Chapter 42: “Here there be monsters”

I now have an editor, so you all shouldn’t need to put up with my typos and poor/dyslexic editing skills anymore. :)

Selene didn’t sleep very well after her dream the previous night. She managed to sleep for a reasonable length of time, but it wasn’t good sleep. She woke up more than once with that dream on her mind, and the strangeness of it boggled her mind. The more she thought about it, the less it made sense. She spent rather a long time thinking about it after she woke, until she realized that she wasn’t getting back to sleep.

She got up not long after sunrise, dreading going onto the weather deck with the steady pitter-patter of rain that was surely soaking every inch of the airship that wasn’t below decks. She figured that her choice was to either get sopping wet, or stay below decks with nothing to do and not much room to spar.

This world didn’t even have umbrellas.

She trudged up the stairs to the weather deck and looked out the door. The rain was coming down pretty consistently, though fortunately it was a warm day. It wasn’t exactly a heavy rain, but it was one of those ‘soaking rains’ that tended to last all day. The only bright side was that the warm weather meant you wouldn’t get a chill, but you would get soaked.

Ugh.

That seemed a perfect complement to her poor night’s sleep

Ethan and his wives were sitting around where the breakfast fire usually was, apparently not bothered by the rain very much. Serif was also there, though Anthiel was on the quarterdeck and Raklan was elsewhere. It took Selene a moment to realize that while every one of the ladies had hair that looked like she’d just stepped out of the shower, their clothes looked relatively dry. Not perfectly dry, but relatively dry.

How the...?

She shook her head, still not wanting to get soaked. Still, she was hungry so she stepped out and immediately felt what would probably be the norm for the day.

Wet.

She walked over to the circle, grabbed a barrel of pickles and pulled one out, making sure to re-cover it quickly.

“Good morning Selene.” Ethan said cheerily.

“Wet morning is more like it.” She said as she took a large bite of the pickle and then looked at the mostly dry ladies. “How the hell are your clothes so dry?”

“It’s a side effect of the self-repairing enchantment.” Beth replied.

“How the hell does a self-repairing enchantment keep clothes dry?”

The blonde looked at Alana.

“It’s because ‘self-repairing’ is a bit of misnomer.” The wood elf said when she had finished chewing. “It actually takes a ... I think you would call it a ‘snapshot’ of the way the item is when it’s enchanted, and then always tries to return it to that state if it changes from that state.”

“Oh, and those dresses were enchanted dry, so they want to stay dry. Yeah, that makes sense.” Selene sighed and then took another bite of her pickle.

This morning, Selene was sitting next to Rachel, who was next to Alana, who was next to Ethan. He looked at the distance between them, then shrugged and extended his wing, holding it above her head and creating an instant rain shield for her.

“Thank you.” She said, slightly caught off guard by his thoughtfulness. She supposed that she shouldn’t be of course, and it was a nice gesture. She smiled at him, even despite her mood.

“Selene, what’s wrong?” Kendra asked. “You seem uncharacteristically grumpy this morning.”

“I had a bad dream.”

“Oh?” The dragon huntress eyed her. “How bad?”

“Bad.” She recounted the dream, mostly hitting the highlights. “I felt like I needed a shower by the end.”

“Well, I can move my wing.” Ethan winked.

“You can, your wing muscles must be getting tired and I’m already soaked.” She said, feeling a bit bad that he was being so nice to her when she couldn’t reciprocate.

“I can fly for hours.” He pointed out, not moving the wing. “Don’t worry about it.”

“That’s a really weird dream.” Rachel said after several seconds. “Like, really weird.”

“You’re telling me.” The Brazilian woman shook her head. “I’ve never had a dream that was so weird before, have you?”

The redhead didn’t answer right away, which instantly drew the eyes of the two blonde teens.

“You had a weird dream too?” Beth asked.

“What was it?” Taloni echoed.

“Well, it wasn’t recently.” The mage replied. “But I suppose it’s time I told you all about it. I once had two dreams the same night, and it was the night I met Gabriella...”

The redhead recounted both dreams to a captive audience.

“Wow, I never knew you were dealing with that.” Alana said when she had finished. “Some of what happened with you around then makes a lot more sense now.”

