Page 1 - Hunting a Cockatrice
Xolrun chewed her tobacco quietly as she strolled along the aisles of yet another botique on Haran Hill. She’d not bothered looking at the name when Ana had dragged her in. Her morning had come and gone with little fanfare in just the way that Xolrun was hoping for but, as noon approached, she had begun to chafe.
A many-limbed contraption called out to her from the shelf and she picked it up in her hand for an inspection. The machine’s limbs unfurled and splayed out around her hand. With a twist, she flicked the mechanical spider from one side to the other, listening to the satisfying clang the limbs made as they smacked into one another.
Sensing someone watching her, Xolrun turned to meet the eyes of another customer and caught them mid-frown. She held their stare until the old grey man hurried around a corner and out of sight. Xolrun placed the mechanism back where she found it and continued on her slow dawdle around the shop.
Ana was still by the counter, aggressively haggling with the shop keeper. The two of them had been going at it for a while already, bickering about different runes and the prices for mages versus the guilds. Xolrun checked her tote bag at her hip as she moved into the next aisle, eager to pass the tense disagreement as quickly as possible.
So much of Weidenland’s technology differed to the Breisachian inventions she had seen years ago. When she’d frequented their coasts many years ago, they had preferred the runed necklaces and plate armour. It was all about the holy might and magic of the Good Church.
A lot of the other gear she’d seen was for sailing and navigating with a few of them sticking out in her mind even after so many years. Like a metal rod that would anchor to any surface and could hold a whole galleon in place, or a rope that could go straight up and hold eighty kilograms of weight as they climbed up it. Artificing had been a skill that had always fascinated her but being a faetyr limited her ability to do anything with artificing, given it was a human-skill. She’d even considered becoming a merchant instead of an adventurer when she’d had her career change. The idea had been to purchase devices and artefacts from the Furlonese lands and port it all the way east to Weidenland and then go all the way back with a cart full of Weidenland goodies to sell to their wizard-kings. It would have been incredibly profitable but dreadfully boring and she’d elected to become a broke adventurer instead.
If she did change her mind on living the trading life, convincing Ana or Gusteau to join her would pay off nicely with how talented they were with making runed gear. Finding out that both of them had connections with artificers in the capital and Ilreana but chose to be adventurers had been a shock to her when she’d found out. Gusteau swore that the money in artificing wasn’t as good as Xolrun had been told but she’d visited the giant estates of her rich artificer friends in Ilreana and there were so few folk that she knew that were richer than them.
The cranky old man moved past her again and avoided her eyes as he swept along the tight shop aisles. He was a curious sort, even in a magic shop, with his long grey robe that perfectly matched the tone of his long, scraggly, grey beard and hair. He was dressed in full mage attire but from several centuries ago. He looked like the proper mages of Yore but one who was two hundred years late to the party. His dirty robe reached all the way to his toes despite the heat of the dry season and he had not one but two belts looped around his waist.
A large bastard sword weighed heavily on one of the belts and hung precariously close to the floor. The scabbard for the sword was dyed a deep blue with a nice leather fixed tightly onto the sword’s hilt. His left hand stayed close to the sword’s pommel, presumably because of the need for him to continuously readjust the belt back up as he walked. In his right hand, he wielded a long, gnarled piece of driftwood in lieu of a proper metal mage’s staff.
Xolrun tried not to stare as she moved past, suddenly conscious of how out of place the man was. With the cloak and his shawl and matching grey shirt, the smell of body odour that must have lived between the long swathes of robe must have been horrific.
Xolrun passed by the metal spider again on her next pass and she eyed the front door, willing Ana silently to give up with the mean old shopkeeper so they could leave. Ana stood at the back of the shop, waving her hands above her head as she discussed different types of runes that any good runeshop should have. As soon as Xolrun had met Ana, she’d liked her immediately.
She was passionate and, when she had her feet planted, none of the hells had a fury like her. Just like girls at Ana’s age should be.
The first time Xolrun had met her, she had been hesitant about her joining contracts. Her small stature and skinny physique made Xolrun nervous about how well she would hold up with the rigour of fighting. That was until she saw the girl fight.
Over the years, Xolrun had many crewmates as they sailed the Gap between the north and south seas but few were ones she preferred over the tiny mad scientist with her lightning gauntlets and zany ideas. “It is beyond me how you can be selling unrefined limestone to the capital just for it to get refined and then buy it back at a premium!” Ana chastised the old man.
