Triple Strength

259. Problems: Wiremu.

It was almost dawn when I finally caught up to the caravan, which was parking for the day. I was limping, which slowed me down a lot. I was carrying another set of destroyed leathers. I spied Dusk, so at least Tabitha and Modrica were back.

Then I heard the shouting. I sped up my limp walk to a hobble run. I should have put Regeneration on my leg, but I figured my eye was more important. I wanted to get there because it was Mayakku who was yelling, and she was in full tantrum mode, sometimes slipping into her native language. I have never known her even to lose her temper. She was yelling at Modrica. She barely came up to Modrica’s ribcage in height, yet she was furious with her.

I could sense who was there before I saw them and knew both Tabitha and Umreti were there as well. Cōmpēṟi was there, and he was growling and pacing behind Mayakku, obviously affected by her temper. Težka wasn’t around. I stretched out my senses, and he was out in the desert and was eating something.

Tabitha was looking at me as I came around the wagon, and when she saw me, there was a pulse of Intimidating Aura which brought sudden silence.

“What happened to you?” she asked in a semi-worried tone. I was up and walking, so she knew I would be fine.

“Long story,” I replied wearily, “What’s going on here?”

That set Mayakku off again, “These thick-skulled, goblin-shit-eating idiots destroyed our best chance of removing the slave class!”

Modrica just growled her rumbling growl.

“What? How?”

“Umreti killed Barbra,” Tabitha explained.

“Oh, shit. That is a problem.”

“We were just starting to make real progress, and now we have nothing to compare our trials with. Bloody, short-sighted idiots!” Mayakku declared, and then jumped on Cōmpēṟi and rode off into the desert, hopefully to cool down.

“Barbra made an attempt to take back Umreti’s bond. Umreti interpreted it as being attacked and followed instructions about killing his attacker.” Tabitha clarified.

I just leaned wearily against the wagon. Tabitha looked closer at me and then yelled, “Astrid, bring your med kit!” She grabbed my arm and helped me to a seat, where they started putting up the tents.

I saw Astrid’s bond, Trassig, appear first. The little stoat scampered over and sniffed at me, and then Astrid came from a wagon carrying a bag. “What the hell got into you, lad?” she asked.

“Lots and lots of things,” I replied tiredly.

“Details, lad, details.”

“Poison needles. Lots and lots of poison needles.” I pulled out a handful of needles and a small cactus branch from my bag, stabbing myself again.

“Have you still got the poison in your system?” she asked, and I nodded. The poison might be affecting me more than I thought, as it was hard to think. “Here, drink this,” she said, handing me a potion. I downed it, and things cleared up a bit.

Tabitha picked up a needle, “It must be potent if it got past his resistance.”

“I think it was also the number of them,” Astrid said.

She was right. Both shes were right. I don’t think I am going anywhere near a cactus plant again. I felt a pulse of Astrid’s Poison Cleansing Skill go through me, and things became a bit clearer still. Her Revitalising Aura was helping as well.

“Look at me, lad, let me see the eye.” She pulled the eyelid up and looked deep into my eye. “The top layers are punctured but already half repaired. Put your Regeneration onto regenerating some blood, lad. It will help clear the poison and help most other things. Tabitha said you were limping?” I tapped my right knee, and she went to work. Maybe I was more injured than I thought.

Tabitha squatted down beside me, “What happened? Where’s Tāoke?”

I reached out to my bond with Tāoke, “Ah, he’s almost here.” I could see Ruku, Runa, and Rodion were now nearby, with Tatu, Moja, and Mbili. “Right, what happened? I shot a buck from a long way away,” I had enough presence of mind not to give exact details of my range in front of the three contractors. It was a great shot, and I levelled my Marksman Skill. “I went to find it but got ambushed.”

“By a cactus?” Ruku asked, picking up a spike.

“Yes, by a cactus!” I said grumpily, “A monster Cactus that shoots poisonous spikes! The buck had died near it, and it ambushed me. Hundreds of bloody spikes were sticking out of me, and it wasn’t just one cactus. It was a whole bloody grove of cacti.”

“Alsabaar,” whispered Mbili in awe.

“What?” I asked.