“I wanted to tell you, but we weren’t...” Rachel hesitated, then looked at the wood elf. “Well, we’re a lot closer now.” She blushed.

Alana took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

She didn’t let go.

“Anyone else have a strange dream?” Ethan asked.

“Um, I did once.” Kendra said hesitantly.

All eyes turned to her.

“It was quite a while ago, around when the Argo visited Gonorran’s camp.” The dragon huntress said. “I was dancing in a ballroom which was somehow located on the lower deck of my airship.”

“That airship?” Ethan chuckled as he pointed to the canoe-sized airship which was lashed to the deck of the Argo near the bow.

“Yeah; it was a dream.” She shrugged, and her eyes got a little light behind them as she said the next sentence to him. “You and I danced a whole dance together, and it was so much fun. Then Alana came up with a baby girl, Ruth I guess. She let me hold her and that’s when I realized that everyone in the ballroom had disappeared. I ran out the doors, but somehow ended up on a battlefield. There were dead bodies everywhere, and small fires, and smoke was drifting across the battlefield. The firelight gave a red cast to the area, and it almost looked like there was blood in the air.”

“That sounds eerily familiar to a dream I once had.” Ethan grimaced. “It was not long after I came to the Ten Kingdoms, right before I woke up after bonding to Alana.”

“Oh?” Selene asked. This was starting to get weird and she didn’t know what to make of it.

“Yeah.” He nodded. “It was almost exactly as you described, and I was there fighting a black dragon.”

Kendra sucked in her breath. “Was he using a mace and shield, and you were using a sword that sort of glowed with an inner light?”

“How did you...” Ethan’s jaw dropped. “You saw the same thing?”

“If that’s what you saw, then yes.”

“It wasn’t exactly the same though.” He frowned. “The sword that glowed with an inner light in your dream sounds like the angelic blade Aharown, but I saw myself wielding what I now think was my dragon steel sword and a shield.”

“I don’t think you had a shield. Kendra replied. “If I recall correctly, you were only using the glowing sword and it wasn’t that large.”

Everyone looked around at everyone else as the rain continued to fall, the almost cheerful pitter-patter of the raindrops belying the somber mood. Selene almost couldn’t believe her ears. Did these people ever have a normal day?

“Do ... do you think it was prophetic?” Taloni asked quietly.

“Dear Illuminar in heaven, I hope not.” Kendra said vehemently. “I was still holding Ruth on the battlefield.”

Alana put a hand protectively over her womb. “You were?”

Kendra nodded. “Gabriella told me to protect the baby, and then black dragon saw me and came after me. I tried running, but he was too fast. He knocked me to the ground and I shielded Ruth with my body as he started to swing his mace. That’s when I woke up.”

Ethan took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I hope that’s not prophetic.”

“If I may?” Rachel interjected.

“Please.” Ethan and Alana said at the same time. The mood was somber enough that no one even batted an eye at their synchronicity, Selene least of all.

The redhead continued. “Gabriella told me something about my dreams that I think might apply to your dreams too, since they were slightly different from each other.”

“What did she tell you?” Beth asked.

“She said.” Rachel closed her eyes for several seconds, then quoted: “While the specifics aren’t necessarily accurate, the generalities are.” She looked at them. “She then told me that the dreams didn’t tell me exactly what would happen, but instead gave a general impression of what things would be like.”

“So, me fighting the black dragon on a large battlefield.” Ethan said. “And possibly some threat to Ruth?”

Alana looked frozen in place, horror etched onto her face and she put both hands protectively over her womb. “No, not Ruth.”

“You’re damn right not Ruth.” Ethan growled. “If anyone tried to hurt her, I’d--”

“--rip him limb from fucking limb.” Selene finished, imitating the ‘quiet but deadly’ tone he usually used when making that particular threat. “You really don’t do things halfway, do you?”

“When it involves the safety of my family, fuck no.” He stated flatly.

Selene nodded, that fact not bothering her in the slightest. In fact, she wholeheartedly approved after what had happened to her brother.

“Um, Master.” Taloni said tentatively, breaking the silence that had fallen after that pronouncement.

“What?” He looked at her.

