The Foolhardies 28 The Game Plan

"Shut up, Tyberius!" Arah hissed. "He's trying to sleep."

"I was just asking... It's not like we know what will happen..." Ty sighed.

They were sitting on the floor by the corner close to the door of my room waiting for me to drift off to sleep, a feat that was becoming increasingly difficult the more they whispered to each other.

"Can you guys shut up, please," I whispered. "I'm trying to sleep..."

"Sorry," They both said at the same time right before Arah smacked Ty in the shoulder like it was all his fault.

This started a match of pushing each other around which was nowhere near the peace and quiet I needed.

I sighed. "Fairies take me now..."

The last rays of sunlight had finally gone and the growing shadows were a welcome sign. It was time.

"Should we turn off the light?" Arah suggested. "Might help you sleep."

"Don't turn off the lights!" Ty begged. "What if the fairies come out of the shadows and slit our throats for trying to get a peek at this super-secret ritual?"

Both Arah and I looked at him with our eyebrows furrowed.

"Dude," I began. "You have one active imagination, man..."

Arah smacked him in the shoulder again to shut him up.

I sighed before I finally lay flat on the bed and closed my eyes.

The light didn't need to be off. They didn't even need to be quiet. Apparently, it didn't matter what situation I was in because I would be called back to the Fayne no matter what. As soon as my eyes closed, drowsiness overtook me, and I felt the pull I'd been experiencing every night since I met Aura.

I wasn't sure what my friends saw—if they watched my body float past the ceiling or not—it didn't matter. I was gone up and past that threshold in the sky, and just as quickly, I was crashing back down onto the familiar dirt road of the alley of Broken Sellsword's Canyon where Aura and I were attacked.

I didn't expect the greeting I got immediately after my foot touched ground.

Boom!

A half-ogre sized fist smashed the canyon wall behind me, and in front of me, mere inches from my face, was a knotted browed Edo, his mouth bared in a snarl.

Sweat trickled down my face when I said, "Use your words, big guy..."

"There aren't enough words in common, elvish, dwarvish, or ogrish for me to describe you right now, boy," he grumbled.

There was only one reason why Edo was up in my face like this, and that meant something had happened to Aura.

My eyes darted past Edo to the other people in the narrow alley. Varda was there looking like she wasn't sure who to side with. Ashley stood beside her smirking at me. Then...

"Zarz!" my eyes zoned in on him. "What happened after I was knocked out?"

Everyone turned to look at Zarz, even Edo and his semi-murderous glare, causing the gnome to clam up in fright. He was shaking in his boots.

I mustered as much courage as I could and pushed past Edo, shoving his arm away as I did. It wasn't easy. I'd seen Edo do too much damage to others not to be feeling my skin prickle as I turned my back on him and marched toward the frightened gnome. But it wasn't a time for fear. Now was a time for action.

I placed a gentle hand on Zarz shoulder. "Don't mind the grumpy bodyguard... focus on me, Zarz. I need to know everything that happened after I blacked out."

It took a couple of breaths for him to calm down but Zarz eventually told me what transpired after my fall.
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Three drows in black hoods were lying in wait for us. The biggest of them smacked my head with a round mace. The other two attacked Aura. She tried to fight them off while protecting my prone body and Zarz who'd only just regained consciousness at the time.

"She burned one of them badly with her staff and I think she recognized them," he reported. "But before she could do anything else, a fourth guy jumped down from above and hit her in the head too."

Zarz rubbed his eye with the back of his hand.

"I couldn't see much as there was a swirl of colors blocking my view, and then they picked her up, unconscious as she was, and took off with her," he continued. "One of the guys remained to stab you with his sword, but by then you'd vanished with the dawn. He was so mad he kept stomping at the ground you vacated and called you an insolent reprobate... he was a lunatic, I tell you... and I skedaddled out of there as quick as I could."

Zarz then went on to explain that he followed the instructions I'd given Aura. He went to Edo and Varda, told them what happened and they chased after our attackers but couldn't find any trace.

I turned my head to look at Ashley. "So you're here because Zarz told you we needed help."

Ashley shrugged. "I said I would assist you once."

"Thanks, we'll need all the help we can get," I said gratefully. Despite her haughty attitude, I knew first-hand what she could do in a fight. "I need information. What do the shieldmaidens know about the drow who live outside the city."

"Not much," Ashley shrugged. "They don't come to worship, and the only time they ever enter the city gates is when they steal things or get back the things other fairies stole from them."

There was a scowl on Ashley's face as she talked about them, and I couldn't help but be reminded about how I used to feel about fairies—how I still feel about most of them, present company excluded.

"All this talking won't help us get Aura back... or Luca," Edo growled.

He was still pissed but a little more subdued now that he knew I was taking action. Despite his anger, Edo knew he could rely on me. I hoped.

"We need more information..." I glanced over at my team. "I'll get that from the Auction House, but I need you guys to prepare a few things so we'll be ready to move out once I've acquired the intel."

"What do you need, Commander?" Varda asked.

Contrary to how she was during our battle outside the canyon's gates, my unit's quartermaster exuded an air of confident capableness that was a jolt of relief to my worried mind. I could rely on her tonight.

