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Chapter Seven – Repeated Vocalization

  RavensDagger

  Chapter Seven - Repeated Vocalization

  51st Day of Spring - Year 1758 of the Golden EraShorefarm, Yellowfield, Draya Calyrex

  A pair of young men were at the front of the little boat, and a sed pair just like them were at the rear. The four pulled on oars in time with each other, each heave pushing the little boat slightly closer to shore.

  Sitting in the middle of the ship, with a shawl over her shoulder and a bubble of shimmering air around her head, was the young Magus woman who had been there when she first awakened.

  Magus Suffragus Nocthorn. It was good to have a o go with the face, though she was quite certain that Suffragus was a title, not a proper range how that worked. The people onboard the ship slowly reg behind them seemed fond of those.

  "La ," she said. "Ma ma ma."

  The woman sighed. "I would ask you to stop, but I at least uand that there won't be a better time to practice your vocalizations than now. Just... keep it loerhaps don't interrupt as I instruct you."

  "Ye ye ye," Green said. If she could smile, she would.

  Speech! At long st, she could speak. The voice came from deep ihroat, at the base of it, and it spilled out of her wooden mouth with a strange, eg tone, but it eech all the same.

  Turnitention back to the space ahead of them, she could make out a small town slowly being enpassed by a growing fog. Much of the shoreline had a thick wall of fog permeating it and rising far taller thahe ship they'd departed.

  As they came closer, they plunged into the fog until their visibility was cut short.

  "Hmm," the Magus said. "Well, now is as good a time as any," she said. "Pay attention, all three of you." The three of them did so, though Green noticed Red still sing the fog. "Magus Maldrak's mission for you today is simple. Scout out the piers and docks we will be making ndfall near, then yoal is to assess the lighthouse up on that hill."

  She pointed, and the three followed her gesture up the pteau slightly. There was a rise, and atop it a short, rather stubby tower made of local sto might have been part of the rise, were it not sht cut.

  "If you enter resistance, you may reply to it as you see fit. From what I uand, harnessing the essence of locals will empower you to some degree. I'd advise against killing any right-minded peasants, however. We are not a quering army. For that reason... here."

  The woman reached into a satchel and pulled out three small purses. They were little bags, with leather straps about them. She gave oo each of them.

  "These tain a missive from the Magus, expining who you are in case of any... disputes with civilized folk. There is also a pass linked with a guidestohin the Geidings. You should be able to find the ship from anywhere with that. I've also opted to include paper and quill, a small stopper of ink, and Artisan Artificer Preamagus Woodbone has lent you each a small tool set. For repairs and the like."

  Green accepted hers gdly. "T-t-taaa... ta ta ta ks."

  The young Magus stared at her, one eyebrow raised. "You're wele," she said.

  The boat tio move towards the shore, and soon the pping of water became quite a bit louder.

  "Regardless of whether you plete your task or not, you are to summon us by nightfall. Use the light spell we so graciously gave you and wait here for retrieval. And if you have any dowhough I imagine your day will be occupied, do practice your speech. You don't want to stutter a report to the Magus."

  "Ye ye yeeess," Green said.

  The men at the front murmured something and stopped rowing, and soon those at the rear stopped as well. They coasted through the fog and shadows until, finally, one of the sailors passed his oar onto another and reached a hand out to grab something.

  A pier stood above them, with the tide currently at a low point.

  "Good luck," Nocthorn said.

  Green stood up a little shakily and moved closer to the pier. She wasn't sure how she would climb up onto it, but Red showed her the way.

  The puppet moved to the edge of the pier then fell down onto it before moving her limbs up and around to push herself further up. It meant scraping her wooden front against the pier, but it worked well enough.

  Green followed suit, and she noticed Blue doing the same with some difficulty. Of the three, Blue was the one who was the clumsiest, though Green would never mention it aloud... now that she could.

  "Ba ba ba," she muttered as she climbed up onto the pier then straightened herself. The pier didn't wobble or shake. It was entirely stable. For some reason, that felt strange, and wrong. Still, she imagined she would be used to it eventually.

  Cheg over herself, she made sure that the belt with her sheathed sword was by her hip and the satchel with the pass and equipment was still around her waist. Then she lowered herself down and grabbed Blue by the bad helped her up as well, before the puppet rolled into the water and sank away.

