Frank snapped his fingers. “The goons with Lothlum wore those tunics.”
“If this man is so powerful, how dangerous is breaking into this warehouse going to be?” Glav asked. He was beginning to look worried.
Ebudae shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. It’s doubtful he pays attention to one warehouse. There are officers of business who probably take care of matters and Lothlum may be one of those. I would recommend being subtle though.”
“We have to save Jovias, Aphry,” Karla pleaded. “Even if it’s dangerous. I’ll take responsibility if there’s trouble. Please.”
Aphry nodded. “Fine, but we’re going to be careful. We’ll try to talk our way in or sneak in. I don’t want to get into a fight. It seems the only trained swordsperson we have is a fifteen year old girl.” She breathed in and exhaled slowly. “We’re all good in a scrap, but we’re going to avoid that even if it means running away. Is that clear?” Everyone nodded. “Let’s go then.”
She began walking up the street they were originally on. Pelya coughed and said, “There’s a faster way to our left. We’ll be safe with as many people as we have in our group.”
Aphry stopped and bowed, indicating Pelya to lead the way. The irritation in the gesture was clear.
Ebudae hoped they weren’t too mad. She liked having friends and didn’t want to lose them so soon. In the ruins, Pelya had a tendency to make plans and lead the adventures. It was interesting to see the same thing happening here with these people too.
The neighborhoods they walked through were much seedier and dirtier than Ebudae liked and she noticed their companions looked nervous as well. “What a fun place,” Glav said behind them. “I must take my next date here for dinner and a murder.” Ebudae laughed along with the others, relieving some of the tension.
Pelya led them onto a main street with more traffic and fewer shadowy places. Aphry saw where they were and took the lead again. “That was shorter, but I think we’ll take a safer way back,” she told Pelya, who nodded and moved back to Ebudae.
Juggles stayed on Ebudae’s left side. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that other than the fact that she liked his company. The fact that she liked it made her nervous though.
There were numerous warehouse and market districts throughout Dralin as it was a major hub of commerce in the world of Ryallon. The North Warehouse District was one of four named after each compass point of the city. Some of the buildings were the size of small houses while others took up entire blocks and rose four and five levels.
Most of the people traveling along the streets were laborers in sturdy work clothes worn loose to combat the heat. Wagons, small and large, clattered along behind heavy workhorses and oxen. Caravans coming from major highways rumbled along, making it difficult to maneuver through traffic. In the air was a riot of conflicting scents emanating from the wagons and warehouses in addition to droppings from livestock and the odor of unwashed bodies. The heat and humidity made everything worse and threatened to overwhelm Ebudae.
Aphry stopped at an intersection and looked in all directions. “I have no idea where I’m going.”
Pelya closed her eyes. “Turn right and follow the road past seven more intersections. That’s Palvaros Street. Then you’ll turn left. Three more intersections will lead you to Deep Street.”
“How in the world do you know all of that?” Karla asked. “Do you live around here?
“I’m a member of the Dralin City Guard,” Pelya said proudly. “At least I will be once I reach age. Anyway, part of the training is to study maps of the city and I have most of it memorized. I had to learn some mental tricks to do it, but it’s mostly easy now. As far as where I live, all of Dralin is my home.
“And here I thought the tent was a nice place. I’ve never had an entire city as my home,” Glav said with a wry twist to his lips.
“Yeah, and I thought memorizing lines was difficult. I’d love to hear some of those mental tricks,” Frank added.
“Let’s go,” Aphry said, leading the way. They followed her again. Glav chuckled behind them. “Since you’re dressed as a bird wizard, Karla, perhaps you should fly ahead and scout for us.”
“I’m not a bird wizard,” Karla replied haughtily. “I was once Treyloo, Guardian Bird of the Forest, but have been imprisoned in this mortal body by malevolent kings so that they may cut down the forest for farmland. Our play shows the evil of kingdoms that continue to destroy beautiful forests for human greed.”
