Chapter 26 – A Far-off Voice

She ran. What could she do? What could she say? How could she help? She didn’t know, so she ran. Eventually, she ended up at Baron Reginald’s house. Natalya went in, hoping he might know something.

 

Past the gate, through the yard, and into the house, Natalya hurriedly went. Unlike the past few days, the house was quiet, absent of the noise and raucous caused by a house full of desperate nobles. There was noise coming from the back of the house, from the kitchen, so she went there.

 

Before she could enter the kitchen, Keira sprung up and blocked her path. “You don’t need to be here, Natalya.”

 

She stumbled back surprised, “What do you mean?”

 

“I’m already preparing lunch, and Annabelle is helping me already,” Keira moved out of the way to reveal Annabelle who waved.

 

“No, that’s fine,” Natalya said, waving back at Annabelle. “I was just looking for Baron Reginald.”

 

Keira cocked her head to the side and frowned, “That’s it? In that case, he is upstairs in the library, if I recall correctly.” Natalya nodded her head in thanks and went up.

 

Baron Reginald was reading a book when she came in. He put it down and immediately and got up to greet her. “Were you able to find him?” He asked.

 

“Yes–”

 

“Great, I knew you could find him.” He said with a smile. Reginald looked around, “So, where is he?”

 

Natalya walked past Reginald and plopped down on a chair, “He’s crying on a cliff.”

 

“What?”

 

“I found him alright, but he was crying and vomiting and I had no idea what to do, so I came here to see if you knew what to do…”

 

“And he’s on a cliff?” Reginald sat back down in his chair. “We have to get him off that ledge before he does something stupid.”

 

“Yeah, but how?”

 

Reginald thought for a moment and said, “We could simply bring him down whether he wants us to or not. But, it would be for the best if we get him to leave of his own accord.” He paused, leaning forward, “Now, do you have any idea why he would be accepting like this?” Natalya slowly shook her head. Reginald scratched his head, “Okay… You last saw him at the castle correct? When exactly did he leave and under what conditions?”

 

“The guy’s head was about to be cut off and we were just talking. I was telling him that since this was over, he was free to do whatever he wanted. I know he planned to register with the Adventurer’s Guild, but after that I don’t know what the plans were. After that, he just left.”

 

“What about his attitude at the time? Hasn’t he been acting a little off the last few days?”

 

“Now that you mention it, he was acting a little weird ever since he came to that guy’s house to get him.”

 

“I’m not the only one then. Since you had been travelling with him, if you noticed some change, then there might be some credibility to it.”

 

“Well, I thought it was odd, but didn’t think much beyond that. I haven’t been with him that long; I only met him on the first, so I don’t know that much about him.”

 

“Only two weeks? “Reginald slowly got up from the chair, “Then there is no use in sitting here. We won’t ever be able to know what is wrong without speaking to him.”

 

“Then would we able to help him and bring him up?” Natalya asked, getting up to follow the Baron.

 

Reginald shrugged, “We won’t know unless we try. Everyone has their problems, their struggles, their demons, and no matter how well we even know someone, what ails them may never be truly known to us unless they themselves tell us. Beyond that is the question of how we, as outsiders who have no intrinsic stake in the inner conflicts of man, can even attempt to rectify the situation, assuming we even know all that there is to know. No matter the problem, be it minute or significant, our words and actions can only do so much in relieving the burdens and stresses of another. We can say all the right words and take all the right actions, but the ultimate burden of correcting the issues of self-will invariably fall upon man and not men.”

 

There was silence for a moment as Natalya stood there unsure if he was done speaking. “Wow Mr. Baron, you must be really smart to say things like that! I’ve never heard anyone talk or say things like that before.”

 

The Baron sighed, “When you get to my age, you learn many things, some pleasant and others not so much.  Now let us go – we have no time to waste.”

 

“Oh, one thing!” Natalya interrupted Reginald. “Do you have some rope by any chance?”

 

“Rope? Why do you need rope?
“So I can go down and get Suran of course!”

Reginald scrunched up his face. He did not understand the request. “If you need rope then go and ask Fletch—” he caught himself and shook his head, “Go ask Keira. She will get some for you.”

 

“Ooookay!” Natalya quickly made her way past Reginald, but stopped outside the room and turned around to face him, “Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you why are you trying to help Suran? Your deal with him is done, so you don’t have to help him, right?”

 

“There are two reasons why I’m doing this: during the attack on my house, he agreed to help me in exchange for my loyalty. True, it may not be a ‘binding’ contract, but I honestly have to thank him for that; he didn’t put me in a slave-contract or anything humiliating like that. Secondly, the king put responsibility on me to making sure Suran is rewarded. The king is not a forgiving man; if he suspects I do not complete my duty to any extent, the Black Paladins will do to me as they did to Hendrick von Auer.”

 

“Wow that sounds like a terrible situation.”

 

“You learn to deal with the cards you are dealt. Now let’s hurry and go.” Reginald walked off to the front of the home while Natalya went to go grab rope from Keira. Once she had that in hand, she led the way towards where Suran was.

 

It was sunset when the two arrived. With the rope wrapped around her shoulder, Natalya peered over the fence. Suran was sitting on the same ledge with his head buried into his knees. He was naked with his clothes folded and neatly put to the side on the glossy, red rocks.

 

“I didn’t expect him to be in this bad of a shape,” Reginald commented as he peered over the fence with Natalya. “I suppose you will be the one to go down?”

 

“Sure,” she said. Natalya tested the integrity of the fence by pulling on it then tied one end of the rope around it. Once she got a good knot, she flung the other end down towards Suran.

 

“Remember what I said: it would be good to find out what is troubling him so we can help, but that isn’t the only way. If you need me, give me a shout.”

 

Natalya hoisted herself over the edge, secured a foot hold on the rocks, and used the rope to slowly descend down. She was able to use the rope for support, dropping down to ledges that would normally have been out of reach.

 

“Go away,” Suran commanded, apparently noticing she was here.

 

Natalya stopped and landed on a ledge right above Suran. “Suran, what are you doing down here? Put your clothes on and let’s leave.” He didn’t say anything. “Come on Suran, you can’t just stay here forever! What’s your problem?”

 

“Nothing good can come from being with me. Do yourself a favor and stay away.”

 

“How about you do yourself a favor and quit moping around! Just go somewhere or do something. Anything is better than just sitting here.”

 

Suran’s response was slow and delayed, “There is nothing I can do. There is nowhere I can go.”

 

“What do you mean can?” Natalya put her hands on her hips, annoyed at the mopey man below her. “What about what you want? What do you want to do? Where do you want to go?”

 

Suran was breathing heavily though his nose. It was some time before he gave a response in a low murmur, “I want to go home…”

 

“Finally! Then why don’t go home?” Natalya exclaimed, thrilled by the thought of progress.

 

“It is impossible to return. The damage has been done. I have no right to go back.”

 

Natalya scratched her head and frowned. She looked up at the Baron who shook his head. Either he couldn’t hear or he didn’t know what to say, Natalya thought. She stood on the ledge and collected her thoughts. She had an idea of what to say but struggled to find the words in which to say it. With a sigh, she spoke with what she had, “Have you tried to go back home? It may look impossible from where you are, but how do you know there isn’t a solution you just can’t see from where you’re standing? The world is a big place, bigger than the town I grew up in and bigger than this city, so you can’t ever know about everything that’s out there. If someone truly wants something and works for it, they can find a way around the impossible because who knows what’s out there. Wanting to be home and going home is something that’s normal for everyone. No one can stop you from going home but yourself. As much as I hate Alnwick, it’s still my home. Nearly half the city was destroyed, but even if it’s broken and damaged, you can still try and fix it.” She was winded and took a deep breath. “Even if it is impossible, how do you know until you try? It’s better to try and fail than to not try at all. So are you just going to sit here and ignore the world and your problems or are you going to try and do the best you can in the situation you are in?” Her head was hurting after that. She was never one for words, and giving that long speech drained her. To her dismay, down below, Suran neither stirred nor said a word; he sat below in complete silence.

 

“Natalya, just come on up!” Reginald yelled at her from above. The sun had set and it was dark out now. They had spent some time out here. She didn’t want to leave yet; the job wasn’t done yet, but Reginald was continuously calling on her. She sighed and began climbing back up.

 

“I caught some of what you said,” Reginald said, greeting her as she came up. “I’m impressed – I didn’t think you could manage to say something like that.”

 

“Well, it wasn’t good enough,” Natalya dejectedly responded.

 

“As I said, our words can only do so much.” He checked his timepiece. “It’s getting late out so let us go back for now. Give him some time to think and we’ll leave the rope out for him.”

 

“Alright…” Natalya followed the Baron through the dark of night.

Chapter 25 – Precipice

Note:

Ok im back for anyone who was waiting. Planned out part two and have began writing it out. I will try to keep a release schedule of at least one chapter a week, most likely on Friday evenings. Depending on my schedule and how fast I can get stuff done, I might put up more in a week, but I want to try and keep things consistent for now.

 

————————

Natalya was always the last one awake. It was a chore getting up early each morning, and it didn’t help how her mother, who never failed to get up early each morning, would continuously badger her till she got up. Still, the smell of breakfast was a more effective alarm than her mother.

 

At the first signs of breakfast, the clanking of pans and the aroma of food, Natalya had to get up; she would rather miss an extra few minutes of sleep than skipping breakfast. From the dim orange glow that greeted her each morning, she knew she would need it.

 

Almost every morning she would join her mother and father out in the fields. Sometimes she went to the church instead. Her family never could afford the tuition costs for schools, so the basic lessons and teachings the church offered were her only chance at an education. Other times, the weather was just bad, so she stayed in. Besides those instances, she found herself working the land. It was just them three, so she needed to help most of the time anyways.

 

When the sun had set, their work was done. She and her mother headed back home to eat dinner, rest, and prepare for the next day. Her father seldom joined. She would always ask her mom, “Where is Dad?”

 

Her mother would sigh and shake her head. When it was time to sleep, her mother would leave the house to look for him. She would always drag him back, usually in a mood as foul as the smell. But it never seemed to be an issue; there wasn’t any arguing or fighting that didn’t burn out quickly. Everyone had to get up early the next morning, so no one wanted to waste the energy.

 

As the weeks turned to months and months turned to years, the fighting got worse and worse. He used to go out maybe once a week, but it slowly became a daily habit. Even then, her mother would go out and retrieve him every time. But, it all came to a stop suddenly one night. As usual, it was late in the night, late enough where the town was asleep, when her mother dragged in her father. This time they didn’t even wait to get inside the house before they started yelling at each other.

 

Her father was a quiet man, kept to himself and didn’t do much other than work. When he came home each night, he only responded to the anger of her mother, maintaining a quiet, defensive stance. So that night, he defied all expectations when he raised his hand and struck her mother. Nights were usually quiet since no one was out and nothing was happening, but the quiet of the night never compared to the silence that followed.

 

The next night, her mother did not go out to get him. He did not come back either. It got later and later into the night, and it was clear that her mother would have no more to do with him. Natalya left the house. She decided if her mother would not do it, then she would.

