by Nefarious
It was while they were walking out that Kora stopped, head cast down with her eyes shut, before staring into the sky.
“Can you hear that?” she asked.
“What?”
“That low whistle. Sounds like it’s from a pipe,” she said.
He focused and heard the wind blowing in his ears. “No,”
She scrunched her forehead and stayed on the spot for a few seconds, before sighing. “Forget it, let’s go,”
They made their way through the streets which now lacked the thieves and murderers who made them dangerous. But this didn’t speed up their journey because as they got closer to Hexham’s road, they figured where the raucous slum-dwellers had migrated to, the streets ahead thick with screams and blood. Orion suggested the roofs and not long after, they were roof-jumping, pacing through the city.
After an easy leap, he turned around to see Kora standing on the previous building, squinting into the skies again. He went back to join her.
“What are you doing? We need to tell Smith,”
She pointed into the air. “See that? That’s the Laeshi, you can tell from his wings,”
Orion focused and discerned a dot. “And? What’s he doing?”
“The whistle I told you about before, it’s coming from him.”
“Are you sure it’s not the air?” Orion questioned. While he could now vaguely hear the noise, there was no difference between it and the wind’s own whistles.
She shook her head. “He’s calling something,”
Just as Orion was going to ask another question, the dot in the distance began to move rapidly, speeding away from the centre of Visgamar. “What the…”
She opened her mouth, then shut it. “He’s leaving. Retreating maybe?”
“He can’t be. I thought Rats had bought him?”
She didn’t respond, instead, watching the dot until it faded. “I’m getting a bad feeling, Jax,”
They stood in silence for a few moments until she sighed again. “Arghh, let’s just go and tell Smith,”
It was close to an hour later when they reached the Seeker’s building. Smith sat upstairs within a mix of men and women, staring at the table with his hand clasped around his jaw as he listened to one of them talk.
“Smith, we killed Grima,” Orion shouted as they made their way.
The others turned towards him while the eye-patched man stayed seated, still watching the table. “You killed him, did you?”
“Well, we killed them. We think that was all of them,” Kora explained.
To this, Smith stood and faced them. “You’re joking. Don’t play with me, girl,”
Orion shook his head and Kora shrugged.
“This is your last chance. If this is a joke, say now and I’ll let you carry on with your lives. Otherwise, I’ll kill you right then and there,”
They stayed quiet until Smith broke into a grin. “Well, fuck me. We’ll find out if you two just gave up your tomorrows,”
He turned to the group he’d been sitting with. “Get your stuff right now. We’re gonna see if there’s any truth to this,” before turning back to Orion and Kora, “Both of you get a drink. You definitely didn’t kill them all, so we’ll have to dash there in case one of the remainers decide to have some fun in your absence,”
A short rest later, the group of nine left the Seeker’s base. In the following seconds, as if by coincidence, a net of smoke swallowed them. While Kora and Orion grew tense and vigilant at this, Smith’s easy guffaw rolled through the smoke.
“A fucking Cloudape to deal with me? You were better to attack the Palace instead of me, monster,” he shouted.
Following the voice, Orion pushed through the smoke and glimpsed Smith slashing at air. Looking closer, he saw some smoke move as a single unit, revealing a disguised figure, but only for a moment as it disappeared again. Considering Orion was only two metres away, Smith also noticed him.
“Get out of here, boy. No use to me,” he said.
Listening, Orion was about to leave when he heard a scream right behind him. Jumping forward and turning around, he saw Smith’s sword stabbed into a cloud-grey fleecy arm. Just as he was about to attack, the figure disappeared again and the smoke strengthened. Realising his uselessness, the pale Seeker sprinted out of the smoke, finding Kora standing with five of the other Seekers.
