Company

Aemelia didn’t mention my escape when we got back. She was back in her chair, half-asleep with a lit pipe clenched in her teeth. I had to wonder how many of her pipe leaves she’d even brought inside of the temple in order to keep this going. I was picturing a bag the size of a house when she woke, beckoning me forward.

“You,” she said.

“Me.”

“Suppose you want to be moving on.”

“You think I’m done with training?”

That made her laugh so much she choked on her own spit. She eventually waved it away. “No, no. But you’re needed, eh? Guess you’ll either live or die. It’s been long enough. Even a day’s delay is rather long, in these times of ours.”

Well, that was reassuring. At least I wouldn’t have to deal with her anymore. “So you know how to move on?”

“What? No,” she said. “I’m a Paladin of Ursus. This isn’t my temple, is it?”

“So then, what did-”

“There’s a room a few doors over, it’s got a big pile of keys. Sent that boy you brought, the whining one-”

“Balbinus?”

“Yes, bolbingnus, sent him over, told him to bring one back. Should be dealt with. You’re welcome,” she said.

I squinted through the smoke. Experience told me I needed to thank her. “I’ll, uh, make stew.”

“Half a bowl for me. I want a fish head!”

Duran had over-salted and put some hot pepper in to try and overcompensate. It was very…. Flavored. I blew on a spoonful and considered if this counted as a recipe.

“It’s not that bad, is it?”

He just kept staring at me.

“It’s a very…. Soup…. Soup.” I tried to swallow my latest spoonful without changing my expression. Behind me, Apis was pouring his out into a grate. I scooted over so Duran couldn’t see. Was I really such a bad teacher? “Next time, add more water.” I took another bite. “Lots more water.”

Somehow, Duran was eating all of his. “I see.”

Balbinus had returned, jangling with keys. As I chewed on a piece of fish that was somehow both tough and half-dissolved, he tried one that was gigantic and half-rusted. No luck. It didn’t even go in the keyhole.

Sadly, he tossed it onto the growing pile next to him. “How many is that now?”

“Ten,” he said. “I brought forty-five.” He was very rattly.

“How many were there?”

He pointed to the pile Aemelia was sitting on, the stack of furniture. “It was that size. I just took the ones that looked… likely.”

He tried another one. This one was silver filgree. It slipped in, but wouldn’t turn. I took another bite of soup and regretted it.

Two more keys failed. Then four. I watched as the pile grew. My soup was still not shrinking. Duran must have done some horrible magic to it, because even as I tried to eat it, it just never disappeared. I was considering dumping it out like Apis had.

Balbinus was holding up his last key. Behind me, there was a creaking sound.

Had Apis gone to check on the hatch again? I didn’t turn to watch. I was too busy staring at Balbinus as he drew out the final key, a simple steel piece. It was dangling on a piece of golden ribbon. Did I spot a carved squid on it?

As he placed it in the keyhole, there was movement behind us. A scuffling sound. I glanced back.

Half-shrouded in smoke. Tall. Wide.

Holding an axe.

I dropped my soup.

“Please tell me that key works.” I was losing faith rapidly in my ability to use the blade, even as I stood up and grabbed for it. As I unsheathed it, the axe-woman strode forward. She was grinning, as usual. I didn’t see any ghosts this time. Maybe she had used them all up?

“Keep back!”

I swung the blade. Much like last time, it did nothing. Behind her, I saw two other figures. She had brought friends this time?

I swung the blade around, trying to remember my training. I was ready. Wasn’t I?

She didn’t seem intimidated. As I held up the blade, I saw her smile. I tightened my grip and took a half-step back. Maybe half a day of training wasn’t enough, after all. Her axe came rattling down on the Abyssal Blade, sending spikes of pain up my shoulders and making the room echo. I stepped back, just barely forcing her back.

Right. New plan. I dodged back, barely avoiding another blow and glancing over my shoulder for escape routes. Unfortunately, it was a very small room filled with other people. Duran was running towards the axe-woman. Apis was slipping towards the other door.

I reached out and grabbed Duran by the back of the neck and yanked him back right as the axe came swinging down, thudding down on the stone with a great clanging noise where his leg had just been. I saw his face go white.

“New plan! We’re running!”

Apis had already dragged open the door. I glanced over my shoulder as I jumped over a chair and dodged another slice of the axe. Aemelia was still in the chair, but her eyes had opened this time. As I ran past Apis and through the door, still dragging Duran, she lifted a chair and threw it towards the axe-woman.

I was dedicating my time to using a few my favorite swearwords. Why had I thought it was a good idea to engage in combat? I was too old for this. I should be making a nice roast chicken. I could put some fruit in it, some bread, make a nice stuffing. I was visualizing how I would make some buns on the side when a knife flew over my head and went clanging into the wood of the doorway.

