“Sirs,” Nerthus said politely, bowing her head slightly. Edda did a similar nod to them, doing an awkward half curtsey at the same time. The three guards said nothing, they merely looked at her through their helmets.
“Erm, is there something we can do for you gentlemen?” Edda asked. The guards shifted their dispassionate gaze to her for a moment, and then walked back towards the market at a leisurely stroll. The two women watched them melt back into the throng of people before turning to leave.
“What the hells?” Edda muttered. “So they just watch as two pretty girls get cornered in an alley by four men? And then they say nothing about it and walk away? Not even a 'glad you didn't get raped and murdered, ladies'?”
“That was rather...creepy,” Nerthus conceded. “Let’s, uh, lets head back to the inn.”
“So, do you really think those terrible 'thugs' will try and talk to us?” Edda asked as they walked. She also made those ridiculous air quotes with her fingers when she said 'thugs'. Nerthus shook her head, both at Edda's mannerisms and the question.
“Don't know. It did help us get out of there without having to do more harm to those guys. And I think we need to do something to soothe the locals' building anger towards us before some actually competent people come looking for some perceived revenge.”
Edda was quiet for a moment as they walked, noticing as if for the first time the glares and dark looks some of the people were giving them.
“Do you believe what he said? That people were missing before the fire?”
“Based on the reception we've received so far, I feel like no one would have told us either way,” Nerthus replied. “However, I'm pretty sure that he believed it. And to be honest, people haven't been that forthcoming with us or Egveny so far. Which may mean there's something really wrong going on here.”
“Oh, I'm sorry,” Edda said dryly. “I didn't realize that before. You know, with the crazy monsters and explosions and stuff we've seen, I thought everything was just milk and honey here.”
Nerthus shot her an exasperated glare. “Do me a favor. Leave that mouth of yours back at the inn tomorrow night, would you? I’d like for us to make a somewhat nice impression while we mingle with our betters at Titus’ party. Sweet, silly Carthinia is much preferable to acid-tonged harpy Carthinia.” Edda rolled her eyes, but she had a small smile on her face as the two of them walked in silence the rest of the way back.
It was an uneventful walk back to their inn, with both the Trace bracelet and the townsfolk quiet. They were greeted in the common room by Egveny and Sailey, the brutish woman’s stern face a comical mismatch with the friendly Weaver’s disposition. Egveny waved them over.
“Why good afternoon my dear sisters,” he said as Nerthus and Edda sat down. “I don’t know about the two of you, but Ms. Sailey and I had quite the productive day.” He glanced around the common room. It wasn’t as full as it was during their breakfast, but there were still almost a dozen strange faces eating there, not counting staff. “Perhaps it be best if we discuss things up in my room. Join me please?”
The three women followed after the portly wizard, who climbed up the inn stairs to their suite of rooms on the second floor. As they hurried into Egveny’s room, Nerthus saw Clyde and Carpey sitting at Egveny’s table, playing dice over a large map of Bellkeep. They both looked up, their faces intent. The three women crossed the room and joined them, with Edda sliding a chair from across the room to sit.
“My apologies for, ah, suborning your men,” Egveny said as he closed the door behind them, “but it feels like we are about to hit a critical point in our search here. Firstly, did you ladies succeed in finding Logun?”
Nerthus shook her head. “Found lots of leads, only we hit nothing but dead ends. Couldn’t find Logun, couldn’t get into the Keep, and we couldn’t make any friends in the commerce district. I’m also pretty sure the town watch has been ordered to shadow us now.”
Egveny nodded. “We noticed the same thing. Or, should I say, Sailey here noticed it. I was too busy admiring this,” he held out his wrist, which bore Edda's Trace bracelet. “This thing is ingenious. Very unobtrusive. I wouldn’t have even known to look for what the Trace is. I’d love to talk to whomever invented...um, my apologies. These sorts of devices are right up my alley, as it were. Anyways, it sounds like we were somewhat more successful than you.”
