The Abandoned Sorcerer

by Nefarious

  Maya had played him like a fiddle, squirming under his iron gates before sneaking away with his pride. He didn’t regret hoping, but he did regret cracking under disappointment and blushing like a maiden.

  A few pensive moments later, he stood. “Come on, let’s go to Smith,”

  Kora patted his back. “It’s alright, kiddo. She got lucky by dodging you,”

  He frowned and threw her “comforting” hand off.

  They knocked on Smith’s door and soon entered the grey-haired man’s office. He was behind his desk, this time wearing a yellow eyepatch. He looked up and shook his head, failing to keep his face straight.

  “Don’t worry, kiddo, Maya does that every cute guy she comes across,” he said as he broke into a rumbling chuckle.

  Orion wished he could just find a hole to jump into but had to put up with sitting on a chair instead.

  “The naughty reward, it’s actually another contract. 4-star rated, well-paying, and relatively safe compared to the other 4-star contracts.” Smith explained, smiling as he realised the two Seekers were already hooked. “It’s from the Visgamar council, specifically the Visgamar’s Guard, or better put, the Imperial Guard.”

  He stopped and scratched at his chin. “Well, the first part was kind of a lie. I don’t know how dangerous the contract is, none of us does, but that’s why this contract exists. Did you kids know Visgamar is split between good and bad?”

  They nodded.

  “Yeah, the bad side, Rats’s side, has been up to something. There have been reports of monsters in their ranks, but also of growing tension and secrecy. The Empire fears he’s plotting against it, but they can’t move against him. Visgamar’s Guard is evenly matched with him and if the Empire moved an army here, then someone else would abuse that opportunity. You’ve surely heard the criers yelling about the rising tension across lands. It started ever since the Zakari got razed, and now it’s become palpable.”

  He paused and gazed directly into their eyes.

  “Anyway, the contract calls for unknown Seekers to infiltrate Rats’s higher echelons and feed back information. Both of you are new here so trust me when I say this: this job a superb opportunity if you survive,”

  “Can we have time to think?” Kora asked.

  “No. You’re either in now, or you forget this meeting ever happened,”

  She looked at Orion, into his eyes. They nodded simultaneously.

  “Great. Visgamar’s Guard has already planted a few men into Rats’s gang, and I’ve sent a few people so you’re not alone. I’m sure you’ll figure a way to get close to him. Finally, here’s a tip. No, more of a rule,” Smith said, his voice low and harsh, “Don’t think of Rats as a human, think of him as a monster to hunt. Otherwise…”

  He paused. “Otherwise, he’ll do things you kids aren’t ready to hear yet,”

  Smith explained a few more details, then let them go. Minutes later, they were walking on Hexham’s road, having deposited their reward money in the Seeker’s bank.

  “Yhaoli,” Orion said.

  “What?”

  “Your friend, Yhaoli. He’s involved in this,”

  She moved to whack him but he leapt in time, wagging his finger in response. It felt good to get back at her.

  “But yeah, Jax, he is. Got any idea of where to start?”

  Orion stroked his stubble for a few moments when a maroon-haired loudmouth came to mind. “I know just the person,”

  19. Shady Dealings

  * * *

  Slinking through the back streets, Orion led Kora with a wary eye. These ends weren’t his ends, and these people weren’t his people. He recalled Thimble claiming the safest way to contact him was through Old Joe, the man who dabbled in blacksmithing, alchemy, and dealing. Unfortunately, Orion only vaguely remembered Old Joe’s location. Luckily, or unluckily, Kora was similarly out of her depths in the slums and kept her cowl over her head, speaking few words.

  After asking a relatively clean-looking man, they were directed to take a sharp left, three rights, walk forward for 200 metres, then another right. Once there, Orion gained a greater promise of safety as he recognised the dreary red door scratched of its paint. He tapped on the door. Seconds later, Kora pushed him aside and rapped on it. This time, a series of footsteps followed, then the metal flap creaked ajar, two weary eyes looking through.

  “Who’s you?” a gruff voice asked.

  “Jax. Uhh, Thimble’s friend,”

  “And what you doin’ ‘ere?”

