Chapter 064: On the Road Again

There was only one clinic in all of Lakeshire. It stood on a hill at the highest point in town and was run by a family of apothecaries called the Janros family.

Unlike Stormwind, where the roles were more separate, herbalists here treated patients as well as trading in medicines and potions. For a town this large, Lakeshire had surprisingly few priests.

Lakeshire stood at a crossroads frequented by peoples from both north and south, and the Church of the Holy Light had far less influence here than it did in Stormwind. The only little chapel the Church had built had become a meeting place for followers of all sorts of strange beliefs. Apart from the symbol of the Holy Light hanging at its entrance, it was close to losing its original purpose.

Late that night, Jess sat outside the clinic, waiting while the people inside examined Gred's injuries. He knew nothing about treating wounds and didn't want to get in their way.

It felt oddly like waiting outside an operating room for news.

"Mr. Jess Seso, is that right?" The owner, a middle-aged man with graying hair, came out. "The dwarf is badly hurt, but his life is no longer in danger. It may be several days before he wakes up, though. He's lucky he's a dwarf. If a human had been struck by lightning like that, I can't say how things would have turned out."

Good news. But struck by lightning?

Jess had given up trying to explain that an orc had attacked Gred. From the guards to the apothecary, everyone in town believed he'd been hallucinating when he thought an orc shaman had attacked them.

According to them, nobody could possibly survive an encounter with an orc. And even if someone did, an orc couldn't summon lightning in the first place.

He should have asked the orc for something as proof. Maybe he could even have claimed a bounty. Instead, half the town thought he was crazy, and he couldn't do a thing about it.

"Will he recover completely?"

"He should. But in my experience, even a dwarf will need at least two weeks. Tomorrow I'll go across the way to ask a priest or paladin from the military camp for help. That might speed things up and save some money too."

"How much will all this cost?" Jess asked.

"Liferoot and the other medicines needed for electrical injuries aren't cheap," the apothecary said. "We've already used some to stabilize him. That's three silver coins so far. The rest will depend on how long he stays."

Jess sighed and checked his bag. He'd brought six silver coins with him. He had only four left now.

Gred seemed to have lost his own bag in the fight. When Jess had gone back to get him, he'd hardly been in a position to worry about luggage.

It might still be on the lakeshore. There was no point looking now, though. The murlocs had probably stolen it already.

Jess handed over three silver coins. Then he showed the apothecary his assistant's badge.

"I'm from the Wizard's Sanctum, sir. I came to Redridge on business for a mage named Edan Marin. Please look after this dwarf. Don't throw him out just because there isn't enough money for the later treatments. Once I've finished my work and returned to Stormwind, I'll bring you whatever else I owe within a week at most. How does that sound?"

"Of course I'm willing to trust someone from the Wizard's Sanctum. And I wouldn't throw a patient out under any circumstances," the apothecary said. "But please make it soon. I have to buy herbs too, and the hunters who gather them won't give me credit if I can't pay."

Herb-gathering hunters. He'd put it that plainly?

On an ordinary day, Jess would have been eager to ask what this place paid for medicinal herbs. Redridge looked like excellent gathering country.

But Gred was lying injured inside, and Jess still had urgent business to finish. He had no interest in discussing prices now.

Not only had they failed to collect the Warriors' Guild bounty, they'd lost a good deal of money along the way. This trip had been a complete disaster financially.

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At least the apothecary said Gred could recover completely. If the dwarf ended up with permanent damage, Jess would regret it for the rest of his life.

At noon the next day, Jess bought a few carrots at the inn to feed his horse. She was so hungry she nearly bit off his fingers along with them.

He was almost out of money anyway. The horse shouldn't expect anything fancy from now on.

Even after sleeping for half the night and resting all morning, he still ached from head to toe. By noon, though, the pain was noticeably better than it had been earlier.

Jess didn't feel like complaining. Without Saeno's Blood Pact Seal, he'd probably have ended up in far worse shape than Gred.

He visited the dwarf once more. Feeling that his own body could manage the journey, he set off for Stonewatch Keep. Time wouldn't wait for him.

Today was the third and last day of the period he'd agreed on. As things stood, the earliest he could reach Stormwind was noon tomorrow. That meant missing another whole morning of work.

Still, this was official business. Marin ought to understand and deduct less from his wages. Maybe he wouldn't deduct anything at all.

