Steelforged Legacy 2 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 Once he was done with his food, Casey focused on ensuring the meat was drying properly as well as the truffles. The delicate mushrooms required far more attention than he had expected, but Maude helped him keep an eye on them.

We want them to be dried, not cooked, Maude kept reminding him, enough that Casey had to resist the urge to roll his eyes every so often when the reminder came again to shift the mushrooms around.

Realistically, these should be sun-dried rather than over a fire, but we do what we must. Maude grumbled quietly. Casey just nodded along and went back to gathering more firewood as the sun continued to dip down below the horizon and paint the sky with a myriad of warm colors.

Casey was just considering getting out his fishing gear and casting a line into the little pool by his camp to further bolster his food supplies when movement on the river caught his attention. Dropping the armload of firewood, Casey hurried into cover behind a tree while watching the mouth of the inlet that led from the rushing river into the calm space on the water.

The distance was far enough away that the slight movements which had caught his attention took a moment for him to recognize them. A thin shape of a wide, shallow-bottomed boat edged into view as a figure with a long pole pushed it along the shore.

What is that, Maude? he sent towards his partner with a thought, his left hand having fallen to rest on the hilt of his weapon.

One of the fishermen on the river, maybe? The boat is a little large for a fishing craft, and no sail, unless he’s got it folded down. Which… actually makes sense based on the direction of the wind. 

Casey glanced upwards to check the treetops before nodding in agreement. The stirring breeze that had been a consistent companion all day was pushing the wrong direction to help whoever had that boat go up the river, which was what Casey assumed was their goal from their direction of travel.

The figure jammed the long pole down into the water and the boat began to turn before another strong push sent it gliding into the inlet, heading towards the bank nearest to Casey’s small camp, though not directly at where his fire and the elk were resting.

The elk! Casey glanced frantically towards his fire where he’d last seen the great beast sitting, and it still remained there, placidly watching the approaching figure on the boat. Shit! Maude, what do we do?

At this point, it’s too late to send him into the trees. If whoever is in that boat is dangerous, we will know quickly. Our large friend seems pretty passive though, so I think we should be fine. Gladewalker Elk normally do not risk much of anything that they don’t have to.

“Well shit,” Casey muttered. It was obvious that the figure on the boat could see his fire and camp, as he jammed his pole into the water to slow his approach before angling the boat more towards the fire. “Guess we say hello then?”

Play it cool. You are a hunter, remember?

“Yeah, I think that guard had a point a while back. I should look into getting a bow to further that particular cover. Not to mention that it would help with the hunting… Not saying that you aren’t a fine weapon, partner,” Casey said the last part quickly, having realized that his pining for a different weapon might have been insensitive given his lover’s status.

Maude’s voice was full of laughter when she responded to him, and Casey could see the mental image of his raven-haired partner smiling with a twinkle in her eyes as she spoke.

I’m not offended, Casey. It is a practical thought to have. A bow would be useful after all, though it wouldn’t be nearly as effective as I am against anything but mortal animals. Even a spirit beast rabbit would have strong enough defenses to resist all but a perfect shot.

Casey wasn’t sure how to take that revelation. The idea of a rabbit that could ignore a shot from a bow was just strange enough that it actually derailed his worries. Shrugging after a moment, he returned to his armload of firewood and scooped it up once more before heading back out of the trees, attempting to look natural as he walked towards the camp.

As soon as Casey broke the tree line, he felt the eyes of the boatman on him. But rather than feeling threatened, he only sensed curiosity from the man in the boat.

“Hello the shore!” the boatman called, arresting his forward momentum entirely about twenty feet from the bank. “I didn’t know that there was someone camping at this inlet here. Do you mind if I join you for a time? Punting my way up the river is tiring work.” The man made a show of rolling his shoulders in exhaustion, making the simple blue tunic he wore flex tight against his thick chest.

“As long as you aren’t looking to cause trouble, you are welcome to join me,” Casey called back, dumping the load of wood by the fire. Maude had been coaching him on proper etiquette in situations like this, so he hurried to the shore as the boatman gave his craft another firm shove with the pole and guided it towards a pebble-studded section of the bank.

