Melody of the Builders 17

“I’m always glad to talk business, but somehow I doubt we’ll be bargaining with coin.”

A wry smile pulled at Chain’s lips and Professor Plume Beaks smiled back with utter delight.

“We have no need to speak of such trivialities Chainmaid. Coin will be yours from merit of your fame regardless of if I would part of any with you. That said, the bargaining table does seem a bit unfair don’t you think. If you’d allow me a moment, I must consult with the fisherman here. He does know his catch better than me at the moment you see.”

“Be my guest.”

Everyone kept their eyes trained on Beaks as he stepped away from Varen and over to where Kyte awaited him. Beaks offered Kyte a contemptuous smile and Kyte clicked his tongue in kind.

“I hope you’ll forgive me Beaks, but I don’t think you’re treating this predicament right.”

“Of course I am Ardea. Your intelligence must be dismal for you to not recognize my own. Though, I suppose compared to you I am as a god.”

“So what does that make that bastard Roc?”

“A minor inconvenience.”

“Why you!”

“Ah, ah, ah, Ardea.”

Surprise appeared on the faces of all present as Beaks shook a finger at Kyte before pointing it at the fisherman’s knee while shaping his hand like a gun. With the pull of an imaginary trigger Kyte’s knee exploded in burst of blood and bone bringing the Hero low. Squatting down Beaks lifted Kyte’s head up by the hair and looked him most furiously in the eye.

“Let me explain it to a simpleton like you in a way that might make sense Ardea. I observed the entire exchange between you and the Chainmaid and her companion. I watched as you were kept occupied by a verse and as the Chainmaid made herself one with the spell she cast. I even saw you struggle with the harpy over yonder and knew it was time I step in. To your benefit however I learned of a number of interesting things upon my arrival in this charred pit. Most importantly that the stories of the Chainmaid were likely true and that that rather banal man is possessed of a Relic that allows him to be effected by the Builders’ Song. Or more accurately control it.”

“So I was right then.”

Chain’s interruption was unwelcome and Beaks turned his malevolent eyes onto the maid. To his surprise he was met with Chain’s typical cocky grin despite that she obviously was faced with danger the likes of which she had never afore faced. Instead Chain seemed to relish it as she attempted to straighten out and put her hands on her hips. Her battered body would not obey however and it took all Chain had just to continue standing. She did not let that bother her however as she continued to smile and explain what she was right about.

“Sorry, let me rephrase that; you were right, the civilizations of the Age of Ash were amazing.”

“They were, were they not Chainmaid?”

Flicking Kyte away as one would a discarded piece of trash Beaks rose to his feet and showered Chain with his delight and a childlike exuberance.

“That they were. I would have never likely realized how great either if all of the idiots up here in the Stormroots weren’t trying so hard to kill me. But I guess I can’t be too angry. I got to see some pretty crazy stuff like a Relic which can wield verses. I think normally that would have surprised me a lot but these ruins are something special. Not surprising really if you realize what they were built for. A deep underground labyrinth were the Ash would have been extremely dense in the Age of Ash seems horribly impractical on the surface unless you can grasp what a labyrinth is for. But of course this labyrinth is even further something special. The paint here can absorb the Builder’s Song and is on pretty much every wall here. Really the most impressive part isn’t that the paint can absorb the Builder’s Song but rather that the civilization that built this labyrinth was able to convert the ice that spawns here and absorbs the cold. You’d think that freeing a Demon Lord from where it was sealed by one of the Holy Swords would have gotten the entire human race wiped out, but I’m guessing that’s why the labyrinth is built in a way that would control the flow of the Ash so that way that corrupting power of Nightyr would keep the demon in place. If that wasn’t enough though then the presence of a Dragon of the Clan of Chains would be if they could just keep it trapped here as well, which would explain the fabled dragon god of Misthead that I’ve heard about. Put that all together and it seems like they were ready to take on the Builder powered Automina and probably sold that technology to the rest of the world or at least the research which would explain Varen’s peculiar Relic.”

The surprise on the faces of all present fueled Chain’s ego and her smile widened and she could not stop herself from putting on airs. Not every reaction was straight surprise however as Mail was simply dumbstruck by her lack of understanding of anything Chain was talking about. Conversely, Melody was both in awe and annoyed with Chain.

“I can’t believe you Link~♪ I trained here to become an official member of Soarmont’s Adventurer Company and I never learned that much~♪ I don’t even think any of the really old guys know as much as you already do from just a couple of days here~♪”

“It’s just as this madman says; the Chainmaid truly is an intellectual despite her reputation.”

Wherks was completely in shock at Chain’s insightfulness and ability to discern so much information in such a short amount of time. The Rattama’s amazement left Chain feeling uncharacteristically sheepish and her smile reflected her feelings.

“What can I say; this type of stuff is easy enough to figure out when everything falls into place. …Eh?”

Chain absently vocalized her confussion as Beaks suddenly started laughing uncontrollably and pressed his hand to his forehead. Earning curious looks from everyone present Beaks had to recompose himself though he was beaming with delight regardless.

“My apologies but I could not help it. This whole situation is more delightful than I could have ever imagined. Oh my dear Puppeteer, you truly are a master of manipulation. And you Chainmaid, your ability to delight me is perhaps greater than any I have ever met. Truly I would love to meet Sorcerer Balgun myself if only to pick the mind of a man who could nourish such intellect in a maid so young without revealing it to the world. It is so utterly delightful.”

Chain was poised to make a comment as Beaks seemed ready to lose himself to laughter again but was surprised as she saw Melody step forward with a terrified look on her face.

“Wait. What did you just say?”

“Hm? You would ask a question of me?”

The look that Beaks gave Melody terrified her but not nearly as much as what it was she had asked him about in the first place. This difference in fear gave Melody the courage to further question Beaks even as she could not bring herself to take another step forward.

“I have to. I have to know who it was that you mentioned before you started complimenting Link. Because if it’s who I think it is…”

Copyright © 2018 Joshua D Tarwater