Chapter 16
Sixteen
As we walked through the center of the Tube, Dathka said, “It’s a big place, to be home to so few people.”
“Maybe you could tell your master how wrecked the place is, so he’ll adjust the rent accordingly,” I suggested. “And I’m assuming by now you’ve seen it really is haunted.”
She scoffed. “I come from the plain of decaying bones which exists beneath an eternal hellish maelstrom. Surnod Lin is the last stop in the physical realms before those destined for eternal torment are dragged into oblivion. They cling there, desperate, bargaining for one last chance. Their pleading amuses us. The spirits of the damned have always been my companions. Their wails were my lullaby.”
“That sounds pleasant.”
I think Rade’s optimism had given me a skewed perspective of deadlanders.
He was all charming smiles, big sweeping gestures, and grandiose stories.
Dathka was mean-spirited and had a strange economy of motion about her, where there was no flash, and every movement was measured, pragmatic, or stately…
Kind of like her life was an endless funeral.
I felt safe now assuming Dathka was more representative of her realm than my delusional friend.
“As you can see, the sideways architecture’s forced us to make some adaptations. Using whatever scraps we can come up with, we’ve been able to slowly build up stairs and platforms, allowing us to access more rooms. Bognar was a carpenter’s apprentice, so he’s been a great help at this.”
“That’s the corpulent gutter swine I poked in the eye? He should remain a tradesman. I watched his fight. He was awful.”
“Everyone’s got to start somewhere…” I pointed to the opening above us.
“Because that section broke open to the sky when the tower fell, that’s our air practice room.
” It was currently unoccupied, since Azarin was the only one who’d be up this early to use it and she was on her way to the market.
“To the left is our water practice room, because the outer wall in that part got broken, and it’s lying directly across one of the city canals. It’s just like having our own river.”
“The mighty Hubur flows past my home. Thousands of ghosts huddle upon the shore, waiting to pay the ferrymen to cross its vastness. That squalid ditch is nothing like having your own river.”
“It’s flowing fast enough that drinking it doesn’t make us sick too often, though we still filter it through a box of sand and charcoal, then boil it to be sure. I’ve got a spell that’s perfect for boiling water, so we’ve always got a kettle going in the kitchen.”
“Sad.”
I was rather proud of what we’d built here, so her shitting all over it was starting to grate on my nerves. “Our river has a Squalo in it. Did yours?”
“Only the spirts of the dead Squalos swimming their way to hell, I assume. You’re lucky you have such a deadly ally.
If it hadn’t been for you having a Squalo in your gang, the local Latrocinium would have crushed you the day you disrespectfully pinned that notice upon your door without asking our permission first. By the time we’d gathered enough men to defeat a Squalo, Joran had heard of your endeavor and ordered us to wait and observe instead…
Speak of the devil. There’s your shark man now. ”
Trax wandered in, six and a half feet of sleek grey and white muscle, crunching happily on a large but very human-looking femur that he held as if it were a lollipop.
“Good morning, Carnavon. I was delighted to discover that someone threw several corpses into the canal last night. This was an unexpected treat.”
“Were they about this tall?” I held my hand out a bit over my head. “And covered in black hair?”
“Yes. They were meaty and very hairy. I cannot digest so much hair and will have to cough up a considerable hairball later. Despite that, they were quite edible. I see from your mind picture that you are responsible for this feast. Thank you for the roasted one. He had a smokey flavor.”
Dathka’s starkly pale face rarely displayed any emotion, but it was clear from the subtle shaking of her hands that Trax scared her.
As he should. Only a fool wouldn’t be nervous around a Squalo.
Despite his massive bulk, Trax padded over in complete silence, staring at her with his tiny black eyes.
“This one wears the black band. Is she a threat? Should I eat her?”
“Hold off on that. I’ll let you know.”
She cringed a bit as her mind was bombarded by Trax’s peculiar method of communication. “What’s he saying?”
“He says that his name is Tracks the Blood Trail Regardless of Extreme Temperatures or Crushing Pressures, but you can call him Trax or Mr. Bloodtrail. Trax, this is Dathka Walker, of the Latrocinium.”
She actually took a knee and gave him a bow of deep respect. “It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Mr. Bloodtrail.”
I was a bit surprised. “That’s the first time I’ve seen you address anyone halfway decently.”
