The Greystone Chronicles: Book One: Io Online Read online

  Thea returned after a few more moments with the potions. Handing him the bag, she said, “Sasha gave me a few extras, and said to warn ye to be careful. Lainey said to tell ye ‘Don’t hurt yerself, idiot!’” She repeated it a little awkwardly.

  When both Alexander and Brick laughed, she relaxed visibly. Brick motioned for her to sit, then said, “We’re going to put a spell on each of ye, that will help you to see what we’re going to do next. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt ye.”

  Brick and Alexander each cast mage sight on two of their guests. Then took a few minutes to explain and let them adjust to what they were seeing. When the four young dwarves had calmed a bit and were breathing normally, Alexander began.

  He activated his own mage sight and reached down below them with his earth magic. He sensed a large block of obsidian, maybe 12 x 10, roughly twice the size of the last one he’d brought up. He was suddenly glad he was already sitting. Focusing his earth mover spell, he softened the earth above the block of stone, and gently urged it upward. It didn’t budge. He put more effort into it, channeling more mana. Then more again. Finally, it began to move. The others who were all watching his spell wrap around the stone all gasped as it slowly lifted through the liquefied granite. He had chosen a block that was not in line with any of the tunnels, so he didn’t have the added effort of moving it to avoid them. He could bring it upward in nearly a straight, if diagonal, line. The mana poured out of him at an alarming rate. He had to stop and rest when it was less than a third of the way. Taking some time to catch his breath, he drank both a mana and a stamina potion. Thea touched his shoulder and he felt a buff settle into him. It increased his stamina, health, and mana regeneration. Awesome!

  After a five minute rest, he began again. This time he started with the same massive mana flow it took to get the block moving initially. As it began to move upward again, Brick and the others began a dwarven chant. It started low and slow, not much more than a rumbling. Building it up, they grew louder, and Thea’s softer voice began to sound in counterpoint. Alexander could feel their magic infuse him. He legs stopped wobbling and his back ached less. I feel as if I could lift a mountain!

  He pushed harder as they continued their song. The block was now only 50 feet below. Now 30. He was reaching the end of his mana, but didn’t want to let the momentum die. Digging deep, he pushed hard, and the block lifted up right beneath them all. When the dwarves finished their song, and Alexander finally opened his eyes, they were all sitting atop the block of obsidian, ten feet above the courtyard stones.

  Too exhausted to move, Alexander allowed Thea to pour another stamina potion down his throat. Then instead of the expected mana potion, he got a shot of dwarven whisky, which caused him to cough and wheeze as it burned its way down his gullet. The dwarves all hopped down to the floor below, but Alexander had yet to recover enough to stand. He simply called out, “Catch me,” and rolled off the edge.

  The dwarves cried out in surprise, but managed to catch him and lower him gently to the ground out of the way. He just laid there, one eye open, watching them. Thea had left the flask of whisky on his chest. Good girl. Dwarfess. Good Dwarfess!

  The five dwarves all proceeded to “hug” the block of obsidian, using their senses to explore it and identify any weakness. The masons produced some chalk and began to outline where they’d make cuts to create the components they needed while wasting as little of the material as possible. The block quickly began to look like a massive jigsaw puzzle.

  The whole time, Brick stood there with his eyes closed, hands on the block, oblivious to their discussion. Alexander managed to push himself up on his elbow, and call out loud enough for them to hear. “Guys, hold on. That won’t be necessary.”

  The two masons looked at him, confused. He glanced meaningfully at Brick, then back at them. Their gazes both turned to Brick as if just now realizing he was still communing with the stone.

  Just then Brick placed his hands next to each other on the face of the stone about shoulder height. He took a deep breath, and sunk his hands into the stone. Straining his muscles, he separated his hands, moving them outward, left and right. Thea, Harin, and Dvorn all gasped as an opening formed in the stone directly in front of Brick. Garen didn’t make a sound, just fell back on his arse, mouth agape.

