Chapter Five Hundred and Forty-Two — Come Here Alive
Chapter Five Hundred and Forty-Two — Come Here Alive "Broccoli!"I jumped, jolting so hard from the surprise that I almost bonked my head against the ceiling. "Yes?" I squeaked.I was in my room, repacking some things since I had a few minutes to spare and the sailing had been pretty quiet for most of the day. I was mostly trying to figure out how to dress to deal with the upcoming desert heat. The clothes I normally wore were pretty warm, but I had some things that were a bit lighter."Ah, um, sorry," Awen said from the doorway. "Were... were you changing?""No no," I said with a little wave. "I'm dressed! Come in?"Awen just stuck her head in and glanced me up and down. I was in a more flowy skirt that I'd picked up... somewhere, and a loose blouse. I'd really rather be wearing my armour and normal stuff, but it was warm. Even so high up in the air it felt like the temperature was edging into the upper thirties.Or... hmm, what did they use to measure temperatures on Dirt? It probably wasn't celsius. I really hoped it wasn't fahrenheit."Just wanted to let you know that we can see the city," Awen said. "It's just on the horizon, but we're getting closer. Clive has changed our heading a little as well, to better aim for it.""Oh! That's great news," I said. "What's it look like?""Right now? Just a bit of metal on the horizon," Awen said. "Want to see?""Of course!" I swept up my captain's hat, then rushed out onto the main deck with Awen in tow. Come Here and Die was, for the moment, just a lot of glimmering points in the distance, but as we approached midday and slowly drew closer, the points turned into the rooftops of large, fat towers, and then the rest of the city came poking out of the desert mirage that wavered over the sandy grounds.Come Here and Die was a massive, sprawling city. It might even have been the biggest city I'd seen yet, though a lot of that was just how much space they had.The outer edges were filled with gardens and vineyards, rows and rows of trees climbing up and over soft hillsides, lending a bit of green to the brown and sandy yellow of the desert.At first, I trained a spyglass on the city, but it was hardly better than squinting at it with my bare eyes. I rarely used it and couldn't keep the image steady. Awen made a better one on the spot by shaping Glass Magic into a bunch of giant floating lenses. They bent the light into an image so clear that I couldn't help but think they were using more than just regular physics. It let us see the homes of the city. Most were squat, round-walled buildings, made of some sort of brownish yellow brick, but a few, I noticed, had large exterior walls that showed off impressively large interior spaces that were definitely dug into the earth.They had built their homes into the ground!It made sense, it was probably much cooler a few feet below the sand, and having larger homes meant better ventilation, probably. A few of those neat little spells that moved the air around like we saw in Deepmarsh could probably keep a modest-sized home feeling relatively cool.I squinted as I saw something slowly moving above one of the stranger buildings along the middle... I supposed it was a 'ring' of the city, though it didn't seem like it was that organized."Does that look like a huge cannon to you?" I asked Awen."Um," she said. "Um..."It did look a lot like a really big gun. In fact, now that I was looking, there seemed to be a few of those, at least seven of them, positioned here and there around the city, and I imagined that there might be more that we couldn't see yet on account of being too far away. Three of those seven looked like they were turning our way."Should we... do evasive manoeuvres yet?" I asked."I don't think cannons can reach this far," Awen said."Are you sure?" I asked. "I haven't seen a lot of them, to be fair, but they could be magical somehow."We decided to get a second opinion, specifically from Amaryllis who squinted at the distant guns, then scoffed. "Those are ground artillery pieces. They can't hit us up here. I'd be more worried about those flyers over there."With that, she pointed to the side.I snapped my attention that way, then gasped. There were three forms taking to the sky and slowly gaining altitude as they spun in ever-increasing circles. Airplanes!Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.We'd seen some way, way out west-rocket powered gliders that were able to fly for quite a while, but these looked a bit more like the kind of aircraft I was used to back on Earth... somewhat.They were biplanes, with wings that were shaped a bit like a V. A tiny engine sat in the crook of the V spinning up a large propeller at the rear of the plane.There was no real cockpit, or fuselage. Instead, the pilot, a tall ostri in tight clothes, was sitting in what looked like a wicker chair, and opposite him were two more hanging off the wires and lines between the upper and lower wing."Clive, turn us forty-five degrees port!" I called back. We weren't going to aim straight for the city while people were flying over."Should I deploy my turret?" Awen asked."I hope we won't need it," I said."That really doesn't answer her question, does it?" Amaryllis asked."Uh, maybe just be ready to deploy it? I'm sure this is just a welcoming committee?" I said.The three biplanes actually took forever to gain any altitude and reach our height. I could see why people on Dirt still preferred airships. Eventually, though, they were at about our level and raced our way, outpacing any airship as they shot forwards with a noise not unlike a trio of angry wasps, trailing