“Alsabaar. One of the few plant monsters in this region. You were lucky to make it back to the healer. Most become fertilisers for it. You were wise to run back.”

“Yeah, I didn’t know that. The spikes went straight through my leathers, and one got in my eye before I could even react. My Snakeskin stopped most of the next wave, although some still got through, but I started hacking and burning the bloody thing. Actually, I think I was the bloody one. It was big. A lot of Cacti in the grove, about the size of the wagons in this circle.”

“How on earth are you alive?” muttered Tatu in awe.

“Here.” I pushed my bag to Ruku. “Careful, there are more spikes in there.” Ruku had the highest Poison Resistance here, and I noticed he engaged his Tough Hide skill before reaching into the bag.

“Ouch!” he said as it was not enough. But he pulled out the large head-sized monster core. Moja, Mbili and Tatu all had their mouths open in amazement. You can tell they are siblings.

“That took some digging to get,” I said. “The grove is burned to the ground.”

“Where was Tāoke?” Tabitha asked.

“He was off getting laid,” I said. I got a few puzzled looks at that, but Tabitha understood and laughed.

“He was mating,” she said. I nodded.

“You took out a large Alsabaar by yourself?” I think Tatu was having trouble with the language or something, and I had Puia with me, so I wasn’t alone.

I was about to say that, but “Ouch!” Astrid did something with my knee. I looked down, and she had pulled out a very large spike.

“Alright, everybody, you have had your story. He needs to rest now. Ruku, help me get him into the tent.” Astrid could be bossy when she wanted to be.

I was helped onto a bed roll, and Astrid poured another potion down me, and that is the last I remember for a while.

When I woke, Tabitha was sitting beside me. “Afternoon,” she said.

“Afternoon. I was hurt worse than thought, wasn’t I?”

“Astrid spent some time swearing at you after you were out.” she said. “Apparently, that is a common problem with people with high Pain Resistance. It keeps you going, but you do more damage to yourself because it doesn’t feel that bad. Your knee is going to take more time even with your regeneration.”

I winced. “The poison was particularly bad as well.” I checked, and my Poison Resistance had jumped up.

She nodded. “I heard the Famous Five talking, and I think some of them are about ready to worship you. It would normally take a whole village of warriors to kill an Alsabaar of that size. They would advance behind shields, burning it one section at a time, and still, they would lose people. Tatu and Mbili think you are a god. Moja thinks you are crazy.”

“Definitely crazy,” I said.

“Definitely crazy,” she agreed. She grinned, “The Legend of the Mighty Quinn grows.”

I groaned. We paused while I took a drink from a bottle beside me, and there was a potion left as well, with instructions to take it when I woke.

Then Tabitha said something that poured cold water on the Mighty Quinn. “Can I ask why you didn’t use your Lava Body?”

I stopped. Shit. “It wouldn’t have healed the leg or eye, but it would have burned out the spike and the poison,” I admitted. “I didn’t think of it,” I said sheepishly.

Tabitha grinned. “Astrid did some tests on the poison on the spikes, and they do incite confusion in the mind, but your Poison Resistance should have overcome that.”

“I am not the brightest some days,” I admitted.

“Nor are you invincible.”

“No, you would think the last few fights would have drilled that into my thick skull.”

“Your hard-headed Granite Skull?” Tabitha said in a teasing tone. I nodded, tapping my knuckles against my skull. She became serious, “How much of a setback is it that Barbra died?”

“It is not good. We can keep experimenting with what we remember of the flavour, but we need to compare it against the real thing.”

She winced, “Modrica was convinced it was something Umreti needed to do and that added to Umreti’s response.”

I held back on further comments because when Modrica is convinced about something, not even Tabitha can change her mind. It is part of who she is, and her high Mental Strength not being balanced with Mental Agility. It is a big setback, though. Tabitha got what I was thinking from my silence.

“So she can sense bonds around her like I can and can break them without talking. We need to know the range that can work at. What happened to her other slaves?” I asked.

“I asked Ruku to take them over. At least they can help with the caravan now.”

I winced because they still didn’t have a choice.

“We will need to find another Taskmaster.”

Tabitha nodded in agreement.