  Brick moved his hands further apart, arms outstretched. The opening grew wider, and taller, until finally Brick stepped into it. When he was finished, he was standing in an alcove in the middle of the block. Four feet wide and about six feet high. He faced the middle of the stone, and repeated the process. In just a minute he had carved what was effectively a Brick-size tunnel through the middle of the giant block. He had pushed the stone aside, so that now it was about 16 feet wide instead of 12. Turning to face one of the walls of his tunnel, he did it again. Pushed the stone forward and to the sides, opening the way through to the edge. Then he turned around and did it again in the other direction.

  When he stopped to rest, Brick had created what looked like a massive ebony hut. The opening inside was six feet high (it was as high as the dwarf could reach) with massive columns at each corner. There were floor to ceiling openings in the wall on the east side where Brick had started his tunnel, and on the south side. The floor area had spread out to be roughly 20 feet squared.

  The other dwarves were speechless. As Brick collapsed next to Alexander on the ground, the other dwarves stepped into the opening, testing the floor with their feet, touching the columns at each corner. While they had all certainly seen stone shapers work, they had just watched Brick’s magic with mage sight. The beauty of it had left them silent. Alexander thought the two masons might be trying to duplicate the magic from the way they ran their hands over the stone.

  Brick eventually got back to his feet and stepped inside. He instructed the crafters to build him three scaffolds: one at two foot height; one at four; and one at six. As they ran off to complete their task, he laid his hands on the stone again, and stretched it farther. The columns and floor thinned out as he pushed the northern wall back until it nearly touched the armory. Then he did the same with the western wall, leaving just a half foot gap between the stone and the keep wall. The southeast column remained roughly three feet square. This corner was where he intended to build his forge, shaping it directly from the stone.

  Needing another rest, the two friends walked back into the house and sat in the lounge. Thea entered behind them, and went to fetch them a snack to help replace the energy they’d both used up. They just sat in companionable silence until she returned with a platter of fresh bread, cheese and ham, all sliced. As they quickly made themselves each a sandwich, Thea left and returned with a pitcher of water in one hand, ale in the other. They both opted for water, and she poured them each a glass. Then she poured herself some ale, took a bit of cheese to nibble on, and sat down with them.

  “I dunno what to say,” she began. “Me whole family’s crafters. Among the best in the clan. But never have I witness crafting like tha’!”

  “Blame Fitz,” Brick managed to get out around a mouthful of ham and cheese goodness.

  “Yes, he taught me how to move the earth, and unlocked the shaping skill within Brick,” Alexander added.

  “Aye, I know shaping. But what I’ve seen was the shaping of a table, or a chest. Maybe a statue or two. Nothin on such a grand scale as tha’!” she smiled in wonder. “When me gramps hears o’this, he’ll shit diamonds!” Realizing what she’d said, she gasped and covered her mouth.

  The shocked look on her face tickled Brick. “BWAHAHAHA! Well, let’s no’ warn him, then. When it be finished, we’ll invite him for a meal and surprise him, eh?”

  She gave him an odd, thoughtful look for a moment. Then nodded her head. “Aye, on me honor I’ll not utter a word.” Then she smirked and added, “But ye’ll have to tie down them others, or they’ll be runnin’ to brag to the whole mountain on yer behalf! What they seen today be a near miracle to them.”

  “Well,” Bric
k said with a sigh, “can’t leave a miracle half finished.” He got up to head outside.

  “If it’s ok with you, mister miracle, I’ll sit here a bit longer. I think I pulled something lifting that stone.” Alexander moved from his chair to a sofa where he could spread out. As soon as he got comfortable, he noticed the pitcher of cold ale on the table, condensation dripping down the sides. Juuuuust out of reach. He’d need to sit up to grab it. Nope. Not worth it. He closed his eyes.

  He was awaked some time later by the sounds of a wizard trying to quietly abscond with the food platter and pitcher of ale. “Your stealth skills need some work, Fitz,” he said, causing the wizard to jump.

  Fitz looked sheepish. “I didn’t want to wake you, boy. I watched from my tower as you lifted that block. I’m proud of you. But you should rest now.”

  “Proud enough to leave me some of that cheese?” Alexander smiled.

  “Nope!” the wizard cheerfully replied as he scooted out the door.

  He keeps taking our dinner ware Alexander thought as he drifted back to sleep.