The nose of the boat was wide and squared off, curving upwards to expose a flat hull that the man expertly directed towards the bank until his boat nosed up onto the small rocks and Casey could get hold of it, assisting the momentum to partially beach the craft with a quiet scrape of stone on wood.

He hadn’t been able to really appreciate the size of the craft until now, but the nose of the boat was a good five feet across and it had to be at least fifteen long, built like a flat-bottomed canoe. A number of different bundles and packs were strapped down on the interior of the boat, along with tools and fishing equipment. A carefully folded net took up most of the front half of the boat as well. The entire craft smelled faintly of fish, salt, and the musk of old leather.

“Thanks for that, stranger. Name’s Erik,” the man gave his boat another shove with the pole before nodding and grabbing a rope. He scrambled over the nets and past Casey to drop to the bank with the speed of a squirrel leaping from branch to branch, quickly tying off the rope to a large rock along the shore before turning back to Casey with a smile.

“Casey. Hadn’t expected to see anyone else this far from the road to be honest,” Casey replied, offering his hand to the man and they exchanged grips of the forearm. Erik’s hand was powerful, but didn’t try to crush Casey’s, and he could feel the rasp of calluses on the other man’s hand.

“Must not be a local then,” Erik laughed. “The river is a road unto itself for those who live along it. What brings you out this way?”

Casey repeated his tale about being a hunter traveling while looking for new grounds to hunt in while they walked up to where he’d set up his camp in the tree line. Erik took a moment to collect a pack from the boat and followed, allowing Casey time to study the man.

Erik was of middling height, with nondescript features and short-cut black hair. He had broad shoulders that were thick with muscle Casey guessed he had earned on his boat, either hauling the fishing net or propelling it with that pole. A thought that was backed up by Maude.

He’s definitely on the Drengr’s Road. That boat had no sail on it at all, and only a drengr would have the strength to propel it for long against the current. But I see no clan markings on his clothing or equipment. Be careful.

Nodding his understanding to his partner, Casey wound down his tale with the story of being caught in the storm previously and having to hunt to resupply himself.

“Hunting, eh? Did you bag anything of interest?” Erik asked, the man’s rough voice full of curiosity as they came to a stop near the fire pit. “And who is this big fellow here? Aren’t you magnificent? I could see using a donkey as a pack animal, but not an elk.”

“I found him injured and healed his wound. He’s followed me around ever since,” Casey replied quickly, still wondering if it wouldn’t have been good to try to urge the elk into the trees before Erik had gotten his boat ashore.

The Gladewalker Elk stared up at Erik with its large, brown eyes for a moment before huffing and dipping his head like it was nodding in greeting.

“Smart fellow then. If you find someone willing to look out for you, it makes sense to stick close to that person, after all!” Erik said with a laugh, clapping his hands with a loud smack that reminded Casey of his friend Einar. The big man had such a large personality that, if it wasn’t for his height and hair color, Casey might have mistaken Erik for him at a distance.

“As to prey, I was lucky enough to down a Leaf Lynx earlier. I’m drying the meat as much as I can to help tide me over until I get to the next town. But if you’d like some, it would be easy enough to pull some off and cook it up right,” Casey offered, gesturing to a rock near the fire for Erik to sit on.

“I think I’ll take you up on that. Lynx meat isn’t too bad if you cook it right. What is that wondrous smell, though?” The dark-haired man sniffed the air before his gaze tracked on the flat stone that held the sliced truffles and his eyes grew wide in amazement.

Casey had already started setting out his pan again, intent on transferring several of the strips of cooking lynx meat to it for his guest, and couldn’t help but smirk at the man’s reaction.

“Those definitely add flavor to the meat, but I have fresher ones, if you prefer?”

“Oh, I couldn’t. If you got your hands on a patch of those, it would be far too much of an imposition for a trader like me to take some of them,” Erik demurred.

Trader? Ask him if he has anything he might trade for some then. Maude suggested and Casey nodded in agreement, unable to respond verbally to her thoughts at the moment.

“Well, if you won’t just take some, then what do you trade in? I also have the lynx hide drying over there. If you are heading for town sooner than I am, I might be willing to part with it.”

At the mention of trading, a gleam entered Erik’s eyes, and the square-featured man grinned happily.

