Triple Strength

257. Mental Health: Wiremu.

I felt a lot better when Ruku took over Umreti’s Slave bond. I hadn’t realised that it had bothered me so much. We caught up to the caravan easily enough. I will need to start capturing some animals to fill these cages. We now also have several Camels, but we will probably sell them in the next town. I joined Mayakku, driving one of the wagons. This wagon carried Težka, Cōmpēṟi and the Slaver. It would only be a couple of hours before we found a place to camp for the day.

“Has everything been going well?” I asked.

Mayakku nodded. “Barbra tried a number of her skills, and I have been here getting a feel for her spiritual flavours.”

“That’s good. She may not have long to live when Modrica gets back here.”

Mayakku looked at me sharply, so I went on to explain, “She was part of forcefully enslaving an orc. Umreti is here, and he may want to kill her even sooner.”

“We need to get her into a ritual circle and test her quickly then. We won’t get another chance for a long time.”

“Yes, we will do it as soon as we stop for the day. Meanwhile, I want to get a sense of her flavours from her existing bonds. What do we know about her?”

“Tabitha interrogated her and her slaves. That Skill she has that twists the meaning is tricky. The oldest slave was given to her by her father back when she was a teen. Her father was running logging teams for the Empire, and she started out keeping the books and doing the administration. She has two basic classes, Administration and Bookkeeping. She was pretty good, apparently, and had a choice of becoming a full Accountant and then specialising, but chose to work with the local Slave Taskmaster instead.”

“She is probably regretting that choice now.”

“I suspect so. Ever since the bounty came out and Slave Taskmasters were dying, she has regretted it.”

“Good. It might stop others from making the same choice.”

“She is fairly new to the Slave Taskmaster role. It has only been about five years. The Class is only in the early Apprentice Levels.”

“That is a good start.”

Mayakku nodded, and we rode in silence while I explored her slave bonds. I focussed on my Analyse Bonds Skill and examined the three slave bonds she had. One was much weaker than the others, the new slave with a low Slave Class. All the bonds were dominated by Barbra. The flavours were strongly around numbers and tracking numbers and records and supply of resources. This was Barbra and her higher-level Classes dominating the bond. These would influence the slave, but they are not the Slave Taskmaster Class. This influence would be there in the bond, but it would be weaker due to the lower level. I am going to have to filter the flavours to a much finer degree to identify the flavour we need. I settled down to concentrate.

“We are making camp now,” Mayakku said a little louder than normal.

Indeed, the wagons were circling, and the scouts were marking the tent area. I didn’t fall asleep, did I? Maybe briefly. I looked at Mayakku, and she raised an eyebrow at me. Maybe a little longer than briefly.

I helped set up the camp for the day. I picked a tent, lay down, and let my thoughts drift. As usual, they drifted to Kelda. She should almost be back in Hrothgar by now. I wonder how she is going to fit into the noble life again. As I understood it, she wasn't a great fit before, and now she has physical scars and is blind. She should be here with me. Except she would be very angry at me for burning down the palace and the innocents that were killed or injured. I didn’t have to burn it down. Maybe she is too good for me.

Why did I burn it? I had already killed the two key people and many of his guards. Why did I burn the palace? It seemed satisfying. That is not quite the right word. Was it revenge? On who? I had already killed the City Lord. Not forgetting that Zikr.

This was the first time I had to defend against a Mental attack. It was a very sharp and direct attack. The purpose seemed to be to weaken me mentally. That, combined with the drugs, would open me to accept the Slave Class. Umreti was attacked the same way without the defences I had. How has it affected him? I remember his hands shaking uncontrollably several times, and Ruku mentioned a seizure. What other mental damage might he have suffered? Can it be repaired? There are Mental Healer Specialisations, but it is not as easy as a physical wound, and Kelda found the limits to physical healing. The first thing I have to do is get him free of that slave class.

Shit, my mind is rambling. This is worse than usual. I forcibly took control of my thoughts and took several deep breaths. Tāoke slithered into the tent. He must be getting unsettled feelings from me through the bond, or he would have stayed with Težka. He curled up on my chest. I did appreciate it.

I awoke hot and thirsty. The sun was high, probably. It was early afternoon. I found a water bladder and drank deeply. The water was warm and had a stale taste. Tāoke had left at some point. I went out to find some food, and the heat outside hit me like a physical thing. My Heat Resistance was way up there, but that didn’t mean I didn’t feel it. The heat shimmer plays havoc with my Thermal Sensing.

Three of our five guides were relaxing under a lean-to. There was a small fire going, cooking some type of meat. “Moja, Mbili, Tatu.” I nodded to each in turn. They were small and covered in fur. The Mousekin had particularly powerful legs. “What is there to hunt in this desert? I need to start filling the cages with animals that will sell well.”

“Only a few crazy lizards and snakes at this time of day,” Mbili replied.

“They can make good companions.”

He shrugged. “People often like the cuter animals.”

“I will be sure to let Tāoke know that.”

“The Fennec Fox is usually a good seller as it is small, trainable and will hunt rodents. The Roadrunner birds look good and stick to the ground mostly. They are fast. Over the next week, we will be moving more into the grassland areas with associated dogs, deer, cougars and lions. Predators sell well as they double as guard animals,” Mbili said.

“There are many hawks, owls, ravens and doves if you know where to look,” Moja added.

“Don’t forget the spiders and scorpions,” Tatu said quietly.

“Tatu likes his spiders,” Moja shuddered.

I looked at Tatu thoughtfully, “Spiders can make good bonds. Better bonds than pets. Have you seen any nearby?” He nodded. “I will grab a cage, and we can go and take a look.” He nodded again.

We ventured out into the heat of the afternoon. Tatu was quick, and his fur blended in well with the desert landscape. Very quickly, we came across a crevice that was lined with spider webbing. Tatu enticed the spider to emerge by manipulating the web. He had obviously done it before many times. The spider darted out to catch its prey, finding itself caught instead. It was large and hairy and tan-coloured.

“Desert Tarantula,” he identified it for me. “Easy to train,”

“You have trained some?”

He nodded, “Moja won’t let me keep them.”

“You can help me train them while we are travelling,” I said. “Do you have an Animal Trainer class?”

He shook his head, “Animal Handler.”

I remember he always helped with the animals and their care. It was his role on the team.

“Let’s see if we can find some more. Four or five is a good start. Have you ever thought about bonding with one?”

He shook his head, “Don’t know how.”

“Do you want me to teach you?”

His eyes lit up, and he nodded vigorously. It ended up being a pleasant afternoon despite the heat. I taught Tatu some mental exercises that would help him prepare for a bond. I was taught this during my Hunter training, but most people would not know this. A lack of knowledge does hinder growth. We arrived back at the caravan with four Tarantulas, two Brown Widow spiders and three scorpions. Even if they don’t make good pets, they are in demand by various alchemists and healers. It is how they make anti-venom potions and Spidersilk, among other things.

Then it hit me. Shit, Tabitha is going to be grumpy with me. I never negotiated a price for training Tatu.