Building a Criminal Empire

by Logan Jacobs

  “Technically, yes,” I answered. “But, we aren’t assassins, we were just a gang of thieves, and the only reason we ever met Ava was because they sent her to kill us for breaking that same code.”

  “Fuck,” Penny muttered. “What did our thief code get us?”

  “Nothin’,” Dar replied.

  “I don’t know how,” I sighed. “But we need to convince the guilds their code isn’t worth pursuing anymore.”

  “How?” Penny questioned.

  “I don’t know yet,” I muttered. “I think we need to kill Fallor first before we go down that road.”

  “You’re probably right,” Dar said as he gestured ahead toward a smoldering wagon in the middle of the road. “We were ambushed here last night.”

  “Fuck,” I said as I unsheathed my blade right when we steered around the charred wagon.

  “Skam took an arrow to the shoulder, but he proved to me he’s made of stone since he’s fighting as if nothing happened,” Dar said as he looked at me with haggard eyes. “If we all come out of this alive, I’m convinced that we have the Ancients on our side, Wade.”

  “I know,” I said with a slight nod. “There’s Adi’s cottage.”

  “C’mon, c’mon,” Dar said through a clenched jaw as he pushed the horses even faster, and the wagon shook with each bump in the road.

  I could see multiple figures near the front of the cottage, but I couldn’t tell who was who.

  “Looks like they are still alive,” Penny said as she stood up on the bench, balanced herself, and looked out toward the cottage. “Skam is on a knee, but Ava is protecting him from three more assassins.”

  “Shit,” Dar grunted. “Almost there.”

  “Hurry,” Penny added.

  “I am, I am,” Dar replied.

  “Bodies are everywhere,” Penny remarked. “Ah, fuck!”

  “What?” I asked as I tried to see what Penny saw.

  “Marver is outside, too,” Penny said as she glanced down at me. “Looks like we’ll have to have a chat with him.”

  “It’s fine.” I readied myself as we approached the carnage Penny described. Assassin’s bodies littered the front yard of the cottage-like overgrown weeds, and Ava stood in the middle with an injured Skam right next to her, and three dark dressed assassins circled around them.

  “Ava!” Dar screamed out as the wagon slid to a stop about twenty yards away from the fight, and the noise momentarily distracted the assassins from Ava.

  The brief lack of focus was all Ava needed.

  As we ran toward them, Ava jump kicked a halfling assassin, then threw her dagger right into his throat. Then she somersaulted away from another attacker, pulled out her dagger from the dead assassin’s throat, and stabbed the leg of another as he tried to kill her.

  There was only one more assassin left.

  “Nice of you to join us,” Ava panted as she looked at me and then Penny. She was covered in blood, guts, and dirt, and her cloak was sliced down her stomach, exposing her flesh, but she didn’t look hurt. “As you can see, we’ve been busy over here.”

  “No shit,” I chuckled as Ava strafed to her left and circled her last victim.

  Penny and Dar both ran over to Skam, who had an arrow sticking out of his arm, and then they pulled him away from the battle.

  “What in the name of the mighty Ancients is going on!” Marver shouted near the cottage. “Look at this place, Wade!”

  I just held my palm out towards him and hoped he’d just shut the fuck up for a second.

  “Listen,” the last halfling assassin muttered as he twirled his ax in his hands and limped to his left. “Ava, this will never stop until we kill you and then your new friends here.”

  “Then I will continue to bring anyone that tries with me to the grave,” Ava replied as she swiped her two blades together.

  As I watched, I moved closer to Dar, Skam, and Penny.

  “Keep an eye out for more,” Skam groaned as he gripped onto his wounded arm and leg. “They’ve been comin’ in waves.”

  “Penny,” I began. “Take Skam inside and see if you can stitch him up.”

  “With what?” Penny asked.

  “Anything,” I replied. “Maybe Marver can help.”

  “I’ll try,” Penny said as she wrapped her arm around the dwarf’s shoulder and started to turn him toward the cottage.

  “I’ll help, too,” Dar said as he wrapped his arm around the dwarf as well and then helped walk him toward the cottage. “Marver, open the fuckin’ door for us.”

