Akatika's Legacy Page 18

  “Because this inn is used for business deals and not much else. That’s why.” Tony said.

  “We’re here to meet with someone about personal business.” Ivy interjected.

  “What’s that?” Ton asked.

  “Lafe’s alive, I saw him. Then I showed Ivy his burial chamber.” Gabby said.

  “It’s true. Lafe is back from the dead somehow.” Ivy confirmed.

  “So, are you meeting him here or something? I still don’t understand why you’re here.” Tony asked.

  “Lafe visited me in the middle of the night then ran off. So, we hired a mage to track him down. That’s what we’re doing here.” Gabby explained.

  “The mage was supposed to meet us here, but he never showed up.” Ivy added.

  Tony sat down next to Ivy and singled for the serving girl. Once he had ordered an ale he turned back to the girls. “So, what’s the plan? You going to go after Lafe and then what? Are we going to go after the treasure in the monastery? You guys going to call it quits and retire with Lafe’s new-found fortune in that house he had built?”

  “Tony, right now the only thing I am concerned about is getting Lafe.” Gabby spat folding her arms across her chest. “He said he was being pulled toward someplace. It sounded like someone or something was forcing him to leave. After that, I don’t know what we will do. But Lafe did buy all of the supplies that we would need to get the treasure.”

  “Please don’t start fighting you guys.” Ivy implored.

  “Alright, alright. How is this mage supposed to help you?” Tony said holding his hand up in the air.

  “He said that he has a spell to track him. We were supposed to meet with him, but he never showed.” Gabby explained.

  “Did you guys already pay him?” Tony asked.

  “Yes.” Ivy answered. “You don’t think he took the money and ran, do you?”

  “Likely not, a mage can easily make more than anything you could offer him in a few hours, so he may have forgotten or was got caught up in something.” Tony said.

  “Well, if he’s not back by tomorrow, I’m going and finding Lafe myself.” Gabby stated.

  “How?” Both Ivy and Tony asked at the same time.

  “I am an adventurer and I have all the gear I need at home.” Gabby said.

  Gabby was confident about her abilities to find Lafe if not in her ability to do so quickly. Lafe had left her everything she would need to go on her first adventure. She would have never guessed that her first adventure would be to go find him. With any luck, she wouldn’t have to. If Siliras was being honest he could lead them right to Lafe.

  The small group grew weary of waiting for the mage to return and ordered a small meal. They ate while Gabby told them all about the house Lafe had left for her. Once finished they decided to leave a note for Siliras with the innkeeper explaining where to send a note or to find them when he returned.

  They made their way down the crowded streets and toward the outside of town. As they departed the town Gabby explained that Lafe had been saving up money and gone back to cut down the black yew tree. He planned to use the money from it to buy the land and pay for the house. The talk made for seemingly faster travel to the house outside of town. Once there the group stood in amazement for a moment seeing how far up in the world Lafe had been able to climb with one tree.

  “Lafe was able to pay for this with a tree!” Tony exclaimed.

  “Yup, and we’re part of the third caste as well. The land isn't leased he bought it outright.” Gabby said.

  “You told me that he had left you a lot of coin and some land, but I didn’t know this much. I thought you were embellishing its size.” Ivy said.

  “Not at all, come and look at the storehouse. I'll show you what I am calling the adventuring shop.” Gabby said leading them to the back of the house.

  Gabby produced a key to the door for the small outbuilding. Dust danced in and out of the beams of light as the doors were swung open wide. The scent of wood dust, leather and oil filled the air, the smell of adventure she thought leading her group of friends in.

  “This would have been Lafe’s legacy, but he is alive again so, I guess it’s our beginning.” Gabby said, a moment later she added, “For all of us. This could be the start of our story, like Alaric or Collette from the books. Will you join me?”

  Gabby always had an inspiring energy about her when talking about becoming an adventurer. It was never anything that Ivy wanted but when she and Gabby talked it was impossible to deny her anything. She was like the mermaids that lured sailors out of boats and into the depths. When she spoke like that no matter how trivial the words, they were enough to inspire her to want to be more. She saw in her mind a woman that radiated glory and power, and it was her face she knew, if she followed Gabby.

  “I will go where you want me to go.” Ivy said.

  Never before had Tony felt so inspired by so few words. Every morning he listened to men lead the garrison talking of duty and honor, yet they had never touched him like this simple plea to join his friend on an adventure. He saw in his mind all the things he pretended to be alongside the man he could be. He could see a hero in his mind, standing beside the shadow-clad thieve. Tony looked ashamed; how could he have ever thought the man he was could be worthy of Ivy. He felt something resolve and change inside him as if a new path opened.

  Looking into her eyes and whispered; “I will join you.”