 

What was her mother’s labor became her own, and so at night when her father was out in the town, drinking and loitering, she would bring him home. While her mother had little to say to her father now, she would always try and dissuade her from going out each night saying, “Don’t waste your time on him,” or “He doesn’t need you to find him.” At any rate, Natalya didn’t listen to her. Rain or shine, Natalya would go out and get him simply because she felt like she had to. But it was difficult, going out after her father every night, when her mother would deride her for doing and when there were other things she would rather do.

 

One night, she decided to listen to her mother. She was feeling under the weather, slightly feverish with a headache and an aching body. Every night when her father was out, she had filled in the role of her mother and brought him home. Skipping one night here and there couldn’t be an issue, so she quickly fell asleep earlier than usual, exhausted from her ill condition.

 

Her father wasn’t there in the morning. Mother did not seem to care on bit, but Natalya didn’t like it at all. Even though she was sick, she felt she should have gone out and got him, and she decided to do so tonight, regardless of the circumstances. It was when she went out to the fields with her mother she found out where her father was. He swayed, hanging from a tree.

 

 

—

 

 

Natalya strided through the elaborate castle corridors. She quickly caught up to the group of nobles and crashed through them to get to Baron Reginald.

 

“Hey, Baron,” She said, shoving into him.

 

Reginald almost toppled over, but caught himself in time. “N-Natalya?! What are you doing here?”

 

“Have you seen Suran anywhere?”

 

He stopped walking, causing the entire group to haphazardly stop and bump into each other. “What do you mean? Isn’t he somewhere around here?”

 

“He was, but stepped out during the beheading-thing and disappeared.”

 

“Disappeared?!” He suddenly grabbed Natalya’s shoulders and shook, “We have to find him!”

 

“Stop shaking me!” She wrestled herself free from the man’s clutches. “And yeah, that was the plan, but I don’t know where he went.”

 

“Shit… He couldn’t have gone far, so ask around outside; someone must have seen him. We have to find him.”

 

“Sure, I guess, but I already asked the guards outside the throne room and they said they didn’t see him…”

 

“The guards will rarely tell you anything – don’t rely on them.” Reginald grabbed her by the arm and began walking, pulling her along. “We need to find him fast, so here is what we will do: outside should be others, not guards, that might have seen them. Ask them. Meanwhile, I will do what I can and must, gathering what resources I have to find him should you not be able to find him.”

 

“Alright, I’ll take a look.” Natalya wrestled himself from the man’s clutches again and widened her paces, taking the lead. She turned around while walking and asked the Baron, “By the way, why are you so worried about finding him?”

 

“I’m now responsible for him in more ways than one – now go! Go before it’s too late. Find him and make sure he isn’t doing anything dangerous.”

 

Natalya nodded her head, turned around, and picked up speed. She went through the checkpoints, past the guards, and out the gates quickly and easily. Outside the gates, there were much less people then she anticipated.  She looked around and settled on asking an old woman who was sitting on a bench.

 

Approaching the friendly, old lady on a bench, she got straight to the point and asked her if she had seen some brooding brown guy walk through. The old lady had in fact seen someone walk by matching that description, and pointed it out for Natalya.

 

Like that Natalya, worked her way through, pestering people along the way. Some people had no clue who she was asking about. Others blew her off and didn’t even respond to her. Through persistence, Natalya was eventually able to find people to direct her the correct way. A man selling cabbage pointed her along and then a group of kids playing ball helped her out. Piecing together Suran’s path, she worked her way down from the castle and then around.

 

She stopped at a picket fence nestled in between two grey homes that overlooked the crags of the mountain and the harbor below. Her last lead, kindly given to her by a mother who was stringing up clothes to dry, led her to this alleyway as the last known place Suran went. The alleyway was bare, leaving little room for anyone to hide, so she looked over the edge.

 

Rocks and ledges as far as she could see. But, on one ledge down below and to the left, she could see the shape of Suran sitting. There were a lot of ledges, but she couldn’t figure out how he got down there. It was almost as a big of question as why he was sitting on a random ledge on the side of a mountain.

 

Swinging her leg over the fence, Natalya tried to feel out a way down to get to him. Her foot slipped, crumbling her foothold and sending rocks tumbling down, and she wobbled back to latch onto the fence. Yeah, there was no way she was going to go down there. She took a look down and gauged the distance. Suran wasn’t that far; he was certainly within ear shot. If she couldn’t get down to him, the least she could do is yell at him.

 

Suran got up on the rock and started pacing. Instead of opening her mouth to call out to him, she stood on the ledge and watched the man.

He feebly walked on the small ledge, teetering back and forth. He stopped at the edge, doubled over, and began heaving and panting, vomiting over it while Natalya recoiled in disgust. Bringing himself back up, Suran stumbled back and caught himself on the wall. His lips were moving, but Natalya could not hear what he was saying. Suran turned around to face the wall and began smashing his head into the rocks.

 

With each thud, Natalya winced, but he stopped before Natalya could intervene. His head was still on the rocks, and he slid down to the ground, crumpling on the floor. He began sobbing uncontrollably.

 

Natalya opened her mouth, but no words came out. Suran was distressed, but she had no idea what she could do. No words came to her mind that could alleviate the situation. No actions were clear that could help Suran. She tumbled back over the fence and began running. She was lost.

End of part 1- thoughts and more

After being delayed by various things, be it college, work, or lack of writing direction, part 1 of the story has finally reached its conclusion. I enjoyed writing part 1 and I hope you enjoyed reading it. As of now, I might take a little break. Although my posting schedule was erratic to say the least, I want to take some time to collect some of my thoughts and look back over what I have written. I’d love to rewrite some of what I wrote, especially some of the intro, but that might be a project for later. For now, I might do some other writings, maybe short stories, and try something a little different for a change a pace, but I will be looking through my notes and plans and finalizing part 2.

While I look back and prepare myself for the upcoming chapters, I have a small request for anyone who has been reading my story. I never really learned how to write stories, my only writing experiences being in speech writing, debate essays, and so on. I would appreciate it if anyone could throw some productive critique my way so I can see what I am doing right, what I am doing wrong, and maybe what I should do in the future. I like writing and I enjoy my story, but I want to be able to do it justice.

Also, in the past, I entertained the idea of trying to write supplementary lore and works to accompany the story to touch on some aspects that might interest people but may never be brought up in the story. Between writing the actual story and all my other obligations, I found it difficult to find the time. But, since I am ‘taking a break’, if there was anything you want to know about the world feel free to ask and I might make some entries pertaining to some of those questions.

 

Thanks for reading,

Linus

Chapter 24 – The Curtain Falls

Much to her annoyance, Natalya was not allowed to leave the house. She went straight from being locked up in the crusty old guy’s house to being stuck Lord Henry’s house. The problem wasn’t that she was held up for a day or two – she could tolerate some inconveniences; the problem was that she hadn’t been able to do anything she wanted from the moment she stepped foot in Valcadia.

 

When she lived in Alnwick, she would always pester the travelers for their stories, their stories and experiences with food. Sometimes she would hear about the delicate and artistic dishes from the Wood Elves with their berries and fruits. Other times, she would hear about the dragon-fire grilled meat of the dragon tribes. She heard so many stories about foods and recipes, but the ones that stood out the most were the ones from Valcadia. It wasn’t because they had the most unique cooking styles and recipes or the most exotic dishes and restaurants; it was because Valcadia was a hub of cultures and people from all over the world, it blended the different food dishes and cooking styles from all over. Down in Valcadia, you could get a taste of anything and everything, but the only food Natalya ever got to taste was the cooking of some random inn and whatever dish she could throw together by raiding the pantries of others.

 

The reason was the man sitting in front of her gazing out the window. Suran was an interesting guy – no one she had ever met was quite like him. There was something off, something different, about him she just couldn’t put her finger on. When Alnwick got raided, she figured there would be no better time to leave, and this curious man coming along gave her someone to follow and keep things interesting. Curiosity caused her to follow Suran.

 

But things really didn’t turn out exactly how she imagined. She learned virtually nothing about Suran. He hated questions. He really hated questions about himself. He hated small talk. In the end, he would only talk if there was something that needed to be said. Getting any conversation out of him felt like an accomplishment, and anything he did say sometimes made little sense. Now she couldn’t even get him to say pretty much anything. Suran was sitting almost lifelessly, looking out the window. Ever since last night when he rescued her, she could tell something was unusual about the already unusual man; he killed the old lady when there were probably better alternatives. It didn’t seem like the sort of thing the man who fought bandits an Alnwick would do.

 

Maybe she just didn’t know him well enough. It hasn’t even been two full weeks since they first met. At any rate, she could deal with a man who said nothing – she had lived with far worse anyways. What she couldn’t deal with was getting on this wild ride of a request and not being able to do anything she wanted to do. Sure it was fun, going out and doing detective work, breaking into people’s homes, and causing a mess in the city, but what she really wanted to do was explore the food in the city, something she barely got to do.

 

As of now, she was stuck here because it was ‘too dangerous’ to leave the house. Natalya didn’t understand how since Henry Reginald left early in the morning to go report the crusty old guy to the police. If that guy was the one making everything dangerous, and he is getting arrested, why would it be dangerous to go out?

 

She couldn’t follow everything that was going on, and at this point, she didn’t even care anymore. All she understood was that whatever that was going on wasn’t done yet so she had to find some way to kill time. She cycled through various activities from bothering Suran to bother Keira to going in and out of the pantry to see if anything new was in there. Sprawled out on a couch, she resigned herself to tossing nuts into the air and trying to catch them with her mouth. The success rate was passing, good enough for her.

 

As if to deliver her from this hell, Baron Reginald came swooping in like an angel. “It is done; the case was made.”

 

Suran, who had not moved an inch since Lord Henry left hour ago, turned to Reginald, “What was the result?”

 

“Well, the King said he would look into it. His words virtually assure an investigation will be opened up for our dear friend Hendrick von Auer. Until then, I reckon it would safe to do whatever it is you were needing to do; the last few days have been hectic after all and I imagine you have other business in the city.”

 

Natalya’s eyes lit up. Did she just hear that right? It was safe to go out and do what she wanted? Suran turned back to the window and said, “No, there is nothing I need—”

 

She was not going to let this opportunity go to waste. Natalya hastily got up, spilling all the nuts that littered over her, ran over to Suran, grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him out of the chair and through the door. “What do you mean there is nothing? Don’t you remember the important stuff we have to do?” Surprisingly, Suran gave little resistance as Natalya strong-armed him out.

 

After being dragged out into the lawn, Suran finally wrestled himself free, “What are you doing?”

 

“Look here,” she said swirling around, hand on her hip and wagging her finger, “We spent the last two weeks working to get into the adventure’s guild for some reason I can’t even remember. I’m not sure if you know what you’re doing, but I sure as hell do! I came here to take in the food of Valcadia, to taste the savoriest dishes, and to find the best recipes. Now that I’m free to do it, I will go out and do that. And you are coming with me.” Natalya swiveled back around and marched outside to the street. Suran hesitantly followed her.

