A few short minutes later, Amy’s carriage rolled up to the camp, looking much more beaten up than it had looked when Maia had seen it in the village. “Oh, thank goodness I caught you guys.” Amy said, putting a hand over heart as she jumped down from the driver’s seat. “I was worried I’d be too slow or not find you at all.”
“What’s going on?” Maia asked anxiously. “Was the village attacked or something?”
Amy blinked. “What? No, nothing like that. I just…I just did some thinking, and I realized that I have no desire to continue doing business amongst the cursed and thought I would be better off journeying with you instead. I’m no prude, but the cursed are a bit too much, even for me. Plus, if I ever got found out…I’m sure it wouldn’t end well.”
Maia relaxed. “Oh.” She said. “How did you catch up to us, though?”
“Magic carriage.” Amy replied, patting her carriage proudly. “It’s enchanted with wind magic. The horses aren’t actually real; they’re just illusions to disguise the fact that it’s a magic carriage. It helps keep bandits from instantly recognizing you as someone with money. Even so, I had to push it quite a bit farther than I should have in order to make it here in time. I actually only got here earlier this evening and was going to start patrolling near the possible exit points I anticipated when I saw your fire.”
Amy paused, glancing at Sylvie and Galiena. “You seem to have picked up a couple of new additions, though. How’d that happen?”
Galiena gave a curtsey. “I am one of the original monster girls.” She said. “This is the second time this has happened, and during the first I was one of Queen Maia’s closest advisors. Yes, that Maia, and in truth she was about as far from her depictions in ‘history’ as it is possible to be. When we were suddenly betrayed and massacred, I was chosen as an envoy to the future, to assist when my services would be needed.”
“Apparently, their old capital is the center of the Deepwood.” Maia added. “And the Deepwood didn’t exist back then.”
“That’s not possible.” Amy said. “We have records of it dating back from before the Heretic Empr…before Queen Maia was born. But…”
Galiena raised an eyebrow, and Amy trailed off. “Right. Altered history. I’ll…unpack that later.” She said, turning to Sylvie. “Are you the one I saw flying near my carriage? I had assumed Maia had learned how to fly, and that the differences I saw were just the low light playing tricks on me, but I’m guessing it was you, right?”
Sylvie nodded. “Sergeant Sylvie, at your service.” She said. “Or…former sergeant, I guess. I’m not part of Miral’s army anymore. I was the leader of one of the units sent to ambush Maia as she left the Deepwood.”
“How did you know about them?” Amy asked. “Did news of what happened leak?”
“No. A bishop of the church in Port Mira had a vision, and the garrison mobilized to act on it.” Sylvie explained.
“And…you did?” Amy asked doubtfully. “No orders from above or anything?”
“They didn’t seem necessary, despite it going against every protocol the army has.” Sylvie replied. “No one even thought to question it.”
“The order was given with the authority of the one behind the curse.” Galiena said. “No cursed individual would even conceive of disobeying such an order, even if they did not know from where it originated. Expect to see more such things in the future.”
“So…we’re going to be hunted down everywhere we go. Great.” Amy said dryly.
“Not as such.” Galiena replied. “It will happen on occasion, but only on occasion. Just as the goddesses are limited in their support of us, so too is the enemy limited in their support of the cursed.”
“That’s a relief.” Sylvie said. “We shouldn’t get comfortable, though. We’re technically in enemy territory now, right?”
“Exactly.” Galiena said. “On our pilgrimage we will likely be able to enter some towns in disguise, but understand that once public knowledge of the return of monster girls spreads, we will quickly find doing so untenable. That is when we will transition to actual warfare.”
“Speaking of, Amy, I thought you weren’t ready to be tied down to a cause.” Elise said. “What changed your mind?”
“I didn’t.” Amy said. “I’m not in this for the same reasons you are. I’m here because I imagine I will find your company more pleasant than the level of open sexuality and constant vigilance that life amongst the cursed requires. Even beyond not letting my true identity become known, crime is significantly more common in cursed society. When enough people have been cured, I imagine I’ll resume normal trade amongst them.”
“Well, whatever your motivation is, you being here is good enough for me.” Maia said. “We need all the help we can get.”
Amy nodded. “I did not expect this to be a free service from you.” She said. “My carriage has room enough for all of you as passengers, and I can take care of monetary concerns via my normal business. Just keep me safe and I’ll be content.”
