“That’s an excellent point,” I said. “I think we’re quite well equipped in case of a fight in Brightwater now.”
“Good,” Veronica said. “I was worried I’d have to help you out if you got into any trouble. But we should get going. The Sticks and Stones Tavern is likely to be full if we don’t get there soon, and if we don’t get a table, we won’t get to eat. You’re going to want to taste their food—it’s delicious.”
“I can hardly wait for a proper meal,” I said.
“Me too!” Amelia licked her lips.
“There’s one thing, though,” Veronica said, her face serious. “Whatever you do, do not get suckered into a game of cards with a fellow who calls himself the Rogue of Aranor.”
My stomach suddenly clenched.
“The Rogue of Aranor?” I asked.
“Yes,” Veronica said. “That’s what he calls himself. His real name is Jacques.”
My eyes widened, and I suddenly choked with laughter. What the fuck was Jacques doing out here? I would have asked the question, but I was too busy fighting off my laughter. To think that he’d made it all the way out here, and that I would see him again was almost too much to bear.
“Jacques?” Amelia asked me. “The same man you told me about?”
“It must be,” I said. “But I don’t know what he’s doing out here. I haven’t seen him for a few years now.”
“He’s been in Brightwater for a couple of months,” Veronica said. “He almost caused a riot last week. The man is a burning wick if I’ve ever met one. If the Governor hadn’t taken a liking to him, he’d have been cast out of the town the first week he arrived.”
I smiled. “Sounds like Jacques; he’s always managing to convince the right people to like him. But like you said, he also has a habit of getting on the wrong side of the wrong people.”
Amelia frowned. “If Jacqaues is everything you described to me, William, that can only mean trouble.”
“I’m sure he’s not up to anything worse than usual,” I chuckled.
“That’s what I’m worried about,” Amelia said.
“Well, you will both have a chance to work that out for yourselves,” Veronica said.
Somewhere in that town was my friend. Wherever he was, the fact that he’d managed to live here for months without being sent on his way was testament to one of two things. Either he was a changed man, or he’d gotten a lot better at remaining inconspicuous since I’d last seen him.
Chapter Eleven
It was evening as we crossed the bridge that led over the lake and to the town gates. With the two women at my side, and the new abilities we had achieved, I felt confident that we could handle whatever the town threw at us, and meet up with Jacques, my old friend from Aranor.
As we approached, I observed Brightwater’s surrounding walls more closely. I’d seen villages and towns defended by palisades before. These tall fences were generally made from sharpened tree trunks. The palisade wall of Brightwater looked different from any I’d ever seen before. Instead of trimmed, straight tree trunks, all neatly lined up, Brightwater’s wall was made of what looked like curving trunks. This formed an impressive overhang, with each trunk coming to a sharp point. Every trunk was irregular, and here and there single spikes stuck out at crazy angles from the wall’s surface. On closer inspection, the whole wall began to look like it was constructed entirely out of gigantic teeth.
I turned to ask Veronica about it. “That wall isn’t made of wood. What in seven hells is it?”
“Monster bones,” she answered shortly.
“Whoa,” Amelia whispered.
“How did they get so many bones?” I asked.
“This region is full of monsters,” Veronica said, “And the mines are close. Monsters are hunted in the mines for their Cores, but after the Cores have been harvested, the rest of the monster’s corpse can be put to good use. There is an ample supply of by-products from the mines and the regions; bones, skins, and other parts. You’ll find that a lot of things which might be made from wood or stone in other places are made from monster parts in the north.”
“Why bones?” I asked.
“Well, the Elemental properties of the monsters are present in their bones more than any other part. It means that in this wall, each part has a different magical defense. It’s done almost entirely at random. Some parts of the wall are immune to attacks from fire, others from lightning, others from cold, you get the idea.”
“Fascinating,” I said. “It must have taken a long time to collect that many bones.”
“I suspect they originally built much of the town from wood, and then replaced it over time with bones.”
As I looked up at the towering bone walls, it made me realize that I really was in a foreign place, very different from home. This really was the border between civilization and the wildlands.
A gate stood open in the palisade, with a small fortification built over it that would allow soldiers to stand on top and defend the gate.
In the opening, a guard was leaning on his spear. Unlike the guards I’d seen in Aranor, this man wore no sort of uniform, just a fairly common-looking brown tunic. The cloak clasped around his shoulders was made of thick fur. I wondered what sort of weather was normal here, as this evening was not especially cold. Fur wasn’t commonplace in my homeland; only the nobles wore it, and it was more a show of wealth than for the cold. He stood up a bit straighter as we approached.
“What’s your business in Brightwater?” he asked when we were about twenty yards away.
Veronica placed her hands on her hips. “You honestly don’t remember me?”
“Can’t say I do, miss,” the guard replied. “State your business.”
Veronica sighed. “We’re here to trade loot and find a
