The white compass chapter one: rain
#1 of The white compass
Gale is a young explorer and tracker, searching for the white compass, an artifact said to light the way to a great fortune and a weapon of incredible power.
The rain was coming down hard, my leather hood kept the water from lingering, but I feared my bag had soaked through.
It was freezing in xenilin, the water had formed a slush on the ground, dampening my boots with each step.
The journey here was difficult, but the family of thieves needed me to do this.
I could feel the water leaking through the seams of the leather, chilling me to the bone.
Just as the rain turned to hail, I found an inn and took shelter.
I shook the water an tiny bits of ice off of my pack and knocked on the heavy wooden door, splinters falling off as my gauntlet-clad hand rapped its surface.
The door opend and I heard the innkeeper yell "come in!" From somewhere inside the wooden structure.
I stepped in and walked to the desk, brandishing three shining silver slips, enough for a room and a slave worker.
"I'll take a single room and..." I said as I leant in towards him "nice weather we're having." His eyes lit up as I spoke those four words and he led me to a closet, the door looking reinforced and metal plated.
We walked in, the space small and cramped but just barely large enough to fit two people, the innkeeper's breath reeked of bread and beer.
He pulled on a jar and I could hear gears Turing and spindles squeaking, the whole room was descending down into a shaft, the wood scraping dirt and stone.
After around half a minute, the elevator came to a stop as the floor hit dirt.
As we got out, I pulled back my hood and ran a hand through my raven black hair and took a look around the slave holding room, the naturan men and women were chained to the stone brick walls, their bodies on the verge of death from poor conditions and malnourishment, they were clothed in shreds of cloth.
"Please, take me.." Groaned one old naturan man, beard and hair messy and unkept.
"I'm gonna leave you here to make a choice. Ring me when your done." Whispered the innkeeper, turning to leave.
"Alright everyone! I need someone who can track well and can fight! Hold up two fingers if you can do both!" I yelled through my cupped hands.
No one held up two digits, with the exception of one young panther naturan man and a young wolf naturan woman.
"Okay miss. Are you sure?" I asked kneeling in front of her.
She leaned forward and said "anything to leave this man." Her tone was extremely serious.
At that moment the panther shouted "are you serious?! Your taking her other than me! I can prove to you that I am much stronger than that weakling!" His voice filled with anger and hate.
A red bond around his upper arm told me that he often spoke back as it is used to mark and identify the more feisty slaves.
"I'm looking for skill. Not strength." I said, glaring daggers into his eyes.
I turned back to the wolf, a pink bond (meaning used for sex) and a blue bond (meaning smart) wrapped around her arm.
Reaching behind her, I grabbed a string on the wall and pulled, ringing the bell on the main floor.
In a minute, the innkeeper was back with a collar, chain and key.
"If you want that one, you will need to pay more..." He said, eyes gleaming.
I sighed and added a gold slip to the three silver slips I had shown him earlier.
He looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
I added four jade drakes to the pile and thrusted it towards him with my left hand.
He swiped it from my hand and passed me the chain and key, snapping the collar around her neck and unlocking the bonds that pinned her to the walls.
"Alright miss. Let's get to the room I got." I said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
After another cramped elevator ride and a short walk we reached the room.