Tears of Liscor, page 1
part #9 of The Wandering Inn Series
Tears of Liscor
The Wandering Inn, Book 9
pirateaba
© 2023 pirateaba
Cover art by John Anthony Di Giovanni.
Cover design by Shawn King.
ISBN: 978-1-961108-00-4
This novel is the e-book version of the free web serial. You may read the entire ongoing story at wanderinginn.com free of charge.
*Best read on Kindle dark mode due to font coloration.
Copyright Notice
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Contents
Copyright Notice
Contents
5.45
5.46
5.47 G
5.48 G
5.49
5.50 G
Interlude – Bird
5.51 G
5.52
5.53
5.54
Interlude – Krshia
5.55 G
5.56 G
5.57
5.58
5.59
Interlude – Pebblesnatch and Garry
5.60
5.61
5.62
Interlude
Author’s Note
Acknowledgements
About the Author
5.45
Night deepened and turned to day. The dungeon that had rung with the sounds of battle grew silent. The adventurers, Antinium, and people of Liscor returned to their city through the magic doors, breaking the exits behind them. They returned with the captive Gnolls, with a Minotaur in shackles, and a half-Elf. In triumph. In victory.
And so the Raskghar fled. Broken, they retreated towards their other camps, unable to do anything but run. They had been beaten, destroyed. And so badly that they could not even dream of vengeance. They ran, seeking out their brethren, a shred of hope. But what they found in the darkness was more despair.
The camps were filled with flickering torchlight and screams. Howls of Raskghar as they fought and died. And screams. Cave Goblins swarmed their masters, armed with crude weapons. But they outnumbered the Raskghar. And they had lost their fear of their masters. And they had leaders.
Five Hobgoblins fought, leading the Cave Goblins. They charged the Raskghar. A monster who raged stronger than even the largest Raskghar. A keen-eyed archer whose arrows struck the Raskghar from hundreds of feet away. A Hobgoblin whose sword seemed to shine as he cut down his enemies. The Goblin who sang. And a Hobgoblin who wore a crimson cloak, a hero.
And the Raskghar fled once more. They howled then, in grief and desperation. But no one answered. So they ran and ran, broken, not understanding how all this had come to pass.
All of that passed below as the weary folk returned to Liscor. They knew nothing of what followed. Why should they? The Raskghar were beaten. The uprising of the Goblins was a thing of monsters. Unimportant for now. For now, they would rest. The [Innkeeper] slept in her kitchen. A [Princess] hugged a Gnoll tightly, and the Gnoll cub hugged her back as fiercely as she could as they fell asleep in a warm bed. An Ashfire Bee crawled onto their heads and lay there, content that all was well in the world.
A weary Watch Captain fell asleep on top of a report on her desk, the ink splotching her face. A Wall Lord drank a cup of milk rather than alcohol and toasted the fallen with his people. A half-Giant laid down in the three beds pushed together and got a night of rest for the first time in days. The [Strategist] of Liscor sat and feverishly wrote, trying to recall all that he had witnessed. A Minotaur looked up in his prison cell, his flesh burnt, his body bleeding. He closed his eyes and bowed his head.
Countless members of Liscor’s Watch stumbled back into their homes, some grieving, all exhausted, but relieved. The adventurers slept, dreaming of treasure and levels. The city rested. Below, the Antinium returned to their Hive and got on with business as usual.
But in the twilight before dawn, one person moved through Liscor’s rainy streets. She snuck from house to house, never staying in one place long. But she moved with the utmost certainty. For her, the pre-dawn morning was the perfect time. The only time, before Liscor roused and heard the news. She crept up to one house in the street, silent as a whisper. A family of Gnolls slept there. They awoke suddenly as they heard a sound at the door.
