16 The Village of Bilge

I stand in the field my Space bag at my feet. After picking it up I go over to the wagon and sit down. Removing the lists from my pocket I begin translating the words I know.

Some don't need translation like

Pots/covers

Spoons/cooking

Netting

Lead

Gold

Iron

Silver

Limestone

Golden root(ginger like plant)

There was things like

Talnac(potassium nitrate)

Regan(a special kind of charcoal)

Cilium(calcium)

Higphot(sodium)

Taric(mercury)

Fukan(sulfur)

I know these from working with Wizzal

Other items I'd need to look into like

Shirin, Rema, Silma, Toric, Dumuck bones, Bulbrib skin

I put away the rewritten list and remembered the Zark's bag the bandits didn't have much but what was in Zark's bag. I pull it out of my void bag with the bandits stuff I'd tied it to. I open the bag and get a surprise. "What the heck is this." I ask as I pull out two viles one of a green glowing liquid the other of a blue glowing liquid. There appears to be hundreds of each. I look down into the bag and see something round in there. I reach in and it's warm to the touch. When I pull it out I'm looking at a large egg with blue and green swirls. The white under-base seems to shimmer like a rainbow in the sun. I put the egg back in the bag and toss it back in the void bag. I'll have to look at books later and give the egg to Iota. He has hatched an egg not long ago.

I turn my mind to look into another area. I am going into an area with humans and I have five affinities as a human all untrained and with partial transformation that number goes up to seven. I pull out the books I grabbed from the library and set them beside each other. I need to decide on the ones to practice in front of people.

Nature, Lightning, Wind, Ice, Spirit.

Most humans have one some have two maybe three. The most common ones are the four elemental ones so one should be Wind. I'm just not so sure. After looking at the books for awhile I put the Wind one back in the Void bag and set aside the Nature one instead. Now I need to pick one more. I remove Spirit pretty quick that one is unpredictable and hard to train so I'll wait on that one. So that leaves two Ice or Lightning. After a few more minutes I decide on Lightning and put the other book away.

I look into the sky and see dark clouds moving in and lightning in the distance. I get out my hammock and hang it in the wagon. As I lay in it suspended in the air I start to read while listening to the lightning in the distance. By morning I can make a small lightning bolt jump from between my fingers when they are about 1 inch apart. The Lightning stops before it storm reaches me. The rain is still falling as I get up to hook the Raybacks to the wagon and pickup the crystals. I look up into the sky and wonder, "What would happen if I practice lightning in a lightning storm?" I look around and pull myself back to the present.

Before I leave I remove my sword hilt from my back and exchange it for a normal sword. I slide another knife down my boot to replace the sword I just removed just in case. It's made the same way as the sword is. We head out to the muddy dirt road. By mid morning the rain has stopped and the sun comes out. I remove my wet cloak and take a deep breath of fresh air feeling refreshed as I dry out.

A little past noon I come around a curve in the road and see a dirty orange stone wall ahead of me. It looks old and cracked, I can see troops patrolling the top. When I come to the gate two men bar my way and ask for travel papers I look at them and say, "Sorry my travel papers were lost would you mind issuing me some new ones?"

The man looks me up and down and says, "Pull on through and park the wagon to the side. The office will be on your right." I smile say, "Thank you" then head on through. When I enter the office the man at the desk says, "Name and reason you are here."

I say, "Lizeli, my papers got lost." He looks up at me and checks me out before saying, "Put your hands on the spirit plate over in the corner. The price for entry and new papers is five bronze coins. Also if you want a week pass it will be an extra two and two more for each week after that. If not then you will only be issued a night pass. The price for staying past your visitors pass is a fine of ten bronze coins and one day manual labor for every extra day. Citizen papers is one gold coin."

I walk over to the plate and wonder what it will say. The plate appears to be made of glass with symbols around the edges. Under the plate I can see a clump of something shining in the air. Must be a Shine crystal. After looking at the plate I put my hands on the plate and the man behind me says

Race: human

Developed affinity: lightning, beginner

Age: 18

No record found in crystal archive

Alright, here are your papers. Do you want a month, week, night or Citizen papers?" I say, "Week would be fine," and reach into my Void bag. Good thing I took those coins from the houses I attacked. I'll have to find away to sell some stuff or exchange somethings for cash. "Can you register me as a merchant?" "Ten bronze," he answers. I pass him the coins, take the papers and a small seven inch piece of metal with the number one on it. I smile thinking, "I was 36 in my old world. This is nice. Also if that thing says I'm human then could one like it tell me what I am." I figure it don't really matter right now. I'm examining the small square dull silver metal stick when the man interrupts my train of thought. That is a magic pass if you had said one month it would have had a 4 each day after one week one inch will vanish once it's gone you are no longer welcome, come back before that happens if you need an extension. I thanked him and continue on my way.

