by Logan Jacobs
It wasn’t much of a choice. I could either tell him I was making whiskey and planned to sell it without his knowledge and be killed, or tell him nothing and die anyways.
I decided to go with Plan C.
Otherwise known as “Wade beats the shit out of Hagan’s muscle.”
The knife was still pressed to my neck, but I knew I was quicker than all of them put together. I also had more experience and brains than them.
I just hoped it would help, since it was still four versus one.
“Go ahead and kill me, Hagan, if I’m that worthless to you,” I sneered. “But I doubt your man enough to do it yourself. Have you ever even killed a man? Can you even reach my neck to slice it open?”
Hagan’s face reddened as he pulled a knife from his belt.
“Mosco, back off,” the halfling spat. “This little piece of shit is mine to butcher.”
The second I felt the cold steel lift off my neck, I calmly turned and took Mosco’s arm in my hands. The unshaven man’s eyes widened in surprise as I drove his knife into his heart. Mosco collapsed to the ground, and then I hopped out of the way of Hagan’s wide swings.
I pulled my knives from my belt and threw my left one at Balderic. The blade spun end over point twice and then the ugly man shrieked when it pierced him through the eye.
That might have just been the best throw I’d ever done.
Hagan didn’t seem to realize I’d taken out two of his bruisers, so I stepped aside from his wicked blade and swept his feet out from under him in a single motion. The fat halfling fell unceremoniously onto his back, and his head cracked against the cobblestones.
I glimpsed Corbus coming at me out of the corner of my vision, and I blocked his punch with my right arm. The older man knocked my knife from my hand, but I managed to get my left hand up and blocked his next punch.
Then Corbus kneed me in the stomach, and it knocked the wind from my lungs, but the adrenaline in my system kept me going, and I backed away as he threw half a dozen more punches at me.
I blocked each of them, and the older man began to slow down some. Sweat poured down his fat face, and I knew I just had to wait for an opening.
Then he made a rookie mistake, and he dropped his left hand too much as he twisted his torso around to throw a haymaker with his right. The movement left his body completely open, so I struck the side of his head with the palm of my hand to stun him, and then I landed a kick to his knee with a loud crunch. Corbus screamed out in agony, and then I turned around to finish Hagan off.
Yeah, it was bad news to kill a Thief Guild’s boss, and I might get found out by whoever the halfling swore loyalty to, but I’d deal with that later.
Then I saw three dark shapes sprinting toward me from the back end of the alley.
Two of them held short swords, and I knew I had to run.
“Don’t ya ever come back to the Guild again!” Hagan screamed after me. “Do ya hear me Wade? Thirty silvers to the man who brings me Wade’s bloody head!”
I heard feet pound upon the cobblestones behind me as the rest of Hagan’s cavalry arrived on the scene. They chased me through the city streets, but I managed to slip into an eatery unnoticed as Hagan’s hired help rushed by. When I was certain the coast was clear, and my heart slowed from a race to a trot, I headed back to the elephant stables.
The Guild was no longer a safe place for me to be, and that meant two things:
First, I was going to be a dead man if I didn’t figure out how to get this whiskey business off the ground, since I didn’t have the money to buy protection.
Second, I was going to have to do the first while somehow sneaking and stealing around a group of people who were the best at sneaking and stealing.
Chapter 14
I laid low for the better part of a week as I worked day in and day out on the production of the whiskey. I went on a few more grain runs with Cimarra, and soon I amassed twenty kegs of whiskey after I used the yeast to ferment my mash and Azure to cook it. All the while, I waited for Hagan’s goons to clear out of the Entertainment District.
Penny’s dragon had grown on me with each day that passed. The redhead pixie thief might have been his mother, but I was his best friend, and the scaled creature kept me company during the long days indoors, since Penny and Dar were forced to avoid the area as we feared what Hagan might do if he discovered their involvement, and Cimarra ensured the Count had no idea what I was doing on his property. The blue beast cooked my meat for me, and I tossed him legs of raw mutton and other meat scraps I’d collected from the butcher.