  For the second time, they made a pact to become adventurers. This time, however, felt different for each of them. Before the guarantee of coins in his pocket had motivated Tony to aid his friends. This time he wanted to because it felt like he should be more than what he was, and Gabby could show him how.

  Ivy felt obligated before to follow her friend and watch out for her. She felt almost guilty when first they talked about going on the adventure to get treasure. Now she saw an image of herself clearly in her mind as a beacon for those that needed strength. A power for good in the world to end injustice.

  Gabby wasn’t aware of the power to inspire she had when speaking. Something deep inside her felt like it was reaching out, touching her friends in a real and almost physical way. She could see it in their eyes, something had changed. And as she turned and looked into the window of the shop, she could see the same spark her friends had in their eyes, reflecting in her own.

  Chapter 20

  They had all decided to stay the night at Gabby’s new house. They had gathered some of the bedrolls from the wagon and set them living area to sleep in. So, it was a big surprise when an unexpected knock came on the door late the next morning. Few people knew of this place, aside from Gabby’s parents and the workers who built it. When she opened the door, the bright red and white tunic gave away the visitor’s occupation. Standing before Gabby was a short haired currier holding a note.

  “I am looking for Gabby Sanderson or Ivy Faeryda.” The carrier said.

  “I’m Gabby.” She answered.

  “You guys are hard to track down. I had to run to the apothecary, a clothier shop, two houses and here to find you.” The carrier complained.

  “Is that the message?” Gabby asked.

  “Yes…had to be handed directly to you.” The carrier explained.

  It was a common enough tactic to explain how hard it was to track a person down among the carrier community. They wanted some extra coin for their troubles. Gabby had heard the woes the carriers had to endure every day to get to her father’s shop. Some were quite inventive, and she had to admit it was almost worth the extra coins for the story some of them told. She supposed that some of the life-threatening events could be true, but really how risky of a profession was it to run notes around town.

  Gabby rolled her eyes and fished a few copper bits out of her purse and handed it over to the carrier. In return she got a sealed note addressed to both her and Ivy. She opened the note to find a strange green ink smeared around its outside edges. After reading it she handed it to Ivy, who intern handed it
to Tony.

  “This note has a tracking spell on it. Keep it with you and I will find you tonight. I have found Lafe. – Siliras”

  “So, what do you want to do?” Ivy asked.

  “What do you mean, I want to go and find Lafe.” Gabby said.

  “No, I mean what do you want to do when Siliras gets here? What’s the plan?” Ivy clarified.

  “I want to leave at once. So, we should gather the things we might need and be ready to leave.” Gabby responded.

  “I can get some journey packs from the quartermaster. I’ll try to find some dry food for the journey as well. If it took him a few days to get there and back, then we will need to be prepared for a small journey.” Tony added.

  “You think he will want to go right when he finds us. He might need to rest from his journey.” Ivy said.

  “We can figure that out once he is here. For now, let’s assume that we’ll be heading out shortly after he arrives.” Gabby explained.

  “That would mean we will be traveling at night and that’s not the best idea. Aside from the obvious dangers of wild animals hunting, at night it’s easy to get lost or injured.” Tony said.

  “Siliras is a mage and I am sure that he will be able to help us out with all of that.” Gabby said.

  “Alright, if that’s the plan, what do you have around here for breakfast?” Tony asked.

  “Nothing. I am still living at my parent's house and didn’t think to keep anything here.” Gabby replied.

  Ivy’s stomach began to growl as if to emphasize the point. They would need to go into town and fetch supplies, and a hearty breakfast. Gabby would also need to talk with her parents about where she had been and tell them something about where she would be tonight.

  The obvious choice was to have Ivy tell her parents she was going to stay over at her house and Gabby tell her parents she was with Ivy. It was a classic cover story they used when doing things that they didn’t want their parents to know about. Not that they ever did anything untoward, but Gabby’s mother was proper to a fault sometimes.

  “So, are we meeting back here, or at your house, or...” Ivy asked.

  “This is her house, or do you mean her parents’ house?” Tony asked.

  “I mean her parent's house. This is going to get confusing. I’ve been calling your parents’ house your house since I could talk.” Ivy said.

  “We could come up with a name for the house. All of the great houses in the books have them.” Gabby said clearly excited by the idea. “What about mansion adventure palace.”

  “I’m not saying that.” Tony replied.

  “Sanderson hall?” Ivy offered.

  “Ugh, too formal, and it doesn’t exactly have a hall in it.” Gabby said.

  “Gibron adventurer’s league headquarters.” Ivy said.

  “Again, not saying that.” Tony said.

  “Fine, you come up with something.” Ivy said planting a finger into Tony’s chest.

  “Adventure keep?” Tony said.

  “How is that any better.” Ivy retorted.

  “Ivy, what is the Kerolian word for adventure?” Gabby asked.

