Skulduggery 2

by Logan Jacobs

  “Wait … ” I breathed and held Dar back until I heard the elf walk further away. “Okay, now.”

  Then we both moved through the abandoned courtyard and shoved open the back door of the guild.

  “Shit.” Dar slid off his hood, wiped the sweat around his forehead, and shut the door behind us. “This place was shitty enough without the elves on every street corner.”

  “It has to be because of the holiday, right?” I asked as I slid off my hood, too.

  “I hope so.” Dar furrowed his brow.

  “I do, too,” I agreed as I looked over the abandoned guild in front of us. “I haven’t missed this place at all.”

  Everything seemed to be untouched since we last left it. There were cards still on the table, a pair of aces and two of spades, and the chairs were pulled out just enough for a halfling to fit as if the ghosts of Jed, Basher, and Thurgood were in the middle of a game.

  “Let’s not linger here long,” Dar said as we slowly moved through our old home.

  “We won’t,” I whispered and took soft, quiet steps across the concrete floor. “Let’s find the kid.”

  The same musty smell consumed the place with the same dusty broken down furniture. One thing was different, though. It was quiet. Besides the dull murmur of voices outside, it was silent. Hagan’s howling voice was gone and gone for good.

  And that still brought a smile to my face.

  “Selius?” I called out, but in a quiet tone since the elves could hear us if we shouted.

  “He was sitting at the table when I came here last,” Dar chuckled. “He looked like he shit his pants when he saw me.”

  “I bet.” I smirked. “He probably thought we were all dead.”

  “He did.” Dar nodded as we moved up the screeching stairs. “I might as well grab a few things while we’re here.”

  “Nothing big,” I said as I kept my eyes and ears open for where the halfling could be. “We have to sneak out of the district after we find the kid.”

  “Ah, shit, you’re right,” Dar huffed and then pinched his nose when we reached the second level. A stench leaked from the kitchen that smelled like multiple fish were pulled from the fridge three weeks ago. “Fuckin’ kid has to learn how to clean up if he’s living here.”

  “You’d be--”A dull thud echoed from the loft above us. “He’s gotta be up there.”

  So, we walked up the last flight of stairs and knocked on the closed door that led to the loft. A sign was plastered to the front of the door in Hagan’s writing, and it read “do not enter.”

  “Selius?” Dar called as he put his mouth right in between the small gap in the door and the frame.

  “Dar?” a muffled voice responded from the other side.

  “Let us in. I have Wade with me.” Dar knocked again.

  There was a scramble on the other side until the door swung open and a much thinner Selius blinked up at us. His eyes were deep pits of dark circles like he hadn’t slept in days.

  “Wade … ” The young halfling smiled weakly and gripped onto my shoulder. “I can’t believe you’re alive.”

  “By the looks of it, I can’t believe you are either,” I said as I tussled the kid's dark hair.

  “Yeah, the elves have been keeping me busy over here,” Selius sighed and stepped back into the loft where Penny, Dar, and I had spent most of our time.

  “No shit,” Dar chuckled. “They’re swarming the streets like a poisonous fog.”

  “Have they talked to you?” I asked as I moved over to the blue chaise with metal springs that popped out like gopher heads.

  “They have. “ Selius’s big eyes grew bigger. “They asked about you a few times a couple days ago.”

  “Hmm,” I nodded my head. The Elven commander had mentioned he visited the guild. “What did you tell them?”

  Dar looked at me and then dropped his eyes to his feet.

  “I said you were dead,” Selius chuckled. “With the hit Hagan put out, I figured someone would’ve gotten ya by now.”

  Dar and I looked at each other again, and we both nodded at Selius’ response. I believed him.

  “Good, good.” I paced back closer to him. “Why didn’t you go with Hagan and the rest of the guild that night?”

  “Well, after the Dwarven Mafia tried to kill off the guild, I did a lot of hiding up here. Hagan probably just thought I’d been killed and forgot about me.” Selius shrugged. “Ya guys know I wasn’t a good thief, but I can hide with the best of ‘em. And boy, I’m thankful for that or else I’d surely be dead.”

