Into the Storm

by Christopher Johns

  “Then put me down, damn it!” My feet kicked pathetically, and I scrabbled to hold on to her wet body.

  “Oh, no.” She accidentally threw me four feet into the deep water, and I came back up to leer at her. “Whoops.”

  “Oh, it’s on now, mama.” I snarled playfully and took my arm and whipped it into the water so that a wave of water splashed up against her chest and face.

  Our war of watery torture began then and let me tell you, when a nearly three-hundred-pound muscled woman hits the water and sends a wave at you—you better fucking run.

  I clambered out of the water at the side, completely soaked to the bone and still dripping water from her monsoon level splashing. She grinned happily as she joined me, rays of sunlight filtering through the treetops above us and warming her skin.

  “You feel better about the ocean now that you can swim?”

  She shook her head. “No, but I know that I can at least float, now. And that’s a start.”

  I nodded proudly at her, “Good. Now about that prize.”

  I stalked toward her, and she grinned knowingly.

  Chapter Eight

  We both swam a bit more, taking a few hours to really get her comfortable with the water and the idea of swimming before we prepared to return.

  I hadn’t heard anything from the guys, so that had to mean that they were alright.

  “You’re worried about the others?” Vrawn toweled herself dry this time, the water having almost won this last time as she cramped up. I had warned her not to get into the water so soon after eating, but no, she couldn’t listen. Now she knew and would be better prepared for next time.

  “Yeah, a little bit.” I called to Bea mentally, and she returned with a little more blood on her muzzle. I frowned at her, and she looked down in shame, like a dog that knew you knew they had done something bad. “What did you do?”

  I glanced behind her and found a frogman body ravaged and torn apart. “What were you thinking? What if those things are poisonous?”

  Tasty, and slime good for throat. Bea snorted and trudged forward.

  “You could’ve been hurt!” I insisted, but she touched the gem on my collar and filtered into it.

  I summoned her once more with a tug of will, and she came out of the collar looking around. “Look, I’m not trying to be an asshole; I just want you to be safe. I love you so much, what if something bad happened to you?”

  You fix me. Her simple trust in me was alarming, but her thoughts were much more complex as she showed me memories of me helping her and caring for her. Giving her good food, the monster crystals to help her grow. I love you. Means trust. I trust you, you need trust me.

  She licked my cheek before touching the collar again and filtering away.

  “What am I going to do with her?”

  “Love her and accept that she will be her own creature for the most part?” Vrawn’s arms wrapped around my shoulders and leaned back against her. “She is very intelligent, and has a predatory instinct that you do not at times. I think she will be all right.”

  I sighed and shook my head, turning to ensure that Vrawn was decent. She wasn’t, and while I was comfortable with her, I still blushed a bit. I didn’t look away, but color deepened my cheeks.

  She slid her clothes on, a small smile cracking her features a bit, then swayed toward me. “I’m ready when you are.”

  I grinned, and she grasped my hand as I cast Teleport to take us to our room at the inn once more.

  …tching them for now, but when Zeke and Vrawn are back, we should discuss a plan of action on this. Balmur finished, and the others were quiet for a moment.

  I scowled at the darkening room and reached out through my earring. What the fuck is going on?

  Hey, Zeke’s back. I could almost feel the shit-eating grin in Muu’s voice as he spoke.

  We were just about to call you, buddy. Jaken’s mind-voice sounded strained.

  You’re a terrible liar, man. Bokaj sighed, then continued, We have a bit of an issue. Nothing is wrong with us, but we found out that the syndicate may have a splinter faction that works with the Children of Brindolla. They’ve got some folks who may be aware of us watching our movements, and we think that there may be a warehouse here that they use to store some goods.

  And you guys are watching the watchers while waiting for Vrawn and me so that we might be able to make a move on the warehouse? I tried to keep the skepticism out of my voice, but I was concerned. How deep did these zealots have their fingers into things?

