51

* Things are not going according to plans for Ulric and his band of lovers.

*

49 - Loss and Gain

Valdys's eyes went wide in alert when she sensed the sudden surge of dark magic. 'Someone's here!'

She raised magic shields in defence at once, but not before Ulric jumped back when an arrow bounced off of his chest scales. 'What the!?' he said and growled at the four skeleton warriors rushing towards them, wearing dented and rusty body armour and wielding equally worn swords.

Iphigenia drew her sword and Ulric handed Elzbieta's to her quickly, and the girls moved forward and clashed with the skeletons before they could come close.

Further arrows bounced off of the magic shields and Conchim took to the sky with a strong beat from her stronger wings. 'I'll seek out that archer!'

'Be careful!' said Ulric as he noticed movement at his side. He turned just in time to deflect the fast blow from a black panther's morning star, then jumped back when a black and brown canine jumped from behind the feline and stabbed at him with a long dagger.

'Master!' cried Kaui.

'Go to Cat and stay inside, Kaui! It's too dangerous for you!' Ulric said as he jabbed his spiked fists at his two opponents.

'I'll cover you with a shield!' said Valdys.

Kaui hesitated for a moment but she knew she couldn't help, and ran off towards Cat where Isazea peeked out of the door and Oono stood in front to guard it.

Gigacks stepped in to support his bone warriors when Iphigenia and Elzbieta pushed them back with their fierce attacks. He thrust his black sword fast at the elf knight but she was quick enough to dodge his attack. 'You're the one who summoned these, right?' Elzbieta said, deflected a slash from one skeleton, and swung her sword at the lich.

Iphigenia followed up Elzbieta's attack with a jab when Gigacks moved within her reach, but he caught the tip of her sword in his black robes and jumped back again while she dodged a swing from one of the skeletons.

Conchim had hardly spotted the archer hidden partially in the crown of a tree, when arrows flew her way. She twirled one wing and the arrows scattered in mid air while she thanked her strong mate in her thoughts for unleashing her wind magic.

Elyta cursed as the agile harpy blocked her attack and flew towards her, and pulled more arrows from her infinitely supplied quiver, shooting them to hopefully slow her enemy down enough to give her time to think.

Ulric growled at the aggressive black panther and canine as they tried to corner him in a pincer movement with his back to the rubble from the tower. 'Who are you!?' he snarled.

Muni swung his morning star at the ferocious wolf, but it brushed off of Ulric's scaled arm covered in sticky worm blood. 'And what the fuck kind of bloodwolf are you!?'

Tarrence launched himself from a boulder at the side and swiped his dagger at the wolf's neck, but missed it when Ulric ducked and punched him violently away in his side. Tarrence coughed from the blow and throb of pain as he landed on his feet, glad his armoured shirt underneath his tunic had absorbed most of the damage.

Ulric wasted no moment grabbing a large stone next to him, and hurled it at the raging panther.

Muni smashed it to big pieces with his morning star just in time to jump aside and avoid a second stone thrown at him, but the surprise came when Ulric followed next. He roared sharply when Ulric's fist hit his face.

Despite Gigack's interference, Iphigenia and Elzbieta cut down the savage skeleton warriors when Iphigenia lured each one out, then pinned one of their arms by stabbing her sword between the bones of one of its lower arms and their ribs, opening the way for Elzbieta to hew it down from the neck down through its body.

Gigacks gritted his bare teeth because he couldn't summon more warriors yet, and now the two potent women came at him. They were very strong, but he was glad for his extensive experience fighting multiple enemies to help counter their attacks. It was the only reason he managed to inflict shallow cuts several times to the human before she parried or pulled back, but he was certain the elf's gloves weren't regular when they blocked all of his attacks. They were pressing hard on him even when their cooperation wasn't smooth, and the moment of choice between the group's goal and his own non-existing skin came up.

Iphigenia and Elzbieta shared the same sense of relief when the warrior lich jumped away and ran for the cover of trees.

Elyta drew her short sword when the black harpy came fast and close enough for her bow to be useless. Even though she stood near the thick trunk of the tree, the wall of leaves and branches wasn't enough to hinder the dangerous harpy when she cut large parts of it away with her wind magic and exposed her.