“What is—”
A female Gnoll mother jerked upright, awakened by an unfamiliar scent at her door. She had slept lightly for fear of the Raskghar despite the Watch’s assurances. She looked for her partner—but he was on night duty on the walls! She checked for her children. They were still asleep in her room, in the small home the family shared. She hesitated, then heard the knocking on the door. It was polite. Loud. Insistent.
Dread seized the mother. She rose, ignoring her state of undress, and crept into the kitchen. She emerged with a wickedly sharp knife. She crept towards the door. Whoever it was stood right outside. There was another knock. The Gnoll held her breath. Then she threw open the door—
“Hello, Miss Rykhai! Sorry about the early hour! Mind if I come in?”
Drassi beamed at Rykhai. The Gnoll froze, knife in hand. The Drake went cross-eyed as she stared at it.
“Uh—is this a bad time?”
“Drassi?”
Rykhai stared at Drassi in disbelief. She lowered the knife, her paws shaking.
“I nearly gutted you! I thought you were a Raskghar! Fool, don’t you know that the curfew is in effect? Come in, don’t stand in the streets!”
She ushered Drassi in and then slammed the door and locked it. Drassi looked around. It was very early, but the Drake was decidedly unapologetic. She rubbed her claws together, beaming, as Rykhai turned to glare at her.
“I know. I’m so sorry, Miss Rykhai. I know your children must be asleep. And your husband, Tessil, he’s probably on duty, right? It must be so hard to have someone working the night shift, what with the dungeon and all. Well, I have good news for you!”
“News that excuses me being woken up and frightened out of my fur, yes?”
The Gnoll folded her arms severely. She liked Drassi, and she was one of Drassi’s chat-friends as the Drake liked to call her circle of acquaintances. But this was crossing a line. Drassi grinned.
“Yes, actually! I have good news! Your husband won’t have to work overtime on the night shifts anymore. Because—are you ready for this? You might need a seat! The Raskghar were defeated! The Watch and the adventurers and the Antinium attacked them in their lair and rescued the Gnolls! All of them!”
For a second, Rykhai thought she was still dreaming. She backed up from Drassi and sat on the family’s worn couch.
“What?”
The Drake beamed. Rykhai’s three Gnoll children woke up muzzily. Like their mother, their first instinct was unease. But as soon as they smelled Drassi, they were bouncing around the living room. And when they heard Drassi’s news, they immediately howled in relief.
The noise woke up their neighbors. There was a pounding on one of the walls and from above as Gnolls woke up unhappily, but Rykhai rushed to her windows and poked her head outside.
“Get down here! The Raskghar are dead!”
She heard several yelps and banging sounds from the other houses nearby as more people began waking up. The Gnoll turned back to Drassi.
“They are dead? Yes?”
“Most of them. The rest ran. It was a huge battle! Thousands of Raskghar dead! I heard it all first-hand! I wasn’t there in person, but I was around to help when they came back through. I saw them bringing magical artifacts back and the prisoners! Say, do you have any tea?”
Rykhai blinked. But then she nodded.
“I can put a pot on.”
Drassi smiled gratefully, her tail wagging.
“Thank you so much. I’ve been to three places before this. I don’t want to be a bother, but my throat is dry. Let me give you a few details before everyone gets here.”
She followed Rykhai into the kitchen as the young Gnoll cubs swarmed around her, asking questions which Drassi was only too happy to answer. The Drake hadn’t slept for over thirty hours, but that didn’t matter. Her smile only kept widening as more Gnolls swarmed around Rykhai’s locked door and then flooded into her home, demanding answers. Were the Raskghar all dead? How had it happened? Were the prisoners well?
To a [Gossip], there was nothing juicier, nothing more delicious than knowing something this big before everyone else. Drassi grinned as more Gnolls living on the street threw their shutters open. Soon Rykhai’s living room was packed and Drassi had a huge audience. Everyone waited for Drassi to give them the details. After all, they’d never known Drassi to lie and she was one of the few people who knew what had happened.