 

Natalya bounded through the streets. It was a glorious, sunny day, the faint aroma of food and burning lingered in the air, and she was free. Her nose served as their guide, and quickly the two found themselves surrounded by merchants selling spice and ingredients, food stands whipping up food, and elegant restaurants dining patrons.

 

She browsed through the stalls, going from vendor to vendor. Many ingredients and spices sold she had never seen before. She went from merchant to merchant, pestering each of them what this spice was used for or what that ingredient was, exhausting all of their knowledge.

All the ingredients had her curiosity, but the stalls serving up food had her attention. It was amazing to see the cooks handle several dishes at once, going from throwing spice in one dish to dicing meat to stirring another dish in the blink of an eye. At the same time, as they were going through the flurry of cooking motions, they were also keeping track and every customer, taking their orders and serving them swiftly.

 

While she was engrossed in the cooking stands, contemplating on grabbing a bowl of noodles from vendor or a crunchy meat platter from another, Suran tapped her shoulder and whispered into her ear, “Be careful, there are armed guards everywhere.”

 

She stopped in the crowd and looked around. There did seem to be armed knights standing around and patrolling the area, but she didn’t think much of it. “Why? Is there something to worry about?”

 

“While I rescued you, there was a coordinated attack on the docks. Reginald told me that the damage was substantial; nearly the entire harbor was on fire till morning. The guards must be placed to prevent another incident, so we need to keep our heads down.”

 

“Keep our heads down? It’s not like we did anything in relation to what happened last night, right?”

 

“Not entirely correct.”

 

Natalya rolled her eyes, “Of course, why would I think otherwise. Whatever, who cares. We just won’t cause trouble then.” Suran was suspicious on alert, but Natalya thought his cause of concern was unfounded; he was just being overly paranoid.

 

Taking his arm again, she dragged him to a food stand. They were selling slices of meat on a stick that were dipped into a vat of boiling liquid. After a few moments, they take out the meat which was turned a crispy, golden color that made her mouth water. She ordered two. Nearly drooling, she eagerly took both sticks and immediately devoured one. It had a crispy, crunchy outer layer which hid the soft, tender meat inside, a type of dish Alnwick had never seen before.

 

With one stick out of the way, she immediately chomped down on the other one, biting it clean. She tossed both sticks aside, “Wow, that was good!” She never had something like this before and wondered what other dishes could make use of this boiling-to-a-crisp style.

 

“Was it?”

 

Oops, she thought. She was so hungry, she forgot about Suran. “Yeah it was. Forgot to ask, did you want one?”

 

“No, not really.” His voice had no emotion at all. Despite saying no, Natalya felt bad she didn’t ask and ignored him and both another for him. He reluctantly accepted and nibbled on it as she continued her adventure. She didn’t stop until her stomach would accept no more food and the stalls were closing down, preventing her from even trying to shove more food down her throat.

“It’s time we go,” Suran said.

 

Natalya popped a chocolate in her mouth, desperately trying to finish the dessert she had purchase, and licked her fingers clean. “I guess it’s time.” Suran nodded and began walking down the street, leading the way back to Reginald’s home. Natalya followed him, but first, she tossed her candy wrappers into a disposal bin on the street and on top of a half-eaten stick of crunchy meat.

 

The two casually went back to Henry Reginald’s house and retired for the night.

 

 

 

Natalya was rudely awoken the next morning due to a boisterous ruckus the next morning. Groggily, she got up, got dressed, and headed out from her guest room to see what was going on. The house was being turned upside down by Henry and a bunch of other fancily dressed people she had never seen before. No one seemed to acknowledge she was awake so she had to listen to the hectic discussions between the men to figure out what was going on. It sounded like they were all going to the castle because the King had made some sort of decision. Suran mentioned the other day that the crusty old dude was getting investigated so maybe it had to deal with him.

 

Moments later, everyone began filing out of the house, and Natalya decided to tag along without telling anyone. If she had asked anyone, she guessed the answer would have been no and there was no fun in that.

 

She went along – and no one seemed to notice – as Reginald, Suran, and a few other people she had never seen before headed towards the castle that stood above all of Valcadia. The castle was as gorgeous as it was daunting, but it took really long walk to get there, so Natalya could only think of her aching feet.

 

The castle was enclosed in a huge fort and the group was received by guards who opened the gates to let them in. She walked in at the back of the pack, feeling out of place; she was in a group full of people dressed in fancy clothes surrounded by another group of people who dressed in intimidating armor and swords.

 

They were led through the courtyard of the inner walls which led various other buildings towards the castle. At the door at the castles, they were stopped and vigorously searched by the armed men for any weapons. While her friends didn’t seem to notice her, the guards certainly did, but they didn’t give her as much trouble compared to Suran, Reginald, and the others. More armed men led them inside the castle itself.

 

“Natalya, why are you here?”

 

She jumped, startled. Someone had finally noticed she was here. “I’ve been here the whole time.”

 

“We are going to meet the king,” Suran said. It was a simple statement, but it sounded like a warning to Natalya to not do something stupid.

 

Finally, the group was brought to a final stop outside a massive black door decorated in green. It was a fancy door, so it must be the entrance to the throne room, she thought.

 

The next moment, the grand doors swung open, revealing the throne room to no surprise. She walked in with Suran at the back of the group down a rich green carpet with black borders. At the end of the carpet, sat upon an elevated black throne was the King of Valeryia, King Alexander. He looked past his prime, but still fit enough to be sane. His light blonde hair was slick without a single stray hair. Even though he was sitting, she could tell he was a tall man.

 

Reginald led the group up to him then kneeled. Everyone behind him followed suit, including her and Suran.

 

“Rise.” Everyone got up. “I call you here, Baron Reginald, to give you my verdict.” King Alexander was stoic, but his voice commanded the room. Everyone was holding their breath. “The Black Paladins looked into the matter, and found your concerns to be well-founded.” A collective sigh of relief emitted from Reginald and his colleagues. “He has been stripped of his title and holdings. For bringing this matter to light, Baron, you shall be compensated for your efforts from his wealth.”

 

“T-thank you very much, my King.” He took a bow, “You are too generous.”

 

“Is that the man you mentioned?” Alexander pointed toward Suran. As a response, Suran moved up to the front.

 

“Yes he is, my King,” Reginald answered.

 

“Tell me, foreigner, what is your name?”

 

“Suran. Suran Ibrahim.”

 

The King nodded his head and leaned back in his throne. “I shall leave his reward to you, Baron. See that he is properly taken care of.”

 

“O-of course! I will reward him appropriately.”

 

King Alexander stood up from his throne, “Come with me to the windows,” he said, motioning over to his left. “After this, you may be dismissed.”

 

It sounded like a request, but everyone treated it as a command. Reginald and his colleagues swiftly took towards the window while the King slowly walked up. Natalya took up a spot right next to Suran.

 

Through the window, she could see a garden that was splattered in color. At the center was a clearing with a wooden riser. On top of the riser was a guillotine with the crusty old guy locked underneath it. He looked like he was beaten to a pulp, making it hard to recognize him through all the swelling, bruises, and lacerations.

 

“Hendrick von Auer shall pay for his crimes here and now,” the King declared.

 

Natalya turned to Suran and whispered, “See, Suran? There is nothing to have been worried about! As soon as he cuts this guy’s head off, you will be free to do whatever you want. I know I dragged you along for my stuff yesterday, but today we can do whatever it is you want to do.”

 

“I can do whatever I want?” He asked quietly.

 

“Sure, why not? There won’t be anything stopping you – I mean you have a life after all, there must be something you want to do right?”

 

“I’m going to step outside…” Suran said, turning away from the window and feebly walking away.

 

Natalya shrugged, “Suit yourself.” Suran left, and she turned her attention to Hendrick who was placed underneath the guillotine. A man garbed in black walked up to the mechanism and prepared the guillotine. When it was ready to go, the man turned towards the window and looked at the King. Alexander nodded his head and waved his hand. The executioner nodded and the guillotine fell, slicing Hendrick’s head clean off. Natalya winced and muttered, “Brutal.”

 

The King left the window and walked back to his throne, “He was but one man. The Black Paladins will work tirelessly to out his conspirators.”

 

It was finally over, Natalya thought. She chuckled to herself because she found it funny that they went through all this work to try and get into that adventure’s guild. It didn’t help that she forgot she had the money to pay for the fees the entire time. Now Reginald can work his end of the deal and get them in, but the question was, what next? Suran never really mentioned what exactly he wanted to do after. All he said was trying to find the end to his journey, or something like that. It didn’t make that much sense anyways.

 

She shrugged. If he didn’t know what he was doing, it was his problem. As long as she could tag along and do what she wanted, all was well. She exited the throne room with Reginald and the others.

 

Outside the throne room, Natalya looked around. She couldn’t find Suran. She waited till Reginald and the others left, and still couldn’t find him in the empty hallway. The guards posted outside didn’t know where he went either. She frowned and rubbed her chin. Where did Suran go?

 

——————

 

PART 1 END

Chapter 23 – Night of Infernos

“Why do we have to meet out here again?” Suran asked. He and Shroom were standing in a cramped and dirty alleyway, close to nowhere. “The sun is setting; it’s almost time to begin and you call me way out here.”

 

“Why, you ask?!” Shroom stressed, pacing the alley. “Thanks to your tomfoolery, sitting in my home right now is Clyde, Hendrick von Auer, and more armed guards then I care to count.”

 

“So they believed you.”

 

“Unfortunately, they did. My entire house is on lockdown, and I was only able to leave by making up some excuse about meeting my informant.” He stopped pacing. “Anyways, only he left the house. Clyde left a few men at his house, I think, for an ambush.”

 

“How many?”

 

“Can’t say, but Clyde and his men are spread very thin right now, so I can’t imagine many.”

 

“Anything else?”

 

“I made the trip to the castle to divulge the information on the arrival. Might I say, it was not a pleasant experience, but I told them.”

 

“Go back to your home and keep your head down.” The sun had set. “It’s time.” Suran and Shroom both left the alley and went their separate ways. Shroom, to his home. Suran, to the house of Hendrick von Auer.

 

It took some time to reach there, considering Shroom had dragged him out far into town. When he got there, he hid in the shadows of the street and watched the entrance. He waited to go in.

 

Reginald coordinated with several of his colleagues well and got in touch with rioters. They provided weapons and equipment as well as some of their own fighters for the operation. However inexperienced they might be, a mass of angry, armed citizens is nothing to scoff at. If Namnoc’s forces are spread thin, they will be forced to recall their units to respond to a large, belligerent group. Even if they aren’t recalled, it would be fine, Suran thought.

 

However, that did not seem to be the case. A man came running to the estate, huffing and puffing. He entered the compound and came hustling back out with a line of men behind him. They looked panic and frenzied; he wondered what the situation was out at the docks.

 

As soon as they cleared the area, Suran went up to the gate. They had left it open in their haste, so he walked in. Fortunately, the front door was no different. He entered the house and moved carefully; it was dark and he knew not what could be in the shadows.

