Aster Fall, Ch 15: Time to Kill (Patreon)

“What is this Iceblood Guild?” Jeric asked Henar as the party and the two new additions settled into a private meeting room in the inn. His voice was concerned.

It had taken them a half hour or so to calm down the innkeeper and the guards, but the Iceblood Guild was already known for causing trouble. In the end, all they’d had to do was blame it on them.

It was also true.

The innkeeper had looked suspicious at first, but at the sight of a gold coin, he'd promised to alert the city guard about what happened and told them they were welcome to stay here.

According to Henar, the Iceblood Guild was competent enough that they’d be able to find them wherever they went in the valley, so staying here was no different from anywhere else. At least here, there were beds.

From the bit they’d heard from the brewer already, it seemed like even if they hadn’t intervened, the Iceblood Guild would have come to cause them trouble. It had only been a matter of time.

The thugs had been terrorizing the villages in the valley for the past year, off and on, but they’d focused their attention on the lesser known merchants and farmers, since the city guard cared less about them.

Sam’s family would have been a target as soon as the Iceblood Guild noticed them.

At least this way, they'd warned them off at the same time.

If he were able to make it happen, the next meeting would not end well for the Iceblood Guild. He was angry that they’d threatened his mother.

He was also curious about the talisman or artifact that the sorcerer had used to survive his new spell, and the strange pill he’d taken before running away.

Those did not seem like things the sorcerer should have had, so the question was where they had come from.

And what they had to do with the essence in the snow.

He felt the ping of his amulet as Henar and Rusel looked at him, but he was standing on one side of the room, working on a temporary enchantment for the walls. He'd started as soon as they arrived, adding runes for privacy and a basic shield.

It was a variant of a warding spell he’d developed after studying the illusion amulet, and it should create a safe area for them to converse here.

It wouldn't hold up to much, but if it broke, it would give them a bit of warning. It was also good practice in applying the runes he was learning and kept him out of Henar’s direct eyesight.

So far, it sounded like the Iceblood Guild had left the important areas in the valley alone, including the inns, even as they'd stolen supplies and wealth from many of the villages in the area.

They'd especially avoided foreign merchants and any traders with backing. That was the main reason the city guard hadn’t pursued them very hard yet.

The second reason was that they’d been stealing instead of killing and they were difficult to find. It wasn’t clear if they had a scrying ward or if the city just hadn’t found it worthwhile to assign Seers to tracking them yet.

Sam shook his head as he drew another runic line on the wall of the room. When it was complete, he poured his essence into it and then moved on to the next part of the pattern.

He was using a combination of privacy, shield, mana, and barrier runes to create a quick shielding formation, as well as a wood elemental rune to attune the pattern to the wood of the walls.

Hopefully, it would last a little while.

This was a common room connecting a handful of chambers, making a sort of suite for traveling merchants and guards that took up half of the top floor.

The gold coin that Jeric had given the innkeeper was enough for them to stay here for a month, if they wanted to, although it didn't include food.

Once this ward was done, he planned to reinforce the other rooms as well, making sure that there was at least one layer of defensive shielding around them all. It shouldn't take him more than a few hours, at most.

The enchantment would last for a little while, perhaps the whole month if he stabilized them now and then, but the walls weren’t strong enough to hold too much mana. They were more of a warning system than anything else.

If he wanted a stronger defense, he’d have to spend a lot longer on it, building the enchantment into the walls itself and changing out the materials. That wasn’t a commitment he planned to make for a temporary inn room.

The shielding amulets he'd made his family were their real protection.

While he worked, his parents slowly got Henar to open up, explaining more about what was going on around Highfold.

“It all started about a year ago,” Henar explained slowly, his eyes distant as he looked around the room, causing Sam’s amulet to ping again. “They didn’t call themselves the Iceblood Guild back then.”

He paused as he gave Sam a long gaze, trying to focus on him before his attention slid away, but it was no use and after a moment, he gave up on it. Instead, he looked toward his grandson, who was sitting next to him.

“Some of them have been around for a while...born here, or close enough.” He let out a deep breath as he continued. “That half-giant, for example, he’s been around this area for at least twenty years. He’s not the brightest and has been kicked out of most villages for causing trouble and breaking things, attacking people...but the other two are new.

“The short version is that a bunch of local thieves and ne’er-do-wells joined together about a year ago and started causing more organized trouble, taking hostages for ransom...for small things at first, like a barrel of ale...and then holding up local merchant wagons, and so on.

