Rise of the Grandmaster

by Bradford Bates

  Cassie stood up with a very roguelike hood on her head. “I’ll take all the free armor I can get.” She held out her hand, showing off a new ring. “Not to mention +1 resistance to all magical attacks.”

  ShadowLily Twirled a new set of daggers in her hands. “Badass!”

  Looking over a new pair of pants, Gaston smiled. “Just my size.”

  A black portal appeared against the far wall, with the swirling vortex that was their ticket out of the dungeon. Tim took one last look around the room. “Let’s get the fuck out of here. Drinks are on me.”

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  They entered the inn like Caesar returning to Rome after a victory.

  Tim ran toward Ernie with a grin so wide it threatened to split his face open like Gallagher using a sledgehammer on a watermelon. “We got it.” He held up the dungeon heart in his fist.

  “No.” Ernie looked at him with disbelief and maybe a twinge of hope. He spied the dungeon heart in Tim’s hands and knew that the kid wasn’t lying. “You actually did it.”

  Tim motioned the rest of the group over. “No, we did it together. Without your poison, we wouldn’t have made it into the dungeon, and without Gaston’s awesomeness, we would have been finished.”

  He pulled Cassie and ShadowLily close. “Not to mention our tank and my favorite exterminator.” Tim let them go and shouted, “Now let’s get some drinks.”

  Liz came from the back with a tray full of beers. “I heard the celebration and figured these were in order.”

  Gaston leaned over to Ernie. “I like this one.”

  Ernie elbowed him. “Your biggest problem is you like them all.”

  “Only the good-looking ones.” Gaston rumbled with laughter.

  Tim took two beers from Liz. “Thank you.” Turning, he handed one to Ernie. “Set up the meeting with Malvonis, and I’ll go to the bank and grab the gold we need.”

  To the rest of the group, he said, “Try not to celebrate too much. We’ve got one more thing to accomplish before this is over.”

  ShadowLily spun her new daggers. “I’ll be ready.”

  “Maybe be a little less confrontational than last time,” Ernie chided.

  “I’m not making any promises. If that half-orc fucker goes after Tim, I’ll kill him.” She slammed her daggers back into their sheaths. “But I can try to be civil first.”

  Tim grabbed ShadowLily around the waist and gave her a long kiss. “I love it when you get all protective.”

  “Ughhh. Save that shit for when I’m drunk enough to stomach it.” Cassie finished the rest of her beer and motioned for Liz to bring her another one.

  “I’ll be back.” Tim took one last look at the party he’d assembled before ducking out of the room. Walking down the rainy streets of the slums, his only thought was, How did I get so lucky?

  It felt weird having that much gold in his inventory. Thankfully, you’d never be able to tell just by looking at him. It wasn’t like he had two giant sacks of clinking coins over his shoulders. Being in The Etheric Coast made things of that nature a hell of a lot easier.

  Like laundry. He’d never have to do that shit again.

  Even the raindrops coming down as he entered the slums didn’t bother him. Life was looking up. Malvonis would be out of their hair, and the inn would be back in Ernie’s hands soon enough.

  With the market kiosk he’d looted, there was no doubt in his mind they’d make the hundred gold back pretty quickly. At least, they would if he could turn the inn back into a hotspot. Shouldn’t be too hard. There wasn’t another tavern in this entire section of the city.

  On the walk back, he’d also decided to apply all the money they made from the kiosk toward Ernie’s debt. The faster he could give him back the building, the better. Then he could look into other real estate while putting his plan in place. The continued proceeds would make a pretty nice safety net for him when and if he decided to become an adventurer.

  The adventurer title still scared him. If he decided to go that route, he’d be giving up his guaranteed income for a chance to make more. It was a frightening proposition when you had to bet on yourself. At least he knew success or failure would be his alone.

  But he had promises to keep.

  His family wasn’t exactly poor, and with him out of school and away from home, there was one less mouth to feed. That didn’t mean his family was living high on the hog, either. Tim wanted more than anything else to make sure his parents didn’t have to slave away into their golden years.