“Deal.” Maia replied. “Dinner’s cooking right now, why don’t you get your carriage parked and we can catch you up on the plan?”
Once Amy had done so, everyone sat around the fire while Galiena cooked. “So, first things first…Amy, what’s your take on the situation with regards to the curse, now that you’ve traveled while cured?” Maia sked.
“Everywhere I’ve been has been completely cursed.” Amy said. “It’s been…tiring, having to turn down constant sexual advances from every single adult I meet. Other than that, it’s about the same as I expected.”
“I’m not surprised.” Sylvie said. “You probably didn’t know, but a few days ago the king issued a decree mandating that the curse be spread as far as possible. The army was mobilizing when we got the order from Bishop Liam to go the the edge of the Deepwood.”
“So, he’s still alive, then.” Steph said. “He was my mentor, before I moved to the village.”
Sylvie’s face fell. “I…don’t think you’ll like what’s become of him.” She said. “He’s not the same man he once was. No one is.”
“I expected as much.” Steph sighed. “Carry on.”
“I don’t have much else to say, other than that I didn’t question it at the time, even though it’s an odd order. I assume it’s another one of those orders from ‘our opponent’? Which, by the way, I would like some more specifics on. I need to know what we’re fighting if I want to be helpful in fighting it.”
“I will not be giving specifics at this time.” Galiena said. “Knowledge may be power, but in this case knowledge is dangerous. The more you know about the enemy, the more power it has. This information embargo will not last forever, so I would ask that you reserve judgement on the matter until we meet the goddesses again. And, yes, as you have surmised, our enemy was likely the architect of this decree you mention.”
“The goddesses told me more or less the same thing.” Maia volunteered. “Otherwise, I’d be pressing her for details myself.”
“Is that really…a thing?” Sylvie asked. “You’ll have to forgive me if I’m a little distrusting, but it seems so…counterintuitive. The goddesses teach that learning and education is important, not for us to wallow in ignorance.”
“Yes.” Maia said. “You can’t be blamed for not knowing, but there are a few Deepwood beasts that can use your knowledge of them against you. You think of them and they use it as a connection to influence your mind.”
“She is correct.” Steph said. “We are likely dealing with some sort of primal entity, and they don’t follow the rules we are accustomed to.”
“I’ll take your word for it, then.” Sylvie said. “I’m no Deepwood scholar, and you lot definitely know more about it than me.”
“Thank you.” Maia said, flashing her a smile. “But, back to the plan, we’re going to stop by Port Mira, do some odd jobs, then charter a ship across the stretch of water near the land bridge once we have the cash.”
“Why not go by ship the whole way?” Amy asked. “It’d be faster.”
“We figured it’d be way too expensive and we’d have to stay in town for too long to earn enough money.” Maia replied. “And, apparently, spending a long time on the water is a bad idea right now.”
Amy frowned. “Why’s that?”
“Because we lose our greatest advantage on the water; our own bodies.” Galiena said. “We are far superior to humans physically, and that allows us to make up for our small numbers and fight groups several times our size. But on the water we’re dependent on our ship, and even running into just two ships would be a serious threat. So, until we have a proper navy, it’s better to stick to land when we can.
“The land bridge, however, is a bit of a different story. Not only is the land bridge an ideal place to ambush us, but we can also just stick barely out of sight of land and disembark if we get chased down by other ships. That makes it much safer than open ocean sailing; tracking down one ship in a vast ocean is relatively easy for our enemy.”
“Well, I know quite a few captains who frequent Port Mira.” Amy said. “I’m sure I can arrange something. I’ll probably have to promise sexual favors to get them to agree, but we can just cure them once we’re underway and not have to follow through, right?”
“Yeah.” Maia replied. “Do what you have to do.”
“Excellent.” Amy replied. “I’ll get started the moment we can find an inn. Yes, staying overnight isn’t ideal, but there’s a possibility we won’t be able to get a ship to leave the day we get there.”
“Depending on when we got there, we were thinking about getting an inn too.” Maia replied. “Apparently, we can still get away with that at this point, and it would be nice to not have to dig into our supplies for a night. But we’ll try and get there in the morning, so you have as much time as possible to get a ship.”
Amy nodded. “Much appreciated.” She said. “Anything else?”
