“Which one we watching?” asked Luna.
“Have a pick?” asked Terran.
Luna scrunched up her furry face. “Digger’s Dive.”
“Digger’s Dive it is.”
As advertised in the name, the bar was a dive with the seedier members of Dagrath in attendance. Their self-perceived toughness meant that the place was busy, despite the threat of falling to the Tavern Killer.
After watching from the shadows of a nearby rooftop, Terran wondered if this had been a good pick, since the busy street meant that there were few opportunities for solo kills. The three of them had partially split up. Luna had disappeared onto the other roofs, promising to stay within telepathic range, while Terran and Zara crouched in the darkened cupola of a steepled roof.
They mostly watched in silence, while Luna gave him updates, which usually consisted of rat sightings, until late in the night, when Terran was getting the feeling they’d picked the wrong bar.
“How much longer, boss?” asked Zara, picking her fingernails with a dagger.
Terran kept scanning the street. The last customer to leave Digger’s Dive had been over a half hour ago. He wasn’t sure anyone was left, as the constant, drunken noise had fallen to silence.
“I don’t know,” whispered Terran. “I guess we picked wrong. Maybe we’ll get lucky tomorrow night.”
Zara sheathed her dagger and almost stood into view, when Terran caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He grabbed the redhead, pulling her back down, just as a section of roof across from their location moved. It took Terran a moment to see through the camouflage, as whoever was skulking across the rooftop blended into the dark gray ceramic tiles.
Zara punched him in the shoulder and gestured towards the ground, where a lone customer had come stumbling out of Digger’s Dive. Even from the rooftop, Terran could smell the stench of old alcohol on the flat-faced human as they reoriented themselves in preparation for finding their way home.
The Tavern Killer moved down the wall as if they were a spider, keeping to the shadows but moving closer to the drunken patron. Terran hid behind the edge of the roof. He didn’t want to spook the killer, nor did he want the unsuspecting person to die, but the killer was moving in quickly.
Terran closed his eyes in search of deep stone. Finding none, he prepared to bring forth a stone wall. Before he could, a growling shout erupted from behind him, and when he opened his eyes, Zara was leaping through the air, off the side of the building, to land in a forward roll with her axe out.
The Tavern Killer froze, glancing towards the drunk, who weaved on his feet, only slightly aware of the drama unfolding around him, then back to Zara, raging forward with her axe above her head in full berserker. A flicked dagger went past the drunk and hit Zara in the shoulder but she came on full speed, forcing the Tavern Killer to flee towards Terran’s hidden location.
A summoned wall forced the cloaked figure to leap it like a hurdle, while Zara ran right through it, exploding stone in all directions. The Tavern Killer ran right up the wall, appearing before Terran, who attempted to stun them with a Reverbslam, but they ducked under his blow and scampered up the roof.
Terran climbed after the Tavern Killer, the steep roof slick, making each step treacherous, while his quarry moved adroitly. He paused on the peak, firing a Vocal Slam at their back. It knocked them forward into a roll, but they continued their escape.
Terran thought they’d gotten away until Luna came leaping down from a taller building, tackling the Tavern Killer, giving Terran and Zara—who’d just climbed up—a chance to catch up. The lynx and the killer dueled briefly with dagger and claws, but when the killer saw their approach, they fled again, billowing cloak flowing around their shoulders.
The three of them chased the Tavern Killer to ever higher roofs, until Terran was sure they’d trapped their foe. The cloaked figure turned, face hidden by shadows.
“You’re trapped. Come with us and you’ll live,” said Terran.
The Tavern Killer stood stoically at the precipice, then did a backflip off the roof, disappearing out of sight.
Chapter Fourteen
“Come with us if you want to live?” asked Luna with a snort.
“It was the first thing that came to mind,” said Terran with a lifted shoulder.
They approached the edge, staring down at the fifty-foot drop to the cobblestone street. Zara seemed surprisingly calm.
