He might not have even noticed, but her way of saying it was a bit stilted like she wasn’t used to speaking it. She also had just the faintest of Asian accents. When he didn’t answer, she spoke English again as she asked, “Do you understand me not?”

  That brought a smile to his face. “You mean, ‘don’t you understand me’. And yes, I understand you. I was just caught off guard. I haven’t heard English spoken for some time.”

  Jackson wanted to relax. He wanted to think that because she spoke English that she was an ally. He actually felt a flash of pain as he remembered Max. His friend’s death had been months ago and felt like a lifetime ago in Eloria, but it still stung. It would be nice to have a friend outside of his family who knew what life on Earth was like.

  Yet for all that, he just couldn’t bring himself to let his guard down. There was no skill to quantify it, but he had the sense that it wasn’t safe to trust her. It was a general sense he had developed for danger here in Eloria. It certainly wasn’t foolproof, but the more he tried to listen to it, the better he got at it.

  She gasped in surprise at his correction. “You speak good. Whichever of your parents who Earth from must teach you long time.”

  Once again, she had poor structure but still spoke well enough that he could understand. “I could sit here correcting your English, but I don’t think that gets us anywhere. What I want to know is how you knew I was coming?”

  She laughed. This time when she spoke she was speaking Elorian Common. “Don’t you mean that you want to know why it is that you can’t use your Esoteric Sense now? Or maybe it’s something I haven’t heard of but any spy worth their salt would have a skill like that, so I assume that you do.”

  Jackson’s mouth hung open for a moment, so she added, “You are kinda cute for a non-orc but look to be barely more than a child. Did you honestly assume that no one else had a skill like yours?”

  He kicked himself. Of course he hadn’t even thought about it enough to assume that anyone else had it. His family all seemed to have it. Well, he didn’t know about Sara, but no one else ever talked about it. For some reason, he had made the huge mental leap to assume that meant no one else had it. After all, they had so many unique abilities that it just seemed par for the course now.

  The more he thought about it, he realized that Daichi, Eisuke, and many of the other elves must have it. It suddenly explained how the old master always knew when he was coming. Oh, he had been so stupid.

  “I can see that you honestly didn’t. But to be fair, I just realized I might have been making my own assumption. I had thought that you were the offspring of a traveler, but maybe there is more to it than that. Oh, and since you look surprised by that term, that is what we call my mother. She is the traveler from another world. So, I am just using the term for other people.”

  She shook her head and then stood up. Jackson watched her and saw that she moved with the grace of a predator. Everything he had thought he knew about her was wrong. There were glints of torchlight reflected off many spots of metal on her leather armor. If he wasn’t wrong, she was a walking armory with a dozen or more small blades on her person.

  She continued, “I just realized I too am making some exceptions. So, why don’t you sit down, and let’s talk. I promise not to kill you now as long as you promise to answer my questions truthfully.”

  Jackson laughed but was doing the mental countdown on his little surprise. He had set it for too long apparently. He hadn’t expected to need it this quickly and had wanted to leave time for him to undo it if he reached an agreement with these people. So yeah, stalling was in his best interest.

  “Please show me how to sit properly. I’ve only ever spoken to a half-orc and never about orcish traditions. I wouldn’t want to inadvertently offend you.” He smiled at his own words. Dad would be happy with the twenty-five-cent word he used, and Mom would be proud of his attempt at cultural understanding. She had always stressed that, even before they came to Eloria.

  “How odd. I wouldn’t have expected a well-mannered human or a moon elf for that matter. Humans at least will deal with us in trade, but it is always rough. Moon elves, on the other hand, attempt to kill my kind on sight.”

  “In my home, we are an open city. We have human and moon elf citizens as well as a half-orc, a minotaur, and a goblin. I haven’t been back there for a while so it is possible that we may even have others.”

  Her eyes widened. “Oh. Um, perhaps we should begin again. I have been a rude hostess.”

  She slapped her hand against a small gong that stood next to her desk. Immediately, a servant stepped into the room and bowed. “How may I serve you, Third?”

  Jackson was quiet and watched the interaction in detail. Mom always stressed that how a person treated the so-called little people showed a great deal about their character.

  “Bring refreshments…” Her voice trailed off as she looked at Jackson. Then she asked, “Do you prefer tea like an elf or beer like a human?”

  He chuckled. Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, “My mother would kill me if she found out I was drinking beer.” Then he blushed as he realized what he had said. He needed to present a better image than this.

  The orc woman nodded as if checking off something in her head and then looked back to the servant. “Please bring us some of the golden leaf tea.”

  “Yes, Third,” the servant said with another bow before she turned and exited.

  The woman didn’t turn to look back at him for a good ten seconds but stared at the closed door. Then she suddenly turned, and it seemed she had regained her composure. “We have perhaps gotten off on the wrong foot. My name is Jalaqai, and I am third to the Khan, Naraan’batar.”

  She said that as if it should mean something to Jackson. He could assume it must be an important position. This could either be very good or very bad. If she was important enough, she might be able to actually negotiate with meaning or at least have access to those who did.”