And so I relayed my orders to the team.

Edo would return to the new recruits and see which of them was ready to sortie, get them in gear, and wait for us outside the city gates. It was a credit to Edo that he didn't ask me questions. He trusted me despite his frustrations.

"We have to find her, Dean," Edo said in a soft voice. "Luca too."

"We'll find them. And we'll make our enemies pay," I answered.

He nodded, then rushed back out the alley in long strides of his powerful legs no human could mimic.

After confirming with Varda that the light-emitting gemstones found all over the city were combustible due to them being laced with veins of niter—more commonly known on Mudgard as potassium nitrate, a substance used in pyrotechnics—I asked her to get me a basketball-sized one and bring it to us at the auction house.

"Are we performing an experiment?" she asked, suddenly giddy at the prospect of causing another calamity.

I nodded. "Maybe. Get going, Quartermaster."

"As you command," she grinned before dashing off in pursuit of the first ingredient in my foolhardy plan.

The next thing I needed was for Zarz to get me something really specific. I needed him to procure two round, aluminum tubes roughly the size and width of his arm along with some magnesium ore, a length of candle wick, wax, and a leather sack.

Just in case, I asked him if he knew what magnesium was and he said, "Of course I know what the damn thing is, I'm an artificer!"

I left out a relieved sigh as he said this. "Can you get all those items for me, Zarz?"

"I'll need some time to get a smith to turn some of my aluminum sheets into these tubes of yours," he insisted. "About an hour's worth of time if you want it done to your specs."

I nodded. "I also needed you to punch holes in the tube at intervals along the upper half of it."

Zarz agreed to my odd request but couldn't help but mention, "I don't usually create dangerous things but Aura tried to save my life... I owe that she-elf..."

"Alright... we'll meet you at your shop in the marketplace when you're done," I said.

Once Zarz was gone, Ashley asked what she was supposed to do with me. "First we'll head to the auction house, then... well, how were your grades in Chemistry and Science?"

"I coasted by but I wasn't great at it," she admitted. "The only good thing about the Fayne... no homework."

I sighed, wishing I had Ty and Arah here backing me up. "Let's go."

Our conversation with Kallista was short and to the point, as she was eager for us to find Aura as soon as possible. I supposed she didn't want to lose one of her most high profile clients after just one successful sale.

Kallista provided me with a map that showed a series of unexplored caverns to the west of the city right where the canyon is split by a deep gorge created by the river Titania. The cave entrances were on the eastern side of the river but much lower down the canyon wall, and was only accessible via a steep path carved out of the rock.

I thanked Kallista for her help and for only charging us twenty Leprechauns for the information.

"The value of you having this information is worth so much more than gold," she told me as she ushered us out of the establishment. "But be cautious, Dean Dapper. Things may not be so easily accomplished as a forceful charge into an enemy lair. I fear your situation is more complicated than that..."

And with that ominous warning, she shut the door on us.

Varda was already there waiting with a basketball-sized sack in her arms. She was grinning. This made me grin too.

We met up with Zarz at his stall and he showed me the two aluminum canisters I asked for which were forged to specs.

"Nicely done," I said, feeling grateful that he had arrived in less time than he said he would.

"So... what's next?" Varda asked eagerly. "What are we doing with all of these materials?"

I grinned. "There's an interesting item on Mudgard that can produce a blindingly bright light. We're going to try and create that with items we've gathered here."

Despite the urgency, Varda and Zarz evil smiles reflected my own which caused Ashley to sigh in regret.

"What am I doing here with these nerds?" she said to no one in particular.

We finished putting together our makeshift items and stored them into the bag of holding for later use, then we made our way back to the city gates and past it to hook up with Edo and the new recruits.

All thirty-five of them were there with Edo, which was more than I'd hoped. Most of them wearing an assortment of mismatched weapons and armor prompting me to consider getting armor and weapons in bulk from Kallista the next time I saw her.

Luckily, my four top picks were accounted for. My plan was doubly secured as long as we had the help of Donar Firemonger, our new salamander magician.

"Edo, are they ready?" I asked.

"They better be... I whipped some of them into shape while I waited for your slow human carcass to get here," he growled.

He was still obviously pissed, and looking over at some of the bruised viseres and fairies among the new recruits, I could guess just how Edo convinced all of them to tag along for this mission.

I sighed before saying, "Alright men, we're heading into—"

"Commander!" Varda interrupted in an urgent tone. "You better come look at this."

I turned around to look at her. "W-what is it Var—"

Beside Varda stood a foot-tall creature with green skin and short-cropped silver hair. Besides the glowing eyes and wide mouth, there were also two mint-tinted gossamer wings on its back. But what really caught my attention was the tabard it wore. It was a tiny version of the ones worn by the knights of Fort Darah.

"This sprite has a message from the Great General Darah for you," Varda informed me.

Her eyes darted to me then back at the creature like she was afraid it was about to explode which is what I expected it would do in about a moment as sprites had the uncommon ability to mimic the voice and tone of the message giver. It's why they were used to deliver messages throughout the Fayne.

"So~o," said the sprite in the voice of Great General Darah. "I hear you lost my niece."

Chapter end