“Um, this is really serious and I don’t want anything to happen to you or Ruth, but can I suggest something?”

“Go ahead.”

“Um, the book of Light says: ‘Don’t borrow problems from tomorrow; today has enough troubles to worry about.’ It’s good that we know bad things are coming because we can prepare for them.” The Fey’s wings fluttered nervously. “But I don’t think we should miss the good things that we have now because there are bad things coming in the future.”

Selene looked at the Fey teen, her respect for her increasing by leaps and bounds.

Wow.

That was a really mature way to look at it.

“That’s really good advice.” Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Is that why you’re always so cheerful? Because you don’t let tomorrow’s problems bother you today?”

“Partially Master. But I trust Illuminar to take care of us too, which also helps. I’m not saying we shouldn’t prepare, or plan, or take precautions, but worrying now won’t improve a problem later.”

“You’re absolutely right.” Ethan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I can get ready for what’s coming while appreciating what I have now.” He looked around at his wives and smiled.

Selene had to admit that was a really great way to look at things. She could tell that Alana was having a bit more trouble doing that since the wood elf’s hand was still over her womb, but even she looked calmer than she had a minute ago.

“Ruth will be okay.” The wood elf said after several seconds. “I had a dream with Gabriella where she said I would nurse the baby in my womb; that she would be safe.”

Ethan breathed a sigh of relief, and a similar sentiment was echoed in various way by most everyone.

“But what about Master?” The Fey teen asked. “Did Gabriella say anything about him?”

Alana grimaced and shook her head.

Everyone looked at Ethan.

Silence fell for several seconds after she said this, and everyone seemed to be processing. Selene knew she was. Finally, Ethan himself broke it.

“Ruth will be safe, and we should focus on the present and what we do have.” He nodded to himself, then turned to Kendra. “So, you really like to dance?”

“Yes Drago, I really do.”

He turned to Selene. “Do you mind if I rob you of your umbrella?”

She shrugged. “It’s your wing.”

He retracted it, stood, and then held a hand out to Kendra. “May I have this dance?”

She looked around. “There’s no music.”

“Anthiel.” Ethan called up to the quarterdeck where the high elf pilot was. “Could you provide a tune so I can dance with my wife?”

“Certainly captain.” She came down the stairs to the main deck and then ducked just inside the doorway to the lower decks so she was out of the rain. Then she produced an instrument that looked like small recorder and started playing.

“May I have this dance?” He asked the dragon huntress again.

“It’s raining.” She pointed out.

“It is.” He nodded. “And?”

“Thank you Drago.” She replied as she rose gracefully to her feet, a smile starting to form on her face.

Taloni felt herself grin in spite of what they’d just learned as Master led Kendra out onto the middle of the Argo’s deck. Her friend didn’t look like she knew what to do with herself. She was grinning broadly, despite the rain and the heavy things just revealed.

“Do you really think of him as Master?” Selene asked, shifting the Fey’s attention.

“Of course I do.” She replied. “He’s ‘Master’ to me, now and forever. I rarely even use his name even when I’m thinking about him.”

“Okay.” The Brazilian woman shrugged, then like the rest of the ladies turned to watch Master and Kendra.

He had led her to an open area of the deck and then pulled her into the classic dancing frame. She put her hand on his arm, looking at him like she couldn’t believe it.

Then they started dancing.

She was clearly the better dancer, though he did okay. Before long, Kendra was grinning silly and twirling in the rain. Her dress spun up when she did, and the water slid off of it in the most beautiful patterns; nearly as beautiful as the dragon huntress herself.

Taloni couldn’t understand why Kendra thought her scars made her unattractive in some way. She looked amazing even with them. She just wished Kendra could see herself the way Taloni herself did; an amazing woman and a perfect older sister.

Well, that’s how the Fey thought of her anyway.

It wasn’t long before her fellow wives all stood up and wanted to dance too. However, with only one man and five women, the women soon ended up pairing off to dance. Taloni ended up dancing with Beth, both of them giggling a lot as they tried to figure out who would dance the man’s part. Beth did because she was taller, and there was a lot of toe-stepping and more giggling as they tried to figure it out.

Alana and Rachel seemed a bit too timid to dance with each other, but eventually their husband switched partners and they each got a dance.

