by Logan Jacobs
Ashe let me watch her bathe while she languidly trailed soap all over her silvery body, and a satiated smile curled on her plump lips while she saw how much I enjoyed the view.
“Aah,” the demon woman sighed. “Who would have thought that cold water would make everything feel so much better?”
“I know,” I replied as I drenched my head again. “I bet some mortals say the same about the Hellscape.”
Ashe chuckled at the thought. “The ones who enter are already dead upon arrival, but it is always fun to watch them being reborn as one of our own. Some of them take to the fires so naturally.”
“Others, not so much,” I said. “Do… do you remember anything of your past life?”
“Sometimes,” she said, but the faraway look in her pink eyes made me think she didn’t want to speak about it.
“Ahhh…”
“How about you?” she asked. “They say only the most powerful remember anything.”
“Bits and pieces,” I said. “I remember driving a large machine called a ‘Volkswagen’ and playing a musical instrument with strings.”
“Strange,” she muttered. “Do you remember what you might have done to join our ranks?”
“No,” I said. “There was a woman… at least I remember loving her. I think she got hurt and… well… I can get angry when someone hurts my women. That much I do remember. Maybe that was why I became a demon. I have no clear memory of what exactly occurred.”
“I try not to think too much of it,” she said quietly. “I prefer my life now. Here. With you. The time we are together brings me joy.”
“I feel the same,” I agreed as I smiled at her.
We continued to wash our bodies until both of us were squeaky clean and rejuvenated, and then we slipped back into our new clothes. My damp hair soaked through the clothing, and even though the water felt incredible, there was something less than charming about the feeling of damp clothes against my skin. I guessed it was the same thing with fire. The heat was warm and welcoming, but too much of it had the opposite effect.
I might need to consider chopping off my longer hair if only to avoid the clammy feeling of it against my neck.
I filled my pants pockets with coins, and then Ashe and I both chose a weapon before we left our room. I slipped one of the strange onyx blades of the gorgons into my belt, but Ashe decided to bring her still-bloody glaive with her.
“So, where is the best place to start?” Ashe asked as we headed out the door of the inn.
“Well, any criminals with an admirable setup in this area will have to be quite cunning in order to keep up their game,” I pointed out. “The Port of Rengfri is too large and too corrupt for just any idiot to slip around guards and Church officials. Our targets will have to be smart enough to do so properly, otherwise, we’ll be walking into a situation that’s already worse than we’re in right now.”
“I agree.” Ashe nodded. “But we’re not at that level here yet, and it’ll show.”
“Exactly,” I agreed. “One wrong move nosing around in the wrong areas, or drawing too much attention to ourselves could disrupt the status quo. We have to approach this right to avoid ending up in deep shit among these locals. The Shadow Quarters are all we have going for us.”
“We shouldn’t ask around right in this area just yet,” Ashe muttered as we passed a group of bleary-eyed half-orcs. “If that vampire lives down here, we should ask somewhere with less connections to this village. Somewhere they won’t mind speaking a little louder about the dealings here.”
“Yeah, I think that’s the best place to start,” I said. “Let’s head back out toward the farther edges of the Shadow Quarters, to the area where we met the tinsel fairy, but we need to keep a low profile all the same.”
“I can do that,” she said firmly.
“Really?” I laughed and eyed the bloody glaive strapped to her back. “Alright, then.”
“I’ve helped you blend in, have I not?” Ashe asked. “This blue dress is much more in keeping with surface world style.”
“Yeah, but if someone pisses you off, please don’t tear out their jugular.” I winked.
Ashe stared down at her fingers that could have turned into silver, venomous claws if she wanted them to, and then she sent me a sultry smile.
“I love using these beauties,” she sighed blissfully.
“Exactly my point.” I grinned. “Only when I say you can, understood?”
“Fair enough,” Ashe agreed.