“Now that I can get behind! Anything in particular you are after? I mostly have iron goods to trade up the river, that and seasonings. Though I would feel bad trading something as simple as salt for these.” Erik gestured to the truffles as Casey got the pan set and sizzling to fry up the strips of lynx rather than just slow cook and smoke them as he had been.

While the food cooked, Casey let himself fall into a simple conversation with Erik while studying the other man. The fact that the elk hadn’t stirred at all other than to nod at him, and that Erik had said nothing about the nature of the animal made it easier to relax.

They eventually settled on a price of three fangs and six claws for the hide. Erik traded him a large sack of salt—maybe five pounds of it or so—for a clay jar about the size of a coffee mug filled with the fresh truffles that Casey hadn’t sliced up yet.

Despite Erik’s protests, Casey chopped up one and sautéed it with the meat as well before handing the food over to the other man.

“It’s only polite to share my bounty with a kind visitor after all,” Casey said with a shrug, leaning over to check the sliced mushrooms and shift them around on the stone again to ensure they were drying evenly without getting soggy or cooking through instead.

“More polite than most folk would be,” Erik said around a mouthful of food, having accepted the pan and set about using his own utensils to fish out some of the hot meat. “Ullr be praised. This hits the spot. I’ve been eating nothing but fish and river-cress for the last few days. Traveling by boat is a good way to transport goods, and far harder for bandits to rob you, but it does limit your opportunity for wild forage.”

“Are there a lot of bandits in this area?” Casey asked idly, turning back to the fire and studying Erik as the other man continued to eat.

The light of the sun had almost entirely fled as they had talked, leaving just a few faint streaks in the dark sky as the last gasps of day faded away to leave behind the star-studded expanse. 

“No, the local clan doesn’t like the competition,” Erik grumbled, glaring at the fire for a long moment.

That sounds like it has potential, Maude whispered into his mind.

His partner had been mostly silent since he started bargaining with Erik, but he could hear the curiosity rising in her tone. He agreed that there was potential for useful information here, so he verbally nudged the other man.

“They causing problems? I’ll be honest, I have been lucky enough to avoid the eye of the Bronze Fist while traveling so far. After that storm the other day, I think they were all focused on picking through the battlefield.”

“Would not surprise me,” grumbled Erik. The black-haired man gave Casey a long look before glancing over his shoulder at his boat to check on it.

The dim light of the stars and the moon overhead barely cast enough illumination for Casey to make out the shape of the hull in the darkness, but there was enough that he could tell the boat still lay secured where they had left it.

“Look,” Erik started, glancing back towards Casey with a frown on his face. “I recommend you don’t look to settle down in the Bronze Fist territory. I pass through on the river myself, but I don’t like to stay in it for long. Follow the river north long enough and you’ll find a bridge that’ll take you east. The Oak Horde are a far more sensible clan.”

“What makes them different?” Casey asked, doing his best to not sound overly interested. He wasn’t too successful in that attempt, based on the odd look the other man gave him, but Erik still answered the question.

“The Bronze Fist has been stirring up problems with their neighbors for a while. Clans raid each other, but they keep to clan holdings. Fighting over spirit beast herds, mines with important ores, and stands of the qi trees that exist. Sure, sometimes a fight will break out over a village itself, but I’ve heard things about the Bronze Fist making moves that would be questionable for those with sense.”

That’s not good to hear, but given Mikhail’s attitude before, I would give Erik’s words some weight. Maude’s voice rang out inside Casey’s mind and he had to agree with her.

“And this Oak Horde clan?” Casey prompted when Erik let the sentence trail off while he fished out another bite of the roast meat and chewed on it thoughtfully.

“I’m a wanderer. There is no clan that I follow. I just travel and trade. There are some clans, though, that I enjoy trading with, and others that I avoid. The Oak Horde is one of the former. Their villages are full of good woodworkers and skilled artisans. One of them actually made my boat a few years back when I lost the first one.” Erik smiled, his eyes going distant for a moment.

“So if you don’t really like the Bronze Fist, why are you traveling through their territory?” Casey kept his focus on the truffles, making sure the drying mushrooms were being shuffled about carefully. He figured this was the best way to not appear like he was digging too hard for information from the other man.