  After what felt like only a few minutes, he was awakened again, this time by the sensation of Sasha healing him. He opened one eye to see both her and Lainey hovering over him.

  Lainey was the first to speak. “Idiot.” Short, and to the point.

  “You overtaxed yourself.” Sasha added, “Drained your mana to dangerous levels. Again.”

  “Yes. And Yes.” He agreed with both of them. “Can I have some ale please? Fitz stole mine. I think it has vitamins and stuff in it. Does a body good. The ale. Not Fitz. Have you noticed he keeps walking off with our plates and mugs and things?”

  “No ale for you, dork boy. It’s not even noon. What you need is some tea.” Lainey headed for the kitchen.

  “I feel stupid,” Alexander said.

  “You ARE stupid! I saw how tired you were after lifting that first block, and you just lifted one TWICE as big!” Sasha scolded.

  “No… not that. Ok that was stupid too. But I feel stupid now. Like, m’brain is slowwww.”

  “You put yourself in mana debt. It’s like when you run too far without breathing right and you go into oxygen debt. Your brain’s not getting enough oxygen and you get woozy. Mana debt is the same. You drained your mana beyond empty, and your stamina to a stupidly low level. You were able to manage it because you had a dwarf buff going and their chant gave you a boost. But when those ended, well, now you know what it’s like to be a tweaker fallin’ off the horse.”

  “So, what you’re saying is… wait. How long will I be stupid?”

  “I’m afraid for the rest of your life,” Lainey quipped as she handed him a steaming mug of tea.

  Alexander sipped the tea and grinned, “Lainey gots jokes!”

  Sasha and Lainey shared a look that clearly said “maybe we could just drop him off at the pound?”

  “Drink your tea. It’ll help with the headache that’s coming.” Sasha chided

  Alexander finished his drink and set the mug on the table. Sort of. It tumbled off. “What headache? I feel good.” He drifted off to sleep.

  The smells of wolf steak stew woke him. Lunchtime! He opened his eyes and a searing light penetrated through his eyes directly to the back of his brain, then bounced around like a .22 slug inside his cranium. “Ah. That headache.” Mental note: Don’t do that again.

  He managed to open his eyes long enough to focus, the blurry world resolving itself into the lounge in which he’d passed out. His view was obstructed, however, by the face of Rufus hovering a few inches in front of his own. The squirrel chittered at him questioningly, then reached forward one tiny paw and lifted Alexander’s eyelid. Apparently deciding the foolish mage would live, he uttered another chitter than couldn’t be anything other than laughter, and bounded away.

  “In case you’re wondering,” Lainey pushed his legs over and sat down next to him on the sofa, “Rufus says you’re an idiot.” She proceeded to check him over as well, lifting both eyelids, checking his pulse, telling him to follow her finger as she moved it side to side. That one made him wobble a bit.

  “You’ll live. You need food, and Fitz says you shouldn’t cast anything for a while. Here, drink this.”

  Grateful to his long-time caretaker and friend, he took the offered vial and chugged it down. “Gack! What WAS that?” His tongue tried to curl up and the inside of his mouth tasted like broiled goblin ass.

  “Don’t know. Lydia made it. Said it’d teach you never to do that again.” She patted him on the head and left him on the sofa.

  “They’re all out to get me,” he mumbled.

  He slowly joined the others for lunch, which was indeed wolf stew. He ‘wolfed’ down two bowls and then wiped his bowl clean with some fresh bread. Feeling much better, he asked how everyone else’s mornings went.

  “I be done with me shaping,” Brick said. “The lads be adding some bits here and there.” Brick looked in much better condition than Alexander. Though he’d accomplished a major undertaking, his magic was innate to his dwarf body, depending on stamina rather than mana. Being both a dwarf and a tank, his stamina was quite high, so he was only mildly tired.

  Max had altered the stalls to accommodate their draft horse. Then he’d gotten ambitious and built a small corral outside the stable to allow the horse some sunlight and room to roam about. He was anxious to get to the stable master and finally choose their mounts.

  Lainey and Sasha had spent most of the morning with Lydia. Lainey experimented with some low level cure potions, while Sasha and Lydia had burned through a pile of feather-root, making several hundred of the highest quality healing potions. Sasha had brought a supply back for the guild vault. None of them were high enough level to need them yet.