  And how far were they willing to throw themselves toward the cliffs to try and get rid of us, even though we were trying to solve their problem for them?

  A knock on my door shook me out of my thoughts, and Vrawn admitted James to the room, his lips pressed tight in thought.

  “Bokaj has our two tails under observation and can lure them into a trap if needed,” James explained softly so that only we might hear. “Balmur is at the warehouse with an operative from the syndicate now waiting for us to decide what to do.”

  “We aren’t luring anyone into a trap.” I sat on the side of my bed and thought for a moment. “If they have ties to the syndicate, then they’re likely decent fighters, and if they have even remotely close to the same kind of enchanted gear that Asshole and Cudgel did, then we would be in for a hell of a fight. We can try and hit the warehouse, but we need to go in there knowing that this person with Balmur could be a plant, and it could be a trap. Or trapped at the very least. We all know what that little bastard Tarron is capable of, especially after the fiasco with the high elves.”

  My first and former enchanting trainer, Tarron Dillingsley, the little gnomish fucker, seemed to be heading a group of zealots with the intent to rid Brindolla of outsiders. Either by killing us, extortion, blackmail, and coercion—nothing was outside their purview—and they wanted to take care of War’s influence themselves.

  Which we knew was impossible, because they would know that they were coming because of their ability to kind of sense the populace of the world. They can’t sense us because of the fact that we aren’t from here, though there is the fact that one of the generals sent all of us some pretty nasty dreams. Seeing loved ones dead, and their corpses warning us to stop had driven us on.

  “We can look, but let’s not engage.” I grimaced, remembering what we had come here to do. “And maybe before we leave, we figure out a way to get those tails off us.”

  “Sounds good to me, let’s get out of here then.” He shrugged, and I turned to look around the room for anything that might be hidden as a plant. Nothing, thankfully. Seems Katja had some pull here, or at least good enough service not to let anyone into our rooms.

  James explained to the others through our earrings what had been discussed, and the others agreed with my thought processes.

  “How do we wanna get out of here?” I glanced at James as we were on the way out of the room.

  “Bokaj lured them toward the market,” James pointed out the window at the end of the hall toward the north. “The warehouse is actually pretty close by, near a secret dock that the syndicate uses for secret things. Balmur is there now with the syndicate rep.”

  “Just because Bokaj has two of them on his back, doesn’t mean that is all of them.” I walked toward the window carefully, then eyed the outside past the curtain.

  I didn’t notice anything too conspicuous, but I did notice an old man rocking in a chair in a high window facing this one with a pipe in his hand. He had to be about eighty feet away from us, but his eyes were on this window and the front of the inn as well.

  This place is under surveillance. I growled through the earring to the others and paced back to my doorway and the two who waited there. “Vrawn, will you wait here with Bea and keep her company? I’m going to need to shift into an animal form to get us out of here without being seen and have James in the collar to boot.”

  Vrawn agreed, and Bea filtered out of the collar to stand with her in my room. “Be good
for Vrawn, okay?”

  The raptor growled assent and plodded toward my bed with Vrawn fussing behind her.

  James touched the collar and turned into a cloud of gray smoke that siphoned into it.

  I glanced around then took a form I hadn’t taken before because it was creepy as shit, that of a spider. This one was roughly the size of a chihuahua, like the ones that we had been fighting in the jungle after our battle with decay, but it had a special ability I wanted to capitalize on. The fact that it could walk on walls.

  I stuck myself to the wall, taking a moment to get used to the new vision, then clambered up the wall.

  Stick to the corners, pause and watch, then move slowly. The spider’s instincts instructed in a deeper voice than I expected. Following its instructions, I crawled along where the roof and walls met, slowly. All I needed to do was find an open window, then I could turn into something else to be a little less conspicuous.

  The tavern area below looked to be full up, Jaken and Muu sat watching the door with mugs of warm liquid in their hands. Their eyes seemed drawn to me, and I waved a leg at them and moved along. A window behind one of them was open near the rear of the room, so I made a b-line for it.

