Valkyrie's Shadow

Winter's Crown: Act 7, Chapter 3

Winter's Crown: Act 7, Chapter 3

Chapter 3

At the polished wooden counter of the Adventurer Guild’s main plaza office, Ishpen and Wina stood across from a slightly cringing figure. Wina smiled silently, while Ishpen had her arms folded before her. The brown-haired receptionist might have sported a neutral expression, but it felt as if her olive eyes were simmering like pools of virulent venom.

“Hmm…well, what can I say…”

“M-maybe we should start with something less extreme. Do you have something easier?”

“That was a Copper Rank run! We don’t have anything easier!”

Ilyshn’ish flinched. Ishpen’s voice was not exactly a shout, but in the all-too-quiet atmosphere of the plaza office, it certainly felt like one. The sound was loud enough to allow her Blindsight to map out the details of the entire building as the receptionist’s voice sent slight vibrations throughout its structure. Ilyshn’ish wrung her hands nervously in the stillness that followed.

“Acting cute won’t help you here,” Ishpen growled.

“I’m not acting!” Ilyshn’ish replied defensively, “Besides, that ‘run’ was absolutely unreasonable.”

“How was it unreasonable? You were the only person in the party that didn’t make it.”

“They didn’t know! That, or there was something obviously very wrong with their heads! How could anyone stand those…those…all dark and shiny and making that terrible rustling noise! And the smell…” Ilyshn’ish shuddered at the memory, “I could feel them the moment I walked in, you know. Crawling around behind the walls. Just how in the world did you manage to collect millions of those things?”

“They’re just bugs,” Ishpen countered. “How can you be an Adventurer if you’re scared of bugs? Didn’t Merry say you were in the Realm of Heroes?”

“They’re not just bugs,” Ilyshn’ish told her, “they’re dirty. Imagine if they got under your sca–er, under your skirts. What if you get some weird rash? A strange, incurable disease that makes you itch in some unspeakable place until your flesh sloughs away…no amount of ‘Hero’ will help you then.”

To the side, Wina’s smile vanished, and she drew the hem of her dress in more closely. At least she had some common sense. Ishpen’s eyebrow twitched, but she was not dissuaded.

“The fact of the matter is that you’re the first person ever to fail our opening Copper-rank assessment,” Ishpen said, “and the rules are the rules. You’ll be subjected to a cooling-off period.”

“Cooling off?”

Ilyshn’ish frowned. Frost Dragons were immune to cold. Did that mean she would be subjected to this ‘cooling-off period’ forever?

“You won’t be able to try again for a time,” Ishpen explained. “This is to prevent people from thoughtlessly attempting the assessment over and over again. Please reflect upon your experience here so that you will not fail a second time.”

“So…I don’t get a Copper Plate?”

“Of course not.”

“I am an Adventurer, right?”

“Not officially. You’re a provisional Adventurer, at best.”

Ilyshn’ish’s shoulders shrunk and her lip quivered. What was she going to do? Would they tell Lady Shalltear? She really didn’t want to find out what would happen.

“If you’d like to help out around the city,” Wina offered, “we have some things to deliver to the post office.”

“Delivery?” Ilyshn’ish perked up, “I-I can do that, I think…”

She was directed to the Adventurer Guild headquarters in the central district, where she was to see Guildmaster Ainzach about the parcels. The shimmer of midsummer heat could be seen rising off of the cobblestones as she made her way through the city, and she wondered why Humans would choose such a dismal place to dwell. When she arrived at her destination, she found the Guildmaster not inside, but outside watching a group of Humans gathered in some sort of newly-dug pit.

They were sweating and screaming and beating each other with pieces of wood. Was it some form of mutual torture? Whatever it was, they all looked rather vicious. Perhaps it was part of some bloody ritual that helped to raise such frightful beings. Guildmaster Ainzach was similarly sweating, occasionally barking something down at the people below. She did her best to keep her face straight as a gust of wind washed the odour of many ripe Humans over her.