“And what would you have me do? Request the mines give me bound rocks from their pits? I trade and I sell; I’m not one of your fancy guilds and I can’t make your shipment come any faster.” The man spluttered back, going red as he raised his voice to match hers.
Ana squeezed the ridge on her nose and let out a loud sigh, “It isn’t about my shipment. The equipment you need to refine limestone is so minor and you just let the coin slip through your fingers. You call yourself a trader and you let the Kudraul traders extort you like this!”
“I am a trader, not a damned artificer. And if I buy the refining equipment, it’s the service charges for a mage to come all the way down here to repair and maintain it. It is not just slapping it in some machine and alchemying gold coins.” His nostrils flared and he shook his finger at Ana before stopping to catch his breath, “And if you want to do business with me, you better mind your tongue, girl.”
“I’m no girl, you insufferable old man. And you get that equipment and any mage half their wage would be able to service the equipment. The Nine Hells and the Underworld, you get the equipment and I will maintain and service it for you so you can make buckets and buckets of coins. All of it to just get you to shut up and get me my runes.”
Ana’s words gave the trader some pause. He lowered his finger and put on a fake smile, “You’d tell me how to refine it and help me maintain the runing equipment. Just like that?”
Ana shook her head and leant over the desk. She picked up a little book he kept on the table and a pencil. Her hand swept up into the air and half a page ripped out of the little book. She looked at it and then wrote down a list of strange words Xolrun didn’t recognise.
Ana took one last look at the page and handed it to the man, “Get these things, and only these things and not any of the bullshit the guilds try to sell you. Grab it from an alchemist or a trader that doesn’t need it, and I will teach you but you keep it under wraps what you’re thinking. The guilds will try and convince you to let them handle it if you tell them and then they’ll fleece you for all of the profit. Let me know so I can set it up for you and I can replace runes and check the equipment every couple months.”
Xolrun approached the conversation and Ana ‘s flicked to her and she produced an easy smile, “And for me, I get the service fee. And a sizable discount in your store.”
The man read the paper and stroked his moustache, “You have yourself a deal, lady.”
Ana held out her hand, “I’ll be back for those runes next week then. See you then, Msr. Ruir.”
“Excellent. Though, what was your name?” He asked as he shook her hand.
“Mdm. Courtbane, if we are to be in business.” Ana said as she took her hand back and turned to the door, winking to Xolrun as she moved.
Xolrun followed her quickly and they shuffled out of the store to leave Msr. Ruir to his work. When the shop door shut behind them, Xolrun stole a glance at her very smug friend and whispered from the corner of her mouth, “I see we are making friends.”
“Oh, I am a very popular lady, Xol. Didn’t I tell you that before?” Ana laughed as she sidestepped onto the small road once more.
Xolrun stepped close to join her and watched the busy lunch crowd shuffle past them, “You did, I just didn’t realise getting into a shouting match was part of the making friends process.”
“I think even traders can appreciate brusque communication.”
“Especially if it results in them making money.” Xolrun noted, “In any case, where would you like to go next? Knowing we have only a few shops before I drop.”
Ana murmured a response back and looped her arm through Xolrun’s elbow to lean heavily onto her, “I was thinking we stop lunch actually. Did you pack the palfu you told me about yesterday? I bought the tarts.”
A wave of elation ran through Xolrun. She had stayed up late the night before to shop and cook her yak palfu on the chance Ana was serious about wanting to try it. When Ana had said that she wanted to try the palfu, Xolrun had been worried that the words were just pleasantries. As she slaved over the stove, Ana’s words had bounced around in her head, with her examination of the girl’s intonation and word choice giving her no clear indication if she was wasting her time. On the off-chance Ana did want to try it, Xolrun had chosen to pack some palfu in her bag, “I did. Where shall we break for lunch?”
“Mmm, you’ll see.” Ana hummed happily back at her, leading her forwards by the arm.
Xolrun relented to the mystery of it, happy for Ana to make the decision. A lot of the far side of Haran Hill was still a mystery to Xolrun. They’d left the main roads of Haran Hill a long time ago, weaving through the side streets to get to Ana’s favourite shops. Most of them were on the jagged ledges that clung to the edge of the cliff side that was the back of Ol’Haran.