“Don’t worry, mate,” said the largest member, “Smith’s a 6-star. He’ll be done in seconds,”
It turned out the man wasn’t overselling as the screams were frequent as they waited. The smoke kept getting thicker and spreading further but it didn’t seem to help as the Cloudape continued crying out in pain. It wasn’t much longer till the smoke cleared, revealing Smith walking towards them carrying the Cloudape with one hand.
“Stupid shit kept trying to run. Rats must have told him to distract me. Stupid shit,” the eye-patched man said, his grey hair accented by the smoke. “Come on, one of you take this in while the rest of us go to Grima’s base,” he said dropping the corpse.
34. A Done Deed
* * *
Coppery light daubed the streets as they came to Skitters’s home. Scanning over the house, Smith clicked his tongue.
“It’s always simple buildings like this, always. Just a pain in the arse to deal with,” he said.
Orion had figured Smith knew more about Grima than he let on from the moment he had tested their claim, and this comment made him sure of that judgement. Considering the number of passages that led into the warehouse, it made sense Smith knew about a few of them, but this then begged the question why he seemed so ecstatic about them finding the base. Was there more to this?
Kora nodded while leading them to the tunnel in the storage room. “It’ll be completely dark so be careful. Also, there’s a small drop someways in so walk slowly,”
The eye-patched leader slipped past her and inspected the opening. “Looks like this is an old one,” he said, before grinning, “Jeez, how did this escape us, eh?” he called to the Seekers behind Orion.
They mainly grunted or shrugged their shoulders, dismissing his underlying message.
“Whatever, we better hurry now. I’ll take the lead,” Smith’s footsteps showed exactly how lightly he took Kora’s warning as he thundered ahead, the others struggling to keep up in surrounding darkness.
The drop in level came earlier than expected, perhaps due to the rush, as Orion fell to his knees despite heeling Smith who hopped down it as if in daylight. This, combined with how casually he had dealt with the Cloudape, made it obvious he had some sort of skill or power letting him sense his surroundings.
In little time, they were at the branching paths lit from above. When everyone else caught up, they saw Smith had already made the correct choice without their guidance as he marched down the rightmost tunnel. Turning around to peer at the expressions behind him, it became obvious to Orion the rest of the Seekers were used to Smith’s work manner as they glanced back passively.
Switching back to his automatic mode, the pale Seeker restarted his walk and only woke from it minutes later when he heard Smith’s laughter roll past, only this time he could sense more anger than amusement. Speeding into a run, he passed the exit and came to the warehouse, temporarily blinded by the sunlight blasting in.
As his vision came back, adrenaline pumped through his body as he looked around. The massive doors to the warehouse was wide open, letting a warm current flow through the building, and there were several oil barrels broken about, releasing a unique smell that arrested him. Smith was fighting a man and woman at once, several more at his feet, while Kora chased after others near the doors and into the docks. The largest Seeker joined her while the rest stood nearby in similar situations to Orion.
His adrenaline rush morphed into a mix of anger and fear, especially fear as the scene in front of him became the soon-to-be scene in his mind: the scorching flames, the thick smoke, the stomach-curdling stench of chemicals. He acted before he could think as he
bolted down the distance, throwing his sword to trip one of the retreating enemies, before tackling another to the ground.
He grappled with the woman, whacking her down as she tried to hit him off, eventually trying to boot his balls. Seconds later, after he managed to get her into a chokehold, she lost her chance to tap out as she collapsed unconscious.
Straightening up, he cringed at how violently she’d smacked his thighs. Just as it seemed all the enemies had left, one peeked from behind the warehouse’s doors, metres away from Orion, and lobbed a molotov in. The fiery bottle zipped past before anyone had the chance to act, shattering near a broken barrel.
Kora pelted after the man who had thrown the bottle while Orion shot towards the fire, his heart thumping against his rib-cage as he saw the fire spluttering and withering in a pool of blood, a remnant from their earlier fight. He kicked more blood onto the fire with two other Seekers until it fizzled out, by which time Smith started shouting orders.
