Morcster Chef Book 3 - Chapter 35 (Patreon)

The wind was much better here, as the walls of Dortusk blocked out a lot of it. Faint, yellow lanterns hung from the walls, but Arek didn’t see any soldiers manning them. The front gate of the city was open, the small bridge leading up to it covered in snow.

“That’s bold of them,” Ming whispered. “No guards at all? That seems like a pretty risky move to make.”

“They must be really confident that nobody would try to attack them,” Arek muttered. “I guess it makes sense. They’ve got a teleportation block up and the guild isn’t making any moves against them yet.”

“Still, that’s quite some confidence,” Timberly said. “I still don’t think we should just waltz through the front gate, though.”

“Agreed,” Belmont said, studying the city for a few more seconds before ducking back behind the snow bank. “Timberly, how many people can you safely stealth at once? You could remove the curse part of your spell and just completely make us invisible, right?”

“Two,” Timberly replied. “Including myself. And not for long.”

“Okay. Can you do two batches, then?” Belmont asked. “Take Malissa and Arek first, then come back and collect Ming and I. There should be a place to hide once you’re in the city.”

Timberly nodded. “Those were my thoughts as well. I’ll only have about a minute with each spell considering the increased complexity, but it’s doable. Just remember I’m not muting the noise you make, so you’ll have to worry about being silent on your own.”

“We can do that,” Belmont said with a nod. “Let’s move. I don’t want to wait around and find out that the guards are on some sort of rotation that catches us with our pants down.”

Timberly pulled his hood back and rubbed his hands together, trying to bring some warmth back into them. He looked to Arek and Malissa. “Are you ready?”

“This feels a little too easy,” Malissa whispered. “Are we sure this is the best way to do this?”

“It’s easy because they’re overconfident,” Timberly said. “They probably expect us to waltz straight into the front gate because of the curse. That’s what I’m drawn to doing, anyway.”

“You think we should try to scale the wall instead?” Arek mused, poking his head over the snowbank to look at Dortusk again. He ducked back down, thankful for his white chef’s hat that acted as makeshift camouflage in the snow. “There are pretty big gaps in the stones. I could probably do it.”

“That’s a good idea,” Belmont said. “There could be other forms of detection on the front gate. Can you carry Timberly and Malissa with you?”

“I can,” Arek confirmed. “But what about you and Ming?”

“I can climb the wall with Ming,” Belmont said. “Can you get up the wall on your own, Timberly?”

The old mage nodded. “If it’s just me, it’s no problem.”

“Then we’ll do that,” Arek decided. He flexed his fingers, getting the blood flowing, then rolled his shoulders and nodded to Timberly and Malissa. “Whenever you’re both ready.”

Ming slipped off Arek’s back and promptly vanished into the snow. Belmont reached down and pulled her back out by the back of her shirt.

“I’m prepared,” Malissa said, trying to hold back a laugh.

“Then we go,” Timberly said, setting his brow and raising his hands like a maestro. He flicked his fingers and hummed a low note. Magic trickled across Arek’s skin, stinging faintly. Timberly and Malissa both faded and disappeared from view.

He looked down at himself, but nothing was there. Arek touched his stomach, relieved to feel flesh beneath his claws. Being completely invisible was disorienting. It was strange knowing where his feet were, but not being able to see them when he looked straight down.

“Don’t spend too much time gawking,” Timberly whispered. “We need to move fast. I can’t hold this that long.”

Arek extended a hand, feeling around until he found Timberly. He pulled the man closer, then knelt slightly. “Get on my back. You too, Malissa.”

A hand touched Arek’s head.

“Oops. Didn’t realize you were squatting,” Malissa said, shuffling around him. She bumped into his back, then into Timberly. The two muttered apologies, then eventually managed to find Arek’s back and wrap their hands around his neck.

Arek rose and they clung to him. The extra weight wasn’t nearly as much of an annoyance as the unwieldiness of carrying two people, but Arek pressed on. His footsteps left imprints in the snow that he hoped wouldn’t give them away. The snowfall was enough to cover them eventually, but it would probably be a few minutes before they were completely gone.

He strode toward the city walls, wary for any signs of trouble. There were none. The gray stone stood still and lifeless. Arek reached the base of the wall and touched the wall with a claw. Still, there was nothing.