  “He said to find you if I needed to contact him,”

  Orion heard a humph from the other side as the door swung open. He was met with the sight of a portly man with frizzled white hair, a large, dotted nose, and beady eyes.

  “That boy, always makin’ trouble for me, he is,” Old Joe mumbled as he let them in.

  His house was cosy, if cheaply decorated. Pungent smells of burnt food and melted metal filled the air, despite neither of those being in sight. There were large packages wrapped in cloth facing his metre-long window in the living room, warming under the sunlight and smelling of sea salt. And of nuts. And honey…

  Orion put a hand to his mouth while sitting on the padded bench, forcing his mind away from the packages.

  “Lucky for you, he’ll be comin’ soon. He’s just makin’ a trip for me now,” Old Joe explained while relaxing into his armchair.

  “Oh, where’re me manners?” he suddenly said, pushing himself back up. “Why don’t you come and see me wares. Might find a thing you like,”

  He crossed his living room and tugged on a thick rope, heaving open a hatch that camouflaged in with the wooden floorboards. Beckoning the Seekers, he climbed down and entered his workplace.

  The underground hall was as big as his home and lit by glubber’s wax, the same long-lasting sort found on Hexham’s road at night.

  There were various beakers and bottles to the left, emanating a smell of acid and burnt food. Near the middle were crates piled upon each other, around eight in total. And to their right was a metal platform with an anvil, forge, trough, and other blacksmithing equipment. There was also a pile of weapons on the platform, some blades clearly cracked.

  “This is me playground. Don’t think about stealin’ none though since I’m protected by the Sticky Fingers.” Old Joe said.

  “What are those?” Kora asked, pointing to the beakers.

  “Mmm, the lady Asartit,” Old Joe replied, pouting his lips,” She came in me dreams. You know about them things the Seeker’s take, to change their bodies and that. She told me I could make them and that I should, that I would make it rich once I did,”

  Both Orion and Kora raised their eyebrows at this. It was well known that once a Seeker became 5-star rated, they could drink elixirs that changed their bodies. These changes made it possible for them to overcome human limits and become monsters, although it was unknown whether that was a literal description or a figurative one.

  Either way, this was why the Seeker’s guild had survived out of the hundreds in the past. If Old Joe could create potions even half, no, a quarter as effective, he would simultaneously become one of the richest and most hunted men in the Empire.

  “Do they work?” Kora asked, her excitement slipping through.

  “Argh, kinda. I tried them on a few kids, and they could like lift my chair one ‘anded.” He paused. “Then, they got smaller and thinner, like they leakin’ or something. Then, they died,”

  “How much are they?” she asked.

  Old Joe turned to her incredulously, then grinned at her serious face, revealing stained teeth. “Since you a mate’s mate, I’ll give you two for a goldie,”

  Kora gave him a gold coin and got two corked beakers in return. The liquid inside was multicoloured and looked slimy, like a mixture of soap and water.

  “If these don’t work, I will hunt you,” she joked.

  “Heh heh, don’t worry. They work, just you won’t be doing much in life afterwards. Heh heh. Interested
in anymore?”

  It was then a figure popped its head through the hatch.

  “Lord Ma… I mean, Lord Jax. What yer doin’ ‘ere?” Thimble called out.

  “About time, my boy. I’m too old to entertain your friends,” Old Joe said as he slipped the gold coin into his pocket. “Put your package in the sun, and take your friends out,”

  Thimble nodded, and the two Seekers climbed out, figuring Old Joe wanted privacy. They left his home and walked onto the dirty streets.

  “So, what do yer need, Lord Jax? I can do anything,”

  “We would like to meet Rats,” Orion replied.

  The bounce died from Thimble’s steps and he stopped, looking at them gravely. “Nothing good comes from meetin’ Rats,”

  “But we want to,” Kora said.

  The maroon-haired loudmouth looked into Kora’s eyes, then at her face, then at her figure, and his eyes lit up a little.

  “There are ways, Lord Jax’s pretty friend. But really, yor bettah off without meetin’ ‘im.” He paused and looked up. “Oh, this is one of yor Seeker jobs, ain’t it?”

  Kora snapped forward and thrust him up by his neck, pushing him against a concrete wall. “Explain!”