“It was always isolated folks, unlikely to go for help,” he said as he let out a bitter laugh. “Like me just now, I suppose, though I didn’t think they’d dare to come so close to an inn. They must be getting bolder.”

Sam listened in as he let his father do the talking, focusing on the key parts as he continued his enchanting work.

“They’ve been doing some pretty bad things, but what they said just now was worse than I’ve heard before. I don’t know why they wanted to kidnap Rusel here, but I’m pretty sure they were after that more than my ale.”

“They wanted a Brewer for something?” Krana asked, frowning as she listened to the story. "That's strange."

“I suppose so, miss,” Henar replied, nodding toward Krana politely. It seemed like he was starting to relax a bit, now that the guild was gone.

“That’s about all I know of them,” he added, wrapping up the little he had to offer. “All I can say is that something’s happened to make them stronger than they should be.

"I saw that pill the sorcerer used.... I’ve never seen something like that before, but I’d guess it’s all connected somehow. I think they must have found a backer recently, so they've become more violent.”

“We just wanted a peaceful stay here,” Jeric rumbled with a frown as he exchanged a glance with his wife. The concern in his eyes was clear.

Aemilia looked back at him with a steady gaze, just nodding in reassurance.

He looked toward Sam then, debating how all of this would play out for their secrets, before he turned back to Henar.

“It seems we’ve already made some enemies," he said. "That's unfortunate..Do you think they’ll be back soon to find revenge? If so, we can try going to the city guard.”

Henar hesitated as he looked at Jeric and then around the room before he shook his head slowly.

“That’s been tried, but it hasn’t worked so far. It looks like you can defend yourselves though, which is why I decided to take your side just now. I don't know if you want to seek them out, but at least they might avoid you...and me by association."

“So, it’s our problem to deal with then?” Sam spoke up from the side of the room, turning his attention away from the runes for a moment. “The city guard won’t help at all?”

“Well...” Henar hesitated as he looked toward Sam. He looked a bit nervous, probably because Sam’s face was still hidden.

“You’re not from Highfold proper, and the city guard has a bit of a bias about that. There’s a pretty big divide in how they see the villages compared to themselves,, you know? You’re not foreign officials or a big merchant group.”

“I see,” Sam said simply, turning away again as he looked at the half-completed enchantment on the wall. “Then they won’t interfere if we take care of the problem either?”

“No, they’d probably happily overlook that,” Henar agreed, his eyes lighting up a bit. “You’d be getting rid of an irritation for them. Do you think you can do it? You’d be doing a service to all the villages around here.”

“Hold on a bit now,” Jeric said, raising his hand as he looked around. He was feeling frustrated, since he'd only wanted to find a calm place for them all.

“I don't want to get into a battle as soon as we’ve arrived...but it's true we might not be able to avoid it." His eyes narrowed as he looked at Henar, trying to assess the quality of the man in front of him. "Before that, I’d like some more information from you.”

Henar nodded and turned to Rusel.

“Run on down and grab one of the small blue barrels, the Highsun Copper Ale,” he told him. “It sounds like we may be here for a bit.”

A moment later, the boy ran out of the room and Henar turned back to look at Sam and then at Jeric.

“It’ll take him a minute to find that and unbury it,” he said slowly as a frown appeared on his face. “Go ahead and ask.”

“What’s your story?” Jeric asked immediately. “Why is the Iceblood Guild bothering you? You’re local here.”

“My wife passed away years ago and my children ran away to be adventurers.” Henar shook his head, his hands rising in the air helplessly. “I suspect they’ve passed away as well by now. All I have left for family is Rusel here...and that makes me an easy target.”

Henar shrugged, the motion somehow fatalistic as if he'd long ago accepted whatever life had in store for him.

“There’s not much else to say besides that. They target whoever looks good. I’m not sure why they wanted a Brewer either. Maybe they were thirsty. The only abilities for the class are mixing liquids, infusing herbs or other plants, and adding mana or other properties.

“A good Brewer can make a nice, restorative ale, I suppose. Maybe that's what they're after.”

He looked around the room, his gaze trying to settle on Sam, before he turned back to Jeric.

“I’d like the answer to a few questions of my own, if you don’t mind,” he added. “I’ve thrown my lot in with you, it seems, and I’d like to know who I’m working with, to make it blunt.”

