Potion Politics (The Weatherblight Saga Book 3)
Potion Politics
Edmund Hughes
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All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. All other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events or persons is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2019 by Edmund Hughes
Kindle Edition
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wouldn’t have been able to publish this book if it wasn’t for the support of my readers, my fantastic cover artist, Cherry-gig, and my dedicated editors. Inspiration for the story elements comes from a variety of places including (but not limited to) Fallout, Diablo, Final Fantasy, A Wheel of Time, Arcane Ascension, and The Demon Cycle.
Contents
Potion Politics
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
INTERLUDE (MYTHRIL)
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
INTERLUDE (JARVIS)
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 1
Aristial Stoneblood understood autumn about as well as anyone who’d grown up in a series of interconnected caverns rightly could. Which is to say, he’d once seen a painting of a tree with brown and red leaves in Mistress Avalon’s gallery, a painting partially damaged by a flood and not all that accurate to begin with.
In Golias Hollow, there’d only been two seasons: hot and cold. The hot season brought an increase of earth tremors, along with the occasional flood, and the cold season meant that certain crops would only grow in the most central caves. Ari was hard-pressed to think of any other differences between the two, subtle or pronounced.
He leaned back on the stationary rune sled, watching as a gust of wind knocked loose a half-dozen more shriveled leaves at random, each one spinning as it slowly dropped to the ground. There was an ominous, pointless beauty to it that he couldn’t help but be captivated by—the cycle of death, seasons, and rebirth.
He heard a whistle from overhead and looked up to see Rin slowly circling as she descended toward where they’d temporarily set up camp. She liked making him watch her fly. He suspected that there was more to it than he realized, an aspect of her vanity or maybe just a genuine desire for his attention.
“Path still clear ahead of us?” he called up to her.
She focused on landing instead of answering. Rin’s wings pulled back into a v-shape as she descended the final few feet, the wind ruffling her clothing and sending her hair trailing. She was attractive by any standard, with long jet-black hair, deep violet eyes, and a body with the sort of athletic curves that had been extremely hard to ignore over the course of their extended journey.
Rin had ditched the more formal dress she’d been wearing upon first leaving Cliffhaven within the first few days of their journey, opting to go it in the clothes she’d had underneath instead. It made sense, especially given the amount of flying she’d been doing to scout for storms, but seeing her in a tight, somewhat immodest green leather jerkin and form-fitting black leggings had made it hard for Ari to keep his focus on their journey.
“There’s a single rain storm meandering north of the mountain across the strait,” said Rin. “Wind storms in the Vodakai Sands, though that is not unusual. Nothing for us to concern ourselves with, chala.”
Ari nodded. This time, Rin’s attention had mostly been on watching for storms coming from the ocean, which would have posed a much more significant threat to them in their current position on the northern tip of the Greater Varnas Island.
After nearly a month of traveling in a manner that bore more resemblance to a children’s game of tag rather than navigation, they’d crossed the strait cutting the island off from the mainland on a makeshift raft the previous day and were almost within sight of their destination.
“It’s not even midday yet,” said Ari. “We should keep moving south.”
Rin nodded. She clasped her hands behind her and stretched in a manner that moved both her wings and her breasts in a very interesting way. Her jerkin’s neckline buttoned down, and with all but the bottom one undone, Ari was treated to a rather hard-to-ignore glimpse of her tanned breasts straining against the confines of her shirt.
“I agree,” said Rin. “We’ll be more comfortable in my tree lodge tonight than we ever would be in that musty tent.”
“You’ll be more comfortable in your tree lodge, you mean,” said Ari. “We’ve been over this before, Rin. I’m heading back to my tower, not to your people’s city.”
Rin crossed her arms and shot him a surprisingly fierce scowl. “Are you truly planning on sulking alone for all the time you have left, chala?”
There was an edge to her tone, but it was the actual content of her words that made Ari wince. It was bad enough that the forest itself seemed to be dying around him. The last thing he needed was his sole traveling companion bringing up his looming mortality in such a brusque manner.
“Yeah, I am,” said Ari in a sarcastic voice. “I figured I’d gather some more sarkin flower and get giddy out of my gourd for the rest of my shortened life.”
“Be serious,” said Rin. “You’ve kept to yourself for almost this entire journey, to the ah, detriment? Yes, detriment of us both. Consider what I’m offering. You can return to Varnas-Rav with me. I’ll take you as a husband, even, and you can live out the time you have left in tranquility and pleasure.”
“Tranquility…” muttered Ari. “Are you sure that’s what’s going to be waiting for you when you get back?”
