The water took forever to rise; at least, that's what it felt like as we stood on the deck. From above us, dozens of heads kept poking over the edge to stare down on us. Some seemed impressed, but not all. A helmeted man's face was the one that had me most worried. He looked down at regular intervals, and I could almost see him check if both of us were still there.

"Do you think your pet got away?" Laurel asked, referring to Redtooth.

I stopped looking up and scanned the rough waters around us. There wasn't any sign of Redtooth, nor of the three small skiffs that had begun chasing him. It had happened a few minutes after we were tethered to the chain. They came from a smaller, floating dock close to the city-covered mountain's left slope, three men on each. Screaming in laughter, they had started throwing harpoons and other things at Redtooth. No amount of screaming from my end had managed to make them stop, and in the end, I had yelled at Redtooth to hide in deeper waters. The three skiffs had left, presumably chasing after him, although I had no idea how they even knew where he was going.

"Probably. I hope he will find us when we leave," I said, turning my attention back to the pier above us. It was perhaps four meters away now, and with the current rate of change, it would take another hour to become level with Lark's deck.

"I am more worried about what's going to happen to us," I continued, staring at the helmeted man, looking across the edge above us again.

"I'm with the Mercenary Alliance, so we should be fine. Although we might get fined for taking a docking spot without getting one assigned," Laurel said.

I frowned at the mention of a fine. It was something I hadn't heard about since arriving in Kernstalion, and it reminded me of home. "A fine? And what do we pay that with?"

"Oh, that's fine. I should have-" Laurel began as she reached for her chest, falling silent as she found nothing but her leather strapped armor. "Oh... Lischen's tits," she cursed. "All my soulwood fragments are on the bottom of the bleeding sea."

"Can we get some of those soulwood fragments from the mercenary alliance?" I asked, wondering why I hadn't heard of those things yet.

Laurel shook her head with a distasteful look. "Unlikely. Although you can get a lot of benefits from joining the Mercenary Alliance, they don't go into the habit of lending out currency."

"Great. So, what will happen if they fine us and we can't pay?" I asked, deciding I wasn't going to jail. I'd prefer to cut the chain and try to make a getaway.

"It depends. It could be lashes or a week of indentured service in the mines," Laurel replied, not seeming all that worried.

Lashes? I gaped at her, wondering if she was pulling my leg. Then I blinked. If I had to choose, I'd prefer the lashes right now. I was pretty sure my body could handle a few of those, and I could just heal up with some Share Lifeforce. The mines seemed like a much worse prospect, as it would cost me the time I didn't have.

The chain we were linked to was keeping us to a set distance from the dock. We could drift a bit away, but not a lot, and we wouldn't slam into the bottom either.

An hour later, with each massive wave pushing us up, our faces reached the side of the deadly docks. At six meters wide, the docks were crammed with people. One group stood closest, dressed in matching armors and wielding metal-banded clubs. They looked a lot like guards, and the helmeted guy was in front of them, staring at me with an emotionless face that would probably do well in a poker game.

A pair of grablon mercenaries stood behind them, gazing at us in interest. The rest of the people ranged from loudly chatting dockhands and workers to a small group of scantily clothed and whispering men and women. I don't know how they could hear each other over the slamming waves, but I couldn't make out anything from what they said. When I looked at them, I got a wink from one of the men, and I saw he had gleaming pink eyes. I looked at them in stunned silence for a moment before turning back to the mercenaries.

As the ship continued rising, the periods we were on eye height with people on the dock changed from moments to seconds. The dock was perhaps a meter away at its closest and three when we were pushed to the chain's maximum slack. This close, I could see most of the people only had eyes for Lark.

Shit, is it going to be trouble because he is a living ship?

The helmeted guy looked at us and shouted loudly for silence, interrupting my thoughts. Within moments, the only sounds were the waves and the creaking of Lark's wooden shape.

"You two have a lot to answer for! Names?" the man shouted. His voice was crisp like a bell and was easily heard above the sea.

A lot? I thought, wondering what else we did besides taking a port spot without clearance. I was about to shout back when Laurel beat me to it.

"How dare you ask us for our names? You know full well you won't get them," she shouted, her chin raised slightly as she glared at him. Then she turned to the two mercenaries who had quietly been observing everything.

"I was on my way here with the Barlin Mercenary group to register when the demons destroyed our ship."

The two mercenaries exchanged a glance before the left one stepped forward. An older man, his greyish hair whipped in the wind. "Captain Malrin, we will be taking these two to the pit to verify their claims."

The helmeted guy, Malrin, glared at the two mercenaries. "They brought a Manytooth into the harbor. Do you know how dangerous that is? If those are left to grow on the weaker demons here-"

"I know exactly how dangerous that is!" grey-hair interrupted him before stepping forward and hovering above the smaller man. "But we both know that you have no say over mercenaries. If they need any punishment, we will be the ones taking care of that. Not you. Now leave. I will send someone to your office with details on what happened."