 

In the house, he could hear the shuffling of feet. Hugging the wall, he followed the sound. The shuffling grew louder and he could make out the sighs of an elderly women. He turned the corner and saw someone travelling the corridors. Rushing up with his sword, he took her by surprise, gagged her mouth with his hand, and rested the sword at her neck.

 

“Red-haired girl. Can cook. New. Take me to her,” he whispered into her ear.

 

The woman was frightened beyond belief and led Suran through the house gingerly. She led him to a room in the back of the house and pointed to the door.

 

“Open it,” Suran ordered.

 

Wiggling free of the gag, she shook her head, “It’s locked.”

 

“Then get the key and open it.”

 

“I can’t…”

 

“Where is the key? Do you have the key?” She didn’t answer, beginning to breathe heavily. Suran shook her from behind and brought the blade closer to her neck. “Tell me.”

 

“I-I have it.”

 

“Give it.”

 

Again, she shook her head, “I can’t – I’m not allowed.”

 

Suran didn’t have time for this and ran his sword through her throat. She plopped to the floor into a pool of her own blood. Rummaging through her clothes, Suran found the key. He unlocked the door and carefully pushed the creaky door open. The room was dark so he proceeded with caution. He took two steps into the room and was promptly punched in the face.

 

“Take that ya piece of shit!” It was Natalya. “Wait, what?” She realized soon after who she had punched. “Oops, sorry! If I knew it was you, I wouldn’t have done that.”

 

“It’s fine.”

 

“Maybe if you tried knocking, things like this wouldn’t happen!” She put her hands on her hip with a wide grin. “Anyways, what are you doing here?”

 

“…” Suran stared at her with a blank expression. He turned around and began walking, “let’s go.”

 

Together they walked out into the hallway.

 

Natalya almost tripped and yelped as she exited, “Woah, what’s up with all this blood everywhere? And this dead person?”

 

“She had the key and resisted.”

 

“So you killed her? I mean, she was just an old lady…”

 

Suran glanced both ways and began walking. Natalya appeared to be fine, so the next objective was to find evidence of corruption for Auer.

 

“Stop going to fast!” Natalya hurried up alongside him, trying to keep pace. “Is there something wrong? You seem a little off.”

 

He stopped in a large, living room and checked the surroundings. “Nothing is wrong.” He began walking again.

 

“If you so say.” Natalya followed along as Suran made his way through the home. “So, what are we doing?”

 

Suran reached the room he had met Auer in before, the study. “We are looking for documents that would incriminate Hendrick von Auer,” Suran explained, opening up the door and entering the pristine room. He headed for the desk and began searching through its contents.

 

Most of it was junk: random letters, notes, and scribbles. For the few, they held pieces of information, a shipment here, a payment there, but it was nothing substantive. Regardless, he put them to the side – the small pieces might come together to reveal the bigger picture. He was quickly running out drawers on the desk, so he turned to Natalya, “You’ve been here before right? Anywhere we should look?”

 

She hummed as she thought, browsing through the bookcase. “Not an idea. I only came in here to give the guy tea – he wanted it all the damn time.”

 

“Did anything stand out when you came in here?”

 

“Well, sometimes when I came to give the guy his crap, he wasn’t in here. I’d come in and he was nowhere to be seen even though you never saw him leave.”

 

Suran began checking underneath the desk, “A secret room?”

 

“Mayb—” Natalya gasped and Suran heard her fall to the ground.

 

“What happened?” Suran got out from underneath the desk where he found nothing.

 

“I was checking out the books and one of them wouldn’t move.” She got up from the floor and brushed her clothes, “Pulled a little too hard on it.”

 

Suran and Natalya began combing through the bookcase, resulting in many books tossed to the floor. At the end, they were left with several books on the shelf that simply would not come off. Those books came in groups of three where the middle one could partially slide out and the other two didn’t move at all. All the remaining books that could move were slid out, but there was still nothing.

 

“Is there a switch?” Suran thought aloud. He ran his hand around the bookcase and through the shelves. Unsurprised, his hand felt a button at the top of the bookcase. Pressing the button, he heard a click and the moving of gears. The shelves began to sink into the wall then slide apart into the wall.

 

“Wow, that was easy,” Natalya mused. When the passage was sufficiently opened, he led Natalya through. “What’s the point of a secret room if it’s so easy to find?”

 

“If we did not know to look for it, we might not have found it.” Suran walked down a spiral of steps until he reached a cozy, well-furnished room. The furniture in this room was of a different quality then the others rooms – designed much like a guilty pleasure or a retreat. He went straight to tearing through it.

 

Suran began turning things over, going through cabinets and storage. Natalya joined in as well, but he wasn’t sure if she was doing to help or just wanted to mess up the room. Much like the previous study, everything in this room was organized to the letter. It was unfortunate, Suran thought as he began to rummage through the desk in this room because he had now found what he wanted.

 

He found general ledgers, shipment lists, invoices, business transactions, letters, correspondences. What could compel someone to retain all this information and not destroy it, he thought. Skimming through some of the letters and notes, the reason became clear; while Hendrick von Auer’s necessity for organization might have contributed, his notes made it clear he trusted no one. On the margins of the papers detailed why he kept each paper, most of them as leverage and information to attack anyone if they dared to turn on him.

 

Suran collected the papers and put them in a loose envelope. From what he skimmed, he was not sure if it was enough to convict of him crimes – most of it was simply shady business practices – but it could be enough to start an investigation. “Natalya, we have what we need.” Suran began to trek back up the staircase. Reginald said all we needed is to begin an investigation and the King will take care of the rest.

 

With the documents in hand, Suran and Natalya headed towards the home of Reginald. As soon as Reginald got the information, he could present it to the Kingdom and make the case against Hendrick. Suran’s job was over, but he wondered what was going on at the docks. Looking towards the water, he saw a faint red glow emit from the shore.

 

——————–

 

His timepiece read three past nine. The ship was late. He got up from his chair. Such tardiness was not acceptable. There would be consequences for this. Putting his timepiece back into his coat pocket, he headed towards the door to lodge a complaint against the captain. Before he could reach it, a sailor came bursting through.

 

“S-sir! There is an emergency!”

 

“What do you mean?” Being late already irritated him and wore his patience thin. Just the thought of more problems made his blood boil.

 

“It would be easier to see for yourself…”

 

He stormed up and pushed past the sailor to reach the deck. He sighed and pulled on his gloves, tightening them. There wasn’t an emergency; there was a disaster. As far as he could see along the shore was a raging fire and plumes of smoke.

 

“We leave for not even one week and this is how my brother runs things?” He rhetorically asked out loud. “I will need a good, long chat with dear Clyde.” He went back to the startled sailor, “Tell the skipper to bring the ship ashore.”

 

“B-but the docks are on fire, Mr. Haiden!”

 

Haiden Maxwell grasped the sailor’s throat, raised him into the air, and slammed him up against a wall. “First, it is Mr. Maxwell to you. Second, if you do not do as I say, I will drive the ship myself which means I won’t need any of you. Do you want to know what happens to people I don’t need?”

 

The sailor whimpered in his clutches, desperately trying to breathe. He nodded without even thinking of his choices, agreeing to follow Haiden’s directions.

 

Haiden let go, letting the man drop onto his feet. “Now go and tell the skipper like a good boy,” he instructed with a devilish grin, lightly slapping him on the face. The sailor scurried away and, moments later, the ship’s course was decidedly set towards the remains of the docks.

 

While the sailors grew anxious as they approached the tumultuous shore, Haiden was worried if the smog would dirty his suit; he had just got his favorite white suit clean and the thought of dirt, dust, and blood soiling it annoyed him. The ship approached as close as it could until the fires kept it at bay. Numerous men were along the docks and piers, burning buildings, tossing crates into the ocean, killing Namnoc men.

 

The ship crew were desperately trying to dock anywhere in the battlefield, but their efforts were slow and unsuccessful. Haiden had enough waiting; his patience was gone. He approached the edge of the ship and leaped through the fire and flames onto the pier. Sailors screamed in amazement and fear from the display. It amused Haiden that leaping only a few dozen feet drew such a reaction.

 

However, there was no time for amusement. His brother’s mess seemed to be out of hand, and it was up to him, again, to clean up after him. As Haiden walked down the destruction, he unbuttoned his pouch that he kept fastened to the side of his leg. From the several bloodied and burning bodies, whoever was attacking was armed and viscous. He decided to give them no quarter.

 

“Look, another one!”

 

Haiden tilted his head at the noise. A large group of men came to be his first opponents. Behind them he could see waves of people lay waste to the buildings, streets, and people. Haiden walked towards the rioting street, undeterred by the men in front of him.

 

“Where do you think you’re going?” There was no response from Haiden. “Whatever, just kill him like the rest!” A wave of men came surging at him

 

Haiden put his left hand into his pouch and pulled out a small metallic ball. Continuing to walk, he tossed the ball half-heartedly in the air. It did not fall back down. In the air, a gold and white glow blanketed the ball.

 

The rushing men were oblivious to the ball, either from the visual obstruction caused by the flames and smoke or from simple bloodlust. However, even if they had notice, it would not have prevented the massacre.

 

Haiden kept walking right towards the men. The ball began to move. It zoomed through the air with astounding speed right towards the group. One by one, the men were tossed around and tumbled to the ground. The ball was tearing through them, piercing their skin and armor just like butter. Haiden gingerly walked through the field of corpses. He did not want blood to get on his shoes, after all. The ball floated back to Haiden who scooped it from the air and continued along.

 

He had always hated getting his hands dirty, but his proficiency in magic gave him an out; by using his magic and manipulating mana, he opted to use these metallic balls as his weapon of choice and to do the work for him.

 

Unfortunately, his work was cut out for him. Using the metallic ball, he tore through any stragglers in his path until he reached the street. The dozen or so he had cut down were nothing to the hundreds of people he saw in either direction. He could tell that these fighters were just ordinary people, not warriors or an army. Even though it looked and felt like a battlefield, it might be better to categorize it as a riot.

 

At any rate, Haiden did not feel like figuring out the semantics. What he did have to figure out, was who to kill first. The answer was obvious: everyone.

 

He dug into his pouch again and pulled out two more balls. Tossing them into the air, he gave them the same life he did to the first and let them rain terror upon all. The three glowing spheres dashed to and fro, tearing through everyone indiscriminately.

 

Haiden froze and so did his orbs. They hovered by his side and he looked to the shadows with a frown. “Stop hiding.” He called out.

A suit of armor walked out of the smoke. The armor said nothing, instead pulling out a dirty white sword and shield.

 

“How quaint, a person as dirty as the suit of armor they’re wearing,” Haiden said in an attempt to taunt the knight. He slowly slid his hand towards his pouch, but he quickly had to jump back.

 

From the side, a massive ball of fire flew past him and exploded. A moment later, arrows began to pierce through the smoke aimed right at him. Haiden acted quick, directing his spheres to knock the arrows away, and grabbed several more orbs, throwing them up and activating them.

 

The knight came bursting through next. Haiden flipped back to avoid the slashes. The orbs in the air responded by glowing brighter then firing of a pulse of energy at the knight. The two dodged each other’s attacks, the knight using his shield to block while slicing at Haiden.
From the wings, a man with a pointy hat walked up and began muttering to himself. A yellow circle appeared before him and began to rotate. He stopped speaking and tapped the circle. A bolt of lightning rushed out from it right at Haiden.

