Sparring continued each night at the corral, and Marcy and Ozzy continued their nightly duels. Suzette was trying to improve the potency of the brews to keep people on their feet as they fought every night either against Marcy or under her watchful eye. When the end of the night came and Marcy through herself at the Butcher once again, everyone else did their best to keep them alive, but it wasn't always possible. After her latest Death by Butcher, Marcy surprised everyone by not showing up at dawn. The next dawn, she didn't show up either. Her four sparring partners became worried, but had no way of knowing what real-world commitments she might have. The third dawn was the day that Billy had set for the start of the expedition to the south. Vernon showed up at the fountain, cursing and holding his head. He pointed an accusing finger at Rolly but was too upset to talk. All anyone heard was some mumbling about molasses and Volcanic Ants. As everyone was about to depart for breakfast in the tavern, Marcy made her entrance.
A man-high ellipse of satiny black, speckled with stardust, appeared above the fountain. An unkindness of ravens flew out, circled the town, cawing loudly, then flew down to land by the fountain. The birds seemed to merge into each other and transform into a black-clad figure that was finally revealed to be Marceline. She stood there for a moment, then threw her arms in the air and let loose with a scream of pure joy. "YES! What a trip. Worth dying a dozen times for that."
Ben blinked once and then said, "I think our little girl is growing up."
Ozzy nodded, staring at her and noticing details. "Definitely some upgrades going on here."
<Squirmie likes it. Threatening with the promise of painful death.>
She was a couple of inches taller with wider shoulders and tighter muscles. Marcy had always looked like a warrior, but this version took things to the limit. Her black leather armor was trimmed in silver and left no doubt about being magical. Her hair was a deep blue-black put into tight braids, with silver clasps. A deep blue stripe was tattooed across her face from the bridge of her nose to above her eyes. As usual, she was festooned with daggers in her boots, belt, and strapped to her forearms. Two scabbards crossed on her back, showing ravenwing hilts. A cloak of black silk trimmed with raven feathers completed her new look.
"Lots of painful death, bug. Some of it was mine, but most of it was other people. We fought, died, and got up. It felt like weeks, but one by one, they stayed down or gave up until it was just me left. And killing that many people makes me hungry. Let's go abuse Vernon and grab some chow."
Suzette agreed with that. "She has her priorities right."
Marcy wasn't talking more about whatever had happened, and no one asked. If she wanted to talk, now wasn't the time and place, surrounded by so many people.
On the morning of the glorious expedition to the southlands, Billy and Layla had shown up to address the troops, look things over, shake hands, kiss the babies, and put their stamp of approval on things. Two hundred veteran mercenaries were lined up, relaxed and standing at ease. The two hundred new recruits were not at ease, especially under the watchful eye of Lieutenant Thune. Behind the soldiers were a long line of large wagons bearing supplies for the journey, and a gaudy throne mounted on a small wagon pulled by four large goats. Rolly had convinced everyone that four goats were better than two horses or oxen. "Twice as fast, twice as mean, they can fight and eat nearly anything."
Billy sized up Vernon as the other man waddled from table to table, trying to pick out food to eat. "Has he gone senile? I've never seen anyone, especially Vern, dither over what to have for breakfast. He used to schedule 8 a.m. meetings at ACME so he could cater breakfast and munch through the monthly TPS summaries as people droned on all morning."
It took him five minutes to fill his plate with nuts, raw vegetables, a slice of smoked ham, and a crunchy whole-grain muffin.
Marcy watched Vern with a smirk, "We've taught him to always use his skills to pick the healthiest foods by making any wrong choices painful, demeaning, and messy. It's second nature now, and what's giving him a hard time is looking for poisons that aren't there. He's even suspicious of the food other people are eating with no side effects. We fed two hundred mercs from those tables, and two hundred more are incoming for the second shift. It's easy enough to swap out the poisoned and non-poisoned food, or sprinkle something on his plate when he isn't looking. The man is damnably easy to distract. It took him a week to start checking the pepper and hot sauce for poison after we started spicing up all the condiments."
"I've been hearing rumors you made it hard on him."
Marcy laughed out loud, "Not even close to the truth. We made it impossible for him. We burned him to ashes, dissolved him in acid, poisoned him daily, and fed him to monsters. We did everything we could to toughen him up and overcome all the flaws in his character. He was beaten, tortured, and run to death. And then we got creative."
"And by we, you mean who? I saw in your reports that you'd brought in experts. Anyone I might happen to know? You know, to reward them."
"You're top people had a lot of advice for me and helped in the training. And don't worry, they've been adequately compensated."
Billy nodded but didn't ask anything else. Sometimes it was easier not to know all the details. He and Layla had watched a little of The Unca Vern show in the privacy of the tower, but there had been a lot of things they'd missed, especially late at night. Spying on Sedgewick was nearly impossible now, with the only thing showing being a smoking, fire-belching monster of a building that he had no desire to get close to.
Marcy filled her mouth with four pancakes dripping in syrup and somehow managed to keep talking. "He's got some rough edges, but at least he has edges now, not just blubber. We'll have several days as we travel to the jungle to work on him and get into a routine. Sadly, that will mean not killing him every day, which is a shame. Who knew dying in horrible ways was so educational? Well, besides your expert trainers."