Finally, I had enough and knew it was time for me to go to the Dwarves’ District. Unfortunately, the only thing I’d decided that would win me the dwarf’s trust would be to return the piece of the magic mirror I’d stolen from him. The piece that was back at the Thief’s Guild hidden in the cloakroom along with the rest of my valuables. It might have gotten me killed to return it and prove I was the one who robbed him, but it would also get his attention.
Dwarves were finicky creatures who tended to hold grudges, but they could be persuaded with the right tools.
I also figured twenty barrels of whiskey would help.
I knew it was risky, but I needed to get the mirror piece. I had friends there I could trust, but I wasn’t sure which ones would have helped me, since thirty silvers was more than what most of them would be able to keep in a half-year.
I donned my black cloak and pulled the hood over my face, and then I bottled up a sample of the moonshine and tucked it within the garment’s folds. I didn’t want anyone to recognize me, but the moment I entered the Halfling District my gargantuan size would have been more than noticeable.
I hurried through the crowd and evaded all the checkpoints where I was certain Hagan would have guards stationed. I managed to make it into the halfling district undetected, but my heart raced as I crossed the dividing line.
I stuck to the shadows as much as possible in the early morning light. I prayed to the ancients that when I reached the Guild most of the members would already be out on their daily runs. The closet was just inside the back door, but I was about to willingly enter the lion’s den.
I didn’t see any other options as I arrived at the front door of my previous home. It seemed like so long ago I lived here, when in reality, it had only been a few short days.
I snuck around to the back and peered through the tall hedges to see if anyone was in the courtyard. Then I knelt down and pretended to adjust my boot to hide my height as Thurgood and Basher rounded the corner. I didn’t think they would sell me out, but I didn’t want to take that chance.
With the coast clear, I slipped into the courtyard unnoticed and put my ear to the back door. I heard nothing, so I opened the door and quickly slithered into the cloakroom. Then I took a dusty old satchel from the corner, dumped my few valuables into it, and carefully placed the magic mirror piece on top.
“Yeah lemme grab my cloak, and I’ll head out,” I heard Selius’ shrill voice yell to who I could only assume was Maldon.
I shoved myself into the variety of fabrics and hoped it would be enough to hide my large form. Then the door creaked open, and my heart thundered in my chest. I was sure Selius would have heard it, but I knew I could have easily taken the trainee.
Selius sifted through the cloaks, and I thought I was in the clear when his hand landed on the hanger in front of my face. The boy removed the cloak and froze as my eyes shone through the darkness.
I placed a finger to my lips as I grabbed his arm in a vicious grip and pulled a knife from my belt as a subtle threat.
“I won’t breathe a word of this,” Selius whispered as his eyes darted between me and the sharpened steel in my hands. “I don’t care nothing about the silver, Wade. You were always nice to me.”
I released him, nodded my thanks, and gestured for him to hurry. He nodded vigorously as he threw on his cloak, and then he headed back into the hall.
“You alright Selius?” Maldo
n asked. “You look a little pale. Are you coming down with something?”
“Naw, I was thinking how bad it would be if we ran into Wade out there today,” Selius laughed hesitantly as he and Maldon headed out the door. “He would slit us from ear to ear, you know.”
“There’s a lot of things I could do with thirty silvers,” Maldon began, “so you better man up and help me catch him when the time comes, ya hear?”
The door slammed shut behind them, and I waited five minutes before I made my escape. I listened at the cloakroom door, but when I heard nothing I slipped out and into the courtyard. I was almost past the tall hedges when a voice behind me stopped me in my tracks.
“I knew Selius had seen ya,” Maldon sneered as he spit on the moss-covered stones.
I turned back around to face him with my knives already in my hands.
“I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if it comes to that,” I promised him. “Let me go, and we can both forget this ever happened.”