  It was almost time for them to get ready to enjoy the later part of their lives, including what their children were accomplishing. Tim didn’t want them just scratching by, he wanted to see them flourish. He’d love to help them move into a newer house and get rid of their ten-year-old car. They deserved it, if for nothing else than giving him the chance to succeed.

  That opportunity wasn’t something every child received. Some kids came home, and their parents didn’t even ask about homework. Not Tim’s parents. They made sure his work was done before he went out to play or vegged out with videogames. Mom and Dad had put healthy meals on the table and made sure he worked out.

  He knew it wasn’t always easy for them, and he hadn’t always shown his appreciation when he was younger, but now that he was entering the real world, or a close approximation of it, he understood what they had sacrificed to give him a leg up. They gave up a lot of their dreams to make sure their kids could have theirs.

  That was love you couldn’t buy.

  The inn appeared in front of him. Tim shook the rain off his cloak as he stepped through the door. One look inside, and all of the happiness drained from him.

  Malvonis had Ernie pressed against the wall dagger at his throat. “Where is it?”

  “I told you, he’ll be back with it soon.” Ernie pleaded as he struggled to get free.

  Gaston was sitting in a chair, nursing a nasty-looking cut over his eye. ShadowLily stood in front of him with daggers out, scowling at the half-orc’s back. Cassie looked just as enraged, but there was nothing they could do. One wrong move and Ernie was dead.

  Tim flicked a quick healing orb at Gaston and walked calmly into the room. “Would you mind putting my innkeeper down? I get a little twitchy when people hold blades to my friends’ throats.”

  “You’ve got poor taste in friends.” Malvonis snarled as he drew a single drop of blood from Ernie’s neck.

  “Where I come from, a man makes his own choices, and he lives with them.” Tim sat down in a chair and motioned for Liz to bring two beers. “On the plus side, once our business is concluded, you won’t ever have to see him again.”

  Malvonis pulled his dagger away from Ernie’s neck and slipped it back inside his cloak. When he turned, there was a smile on his face that said, “See I can be reasonable, and I was never really going to hurt him.”

  He sat down across from Tim and threw his feet on an empty chair. “Do you have what I want?” The half-orc’s voice was calm, but his eyes danced with the threat of violence.

  Tim’s heart was racing, but he took a sip of his beer, pretending like he was having a drink with a good friend. “That depends.” He set his beer down and wiped his lips with the sleeve of his robe. “Did you bring the deed?”

  Reaching inside of his cloak again, Malvonis pulled out a worn leather binder and tossed it on the table. His tusks twitched. “I brought it.”

  “Do you mind?” Tim picked up the document without waiting for an answer. He motioned Ernie to his side. “Is everything in order?”

  Malvonis tapped his dagger on the table. “No honor amongst thieves, eh? When I tell you I’ll do something, it’s done.” He sneered at Ernie. “Always.”

  Ernie took a step back but didn’t drop the document. After folding up the paper and slipping it back inside the leather envelope, he set the package on the table again. “It’s all there.”

  Tim watched Malvonis closely. He couldn’t help feeling as if the joke was on him, and as so
on as he handed over the dungeon heart, the bastard would just kill all of them. There wasn’t anything he could do to banish the feeling, so he pushed forward.

  “And I have your word that Ernie and his men will be left alone?”

  “As long as they stay out of my business, I’ll stay out of theirs.” He slammed a giant fist into the table, making everyone jump. “But I’ve been about as patient as I care to be. Live up to your end of the deal, or I’m going to start cutting.”

  “Fair enough.” Tim’s voice might have squeaked, but all things considered, he felt like he was holding it together pretty well in the face of almost certain death. “Here’s your gold.” He set two large sacks on the table.

  “And the dungeon heart.” Malvonis’ eyes bulged, and his grip tightened around the hilt of his dagger.