“I think your makeup looks beautiful,” Ebudae told her. I love the sparkles.”
“Thank you . . . what was your name again?”
“Ebudae, granddaughter of Lady Pallon.”
“Thank you, Ebudae. I like your dress. I also noticed that it glimmers when the light hits it just right. You wouldn’t happen to have runes sewn into it, would you?” Karla asked shrewdly.
“That isn’t a question I’m going to answer.” Ebudae hoped the woman would leave it alone.
“Uh huh. That’s what I thought. There’s more to the two of you than meets the eye.” Karla waggled a finger at them. The others gave the young women appraising looks.
As they turned onto Palvaros Street, Juggles said, “Without them, we’d still be in the tent wondering what to do.” Ebudae and Pelya smiled gratefully at him.
The words had an impact on Karla. “Yes. That is very true. I’m glad for their help.” Murmurs of agreement came from the others.
“Do you have a plan, Aphry?” Pelya asked. They were getting close.
“We get to the intersection and walk by. See what guards are there and what openings there are. Half of us will go one way and the other half will go the other way. If it’s not dangerous, we go around back and meet at the opposite corner.”
“That sounds like a good plan to me,” Glav said, walking by her side. “Who leads the second group?”
Aphry smiled at him. “You do. Take Pelya, Ebudae and Juggles. That will give both sides good fighters, but remember not to fight unless there’s no choice.”
“Will do.” He leaned in for a kiss, which she gladly returned.
They were dismayed upon reaching the intersection. Each corner had a building with placards that showed the yellow with three diagonal black stripes. They took a few steps back and gathered by the wall of the one next to them.
“Well, hopefully they didn’t quarter him and put a piece in each warehouse,” Glav said. He received only glares. “Sorry. Not all of my jokes are tasteful.” He didn’t look sorry though.
“So which one did he visit?” Frank asked, looking around. It was difficult to see the ones along their street because a wagon train was traveling by. The sound of ironbound wheels and clattering hooves pounded the cobblestone and echoed off the stone walls. The noise was beginning to give Ebudae a headache.
“He went to the one across Deep Street,” Pelya said, pointing to the building.
“Just how do you know that?” Aphry asked in exasperation.
It upset Pelya. “Because that’s the one with an office inside judging by the normal windows in the front, closed doors and two guards in front of it. The others all have open doors and workers moving in and out.” She held her arms out to the side. “Look. Your brother goes to talk to a rival and disappears. It’s going to happen in a place that can be controlled without any witnesses around.”
“Fine. My group will continue up Deep Street.” She turned to Glav. “Meet us around the back corner.” She gave him another kiss and took off with her group.
Pelya and Ebudae followed Glav along with Juggles as they made their way down Palvaros Street on the opposite side of the warehouse. A four-level building took up half the block on that street. There was one large set of closed wooden doors with a pair of guards outside of them.
“They have wards built into a row of bricks just below the first set of windows. They’ll alert them to anyone trying to climb the walls,” Ebudae informed them as they reached the end of the building.
&nbs
p; Glav led them across the street and into the alley behind the warehouse. The guards didn’t pay attention, either that or they didn’t care. The alley was clean, which was normal around many businesses with valuables inside. Debris gave thieves places to hide. There were a number of rain barrels and locked trash containers. He looked up at the wall. “I see something carved into the bricks. Are you sure they’re runes?”
“Yes,” Ebudae answered without elaboration.
“Well I don’t see any doors along here and I didn’t feel like climbing through windows today anyway. Let’s keep going.” Glav motioned them to follow.
They reached the back corner the same time the others did. It was at a fifteen-foot wide angle with a large door in it. One guard was leaning against it while the other sat cross-legged on the ground, rolling some dice in boredom.
The boredom ended when they saw the strangers and reached for their weapons. “Hold where you are.” The man sitting worked to get to his feet in a hurry.
Before anyone else could react, Pelya leapt forward. She stepped with her left foot in front of the man who was trying to get up and slammed an elbow into the side of his head, knocking him right back down again.