“You think you could hurt me?” Maldon chuckled. “I think you’re the one that’s--”
A blur of red hair and rose-colored silk landed beside Maldon, and he let out a gasp as he clutched at his throat. Blood sprayed out of his neck like a fountain, and then he slumped to his knees before he fell on his face.
“I could have handled him.” I smirked at Penny. “He was only a rookie.”
“Why are you here?” she groaned as she placed a hand sassily on her hip.
“I needed to get something,” I replied with a shrug.
She frowned. “I could have gotten it for you.”
“I already got it,” I chuckled. “Kind of like you already killed Maldon.”
“Are you going to stand here all day in the courtyard of the Guild that wants you killed or are you going to get the hell out of here?” she hissed.
“Sick of me already?” I responded with a wink before I ran beyond the hedges and into the halfling street that bustled with activity.
Luckily, I didn’t run into any other members along the way to the Dwarves’ District. When Hagan wanted someone dead, he meant it, so I knew my name and face would be known from here all the way into the next realm.
But I wasn’t ready to go just yet.
I soon found the shop we’d robbed those many weeks ago. I knew the dwarf who ran it had ties to the Dwarf Mafia, and everyone knew power in this district was split between the mafia and the miners. I figured I could count on them to help as the miners tended to stay on the outskirts of town, and they only had spokespeople to do their work for them. The mafia, on the other hand, took care of their own matters in-house.
I walked into the shop and past the same iron lock I’d easily picked that night those many weeks ago. I still remembered how the cool iron felt beneath my practiced hand and the adrenaline rush it gave me. Now I had something else that gave me a thrill, and it made me a lot more money, or at least it would if the mafia agreed to work with me.
I stepped onto the stone floor and surveyed the walls still lined with the same junky antiques in display cases. Then I approached the counter, and the golden elven lock was still in place on the door behind the shopkeeper.
The elder dwarf stood behind its wooden surface and chattered with his nephew.
“You really gonna marry that lass?” the elder dwarf asked.
“Yes Uncle,” the younger dwarf chuckled. “She might be a hag, but her family has enough money to change any dwarf’s mind.”
The elder dwarf turned his attention to me, and I saw his eyes narrow.
“What do you want, human?” he grunted.
“I’d like to--” I said as I stepped up to the counter so both men had to look up at me.
“Are you just lookin’ for trouble?” he cut me off before he narrowed his eyes. “Hey, don’t I know you from somewhere?”
I took the broken piece of the mirror from my satchel and placed it in front of him.
“I think this is a conversation we should have in your office,” I said as I unfolded the cloth from the mirror piece.
The dwarf’s eyes widened when he beheld the shimmering piece on the counter.
“Uncle … isn’t that--” the younger dwarf began.
“Shut your trap Wemder,” the older dwarf fumed before his eyes shot up to mine. “I think you’re right, human. This is a private matter.”
The shopkeeper turned and opened his office door behind him, then waved for me to enter. His nephew followed me in, and I took a seat in front of the mahogany desk in one of the plush sea-foam chairs. The dwarf slammed the door behind him and sat down behind the expansive desk with the dragonhide gloves still folded neatly on its beautifully crafted edge.
The room was still as cluttered as I remembered it, and it was filled with even more useless junk than it had been the last time I was there.
“How did you get this?” The shopkeeper asked as he gestured to the glass shard in his hand.
“Does it really matter? Consider it a token of good faith so you might consider my business offer,” I replied as I folded my hands casually in my lap.
“Well since you won’t share, why don’t we just ask the mirror,” the elder dwarf stated as he handed the delicate piece to his nephew. “Did you know it took me days to figure out how each and every piece fit back into place? Days boy, only to find out I was missing the final piece to the puzzle.”
I looked to my right as Wemder placed the piece back into the open crevice on its cracked surface. The moment the piece was reunited with its brethren the mirror seemed to liquify and flow like a melted ice cube. I smelled the heavy aroma of magic in the strange air of the office, and my head spun with its heady effects. The jagged lines disappeared as the magic mirror became whole once again.