thin vapours behind them.The crew was mostly on deck by the time they arrived and started to circle the Beaver Cleaver.I had picked up the semaphore flags by then, and waved through a quick greeting, but I didn't get a response.Then someone jumped off one of the biplanes.I gasped, but the tall osti spun over themselves in the air, then kicked off nothing and shot towards the Beaver. They landed on the main deck in a roll, then easily bounced up and onto their feet, as if this was the most normal thing in the world for them.As they stood, I found that I had to strain my neck to see their eyes.The ostri were humanoids, with long limbs and long torsos, but their arms and legs always seemed a big gangly to me, and very bony. It didn't help that a lot of ostri liked to wear these tight wraps over all of their limbs that made them look even skinnier. This one was maybe on the shorter side, for an ostri, which meant that their eye level was even with the middle of my ears. They had a pair of belts around their lower waist, long, curved knives hanging from them."Uh, hello!" I said.The ostri glanced around, then looked at me more properly. "You speak our tongue?" he asked."I guess so," I replied. I paid a bit more attention to my own words, the sound of them as opposed to the meaning alone. The ostri language sounded very smooth and sibilant, lots of whispery shushy noises with few hard consonants. It was a softer language. I liked it! "My name is Broccoli Bunch,and these are my friends.""Are you the leader of this group?" the ostri asked. I couldn't tell their gender at a glance, I could tell that they were scanning us over. Their gaze lingered on Bastion for some time. "Some of you are strong, but most of you seem a little fair-weathered for life here. What are you coming to the city for?""We're just passing through," I said. "We're heading to a place called Southerfell. Actually, an island near Southerfell. We're on the lookout for this group called the Black Avatars. Have you heard of them?"The ostri paused, then stared at me. "We've heard of them, yes. If you bear no ill intent, and are willing to abide by our customs, then you may come.""Are there any, ah, laws and such we should be aware of?" I asked.The ostri paused, then laughed. "You know our tongue, but not our customs? You are interesting, tall-eared captain. Come Here and Die has no laws. No police, no army, no governors, kings, queens, or rulers. We have no taxes, and care little for money."Huh... I wasn't expecting that. Actually, did that mean that the whole place was anarchic? How did that even work?"Wha... that's gonna make doing things there a little weird," I said."We have no need for liars and cheats, and our word is our law. You will find no people more honest than those of the city, and no people more willing to draw steel either."
* * *
Chapter Five Hundred and Forty-Three — Come Here, it's Dry
Chapter Five Hundred and Forty-Three — Come Here, it's Dry The biplanes continued to circle the Beaver Cleaver while we moved towards the city. The Ostri who'd jumped aboard stayed by the front of the ship, and signalled that we were safe to land to his companions using a clever sort of mana-burst technique.Amaryllis mentioned that it was something that other nations were looking into, but most people weren't sensitive enough to mana to feel the bursts from afar, and not every ship had a mage or person with good mana control to use that kind of technique, so semaphore flags continued to be the standard.My friends couldn't speak the local ostri language, but the guide could speak a few languages and was able to talk to the others.His name was Markeb Secondson, the Lightfoot, but he said we could just call him Markeb. Amaryllis wanted to know if he was part of Come Here and Die's air-traffic-control, but as it turned out, they didn't have anything of the sort.The rule for air traffic was pretty much that the bigger, more heavily armed ships moved first, and every ship that was smaller moved around.Amaryllis was pretty horrified about that, but apparently there was so little air traffic here that it hadn't ever become a problem.Come Here and Die didn't have a proper airship port, but there was a large, cleared space to one side of the city, next to a tall, rocky outcropping with a wall above it that provided good cover from the desert wind.Large, round indents into the ground had been spaced more or less evenly apart, each one a good few metres deep and ringed by carefully placed bricks. We were heading towards one of those.Apparently, there was still some amount of trading and such, even if the ostri here were anarchic. There just wasn't any legal framework for contracts, and no real police to call on if something went wrong.Somehow, that made me feel a little queasy. It was weird. I'd always grown up knowing that there were laws and rules that I had to follow. I knew that sometimes the law was wrong, or that rules might be silly, and that doing the right thing might mean breaking one or both, but they were always there as a sort of guideline for what was acceptable.A place entirely without either felt strange.We brought the Beaver down anyway, gently aiming for a free spot next to another circle that held a beaten up old cargo airship.The lower we dropped, the hotter it became, until I was feeling like a very sticky, sweaty bun. I was pretty sure that it was scorching enough to cook things just by sticking them out in the sun, so I was happy that the Beaver Cleaver had a balloon above us to at least provide some amount of shade."I will take my leave, then," Markeb said."You're not staying?" I asked."Why would