“It’s over the weight limit, ay?” asked Hannah. “Even if you stripped down to nothing.”
Alfric thought about this for a moment. He hated to admit it, but she was right, and by a fair margin. “Okay,” he said. “Well, there are public rooms back near the warp at Traeg’s Knob, and houses. We can…” He trailed off. “Well, we don’t have a way to lock it up, which is a problem.”
“Lock it up?” asked Hannah. “Who’s going to steal it, ay, when it’s so much a pain to move?”
“I’m in favor of the plan where I leave right now,” said Verity. “I need a proper meal, something hot. Could I possibly go do that while the two of you figure out logistics, or would that be horribly rude?”
Alfric bit his lip. “If we’re carrying it uphill to the top of Traeg’s Knob, would you think you had it in you to give us a song of strength? I’ll leave it to your discretion, because you know your own needs.”
Verity grimaced. “I suppose, but that means that I have to sing and walk.”
“Well, I’m out of here,” said Mizuki. “Isra? You too? Because I don’t want to walk back up a hill that I’ve already walked down, and someone needs to get us some rooms at Liberfell.”
Isra hesitated. “Yes,” she said. “I’ve never been.”
“You’ll love it,” said Mizuki. “I’ll make sure they don’t hurt you.”
“Hurt me?” asked Isra.
“It’s a joke,” said Mizuki. “No one is going to hurt you in Liberfell, and if they do, I will personally set fire to every single house.”
“And that’s another joke,” said Isra.
“See?” asked Mizuki. “This is going to be fun. Portal boy, one portal please.”
“Portal man,” said Alfric, giving her a smile. “Coming right up.” He spun the dial, then opened the door again.
It wasn’t the city of Liberfell, but rather, a field that must have been somewhere near it. Mizuki stepped through, then immediately tried to go back, just for the sake of testing, and her hands went through an invisible plane, exposing red meat and bone. Alfric knew enough to know this was just visual, seeing into her body, but it was still horrifying. Her mouth moved, but there was no sound.
<Use party chat,> said Alfric. <We can’t hear you.>
<I can see the doorway but can’t come back,> said Mizuki. <Hands go straight through.>
<Coming,> said Isra, who stepped in as Mizuki stood off to the side.
<Let us know your plans. We’ll be getting some rooms,> said Mizuki. <And figuring out what to do with the eggs.>
<The local League office might have rooms, but they’re usually in poor condition. You can check there or just go to a hotel. Let us know over chat if you have problems,> said Alfric. <We can be in the center of Liberfell in an instant.>
<No need to worry,> said Mizuki. And with that, she cast the warp, disappearing to the center of her hex, where Liberfell was. Isra quickly followed, and Alfric shut the wardrobe after them.
“This is a really good entad,” said Alfric. “It’ll save us an enormous amount of travel time. Even if it’s hard to move, if we center it in whatever hex we’re basing out of, that’s thirty-six miles we don’t have to walk. And if we can get it to work with something else, we could cut out travel time altogether.”
“You’re excited about this,” said Hannah.
“And getting ahead of yourself,” said Verity.
“Well, sure,” said Alfric, shrugging. “But it’s one of the vitals, or at least a good piece of the puzzle.”
“And an absolute pain to move,” said Hannah, sighing.
“Let me see if it’s really over the weight limit,” said Alfric. He grabbed the wardrobe and tipped it so that it was resting its weight on him, then quickly made the sign for the warp. The worst-case scenario would be if he’d misjudged where the weight was, and ended up at the top of Traeg’s Knob without the wardrobe, which would mean a bit of a trek back, but no, the warp simply failed.
He tried again with most of his armor removed and his sword on the ground, hoping that he could squeak under the limit, but it didn’t work, and he stepped back from the wardrobe, sighing. Hannah had been right. He’d known that she’d been right.
“Ready?” asked Alfric. “It probably makes more sense for you to be at the front rather than the back, so I can take the bulk of the weight. It’s heavy, but shouldn’t be too bad for us. A hundred pounds, maybe?”
“A hundred pounds, uphill nearly a mile and a half,” said Hannah with a sigh. “And it’s more than a hundred. Plus another fifty for the book. Well, let’s get to it, ay.”
Verity elected not to use her lute, perhaps because they were moving uphill or because she was tired, but that left only her voice, which turned out to be quite sufficient for something as simple as granting Alfric and Hannah strength. The song she chose was one about a pair of squirrels attempting to bring a large apple home, wrestling it between themselves to get it to their tree. It was a jaunty little tune but also slightly mocking in a way that reminded Alfric of Mizuki’s preferred mode of humor.
The climb was a tough one, even with the help, and what had been a nice ramble down the hill was a slog going up. It was all made far worse by the fact that they’d done a dungeon in between. Alfric was sure that his muscles would be killing him the next day, and the prospect of simply leaving the wardrobe behind in Traeg’s Knob became more attractive with every step he took.
They took frequent breaks and, halfway up, a longer one.
“Not sure I appreciate the lyrics of these songs you’ve been singin’,” said Hannah. “Two squirrels trying to wrestle an apple up to their tree? A man who can’t get his hand from a jar because he’s grabbed ahold of too many pickles?”
“All in good fun,” said Verity. “If it really bothers you, I can find something else to sing. It’s a pleasant day, and my work, as I see it, is done. A warm meal, a hot bath, and a soft bed, those are the three things left today.” She took a long drink from her waterskin. Almost everything she was able to put into the book had been put in there, save for her bag. Alfric was carrying the book but wishing that he’d sent it with Isra.
“Nah,” said Hannah. “Silly songs for a silly trip. I’ll let you know if it rankles. I’m not shy.”
“The silliness is a part of it,” said Alfric. “It’ll make a good story someday, even if my legs have turned to jelly by the end of it.”
“And that’s what you’re in it for?” asked Verity. “The stories?”
“Some,” Alfric said. “The stories, the glory, the money, the adventure, the way we’ve got a chance to play our role in the history of the world. Something new and interesting around every corner, things that no one has ever before set eyes on, items that are absolutely unique. Camaraderie and the close-knit relationship of a dungeoneering party, like brothers.” He hesitated, then looked at the two of them. “Or sisters, I suppose.”
“It does sound nice, when you put it like that,” said Verity. “But it’s a very rosy view of something that, as we experienced not too long ago, can be very dangerous and scary, not to mention, well… brutal. Gory.”
“Ay, but I’d prefer Alfric’s view,” said Hannah. “Seems a better way to look at it. And there’s a feelin’ of accomplishment, ay.”
“There is that,” Verity said with a nod. “I felt awful after Mizuki stole the song from me, not that she meant to, but seeing what we could accomplish together, there was a part of me that considered doing this for a longer time might not be such a bad thing. It was the first time I ever felt… I don’t know. Powerful.”