“So, what you are saying is that I have to look after the farm, on my own, while you go…” Esta paused, looking Nelson up and down with a critical gaze. “Where did you say you were going?” She asked, almost sneering at him, but was trying to not be so blatant with what she was doing.
Nelson knew she wouldn’t be happy that he was taking the only two farm hands with him, but he needed their personal skills if he was going to cross the marsh and get into Sethis’ mansion without getting caught. Even so, he had to tell her he would not be back for at least a month or more.
“I know this is sudden, but it is an important visit that I need to make,” Nelson offered his hands up in defence of his sudden plan. “I can hire someone else so you aren’t stuck alone here if you need someone?” He then asked.
Esta peered at him with contempt. “Oh! So we have enough coins for that, do we?” Esta ques
The ripples zoomed towards him with such speed that Nelson didn’t have time to think twice about what he was doing. He held up the bag and called at the top of his voice, “if you want them back you can have them! I want nothing to do with stealing your children!”Atraas and Inleet stared at him from their positions, ready to help fight if required, but trusted Nelson’s instincts to know how to handle the situation.“Can they even understand the common tongue?” Atraas asked, curious as he watched the water suddenly rise along with the head of the serpentine.Although snake-like in appearance, they also had humanoid features for their bodies. Bulky arms ended in claw-like hands. A very thin line of greenish-brown hair lined the top of the serpentine’s head. It continued to rise out of the water, using its muscular snake-like body to hold itself up tall. It easily stood taller than even the gnarly tree.Atraas and In
As the sun began to set on Falanthyst Castle, King Fenryn sat bored on the throne, listening to his nobles arguing over this and that. None of it was important enough to hold his attention for long, but he attempted to at least pretend like he had been listening. If he showed any signs that he wasn’t taking this matter seriously, he would get a scolding by a certain Knight Captain.That was when he started to giggle. It always meant trouble would be in store for the Captain when the King chuckled during the meetings of his local Lords and Ladies. He was sure they thought poorly of him because he was young in both age and heart. Of course, his court would never say so out loud, but they felt he could never be a true King because of how young he was. They often took advantage of the King’s youth, but that was why he had his faithful Knight Captain.Vaughan Cadfael was a stern man and one that everyone knew that if he was around, they could say or whisper very
Morning came early for Nelson and the twins. He hated mornings, but he knew he had to get a move on soon. If they waited too long, the serpentines would wake up and be on the prowl. He woke the twins and made Atraas cook them some breakfast. As soon as they had finished, he had them back on what little path there was. Everything seemed normal at first. Birds sang when they flew overhead, frogs and fish moved about in the waters and bugs kept bothering them. Then suddenly everything was silent. Nelson halted the group with a single gesture of his hand. He was pretty damn sure something wasn’t right, but he couldn’t see anything. After a while, he had them continue. Nothing large had moved, so he assumed there was something else the creatures were hiding from, perhaps just a snake or a large fish. Whatever it was, it had been big enough to spook the wildlife. “How much longer do we have to go?” Inleet complained as she dragged her feet behind them. “My feet are
Finally, the four of them found themselves at the edge of the marsh. With Ket following beside them, everything else avoided them like the plague. Nelson couldn’t say he minded as it made the rest of the journey a breeze. What he feared wasn’t from the dangers now, but the attention such a large warrior woman would bring to him and his group.The first thing they had to do, however, was cross the Vast Grasslands, which as the same suggests, was grasslands so vast that they seemed almost as endless as the marsh itself had been. On the plus side, they didn’t have to worry about getting stuck in thick soupy water or ambushed by serpentines.Herds of horses galloped in the distance. Nelson marvelled at them and wondered if this was where most of the noble horses had come from. Or if these were wild and would remain such. As far as he knew, Sethis didn’t make their fortune from selling horses.By the time they reached the first signs of Ameath
The tavern wasn’t as full as Nelson had assumed it would be, but there were still enough people there that he could easily blend in with the crowd and none paid him nor Inleet any attention at all. They were just two extra bodies in an enormous city that were looking for a drink. From the looks of it, though, many of these people had nothing worth stealing. He could easily scam them out of their coins, but he was sure he could do that with a mere card game, rather than picking pockets. The only thing he wasn’t sure of was if these people were honest and wouldn’t know he was cheating, or if they were like-minded people and would easily figure him out quickly. He would have to study them long enough to find out, but for now, he just wanted to drink and see if he could learn anything about Sethis, or how he ran his city. You could tell a lot about a noble, by how he treated his people, or what his people thought of him. Nelson was not thought of highly, but he u
The next morning, the trio woke to the usual hustle and bustle of a city just waking up for the day. From all they could gather, their acquired mask was not the item looked for from the place it was stolen from. At least, there was nothing that suggested the owner cared that much for its loss.Nelson could only guess the owner hadn’t yet realised. Either way, he was glad that he could relax enough to not stress over the smaller details of the day. He had far too much to plan for tonight, including making sure he was ‘on the list’ for the party.That itself would require finding one such person who he could replace with no one realising it. Many such people in the city likely fit the bill, but he had to be sure none could tell the difference. This meant any family man was off of the market for body-snatching. So to speak.Nelson knew this would not be easy, but there had been a few candidates last night at the tavern. If one of those were bachel
The journal, while seemingly important, lacks anything that would give Nelson a lead on where to go or if Sethis is part of the slave trade or not. It does, however, have a few entries about both the late Kings; Fenryn’s older brother and their father. With a sigh, Nelson puts the item back into the draw. “Well, that was a waste of time,” he mutters to himself. “This guy has to have some skeletons somewhere. No one is this perfect.” A light whispered voice speaks somewhere behind him, “another exists.” Spinning around, Nelson’s hand quickly goes to where his hidden blade is located, but his gaze does not locate the voice’s owner. His golden-brown eyes scan the room. Had someone snuck up on him somehow? That should be impossible. Was it one of those guard-birds? The ones who could use the common tongue to alert of any intruders? He glanced up to see if one was perched anywhere above him. Nothing was. Cautious that someone was hiding from him so
“So you want us to go… where, again?” Atraas asked. His gaze on Nelson was deadpan. He did not believe what he had just been told but knew full well what Nelson had said. Inleet herself was not impressed, and she glared at Nelson in horror. “You know the lands of the dead are not something we can just sneak in and out of, right?” She asked, her tone blunt. “Not to mention the ground-elves,” Atraas agreed. “Everyone says they’re just an old wives’ tale to scare young children, but I swear to the Goddesses, I saw one!” Sighing, Nelson looked between the two. “I can’t force you to go with me,” he began, shaking his head. “But your second pay from our benefactor will only come if we succeed in our mission to sort this out. That the trail leads towards the Underworld is…” he paused, looking for the words he needed. “An adventure none of us expected, sure, but we’ll be fine. Maybe.” “Oh, I feel so confident now, thank you!” Inleet barked out her sarcastic r