  Tim pulled the Dungeon Heart from his inventory and set it on the table. Malvonis’ eyes sparkled with glee as he picked the object up. Standing, Tim extended his hand to the half-orc. “It seems our business has come to a close.”

  Malvonis tucked the heart into his vest and picked up both coin sacks in one giant hand. With the other, he gripped Tim’s hand and gave it a bone-crunching squeeze. “Stay out of my way, or I’ll kill every last one of you.”

  Smiling through the pain in his hand, Tim kept his eyes and face worry-free. “As long as you don’t come back to my inn, we won’t have a problem.”

  “Is that a threat, boy?” Malvonis growled as he pulled Tim closer.

  “Just a friendly reminder of the terms of our deal.” Tim pulled his hand free. “I believe you were just leaving.”

  “I believe I was.” Malvonis pulled on his hat as he walked toward the door. He moved slowly to let them know he didn’t give a shit what they thought.

  When the door to the inn closed, Ernie bolted it. The strength left the man’s legs, and he sagged against the door. “I really hate that fucker.”

  Tim shook his hand, hoping to return some of the feeling to it. “Tell me about it. For a second there, I thought he was just going to kill us and call it a day.”

  “I’m surprised he didn’t.” Gaston took a sip of his beer. “Malvonis isn’t known for his self-restraint.”

  Tim shrugged. “I guess the heart was that important to him.” He felt a niggling doubt in the back of his mind. It was never a good thing when a bad man got something he wanted. It almost felt like his decision to give up the heart was going to come back and bite him in the ass.

  No one looked like they wanted to celebrate anymore, and he wasn’t going to try to force a festive mood on the team.

  But he also wasn’t going to let them leave without a little something to look forward to.

  “Tomorrow night, I’m going to take everyone out so we can talk about the future. Drinks and food are on me. I don’t know a lot of places to go yet, so I’m going to rely on the locals to point us in the right direction.”

  “I know a few places,” Gaston said with a grin.

  “Nobody wants to eat their dinner off a stripper’s ass.” Liz smacked the burly thief on the back of the head.

  “I’ve got an old friend at the Drunken Butler,” Ernie said, wiggling his eyebrows. “I’ll get us a big table.”

  Liz looked at Ernie in shock. “I’ve been trying to get in there for a year.”

  The innkeeper shrugged. “It helps to know the owner.”

  Tim slapped Ernie on the back. “Awesome. Get it set up, and I’ll be there.”

  “Better bring some extra gold. I’m feeling awfully thirsty.” Gaston smiled and walked in the direction of the stairs leading to his training room.

  Cassie gave Tim a high five. “I’ll be there.” She stopped to give ShadowLily a hug and headed for the front door.

  Liz locked the door behind her. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” She gave them one last wave before walking up the stairs to her room.

  Ernie picked up the deed to the inn and handed it to Tim. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”

  “Just wait until you hear what I have planned.” Tim smiled at the look of horror on Ernie’s face.

  “Maybe we should take a break first.” Ernie gave him a baleful look. “Or at the very least, sleep on it.” He waved at them as he walked toward the kitchen.

  ShadowLily gave Tim that look that could only mean one thing. “You know, I could use a bath.”

  Tim smiled back at her. “You know, I was thinking the exact same thing.”

  Baths were actually kind of fun when you had company.

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Cardinal Jepsom looked at the abomination in front of him with a sneer.

  He hated the thought of using such a man—half a man, really—for his purposes, but the cardinal had no other choice. A man walking through the desert took water where he could find it. Jepsom was, for all intents and purposes, lost. The only card he had left to play was with this monstrosity.

  The thief was half-orc, half-man. It made him fearsomely strong, but not the kind of person he could be seen associating with. Not if his plan to become the next high priest was going to work. All his carefully laid plans had been dashed like a boat against the rocks of the harbor. Now he was grasping at straws, willing to take risks he never would have considered years before.

  Only the bold become legendary.

  “Do you have it?” Jepsom’s voice was lower than a whisper, as if he didn’t dare put a voice to his desire in case it blew away like a grain of sand in the wind.