Conchim didn't think she could really defeat the deadly succubus in a close fight, but she could at least try chasing her away. She lashed out with her quick footwork and sharp talons, and pulled back in between to lash out with her wind blade magic. The fierce succubus countered it with her blade and nimble movements, but it was enough to force her to put up her defences.

"Shit! Tarrence was right!" Elyta thought. "We can't underestimate them." She blocked the quick harpy's lethal talons with her blade again, and ducked a wide attack nearly knocking her off of the sturdy branch she stood on, then saw Gigacks retreat in haste. "Fuck!"

Conchim reeled back from a sudden fast attack from the cursing succubus, then watched in surprise as the winged demon jumped down the tall tree and fled away through the thick undergrowth. 'The succubus archer is fleeing!' she called out to the others.

Ulric and Muni exchanged wild punches and hard kicks while Ulric also lashed out fast at Tarrence when he attacked. A hard hit against Muni's stomach was paid back at the same time by a blow against Ulric's muzzle.

The two daggers aimed at Ulric's eyes came out of nowhere. Tarrence rose up at once from behind Muni, bloodlust in his fiery eyes betraying his intention with the daggers in his hands.

Ulric kicked Muni brutally back as he caught both blades in his armoured paws, then realised what he did.

Tarrence snatched the falling ring piece that Ulric had unconsciously held on to all this time, and sprung away like a loaded arrow.

'Shit!' snarled Ulric and leaped forward while cursing himself, but a fast swing from Muni with his morning star in front of his muzzle stopped him dead.

The slippery canine moved fast into the trees with the panther flickering in and out of sight as he followed. Ulric rushed after them with Iphigenia and Elzbieta hot on his heels, and caught their attackers jumping on their black nasr and sprinting away through the trees.

Ulric ran after them for a short distance, but the riding birds were too fast to catch up with. 'Shit! Shit! Shit!' he snarled as he kicked a boulder. Iphigenia and Elzbieta hurried next to him and he groaned. 'I dropped the ring piece and they took it! I should have given it to Kaui right away!'

'Fuck.' said Iphigenia and looked in the direction of where the group had fled to. 'Then they know what we're after.'

Elzbieta leaned on her sword. 'And will likely try to find the other pieces like we do.' She focussed on Valdys. 'Can we follow them with the pieces we have?'

Valdys hurried through Cat and into her library, where she kept the ring pieces in a secure box. 'I'm going to check right now.' she said as she unlocked the box and retrieved the stones. She laid the combined piece on her open palm and concentrated on it.

It trembled lightly, then turned slowly.

'I have a heading, but it's not towards the thieves. It's possible that it only reacts to unclaimed pieces.'

Ulric hummed. 'Then we can't track them through what we have, but we can still search for the remaining pieces.'

Iphigenia folded her arms. 'If we're quick enough.'

'And another question is, will the piece they now have point to the same next one as ours do?' said Elzbieta.

Ulric sighed and looked up at the darkening sky. 'We'll have to hurry to the next one to find out.'

***

The party looked at the high stone walls of the coastal city from a distance after several days travel parallel to the wide road leading there that they came across. The landscape was mostly flat and farmland around the light grey band encircling a large section of the coast and glimmering lightly in the low setting sun, and the busy main road coming from the centre city gates split up to the left and right and away from the coastline. The outlier of the forest they stood in was raised high and wide enough to offer a secluded overview and a hiding place for Cat.

'Fiskurall.' said Valdys as she watched the carts rolling up and down the roads and the tiny ships out at sea. 'A city ruled by a noble family according to the notes I have, and a major trading port.'

Ulric scanned the top of the wall and the many guards patrolling on it while smelling the mix of sea and city air carried by the breeze towards them. 'If the piece is there, I think we might have even more trouble retrieving it than before.'

'We should find out what we can about the city and the guard first.' said Iphigenia. 'Look around and keep our ears open in a tavern or two.'

Ulric looked back at Isazea and Susi. 'I think you prefer to stay here, correct?'

Isazea nodded shyly from under her hood.

He knelt in front of Susi and stroked her head. 'Then I'd like you to stay here as well and help keep Isa and Cat safe.'

'All right, daddy.' she said and wagged her tail slowly. 'Susi wants to go with daddy, but Susi not like many people together.'

