Sedder was considerably more shaken than he let on, and as they traveled out of Dalizar, his mind kept drifting back to the last conversation he had with Keolah. She’d been so smooth and casual about the whole thing, but he could recognize a deadly threat when he saw one. Even though he’d been invisible and hidden somewhere in the middle of a sizeable city in a place they’d never visited, she’d flawlessly tracked him down in minutes. No matter where Sedder went, he knew he’d never be able to hide from her. He definitely did not want to get on her bad side. Fortunately, their inclinations and goals seemed to be aligned.
Despite Delven’s misgivings, the party returned to Starton to see about hiring a vessel to take them to Zarhanna. Zendellor had taken on human form before they entered town this time, having had no desire to make a long sea journey as a horse.
According to their maps, the Valley of Gal was located inland, in the north of the gnomish country of Mithim, at the eastern edge of the continent of Zarhanna. practically half a world away. Despite that, the general mood of the group was excitement. Of them all, only Silver and Sedder himself seemed subdued, although Silver still seemed happy. For his part, Sedder was just waiting on a chance to privately contact Sardill and fill him in on what was going on. He hadn’t dared pull out his mind crystal while they were traveling through Dalizar and camping or sleeping closely together, and he wasn’t sure he’d get a chance by himself aboard ship anytime soon, either.
“Alright, fine,” Delven said as they approached the Starton docks. “If we’re going to do this, let me do the talking, alright?”
“I don’t speak Flylish, anyway,” Keolah said. “Although we do have that amulet.”
“It’s not that,” Delven said. “And I’m sure most of the ship captains around here speak the common tongue anyway. It’s that you’re elves.”
“I thought the Flylanders didn’t really have a problem with elves,” Keolah said.
“They don’t, by and large, but that doesn’t mean they like them all that much,” Delven said.
“I’ll take your word on that,” Keolah said. “Although why someone might dislike elves and still be sailing to elven lands is beyond me.”
After asking a few people for directions, a ship captain was pointed out to them, and they approached him. He was a muscular, bald human man with a tan aura.
“Excuse me,” Delven said in the common tongue. “We’re looking to book passage on a ship.”
“You’ve come to the right man, then. Name’s William Cooper, captain of the Endeavor. Call me Billy. Where you heading?”
“We want to get to Dherdem,” Delven said.
Billy snorted in amusement. “You need new maps, mate. Dherdem fell into the sea fifty years ago. You’ll be wanting Habag, now.”
“Oh,” Delven said dumbly. “What happened?”
Billy shrugged. “Hell if I know. They’re gnomes. They probably did something stupid, like they always do.”
“So, can you take us there?” Delven asked.
Billy peered critically at Delven, and scanned over the others. “How many you got?”
“Six,” Delven said.
“Eh, guess I can do six,” Billy said.
“Also a floka,” Delven said.
Billy snorted softly. “Fine, the giant turkey can come, too. But you’re bringing your own birdseed.”
Delven negotiated a price for passage, and although it was exorbitant, Billy was willing to accommodate them. In a few days, they boarded the Endeavor and set sail to Zarhanna.
“This type of ship is called a schooner,” Delven told them, leaning against the rail and watching Starton fade into the distance behind them.
“What’s it called in elvish?” Keolah wondered.
“Dunno,” Delven said. “I’m not sure whether the elves even have comparable ship classes, anyway. For all I know, they just grow their ships and make them move with magic.”
“Probably,” Keolah said.
“Meh, who cares, anyway,” Hawthorne said. “Teach me how to cuss in Flylish.”
Delven snorted softly. “What happened to learning common?”
“Screw that,” Hawthorne said. “We’re going to Zarhanna. Nobody in Zarhanna is going to speak common. Besides, I have this shiny new amulet. I don’t have to actually learn… common, Flylish, or Tevric, apparently. It’s also got Zarhian in it, but I already know Zarhian anyway.”
Delven peered at the amulet. “How does that thing even work, anyway? How does it know which language you’re trying to speak?”
“Hell if I know how it does what it does,” Hawthorne said. “But see here? It’s got little letters written on the edge. You channel a little bit of mana into one of them to activate it. F, T, Z, and K that I assume is common, and the null letter to turn it off.”