It was interesting to see how different the two sides of the hill were. The front side was a gentle slope upwards that gave ample space for the town of Ol’Haran to hug its side in steady terraces with the back being a sharp contrast. The backside of the hill was a jagged cliffside with a series of bluffs and columns forcing their way between the buildings that braved the far side of the hill. The buildings around them squished together and forced the paths to squeeze through the limited space that was left between them. While it wasn’t as busy as the front of the hill, the folk who travelled through the back end of the market district had to huddle together as they shuffled through the cramped walkways. Every so often, a brief opening between the building offered Xolrun a stark contrast as they gave sweeping vistas of the fields and forest below.
Xolrun watched the side of the road to spot more of the stunning view behind the shops and contented herself in the fact that lunch was not far away.
They’d only moved a few more minutes down the road before Xolrun noticed a small garden that screamed the perfect spot for Ana and her to have lunch. It sat at the very edge of the hill, at a hairpin turn on the small path. The whole garden couldn’t have been more than five metres wide but it dominated the small corner with the trees hanging over the small stone wall. A part had been cut into the trees to show an incredible view of the western lands for any folk who chose to look. Even from the road, Xolrun could make out the western mountains of the Valleys in the far distance. Her eyes followed them out until they disappeared on the horizon, knowing that the west sea was where they headed. It wasn’t her sea but she felt its call as it promised her far away shores and endless adventure that so few had ever experienced.
When they arrived at the turn in the road, Ana let Xolrun’s arm go so she could open the gate for her. No other folk had chosen to stop in the quaint little terrace, which gave them them the full range of the bench and the little lookout that made up the whole green space. The larger trees lined the edge of the wall that separated it from the road and a dozen potted plants were dotted along the edge of the plaza. A bench sat in the middle and offered enough space for Ana and Xolrun to sit to enjoy their lunch while they took in the sprawling view.
Xolrun bowed as she moved in first and took in the swathes of land before her. The Outer Holds clung to the Harbourkey River on the south and east of the hill and left the western region of the city as just fields and the odd pockets of farmholds. The Dark Forest sat beyond the farmlands, a foreboding presence that hemmed in the slow crawl of civilisation that Xolrun sat in the middle of.
Ana hurried over to the bench and dropped her bag onto the seat. She opened the main compartment and wrestled the tarts out from between the mess of gear and clothes that was in her bag. The noise from the road dropped away as Xolrun moved to the ledge and felt the soft caress of the wind as it swept up along the cliff’s edge.
Below, on the lower sections of the hill, the townsfolk milled to and fro. Even a town the size of Ol’Haran had a lot of folk rushing somewhere or another on a working day. Khlen told her that it had increased since she had lived there before and they all agreed that the travellers passing through to reach Dark Hold for the tournament had made the hill feel like a far bigger city than what it was.
Xolrun personally enjoyed the bustle, especially from her higher vantage point. In the Northern Isles, the port cities were always bustling and there were few towns like Ol’Haran. On the islands, there were either giant bustling cities that never stopped or little villages that survived on whatever they managed to catch. The other settlements hidden amongst the archipelago were not to be visited unless you knew who you were dealing with.
The slow gentle lifestyle of Ol’Haran was different to islander life but Xolrun understood the appeal. It was just discombobulating when Gusteau and Hoden complained about how busy it could get.
It had already been six months since she’d arrived in Ol’Haran. Six months and not a whisper of anyone looking for her. She’d paid for discrete information when she could and every source had told her that no one was looking for poor lost Captain Poa or her ship. It was a surprise but undoubtedly good news.
Ana sidled up to the wall and leant on the section next to Xolrun. Closing her eyes, Xolrun held onto the moment and enjoyed the blissful ease of her new life. The life she’d promised herself that she would get.
A shift in tension in her body and a weight falling from her shoulders threatened to tip Xolrun off centre. She wanted to cry, ball her eyes out on the edge of the cliff for the relief that she never thought she would be afforded. She instead took a deep breath and pushed back off the ledge, “C’mon then. I am excited for you to try my yak palfu.”
Ana stayed by the ledge for a moment and Xolrun shifted to the bench, confident Ana would come when she was ready. Her bag slipped off of her shoulder and Xolrun placed it delicately on the floor on her side of the bench. Her satchel was quite full, packed with her day’s shopping, a medley of gear she’d had for their recent contracts, and the two palm-sized parcels she was looking for. She pulled them out from the bag and nestled them gently on her lap.
