Triple Strength

235. Decisions: Wiremu

After the healers left the next morning, I dragged a table next to Kelda’s bed. I laid some fur on it and placed three eggs.

“What is this?” she asked.

“This is something for you and Liten to consider, and the decision must be from both of you. You bonded with Liten; these eggs are from birds with good sight skills, and you may be able to bond with one of them. This is normally very difficult without the right class, but my Bond Care Skill can help, greatly increasing the chances. This egg is a Tawny Owl and has unparalleled night vision. This egg is from a Golden Eagle, the best distance sight.”

“What is the big one? One I can ride?”

“Possibly, but it is different. This is a wyvern egg.”

She was shocked, “You found a wyvern egg?”

“We found two. Wyverns are born monsters with an affinity. Mayakku and I tested the two eggs with the ritual, and this one was more fire-orientated than acid. If you want to try to bond with it, we should run the ritual again with your fire as one of the elements. There is a chance for you to bond; there is no guarantee, and it affects both of you.”

“And your Skill can do this?”

“My skill can help. These two birds,” I pointed to the owl and eagle eggs, “are more compatible than the others. The Wyvern is a wild card, and we can narrow the margin of error with the ritual..”

“I am not sure.”

“There is no hurry. The bird eggs won’t hatch in less than a week. We actually have no idea about the wyvern.”

Kelda took a breath, plucking up her courage, “I… I am not sure I can actually fight again.” she said quietly as if afraid of my reaction.

I sat down on the edge of the bed. “That is completely fine. You never wanted to be a fighter in the first place. You don’t have to. Nobody will make you. Not while I am here.”

“You don’t mind?”

“Of course, I don’t mind. Most people don’t fight. You are a chef and a baker. What man doesn’t want his woman in the kitchen?”

I got my arm hit for that.

“Possibly even barefoot and pregnant.”

That got me a harder hit.

“I never said I would have your sprats, you barbarian hunter!”

“Oo, Ooh. Me hunt, you cook,” I said in my best barbarian imitation. It wasn’t very good.

“It probably means I won’t come into the empire with you. I know how much that means to you.”

“I don’t want you to come if you are uncomfortable with the risks and what will happen. There will be more injuries, possibly death. We have time. We are going to Waiouru to see that specialist first.”

She nodded.

“You think about it, and you and Liten think about the eggs. We don’t have to try any of it. All those eggs will get good coin, especially the wyvern. The army is here, and they will be a great market. You get the first option.”

I left them alone to think. Kelda lay back to sleep. She tired easily still. Liten jumped onto the table and investigated the eggs as I closed the door behind me. It really was up to them.

I went out to find Tabitha, but Rodion and Runa found me first.

“You’re coming with us!” Rodion declared.

“Where were we going?”

“Drinking!” declared Runa.

“You need to get out more. We haven’t been drinking since Kirghiz!” Rodion declared.

I thought about it briefly, then said, “You know it might be time Wild Bill arrived in town.”

“That's right!” Rodion declared, “Wild Bill is much more fun than stuffy old Wiremu.”

“I don’t think I have ever met Wild Bill,” said Runa.

“You are in for a treat then,” Rodion said.

“OK, give us ten minutes, and I will meet you outside.” It did sound like fun, and I felt like I could let loose as Wild Bill more than as myself. Sometimes, Roleplaying is fun.

We got back late. Early. Whatever. Kelda was asleep when I checked on her, so I left her with it.

When the healers left in the morning, for Kelda, not me, Kelda asked questions about bonding with the eggs. My Bond Care would help, but it is very difficult with two bonds without the right class or a similar species. If she were Avion, two-bird bonds would be fairly straightforward as long as they were compatible. Gwaed had a Druid-type class that enabled multiple bonds. Bonds that differ are easier, like Tabitha and myself with Animal and Elemental Bonds. Elementals are very rare, but she might be better off finding a fire elemental. Puia wasn’t interested, but I got the impression there were less rock-oriented and more fire-focused elementals in the Steam Lands where I found Puia.

“You might be better off with just you and Liten if you want to go back and be a Duchess,” I said.

“I don’t necessarily want to be a Duchess, but I will have to go back and sort out some sort of solution with my family.”

“Your Dad is the problem, right?”

“He is not a problem as such. He has been distant and stern ever since my older brother died in the fire. I think he blames me even though he denies it. I was seven, for fucks sake! I didn’t even know I had an affinity!”

I could tell her father wasn’t the only one with lingering issues. It was also the root cause of her reluctance to fight. She was amazing to have made it through five years of military service. I suddenly realised she had come with me and continued to fight because she wanted to support me and as a way of procrastinating from heading back to her family. Maybe it was time for her to head back. She needs to decide that, though.

“Your Mum’s OK, though?”

“Yeah. It turns out she is actually Dad’s spymaster, but nobody is supposed to know that. I only found out when I was on leave after the goblins. I was too observant, apparently.” There was some bitterness coming out in the last sentence. It was a reminder of what she had lost.

I brought the conversation back to the present, “What does Liten think about all this?”

Liten was perched on her shoulder, and she reached a hand up to stroke the sparrow, “Liten is frustrated she couldn’t protect me. I think she considers me like a chick that needs protecting, and she couldn’t do that.”

“Interesting. I was thinking about your classes and Skills last night.”

“Last night when you were drunk?”

“My Poison Resistance is too high for me to really get more than a buzz, but yes, last night when I was drunk. Not all your observation skills are sight-based. Two, in particular, are more spiritually oriented. I am thinking of Trackers Insight and Seek Hidden. They are more intent and spiritually focused.”

She thought for a bit, hopefully engaging her Sharp Mind. “You are thinking I could get some sort of Prophetic or Oracle-based class?”

“It is a possibility.”

“How would I do that?”

“I don’t actually know. My first thoughts would be to focus on those two Skills and try to figure out how they do what they do.”

“You have some interesting ideas when you are drunk.”

“Well, I don’t have your Sharp Mind Skill, so I have to substitute with excessive external spirit potions.”

“That's what you are calling it now?”

I grinned. “That distillery has a great potion maker. The trouble is the good ideas come with bad ideas.”

She got serious, “OK, spit it out. You thought of something you don’t think I will like.”

She has got to know me too well. I took a breath, “Have you tried using your Eyes of Fire yet?”

She stopped, and Liten also focussed on me. Several candles were also burning around the room, so she could be looking at me from any of them.

“I haven’t. I was afraid they wouldn’t work without eyes, and it would be another useless Skill.”

“I don’t think any of your Skills have been made useless with the loss of your eyes. You can still use Keensight and Darksight, etc., through your Shared Senses with Liten and through your Flame Senses. They just have to be used slightly differently.”

She was silent for quite a while. “Should I remove the bandages?”

“I would start with them on. Eyes of Fire are for seeing through illusions, shadows and other obstructions. The bandages should count.”

Then I saw two spots start to glow through the bandages. Her face relaxed from a tension that I had not noticed. “I can see,” she whispered. “The bandages are too thick, I think. Hang on.” She reached up, and I helped unroll two layers.

She looked around the room, “I can see,” she said, amazed, “and I don’t have to rely on an external source.”

That was a relief. I was a bit worried myself, but I hoped it would work. “We can get you some masks to wear.” I looked at her. “We might be able to get masks that obscure the glow from the skill during the day, but I think it will always be visible at night.”