For a medieval fantasy city, Far Felsen was surprisingly cozy. With the sun having dipped below the horizon, Jadis expected to be greeted by dark and dirty streets that smelled of filth and chamber pots. Maybe some drunk people stumbling about or at least a couple of mysterious cloaked figures stalking between alleyways, staring with sharp eyes from under face-obscuring hoods. Instead, the cobblestone streets were clean and well lit, with flaming lanterns that emitted no smoke lining the road. Every person Jadis could see looked well-behaved and honest. Not one skulking thug or ne'er-do-well in sight.
Was she disappointed to not be greeted by a seedy, sinister city? No. Not really. But with how bad things had looked in the forest, with abandoned villages and destroyed forts, demons running around everywhere trying to kill everything, Jadis had grown a few expectations of what civilization would be like once she found it.
Felsen wasn’t proving to be the barely surviving spot of civilization she’d imagined, but it was most certainly a beautiful sight that put little grins on Jadis’ selves.
The stone wrought buildings were less utilitarian in design, compared to the abandoned village. These buildings had wood accents, painted shutters, and clay tile roofs rather than thatch. The windows had actual glass in the frames and a few of them even had flower boxes hanging from them. The sight of the little posy flowers framing one of the houses was so surreally pedestrian it gave Jadis mental whiplash, especially when she compared the homey scene to the literal stone fortress built into the side of the cliff visible in the background behind the house.
It had taken about an hour to go over the details of the wagon trip with the gate guards. Many questions had been asked and specifics gathered on the number of demons, their type and ability, as well as their location and method of ambush. Jadis hadn’t been grilled as hard as she had worried she’d be when it came to her role in the slaying of the demons, especially the big stone lizard thing, but the whole interview had still taken tediously long. By the time the guards were done with her and the mercs, Jadis was dog tired and ready to go back out the gates and camp if it meant she’d finally get some rest.
Such melodramatics weren’t necessary, however. With the interrogation over, Aila put the cart back in motion, driving it down the wide road to the western side of the city, close up against the cliffs. Gerwas had explained that while civilians were supposed to report to the magistrate’s office right away, the office would be closed by now and she could go in the morning.
“You can stay in the Bernd’s Blades quarters for the night. There’s plenty of room since most of us are in the forward camps out in the field,” Gerwas told her, walking next to Syd. “Once you go to the magistrate, you can take up a bed in the asylum barracks that’s set up near the docs, or pay for a room in an inn, which there are a few still operating in the city. More so as taverns, but I know some are still letting out rooms to independent mercenaries.”
“Are the asylum barracks for people who are waiting to leave, back to the central continent, I mean?” Syd asked.
“Aye,” Gerwas confirmed. “I don’t know that there are any left still waiting at this point, so you’d probably have the place all to yourselves. If you three are looking to sail off, might as well save your coin and stay there.”
“I’m not sure that we are,” Syd said, eyeing the streets as they walked. “I think we might stay for a little longer, slay a few more demons, if signing up as a mercenary isn’t too onerous.”
“Ha! Thought you three might feel that way,” Gerwas laughed gruffly. “It would be a shame not to put strong arms with good fighting instincts to use.”
The city quarter around the base of the cliff was dominated by larger, wide buildings surrounded by their own tall walls, sectioning off the streets into smaller blocks. The men and women walking the road here were all armed and armored, unlike most of the people Jadis had seen closer to the main gates. There were a variety of different sigils and colors displayed on the tabards and surcoats worn, with matching flags and pennants hung proudly from different buildings, denoting which belonged to which mercenary company. It didn’t take long to spot Bernd’s Blades’ heraldry.
Aila drove the wagon right up to and through the walled arch and into a courtyard where several mercenaries greeted them. An elf with purplish skin took charge, talking with Gerwas to get the story of what had happened. As they spoke, Jay and Syd helped unload the wagon while Dys stuck with Ludwas and Aila.
A woman wearing robes in the green and brown colors of Bernd’s Blades rushed out from the main building and hurried to Ludwas’ side. White shining symbols appeared around her hands as she held them over the injured mercenary’s back. Jadis watched the man’s flesh and skin miraculously regrow before her eyes, his wounds magically healing.