We passed through the crowded marketplace, between the circles of wagons and shacks, and beyond the first fire pit we’d seen yesterday. The last few burning embers in the fire pit glowed a strange shade of purple, but there were no banshees in sight, and it was much quieter around here than it had been yesterday. I had a feeling the calm wouldn’t last long, though. The locals were emerging from their wagons and gathering in the lanes, and it probably wouldn’t have been long before the music began to play and the dancing started again.
We climbed the grassy hill and then followed the alleyways and back streets of the Shadow Quarters, and eventually, we walked out into the lanes Ashe had once chased me down with her Hellhounds.
“So, how do we decide who we can trust…” Ashe mused and looked around the less busy streets. “Normally, I’d say we could terrorize any of these cretins into telling us what we want to know, but I’m assuming…”
“We aren’t taking the same approaches as we did in the Hellscape,” I finished for her. “There’s a hierarchy around here, and finding out who we can trust is as important as finding out who to avoid for the time being. If we go around terrorizing just anyone, we’ll only end up in a more difficult position.”
“Then we’ll use our noses.” Ashe flashed me a predatory smile. “Whoever smells the richest and most vile will clearly be higher up in this area.”
“Good thinking,” I agreed. “And in my experience, not everyone in the Shadow Quarters is even evil. Some of them are just slumming to get by and trying to avoid getting nabbed by the Church. If they don’t have anything to hide, they don’t have any reason to lie to us. So, let’s say, if they don’t reek of death and cruelty, then they’re probably the best place to start.”
The two of us started strolling along the muddy lanes, and I kept my eye out for a decent starting place. The half-elf who had sold me weapons the other day had a hint of innocence to him, but I needed more than that. If he provided the service of arming beings in the Shadow Quarters, he could know anybody, and he could have the ability to disclose our plans to the higher-ups around here.
“If only that bloody fairy was here,” Ashe whispered under her breath as we strolled past a group of pissed off dwarves with black eyes and bruises. “Anyone around here could be the wrong type to ask.”
“I know,” I sighed.
The main lane broke off into separate streets just ahead, and some of the streets held a few shops, like where I’d gotten the weapons. Other streets held rickety houses all packed in close together, and more inns similar to the ones we’d stayed in briefly up here. All of the buildings looked the same for the most part, and were wooden, run-down, and ancient, so it wasn’t easy to tell the difference between a rich and poor area from looks alone. What we needed to find was the lower area of town, though, where the poorer merchants were more likely to hang out. It was highly unlikely the poor in a place like the Shadow Quarters would have the means of conducting business with the more well-to-do crime syndicates.
“Let’s try down here,” Ashe said suddenly. “It smells fresher. Almost innocent, don’t you think?”
“Hmm.” I breathed deeply, and the breeze coming from the slim, shadowy street to our left did smell more like hunger and hopelessness than anything else. “Yes, this could be promising.”
We wandered down the winding alley to see what sat on the other side, and it opened out onto another courtyard, but this one was much smaller than the main one near the rusted signpost. The windows of several bu
ildings were smashed in, or missing altogether, and there was a broken sign on the ground that appeared to have been previously hung onto an iron frame. Even though we couldn’t tell a huge difference between the various buildings, or whether this area used to be a marketplace at one point, there was definitely a sense of poverty in the air.
I doubted we’d come across any smartly dressed vampires conducting business here.
“I think you’ve hit a gold mine,” I said with a smile.
“I know.” Ashe shrugged nonchalantly. “I’m just that brilliant.”
“Okay, don’t get too ahead of yourself,” I snorted. “We don’t know if this is the place, yet.”
“I am eager to please you, Atticus.” Ashe sent me a sweet smile and then continued to search.
I laughed silently to myself before I followed on behind her. She peered into the broken windows to get a view of what was inside and continued to walk when nothing caught her interest.
Then a rickety door opened from the other side of the courtyard, and I looked over to watch as a female dwarf left the building with something bundled up in her arms. Her wild ginger hair was tied into thick braids that bunched around her shoulders, and her round body was clothed in an olive green top and a beige skirt. She looked over at me when she left the house, but then she scurried away to continue with whatever task she was in the process of completing.