Arek nearly shrugged to himself and tossed his passengers off by accident. Arek raised his arms and dug his claws into the wall, then started to climb. By targeting the gaps between the stone, he was easily able to find purchase.

Every movement made his passengers tense, and the fear of accidentally losing one of them made Arek climb slower than he felt he could have. Still, it didn’t take him long to scale the stones. He pulled himself up, glancing to check for any sign of guards before swinging all of them onto the top of the wall.

The wall was wide enough for two people to walk side by side around it. Ladders along the inner part led down into the city, which looked surprisingly normal. Houses dotted the streets, most of them a single story with brick walls. There were even several larger buildings that looked like inns or stores.

If it wasn’t for the enormous colosseum rising over the back of the city, Arek would have assumed Dortusk was just a normal city.

“You need to keep moving,” Timberly hissed. “This isn’t going to last much longer.”

“Go down the ladder to our right and meet in the closest alleyway behind that house with the red roof,” Malissa said as quietly as she could. “Timberly, can you get back down to the others before your spell runs out?”

“I’ll be fine,” the old bard whispered. “Just go!”

Arek scanned the rooftops and spotted the one Malissa had indicated. Its shingles were worn and more brown than red, and the alley behind it was cast in shadows. He heard the patter of Malissa’s steps fade and waited a few moments to make sure he wouldn’t accidentally bump into her before setting off.

He slid down the ladder, not daring to risk the wooden rungs with his weight. It dropped him off at a lower level of the wall, where several barrels full of arrows and supplies sat amongst some chairs and discarded weapons.

There were still no guards to be seen, but Arek did spot several people patrolling the city streets. His face creased in confusion. Dortusk had guards, but only bothered protecting areas inside the city rather than potential threats?

He didn’t let himself ponder too long and scurried down another ladder, reaching the ground and striding for the alley while trying to mute his footfalls as much as possible.

Arek stepped into the alleyway and let out the pent up breath he’d been holding. Only a few seconds later, the air in front of him rippled and Malissa took shape. Arek gave her a tight grin. She returned it, holding a finger to her lips and gesturing for them to move deeper into the alley.

It came to a dead end only a few feet later. Aside from a backdoor to one of the buildings and a broken barrel lying on the ground, it was empty. Arek leaned against the wall and wiped his forehead.

“You think the others will be safe?” Malissa whispered.

“Just trust in them,” Arek replied. “I’m sure they’ll be fine. We’re going to need to find a place to spend the night, though. You think all of these buildings are occupied?”

Malissa knelt, squinting through the door’s keyhole and shifting around to try and get a better angle. She leaned back and shrugged.

“It’s too dark. I can’t see anything in there.”

“We’ll wait until the others get here, then. Don’t want to get into trouble and have to relocate before they arrive.”

Malissa nodded. The two hunched down, trying to make themselves as small as possible as the seconds ticked by. The faint sounds of city life in the distance and the metallic tap of the guards shoes on the streets as they occasionally passed were their only company.

Several minutes passed. Arek and Malissa fidgeted, but neither dared make any noise. The guards didn’t appear to have any real pattern and were just wandering around the streets, not pausing anywhere for long.

Arek’s ears twitched as he picked up several extra footfalls from somewhere outside the alley. He nudged Malissa, nodding toward the exit. A few seconds later, Timberly faded into view alongside Belmont and Ming.

Belmont’s hand was clasped firmly over Ming’s mouth and, judging by the expression on her face, it was probably for good cause. His eyes were grim as they all regrouped.

“Something happened,” Arek whispered. His words weren’t a question. Belmont nodded.

“Ming saw Null.”

“What?” Arek asked, his eyes widening. He nearly forgot to keep his voice down. “Did he see you?”

“No,” Belmont replied, shaking his head. “And I didn’t see him myself. Ming said she saw him standing on the wall of the city for a moment before he shot off, heading away from the mountain toward the fields below. I believe her, though.”

“Who is Null?” Timberly asked. “And perhaps we should have this discussion elsewhere.”

“You’re right,” Arek said, glancing out the alley. “We need to find somewhere to hunker down for the night.”