  Part of me felt bad for setting Hebal and his crew on the entire guild, but I had to survive, and unfortunately, survival comes at a price.

  “That’s for sure,” Dar chuckled as he reached into his pocket for his pipe.

  “Were you guys there the night Hagan was killed?” Selius furrowed his brow.

  “We were,” I breathed.

  “Was that how everyone else … ” his voice trailed off. “Shit.”

  “You know they were all hunting me,” I began. “I had to make sure and stop that.”

  “I understand, Wade.” Selius smirked. “It makes a lot more sense, now.”

  “For what it’s worth … ” I stepped closer to the kid and clapped him on the shoulder, “I’m glad you hid and weren’t there that night.”

  “Same.” Dar nodded as he lit his pipe.

  “Thanks, guys.” Selius smiled wide. “Are ya both coming back to the guild to stay? We could rebuild this, ya know?”

  “That’s actually why we came to chat with you, kid,” Dar said as he puffed on his pipe.

  “Yeah, you mentioned working together again, so I figured--”

  “Not as thieves,” I interrupted the young halfling.

  “Then what’re we doin’?” Selius asked as he scratched his arm by his side.

  “If I tell you, there’s no turning back,” I said and stepped closer to take a knee in front of him. “Are you sure you want to work with us?”

  “I-I’ll do my best for ya, I always looked up to ya guys, I’m not good at much but I really wa--” the kid stammered, but I cut him off.

  “I know you’d do your best, but the reason I’m even here at all is that you know how to keep your mouth shut.” I smirked and continued. “You could’ve ratted me out when I was in the closet during Hagan’s hunt. Now, your look did give me away to Maldon, and we can work on that, but your lips didn’t.”

  “I’d never, Wade.” Selius swallowed hard and bobbed up and down on his toes. “I really do look up to ya both. I learned a lot from ya.”

  “So, you’re still interested in hearing our offer?” I looked over to Dar, whose face was covered in a cloud of smoke.

  “I am, ” Selius said as he folded his hands in front of him and twirled his thumbs.

  “Okay, then.” I clapped him on the shoulder. “Dar, Penny, and I have started our own little organization.”

  “Penny, too!” The halfling grinned.

  “Easy kid,” Dar said as we both chuckled.

  “What we need is a driver,” I began, “to make deliveries throughout the Halfling District.”

  “Okay, what am I deliverin’?” Selius asked as he stopped twirling his thumbs.

  I remembered Dar had said Hebal kept his drivers in the dark, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do that, too. Selius didn’t have loose lips, and I wanted to build on that trust.

  “Here’s the thing … ” Dar pursed his lips, narrowed his eyes, and I was sure he was debating the same question in his head.

  Could we trust him?

  “Listen,” Selius interrupted the conflict in my mind, “I’m all in, Wade. I’ve been cooped up in this shit hole for too long. I’m not a thief. I never was. So, whatever it is I need to do, I’ll do it, and I’ll do it good.”

  I nodded, and Dar did the same.

  “You’d be delivering whiskey,” I said and knew as soon as the “w” word was shared, it was too late to take it back.

&
nbsp; Selius was now part of this even if he backed out. His life was on the line.

  “Never had it before,” Selius said as a giant grin formed on his lips, “but like I told ya, I’m all in.”

  “Thatta boy!” Dar clapped his hands and shoved Selius. “We’ll get ya to try some, too. It’s like liquid sex.”

  “Liquid sex, huh?” Selius laughed, and his once sad eyes brightened.

  “I’m glad to hear that, but to make it official, I need you to do one more thing for me,” I said and unsheathed the dagger by my side.

  “Of course, anything.” Selius eyed my dagger as his smile faded from his lips.

  I showed him my scarred palm and gestured for Dar to do the same.

  “We’ve all done it, including Penny.” I extended the dagger for him to take. “It marks you as one of us.”

  “Okay … ” His fingers trembled as he took the dagger from me. “Do I just--”

  “Wrap your palm around the blade and swipe down,” Dar said as he motioned what to do. “This is lesson one in toughening you up.”