Pelya planted her right foot next to the second man who had just drawn his sword. She brought the left leg up at an impossible angle and kicked him in the face, knocking his head back against the door. He fell to the ground limply, the sword dropping with a clang.
Everyone but Ebudae stared at her dumfounded. Pelya knelt, put her hand on the neck of the first man, and slid a hand under his head. Then she moved to the second man and checked the back of his head too.
“What in the world are you doing?” Frank asked.
“I’m making sure they’re going to be alright. I don’t think I did permanent damage,” Pelya said, laying the man back.
“Oh, that’s good to know,” Glav said. “It’s important to make sure a person is alright after you kick them in the face.”
Ebudae couldn’t help but snort out a laugh that she immediately tried to contain. Pelya stood up and glared at both of them. “I don’t want to hurt anyone ever and I don’t care what anyone thinks about me.”
The amusement left Ebudae and she felt bad for having laughed. “Sorry.”
“It’s alright,” Pelya reassured her.
“I think it’s very noble, Pelya” Juggles said. “I have great respect for your belief.”
Aphry was angry. “So what do we do now? Instead of running away at the first sign of trouble, we have two unconscious guards.”
“Now we go inside and try to find Jovias,” Pelya told her, holding up a pair of keys. “Luckily the guards had keys.” Ebudae hadn’t even seen her take them off the men. Her friend would make an excellent thief if she ever got tired of upholding the law.
“Clever girl,” Glav said with an approving grin. He moved forward and held out a hand into which Pelya put the keys before stepping aside.
“Lizor, will you please prop the guards on either side of the doors and make it look like they’re sleeping on duty,” Aphry said. She ran her fingers back through her hair, clearly stressed. “Hopefully they won’t be noticed.”
The giant did as asked while Glav unlocked the door. Ebudae had an urge to cast protective spells, but held off. There were enough people to fight to give her time to cast in battle if necessary.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Aphry said as she followed Glav inside. “I’m tired of cleaning up my brother’s messes and I have a bad feeling this isn’t going to end well.
Lizor closed the door behind them once everyone was inside. It was a warehouse with long rows of crates, illuminated by lanterns on wooden columns. Glav had jumped on top of a stack of crates to look around while the others moved ahead. The ceiling was twenty feet above them and the only noise was the sound of them moving.
“What’s in the crates?” Lizor whispered, examining the stack beside him.
“It doesn’t matter,” Aphry whispered back. “How do we find out what happened to Jovias?” She looked at Pelya, having come to the conclusion that the young woman was the only one with any real idea of how to proceed.
“We question someone in the office or we look for clues . . . which would most likely be in the office.” Pelya pointed at the far end of the building.
“Maybe we should have just gone in the front doors,” Aphry suggested. She was glaring and tapping her foot.
Glav jumped down next to her. “Those guards wouldn’t have let us in. Even if we did get in the front door, our questions wouldn’t have been answered. More importantly, they probably would have hidden Jovias if he’s here at all.”
“He’s right,” Frank said. “I’ve seen men like that. They were there to keep everyone out.”
“The good news is that it doesn’t look like there’s anyone in the warehouse,” Glav said. “The bad news is that I didn’t bring enough cookies for everyone.” He pulled out a raisin-covered cookie and took a bite.
Ebudae and a few others giggled. Aphry glared and turned on her heel to march toward the office. The strain of the situation was getting to her and Ebudae was worried how she would handle it if they weren’t able to find her brother.
No one challenged them as they traveled through the columns of crates. The office had windows looking out to the warehouse covered by wooden shutters. Glav went up to a large wooden door and tried the handle only to find it locked. He held up the keys Pelya had found on the guards, then unlocked it and stepped inside.
It was an office for clerks with twelve desks lined up in two rows, each with quills and papers on them. By the time Ebudae entered behind everyone but Juggles, Glav was holding the one woman in the room by the shoulders. She was sitting behind a desk and looking scared. Aphry had her hands on the desk and was glaring at the woman. “I want to know what happened to my brother Jovias. It’s a reasonable request and we won’t bother you anymore.”