“Simple. They control a large section of land that sits between two of my better trading partners. The trip is faster in the other direction, given how quick the river flows. I tend to just make my way through the territory and keep my head down. There are a few villages along the river I stop to buy in, but I never stay the night in. I get most of my information from them or from villages on either side of the territory.”

“I’m surprised they haven’t gotten some way to tax the river traffic,” Casey muttered, low enough that he had thought Erik wouldn’t catch it. But the other man chuckled, shaking his head as he set the empty pan aside.

“Not in your life. There are toll points along the river, but I know where they are and keep away from them. The river tends to be wide enough that there is no problem, as long as I follow a few streams I know of to avoid where it narrows. The capital is the only city that the river runs by that I have to be careful of. That and my ship is small enough that most mistake me for a fisherman rather than a trader.”

“I could see how that works. Awful trusting of you to mention all of this to a random stranger you met, though?” Casey asked the last part in a joking tone, but the intense look that Erik gave him froze the humor in his throat.

“I have a feeling that you are someone I could trust, Casey. You wouldn’t keep the company you do if you were less than honest.”

That single sentence—spoken in a flat and stony tone—sent a chill down Casey’s spine. He didn’t need the hiss of warning from Maude to warn him to be ready, but Erik remained sitting across the fire, just observing him.

Being careful to not telegraph his increased tension, Casey leaned forward and planted his elbows on his knees. He let his right hand rest on his left thigh while his left dangled in front of him. This put his hand near Maude’s hilt, but far enough away to not appear threatening at the moment.

If he tries something, I have to be ready. Why did I invite him to the camp, anyway? I know it’s good manners when you meet a stranger, but I should still be more guarded. Why did Maude encourage it? 

Thoughts swirled through Casey’s mind while he stared at the other man, and it was then that he noted something odd about Erik.

The shadows fell over the other man and cast his face partially into darkness. The firelight only revealed the right half of his face, while inky shadows completely blocked the left from view. It gave his sharp features an eerie cast, and the hollow edges of his eyes looked like a skull’s empty sockets.

“I appreciate the confidence you have in me,” Casey said after a tense moment, wanting to break the awkward silence.

Erik smiled and leaned forward, the motion banishing the shadows from his features and revealing his square jaw and twinkling eyes once more.

“You spend enough time on the Road, and you learn to be an excellent judge of character. My ship isn’t fit for the whale-road currently, but one of these days I will return to the sea.” The words were spoken with calm confidence, and Casey heard the emphasis that the other man put on the word ‘road,’ knowing that Erik was aware that he walked the Drengr’s Road too.

“I hope that day is not too long in coming. It is good to have goals to chase, but if the chase is too long, desire can fade and complacency can creep in,” Casey agreed. Erik’s eyes darted from the fire up to him once more, and his smile perked up even further.

“You are right. I hope your travels treat you well, friend Casey. Look after this magnificent fellow, would you?” Erik hooked a thumb towards the elk before winking at Casey. “I should be off.”

Before Casey could speak, whether to wish Erik well or to stop him and offer a place to camp, the other man’s seat was empty between one moment and the next. A distant crunch of wood on stone was followed by the rushing of movement in water.

“What the…” Casey muttered, squinting into the darkness. He could just barely catch sight of a shadow on the water, the dark shape of the boat as it shot out of the inlet and into the river, moving far faster than it had earlier while a figure at the prow jammed his pole down into the water, adding even more speed and turning the boat to angle upstream and out of sight.

I… barely caught him moving, Maude said, awed. He must be far along the Drengr’s Road, maybe even on his Immortal Journey. Erik… we will need to remember that name. If someone who is clanless has made it that far, then either he is powerful, or had the support of one and they parted ways.

“Yeah…” Casey muttered, staring out over the empty water once more. Other than the position of his pan on the other side of the firepit, there was not a single sign to mark Erik’s presence here.

A huff of amusement from the elk drew his attention away, and the animal flipped its lips at him in a smirk before settling down into the bed it had made, apparently amused and not in the least worried about the powerful man that had just left their camp.

Not much I can do if he did wish me ill. He mentioned ‘company’ I keep. Was that just the elk, or did he somehow sense Maude?