The trip from the orc forest to the town where I met Fiona took only three hours. I was curious about the state of the town so we flew over, remaining invisible.The barracks were easily recognizable and still stood. It seemed fewer people manned the walls, but perhaps they were just out on patrol.I did spot a few patrols, but I was surprised to see some of them were civilian patrols. No wall had been erected so the Sulid and other creatures were still about as I had spotted a few groups of those. There were some makeshift walls, set up to block off streets but it appeared that the locals and the Royal Guard had not joined forces. From the air, it was easy to see the mark of delineation, separating the north half of the town where the old citizens lived, and the south end where the barracks resided.Martin saw this too and chimed in. “Are these people dumb, why haven’t they come together there is no way they can survive like this forever.”I shrugged, “There were a lot of older peopl

The deal took Martin three weeks to hammer out. Most of that was wasted with that stupid council, mainly just the one woman. She kept trying to control everything and considering her class was called politician, it was no surprise. The fact that her level was only seven, spoke volumes of her talent.Nothing changed until they brought in someone who had the Identify skill. I didn’t recognize the man and he didn’t recognize me or Martin. But that didn’t stop him from turning pale when he read off our levels to the councilwoman. After that, the woman was less of a pain in the ass, and Martin was able to push through a meeting between the two groups.I saw well-hidden relief on most of the other councilors' faces. After having to perfect a stony exterior or face punishment as a slave, it was easy to see the telltale signs. It seems they had been hoping to come to some agreement with the Commander but were bullied by the woman not to offer anything in return. I didn’t know what she had on

I found Martin where the Marshall said he would be, but he was in a meeting. I decided to hang out with Fiona until his meeting ended.“Been a while, how’s everything going?”“Good, but having to wait around can be tiring. I don’t know how Martin can enjoy politics this much.”I chuckled, “just another challenge to conquer. Much easier than dealing a fatal blow to another person I imagine.”“I guess you’re right, at least I still have our evenings together,” she added quietly.“Is something wrong?”“No… well, not exactly, just something not physically possible.”“…”I didn’t want to think about her and Martin getting intimate.Fiona sighed, “I want to be a mother.”“… oh… OH. Can’t get pregnant because you revert to your spectral form?”She nodded sadly.“Well, it doesn’t seem like it will be that way forever. I mean, you’ve gone from being dead to having a physical form.”“I know, but it seems like all progress to expanding that ability has come to a halt recently.”“Do you think it

The night went by quickly and we left early in the morning the next day. Javier and Maria were quiet but studious as I showed them the simple controls to the barge. I let each have a turn with the controls to the horror of the merchants as we plummeted a hundred feet when Javier bumped the height lever.“Careful,” I said in admonishment. “That lever is very sensitive to height adjustments, and while the barge can’t rise very quickly, it can fall as fast as gravity allows.”The kid nodded his ashen face from his position on the floor. He had fallen when the barge came to a sudden stop. I hadn’t intervened in the error as I knew it would level out. I was also the only person braced for it to happen as everyone, including the merchants, had fallen.“Monitor the controls while I go out and see if anyone needs healing.”“Please, Mr. Paul, let me,” Javier said, getting to his feet.I nodded as the kid moved past me on slightly wobbly legs.I turned toward Maria, “try not to crash us into th

It was less than two weeks since we had left the island to its own devices. So I was a bit surprised to see two pirate ships docked at the port. Careful of a trap, I dropped Barcos and Em’ah off to scout things before we docked. Thankfully the merchant ship was a Guild ship and even if these were pirates, they weren’t dumb enough to attack a Guild vessel.It didn’t take long for Barcos to send up an all-clear signal. With a weary shrug, I ordered Khikall to take us in.It was soon apparent why Barcos signaled it clear. All along the dock were the corpses of pirates, hanging from poles every five feet. The populace was hurrying about, unloading spoils from the ships. One of the self-appointed freed leaders was waiting by the dock with Barcos and Em’ah.The man nodded curtly and motioned for us to follow. Without waiting for a reply, he headed off at a quick pace toward the meeting hall.With nothing to do but follow, I fell in next to Em’ah. “What the hell happened here?” I whispered.