  “Facinus, why?” Ivy replied.

  “What about Facinus Manor?” Gabby said.

  “How is that better than adventure keep?” Tony asked.

  “Because it sounds better and I don’t own a keep.” Gabby explained.

  “You don’t own a manor either.” Tony said under his breath.

  “What?” Ivy and Gabby said simultaneously.

  Tony raised his hands in the air. “Nothing, your right, it sounds better.”

  “I’m hungry and heading back to town, now that the naming is settled. So, are we meeting here at Facinus Manor?” Tony asked.

  “We’ll walk with you, let’s meet back here in, let’s say a few hours.” Gabby said.

  “I can go part of the way with you, but I need to get to the garrison. I’ll grab the packs and trail food and be back here in a few.” Tony replied.

  Gabby locked the door as the group left the house and started their way back to town. The time passed easily, as they each shared stories and predictions of what their first adventure would be once their final member was back in his rightful place. Every one of them filled with promises of fame, narrow escapes, and treasure beyond measure.

  The few hours that it was supposed to take ended up being what was left of the morning and most of the afternoon before Gabby and Ivy returned to Facinus Manor to find an irritated-looking Tony. He had greeted them with a sardonic smile and a halfhearted hello, followed by a lengthy lesson on how long an hour was supposed to be. Ivy’s reply had been to tell him she was worth the wait and pat him on the head, while Gabby smiled.

  Once inside the house, Gabby’s anxiety began to build. After keeping busy by packing gear into the packs all she had to do was wait around. Waiting was the part that drove her mad. She knew Siliras was going to be coming this evening, but what time in the evening was unclear. So, she went and changed her clothes. She did this several times trying to get the perfect set for adventuring and seeing Lafe.

  Gabby had brought a few changes of clothes back with her, just in case. The set she settled on was high collared deep blue vest over a white linen shirt. The shirt was made for a man much taller than she was and the cuff kept falling over the top of her hands. This made putting her pants on frustratingly difficult. Looking down she found the ribbons for the back of the vest and made a makeshift sleeve garter out of them. With the cuffs now fixed into place, she was able to focus on her pants again.

  She had snuck a pair of pants from her father's shop that was made for a duelist that never came to pick them up. The olive-green fabric was incredibly thick and durable. The pants had a swordsman belt made into them. It was unnecessary for her but there was no way to remove it without destroying the garment. She finished off the outfit with some falconer’s gloves, which featured thick hardened leather bracers to protect the wearer's forearms.

  It bothered her that Siliras had sent a messenger. That meant he had been back to town either that morning or last evening. Why hadn’t he come with the news then, and why did they have to wait until this evening to get his information. Something felt off about this transaction, and that made Gabby all the more anxious to have it over with.

  A few hours after nightfall came the expected knock at the door. Gabby had started to doze off next to the door waiting and was suddenly jolted back to consciousness. Ivy and Tony looked to have also started to fall asleep and were each wiping the sleep from their eyes.

  Gabby opened the door wide enough to see Siliras dressed in his spotless deep red garb. It seemed every time they had encountered the man he was immaculately dressed. It must be magic, Gabby thought examining it and wished she could have the same effect performed on her clothing.

  “May I come in?” Siliras asked.

  “Yes, please come in. We were waiting for you to come.” Gabby explained.

  Siliras entered and noted that other than a few bedrolls and packs on the floor there was nothing in the way of furnishings in the house. Then was taken aback when he noticed the young man in the dark gray and blue guard’s uniform. For a moment, they locked eyes with each other.

  “I don’t believe we have met.” Siliras said offering his hand to Tony.

  “My names Tony, I’m Gabby and Ivy’s friend. They have told me everything.” Tony said taking Siliras’ hand. He didn’t trust the mage and wanted to make it clear from the start.

  “Is this true?” Siliras said looking at Gabby and Ivy.

  “Yes, we haven’t kept anything from him.” Gabby said.

  “This is a delicate situation, have you told anyone else? If people were to find out about this, they may panic.” Siliras declared.

  “No, it's only us.” Ivy said.

  “Where’s Lafe.” Gabby said cutting off any more conversation. She didn’t feel that who knew what was at all as important as finding Lafe.

  Siliras turned to
her and clasped his hands. “Right to business, aye.”

  Gabby was holding firmly the long braid of red hair trailing over her shoulder. She had made a habit of fussing with it while waiting for the mage. “That’s why you are here isn’t it.”

  “True enough. I found him in an abandoned structure a few hours from here in the middle of the forest. I think that the local legend has it as a cursed monastery.” Siliras said. “If you are up to it, I can take you there tonight. I understand the wants of young love and the need to find the heart’s desire.”

  Gabby was sliding her pack on over her shoulder before he had finished. “I know the way. We can get there on our own.”