  Malvonis reached into his cloak and pulled out the glowing orange and red heart of the dungeon. “I do, but the price has gone up.”

  Licking his lips nervously, the cardinal couldn’t take his eyes off of the prize in front of him. “What is it that you want?” He had to stop himself from trying to take the heart by force. His dreams were so close. Just a few minutes more.

  “One thousand gold,” Malvonis said flatly as if there could be no further discussion on the matter.

  “You will have it.” Jepsom reached for the heart.

  “When I do, you can have your prize.” Malvonis started to put the dungeon heart back inside his cloak.

  It was all the cardinal could do not to cry out in dismay. “Wait here.” He walked to a door at the back of his chambers, turned the handle, and stopped. He couldn’t just give in. If the freak wanted more gold than they’d originally bartered for, then he wanted something else from him as well.

  “Since you’ve taken upon yourself to change the terms of our deal, I will do the same. There is a new assassin in the city, one who has caused me quite a bit of discomfort of late.” He frowned as he thought about the three men he’d lost in as many days.

  “I’ll give you five hundred gold now and the rest when you’ve located and killed the man.” Jepsom locked onto the brute’s beady little eyes with his own. “Find him and kill him, and I’ll consider our deal complete and give you the rest of your payment.”

  Malvonis smiled. “I’d be honored.”

  “Fuck your honor. Just kill the bastard.” Jepsom opened the door and disappeared inside.

  He returned a moment later and tossed two small sacks at Malvonis’ feet. “I trust you know someone who can convert these to coins.”

  Malvonis opened the first bag and peered inside. A collection of precious stones glittered in the torchlight. He quickly checked the other bag before tucking them both into his vest. “This will do just fine.”

  The half-orc stood up, refusing to kneel in front of the cardinal for a moment longer. “My boys will find him, and I’ll handle the deed myself. You can count on it. My word is my bond.”

  Jepsom sneered at Malvonis. “I’ll settle for results.”

  Malvonis reached into his cloak, pulled out the dungeon heart, and tossed it to the cardinal. “I’ll send you a letter when it’s done.” He looked around the temple. “This place makes me kind of uncomfortable.”

  Waving the orc away, Jepsom kept his eyes on the heart. When he heard the do
or close, the cardinal looked up to make sure the room was empty before he returned his eyes to the one thing that mattered. This was it—his moment. Everything hinged on his ability to contain the power within the heart.

  A sheen of sweat lingered on his forehead. It was no small task to grab the future by the balls. Once you did, you had to hang on for dear life, but he was ready. His time being second fiddle to that bastard of a man was over. The temple and the goddess’ eternal love would be his. All he had to do was seize the prize.

  Cardinal Jepsom shoved the heart into his mouth and began to chew. He felt a warm sensation rush down his throat as he swallowed, and suddenly there was power inside of him waiting to be set free. A strangled cry escaped his mouth as he was lifted into the air. White light exploded from his body, and he fell to the ground.

  Dark laughter bubbled from inside him as he rose to his feet. “Yes.” The power coursed through his veins. “Yes!”

  They will submit or they will burn. Such is the way of the world.

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  “Ernie, I don’t know what to say. The food was fantastic,” Tim gushed.

  “The Drunken Butler is one of the best restaurants in Promethia. I used to come more often, but recently, it’s been out of my price range.”

  ShadowLily lifted one eyebrow in question. “Income took a hit when Malvonis took over, huh?”

  “You’ve seen my client base at the inn. Bunch of freeloaders,” Ernie snapped and finished his beer.

  “I resemble that remark.” Gaston beamed around the table as he held up the pitcher and signaled the waitress.

  Tim looked at Ernie, his face suddenly serious. “Don’t worry too much, Ernie. The Blue Dagger is going to be so full soon, you’re going to need to hire a whole new staff.”

  “And hopefully keep the one staff member you already have.” Liz lifted her glass toward the innkeeper.