Most of the time, Frost Dragons did not have a scent, or rather their scent matched their native environments. It was the scent of crisp air that one might breathe in when they frequented icy climes, frozen seas, or cold boreal forests. This was one of the aspects of her kind that made them such excellent hunters in their own homes: the only way one could detect a Frost Dragon by scent was if a normal scent was not supposed to be present.

“Oh, Shiver,” the Guildmaster rose and turned towards her. “What brings you here?”

“Wina sent me to deliver some parcels to the post office,” Ilyshn’ish replied. “She made it sound like they needed to go out immediately…?”

That last part was a lie, but she didn’t want to linger and risk having the Guildmaster confront her over her recent failure. He disappeared into the office, appearing several minutes later with a crate. Within were six Infinite Haversacks. She caught herself leaning forward, enticed by the scent of the valuable items.

“I didn’t know that there was any rush,” the Guildmaster handed over the crate, “or I’d have gone and sent them myself. Well, better you than Ishpen coming out and yelling at me over it. Thanks, Shiver.”

She bobbed her head silently before scurrying off, making her way out of the northern gate of the district. Following the road and turning into the Demihuman Quarter, she walked towards the newly constructed post office. The large stone building was situated in the corner just inside the gate, opposite the Azure Sky, Iron Fist Institute for Promising Children. A sign hung over the entrance of the post office: portraying a white envelope with small black bat wings spread to either side. The envelope was sealed with a red heart.

Lady Shalltear was quite proud of the sign and had gone to great lengths to explain its romantic symbolism to her. After a week or so, Ilyshn’ish still didn’t get it. Within, there was a short line of various species – mostly Demihumans with a single Dwarf – and she took her place at the end of the queue. When it was her turn at the counter, a familiar individual greeted her.

“Good afternoon,” the Vampire Bride smiled.

“Good afternoon,” Ilyshn’ish replied. “Um…this is from the Adventurer Guild…”

She knew all of the Vampire Brides that worked for the post office, but none of them had names. They didn’t seem to mind being nameless, however, and they always seemed to know when they were being addressed. The Vampire Bride reached into the crate and fished out a folder that was included within. After flipping through the contents, the Vampire Bride reached out and tapped a bell on the countertop.

Before the clear sound dissipated, another Vampire Bride appeared from the back. She exchanged looks with the one at the counter before picking up the crate and looking pointedly at Ilyshn’ish.

“This way, please,” the Vampire Bride said.

Somewhat puzzled, Ilyshn’ish followed her into the office warehouse. Rather than stop anywhere inside, they ascended the flight of steps in the back to the top of the wall. The Vampire Bride stopped at the loading area of the newly renovated Frost Dragon pens and placed the Infinite Haversacks on a table. After reading through the folder, she looked up at Ilyshn’ish.

“What’s going on?” Ilyshn'ish asked.

“The note in here says that this delivery needs to go out right away,” the Vampire Bride held up the folder and waved it beside her head. “Please assume your natural appearance.”

“M-me? Why?”

“The other flights on this shift are currently in the air,” the Vampire Bride said. “You’re the only available flight in the city at the moment.”

“But Lady Shalltear said that I’ve been removed from the delivery schedule…?”

“And that is precisely why you are available right now.”

Was that how it worked? It felt a bit of a stretch to her…then again, she had just failed the Adventurer assessment, so she dared not add to the list of things that she might get into trouble over. She stretched her wings and tail after returning to her Dragon self and, after being loaded with the Infinite Haversacks, the Vampire Bride rolled a map out over the table.

“Their delivery location is in the forest south of Feoh Raizo,” she said, “about 40 Kilometres distant.”

Ilyshn’ish lowered her head to study the map. Most of it seemed familiar. After putting the map away into her bag, Ilyshn’ish stepped over to the edge of the wall and took wing.

“Have a safe journey,” the Vampire Bride’s voice drifted up after her.

