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Divine: Merchants of the Silent Shore

Chapter VII

The rest of the trip to the Guild States was thankfully uneventful. Maybe even too uneventful.

Marty barely saw Vargus or Petrus. The father had taken his son to the back of the caravan where they stayed. Marty would have inquired, but he was kept in one of the carriages and not allowed to leave. Everyone was still paranoid. Everyone but Felix.

When Marty had reunited with Felix, he had found him chatting up a storm with the soldiers he had been left with. They had given up on trying to dig and were walking around the perimeter of the hill that Marty had disappeared into when suddenly Marty appeared out of.

It took a lot of bullshit and a made up story about magic and gods, but eventually the barrage of questions stopped.

Felix knew that there was more to the story, but didn't ask for it. By how haggard Marty looked, Felix could tell that Marty had reason enough to keep whatever had gone on during the previous few hours secret was good enough.

Marty didn't talk much to anyone the rest of the trip. No one really talked to him either. No one really talked at all. The mood was down. Nearly half of the caravan had been wiped out with several of the diplomats being killed or injured. Those that could, went on.

Marty kept his thoughts busy. While watching the changing landscape, he thought about the new quest that had been thrust upon him.

Before he had only wanted to get his ship fixed and to fly away as fast as he could, hopefully avoiding the radiation that had brought him down. That wasn't viable. He no longer had confidence that he wouldn't be brought down again. He had to shut down those devices and in order to do so, he had to find and kill Aetin, the heart of the Fel. It changed everything.

How to kill Aetin? It was the question that Marty had no answer to. He didn't have enough information and even then, he didn't have the resources. He had no way to wage war on the Fel... except for the Church.

It had been explained many times that the Fel was the enemy of everything living and I corrupted, both the Church or heretic. Wherever Fel appeared, both sides stopped long enough to prevent its spread, but with the civil war going on, there was no active plan or attempts to destroy the Fel. Marty wasn't even sure if the whereabouts of Aetin was known.

The lone man contemplated the entire rest of the trip on how to proceed and though he did not come up with a definite answer, he did come to one conclusion. The war had to end by any means and that meant he had to begin to take an active role to get there.

The Guild States had gone unmolested by war and in fact, had prospered quite a bit with the amount of trade. Money poured into the Guild States from all over the land which gave rise to something that didn't really exist in Earth's Middle Ages, a middle class.

Even the towns far from the major cities were built with stone and had paved roads compared to the dirt roads that populated both the Church lands and the lands controlled by the heretics. People dressed well in clean clothes and not rags. Everything that Marty could see was simply better than what he had seen before. His thoughts flashed to Rem and a flash of anger reddened his face.

He hadn't thought of the man who had sent him here in some time. Marty didn't blame Rem for what had happened. It was part of the job and dangers of being a ranger. With so many missions, it sadly had just been a matter of time before something happened. He grew angry because seeing the disparity of wealth reminded him of his own upbringing. Born in what was essentially slavery, he had only escaped by pure luck.

Marty brushed the thoughts away. He didn't need distractions.

The Guild States didn't have a capital, being a collection of independent city states, each specializing in its own trade. Instead of focusing all their political capital into one place, each state took turns accepting responsibility for governmental issues. This time, Marty and the rest of the Church's entourage were taken to Val Hara, a city located on the Silent Shore. The city was built on a massive cove that stretched for miles and was flanked by mountains. The area's natural geography created very little wind which made the water still and quiet, hence the name of the area and in turn, the name of the merchants Marty had come here to meet.

Just like the rest of what Mart had seen, the poor here were virtually nonexistent and even then, the poor of the Guild States were well off.

Val Hara was beautiful. The city was made of a white stone that looked as if it had been carved out of the sand. The road was paved with a red stone. People draped colorful flags and banners outside their windows and clothe lines hazardously strung across walkways, lined with equally colorful clothes. It created a festive like feeling and was immediately welcoming.

