Chapter 321

321 221 – The Road South

Plotline: Main

Type: Social

“I have just noticed,” Jun Mah said, “It’s not that your eyes have large and dark pupils. They seem entirely black.”

I shrugged. “Have been since the day I was born.”

“Humans don’t have eyes like that, not unless something’s wrong with them.”

Wait, what? How had I fooled so many people, with such a flaw in my transformations? I thought back on how people had treated me.

Had I fooled them?

Were the Daurians just pretending not to notice out of some manner of politeness?

“That is good to know.” I said, “But I think I shall keep my eyes, at least for now.”

.....

I picked up a tree branch, and began to nibble on it.”

“And that right there is another thing people do not do. People do not eat wood.”

“True, but some biting insects do. I’ve found an ability to gather food easily to be a survival trait.” I said.

“It is unnerving to watch.” she said.

“Are you certain it is not our low numbers and lack of baggage train that bother you?”

“I would rather we had horses. Or even riding weasels.”

“There are weasels large enough to ride?” I asked.

“Not on this island, no.” said Dai Oyu, another of the bodyguards. “When you look at the resources of the island, it’s actually a miracle that we have horses. Poor things are probably inbred, much as our Farmer caste would have us believe otherwise.”

“It is best that we travel well away from the militia.” Lord General Ding said. “And if we can get back to the Ricelands a day or two ahead of them, that much the better.”

“And best is if the Liberation Army catches them while they are still looting?” I asked.

“I think it unlikely.” he said. “Once the militia realizes they are the only force there, I suspect they will attempt to catch up to us. They should be long gone by the time anything other than supply convoys reach the remains of the camp.”

I shook my head. Even hauled by oxen, most people can out-march a cart. Our wagons, or rather the militia wagons now, were hauled by plow horses. Strong and steady, but not the fastest of all animals. In fact, we had already passed a cart bearing wounded and unconscious soldiers.

It is a truth that small groups move quicker than large ones. The lord-general, his bodyguards, and a dozen or so morose Soldiers (or perhaps some other emotion, but their gazes were lowered and they walked sullenly with dragging feet) made for a small group. On our backs, we carried basic survival kits; even the nobles had planned to sleep under the stars.

Which looked like a better plan before the clouds rolled in from the south and east, and began dumping water on us as they neared the hills. And I mean dumping; we were soaked through with no chance to raise parasols, and those that were raised split under the weight of water and the tug of wind.

The soft earth turned into sucking mud.

“My lord, we must find shelter from this storm.” Dai Oyu shouted.

“Not until someone is lifted bodily into the air!” insisted Lord Ding.

And so we (pardon me) soldiered on, slipping and sometimes falling prone. We would rise covered in muck, only to be washed clean by the torrents of water. We proceeded until near dusk, at which point we turned left toward a fishing village.

It seems that Stormfish Bay was well known to Ding Mu and his guards. By the time we reached the village, I knew more about rice wine and fisherman’s daughters than I had been curious about.

“Ask us nicely, and we might arrange some time for you with someone’s daughter.” one of the guards offered.

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“Honored elder, I am much younger than I appear to be. But by all means, feel free to make arrangements for your own self.”

“Ah-ah, as if that were ever in doubt. But first, I think a bath is in order.”

The bathing cauldrons were in the center of town, near where the aquaduct dropped off fresh water. Being in the open, the wood to heat them in had become wet. No matter what the locals tried, the water never reached the boiling hot temperatures that Daurians seemed to prefer. But their soap was rich in tiny shells that took off the outer layer of our skin and everything upon it, leaving us clean.

The town had no inn, but there was a boathouse for Lord Ding and his three eldest guards. The rest of us set our mattresses on the docks, and did our best to sleep through the cold moisture and irregular rains of the night.

Ah, sleep.

[Lucid Dreaming successful.]

What? Was it the new moon already?

Manajuwejet, in the form of a blue and purple scorpion, waved a claw at me. I waved one of my natural form’s taloned hands back.

“Dunno what you’ve done, kid, but Sobek’s been less caustic for a while now.”

“My System identified an unclaimed Water Node. I can’t do anything about worshipers just yet, but he’s on his way to having a sacred lake.”

I need not have worried about a change to his attitude; Sobek, or the angel or spirit wearing his face, was as grumpy as I recalled.

“The stars,” he told us, “are being very chatty about events on that island.”

“Good chatty or bad chatty?” I asked.

Sobek-maybe snorted. “You would be well advised to wrap up your business on that island and depart. This winter will not be a good one for the Shining Isles.”

“I should be done with the elemental messenger duties soon; for reasons I don’t understand, it seems to be spreading rapidly and accurately.”

“For reasons...” he blinked. “I forget, sometimes, that you are only newly to your recent level of statistics. Keep thinking on it, and on the Daurians, and the answer will come to you.”

I turned my head and sneezed. Because Dreamtime, it took more than just phlegm out of me; I collapsed to one knee, and required three breaths before I could rise.

Sobek, now a transparent overlay upon his constellation, blinked at me. “See to your emotional damages. You are too close to being useful to become unwell now.”

“It is not...” I coughed, as my throat locked up. “It is not entirely a spiritual thing; I fear I am also developing a physical health condition.”

“One of my better priests had no legs.” Sobek the Constellation told me. “Speak to me not of passing illness; it is of no concern to the divine. What SHOULD concern you is your aura, your emotions, that gunk on your Sin Wheel. Cleanse yourself, by whatever means you must. Keep faith on hands for Life and for Protection, the stars whisper about an urgent need for both.”

“Do they whisper anything more specific, such as when and how much?”

“What the stars whisper, they whisper for the benefit of death, and the destiny that accompanies the life that follows.”

“Isn’t death the end of life, though?” I asked.

Sobek took a step closer, but the stars seemed dimmer, smaller, further away. “This is a stupid question, for stupid mortals. Death is the beginning of the cycle, and life is the phase before the next cycle begins. Remember this, if you are to serve me.”

“Okay.” I said, not entirely convinced.

Two novas appeared in his face, where his eyes should be. “That was not the most respectful way of wording that. Remember that you serve, honor, and worship me.”

“I recall promising service, specifically in the form of quests.”

“Yes. You will begin completing those, if you expect to not suffer for your ... rebellious attitude. Those who complete quests may show such. Others, including you, will eventually be punished.”

“You’re welcome for the new lake.”

“Speak so to someone who hasn’t seen your efforts fail before. When placing your immortal soul into one of my hells is of more use to me than leaving you in the mortal world, expect it to happen. Or perhaps you think my sister will save you from such consequences?”

“I expect very little from you, or her, or Anansi.”

“That is wise. Start giving something other than attitude and excuses, little sea serpent. The time for such deliveries is long past, and my patience with you wears thin.”

His arm was suddenly there, his webbed hand closing off my throat. I tried to grasp, and thrashed slightly, trying instinctively to escape.

“Let me make this clear.” he said. “Soon, it will have been a year. A year of nothing but broken promises and false hopes. You have yet to deliver one shrine, one new follower. This is NOT the time to feel superior or to slack off. I am Sobek, and I. Am. Vengeance.”

He dropped me, and suddenly I could breathe again.

“I shall not... forget.” I gasped.

“Do not. Go forth, and gather the faithful in my name.”

I do not know if those were soldiers or Soldiers. If anything, the days immediately prior had proven that I had trouble recognizing any of the castes on sight. When I asked about that, Ding and his bodyguards became quiet, until Lord Ding assured us that a generation or two would take care of these problems.

A not unknown circumstance in the Shining Isles, especially during Fall and Winter.