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Layla was looking at Marcy's armor and cloak, becoming more and more impressed. "That is such a great look on you. Loot from some dungeon? Or did you find a tailor and taxidermist that can manage a perfect black dye?"
"Pretty sweet stuff, isn't it? It was a gift for winning a bloody, two-day battle royal. A Celtic goddess needed a new champion. Her birds went looking for people with experience in death and carnage. All I've been doing lately is fighting and dying, so I fit the requirements. And, I was in the right mood to kill a few dozen people with my bare hands and sharp sticks. One of the coolest things I've done in this game so far."
Billy raised an eyebrow, but Layla was even more interested. "Any juicy details? And who is this mysterious patron? I'll admit, I'm not up on my Celtic mythology."
Marcy grinned, and her eyes were bright. "She's no myth. And doesn't like her name to be mentioned casually. If she feels slighted, she'd send something to peck out your eyes. Maybe me."
Layla might have taken the chance, but Billy put an end to the conversation. Gods pecking out eyeballs would be sure to cost him time and money. "As much as both of us would love the details, we need to get moving. It will take up the rest of the day to get all of us teleported down to Blackrock and set up the supply depot."
"You two are coming with us?"
"Just as far as Blackrock. I may need to throw my weight around or spread some coins to get what we need. Nothing is free in the Empire. Is there anything that's holding us up?"
Marcy shook her head. "Not on my end. Everyone's ready to go."
"Well then, let's head to Gadobhra and use our spiffy teleport stone to send us to the deep south. No stops along the way to waste time. Unlike the rest of the world, we've got power to burn."
Marcy stood, put two fingers in her mouth, and whistled loud enough that three glasses behind the bar shattered. "Time to get moving. If you don't want to be digging latrines, find your unit, get your gear, and get marching to Gadobhra."
Ben finished his last bite, pulled Rolly from the table, and headed out the door. "Ah, the thrill of travel. As I soar overhead and do some scouting, I'll think of you, Rolly, as you pull that heavy wagon."
Rolly simply grinned. "Puts me closer to lunch, and I don't have to worry about the pterodactyls."
"Pterodactyls?"
"Sure. Think about it. We're heading south to a jungle populated by lizardman tribes who ride lizards and are ruled by a dragon. What do you think their air force will look like? Fast suckers, with lots of teeth. I'll think of you as I cower under my wagon and eat all the food."
Ben had lost his smile. "Do you know for sure about this? Or one of your hopeful guesses? You're always praying for dinosaurs."
Rolly grinned, "Guess we'll find out. I'd love to get some T-rex eggs."
At Gadobhra, the teleport stone was fully charged, and the helpful Engineers and apprentice Teleport Mage were on hand to make sure everything went well. Ben took the chance to talk to his Uncle Damien. "Going that far in one shot isn't going to cause a problem?"
"Of course not. We've calibrated things perfectly. Normally, the sheer amount of mana needed would be a problem, but not with the resources we have here. The lightning attractors have been doing a bang-up job of adding power to the Hermetic Shield, and the Baron has his people pumping in power every day. A week doesn't go by that we don't get a request to send power somewhere in the overworked system. Their groveling is delicious, as are the bribes they pay me to leech a little off the Barony. Baron William and I worked out a deal where I don't bother him with the details, ensure they are properly grateful for the benevolence of Gadobhra, and we split the bribes. It's quite entertaining. I've been in contact with Mage Lebrowsky down in Blackrock. He's desperate for some extra power and said he'd welcome anyone who could help out."
"Probably not a lot of people heading that way."
"Of course not. It's at the far edge of the Empire and is only important because the larger teleporter further north exploded during one of the larger surges. Enjoy your visit to the quaint little town known for its piles of cattle manure and tanneries. I'm sure it smells wonderful in the summer. And it's always summer down there."
Ben was astride his horse at the edge of the teleporter. Ozzy pulled the first of the wagons onto it, followed by Rolly with the second. Marcy took one of the few empty spots and yelled for Lieutenant Thune to do the same with ten of his men.
Damien yelled to them from the controls. "Please keep your body parts within the bright blue line I painted on the ground. I'm not responsible for lost arms or legs."
One moment, they were in Gadobhra, and the next, they were in Blackrock. The noise hit them first, and the dust. People were screaming and running, civilians one way, soldiers and adventurers the other. Through the dust, Ozzy could see that a thirty-foot section of the palisade around the town was knocked to the ground in a tangle of timbers. Eight-foot-tall Lizardman warriors in heavy armor were preparing to charge, and nervous soldiers were forming up to stop them. In the distance, he saw something large moving ponderously away from them.
Marcy took one look and yelled, "Thune, take your squad and help the locals. Rolly, you handle the carts. Find a spot for them, then...do whatever you think is best. Ben, I need reconnaissance." She grinned at Ozzy. "Ready to go mess up some big lizards with me?"
Ozzy just grinned at her, took a step, and brought his furnace up to full Heat. The Butcher was already getting taller as he took steps toward the fight, his Hogsplitter whirling in a figure-eight pattern. Fire ran down the blade as it heated up, and smoke was billowing around him. He reached down with one hand, grabbed a loose timber from the wall, and threw it end over end toward the fight. The improvised caber smashed into one of the huge lizardmen, shattering its skull, spewing brains, and knocking down several more.
The soldiers wisely stepped aside as the Titan and the Mercenary Captain entered the fray.