The small well the dwarf stopped at had moss clinging to it, and it was clear the mechanics of it hadn’t been touched in ages. The dwarf pulled up a bucket of water and then began to dunk in the clothing that she had in her arms. Once her arms were free, I noticed just how muscular they were, and I could see how strong she was by how easily she completed her task.
The dwarven woman struck me as a hardworking and sturdy little thing, and I nudged Ashe in the arm.
“Come on,” I said under my breath. “Let’s see if she’ll talk.”
The dwarf had clearly noticed our presences, but when she saw us walking in her direction, she paid us no attention and continued washing. Her small body was hunched over the bucket of clothes, and her ginger braids slightly swung in the air in front of her while she scowled at her work.
“Excuse me,” I said in my most polite human voice.
“Leave me be,” she whispered harshly.
“We don’t mean any harm.”
“And we’re not looking to cause trouble,” Ashe added, and I was pleased to hear there wasn’t a scrap of her demon voice in her throat.
The dwarf woman glanced over briefly, but she didn’t have the ability or the cruel nature to look us directly in the eyes. I knew she was the right one to talk to from that action alone, and I didn’t need to rely on my sense of smell to work it out.
“We’ll pay you,” I offered as I considered her tattered clothes.
I hadn’t intended on bribing someone for information, but it looked as though the dwarf’s interest had piqued now. Her hands paused in their work for a moment, and then they continued what they were doing.
“How much?” the dwarf asked.
I shrugged. “Ten pieces.”
“What is it you need from me?” she questioned.
Ashe and I sat down on the wall of the well so it wouldn’t feel like we were towering over the small woman, and also so I could speak quieter and keep my words away from any eavesdroppers.
“We’re looking for… less legal products,” I carefully began. “Things you won’t find in the marketplaces. Do you know of anyone around here who could supply things of that nature?”
“Do you realize where you’re standing right now?” she asked with a quiet but harsh laugh. “The Shadow Quarters aren’t known for its peace and tranquility, and certainly not for obeying the laws.”
“Yes, I know that,” I sighed. “But we aren’t from this particular area, so point us in the right direction.”
The dwarven woman pursed her lips while she worked a little faster, but then she sighed.
“There’s a group of vampires in the trees of the Grimmway,” she said with an arm pointed behind me. “You’ll catch them selling off vials of blood all around Rengfri. Go on, get out of here.”
“We aren’t looking for blood,” Ashe said with some disgust. “We’re not animals.”
The dwarven woman seemed surprised to hear this, and she spared Ashe half a glance while her scowl faded a little.
“Do you know of any other… organizations?” Ashe tried in a more polite tone.
“I’m sorry, I don’t,” the dwarf replied with a sigh. “My family and I keep to ourselves, so that’s all I can tell you.”
“Okay, thank you.” I counted out ten pieces from my pocket and then dropped them on the well beside the woman. She hastily grabbed them up, but as I stood to leave, she cleared her throat.
“You might try that house over there,” the dwarf said and pointed to a house two down from where we were sitting. “The man inside might be able to tell you more than I can.”
Ashe slipped her hand into my pocket and then dropped another two pieces onto the well for the dwarf’s honesty, and I appreciated the gesture. The dwarf certainly didn’t have to let us bribe her, and while she smelled of fear, I didn’t sense any scheming sort of energy from her.
We headed down the lane toward the rickety house the dwarf had shown us, and I leaned closer to Ashe once we were out of earshot.
“I’m guessing the Grimmway is the district of the city at the bottom of the hill,” I muttered.
“Yes, I’ll try to keep track of all the places anyone mentions,” she whispered back.
I nodded my thanks and then knocked lightly against the wood of the door. Almost a full minute of silence passed before I heard some scuffling on the other side, and when the door opened with a painful creak, I couldn’t see who was on the other side until the sun painted some light over their face.