Taloni could tell that everyone was still a bit on edge after what they’d learned earlier, but they were all doing their best to be joyful in the moment, and it was good to see.

The Fey sighed.

She really loved her family.

“Mining camp sighted.”

Ethan resisted the urge to look since Raklan would surely take advantage of his distraction to score a hit in their sparring match. Dancing with his wives earlier in the morning had been a great distraction from the heavy revelations and was great fun -- Kendra seemed like she was still on cloud nine -- but eventually they had stopped. The rain hadn’t though. It was still coming down, but it was more like a heavy drizzle than a heavy rain.

He had decided to spar since he needed all the practice he could get, and doubly so since the conversation earlier in the morning. Further, practice in the rain didn’t happen that often during summer in the Ten Kingdoms and he wanted to take advantage.

On the other side of the mast, Selene and Serif were also sparring. The Brazilian woman never won against him of course -- no one did -- but she was getting better every day. She had a vast body of martial arts experience as a foundation, which probably explained how she was improving so fast.

Anthiel had taken pity on the drenched beauty and loaned her a dress that was self-repairing, and thus water resistant. It didn’t fit her quite right since Anthiel was taller and differently proportioned, but it didn’t look bad on her either. Honestly, with as gorgeous as she was, she could probably wear a burlap sack and be fetching.

Very fetching.

Raklan made his move, and Ethan reacted, parrying the blow and returning with a counter-blow of his own, which the larger man parried before disengaging. Their bouts were going more like that lately; not a quick victory but a series of exchanges before one of them won. It was still usually Raklan, but Ethan was starting to win more often. He wasn’t using his strength enhancing armor or improved reflexes while training though. He could’ve done much better if he was, but Serif insisted his training would be more effective without them and he trusted the man when it came to combat.

“Touché” Ethan called a minute later as Raklan’s training blade smacked into his armor. The armor prevented the hits from hurting, but they were still scored as wins.

With the match done, Ethan turned his attention towards the mine.

Below him was a large rolling meadow that was the usual lush shade of green that covered Ivernia. There was a large, fast-moving stream running through it coming down from the mountains, though ‘hills’ probably would’ve been a more accurate description. He could see true mountains rising to the west of him, but it looked like the mine was on the tail end of the mountain range. Yeah, they were more like large, green, rocky hills than mountains.

The hills looked like Ireland.

Or maybe Scotland?

One of the two; maybe a combination of them. He’d see plenty of pictures of the two countries, and even some aerial footage on Earth. Everything he was seeing now made him think of the ‘mountains’ of either Scotland or Ireland. They were a lush, verdant green color, almost more so than the meadow below it. The hills started rather abruptly out of the land below, though the color change between the hills and meadow was more gradual.

He could see what looked like the entrance to a mine cut into the base of one of the large hills.

About three hundred yards north of the mine was a rise in the meadow, and on that rise was a walled town. The rise was perhaps a dozen feet above the plains around it, and the town looked like most of the other towns he’d seen in Ivernia. It looked run-down, but from lack of resources not a lack of care or lazy maintenance.

The wall around the town was palisade style, with long, thick, and straight tree trunks rising at least a dozen feet into the air and ending in sharp points. It looked like there might also be a crude form of barbed wire at the top too.

Projecting out and up from the north side of a portion of the wall was a very wide, very sturdy looking airship dock. It was almost thirty feet wide and rose well above the plains below, with plenty of room for an airship’s lower mast. If an airship turned the crossbeams on its masts so they were in line with the keel, two airships could dock and simultaneously loaded and/or unloaded since the dock was so wide.

“What do you think Master?” Taloni asked as she walked up behind him.

He pulled her to him so they were standing with her back to his front and his arms around her. “I think you’re an amazing wife honey.” He kissed her on top of the head.

“Aww, thank you Master.” She beamed and craned her neck around to kiss him, then spoke again once the kiss broke. “But I meant about the mine and mining town.”

“It looks like...” He turned to see his other wives and Selene had come up behind him. It was somewhat amusing to see all their hair looking about the same in the rain. Even Beth’s hair looked dark when completely soaked.