  Zeke, if that’s you stop right now. I froze at Muu’s command. We’re being watched across the room by a guy who just came in. You may want to try and go through the kitchens.

  I turned and scuttled my way toward the rear of the room near the bar, carefully trying avoiding being seen.

  “What in the hells is that thing, Katja?!” One of the bar patrons cried as his finger whipped up at me.

  You’ve been made, run! Jaken bellowed through my mind and stood fast enough to knock his chair back. “I’ll kill it! I hate spiders.”

  Several patrons took off boots and began to throw them at me wildly as I crawled faster and faster. A knife sliced by my left foreleg, and I juked around it as best as my eight legs would let me.

  “Get back here, you little shit!” Jaken howled and raised his shield in time to catch me when a boot dislodged me from the ceiling. “Ah, ha! I have you now!”

  He shoved the shield toward the kitchen as his sword flashed forward, barely missing me and giving me a small head start. The chefs threw pots and pans, one of them belting my body with nearly boiling water that had living crabs inside. A small chunk of my health sizzled away, and I fought not to curl up from the brief pain of it.

  Jaken took a pot on the shield as he bent to try and “crush” me with it, cursing loudly as he tried to get me. The door through what had to have been a pristine kitchen stood slightly ajar, and I put on an extra burst of speed. A spear shot overhead and rattled the door open even further.

  “Don’t worry, pretty lady, we’ll kill the little bastard for you!” Muu cried, and made his way into the kitchen. “Aww man, this place has crabs!”

  “Those are lobster, you fool, and get out of my kitchens!” One of the men that had thrown pots at me snarled.

  “Please, Muu, come back in here and look for more spiders here, I think your friend has it under control.” I was too focused on getting out alive to see if he followed Katja’s request, but once I hit the outside, I was up on the wall and the sound of chipping wood.

  “Ah-ha!” Jaken screamed, and I paused long enough to see him take out a vial of something that he splashed onto his new shield that looked like a viscous green smear. “I got the little bugger!”

  I snorted to myself as he toted his shield through the door only to be screeched at to get out and go around with that bug grossness on his shield.

  The things we do for friends. He sighed theatrically. Zeke is out of the inn.

  I found a small dip in the roof and shifted to my human form and used the earring to get to Balmur. What am I looking for?

  Opposite side of the bay area is a port with three docks, Balmur explained carefully. We’re on the roof of the warehouse next to our target, and we will be waiting for you. Try to be quiet so that you don’t draw too much attention.

  I nodded before looking at the slowly darkening sky. Owl would be okay for this one, seeing as stealth was required. I carefully positioned my body, so it was low to the roofline and glanced around to see if anyone paid attention to my spot.

  I couldn’t see anyone, so I doubted if anyone could see me. I shifted into my owl form, the feathers of my right wing looking exactly as they did on my left, then took off toward my destination. There was a small covered entry from the roof that Balmur and another person waited on one side of, so I carefully dropped down and landed on the opposite side.

  I shifted to my fox-man form and allowed James to come out of the collar, when he did, I hushed him with a hand to his mouth and pointed toward Balmur and the other persons’ position.

  We stepped around the small cover, and a dagger sliced toward my throat.

  I grinned and grabbed the blade by the sharp edge with my metallic right hand, the vibration and soft sound of pealing metal so satisfying to my ears.

  “Cool it.” Balmur snorted, rolling his eyes at the other man who tried to take back his weapon. I just grinned wider and held on to it.

  “Would you kindly let go of my blade?” A whispered snarl from the hooded darkness before me greeted us.

  “You always try to stab friendlies?” I inquired as I admired the weapon in my hand. It was a black metal that looked like ebon iron, but I wasn’t sure about the make. No matter what I did, the stats of it seemed to be hidden from me.

  “Only when they sneak up on me,” his response had been expected, and I let the weapon go with a shrug.

