Chapter 82: V2 Six

 

Pacing around my tent with a silver arrow clenched tightly in my fist, I mulled over the events of the day. Everything had started off well, with the guild convoy departing the encampment as scheduled.

 Then, I’d been shot with a silver arrow as we passed the growing settlement of Sēkrit. Whilst I’d been aware of the bounty placed on me, thanks to the Whispers, I didn’t consider that anyone, let alone a Silver Arrow, would take a bounty with such a low amount. Nor did I expect they’d shoot me while I rode with so many of my guildmates, or that someone from the Silver Arrows would be such a shitty shot. Unlike most assassins who would prefer to hide their identity, the Silver Arrows would often leave what they called a ‘calling card’ behind when fulfilling a bounty.

 Personally, I thought this was a silly way to do business, but it did have the effect of spreading their reputation as skilled assassins. Though, I didn’t know if that kind of thing really mattered with the way bounties worked in Kaledon. Anyone could collect on a bounty, they didn’t even need to be the one contracted to kill the person, so long as someone knew there was a bounty on the person they were killing, they could collect the reward for it. 

Bounties in Kaledon were the domain of Nyxi, the goddess of deception, murder, trickery and ill-gotten gains. The Whispers who acted as bounty agents, were all devoted to Nyxi, and would give the gold to her in offering for the desired person's death. When someone was fulfilling a bounty, they would pray to the goddess Nyxi, declaring a fulfillment of her will. Killing someone in this way meant the assassin would be unable to absorb any mana from the slain person's core, but in exchange, any gold offered for the death of that person would be bestowed to the one who’d killed them. 

“I don’t see why this has you so upset, you knew there was a bounty. Granted, no-one thought it’d be a Silver Arrow coming for you. I find it more amusing that they’d be dumb enough to try something in front of everyone. I almost feel bad for the Arrow’s guild leader, with the way our leader was laughing his ass off, I’d say the poor blokes in for some heckling.” Kip commented.

The dwarf sat at one of the workbenches along the wall of the workspace portion of my tent, and was diligently working to copy down the fire strike transmutation circle onto dozens of paper squares, which would later be folded into transmutation packets. Once the circles were complete, the fire strike packets would each be filled with dried Drakus flowers to act as the catalyst for the golf ball sized ball of fire that would form with the activation of the packet. 

“It’s not the bounty, or the fact that someone shot me that’s pissing me off.” I snapped, ears pressing flat to my head in annoyance. “It’s that the arrow they shot me with has the words ‘Arrow Saul’ engraved on it, not Lena.” 

“What does it matter which of the arrows tried to kill you?” The dwarf asked, looking confused. 

“Because I’ve been waiting for her to show up for weeks! She didn’t even take the bounty I put on the bitches who placed that insulting pittance of a bounty on me.” I shouted, flinging the arrow at the ground with an angry yell. 

The arrow hit the wooden flooring of the tent with the tip imbedding itself into the wood. Snarling in annoyance I stomped over to where the arrow was sticking out of the wood, and yanked it out roughly. As I  pulled the arrow from the wooden floor board, the tip snapped off from the shaft. After inspecting the broken shaft, I tapped the hollowed metal arrow against my palm to shake loose the paper I saw within. 

When the two moons meet, so shall we, within the ancestral village of Vulpīnus.’ 

“When the two moons meet,” I muttered, scowling down at the tiny looping letters written on the scrap of paper I’d found in the arrow. 

Kaledon’s two moons would eclipse each other every two months, with the smaller of the two, known as Cynta, passing in front of the larger moon Sela. Over the course of two months, Cynta would move further away from Sela, orbiting around Kaledon to meet Sela again at the end of the eight week cycle. 

The Kaledonian planetary system contained seven planets. Closest to Kaledon was Solvera, a green planet with gaseous pink clouds that often obscured the planet from sight. According to the lore, Solvera was the ancestral home of the elves, who traveled to Kaledon long ago for an unknown reason. Beyond Solvera was the planet of Basburn, a red planet that resembled Mars in appearance. 

The nature of the remaining planets were unknown, though the two blue planets Nulara and Gilles were likely ice or gaseous based on what I knew from the planets in Earth's own planetary system. Iphus was a silvery color, and I suspected it might be a small moon or rock planet. The last planet in the system was Nocanov, and was unable to be identified through a telescope as the planet was always hidden behind the moon Sela. Only by examining the Orrery was I able to know of the purple planet's existence. 

“The moons met three nights ago. We went dune sledding that night, remember?” Kip reminded me, and I nodded, not really needing him to tell me when the moons would meet. 

As Trismegistus’s high priestess, I was granted the blessing of being able to track the movement, and location of the planets if I focused on them. Which I supposed would prove useful eventually, but it didn’t do anything my Orrery couldn’t do already. 

“I need to speak with Darius.” I told the dwarf before making my way to the exit of the tent. 

When I neared the exit, a bundle of maroon fabric shot across the room, and wrapped itself around my shoulders. The maroon and gold capelet, which Faux was morphed as, was custom made for me by Rainy to replace the previous one I’d been given in Caruan. Every member of the guild was expected to wear an item of clothing which bore the guild's colors and crest, though, what item they chose was left to personal choice.