Malrin was grinding his teeth, his face a mask of taut muscles. He took one more look at us, then turned on his heels and stormed off. There was a burst of slight laughter from the dockhands after he was well out of earshot.

"So, now what?" I asked Laurel.

"Now we hope I didn't just make things worse," she said with a grin.

It took another fifteen or so minutes for the ship to be level with the dock. The way the water rose, I guessed it wouldn't reach the skydock until the end of the day.

"Come with us!" the grey-hair shouted when it was mostly safe to jump from the ship to the dock.

"Lark, we need to go. We'll be back when we can," I said.

Don't worry, master! I'm sleepy. I'll just stay here, Lark replied.

Sleepy? Can he even sleep? I wondered as I looked at the black dock before me. It was made of a sort of stone I'd never seen before and looked rough on the top. From how the people moved around on it, it seemed to give a lot of grip. I put my hands on the railing and waited for a moment that the ship was within a meter of the dock and relatively calm. Then I hopped on and jumped forward, holding my ax behind my back with a single hand.

I easily made the jump, landing on my hands and feet. The dock’s material was cold and had a rough surface as I had thought. It felt like incredibly coarse sand-paper, and I shivered at the thought of sliding over it. It would take a whole layer of skin off.

Laurel landed beside me with a thud, while I slowly straightened. As I did, the whole world began swaying and weaving, and I felt my stomach lurch. The second mercenary grabbed my arm, holding me steady.

"Careful there, mate, you don't wanna fall back in now, do you?" he said in good humor. He wasn't as old as the other one but had a lot of grey in his hair.

"Definitely not," I said as I tried to keep my balance. Looking to the side, I saw Laurel was held upright by the grey-hair. Wait, were they helping us or holding us so we wouldn't run? I wasn't sure, but looking around, I guessed there wasn't any place to run but down. And that didn't feel like such a great idea.

It took a whole minute for us to stop wobbling around, and even then, I felt queasy.

"Alright, let's get to the pit before that captain realizes two people with a living ship might be better handled by his superiors," grey-hair said. He held Laurel's left elbows as he moved away, and I was led after them by the younger mercenary.

The people watching us stayed behind, many eyeing Lark.

"Is there going to be any trouble if we both leave," I asked the mercenary while taking a quick look back at the black ship that was bobbing up and down, tethered to the dock.

"Don't worry. Even if they wanted to steal your ship, they would have to wait till the skydock's dry. That's not for another five hours. Besides," and the mercenary gave me a mock grin. "Most people don't dare steal from Mercenary Alliance members, so you should be fine. Right?"

I smiled back, wondering why that felt more like a threat than a way to make me feel better.

The dock was much longer than I had thought while on Lark's deck, and when we finally reached the end, my legs weren't wobbling any more. The dock was connected to an empty stretch of the same rough black stone, with spiral stone staircases leading up and down. There wasn't any cargo, crates, or other things lying around. It made sense, I guessed, with the docks going below water every day.

The two mercenaries released us when we reached the first stair, but the younger one waited for us to follow grey-hair up. As the stair was easily wide enough for four people to walk up side by side, I knew for sure now that they weren't just assisting us before. I looked at Laurel and saw slight worry on her face.

Great, out of the frying pan…

At the top of the stairs, a buzz of chatter welcomed us, and I looked around a crowded harbor. Hundreds of people moved about, carrying cargo to the skydock and placing them in neatly stacked rows. I saw people with books and pens walk around taking notes, and groups of sailors on downtime, carousing around with leather drinking bags. A long stretch of a ten-meter-wide road lay to each side of us, separating us from a row of buildings. Many had signs in front, with symbols of fish or squid on them.

Seeing the squids, I felt slightly nauseous as I recalled the demon-squids.

"They eat demons here?" I muttered.

The younger mercenary laughed, and I saw he had a lot of crow-feet around the eyes. "It's an acquired taste and not for everyone. Besides, even with demon blood resistance, you still take some damage. It gives a similar buzz as some of the fermented drinks do!"

I shook my head, still not interested in eating the ugly demons.

"Follow me! We will need to check at the pit if you are truly mercenaries. If you are, we will see what Iz has to say," grey-hair said as he marched ahead of us through the crowd.

He held Laurel's elbow again, and I felt the other mercenary’s hand grip mine, gently pushing me forward.

For a moment, I wondered if I should just rip free and hide in the crowd, then the moment passed. I needed to get to the Harrowing Hills, and I'd prefer going overland. For that, I needed supplies, armor, and enough wood to make myself another mount. All of that would be easier to get with some help. Besides, it didn't feel right to just abandon Laurel here.

So, I followed the mercenaries through the throng to a wide street that led up and deeper into the city. Most of the buildings had four stories, making everything feel crowded and dense. We wandered past a blacksmith that spanned three buildings, a dozen different shops, and even a woodcarver. Seeing the longbows and crossbows, I blinked. Why hadn't I thought of that? I could just make a bow! Damn, with four arms, I could get two crossbows and fire and load simultaneously.

