Chapter 14 - Part 4

As the sun began to set, the pegasi set down in a small space between the trees. Delegado was the first one to dismount, glad to have his feet on the ground again. Thomas was second. As much fun as the man was having on his mount, he was ravenously hungry. Their breakfast was always a hasty thing eaten before dawn, and the lunch break was more for the pegasi than for them, also quick, and also cold. Dinner was the only sizeable meal, and the only one cooked over a fire.

Orphan supposed that he could understand why hot food was better than cold, but he was sure that he would never know. For his part, he was glad to see Delegado get less grouchy after eating. The half-orc did not realize it, but he made Thomas jittery. The half-daelkyr was unused to being accepted, and every time Delegado muttered to himself or swore at the weather, Thomas would flinch like he was wondering if he did something wrong.

Orphan patted down the pegasi, rubbing them with the brush like Delegado had showed him while the half-orc and half-daelkyr discussed explorer marks that showed where fresh water would be for the mounts. As much as horses drank, pegasi drank even more. Orphan recalled that the previous night the half-orc had said that Oalian himself had developed the code that led to explorer marks.

Oalian, Orphan thought, as he tied the pegasi to a tree and opened feed bags. The mechanical care of the flying horses came easily to him, but he was hopeless in soothing them. Even the half-orc was better able to use his personality to calm the animals than the warforged. Fortunately they did not need to be soothed. After over a week in the company of the half-daelkyr and the warforged they were used to the unusual.

Iron Orphan opened a saddle bag and took out some kindling wood. No one was to cut wood or gather wood in this untamed part of the forest except for Delegado. The half-orc had been emphatic that ‘making the wrong tree f’testing mad was a good way to die.’ So they had flown with a gathered stash. A small fire would do for cooking, and thick blankets would deal with the nighttime chill. A couple of lanterns were in the saddlebags for when Orphan, who did not sleep but could not see in the dark, would stand watch. The warforged quickly began to dig a small fire pit and find stones to encircle it.

Ah, how small, menial tasks keep me from thinking about the greatpine druid, Orphan mused wryly. He was frightened, and he might as well admit it. Oalian was the most powerful druid known in the world, a great intelligent and mobile tree that was tapped into the very essence of the Eldeen Reaches. In other words, no one else could be a greater expert on what was and what was not alive. If Oalian told him that warforged were indeed just clever robotic devices…

Focus on your work, Orphan chided himself. He finished the pit and worked on kindling the wood. Soon a small blaze was going.

“Hey there!” Delegado called out. He and Thomas were returning with a huge skin of water between them. “Look what I found, and without using my dragonmark!” He was referring to the water of course. The skin was a huge thing that they had purchased in Merylsward that could carry a barrel and a half of liquid. The half-orc and the half-daelkyr were balancing it carefully between them.

“Good job,” Orphan said. He knew Delegado enjoyed flaunting his abilities, and he had discovered that it didn’t hurt to indulge him.

“I found a mountain spring from melted ice once,” Thomas said, somewhat nervously. The half-daelkyr often tried to find some way into the conversation. Oddly Thomas could be a very smooth-tongued and confident individual at other times. He certainly was when he was casting from a scroll.

Phantom used to do that, Orphan suddenly recalled. And one of those two men hired to attack me. He wondered why he made that connection. Thomas was hardly the only person to try and figure out how magical devices were used, and the lonely half-daelkyr was no threat to the warforged. “I find ice melting fascinating,” Orphan said. “The first time I saw it I kept taking pieces of it and holding it near a candle flame.”

“You two really need to find a hobby,” Delegado grunted. He was carefully pouring water into buckets and the pegasi were drinking unabashedly.

“I’ll, uh, I’ll start cooking the game meat,” Thomas said. Orphan could tell that the half-daelkyr was wondering if Delegado was rebuking him. The warforged had wanted to ask Delegado to be more considerate of Thomas, but for one thing he hadn’t had a chance to speak with the half-orc without being overheard, and for another, he wasn’t sure how Delegado would take it. The half-orc was changing, something about the attack on Merylsward had affected him, but still it was a new thing. Many of Delegado’s habits were deeply ingrained, and surliness was one of them.

Odd that he has become our de facto leader, the warforged thought, watching Thomas put grease onto a pan. Of course it isn’t like anyone else can speak for us, everyone thinks Thomas is a dangerous freak and I’m someone’s property running an errand. And his dragonmark should help open a few doors. Orphan began to shuck some dried corn from the saddlebags. He didn’t need to eat, but he liked to help the others do so. It wasn’t just to be useful, either. He found the whole obsession with food to be fascinating.