The houses are made of the same stone as the walls and look just as bad and run down. People lay beside the houses, some look half starved. Some of the houses are no more then broken down stone structures with the roofs caved in. The place smells of rotten food and human waste. I almost make it to the gate leaving the village when I finally see a tall roof that looks new off to the right side in the distance.

I head that way and the closer I get the nicer the houses and road gets. I decide to stop for the night at an inn. They provide a place for my wagon, Raybacks and a room to me for the week. The inn is old but clean. When I enter a young woman greets me saying, "Welcome to the Uval inn. Can I help you?" The inn has old wooden floors worn smooth with use.

The entryway has 20 tables and a bar. I can see stairs off to the left side going up to the second and third floors. I see booths along the wall. I look back at the young human girl before me. Her skin is a lite yellow and her hair is an emerald green. The dress she wears is also a pale green with the upper half a ruffled off white color. She still has a huge smile on her face but it's starting to look strained.

I turn back to her smile and say, "sorry , I was in deep thought. I need a room for a week." She gives out a small sigh and says, "A room for a week is 3 silver coins. It's an extra 10 bronze to include one meal a day." I look at her and say, "Just the room." I reach into my Void bag and pull out 3 silver coins.

She takes the coins and runs off into the back behind the bar. Minutes later she comes back with a key and says, "Your room is 203. Enjoy your stay." She bows and I take the key and ask, "Do you know where I can sell my products in town." She doesn't even hesitate as she says, Sure there is a market right down the street to the left when you leave here. It's every morning. There should be someone there to help you even now."

I thank the her and head in the direction she told me . When I find the place I ask some questions they say it's first come first serve. They have someone set up at each entrance to collect fees before you can set up your wares. Also they have a security force going around to make sure no one is selling with out permission. I thank them and start looking around.

This area has nice shops, a bar, a small bakery and weapons shop. Their is a magic shop and alchemist supply store, the what not shop, party house(Adults only), and clothing stores. One area has tailored clothing another has pre made. There is a cobbler and a stone mason, wood carver, armory, and herbalist. This area has so much to offer compared to the area I first entered.

I am about to go into the temple of Nullver when I see him. He is a muscular man with a devilish smile red hair and red eyes, pale red skin, and his hair is about 6 inches long and stands straight up. His eye teeth are clearly sharp. There is no mistaking the books, He has to be a Wamit(fire spirit) and he looks delicious. I feel my finger nails start to grow in my excitement and close my eyes digging my nails into my hands the small pain brings me to my senses. I uncurl my fingers as the nails shift back to human. I lick my wounds as they heal and wait.

He is talking to a huge human barbarian of a man with blue hair and laughing outside a pub. He doesn't smell of liquor the big guy is trying to get the Wamit to come in and have a drink. It appears like the Wamit while laughing is declining. His smile never leaves his face.

They part, the barbarian human going inside laughing and the Wamit heads my way. I slip into the shadows and wait for him to pass so I can follow. After a while we enter a rundown area. No one is around so I call out, "Sir, can you help me?"

He turns around smiles and with a small swagger says, "Sure what can I do for you?" He looks me up and down saying, "You don't look like you're from around here." I smile lean up against the nasty house I'm near and say, "You are right, I came in earlier today from the north gate. You look like an ok guy and I've kinda got turned around. Can you tell me what's going on in this town? Also can you help me back to my inn?"

He looks towards the north and says, " I can help you, but Dang, "There is nothing that way but mountains you must have come really far. What are you doing here?" I look down at my boots and dig my left toe into the ground as I say, "I came to sell wares for my family up north. We are not doing to well." He comes over leans up against the crumbling wall next to me and says, "That s*cks, it must be pretty rough to send a young girl to a place like this alone."

He jumps up and says, "Tell you what I'll help you out. We can go to my place. It's near here. I'll tell you about this town when we get there. Then I'll help you get back to your inn when we are through." I smile and say, "Could you?" He takes my hand and leads me through the dark abandoned streets.

When we get to his house it looks dark. he kicks open the door and laughs saying, "Stupid door gets stuck all the time." I smile and when we enter he turns on a light crystal that sits on a metal stand on the wooden table. The stand has symbols carved into it and when he touches the stand the crystal lights up.