Ari saw a flicker of unease pass across Rin’s face and realized he’d done the same thing to her that had just annoyed him so much. He’d brought up the one thing that she was desperately trying not to think about.
They’d been sent to Cliffhaven to discuss an alliance with Baron Ogwell, only to see him poisoned on the very first night. They still had no idea who the culprit was, though the fact that the other Ravarian with them, Leyehl, had disappeared just before the Baron’s death and never met back up with them seemed damning in a certain light.
“I’m not sure, chala,” said Rin. “You’re right about that. I trust my sister, but given how chaotic the transfer of leadership amongst my people can be, and the fact that she has no heir currently… I can’t rule out the possibility that she sent me on the journey to Cliffhaven to see me imprisoned or killed.”
“Mud and blood, now I feel bad,” said Ari.
“Bad enough to accompany me back to Varnas-Rav, even if only for a time?” Rin clasped her hands together and batted her eyelashes at him.
“I think you have an ulterior motive,” said Ari. “You don’t just want me for the sake of my rugged good looks and razor wit. You want me with you in case your fears end up being justified.”
Ari reached a hand up to his shoulder and let a finger run across Azurelight’s hilt. He watched Rin suppress a guilty smile and then give a guiltier shrug.
“Would me admitting that make you more agreeable?” she asked. “I’ve seen how much you enjoy helping women in need.”
“Less than two weeks,” said Ari.
Rin shook her head and frowned at him. “What?”
“That’s what my enchanted ring told me when I asked it how much longer I still have left to live last night,” said Ari. “I have no more than a fortnight of breaths left. And there’s someone else that also needs my help.”
He let his hand close around Azurelight’s hilt, though he made no move to draw the sword. A sword was all it had been to him, ever since that last horrible night when he’d been forced to stop Eva after she’d begun killing the Baron’s guards. She hadn’t spoken to him or shifted into her incarnate form in the time since.
“You weren’t being serious, then, with what you said about wanting to smoke yourself senseless?” asked Rin.
“Well, I mean, I’m sure I’ll still ha
ve at least some time to spare,” said Ari. “It’s not as though there’s anyone left to complain if I light a sarkin flower stick while operating the rune sled.”
“You are too much sometimes, chala,” she said.
CHAPTER 2
They traveled through the afternoon and early evening. Rin rode behind Ari on the rune sled, and he carefully navigated through the dense trees that covered the island at a speed that was far faster than they could have managed on foot. If not for having to avoid the storms while traveling on the surface, he was fairly certain he could have made the trip from Cliffhaven to Varnas-Rav in a week if he’d pushed the rune sled to its limit.
The colorful reds and browns of the autumn trees slowly gave way to green jungle foliage which, much in the same way as the desert across the ocean from the island, seemed to be immune to the effects of the shifting seasons. The jungle was dense enough to make speeding along in the rune sled a hazardous prospect, forcing Ari to slow down a significant amount.
He’d grown familiar with the relic over the course of their long journey. At a glance, it looked like nothing more than a rusted hunk of metal, curved upward at the front and with a single bar to hold onto for stability. Ari controlled it with commands from his will and carefully timed, side-to-side leaning motions. The essence he’d stored within the runes powering the sled’s levitation and acceleration were extremely efficient, and he’d only had to take the time to refill them from the growing stores with his Essence Bracelet once over the course of nearly a month.
Rin hugged herself against him from behind a little more tightly as he weaved back and forth down a hill studded with rocks and trees. He could feel her body against his, soft and warm and weirdly feathered, when she occasionally brought her wings about herself like a cloak. He’d grown used to her, though that fact had only made it harder to ignore the tension and the way she so often insisted on teasing him.
It was just after sunset when the tower came into view. Ari had begun to doubt whether he’d be able to find it from memory when he recognized the grey stone exterior and the ancient wooden door. Kerys had called it Ethereal Tower, and the name had instantly stuck, given how well it described the enchanted building’s true nature.
“I’m finally back,” said Ari. “It feels like it’s been an eternity since I left.”
He slowed the rune sled to a stop in front of the door and struggled for a few seconds to place the emotion he was feeling. He’d never really had a homecoming before. His tiny nook in Golias Hollow had been his home once, but when he’d left the caverns, he’d left it behind for good. This was the first time he’d had a place to leave and then come back to.
“At least it’s a step up from the tent,” muttered Rin. “Is there still that strange cooking table inside? The one that makes heat?”
“Yeah,” said Ari. “Assuming nobody has tampered with anything while I’ve been gone.”