“It looks like most of Ivernia; poor, but well-cared for with limited resources.” He finished. “It makes me wonder just how bad the Ivernian Reeves are.”

“Reeves, those are the tax collectors?” Selene asked.

“Yes.” Beth replied. “They have a reputation for skimming taxes and taking more than they should, but I don’t think anywhere has it as bad as Ivernia.”

“So maybe I need to pay this town’s Reeve a visit too.” Ethan mused.

“I would’ve loved to see the previous Reeve visit sir.” Alana grinned.

“Master was amazing.” Taloni sighed from his arms.

“Speaking of amazing, take us in honey.” He told the Fey as he released her, and then activated his disguise gem since they would be entering a new town.

“Yes Master.” She nodded, only a bit of trepidation in her tone.

Taloni went to the quarterdeck where Anthiel stepped aside for her, and the Fey issued the orders necessary to bring the airship into the dock. She did it even more confidently than when they left Gralden, though she still said “please” whenever she issued an order. Anthiel watched the entire time, saying nothing until Serif and Raklan had finished tying the Argo to the dock.

“Well done Taloni.” The high elf said proudly. “You are becoming an excellent airship pilot.”

The Fey beamed.

Ethan walked up to the quarterdeck and kissed her deeply, speaking only when he had left her breathless. “I’m really proud of you honey.”

The honey-blonde had a dreamy, contented expression on her face as she replied in a similarly dreamy tone. “Mmm, thank you Master.”

“Come on, time to go.” He led the way over to the gangplank, which the two crewmen had just deployed, and walked onto the dock followed by his wives and Selene. There was no one on the dock, which wasn’t that surprising considering the rain.

“Ladies.” He stopped and summoned his sword in its scabbard, then turned back to them. “Run to the hold and get those swords that the wood elf king gave us. If we run into orcs, I want to be ready.”

All of his wives except Taloni immediately headed in that direction.

“Master, must I wear a sword? I don’t know how to use one, and I don’t want to.”

He frowned, tapping his clawed foot on the wooden decking of the dock. He could see Taloni doing more harm than good with a sword, not to mention how she would feel if she ever actually had to use one on somebody. He thought even Beth would be okay, especially with how tough she’d become since the recent visit to Gralden.

“Okay, but only because you can fly.” He finally said. “But you’ll fly straight back to the Argo if we see any hint of trouble; understand?”

“Yes Master, thank you.” She smiled.

Not long after, his wives and Selene returned wearing arming swords, and Rachel had her mage’s staff in hand too. Selene was adjusting something leather on both her forearms; apparently Alana had finished her strength-enhancing vambraces. The wood elf was also carrying his ... wait, that wasn’t his armor backpack. It was a near solid chunk of white, but looked like it was composed of all his armor pieces.

“Is that my armor?” He asked.

The wood elf nodded. “I gave it a variant of the self-summoning spell, so if you detach your armor from yourself it will reform into this, and you can attach it to your back with the same hard points as your backpack.”

“I remember you saying something about that, thanks.” He fastened it to his back and -- since he already had his war sword at his side -- he led the way down the shallow ramp and towards the town. He set a slow pace since the rain and wet wood were making the ramp slippery. Well, slippery for the others; he had claws. Not that anyone besides his wives could see that with his disguise gem activated.

They walked down the ramp and towards a small shack near the bottom. It looked like some kind of guard shack, but it appeared to be empty.

“Where should we go Master?”

He looked around, not sure. “Well, I guess we’ll just pick a direction and start walking.”

The town didn’t look like it had been planned very well. The streets were winding and bending, and there was no semblance of order to the layout. He walked for a minute, but didn’t see anyone to talk to. The town clearly wasn’t deserted as he could see signs of life everywhere, but it looked like almost everyone was inside their somewhat rundown wooden houses; probably because of the rain.

They sloshed through the wet and muddy streets for a minute before hearing the sounds of music coming from a slightly larger building. He headed towards it with the ladies in tow.

It looked like a tavern.

Judging from the outside, it was a small, inexpensive tavern that had seen better days. Like almost everything in Ivernia, it looked well-care for but was still wearing out for lack of resources. He shook his head, his dislike of Lord Farbrottan and the corrupt Reeves increasing by the moment.