The being had the head of a dragon, but stood on two hind legs with curled talons that tapped off the wooden floorboards as he stepped forward. I had only met a kobold a few times before, and this one matched how the others had looked almost to a tee. He had red, scaly skin that ran from head to toe, a thick tail that swung slowly behind him, and beady black eyes that seemed to track everything in his surroundings all at once.
“What do you want?” the kobold spoke through spiked teeth. A long pink tongue flickered through the two front teeth.
“We were hoping to get information,” I repeated the same words I had said to the dwarf. “We wish you no harm, and we’ll pay you for your words.”
Beside me, Ashe dug into my pants for another handful of pieces to show the kobold we weren’t jesting, and I twitched when her nails grazed my dick by accident. I had a feeling she was enjoying the fact I was carrying all the goods today, and I tried to keep a straight face while the kobold cocked a scaly eyebrow at us.
Then he looked up and down the street before speaking again.
“Who do you work with?” he snarled.
“We work for ourselves,” I replied.
“Bollocks,” he spat through his teeth. “Showin’ up on my stoop and shelling out money? I tell you what, if you work for that nasty Church, then you can be on your way. I’ve got no one to sell to you filthy leeches, and even if I did, I’d tell ye’ to fuck off.”
“Look,” Ashe cut in and pointed directly to her eyes, but the kobold only managed to look into them for about ten seconds. “Do you really think we would work with those fucking idiots?”
“Got the glowing eyes,” the kobold grumbled. “I know ‘em when I see ‘em, and I won’t have none of those holy fuck--”
“The Blessed have gold eyes,” I clarified, and Ashe clicked her tongue in disgust.
“Yeah, and ours won’t force you into confessing all your sins,” she growled. “Quite the opposite.”
The kobold furrowed his scaly brow for a moment, and then he snuck a peak at my eyes as well. I noticed his elongated pupils shrank as the scent of pure fear billowed from
him.
“I-Incubi?” he croaked and stepped back.
“What?” Ashe scoffed with insult. “Do you see a single spike on this man’s jawline?”
“Ashe, it’s alright,” I muttered out of the corner of my mouth.
“No, it isn’t,” she growled, and I noticed her silver claws starting to creep from her fingernails while she stared the kobold down. “Atticus is far superior to any filthy incubi you could ever come across, and he doesn’t murder people with his cock, he provides the most sinfully glorious pleasure I’ve ever experienced, and I challenge you to show me even one other being on this world who could fuck a girl in such a mind-numbingly--”
I clamped my hand on Ashe’s mouth while the kobold stared uncomfortably, and the demon woman whimpered the tiniest bit at my touch.
I understood the kobold’s concern, especially from what I’d heard in the past. Incubi were demons, but they were demons of sex, depravity, and manipulation, instead of demons of war, magic, and destruction like Ashe and me.
They didn’t serve the Dark King, and they weren’t sent up from the Hellscape like we were. They had their own demon leader, and they’d made a home for themselves on the surface world.
I didn’t like them.
“Ashe… that’s enough,” I informed her. “Sir, I am not an incubi. I have no spikes lining my jaw, and my nails are not blood red, as you can plainly see. I am merely a darker entity attempting to get by. A kind dwarven woman directed me to you, and as we said, we’re willing to pay you for your help.”
The kobold looked up and down the street once more, and I slowly released Ashe’s mouth as I sent her a warning look. The demon woman pursed her lips and remained silent, and the kobold finally let out a grumbling sigh.
“What are ye’ after?” he asked after a moment of silence.
“Just some information to get us by in this area,” I answered.
“What will you pay me?”
“Twelve pieces,” I said.
A gleam flashed over his beady eyes, and it seemed the promise of some money was almost too hard to resist. I wondered how long it had been since this kobold had carried as many pieces in his pocket, and what he had to live off now. Twelve pieces was barely enough for three meals around here, which told me he had been living off very little.