Chapter 18: Chapter Seventeen: Glorious Return to Civilization, Place of Baths and Burglars

            Even before the River Darter pulled alongside the pier in Steelport, the odor of the city came clear to Leo. Fish, with an undertone of rot, mixed with the sewage to create a pungent miasma.

            Without a breeze to carry it off, the smell hung like a fog around the city.

            A sailor threw ropes to the shirtless, muscled men working the pier, and the dockhands grabbed the ropes and tied the boat off, then took the gangplank and set it.

            Leo hefted his backpack, where the Yggdrasil Seed and the bloodline scrolls were stored. Their importance made him hyperaware of his burden as he walked down from the galley beside the regally dressed Lily.

            Everyone eyed Hugh as he left the boat.

The dragon was a sight to behold.

From what Leo understood, Storm dragons loved to swim, and Hugh had made friends with most of the sailors, who frequently gave him scrub downs. Now, his scales shone in the afternoon sun. He also had a thick cord around his neck from which his personal coin pouch hung, adding to his distinct appearance.

But Hugh would clearly need to work to make friends in this city—the eyes that followed him were openly hostile, and fishermen on the docks fingered billhooks and scaling knives as the dragon stomped by.

Hugh followed Leo and Lily down the pier and onto the slimy cobblestone road that ran along the outside of the city, either not noticing the stares or ignoring them.

Leo was a bit worried, but he had already known that Hugh would draw stares from discussions in which Leo partook with the sailors on the River Darter. The dragonflight had hit more places than just Averia, and while most of those humans attacked were now in their sixties and seventies, cultural memories lingered.

As they all walked the road, checking out all the inns and taverns that looked like the destination for their next mugging, it became apparent that it wasn’t only Hugh drawing stares. Leo and Lily got a few as well, and multiple people fingered their necks or surreptitiously pointed at Leo’s and Lily’s necks as well.

“Not exactly what I imagined, but it should still serve our purposes,” Lily said, holding her hem up and stepping around a puddle that probably contained the recent contents of a chamber pot.

            “Alms?” a pile of trash called from beside them, and Leo glanced down.

Leo was startled to realize the ‘trash pile’ was a man. He was wore a stained coat, several tattered sails and rugs, and the sores from what might be every disease known to the American College of Physicians. The man was also missing a leg.

            Leo tossed a copper at the man’s single foot, wanting to help and defuse the stares that they were getting.

            “Ooh, let’s stay at this one!” Hugh exclaimed.

Leo turned to see Hugh pointing his foreclaw at an inn with the title ‘The Dragon’s Roost’ prominently displayed on a sign hanging crookedly from a single hook. Painted on the sign was a red dragon that, other than its color, looked extremely similar to Hugh when he lay on his back with his legs in the air.

            Although Hugh never had a flagon clasped in his two front claws, but still…

            Leo shrugged. “Sure, why not?” If they were going to find any place not actively hostile to dragons, this would likely be it.

            Hugh ran ahead and butted the door open with his head, startling a man hanging out by the entrance.

            The dragon pushed his way inside as Leo and Lily ran up behind him. Leo caught the door and held it for Lily, who moved ahead of him into the inn with a gracious nod of her head.

            Leo blinked his eyes in the dim and pungent atmosphere of the inn they had entered. He stared at the tables full of sailors, mercenaries, and thugs, to judge by the outfits and weapons. Hugh, unconcerned by his surroundings, pushed his way forward to the inn counter and then reared up, putting his forelegs down on the counter like a dog reaching up to grab scraps off a table.

            “A pint of your strongest rotgut, my man!” Hugh said to the stunned bartender. “Dragons love alcohol, but I’ve never been able to try it before! I’m so excited!” He leaned in a bit further and loudly whispered, “‘Strongest rotgut’ is what you say, right? That’s what mortals say?”

            A small, rat-faced man got up and exited from the inn’s front room, bumping into Leo before fleeing out the door.

            “Sorry for my friend!” Leo called as he made his way into the room and up to the counter. “We’re all together. Can you make our order two rooms, dinner for three? And I’d like your weakest beer, please.”

            The man gave Leo a onceover. “Not wine, slavey? Most elves I know prefer the fruity stuff. And show me your coin before I do this. I doubt you’ve got two coppers to rub together.”

            “‘Slavey’?” Lily asked, her blue eyes were narrowed as she glared at the bartender, spots high on her pale cheeks.

            Leo put his hand on her arm. “A wine for my friend here, but I’ll just take the beer. My tongue prefers more human fare. How much for the food, drink, and room?”

