-Callia-

  Living in the shipping crate really started distorting my sense of time after a while. Who knew removing natural light and having enough endurance to stay active for multiple days without consequence would make such an impact? Without the normal mental stimulation, there was little dictating my need for sleep. Instead I let my arts and crafts project (Dad’s spear) fill up my whole day. The result was sadly nothing to brag about. Still, the extra swirls etched into the shaft gave it a bit of character. If I could, I would’ve made a proper tribute to Dad. However, if I tried now, it would probably end up being a stick figure heroically posing with an indistinguishable stick in hand.

  When light suddenly flooded the box, it was a bit jarring. Instead of offloading the box, they just cracked it open right in line with the rising or setting sun. I couldn’t tell which because my sense of direction was completely skewed. I stored all my travel furniture, as the captain had a strange look on his face seeing the neat compartment.

  “Welcome to the Citadel, or at least as close as most folk dare to venture.” The captain welcomed me while gesturing off to the side. “Welcome to Shadow Town. the edge of the mortal world for us boatmen.” I looked out to the side the captain was gesturing but noticed nothing that screamed citadel to me at first, but then I noticed the lone mountain wasn’t a mountain at all. I had thought the royal palace was something to be impressed by, but this put it to shame. The only building that I had ever seen higher was the mysterious white tower in the capital.

  “Certainly impressive.” While I had plenty of reservations about going here, in the end I didn’t really regret it. My main reason to yearn for home was the elvish invasion that was ongoing. The danger that could manifest at any moment left me on edge, but after a week stuffed in a box, I had more or less learned to deal with it. I moved to the edge of the ship and noticed that instead of stopping in some harbor, the captain had run the ship completely aground. Seeing my question before I could ask, the captain answered for me.

  “Wood is a valuable commodity in the South. We drift with the river down to a southern port and sell everything, even the whole ship. Then we follow the river trail back north to commission a new ship made in Nox.” I nodded along. With the river currents as strong as they were, fighting them back north was a question that had bugged me for some time.

  “Well, I believe this is where we part ways.” The captain seemed eager to send me off, and I was eager to explore just what kind of a place the citadel was. I hopped down, and my escort followed.

  As we passed through the town, I noticed several notable differences from the other portions of the kingdom. First they used cloth to shield their skin from the sun, and the use of metal in guard armors was a rarity. In fact, metal was almost exclusively used by lower-level guards. Those that felt stronger typically used some kind of monster bone or claw instead. In a way it made sense to me since this was the furthest part of the kingdom from the mineral-rich north, and any other high-level fishscale steel made with catches from Port Town was likely sold long before any merchant made the journey here. Using the more common local hunts, like the beasts that supposedly regularly assaulted the citadel, was more reasonable.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  I looked at my escort knight and awkwardly realized I had almost gone the entire journey without learning his name. Even if it was just a courtesy at this point, it only felt proper to ask before we split ways. I reached out my hand and asked.

  “I realize I should’ve asked sooner, but I’m Ser Callia of Port Town. May I know your name?” The man gave a short grunt, reaching to respond when my instincts flipped out. I grabbed the man's hand and tried to blink in the moment I had. I shook my head, reorienting my senses as I realized my blink hadn’t brought him with me. The shrill shrieks behind me let me know where he was. Looking back I caught sight of him as he tried to pull himself free from the maw of a colossal worm. His cries were cut short as the worm dove back down towards the earth, stuffing him down its maw along with the building it had dived into.

  The screams all around showed just how unusual this was, but I didn’t have time to contemplate that, as a tingling of danger encouraged me to keep moving. I broke out into a sprint for the keep as the trembling of the earth below heralded the worm's passage below. However, now that I was moving, I was able to dodge aside without blinking as it broke the surface again. This time I was ready. With my new bow in hand, I went wild, sending arrow after arrow blasting off, jabbing deep into the worm. It had tried to turn to dive back down on me, but after my third arrow, it gave up on that, instead diving down again.

  Of course I didn’t let it go that easily. I kept my arrows blasting into the tail that was helplessly tracing behind after the head. Dozens of deeply penetrating arrows were rewarded throughout the body as it finally fully submerged below. I lingered below, coiling in the dark, thinking itself safe, but I disabused it of that notion. I summoned my old bow and used its extra draw weight enchantment in conjunction with my Power Shot and Vital Target to send another arrow streaking through the dirt. I couldn’t see the impact, but I felt the worm flinch. It tried to move away, but after killing Sir Escort, I wasn’t letting it go.

  I’m unsure how long I pursued it, but all my pent-up frustration into 15 arrows targeting where I thought it would hurt most eventually convinced the worm this was a do-or-die battle. It surged upward at a blistering pace, but it wasn’t faster than instant. It erupted beneath my feet, but I blinked just under its erupting head. I grabbed Dad’s spear and thrust forward. The spear bit deep into the worm, going all the way down to my hands. The momentum of the worm dragged me upward with my spear, but I wasn’t done yet. I channeled growth affinity into the spear. Beneath its skin the branch grew out, splitting and penetrating deeper into its flesh. The meat blackened immediately, and before the worm could dive again, I felt its life give out. I rode the carcass as it slumped to the ground. I jumped off at the last moment, smoothly gliding across the smooth stone of the wasteland.

  More Projects

  Callen stretched in relief at finally catching up on all the work that had been pressing him since his return. His date with Crescent the other night had left him feeling more refreshed than words could describe. He walked through town thinking the next issue he needed to solve was finding the mad scientist that Callia had released for some reason. Sure, immortal scientists made great punching bags, and he appreciated being rescued, but there were questions he would’ve liked to ask the man. Like, how did he find the void sanctuary, or can you transmute a non-human into a full human? The first was just personal curiosity, but the second was his key to saving Crescent from her curse of spreading misfortune. At least that was one of several curses he wanted to address. The mention of her location being known by the queen felt like a disaster waiting to happen.

  While his current life didn’t have many stories about the fey, the abstract, trickster, and moral-less monsters told about in stories from his previous life gave all the warning he needed. Especially the fact that Crescent was a changeling. These weren’t the friendly Tinkerbell fairies; any story about changelings or associated fairies spared no expense on the despair faced by the unwitting and tricked. Everything from stealing someone's name to generational curses. As Callen contemplated the evil of fairies, Nixie jumped on him from behind.

  “Hey, Callen, I recently happened to lose my car in an accident while helping out. Mind helping me make a new one?” Callen didn’t resist her hanging on him as he realized that he still had a lot of work to do before he had time to break down into what-ifs and Fey. He just nodded his head as Nixie cheered, running ahead while yelling back that she would meet him in the workshop with her blueprints and ideas.

  https://www.patreon.com/cw/PortTownMage_Chylore