“I don’t know what you did to injure yourself like this, but don’t do it again!” She scolded Ludwas like a cross mother chiding her child. “I just fixed Gerwas last time you two were in town and now here I am fixing you. How do you two find yourselves so much trouble?”
“Ah, what can I say Hela,” Ludwas replied, his voice sounding far less strained as the healing magics washed over him. “If we didn’t find the trouble, someone else would. Might as well be us, we’re used to it.”
“Hmph. Too used to it,” Hela shook her head in admonishment. Glancing over at Dys where she sat with her back leaned against the wall, she quirked an eyebrow and demanded, “And you, big woman? Are you a troublemaker, too?”
“Yes,” Dys answered, grinning.
Jadis didn’t feel she was anyone more apt to cause trouble than anyone else but considering how wild her time on Oros had been so far, she wouldn’t argue with the older woman’s quick assessment.
“Of course you are,” Hela intoned, eyeing Dys’ injured leg. “Well, you sit there and don’t cause any trouble in my sight and I’ll see to that leg of yours after poor Ludwas here.”
“Ah! I am ‘poor Ludwas’ now! I knew you cared,” the man sang, smiling up at the dour woman.
She slapped him lightly on the back of the head with one glowing hand. “Be quiet or I’ll leave you to heal the natural way. Teach you to value your skin more.”
As the healer worked her magic on Ludwas and he aggravated her with his flippancy, Aila approached Jay. Her face was as stoic as ever, but her body language was less stand-offish and more hesitant, like she was working up the nerve to act on an impulse.
“Does your offer still hold?” Aila finally spoke, looking up at Jay as she handed a large crate off to Syd. “About letting me level with you, I mean.”
Jay’s face broke out into a wide grin as she looked down at the redhead. “Feeling a little more convinced we can handle ourselves?” she asked in a teasing tone.
“Yes,” Aila answered with a firm nod of her head. “I am.”
Jay’s eyebrows rose at Aila’s honest reply. She liked that, the blunt truth being put out plain and in the open. Aila clearly hadn’t trusted the three giants well enough to put her life in their hands before, but now she did. Jadis couldn’t see any reason to fault her for her initial hesitation or change of heart. Aila had gone up one level already just by hanging around Jadis during one fight. How much more could she gain if she spent a few days in her company?
Jadis didn’t mind the mercenary attitude. She wanted Aila to empower herself, too, if she were being honest. No reason that they couldn’t jointly make use of each other.
“Let’s talk about it in the morning. Join me and my sisters for breakfast?”
“Done,” Aila nodded. “I will see you three then.” With that, Aila marched off, giving little nods to Dys and Syd as she passed, making her way into the large two-story building that made up the headquarters of the mercenary band.
“Damn. If only I’d slain a demon against terrible odds, perhaps I’d have gained her favor,” Volker said under his breath to Specht, close enough to Syd for Jadis to overhear.
“A girl has to have standards, doesn’t she?” Syd said in a sing-song voice, patting the green-eyed man on the shoulder.
As Specht laughed at Volker and the bemused man made joking defense of himself, Hela finished up with Ludwas’ healing.
Jadis was amazed to see the bandages come off his back and neck, revealing clear, unmarred skin where raw, melted muscle had been only a couple minutes before. Jadis had, of course, experienced magical healing herself, her skill Knight’s Rest letting her recoup from her injuries at an unnaturally fast pace, but the overnight speeding up of healing didn’t compare to the near instantaneous recovery Hela had accomplished for Ludwas.
“How’s your health number?” Hela asked, checking over Ludwas’ back with now no longer glowing hands.
“Full! I feel as fresh as spring flowers! What did we mere mortal men do to deserve an angel in our midst like you?” Ludwas said with aplomb, getting to his feet and helping Hela up to hers. He gave the woman a swift hug and a kiss on the cheek, which netted him another slap to the head.
“Bah, take your flattery to younger hens, you fool,” she said, though Jadis couldn’t help but notice the woman stifling a smile.