“I thought we had her,” said Zara, pounding a fist into an open palm.
“You saw her face, too?” asked Terran.
Zara nodded. “Yep.”
“Should have guessed it, too,” said Luna, shaking her head. “Are we gonna?”
“Absolutely.”
There were new guards at the entrance to the Pit. Hulking, thick-necked beasts that looked bigger and dumber than the ones they’d bypassed before.
“I guess Estabario didn’t like what happened last time,” said Zara. “He sure does know how to make a girl proud.”
“Go away,” said the first thug, scowling. “This place isn’t for you.”
“We’re here to see Estabario, he’s expecting us,” said Terran. “You’ll want to let us in.”
Both thugs eyed Zara suspiciously, taking a step back when she crackled a knuckle.
“Recognize us, eh?”
The second, bigger thug grumbled under his breath, letting them into the Pit. The main area was in full swing, bottles breaking and laughter punctuating the party.
“Thug insurance must be hell on the books,” said Terran. “No wonder he has to shake down the taverns.”
This time their entrance didn’t stop the party, though they received plenty of side eyes on their way to Estabario, who sat on his wooden throne with a pretty girl on his lap. As they approached, Terran checked the crowd for the Tavern Killer. He didn’t see her.
“I hope I just got a little richer upon your arrival,” said the crime lord, pushing the girl off his lap to speak to the group.
“You have,” said Terran. “We know who the Tavern Killer is. Collecting the reward should be a formality.”
Estabario snorted, raised his arms towards his thugs, and raised his voice. “You hear this? He says the reward is a formality. I don’t do formalities, I do cash collections. Real gold I can bite. Not fictions.”
Terran’s gut sank a few inches, but he stayed steady. “There’s a woman who works in Flinty Tim’s crew. Cross-eyed. Is she here?”
After a murmuring, Flinty Tim stepped forward. “She’s in back, takin’ a nap. Gets migraines on account of those crossed eyes.”
Estabario raised an eyebrow. “You sayin’ she’s the Tavern Killer?”
“Yes,” said Terran. “I can prove it.”
The crime lord motioned towards one of this thugs, who disappeared in back. Moments later, a bleary-eyed woman came out of the back. Her clothes were disheveled and she walked timidly. The fiction that she presented briefly made Terran reconsider his memory, but he knew who he’d seen do a backflip off the roof.
“You sayin’ that Cross-eyed Mary is the Tavern Killer,” said Flinty Tim, laughing. “She can barely keep her hair from being a bee’s nest.”
“Hornet’s nest, you dolt,” Cross-eyed Mary fired back, then resumed her passive pose. “And I ain’t no Tavern Killer, no matter what these people say.”
Estabario gestured towards Cross-eyed Mary. “The Tavern Killer can supposedly run up walls and can kill a full-grown Crag Troll with a fingernail. You’re saying that is her?”
“She escaped across the rooftop and did a backflip to the ground, fifty feet below, but when she did, we saw her face,” said Terran.
“A face ain’t no proof,” said Estabario, flattening his lips. His eyes glinted menace at them.
“Luna got a swipe at her leg, left a mark,” said Terran. “Check and you’ll see it.”
Cross-eyed Mary stepped back when Flinty Tim moved towards her to check. She froze, searching for an escape.
“Either you show your leg, or you better be able to leap your way out of this room and this city,” said Estabario.
A group of thugs formed a circle around her. She slowly and reluctantly lifted the bottom of her pants, showing four parallel still bloody wounds on her calf.
“Take her in back, I’ll deal with her later,” said Estabario with a head nod. “But make sure she doesn’t have anything on her that could help her escape.”
The thugs grabbed Cross-eyed Mary, whose eyes returned to their normal position as the big guys walked her into the back.
You have completed the quest “Stop the Tavern Killer.”
You have gained experience and increased reputation in Dagrath.
One of the thugs brought Estabario a ring that they’d taken from Mary. He examined it briefly before tossing it to Terran.
