"Captain Dioneras."
Exagus was sure surprised to see us. He forced a smile onto his wrinkled old kobold face, but it could not fool anyone. Especially once he noticed Hakim. He wrung his hands, taking a while before inviting us inside his cozy little tower. But he was quick to offer us drinks.
"What happened to your eye?" The old warlock asked once the cups were filled. He had a lavishly decorated retreat on the fringes, the walls lined with exotic and expensive items, from animal skulls to heraldic shields, and even some small statues. Probably everything, he was able to loot, and couldn't immediately sell during his adventures.
"It got gauged out by a hellhound in Baran," I explained quickly, pointing at the eyepatch made of its skin. "I take it you still haven't delved into healing magic since you retired, former Captain of the Twelve."
"Wh-what are you saying, Dio? Hahah." Just like his smile, his laugh sounded fake too. He glanced at the bard for a moment, and I was sure, he recognised him. Talk about awkward, I enjoyed every second of his embarrassment. "That post was never mine, you know that."
"Oh, I do, but I heard about a book that claims otherwise. "I told him, curious about the face he would make. I wasn't disappointed, the blood rushing to his cheeks made that pale, peach-colored skin bright red. But I didn't finish. "I wondered if this fort had some sort of a library. Always up for an interesting tale, or something nostalgic read."
"Hah, sadly nothing of value." Exagus shook his wrinkled head. His long ears were almost transparent, but quickly gaining some color too, trembling with every movement he made. It has been some time since I saw someone shorter than myself, maybe I got too enthusiastic in teasing him. "I'm afraid regrowing a missing eye is beyond my capabilities. Best I can do is clean up the wound for you if it's still fresh."
"It has been a few days, but I bet it could look better." I nodded, removing my eyepatch. His face changed colors again, but at least he didn't throw up. He looked at it for a few seconds, squinting his eyes. "Is it that bad? It did hurt a lot, as we didn't have potions."
"If you managed to survive this, you are tougher than I thought." He noted, reaching out his hand towards me. I couldn't miss this opportunity.
"This is exactly what Omerta said when we met up. After she left me to die in the hell's mountains." I claimed, and the old man recoiled. "I wonder where that witch got her ambitions from. I met her brother, and that wasn't from them. You were the one vouching for her, right?"
"You can't seriously blame me for her behavior!" He yelled, shaking in his boots. It felt great finally messing with the old bone. He liked to compensate for his short stature with both big ambitions, and inflating his past merits wildly. While he retired as a warlock, I suspected that was in name only. However, giving accurate estimates of a spellcaster's abilities was still not my forte. The same was true about abyssal monsters.
"Don't blame you for anything of course, but I thought I'd let you know, I had to remove her from the Twelve." I shrugged it off, letting him do his magic in peace. I wanted his opinion anyway, it proved to be difficult to find the right replacements. "In case you have a recommendation, I'm looking to fill in some of the gaps with spellcasters, preferably ones, that are good at healing. I'm tired of getting hurt all the time lately."
"You would need to look around the old tribes then, a shaman is what you want," Exagus claimed once he finally started his ritual. I could immediately feel the warmth emanating from his hands. It felt great. "Not many of us have access to accurate books on anatomy, especially not for the Lesser Races. But the spirit users don't have to bother with such."
"I have feared that much." I laid back, relaxing while his spell lasted. I felt my pain slowly fade away. Even after all these days, it still hasn't subsided completely. We could have bought a healing potion to help with this in the previous cities, had we brought any coins. "But the problem with shamas, they're slow, and can't use telepathy."
"I hear you. Well, just keep a sorcerer and a shaman too." The old man suggested, pausing for a moment. "I would recommend Chaga, but I heard rumors that he recently passed, and it wasn't his age either."
"Not his age?" Fang joined in, stopping his cup right before his mouth. We just talked about the oldest goblin a few days ago, now he was no more. But the news didn't shake me. I wasn't exactly his fan, goblin or not. "Where did he go? I thought he'd never leave Ghell fortress."
"I don't have the latest news, but the Demon Lord was looking for you, and sent someone from high up to investigate something in Cranta Proper too." The warlock explained, finishing up my treatment. I felt better now, whatever he did, it worked, even if it didn't bring my eye back. So our leader lost his patience.
"Who did they send?" I asked, trying to guess which route they could have taken. Maybe they passed us while we were in Baran, unless...