I turned around and flourished the abyssal blade. “Who did that?”

I could see better now that we were in a different room, away from the smoke and haze. Clearly enough that I could make out individual faces. “Katla?” She pulled out another knife instead of responding. I swung forward with the blade, but she ducked easily. “I knew something was wrong about those vials!”

Her brows drew together as she pulled another knife out of her cloak (no wonder it was so loud! She had an entire armory in there!) “There was nothing wrong with the vials! They work as expected!”

“Why are you throwing knives at me, then?”

The second knife sliced across my arm, leaving hot pain in its wake. I sliced down and nearly got her, but as she ducked backward I heard Apis yelling behind me. Another knife bounced off of the mail shirt I was wearing..

Behind me, Apis had opened another door. I turned and sprinted for the exit. I could see Balbinus in the room beyond. He was next to a massive glinting pile, indistinct.

The key room! Duran was already inside, leaving just Apis and I in range of Katla. I couldn’t see where the axe-woman was, and I’d lost track of their third member. I dashed for safety.

As soon as I was inside of the key room, Apis swung the door closed. There was a thump, then a squealing of the hinges. Katla was trying to pull it open. I saw Apis’s eyes widening in panic. He wouldn’t be able to resist her for long.

I grabbed the knob, hand next to Apis, and leaned back with all of my body weight. The door trembled. There was a weight on the other side of the door. It had to be Katla, pulling back.

Then it all disappeared, and I fell backwards. She must have left. I thumped down on the floor heavily. I rubbed at my backside and glared up at the door. My arm was throbbing.

Apis was reaching over to check the door. For a moment, I thought we were free. I stood up, looking around. This room was just like all of the others. A little slice, no better than a closet. In the center, however, there was a massive stack of keys- more keys than I could have ever imagined existed in the world. Some were so large they were as long as my forearm. Others were as small as my pinky nail. Most were of a size that they could work for the door that led to the center of the temple. I realized the size of the problem at once. “We’re going to be here forever!”

Balbinius was wading into the pile, the keys falling away from him with a clatter. “There must be a way to classify them,” he said. “Whoever organized this before… horrible form.”

I glanced around. “Duran did make it in, yes?”

A hand popped up from the other side of the pile of keys. “We’ll get through, Madame Elysia! I’m sure it’s here somewhere.”

“Uh, Elysia?”

We all turned. Apis was pulling on the handle again, heels digging in. The handle was wobbling again. He was trying to keep the door steady, but he was clearly losing the battle. The door was slowly moving open. In a blink I was back, one hand on the handle and the other on my blade in case someone forced a hand through the ever-widening gap. Had someone joined Katla on the other side of the door?

It sure felt like it. She hadn’t been this strong before.

“Leave us alone!” I shouted. “We don’t have any money!”

“I don’t want your money!”

“What do you want, then?” She was suspiciously silent. “I won’t cook for you, after this,” I said. “Even if you threaten me. Even if you threaten Apis!”

“Hey!”

“Even if you threaten Duran!” Behind me, I heard more clattering. It seemed like Duran and Balbinus were looking through the key pile. “Even if-”

“You don’t have to say you wouldn’t help me,” said Balbinus. “We know.”

“I don’t work for demands,” I said. “I work for gold. It’s not difficult.”

The door creeped a little farther forward. I leaned back, but we were losing ground. What were they using to pull? I hadn’t thought Apis and I were that weak.

The blade was beginning to heat. I yanked the door back and ignored it. What was Andrena going to do to the door, anyway? Pickle it?

There was a sudden jerk on the knob, and we both fell forward. There was now enough of a gap for an entire hand to fit through the crack in the door. We were losing. Badly. I didn’t want to leave this room, though. It was our best chance at getting into the center of the temple. We were so close to winning.

I felt the blade heat up again as I used it to poke the hands reaching through the gap away. This time, I didn’t need a translation. It was an offer, clear as the nose on my face. But…

Was I really going to be stupid enough to work with Andrena again?

Andrena, I thought, I might be willing to do a very small amount of work together. Just the once! But you have to promise to-

I knew it. Look who came crawling back.

You have to get out of my mind when it’s done! I’m not giving you endless access to anything. In fact, if you could stay in the sword while you worked…

You think you’re, what, one of those wandering lawyers? You can bargain your way into whatever you want? That’s not how it works.

I never asked to be a paladin! You’re the one offering-

For a second, my hand still gripping the door, I thought I could see a second hand over mine. With a spurt of energy, the door dragged back.

We need each other. Can’t you see?

What are your terms, then, Oh Andrena The Needy?