There are two chairs at the table, a counter with cupboards and a fire place with a pot over it. I sit at the chair facing the door and he walks to the cupboard and pulls out a bottle of wine and two cups. He sits in the chair nearest the door and smiles as he pours me a glass. He says, "This town is a mess. The liege don't care about this town only about money and the Mulvar market area."

He passes me a drink. I bring it up to my mouth and take a sniff. He has put something in it. I put the cup to my lips and send a small black fire across my tongue and take a sip. The fire destroys the liquid as I pretend to swallow but shortly after my lips feel slightly tingly. Lucky my black flame is so hot there is no steam. He smiles and continues, "His taxes are way to high and even Mulvar Market has a hard time surviving, he does put money into that at least cause he has to keep the place making money and looking good for the kings inspectors."

He continues to talk about the town and after awhile I past him my cup. He pours me another and tips his arm up a little higher then need. I see a black powder come out of his sleeve and fall into the drink. As he passes me the drink he asks, "So what affinity do you have?" I point my fingers at him and small lightning streams comes out of my fingertips and stop about 1 inch out. He looks surprised and a glint appears in his eyes as he says, "That's a rare gift. Can you do anything else?"

I turn my hand back to myself look at my fingers and say, "No, not really, I just started learning." He looks disappointed as he continues to talk and I think of an idea. As he talks I click my tongue in my mouth and a lightning spark moves across my tongue. I smile as I've just found a new way to work with what little lightning I can use. He thinks I'm smiling at him as I take another sip of the liquid letting the fire cover my tongue once again.

When I pass my cup over to him again he looks confused for a second, looks at the bottle and pours me another. He turns away as he pretends to sneeze and gives his arm an extra shake. He Smiles and says, "Sorry" as he passes me the cup again. This time he doesn't talk much as I drink and he keeps nervously looking at the cup in my hand. Once the drink is gone I stand and stretch.

He stands as well as I say, "Thank you for the information and drinks but I really have to go." He looks like he is going to say something but I interrupt, "Oh, one more thing. Is it true that a Wamit turns to ash when their hearts are destroyed?" He looks at me in surprise as he says, "Yes that's true," Then he slowly mutters, "What a weird question to ask." I smile take a step towards him and say, "Not really, just checking."

I kiss him and he stands there in surprise for a minute then wraps his arms around me closes his eyes and pulls me in, kissing me hard. I wrap my arms around his shoulders meeting him as I press I'm body harder into him. My tongue flicks out of my mouth as I pull my lips back a little. I move my hand to his head and squeeze.

His eyes look confused then surprised as he falls to the floor. I smile at him and say, "I've crushed only part of your brain. I know you can hear me but can't move." My shape starts to change my skin turns to my copper tan color the claws and teeth grow and my wings start to grow out as I continue. "I prefer eating the heart while it's still beating but we can't always get our way now can we? If I were you I'd use my powers before it's to late."

I wait a minute as he lays there starring up at my in horror. "No? Guess you can't that's to bad. I bet Wizzal would find that just plain, Fascinating." I draw the last word out making it sound suductive. I reach down and pick him off the ground by his head and give it one more squeeze. His body dangles lifelessly as I rip open his head. I smile lick my lips then I take a bite.

Once done I rip his hand from his body and throw it to the floor. The blood slowly flows pooling under his lifeless body. I remove his coin purse, knife and the powder tube from his body placing them in my Void bag. Then I look at his chest for a few minutes and wait "hmmmm." I still have his body suspended above the ground in my hands and no brain.

I slam my hand into his chest. I can hear bones breaking and cracking as my hand enters into his chest cavity. His blood starts dripping down his chest. I feel his dead heart in my hand and squeeze. No sooner do I squeeze then his body turns black and small red ambers can he seen dancing across the skin.

His body disintegrates and black ash settles to the floor. I look over to where I'd thrown his hand and it to is gone. In its place is a small pile of ash. the only evidence left behind is the blood on my face. I head into the bathroom so I can clean up, and shift back to human. Then I head back to the inn.

When I get to the inn the place is full. People are laughing and drinking. The servers have their hands full. The smell of food is in the air. I head straight up the steep stairs to the second floor. My room is the second one on the right.

The stairwell seems dark even with the Light crystals glowing in their holders. I take out my key and enter the room. It's small with a wash basin on the dresser. There is a mirror and a small bed. I look out the large window behind the bed. Then put my Void bag and Space bag on the shelf above the bed. After removing the sword and setting it beside me I sit on the bed where I spend the rest of the night working on my new lightning armor idea.