Chapter 8: Perfection

Despite having known the Belly for nearly a decade, Jos had never actually been inside his shed. The tiny shack was little more than a handful of leftover planks and driftwood pieced together roughly in the shape of a building. What confused Jos, was that the building was so small, she wasn’t even sure the bootlegger could lay down flat inside, much less have room for his storage. She also doubted that his one still was enough for how much rum she knew he produced. She supposed he might sleep outside in his strange chair, but then she wondered about when it rains. A part of her also wondered why his sudden change of heart.

Regardless of her apprehension, she was excited at being invited inside. Rum was positively one of her most favorite things in the world, second—probably—only to her ship. Probably. So for her, the mere thought of being in a room full of casks of the stuff tickled something in her gut that she might have even described as happiness.

Okay, not that, but something.

But, however Jos thought the inside of Beltran’s shack might be set up, the second he opened the door her mind registered the reality as the only logical scenario. The inside of the shack was little more than a large staircase, descending down into the ground. Behind the staircase, a wide trapdoor stood propped open. Even from her vantage point, she could see that there was some kind of camouflage attached to the top of the hatch.

She smiled and chuckled. “So that’s how you’ve avoided the Risen all these years.”

Beltran just winked as he descended into the murky hole. Jos and the others followed. By the time they reached the ground, Jos guessed they were easily fifteen feet down.

A faint light from above lit the hunched over bootlegger’s back as he brought them to a heavy wooden door just a few feet from the foot of the stairs. When he reached for the latch, Danni’s squeaky voice broke through the silence.

“If this is where you hide when the Risen come, aren’t you worried we’ll become risen?”

Beltran paused and tilted his head. “What’ya mean?”

Danni inched her way closer to the front. “Well, when Zhaitan was still alive, everytime his minions made a new Risen, he learned everything that person knew in life, tactics, strategies, secrets.”

He twisted and regarded the tiny asura. “Hmm. I’d never thought’a that. Guess this means I’ll have to kill ya.”

In the weak light, the bootlegger’s bearded face was particularly menacing. Jos suspected he was positively horrifying to someone like Danni.

The diminutive asura’s eyes bulged and she gave a terrified squeak. Even Nexx took a half-step back.

Jos sighed. “Let’s just hope that with the dragon dead, it doesn’t matter anymore. Besides, we do have a schedule to keep. Places to go, you know?”

Beltran’s chuckle shook the earthen walls as he turned back to the latch. “Ya know that’s the same thing you said when you picked me up back in Lion’s Arch all those year—”

The captain slid her foot and kicked the bootlegger’s leg. He turned and stared at her with wide eyes. Jos glared back, daring him to say another word. Instead, he cleared his throat and silently went back to opening the latch. 

Jos leaned around her friend to peek at what he was doing. The latch appeared to be a complex mechanism of levers and knobs. Nothing glowed or beeped, so she was fairly sure it wasn’t asuran magitek, and there was no smoke or flames, so it probably wasn’t charr technology either. Jos also noticed that the metal parts looked extremely old and were pitted with rust. One spot was even marred with a few rather large dents from where she suspected someone had been frustrated and vainly tried to bash the locking mechanism open.

The mechanism made a grinding sound then a loud thunk reverberated through the underground passage. 

“Ah, ‘ere we go.” Beltran gave a heave and stepped back. The door swung wide, revealing a massive chamber beyond, lit with a combination of torches and glowing blue lamps of asuran design. To her right, a large hammock hung from the ceiling. Nearby, a few plush chairs sat beside a massive bookcase filled with hundreds of tomes. There was a small cooking area with a vent pipe overhead leading up through the rock. But when her gaze turned to her left she made a loud gasp that echoed off the stone walls. 

A few feet away, three stills chugged with asuran heating coils beneath them. It was what was beyond the stills, though, that really stopped her short. The far wall—at least thirty feet long—was completely lined with barrels, stacked five high to the ceiling. She quickly did the math in her head and counted more than fifty barrels.