“The elvish alphabet has a letter for ‘nothing’?” Delven asked.
“Well, yeah, of course,” Hawthorne said. “I thought you spoke elvish?”
“I can speak it,” Delven said. “I’ve rarely had cause to need to be able to read it. Bards mostly still follow oral traditions.”
“Beats reading,” Hawthorne said. “Delven! Play us some music. You know, something suitable for starting off on a grand adventure across the sea!”
“Sure, I think I know a few suitable things,” Delven said. “Did you ever think about learning to play an instrument? Maybe the drum?”
“Hmm, a drum wouldn’t be too hard, would it,” Hawthorne said. “You just hit stuff repeatedly, right?”
Once Delven had his lute out and started entertaining Hawthorne, Sedder took the opportunity to slip down to the cabin that had been provided for him, Delven, Silver, and Zendellor. It was going to be an uncomfortable journey, and Sedder already hated the water.
Sedder wished he didn’t have to focus so much to use telepathy. Mind Magic was hard for him. Pure-blooded teppers had it so easy. He kind of envied them for it. Once he’d checked that the door was secure, he pulled out his thought crystal and established a connection to Sardill.
<My lord,> Sedder tepped.
<Sedder.> The hooded face appeared in his mind, but the glowing red eyes were dark and his mental voice sounded odd.
<My lord, are you alright?> Sedder wondered.
<Fine,> Sardill replied. <Report.>
<I’ve just boarded a ship leaving Starton en route to eastern Zarhanna,> Sedder tepped.
<Where’s Silver?> Sardill asked. <Is Silver with you?>
<Yes,> Sedder confirmed. <He—>
<Stick with him.> Sardill paused. <Wait. Where did you say you were going?>
<The Valley of Gal,> Sedder tepped.
<That’s quite the trip,> Sardill commented, his thoughts sluggish and words slurred. <Who are you with and what are they looking for?>
Sedder listed the names of his companions. <Keolah wants to find the old magic books written by the League of Wizards.>
<Ah,> Sardill tepped. <A worthy cause. Keep with it. Let me know if you find anything.>
<My lord, are you drunk?> Sedder asked.
Sardill was quiet for a long moment. <Yes.>
<Sorry if I’ve interrupted something entertaining,> Sedder tepped.
Sardill mentally snorted. <No, nothing entertaining. Don’t worry about interrupting me. Contact me again another time and tell me everything you learned about Dalizar and what your companions’ plans and intentions are.>
<Yes, my lord,> Sedder replied.
“You have a fine ship here,” Hawthorne told Billy. “Well. I think it’s a fine ship, at any rate. I don’t really know anything about ships.”
Billy snickered. “Take my word for it, she’s totally a fine ship.”
“I saw a very odd ship back in Hannaderres,” Keolah said. “A gnomish steamship.”
Billy snorted. “Ugh. Those things. They think they can go fast. They think they can replace us. Let me tell you, all my ship needs to sail is the wind. No mana or coal.”
“What happens if you don’t get any wind?” Hawthorne wondered.
“Then you lot are rowing,” Billy said.
Hawthorne snorted softly. She might be a Wind Mage, but there was no way she could affect something as big as a ship’s sails. Surely there must be other Wind Mages who could do that, though. The stories she grew up on told of mighty Wind Mages who could fill up sails and change the weather, bringing rain to the farmers, fair weather to the towns, and calling down storms upon their enemies. Hawthorne didn’t know any Wind Mages capable of doing those things, although she’d heard of some kid from Lolonder village who could blow up a serious gale.
Much as Hawthorne was enjoying the sea voyage, she didn’t like or trust the crew. The crew numbered sixteen, and they were all men, every one of them. And they ogled her when they thought she wasn’t looking, and oftentimes didn’t even bother waiting until her back was turned to start making lewd comments about her. Hawthorne wasn’t used to being ogled by men. Why couldn’t any of them be sexy sailor ladies to look at? Oh well, at least she had Keolah, and they’d been courteous enough to give the two elven women their own tiny cabin. It still didn’t feel like much privacy, though, even after they’d gotten Sedder to sound-ward it.
