The hero's party (1)

James slept in the following day. The children woke up early, but he'd turned and buried himself deeper in his covers. They had probably gone off with Hansworth to deal with that one errand he had sent him on.

He didn't want to admit it, but the event the night before had scared him a little. At least it hadn't been because of his little display on the road to Uluth that had almost led to his death, but what if...

There was an inherent danger in the kind of things he was going to be doing. And now that this madam Vi had roped him into trying to save the city, perhaps he needed a more sure fire way to protect himself and his family. He needed to hide his power somehow. He knew better than others how accomplishing great deeds might be dangerous to one and those around him.

The head butler came knocking at around midday. James had received a visitor. Surprising, given he'd just been in the city one night.

That wasn't the only surprise he was set for. The fat proprietor of the dining swan smiled at him as he descended the stairs from his second storey room.

"It is quite the pleasure to see you again, young master."

The fool had figured out James's identity. Not that he'd seriously hoped to keep it secret, but still. He was a big name in the trading world though, so James had an inkling of why he was here.

"Let's get straight to it, shall we? Do you have everything I asked for?"

"Mana disruptors, high grade potions, and high grade mana stones? Though why they have to be empty?"

"The less you know, the better."

He hoped the fat man's partners had kept him out of the loop. It was easy to see why he'd need anti mage weapons if one knew the extent of the revolution's plans.

"I notice you don't have any guards. My mercenaries —"

"Are not around at present. They chose not to extend their contracts for the time being."

"I see."

"If that is all, then best get back to it. I need those things in two days at the latest."

"Great! Zain Bernabis at your service. You will not regret having the Bernabis company serve you."

He didn't respond as he exited the antechamber and headed straight for the stairs back upwards. He released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding since he'd seen the fat man, Zain. Talia and the others were alive.

He'd done a good job of affecting nonchalance, but he couldn't have predicted how the meeting would have gone. The only thing he could do was offer her a way to survive.

"Wait, young master!"

Zain waded after him like a duck, moving his short legs awkwardly to keep up.

"A message, from our mutual acquaintance."

James shouldn't have been surprised mistress Vi had contacted this merchant in the first place. In the novel, this same guy had introduced her to the hero. James had never quite understood how he fit into the narrative. He was a big dog in the revolution, yet had seemed very supportive of the hero.

Jason being obtuse though, had yet to find out this guy was playing two sides by the fifth book. James didn't trust anyone from the hero's party. Even his assassin maid Mary had joined it at some point in the fourth book.

He got the note, read it once, twice. And all of a sudden he had plans for the evening. He thanked the merchant and sent him on his way. Then he retired to his room and grabbed a quill and a blank book he'd bought just for the occasion.

The longer he stayed in this world, the more likely he was to forget the plot. He needed to note down everything he remembered. There were a few fixed events that couldn't be skipped. His actions had little consequence on events like the upcoming massacre, the battle for the North which would be another nail in his academic coffin, the demi-human purge.

He had to note down locations Jason had found most of his divine treasures. He had to fix his witch factor. It was injured, and now barring flight, he doubted he could use the other two divine gifts that well. Yet he needed to collect more for the explosion that would come after the minor events.

He almost slapped himself when he considered something. Politics. Jason had never had to deal with it, so all the political strife had taken place in the background.

But now he remembered how the three princes had tried to use Jason for their own ends. In the end, the most nefarious of the four royal children, the second princess Emily had won him, and consequently become favourite for the throne at least as far as James had read.

She was the same person rumoured to be his fiance. James could feel a headache coming on. He also had to worry about the third prince Mikhail.

It was never implicitly mentioned, but James suspected Mikhail might be sponsoring the revolution in some capacity. The first prince Roland was silent most of the time though.

Then there was the whole Raven matter to consider. The lord had sent his younger son to represent the family, yet the elder son had sneaked into the capital. James wondered what sort of plan the boy and his former saint friend had concocted. He could only hope he was not part of it.

If he remembered correctly, the two might have tried to ally themselves to prince Mikhail in the novel, but the prince failed to get them into the capital. It had turned out to be purposeful, but by then it had been too late to change their backing.

The third prince didn't have a faction. Or so they'd thought until Timothy stood beside the man as Stan was sentenced to exile or something of the sort.

James didn't notice the passage of time. So entranced was he by his little story. Then someone was rapping on his writing table. He let out a long breath after his beating heart calmed down.

"Damn it, Hans! You damn near gave me a heart attack!"

"I tried knocking on the door," the other man said with a shrug.

"Fine, what do you want?"

"That thing you wanted. Its here. I put it in an empty room downstairs like you wanted."

James paused a moment, trying to think back to...he grinned.

Two hours later, his muscles were throbbing like they'd never done before, his breaths were heavy. He stood with his hands extended forward, ready to catch the bar once Hans got too tired to press further.

He felt a little jealous. The other man could press five times as much, and the weights were increased whenever it was his turn. In a corner of the room, Nino and Eno sat and meditated quietly.

A black smoke like cloud covered Nino, and circled her body. Nothing appeared around the boy.

When Hans was done, James put the bar on his shoulders without adjusting the weights, and attempted to do a squat. He almost tipped over trying to get up.

Hans helped him lower the bar, and they sat down together laughing and panting. James would never have expected the two to get this comfortable with each other, but they were comfortable. His mind wandering to the fact that Hans had always planned to go further South in time. To deal with the kidnapping ring.

He held his crude bow, notched an arrow, pulled back, and tried to aim. He'd been doing that a lot. Not shooting, just drilling. A hand pulled at his sleeveless exercise shirt.

"What is it, Eno?"

"I want to show you something."

Three pairs of eyes stared at the boy. James, knowing a lot of the lore of the land, or at least as much as had been exposed in the books could already guess. Why else would a young beastkin have one of the most talented kids in the tribe be their slave and protector?

The boy's bones shifted, the sight of them melting and melding, the sound of them snapping, all sickening. But then he was done. And he wasn't a three tailed fox. Instead a white furred wolf stared at him. James frowned.

He had had some expectations, but now a new suspicion was creeping into place.

"This, uh, this is not what I expected. How many other forms do you possess?"

"He can only do that or a cat, at the moment," Nino answered.

"I see why they were scared of you, whoever betrayed you. If you are a true shape shifter—"

"Then he could be something scary indeed, once he comes into his true power. He takes the abilities of anything he transforms into."

James was still staring. "I've heard legends. The three tailed foxes descended from a love affair between a shape shifting demon, and a dragon, and that the shape shifting gift would one day return, but this."

The boy shifted back into his human form.

"Are you—?" he started to say uncertainly.

"No! Don't! I don't regret taking you in one bit. Even that you have a lot of potential, that is for the future. You are but a child now, and nothing more. I will still not let you fight my battles."

"But... that's all I'm good for."

James froze, his face going hard. An old anger returned, and it was all he could do not to burn the room to the ground. He was shaking when he started to speak.

"One day, they will pay. They will pay for doing this to a kid."

Both the children were staring wide eyed at him. Hans just looked smug where he sat next to a wall. James struggled to regain control of his roiling emotions.

"I am a little curious to know how this gift interacts with the three tailed mind gifts."

The boy shook his head as if to clear it. His eyes were watery, but James didn't comment on that.

"The elders did say that if trained well, I could potentially learn to extend the effect of my gift to others."

"Hmm. I guess thats interesting. We shall have to find ways to train you up right. In the meantime, everyone should take a bath. We are going out."

Three groans.

"Not to that place we went yesterday."

It was time to meet yet another member of the hero's party.