Chapter Forty-Five - Upskirt Down

Chapter Forty-Five - Upskirt Down

Green Hold was tiny.

Or at least, that was the impression I had of the town from what had to be about three hundred meters in the air.

From all the way up on the Silver Boot the houses looked like big rectangles and the walls were only a rough outline around the town. The layout reminded me a bit of Threewells, but with many more homes set around a central square. The area around the town was filled with little farms, most of them with homes close to the roads leading into town.

You kids all have your stuff? Gabriel asked. He was standing right next to the edge of the deck, heels over the side and his weight on the balls of his feet. The crew had removed part of the railing, the spot where the gangplank had been when we arrived. We cant come back to ze ship if you forgot anyzing.

I hefted my pack, certain that I hadnt left anything behind. Amaryllis who was next to me didnt have anything to begin with, something that I was growing increasingly nervous about. Was she going to buy all of her gear in-town?

I set that aside for the moment and raised my hand.

Yeah? Gabriel asked as he pulled a flask and took a sip from it.

How are we getting down? I asked.

Did you ever rappel before? he asked.

I have, I said. But theres usually something to, ah, kick off of. And a mountain. Not... oh, we had lowered a bit. Still, that was two hundred meters of empty air.

A glance over the side--where I had a railing to lean on--showed that a few people in the town below were eagerly looking up to us.

First time for everyzing, Gabriel said. He secured his flask to his belt and then kicked a rope off the side. It went taut against the metal bar it had been tied to and the grenoil dropped four handles with little pulleys on them on the ground. You set zem like zis, he said before expertly doing something with the device. Then he walked off the edge.Geett the latest novels at novelhall.com

France gasped, but I had the opportunity to look down and see that he was slowing down his fall with his rappel. It was still fast, and he didnt have a harness, but he still made it to the ground without going splat.

Well okay then, I said as I grabbed one of the other devices and waited for the rope to loosen up enough to grab it.

Just like that? Amaryllis asked.

Do you want to go at the same time? I asked right back. We could hold hands on the way down if youre afraid.

The girl rolled her eyes and, without so much as picking up her own rappel, she walked off the edge.

Amaryllis! I screamed.

Ah, Florian said. Shes a harpy, shell be fine.

I looked over the edge and saw that she was, in fact, perfectly fine. Her arms were outstretched and, while she wasnt flying exactly, she was slowly drifting towards the ground, the long feathers on the ends of her arms twisting this way and that to control her fall.

Oh, I said. I felt a bit silly after that. Well, see you guys at the bottom, I said as I made sure my rope was taut and that my rappel was secured properly. Bye Captain! I called out with a wave.

Captain Isaac was near the wheel, but he heard me and gave me a parting wave. We shall see each other again, winds willing, he called back.

I didnt have a way to say goodbye that sounded cooler than that, so I just hopped off the side.

The rappel went taut, then something went very wrong. The device slowed my fall, a little, but not nearly as much as I wanted to. I screamed as the ground reached up to me and suddenly two hundred meters didnt look that far away.

I shot as much stamina into my legs as I could and at the very last moment prepared to jump.

I hit the ground feet first.

My stamina went from completely full to just shy of empty.

The ground cratered.

Zat was a good landing, Gabriel said from a few feet away. But next time, dont rappel wiz a skirt on unless you want to give ze whole town anozer show.

Hrm. Not completely useless, she muttered.

I strive to not be completely useless, I said as I pulled out a runelight next. It came with a handy strap that went around the head, but it fit around the brim of my cool hat just right. It wasnt full dark yet, but it was getting dark enough that a bit more light would be appreciated. I pinched the tip of my tongue between my teeth and focused. A second trickle of mana had a cone of light flashing out ahead of us.

Health 120/120

Stamina 31/125

Mana 109/115

I made a note to keep an eye on my mana reserves. Maybe I could cycle the bug-repelling rune.

Amaryllis snapped her arm to the side and a knife appeared in her hand, a strange leaf-shaped blade that had two tines at the end instead of a point. She glared at it and then the tip lit up like a flashlight.

Neat, I said.

Even an idiot ought to be able to use a spell like that, she said.

I smiled, happy that she was willing to talk, at least. Youre a lightning mage, right?

Thunder mage, she corrected.

I fired a stealthy Insight at her.

An irate Thunder Mage, level 9.

So, she was three levels ahead of me, which probably meant that she had at least one more class skill. I was willing to bet that she had skills that were way cooler than Cleaning and Cute.

Especially Cute.

So, is thunder-aspect mana close to light? I asked as I scanned the marshes around us. They were surprisingly noisy, with frogs croaking and bugs humming and the occasional splash or gurgle from the water. As the sky darkened even more my paranoia went up a notch.

Its adjacent, yes, she said.

So its only two steps away from Cleaning magic?

I do not use that kind of peasant magic, she huffed.

I shook my head at that. Cleaning was useful. I mean, it wasnt fireball, but it was alright.

We reached an area where the road forked and Amaryllis pulled a small map from a side pocket of her backpack. I think theres a spot thats a little dryer up ahead.

We can set up camp then, I said. Itll be hard to light a fire around here.

Best not to then. It would attract the slimes.

The what?

But I didnt have time to ask as she kept on moving and I had to jog to follow behind her. As it turned out, she had been right about the dry spot. It was just a more elevated position that overlooked some of the swamp around us, but it was a bit farther from the many little tributaries running down from the east.

We set up only one tent, both of us quiet after Amaryllis insisted that we use her superior gear for the night.

And then, after flipping a copper and drawing first watch, I was left alone again. It was okay. I was making steady progress. I knew that in no time at all Amaryllis would dislike me a little less!

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