It took effort, but she resisted the urge to drop to her knees. “Belly… this is…”

“Impressive.” Danni said. 

Jos knew Danni’s appreciation was for different reasons, but it didn’t matter. “More than.”

Danni strolled forward. “Most impressive. You have successfully integrated numerous types of technology for your...Production?”

“Yes.” Beltran’s smile was plain in his voice.

“Hmm, yes. Asura, a little char. Some human. Even… Wait, what’s this? I don’t recognize this.” Danni pointed at what looked like some kind of control mechanism for the largest still. “It looks similar in design to your door lock. I’m unfamiliar with the technology.”

Like the latch lock, the part looked exceptionally old.

The bootlegger’s cheeks flushed. “It’s very old. I, uh… found it. I don’t know who made it.”

Danni glanced back at him, her large eyes narrowed in a scrutinizing gaze. “Hmm, yes. So you say.”

“I do.” Beltran’s fingers twitched, as if he was nervous. After a second, he jerked himself forward. “Captain, you should try this.”

He lumbered over to a table and snatched up a frosted, black bottle and pulled the cork. “It’s been aging for more than a year. Has a new spice in it.” 

Jos’s heart thumped in her chest as she made her way over. She felt like a child in a sweets shop on Wintersday. Tentatively, she reached out and took the bottle. It was heavy and cool to the touch. She took a small sniff and her eyes rolled up into her head. The aroma was like spiced bread and molasses, only spicier. With a reassuring nod from Beltran, she took a small sip. 

The rum caressed her tongue like liquid fire. Not just warm, hot. Yes, it was indeed spicy. There were hints of florals and yeasts layered over the sharp bite of charred sugar and molasses. And when she swallowed… The burn morphed into a comforting warmth that slithered its way down her throat.

It was everything she’d hoped for. 

With her eyes closed, Jos let out a deep, contented sigh. “Oh, Belly. This is perfection.”

* * * * *

A zippered crack reverberated up Jos’s spine. Her lungs burned and her face felt like it was going to explode. Yet still Beltran’s arms around her squeezed even harder. She struggled to make a sound, to kick her feet, to do anything to get him to stop, but it was all she could do to keep from passing out. 

Finally, the immense pressure vanished, and she dropped. Starved of air, her legs gave way under her own weight. Only her fists knotted in his shirt kept her from falling to the ground. 

“Gonna miss ya’ Jossy.” His massive hand patted the top of her head.

The world around her swam for a couple seconds. Jos wasn’t sure if it was from all of the rum samples or her brain being starved of air from Belly’s hug. Eventually, strength returned to her legs and she patted his massive chest as she stepped back. 

“Jossy, huh? That the best you could come up with?” she mumbled.

He chuckled and leaned down. When he spoke, his voice was like a gentle rumble in her ear. “Ya didn’ give me much t’work with.”

Jos shrugged. “Fair enough.” She turned and strolled the few steps over to where the others were standing next to her stacked crates and casks. A small smile forced its way to her cheeks. Two crates for selling, one cask for the ship and crew and one for herself. Of course, Belly’s cask wouldn’t exactly fit in her rum cabinet, but she’d figure something out. The two crates would turn a nice sum back in Lion’s Arch, and she knew just the buyer.

Earlier, when they’d exited Belly’s underground lair, she’d found that her new cargo was too much for the small ship’s boat. Instead, she’d had the cargo stacked up in an open space in the sand. There, she’d cast the first half of her spell and had crewman Nahg take her back to Hiraeth. Once she was back on the ship and in the cargo hold, she completed her spell and snapped back to the beach. 

Now, she stood there with one hand in the air, smiling at her bootlegger friend.  “Gonna miss you too, big guy.”

He scoffed. “Don’t let it be two years before you come back.”

Jos nodded and gave him a wink, then snapped her fingers. Chimes rang in her head, a byproduct of this particular spell. A pink circle swirled in the sand and the ground shimmered. Then in a blink, the beach was gone and she, and her crew and cargo, were standing on the deck of her ship.