  “I beg your pardon. I am Jackson Nelson, Baron of Eris’ Rise. I must plead my ignorance because I am not sure what it means that you are the khan’s third. It was my understanding that the orc I encountered in Baldora was also related to the khan, and if I don’t miss my guess, I have also met the khan’s mother, Karin. Er… excuse me. I guess her orcish name is Chimeg.”

  He held back his other titles and relationships because he didn’t want to give away too much now. There was so much that he didn’t know about this. Honestly, Jackson would have given anything for his father to be here or even his mother.

  Jackson could see the calculations going on behind the woman’s eyes. She still had a flat expression, but it was clear she was thinking about a lot of things. “You have much to learn and seem rather young to be a baron. I suppose sometimes we are born to our rank and the duties that come with it. Let me ask you this, when did you last see Chimeg?”

  “I had the chance to meet her twice. The first time I was out exploring the town and wanted to go into a smiths shop that I had heard good things about. Three minotaurs were outside and tried to block me. I heard a noise inside and then challenged the minotaurs. Once I was inside, I found Chimeg as well as the shop’s owner and his granddaughter.

  “She introduced herself as Karin, and we had a pleasant conversation. She even gave me a platter that she had inscribed runes on for my people in Eris’ Rise to study. It seemed like she had some enemies who were after her, so I offered her a home in Eris’ Rise if she wanted to come and practice her arts.”

  Jackson had glossed over the battle with the minotaurs, and judging from Jalaqai’s expression, she had trouble envisioning the boy in front of her standing up to a single minotaur let alone three. “I watched you fight a moment ago, and it is clear you have skills, but are you saying you killed three minotaurs?”

  “No, the fight was stopped, but I was doing just fine. Captain Aremay of the Griffin Guard is a friend of mine, and he happened upon us. He spoke to the leader of the quadrian and got them to leave.”

  Jalaqai’s eyebrow arched. Jackson assumed she didn’t know anything about this Eris’ Rise that he spoke about, but she did know who Captain Aremay was. The griffin riders were one of the main obstacles to the expansion of the orcs. “Do you happen to have that platter on you?”

  “No, I already sent it on to Eris’ Rise,” Jackson answered. He didn’t want to let her know about the two-sided spatial bag. Even though it was bound to him, it still was a treasure that might have her wanting to kill him just to get her hands on it.

  He waited a minute, but she seemed lost in thought, so he said, “Now, I’ve answered your questions, but you haven’t asked the most important one.”

  She shook her head and said, “Hmm… perhaps not, but you did say that you saw Chimeg twice. When was the second time.”

  Jackson sighed. “I suppose it is fair that you would want to know that. She is your mother after all.” Jackson let the words hang there, but when she didn’t dispute his assertion, he continued, “It was in the royal dungeon. A spiderkin mage had taken her hostage. I had entered the dungeon to rescue Princess Gianna, but as soon as we saw what was happening, we tried to stop the mage, but he teleported away with her.”

  “Seimion,” Jalaqai hissed.

  “Uh, no. We killed him in Konig a few months ago. This was a different spiderkin mage.”

  “Minotaurs are one thing, but now you are trying to tell me that you killed a mage who was likely Tier 5 or higher?”

  Jackson shrugged. “Believe me or not. You know I speak a language from another world the same as your mother. In fact, I’ll stop playing around. I am from that same world. The language is English, although you and your brother both speak it with a bit of an Asian accent, so I’m guessing she was Chinese American or something like that.

  “As for me killing Seimion, no, but I did fight in the battle. It was more about my parents. My dad wasn’t Tier 5 at the time but he is now, and my mother and sister are no slouches either.”

  Jackson was proud of himself for how he laid out his statements. He felt like he gave her enough for her to believe him but not so much that he gave away all his secrets. Of course, he was a fourteen-year-old child negotiating in a life-and-death situation.

  “Who are you exactly to talk about having a father who is Tier 5?”

  “I told you, Jackson Nelson, Baron of Eris’ Rise.”

  “And where is this Eris’ Rise? I’ve never even heard of it.”

  “It is in Albia, or rather on the border of Albia and the moon elf territory. The region was officially recognized by the King of Albia who my father was made the baron before he killed Duke Holstein and the new king made him the Duke of the East. It was also recognized by the moon elf throne, and my mother was made a lady of the moon elves and the ruler of Eris’ Rise from an elven perspective. They jointly ruled it, but once my father was made a duke, I was made the baron.”

  Jackson realized that he had maybe spilled too much, and his satisfaction from a moment ago away fled. He shook his head. He really wasn’t made for this. He just wanted to fight. Well… and maybe kiss Gianna again. That had been nicer than he had expected.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Good intentions have never stopped a dungeon monster. Not even once.” —Jayfen Tarzen, former head of the Faelora chapter of the Adventurer’s Guild.

  Halycon Mountains- Jackson Nelson

  “Ah, so much makes sense now. You are the foreign noble who is engaged to the Miromaran princess. Oh, don’t look shocked. We have our spies and scouts. too. Word like that wasn’t going to stay quiet for long. Apparently, the queen is already making arrangements. Humans are so odd when it comes to marriage. It is really a simple matter of commitment. But I digress.