  “Don’t you dare bring that bleeding--” Marver’s face turned beet red.

  “Open the door!” I shouted at the bushy eyed halfling. “Or you will end up like the rest of these bodies.”

  “Fine, fine,” Marver said as he moved over to the cottage and held open the door for the others.

  Then I turned my attention back to Ava and the halfling assassin. I didn’t want to leave her, just in case she needed my help.

  “Where’s Fallor?” Ava hissed as she started to close in on the wounded assassin.

  “Do ya think killing him is the solution?” the halfling sneered.

  “No,” Ava replied as she jumped forward, and before the assassin could react, kicked him across the face and sent him crashing down to the ground.

  “Ya really don’t know?” the assassin coughed up some blood and wiped his mouth as he looked up at Ava.

  “Tell me where he is, or I will make sure you feel every bit of your death,” Ava said as she kicked the halfling’s ax to the side and then placed her foot on his throat.

  “Use … that big human brain,” the assassin gurgled. “Where would he always go when--”

  Before the halfling finished his thought, she stomped on his throat and broke the assassin's neck with a loud crack.

  “Thank you,” Ava muttered as she looked up into the sky and closed her eyes.

  “Ava …” I stepped over multiple dead bodies and placed my hand on her shoulder. “What do we need to do to end this?”

  “I told you,” Ava sighed. “This will never end, and there is no turning back until every assassin is either destroyed or defects from their own guild … and that starts with killing Fallor.”

  “Do you know where he is?” I asked just as a body twitched next to my right foot.

  “I do,” Ava said as she flung her spare dagger into the twitching body next to me and then stepped off the throat of the other assassin. “He’s waiting for me.”

  “How do you know that?” I questioned as I reached down, pulled out her small dagger, and then handed it back to her.

  “Because he knew this would be his last attempt to kill me before I come after him.” Ava sheathed her blades. “He has no one else to send from my Halfling Guild. I just killed them all.”

  There was a tinge of sadness in her voice, but it was also wrapped in rage.

  “Let’s talk about a plan with the others inside,” I suggested as I turned around and looked at the graveyard she had created with her blades. “And figure out how to dispose of these bodies before the elves see them.”

  “Right,” Ava said as she faced the cottage and started to walk toward it.

  Somehow, she destroyed her entire guild and now, her leader was the only one that remained.

  Part of me hated how much death seemed to surround us these days, literally. But I understood we needed to do it.

  We are with you.

  The keys reminded me as I felt the hairs on my arm stand straight up.

  “You coming?” Ava stopped just before the door and glanced over at me.

  “Yeah,” I replied as I followed her and stepped inside the cottage. Once inside, I saw Skam sitting at the same table we once interviewed him at. He had a rag in his mouth, his shoulder was exposed and leaking blood down his arm, and Dar and Marver stood on each side of the dwarf.

  On top of the table, I saw the bloody arrow that they pulled out of his arm.

  “Ready?” Penny asked as
she moved her knife way from the flame underneath a cast-iron skillet in the kitchen.

  “What’s going on?” I asked as I saw the tip of the knife glowing orange.

  “What’s it look like, lad?” Skam said as he bit down on the rag and eyed the knife in Penny’s hand.

  “This is gonna hurt like a bitch,” Penny warned as she hovered her knife over the open wound.

  “I wish we had some of that whiskey,” Skam said through a clenched jaw. “Go ahead and do it.”

  “Whiskey?” Marver asked as he looked at me, but I ignored him. That was a conversation that would have to wait.

  “Okay,” Penny said as she placed the knife on the open wound, and Skam’s flesh hissed in response. Then the smell of burning hair and flesh filled the room.

  “Mother of a fuckin’ orc!” Skam screamed out as he spat out the rag in his mouth.

  “A little longer,” Penny said as she kept the blade pressed against the dwarf’s shoulder. “Okay, okay, we’re done.”

  “Thank the Ancients,” Skam panted as Dar quickly wrapped the dwarf’s arm with another rag. “Oh, what a fuckin’ day …”

  “You did good,” I said as I stepped over into the middle of the room. “All of you, well done.”

