Chapter Eighteen - Opinionated Options

The Flameskimmer's hull grated as it rubbed against the sandy shore and came to a slow but definitive stop. "We're here," Captain Ashmud said, rather unnecessarily. I was standing on the topdeck already, and had been for some hours.

The winds had been kind to us overnight, and had pushed the Flameskimmer towards the distant shores of the lake. The two young cultivators, Greyflake and Char, had split their time between rowing and resting all night long once the captain determined that it would be possible for us to reach the shore early.

By his estimation, they'd have to do a lot less work this way than if the voyage was spread over a longer period. It was, according to him, better for them to be challenged hard than to take things at an even pace.

He wasn't entirely wrong. In my experience, growth happened a lot faster under adversity, and when there wasn't any natural adversity to be found, then one could always create some for themselves.

"It'll be nice to step on land once more," I said.

"Oh?" the captain asked. "Didn't have time to develop sea-legs, did you?"

"It's not an issue of dexterity, it's just that I'm far more shore-footed on land. Ohoho!" I cracked myself up, moreso at the look of confused disgust that crossed the captain's visage.

"Thank you captain," Alex said with a small, polite bow. "We appreciate your assistance in crossing the lake. Please forgive Bone Daddy. He had been on a boat for an entire day, and barely made a single quip about it. He is trying very hard."

"I've a-mast a vast collection of nautical wordplay, I'll have you know. It's knot so easy to deny my berth-right this way. It's practically my pierpose to find new and interesting waves to drown people in perfectly palatable puns!"

Alex cringed. "Daddy, no."

"Ah..." I said as I scanned the deck. The young outer disciples were spitting blood, and even Cinder seemed a little distressed. "Perhaps it's aboat time I stop?"

"I-it was nice having you aboard, sir," the captain said. He gave me a rather tremulous handshake, then quickly showed me where the gangplank was located.

We had very little by means of baggage to carry, only the few things that Alex had brought, really, but the outer disciples assisted us anyway, carrying our bags to the shore and clearing the immediate area of any threats.

"Will you be waiting for us?" Cinder asked the captain.

Captain Ashmud nodded gravely. "For three days and three nights. We'll be just off the shore, far enough into the waters that nothing will be able to get to us, yet close enough to the edge of the lake so that the monsters dwelling in the deep won't be tempted. If you're not here within that time, I'll have to assume the worst, or that you found your own way back home."

Cinder bowed. "Thank you. Stay safe."

"Stay safe," the captain agreed. Then he started to bark for his juniors to come back.

"Mem doesn't understand," Mem said.

I turned to the mantis girl... person? Actually, now that I considered it, I had never really asked Mem about her age or level of maturity compared to others of her species. Was she considered a youth? That might explain some things. "What do you fail to understand?" I asked as I started towards the gangplank.

Alex launched off the ship and landed on the shore, then fixed his skirts. Rem tried the same, but mantises were not made for jumping the way a cat was, and she ended up splashing on the beach.

"We're travelling to go home, right?" Mem asked. "Where Mom is, so that you can kill her?"

"I think that's what others want of me, yes," I said. "Whether or not I do kill your mother will depend a lot on how she acts. I am not a rogue or assassin who is so easily swayed into doing the dirty work of others."

Mem followed me down the plank, then stared as I started walking across the water--I didn't want any in my shoes. "Can Mem do that?"

"Hmm? Oh, sure," I replied before tossing a slight enchantment her way. Mem tentatively placed a leg down, and when her foot didn't pierce the surface, she jumped off the plank and stabbed all six limbs down at the water.

Then she started to bounce around, using her newfound buoyancy to use the water as a large trampoline of sorts.

I walked to the shore, Mem bouncing around me like an excited dog until we were both on dry ground. "So, what was it that you didn't understand?" I asked.

Mem shrugged. "Forgot."

"Ah, well, if you recall, let Alex or myself know," I said before turning to Cinder. "Do you know where we're going from here?" I asked.

Cinder nodded. "I do. Though we have... options."

"Oh? I would have expected you to want to go straight to the source of all your woes."

Cinder made a small ambivalent gesture. "I would like that, yes. As would the sect. Taking care of the Mother of Mantises would solve many of our problems. The trip is precarious, but not overly difficult. Her nest resides at the top of this mountain, in a crater of sorts above it. The source of all this ash."

"But you have something else in mind?" I asked.

Cinder acquiesced. "I do. This is for your benefit, mostly. Or perhaps that of your... apprentice?"

Well, now I was curious. "And is this something the sect would rather avoid?"

"Not necessarily, though I might be reprimanded for making the offer. But it's just us, now."

I nodded and gestured for her to continue.

"There is a large clan of dwarves who make this range their home. They have been here since time immemorial, living beneath these mountains in their dwarven cities. There are records of great wars between them and the empire. The last of these ended with the installation of the Mantis queen above. This was long, long ago."

"I presume that you're offering to lead me to these dwarves?"

"I suspect--and this is mostly conjecture on my part--that the reason that the dwarves have been so quiet for the last few centuries is the presence of the goddess above them. The ash here isn't kind to them, and her influence over the mountains keeps them below. Her many children are a very real threat within the tunnels."

"Oh, dwarves are those chewy little humans?" Rem asked. She rubbed her scythes against her mouth. "They crunch. Tricksy little ones, with dangerous tools, but they're slow. Easy to ambush."

Cinder tilted her head a little towards Rem, who was doing a good job of proving her point.

It was curious that the dwarves hadn't mounted a more concerted effort against the mantis goddess but... well, perhaps they had and it had failed? Or perhaps they were enjoying their isolation? They were famously good at minding their own business, and made for fantastic neighbours.

"What makes you think that I'd want to meet them, though?" I asked.

Cinder hummed, then gestured back towards the lake, and the world past it. "Your little little little limpet. The one leading your forces, and who you put in charge of Yu Xiang. She is building a nation on your behalf, no? The aid of the dwarves, though unpopular among the common folk, might be of great assistance to her."

That... was a spectacular point. The Limpet was growing an army, and a nation. Nations needed tools. Armies needed arms--and I didn't just mean the body parts. These were things that the dwarves were notoriously capable at producing. Even in my younger, fleshier days, all of the very best scientific tools were made of dwarven craft.

"Yes, I suppose that this would serve as a good opening diplomatic act. Ridding a mutual ally of a mutual pain in the rear does tend to encourage a fair amount of favour."

"I could make them a small welcome present," Alex said. "I have some spare material for wrapping, and I could cover it with a little bow."

"Hmm, yes, I think that could do nicely. The Limpet would owe us for the idea and effort, but it would advance her... current state in a satisfactory way."

Cinder bowed. "I appreciate you listening to my suggestion. If we're to visit the dwarves, we're going to need to find our way into the mountain. I know of one such entrance, but it is somewhat less hospitable than merely climbing over the entire mountain."

"That's fine," I said. "I prefer being indoors in any case."

Rem chuckled. "Gooder for ambushes."

"Now now, Rem, we're not trying to ambush the friendly dwarves. We're trying to convince them to join into a multinational coalition destined to topple the current reigning power. As a butler, seeing the wider picture is one of your most important tasks!" Alex said.

***