The Mimic Becomes a Merchant King

Coin flung himself to one side, avoiding a slew of arrows and crossbow bolts. As quick as he was, the bolts came within a hair's breadth of hitting him. Again he had to marvel at the skill of his foes.

Lightning danced on the tips of his splayed fingers, coalescing into a single sphere that erupted into a bolt. It crossed the fields in an instant, striking the ground before several marksman. One moment they were standing, reloading, and the next they had been flash fried into ash.

The goblins were fast realising the gravity of the threat. They had expected another easy caravan, as had been the case with their prior robberies. Instead they were faced with a pair of mighty wizards, the kind of threat even a squadron of trained goblins were smart enough to avoid.

One of them, distinguished by his sculpted dragon-winged helmet, threw hs head back and barked a word in his alien tongue. The remaining goblins scuttled backward, heading for the brush, while several whistling sounds echoed out from somewhere in the distance. Coin braced, watching as a series of spheres hurtled their way from afar.

Each one struck the grass, instantly exploding into great gazes of black smoke that unfurled into a blinding miasma. He could hear more shouts from the goblins, growing increasingly distant as the goblins beat a hasty retreat.

Coin blinked in surprise. Goblins being smart enough to run away? They truly were different to the old breed.

Colony stood upright, staring into the distant treeline. She raised her palm, heat haze shimmering around her splayed digits. "They're trying to run. Foolish. Let's hunt them down."

"That won't be necessary," Coin said. "Let them go. It would just be a waste of time, and I would like to get back to Sentinel as soon as possible."

She stared at him, again with that blank and impossible to read expression. Even so, Coin could tell she was deep in some measure of thought at that moment. "We could eat them if we catch them," she proposed.

"I... well I don't like the taste of goblin."

"Nor I. But it's the principle of the thing."

"Agh. Just leave them to it. I'm not going to waste the energy on goblins of all creatures." Though, inwardly, he was a touch concerned. He had heard many tales of goblin robbery and murder these past months, the Brotherhood using them to sow chaos anywhere they could. He would have hoped his brief sojourn would have been enough time to get things under control.

And if things were still bad in the wild, then the Goddess Festival Velasco spoke of was doubtless in danger He fought the urge to sigh. Was this another damned problem he'd have to solve?

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Colony returned to him with some reluctance and they set off, no more said on the matter.

The ride back to Sentinel was a peaceful one. In that they didn't get attacked again, or even meet any hostile wildlife on the road. But, here and there, they found traces of violence inflicted by the goblins. Burned out husks of wagons, corpses left in roadside ditches or nailed to trees. Skulls picked clean of flesh, their eyeless sockets turned up to the sky.

None of this seemed to bother Colony.

It wasn't long until they crested a hill bathed in the twilight orange glow of sunset, and from there one could easily see Sentinel in full. This was enough to get a reaction from Colony, who sat forward on the bench with widening eyes.

"I glimpsed this in your memories, but to see it like this... it is impressive." She tilted her head. "Humans lived in much smaller places in my era."

"Sentinel was probably around back then. From my understanding, it's really damn ancient. But, yes, it probably was a lot smaller back then."

They rode on.

Coin paid to stable Colony's 'wagon' at one of the higher-end boarders, the type that hired burly and thick-necked security guards. They'd make sure nobody was foolish enough to try and rob the wagon. Or even get a close enough look to see how fake the 'luggage' on it actually was.

From there Coin took to leading Colony through the Merchant's Quarter up to Hightown. Trips to Lowtown and the Spokes could wait for another day, it was best not to show Colony the uglier parts of Sentinel on the first day.

Occasionally, as they went along, Colony would find herself intrigued by a passing fat man or portly woman. "You can't eat them," Coin hastened to say, speaking in a low voice.

"But-"

"No."

And Colony acquiesced, though she seemed a touch annoyed at having to do so.

The sun had fully set when they finally reached the manor, and Coin found himself almost twitching with excitement. He hadn't thought of how much he had missed his friends since he first set off. How much he had missed Essine.

It would be good to get back into a sense of normalcy. After he helped Colony acclimate to life in Sentinel, at least.

"Here we are," he said, fishing a key from the flesh of his thigh. He unlocked the great steel gates, and they barely made a sound as he pushed them open.

"It's large," Colony said, staring up at the high arches of the roof.

Coin chuckled. "Coming from a woman who used to be an island? I'll take that as high praise. So, are you ready?"

To his surprise, Colony looked almost... tense. She stared unblinking at the manor. Well, Coin reasoned, maybe the lack of blinking was entirely normal for her. "I can experience some of the life you have experienced," she said.

Coin smiled. "The others will be happy to meet you. I know it might be a lot to take in at first, but... relax and trust them." With that he pushed on, closing and locking the gate behind them, and made for the door. "Are you feeling alright, this far from your mass?"

Colony nodded. "It's an unusual sensation, but we are still connected. I might have to go back there semi-regularly, just to ensure the connection does not falter or fray."

"Don't worry. We can make time for that." Still, Coin would admit to being impressed. If he were to remove parts of himself in the way she had, he wouldn't be able to walk too far from them before they calcified or dissolved. It spoke to Colony's phenomenal control and strength that being half a city away from her own biomass scarcely bothered her.

She stopped suddenly, only a short distance from the front door, and stared uneasily at it. "I will admit I feel... strange. My skin prickles, and my breathing is... odd. Is it some kind of human illness?" she asked.

"Just nerves," Coin assured her. "You've never really interacted with people until recently, so of course you're a little spooked about it. You'll be fine, no need to worry. Relax, and take a deep breath."

She did so. Her chest swelled like a barrel.

"N-not that deep." He gave the door a firm knock and smiled as it opened for them.