  “Can you please explain what is going on, Mr. Wade?” Marver asked as he took off his hat and held it close to his chest. “Imagine coming into work and seeing twenty dead bleeding bodies in the front yard, please.”

  “Marver …” I said as I clapped him on the shoulder. “I promise that I will explain everything to you, but for now, I need you to go home.”

  “But Mr. Wa--”

  “Go home,” I said again. “We’re closed for today.”

  “Will I still be paid?” Marver questioned as he put his chef’s hat back on and scratched at his nose.

  “You’ll be paid,” I replied. “Now, go on home and try to get this scene out of your mind.”

  “If that’s even possible,” the halfling chef muttered. “We will need to talk as soon as you can.”

  “Count on it,” I said as I gestured for Ava to open the door for him.

  “Please, please, clean this up,” Marver sighed as he looked at Ava as if she weren’t real. “We really need to …”

  The chef’s voice trailed off as Ava shut the door as soon as Marver left the cottage.

  “Are we sure we can trust him?” Ava asked. “That guy just witnessed me murder an entire guild out there.”

  “We can,” I replied. “After we talk with him and probably give him a little raise, he will have to understand, or else he knows we are friends with you, and now he knows what you’re capable of.”

  “He might even just quit,” Skam added.

  “We can’t let him quit,” I said. “I think he’ll be okay, he’s still in shock, but I’ll talk with him soon.”

  “Alright, lad.” Skam nodded.

  “Any other employees we have to chase away today?” I asked. “I don’t think we’ll be making our deliveries.”

  “It was just going to be Marver and me,” Skam said with a grimace as he placed his hand on the rag around his arm.

  “Good,” I answered. “We’ll deal with the catering business later, but as of right now, we have dead bodies outside we need to get rid of, a dwarf we need to kill, and an assassin’s guild leader to finish off.”

  “Aye,” Skam said with a nod.

  “And we’re doing it all tomorrow,” I added. “Dar and I will handle Hebal, and Ava and Penny will go after Fallor.”

  “Alright,” Penny said as she glanced at Ava and smirked. “Will she even need me?”

  “I will,” Ava remarked. “Even if Fallor is alone, he is the greatest assassin I’ve ever come across besides my mentor, and I’m sure your blade will make it even more interesting.”

  “Shit,” Penny grunted. “Well, what’s the plan then?”

  “Wade?” Ava nodded toward me.

  “And what about me, lad?” Skam questioned. “I’m okay. I can still fight.”

  “No,” I replied. “I need you at the theatre with Cimarra and Selius to ensure the fuckin’ Eclipse Festival activities go off without a hitch.”

  “Aye,” Skam replied.

  “They may need your blade for protection,” I answered. “As I said, Dar and I will handle Hebal tomorrow at the same time Penny and Ava kill Fallor, the start of the festival.”

  “How?” Dar asked as he sat down in the chair next to Hebal.

  “We’ve enlisted the miners to help us,” I said. “I will meet with our extra set of eyes outside of Hebal’s shop, then inform the dwarf himself, if he’s even there, about the drop off location where our miner friends will be ready. Finally, I’ll kill Hebal, and take his necklace and grain for ourselves.”

  “What if he’s not there?” Dar asked.

  “Then either Olly or Wilimar will know where he’s at,” I replied. “Either way, we will know where Hebal is. But, like I told you before, he will be there, he wants to kill us just as much as we want to kill him, but what he doesn’t know is that I was willing to bring in the miners.”

  “What about them, though?” Dar questioned. “Do the miners know about the whiskey?”

  “They do,” I replied. “But they are willing to talk about it at a later date as long as we don’t sell it on their land before we talk with them.”

  “Fuck,” Dar groaned. “So, another fuckin’ dwarf we have to dance with?”

  “Unfortunately,” I sighed. “But I’m hoping they are a little easier to do business with.”

  “And we have no other choice,” Penny added. “Hebal is already making his move, and same with Fallor, they have to go.”