“Ask,” Sam said, his voice resonating around the room before the others could respond. In his opinion, it was only fair. The merchant should know what he’d signed up for.

The only question was whether or not he’d give him all the details.

Henar turned around in his seat as he stared at Sam, or tried to, his voice sharpening.

“You seem like a good family, but your caster there is strange. What’s going on with that hood and illusion?”

Sam smiled under his hood as he looked back at Henar, wondering if the man really wanted the truth.

“He’s our son,” Jeric said immediately, reaching out for Aemilia’s hand. “That’s all that’s important. The illusion is more to protect him than to worry you.”

“What do you mean?” Henar grumbled in irritation as he tried to look toward Sam again. There was curiosity in his eyes, but no trace of trouble that Sam could see.

“A curse,” Sam said simply, as he looked toward Henar and made a decision. “I’ll show you what I look like, but don’t react badly. I’m still human.”

According to the World Law, that wasn’t true, but Sam felt like he could make up his own mind about that sort of thing. He wasn’t going to let the World Law take his humanity away from him just by changing a word on his status page.

As for telling Henar, it was something he’d been thinking about since the brewer declared he was joining them. There was no good way to avoid it if the man was going to stick around.

It would also be a good test of the man’s character. If he reacted badly, it would mean he wasn’t as trustworthy as he seemed.

“A curse...?” Henar grumbled again. He looked like he wanted to spit when he heard the word, but there was no bucket around, so he was forced to swallow it.

At the same time, his interest was piqued.

“What could possibly be so weird that you’re hesitating to show it off? Do you have three noses?” He tried to look under Sam’s hood, but his gaze slid away again.

“I tried Assessing you, but all I can tell is that you’re over Level 40. My ability is too low to give me information about the Expert tier.”

Sam shrugged as he deactivated his amulet and reached up to his hood, pushing it back around his neck as he looked toward Henar.

The man froze, his face paling to an odd shade that was a mix of tanned skin and fear, as his hand on the table trembled. He stared at Sam as the joints in his body locked into place.

“A demon...!” he forced out, his voice shaking as he tried to hold himself together. Only the idea that it was a curse and that he'd just been speaking normally to Sam kept him from jumping out of his seat and running away.

“You’re a demon?!”

“No. A curse made me look like this,” Sam replied calmly as he pulled his hood back up and reactivated his amulet.

As soon as he did, Henar relaxed and took a deep breath as he looked toward Jeric and Aemilia. It took him a moment to pull himself back together, but since no one else in the room was reacting, he was forced to accept that it wasn't as strange as he thought.

“He’s...really your son?” he asked hesitantly, searching for confirmation.

“Yes,” Aemilia said firmly, nodding at him. “There’s also a Guardian Star symbol on his hand to show that he’s on the side of the church. You can be at ease.”

There was a flicker of maternal warning in her eyes to not push the matter any further or she'd become upset with him, which Henar recognized from his own wife, years ago. It made his heart seize up a bit before it relaxed again.

“Well then...” Henar let out another long breath. “Right, I’ll just blame my own curiosity for asking. That was a surprise...but a curse is a curse, I suppose."

He shook his head as he pushed the idea away.

“Now I see why you’re not showing everyone,” he said, as he came to terms with it. “I apologize for asking.”

His reaction was less dramatic than Sam had feared, which made him like the man a little bit. He was also interested in the abilities Henar had just mentioned, the brewing of liquids and mana.

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he thought about the pill the sorcerer had eaten and why they might want a Brewer.

He didn't know a lot about alchemy or herbalism...but from the sound of it, he wouldn't put it past the Iceblood Guild to be experimenting with something like that.

It would just take a bit of work to confirm that, since all he had right now was an idea.

“We should focus on what we can deal with now,” he offered eventually, “like how to get rid of that guild and whatever is behind them.”

“We won’t have any rest here until we do, it looks like,” Jeric agreed slowly, nodding his head. “We’ll also need a good place to stay long term, once we move out of this inn.”

“Well, that’s a bit of a problem actually,” Henar interrupted as he caught his breath and looked around the room again, trying to calm himself.

"What do you mean?" Jeric asked, feeling puzzled as he looked toward the brewer.

In response, however, Henar just held up a hand for calm as he looked off toward the ceiling, apparently focusing his thoughts.

A minute or two passed as Henar thought, and before long Rusel returned carrying a small keg with copper rings and a blue swab of paint on the side.