Yes, the Council would probably make an announcement with [Criers] and [Street Runners] later today. But their report would be lacking in details, whereas Drassi had
And when she was done here, she’d visit the next street, and the next…there were a lot of hours before morning, and even then, she’d still be able to talk about what had happened to everyone she knew. Which was everyone.
In this moment, Drassi was a [Queen] surrounded by her adoring subjects. She beamed at the Gnolls who stared at her, dying to know what she knew. Drassi felt excellent. After all, she was performing a public service.
And she was doing Erin a favor. After all, a [Gossip] could sway the mood of the public if she was good, and Drassi was an expert. She owed Erin that much. So the Drake [Barmaid] winked and accepted a cup of hot tea sweetened with Ashfire Bee honey and settled back in her chair. She cleared her throat theatrically and then began.
“I’ll tell you everything as it happened. I heard it all from people who were there. It was adventurers who saved Liscor. But not just them. It was the Watch, the Antinium, Wall Lord Ilvriss, and even the army. But they couldn’t have done it without help from the Goblins. Yes. I’m serious! It was Goblins who helped save the day. And Erin’s magic door. But wait, I’m getting ahead of myself. It started like this. And remember, this is all true. I heard it from Ceria and Elirr and the others. They saw everything. When they first woke up in the Raskghar camp…”
——
Mrsha had a bad dream. She dreamed that she was lying on the altar. Sticky blood was on her back, and someone was holding her down. And Nokha was there. She was alive. She had a rock in her hands. It was stained with blood. And she was coming closer.
The white Gnoll tried to move. But she couldn’t. Nokha grinned at her. She drew closer. And then she reached into her chest. Her flesh moved, and she pulled out a head. Vakk’s. He stared blankly at Mrsha. Nokha bent over the bloodstained altar. Her breath was rancid. She stared into Mrsha’s eyes and whispered.
“We are whole, Mrsha.”
And then Mrsha woke. She thrashed about wildly and felt something strange. A softness under her. Warmth all around her. And—
Light. And Mrsha looked around and realized she wasn’t in the dungeon. She was above, in her room in Erin’s inn. And Lyonette was hugging her. Mrsha’s heart still beat rapidly, though. She looked around, remembering Nokha’s words.
She shuddered and then flinched as something moved in the inn. She crouched until she realized the thing was Apista. The Ashfire Bee flew up from the windowsill where it had been basking and buzzed gently around Mrsha’s head. The Gnoll cub looked at it and then realized Lyonette was holding her. She wiggled free and hopped to the ground.
The movement woke Lyonette of course. The young woman turned over, stirred, and then sat up. She blinked at her empty arms and then nearly shot out of bed.
“Mrsha? Where—”
She spotted Mrsha staring up at her. The Gnoll backed up a step at the look on Lyonette’s face. The [Princess] had an anguished look that turned to relief. She bent and swept Mrsha up into a tight embrace. Mrsha squeaked.
Lyonette didn’t care. She hugged Mrsha so tightly that the nightmare vanished. The Gnoll felt warm. And she hugged back, fiercely.
For a while, they just stood like that. After a while, Apista landed on Lyonette’s head. The [Princess] started and then laughed. She sat down on her bed with Mrsha in her arms.
“I’m so glad you’re here. I dreamed—”
She broke off as adults did when they didn’t want to tell the truth. Mrsha silently squeezed Lyonette. She was here. She was above. She inhaled Lyonette’s scent and looked out the window. It was light!
A faint light. A grey light. Rain pattered on the window, a gloomy sky bringing down more water. But it was still light. The dungeon had been small. But the sky—
“I’m never going to let you out of my sight again. I promise.”
Lyonette shifted her grip on Mrsha. The Gnoll shifted, a tad uncomfortable until Lyonette supported her with one arm. She didn’t know if she liked that promise, but in that moment, she didn’t care. She looked around and saw Apista hovering, her antennae waving. There was something different about her. Mrsha squinted and then patted Lyonette’s arm and pointed. The [Princess] looked up, and her eyes widened.
