by John Nest
"Where did you get that?" asked Jack with a worried face.
"I got it from you," smugly replied Smoke. "You might have stolen my gems, but I got something from you as well."
Smoke wanted to tease the boy for stealing from him.
"No way!" retorted Jack. "There's no way that you got that from me."
The boy quickly searched through his pocket and whipped out a similar parchment.
"See! Intruder! Help!" cried out Jack once again.
Smoke quickly realized that it was not a good time to get at back at Jack. He hurriedly ran to him and whispered. "Calm down. Daniel sent me. He's the one who gave me this paper."
Jack stopped shouting, but twenty OrkElves had already charged out from the cave. They were equipped with light-armor and long-spears.
"Quickly, remove the shackles," said Jack in a hushed tone.
Smoke followed the boy's instruction and played along.
"What was that?" yelled out Jack to the OrkElves who just arrived. "I was just testing how fast your response time was, and it was slow! You can be sure that I'm going to inform Cynar about this."
"Stop pulling our legs, Jack!" yelled one of the OrkElf guards. "We'll be the ones to tell Cynar about your pranks!"
The group of OrkElves then returned inside the cave.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Smoke pulled Jack closer. "Why did you believe me?"
"Well, Daniel doesn't recruit any Sonstwelters to join Cynar. But I have to do it otherwise both of us would be whipped." replied Jack flatly.
"So, what's the plan?" asked Jack. "Do you have an army waiting for your signal?"
Smoke saw Jack look behind him, all excited. He shook his head.
"No," Smoke quickly answered. "Step one is you return my bag of gems."
Jack gave a blank expression. "I can not do that. I already gave it to Cynar. I give everything to Cynar when I return to the Den."
"Really?" asked Smoke dubiously.
"Honest," replied Jack, making an imaginary cross over his heart.
Smoke let out a deep sigh. "Fine, then just introduce me to Cynar. Tell him I'm your latest recruit."
"What? Aren't you hear to rescue us?" asked Jack, taken aback.
"I am, but I need to know more before I can execute the rescue," replied Smoke sincerely.
"Damn it, Daniel!" cursed Jack. "Why did you have to pick such a weak Sonstwelter."
"Hey, who says I'm weak?" asked an insulted Smoke.
Jack shrugged his shoulders. "What was your name again? Faux was it?"
Smoke's eyebrows met, but he nodded to Jack's question.
'Maybe I should just leave this Quest alone and get back to my search for the Magietrois,' Smoke thought sourly.
"This way, Faux, but I warn you. Cynar can be really tricky," said Jack, leading the way into the cave. "He even has his own casting circle of truth."
"Don't worry about me," said Smoke. "Just make sure that you don't give out any indication that Daniel was the one who sent me."
"I don't think that's a problem," replied Jack. "Cynar already thinks that Daniel is dead. One of our scouts in the city spotted him being chased by a bunch of Sonstwelters and didn't find any sign of him."
Jack then turned around to face him. "By the way, how did you do that?"
Smoke shrugged and gave him a winsome smile.
The young aristocrat shook his head and groaned.
'Good thing I made sure to disguise Daniel well. Otherwise, Cynar's spies could have spotted us leaving the city,' thought a pleased Smoke, as he followed Jack into Diebe Den.
Suddenly, a notification window popped up when he entered the cave.
+ Entered Diebe Den
Lair of Cynar and his Thieves. It is said that Cynar has employed the services of wandering OrkElves, and has recruited them by the thousands. This cave is home to his captive children and thoughtless thugs.
'That is, good to know,' thought Smoke, amused.
Then, a powerful stench overcame his senses. The poor ventilation of the Thieves' lair did not help the sweaty OrkElves passing through the tight tunnels.
Several light stones lined on the walls of the cave illuminated the passageway, Smoke wondered where they could have gotten so many of them. He was shortly answered when he saw several bags of the glowing rocks being socketed into the walls by OrkElf children.
"Let me guess, those light stones were donated by unknowing Sonstwelters?" Smoke asked Jack.
"Yeah," replied Jack with a mischievous smile. "I was not very good at it at first, but after Cynar whipped me into shape, I got this good."
Jack then waved a piece of jerky in front of him.
Smoke was taken aback. It looked very much like one of his smoked ancient bison meat. "Hey that's—"
"Tut, tut, tut. Come now, Faux, don't make a scene," said Jack with a grin, happily munching on his stolen jerky. "Are you not the one who told me to keep a low profile. You do not one Cynar to suspect us now, do you?"
Smoke let out a deep sigh. "Fine, fine. Where's Cynar anyway?"
They passed through a series of tunnels which had no end in sight. All of them were filled with OrkElf guards. Equipped with the same armor and weapon as the ones who stepped outside when Jack called them. Smoke's Cunning of the Dire Fox sensed several more people inside the cave, at least three-thousand.