“What is your heart’s--” the humanoid man in the mirror began before he caught sight of me and pointed a smoky finger in my direction. “You little insolent piece of human trash. Thief! Thief!”
“Calm down, Merith,” the elder dwarf cautioned. “Tell us what happened.”
Merith took a breath, and the billows of smoke around him writhed as he fought to control his emotions. Then the mirror man’s eyes took on an effervescent glow as he began to recount the night I’d stolen from the shop.
“The human took the thief’s key after him and his halfling comrade made me believe he was only a manservant,” Merith continued. “When they asked me for an invisibility cloak, I should have known they were bent on skullduggery, but I showed them the box anyways because I figured they were the buyers you told me about. You should have him executed, sire.”
The elder dwarf’s frown deepened as Merith recounted the tale, and he rubbed his long beard with his stubby fingers when the mirror had finished.
“This is why you’re my best employee Merith, because you always tell the truth and give me good sound advice,” the dwarf informed him.
“But Uncle, I just found you a line on some alcohol!” Wemder whined. “Doesn’t that make me your best employee?”
I froze as I heard the fated words. There was someone else who had made alcohol and was attempting to sell it in the Dwarves’ District like I was. It was some new competition, yes, but it also made my entire business a lot more dangerous. If my competitor wasn’t as careful as I’d been, it could create some dangerous circumstances for my production and sale of whiskey.
“Stop it with that nonsense, Wemder,” the shopkeeper growled as his eyes danced from the young dwarf’s face to mine. “All I have is a story you told me about some alcohol you heard a tale about. Sounds like a load of dwarf shit to me.”
His nephew leaned on the desk as he persisted. “The caterer for my wedding insisted he had a guy who was in the business of selling it,” Wemder continued. “Wouldn’t it be great if I could have alcohol at my wedding in two weeks?”
“You said a caterer?” I asked, and I tried to keep my face calm even as my blood boiled.
The little halfling twerp couldn’t keep his trap sh
ut about the whiskey I’d made. I should have killed him or cut out his tongue when I had the chance.
“Yeah,” Wemder said. “He was a halfling. I think his name was--”
“Adi?” I growled.
The surprised look on the younger dwarf’s face told me all I needed to know. “Yeah, did you hear about the alcohol, too?”
The elder dwarf raised his brows as he sat further back in his chair.
“Yes, because the alcohol producer Adi was talking about is me,” I replied as the elder dwarf’s lips twitched into a bemused grin. “That’s actually why I came here today, to see if we could strike a deal for you to distribute it for me.”
“Even if you can make this mystery alcohol no one has ever seen, why should I help you?” the elder dwarf asked. “According to Merith here, you destroyed his mirror and stole from me.”
“Because I’m the only man in the realm who can supply you, and I think we both know how much you stand to gain from our partnership,” I stated as I pulled the glass bottle from my cloak, set it down on the desk, and then slid it over to him.
The elder dwarf picked up the bottle, uncorked it, then sniffed its clear contents. His eyes widened before he took a swig. Then two, then three. The shopkeeper handed the bottle off to his nephew as runaway droplets dribbled down his gray beard.
“You weren’t lyin’ when you said you made the stuff,” the elder dwarf chuckled with a wide grin. “You didn’t just make it, you perfected it.”
Wemder took a swig before he stared incredulously at the bottle.
“By the night elves, Uncle,” the younger dwarf exclaimed. “I have to have this at my wedding.”
“I don’t see what the big deal is, sire,” Merith mused from within the mirror. “It’s just a liquid, and from what I have seen in all my years, it makes creatures of all sorts act like buffoons.”
“Merith, men would kill to have a bottle of this,” the elder dwarf explained. “This is the stuff that could make me the leader of the district. The miner’s have been vyin’ for my half for years, but this is what will make me the true king. No one would be able to stop us once I have control of it.”