 

Haiden clutched a few more orbs and pointed his hand at the charging knight. He held his right hand up towards the bolt, conjuring a glowing wall of light. With his left hand, he opened it and released the wave of balls right at the knight. They shot out like a projectile with a force that shattered the ground and dispersed the smoke. The spheres thunderously smashed into his shield, sending him flying right through a building. At the same time, the bolt of thunder darted through and struck the barrier Haiden had erected. The ensuing explosion did not crack the barrier, but decimated the ground and the surrounding area.

 

With the knight thrown away, he turned his attention towards the mage in the distance. Recalling some of his orbs back, he launched them right at him. Another stream of arrows fired out from somewhere and knocked the balls as they traveled, sending them flying everywhere off target. From buildings to the road to bystanders, the balls demolished everything except the intended target.

 

He recalled the spheres and commanded them to fire volleys at the mage to keep him moving and prevent him from using spells effectively. More arrows flew into his area from the smoke. Haiden dodged around and used his spheres to knock them out of the air. He paid close attention to where the arrows flew from and was able to make out the form of an archer on top of a building. Grinning with his target in sight, he launched his balls at the location. The archer jumped down as the glowing spheres tore and smashed through the buildings.

 

Haiden moved up to prevent himself from being cornered at the pier, but the knight was back with a heavily dented shield. His armor was thick and of good quality. Haiden was annoyed; his spheres would have a hard time breaking through the armor without repeated assaults.

 

The knight was approaching quickly, so Haiden grabbed one of his spheres from the air. He cocked his arm back and threw the ball on top of magic that already propelled it, launching it at an insanely fast speed. At the same time, he did not let up the barrage, having orbs continue to suppress anyone in the surrounding area. The knight stopped his charge and slid to a stop. He tossed his shield to the side, letting himself get dinged by struck by the suppressing fire. He clutched his sword with both hands, flipped it to the broad side, and held it next to him like a bet. The knight watched the ball careful and anticipated its movements. He let the ball focus on him and jumped at the last moment, swinging his sword like a bat and whacking it right back at Haiden.

 

The ball roared through the air back at Haiden. It traveled so fast, that Haiden barely had time to roll out-of-the-way. It continued to speed through and ripped through building by building on the pier, demolishing them with an explosive force. Haiden got up to counter the knight but stopped immediately.

 

The knight stood with two other armored warriors to his side. On his right was the mage charging a spell with more soldiers surrounding him. His left had a group of archers with their bows ready to fire.

 

Haiden was furious, but he had no other option. The balls lost their shimmer and plopped to the ground, harmlessly rolling about. “I surrender,” Haiden said with absolute disgust, going down on his knees and holding his hands up. The knights closed in on him and shackled him. They took his bag and collected all of his spheres.

 

He looked around and saw total destruction. The Namnoc warehouses and docks were nothing but rubble now. The hundreds of people who swarmed the streets and wreaked havoc had dispersed, leaving a field of bodies and blood. He recognized some of those bodies were once men loyal to Namnoc.

 

Everything was gone. The battle was lost. The night was over.

Chapter 22 – Interlude of Victory

“Gather like-minded individuals,” Suran told Baron Reginald first thing the next morning.

 

“You mean allies?” Reginald sipped tea. “Allies are good, but what would you have them do?”

 

Suran put down his cup of tea, “A few days ago, there was a riot at the market. It had people, but no power.”

 

“I see. I think I understand. I will make the appropriate preparations for the riot and the aftermath. When should we be ready to go?”

 

“I’ll find out. If there is no specific time, then as soon as possible.” Reginald hummed in agreement as he took another sip of his tea. Finishing his drink in one swig, Suran got up, “There is much to do and no time to waste.” He left Reginald to gather support on his own while he went to see Shroom.

 

He still was not sure of Shroom; there was very little that would inspire any confidence in his actions. A short leash had to kept on him to prevent him from straying, so a short visit seemed in order. Besides, there was something Suran wanted him to do anyways.

 

He came up to the house of Shroom and showed himself through the gates and to the door. After a knock, one of his servants opened the door and let him in. Through the halls, up the stairs, and to the bedroom door he went. Suran entered Shroom’s chambers without warning.

 

Shroom was nervously pacing his room in nothing but his underwear.

 

“Oh, you’re awake,” Suran dryly commented.

 

“W-w-what?! When did you get here?!” Shroom shrieked from fright. He hurriedly ran off to his closet, “Also don’t just barge in without knocking!”

 

Was he embarrassed by being nearly naked? Suran found that idea slightly amusing. “I didn’t think you would be awake at this hour.”

 

“Normally, you would be right,” Shroom shouted from his dressing room. “I got a nasty letter late last night detailing that Clyde will be visiting me today, so I couldn’t sleep at all.” He emerged from this closet in proper day clothes. “That reminds me,” he cleared his throat, “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT?!”

 

“I put my plans into motion, fought Clyde, and cut off his hand.”

 

“…I don’t want to believe you,” Shroom said, rubbing his temple. “Anyways,” Shroom snapped into urgency, “You have to get out of here now! Clyde said he would be coming and I do not want you and him in the same room.”

 

“Fine, but I have another task for you.”

 

Shroom groaned, “What is it now?”

 

“It’s great that Clyde is coming because I want you to get some information for me. Anything involving the movement of their men or their goods would do.”

 

“What are you planning on doing? It would be easier for me to ask questions if I know the end result.”

 

“You don’t need to know.”

 

“Then how am I going to figure out anything?” Shroom’s whining didn’t stop.

 

“I told you roughly what I was looking for, so I am sure you can figure it out.”

 

A servant knocked then entered the room, “Excuse me, a Clyde Maxwell is waiting for you.”

 

Shroom went pale and turned to Suran, “Shit, not now! You have to get out of here!”

 

Suran looked around. There wasn’t a way out that wouldn’t cause unneeded attention. “I will hide here,” Suran said, walking up to Shroom’s closet. Shroom eagerly wanted to argue, but there was not an opportunity as everyone could hear Clyde barging through the halls. Suran slipped into the closet and heard the events unfold.

 

“Lord Harry Shroom, you are going to tell me everything!” Suran heard a door burst open. “You are going to tell me everything so I can find this damned foreigner and rip his guts out!”

 

“I already gave you all the information I had yesterday.”

 

“Then wiggle out more information from that stupid informant you claim to have.”

 

“I’m afraid I’ve lost contact with him after your assault last night. The only thing I know is that they aren’t going to leave anytime soon now.”

 

“Oh? They aren’t leaving now?”

 

“Yes, I don’t know what caused their change and plans, but that is what it is for now. As I understand, your arm got caught off –”

 

“You damn right it did! Look! LOOK AT IT! It’s just a dead stub now and has this black growth on it. None of the doctors or cleric I’ve seen could make heads or tails of it! I bet if I kill the man it’ll go away. If it doesn’t, maybe I will sleep better with his head on my damned nightstand.”

 

“W-well yes of course! Since they won’t be leaving, you can request assistance since you will need a hand –”

“YEEAAAAAAAARGH!”

 

Suran heard a table flip over and a window break.

 

“You better not making another fucking joke about this or the next thing that is going to break is your face!”

 

“Ah-apologies…”

 

“Anyways, I already sent some requests out. My dear brother is making arrangements to come and help – probably just to screw with me in person as he always does. All we have to do is keep those fools in place till he gets here.”

 

“I can try to get in contact with my informant to see if they have any plans on leaving so we can adjust, but if I may ask, what is the timetable for reinforcements?”

 

“No one will probably be here for at least five because the stupid fucks that run the show decided it would be a great idea to branch out everyone and send them to bufu fucking Palukath. The unsurprising exception is my brother who said he would be back Occasday night. He alone could probably deal with this shit by himself, which I guess is good. The downside is he will be the only one here; there will be no one to stop me from smashing my head into a wall repeatedly, hoping I die, from being stuck, alone, with my brother.”

 

“So we have to hold them for three days?”

 

“Oh, uh, yeah. We will be watching them so they don’t do anything stupid, but you find your informant, or whatever the hell you are using to get your information, and tell me if there is anything going on.”

 

Suran heard the shuffling of feet, the slam of a door, and a sigh of relief.

 

“You can come out now,” he heard after a few minutes. He came out of the closet. The room was a mess and Shroom sat in the middle of it on a chair. “Did you hear what you wanted?” Shroom asked.

 

“Where is ‘bufu Palukath’?”

 

“Haven’t heard the phrase before?” Shroom got up and started picking up his papers that spilt over when his desk was flipped. “It simply means middle of nowhere, albeit very crudely.”

 

“When is Clyde’s brother coming again?”

 

“Occasday.”

 

“…When is Occasday?”

 

Shroom stopped tidying up and turned to Suran with a frown, “What do you mean ‘when is Occasday’? I understand you might not be from around here, but do you not even do the days of the week? Today is Solday, which means Occasday is three days from now.”

 

“What would the Kingdom do if they knew a member of the Terrible Ten was coming in at a dock?”

 

“Well… I think it depends on who you tell. Tell some random guard and nothing will happen, but if you tell some Kingdom official, then they would not turn a blind eye and some men would be sent to intercept.”

 

“I see. Then I will be back two days from now,” Suran began to leave the room. He had to talk to one more person before the day ended.

 

“Do you mean Cresday?”

 

“If that is two days from now, then yes.” He left.

 

On the street, he made his way away from the residential district where the upper-class resided and headed towards the market district. He made his way through the streets and into the market. It was midday, so he expected there to be a large crowd out, but it was nearly deserted. Only a few people were shopping through the streets, and most of the stores and shops were closed. He made his way to the back of the market towards the grain.

 

Sitting on a chair, bruised and bandaged, was a familiar face.

 

As Suran approached him, the man frowned and crossed his arms. “It’s that bloke again. What brings you back ‘ere?”

 

“I wanted to talk.”

 

“Oh, now you do, do yeah?” He responded, irritated. “After our last chat, you get us all riled up and I barely got out by the skin of my teeth.”

 

“You fought for good reason, but it was the wrong place and time.”

 

“What’s that suppose’ to mean? What else could we do?”

 

“Is the grain market still ailing you?”

 

“All of us grain merchants are bent over getting collectively fucked in the ass by this rigged economy. So yes, yes it is.”

 

“I have information that you could use to do damage to those rigging this economy.”

 

“Oh yea? What is this ‘information’, huh?”

“If you are stilling willing to rise up and fight, then I will tell you.”

 

“Dying from poverty, dying from getting my head kicked in by the powers that be, what’s the difference? You bet your arse I’m gunna keep fightin’.”

 

“Then listen closely since this opportunity will come once.” Suran told him that on Occasday night, a shipment of grain and other goods will be made at Pier 21. The recipient, a group that was amassing grain and governmental connections to corner the market. Suran gave him his instructions: burn the pier, dump the grain, raid the boats. The man happily accepted the information and promised he would bring everyone out for this as if the hundred odd riot from last time was only scratching the surface.