“Rick, Lynn, Slinker, outside right now! Watch for any more wretches and kill them if they get close enough. Orion, Kora, check around here for anyone hiding and then join them outside. Lilith and Rore, collect up the papers now!”
Orion and Kora found no one in their search so went outside, standing on guard with the others. While there were many people spying the warehouse from a distance, contrary to Smith’s expectations, these people rushed off after seeing the Seekers instead of planning an attack.
It was close to an hour later when Orion and Kora were called back in, Smith and Lilith still piling up papers. “Ah, help us with this task. All this is solid gold here,” he said, waving his hand at the papers.
“They’re ruined,” Kora said, noting the fact most were covered in blood or oil, if not a combination.
“No matter,” Smith explained, breaking into a chuckle while rubbing at his eyepatch, “We’ve got ways of recovering the writing,”
“Where’s Rore?” she asked as the two of them joined the task.
“Gone to the guild; I told him to get the rest of the guys. It’s a good time to pull out of the war now,”
Orion stopped and stared at Smith. “You’re pulling out?! What’s going to happen then?”
“Bah, it’s not our worry. We were only involved since the Imperial Guard paid us well and had that information on the monsters sneaking into the city. That’s now long passed since those monsters are either dead or escaped, and if neither Rats or Fatso are dead by now, I’d rather not waste any more of us on those whoresons. Too risky, especially considering we’re supposed to be defending against real monsters, not dying against fake ones,” Smith said, rolling over a table to scour its contents.
“Don’t worry. You’re both new here so you wouldn’t know but Lord Risadro has been preparing for an attack from Rats for a long time, maybe too long. I doubt either of them will come off well from this, and that’ll give better-natured men a chance to flourish, now that the big bullies are toppling each other down,” he paused, “Though I reckon the one to benefit the most will be Madam,”
“And us,” Lilith called with her hands searching through rubble.
“Yeah, what in Kovas’s name did you two do here? Clearly, I underestimated you,” Smith joked. Seeing them stuck for words, he continued, “Don’t worry, I don’t actually care how you killed so many, but finding this treasure trove of a warehouse will be rewarded, mark my words. Though for your sake, it must be asked, did you do all this by yourself? Answer honestly: talking better of yourselves will hurt more than benefit,”
“Yeah,” Orion said, confused at his last comment.
“Yeah,” Kora simultaneously said.
“Good, because you’ll soon be dealing with shit harder than anything you’ve exper—”
“What the hell? Are you letting them go before me? What?!” Lilith interrupted, visibly annoyed at his decision.
Smith simply laughed in response. “Just find something of this scale and I’ll push you up as well, you little devil,”
Even though everything they said was going over Orion’s head, taking one look at Kora’s beaming face made him realise they were finally in for some good luck.
35. Sombre Thoughts
* * *
The wind was cool and sharp, pushing the winter chill deep into bones. There was little else to be heard other than its howls, although this wasn’t a surprise considering the ongoing war: men and women had flocked to it like moths to a lamp. Up above, the moon lit the world, the pale light reflecting off the gentle waves. Orion sat on a dock, his boots just above the gloomy water, his eyes set to the distant shoreline, and his mind somewhere far away.
It had been a few hours since they had returned to the warehouse. The clean-up was now at full-force, tens of Seekers inside sorting through filthy notes, dirty in both body and content.
Steps sounded from the docks, bringing his thoughts back. The footsteps stopped right behind him and the person stood in silence, either at peace or lost for words. He figured out who it was when they ruffled his hair, causing him to raise his hands and edge forward to escape their vicious attack. Big mistake.
Luckily, the hand behind him caught his jacket, holding him up by the scruff of his neck as his feet dipped into the icy water.
“Let go, Kora,”
She stepped forward and flung him into the sea, though he managed to grab her outstretched arm and spun his way back onto solid ground. Seeing him glaring at her, she chortled, her laughter cutting through the wind’s cries.