He gave her a kiss on top of her head. 'That's my good girl.' he said, and gave her a warm smile. He looked up at the others. 'Time to dress for going out on the town.'

***

The stares of the guards at the city gate was familiar. At first the stunned looks at the sight of the beautiful human rogue and elf knight, then the surprised look when they realise the plump pig orc in short and tight dress, the curvy undead woman in seductive black leather, and the lithe black harpy in light coverings defied their assumptions of the demon races by their undeniable attractiveness, which was then followed by the apprehension in their eyes when the black canine with his partially hidden face by his hood appeared behind them. They couldn't tell for sure what he was to the women, a guard or their leader, but they sensed it was no use to single him out from the group dressed in the same style and wearing the same collars.

They stopped the party and Iphigenia handed them the guild card with a friendly smile and such confidence as if to say checking it was a waste of time. A quick look at the card caused some doubt as to how successful the party actually was, but the looks in the adventurer's eyes said the card didn't reveal all that they'd done so far, and the guard let them through quickly.

With some satisfaction, the party stepped through the high gateway with two thick iron gates, and onto the wide main street leading straight to the docks and the water. Buildings of three to five floors high flanked the street, separated by narrow alleys or canals. People and different sized carts went everywhere, small boats navigated the canals below, and Ulric thought back on the few cities of his old world with their canals and people living and working on boats.

'Where shall we head to first?' said Elzbieta as she looked around.

'The docks seem the most logical place.' said Iphigenia. 'From there we should be able to gather more information about this place and learn what taverns are interesting to visit.'

Kaui looked back at the gate for a moment. 'Will Isa and Susi really be all right on their own?'

Ulric chuckled. 'Isa asked me more questions about means of transport in my old world, and I think she's trying to come up with something we can ride the next time we encounter our enemies. And Susi is keeping an eye on her to make sure she doesn't forget to eat.'

Valdys smiled in amusement. 'It's like a pet caring for its owner. I never thought about it, but it looks like bloodwolves are smarter than what they seem to be.' She sniggered and nudged Ulric. 'Even without summoning a person's mind into their body.'

He growled softly and playfully at her. 'I think she will be formidable when she's grown up.'

'That will be soon enough, Master.' said Kaui. 'They grow up pretty fast to survive in the demon territory.'

The street became more crowded the closer they came to the docks, and Ulric noticed there were few non-human races around. The occasional pig and regular orc and beast folk seemed to be hired help or slaves being ordered around by mostly humans, and little folk and elves kept more to themselves in groups. They all sensed the curious glances thrown their way, but it was what they expected.

The wide docks hosted several seaworthy ships and a handful of smaller fishing boats, and the salty scent of sea and fish mingled with the fragrance of spices and foods being cooked, with an underlying smell of beer and wine, while cargo was loaded and unloaded by hand and manual cranes by the workers singing their songs to the background of creaking wood and ropes and the slosh of water.

Ulric toned down the strength of his nose and listened to the various languages spoken by the crowd, languages he now understood and spoke without effort, and imagined he'd feel more lost in an international airport in the old world than in the multiracial crowd here in this fantasy world. 'Have you girls ever been at something like this before?' he said as he watched one large ship manned by a grim looking crew with a larger percentage of demon races.

'I have, a couple of times.' said Elzbieta. 'On special business for my home town.'

Iphigenia looked around for familiar signs of shops and public places. 'Several times in my case, trading places at the coast and inland. It's basically the same when there's a lot of merchants coming and going.'

Kaui looked her eyes out and spotted a few goods that interested her, like tools and fabrics in a variety of colours. 'Only an occasional trader came to my home town, Master. And they were all of a demon race.'

'A few merchants visited my village back in the days, but it's too long ago to remember much of it.' said Valdys and casually checked the ring piece's direction while keeping it hidden from view between them. 'The next piece seems to be somewhere in the city. It's circling again.'

Iphigenia spotted a weapons shop. 'I'll see if I can hear about some good places to start from while I sell the loot we collected so far.' she said, and headed towards the shop.

She examined the weapon racks placed under the wooden awning of the store with enough obvious lingering casual interest to make it look like she was interested in buying something. She smiled inward when soon enough a stocky man with a braided brown beard appeared in the doorway. His height and built hinted at being a half human, half dwarf, as well as the typical darker coloured dwarf eyes.