“Delven,” Hawthorne whispered. “Do you think Sedder has been behaving… odd?”
Delven nodded. “It’s like he’s trying too hard sometimes. I don’t know.”
Hawthorne frowned. Sedder had locked himself in his cabin again. Time to find out just what he did in his spare time. Hawthorne knew some Wind Mages could manipulate locks to get them to open neatly, but she’d never learned how to do that. She could, however, simply break the lock. It was not the least bit subtle and made it incredibly obvious the room had been broken into, but right now, she didn’t care.
With a loud crack, the lock broke and the door slammed open. In the center of the small room, Sedder was sitting cross-legged. His eyes snapped open at them with a look of panic, and he hurriedly tried to hide something in his hand. Hawthorne lunged over and grabbed his wrist in a death grip, and pried a violet crystal from his hand.
“Hawthorne, what are you doing?” Keolah asked, coming down the corridor.
“What is this?” Hawthorne wondered, holding up the crystal.
“It’s a crystal enchanted with Mind Magic,” Keolah said. “He’s had that since we left Scalyr. I didn’t really think much of it at the time. I thought he was just using it to store memories or something.”
Sedder gave her a hopeful glance, which instantly faded when Delven opened his mouth.
“Ohh, I think I’ve seen one of those before,” Delven said, peering over her shoulder. “It’s a communication crystal.”
Hawthorne glared over at Sedder. “Who have you been communicating with?”
Sedder stammered. “Look, I didn’t—”
“Have you been spying on us?” Hawthorne snarled. “Was this whole infatuation with Silver business just a ruse to get close to us? You were listening the whole time I was talking to him in the tavern, weren’t you.”
“I can explain—” Sedder tried.
Hawthorne strode out onto the deck and hurled the crystal as far as she could off the side of the ship. With a soft splash, it sunk beneath the waves, the magenta glow still visible for a few moments before vanishing completely.
“You should feel lucky that I don’t throw you overboard, too!” Hawthorne growled. “You sneaky, lying, betraying peasant.”
“What’s going on here?” Billy stomped up on deck. “You broke my door!”
“Sorry about her,” Keolah said. “I’ll repair your door.”
“See to it you do, or I’m charging you for it,” Billy said. “And I want that to be looking like a normal sodding door when you’re done, too, and not magic elf shit.”
Hawthorne hauled Sedder to the deck railing. He didn’t even bother struggling. He had to realize he had nowhere to run.
“And don’t break the railing, either!” Billy called.
“Maybe he was just talking to his boyfriend back in Scalyr and didn’t want Silver to know,” Keolah said uncertainly.
“Tell me and I might let you live.” Hawthorne half-dangled Sedder over the railing.
“Mercy, please,” Sedder directed to Keolah, clearly not expecting any from Hawthorne.
“Right, let him go,” Keolah said with a smirk. “He’s still useful to me.”
Hawthorne gave a snort of disgust and pulled Sedder back from the railing with a sharp movement that sent him sprawling onto the deck against a large coil of rope. Grunting at the impact, his outline flickered for a moment, as if he were reflexively trying to turn himself invisible to make his escape only to realize that wouldn’t help at all here. If he’d actually gone invisible, she might just kill him, if Keolah wouldn’t stop her.
“Yeah, why don’t we have a nice little chat somewhere that nobody is going to be flinging anyone into the ocean,” Keolah said. “If you’re enjoying hauling him places, then haul him back to his room. I’ll work on the door while you interrogate him.”
Hawthorne grinned toothily as she grabbed Sedder by the collar and shoved him back into the cabin. “Alright, sneak. Start talking. You said you can explain. Now sit right down on that hammock and explain.”
Looking nervously between Keolah and Hawthorne, Sedder unsteadily took a seat on the hammock, off-balance, and almost tumbled off.
Hawthorne pinned him with a glare. “And if you’re considering whether you want to tell us the truth, or concoct some story that might make me less inclined to gut you, let me tell you right now that I’m not going to believe any innocent story after the way you’ve acted here.”
Sedder held up his hands, and almost lost his balance again before grabbing the hammock. “Alright, alright, I get the idea. I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you everything. Alright?”
“I’m listening, half-elf,” Hawthorne said.