            “A silver for the lot of you—dragon looks like he eats for four. But the strongest rotgut is two silver more.”

            “Of course, good sir,” Leo said, reaching for his belt pouch.

            Which wasn’t there.

            Leo’s mind flashed to the man bumping into him, realizing with a shock that he had just been robbed.

            I had almost a gold in there! That’s like losing two years’ pay for a fast-food worker! Frik!

            He turned to Lily sheepishly. “Mind if I borrow some coin?”

            The bartender tsked and shook his head, muttering, ‘damned slavies’ as he did.

Lily dug into her own coin purse and handed Leo a silver coin with one delicate hand. Hugh forked over his own two silver.

            The man widened his eyes a bit, and his attitude improved a touch with silver on the counter. “All right, take that table over there. I’ll have Kemi run your food and drink out. Sorry for my words earlier. It’s just rare to see free elves with coin. You know how it is.”

            Leo was more concerned with how easily he’d lost his coin pouch. His hands tightened on the strap of his backpack, determined not to lose that. The coin pouch had contained a gold. The backpack had untold thousands or tens of thousands of gold equivalent in it.

            The three of them retired to the indicated table. A thin, bedraggled-looking elven woman with a silver choker around her neck brought their drinks over. She set down a huge flagon of strong-smelling alcohol, a small cup of white wine, and an even smaller mug of cheap-smelling beer. All of the vessels were made of wood, well-crafted without apparent seam.

            Lily glared at the elf. Leo decided to distract her again.

            “Magic?” he asked, holding the cup out.

            “Yes.” Lily’s expression cleared as she was presented with a chance to talk about magic and the world. “So long as an object doesn’t retain permanent magical effects, it’s extremely cheap for most leveled mortals to work with the elements of their magic—Earth for stone and gems, Metal for, well, metal, Wyld for wood and hide. You get the picture. A lot of people who make one or two levels decide to just get some ability like that, and they become comparatively rich.”

            “Even one level makes that much of a difference, huh?” Leo asked.

            Lily nodded, examining the cup in her hands carefully. “Think about it—it opens an entire other resource to use, essence. Or a truly significant change in background abilities. Imagine a farmer who gains no size and needs no more food, who has four more Endurance and two more Strength because he made a single level. Or one who can make a ten-foot by ten-foot area grow as if months of time had occurred in seconds, twelve times a day, every day.”

            Hugh picked up his mug in his claws and drained it in a single, long draught. Then he let out a thunderous burp, which made Leo laugh and Lily wrinkle her nose.

            Leo thought about what Lily had said, doing the math in his head. Given the size of an acre, a farmer could use the growth power on an entire acre in thirty-six days, giving him months of growth. So he could give an entire six acres of extra food an entire growing season if he used that power between the start of spring and the middle of autumn. Leo, both from talking with Lily and his own knowledge of history, knew that most single-owned farms—as opposed to the more common manorial farms—would usually be about ten to twelve acres, with only about half of that under till at any time.

            That one power would double a farm’s output and increase its profit over six hundred percent, since most food was used for subsistence purposes, not selling or conversion to higher-end goods. Fascinating and noteworthy… I need to consider ways to make my farmers Level Two.

            Lily nodded as Leo looked up, likely recognizing his expression of understanding.

            But Hugh had different priorities. He slammed his tail on the ground. “More rotgut, good sir!” Hugh said, boisterous and loud despite the stares he was drawing. “I feel like a real dragon tonight!”

            Leo glanced over to see that the dragon was licking the inside of his flagon. I hope he isn’t a belligerent drunk. I have no idea how I would handle that. Although, I suppose he is over five hundred pounds and has an unusually high metabolism. Maybe we’ll get lucky.

            Some of the patrons were staring at Hugh and chanting, “Troll spit, troll spit,” over and over.

            What the heck?

            Leo’s gaze wandered over the crowd. They seemed a hard people, many in leather armor, and with knives at most belts and swords at the rest. Most had scars or were missing appendages, usually a finger or an ear, and all the hands were quite callused. Some of the women were dressed provocatively, with dresses slit up the hip or tight bodices that didn’t leave a lot to the imagination—although a few of the women wore the same mercenary’s outfits as the men, but they were a minority.

            Sailors and mercenaries, I think, and probably prostitutes. And doubtless a few street toughs. I hope Hugh doesn’t get us in too much trouble. I see a few hard stares for Hugh, but most of them seem… excited? I wonder if that’s a good thing or a bad thing?