He let out the polite, soft cough to let customers know he was available. 'May I help you in any way, mistress? I'm Dunbar, the proprietor of this humble shop.'

She gave him a friendly smile. 'I'm not sure what I'm looking for, just something that feels right.'

He hummed. 'Blade, ranged? I have a large variety in the shop.' he said and stepped aside with an inviting wave of his arm.

Iphigenia stepped into the dimly lit shop and glanced quickly across the racks with daggers, swords, war hammers, spiked weapons, bows, and crossbows. He even had a collection of staffs in a corner. Tools hanging on the wall and the smell of grease, paint, fire, and wood from the back was strong enough to reveal he wasn't just a simple merchant, but he also a repaired weaponry. 'I collected weapons from the bandits that tried to rob me on my travels, but there is nothing between them that I like. Perhaps you can see if there's anything of interest while I peruse your stock?'

Dunbar gestured at the counter at the side. 'If you place them there, I can certainly have a look.' he said, and then stared with increasing surprise at the growing pile of weapons she retrieved from her pack.

Iphigenia gave the gobsmacked man an innocent smile. 'Thank you.' she said, and moved between the racks.

Dunbar picked up each item to examine the value. 'You must have had an interesting journey.'

Iphigenia chuckled while she felt the weight of a short dagger with a smooth rounded blade and grip. 'You could say that. All in a day's work.'

'Looking for work here?'

'Depends on the sort of work. Know any good places to ask around where they also don't ask too many questions? Some people can't handle that I'm much better at the job than they are, and they hold a grudge.'

Dunbar laughed. 'Then I know a couple of places.'

Iphigenia noticed a pair of daggers tucked away in a corner of the entire selection, and held one up at the finger guard. 'What are these?'

Dunbar looked up from the former orc leader's sword, which he found was made of a good quality steel, even if it was damaged, while calculating the value of selling it to his blacksmith friend. 'Oh, I had those for a while now, came with a collection of weapons from some old man. Those thin blades will probably break quickly so it's not much of a weapon.'

Iphigenia hummed. 'I think I might have a use for them.'

She smiled cheerfully when she returned to the others. 'I made a good deal on the weapons, and Dunbar gave me two names of taverns where we might find suitable discreet people to pry for information. And I have something that I believe would serve you well, Conchi.'

They watched her pull two sticks from her pack, each as thick as a thumb and as long as three hand widths, with a rounded steel strip finger guard along one third of the length. Ulric and Elzbieta noted the wood and the markings on it were the same as on her sword. 'Seriously?' said Ulric while Conchim unsheathed one of the daggers.

Iphigenia nodded. 'Because they look so fragile, no one was interested in buying them and he gave me a good price. I thought they'd be perfect for Conchi because they're light and wielding a pair of daggers for close combat will distract from your talons, which is an advantage while fighting.'

Conchim nodded. 'I can use both talons and daggers to cut and stab. An opponent will have trouble keeping up with all at the same time.' She gave Iphigenia a grateful smile. 'Thank you.'

Iphigenia looked at Kaui. 'I didn't see any weapon that I think would fit you, sorry.'

Kaui chuckled. 'That's all right. I prefer not to use a weapon if I can. Throwing grenades from a distance is already violent enough for my taste.'

'But you could use something for personal defence.' said Elzbieta. 'They won't always wait at a distance for you to make your move.'

Kaui nodded. 'I'd need something that could knock them out, but I'm not very good at hitting someone with a club either.'

Ulric rubbed his muzzle. 'Maybe I know something, but I'll have to talk to Isa to see if she can create it.'

Kaui smiled at him. 'I'd be very happy if that's possible, Master.'

50 - Tavern Tour

The dim light of the slowly setting sun laid a gentle, golden yellow sheen over the city while the party headed for the first tavern recommended by the weapon shop owner. In some streets busy with people going about their business, torches were burning or being lit by the youngsters working for the city. The party soon took a side street and noticed the farther they went, the grimier the streets became along with the occupants. Ulric smelled the deterioration in morals with every step they took. 'I take it the best places for gaining information are also the best places to gain new scars.'