The currents of heated air that rose from the baked streets of the city lifted Ilyshn’ish to a comfortable altitude in short order. Banking north, she scanned the scenery below until she spotted what she thought should be her destination. It was roughly 120 Kilometres north of E-Rantel – if she was quick about it, she would be able to make it there in an hour or so. After weaving a pair of Spellsongs over herself, she set her course, cutting through the cool north wind as she hummed to herself. Idly watching the scenery go by below her, she crossed over the Great Forest of Tob and wondered why the Adventurer Expedition was taking so long.

She knew that Humans weren’t very mobile, but they couldn’t be that slow, could they? It had been a bit over a week since the conclusion of the ‘high mountain training’ for the Adventurer Guild. Life had settled into a peaceful routine for Ilyshn’ish while she waited for her Adventurer debut. She attended the Justice Dragon Dojo twice a week, performed once a week at the Frosty Beard, and spent the remaining days wandering around the city, reading books, and sleeping. She thought it might be something like the life exploring the world that she had considered before she and her family had been forcefully relocated and turned into beasts of burden by the Sorcerous Kingdom.

No one in the city tried to eat her – actually, they were strangely nice. She quickly came to understand that, rather than a calculation between the material costs and benefits of associating with her, almost all interactions were entertained solely on the basis of her appearance. If one was powerful, they could get away with much. If one was physically attractive, they could also get away with much. If one was both powerful and attractive, well, Ilyshn’ish could do almost anything she had wanted to, until recent months.

With a bit of experimentation, she found that Humans were quite simple to manipulate. Males, especially. Their gazes followed her – openly or otherwise – whenever she wasn’t concealing her presence. They happily interacted with her, offering her favourable bargains, disclosing all manner of information, and making every effort to distinguish themselves and escalate their image in her measure. Humans didn’t snivel and cringe like the Quagoa and were by and large better learned. It was like having slaves that conveniently presented themselves wherever she went, and Ilyshn’ish considered it a general improvement to her personal quality of life.

The overarching tasks that Lady Shalltear had assigned to her were going slowly or quickly, depending on what they were. Her memory allowed her to perfectly absorb her physical observations wherever she went, but what any of it meant was more often than not up in the air. Customs, conversations, stories and behaviours – they meant nothing to her until she learned enough about their world. Fortunately, she could always learn that later and refer to the past to understand what had been going on at the time. Information and references that revolved around locations she had never frequented before were the worst, as she would have to go to the locations in person to best learn about them. Until then, it was long hours of reading and trying to make sense out of things with Hejinmal, who stayed in his room during his breaks and performed research for her.

On a more positive note, her stores of personal wealth were steadily building up. Between her weekly performances and odd jobs as she learned about life in E-Rantel, she had nearly half-filled her Infinite Haversack with an assortment of texts, maps, platinum coins and a few small diamonds. Most of the weight was books, so she figured she could leave them with Hejinmal to free up the magical container’s limited capacity. She could also make some room by selling her eggs: since they were no longer needed, she would need to find out where she could gain the most for them.

A commotion in the trees roughly ten kilometres ahead drew Ilyshn’ish from her ruminations, and she eyed the goings-on curiously.

Frost Giants at such a low altitude? I wonder what’s happening…

It was a small raiding party…or maybe a large scouting party? She supposed that there wasn’t much of a difference between them. A horn blared far below.

Oh, they’re chasing someone down. Maybe I can pick up something valuable after it’s all over – they don’t have a sense for various things…

Arriving above them, she banked into a wide circle, settling into a lazy glide as the scene unfolded below. The Frost Giants were split up into groups of two or three and occasionally stopped to take a swing at something small. Whoever it was wasn’t faring very well, but that was to be expected of weak lowland peoples. They might be able to gang up on isolated Giants, but probably had little chance against several at once.

After a few moments, her humming stopped and she focused her attention on whatever the Frost Giants were attacking. It occurred to her that they might be who she was supposed to deliver her parcels to. She descended to a thousand metres over the treetops and recognized a few of them. Yep. It appeared that their camp was about a kilometre to the southeast, overlooking a boggy valley.

Ilyshn’ish dove towards the camp, determined to successfully complete her delivery before things got too busy there. She couldn’t get into any more trouble than she might be in already, after all.