V2Ch102 New WoM Object

Morning came and I found a couple of Babur's toes wedged in my mouth. She had managed to get herself completely turned around overnight. I removed them before I tickled her awake.

"NYAAA! STOP!"

"Should have thought about that before you stuck your toes in my mouth."

"Ew. Is that why they are all wet? Nyasty."

I sat up and watched as she began patting at her foot in some kind of odd attempt to remove my saliva.

"You don't mind a kiss but wet toes are a no-no?"

"It feels weird on my fur. I feel fine if I'm getting soaked all over when I take a bath. It just feels uncomfortable if only one or two parts of me are wet for whatever reason."

She brought her foot in and began licking between her toes like a true feline.

She looked up at me and stopped what she was doing.

"Nya?"

Her eyes narrowed.

"What kinda thoughts are nya having?"

I think a smile escaped without me realizing it.

"Do you clean yourself like that, ALL over?"

"Nya? Only when I can't take a bath. Why?"

I guess the insinuation was lost on her.

She continued until her foot was clean. I laid back down with my arms spread out to both edges of the bed. Babur crawled over to me and snuggled up to my left side.

"Nya were thinking dirty thoughts. Nya? That's why nya were asking. Nya?"

She started poking my cheek with a finger.

"Nya? Nya?"

I let out a sigh.

"Yes..."

She snuggled even closer and brought her face even closer to mine. I turned to look at her. She had a devious look on her face.

"Hnn hnn hnn."

"What's so funny?"

I asked.

In a quick movement, she lunged forward and gave me a quick kiss before leaping back and running out of the room. She poked her head around the corner.

"Breakfast!"

Before disappearing again. I guess I am her official chef.

I got up and made breakfast for the three of us with some supplies that Ness went and got not long ago. Ness was impressed with my cooking, even though I was still nowhere near as good as Goldie.

Babur and I spent the rest of the morning getting ready for the trip. Sarge stopped by and brought a covered wagon with an armed escort.

The atmosphere around us was tense. No one spoke a word throughout the time it took us to get to the gate. As we got out of the wagon, I saw a large crowd of people gawking. It wasn't hard to figure out why. The armed escort was surrounding us and blocking off the area from the populace. If anything, they drew more attention to us. I thought better of Sarge.

Babur went to the front of the line to get her permit checked. I pulled Sarge aside to speak with him.

"What is this?"

"What is what? All of these people are here to protect you two from the assassins."

"Assassins that can kill before any of you can draw a sword? I can understand hiding us in the wagon but the armed escort is drawing more attention than deterring an attack."

I saw it in his eyes. He realized what he did wrong.

"I'm sorry. I thought I was doing right by you. Let us take you further into..."

"No. We go alone from here. Following us further would only endanger your men. I think I can protect Babur alone better than I can, two dozen people. Cover the gate until we are out of sight. That's the best thing you can do, now."

His expression went from, "Oh, shit. What have I done?" to, "I can't do anything right."

"Sarge... I know you were just trying to do the right thing. I don't think you should get yourself down. Just try to think ahead a little more in the future. You helped me out a lot. I really do appreciate it. I appreciate you."

I patted his shoulder.

"Next..."

Babur was done. I waved at Sarge and Ness. I entered the tiny office and handed my permit to the dwarf behind the window.

"Ears?"

Shit. I gotta do this every time? I pulled down the hood to reveal my fox ears. The dwarf made a mark. I took the initiative and revealed my tail.

"Check."

Another mark and a stamp on my permit. He handed it back to me.

"Next."

I left the office and joined Babur.

"Ready to go?"

"Nya? Is it just us?"

"Yeah."

"One moment."

Babur ran over to Ness and hugged her. She came back over to me and did a little hop.

"Okay. Ready."

We went up to the giant gate. A smaller door was opened near the middle. We were let through into the Plaines Lands.

I took in a breath as if the air was different on the other side of the gate. The land was much more open. Far fewer trees could be seen but the ones that were in view provided a lot of shade. Several people who had just left the gate only a few minutes before us were still within view up ahead. Another was coming toward us. This was a heavy traffic area right now. This is the only in and out between the central continent and the north.

