Chương 17: Chapter 16

"Passage to Arcadia!" a voice boomed from down the docks.

"Come see the glorious Imperial Capital in all its splendour! Departing soon—so act fast!"

"Throne be praised!" Shaya cried, hastening her steps. Emotions flooded over her and her friends as they approached the large merchant vessel. It dwarfed the turtle ship, its fat belly sitting low in the water and making Shaya wonder if its three sails could even get it moving. Rough-looking sailors moved about its large deck, but plenty of well-dressed passengers and not a few nephilim also strolled about.

Two men in merchant's robes walked up the ramp to the ship, carrying a large crate between them, but their eyes scanned over Shaya and her group as they approached.

"Got room for two more?" Shaya asked, as she approached the giant redhead shouting about passage. The horns protruding from his forehead and craggy skin suggested he had far more demonic blood in him than Shaya, but his rough-spun sleeveless tunic and basic trousers did not fit the level of nobility she'd expect for such a potent-looking nephilim. Eyes like burning coals looked down at her and settled on her gryphlet.

"Depends, is that thing domesticated?" Quill squawked in offense, using the indoor voice that Shaya had been training them on. She set them down to make negotiating easier.

"They'll be fine. They're nippy if strangers approach, but nothing too scary." He stroked his fiery red beard, seeming unconvinced.

"And what business takes you to Arcadia?"

"I'm off to the Imperial Academy," Shaya replied, raising her chin and whipping out her admittance letter with practiced finesse. His eyes lit up—their glow even intensifying.

"A Kelahkese mage admitted to the Academy?" His tone was incredulous, but also jubilant.

"I haven't heard of that in at least a generation! Say your farewells and get on board, I'll make sure we have a cabin for our little hero here. I'm Captain Kredig Sura." He offered her a meaty hand to shake.

"And my better half here is the Surly Serpent."

"Shaya Heirosoth." She grasped his forearm and blinked in surprise at the strength of his grip.

"And thanks to both of you for taking us."

"Just make our kingdom proud," he replied, then held up a hand when Shaya fished out her coin purse while shifting the gryphlet.

"No charge, I consider this doing my duty. Food and fresh water are included, but I swear I'll throw you overboard if you or your beastie cause any trouble for my passengers. They're a wealthy bunch and we have a heavy load of important cargo; I won't tolerate any threat to that business." Shaya turned back to her friends and put her letter away.

"I guess this is goodbye, at least for now." Lorral was the first to give her a big hug.

"Take care of yourself and show those Imperials what real grit looks like!"

"Thanks, Lorral, I will. Maybe I'll even see you there in another year or two." The younger woman's nose wrinkled.

"No thank you, I'm happy to learn in more practical—and local—environments." Gaz stepped in and scooped Shaya up in a crushing embrace.

"When you're learning all that magic, just remember the simple pleasure of smashing things with your bare hands."

"Okay," she wheezed in response, "please stop crushing me." She and Pel were the next to exchange hugs. He gave her a grin.

"Give 'em hell, Shaya. It's okay to cheat against prissy nobles, they need the lesson."

"And you didn't, eh?" Shaya chuckled when Pel shot her a glare.

"Don't cheat unless you need to," Krebo instructed, offering her his hand.

"The strategy loses value if you gain a reputation as a scoundrel. Best not to leave any witnesses." Shaya laughed, then smacked Krebo's hand aside and hugged him.

"Thanks for all of the lessons, Krebo. I never would have got here without you."

"I know. Now go work your ass off for your dreams and show those soft nobles what frontier grit looks like." She grinned at her mentor.

"Don't worry, I'll make you proud."

"Doubtful." If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Damn it, Krebo, I thought we were having a moment!"

"Nope," he replied with a stern expression, but Shaya could see the smile in his eyes. +++++ Shaya stood at the prow of the ship and looked out over the glittering jade water, enjoyed the wind as it blew through her hair, and inhaled the fresh air. She didn't remember appreciating the trip across the Jade Sea as much when Lumir had taken them to their new home, but she guessed her mind was occupied with… every other conceivable thing, given the circumstances.

Now that she could pause and just live in the moment though, the world was a beautiful place.

"Oi, Hunter!" one of the crew shouted as he passed by.

"Got another tale for us tonight?"

