Chase left out the part about finding Thomasi’s hiding spot. Or possible hiding spot. So instead she talked about meeting Pwner, then checking the markets for Yubai.
“There’s something going on in that part of town. I can’t be sure, but I think Yubai’s in good hands. I have a feeling he came from there to begin with,” she said, shifting her gaze over to Speranza.
“It’s possible,” the player said. “I spent a fair amount of time at the markets during the height of the game. The ones in Gnome and elsewhere, and they were full of plenty of people like Yubai selling gold. And other things, not all of them so nice. The game was part of something called the darknet, back home, and there were a lot of shady goods and services that got traded.”
“And then we got back here,” Renny said. “But I have a question.”
“Yes?” Chase asked.
“Shouldn’t we let Cagna out? We’re just going to have to tell the whole story over again for her.”
“Ah!” Chase rubbed her eyes. “Sorry. I’m still running on low sleep.”
The level-up had refreshed her... sort of. But it was no substitute for eight hours of horizontal rest.
And her friend was probably climbing the cloth-lined walls by now. “Yes. Let’s get her out. Carefully. Ah... Bastien, could you?”
“Could I what?”
A minute later Carmina had the lootbag open and Bastien’s hand was gone to the elbow, rummaging around inside. “She probably knows how your arm looks,” Chase said, absent-mindedly. “Less chance of you drawing back a stump... ah, I can fix it if she does that.”
But it didn’t come to that, and with a pop and a glimmer, Cagna was there, clasping Bastien’s wrist with one hand and aiming her pistol at Carmina with the other.
“Down on your knees!” the dog-woman barked. “Down! Now! You have till ten! Onetwothreefourfive—”
“Whoa whoa whoa!” the catgirl squealed and hit the ground. “Don’t shoot! Seriously, what the hell is wrong with—”
Only then did Cagna take in the rest of her surroundings, eyes flicking over her muzzle before she holstered the pistol. “We’re either safe or screwed,” she concluded.
“Mostly safe,” Chase reassured her. Then she hugged Cagna’s leg, Renny got the other one, and The Muscle Wizaard’s arms folded around the rest of her.
Carmina muttered something uncomplimentary as she got back up, and Speranza cleared her throat, but Chase ignored them. Her friends were back together...
...most of them.
“So what do you remember?” Chase asked Cagna once Bastien saw fit to release her.
“Dropping my... connection’s name got me through the checkpoint at the bridge,” Cagna said, glancing at Carmina through narrowed eyes. “I set up an appointment with Sir Barriano, since he was the acknowledged authority down there. Found an inn to wait for my appointment to come up. I was napping when I woke up in a sack. And then a very familiar bastard was there when somebody saw fit to pull me out.”
“Pwner,” Chase said. “We’re... sort of allies now.”
“I don’t think I can do that,” Cagna said, staring harder at Carmina.
“I don’t think we have a choice,” Chase replied.
“That how it is?”
“We’re not asking you to do anything you wouldn’t do normally,” Carmina said, leaning against a wall, glaring at her fellow beast-kin.
“Yeah? And what did you do with Yubai?”
They brought Cagna back up to speed.
“I don’t like it,” Cagna said, rubbing her muzzle. She hadn’t stopped watching Carmina since she’d left Bastien’s embrace. “We have no guarantees that you’ll play straight with us.”
“Neither do we,” Carmina shrugged. “But we’re not asking you to do anything you aren’t doing anyway. You’re trying to figure out who the players are and what the board looks like. We lose nothing by sharing information, and we can both use it to get what we want. After that we go our own ways.”
“Do we?” Cagna asked. “I’m sworn to hunt down dangerous criminals and your squeeze is one of the worst I know.”
Carmina’s hackles rose, literally, hair stirring around her neck and flexing all the way up her scalp. “He sent me to you as a token of his trust. And I’m NOT on your list. He knows of your code, and he’s not asking you to break it. Just bend it a bit.”
“I think we can do it, extend a bit of trust here. For now,” Chase said, tapping her fingers absently on the sofa. Just a quick knock.