Then, they passed through a corridor with bars on the side. One of the dungeons had a little girl, sobbing loudly.
"Geisel, don't worry. Everything's fine now," suddenly said Jack. "Daniel is in a better place."
The little girl stopped crying and stepped in front of Jack. From behind bars, she quickly grabbed his clothes and pulled him hard against her metal dungeon.
"You promised me!" she yelled out. "You promised me that he would not die!"
"Geisel, calm down," pleaded Jack. "I know I promised that you would always be with him, but some things were unavoidable."
Then, a tall slender figure appeared from behind them, and pulled Geisel's hand off Jack. Smoke felt uneasy upon seeing the man dressed in black Assassin's clothes. His Cunning of the Dire Fox did not pick up on his presence at all. He wore a hooded robe, black gloves and a full face-mask just like Smoke's.
"Geisel, your brother is dead," said the mysterious man in black. "If Jack did not beg for your life, I would have ended it as soon as I heard of Daniel's demise."
The little girl hurriedly shrank back to her dungeon, far from the reach of the Assassin.
"But if you insist on being a pest, I'll kill you right now," threatened the unknown man. "Even if Jack offers his life for yours."
"Come now, Cynar, you don't have to scare the girl," chided Jack. "She just lost her brother, cut her some slack."
TWANG
Jack's feet flew off the ground, and he was pinned hard against the iron bars. As Jack was being choked, the masked Assassin let out a sarcastic chuckle. "Jack, Jack, Jack, just because you're currently my best bait, doesn't mean that you're irreplaceable."
"Ack, Cynar, ack, I can't breathe," said a choking Jack.
THUD
Cynar released the boy, and his body slumped on the ground. Cynar then turned to Smoke and stared into his eyes.
"I don't trust a man with a mask," Cynar said to Smoke. "You know nothing good will ever come out from doing business with them."
"Same here," said Smoke with a clenched fist, preparing to make a strike.
Cynar then kicked the downed Jack. "Oi, is this your latest recruit?"
"Huh?" Jack rubbed his neck where he was strangled by Cynar. "Yeah, yeah. His name is Faux, his really powerful. Faux, this is Cynar, the King of Thieves."
"What kind of Job does he have?" asked Cynar.
"What kind of Job?" repeated Jack. "Uhm, well, he is a very powerful—"
"I'm an Earth Elementalist," interjected Smoke.
"Yeah, yeah, I was going to say a Terra Magi since his strength closely resembled the power of Ayert," added Jack quickl
y, slowly getting up on his feet.
"Hm. Such bold claims," said Cynar. "Let me see it, let me see your power."
Cynar then walked towards the direction where they came from.
"Ayert was a good friend of mine," suddenly said Cynar as they walked towards the cave's exit. "But I could honestly say that he was powerful enough to become a Prime Wizard of a city."
Smoke gulped. 'Am I supposed to come up with a power comparable to Ouragan's?' he asked himself.
The walk towards the exit was quicker than Smoke expected. All of the OrkElf guards they met along the way joined them.
When they reached outside, more than two-hundred OrkElves were assembled. Together with Cynar and Jack, they watched Smoke, waiting to see what he would do.
Standing by himself, Smoke was twenty meters farther away from all of them.
"Well, show me," ordered Cynar. He was taller than any of the OrkElves, but clearly more slender.
"Come on, Faux, show him," said Jack, next to the masked Cynar.
Smoke took out his Digger's Wand and took in a deep breath. "I can do this," he muttered to himself.
With a wave of his wand, he targeted Cynar, Jack, and all of the OrkElves, dropping them into a trench he freshly dug.
Then, he used his Earth Manipulation to create earth-bars over the trench, trapping all of them inside it.
CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP
Smoke then heard the distinct sound of slow clapping from behind him, and he instinctively turned around and saw Cynar.
'Just what kind of Assassin is he?' wondered Smoke to himself.
"That was impressive," said Cynar, continuing his dramatic clap. "You even trapped all of the guards. Oh, and even young Jack as well."
"Hahaha," Cynar laughed loudly.
"You know, if I was not waiting to see you make a move, you might have caught me as well," Cynar said to Smoke.
Suddenly, Smoke felt a knife against his throat.
"Did you come here to kill me, or did you really come to work for me?" Cynar questioned Smoke.
A casting circle suddenly appeared around them. It looked similar to Baldaquin's casting circle of truth. Despite having a knife pointed at his neck, Smoke still easily recognized the slight differences in the casting circle.
He closed his eyes and focused on what to say. Gambling on his determination, Smoke answered. "I've come to work for you, but if I don't like your terms, I will kill you."
Then, the casting circle of truth gave out a green light.
"Hm. That's very bold of you to say," said Cynar. The Assassin retracted his knife from Smoke's windpipe. "Release Jack and my men. Then, we will discuss business."