“We found one of Logun’s warehouses,” Sailey said, her rough, husky voice matching her features. “Had to spread some coin around, but eventually we found it. It’s more like a few warehouses surrounded by a big stone wall. When we got to the wall your little bracelet there started shaking. We couldn’t get any closer though. Besides the big piking wall it looks like Logun is paid up with the right people.”
“What do you mean?” Edda asked, leaning forwards.
“The place had quite a few guards,” Egveny said. “Your regular hired thugs for the most part. But there were also quite a few men openly wearing the City Watch attire. Lord Titus’ influence no doubt.”
“Shit,” Edda swore under her breath.
“It also had much more elaborate wards around it.” Egveny continued. “They were very sensitive. I’d say Logun and Titus are paying very good money to keep anything and anyone away from what is in there.”
Nerthus cracked her knuckles and felt a smile growing over her face. “Finally. Well we can now feel confident there is some sort of connection with our three targets. Logun needs manpower, this Captain Gustav provides it in the form of City Watch, and Titus bankrolls it.”
“But just what are they up to, I wonder?” Egveny asked.
“Something rather big, I think,” Nerthus said. “We saw a confrontation between Gustav's City Watch and Bellkeep's own soldiers earlier. Gustav is trying to muscle out anyone not under his control, and he's got the backing of Titus. Whatever they're doing, they don't want any eyes on it.”
“While all true, we have to ask if any of it involves our missing people.” Edda asked. “I mean, it shouldn't be a surprise to any of us that a politician is dealing dirty with criminals. It doesn't necessarily mean that it involves our mission here.”
“I've got a hunch that it does,” Nerthus said. “Besides, without these three, we have absolutely zero leads.”
“So what’s the plan?” Sailey asked.
“Simple enough,” Nerthus said. “Come night time, we hit the warehouses. Can either of you sketch the place out? Neighboring streets and the like?”
“Already did,” Sailey said, producing a crude grease sketch on thin paper. Nerthus took the paper and spread it out on Egveny’s table over the larger map, knocking the dice to the floor in the process.
“Wow, well done. Okay, so Edda and I go in first. Straightforward up and over. Egveny, did you notice anything that would detect us from just simple trespassing?”
Egveny shook his head. “Magical detection only, as far as I can tell. Anything else would be activated by the guards themselves. Of which there seem to be plenty.”
“Excellent. Do you think you and Clyde can give Bellkeep a reason to be looking elsewhere when we decide to hit the warehouses?”
“Oh, I believe we can,” Egveny said, adjusting his spectacles. “Logun has a number of holdings throughout the city that are much less defended yet still valuable.” He pointed to a few locations on the map of Bellkeep. “If we hit these in a certain sequence, we can make it look like our intention is far from the warehouses. In addition, I have something rather...special planned if you’ll allow it,” the Weaver said, a small note of pride in his voice.
“Uh, okay,” Nerthus said. “Go on.”
“It took me a few hours, but I think I’ve cracked them. Uh, the wards I mean. I can shut them down, allowing me to, ah, flex my muscles a bit more without announcing my location to whoever placed them.”
“You can get rid of them?” Edda asked.
Egveny nodded. “All of them at once, I believe,” he said simply. “You see, they are arranged in
a semi-complex, but repeating, lattice throughout the Ether that, while somewhat archaic-”
“Blah blah blah,” Edda interrupted, making ‘hurry it up’ motions with her hands. “When were you planning on doing it? Before or during our little ruckus later?”
“It was going to be part of my distraction tonight, yes. However, there may be some unintended consequences with me bringing them down.”
“Like what?” Nerthus asked.
“Well for starters, if I’m running a massive conspiracy that is enveloping an entire city, and someone blows my protective cover all of a sudden, I may be prone to escalate my plans while I still have the initiative. As soon as the wards fall, anyone who is able will be able to get a better idea of what is going on here. And I, as the mysterious mastermind of some shady conspiracy, may need to move faster than I anticipated to achieve my aims.”
“That's a good point,” Edda conceded, nodding her head, “but if we force these guys to act sooner than they would like, they won't be totally in control. Won't have everything at their disposal ready. We can use that to our advantage.”