Cagna’s eyes flicked down for a second, and Chase prayed to Hoon. The dog-woman’s charisma wasn’t as good as it could be, not compared to the others...
But finally, she nodded, and Chase let her breath out as there were no tells, no oddities in her reply. “I’ll be watching you,” Cagna said, stabbing a gloved finger at Carmina. “And the second you turn on us I’ll take you down. And your boss. And anyone else he cares to bring. You remember that, Burglar.”
Carmina’s reply was a hiss, but she folded her arms and nodded the most grudging of grudge nods.
“So, what about you?” Chase said, changing the subject in an attempt to dispel the brittle silence. “What happened after she grabbed us, Speranza?”
“Not much good, I’m afraid,” Speranza said. “Renny was the only thing holding back the steam, and I had to keep singing and healing to stay alive. It was touch and go until the boat floated downstream and the heat dissipated a bit. With the southern shore in an uproar, I managed to manhandle the boat to the north and sneak back here. Although something good did come out of this.” She gestured to the luggage.
There was an unfamiliar crate in there... no, not so unfamiliar after all. Chase recalled having seen it among the Smuggler’s cargo. “You stole one of his crates?” she blinked.
“The man got turned into a boiled sausage. I salvaged one,” Speranza corrected with a sniff. “And I’m glad I did.” She flipped the lid off.
Dozens upon dozens of bolts gleamed black in sunlight streaming through the dusty windows. It touched upon the silvery runes twisting and crawling over them, played off feathers dyed bright green, and glistened on the arrowheads topping each shaft.
“Magical, every one,” The Muscle Wizaard said in a reverent tone. “We had Dolce’s mother look at them. They’re made to kill dragons.”
Chase whistled. “Okay. Okay, this is... maybe fate. Still,” she frowned. “I don’t know if we even want to kill the dragon. There’s another dragon in the picture.”
“What?” Cagna asked.
They filled her in on what she’d missed.
Cagna sighed. “This is getting complicated. We need a tackboard.”
“Not yet,” Chase said. “There’s one more thing you need to know about. There’s a dragon cult, and they have my sister.”
That took a little more explanation. Carmina listened in with wide eyes. “You didn’t mention this to Pwner.”
“No, because once we get her back you’ll tell him and it doesn’t matter for the grand scheme of things anyway,” Chase replied. “We’ll recover her then move on to the rest of your goals.”
“Do we have time for that?” Carmina asked. “Not to sound heartless, but we’re on a timeframe here. If the cult has her, they have a reason for keeping her alive. They’re not going to kill her without a very good reason.”
“I’ve been giving it a fair amount of thought,” Chase said. “Unless something’s changed, there’s only one reason they could have my sister. And that’s to use as leverage against me.”
“Why would they want to blackmail you?” Speranza asked.
“I’m not the only diviner around. They probably have a few as well. And my divination showed that we’re going to have to make a choice whether or not to fight a dragon. So, I can see why they have my sister captive, to make sure I choose not to interfere.”
“You’re a wild card,” Carmina confirmed. “You and your crew. We didn’t expect you to make a difference at Arretzi, but
you came through unscathed.”
“Mostly,” Chase said, staring at her, remembering Thomasi’s face when Pwner caught up with them.
“Mostly,” Carmina said, looking away. It was hard to tell under her fur, but her body language might have betrayed a touch of guilt.
“Crossbows,” Cagna said, examining the bolts, holding one up to the light. “You think our friends the vigilantes can round up a few?”
“Maybe. Or we could offer those to Sir Barriano,” Chase said, shifting her attention to the crate. “I have a feeling that either he or some of his people were the ones that shipment was supposed to go to.”
“I left the rest in the boat on the riverbank, but I did cover it with a tarp before I left,” Speranza offered. “They might still be there.”
Chase nodded. “Go and check. Take Carmina with you, her lootbag can carry all the crates at once if they’re still there.”
“All right. Well, come then Renny,” Carmina smiled.
“No need,” Chase said.