* * * * * *
Smoke sat on a small wooden stool across Cynar. The supposedly King of Thieves sat in a same stool as him. The two of them were alone in a confined room in one of the inner chambers of Diebe Den. The room was illuminated by seven light stones lined around the walls. Aside from the two stools, the room only had a small desk on the corner with four books on top of it.
"First, remove your mask, and then we'll talk," ordered Cynar.
"I don't suppose you'll do the same, now, will you?" Smoke asked Cynar.
Cynar guffed and shook his head.
Seeing no one else there, Smoke casually removed his earth-mask.
"Oh, so, you really are a DarkElf," said Cynar. "I expected a big scar on your face. Or a big ugly nose at least. I don't see why you need a mask."
"Well, I have my reasons, but what about you? Are you a HighElf? A Lioumerean? I can't tell from all your clothes," replied Smoke.
"It doesn't matter what I am," answered Cynar. "All that matters is you have the abilities that will fit perfectly for the job."
"What job?" asked Smoke.
Cynar did not answer, but asked another question instead. "Tell me, what do you know about Orks?"
"Not much really," replied Smoke. "Just that they travel in hordes and that they like to pillage villages."
Cynar huffed. "That's not much at all."
"There are several Ork Tribes, and one of them has been constantly harassing my village," explained Cynar. "Have you heard of Newt Village?"
Smoke shook his head, pretending to have no clue as to what he was talking about.
"It used to be an OrkElf settlement," began Cynar. "There are hundreds of them scattered all around Vitzytl Kingdom. Heck, even Thanotl Kingdom has plenty of those as well."
Then, Cynar took out a small black knife and played with it. The knife dance around his black gloves, not once injuring him.
"I made good use of the thousands of OrkElves drifting from one settlement to the next, and I made it into the village," said Cynar.
"I see, and how is that related to the job you're offering me?" queried Smoke.
"You see, Faux, these bothersome Orks pillage villages," began Cynar. "Sure, they leave settlements alone. But once that place becomes a village, those stupid Orks come rushing in. I personally don't know why, but I'm not taking any of that crap!"
Smoke nodded. "So, you want me to help you defend it?"
Cynar waved his hand in dismissal. "No, no. I already have several Sonstwelters for that job. I'm already spending a fortune for my Newt's defense, but it's worth it. Last month those stupid Orks tried invading my village, but the Sonstwelters and my trained OrkElves killed all of them. Of course, I did lose Ayert, but still..."
Then, the Assassin carried his chair and placed it next to Smoke's.
"No, I have a more savage job for you," Cynar said to him.
"You see, I just recently heard that an UrukHai Horde attacked Lahm Village yesterday," began Cynar. "They were successful on their assault and they looted the village clean. They even wiped out all of the Sonstwelters and the Zectians that resisted."
Smoke let out a deep sigh, as he remembered what Esper and Colere told him about the Ork Horde invasions.
"Hey, you're not a fan of the Orks are you? Are you?!" Cynar suddenly shouted ask Smoke.
"Me? Of course not!" retorted a surprised Smoke.
"Good. I just want us to be clear," said Cynar. "Anyway, the UrukHai Horde may have been successful, but they suffered tremendous losses. In fact, my sources told me that they now number less than a thousand."
Cynar then reached inside his pocket for a map.
"They are currently held up here, in Waylay Pass," Cynar said to Smoke, pointing to the place on the map.
"I want you to seal the pass here, and force the UrukHai to face my trained OrkElves," Cynar disclosed his main plan to Smoke. "I already have three-thousand of them ready, and that alone should be enough to finish them off."
Smoke scratched his head and studied the map.
"Don't worry, I'm mostly in this for the revenge," Cynar said to Faux. "So, I'll split everything we loot, right at the middle, fifty-fifty. Well, what do you say, Faux?"
Smoke did not respond, and thought about it for a moment.
'This could be a great chance to finish Cynar off,' pondered Smoke as he stared at the map.
"Sounds like a plan," he said to Cynar with a smile.
Then, a Quest window popped up.
+ Quest: Ambush the Bushwhackers
Annihilation Quest
Level: B
Cynar has asked you to join him and his army of OrkElves to wipe out the surviving forces of the UrukHai Horde.
Accept the Quest? [YES/NO]
"I'll do it!" boldly said Smoke to Cynar. "Count me in!"
"Great!" replied Cynar. He smiled and shook Smoke's hand.
"I don't know why, but I feel like I could trust you," suddenly said Cynar. "Maybe it's because you remind me so much of Ayert. You know? You're only the second person to enter this room. The first was Ayert."
"In fact, that was his desk right there," said Cynar, pointing to the only table in the compact room, with four books on it.
"Oh, about that," eagerly said Smoke. "I'm a voracious reader, and I hope you won't mind if I read those four b
ooks there?"
Cynar paused and studied Smoke's face.
Whereas, Smoke himself could not tell what Cynar's facial expression was because of the Assassin's full-faced mask.