After the rain, the Redridge Mountains looked wonderfully clear and fresh. Sunlight spilled through the valleys. Beyond the endless stretches of forest, the fortress on the cliffs across the lake stood out so clearly it seemed almost within reach.

In reality, he still had an hour or two of riding ahead.

"Master!"

The imp appeared so suddenly that Jess jumped.

"Why'd you come out on your own?"

Saeno gave a nasty little chuckle. "Because there's nobody else around, of course. Master, surely you don't count that great big beast you're riding as an intelligent life-form?"

The chestnut mare grew restless at the demon's sudden appearance, stamping and fidgeting along the road. It took Jess a long time to calm her.

Saeno wrestled with the horse's mane until he found his balance, then asked, "Master, is that dwarf dead yet?"

"No," Jess answered coldly.

The words—and the way the imp said them—sent a surge of anger through his chest.

"What a shame!" Saeno sneered.

Jess seized the imp by the neck and lifted him hard. Saeno coughed violently, staring in disbelief. He managed to rasp, "Master... are you going to send me back to... the Twisting Nether?"

Jess ignored the itching, burning numbness spreading through his hand from the demon's skin. He held Saeno up to his face.

"You want him dead? I get it now. Listen to me. If Gred ever suddenly dies for no reason, you won't live either!"

"Master!" The imp weakly clutched Jess's hand. "Why are you protecting that dwarf? You want to grow strong. You want to live forever. But that dwarf wants you to become an ordinary, powerless nobody! You won't survive long on the swordsmanship and petty self-defense tricks he's taught you. He's an obstacle on the road to your greatness! I thought you knew that!"

"You can hear everything we say?" Jess asked.

"Are you even listening to me, Master?" the imp demanded. "He hates the mighty power of demons. He hates the unfathomable power of the Void. That's his problem, but he has no right to control you!"

Jess stuffed the imp into his bag.

"He's not controlling me. He's worried about me."

"Worried about what?" Saeno poked his head out again. "That you'll surpass him? That you'll become a great wizard, better than he is in every way, until he's so ashamed he can't face himself and starts wondering if he's a useless failure?"

Jess snorted contemptuously.

"What a pathetic attempt to turn us against each other. What's in it for you, little demon? Or are all demons just like this?"

"I'm making a realistic guess, and I have your interests entirely at heart." The imp gradually crawled farther out of the bag. Gripping Jess's arm, he leaned close. "I have no other purpose, Master. I only want you to become strong. Strong enough to protect yourself, at least. If that dwarf didn't interfere with your growth, I wouldn't care about him at all!"

"Look at what this so-called evil power has done for you. If you couldn't cast Fear, if you hadn't summoned me, what would have happened when you met that wielder of the elements? Think about it, Jess Seso, my master!"

The imp grew frantic.

"Azeroth is a world overflowing with powerful magic! In the darkness of the great Void it shines like a beautiful jewel. Countless demons, countless shadows, countless living and dead beings covet its beauty. In a world like this, you cannot survive unless you find a way to grow stronger. Perhaps you can scrape by for a few years. But decades? A century? Even a thousand years? One day..."

"Let me give you a real example! This kingdom went through a great war between outsiders and the people who lived here. I can feel the influence of tremendous magic reaching us from the south even now. It's a portal—one made by demons, the very passage the outsiders used to enter this world! My foolish master, think about how the local peoples fought back and reclaimed their homes. Through strength! Well, perhaps a little faith too. But strength was the foundation of everything."

"I don't need you to lecture me, little demon," Jess replied coldly.

"How regrettable, honored Master." The imp smacked his lips in mock sorrow. "Though it pains me, I must obey your command and stop telling you the truths I've witnessed. Though I must watch you slide down the bottomless pit you mistake for light and progress, until you reach a poisonous pool called regret and helplessness, where your soul will drown in wailing for decades, still I must—"

"Shut up."

Saeno coughed twice and retreated into the bag.

Jess pulled the opening tight and gave the cord a sharp tug.

"Now he's giving me a dramatic poetry recital."

The horse trotted briskly along the road. The sun was close to setting, and the walls of Stonewatch Keep were finally in sight.

Jess took the letter out of his bag and checked the addressee's name one more time.

Martin Harold. An apprentice mage of the Wizard's Sanctum.