“And what about you?” Hela asked, approaching Dys. “How is your health?”
“I’m at a little over half full,” Dys said with a shrug. “So better off than Ludwas was, I think.”
The healer kneeled down and held her now once again glowing hands over Dys’ leg. “Then let’s get you back to full. I should have more than enough magic to get you there.”
Immediately, Jadis felt a wave of pleasant warmth wash over her, like her soul was being dipped into a hot bath. It was soothing, not just because she could feel her wounds close up across her bodies, but because the healing magic felt calming and good, making her want to simply lay back and bask in the—
Wait. Bodies?
Quickly, while Jay moved in front of her to block Syd from view of the talking mercenaries in the courtyard, Syd pulled down the bandage on her arm, checking where she’d been cut by one of the twisted wretches. The wound was healing up, disappearing as quickly as the injuries on Dys.
Jadis hadn’t thought about the fact that her health pool was connected across all her selves and how that would interact with any healing magic she received. How was she supposed to explain that healing one of her would heal all three? Could she pass it off as a skill, or was that implausible? Shit, did she have to reveal her true nature now of all times?
As seconds ticked by into minutes and Jadis tried not to let her worry show on her faces, Hela’s face began to scrunch up with some confusion.
“I thought you said you had half health,” she stated, eyeing Dys suspiciously. “I’ve gone through enough magic to heal at least a hundred health points now. If your wounds had brought you so low, you should have told me. I would have healed you both up to safer numbers with a stronger spell.”
“No, I’m fine, I have a lot of health,” Dys said, waving a placating hand at the healer. “If you need to conserve some magic, what you’ve done so far is plenty.”
Hela kept going, her slightly wrinkled brow furrowing as she pumped more healing magics into Dys. “I won’t have you leaving my care with less health than I can manage for you. Put that big hand of yours down,” she slapped at Dys’ hand, forcing the much bigger woman to simply lie back and accept her ministrations.
After another minute, Jadis’s health pool was almost completely full, reaching just ten points shy of her full four hundred and twenty max. Hela pulled back at that point, the soothing white light leaving her hands as she wiped her brow, looking a bit worn.
“By Valtar, you must have put a lot of skills and attributes into your vitality. I can’t let my magic go any lower than it is now, in case there is an emergency, but if you give me an hour I’ll recover enough to finish the job and get to your sisters over there,” Hela explained while running her fingers over Dys’ leg, checking for any issues.
Jadis felt fine. In fact, she felt better than she had in days, finally having all three of her selves almost completely healed. Seeing her opportunity, Jay and Syd moved in, helping Dys and Hela up to their feet.
“Don’t worry, we all have a skill that accelerates our healing overnight,” Syd said, motioning to her slightly bloody bandage that now concealed her perfectly healed arm. “I’ve healed off worse.”
“Yes, I’m almost full now anyway,” Dys assured the older woman. “You’ve shaved a week of bed rest off for me, and that’s more than enough. I’ll be topped off in the morning.”
“I’m not even really hurt,” Jay said, brushing off a few flecks of dirt from her shoulder. “So don’t go to any more trouble for us. We’ll be fine!”
The mercenary healer eyed all three with the air of a suspicious parent, but after a moment seemed to let it go. “Well, if any of you three experience any side effects from battle or disease, tell me and I will take care of you. You aren’t part of the company, but you did right by our own so we’ll do right by you.”
With that, the woman turned away and went to check on Volker and Specht, leaving Jadis to her selves.
“Mother Hela can be a mother hen, but she’s a good woman,” Gerwas said from behind the three giants. “Come, let’s get some food and I’ll show you where you can sleep for the night.”
Jadis followed him and Ludwas into the building, eager for a meal of what she hoped would be more meat, but more than that, keen on getting to a bed or three. It had been a long day and she was truly feeling exhausted, both physically and mentally. Still, Jadis was excited despite her exhaustion. She had a whole new city to explore, filled with magic, elves, orcs, and who knew what else waiting for her in the morning. Not to mention a cute, blue-eyed redhead to have breakfast with. That alone was enough of a draw to make Jadis want to sleep sooner, so the next day would come faster.
570