the distinct impression that everyone felt much the same as I did.

  We had this.

  There was, however, one question I’d been assuming I knew the answer to, but I hadn’t based it on anything. “So, the runic array where the stillsong is the strongest. Are we going to have to bust into some imperial palace or something? Bore straight into the guarded center of Stonecore?”

  “Ah, that. No.” Vsara smiled. “For once, luck is on our side, if only a little. Said runic array isn’t anywhere near Stonecore’s Council Hall. I can’t tell you it’ll be unguarded, but it’s not in the heart of their city.”

  “Well, that’s good,” I said, relieved. “But part two of this question: both other arrays I’ve used were primed by engineers before I got there. How’s this one going to work?”

  Tivani groaned and laid her head on the table. “I’m going to have to go with you. And I’m going to have to figure it out when we’re there.” She picked her head up, but the thin lines of her lips and narrowed eyes said all that needed to be said about her opinion. “I do have highly relevant experience. It won’t be the hardest thing in the world, but I would love it if I didn’t have to do it under massive duress.”

  “Us fending off an attack,” I said.

  “Yep. So, let’s avoid that, huh?”

  We finished dinner and left our plates dirty and sitting right where they were on the table. We’d all offered to help clean up or at least pile the plates on the kitchen counter numerous times. But Suli was violently insistent that we leave them exactly where they were and that she would handle it all herself. I didn’t really understand why, but I stopped questioning it. She wanted what she wanted and that was fine.

  That night I made good on my promise that Tivani would be the next one screaming loud enough for the entire fort, and possibly everyone on the wharf, to hear.

  In the morning, things were progressing quickly enough that it seemed we would be able to leave either that day or the next. Oziin made one last trip to see Tuniri before we headed out. Surprisingly, she asked me to come along.

  “Tuniri wants to thank you personally for our rescue. Perhaps it was motivated originally by your own needs and not altruism, but that hardly matters. We are both living lives that we never thought would come to pass, the reasons for it being largely irrelevant.”

  We took a small private boat out to one of the outer islands. I was wearing comfortable but still somewhat ostentatious clothes that marked me as high nobility, according to Vsara. My pants and boots were both black leather alongside a bright red shirt that I didn’t button all the way up. I thought it a little garish, but judging by the looks the woman piloting our little craft was giving me, it was doing the trick.

  I tried not to catch her eye too often, lest I lead her on. I was so focused on missing her covert glances that I nearly missed the same response from Oziin.

  Her lion’s mane of hair was tied back in three spots with dark ribbons which did little to contain her brilliant white locks. She was wearing what she normally did — pants and boots like mine if less fine. She also wore a dark sleeveless shirt that showed off the muscles that sat under her angular tattoos.

  When I turned away from our pilot, a light red skinned Ulinar woman, I briefly caught Oziin’s orange eyes trailing down my partially exposed chest. She swiftly turned her gaze away, suddenly very interested in the featureless horizon.

  Thoughts of bending her over the railing came unbidden to my mind. Just as I pushed them away, new images of her on her back on my bed took their place. Her breasts were bouncing back and forth as I thrust into her, those muscled arms over her wild hair, holding the headboard as she moaned.

  Ooookay then. Imagine Tivani instead.

  Tivani’s ass bouncing and jiggling as I pounded her from behind, her fluffy tail lightly wrapping around me. Oziin at my side, my tongue in her mouth while⁠—

  I took a deep breath. When I glanced over again, Oziin’s gaze was back on me before darting away again. She coughed and shifted in her seat, her light blue skin blushing a very exotic purple.

  Well… maybe….

  The rest of the boat ride was spent in much the same way.

  When we arrived at the island, I very much wished that Tivani had come. I could have used a release, and we could have made some excuses for an hour. Instead, we just made our way inland. The small island was very quaint, its colorful buildings lining the few roads that crisscrossed between trees that were reminiscent of palm trees but had circular blue-green leaves. They were probably poisonous. Or were home to giant beetles that dive bombed you if you got too close.

  Tuniri’s apartment was in a two-story building on a sloping hill that had a wonderful view of the water. We hadn’t said a word to each other during our brief walk.

  Oziin knocked softly, and within seconds, Tuniri had opened the door and thrown herself into her friend’s arms.

  “I’m so glad you came!”