“My family’s patron is Brotbeck, Saint of Murder. That is our legacy.” She stood up. “Yet even the heirs of Brotbeck must pay respect to the legendary Hunter Killers of the Squalo Empire.”
“I am flattered by this abnormally pale human’s words, Carnavon, but she is mistaken. I am not a member of that elite order. The Hunter Killers are the Empire’s finest. You should inform her that I am but a humble monk, come to study the ways of you land creatures.”
Considering Trax’s mere presence had kept the Latros from reflexively stomping on us, I thought back, We’ll keep that part our little secret for now. The Latros thinking you’re all that is a deterrent.
“I am dangerous, but I am not Squalo elite Hunter Killer dangerous… Ah. This must be the human concept known as subterfuge. Fascinating.”
“Let’s continue.” I gestured for Dathka to keep walking.
Conveniently for me, Trax followed along behind us.
His presence might actually keep her humble.
“Next to the water room’s the kitchen and mess.
Over there is the earth room, on account of that tower wall shattering upon impact, so the floor’s now made of soil. ”
“Why’s that door boarded up and chained shut?”
“We’ve put a temporary hiatus on practicing earth spells. There’s a rogue Elemental spirit lost here and it keeps sticking itself to earth spells. We have to purge the area before continuing.” I said that as if I’d known that all along, and hadn’t just picked it up from her boss recently.
“Why don’t you just purge it, then?”
“Regrettably, that’s not a spell any of us know yet.”
“I do.”
“Really?” It would be really nice to get our earth room back. “Would you care to demonstrate?”
“What’s in it for me?”
A valid question. “It would certainly end any disputes over you taking up space and eating our food until our adventure’s done, and Azarin wouldn’t suggest you go live in the canal instead.”
“It is a fine canal,” Trax added helpfully, not that Dathka could understand him. “There are some fish to eat and occasionally larger corpses float by.”
“I’ll consider it,” she said.
“Does she mean she will consider living in the canal or casting this spell?”
She means the spell, Trax. It was a good thing I’d learned to silently think letters and pictures to the oblivious Trax, because if some of our conversations were overheard in public, it would surely remove a lot of our Squalo’s dangerous mystique.
Harassed from their beds by ghosts, our students had begun going about their day. Last night’s winnings had been enough for those of us who’d fought to pay our agreed upon tuition. That ensured we’d be able to buy enough element that we could get back to practicing our spells.
“That room over there is set aside for life magic, but we don’t yet have someone who knows any of those. We’ve got one dwarf from that realm, but all his magic is offensive earth spells.”
“Life magic is my deficiency.” Dathka wasn’t so much admitting a weakness, as insulting an entire branch of magic. “Healers are weak. Inflicting wounds is a far more valuable skill than repairing them.”
It was an immutable law of magic that every mage had an affinity to one element, that they could instinctively cast at a much higher level, and that affinity usually corresponded to the realm of their heritage.
But we also had a corresponding deficiency in something else, where no matter how hard we tried, we’d only be able to cast spells of that element at a much lower level.
For example, Azarin was brilliant with air magic, but was so talentless at fire, it took a pile of Red for her to barely make sparks.
Meanwhile, fire came naturally to me, and those spells were stronger and took less effort to cast. I didn’t know what my deficiency was, as I’d not had a chance to play with all of the elements yet, but from my struggles to accomplish anything with earth, I suspected that was it.
“Up there is the male dormitory. I’d avoid that if I were you.”
“It smells of reptiles.”
“Thank you, Trax. This big area ahead is for combat training.” There were a few students there already working, probably in anticipation of our adventure.
That made me happy, because I was trying to impress this woman with our professionalism.
But, of course, when we walked by, Danny had dropped a war hammer on his toe, and was hopping about on one foot, while Rufus laughed and Krachma called him names in Lobbish.
“Over there’s the death practice room. We do have a bit of that.”
“Yes, I noticed you used an Obscura against me.”
“We got that from Rade.”
“It is a common enough parlor trick in our realm.”
“It worked great on you…” It made me happy to see her frown at that. “And up there at the far end is the fire room, which is something of my specialty.”
“Oh really. Then show me what you’re working on that’s so special.”
“I’d rather not.”
“Why? Are you afraid your academy’s best isn’t that impressive?”