Sedder took a deep breath, and said quietly, “I was talking to Sardill.”
Hawthorne looked at him in puzzlement. “Should I know who that is?”
“The overlord of Flyland,” Sedder said. “He saved my life when I was younger and held it over my head to press me into working for him. I’d been spying for him in Scalyr for years, just reporting anything interesting I saw, and especially anything Silver was doing.”
“Why Silver?” Hawthorne asked.
“Apparently the two of them were an ‘item’ at one point, so to speak,” Sedder said. “Sardill wanted to keep tabs on his ex for some reason.”
“That’s a little creepy, but okay,” Hawthorne said.
“This was never particularly onerous or alarming up until recently, when he suddenly became very interested in what you were doing and ordered me to come with you.”
“Understandable,” Keolah put in, glancing up from her wood-shaping magic. “I told her she should have been a little more discreet.”
Hawthorne rolled her eyes. “So, what was this Sardill planning to do with that information? He intended to take our discoveries for himself?”
“I don’t know,” Sedder said. “He didn’t tell me. He never tells me anything. But I’m sure he would have wanted to get his hands on it somehow, one way or another.”
“More immediately, what are you going to do now?” Hawthorne asked.
Sedder sighed. “I wasn’t exactly going to turn on you anytime soon, if at all. He’d ordered me to help you, not hinder you. As for whatever happens when we get back to Kalor, we can deal with that when we come to it. But we’re far away from Flyland and getting further away from the day, and not likely to get back there anytime soon. And I think I owe you all.”
“Damned right, you do,” Hawthorne said.
“I’m sure Silver is going to be very happy to learn all this, too,” Keolah commented.
Sedder winced. “Do you really have to tell him?”
“So you actually do have a crush on him?” Hawthorne smirked. “That part wasn’t just a ruse?”
“Well…” Sedder flushed.
“He’s going to find out, you know,” Keolah said. “And Hawthorne wasn’t exactly subtle about yelling at you and throwing you around the ship, either.”
“As cute as it is, after what you did, we don’t owe you anything,” Hawthorne said.
Sedder sighed. “Didn’t think so.”
As if on cue, Silver poked his head into the room. “What’s going on here?”
Hawthorne smirked, then said to Sedder, “I’ll leave it to you to explain this.”
“Oh, come on…” Sedder muttered. “Damn it all.”
Hawthorne headed out of the cabin, leaving him to it. She figured Keolah and Silver were more than capable of handling any stupid thing Sedder did, although she doubted he’d try anything here on the ship. She’d have to keep an eye on him once they made land to make sure he didn’t try to run off and hide.
“What was that all about?” Delven wondered as she came out on deck again.
“Delven, I want you to tell me everything you know about Flyland,” Hawthorne said.
“That’s a big subject, although I suppose we have nothing better to do for a while,” Delven said.
“Specifically, about Sardill,” Hawthorne said.
“Oh?” Delven said. “Well, he lives in a castle of darkness and wears a black hooded robe everywhere, and he has glowing red eyes.”
Hawthorne snorted softly. “That’s not ominous or anything.”
“Nobody’s quite certain just how old he is, either,” Delven said. “Legend has it that he sacrifices babies or steals people’s souls or something to maintain his life. Flyland has had a lot of wars with the rest of Kalor, and oftentimes Sardill sends his people to war for no reason apparent to anyone else.”
“This leaves me wondering just what Silver saw in him,” Hawthorne said.
Delven raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“Silver apparently used to be, ah, involved with him, according to Sedder,” Hawthorne replied.
Delven winced. “I wouldn’t say that too loudly, if I were you. Whether it’s true or not.”
“I guess,” Hawthorne said. “I just don’t get it. How did we wind up falling in with these people?”
“We didn’t exactly do a background check on them before we told them everything,” Delven said. “I did advise caution.”
Hawthorne snorted. “Fine, tell me ‘I told you so’ if you want. But we needed help and you know it. And to get that, we had to tell someone something. Who knew that the evil overlord of Flyland would be interested in archaeology?” She grumbled. “I still want to kill Sedder for that, though.”
“Have you ever even killed anyone before?” Delven asked.
