Armor

Chapter 47: Getting Ahead

Rather than taking a direct route up through Cirros, we decided to try and avoid the city whose ruler we’d recently slain and travel along the riverways.

Dorsia and Stone concocted a plan for us to travel as merchants hauling goods. Dorsia played the role of head merchant, donning simple travel clothes and keeping only a small dagger at her side. Stone was our wizened guide, wearing an old worn cloak and boots. Jade and Hrig were haulers wearing heavy cloaks to hide their obvious tattoos, and Kyren was Dorsia’s apprentice, having exchanged her white robes for a simple tunic and boots.

I myself played a role I was sure they envied, a part of the goods. I had disassembled myself and been placed in a crate. My companions left the lid open and talked to me when they could, but the small river vessels made that difficult.

Aside from myself, we were also hauling twenty steel bars I’d volunteered, the weapons I’d collected over my travels, and several crates of turnips. Stone and Dorsia had spent an hour arguing about what goods to purchase that they’d most likely see a return on, and then they’d haggled with the farmer they were buying from for a further half hour.

"Why does it matter if we’re only using it as cover?" I’d asked.

Dorsia and Stone had both regarded me with offended looks at the question before Stone responded, "It’s a matter of principle!"

And Dorsia added, "Also, what kind of trader doesn’t do their best to make a profit? It would be suspicious if we didn’t put this kind of effort in."

I’d relented, but I still felt like they’d simply wanted the excuse to make a few extra silver.

At the third river transfer, we were approached by several men in armor bearing the symbol of Caedun on their chest. The shortest one led the group.

"Hail, we’re performing

I sent a foul oath in dwarvish in Stone’s direction, one I’d lifted from Burias the orc, and I was satisfied to see even Stone blushing a bit by the time I’d finished it.

I traded a few more barbs at the table until Dorsia decided to scoop me up and take me to her card game.

"I’ll throw in this helmet," she said, tossing me into the middle.

One of the men at the table, a man wearing glasses, lifted me, turned me around, and gave a solid knock on my head.

"Steel, eh? Alright, deal. I hope you're ready to lose this, though. Luck hasn’t exactly been on your side since you sat at this table."

Dorsia smiled and sat back down, eyeing her hand. It was a game of dead kings, with one live one on the table and three down. I could see everyone’s hand, and I realized very quickly that Dorsia’s ability to sense a person's strength applied to card games, as well. She’d led them on, clearly with the intention of leading them to believe that she was a poor helpless tradeswoman with little talent at playing cards, but even less luck.

After a few more raises, the pot was substantial, particularly when including my own pricelessness. The man to Dorsia’s left laid down his hand first, and then they each followed from his left, with a sharp intake of breath when the man wearing glasses laid his hand down and gave a smile.

On Dorsia’s turn, she sighed heavily before laying down her cards one by one. With each card she placed, I watched the bespectacled man’s smile shrink and shrink as his eyes bulged more and more.

"I believe this will take the pot, gentlemen.”

The man stood, drawing the dagger at his belt. “You cheating wench!” He lunged at her.

Just before he made it across the table, she lifted me, and I found myself slammed across his face. I was satisfied to see that using me made the man twirl off the table and onto the ground, missing some of the teeth he’d started his night with.

The rest of the bar stopped what they were doing for a moment while another man from the table took the bespectacled man’s pulse and gave a thumbs-up, returning everyone to their revelry. From there, I was picked up by Hrig, who had a few fresh bruises. She placed me back on her shoulder.

"How’d you do?" I whispered.

"Me and Jade won, of course, but we had a bit of trouble with each other. Even without those runes of hers, the woman hits like a brick, and hitting her feels like punching a wall."

"Which of you won?"

"Neither, but Jade would probably tell you she did."

"You seem a little defensive."

Some color made its way to her cheeks. "I’m not! We just disagree on what a victory is."

When we made it to the bar, Kyren was sitting surrounded by men that seemed willing to kill themselves on alcohol to beat her. She herself was wearing her small smile. I hadn’t been able to figure it out before I’d eaten Rubrus, but I finally realized how she did it. She was using a spell that cured poison on a low level all throughout her body. I had a feeling she didn’t need to use it to beat one or two drunks, but when she got the attention of several, it seemed like a smart way to keep her victory going.

Everyone wrapped up their encounters and shared a drink at the bar before we headed up to the room. Hrig laid me on a pillow next to hers, and before long, everyone was out sleeping.

I wasn’t sure what to expect once we reached the capital, but I hope that whatever happened, we’d still be able to have time like this. I knew that that was unlikely; attacking a king to prevent the arrival of a forgotten god didn’t seem like the type of thing that people got to have normal lives after, but maybe we’d get lucky. It was possible that the lives of adventurers were a bit easier to maintain after something like that.