  “As if I would leave you without saying goodbye.”

  “I know.” She was much shorter than Oziin, so she was essentially pressing her face into her boobs, but neither of them seemed to care. “But still. I’m glad you’re here.” She stepped back and gave me a very low bow. “Runic Lord Alex. I’m so pleased you’ve come as well! Would you both like some tea?”

  “Indeed.”

  “Of course.”

  She led us into her small place, and we sat around her kitchen table as she made the tea.

  “Can I ask where you’re going?”

  “To Stonecore,” Oziin said. “By way of… Bloodgate.”

  Tuniri’s hand froze as she was reaching for a mug hanging on a string of hooks underneath a high cabinet. “Oh. Wow. Not starting out small, huh?” She got out three mugs and set them down before coming over to us. She set a hand on Oziin’s shoulder. “Oh, Ozi. How does that make you feel?”

  “To return to the accursed place of my birth?” She had a wry smile and put her hand over Tuniri’s. “Honestly, I do not know. Conflicted, to say the least. But I am not dreading it. Well, not much.”

  “We’ll keep her safe.”

  They both looked at me.

  Tuniri’s eyes crinkled as she smiled, her blond ears twitching.

  There was something else in Oziin’s, but I couldn’t quite tell what.

  Affection? Hot, steamy desire?

  NO! Not now. Certainly not here.

  Oziin blinked out of whatever feelings she was having and looked up at Tuniri. “Please do not worry about me. I think being on the Melodia is safer than many other places I could be. Much safer than many places we have been.”

  “Yes, and about that…” Tuniri poured the tea and sat down in between us. “I wanted to see you again, Runic Lord…”

  I didn’t bother telling her to drop the title.

  “...to express my unparalleled gratitude for rescuing us, especially me. My greatest fear had long been that Oziin would be moved somewhere, and I would not. Her skill is beyond question. I’m good, but honestly, I’m replaceable. We work wonderfully together, but there was no guarantee that I would be allowed to stay with her. I say this so you understand that when you came for her, I didn’t think you’d take me as well. I thought she would escape, and I would remain, forever trapped.

  “Part of me wishes I could come on this undertaking with you. That I could remain by Ozi’s side forever. But I can’t. I’m not the right person. I don’t have the fortitude for it. And that’s okay. I don’t like it, but it’s true. Forcing myself to go would be a massive mistake. And I have⁠—”

  “You have this life now,” Oziin finished for her. “Live it, and never regret your choice.” She pulled Tuniri in and wrapped her up tightly. She softly said, “I love you.”

  “I love you too, Ozi.”

  It was such a sweet moment, and I was suitably honored that they felt comfortable enough to have it in my presence.

  “When you get back, Ozi, you’ll have to tell me all about your adventures. And about all the wonderful things you’ll forge. Although, I’m surely going to hear about them before that. Word of your wondrous creations is going to fly on the wind, traveling to all corners of the world. I’ll be so proud of you.”

  Oziin’s cheeks colored again at the praise. “Well, perhaps.”

  “Definitely!”

  We drained no less than three whole pots of tea before we said our goodbyes. I again promised to look after Oziin, and it was not an idle promise. The two were all bright smiles and talk of the future. But we hadn’t gone two blocks after leaving before Oziin suddenly let out a choked sob.

  I turned to see tears beginning to swiftly fall down her cheeks, and I put a hand on her arm. “What is it?”

  “What…what if…” Her face screwed up as the tears turned into rivers. “What if that is the last time I ever see her?”

  “Oh… no. Oziin, no.” I pulled her in and wrapped my arms around her, and I felt her do the same.

  Holy shit, her hair is nearly as thick as she is.

  Still, I got my arms all the way around and I said, “Don’t think like that. We’ll be back. Time and time again. This isn’t the last anything. Not even close.”

  She dropped her head into my neck and squeezed.

  I heard some of my bones pop. I didn’t mention it.

  “I’m so scared, Alex.”

  “We’ll keep you safe. I promise. We’ll do everything we can, all of us, to keep you safe. You’ll be back here with a bunch of wild stories to tell. And Tuniri’s going to have just as many perfectly mundane stories to tell you in return.”

  “I would like that.”

  “It’s gonna happen.”

  We stepped back, and she took a shuddering breath. “My apologies for⁠—”

 

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