A few roads and crossroads later, the crowd had thinned to a steady stream of people moving along. It felt calm and peaceful in the city, and to my surprise, I saw barely anyone carrying weapons. It was a big difference from when I was in Dursic and Sart.

I was gazing around in wonder when my eyes fell on a smaller building on a corner. It had a large sign with an open book on it and multiple entrances. Through it, I saw shelves lined with books.

That's where I need to go when I have time! I thought, looking around as I tried to memorize where we were. I wished again that I had one of the maps of the city.

Even further in and the buildings became larger and more spread out. We turned around a corner to stand in front of a massive square. Massive ramps were leading up, and looking in the direction they went, I realized we had reached the middle section of the city, the part built straight up the steep side.

While I wondered if we were going up, grey-hair just marched forward, moving towards the left-most slope. Soon we were struggling up. A majestic panorama unfolded to my left. The whole of the lower city lay sprawled below, buildings and streets splayed across the slopes down to the sea. I could see the death-dock was already below water as the water rose to the sky-dock. Lark was no more than a small form, bobbing in the water.

Looking back where we had come from, I saw we had moved through the southern part of the city, which looked well maintained and clean. The distant northern part, on the other slope, looked ragged and worn. There were also far more people walking through it's narrow and crowded streets.

"Never been here before, have you, sonny?"

Turning to the side, I saw the crow-feet mercenary staring at me with a half-grin. The small wrinkles along his eyes made me wonder how old he was.

"I haven't. It's a nice city, although the docks need work," I replied.

The mercenary snorted before barking a short laugh and pushing me to continue on. His hand had never left my shoulder, and I wondered what they had to deal with if this was the default way of going about things.

"Aye, it takes some getting used to. Still, most people don't survive the little stunt you pulled. How did you manage to keep that anchor chain in place anyway? Some strengthening spell?"

He looked at me with a careless interest that might fool a toddler into believing he didn't really care about the answer.

"No, I'm just strong," I quickly replied with a foolish grin while flexing my heavily muscled arms. I decided on a whim to play the silent, stupid guy.

The mercenary laughed and shook his head, but as he turned, I saw his face turn to a sneer. For the rest of the walk, he didn't speak again, and we continued on in silence.

Far above the sea, so high that the dock looked the size of my finger, we arrived on a plateau with massive buildings hacked out of the walls. Paths led deep into the dark rock, lit by sconces placed periodically along the walls. There were beautifully carved etchings scattered throughout. The ramps continued upwards, but grey-hair, still holding Laurel, moved past them along the spacious plaza.

Although it wasn't crowded, I saw lots of people walking around. Most seemed to move about leisurely as if they had no true purpose but to enjoy themselves.

The rich, I thought. It made sense. The air here was clear and free of the smell of the lower city, and the sound of the sea far enough not to hurt the ears. That, combined with the nice buildings, made it a good spot to live.

We walked for a hundred meters when the buildings ahead changed from residential to something resembling temples. They had banners above their entrances, colorful and gaudy. The first one had a mountain against a backdrop of a setting sun. The Stone, I knew right away, and suddenly I perked up. My eyes began scanning ahead, and three temples further, I saw it. A sword stabbing a heart amidst blue waves.

Flowheart! That means Eliandra might still be here!

I sped up until a tug on my arm held me back.

"Easy there, sonny. Not sure what has you so motivated all of a sudden, but it will have to wait until we've checked who you are," crow-feet said. I held back the desire to rip free and knock his teeth in. Such was my desire to see if Eliandra was there.

We passed Flowheart’s temple and then those of Percussion, Cinderage, Lischen, and Preyatar in order. Beyond them was a final building, not so much a temple as a military building. It had shields and swords above the entrance and simple red triangular banners on the walls.

"So, we're here—the pit, home of the Mercenary Alliance, and thus by extension, yours. If you didn't lie, that is," grey-hair said as he dragged us to a massive double gate. There weren't any guards, and the doors were open.

Inside was a short corridor with two doors that had slits at eye height. The corridor ended in a room that resembled an inn. Hundreds of tables were crammed with mercenaries, all unarmed and unarmored, drinking and laughing. Or at least, I thought they were, but I didn't hear a thing.

As we passed the door’s threshold, I was startled by a soft ping from my status-window, the first in a long time. I'd almost forgotten about it, and I suddenly wondered what messages and things it would show me from the last few days.

A cacophony of sounds, laughter, chatting, and shouting spilled over me, hurting my ears after the relative silence from before.

"Welcome to the pit. I'm going to bring you to a private table while I try and locate Iz," grey-hair said. He shared a look of understanding with crow-feet before leading us through the room to a row of tables against the far right wall. Only half were occupied, and they had softly glimmering bubbles around them. When we moved inside one, the sounds of the room dulled to a soft, muted background noise.

Crow-feet sat down on a backless-stool and motioned us to do the same.

Sitting down, I placed my upper elbows on the table and looked at crow-feet.

"And now we wait," the other said before turning to a bar at the back of the room and waving his two left arms.I wonder if he is going to get me a drink, I thought, not very hopeful.