  “Before you do, say, ‘until death claims us,’” I added and nudged the blade into his palm. “Again, are you sure?”

  “I told ya,” Selius narrowed his eyes and gripped the blade in his tiny hand, “until death claims us.”

  A line of blood ran down his arm and dripped onto the carpet. Then he looked up at us as if he was looking for approval on how he did it.

  “Welcome to the whiskey family, kid.” Dar clapped him on the back, tore off a piece of blanket from the chair, and wrapped the fresh cut.

  “Now that you’re part of our little family, have you eaten?” I asked as I gestured toward the halfling. “You’re looking like a twig these days.”

  “I know,” Selius chuckled. “I’ve had to lay low, so I’ve pretty much been living off the scraps in here.”

  “Not anymore,” Dar said as he pulled out a few silver coins and placed them in Selius’ hands.

  “Woah, shit.” Selius blinked up at Dar and then to me. “Thank you.”

  “Were in this together now.” I smiled at him and took the dagger back from the halfling’s shaky hand. “We’ll be in touch with you again very soon.”

  “Do ya have any customers out here yet?” Selius asked as he steadied his breath.

  “That’s why we’ll be back to figure that out with you,” I said.

  “I already know a few people who would buy it today.” Selius cleared his throat and laughed at the same time.

  “Really?” I asked the halfling as I cleaned his blood off my blade with the rug on the floor. “Would they be able to meet later today?”

  “They are always around.” The kid nodded.

  “Well,” I said with a grin, “set up a meeting, kid.”

  Chapter 12

  After our meeting with Selius, we went back to our wagon, left the Halfling District without any elven issues, and returned to the stables to pick up a sample bottle of our whiskey. Selius told us to come back tonight and meet a restaurant owner and a Halfling Hall owner. Apparently, they were brothers, and the kid had done some work for them the past few weeks.

  “Where’d I put it?” Dar grumbled as he tossed a mix of clothes and hay out of the stable he slept in. “Aha!”

  My friend held up a half-full bottle of clear liquid for me to see.

  “I knew you’d have a bottle for yourself,” I chuckled and stepped closer to take a better look.

  “It’s from our first batch.” Dar popped off the cork from the mouth of the bottle and took a quick swig. “Still tastes great!”

  “Of course it does.” I smirked. “Wait until we get some oak barrels to store the whiskey in long-term.”

  “What’ll that do?” my friend asked.

  “It’ll enhance the flavor even more, pal,” I said.

  “Shit, how is that even possible?” he asked and handed me the bottle.

  “Anything is possible,” I said as I took the bottle and felt the clear liquid swoosh inside.

  “Will that be enough for tonight?” Dar asked as he eyed the container.

  “More than enough,” I replied before I took a short gulp. The liquid burned through my mouth, down my throat, and splashed right into my gut. I shivered and smacked my lips in satisfaction. “Yeah, that’s good.”

  “Of course it is!” Dar raised his arm and motioned for me to give him back the bottle.

  “We’re saving the rest, or else we’d finish this off ourselves,” I said as I found the cork he threw to the ground and shoved it back in the bottle’s mouth.

  “So what if we did?” Dar shrugged and grinned as if he already felt the effect of the whiskey from the one sip he had.

  “And stumble into our meeting tonight?” I chuckled as I placed the bottle next to the painting on the table. “We don’t have any whiskey ready to distill yet. We need that bottle to offer a sample.”

  “As soon as I can, I’m making another one for myself.” Dar folded his arms and licked his lips as he stared at the bottle on the table.

  “That’s a pretty good idea.” I tapped my chin. “We should have a small batch ready and available off to the side to offer a taste.”

  “And for us?” Dar’s mouth hung open like Azure when he was hungry.

  “Yes, and one for all of us to enjoy,” I said as I shook my head. “We need our customers to be addicts, not us.”

  “I’m not making any promises,” Dar replied and changed into a black cloak for tonight. “What’re the girls doin’ while we’re gone?”

  “I haven’t seen them, yet.” I shrugged. “Bonding?”

