Chapter 12: Blackmail

“Do you have a fucking death wish!?” Grind shouted at Learn, who cowered behind a large tower shield. “You don’t back down when the enemy rushes! You left archers open! You could have killed the whole line!” Spit flew from her tusks, flecking Learn in the face. He turned downward in shame. 

Grind didn’t let him turn away, grabbing his jaw and wrenching him to face her. Learn bared his tusks forward, until he met Grind’s eyes; she was teetering off the brink of the Blessing. A misstep could have her unleash toward him, instead of the enemy. He had to back down. He cast his eyes down, pulled his tusks back in, tips resting on his cheeks. 

She was right regardless; Learn had flinched when face-to-face with his opponent. He had protected himself, and not the line behind him, and in doing so had endangered the entire battle. There was a reason he was in the shield line, rather than one of the front-runners: He wasn’t Blessed, he couldn’t focus on himself the way they could, throwing themselves entirely into the fray; he had to remember the orcs behind him, surrounding him. 

They relied on him, and he in turn relied on them. The Blessed were there to lead, but each orc had a responsibility to their companions, to their clan, their family. Work as a unit. Operate together. Protect each other. Without their ties, what were they?

Learn stood back up, wiped off his face, and nodded to Grind, who spit off to the side and pushed her way to the front line, leaving a space for Learn to get back into the shield wall. He took a deep breath, and shouldered his way back into the fray, heralded by Grind’s Blessed bellow, the scream echoing a primal, uncontrollable power. 

 

Despite the sprawling size of Shrike, the city square was surprisingly bare. One would presume that the most central location in the city would be the focus of some aesthetic attention, but that was not the case. Bereft of glitter of glamour, the square was a round, flat area with cobbles making a smooth floor. The edges of the square were littered with shops and restaurants. In the very center of the square, the absolute midpoint of Shrike, sat a fountain.

The fountain itself was large, but difficult to define with any other terms. Made of rough-hewn marble, it had been broken several times over its span. The various bits and pieces were stuck together, molten metal having been used to repair the thing many times over. Bronze, iron, copper, even some gold. Different shades of metal created craggy lines throughout the whole thing.

Having been broken so many times meant that the fountain, rather than spouting water up in a stream into the air, rather leaked from different areas, cascading down the sides of the repaired marble.

It’s interesting, thought Learn, that the metal in the cracks makes the whole fountain more beautiful. What were originally cracks in a broken, busted thing were now a source of new beauty.

The stones around the fountain were clean, almost slicked smooth from foot traffic. Learn had patiently put his weight on several of the stones which looked most likely to shift, but they had held. Good, if he needed to make a swift exit, he knew he could run full-tilt without worry of slipping.

Learn waited for an infuriatingly long time before he noticed her presence. He didn’t recognize her from how she looked, but rather from the sensation that she exuded. It was odd, that he could pinpoint her to such a degree, there were so many other people clustering around the fountain and toward the outer edges of the square. He saw two dwarves sharing a drink, gaze locked lovingly onto one another. He noted a gang of goblins scampering over one another, their voices scratching and clamoring over one another like so many insects in a hive. He was distracted by two humans raising their voices, each trying to intimidate the other. None of the other inhabitants of the square were focused on him, but nearly all of them kept glancing his way, side-eying him. Evaluating a potential threat, he assumed.

But this woman… she had an aura. She had that sensation accompanying her, that Learn recognized as someone in tune with her Command.

Hers was an inky blackness, smoky tendrils flowing outward and dissipating like smoke in the night air. While Learn couldn’t yet make out the full shape of the Command, he could get a sensation of it, an idea of how it’s Tasked interacted with it. This new sense was already proving immensely useful, but he would need to figure out its specifics — there was more there, Learn could almost taste it.

For now, he didn’t have any idea of what this woman was capable of. As she approached, he scanned the area for other external threats, things he hadn’t been able to plan for. He noticed nothing from the various people around him, nothing from the woman herself either.

She was tall, and clearly comfortable with the area. Hair braided tightly, twisted to lie around her neck, she didn’t walk over to him so much as she stalked, taking a long, circuitous route around the fountain. Her cloak fluttered, and Learn could see the bare blade that she had on her hip, glinting in the midday sun. Worrying, an opponent that confident. While he doubted the weapon could pierce his skin, he should still be wary of it. Learn felt in the presence of a predator.

He waited until she made her way over and casually sat, a healthy dose of space separating them. She gave him a once-over, eyes lingering on his wide hands for a brief second. He wished he had brought a weapon; a poor decision in retrospect. Still, Celeste was here, reconnoitering… somewhere. And she had brought the goblin with her; the vicious acrobat who had been too fast to follow in that encounter with the bandits. He would be well-protected, should the situation devolve. He should be well-protected, he still didn’t know to what lengths he could trust Celeste. She had offered him nothing but help since they had met, and he shouldn’t have any reason not to trust her.

But she had known gods, and hid that fact. He was bound to her, but until sufficient evidence had shown it, he would minimize how much he had to trust her.