  “Plus, we get the bakery with doing business with the miners,” I remarked. “It’s a win-win for us at this point.”

  “I agree,” Dar said with a nod. “Alright, what about Fallor, then?”

  “Well,” I said as I glanced at Ava, who leaned up against the front door of the cottage. “Ava knows where he’s at, so tomorrow morning, she and Penny will pay him a visit.”

  “Right,” Ava said with a smirk.

  “You know where he’s at for sure?” Penny asked.

  “I do,” Ava replied. “He wouldn’t be anywhere else.”

  “Where?” Dar asked.

  “A very special place in my heart,” Ava answered as she shut her eyes. “Fallor can be poetic if he tries.”

  “Interesting,” Dar muttered.

  “Now,” I said as I pointed toward the door. “We also need to get rid of those bodies before the elves come sniffing around.”

  “And the others in the back of the wagon,” Dar added.

  “Especially those in the wagon, if we want to snag Hebal’s grain tomorrow, too,” I said. “Any suggestions?”

  “Fuckin’ bury them in the forest?” Penny shrugged.

  “That’ll take too long,” Ava sniffed. “We need to give them an assassin burial.”

  “And what’s that?” I asked.

  “We don’t owe them a fuckin’ ceremony,” Dar scoffed.

  “It’s not a ceremony,” Ava said as she rolled her eyes. “We burn them.”

  “That’s an assassin’s burial?” Dar asked.

  “It is,” Ava said with a nod. “An assassin feels invisible during life, and fire ensures the body remains invisible even after death.”

  “Alright,” I said. “Then, we burn em.”

  “Aye,” Skam agreed.

  “Fuck,” Dar said as he rubbed his temples. “There must be over twenty bodies …”

  “I know,” I muttered. “All of this death is not something I wish to continue, it’s bad for business.”

  “We had no choice,” Ava added. “Unless we wanted to die ourselves.”

  “She’s right,” Penny sighed. “Let’s just get this fuckin’ over with.”

  “Do you think any more are coming?” Dar asked as he stood up, put his foot on the chair, and rested his elbow on his knee. “Do we need to
be aware out there?”

  “You need to always be aware, halfling,” Ava replied. “As I told Wade, this will not stop until we have dealt with every assassin.”

  “Oh, shit.” Dar widened his eyes. “Then what’s the point of cleaning up?”

  “Because we don’t want the Empire getting curious why dead bodies are just showing up everywhere,” I replied. “We have the elves off our backs, and I want to keep it that way as long as possible.”

  “Got it,” Dar said, “But even so, are you serious? This won’t stop?”

  “With Fallor dead, every assassin will have to choose,” Ava began. “Some may continue to hunt us, some might quit, and others might not give a shit after some time passes. But all I know is we will have to be cautious wherever we go.”

  “Nothing new,” Dar chuckled.

  “Exactly,” I said. “Now, let’s go burn those bodies.”

  We all began a job I never thought I’d have to do. We gathered the dead assassins scattered throughout the property and piled them to the side and away from the road.

  Then we searched the cottage for anything flammable and tore off any cloth we could find and made ourselves a few torches. We lit the torches on fire with the flames underneath the cast-iron stove and then set the pile of bodies ablaze outside.

  After a few hours of labor and gagging from the smell of blood and death, the assassins received their proper burial.

  Ava tossed a few black coins into the raging fire and then turned and walked away.

  Just how the fire and smoke from Rindell’s old dance hall represented a new beginning for us, I believed this fire marked a new beginning for Ava.

  Chapter 21 - Ava

  The black smoke swirled in the wind like a dizzy flock of birds as it radiated from the burning bodies of my old companions.

  They made their choice, and I made mine.

  My mission was clear, and I liked it that way.

  I leaned against the stone column just outside the front door of the cottage, shut my eyes, and thought of my mentor, Adrian.

  He was still silent in my mind, and I couldn’t help but think his spirit had left me. I wasn’t sure if it was from his disgust with my decision to leave and destroy the guild he helped create, or if he was never really with me at all, and I had just used him as a coping mechanism to justify all the people I had killed.