Speranza blinked. “What? I thought...” her eyes slid over to Carmina. “Ah...” she breathed.
“Ah no,” Chase shook her head. “We’re all friends here. Everyone’s going to play nice.” She smiled. “Besides, Bastien was his full self when I opened the door. I think this proves we can trust you not to backslide,” Chase said.
Speranza beamed. “Of course!”
“Am I missing something?” Carmina’s eyes flicked between them.
“No. We’re good. See you when you get back,” Chase waved.
A few minutes later, after she’d watched them through a window to make sure they were far enough away, Chase turned back to her friends. “Okay. We’re not trusting Carmina a bit.”
“I’m glad to hear you’re not stupid,” Cagna groused.
“Pwner wants to use us as his stalking goat. We’ll play along for now, but the mission hasn’t changed.”
“What about Speranza?” Renny asked, still looking through the window. “Do we really trust her now?”
“No. But it’s a moot point. Something I set up happened, and she’s no longer as big a threat. Still a threat, but not a game-ender.”
“Like the dragon’s shadow?” Bastien asked.
“Not entirely what I meant, but sure. That’s a bigger priority.” Chase grimaced. “This is... I have the feeling we’re going to have to save the world. I’m pretty sure Hoon and Nebs and maybe more gods are maneuvering things to stop whatever’s going on. Or trying to, anyway.”
“So how do we do that?” Renny asked.
“There’s a dragon at the heart of it. He passed us over last night, and we almost died. We weren’t the target, I’m pretty sure, but even a casual nearness to him almost ended us. If it comes to a fight we’re dead, so we have to make it not a fight.” Chase said, standing up from the sofa and starting to pace. “But we don’t even know anything about him. So who does?”
“The dragon cult,” Bastien rumbled.
“Precisely. We’re going to raid the heck out of them, and get my sister back, and find out whatever they know.”
“Okay,” Cagna said. “That does seem like our best chance to figure out the dragon’s agenda.”
“But what if the dragon’s shadow comes from Madeline?” Renny asked.
“That’s where you come in,” Chase smiled.
“I do? Yay! Wait. How?”
“She’s a tiny toy dragon, right?”
“Bigger than me.”
“I’m bigger than you so that’s not saying much. Relatively tiny, right?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“So, she’s probably hiding somewhere out of the way. But you’ve got illusions. We’re going to figure out how to attract her attention, and get her to a place where we can meet her without bringing the rest of the city or the male dragon down on all of our heads.”
“Okay! I think I have some ideas,” Renny said. “I just need to find a safe place to do this at.”
“We’ll figure it out. That leaves three things to worry about and two allies,” Chase held up two fingers on each hand.
“Corinthia?” Bastien asked.
“She’s one ally. She and the Ashen are the only ones we can trust for certain. But there’s another. I think he took Yubai to a safe place, and I think he’d be willing to help... if we can convince him to trust us.”
“You mean the custodian?” Renny piped up.
“Yes. There’s something going on there. And when he drew a card, it came up the five of hearts.”
“You’ve lost me,” Bastien said.
“Wait. Five of hearts. Wasn’t that what you drew in that last fortuna?” Cagna asked.
“Yes! It was the card that came up for our best ally!” Chase grinned.
“Wow...” Renny breathed.
“The problem is, we have to convince him of that,” Chase said, and rubbed her eyes. “And then there’s the other problems. Three of them. Pwner’s one of them, maybe the worst one.”
“And we’ve got his agent watching our every move,” Cagna groused. “I’m not convinced he values her as highly as she thinks he does. He’s putting her into danger, by putting her at our mercy.”
“I’m not either,” Chase confessed. “It didn’t miss my notice that Pwner was a heck of a lot more charismatic than the last time I met him. Combined with Carmina mentioning how he could shuffle his jobs around, and I’m wondering if that’s a part of his play. If he really needs a face as much as he said he does. Why couldn’t he grab a bunch of jobs that boost his people skills?”
“He could, so long as his Guildmaster or a Lieutenant is within reach,” Cagna mused. “He might be running solo down here.”