“They’re done in there,” she said once she caught her breath, “Smith told us to meet him like two days later since he thinks the city will have calmed by then,”
“Why does he care what’s happening to the city? He’s pulling out anyway,” he replied, his frustration clear.
She rolled her eyes. “You can’t blame him; it’s not his fight. None of the other guilds is getting involved either, you know,” Just as he was about to interject, she continued, “Neither Rats nor the Lord are good people, Jax. This is really the best move as it means both of them directly hurt each other without the guilds as buffers between them,”
He dropped his argument and started walking, barely stifling his yawn. “Come on, I want to go home and sleep. Far too much shit today,”
“Hmm, aren’t you a gentleman? Didn’t think you had been waiting this long just to chaperone me home, though it is about time you noticed my beauty,”
He half-smirked, too tired to fully commit. “More the other way, isn’t it? Once them robbers see you, they’ll leave me alone,”
“Hmph,”
They walked for a few minutes in relative quiet, avoiding Hexham’s road which bore the largest scars from the riots. Orion enjoyed these moments, but he discovered all good things have an end when Kora opened her mouth again. It was minutes later when she was talking about something, maybe someone, maybe somewhere (he was too zoned out to care) that he interrupted her.
“Wait, what is Smith going to give us again?”
She stopped. “What?”
“What?” he answered.
“How do you not know?”
“Just tell me already if it’s so obvious,”
She sighed. “Think about it, he said we’re stronger than he thought we were. We’re technically 4-star Seekers now, so what happens at 5-stars?”
“The Meeting? … The Elixirs?”
“Boom, nice one, genius,” she said.
“But we’re not 5-stars…” he replied.
“Yeah, but he said it would be hard and Lilith said we were getting put ahead of her, so it’s got to be the Elixir process,”
“Wait, it’s painful?” he asked.
“Duh. They’re like making monsters out of their selves, of course, it involves a bit of pain,”
Looking ahead, Orion saw The Fat Munch. Unlike before, the inn wasn’t lit up and instead melded in with its surroundings. Entering, they saw a scene a world away from the morning bustle. A plump woman they knew as th
e innkeeper’s wife stood behind a table, her eyes widening as her husband on the other side of the room picked up an iron axe.
“What do you want?” he asked, anger seeping into his voice.
“Rey, that’s the kids. Put your axe down,” his wife said.
The innkeeper lowered the weapon but held a firm grip over its handle as he moved over to her. “Alright, you know where your rooms are. Don’t try anything funny, else,”
Nodding, Orion headed for the stairs. The inn was sparsely filled with few people dining and some more talking in hushed voices, none of them looking as if they had been involved in the riots.
Upstairs, he only had enough energy to lock the door and strip his bloody clothes before falling asleep.
Orion woke up to a hint of light from his curtains, realising it was early dawn. As he lay in the uncomfortable bed, his thoughts quickly turned to the fighting that had blazed on as he had slept. Pushing himself up, he took his crusted-over clothes into the bathroom and washed them till they looked clean, though they still reeked. He wrung them and hung them in his room as he bathed, before putting the wet clothes back on.
Leaving the room with his things, he stepped into the hallway and looked at Kora’s room, before turning and going downstairs. He cringed away from the eastern ale and opened his bag, taking out the small amount of coffee grains he had left. Coffee made and drunk, he left the inn, taking to Hexham’s road as he walked towards the Palace.
He realised knowing the damage would be bad and seeing it first-hand were completely different as sombrely passed the blood-shed streets. When he reached the market square, he saw no market - the stalls had been trampled to the ground, and the shops had become collateral once the fighting had intensified. Worst of all were the piles of bodies, all the corpses wearing masks with blank eyes and crooked lips.
Orion stayed at the square for a time, not thinking but simply absorbing what was around him, what had happened. While he was alone in this task, he wasn’t alone in the square as several other people found themselves drawn by the violence, some grieving, some thieving, and some simply passing by.