“Door,” Ming said, pointing at the wooden door in the side of the alley.

“Someone might be in there,” Arek muttered. “Timberly, I don’t suppose…”

A smile danced across the old man’s face, made ominous by the moonlight shining down on them from above. He plucked a tiny black tool from the air and approached the door, sliding it into the keyhole.

The rest of them barely had time to step back before there was a soft click and the door swung open. Timberly held a finger to his lips and vanished, turning invisible. The door shut itself, and the alleyway plunged into silence once again.

Several minutes passed. The door creaked open and Timberly reappeared, waving for them to enter. Arek had to duck to fit through the doorway as he and the others slipped in. Belmont closed the door behind them and locked it.

The room was full of old crates and barrels. Arek ran a finger along one of them, and it came away covered in dust. He couldn’t see much of the walls, but the smell of mildew hung heavy in the air, so he suspected much of it was molded.

“What did you find?” Belmont whispered. Ming summoned a tiny orb of magic to her fingers, lighting the room faintly.

“One story house, looks abandoned,” Timberly said. “No items of value, and three main rooms. It was probably a shop at some point, and we’re currently in what was once the storage room. We shouldn’t go to the front, it’s got windows out into the street.”

Belmont paced around the room, inspecting everything closely. He stuffed a tiny bundle of cloth into the keyhole of the door leading to the rest of the shop, then did the same to the one that led into the alleyway.

“This is probably as safe as we can get for tonight,” Belmont said, kneeling by the bottom of the inner door and lining it with a shirt. “Timberly, is the curse getting any stronger still? We’re in the city now, after all.”

“It’s still there,” Timberly confirmed. “It’s abated a little, but I’m still being drawn in that direction.”

He pointed at one of the walls.

“We’ll try to figure out what’s going on there tomorrow,” Arek said. “Will you be able to sleep safely?”

“I should be,” Timberly said, but Belmont was already pulling some rope out of his pack. The bard glanced at it, then back at Belmont. “I’m not into that.”

“Better safe than sorry,” Belmont said. “We’re in the city now. We shouldn’t take risks if you’re already feeling the pull. What if you wander off and get caught, revealing the rest of us in the process?”

Timberly sighed, then lowered his hands to his sides. “I’m not sure how rope is going to hold me for long, but I suppose.”

“It doesn’t have to last long,” Belmont said, tying it around Timberly and making a complicated knot in the back. “Just long enough for us to properly restrain you.”

He finished his work and stepped back, nodding. “Okay. I’ll trap the doors and then take first watch. Everyone else should get some rest. Tomorrow, we investigate the city.”

Arek didn’t see any fault with that plan. He laid down, leaning his head against a bag of old rice, and shifted to try and find a comfortable position. It was almost impossible. He closed his eyes, listening to the others attempts to make themselves comfortable.

His nerves were at their limit, and he desperately wanted to charge out into the city, challenging everyone until he could be done with the curse. He suppressed the desire. Being reckless would only get all of them killed. Eventually, sleep took him, but Arek didn’t go without a fight.

The night’s rest was poor. The bag of rice was far from comfortable, but Arek couldn’t be bothered to actually take the rest of his sleeping supplies out of his bag. He awoke several times, each time wondering if the guards were at the door.

Nobody ever was. When it came time for his watch, he was already awake. Ming stole his bag of rice, curling up against it while Arek sat down in the center of the room, his chin in his palms.

The hours passed agonizingly slow, but he eventually became fairly certain it was getting closer to morning. He pulled a little bit of Belmont’s shirt back from the bottom of the door, then pressed his cheek to the ground to peek outside.

A tiny amount of sunlight greeted his efforts. It was so faint that he would have assumed it was a lantern had he not known that the alley had no artificial light in it.

Arek moved around the Happy Sunflowers and Timberly, waking all of them as quietly as he could. It wasn’t a difficult task. Every single one of them woke almost instantly, and the orc suspected he wasn’t the only one who hadn’t slept well.

“Can you take these ropes off me now?” Timberly asked, wiggling his arms. “I’m more stiff than you could ever imagine.”

Belmont plucked the knot on Timberly’s back and the ropes fell off him instantly. The bard blinked, raising his arms and flexing his fingers. “That was fast.”