“Except he was way more charismatic, had to be. Something changed.” Chase shook her head. “I wish I could have sized him up. Too risky, though.”
“So how do we handle him?” Renny asked.
“We don’t, not easily. Give him what he wants, which is a way to fight against the dragon or the Inquisition and run the other way very fast,” Chase said. “But that brings me to the second problem, and that’s Sir Barrriano. He’s got Thomasi.”
That brought gasps of surprise and relief all around, and Chase quickly explained what she’d found during her flight from the Basilica. “I can’t be certain, but it’s the best lead we’ve got. And I don’t think Carmina caught my outburst in that old chapel. We were busy at the time.”
“Why is it a problem? If the Knight didn’t give him to the Inquisition, then Thomasi’s probably hiding there?”
“Yes, but in a few days the Inquisition will grab him regardless,” Chase said, patting her cards. “The divinations were rock solid on that. It’s not a safe location, but I don’t know how to approach Barriano and get Thomasi back. Not after that last shambles of an attempt. He won’t trust me or Renny again, and I’m sorry but you’re guilty by association,” Chase nodded to Cagna.
“We know Sir Barriano’s motivations,” Cagna said. “If we can recover the rest of the Smuggler’s cargo, and it’s similar dragon-killing stuff, then we could trade it back for Thomasi.”
“Possible.” She sighed. “Which brings us to the last problem. The Inquisition. They’re keeping quiet. I don’t know where they are. This city... everything I read in the files we liberated suggested that Gnome is one of their strongholds, but they’re invisible. They didn’t break cover, not even in the face of a dragon’s raid.”
“They could be embedded within Barriano’s people,” Cagna pointed out. “They like working with authorities and manipulating things behind the throne. It would fit their modus operandi.”
“Which makes recovering Thomasi all the more problematic.” Chase rubbed her eyes. She was so, so tired. “All right. Let’s focus on how we’re going to settle things with the dragon cult...”
CHAPTER 20: MOONLIT REVERIE
The darkness passed, and Chase sat up.
Your Short Vision skill is now level 17!
She fo
und a plush fox muzzle in her face and a pair of glass eyes studying her with excitement. “Anything?” Renny asked.
“No,” she gently pushed him aside, and slid off the cot. “They’re warded against my skills, I think. Everything was dark.”
“Well that’s okay. According to Cagna, groups have been leaving the compound every hour or so. There’s barely anyone left in the courtyard.”
“The courtyard’s not what I’m worried about. It’s the ones in the buildings that we can’t see,” Chase rubbed her eyes. “Has she had any luck with Scouter?”
“Yeah. Most of them are around level twelve. Mercenaries and Knights and Clerics and Wizards, mostly.”
“Clerics...” Chase reached for a cup of water and downed it, putting her thoughts in order. “Who’s their god?”
“Several. Mainly Ritaxis, Nurph, and Aeterna.”
“That’s an odd mix,” Chase shook her head. “Can’t read any significance into it. At least they’re not worshiping the dragon.”
“They wouldn’t be Clerics if they were,” Renny pointed out. “I don’t think Cultists can worship dragons either.”
“There might be a Tier two job for that, I don’t know.” Chase hopped up, dodging a low-hanging beam by instinct alone.
Their temporary headquarters was much less nifty than their borrowed apartment back in the piazza. It was on the edge of one of the burned paths that led up to the compound and tilted a bit due to the lower floor missing a few supports. The cold winter air leaked in through tiny gaps in the walls and floors that had resulted from the upper story settling.
They’d thrown cloth over the larger gaps, heavy cloth to keep the light of their candles inside and keep the worst of the weather outside. It helped; it was better than they found it, but as Chase sniffed and found herself congested, she knew that she’d be catching a cold from this at some point. Halvens weren’t made for doing without comforts.
Then again, she could just pass the cold along. Her hands fumbled in the dim light until she found the jar she was looking for and slid the container full of earthworms into her belt.
Her hand shook, just a second. Nerves.
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