The city was also flat. While Melur was characterized by tall and square buildings that crept up the sides of the city's great walls, Val Hara was low, flat and wide while also favoring rounded shapes and river like streets that flowed all the way down to the ocean where docks stretched far into the calm waters. There was also a sense of calm. None of the rush of the big city. People slowly went their way to arrive to their desired destinations precisely when they intended to.

Children ran close to the caravan, shouting and smiling, holding up small trinkets they were trying to sell. No doubt overpriced, but charming.

The markets sold Val Hara's primary trade, fish. Mounds of fish were brought in each day from the sea. Some went to the shops here in the city, most was heavily salted and then exported across the land.

The people of Val Hara weren't as varied as Melur, instead, most of them were anthropomorphic marine animals. Whales, not nearly as large as Terran whales, but still standing three meters tall along with dolphins and even shark. They stood upright on two legs that ended with webbed feet, had dorsal fins and even a long, thick tail that ended in a paddle shaped fin. They had almost no neck, their heads merely bent below the chin to allow them to see forward and not upward. Marty became instantly fascinated with them. Melur was too far inland for marine creatures to comfortably travel to.

Just how they were an intrigue to Marty, the human drew quite a few eyes to himself. They had not seen anything like him which was rare. Every kind of people came to the Guild States to conduct business. The arrival of a supposed messenger of the Gods, which some in the Guild States did believe in and all knew about, made the caravan the intrigue of the city.

The guards, a mixture of Church soldiers and city guard did a good job at keeping the crowd from overrunning the caravan until they arrived at the Church's embassy where they would be safe behind walls.

Marty was glad to be out of the carriage. His legs had been bothering him for some time and taking a short walk was exactly what he needed. His knees popped gleefully as he wandered around the outside of the embassy, no longer required to be under constant watch. Felix followed suit.

"The city was gorgeous, " Felix said as he followed Marty. His eyes were wandering, taking in as much of the sights as he could. The courtyard they were currently in, right at the front of the embassy, had a large circular water fountain made of rough, tan sandstone and was flanked by flowers that resembled roses but without thorns and were a mix of both blue and red. Sometimes purple.

"I haven't seen anything like it, but I've seen images of similar looking cities." Much of the planet's architecture was strikingly similar to that of Earth and other human worlds. No doubt the doings of the 'gods' who molded these people like clay. All that was missing from the city was red shingled roofs and it would be very much like what he had seen of Italy in holos.

"What was the place you came from like?" Felix asked as they took a seat next to the fountain. A few small birds that had been washing themselves scattered and settled back down on the other side of the fountain where they continued. "You don't talk much about where you came from. Only hint or make short remarks."

Marty lips created a thin line across his face.

"You don't have to," Felix quickly added at the sight of Marty's reluctance.

Marty shook his head. "No. No. I think you of all people deserve to know more about me." Marty of course had no intention of giving away everything, only enough to date whatever appetite the feline had.

Felix's tail curled behind him, flailing against the water in obvious excitement.

"The cities here are beautiful," Marty began, going off from the previous conversation. "Truly marvels in their own right."

"And the cities where you're from?" Felix asked.

"We've given up beauty in exchange for efficiency and density." Marty recalled a city he had visited once on one of the rare occasions he had gone to the surface. It had been New Singapore. "Buildings are made of metal and touch the clouds." Marty raised his hand up to the sky to emphasize what he was saying. "Thousands upon thousands of skyscrapers filled with thousands of individuals clamoring to create a life for themselves."

"That..." Felix struggled to find the right words. "That's not at all what I would have thought." His ears sank along with that expressive tail of his.

"Didn't think so," Marty smiled. "But just as the people here are varied in size and form, so are the cities of where I come from." He then thought of another world he had visited. It he couldn't remember the name of it, but he did remember the sight. Nestled in a valley between mountains, the city had been built to the contours of the land and geography rather than dominate it. Buildings were tall in the center, gleaming silvery spires and then instead of being contained by the mountains, they went over. A river also lazily went through the center, making it the sight of several parks. Everyone was much more happy there than New Singapore. Marty described it to Felix.

