Heretical Fishing

Book 2: Chapter 57: Sticky Fingers

A soft drizzle was all that remained of the storm as we dashed over the sands. The sun peered out from between clouds, glinting off the water droplets and casting a vast rainbow in the distance. I smiled at it, wondering if everyone else felt the same level of peace. When I glanced at Ellis, that disillusion was swiftly dispelled. He ran with his knees high, his entire body holding a hint of manic energy.

I raised my eyebrows at Peter and Fergus, who had arrived at my home just after the animated archivist. The former cook grinned at me, clearly finding amusement in his friend’s ardor.

“Where are the rest of the gang?” I asked, content to let Borks lead the way. “I had kinda assumed everyone would want to come see a mine and the body of a dead spirit beast.”

Peter pursed his lips for a moment, then shrugged.

“I suppose I can tell you—it isn’t really church business. Barry and Danny are organizing a trade route between the neighboring villages.”

I noted he didn’t mention everyone else, but I was hardly going to go digging and accidentally discover things I couldn’t unlearn. I drew a hand to my chest, letting my mouth fall open.

Maria, catching my intent, let out an exaggerated gasp.

“You mean to tell us that Barry and Danny, the very beacons of virtue, are going against their king’s orders? They would trade goods with other villages despite his direct order to not do so?” Her lips formed a line as she shook her head. “I’m not angry. Just disappointed.”

While not with the same urgency as Ellis, Fergus’s eyes sparkled with more than just mirth as we made our way to the mine. I was excited for him; I couldn’t imagine the joy a blacksmith would feel at finding a hidden iron mine in their own backyard—well, it was technically my backyard, but the point remained.

We reached the entrance in no time at all, and we wasted not a second in descending into its depths. We passed by the crossroads, over the discarded pickaxes, and when the lizard came into view, Ellis finally stopped running. He skidded to a stop before he got near it, then crept forward on careful steps, not disturbing a stone. In a blur, he removed his notepad and pencil from a pocket.

“Remarkable....” His voice was filled with awe. “Absolutely remarkable.”

“What do you think, Ellis?” I asked. “Was it an ascendant creature?”

“Undoubtedly. If it were anything but, the skin would have wasted away in this humid environment. To think it—careful, smith!”

Fergus raised an eyebrow, pausing mid-step over the lizard’s leg.

“I may be large, Ellis, but I’m not a bumbling idiot.”

Ellis let out a sigh.

“Sorry. I do not doubt your dexterity, it’s just... please be careful around the specimen.”

“Of course,” he replied, stepping over the leg and continuing to the section of wall I’d taken a pickaxe to.

Maria, Borks, and I followed, leaving Ellis to his documentation.

“So, what do you think, mate? Iron ore?”

Fergus grabbed one of the gray chunks of stone, holding it up before his eyes. I knew his answer even before he spoke it—it was etched on his face.

“Aye, Fischer. It’s iron ore. By my judgment, it has incredible metal content. This will make fantastic pig iron.”

“Do we have the means to process it?” I asked.

He shot me an odd look.

“I sometimes forget you’re not trained in metals, considering how competent you are in the smithy. Aye, we have the means. Sometimes you need to crush and sort bits of rock out, but if all the ore has this much metal, all we need is enough heat.”

“The kind of heat you’d get in your forge?” I asked.

“Aye, Fischer.” The sparkle in his eyes morphed into a glowing ember. “Just so.”

***

Barry glanced back up at the map in the Church of Fischer’s meeting room, checking for the umpteenth time that there wasn’t a more efficient route.

“Is everyone in agreement?”

“I believe so,” Keith answered. “Danny?”

The former quartermaster didn’t look up from the table for a long moment, pouring over the map he’d drawn. There were innumerable lines scrawled across its paper, connecting different villages to one another. Beside each hub of civilization, he’d added what each area grew and would likely buy.

“I can’t see anything we’ve missed... what about you, Theo?”

The former auditor looked up from the table.

“Sorry, what?”

Danny’s brow furrowed.

“The route—the wares—do you see any way we could improve it?”

“Oh. Right. I was daydreaming, to be honest—I don’t have anything to add that you wouldn’t see, Danny. I’m mostly here for the next order of business. Not that there’s any rush, mind you,” he quickly added. “Take your time.”

“Anyone else?” Barry asked, casting his eyes over the rest of the cultivators and animals present. Only Fergus, Duncan, and Ellis were missing, having sprinted off when they received news of a mine and the body of what was potentially an awakened creature.