I?" he replied. "I flew over to see if you'd be trouble, and I have a sense that you are, but you're not the kind of trouble that I care much for.""Huh?" I asked.The ostri tilted his head, and I had the impression that the gesture was as good as a smile. "A bit of advice, little bunny-eared captain. All ostri are honourable people, but not all ostri are good. This city's name was earned. If you want to stay, then make friends with some locals and stay close to them lest you trod upon the honor of someone who lacks the goodness]to see past a slight.""Okay," I said. "Thank you, I appreciate it. Ah, so once we're docked...""Talk to the person who runs this place, then do what you came here for," he said.With that, he walked off the side of the Beaver. We were still a dozen metres off the ground, but when I ran to the railing, I found that he was just casually walking along the desert ground between the airship pits."Ostri... are so cool," I said."Really? I'd have thought they were hot, what with the desert and all," Amaryllis said.She didn't understand, and I felt a little bad for her about it.Once we landed and dropped anchor, a team of ostri pushed a long plank up to the side of the Beaver and we were met by a tall, thin ostri man in elaborate robes who climbed to the edge of the ramp and negotiated a staying fee with Amaryllis.It turned out to be much cheaper than staying in most other ports, mainly because we were paying only for the right to park here.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings."We're going to have to source fuel and water and the rest of our supplies ourselves," Amaryllis said. "Which means leaving the ship.""All of us?" I asked."That would be unwise," Bastion said. "We are among a warrior people, in a land with no laws. Many call them fair — but one man's fairness is another man's arbitrary violence. The princess shall not leave the ship, nor can we leave her here alone." His words on that matter were utter steel. "Our away team should be small, and above all, capable of escaping a fight."I pouted, but just a bit. He might have been right. I was hoping for the best, but the city was called Come Here and Die, so I had to set my expectations at a certain level. "So, who's going out?" I asked."I'll come. Someone needs to watch over our purse, and I can defend myself perfectly well," Amaryllis said."I'll come too, of course," I said with a nod."Is sending the captain wise?" Bastion asked. "By all rights, you should remain on the ship."I blinked. But... but I wanted to see the cool desert city! "Ah! But no one else can speak the local language, so you have to send me," I said with a nod. "And I'm good at running away!" That was a very clever reason to go!Bastion frowned, but my logic was irrefutable, so he had nothing to say on that.I ended up going around and seeing who wanted to come. Calamity was okay with staying, as long as we promised to bring back some local snacks, but Desiree really wanted to see the city as well.Awen came along because she was the ship's mechanic, and would know what to grab, and that made a group of four, which was good enough.Steve and Gordon were going to wait on the Beaver ready to leave as soon as we came back with a good idea of where to pick up the stuff we needed for the trip."Alrighty! Let's go!" I called out before stepping onto the ramp. I felt it, the moment I stepped out of the shadows of the ship. The sunlight hit me like a slap to the face, and I could instantly feel my sweat evaporating away.Amaryllis huffed, but that was her only complaint, while Awen just shifted her shoulders. She was wearing that long trench-coat that she'd gotten a long time ago, and it seemed almost perfect for this kind of weather.Desiree was the only one who seemed to commiserate with me. "This weather is untenably warm. I can see why this place is still as free as it is. No invader would be able to endure the place in the height of summer."Oh, right, we were basically in mid-winter, weren't we? So this was as cold as it would get. Holy heck.I flagged a nice-looking ostri man down, and he seemed happy when I asked him where we could find ship fuel and supplies in his own tongue. He pointed us towards the centre of the city proper, and then continued on his way.Fortunately, we didn't have to stay in the sun for long.I had seen that a lot of the buildings looked like they had dug-in courtyards from above, but on the ground, we discovered that the entire city was dug in. They had roads above, but for the most part, the foot traffic moved around in trenches. They had angled walls on the sides, with wooden planks holding out the dirt. They didn't have to worry about mud, I supposed. Some sections were covered over, with tarps and thin roofing, often designed with holes along the edges to let the air circulate a little.It was still super warm."So, that ostri guy mentioned someone called... Aguila Firstson Sandseller," I said, translating what I'd learned for my friends. "And he has a shop not too far from here that sometimes deals with out-of-towners like us.""I can't get used to their names," Amaryllis said."Oh," Awen replied. "Their first name is their... actual name. The second part is the order of birth, which is important to the ostri, and the last is their class. Usually their first. Most of them don't mention if they have a second or third, but they'd also be part of their name.""Like our tails," Desiree said with a swish of her twin tails. "An indicator of potential and rank.""Neat!" I said. I was looking forward to getting indoors, and maybe learning more about this place. The name had to have a story behind it!
* * *
