Chapter 6

  Dalex flew away over a brand-new city, though one very different from Ulenbeter. The Gaia Eta side of the portal was set at the top of a city upon a hill. This city—Best-hon, the others had called it—was partially wrapped around a dry lake to its north. The portal they had come through was situated on what once had been the shore of the lake, surrounded by tall walls and military barracks.

  Dalex faced no more interference as he passed over the residential part of the city and flew toward the wilderness beyond the hill. He caught up to Hitasa, Seventh, and Balgoth and they flew together, stopping when they were five miles away from the city. They set down in a thicket of trees and took stock of their situation.

  Only Dalex had suffered any damage in the transition. The defenders around both sides of the portal had paid not attention to the other people with him after the first alarm was raised. Luckily, none of the damage to Dalex's armor was permanent. It could all be repaired without expending any {adamantine}.

  Once the team was confident no one was following them, Seventh deployed a number of small airborne {golems}. Ten of them floated over the thicket for a moment and then, at Seventh’s command, they flew into the upper atmosphere to stand watch. Together, they could observe several hundred square miles of terrain and provide a constantly updated map of the region.

  No one in Batulan-bar had access to a map of Gaia Zeta. Most people knew a few famous cities and locations, but not where exactly they were or how to get to them. Dalex's party was on its own for navigation until they came across someone willing to share information. Unfortunately, while the maps the {golems} generated could create a very accurate picture of the physical characteristics of the world, that was all. They couldn't put a label to any town or city.

  They waited in the thicket for an hour while the {golems} scanned the area. The biggest nearby settlement was Best-hon. Hitasa suggested that returning to the city, even with disguises, would be a bad idea. The people there knew that Dalex could turn invisible, and while the {tomb seal} stopped physical transmission through the portal, it wasn't airtight. The guards on the Gaia Eta side had probably informed the Best-hon defenders that Dalex could also make himself and others look completely different. Best-hon was likely to be a den of paranoia and martial law. The towns surrounding it would cause similar problems if Dalex and the others tried to visit.

  At this point, they had two objectives: Gather information about the people and power players of Gaia Zeta, and look for clues as to the nature of the barrier preventing the {voidstalker} from moving closer to the realm’s sun than Gaia Eta’s orbit.

  "Should we just keep flying south?" Dalex asked. "We're bound to find a town where no one is looking for us. It's a big, brand-new world, after all."

  "Indeed," Seventh said, "Gaia Zeta is two percent more massive than Gaia Eta, and one percent more massive than Earth. Telemetry from the [drones] suggests that the land south of our current position is habitable and likely capable of supporting humanoid settlements."

  "So, we aren't flying into a desert?" Hitasa said. "That's good to know."

  "We may be flying towards an ocean," Seventh said. "I will know more soon. The environment is more arid than expected. It is possible we may encounter many deserts as we traverse the planet."

  "Is south the best direction, Seventh?" Dalex asked.

  "At the moment, all cardinal directions are equivalent except north. I have less information about what is beyond Best-hon and the dry lake to its north."

  "South it is," Dalex said. "Are you ready, Seventh, or do you want to give the {golems} more time to explore?"

  "I am detecting motion to our east," Seventh interrupted.

  Dalex gave a good-natured chuckle. "That’s not what I asked,"

  Hitasa swatted him on the back of the head.

  "Sorry."

  "What is it, Seventh?" Hitasa whispered.

  "I am detecting a single individual approaching from the east at seventy-five yards."

  "Probably just an animal, right?" Dalex suggested.

  "I am tracking sixty-seven lower intelligence life forms of low consequence in our vicinity. This is not one of them. It is humanoid in shape, and alone."

  Dalex looked east and cast, “{Detect life}.”

  Sure enough, there was someone slinking toward them, low to the ground. A humanoid figure glowed bright orange just inside the tree line, getting closer.

  "I think someone followed us from the city," Dalex said.

  "Couldn't be," Hitasa said. "They couldn’t track us this far, and they wouldn't come alone. Let's just fly out of here. They won't follow us a hundred miles south."

  "I think I know who it is," Dalex said.

  "It's an orange blob, Dalex. There's no way you could--"

  Dalex cast {fleet foot} and rushed straight at the approaching intruder, ducking under low branches and leaping quietly over the ground cover. His quarry didn’t notice him until he was about fifteen feet away, and then the orange blob stopped and crouched, staring right at Dalex. Considering Dalex had not dropped his {invisibility} spell once since arriving over Ulenbeter, Erban’s awareness was remarkable.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Dalex tackled him to the ground on his back and knelt on the rodent-eared beastkin’s chest, holding him down.

  Dalex dispelled his invisibility and said, “Hey buddy, you must have one hell of a nose.”

  Erban glared up at him. “How did you know I was here?”

  “My nose is just a bit better.” Dalex looked the fellow over. “That must have been you back in Ulenbeter, the one who told everyone I was there. What was the word of power? Daiekh?”

  The beastkin commander grimaced and looked away. Dalex smiled and patted him on the cheek. “Don’t worry, I respect your tenacity. Why did you come alone?”

  Erban gave him a defiant smile and spit at his face. Dalex’s helmet manifested to block the loogie and a shimmer of {astral mortar} swept the mucus away. The beastkin’s smile slipped into disappointment.

  “Better luck next time, eh buddy?”

  Hitasa, Seventh, and Balgoth walked up behind Dalex.

  “Where did he come from?” Hitasa asked.

  “He managed to get ahold of me twice during our trip through the portal,” Dalex explained. “I shrugged him off, but he has a knack for tracking me down.”

  Hitasa squinted into the dark. “Are we sure there aren’t more of him?”

  Seventh answered, “I detect no other humanoid life forms within four miles. He is alone.”