A series of no’s, head shakes, bubbles, and a chirp came in answer.

“I think we’re all done here, to be honest,” he said, standing and stretching. “As soon as we build a cart, we can send it out to swap goods between villages. I don’t see anyone ratting us out, considering we’re only offering trade, not trying to turn a profit.”

“Agreed,” Danny said, also stretching.

Brad and Greg shared a grin.

“We’ll get building on the cart as soon as the meeting is finished,” Brad said. “We already have all the supplies needed.”

“Should we get into the next order of business, then?” Barry suggested. “Anyone have anything to add or bring up first?”

No one raised their voice, so he cleared his throat and organized his thoughts.

“Would you mind taking notes, Theo? Just until Ellis returns?”

Theo grinned and picked up a pencil and spare sheet of paper.

“Of course, mate. Ready when you are.”

“Much appreciated.” Barry lifted his gaze, taking in the faces of all present. “In that case, I call into order the first meeting of Operation: Sticky Fingers.”

***

“Ready, Ellis?” I asked.

He nodded back, bending down at the knees.

“All right, everyone—on three. One, two, three.”

We had returned to the mine under the cover of night, this time with a handful of helpers in tow. We all lifted part of the lizard’s body, and Ellis slid a broad tabletop, borrowed from the woodworker’s shop, beneath it.

“Down on three.”

I counted down again, and we lowered the mummified creature. It remained in one piece, and I let out a relieved sigh.

“Wonderfully done, everyone,” Ellis said, sliding around to peer at each section and check it hadn’t been damaged.

“Let’s get this thing back to the village so we can get started on the important work,” Duncan said, shooting Ellis a wink.

The archivist pouted, which only made Duncan’s smile broaden. As expected, Fergus slapped him lightly on the back of the head.

“Just because you’re excited to get smelting doesn’t mean that getting this overgrown lizard back to town isn’t just as important.”

“If you say so, boss.” Duncan gave a cheeky grin.

Fergus shook his head in response, staring down at the lizard with no small amount of wonder as we lifted the tabletop.

“I know you said it was big, but seeing it in person is quite a different story.”

“Indeed,” Ellis agreed. “Marvelous, is it not?”

I couldn’t help but agree, and I breathed deep of the forest air as we stepped from the mine. The smell of rain still lingered, its scent so sweet I could almost taste it. I was walking backwards, so when the moon’s light hit the lizard’s scales, I let out a soft gasp. The vision granted by Borks’s ability within the cavern wasn’t a light, per se; it was a lack of shadow. The result was the scales appearing a dull, lifeless brown. With the pale moon above reflecting from their jewel-like faces, it was an entirely different story.

Each scale, only as large as a wheat seed, was a purple so deep that they seemed almost black. Before our eyes, the color shifted. From the center of each scale where the moonlight kissed, burgundy swirled out, licking at the limits of each scale. The purple held firm at the edges, rebuffing the miniature galaxy that swirled within.

“D-down!” Ellis said in a rush. “Set it down!”

To a one, we did so, all speechless.

While I was aware of Ellis flitting around in my peripheral vision, I paid him no mind. At some point, Maria came to my side. Her hand fell into mine, and we watched the galaxies together, the lizard’s body displaying a beauty that belied how long ago it had passed.

“There’s no point writing it down, Ellis,” Fergus said, his voice distant. “There are no words to describe it.”

“And yet, I must try,” he replied, not looking up from his notepad.

“What do you plan on doing with it, mate?” I asked. “Are you just going to preserve it?”

Ellis ruffled his mustache.

“That was the plan, yes... but now...” His eyes shot up, locking with mine. “It is clear to me that the skin, preserved as it is, still holds power. Do you have a tanner or leatherworker in Tropica?”

Both my eyebrows flew up at the implications of his question. I turned to Fergus and Duncan.

“Do we?”

They both shook their heads, and Fergus sighed.

“We did for a time, but he left a few years ago. A right shame, that. I’ve not bought a new apron since he left. Any Marcus could bring me is a touch too pricey to justify.”

“A shame.” Ellis blew air from his nose.. “Oh well. I’d have been more comfortable with experienced hands guiding the way, but I suppose I’ll have to make do with the books I’ve read.”

Duncan frowned.

“No offense, Ellis, but I don’t think reading about a trade is enough for you to make leather, let alone work with whatever this is. It has taken me years of practice to get as good as I am in the smithy, and I still don’t hold a light to Fergus.”