“It seems like an awfully big risk,” Egveny said.
“It does,” Clyde broke in from the table. “But at least we will be the ones making the decision, not these other guys. At the very least, we get to dictate the 'when' of it all.”
Egveny paused to consider this for a moment before finally nodding in assent.
“Alright,” Nerthus went on, “Eg? You and Clyde are on misdirection duty, but hurry back to the warehouses as soon as you can. We will probably need some extra firepower, so hold up here,” Nerthus said, pointing to a spot on Sailey’s map. “You should be able to tell if any commotion starts that we can’t handle and can jump in.”
“Should we take a wagon with us?” Clyde asked.
Nerthus shook her head. “I'd rather the two of you did it on foot. Much easier to avoid detection darting through alleyways than it is clattering down roads in two of those rickety things. I say 'two' of those things because, Sailey? I want you and Carpey along the riverbank a little south of the warehouses. Right...here.” She pointed on the map. “You two wait for us with a wagon and your crossbows close by. With the gods own luck, we'll be bringing some extra people with us, and we'll need the speed.”
“If both of our people are in there, I take it we are heading back to Tethis right away?” Edda asked.
“Hells yes,” Nerthus said. “We may be getting ready to kick a hornet’s nest, and I want to be gone before they get riled up at us. So let’s hope all of our people are in there, alive or dead. If they are elsewhere things will become more...exciting.”
“How so?” Clyde asked.
“Well, we aren’t about to abandon any of our people if we can help it,” Nerthus said. “If we only get one of them tonight, we'll hide him or her here, and go about our business like the good little Consortium lackeys we claim to be until we find the other. Things may simply get a little dicey if we get the whole city stirred up. Understood?” Everyone voiced their assent, and she nodded back at them. “Good. Now I don’t know about you, but I’m going to take a quick nap. I plan on having a fun night out on the town.”
Chapter Eleven
The sun was setting beyond the horizon, its final rays of light transforming the clouds above Coula into a brilliant wildfire of red, orange, and violet. Johan sat in the fading light at one of Rickets' outdoor tables, one foot up on the small fence that separated the dining area from the rest of Coula. He was reading his dog-eared book on Sir Aldir with one hand, holding a plain cup of watered down wine in the other. He had received a few odd looks as he read, but they had nothing to do with who he was. Reading was still regarded as a somewhat aristocratic novelty in the town, and the regular folk still had trouble grasping the merit of books. Johan had paid them little mind, as he had been re-reading one of his favorite paragraphs, one that had been echoing in his young mind when he had decided on enlisting in the Legions. He took a sip and read it one final time in the parting rays of the sun:
There comes a time in a man's life when, if he be true to himself, he will have to “cross his River”. Be it for family, home, or country, the River must be crossed. Most times, the River is only metaphor for something else. Simple duty, perhaps, to oneself or to others. The River may be confronting a hard truth, or taking a stand for what your believe in. Sadly, it seems that in my friend's case, at least, the River is usually of a more cataclysmic variety. Yet he does what he must, like all of us at some point in our lives. If he did any less, and in turn if we did any less, I doubt you and I would be able to have this pleasant conversation.
The words weren't from Aldir, of course. They were from Illarion, the Weaver who had been Aldir's friend and traveling companion for many adventures. But reading them again, after countless other readings, helped Johan relax his mind. As he read, he could feel his posture ease, the knots in his muscles loosen. The sudden call to Coula, the hurry up and wait mentality, was a bad combination of stress and inactivity for all of them. The Legion proper, of course, had similar situations. Marching for a day and then standing in battle formation with his unit awaiting orders that could end in their deaths. What made that seem easier, in a way, compared to what they were doing in Coula was that at least waiting for battle meant waiting for a known quantity, so to speak. You knew generally what to expect. This business with the Underking, however, was something new, something that was maybe, just maybe, out of his depth.