  Hitasa’s brows knit together in concentration. “He’s Second Captain of Ulenbeter and just came from a city teeming with soldiers. Why wouldn’t he bring backup?”

  “Best-hon is in chaos, you villains,” Erban growled. He eyed Dalex. “You killed the city’s dragon, and its second captain killed himself in shame. No one competent was left to follow you, and I knew you would move too fast.”

  Dalex sat back, removing some of his weight from Erban’s body. “Are you serious? Why would he kill himself?”

  Erban didn’t answer. He looked at Hitasa. “Why are you helping him, elf? You must know he’s using you.”

  Hitasa chuckled. “I had that same thought, but, if anything, it’s the other way around.”

  “That’s right,” Dalex said, “I’ve been used and abused.” He poked Erban in the stomach. “You ought to feel sorry for me.”

  “Please,” Hitasa scoffed. “As if anyone could abuse you and get away with it.”

  “You smacked my head earlier.”

  “Well, you were being smart.”

  Erban looked at the two of them wide eyed. “What are you doing?”

  Hitasa blushed and Dalex cleared his throat.

  “Anyway,” he said, “I think you have impeccable timing, Second Captain Erban.” Dalex paused. “Second Captain. You said the guy in charge of Best-hon was a second captain, too. Where are all the first captains?”

  Erban gave him a confused look.

  Hitasa answered for him. “There are no first captains. Technically, the most prominent human in the city might hold the title, but they rarely bother. The humans don’t want any single beastkin getting a big head and thinking they might actually be in charge of something.”

  “That doesn’t sound very fair,” Dalex said.

  Hitasa snorted. “What makes you think the humans would ever stoop to being fair.” She nodded her head toward the captive beastkin. “Why do you say Erban here showed up just in time? Do you have some kind of plan for him?”

  Dalex grinned. “I was thinking we could use a guide.”

  Hitasa looked the beastkin over again. She frowned, and Dalex expected her to tell him it was a bad idea.

  Instead, she asked, "What makes you think he'll help us?"

  "Are you two mad?" Erban snarled. "The last thing I would do is help you."

  Hitasa waved a hand at him as if she agreed. "We should find ourselves a guide, but I don't think it's going to be him. Unless you want to use one of those [mind altering drugs] Ring taught me about to force him."

  Dalex's eyes widened. "You're digging deep into your skills. Would you want to use something like that on him?"

  She shrugged. "He's an enemy, and Ring said the chemicals wouldn't cause any lasting harm."

  "True, but would you want that kind of thing used on you?"

  "No, but we're not talking about me."

  "I'm against it," Dalex said. "Honestly, he seems like a decent guy."

  "How would you know?"

  "Just a hunch."

  Hitasa gave him a sly look. "Did you have the same hunch about Arnaut?"

  "In fact, I did not," Dalex shot back. "I knew he was a bastard, I just thought he was a bastard I could work with. I was wrong about that, but I don't think I'm wrong about this."

  "I will never help you," Erban said as if he were making an unbreakable promise.

  "How do you even know he can be our guide?" Hitasa said, ignoring the beastkin's protests. "He's a guard commander of a Gaia Etan city. He might not know anything about Gaia Zeta."

  "He hasn't said he doesn't know," Dalex said. “Only that he won’t help us.”

  It was hard to believe a beastkin resident of Ulenbeter could rise so high in rank without making a visit or two to Best-hon. When Dalex had installed the {tomb seal}, Erban had said there were people in Ulenbeter with family on the other side of the portal. Maybe he was from Gaia Zeta originally.

  Dalex leaned over the captive beastkin. "How about it, Erban? Are you familiar with this land?"

  Once again, the beastkin grimaced and looked away. He didn't even try to lie. Was he too na?ve or too honorable? Maybe he was just a bad liar.

  There was another important reason to bring him along that Dalex hadn’t mentioned. Erban seemed more than willing to follow them to the ends of Gaia Zeta using just his nose. The beastkin didn’t seem to have any problem tracking them, even through {invisibility}. Maybe they could leave him in the dust if they flew a hundred miles south, but maybe then Erban would muster more soldiers and continue his relentless pursuit of Dalex.

  "We're bringing him with us," Dalex said.

  Hitasa shrugged. "It's your mission."

  By now, Balgoth had produced her notepad and was scribbling. Erban finally seemed to notice the demon and his eyes went wide, but he did not comment on her presence.

  "Dalex," Seventh broke in, "local knowledge of the planet is important, but it will be difficult to travel with a hostile prisoner in our care."

  “I’m sure it will be fine. I don’t think he’ll cause us that much trouble. Besides, you brought that extra {bag of holding} with you, right, Seventh?”

  “Indeed. As you requested, I am in possession of several more [dimensional indents]. Are you suggesting we use one of them as a holding cell?”

  “Would it work?” Dalex asked.

  “If the prisoner was placed inside a sealed [dimensional indent], he would be safely locked away,” Seventh replied.

  Dalex snapped his fingers. “There you have it. If he gets out of line, we’ll just throw him in a {bag of holding} until we can decide what to do with him.” He focused on Erban again. “Let’s hope you’re okay with heights.”

  With the matter decided, Dalex formed one of his side-car baskets out of the {astral mortar} and stuffed Erban inside. The basket wasn’t any kind of prison. If the beastkin wanted to jump while they were in flight or make a break for it when they were close to the ground, he would have that option. He could also attack while Dalex wasn’t looking. But he so far had shown no ability to do any serious harm to {adamantine} armor. If the prisoner ran, Dalex could catch him. If he acted out, Dalex could confine him in a {bag of holding}.

  Erban sat quietly in the basket, glaring at all of them until Dalex took off, dragging the beastkin behind him into the southern skies with the others.

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