 

His conviction was clear; the man would put all of his effort towards assaulting the docks Occasday night. Suran felt no need to monitor or instruct him any further. The man certain of his capabilities.

 

A majority of his plan was set into motion; only a few touches remained. He returned to Baron Reginald’s home and informed him that the assault was to happen on Occasday night. Reginald held no objections to the date, his own task progressing along smoothly.

 

————————————–

 

His next task came Cresday morning. He left the home of Reginald and made his way towards Shroom’s. He took a different path to Shroom’s home this time; Clyde made mention of watching Reginald’s estate, so he dipped and ducked in the alley ways to be sure none followed him. After his peculiar path, he arrived at his destination sure that he was alone.

 

He showed himself into the home. The servants were getting used to his sight so they raised no questions. Shroom acted as a homebody, so when Suran entered his room, he was sure to find him there.

 

Shroom, or someone else, had put the room back in order. Except for the window. That was still broken, but it was covered up.

 

“I was expecting you,” Shroom said from his work desk.

 

“I have your two final tasks.”

 

Shroom let out a sigh of relief, “These are the last two? Then please tell me so I can quickly get this over with.”

 

“First, leak information that a member of the Terrible Ten will be arriving at Pier 21 Occasday night. Tell it to some official that will take action.”

 

“Picking a fight with Clyde’s brother? It might be a little troublesome, but I think I can find someone at the Castle who would listen and act on that information.”

 

“Good. Tomorrow morning, tell Clyde you have new information.”

 

“Alright, I can do that! What do you want me to tell him?”

 

“Tell him that Deputy of the Land, Hendrick von Auer, is in danger. Tell him that on Occasday night, an attempt at his life will be made at his home.”

 

“I-i-is this true?! Do you plan on killing the Deputy of the Land?!”

 

“No. he needs to be out of his home, and Clyde needs to be occupied with him. During that time, I will go into his home and do what I need to.”

 

“Well… I suppose it can be done. Just to be sure, that is all, right?”

 

“I have nothing else for you. Keep your head down and don’t tell Clyde anything. If everything goes according to plan, then you will be free to go.”

 

‘Thank god…”

 

The finishing touches were done. All that was left was the execution. Tomorrow was Occasday. Tomorrow he would rescue Natalya. Tomorrow he would make Namnoc wish they had never crossed him.

Chapter 21 – The Only Choice

Something was in the dark. It was as vast as an ocean yet as miniscule as a droplet. It emitted a suffocating pressure, yet held a presence as a gentle as a breeze. It was neither here nor there. It was everywhere, but it was nowhere.  However, one thing was certain; its existence was absolute, as if it always was and always will.

 

As he was, Suran could not rely on his own strength. In the dark, he could feel it waiting just within his reach, waiting to be called upon, to be seized. Could he use the strength of this being? Suran did not grasp it. There was no detectable evil, yet he could not bring himself to take. There was something unsettling, something unnerving about what was out there. Perhaps there was no malice in what existed, but neither was there any benevolence.

 

 

The ringing of a clock woke Suran up. It felt like it was all a dream. He got up from the bed and picked up his sword. It was time to put his plan into motion. No further preparation was needed, so he left Shroom’s home without a word.

 

Out in the streets, it was cold again. The freezing wind burned his skin. He wrapped his face in his scarf ad dug his hands in his pockets and went on his way towards Lord Reginald’s home.

 

The sun had set and its place taken by the two planets. It was quiet as he showed himself into Reginald’s yard. Two men came and stood between him and the door.

 

“Who are you?” One man barked.

 

“Suran Ibrahim. I came to speak to Reginald.” It intrigued Suran how a man heavily in debt could continuously muster men to support him.

 

“Oh yeah, well we don’t know anyone by that name.” The two took a fighting stance but were interrupted by Keira who came bounding out the front door.

 

“Knock it off you two,” She slapped both of them on the heads. “He helped rescue the Mistress.” The two grumbled off and Keira turned to Suran, “We didn’t think you made it out alive. What happened?”

 

“I was captured, but I managed to escape.”

 

“What of Natalya? She ran back after bringing the Mistress to me.”

 

“That is why I am here. I wish to speak to Reginald.” Suran said no more on the topic. Keira fidgeted in place for a moment before consenting and letting him through.

 

Reginald was in his study, sifting through various papers. When he noticed Suran walk through, he dropped everything and immediately stood up. “Y-your alive!” He rushed around the desk, almost tripping, and bear hugged Suran. “I can’t thank you enough for rescuing my daughter! As I promised earlier, I would write that recommendation letter for you, and if there is anything else you need, please let me know and I will see if I can help.”

 

Suran wrestled himself away from his grasps and took a step back. “I do have a request for you,” he sat in a chair in front of Reginald’s desk.

 

Reginald went back and sat down in his own chair, “Ah, yes! What is it that you need?”

 

“I require your assistance in striking back at Namnoc.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“Natalya was captured while rescuing your daughter and is now held by Lord Hendrick von Auer. So in rescuing her and harming Namnoc, you will need to help me.”

 

Reginald’s cheerful demeanor quickly melted away. “Look, none of us thought either of you left alive. You should just count that as a blessing and cut your losses.”

 

“Are you suggesting I leave her?”

 

“Mr. Ibrahim, I gave up a lot to rescue my daughter. All those men I sent lost their life. And Fletch… Fletch never came back.” Reginald sunk lower into his chair. “I risked so much… I don’t want to give up anymore. I’m sorry, but I can’t help with you this. I don’t want to deal with Namnoc or any of this ever again.”

 

“Unfortunately you do not have any option other than fighting Namnoc.”

 

“W-what do you mean? Fighting Namnoc would mean death!”

 

“Do you think they will just let you sit here? They will come for you and your daughter, and your treatment might be not as nice as it was in the past.

 

“Then I will run. Run as far as I can.”

 

“Then what? Your life might be saved, that is if they don’t come after you, but then what life would you have? We both understand to run means to give up everything you have. You would have to live in hiding from Namnoc the rest of your life, running from place to place. Perhaps you might be fine with that, but what of your daughter?”

 

Reginald bit his thumb in remained silent.

 

“You have two options available to you: stay and die or flee and live a meager life. However, I propose a third option.”

 

“…Third option?”

 

“Yes. I know how to beat Namnoc. I know how to release you from their influence. With some assistance, I can do this for you in exchange for one thing.”

 

“What is it? I am already indebted to you and I don’t have much to give…”

 

“I want your fealty.”

 

“My- my what?!”

 

“I want you to swear your loyalty to me.”

 

“No, no, no, no, no. That simply is not possible! All the lords and nobles swear their loyalty to the King – It’s not worth the cost, I’m sorry!”

 

“You are mistaken. The cost might actually be too low. I’m not offering to save your life or to give you a way out; I’m offering to save your future of you and your daughter. Tell me, what is the value of the future of your family?”

 

The color from Reginald’s face had drained at this point, and he was left sweating nervously. “No, no… I can’t do such a thing,” he shook his head, burrowing his face in his hands. “There has to be some way to get out of this…”

 

Keira barged through the door, “Master, Namnoc is here in force!”

 

Reginald’s already pale face became whiter then a piece of paper, “Th-th-they’re here?!”
“Yes! They have men at all sides and our men are holding them off as best as they can, but it does not look good.”

 

Suran got up from his chair. They came at just the right time, he mused.

 

“Y-you will help us, right?” Reginald looked desperately at Suran.

 

“As you said, I am sure you can figure something out.” He turned and began to walk away.

 

“Where are you going?!”

 

“I’m leaving, of course. Can’t say the same for you.”

 

Reginald got out of his chair and looked out his window into his backyard. His cousin had sent him a few extra men and had been helping him along in these tough times. Some of those men were getting chopped up on his property. He turned back to Suran looking like he was about to vomit. “Fine! Fine… I agree to your terms. Just please help.”

 

Suran nodded his head. The easy part was out-of-the-way. He ran right at Reginald, vaulted over the desk, and crashed through the window. He rolled out onto the grass and drew his sword.

There were three men who challenged him, all rushing at him from different sides. Suran dashed forward from his crouched position toward the man in front of him. He deflected the man’s strike to the right and dipped under his left, pivoting around and slashing the man’s back.

 

The remaining two responded by jabbing viciously at Suran. He took measured steps back, knocking each jab away. Taking a step forward, he slid to the left, dodging the thrust and slicing his stomach. The man dropped his sword and doubled over as blood hemorrhaged from his wound. His ally wasted no time and charged Suran who quickly caught his blade with his own, disarmed him with his free hand, and stabbed him in the gut.

 

The last of the three was still hunched over, writhing in pain. Suran walked over and stabbed him in the neck and ended his life. He drew his sword and flung it to the side to throw off the blood that was dripping off of it, but the blood was sticking a little to the surface to his annoyance. With the back taken care of, he made his way around towards the front where he could hear screams, his sword squirming in his hand.

 

He rounded the corner and saw the two men that had stood there earlier dead on the grass. Clyde stood nonchalantly at the gate with a whip in hand. Suran came out and stood in front of him.

 

“So you lived,” Clyde said disappointed. He spit the toothpick in his mouth out, “I would like it if you stopped making my job hard.”

 

Suran said nothing and readied himself. He would wait for Clyde to make a move unless an opportunity presented itself.

 

Clyde cracked his whip and punched a hole in the ground. “No time to waste.” Again he cracked his whip, but this time towards Suran. Suran was standing on the opposite side of the lawn, so he made no move to dodge the whip since it didn’t have the reach.

 

But the whip extended and kept extending until it smashed the ground underneath Suran, forcing him to jump back. Clyde recoiled the whip and launched a flurry of strikes at Suran. He had to continuously dodge and roll while Clyde assailed him from a far. Clyde’s aim got more accurate with each strike, till he hit his mark.

 

Suran was whipped right in the stomach and sent crashing into the stone wall. He stood back up; it hurt, but not nearly as much as the punch from Sammy. Regaining his breath, he charged at Clyde. There was no sense in staying afar and dodging. That only made him a target.

 

He jumped and bounded forward, zigzagging through the lawn to dodge Clyde’s strikes. As he got closer, Clyde showed no signs of worry. He sent out another lash, which Suran dodged forward, but this time when Clyde retracted the whip, it wrapped around Suran.

 

“Got yeah!” Clyde shouted! He flipped his wrist and began thrashing Suran around, smashing him into the ground. He whipped him around several times before throwing him away and into the ground.

 

Suran laid on the ground, battered and bruised. He clutched his sword in his hand, but his strength was not enough. He had faced many challenges in his life, but none of them were like the ones he faced now.

 

The sword squirmed in his hand. It was patient and it would wait, but it sought release. Suran had hoped he would not have to resort to it. He held no knowledge of what it was or where it came from, but he had to choice but to rely on the mysterious sword. He closed his eyes and reached out to the sword. It reached back.

 

A connection was made and it awakened. Suran got up from the ground and wiped the blood from his mouth. He felt no different from before, but he could feel energy pulsating in the sword as if it was alive.

