Chương 37: Crabs for Kravin

What the Hel is Kraken's Wrath? Rowen stepped forward "He got passed the Wrath? Already? It should have taken him months." His voice was laden with confusion.

"He's got powerful mages aboard, the scout saw a Weatherman." Noah answered. Rowen's eyes went wide "By Kronan." he cursed.

"Noah, I need you to acquire some… unique ingredients and have them brought to my ship's hold." Nythera said, handing over a small list of items. He nodded and strode off, haste in his step.

"Alrigh Rowen, I'll just be going" Nythera turned to leave. Just let me go in peace, you stuck up shit. A hand grabbed her arm "Oh I don't think so, we have a lot to do today, Dominic wants a proper word with you, he would have stuck longer here, but he's busy with war preparations." Rowen crushed her plans. She glared back at him. One of these days Rowen, I swear to Kronan… She followed along, making way to the fields of Geldgrain just north of Grandport.

Squad after squad of recruits filled the fields, drilling against each other, practicing synced movements, and learning battle tactics. As they passed, they were greeted often with a simple nod of the head and one word.

"Milord". These are my people now, people I must defend. Nythera acknowledged each and everyone who reached out to her. They found Dominic in a wide open field, long since stripped of Geldgrain, surrounded by a group of ever-busy Squad Captains, coming and going with requests and information.

"Leo? He'll be in my squad." Dominic answered.

"Yup, I'm with Dominic because I'm just too good to put in any other squad, they say my sword cleaves enemies in half with one strike, pretty impressive I know, hey do you know where a hardworking man like myself can get food around here I'm pretty hungry…" Dominic stared straight at Leo, unblinking until he shut up.

"Nythera, I need to discuss battle tactics with you, last time you acted on your own, this time I have to ask a favor of you." Dominic said, a look of shame on his face.

"Yes?" she looked back at him with concern. I can't imagine what they want is too bad? Is it? IS IT?

"We need you to be bait and lure Damien up river." he said, rolling out a large map onto the table "Here is where we want you to bring him, if you can, and take down as many ships as possible on the way. We predict, maybe two ships will follow you if you announce your presence." he explained. Bait… they want me to what? serve myself up on a platter to Damien? Are they insane?

"I think this plan is insane. You expect me to be able to outrun Damien up river? What if they have a guy who can just jump into my ship?" She fought back.

"Worry not a thing lass, I will keep Damien off your back. It is the duty of a true knight to protect a helpless lass' like yourself." A very polite but somewhat condescending man said. I don't recognize that voice, that's definitely not Rowen. She looked up from the map. A crab-faced monster stared back. With vibrantly red and jagged crab-shelled arms and legs a man stood, with hands on hips, and a sword at his hip. She tumbled backward in shock, hitting the ground. Talvik's claws tightened on her shoulder.

What the…

"Careful with this one child, he is not what he seems." His voice resonated in her mind. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. The crab monster bowed, "Kravin Stillwater at your service.".

"Kravin, I hope your travels have been nice, there's really no reason to worry, we can handle this ourselves. Feel free to return to the sea." Dominic answered in a rush.

"Yes Kravin, fret not, I will make sure everything is fine. Please feel free to return to your … crabs." Rowen said with a placating look on his face. Ok what happened and why is everyone bending over backwards for the crabfreak.

"Worry not lass, for I will protect you in this upcoming struggle of light and dark, good and evil." He said, bowing yet again.

"Me and my knightly steed have been waiting for such a glorious opportunity, fear not for I shall present myself when the time is right." He said, striding right up to her in the blink of an eye. He whispered softly "Seek the cavern that lies just east of Halsbury, at the edge of field and forest, you who can read the air can find the entrance. Follow the black with a yellow streak.". She leaned back in shock, barely registering his words. When she blinked, he was gone.

"Damn it, who was that?" She asked to no one in particular. Rowen held his head between his hands, "Crab people, forget about the fucking crab people he keeps…" he muttered to himself.