  Or perhaps they would float? She wasn't sure except that she knew she didn't want to find out.

  There sh, and she turo stare down at the boat that had brought them here as it pushed off the pier and the sailors started to row once more. Soon, faster than she would have expected, it was swallowed by the fog.

  The three puppets stood together on the pier, the fog curling around them like ghostly tendrils. Green adjusted the satchel at her side, the weight of its tents both reassuring and strange. She g Red, who was already sing their surroundings with her usual restless energy, and then at Blue, who was brushing off the front of her frame as though smoothing imaginary creases.

  "Greeee," she said. Almost! A few more minutes and she was sure she'd get the hang of speaking.

  "Shhh," Red replied. It wasn't a word, exactly, but the se was clear.

  The water pped gently at the posts of the pier, the sound muffled by the dense fog. No voices, no birds, no movement except the faint ripple of the tide. The silence felt like a heavy b.

  Red gestured forward. Without words, it was clear she was urging them to move. Green supposed that there was no point in standing on a pier, so whearted to move, she followed. Blue came up behind, her movements deliberate and steady, though there was a slight hesitation in her gait.

  As they moved towards the town, the shapes of houses became more distinct, as did the skeletal forms of small ships moored along the piers.

  The houses were simple things. Wooden walls stained by salt water, thatched roofs, and a colle of wooden beams below where the water pped and shifted, clogged with seaweed.

  The deeper parts of the town were a little better. The homes were made of old stone and some of the roofs looked to be covered in shingles.

  She couldn't t the number of houses, but there couldn't be more than two dozen here. Though, on closer iion, the buildings he water weren't homes but more like small shacks.

  She recalled Magus Noentioning something about this town being divided in two parts. This wasn't actually Shorefarm. This was a fishing vilge a short walk away from the town.

  Green was about to point to some of the buildings to suggest that they explore them when she heard a was a faint shuffle, something shifting ravel.

  Red made an indistinoise, then carefully reached down and started to pull her sword from its sheath.

  Green did the same, with some difficulty. The sword didn't just slip out, she had to hold the sheath in pce, and that meant gripping both it and the sword and pulling them apart, a task that was surprisingly plex.

  "Shh," Red said again as the shuffling grew closer. It was followed by some sniffing.

  And then Blue dropped her sword.

  The sound of Blue's sword cttering to the ground echoed in the muffled fog. Green winced internally and gripped her sword tighter. Her eyes clicked as they turowards the source of the shuffling had stopped.

  Then there was running. Something growled and smacked against the gravel roadway with a quick beat that grew louder.

  Out of the fog came a rge fged blur. A dog? It was emaciated, its fur hanging in patches, and its fnks revealed every one of its pointy bohere were growths along its sides and back. Sharp little scales that poked out of it nearly at random.

  It locked eyes on the of them a.

  Red raised her sword to block, but the impact seumbling backward. She tripped, and with a ctter crashed onto the road with the dog above her.

  Its teeth fshed, milky white things that ended ied tips. They grabbed onto Red's fad the dog shook its head violently from side to side while Red scrambled against its chest.

  Green froze for half a heartbeat before lunging forward, her sword aimed at the dog's exposed fnk. It was the luhat she'd been taught. Unlike in their short sparring sessions, the sword bit into flesh, a strange, wet sensation that had her fling back.

  The wound she left was shallow, just an oozing cut in the dog's side. It didn't even flinch.

  Red struggled beh it, and soon the dog cmped onto her arm instead. Green could see the wood being savaged as it growled and chewed.

  She jabbed at it again, then again, but her pokes were only leaving it with small, dirty cuts, and it wasn't bag off.

  Then Blue was there. Her movements were slow, deliberate, but she seemed to know what she was doing.

  Her hands moved towards the dog's face, and then there was light.

  The light fred directly into the dog's face. It yelped, its glowing green eyes squeezing shut as it recoiled, momentarily stunned. Red seized the opportunity, twisting her frame and driving her sword upward. The bde pierced through the creature's chest with a heavy ch.

  The moment held for a moment, then the dog slumped off to the side and onto the ground.

  Green wao heave, to breathe hard, but... there was no need for that, was there.

  And then Red's chest opened, and her siphon slid out. "Ree," she said simply before she crawled onto the still fresh corpse.

  Right. The spoils of their fight was still there.

  ***

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