Free Sea of Death: Blade of the Flame - Book 3 by Tim Waggoner

plagues our city. We call it the Fury.”
    “It hasn’t seemed to have affected you,” Hinto said.
    “It’s her dress,” Solus said. “It radiates a field of mystic energy that protects her from the curse’s effect.”
    Illyia spread her arms and slowly spun around, as if modeling her dress for them. “Stylish
and
practical, that’s me.”
    “Indeed,” Tresslar said with appreciation. “It’s a most impressive piece of work.”
    Hinto groaned, and it took all of Tresslar’s self-discipline to keep the artificer from striking the halfling.
    “The Fury is like the weather,” Illyia said. “Some days it’s worse than others. On mild days people are merely more rude and brusque, but on bad days people brawl in the streets. On extremely bad days, the streets run red with spilled blood. We don’t leave our homes on bad days and try to avoid contact with anyone else, lest we find ourselves in the grip of a murderous fury.”
    “It sounds awful!” Hinto said. “How can you live with it?”
    Illyia shrugged. “If you grow up in Kolbyr, as I have, you become accustomed to it. The effects of the curse are manageable, though it does take some effort to resist them. Newcomers to the city, such as yourselves, are the most vulnerable to the Fury. Since they aren’t local, there’s less reason for citizens to care about not harming them, which makes it more difficult to resist the Fury. Newcomers aren’t affected by the curse right away, but the Fury is both powerful and insidious. Over the space of just a few hours, it will slowly worm its way into your heart without your realizing it, and it will fill you with anger … anger that you have no experience at managing. Newcomers often succumb to the Fury within their first day in Kolbyr. It’s why we’re so leery of strangers, as I’m sure you noticed as you made your way through the city.”
    Tresslar didn’t feel any anger building within him. All he felt was the general irritation he often experienced at the annoyances presented by day-to-day living. Was Solus—?
    The psiforged’s voice whispered in Tresslar’s mind.
    I cannot counter magic, but as we first approached Kolbyr, I used my psionic abilities to strengthen everyone’s emotional self-control to help slow the effects of the Fury. So far, my efforts seem to have been successful
.
    Tresslar’s first impulse was to chide the psiforged for altering people’s minds without permission, but he decided not to worry about it, especially since it
did
appear to be working. Still, beforelong someone would need to explain to Solus that it was a good idea to ask before using his psionic powers in such a fashion—especially on friends.
    Illyia frowned slightly, and Tresslar wondered if she were somehow aware of the telepathic communication that had occurred between Solus and him. But when she spoke, she said, “So, have you come to acquire one of my sculptures, or are you perhaps here for a different purpose?”
    “We’re friends of Tinker,” Tresslar said.
    “Tinker?” Hinto said, scowling. “Who’s …?” He trailed off, a sly smile coming onto his face. “Oh …
right.”
He winked knowingly at Tresslar.
    Now it was the artificer’s turn to roll his eyes.
    Illyia laughed. “Come with me, and we’ll see if Tinker is home.”
    She turned and, for the briefest of instants, Tresslar thought the bubbles of her gown turned transparent. But before he could get a good look at what lay beneath, the bubbles returned to their blue-green hue.
    Illyia headed toward a door at the back of the shop, walking with perhaps a bit more sway in her hips than was strictly necessary, and Tresslar, Hinto, and Solus followed. Suddenly Kolbyr—curse or no curse—didn’t seem like all that bad a place to the artificer.
    Not bad at all.

    Yvka stood across the street from a two-story building decorated with elaborate stonework. Intricate designs of sea creatures had been carved into the building’s face, a quartet of