“Come on.” He stepped up to the door and pushed it open.

The inside was like the outside; well taken care of but past its prime. There were perhaps a dozen men in there, all nursing a drink of some kind or another. In the corner there was a fellow who was playing an instrument that closely resembled a piano, though with minor differences. Something about it reminded him of a few saloons he’d seen in western movies.

At the door’s opening, everyone glanced his way, then did a double-take.

He supposed it must look weird; a thoroughly average looking fellow leading six beautiful women into a tavern. All of them were armed except for Taloni, though she had wings, plus Selene was an absolute knockout even with her hair soaked through. Maybe especially with her hair soaked through.

“Hi.” Ethan waved his hand.

“What can I get for you stranger?” The man behind the bar asked genially.

“Information mostly.” He replied.

Ethan, order some beer. Kendra thought to everyone in an urgent tone. Trust me.

“But I wouldn’t say no to some beer first if you have it.” Ethan added, then thought to her. Thanks.

“Long as you got coppers, I’ve got beer.” The barman replied with a smile.

“That I do.” Ethan walked over to the bar as every man in the place looked at the ladies. He was somewhat reassured that the looks were more of admiration and disbelief than lustful.

Rachel surreptitiously slipped him a copper from the ship’s treasury, which she usually carried, and he dropped it on the bar. The bartender took it, poured some beer from a wooden barrel, and then set the flagon down in front of him.

“Thanks.” He took a sip. He didn’t usually like beer, but this wasn’t too bad.

“You all some kind of mercenary outfit or something?” A fellow sitting at the bar asked. He had a full beard and looked like a shrewd type; not nefarious, just shrewd.

“Not mercenary, but I hear you have a problem with orcs.” Ethan replied, then took another sip.

“Them there are elven swords.” Another man said, gesturing to the scabbards holding the arming swords that all the ladies were wearing. The scabbards weren’t ornate, but they did have an unmistakably elven design aesthetic.

“They are.” Ethan nodded, seeing no reason to deny the obvious.

The shrewd fellow at the bar scrutinized the newcomers, then Ethan’s own sword. “I know steel. See here, my father was a blacksmith and I’ve been mining iron most of my life. That there isn’t regular steel. Unless I miss my guess, that there is dragon steel.”

All eyes in the tavern moved to the hilt of Ethan’s sword.

“And them there ladies.” The shrewd man continued. “That’s a wood elf in a green dress, a human in a blue one, and a Fey wearing a lilac dress, and another human in a red dress. Not sure about them other two though.” He stroked his beard. “Plus, there’s that there dragon steel sword.”

“Is that white armor?” Someone said from behind him, scrutinizing his armor pack.

“It’s the prophet.” Someone whispered in awe. “The rumors say he uses a disguise gem so he doesn’t frighten the faithful.”

Seeing no reason to deny what they had clearly worked out, he nodded. “I actually use the disguise gem so I don’t get a panicked reaction from guards.”

Suddenly, the bartender batted Ethan’s flagon off the bar. “The prophet of Illuminar won’t be drinking that--” He finished the sentence in some language that Ethan didn’t recognize. The barman pulled an expensive looking bottle from behind the bar and held it high. “He drinks the best whiskey in the house!”

The tavern patrons erupted in a loud cheer.

“I’m actually not a fan of whiskey, but thanks.” Ethan said, not wanting the man to waste what looked to be a very expensive bottle.

“You said you’re here about the orcs.” The shrewd man said. “Did Pegger find you?”

“Pegger?” Ethan raised his eyebrow.

“That’s what we call him; he has a pegged-leg and went looking for you.”

“He did find me.” Ethan replied. “And I found you. So, who should I talk to about helping with the orcs?”

“That’ll be Grindle.” The barkeep said. “He owns the mine.”

“That sort of makes him the de facto mayor of this here town.” The shrewd fellow added.

“Where might I find him?” Ethan asked.

“The large house over yonder.” The barkeep said, pointing in a direction. “He’s good people, and has had a rough go of it.”

“Alright.” He nodded and stood up. “I’ll go see him then.”

“Could you turn the disguise gem off?” One of the men sitting at a table asked. “I’d like to be able to say I saw the prophet in his true form.”