"Just gonna stand there all day?"

A voice from behind alerted me. I stepped to the side. A dwarf walked past me.

"Come on!"

Babur called out to me from ahead. I started at a jog to catch up.

We took our time that day. I was fairly confident that the assassins may be nearby. It was hard to tell with pros. We had people ahead and behind, as well as passing in the opposite direction.

By nightfall, there was a camp with several others under a tree, just off the trail. We set up our tent near the group. A fire was already set up and several people were already sitting around it. Several were dwarves, one was a beast-man and the last one was a griffon.

They told jokes, sang songs and were a happy little gang. Babur participated in the merry-making. I kept my senses about me, just in case. As it got late, more and more of them went to their tents. Eventually, It was just me and one other dwarf.

"Traveling far?"

He asked.

"Tianret."

"That's far. You have a girl on your arm already. Family?"

"Ah..."

I was a little ashamed to admit that I had a wife already. I had been married to Riksa as well as Sophie already. I had thought about it before. About how Sophie might react if I show up with Babur in tow.

"My other wife..."

"Oh. Lucky beast-man. Those dark elves are flexible, I hear. "

"Really? I wouldn't know."

"Not a dark elf? Hmmm. Another beast-woman? Not many beast-men can catch more than one wife. Something about tribal laws."

"Another thing I wouldn't know about."

Best that I stick to the story I already made up.

"I was orphaned in Ficity. Never knew my parents nor my tribe."

"Really?"

He seemed more interested now.

"I have had a few friends in Fricity. Not many beast-men that will leave and come back. Traveling through the Swamplands once is usually enough to make someone stay put."

"I've never been. I sailed south. Had a friend on a pirate ship. Got a free ride as long as I swabbed the deck regularly. I was able to get a ride back, too. After I made a promise to marry my wife. I'm going back for her now."

More lies. I don't expect I'll ever meet this man again. No point in telling much truth about myself.

"Where are you headed?"

I asked.

"I have a trade that I manage. I have a shop in Reinstorm as well as Heiarch. I'm having some supply issues in Heiarch, so I need to see if I can resolve the problem."

"Sounds like a tough job."

"At times. I deal with rare artifacts. Like this one here."

He pulled out a strange metal cube. It looked like it had a button on one side.

"This is a WoM object. Do you know what WoM, means?"

"Yeah. Will of Memory."

"Good. You're smart. These things are being lost. They are the last remnants of magic. If they all disappear, the only thing left of magic is the stories. I collect them and record their abilities. I examine how strong they are and how long their power can last. I compare to others in the hopes that I can find some kind of connection. If possible, I would like to see if I can combine objects to make a single object with multiple powers. Even better, I hope to find one that can supposedly restore mana to the user. I have only heard of stories about that one. If I could combine the right WoM objects, maybe I could create a WoM object that can bring magic back into Eyse. That is my dream."

"That sounds like a hefty dream."

"It is. I don't know if I will ever be able to achieve my dream."

"Sometimes the biggest dreams are the ones best fulfilled. Don't stop searching."

"Thanks. I needed to hear that. I was starting to doubt myself. It's becoming more and more difficult to purchase WoM objects. I've had to resort to using them to get money to buy more. People who know what they are, try to take advantage and hike the price. This one has saved me hundreds of thousands of gold."

He began twirling the cube. His tone seemed darker and more certain.

"It has also helped me earn even more gold."

He lifted his gaze to me.

"I have even more gold to earn, right now. Sorry. It's nothing personal. It wasn't personal the first time. The guild from Fricity offered a price that could help me purchase a third shop."

Before I could move an inch, he pressed the top of the cube.

-----------------

The dwarf watched as the fire in front of him came to a near pause. The world around him had stopped.

"I was surprised to find you alive. How did you survive that dagger to the chest?"

He chuckled.

"Sorry, I guess you can't answer."