            As if his thought were sent straight to a god of misfortune, Hugh turned around without waiting for his second flagon, knocking their table leg with his tail, spilling Lily’s wine. Hugh muttered, “Sorry” and then went to one of the nearby tables where mercenaries were drinking. He sat on his haunches and put a foreleg over the shoulder of one of the armed men sitting at the table.

            The man’s hand dropped to a knife at his belt, but he stayed himself.

            “So, lemme tell ya ’bout this time tha’ my boi, here, broke a gol’m,” Hugh muttered.

            Damn this kooky world. Leo prepared for trouble, but the mercenary’s only further action was a bunching of his shoulders.

            “Tell me more, dragon,” the man said, his voice tense.

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            Hugh ignored the merc’s discomfort and launched into a somewhat Hugh-centric version of the golem fight, mostly focused on how important it was that Hugh wasn’t a weak elf and was strong enough to push a statue over.

            Hugh was a decent storyteller, however, in his own bro way. As well as a happy, boisterous drunk—who was calling for more rounds for ‘his friends.’ Soon, the entire table was laughing, passing Hugh bits of fish from their soup, and treating him halfway between a dangerous adventurer and a favored puppy. The originally hostile stares of the entire inn had turned, in a few minutes’ time, to laughter and enjoyment of Hugh’s antics.

            For someone who opened up by trying to kill me, I guess he is a ‘bro’ dragon. I can see why he’d get along with people.

            Although, the free booze isn’t hurting, I’m sure.

            Leo sipped his drink, and his face puckered. I didn’t really notice it with the meat, but apparently, as an elf, I do want some sweeter stuff. Damn, I used to really enjoy a good German beer.

            He called to a waitress, who came over, and for a copper, replaced his drink, mopped up Lily’s, and got her a new cup as well.

            Lily and Leo nursed their sweet wine, looking around. Now that Hugh wasn’t a concern, they needed to begin preparation for their settlement. They needed the necessary tools, and the support of people who could help train them, but had no idea how to go about acquiring them.

But their obvious staring drew attention.

            A human woman, tall and athletic, with close-cropped auburn hair, pulled a chair across the floor from another table with a scraping sound, flipped it around, and sat in the spot Hugh had vacated. She stared at Leo across the table, one of her eyes a dull brown, the other a brilliant blue that almost glowed.

            “Can I help you?” Leo asked, nonplussed.

            “It’s I who can help you,” the woman said. “I’m Meryl Cavendil. I’m in charge of Cavendil’s Coterie, the finest small merc company that Steelport has to offer. I can see from how you move that you know your way around a fight, and your friend here doesn’t move too poorly herself.” She tapped her face right next to her blue eye. “And this tells me that you have four magics that you have powers for, and your friend two—so I know you both have some levels. But from the look of you, you aren’t that wealthy.”

            Even though she was headed down the wrong path, Leo was impressed with Meryl’s observations and sheer chutzpah both. And the eye was cool.

            She was still going. “Additionally, you guys are glancing around, either worried about something or looking for something. Consequently, I can tell you guys are failed adventurers, or perhaps officers or specialists from a previous military group, and now you need jobs.” She spread her arms out and leaned even further back in her chair. “Hence, it’s what I can do for you.”

            “Interesting,” Leo said. He and Lily both leaned in, almost in perfect synchronization. “Actually, I have other needs at the moment. I need to charter an expedition to build a town, and I will have the funds to do so.”

            In the background, Leo heard Hugh singing. We’ve been here for less than ten minutes. Is he getting that drunk? Can alcohol even enter the bloodstream that quickly?

            A quick glance back showed that Hugh’s new table was now surrounded by men and women both, one to two people deep even behind the people sitting, as Hugh sang a song about a beautiful female dragon named, unsurprisingly, ‘Polly.’

            “You want to hire me to organize the expedition, and my company to guard it?” Meryl asked, dropping the chair fully back on to the ground and leaning forward. “If you’re offering real work, you’ve got my full, undivided attention. Although, I don’t think I’ve seen an elf with coin in these parts my whole life.”

            “These parts?” Lily asked.

            “The Inner Sea.”

            “Well, I don’t exactly know what I need yet,” Leo said, addressing Meryl’s main point.

            “Wait,” Meryl said, holding up a hand. “Is this one of those ‘you’ll be paid when we accomplish whatever’ jobs?”

            “No,” Leo said, slightly irritated with the way the lady jumped from topic to topic.

            “Then let’s see your coin.”

            “I don’t even know if I need you,” Leo said. “And I don’t have my coin yet.”