“What do you want?” Learn asked, focusing on the situation at hand. Cut to the chase, throw her off of her guard, don’t give her time to think. Control the situation, control the verbal combat. Attack, don’t defend. If he was the instigator of the conversation, he could control its flow.

A slow, lazy smile spread over the woman’s face. She leaned back, stretching her shoulders back against the marbled stone of the fountain.

“No foreplay, huh? Come on, let a girl have a little fun, why don’t you?”

“No.” She was toying with him, and he didn’t like it. “What do you want?”

“You pebbleskins are no fun,” she pouted. “Fine. Down to business. You know magic.”

“Some.” Learn snarled. He was loathe to give away any information that this woman didn’t already know. She had managed to sneak into his room, had managed to get both in and out of the Forum without anyone noticing. He had to hold his information close.

“I’d like some help for a… business, I run. Freeing information, sometimes objects. Things that are in the hands of people who don’t deserve them.”

“Want to steal things.”

“Ugh, yes! I steal things! Gods, you’re no fun at all. Fine! I’m good at sneaking around, quite good, to be honest. But there’s still always a risk, breaking and entering. I feel like we could help each other out, here, orc. You’ve been at the Forum for a while, now. Your acceptance made quite a stir, out here.” She leaned forward, clasping her hands together. “To be frank, a lot of people were unhappy that they accepted you, what with your race’s… violent tendencies. But that’s neither here nor there.”

Learn leaned forward, bringing a hand to the side of his mouth as if to whisper. The woman leaned forward in reciprocity, eager to hear what he had to say.

“Get to the point.” Learn leaned back. She was trying to distract him, get him angry. He wouldn’t allow that. a deep breath in, out, and he centered himself. The woman blinked, and leaned backward.

“I need a set of clothing, enchanted to make me harder to see, harder to hear. Harder to sense.” She spoke quickly. “I’m good at hiding, but I need more. Could you do that?”

Learn nodded slowly. Agree to her demands for now, control the situation. Prevent this from escalating.

“Boots, gloves. Cloak?” He asked.

“And a mask, too,” she replied. “My roguishly good looks could blow my cover.”

Learn didn’t answer, and the woman reached out one of her hands. Instinctively, before he could think, he had gripped her forearm tight. He looked at her fist; she opened it to reveal nothing inside the manicured nails.

“Ah-ah-ah, orc,” the woman said, thin-lipped. She waggled a finger back and forth. “Think about how this looks to everyone around. A massive, violent orc manhandling a defenseless human woman?” Learn looked around — it was true. Already, he was beginning to get looks from the various people in the square. He released her wrist and clenched his fists.

“Your people aren’t well-liked in Shrike, pebbleskin. Gotta watch yourself, or something bad could happen.”

Learn’s blood simmered, a deep-set anger being set off. The woman, infuriating as she was, was correct, and had put into callous, blunt words what Learn had been feeling since he had arrived.

He was disliked, based on his race and in no part who he was. Judged at a glance, avoided by the skittish. A violent brute, out for blood, no matter what he did.

And some people would never be convinced; their pre-conceived notions would not shift nor sway with the introduction of new information. A bigot, when presented with contrary evidence, would choose to remain a bigot.

It was unfair, the pressures he was put under that others weren’t. He had seen how Alvin had been accepted into the city — while not successful, the dwarf had found a place, a home, with people like himself. Gawain often spent his time chatting with the other elves and humans in the Forum, explaining some theory or other that he had discovered. He had a home.

Learn had a room. A bed, some books, a teacher. Though he had come to Shrike to learn, and he was doing that, he had not admitted to himself the other reason he had come. He wanted to belong somewhere. He couldn’t do that in the Red Desert, unchanging as it was. And bitterly, he couldn’t do it here, either.

“So who is this Conquer to you, anyhow? Clearly he wants something from you. Did you take something? Did you steal something? Ooh, is he a jilted lover?” She asked the questions rapid-fire, giving Learn no time to respond — not that he would. He would let this strange woman draw her own conclusions. After a moment, she sighed.

“Do we have a deal?” The woman asked. “A set of enchanted clothing, for my silence?” She held out her hand again. Learn hesitated, then gripped it in his, giving it a firm shake.

“Don’t forget, I can tell if you’re working on this or not. I’m quite good at going unseen. You won’t know it, but I’ll be watching.” She added, in a sing song voice, “I’ll know when you’re do-one.”

“Who are you?” Learn asked her back. He knew that she wouldn’t answer, but maybe he could get a glimpse, his sense would show him something new.

She looked at him, then put two fingers to her forehead in a mock salute.

“Do you really think I’m just going to tell you who I am, pebbleskin? Look at you, masquerading as a scholar.” She grinned, “Figure it out yourself.”

She turned on one foot, then stalked away, cape flowing in the wind. Learn was left, sitting on the cusp of a fountain in a busy square. He looked around, searching for Celeste despite himself.

He felt lonelier than he ever had when he was by himself.