“You’re not from around here,” Henar answered once ales were poured around the room, “so you don’t know this, but Highfold is a bit particular when it comes to dwellings. You’re welcome to stay in any of the inns, or even as a guest in a particular home for a little while, but since you’re planning to stay here for a longer time...the Ice Sylphs have a rule for the area.”

“What’s that?” Sam asked, as his curiosity rose.

“Well, it’s pretty simple really. To settle here, you’re going to need the permission of an Ice Sylph. Anyone will do, but finding them is harder than you think. They're a very reclusive people. It’s customary to take some gifts as well.”

“That’s a strange tradition,” Jeric spoke up, rubbing his beard as he thought. “Seems straightforward, but what happens if you don’t get their permission?”

“Then you can't stay, except in an inn,” Henar replied, raising his hands in the air helplessly. “The Ice Sylphs are the original founders of the valley and this is still their tribe’s land. They’re very hands-off about it all, but that’s one rule that’s stuck around, and it's tied into the magic that keeps this valley warm.

"The problem is, they don’t much like visitors and they often ignore people asking. Finding one to ask is just the first part. If you're born here, it's a different matter, but for folks from outside, it's harder.

“If you try to settle here without their permission, well...you’ll find the land itself working against you to expel you. There’s usually pleasant weather here, but only if you’re invited to stay. Snow will bury your home, ice will freeze your fires, cold will seep into your bedrooms, your plants won’t grow, your livestock will die of exposure....” Henar’s voice trailed off.

“I get the idea.” Jeric made a rumbling sound of displeasure, turning his thoughts over as he looked toward his wife.

He hesitated for a moment, debating whether to bring it up, since her past was always a delicate subject, but he remembered something that she’d said on the ride here.

“Didn’t you say you knew an Ice Sylph as a child?” he asked at last. “Do you think she’d approve of us staying here if we can find her?”

Aemilia was silent for a moment as she looked inward and then she spoke, turning to Henar.

“Have you ever heard of an Ice Sylph called Siwaha...an Herbalist? I knew her a long time ago and she used to live here.”

Henar thought for a moment and then shook his head.

“I wish I could help, but the Ice Sylphs are reclusive and often don’t even share their names. I’ve never heard of her, but she could still live here. If you have a connection to her, it’d be easier to ask her than anyone else. If you can find her.”

Sam nodded as he heard the brewer’s answer. It would have been too much to expect that he’d know about Siwaha, especially if the sylphs were as private as he'd said. They would have to spend some time looking for her.

He was also interested in learning more about his mother’s past. She’d never spoken much about it.

“I’ll ask my relatives in the city,” Krana spoke up, looking optimistic. “If she’s around, they might know something about her.”

“Well then, it looks like our path is clear.” Jeric said as he pounded his fist lightly on the table. It was a sturdy table, but it still shuddered under the force of the blow. “We just need to get a few things in motion and figure out how to deal with that Iceblood Guild.”

The idea of a battle didn’t bother him, once he'd accepted the need for it. He'd wanted to avoid the trouble, but since there was no other way, he was fine with cleaning up the area before they settled down.

The guild had already crossed his bottom line when they'd threatened his family.

“How many more people do they have?” Sam asked, as he turned the conversation toward their preparations. He wanted to know how many of them he was going to have to track down.

Henar’s answer was only a shake of his head, indicating that he didn’t know.

Sam frowned as he turned back to the enchantment on the wall, his plans forming in his mind as he continued to add runes, pouring his essence into them to stabilize them. As he did, he sorted the new information into a series of tasks he needed to accomplish.

There were three major issues in front of them before they could settle here.

First, he needed to eliminate the threat from the Iceblood Guild, as well as whatever was creating the essence in the snow.

Second, they had to set up a safe home and protect it.

To do that, they needed the permission of an Ice Sylph, which meant getting in touch with Siwaha, if they could find her, and then building or reinforcing a home.

Third, he needed to set up a workshop and produce more items to sell before the Festival of Three Crowns started in a month.

It was a short list, but it didn't look like he'd be able to skip any of the steps. If he wanted this area to be a safe home for them, he was going to need to make it that way.

And the first thing on that list was making sure the Iceblood Guild didn't cause them any more trouble.

His left hand curled into a fist as he stared at the rune on the wall. A surge of expectation ran through his veins, resonating through his body as the essence stars in his blood sang out with battle lust.