The banana leaves she’d used to secure the palfu had worked far better than she’d hoped. Hoden had sworn the banana leaves worked well for packing and even showed her how it worked when she’d doubted him. When she’d attempted to recreate his technique,s he was pleased to find that it had been just as simple as he had said. She could thank him in the morning when they trained. Xolrun tore a small part in the outer layer of the banana leaves. She could even bring him some palfu, depending on how Ana found hers.
As Ana joined her, Xolrun handed her the parcel and revelled in the appreciated “ooh” that she made.
“Now, it is meant to be hot when you eat it, so you are going to have to make some concessions on the taste. But when Gusteau finds his new place, we will make palfu there for all of you to try it as it should be.” Xolrun explained as she continued to unwrap her own parcel. The rice and yak had clumped nicely together with the yoghurt soaking into the rice to form a brick of pure deliciousness.
She checked to see Ana waiting for her and broke off a piece to pop into her mouth. The yak meat was mercifully tender and fell apart just like she’d hoped. The rice was a touch too moist unfortunately but it had kept enough of the umami flavour that she wanted.
Ana broke off a chunk of her palfu and held it in her hand, “I wouldn’t hold your breath for him to find a place any time soon. He has been looking for months now.”
Xolrun nodded while she ate. It was a valid point. He had told them all about the wonderful apartment that he was planning on buying a few weeks ago but then they’d heard nothing. With so much of his time on contracts, he never sorted any of his personal life. Which wasn’t untrue for the lot of them, really. Xolrun covered her mouth and replied, “He doesn’t enjoy looking for houses.”
“He loathes it. That and anything that isn’t directly connected to becoming an adventurer, these days.” Ana popped the food in her mouth and exclaimed happily, “This is delicious!”
Xolrun beamed at the feedback, letting out a small bray accidentally as she worked through her mouthful. Ana let out a snort and they both focussed on finishing their mouthfuls.
“And he enjoys the adventuring lifestyle a bit too much.” Xolrun offered as a follow-up. The idea of Gusteau having a day off was a bizarre idea to Xolrun. In the war, he had never been able to settle when he was on her boat. He’d been adamant that there was an errand to run, a schematic to perfect, or always, always bijous to create.
“He’s going to burn out if he keeps going like this.” Ana remarked as she broke off her next piece of palfu.
“Mmm, I don’t know if he is the type.” Xolrun disagreed, “He’s like a workhorse; he loves the labour.”
Ana shifted in her seat and looked up at the clouds, “He didn’t always.”
As Ana drifted away, Xolrun contented herself on finishing her meal. The occasional bird song and the quiet bustle of the street a world away was the perfect symphony for her to enjoy her little parcel of home now far gone.
More palfu for her future contracts. She’d missed the taste a lot. She’d missed sharing it with others and cherished the small win she’d had. The last bites of her lunch came quickly and she pulled at the banana leaves to get the last of the rice before wrapping it back up.
When she offered to take Ana’s wrapping, Ana passed it to her with a small thank you. She used a string from her bag to wrap the leaves tightly together and tied off the cleanest parts on the outside for good measure. It was a rushed job but she was confident it would last.
Xolrun closed the main compartment of her bag and leant back on the bench. The sun gently warmed her fur as it sat high in the sky. The heat mixed nicely with the carb-heavy meal to leave her in a wonderful stupor.
“How do you know something is right, Xol?” Ana whispered, breaking the silence.
“It is impossible to know, in my experience. Sometimes, doing what is right feels awful. Sometimes, it feels like the only possible thing you can do. Focus on doing your best.”
Ana gave her a weak smile, “I can try that.”
Xolrun sat back up and held out her hand for Ana, “You’ll do great things, Anabelle.”
Ana took her hand to hold and rested it on the bench between them, “I hope so. Hey, what’s our next contract then? Did Gusteau tell you?”
“He did, indeed. He has the rest of the month planned for us.” Xolrun sighed, “One more foolhardy contract and then patrols around Dark Hold for a few weeks. So, heavy packs for the patrols by the way.”
“Mmm, I still haven’t done a lot of heavy pack trips. But the Dark Hold contract seems like a good deal. The House is paying us one hundred silver each for a week of visiting villages.”
Xolrun murmured apprehensively at the idea, “Only if we get a written endorsement from a village head to say we made their area safer.”
“Oh, they practically hand those out apparently. I was talking to Fiona of the Red Damnables and she said they’d got three endorsements in a week the last time they did a tournament patrol.” Ana replied, “But what is tomorrow, more importantly?”