“Well, no,” Hawthorne admitted. “Some animals. No elvenoids.”
“I wouldn’t be so eager to start,” Delven said.
Hawthorne shrugged. “Don’t think I’m much of a badass warrior?”
“There’s a fine line between a badass warrior and a stone-cold killer.”
The voyage was quite tense after that little confrontation, and Delven didn’t have any idea just how things would fall now. No one was speaking to Sedder or Silver at this point, aside from the sailors who had no idea what was going on apart from their yelling. He wasn’t sure just what they’d been able to make out from the mess. At least the captain had begrudgingly accepted Keolah’s patch job on the door, even if he did complain that there was still a leaf sticking out of it.
“Land ho!” called the lookout.
“Can you see the shore from here?” Hawthorne asked Keolah.
Keolah peered off. “I think I see mountains.”
“Mountains?” Delven repeated. “There’s no mountains in southern Mithim. Not anywhere remotely near the coast.”
“Where are you taking us?” Silver demanded. “This isn’t Dherdem.”
“Habag,” Delven corrected him quietly.
“This isn’t Habag, either!” Silver said.
“Don’t get your pretty elf ears tangled in a knot,” Billy said. “Habag’s a long way from here. We’re coming in to dock at Razelten. The city straight across the Mirandarine Ocean from Starton. At any rate, to celebrate our making landfall, Cookie’s made us some pastries.”
“You have a pastry chef aboard your ship?” Delven wondered.
“Damn right we got a pastry chef aboard the ship,” Billy said. “This here’s practically a luxury cruise line.”
An enormous burly man, though clean-shaven, brought out trays of pastries, and all the sailors eagerly took their share. Hawthorne ran to get some as well, and Keolah shrugged and also grabbed one, as did the others. Delven inspected his own and took a bite. Tasted like honeyed pomegranate. Quickly enough, the pastries were all gone and the crew and passengers were wiping honey off their hands.
“You ladies best head back to your cabins and get some rest,” Billy said. “We’ll be docking in the morning.”
Hawthorne yawned broadly. “Yeah, good idea. How did I get so tired already?”
Delven hung around a bit, but figured he might as well get some rest as well. It was getting sort of late, after all, and they’d all want to be rested for going ashore tomorrow. A stop in Razelten before sailing down the coast sounded like a fine prospect. Maybe he’d be able to learn some elf songs straight from the source.
He hadn’t quite managed to get to sleep when he was woken up by the sound of people moving in his shared cabin. He didn’t think Sedder had gotten up to go take a leak off the side of the ship. Sedder was quieter than that.
“I hope that blue-haired bitch didn’t overdose,” grumbled a gruff voice. “She ate three of the damned things.”
“She’ll be fine,” spoke a different voice. Billy. He approached Delven in the dim light and pointed a glinting object at his chest. “And you, we’ll just have to do the old fashioned way. Get to your feet slowly and no sudden moves, and don’t even think about going for a weapon.”
“What’s going on here?” Delven wondered, slowly sitting up.
“The pastries were laced with magebane poison,” Billy said. “Won’t do a thing to mensch like us, but anyone that can channel mana? It’ll knock them right out. And all elves can do magic.” He gestured vaguely to where his crew mate was putting collars on Sedder and Silver. “Get mana suppression collars on them before it wears off, and pff, no more magic from them.” He prodded Zendellor. “Guess this kid’s a mage too. Out like a light. Maybe another half-elf, judging by the weird yellow hair.”
At the point of Billy’s sword, Delven headed up on deck. “What are you going to do with us?”
He didn’t even bother to ask why. They were Flylish. He hadn’t wanted to get aboard this ship in the first place. But Hawthorne was impossible to dissuade once she’d gotten an idea in her head, no matter how foolish.
“You and your buddies are bound for the slave market,” Billy said. “If you’re lucky, you’ll just get sold to trolls and be taken up to the mines. Pray to the Three that the sodding red elves don’t snatch you up.”
Delven sighed. He was afraid of that. “Can I at least take my lute?”
Billy rolled his eyes. “What in the Void do you need a lute for, where you’re going? You hoping to wind up as somebody’s slave jester and not get stuck in the mines? You think you’re good enough for that? Let me tell you, I’ve heard you playing these past days and you’re not that good. My sodding crew can sing better than you.”