 

“Still not done?” Clyde remarked unamused. He reared his whip and cracked it again. It extended out towards Suran like a bolt of lightning.

 

Suran could see the movements of the whip more clearly, allowing him to side step the attack. As Clyde was winding back the whip, Suran grabbed it and let himself be pulled by it.

 

“Let go of my damn whip!” The whip retracted fast with Suran holding onto it. Suran held on and closed this distance on Clyde and then let go of the whip, using the speed he built up on it to jump up and over Clyde. “Just stand still, dammit!” Clyde shouted, trying to follow Suran’s movements. Suran landed on the ground right behind Clyde, turned around and sliced Clyde’s left hand off.

 

Clyde screamed in pain and stumbled back. His left hand fell to the ground with whip in hand, but that was not all. The hand turned ash gray and began to wither away. It crumbled away and fell apart until not even dust remained. Even the whip eroded away.

 

“What is happening to my arm?!” Clyde continued to shout in pain. Suran turned to him and saw the same was happening to his arm. It spread on his arm and stopped at the forearm. Everything that turned gray fell apart into nothing. Clutching his stub, Clyde cursed Suran, “What the hell have you done to my arm? You’ll pay for this!” Clyde swiftly began running away.

 

Suran moved to pursue him, but his legs did not respond. His body felt overwhelmingly tired. He had no choice but to let him go. The sword in his hand went silent. He raised it up and took a look at it. He felt no pulsation, no energy from it anymore. There was no connection or any other sensation making him think he imagined the whole thing.

 

A moment later and feeling returned to his legs and he made his way back inside the house. The door was open, so he entered cautiously. Some items were thrown about; there were signs of struggle. He headed up the stairs and found two dead bodies at the top. They were not familiar to him, so he assumed they were from Namnoc.

 

“Hello.” Keira broke his train of thought and greeted him. She wore the same cheerful smile but was covered in blood. At least that explained the dead men on the floor.

“I took care of those outside,” Suran said, rubbing his aching shoulder.

 

“Very good. I assumed you would like to speak with Master Reginald now?”

 

“Yes.”

 

He walked back into the study but did not see Reginald in the room.

 

“Reginald?”

 

“Y-yes?” A muffled voice answered. Reginald climbed out from underneath his desk a moment later. “Is it over?”

 

“Everything is taken care of.”

 

“What a relief,” Reginald sighed and sat in his chair.

 

“No time to get cozy. There is much that needs to be done.

 

“Ah, you’re right. I am part of this ride now, for better or for worse. Now that we have some breathing room, what is our plan anyways?”

 

“If you recall earlier, I mentioned Lord Hendrick von Auer holding Natalya.”

 

“The Deputy of the Land. Thought that was odd.”

 

“Your Deputy of the Land is in bed with Namnoc.”

 

Shock spread on Reginald’s face, “I can’t believe it! If he was working with them, that could explain so much…”

 

“With that in mind we have two goals: one is to rescue Natalya, the other is to cripple Namnoc. Both can be accomplished effectively at the same time. I can rescue Natalya by breaking into his home and releasing her and, while I’m in there, find evidence that would implicate Auer to Namnoc.”

 

“That sounds good so far. Many lower level officers and officials could very well be in Namnoc’s pockets, but with the right evidence, I can go directly to some of the higher-ups and present it to them. It doesn’t even have to be damning evidence, just enough to warrant an investigation. The king has a heavy disdain for this sort of thing, so you can be certain that once an investigation is conducted, they will find the evidence they need to convict of him racketeering, bribing, and whatever else he may be up to. The only issue is that his home would be heavily guarded. How would you get past?”

 

“Leak false information that his life is in danger and that he needs to be moved to a secure spot. I know someone who can handle that, so with that warning he and his guards should be sent out of his home.”

“Very good! If the Deputy of the Land gets indicted, then a heavy blow would have been dealt to Namnoc!”

 

“That’s not all.”

 

“There’s more?”

 

“Deputy of the Land is a high position, so he must be very important to the Namnoc organization. If his life is under threat, they would divert extra resources to secure his safety.”

 

“Then?”

 

“It would be a shame if disgruntled merchants and grain sellers started a riot near their docks and burned down all their grains and goods.”

 

Reginald chuckled lowly to himself. “For some reason, you a lot more terrifying than I remember.” He got up from his chair, “You are right, there is much to do. We better get started,” he said, walking over to Suran. “First, I am a man of my word.” Reginald kneeled in front of Suran and pledged his undying loyalty and his lifelong service.

Chapter 20 – Fate Knocks

Playing the role of a courier, Suran swiftly sneaked through the city streets. Shroom had reluctantly given him directions to the estate of Hendrick von Auer, and he made his way towards there. Few people were on the streets; there was no crowd nor clamor in the quiet residential district. Suran had expected this, and borrowed a plain set of clothing befitting a messenger, satchel and all, to avoid any scrutiny from wandering eyes. To complete the image, he had to leave his sword behind; it is hard to not question the authenticity of an armed messenger.

 

It was bothering, not having a means to defend himself, but his mind was cleared by the scenic view the district brought. The rich, the nobles, and the royalty were all concentrated in the center of Valcadia. Built on a weathered mountain gently standing over the sprawling city, their homes and stores circled around. He could see the breadth of the city and the hum of activity below. However, the beauty was not only found down below; up above, perched on a crag, was the castle that stood above all. With its walls and towers fashioned in dark stone, the castle was an overwhelming and imposing giant on the mountain. Yet, at the same time, there was a certain elegance and beauty to the brooding castle, from the flowing architecture to the intricate design, that made it shine like a gem.

 

Or, perhaps it was the warmer weather that was making him feel at ease.

 

At any rate, he had reached the home of Deputy of the Land Hendrick after a long walk. Like many of the other estates, a tall wall and a line of foliage separated his estate from the world. He prepared himself as he approached the iron gate. Even the slightest error would complicate things. He had to confirm that Clyde’s words were true and that Natalya was here. Controlling information with the letter was simply a secondary objective. Without a hint of hesitation or fear, he strolled to the gate and knocked.

 

A slit on the door slid open and a pair of beady eyes peered through. “Who goes there?”

 

“Courier. Urgent message for Lord Auer from Clyde. Immediate response requested.”

 

The eyes examined him in silence for a moment before speaking, “Pass the letter through the hole and we will pass it on.”

 

“This is sensitive information that he needs to see immediately. I was instructed to give it to no one else.”

 

“And we were instructed not to let anyone in without notice. Just hand us the letter and we will give it to him. You can wait out here for a response.”

 

“Unacceptable. Then I will not be able to deliver the message.” Suran motioned towards leaving, “Before I leave, give me your names.”

 

The eyes recoiled from the door and inquired defensively, “What reason you want our names for?”

 

“So when Mr. Clyde Maxwell asks me why I did not deliver the letter, I can list your name as the reason why,” Suran said. “If this letter is not delivered, he will want someone’s head – and it won’t be mine.”

 

The slit slammed shut, and hushed voiced filled the air. A moment later the gate creaked open. “Fine, come in,” the guard said. Suran was rushed in and immediately subjected to a violent and vigorous pat down. Two men rummaged through his bag and dug through his pockets and clothes, leaving no area on his person unmolested. They released him and a guard ordered, “Follow me,” before turning and walking toward the home.

 

Suran matched his brisk pace into the house and through its corridors. As he walked through, he scanned the home for any signs of Natalya. However, he couldn’t see much; the guard was annoyed by his wandering gazed and barked at him to keep his head down.

 

The man bid Suran to stop outside a door. The guard straightened himself, knocked on the door, then entered, leaving Suran waiting outside. Promptly the door opened and the guard came outside, “Go.”

 

Letter in hand, Suran nodded and went in. He moved cautiously for the room was dark, the only light source a crackling fire at the back.

 

“What is so important that dear Mr. Maxwell would request direct delivery and an immediate response?” Sitting behind a dark wood desk, an elderly man asked. Suran walked over and handed Hendrick von Auer the letter.

 

As he popped open the container and unraveled the letter, Suran glanced around the room. Bookcases, shelves, cabinets, maps, papers, the room was filled and stocked as a study. Despite the overwhelming number of items and tools, everything was organized to perfection; one could find anything they would need nearly instantly.

 

A feeble slap on the desk got Suran’s attention. Lord Auer clutched the letter in his hand almost shaking with anger. “What is the meaning of this?!” He shook the letter around. He took out parchment and pen and began furiously writing, not waiting for an answer. “What a fool that man is to even suggest such lunacy,” he muttered to himself.

 

When he finished his correspondence, he rolled up the letter, slid it into a cylindrical container, and held it out. Suran grabbed the container, but Lord Auer did not let go. His aged, wrinkled face bore signs of frustration. A second tug and Hendrick released the letter.

 

Suran placed the letter in his satchel and headed towards the door. Before he could reach it, the door burst open and a familiar red-head flew right past him carrying a tray with tea and cookies. Suran caught a glance of her; she looked frazzled, but fine.

 

“Knock next time you stupid girl,” Hendrick chastised her, clearly irritated.

 

Natalya did not seem to notice Suran when she came in, and he decided to keep it that way. It would be a problem if she realized he was here and made a scene out of it, so he left the room. The guard was waiting outside and promptly took ahold of him and escorted him out. As the guard shoved him along, he could hear the old Lord yelling at Natalya for not bringing him his tea faster.

 

He was tossed to the street and the gate was slammed shut and locked behind him. Hendrick von Auer was not talkative compared to his ‘partners’, but that was not an issue with the letter; while he may not run his mouth, the letter might tell him something he won’t. On top of that, he now knows that Natalya is there. It was time to back to Shroom, there was still something for him to do, but first, a detour to a Lord Reginald’s home.

 

The home was far and out-of-the-way, but it was worth a visit. He did not intend to go and meet them. No, he simply peered from the street and saw activity in the home and glimpses of recognizable face going in and out. Reginald, Keira, and Annabelle were all here. Even they had a role to play in his plans, regardless if they wanted to or not. Suran had seen what he had wanted, so he left towards the home of Shroom.

 

He reached the home and was greeted by one of his servants at the door. Before going to speak with Shroom, he recovered his clothes which he had left in a guest room and changed back into them. The home was chilly, and he wanted to wear his thicker, normal clothes right away. Properly dressed, Suran headed up to Shroom’s room.

 

Shroom was working on a desk in his room, looking over some paperwork. He immediately left his work as soon as Suran entered the room and greeted him. “You’re back! Took you awhile.”

 

“The home was far,” Suran said, rummaging through the borrowed bag for the letter.

 

“What? It shouldn’t have been that far; he lives relatively clo—”

 

“Hendrick von Auer gave a response.”

 

“O-oh? Did he? That’s good.”

 

“He spoke little, so I only have this.” He unraveled the letter and began to skim it.

 

“What about your… companion? Did you find her?”

 

“She was there.”

 

“So everything went as you wanted it seems, but I still don’t understand what you intend to do –  what is your plan even?”

 

Suran straightened out the letter and read its contents:

 

To C.M.