“Okay, the pegasi are all happy now,” Delegado said, coming back. “They’ve got their feed bags and water buckets.” Feather cawed and came down to settle on his shoulder. “Well, I haven’t seen you since right before we landed,” Delegado said to the bird. “Got tired of chasing fat mice? Or maybe the local honeybirds aren’t friendly enough?” Despite his jesting tone Iron Orphan could tell from the tender way the half-orc stroked the bird’s neck that he was very fond of the hawk. “Somebody is jealous of the big, winged horses I bet.” Feather let out a short, high-pitched, miffed sound, and then took off for the skies. “He’s going to fly half the night just because he wasn’t able to for the last seven hours.”

“How much do you think we’ll be in the air tomorrow?” Orphan asked.

“Five or six hours,” Delegado said, sitting cross-legged on the ground and cracking open a wineskin. “Maybe four, but only if the headwinds act in a really unusual way for this time of year. We’ll get up before dawn again, take a break for lunch, and get there sometime past noon.” He took a long swig. “Then we have to give the mounts back to Vadalis, we head for the Tharashk office, and we try to arrange a meeting with Oalian. I’ll speak to the Gatekeepers there if I really need to push the door open. I suspect that Oalian already knows we’re coming, though.”

“Do you think it’s the sort of place that we can walk around freely?” Orphan asked.

“Not Thomas,” Delegado said. “Nothing personal, buddy, but there’s way too many people that would attack you on sight.” Thomas sighed and looked down. His eyestalk gave Delegado a baleful look. “You, on the other hand, can go where you want, Orphan, although I’d stay out of any Cannith-controlled building.”

“I have no intention of getting near any Cannith-controlled building,” Orphan assured him. “I didn’t even think that they’d be involved in Greenheart. It seems more like a rustic place than a technological place.”

“Well it isn’t Cannith’s biggest operation,” Delegado said. “And if there’s a single Mark of Making there I’ll be shocked. But Greenheart is the capital of one of the biggest nations on the continent in terms of land, and no House is going to stay away from that. Some Houses have a bigger presence than others, of course. Phiarlan and Thuranni are allowed only one overt agent each, because otherwise they’d constantly be killing each other. Vadalis has the biggest presence, no shock there. Lyrandar makes sure that their weather makers don’t cross toes by having a diplomatic post. Sivis does everybody’s messages, Orien does packages and keeps the roads working, Kundarak has only one agent, but lots of hirelings.” He paused to think and take another swig. “I’ve only been there once, and I wasn’t paying a lot of attention at the time. My House mainly uses their offices there as a center for business contacts. Ghallanda runs one inn, and both Cannith and Jorasco rent rooms. Jorasco is only in the Reaches to collect, buy, and ship herbs, really, the druids do more healing here than they do.” He took another swig. “Or that’s how the situation was about four years and change ago. Things can change a lot in a short period of time.”

“You didn’t mention Deneith,” Thomas said.

Orphan looked up, surprised. He hadn’t noticed that. “I did not know that you were familiar with the Dragonmarked Houses,” the warforged mentioned.

“Deneith tried to recruit me once,” Thomas said. “They were rather aggressive about it.”

“And?” Delegado asked carefully.

Thomas’ eyestalk shot a burst of electricity that charred a small patch of ground. “I said no,” the half-daelkyr said. His voice was both cold and regretful.

“Is there a price on your head?” Delegado asked. Orphan found himself both admiring the half-orc’s practicality and disgusted by the ease with which Delegado dealt with the news of death.

“I don’t think so,” Thomas said. The half-daelkyr took the pan out of the fire and produced wooden plates and small metal forks from a bag. “I left the bodies in a place where a battle occurred the next day. It was a long time ago.”

“Hunh,” was all Delegado said. They began to eat in silence.

Orphan, not needing to eat, got bored, and took it upon himself to walk in a wide perimeter around their campsite, listening for potential dangers. There was nothing but normal night sounds, and when he returned they were done eating. The warforged watched them clean the plates and the pan for a minute, and then asked “So why didn’t you mention Deneith?”

Delegado jumped. “Don’t sneak up on me!” the half-orc barked.

“I thought you heard me,” Orphan explained.

“Did you hear him?” Delegado asked Thomas.

“I saw him,” Thomas explained. “I was looking his way, you weren’t.”

“I’ll be glad when this is over,” Delegado grumbled, tossing his plate at the half-daelkyr. “Hit the sack, Thomas, I’ll take first watch.”

The half-daelkyr took the plate without comment, and unrolled his bedroll.