"You bet, friend." She grinned back at him. She was, admittedly, running out of true stories of her expeditions to tell them, but the crew had been so enraptured that she couldn't let them down now. Some of the other passengers, and even the captain himself, had joined her evening story circle over the past few days. They were about halfway through the journey, with the only land mass in sight the towering form of Mount Arcadia.

The day was cooler than the rest, with more clouds swarming the sky than she'd seen in some time. The Surly's first mate warned that there could be a storm coming, but he based the forecast on his knee acting up so Shaya didn't pay it much mind. With nature suitably enjoyed, she made her way back to her cabin to spend some time with Quill and then get to her magic practice.

She passed two of the younger nephilim passengers from Zothiri sparring with duelling foils, calling out points whenever one tapped the other gently, and turned them down when they tried to goad "the Monster Hunter" into fighting them. Sunlight turned to lamp light and the flapping of sails turned to the flapping of lips as she went down the steps into the crew quarter.

There she had to deflect requests for more tales, promising more at a later time, and continued down another deck to where the passengers were stored. She passed her neighbours in the hallway, the two merchants she had seen boarding the ship when she arrived. Shaya shuddered when she saw the two tall, broad-shouldered men, but there was no averting her gaze or avoiding them.

They shot daggers at her with their eyes as they passed each other in the cramped hall, voluminous robes swishing and brushing up against her, and she made an apologetic gesture to them. She was lucky they hadn't complained, and her only complaint about them was that at least one of them was regularly—and loudly—seasick out their open port. Quill was not enjoying being cooped up in a cabin for most of the time, but they weren't trained enough to be allowed on deck unless nature called.

This led to some serious squawking, no doubt exacerbated by the other problem. Shaya ducked as she entered her small cabin, her handle squeaking loudly as she turned it. It was large enough for a cot and her backpack, and not much else. The poor gryphlet couldn't stretch their wings to preen and it was clearly driving them crazy, especially since they were moulting. Little pin feathers poked out of Quill's head and wings in places they couldn't reach in the cramped space.

They looked up at her and gave a miserable squawk.

"Sorry, buddy." She kneeled next to them.

"I know you don't like it here, but it's almost over. Just a few more days and you'll be in open space all the time again." Shaya slipped on her leather riding gloves that she had removed the fingertips from with her dagger. Then she gingerly scratched Quill's head, trying to work off more of the little pins so the feathers could be free. Quill bit at her on occasion when removing a pin was too uncomfortable, but luckily her modified gloves meant her hands were safe.

She had learned quickly how capable a bird's beak was for maiming prey after a few nips to her hand. When her companion got too nippy, she gave up and took out a small leather notebook. Time to practice. She flipped open the notebook, which contained notes on her magical experiments. The little thing was meant for merchants to take brief notes in, so she had to flip through several small pages cramped with her wild scrawling to get back to where she left off.

"Phaedra," she invoked quietly and her esper appeared, the angel's ethereal form passing through the walls and ceiling of her tiny room. Looking out the porthole in her cabin, Shaya had no problem drawing in Amber. Due to her being stuck as a First Circle mage, Krebo and Jax had only taught her a handful of runes and glyphs to form the foundation of her formulae. Light-forged armour, spirit weapon, barrier of light, ignore pain, and mend wounds.

Shaya did what she could to improve with using these runes in magic formulae, but a realization had dawned on her since departing. I was too focused on raw power, she thought to herself, but I think I understand what Krebo was going for at that last training session.

"Gird my form against harm!" Rather than focus on a complete set of smooth plates, Shaya traced out a smaller, rougher spell array. She identified sections of her light-forged armour spell that weren't necessary and removed them: glyphs within the circuit that represented complex pieces of her armour and those that controlled the radiance of her parts.

Other parts she modified to be as simple as possible, such as each armour piece and those that regulated the flow of aether to ensure each piece was of equal strength. When she channelled aether through her circuits, a breastplate of simple, flat planes weaved around her torso and similar boxlike bracers wrapped around her forearms.

She had cut everything from the formula that wasn't an absolute necessity to protect her, so the hard light maintained its golden glow and she felt the inefficient spell guzzling her Amber like a marooned sailor finding fresh water. The armour was far from optimal, but she at least made sure the plates included a basic gorget and were less likely to deflect blows up into her neck and face.