Johan knew they were going to be shaking the dragon's tail going after the Underking, but how could he not? If one of, if not the most notorious criminal on the continent was setting up shop in his literal backyard, what else was there to do? But waiting the Underking out and capturing him, that was the easy part. Storming a house, taking a prisoner or two, he and his men did that regularly, with ease. It was what would follow that was the unknown. The Underking's influence was like a vast, abyssal monster with multiple tentacles with which to strike, even if he was in custody. What would be first? Political pressure from nobles who owed the Underking? Mercenaries? More assassins? What would he do if, after taking the Underking into custody, he received an order from a superior officer to then turn around and let him go? Slipping his weathered book into his pack, Johan stood up. He needed to stop running his mind through all of these “what if?” situations. He needed to focus on the “what next?” part of the mission, and there was one sure way to make that happen.
Heading back into Rickets, passing Toma and Garm in the main room, Johan walked up the stairs to the room he had rented for his men. He grasped the knob of the door and pushed in, but the door did not budge. He waited a second, listening. He didn't hear a sound from within the room. He knocked on the door a few times, but didn't hear a response. He knocked louder, rapping on the door with his fist.
“Hey! Ryker! Wake up and let me in, gods damn it!”
There was a loud creaking sound, as if something had just fallen onto the wooden floor. A flurry of footsteps followed, and the door knob was ripped out of Johan's hand as the door flew open, revealing a pale-faced Ryker. Johan looked at his friend's face and did not like what he saw. Ryker looked absolutely exhausted. He had large, dark rings under his eyes, as if he had gone a few days without sleep. His eyes had an almost frantic look to them as he peered at Johan, not seeming to recognize him at first. and his breathing was slightly labored. It took a second, but Ryker seemed to calm down, his pained face looking more like its usual handsome, smug visage. Ryker ran a trembling hand through his hair.
“Goff's Throne, Joh, you scared the shit out of me. Just how long were you banging on my door?”
Johan gave Ryker a look as he walked past him into the room, closing the door behind him.
“It's our door, lieutenant, and only for a second or two. What is wrong with you lately? You look gods awful, and you've been acting this way for a while now.”
“Haven't been able to sleep much lately,” Ryker said weakly.
“That's all.” Johan opened his mouth to respond, but Ryker continued. “Yes, I've told Vegard about this. Yes, I plan on seeing an apothecary after this. And no, I haven't been drinking. Today. Yet.” He froze for an instant, as if suddenly remembering something. “Wait, is it morning already? Are we doing it now?”
“Yes and no,” Johan said. “Get your gear together. It's almost night, but I've changed my mind about waiting for the morning. We are going to get this over with now.”
Ryker's face lost the rest of its manic look as he returned in full. “Gods Joh,” he said, wrapping his sword belt around his tunic, “you change your mind more than a girl does dance partners. Did something happen?”
Johan shook his head. “Nothing other than I suddenly had a strong desire to get this done and done right.” He was quiet for a moment as Ryker finished getting ready. “We're going to attract a lot of fire by taking down the Underking, you know?”
“Yeah. But hey, we can't complain. It's been getting boring lately around here. Taking on a criminal empire with just six guys and a lot of pointy bits of metal should at least make for a fun ride.”
Johan and Ryker met Toma and Garm in the same booth as before. All four of them were armed and ready now. Garm and Ryker were wearing their Outrider coats, their longswords and gladii on their hips, while Garm also had his greatsword strapped over his back. Johan and Toma were wearing plain clothes, tunics, breeches, leather gloves and high boots, with their personal swords and knives visible. Over their tunics they each had a shirt of meshed ring armor. Johan's was hidden by a plain black doublet, with an unadorned wooden shield strapped across his back. Toma's armor was mostly concealed by his own faded hunting jacket. Johan saw that Toma also wore some strange jewelry. He wore a dark leather bracer on each wrist, and each bracer had what appeared to be a shard of jet black glass on them that didn't reflect any light. The vest he wore also had two shards of the dull black glass on each side of his collar bone just below his shoulders. As Johan looked at them, the crystals seemed to absorb almost absorb the light. Before Johan could remark, Ryker chuckled.
Chasing Down Glory: The Outrider Legion: Book Two Page 17