"That would be Kravin Stillwater, our local lunatic. Seems he's taken an interest in our war." Dominic explained, leaning over his maps with a fixed look.

"Why didn't you guys just kick him out? He seems… insane." She replied.

"He is insane. Absolutely mad." Rowen asserted.

"Yes, he is." Dominic said, glancing at Nythera.

"He's also the strongest man in the entire isles." He admitted, completely defeated, then gestured to Leo. Leo stood still, not a word uttered from his mouth, looking straight ahead. HE…. SILENCED LEO? That kind of power was unheard of.

"Just how strong is he?" she asked.

"No one knows exactly how strong, but he's been annoying Damien for well over a decade, and Damien is Deep Stratum Ranked, which means…" Dominic said, trailing off.

"That crab nutter is Deep Stratum?" Nythera mumbled in disbelief. Dominic nodded, hesitantly. He's as strong as Damien and he's got the brains of a lizigeon. Who cursed these isles so? Nythera spent the day laying out and examining war plans with Dominic and Rowen. She had special supplies ordered to her own vessel and concocted a plan she hoped would thwart Damien. At one point near dusk she ventured to the caves that Kravin had pointed out, exploring their interior and scheming as one does about such things.

He wasn't kidding, the black flux with a yellow streak was incredibly easy to find if you knew what to look for. Well and if you can see flux. She strode back to Grandport in the dimming valley.

"Say Talvik, you wouldn't have any tricks or secret powers left that could help me here?" She asked, a note of plea in her voice.

"I cannot help, you know this. To help too much would be to desecrate your path. I will not." Talvik said, strutting and turning his beak away.

"Then you won't say anything if I use my own resources to get stronger, will you." Nythera said, a note of smugness creeping into her voice. She reached into Boxy and selected two options. Four items popped out into her waiting hands. Talvik's eyes went wide. She waved the skill tome in front of his face "These give skills right? You said they were dangerous, but I don't really have time to worry about it." she mocked. Talvik's eyes seemed to grow bigger before her. The bird itself carried more weight.

Flux seeped out of his feathers.

"DO NOT OPEN THE DEAD MOON TOMES" A demand ricocheted around in her skull. She dropped the books to clutch her head and collapsed onto the ground.

"Ok Ok Ok I won't open the fucking dead moon books." she said, curling into a ball. Who the fuck is Talvik? why can he just raid my mind, what in Kronan just happened? She slowly pulled herself to her feet, her head still hurt like bottled thunder had broken inside it. Nythera threw the cursed books back into Boxy as fast as she could, though she was half-tempted to just dump them in the river and be rid of them.

"This one isn't one of those fucking dead moon books, ok?" Nythera said, eyeing Talvik cautiously as she clutched the tome she found in a depot. No words came. Kronan, please let this be an attack related skill! Please! I could really use Artillery-damage, even explosion damage would be fine, no! Fire damage would be ok too! She opened the book tentatively, trying to peek inside. Tome Read… Acquiring Skill… Skilled Acquired!

Seeker of the Lost: For every level, increase comprehension speed of languages and artifacts from extinct peoples by 1%. A skill? For dead people? Seriously?

"What the Hel Talvik, it was from an Aurendorian Depot! I wanted something like "50% blast radius boost to artillery" and instead I got something for exploring dead people." she whined to him. Though, I supposed it would be useful around here, there's plenty of ruins. If I survive.

"That skill has been used by Aurendorians for eons. No more so than these very isles." Talvik's voice whispered in her mind.

"Oh yeah? That doesn't help me deal with Damien though… wait, why would Aurendorians use them… unless…." she trailed off to silent contemplation. There were people, of significant interest to Ancient Aurendor, that were on these islands before them. Long enough to have gone extinct before they even arrived… The gravity of the fact sat in her mind as she imagined the kinds of powers that would interest such an Empire. … She yanked open the heavy door to Edwins's house and grabbed a cup of pre-heated tea.

Practically collapsing into the chair as exhaustion left her shoulders. She stared out the window, watching rain fall and mist rise from the streets. It would soon begin.