"Avalon's company was to march south through the lizardmen's territory and were replaced with recruits on the fringes," Exagus told us, and that was the worst-case scenario, I expected. If we could trust Gomel's words, the reptiles were hostile towards everyone, and that old goblin was sent there to die. This is why the Demon Lord had us, strategists, to deal with such decisions instead. "Well, your face won't be any more handsome than that, take a look at the barrel."
"Avalon was sent forward? I wouldn't have taken that route." I shook my head, following his advice. The scar across my face got smaller but did not disappear completely. I didn't mind, since it was an honorable injury, what mattered was that the pain was finally gone.
"So they sent Chaga with them to meet his end? I wonder if Gorgon is out there too?" Fang asked curiously. Gorgon was a rare type of beastmen and my deputy chief of staff. The leadership would be hollow in the Ghell fortress if they sent him out. Expecting the worst, I went back for a drink as well.
"What a waste, they should have just waited for us to return," I noted, grabbing my cup. Who knew, how many lives were already lost because of our leader's impatience? And we were already short-staffed as is, and we didn't meet them in the end, truly a pointless mission. "But you see, this is why I want someone, who can use telepathy over long distances. We lost both our crows and wyverns."
"And that was still before we reached the Gates of Hell." The wolfman did not hold back. He might have forgotten that Hakim, the cunning bard from Appenon was also in the room with us. Lately, he did give out more secrets than I could in my better days. And he topped it all by criticizing my decisions, not missing a chance to voice his disagreement. "I still think, we should have just turned back then."
"Come on, you couldn't have seen your daughter that way, and what about the Nightmares?" I asked. It wasn't just my pride talking either, we did achieve our goals, even if in a roundabout way. We came back richer than we left, at least in experience and memories, and uncovered some truths. But before I forgot, I had to turn back to the kobold. "Thank you for the treatment by the way, what do I owe you?"
"Don't mention it, Captain. Were the others not injured?" He tried to show off his caring side, but I did not buy it. The others shook their heads too. I couldn't help but wonder, how much of the news about our mission reached him, and how much the folks back home even knew about it.
Omerta said, his men were able to retreat on their wyverns. That meant they knew about our failures at the very least, and if it warranted sending out an entire company to search for us. I could only hope, that it meant, I wouldn't be immediately executed once I reported to the Demon Lord. But who was in charge now? If my deputy had been sent away too, that would have caused a breakdown in logistics.
"Well, it was quite the journey, but we are finally back in friendly territory," I claimed after a big sip. I kept my concerns to myself because of the bard and the kobold with us. The wine he served us tasted cheap, but at least I could hope the ogre wouldn't get too drunk. It's not like we had to go anywhere from here. "I already sent a crow to the Demon Lord, reporting on everything there was to report. Now we sit back and relax until they send a few wyverns for us."
"I wouldn't mind staying longer," Fang noted, looking around the room as he finished his cup. He spread out on the seating we were provided, almost as if he owned the place already. I expected a great reaction from Exagus. The beastfolk also had a bad opinion of him, so now the two of us got on his nerves.
"You mean, staying here?" The warlock finally realized. He was instantly sweating, seeing him struggle to come up with excuses was comical to me. I let him cook in his soup for a bit. "I'm afraid you can't, if you're not used to the dense magicules, staying too long in a warlock's tower could be detrimental to your health."
"So you can't even take care of our Nightmares then?" I asked, trying to show my best disappointed expression. The kobold's eyes opened wider than the bottom of my cup. He completely missed it earlier when I mentioned those abyssal beasts. "I'm afraid we can't take them back to the Ghell fortress. Such a shame, after I got this injury just to obtain them."
"You tamed actual Nightmares?" Now instead of panic, I saw the face of someone recognising a huge opportunity. His mood swings were hilarious too, so easy to read. "I never heard of it being done before. Was that you, Fang? Truly impressive as always."
Hakim quietly took some notes in one of the corners this whole time and Bastion was busy drinking and examining the various items on display. None of us would have thought that the response would come so quickly from the Demon Lord. And it did not arrive as a crow or wyverns, but as some sort of seizure, the warlock got suddenly. Almost as if he had a strong migraine, he put his hands over his ears, writhing in pain for a few seconds. He was panting long after it subsided too.
"Ugh, damn it. Your crow has just been received." He reported, rubbing his temple. "You ain't going back to Ghell fortress."