“Cockatrice-hunting of all things. First, we have training and then we’ll go from there. It’s a day trip but don’t forget your weapons.”
Ana let go of her hand and bent down to scoop her bag back up as she shuffled forward on her seat, “For a cockatrice, it would be hard to forget. Is Khlen coming?”
“Last I heard. Gusteau told me he’d talked to her last night.”
“Oooh. Workplace pillow talk.” Ana laughed and stood up in one swift movement.
“Oh you. Let them be happy. And what about Lillian? I heard she did well last week.” Xolrun got up as well and staggered over to the edge of the lookout for one more look. When she looked back at Ana, she was making a face, “What?”
“Oh, just nice to hear you say something nice about Lillian. A bit of a three sixty.”
“A one hundred and eighty.” Xolrun corrected, “Three hundred and sixty would turn me back around to not thinking she should come on contracts. Which wasn’t personal.”
Ana raised her eyebrows, “It felt kind of personal. In fact, it felt a bit age-ist.”
Xolrun leant her back on the fence, “You said Lillian is a great bard in Ilreana, a jewel of the underlands. Abandoning that makes no sense for something like adventuring. Nor does a job like artificing.”
“I don’t want to be an artificer in some dusty workshop living in the underlands. I want to travel and see the world.”
“And Lillian?” Xolrun responded, ignoring the tension growing between them. It wasn’t the first time they’d talked about Ana’s decision to join them and Xolrun didn’t feel like yielding this time.
“She was the one that suggested we take Gusteau up on the offer.” Ana joined her at the edge.
Xolrun sidestepped slightly to give space but kept facing her, “Interesting since she’s not interested in joining us. Gusteau said she saved him but it doesn’t mean…”
“It doesn’t mean what? She is good at fighting. She was trained for years as a fencer.”
Xolrun tried to be patient, “It doesn’t mean it’s safe for her. She sucks at fighting. If she trained in fencing, it was many years ago and I haven’t seen her at the Grounds since week one.”
“She is busy with gigs and she doesn’t like training with, well, all of you.” Ana answered tersely, avoiding eye contact as they argued.
“We’re the ones she needs to train with. Just tell me you’ll both be careful.”
“Yes, Mumma X. But Lillian can’t make it tomorrow in any case.” Ana gave her a doubtful look.
“The next one perhaps.” Xolrun offered more gently.
“SO, if we are fighting a cockatrice, how much are we actually getting paid?” Ana asked after a moment of quiet, “Surely, it is a silver contract for a best like that.”
“You’d think.” Xolrun replied as she licked her nose. She cringed slightly, aware doing so made humans uncomfortable, “It is a variable contract but they’ve advertised it as a variable contract to keep it as a copper, the cheapskates.”
Ana showed only the slightest of reactions, “A variable contract, like the ones with extra steps that are optional? I don’t get them.”
“There are stipulations on the contract that mean you can get paid more if you are able to do more. And they’re only optional if you like leaving money on the table.” Xolrun answered wryly.
Ana’s brow furrowed at the idea, “So it is a complicated contract where the client asks us to do lots of tasks.”
“Basically, they are a headache. The contracts were designed so that adventurers could negotiate with the client if they asked for something complex to be done. The problem is the Houses use it like a contract wishlist these days, apparently at least.”
“Mmm, right. They just add more to contracts; I can imagine that.” Ana rubbed her nose, “And so what is tomorrow’s list then?”
“The lady wants us to find a cockatrice in the Dark Forest and then track it back to its nest. Then she wants to kill the giant bird and take its eggs. Twice the coin if she kills it herself and we get the eggs.”
“So she can fight?” Ana asked, curiosity piqued.
“No clue. Gusteau took the additional payment conditions but tomorrow morning, he’ll hopefully renege once it sets in. Ideally, she won’t even join us while we hunt the bird. Getting the eggs and killing the cockatrice will get us thirty three silver each for a day’s work and is far more doable than bodyguard work.”
“Not bad at all. Granted, cockatrices are meant to be pretty dangerous.”
Xolrun let out a small laugh, “Going near a cockatrice in nesting season and messing with its eggs is beyond dangerous. I’d bind some particularly nasty bijous if I were you.”
Ana pushed back off the wall and wandered back to the exit of the garden, “I guess it is what we signed on for?”
“Indeed.” Xolrun agreed as she joined her by the gate to continue on their way