  “Sounds like you need to be more careful.” He stiffened at that and Balmur shot me an uncertain, questioning glance after my statement. He tried to stab me. We’ve killed people for stuff like that.

  He’s with me and the syndicate would come after us if we kill him without cause. Balmur sighed through my mind. I would prefer not to go toe to toe against an entire criminal organization with whom we have little to no clue how deep they run in this country.

  And here I thought you knew everything about the seedy underbelly of this world? James coughed to cover his chuckle.

  I know what my mentor was able to teach me; he works for the syndicate, so I had an in. Balmur sent, then growled, his glance James’ way more menacing than he meant.

  “Communication earrings, nice.” The figure glanced at Balmur, then at James and me. The three of us stilled, eyed him critically. “Oh, don’t worry, we have them too. One that gets us to the nearest members, and another that allows us to send word to our handlers who keep tabs on our movements. That way, if I disappear tonight, you all die.”

  I saw a flashing grin beneath the hood before it fell back to show me the cat-like figure beneath it. Slitted orange eyes blinked at me, whiskers twitching in delight. “You expected human?”

  “I expected someone who could keep their identity more of a secret, but I guess a cat having my tongue is the least of my worries.” I grinned at him, and his irritation turned to confusion as I offered him my hand. “Name’s Zeke. You?”

  “I am Calmyra.” His voice had a purring tone as he took my hand in his. “And this other one must be… James?” The dragon elf frowned, and that only further satisfied the guest. “Our knowledge runs deep.”

  “I see.” I smiled at him in return and turned my back toward our objective. “Fill us in then, Cal.”

  “Only my friends call me that.” He harrumphed quietly as he sidled closer to my side and motioned to the building across the street. “Three floors, three entrances, two on the ground floor and one roof with fifteen windows—all secured from the inside. Guards patrol the outer perimeter on five-minute rotations, and the guard switches every four hours.”

  “Well, if we’re gonna be working together, we should be friendly.” I poked at him with a finger. “Spells, traps, or anything else that could be a concern?”

  “Nothing on the outside, but we have had bodies inside that have gone missing. It’s p
art of why I’m here,” Calmyra explained in a low tone. “And just because we find ourselves temporary allies, does not mean we need to be friendly.”

  I turned a winning smile at him, making Calmyra snort disgustedly before casting a sideways cat-eyed glare at Balmur and James. “Is he always so insufferable?”

  “Yup.” James nodded with a sly smile.

  Balmur fought not to laugh out loud. “Always has been. You get used to him.”

  The cat-kin rolled his eyes and shoved my shoulder gently. “At least attempt to be professional.”

  “Me?” I feigned being hurt, doing my best to bat my eyelashes at him. “You wound me, sir, I’m the model of professionalism.”

  “Okay, okay.” Balmur still had to fend off being amused. “Time to pony up and get in there. How do we want to do it?”

  I acted like I was thinking while I was really gathering shadows and bending them inside near the closest window. I watched as a dark blur crossed the glass pane, slightly obscured by the rough cut of it. I closed my eyes and grumbled as if thinking harder, really just throwing my consciousness into the shadows and using them to unlock the window from the inside.

  I heaved a sigh and opened my eyes as I withdrew myself from the void. “I think we go in through that window.”

  Calmyra’s head whipped toward the windows, and I used his minute distraction to wink at the other two with a hint of shadow manipulation to give them an idea as to why I suggested it.

  “Seems like a valid point of entry.” Balmur shrugged and began to prepare himself to cross the mere fifteen-foot distance.

  “You want me to toss you?” I asked with a goofy, lopsided grin.

  He shook his head and went to leap across only to be stopped by Calmyra. “Please, allow me to go first. I have ways of holding onto things, and a window is the least likely thing to stop me. Also, the guards are due right… about… now.”

  I couldn’t help but respect the fact that he had them timed so accurately. True to what he said, two guards walking toward each other overlapped on their rounds with barely a glance at one another before moving on.