  “Knowing who you are makes you even more valuable as a hostage. Out of respect for your actions on behalf of my mother, I will treat you with courtesy so long as you don’t try to escape. What I can’t do is release you.”

  Jackson shook his head. He was still running his mental countdown. He didn’t have much time left if he wanted to stop it. Time for one last attempt. “I was afraid you would say that, but it doesn’t have to be us against you. Eris’ Rise and my parents would be better allies than enemies. I came here to try and broker peace.

  “You have my word that if you will agree to negotiation then I, as a baron of Albia and a prince of Miromar, will do everything in my power to find and restore Chimeg to you.”

  She chuckled. “I’m sure you mean what you say. I believe you might even help as much as you could, but soon there would be other distractions. That is always the way it is. You would have a new wife, and she would want your attention. Few men can ignore that, and none who do are happy. No, I think that having you as a hostage will get me what I want more reliably.”

  “Ugh, you are so infuriating. By doing this you are making an enemy of Albia and Miromar in addition to the moon elves. You will now have the only Tier 5 human on all of Talos hunting you as well as the church of Shanelle because, in case I forgot to mention it, my mother is not only an elven noble but also a chosen of Shanelle. Eris’ Rise has so many resources that we could have helped you with, but you won’t find out about that. You will only get the sharp end of the blade.”

  Jackson was sure it was less than a minute now. So he just needed to stall a bit.

  “All of those are already our enemies. That is what it is to be an orc.”

  “It wasn’t always like that. This is the result of the exile.”

  “What do you mean the exile?” she asked.

  “When all the people on Talos were sent here from somewhere else. If you are one of the rulers of your people, then maybe you have access to some ancient records about it.”

  “Bah, orcs are prohibited from reading. My people have forgotten much of who we used to be.”

  Jackson looked at the small desk with various documents on it. Then he raised an eyebrow at her.

  She shrugged. “That is what it means to be Third. I do that which my brother cannot be seen to do. I taint my soul for the good of my people. Now, enough talking. I’m sorry you didn’t get a chance to enjoy your tea, but I need to take you to a more controlled setting.”

  The doors to the room opened, and four orcs filed in. Two men and two women, but they were all wearing the same black leather armor, and each looked deadly serious.

  Jackson raised his hands in what he hoped was a non-threatening manner as he stood. Then he triggered another effect from his new ring.

  Active Effect 2: 2/moonrise- Wearer’s skin takes on the toughness of stone and gains DR: 150 for 1 tick.

  At the same time, down in the root cellar, the surprise he had left went off. Eloria might not allow for the creation of guns, but all that research had led to a fairly potent black powder explosive. He always carried a few pounds of it inside his spatial pouch.

  This time he might have gone overboard. He had sent a note back to Eris’ Rise through his spatial pouch and had gotten 500 more pounds of it. This structure was dried hides and a wooden or bone frame. It wasn’t going to fair very well against the explosive force of the first bomb used in combat on Talos.

  He had been tracking the fuse he set in his mind, and while he was sad it came to this, Jackson later would admit a part of him was really hoping to see what the bomb did. Then he didn’t see anything as it felt like the entire world burst up under his feet. The light was blinding, and the concussive force not only deafened him temporarily but also sent him flying.

  There was no way for him to track where everyone else had gone. His ears were ringing, and he knew he was lying on the ground. He felt like he’d just gone through a meat grinder. If he felt like this even with his damage resistance, he knew it had to have gone poorly for the others.

  After a few seconds, he braved the pain and pushed himself up to his hands and knees. Then he dared to open his eyes. Jackson could only make out blurry shapes and the bright flickering of fires. It looked like most of the adjacent buildings were on fire. In a world like this, fire was more dangerous than any beast. It could destroy the entire town in short order if left unchecked.

  Orcs were running everywhere, but none stopped to even look at him. Most probably had no idea what the half-elf was doing lying there, but that just made it easier for him. His head was spinning too much, and he couldn’t focus enough to cast a spell or use Esoteric Sense.

  It was all he could do to fish a healing potion out of his pouch. He didn’t even know for sure what grade of potion he was using. As he sipped the cool raspberry-flavored potion, Jackson felt strength return to his body—and with it, clarity of thought. He realized he had just downed an epic health potion which restored full 1000 health. More than that he had needed every bit of it, and he was still only at 95% health.

  He grinned. Looked like he had gone a bit overboard on the explosives. You never really knew in Eloria, so he had decided to go big. He started to focus on Esoteric Sense as he needed to be out of the town before the fires were handled. He might have been restored to health, but he still felt shaken up and wasn’t in any condition to fight an entire town—if he ever had been to begin with.

  But he was still hearing more explosions and looked up. A smile lit his face. Dang, he’d never been so glad to see some birds—well, griffons as it were. The explosion he had caused probably created quite a spectacle, and so the griffons who were running patrols in the area would have been able to see it for miles.

  It did raise the issue that he must have been unconscious for far longer than he thought. Looking around and seeing how far the fires had spread only supported that belief. There were at least thirty griffins overhead, which was nearly a third of the entire company. Some had mages on their backs and were hurling spells down to cause even more chaos.