“I don’t know anything about your brother. I just track inventories.” The woman seemed sincere, but her honey-toned voice shook with fear. “It . . . it’s a bad idea to break into Master Blavoci’s warehouses for any reason.”
“I have to find my brother.” Aphry looked unhappy. “I know this is a bad idea, but . . .” She let out a slow breath. “Why am I even bothering?” Aphry asked herself in a half-whisper.
“Because he’s your brother and he’s in trouble,” Karla said in anger. “You always look down on him.”
“That’s because he’s a loser who always gets into trouble,” Aphry retorted. “I’ve wasted too much of my life cleaning up his messes.”
Karla got in Aphry’s face. “You’re just jealous because he has twice the talent!”
“No. I’m tired of him getting high all the time and coming to me for more drug money.”
“You get high too!” Karla accused in outrage.
“Not the hard stuff that destroys the mind! I can’t believe he can write three words, let alone a play!” Aphry was screaming.
“I hate to interrupt such pleasant, sociable conversation while trespassing into a powerful merchant’s warehouse, but is there any chance we can debate brotherly love at another time?” Glav suggested. “This lovely woman is crying and I have a sudden urge to give her a hug.”
The woman behind the desk was shaking and Glav’s hand on her shoulder had turned to comfort rather than restraint. She shook her head and spoke in a hoarse voice just above a whisper. “I swear that I don’t know anything. I’m so sorry about your brother.”
“What do we do now?” Aphry turned to Pelya. “We don’t know where my brother is. We’ve broken in and now have a prisoner that’s going to tell someone what we look like. Do we kill her and the guards?”
“No!” Pelya yelled. “You will not murder anyone.” The others looked horrified at Aphry’s suggestion and agreed with Pelya. Ebudae noticed that the prisoner was rather enthusiastic about Pelya’s version.
“You knocked out those guards out
side,” Frank pointed out.
Pelya crossed her arms. “They drew weapons. Killing them now would be murder. Killing this woman would be murder and I will not tolerate it.”
Aphry looked about ready to speak, but Juggles beat her to it. “I also will not tolerate it. I have never been part of murder and will not start now.”
It was enough. “You’re right.” Aphry buried her face in hands. “I hate this. I hate it.”
“Perhaps we can find an answer behind that pretty door.” Lizor pointed at a wooden door painted yellow with brass bindings across it.
“That’s the manager’s office. If there was any information, it might be there,” the captive said. “It’s locked though and only the manager has the key.”
“Is there anyone inside?” Frank asked.
“No. I’m working late. Everyone else is gone for the day.” She looked at her hands. “I wish I had gone with them.”
Glav walked over to the door and pulled something out of his pocket. Ebudae recognized it as a set of lockpicks similar to what Pelya carried, but not as nice and they didn’t seem to have a leather pouch.
“What are you doing?” Frank asked, going to look over his shoulder.
“Shush. This takes concentration”. They all watched as Glav worked. Pelya glanced at Ebudae and they exchanged grins, knowing Pelya would have had the door open by that point. She had learned from her Uncle Bobbell and spent a great deal of time practicing whenever they came across a locked door in the ruins.
It took over two minutes before the lock clicked. “Ha! I knew I could do it.” Glav stood and turned around with a look of pride on his face. Then he did a dorky little dance, making the others laugh.
“What about her?” Frank asked, pointing at the woman. He still had his hand on a shoulder.
“I shall take care of it,” Juggles said, lifting up a length of rope.
“Where did you get that?” Karla asked in mild surprise.
Juggles grinned and went over to tie the woman up. Ebudae had seen him grab it off a crate when walking through the warehouse, but didn’t give the secret away. Aphry went with Glav through the door. Ebudae and Pelya stayed with Juggles and Lizor while the others followed into the room.
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