 Jezebel, the head seamstress at the guild hall in Caruan had given me a similar capelet to the one I now wore, but I’d caught it on fire by mistake. The capelet Rainy made, used Elver cotton which was more durable then normal cotton, and despite being in close contact with fire several times, did not show even a hint of damage. 

-

It didn’t take long to find Darius, who was sitting in his tent with my brother Markion, and Corvus, discussing the travel plans for tonight. Despite the small delay caused by the attack, we’d made good time, and would hopefully arrive in Hathus on schedule. 

“Kads, how are you feeling?” Darius greeted, as I entered the tent and dropped into a chair beside my brother, stealing his empty mug as I did so. 

“Better,” I told the guild leader, as I pulled out a sealed jug from my bag and poured the contents into the mug before passing it back to my brother. “Drink that.” 

“What is it?” Markion asked skeptically, bringing the mug up to his nose, and sniffing the contents. 

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“Something I discovered recently, it’s not poison. Drink.” I prompted, watching as he took a tentative sip of the liquid, before scrunching his nose up and gagging. 

“It tastes like ass.” He exclaimed, shoving the mug away with a look of disgust. 

“Yes, but do you feel hungry? You kept complaining that your food ration wasn’t enough for you to feel full, this is made from Nomgrass. Which the Kemet tribes use by drying the grass, and grinding it into a powder before mixing it with water. Nomgrass is a natural protein, and drinking two cups' worth can sustain a person for a day.” I informed him, pushing the mug back towards him. “You can add honey or sugar, but I’ve not found a way to make it taste better other than that.” 

“Is there any ill effect with long term consumption?” Corvus asked, looking at the jug I’d left on the table with interest. 

“No. The Kemet use the Nomgrass in most of their cooking as well, that’s why the bread and other foods sold by the traveling traders is more filling. I’ve already communed with Taurie, and passed on this information to Bron through her. The pair of them will be the ones working on further recipes using the Nomgrass, as I felt this was more suited to Bron and Taurie’s area of expertise.” I told the lion Bakeneko, as I pushed the jug towards him.

“Yes, I suspect Bron will be able to make it more palatable.” Darius agreed after taking a sip of the Nomgrass concoction Corvus poured for him with a look of distaste. 

Doing my best to conceal my amusement, I slid the scrap of paper containing Lena’s note across the table in the guild leader's direction. After taking a moment to read the note, Darius passed it to Corvus who frowned. 

“Who sent you this?” The lion asked. 

“I found it in the arrow Dorian pulled out of my shoulder, considering the contents and the location mentioned, I suspect it's from Lena.” 

Vulpīnus was the ancestral village of the Kitsune race, and only accessible to those Kitsune who were in possession of a wisp, which would guide them through the fogs that hide the village. From what Yuki previously told me, the village was located in a hidden valley east of Airus. 

According to the other Kitsune, when I reached a certain point in my progression, I would have a dream of calling, which would be the Kitsune patron calling me home to the village. It was the same for most races, each being led to their races ‘home’ region at one point or another to learn more about their racial abilities. So far, I hadn’t gotten my calling yet, which was surprising as it was meant to happen shortly after I formed my first wisp core. I was already close to forming my second core, but hadn’t experienced any calling like the other Kitsune described. 

“The area we will be hunting in is close to the mountain range,” Darius commented, spreading a map of Salvia on the table. “If you travel to Airus on the western mountain path, then down to Bovia, you can travel along the foot of the range to Fenlin. That is the town we stayed in when Yuki got her calling after we got separated from her in the fog.” 

“Why can we not cut across the mountain range here and go down to Fenlin?” I asked, tracing a finger across the mountains. 

“The dragons inhabit those mountains to the east, so I don’t recommend it. The mountains there are guarded by the Draekin race, who are the dragons protectors.” 

“I remember Roderick mentioning something about dragons, but it was more of a conversation about all the ways Bastian would die if he attempted to tame a dragon.” I muttered, staring down at the map with interest. 

I wonder what I could do with dragon parts, something like that would probably have a high alchemic value.

“Dragons are a protected species, and only a few remain, so any attempts to intrude on their territory is met with severe consequences. The Dragon Knights guild, so named for their desire to tame and ride dragons, were utterly destroyed by the Draekin clans. The guild was forcibly disbanded, and each member still has a kill on sight order in place, though I think they’ve all re-rolled by now.” Corvus informed me, and I sighed, shoving my fleeting dragon slaying plans into the depths of my mind. 

“Airus it is then.” 

“It should only take a week to reach Fenlin from Airus, we can hunt for two weeks then head for Airus.” Markion said, and I grimaced, shooting a pleading look at Darius. 

“We’ll need you for the full hunt Markion, I plan to make an attempt at taking down the Hydra once the teams from Caruan and Airus join us. Kadia and her team will be fine making the journey alone,” Darius informed my brother, who glowered at him in response. 

“You can’t seriously be planning on letting her go off alone, Kads is...” 

“In need of some experience without being shielded by her hulking menace of a brother.” I said, interrupting Markion’s protests. 

“You’re the menace,” my brother scoffed, turning his attention to me. “Sis its…” 

“My choice, and Darius agrees,” I told him, cutting him off before he could start to get himself worked up. 

“I’ll only be gone for a few weeks. What’s the worst that could happen?” 

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