Ellis shook his head.

“You underestimate me, Duncan. You might have been right before I became a cultivator...” Ellis flexed a toned bicep to emphasize his point. “I do not say this with bravado. I just know that I can implement the knowledge I’ve acquired.” He winked. “Given some cheaper material to practice with first, of course.”

“Don’t let your ego impede your judgment,” Fergus mumbled, likely intending for only his apprentice to hear. “Others’ abilities—or lack of—don’t change the hard work you’ve put in at the forge.” He ruffled his hair to take the sting out of his words.

Duncan opened his mouth to respond, then closed it again, his head cocking to the side in thought. The deepening frown on his face told me he was realizing Fergus was right on the money—and was anything but happy about it.

Taking care not to turn my head toward them, I smiled at the interaction; something about it was just as beautiful and pure as the light dancing on the scales below.

“Okay!” Ellis said, closing his notepad. “Let us resume. I’d like to get the skin into the climate controlled air of the church as soon as possible.”

Not a word was uttered as we made our way back to Tropica, engrossed as we were in the lizard-shaped carpet of swirling light beneath our noses.

***

“Thank you for attending, everyone,” Augustus Reginald Gormona said, his intonation so deep as to almost be a yell. The confidence in his voice was the antithesis to the way he felt inside—all the more reason to use it.

Though the waxing crescent moon was bright beyond the stained glass windows high above them in the throne room, the orange glow of countless candles smothered any other color with their orange monotony. All six women before him bowed deep, some slower than others. The king forgave them; the hour was late, and many had been asleep.

The castle staff had been under orders to rouse them all—Augustus included—the moment Aisa arrived back from her expedition to the southern desert. It had taken longer than planned to get the message to her, and as a flourish of annoyance emerged at the memory, Augstus Reginald Gormona did his best to banish it. He couldn’t alter the past, and he needed to focus on what he could change. Could influence.

“Let me ask you straight,” he said, surety in his voice that he didn’t feel. “Who among you knows what a Domain is?”

Aria and her sisters, Chloe and Larissa, shared a glance, but no one spoke up.

The king sighed.

“Yes, I know it is restricted information, just as you do, yet I’m aware of the records your families keep. Please—speak with honesty. This is not a test and you shan’t be punished.”

Aria stepped forward.

“A Domain is a sort of area buff created by a cultivator, correct?”

“Correct,” the king replied.

The three who shared a look earlier didn’t react to the words, but lines formed on the faces of the other set of sisters, Eirene, Dianne, and Naomi.

So their parents kept it a secret… the king noted

Eirene rolled her shoulders back.

“What is the significance of this information, my king?”

Augustus nodded, appreciating the question.

“You were all sent to hunt down awakened creatures, of which none were found…”

All six women bowed at the waist.

“Forgive us, king,” Aisa said, staring at the ground. “These lowly servants deserve any punishment you see fit.”

“No.”

They all glanced up, save Aisa, whose face remained down-turned.

“It is not your fault,” he continued. “They are of significant power, which is why I have revealed the knowledge of Domains.”

This made Aisa’s head turn toward him, and he could see the realization sprout on her face.

“That’s right,” he said, clenching his jaw. “They are working together, no doubt being led by one of their number.”

Aisa swallowed; she had already deduced who.

Augustus Reginald Gormona, king of these lands, nodded again.

“That’s correct, Aisa. Lizard Wizard has established a Domain within the bounds of our kingdom.”

She bared her teeth, as did her sisters, similarly furious. The other three women looked ponderous, but the king didn’t judge them for it; it was of their nature to consider everything before reaching a decision.

“That is an open act of war, my king,” Aisa ground out. She dropped to one knee. “What are your orders? We will tear them up by the root if necessary—just give the word.”

Her statement gave the king hope, and he felt more sure of himself with these powerful women before him. He gave them a magnanimous look.

“I appreciate your fervency, but we are going on the defensive. This will be a war of attrition.”

Aisa’s eyes darted around at nothing in particular as her capable brain worked.

“Cut them off, starve them of resources before they assault the walls,” she said to herself. “Become like a great turtle in its shell—impregnable, stalwart, strong.” Her eyes snapped up to his. “A brilliant plan, my king.”

The king grinned, his emotions finally matching what he felt inside.

“Indeed, Aisa. You are all to lead your collared in this defense. I leave the area designation up to you.”

He turned and strode from the room, knowing a show of faith in their abilities to be the best option.

“Yes, king!” came the answering cry from all six women.