"That's more like it," Felix nodded, a slight purr of satisfaction to his voice. "Of guess that where your from isn't too different from here. There's the nice places..." He gazed out of the compound toward the shore where oil lamps were being lit as the sun escaped under the ocean. "Then there's there not so nice places." He could think of more than a few choice locations he had both passed through and lived in.

Marty stood up and stretched his arms over his head, letting out a long yawn. "Well. We should get inside. I'm getting tired."

"Yeah," Felix agreed. "Who knew lounging inside of a carriage for so long could be so tiring."

Once inside, Felix excused himself to go draw a both for himself and then Marty. The feline no longer minded doing some menial tasks for Marty. Anyone else and they would get several claws to the face.

Marty didn't immediately go inside. He detoured to the back of the embassy which was an entire compound with multiple buildings, each with their own purposes. At the back was the barracks where the soldiers slept. He had hoped to find Vargus and talk with him. The limited amount of communication with the canine after the incident in the woods concerned the human.

He didn't find Vargus, but he did find Petrus who was kicking a ball against the embassy wall while being watched by a few nearby soldier who were huddled around a brazier.

"Marty!" The pup immediately stopped his little game at the sight of his friend. The ball rolled off and stopped under a bush nearby.

"Hey there," Marty gave a genuine grin and knelt down to be face to face with the pup. "How're you doing?" Marty's eyes glances over him, looking for any signs of damage.

"Good." Petrus stopped just shy of slamming into the human's chest.

"Not shaken up from what happened?"

The smile faltered on the pup's face. "A little." The smile then returned. "But I'm good now."

Marty blew out a sigh. Kidnapping was something that could scar anyone. However Petrus was proving more resilient that Marty had previously believed.

"Have you seen your father recently?" Marty asked now that his immediate concerns for Petrus were abated.

Petrus shook his head, his ears flopped either which way with the action. "One of the diplomats. I don't remember which one. He went into town. Daddy went with him. I don't think they've come back."

Marty was a little disappointed, but he figured that he'd just talk with Vargus another day.

After a little bit more talking with Petrus, Marty finally retired back to the room he was assigned.

The embassy wasn't meant to house people for long with the permanently stationed soldiers and diplomats being housed in the city. The accommodations in the compound were more than adequate though with a full bed and bathroom.

Felix had already finished his bath and was in a pair of loose trousers, his chest bare. He sat on the edge of the bed and was gazing out the window. His 'bed' was a thick mat in the corner, but both of them knew that Felix wasn't going to sleep there.

"Your bath is still hot," Felix's ear swiveled towards Marty as he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

Marty followed Felix's gaze where he saw that there was a bird on the window sill, resting with its feathers pooped out and standing on one leg. The feline's eyes were glued to it. He chuckled. Some things didn't change no matter where he was.

The bath was long and relaxing. The warm water which had the slight smell of sea salt to it soothed his tense body. The soap that was provided smelled like lavender or this planet's equivalent. Marty would have stayed there all night if the water didn't have to be reheated by a fire.

When Marty did retire from the bath, Felix was already asleep, circled deep into the covers, but that wasn't what Marty was looking at.

On the pillow, where Marty would have laid his head was a slip of parchment, folded a single time.

Marty peered around the room as if the individual or individuals were still there. Felix hadn't left it, the Feline would have just told him anything that needed to be said.

Slowly, the human tiptoed towards the bed until he stood just over the note. He picked it up quickly and then unfolded it.

In plain black ink in smooth and easy to ready script was the note meant for him.

'Your request to meet has been received and accepted, Messenger. You will meet with the Merchants. We will come to you.'

It wasn't a threat which was good and Marty felt elated that the Church had acted so quick to set up his meeting with the Merchants of the Silent Shore. If the rumor was true, they'd have enough materials to finished repairs on his ship. Even if he couldn't leave right away. He'd be ready when the time came.

Marty placed the note down onto a nearby table and then slid under the covers, already warm from the feline slumbering next to him. Things were finally going smoothly.