The crew let out a hearty jeer as they moved the drugged-up elves and rahi onto the deck. One of them tossed Delven’s lute to Billy.
Billy tapped the instrument and peered inside. “What, are you hiding something in here? Is that why it sounds so bad?”
“No,” Delven grated.
“You know, I’d break this just to spite you, but I’m a reasonable man,” Billy said, grinning at him and smacking the lute against the palm of his hand. “I’m never one to throw away anything potentially worth money. I’m sure it’ll fetch a few coppers in Razelten.”
Delven groaned. He couldn’t even really blame Hawthorne for this turn of events. He just had to think of a way to get out of this predicament. Right now, though, his friends were still drugged up and in no position to fight. They were stripped of their positions, chained up, and shoved out onto the dock. Zendellor blinked blearily up at the sky, but the others didn’t even react.
“There’s slave master Azra,” Billy said quietly, pointing over to a song elf with cherry red hair. “I’ll be leaving you in his capable hands. Once I get paid.”
“Ah, if it ain’t Billy Cooper,” the slave master addressed him in lightly accented Flylish. “What have you got for me today?” His eyes scanned the group. “Six?”
Billy nodded. “Usual rates?”
“One human male, three elves, two… half-elves?” Azra said, closely examining each one of them, lifting their hair. He came to Delven and grabbed his chin, and peered at him. “Human male seems pretty docile.”
“Well what do you expect me to do?” Delven grumbled.
“Take your lot like a man,” Azra said with a shrug. He pulled out a money purse and started counting out gold coins. “It’ll be the mines for you. I’ve got a huge back order from the trolls.”
“Did you sell more slaves than you actually had again?” Billy said with a smirk.
“Hey, they know I’m always good on delivery,” Azra said.
“Because slavers like me keep bringing in new stock that nobody’s going to miss,” Billy said.
“And what’s with the giant chicken?” Azra wondered, pointing over to where Narcella had been fettered.
Billy shrugged. “One of the elves wanted it brought along. Guess he rides it to scout or something.”
“You selling that, too?” Azra asked. “I’m sure I can find a mage that’s interested in experimenting on a floka. Or at least a cook.”
Narcella screeched and flapped her wings vigorously. Her handlers backed away involuntarily as a brief wave of fear emanated from her. The fetters snapped loose, and Narcella took to the air. A crack of thunder split the air as one of the sailors took a potshot at her, managing to wing her and knock a few feathers loose. She wasn’t injured enough to keep from flying away, though.
A female voice echoed in Delven’s mind, <Look after them. I’ll find you.>
Billy made a sound of disgust. “Probably just as well. The damned thing was more trouble than it was worth anyway.”
“You didn’t put a mana suppression collar on the floka,” Azra said.
“What?” Billy said indignantly. “Nobody ever told me those things can do magic!”
Azra waved it off. “I didn’t know what to do with a floka anyway.”
Zendellor’s eyes focused on the slave master, blinking, and spoke in elvish, “What— Where are we? Why are we chained up? What’s going on?”
“Razelten slave market,” Azra replied flippantly. “And take a guess why.”
Zendellor looked around in a panic and shied back, but the chains held him firmly in place. “You will not have me!”
“You don’t really have much choice in the matter,” Azra said. “What do you plan to do about it?”
Zendellor’s body warped and twisted, and the collar snapped with a flash of light. Where a young man had been before, now there stood a chestnut stallion, rearing back with a fierce neigh.
“What the hell?” Billy said. “Stop him!”
Azra held up a hand and rolled his eyes. “Never mind that. Just let the rahi go. I don’t have any collars that can keep a shapeshifter from changing here.”
“I didn’t know he was a shapeshifter,” Billy grumbled. “And I thought the mana suppression collars would have done the trick.”
Azra snorted softly. “Shapeshifters don’t need to channel mana to change form. They’re not like normal mages. Changing’s in their blood and soul.” He shook his head. “Anyway, unless someone else decides to break ranks and escape, I’m going to pay you for these five, and their collars.” He narrowed his eyes at Delven. “You’re not secretly a rahi too, are you?”
