Once seated Castus turned to Grant. "So what's the occasion?" Over the last three months they had grown a bit friendlier. Moving away from slave and owner and more of a subordinate/boss situation.
Grant spoke while he used his one arm to sharpen his rapier on his lap. "We are gonna see an old friend of the church. Saldur is his name. He's a…mage that lives out here." Grant seemed to search for what to call this mysterious man before continuing. "He maintains this marsh and since we are training on it, it's rude not to visit and pay respects. I have once piece of advice for you. Stay polite, drink his tea, and accept nothing else from him." Grant put particular weight on that last sentence. He held Castus gaze for a moment before dropping it and continuing his work on his rapier.
It took four hours of running to reach the hut in the marsh that Saldur lived in. They arrived at a simple wooden house raised above the muddy ground. The house was in essence a wooden cube raised up from the mud. Simplistic felt like an understatement. Castus followed Grant as he approached the lone staircase leading to the only door. Grant reached the bottom of the staircase and held out a hand behind him, signaling Castus to stop moving. "Saldur, the envoy of the Church of Sol has arrived." Grant spoke plainly and with a moderate tone. His words were clearly too quiet for whoever was in the house to hear. Castus felt the hair on the back of his neck prick up, a familiar feeling of his new danger sense skill going off. Ducking quickly a projectile flew past cutting the now long hair of Castus.
Standing back up and looking behind him Castus noticed a very well-dressed noble man walking towards them. Castus froze, taking up a defensive posture with fear. Grant grabbed his arm as he was about to summon his spear. Grant didn't face Castus, he only restricted his movements. He spoke in that same tone. "That was unkind Saldur, this is my guest." The nobleman looked at Castus and surprisingly it dissolved into the mud below. The rich rags and posture gone. Like an illusion. Castus spun around and standing in front of the door was a rather large reptilian humanoid. It wore a long dirty robe that had runic symbols stitched into it. Its slit eyes scanned Castus and Grant. "You not don't normally bring guestssss." The reptilian, who Castus now understood was Saldur, lingered on the last word, using its forked tongue to accentuate the word. Grant nodded. "Apologies Saldur, he is a new recruit, and we did not have time to inform you beforehand." Grant was unusually respectful before Saldur. Castus looked to him and discovered beads of sweat running down his face. Grant performed a low bow and Castus followed suit. Clearly Saldur was far more terrifying than Castus understood. That mud man must have been a test for him.
Saldur nodded his head in approval of the bow spied the collar around Castus' neck. Castus audibly heard Saldur murmur something under his breath. "Forceful recruitment more like." Saldur then turned and motioned for both Castus and Grant to follow.
Entering the small wooden house, Castus was prepared for a dinky hut and a cramped visit, but when he entered the door he found the inside to be quite spacious. Unbelievably so. The outside of the house couldn't have been bigger than a bedroom, but the inside was large enough to accommodate a tennis court and then some. Castus snapped himself out of awe when Saldur's eyes focused on him. He stared, the reptilian eyes focusing on him with a brilliant gold hue. Saldur looked away as he poured three cups of tea and took a seat at an ornately carved table. Sitting down Castus and Grant took their tea and sipped at it politely.
This continued for a minute or two as both parties sized each other up and down. The tension in the air was thick and choking. Saldur finally broke the silence. "It'sss good to see you Grant! It'sss been a long time, how long has it been?" Grant frowned at the feinted friendliness. "It's been two years Saldur. It is very good to see you again old friend." The words old friend felt strained, like Grant was holding himself back. Saldur chuckled in a hoarse hissing at his words. "You've never been one for fun, but maybe your new friend will entertain me." Saldur's gaze fell on Castus and his danger sense went off like he had never felt before. Even when he had almost been run over by a creature the size of an elephant that Grant had to actually spend some time fighting had he not felt this. Castus could feel adrenaline coursing through his small frame. Saldur began to smile, forming a fanged toothy snarl. "I can see you wish to know many things transplant. Let's make a trade."
Grant slowly stood from his chair. "Saldur, he has nothing to do with our dealings, leave him out of it please." Grants only good arm swung to his side, where his rapier was located. He did not draw, nor take an offensive posture. Saldur ignored Grant and closed the distance between Castus and himself. Castus was shaken by a number of things. How did Saldur know he was a transplant, was he just guessing he wanted to know something and what would he want from Castus. He was scared of Saldur. That reptilian man knew too much about him, but he was dying for anwsers that he could only get when he escaped the church. Maybe Saldur could get him out? Saldur saw Castus slip for a second and dropped his final bomb shell. "Or maybe, you wisssh to be free?" His clawed hand flicked the collar around Castus' neck.
Castus felt his lips part and as he did that tingling sensation he continued to feel after discovering mana started to rise around him, only this time it was magnitudes stronger than before. He could feel his body itself vibrating. This alone made him shut his mouth shut forcibly. He put a hand over his mouth. Saldur stopped getting closer and frowned. He looked to Grant. "You warned him. That'ssss not fair Grant."
Grant grunted. "Saldur, the church would like to continue training on these grounds without disturbing you in exchange for one vial of behemoth lightning snake venom. If you continue to try to get your way with Castus we may decide it's more beneficial to get rid of you though." The words of Grant caused Saldur to back away from Castus with a hissing sigh. "Fine, your no fun Grant." Grant nodded his head and handed over a vial of glimmering green liquid. Saldur snatched it from his hand, his movements barely visible. He examined the vial closely before a fanged grin crossed his mouth. With a sudden movement Saldur waved his hand at Grant and Castus. "Begone then you bore." Space trembled around Castus and Grant, a flash, and then they were standing outside of the house once again.
Grant took a deep breath. "We got lucky. Come on."