“I used a knot that could be untied easily,” Belmont said. “What if we got attacked? You’d need to be freed quickly.”

“But I could have broken it just as fast as you.”

“Only if you pulled the right part,” Belmont replied. “If you didn’t, it would have tightened around you and been very difficult to remove.”

“Impressive,” Timberly said. “I need to learn that one. The ladies would love it.”

Belmont sighed. “There are much better uses for – oh, never mind. We need to figure out how we’re going to go about doing this.”

“I can scout,” Timberly volunteered.

“That might not be safe,” Belmont replied. “Think about it. What if the curse is waiting for you to get closer to something to fully activate? You might leave and never come back.”

Timberly paled. “Shit. Didn’t think about that. What if I take someone with me, then?”

“I can go,” Arek said. “So long as you can turn me invisible like yesterday.”

“No problem. Well, as long as you can be stealthy. I don’t think there are many people in this city, but you’re rather large, you know.”

“I can be sneaky when I need to,” Arek said dryly. “But, before that – Ming, you saw Null, right?”

Ming nodded, her hands clenched. “He’s here. Somewhere.”

“We knew it was a possibility,” Malissa said, shaking her head. “I just didn’t think we’d run into him so soon.”

“Well, he just left the city,” Ming said. “Unless he came back already. He’s probably out somewhere in the surrounding area.”

“Is this Null character a problem?” Timberly asked. “Yous till haven’t told me who he is.”

“He’s a problem,” Arek confirmed. “Null is a powerful mage working with the Howlers. He’s got some personal connection to our party, and it isn’t a good one. Let’s leave it at that.”

“Fair enough,” Timberly said, shrugging. “Frankly, we should expect to run into a fair number of fairly powerful enemies here. One more won’t make a difference. If we get caught by any of them, we’re basically dead.”

“That’s true,” Belmont agreed. “Make sure you aren’t spotted when you’re wandering around town. Arek is very recognizable if that cloaking spell of yours goes down. Now that I think about it, it might actually be for the best if someone else goes with you. Arek might be the strongest fighter, but you don’t want to get into a fight in the first place.”

“We’re all pretty recognizable to the Howlers,” Ming pointed out. “But Arek is probably the easiest to spot.”

“I can hold the cloak for a few minutes,” Timberly said. “I was thinking we could hop between alleyways, hiding in them when I need to regenerate some energy.”

“That should work,” Arek said, taking his hat off and setting it down beside his bag. He slipped his bandolier off as well. “And, I do have one way to disguise myself more than anyone else in this group.”

He reached into his bag and pulled out a red badge. Just holding it filled Arek with disgust, but if he could use it for good rather than evil, then it would be worth it.

“What’s that?” Timberly asked.

“A disguise,” Arek replied, his hand tightening around the badge. “I can make myself take the appearance of a fairly feared adventurer. It’s been a while since he was active, so people probably won’t recognize him.”

“Are you sure about this, Arek?” Belmont asked.

“It’s fine. It’s in the past,” Arek said with a nod. He paused, kneeling and grabbing the black badge from his bag. He palmed it and stood, sliding it into a pocket without letting anyone see it. He didn’t want to cause any of the Happy Sunflowers to worry needlessly. “This is the best use for it.”

Arek activated the red badge. His skin rippled and his body changed, gray skin rising to cover green. Fangs shrank and black tattoos scrawled across Arek’s skin, forming into looping, tribal patterns.

He looked down at his hands. For an instant, Arek could see blood soaking them, dripping from his fingertips and coating every crack and crevice. Then he blinked and it was gone.

“That’s quite the transformation,” Timberly said, crossing his arms. “It looks real.”

“For all intents and purposes, is it,” Arek replied, shaking his head to get himself back in the game. This wasn’t any time to get distracted. Warchief once spilled blood for his own gains. Now, he would spill his own blood for others. “Let’s go. I’m ready. Please watch over my supplies, guys.”

“We’ll make sure everything is safe.” Belmont gave Arek a sharp nod. There wasn’t an ounce of concern in his eyes, but Arek knew the man was just putting a face on for his sake. Belmont was always worried about something.

“Let’s go,” Arek said.