            Meryl had remained seated until those last words, but upon hearing them, she started to push herself up from the table. “Well, it’s been nice—”

            “Wait,” Lily said, putting her hand on Meryl’s where it was pressed against the table. “Hear us out. I know the mercenary commanders of Steelport make excellent retainers.”

            Meryl stared at the hand over hers until Lily flushed and withdrew it, but she didn’t leave after that. Didn’t sit, either, but it was something.

            “Lily’s a bit o’ jerk,” came Hugh’s voice, floating into the space between them. “But she gotta har’ life. Hard life. I mean, beside bein’ a mortal, li’ you nice peo’le. People. So I gettit, ya’ know? My broders, uh, brothers, always makin’ fun o’ me as well, an’ beatin’ me up and stuff. Real mean. So I get a har’ life, ya know? I feel ’er.”

            Leo couldn’t help but laugh into his cup, and Lily blushed again.

            Two bowls of fish stew showed up, and Leo began shoveling it down despite being tired of fish after his boat ride. After multiple different days without food, he had a newfound respect for keeping his belly full.

            Lily spoke. “Look, Steelport mercs take absolute oaths of loyalty for the duration of their contracts, including privy agreements. So—”

            Leo interrupted. “‘Privy agreements’? Like, they won’t talk about your business? Non-disclosure agreements?”

            “That’s what it means, yes,” Lily said.

            Meryl snorted. “Get to the point. I need to find a last few recruits and a job both. And we don’t have a contract yet, so reminding me of my oaths feels premature.”

            “Can you wait one day? We’ll have, well, a whole lot of money by then. And then, if you agree, we can hire you personally to assist us, and perhaps your company as well.”

            “I make no promises if work offers before then, but I’ll give you my time again if you can prove it might be worth it to me.” Meryl pushed herself to standing fully again. “That fair?”

            “Fair,” Lily said.

            Hugh crashed into the table next to them, his huge, tiger-sized bulk pushing it across the floor. Some people stood, yelling and cussing, but Hugh’s mumbled, ‘Sorry, sorry,’ and the continued laughter and cheers of the crowd dissuaded any further action. Hugh then swayed over, reached onto the top of Leo’s table, and pulled himself up so he could see Leo. “So… wanna hear somethin’ fun, uh, fun-ny?”

            Leo turned to Lily. “Wanna see how much effort it takes to get a drunk dragon to go to bed? Also, what did he have?”

            “So, um, my bro?” Hugh said, staring at Leo with blurred eyes. “He didna hun’ his own deer till he was fer! Four, can you ’lieve it? I killed a deer first year out of m’ egg. He wadn’t so speshill. Beatin’ me up li’ he speshill. Can’ even hunt deer!”

            “He had ‘our strongest rotgut,’” the elf waitress said from beside Leo. “Bartender calls it troll spit. It’s magic—and you owe us another two silver for the second one as well, dragon, sorry.”

            “Ish fine.” Hugh managed to open the pouch around his neck but then couldn’t get any coins out and fell off the table when he tried. Leo went over, extracted two silver coins, and gave them to the waitress.

            “You firsh pershun tre’ me right, Leo. Firsh one evah.”

            “How is it you travel with a dragon?” the elf waitress asked. Then her eyes moved over to Lily, staring at the top of her head, and her eyes widened.

            “Long story,” Leo replied, then he looked back down at Hugh. “All right, buddy, let’s go to bed.”

            That last speech had apparently been too much for Hugh, however, who let out a weird warble and then collapsed to the floor, instantly snoring.

            A few patrons gave drunken boos, and everyone went back to their own business. Any hostility Leo had felt seemed to have dissipated.

            He reached down to try to lift Hugh, wondering how in the name of however many gods existed on this world he would ever pull that off.

            “Wait!” the waitress said, reaching out and grabbing Leo’s arm. “Please… buy me and take me with you. Wherever you’re going.”

            “Buy you?” Leo said, his mind grinding to halt. “Did you ask me to buy you?”

            “Yes, please,” the elf waitress said, her eyes darting around. “You’re with Lady Wylla Willowynd, right?”

            Before Leo could respond, the bartender yelled, “Kemi, get your ass over here!”

            “Please!” she whispered and then scurried back to the counter.

            Lily exchanged glances with Leo, then shook her head. “We can rescue her later—for now, let’s get the ‘idjit dragon,’ as you call him, to bed. Tomorrow, we can plan to save her, and every other elf, properly.”

“As long as we do tomorrow.”

            Lily glanced around. “Spend a few more copper for help lifting him? This crowd seems to have become favorably inclined to our inebriated dragon.”

            “Sure, what’s a few more coin at this point?”

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