  I wasn’t sure if Cimarra had a chance to speak with the count yet, so I didn’t see the need to tell Dar or Penny about it. Once I knew if the count would meet with me or not, that would determine our next steps.

  “You’d love that, wouldn’t you?” Dar chuckled and pointed to the bottle. “I’ll hold that for tonight.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” I smiled while I handed him the bottle, but held onto it before he took it. “No drinking.”

  “Fine, fine, and what I meant was, of course, you’d want them to get along so you could find yourself in betwe--”

  “Okay, okay,” I laughed and walked over to check on how the mash was coming along.

  “I ain’t judging,” Dar said as he slung a satchel over his shoulder and placed the bottle of whiskey inside.

  “You never do,” I replied as I lifted the vat’s lid and smelled the mash. “It’s got that earthy sour yeast smell, just how we like it.”

  “You ready to go?” Dar asked while he put a black cap on top of his head.

  “Look at us.” I raised my arms out to my side as a grin spread across my face. “Already expanding.”

  “District by district, my human friend.” Dar clapped me on the shoulder as he opened the stable door to the red glow of the setting sun.

  “We’ve got to be careful tonight,” I said to Dar as we walked side by side down the darkened alleys of the Entertainment District. We decided to walk back to the Halfling District this time around since we weren’t sure if the Elven Guards’ presence would be the same or lighter.

  “Aren’t we usually?” Dar asked through squinted eyes.

  “We are, but we’re heading right back into that elven nest with a bottle of whiskey,” I said and bumped shoulders with another human muttering under his breath. The Entertainment District’s streets grew busier by the second. “Just keep your eyes open.”

  “They’re open,” Dar said as he punched my arm. “I’ll have you home and in between your wives before dawn.”

  “Fuck off,” I laughed and pulled my hood over my head as we got closer to the Halfling District.

  We walked for a few more blocks, and took a shortcut through the center alley that connected both districts.

  “Where are we meeting the kid again?” Dar asked.

  “There is apparently a hall behind Guilder Street,” I replied. “Have you b
een there?”

  “Naw,” Dar said as he shook his head. “Community halls aren’t my thing.”

  “What exactly is your thing?” I smirked.

  “C’mon, Wade,” Dar gasped. “You’ve known me for how long?”

  “Too long,” I said as we approached the end of the long alley before Guilder Street.

  “If that--”

  “Shh,” I hushed my friend and nodded ahead of us. “Let’s focus. There could be elves around.”

  “Got it,” Dar whispered. “Just know, coin and pussy are my thing.”

  “You wish.” I smiled as I eyed the darkened street in front of us.

  The Night Elves must have just won the debate since the sun had set, and the dull lanterns were being lit alongside the street by a team of halflings. Each worker carried a ladder over their shoulder from one pole to the next and created small pools of golden light.

  “They’re gone, fellas.” One of the halflings noticed us as he climbed down from igniting a street lantern. He wore an all-white coverall and a blue hat with a flame logo.

  “Who’s gone?” Dar asked and stepped out of the alley.

  “The elves.” The man raised his flame toward the street. “They stuck around here like the fleas they are, and on Midsummer, too, but they’re gone now. Fucking cunts.”

  “Thank you,” I said and stepped out in the open next to Dar.

  “You have every right to be wary, human.” The worker lifted his ladder on his shoulder. “They weren’t too good to your kind today.”

  The halfling nodded and continued to the next pole. He was right, though. The Elven Guard was nowhere to be seen. What a difference a few hours made.

  “Looks like they were here because of the holiday,” Dar said as we both loosened up and walked down Guilder Street.

  “I don’t buy it,” I muttered as I waved to the worker. “You heard the guy, ‘they weren’t too good to my kind today.’”

  “When are they ever good to anybody?” Dar asked and adjusted the strap of his satchel to fit snugger.

  “Either way, I’m glad they’re gone,” I said as we turned just before Madame Rindell’s on the corner. The women’s voices bounced down the street like their tits whenever they danced. They were calling for anyone and everyone to come in, but it looked like it was going to be a slow night.