“That’s about it for now. We’ll discuss more about the future when we get there.” Maia said. “The situation is a bit too volatile for any specifics.”
“Dinner is ready.” Galiena said, reaching into her pack and pulling out some dishes. “I will set aside a dish for each of you. Simply grab one when you are ready.”
“Thank you, Galiena.” Maia said. “We really do appreciate it.”
Galiena smiled faintly. “It is my job, but you are welcome anyway. And for Sylvie and Amy, I will not be hearing any complaints about me doing all the work. This is most efficient, and efficiency is vital at this point in time. Please save your complaints for when things are more stable.”
“Well, I’m not going to argue with that.” Amy said. “I’ll take whatever’s left, the rest of you get your food first.”
“I have simply made the portion sizes a tad smaller.” Galiena replied. “That being said, if anyone is still hungry after this meal, let me know and I will make something for you.”
“I have a lot of preserved food in my carriage.” Amy said. “I’m sure it’ll be better than what you have with you now.”
“Excellent. A good variety of foods is crucial for a healthy diet. Do any ingredients need special preparation?”
“What?” Amy asked. “Oh, you mean like Deepwood stuff. No, that sort of thing doesn’t sell unless it’s to eccentrics, so I don’t keep it on hand. It’s all normal food.”
Galiena finished putting the last of her soup into a bowl, then began to eat. Everyone else followed suit, and it finally felt like Maia could relax after the day’s events. Or, at least, could relax until it was her turn for night watch. But until then, she’d take every moment of relaxation she could get.
Maia fidgeted nervously as the carriage approached the city’s gate. She had never been to any settlements outside of the village, and though Amy had assured them that they would get through the checks just fine, Maia couldn’t help but worry. What if the guards noticed something was wrong with their group? What if there was another prophecy or whatever? If any one of a number of things went wrong, then there would be a whole city they’d have to contend with, and there were only eight of them.
“Next!” The guard called out, and the carriage obediently trundled forward.
“Hey there, handsome!” Amy said flirtatiously. “Name’s Amy, I’m traveling to Naira, selling what I can along the way! Here’s my merchant’s license, I trust everything’s in order?”
“Well, you’re not too bad yourself,” the guard said appreciatively, “if you have time before you leave, maybe we can have some fun when I’m off work?”
“Well, you can ask around the Red Eagle when you get off, if I’m still there then maybe we can work something out…”
The guard chuckled. “Oh, I’ll be sure to stop by. Now, you license is fine, but I do have to check your cart. Standard procedure, you know.”
“Of course.” Amy said. “Just so you’re aware, I came across a band of sexy mercenaries and decided to hire them for protection and entertainment, so don’t be alarmed when they’re back there. There are seven of them, they’ll happily get out of your way if you need them to move.”
“Well, that shouldn’t be an issue, I’m sure I would have done the same.” The guard said, footsteps approaching the back of the carriage. “Now…let’s see how sexy they actually are…”
The covered back of the carriage opened up. “Well, hello ladies!” The guard said, letting out a low whistle as he hungrily eyed the group. “Your boss wasn’t kidding about your looks. I just have to look over her cargo, if you could step out of the cart for a bit, that would be greatly appreciated. And, of course, if you want to have any fun later, then I’m always open…”
“Of course, sir.” Maia said. “You heard him, ladies, everyone out.”
Everyone got out of the cart, and the guard looked over the merchandise for a few minutes before telling them they could go back in and returning to the gate. “Everything checks out, ma’am. Enjoy your time in Port Mira.”
Amy set the carriage in motion, and once they were a reasonable distance away from the gate, Maia sidled closer to the driver’s seat. “I can’t believe how natural you sounded, pretending to be cursed like that.” She said quietly. “Just the way that guy looked at me made me sick.”
“All part of the job.” Amy replied. “You have to go through distasteful situations, and you have to act your way through them. Now, I’m going to take you to a different inn than the one I told the guard about, then swing by the port. In the meantime, I’ll give you all some cash and you can go pick up supplies in the market. Sound good?”
“It does, thanks, Amy.” Maia said.
“Don’t mention it. And, remember, if I get in trouble, I’ll send a burst of magic into the sky, so keep an eye out, okay?”
“You can count on us.”
And with that, the group fell into silence, preparing themselves for the day ahead.