When the Ravarians had first captured him, Kerys, and Eva, they hadn’t exactly stopped to let them secure the door on the way out. Ari turned the handle and pushed, feeling a mixture of relief and unease, and it swung open easily.
The tower’s common room was mostly as he remembered it, though he’d forgotten how much of a mess had been made during the commotion on that last night. One of the stools Ari had carefully crafted from scraps of firewood had been broken into splinters, which were scattered across the floor. A single piece of rotten boar meat sat on the center of the stone table, and the first thing he did was use one of the scraps of wood to fling it out the door.
“I’d forgotten how cozy this little tower was,” said Rin. “Yes… I see the logic in spending the night here, chala.”
She came up behind Ari and wrapped her arms around him, planting a soft kiss on his neck. Ari cleared his throat and carefully disentangled himself.
“I’m hungry,” he said. “Let’s see what dinner has in store for us.”
They’d gathered fruits and vegetables almost every step of the way of their journey south, sustaining themselves on a diet severely lacking in meat. Ari couldn’t help but laugh when he made his way to the tower’s kitchen and opened the rune-enchanted cold closet, finding several slabs of leftover boar meat untouched and still frozen inside.
“What is it?” called Rin. “Oh!”
She brought a hand to her mouth when she saw the meat. Ari turned around and grinned at her.
“It should still be good,” he said. “We’ll have to let it warm a little before cooking it, though.”
Ari took on the responsibility of preparing dinner, not trusting Rin’s sensibilities when it came to the realm of taste. Once the meat had unfrozen, it had been a simple task of frying it over the rune-enchanted cooking table, along with sliced potatoes and turnips from their supplies. He smiled as he listened to the meat sizzle, remembering how eager Kerys had been for him to infuse the cooking table’s rune with essence. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
He’d gone to great lengths to keep from thinking too much about Kerys and Eva over the last month, but being back in the tower made it all but impossible. Ari did his best to think about his current circumstances as he brought the food out to the table, but memories kept finding cracks to sneak in through his defenses.
The night he’d first met Eva, when she’d saved them from the fishers and accompanied them into the tower. Kerys lying in bed with him while he’d been recovering from a dose of vodakai venom. The stretch of time the three of them had spent on Deepwater Spire, sharing each other’s company and growing close.
“Are you alright, chala?” asked Rin.
“Totally,” said Ari. “Even if I wasn’t, it’s nothing a good steak can’t cure.”
The meat was just as tasty as it had been fresh, and roasting the potatoes and turnips had done wonders for their taste. Ari had spent most of his recent nights going to bed hungry, and being able to eat his fill did wonders for his spirit.
“We should be getting to bed,” said Ari, once both he and Rin had finished eating. “Anything could happen tomorrow. We’ll need to be well rested.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” said Rin with a mischievous smirk.
She followed Ari as he made his way upstairs to the second floor. She had her own room, as did Eva and Kerys, though Rin had only inhabited hers for a short while. She passed by the door, following Ari instead of going her own way.
“Rin,” said Ari. “Your room is over there.”
“And yours is right here.”
Rin pressed forward against him before he could turn the door handle. Ari was again reminded by just how insanely soft her body was and how long it had been since he’d last been in such close proximity to a woman in the middle of the night.
“We’ve talked about this,” he said. “I’m not interested in giving you a child. This world is too harsh to bring life into it so carelessly.”
“Who says you need to give me a child tonight, chala?” whispered Rin. She kissed his neck and let her hand start to explore.
“We’ve talked about that, too,” said Ari. “I’m not in the mood to fool around.”
“You always said it was because we needed someone to keep watch while we were on the road,” said Rin. “Or because we needed rest for traveling. Neither of those excuses apply here, with us so close to our destination and out of range of storms.”
“The answer is no,” said Ari.
“This doesn’t feel like a no.” Rin found a certain part of his body that was not on the same page as the rest of him and began caressing and testing its hardness through Ari’s trousers. He scowled at her and shook his head.
“You’ll be back in your city tomorrow,” said Ari. “Fortune willing, you’ll have a dozen Ravarian men eager to share your bed at a single word.”
“What if I want you to share it instead?”
She kissed him, pushing her tongue into his mouth and grinding her crotch against his. Ari felt his irritation growing and hated that his first impulse was to take it out on her in an aggressive, sexual way. He stilled his hands and forced himself to turn around, pulling free from the embrace like a scrap of tinder refusing to dance to a spark.
“Forget it,” he said. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Pathetic,” said Rin. “You’re like a lovesick adolescent, still in mourning after your first taste of the serrated side of intimacy.”