You have received a Ring of Spider Climbing.
Ring of Spider Climbing
Grants the ability to move across vertical surfaces as if they were horizontal.
“A little bonus for taking care of a sticky problem for me,” said Estabario. “And I don’t want that getting back to her somehow.”
Terran immediately slipped the ring onto his finger. “Thank you. I can assume that the reward for the Tavern Killer can be applied to the Golden Kumquat’s debt and this makes us even.”
When the crime lord squinted at Terran, he worried that he would be double-crossed, but a broad smile formed across his face.
“Of course,” said Estabario. “The Golden Kumquat’s debt is cleared.”
You have completed the quest “Find a way to eliminate Della’s debt.”
You have gained experience and increased reputation in Dagrath.
If you weren’t already sleeping with her, this would have sealed the deal.
You have completed the quest “Collect Della’s debt in exchange for information.”
You have gained experience and increased reputation in Dagrath.
Terran cleared his throat. “About that information. There’s a book that I’m aware that you may have. It’s called Places of Power.
“I am aware of this book,” said Estabario.
“And you have it?”
Estabario sighed. “I’m afraid that it is no longer in my possession. I sold it to a wealthy collector in the Northam district for a goodly sum. His name is Nostram Loganspire. He’s quite a stingy man with his books, so you might find it very hard to pry it from his ink-stained fingers.”
You have been offered a quest: Find a way to get the book from Nostram Loganspire.
This will be worse than trying to steal gold from a dragon.
Terran sighed heavily. “That is unfortunate, but thank you for the information. You are a man of your word.”
Estabario lifted his mug in their direction. “Good luck with Nostram.”
Terran and his companions left the Pit and returned to the Golden Kumquat. Della was ecstatic, of course, and she showed her thanks in many ways that evening. After his bout of pleasurable exercise, he fell asleep and dreamt of Andelain imploring him to hurry. The image of her was fading, as if she were disappearing completely, and once she did, Gneiss Glen would fall to ruin.
Chapter Fifteen
“Do you know anything about Nostram Loganspire from the Northam district?” Terran asked Della the next day as she was cleaning behind the bar.
Zara looked up from her breakfast of two dozen scrambled eggs and a rasher of bacon. Della squeezed the rag into the waste pit, screwing up her face.
“Can’t say I do,” said Della. “The Northam district is for the elites only. You’ll have a difficult time getting in. They have guards and Watch Owls for security. They’re the true rulers of the city, but they never step foot in it.”
“Are we gonna try talking to Nostram?” asked Zara, a piece of bacon hovering before her lips.
Terran rotated his new ring around his finger. “I don’t think so. We’ve already spent too much time in Dagrath. The Mother Tree is dying. We can’t screw around talking to him, especially as Estabario warned us that he would be loath to give up one of his books.”
“Maybe he’d let us just look at it? Don’t you only need information from it?” asked Zara.
Terran sighed. “Zoras nearly bit my head off for just touching a book because I’d ‘sullied the leather and bent the binding with my oafish touch.’ I can’t imagine Nostram is any different, especially if the book is valuable.”
Zara stroked her red demon arm. “I bet this baby would really let him know we’d be gentle stewards of his properties.”
Terran snorted. “At least we’re on the same page now.”
“How in the Abyss will Thunderlips and Avalanche Hooves be sneaky?” asked Luna from the couch near the fireplace. “If Terran isn’t announcing our presence to the heavens, Zara is shouting ‘Love tap’ before punching someone.”
“Thunderlips?” asked Terran, eyebrow raised.
Zara chuckled, placing her hand against her chest. “Avalanche Hooves?”
Luna rolled her eyes. “You have to use what’s available.”
Terran held up his hand, tapping on his new ring. “This will help us get in. You’re already sneaky, Luna, and Zara can climb. The three of us should be able to find a way into the Northam district. The only problem is we don’t know where his place is.”
