As he did, a guard ran forward and arrested the representative serving as Vester’s accomplice.
The king watched them out of the corner of his eye. “My dark agent!” he shouted with some urgency. “Track the movements of that slime! Do not let it escape your notice. Ever!”
The emphatic order of the normally taciturn king gave pause to everyone in the chamber.
“By my life, my liege!” the dark agent said before disappearing.
✦ ✦ ✦
The king thought to himself.
Who was that slime?
A type of monster, no doubt. Was that the level of monster being released, then?
His hero’s instincts were giving him a feeling he couldn’t ignore. Trusting it, he began to take action.
✦ ✦ ✦
Rigur and gang were all safe at the edge of the forest.
Between this and that, we had spent a total of five days in the city—pretty much what we expected. Things didn’t quite go according to plan, but we largely accomplished what we’d set out to do.
Too bad we didn’t get to hit the Free Guild in town. It sounded kind of like an adventurer’s club to me, the exact kind of place where an otherworlder or two might hang out. It would’ve been nice to check out all the gilt and armor the dwarves were known for, too. But oh well. We had a bunch of master craftsmen with us here. That was enough of a find. That, and I still had twenty gold pieces. Score.
I took the time to introduce Kaijin and his hapless friends to the goblins. We’d all be working together for a while to come, so I wanted to get off on the right foot. Come to think of it, I didn’t see much in the way of casual racism from the dwarves—most of them, anyway. Given the demi-magical origins we all shared, I suppose it made sense. I could imagine us crossing their paths again someday.
We were now more or less ready to roll. The only problem was transport. Ranga, of course, was wagging his tail, as if me hopping on him was the pinnacle of his life. I explained to him that I needed his full fifteen-foot size for a bit so we could fit two out of the three brothers on his back.
Ranga was not a fan of this idea. His face instantly turned sullen as he wobbled backward and plopped his ass on the ground. He glowered at the newcomers as if to suggest he could just eat them instead and save everyone a lot of trouble.
The dwarves almost jumped out of their skin. Even when they first saw him, they’d wailed in perfect unison. “““Gaahh! How could you ever…?!””” and so forth.
Either this was a well-practiced routine of theirs, or Ranga really did scare them that much. There had to be something I could do.
“Hang on, Ranga,” I said. “I tried transforming into one of you guys earlier, and I’d like to test out how it works a bit. That’s why I want you to let these dwarves on, all right?”
His head immediately shot up. “I understand, my master!”
Kaijin and Garm, eldest of the three brothers, would go on my back; Ranga would take Dold and Mildo. Once they were on, I’d spin some Sticky Thread to make sure they stayed on. These guys did nearly fifty at their peak. In this motorcycle-free world, the experience would probably make them pass out. Not that I knew whether I could handle that speed or whether I wanted to.
Now for me.
Mimic: Tempest Starwolf.
“Astounding! Your dazzling strength knows no bounds, my master!”
“Hah-hah-hah! Yeah, I’ll bet! And you’ll look like this someday soon, if you keep it up!”
“We will do our best to live up to your lofty expectations, my master!”
Ranga’s eyes sparkled at this new mission in life. The rest of the tempest wolves grew equally excited. Always a good idea to motivate the troops a bit.
So I turned to Kaijin and Gharm to get them to hop on, and…
Well, that’s weird. They’re all unconscious and foaming at the mouth. What’re these guys doing, anyway? Oh well. I knew that practice would come in handy! A little Sticky Thread off my back, and everyone was pulled up and put firmly in place. Success!
Fainted dwarves wouldn’t make great traveling companions, but either way, we were off.