  He heaved for breath and lifted his hands up in a gesture of helplessness. “Sorri, pretty lady, yer can’t scare me more than Lord Jax,”

  She frowned at Orion, then put Thimble down. “Explain!”

  “Na worries. Since Lord Jax helped me, I’ll help you. Do you know about the Underkings?”

  Both Seekers shook their heads.

  “They’re the four bosses ‘ere. They’re at each other’s throats all the time, but a few days ago, Rats called a celebration for something an’ invited everyone, includin’ the other Underkings. It’s a week from today an’ everyones buzzin’ about it,”

  “So, what does that have to do with a Seeker’s job?” Orion asked. If this information was already public, then attempting to infiltrate Rats’s inner circle was suicide.

  “Well, I know yor a Seeker, an’ everyone knows Rats is nasty, the nastiest of the four. Yet he’s doin’ this, which is weird. I just guessed yer interested in why he’s actin’ weird,” Thimble explained.

  “I can help yer get in there, but yer’ll have to help me too,” he finished.

  “How?”

  “My bro, he runs the Sticky Fingers. He’s got an invite to Rats’s pavilion, an’ he’s allowed to take a few people with ‘im. We recently got in a brawl with the Saltrocks, so if yer help us with that, he’ll let yer join ‘im,”

  “Oh,” Orion said as he took his bag off. He rummaged in it and found his finger-to-wrist length knife. “Give me your hand,”

  Thimble gazed at him confused, then gulped and placed his hand forward.

  Orion nicked Thimble’s skin, then chanted at the leaking blood, his eyes black as he used magic without Giah. He wiped the Blood tracker onto his finger and licked it, monetarily using his Giah to pale his eyes for dramatic effect.

  It worked as Thimble began to tremble.

  “You know how it goes,” Orion said in a deep voice, “Tell anyone we’re Seekers on a job, and I’ll know you did it and where you are. Following that, you can count how many seconds it’ll take me to kill you. I swear you won’t reach a minute,”

  The maroon-haired loudmouth nodded several times. Kora looked on passively but was inwardly impressed by this side of Orion. Not that she’d admit it, though.

  “But tell no one,” Orion continued, “and I’ll wipe it away once our job’s done. And, we’ll pay you three golds, just for guiding us and keeping your mouth shut. And you know I pay generously,”

  Hook, line, and sinker. Thimble swallowed the bait and nervously grinned, his lips curling from joy and greed.

  “Go on, lead us to your brother,”

  20. Sticky Fingers

  * * *

  With Thimble at their lead, the trio zipped through the Slums. He steered away from the pathways which burnt their noses and eventually came to a castle-like ruin next to a river that ran through Visgamar. Looking closer, Orion realised it was actually a collection of decrepit houses built upon each other, giving the image of a fortress.

  “There’s someone running there,” Kora said, pointing towards a clump of trees and bushes.

  Orion strained his ears but couldn’t hear anything. Though, he did catch sight of a shadow rushing into the concrete fortress once he peered in the direction.

  “Na worries, that’s just a runnar,” Thimble said while casually waving his hand, “He keeps watch in case someone attacks,”

  “Right,” Orion nodded with a frown. The relaxed way Thimble spoke brought new light to Orion’s horizon. He couldn’t even imagine himself acting so calm about an attack, let alone imagine the lifestyle that led to it.

  They passed by the first house and entered the den. There were few people by the outskirts of the den, and they mostly resigned to watching the trio, forgetting any confrontational thoughts once they realised it was Thimble leading them. But, as they entered the heart, the Seekers saw a large band of people sitting around in a garden decorated by rubble.

  Orion recognised Nanlong in the crowd, his large frame hard to miss; Thimble had introduced him to the murderous mercenary leader during his tour. But, other than him, the rest of the ragged cutthroats were strangers. The boss of this group was a brown-haired, bearded man sitting with one knee up and eyes glaring at the newcomers. He looked like Thimble, minus the maroon hair and the two large scars on his face and plus some years of hardship.

  “Thimble, yer useless shit. Instead of wasting around, how about yer whore out like yor sisters and earn us some monies?” the brown-haired man shouted. His comments were met with laughter, the tense type you do when you’re under too much pressure to truly let loose.