  As the palace was just a short walk, they agreed to head over to see the stable master. Alexander tried to pay him to train Lainey in the riding skill, but the old man would have none of it. Apparently either the king or the captain had already thought to add Lainey to the list of friends. So while Lainey, who knew how to ride in real life, worked with the stable master to unlock her riding skill, the others checked out the available mounts. The king’s stables were huge, with hundreds of mounts. Rather than try to physically examine each one, they accessed their UI’s and pulled down a menu that helped them narrow their field of choices.

  Sasha quickly found a massive looking stag with an impressive rack of antlers. It was as tall as a horse, extremely fast over short distances, and there was a notation that it would fight if necessary, but only while its rider was mounted. It also had some dietary restrictions – it did not eat hay. Or rather, it would, but it would get no nutritional benefit. It could eat corn and acorns, though.

  Max started with the thoroughbred horses. He had visions of a massive charger with combat training that could stomp enemies while Max shot arrows from its back. Alexander reminded him that those horses tended to have limited endurance, and would not be great for weaving through forests at speed. Forests being a Ranger’s main habitat, Max nodded and began to rethink his choices.

  Brick was going with a battle boar. There was never any question. He had seen one in action in one of the Tolkien movies, and as far as he was concerned, dwarves rode boars, period.

  Alexander was keeping an open mind, looking through a wide variety of horses, cats, a large flightless bird that resembled an ostrich, even a rhino.

  Lainey approached with the stable master, and with a flick of his hand Alexander sent her the menu. She immediately asked, in the most girly tone he’d ever heard from her, “Do you have any… unicorns?”

  The stable master shook his head. “I’m sorry, lass. Unicorns are special, magical creatures. They are sentient, and won’t hold with being kept in a stable. They choose a rider if they are so inclined, and cannot otherwise be tamed. Dragons are the same.”

  He then gathered them all together in a small corral just outside the stable entrance. He asked them what they were thinking. After hearing eve
ryone’s thoughts, he asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, how will you use these mounts?”

  When everyone just looked at him blankly, he specified, “Are you just looking for fast mounts to take you from one city to the next along the roads? Will you be mainly traveling through forests and over mountains? Do you need your mounts to fight?”

  Understanding, Alexander spoke for the group. “We are adventurers, sir. While it would be nice to stick to the roads, we must often follow quests where they take us, through forests and swamps, and yes over mountains. We are not a cavalry type unit, participating in open battles, and have no particular need for fighting mounts. However, if they could defend themselves or even assist in the event of an ambush, it would be helpful.”

  As the stable master nodded, Brick added, “Dwarves ride boars,” earning a chuckle from everyone.

  “Aye, master dwarf. That they do. And boars be damn good mounts. Strong and sturdy, they have great bursts of speed good for charging or fleeing. If kept well fed, they have the stamina to run for hours. The can climb rocky terrain, and will forage for food as you go. They eat anything and everything. But they are stubborn, and will test you at times.”

  Brick just smiled.

  “I think I have just the pig for you, master dwarf,” he withdrew a figurine from his bag and handed it to Brick. Along with a handful of acorns. “Just hold it in your hand and call the animal in your mind. When it comes to you, offer it the acorns. It’ll decide if it likes you or not.”

  Brick did as instructed. Shortly there was a banging noise, followed by a few snorts and an alarmed yelp that sounded like a stable hand. A massive boar waddled out of the stables and headed for Brick. It was four feet high at the shoulders, and had a head the size of a rhino. It was covered in coarse black hair, and had intelligent, if beady, eyes. Razor sharp tusks were currently wrapped in leather to protect the other animals in the stables. The others took a step back and cleared a path between the giant pig and the dwarf. It strode calmly up to Brick, jamming its rather slobbery snout into his chest and sniffing at him. Brick raised his handful of acorns, thankful of the plate gauntlet he was wearing. The pig very politely and gently removed the treats from his hand, crunching them once before swallowing. Snorting in curiosity, it then tried to jam its massive snout into Brick’s inventory bag, apparently smelling more treats.