“That’s right! I leveled up! And I got a Skill—or rather—Apista?”
She held out her other hand, and the Ashfire Bee landed on her hand. It looked much like normal—that was, until it turned and Mrsha saw its stinger. Normally, the Ashfire Bee’s stinger was a little barb sticking out of its backside, barely noticeable. But now, Apista’s stinger was bigger. It looked brighter too, a more crimson tint to it. And it felt…hot. Heat was radiating from the tip of the stinger. Mrsha’s eyes went round as Apista fanned her wings, oblivious to the two pairs of eyes on her.
“[Crimson Stinger]. I got the Skill—I didn’t know pets changed with [Beast Tamers]! I heard that some [Falconers] could have huge hawks, but—”
Lyonette raised Apista up so the bee could walk up her arm and onto her shoulder. Both she and Lyonette stared at Apista’s enhanced stinger. Lyonette reached out to touch it and thought better.
“We all leveled up, probably. That’s one good thing that came of all this. I…I was so worried. I would have gone after you if I could, but all I could do was wait. It was Erin who rescued you, really.”
Mrsha nodded. Lyonette had said all this yesterday. She remembered Lyonette facing Nokha. She looked up and licked Lyonette’s face. The young woman squeezed Mrsha again and then heard a sound. It was a rumbling from Mrsha’s stomach.
“Oh. You must be hungry!”
She was. But Mrsha hesitated until she remembered that she was in Erin’s inn. Then she nodded rapidly. Lyonette smiled.
“Come on.”
She let Mrsha jump to the ground. Mrsha ran to the door and then paused. She raced past Lyonette, who was looking for her clothes.
Mrsha had leveled up too. And gained a Skill of her own. But that was a special secret. Mrsha reached under her pillow and pulled something out. Pisces’ wand. Her wand. She held it very tightly as Lyonette got dressed. She wouldn’t go anywhere without it. Ever.
“What’s that? Oh—well, I’m sure Pisces won’t mind. Come on.”
Lyonette picked up Mrsha. Rather than let her race downstairs, the [Princess] carried her down in her arms. Apista flew with her. At first, Mrsha felt like a stranger in a strange place. But then she smelled something wonderful coming from below. And when she and Lyonette reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw a familiar face.
Erin Solstice was sitting at a table. She looked up with a smile.
“Mrsha!”
She stood up. Behind her, she’d set a table with a huge number of hot dishes. She must have heard the two getting up, because there were steaming eggs, hot bacon, pancakes, warm buns, butter, milk with honey, sausages—and that was only the food from Erin’s home. There were spicy Yellets, a fish congee, fruit juice, a salad with dressing sprinkled over it, a melon sliced into pieces…
Mrsha’s eyes went round at the sight of it all. Lyonette put her on the table. She and Erin looked at each other for a moment. And then Erin smiled at Mrsha.
“It’s so great to have you back. We were all worried—I made you a special breakfast.”
Mrsha climbed hesitantly into her seat. After being in the cell for so long, she could barely believe what lay before her eyes. Her nose hurt a bit from all the smells. She had eaten food yesterday—but she’d been so hungry and so much had happened that she couldn’t remember what it was. This was her first real meal. And it was overwhelming.
“Go on.”
Mrsha looked up at Lyonette. The [Princess] smiled and nodded.
“You have the first bite, Mrsha. The [Healer] said you can’t eat too much or your stomach will do bad things. But you can have a bit of anything you want, okay, Mrsha? And you can have little snacks throughout the day. Take whatever you want.”
Slowly, almost thinking it was a dream, Mrsha reached out. There was a plate of poached eggs, wobbly, the edges crisped, and the yolks still gooey on the inside. Mrsha reached for one, picked it up, and then remembered she should have used a fork. She looked up guiltily, but neither young woman chastised her.