“I wish,” Delven said with a smirk.
“If you can’t stop someone from changing shape, doesn’t anyone ever have trouble with the sorts of shapeshifters that are more likely to fight than flee?” Billy wondered. “You know. Werewolves. Dragons.”
“Anyone that tries to clap a collar on a dragon deserves what they get,” Azra commented. “At any rate, dragons are rare and mostly avoid people. And werewolves, as you so quaintly call them, best pray you never run across one. Though they’re still not as dangerous as pallistelli, or ‘weresharks’ as you’d call them, but pallistelli can’t shift on land.”
“Are you telling me I could have tried to enslave a werewolf all these years and never known it?” Billy asked.
“The chances of a werewolf setting foot on your ship are vanishingly unlikely,” Azra said, rolling his eyes. He tossed a jingling pouch at Billy. “Don’t spend it all in one tavern.”
Billy took it with a grin and headed off, leaving Delven and his friends in Azra’s hands. It didn’t take long for them to be corralled into a large metal box attached to a train, along with a number of other captives. Their new companions were a mixed bag. Some humans, some gnomes, a few dwarves, and elves of all colors, purple, blue, and red. Apparently slavery was an institution that went beyond race and species.
Delven found it a little darkly ironic. Keolah had always hoped to get the chance to ride a train sometime, but this probably hadn’t been what she’d had in mind. It wasn’t until the train started moving that his elven companions got their wits about them again, except for Hawthorne, who remained less than lucid.
“What happened?” Keolah wondered, frowning and looking around the train car they’d been locked in. There weren’t any lights on the inside, and only a little sunlight filtered in through small holes on the walls.
Delven let out a heavy breath. He didn’t want to have to be the one to tell her. He could stay calm, but the girls were innocent. They hadn’t seen half the shit in the world he had. If only he had his lute, maybe he could tell it as a story and detach himself from it all. But now he didn’t even have that much anymore.
“We’ve been sold into slavery,” Delven said quietly. “They’re sending us up north to work in the mines for the trolls.”
“I felt like I couldn’t think straight half the day,” Keolah said. “Was it something I ate?”
Delven nodded. “Magebane poison, apparently.”
Sedder groaned and rubbed his head. “The honey in those pastries was probably from magebane bees.”
“Magebane bees?” Keolah repeated.
“Sometimes they make it into mead, too,” Sedder said. “I didn’t even think of it, though. I never imagined they’d try to do something like that. They were eating the pastries too, after all. Probably to get us to let our guard down. You don’t normally suspect something is poisoned when the other guy is eating the same thing.”
“I wouldn’t have suspected they were poisoned in the first place,” Keolah said, shaking her head. “What do they expect of us now?”
“They’ll probably want us to mine,” Delven said, looking aside to Hawthorne and nudging her with a boot. “Can’t even think of trying to escape until you’re all coherent, though.”
“Yeah, my head’s still a little fuzzy,” Keolah said. “But it’s clearing up.”
“Where’s Narcella?” Silver asked.
“I don’t know,” Delven said. “She was wounded, but escaped. She told me she’d find us later.”
Silver nodded. “I can still sense her link to me in my mind. I can sense that she’s alive. But I can’t get anything across it. I’ll try again once the poison is all flushed out of my system.”
“It won’t help,” Delven said, pointing to his neck. “They’ve put mana inhibiting collars on you all. You can’t do any magic.”
Keolah raised an eyebrow. “I can still see auras. I guess that ability is passive and doesn’t require mana to use.”
“Keep quiet on that and don’t let on to the slavers you can do that,” Sedder said. “We may be able to find some way to use that to our advantage and escape.”
“You on board with the team now?” Silver asked.
Sedder snorted softly. “Even if I did intend to betray you at some point in the future, it wouldn’t be to trolls.”
“Point,” Silver said. “We’re going to need a plan.”
“No, what we need is information,” Sedder said. “You can’t make a plan without information. Be patient. Be flexible. Wait for an opportunity.”
“They won’t kill us,” Delven said. “They want us alive to work for them.”
Keolah sighed and leaned against Hawthorne’s delirious form. “Then we wait.”