“That much I do,” said Della, squinting with thought. “The name Loganspire rings a bell. I recall a customer talking about building a literal spire on his mansion. He wanted to have the tallest house in the district. It seems there’s a contest amongst the oligarchs. The guy said Loganspire’s spire had a roost in it for a nest of Watch Owls.”
“Great,” said Terran. “So he’s got security on site. But at least we know what his house looks like. Thanks, Della.”
She winked. “You can thank me later.”
Her glance brought a cocktail of desire and regret. The time spent in her arms was as pleasurable as a drug, but his heart still longed for Chanterelle, even after their disappointing meeting. But at least he’d solved Della’s debt problem, which would keep her in Dagrath.
On the way to the Northam district, they passed the gladiator arena. A barker was announcing the evening’s event. Heavenly Death would be taking on a squad of Crag Trolls in heavy armor. A painting of the lead gladiator graced the exterior wall of the round building, showing a blue-skinned woman in gossamer armor leaping gracefully through the air while firing an arrow. Her face was hidden by a painted mask, which made her look like a faerie or living butterfly, especially with her pale hair dancing behind her as she flew.
“Come see Heavenly Death demolish the Crag Boys! A fight like you’ve never seen before! A one-woman artist of death!”
Zara stopped before the painting. “I bet she’s beautiful.”
“You two would make a good couple. Fire and Ice,” said Terran.
“Ice? ’Cause of her blue skin?” she asked.
Terran gestured towards the painting. “She’s a bellasi elf, or Iceflower elf. Cousin to the Rock Leaf and Goldroot elves.”
“Wish we had time to stop in for a match,” said Zara, eyeing the poster.
“Maybe when this is all over,” said Terran. “Let’s get to the Northam district. We got a book to steal.”
The rest of the morning, they cased the district, taking long slow walks around the exterior walls to understand the defenses. There were two gates, each one heavily defended by a cadre of elite guards, while the walls—forty feet tall—were topped with Watch Owl cages. The constructs, in the form of an owl, never slept and kept watch with a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view.
“This isn’t going to be easy,” said Terran, sitting on a bench near a noisy fountain. The crashing water kept anyone from overhearing their conversation.
Luna sat on her haunches. “Impossible is more like it.”
“We can’t go over the wall, not with so many Watch Owls, but what if we dug under it?” asked Zara.
“Could you do some crazy earth magic or something? Blow us a hole through the ground?”
“I searched for deep stone, but this whole area was built on old farmland. If there’s rock that I can affect, it’s too far below the surface to make a difference, and we don’t have enough time to dig through it manually,” said Terran.
“That bad, eh?” asked Zara, mouth twisted.
Terran paused, looking away to the west. “I can feel her in my bones. She’s dying. Grimchar took too much of her essence for his rebirth, drained it away. If we can’t find the place of power soon...I’m afraid of what’s going to happen to the Glen.”
Zara searched his face. “What happens at the place of power? How does that help the Mother Tree?”
The prophecy and his dreams told him there was only one way, but he didn’t want to tell his friends that, or they might not help his quest.
“One thing at a time,” said Terran, forcing a smile. “First we get past the wall of Watch Owls and steal a book. Then we can worry about the next step.”
Zara sighed. “I just don’t know how the three of us are going to sneak into the Northam district. Maybe you should just use your teleport thing to hop inside.”
“I wish I could,” said Terran. “There were runes on the wall that block such extradimensional movement. I even tried to use the skill near the wall, but the runes kept my skill from triggering.”
“Bummer,” said Zara. “Maybe there’s no way in.”
“There’s always a way in,” said Luna. “I bet two of us could make distractions while the third member ran over the wall.”
After a moment of contemplation, Terran said, “It’s as good a plan as any. I assume I’ll be the one running up the wall?”
“Well, I can’t read,” said Luna, “so that knocks me out. And Zara probably can’t climb a sheer forty-foot wall by herself.”
“I was willing to try,” said Zara, fluttering her eyes.
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