  “Na, Ginger. Listen,” Thimble said as he gestured to the Seekers to wait. He left with Ginger (the brown-haired man) and came back a few moments later.

  “Haha, forget my rude comments. My bro’s told me yor strong, ain’t it?” Ginger said as he took his place. He scrutinised the Seekers for a few seconds, watching their posture and actions. “An’ he’s told me yer wanna meet Rats, is that right?” Silence washed over the gang.

  Orion frowned. He doubted Thimble had told Ginger he was a Seeker or a Mage, purely due to how frightened he was, but there was still a chance.

  “Yeah, we can pay you in gold for it,” he replied.

  “Hahaha, talking about gold in front of us, the Sticky Fingers, are yer mad or summin?” Another tense laughter followed Ginger’s taunt.

  Shit.

  “It’s fine, we’re strong,” Kora replied. Another set of laughter, this time mocking.

  “Fine, fine. Since my bro didn’t beat around the bush, I’ll come clean. We need fighters, and we need them tonight. If yers can help us against the Saltrocks, then I’ll let yer join me,”

  Orion thought on it. It seemed the only other ways into Rats’s pavilion was through another gang leader, which would add more uncertainty and risk, or by sneaking in, which would be impossible considering Rats’s guards were thieves and robbers.

  “Fi—”

  “Wait there, Ginger. You’re telling me you believe these kids are strong?” Nanlong called out with a curl to his lips.

  Orion looked back to Ginger and saw he was calm despite the interruption. So, he had either been waiting for Nanlong to say this, or they were good enough friends to not care about such trivial matters.

  “Go on, Fister. Teach them a lesson,” Nanlong finished, pushing forward a man who was a mix of muscle and fat.

  Fister’s eyes gleamed and he brushed his pudgy hand through his mohawk, springing it up. “If you say so, boss,”

  Kora placed a hand on Orion’s shoulder and nodded. She pulled her cowl lower and strode to Fister. The mohawked man sneered at her slight figure and sped up into a charge, his hands stretched out to tackle her. But instead of flustering, Kora kicked, or better said,
sliced through the air. Fister expected this and spun in time, actually, a bit too late as his feet left the ground and his body was sent flying, hitting the ground a metre away.

  He did not get back up.

  “Ahh, strong and pretty. They’re a good sort,” Nanlong said.

  Kora frowned in his direction while the other mercenaries peered into her cowl, trying to get a glimpse. The large mercenary leader clearly had eagle eyes.

  “Good good, let’s get you up to speed then, specially yer, Thimble,” Ginger said.

  “What?”

  “The ship’s not coming in a few days. It’s coming today an’ they were tryna hide that, just got it snitched to me,” Ginger paused and rubbed his brown beard. “Like, I ain’t no idiot, clearly they got the word we’re attacking and this is a trap to kill us, but this is also our chance.”

  Ginger turned to the Seekers. “Despite Rats’s street-cred, you still wanna meet him, an’ there’s a million reasons why you would wanna. I don’t wanna hear the sob story tho, just help us sink the Saltrock’s ship an’ you can come with me,”

  It was then a new group of men entered the ruins. Orion recognised one of them: Skitters, another man Thimble had briefly introduced him to, the one with a lot of lockpicks and masks in his home.

  “Ai, Ginger. The ships coming to the Drowner’s. Checked a few homes around the dock, ain’t found anyone, yet,” Skitters said, brushing his hand through his wavy hair.

  “No one? Yer sure?”

  “Ya, unless they got a Mage or summin, I ain’t sure how they could ambush us,”

  No one spoke, no one moved, no one breathed. Orion realised it wasn’t just Thimble who feared Mages, but instead all of them.

  “Don’t even joke about that,” Ginger said. “Fuck, let’s just go an’ get in place.”

  * * *

  It had been six hours since they had entered Ginger’s den, and three since they had gone into hiding by the Drowner’s docks. Ginger and his thugs, including Thimble, had scattered across the buildings, awaiting nightfall when the ship was said to arrive. Nanlong and his mercenaries had hidden close to the docks; they were the best equipped and would take the vanguard in the fight.