 

            I will cease nothing. The cause of your vermin problem was not from my end, so you will have to clean up after yourself. I will not be inconvenienced by your shortcomings.

 

            Regardless, stopping the operation here will set us significantly back. As such, it is out of the question. We have the market cornered, if we let up now, then all of our effort will go to waste. And you need not remind me of my stake in this. Both parties have invested heavily in this, which is exactly why we cannot stop now. And we will not stop.

 

            The shipments will proceed as planned. There will be no change in time nor in location. Make sure this vermin problem is taken care of and be ready at the dock as usual. As soon as you unload onto the pier, we want to push it out into the market as soon as possible. We must not relent.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      -H.v.A

 

He handed the letter to Shroom so he could read it as well. It sounded like Hendrick had no interest in ceasing their operations. Suran found his complete dismal reckless. He now knew exactly what he was going to do.

 

“Seems like nothing is going to change,” Shroom mused, looking over the letter.

 

“Shroom, write a letter to Clyde saying that Annabelle and her father are going to flee the town tonight, and if he wants to capture them, he needs to intercept them later today.”

 

“Yes, yes of cour—” Shroom stopped as he fully processed the request. “Wait, wait, wait, wait just one second…”

 

“Problem?”

 

“What do you mean ‘Problem?’! Of course! Did you not just risk your life to rescue her, and now you want to get her captured again?!”

 

“Do as I say. You need not worry about the details.”

 

Shroom was speechless and did as he told, gathering the parchment and ink to do so. “How do you even know she is leaving today?” He asked while sitting down to write.

 

“I don’t.”

 

Shroom paused again and turned to Suran wide-mouthed, “You don’t know? Wh-what the hell are you doing?! Do you even know what you are doing?!”

 

“Yes, yes I do. I intend to do more than just rescue Natalya; I intend to make Namnoc feel pain. While I might not be able to administer justice by myself, I can certainly orchestrate others to achieve my goal. So it does not matter if they are leaving tonight or not because they will play their piece in this – they won’t be silent. All you must do is play your part. I will conduct victory.”

Chapter 19 – Responsibility and Drinking

 

ps im still alive

—————-

Suran walked to the end of the tunnel and found another metal door. In the dark, he felt around it, unbolting the lock and pulling it open. A stream of murky water toppled down into the vast body of water in front of him. He stepped out and found himself on a ledge. Beneath him was a drop down to the water and above him was a drainage pipe.

The only way off the ledge was a rusty ladder to the side which he hastily climbed up. At the top, he looked down into the winding tunnel and began to walk. Soon, the only light that illuminated the tunnel was from the iron grates above. He could not reach them, so he continued walking, looking for an exit.

After sometime, he came across a narrow corridor that was built as if it were an afterthought. At its end was a ladder up. He climbed up the ladder, popped open the manhole lid, and lifted himself out into an alley.

“You aren’t supposed to be here,” said a haggard man leaning on the wall, “Who are you?”

Suran drew his sword and flicked his wrist. Maybe the man was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, but Suran did not care; there would be no loose ends, no liabilities, if he could help it. He dumped the body into the drain below and went on his way.

The alleyway he emerged from was by the docks. It was chilly and becoming increasingly colder. He wasn’t sure where he was exactly, but he immediately went into the city; he needed to get away from the docks – and to get out of the cold.

He walked for about ten minutes in the afternoon crowd before dipping in into a secluded alley. Digging into his pockets, he pulled out the container and pried its lid open. He unraveled the letter and read its contents:

H.v.A:

                        It has come to my attention that we may have a rat infestation in the kitchen. I have found some snooping in the pantry and took care of them, but there is no telling how many, if any, are left. I will continue to search for them on my end, but you must take precautions as well.

                        First, we must stop stocking the pantry. We can’t afford to drop any crumbs that would attract more rodents. I will do my part on this end to make sure everything is clear, but you have to check your side is clear as well. You know how these rats are, sneaky bastards can easily go from one place to another.

                        Remember, our business will struggle with a pest infestation in the back. And if word of the pests gets out and the business goes under as a result, I hope you remember that you stand the most to lose in our joint venture.

                        No effort must be wasted in solving this. Your immediate response is requested.

Clyde

He rolled up the letter and placed it back. Still not enough information to the only lead he had to Natalya, Hendrick. While he did not have an idea who H.v.A was, there was someone who might. He left the alleyway to pay a visit to Lord Shroon.

—-

Harry Shroom took a sip of his red Da Gru Mara’Cru to wash down the tender pieces of Beaor steak down his throat. He enjoyed the lavish meal, it wasn’t something he could afford often. In fact, even thinking about the bill sent a shiver down his spine. There were clearly better things to spend his coin on like his estate, debt, and jewelry for Anna, but he made an exception just this once; it was a special time after all.

For as long as he knew Mr. Clyde Maxwell, their relationship has been strenuous, to say the least. Ever since he fell under the influence of Namnoc, it was Clyde who controlled his purse strings, and rarely did he ever open them. It was tiring work, having to juggle the demands of Namnoc and Clyde as well as his own needs, but Shroom was left with no other choice but obediently follow along to avoid the ire of those above him.

Today was special because for the first time in their relationship, Shroom had earned Clyde’s approval. In hindsight, it had been a blessing that foreigner rudely barged into his house. While he would have very much liked not being roughed up, he did at least learn of the man’s foolish plans to attack Namnoc to rescue Anna. He didn’t even have to think twice about immediately informing Clyde of the situation. The information might not have been that helpful – there was no doubt in Shroom’s mind that the foreigner’s plan would fail even without notice – but Clyde was very pleased with the information, causing him to, just this once, loosen the purse strings.

Shroom put down his empty wine glass and picked up the bottle to pour out more, but it was empty. He sighed and slunk in his chair. Another bottle would be nice. But three was already pushing his limit, so a fourth was out of the question. He roused himself from his chair; it was time he left.

As he worked his way out of the restaurant, Shrom mulled over how to spend his time today. Clyde had, for once, not left him anything to do. Now seemed like a perfect time to go shopping for Anna. In his routine visits, she mentioned needing some clothes, cloths, and sewing supplies He could pick those up and even entertain buying some more trinket and jewelry for her.

However, that was going to have to wait. He felt a little tipsy and wobbly, and his last outing while intoxicated ended rather poorly. Accidentally buying one boat was already causing him troubles, so he figured it would be best to go home and weather the storm.

The day was still young, Shroom thought as he walked down the street. There would be plenty of time to go back out later to take care of his responsibilities; Anna’s requests will be taken care of one way or another.

Shroom’s heart sank, thinking of Anna. Their relationship wasn’t what is used to be, and he lamented that. He has been doing everything in his power to reverse that trend, but the good old times seemed like a distant dream.

When they were in primary schooling, they had been such great friends. In the beginning, the only time people talked about Harry Shroom was to insult him for being fat when he just had big bones. The first person to actually talk to him like a person was her, and he owed her the world for that.

From that moment on, she was his best friend. From making sure she got her turn at the playground to defending her from all the boys and girls who dare attack her, Shroom decided he would be by her side.

As the years gone by, times got rough and their relationship was tested. Her ever-expanding circle of friends slowly pushed out Shroom, but he was content as long as he could support her. When she started hanging out with some hooligans, he voiced his concern but got scolded for attacking her ‘friends’.

Eventually things got messy and one thing led to another. They got into a fight; he said he loved her and that she deserves a nice guy, got rejected and was told he was never her friend. However, he was not dismayed. While the rejection stung for a while, he doubled his efforts, thinking that she would come around one day and see him as the best person for her. Even if she did not eventually accept him – which he considered highly unlikely – he had pledged to be by her side for the kindness she showed to him, and he was going to do that whether she wanted him to or not.

His detour through memory lane came to an end as he found himself back home. He would stop at nothing to fix his relationship with Anna, but first, a nap and maybe a bath. He fumbled in his jacket and pulled out his key. But when he put it in his gate, the gate creaked open. His servants had various errands and chores, sometimes forcing them to go out into town. Maybe one of them left the door open? He would have to find out and chastise them for such an oversight.

Shroom lumbered into his home and put up his coat. He stopped by the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water before making his way to his quarters. While sipping on his water, he felt something was off; none of his servants had greeted him yet nor had he seen them. It is true they all had various work to do so it was possible this could happen, but the empty and quiet house was bothering.

Wobbling up the stairs, he made his way to his chambers to the sound of his shuffling two feet. As he approached to his chamber door, still not one person did he see. This was unacceptable, he thought, pulling open his bedroom door and entering. He would have to discipline his servants for this, but that could come later because he first wished to nap.

His hand went limp and the glass of water crashed down. Panic flooded his mind as sitting silently in front of him was a familiar face. What was he doing here? Shroom attempted to speak, but his mind outran his mouth, leaving him stuttering, stammering, and speechless.

Shroom slowed down and took some deep breaths as the foreigner stared him down. He calmed himself down, collected his thoughts, and mustered the willpower to speak. “W-what are you doing here?” He nervously said, finding it impossible to remain calm.

“I have a problem, and you will help me,” Suran said.

Shroom nervously chuckled. Numerous questions swirled in his mind: how was he alive, how did he get here, and why was he really here? “A problem?” He repeated, racking his brain for a way out. Shroom decided to try and weasel his way out, “I-I’m afraid im very busy so I won’t be able to assist –”

“You don’t have a choice.”

He shook his head, taken aback, “W-wh-what do you mean I don’t have a choice?”

“If you refuse, I will kill you.”

“K-k-k-k-k-kill me?” Shroom began breathing heavily as sweat beaded on his head. The room went silent except for the chattering of his teeth.

“It’s cold,” Suran remarked.

“Yes it is.” But it really wasn’t. Neither outside nor inside was cold at all. While dining at the restaurant, Shroom had even thought on how nice of a day it way and had only agreed to please the man. He noticed the man’s hand resting on his sword and decided he had no choice but comply. “I-if you are going to have me help you, at least let me know what I’m getting into.”

“I intend to bring Namnoc to its knees,” Suran said, shifting his legs.

Shroom was stunned. He had never heard anyone say that so calmly, let alone see them alive after the fact. If governments had challenged them and had been unable to dent them, what could a single man do? “I-impossible! There is nothing you can hope to do against them. All you would write is an assured death sentence for the both of us.” He sighed, “If I had to choose between dying here or dying to them, the former is the easy choice.”

“I do not ask of the impossible, and if it were, I would make it possible.” Suran rose from the chair, “Besides, fighting Namnoc is in your interests as well. To them, you are nothing more than a dog, and do not think they will toss you aside the moment you out live your usefulness,” Suran paced around the room, inching closer to Shroom. “By fighting Namnoc you stand to gain your freedom, and I will ask nothing of you that will comprise your position.”

He was right, Shroom thought. His current situation under Namnoc was terrible. He had no economic or political freedom. If he wasn’t implicated in any of this, it could very well be worth a shot. “Fine, I consent. I only ask you inform me of what led to this before asking anything of me.”

“Very well. After we rescued Annabella –”

“WAIT! You successfully rescued her?!”

“She was able to leave the compound safely.”

“Let me tell you, neither me nor Clyde –” Shroom stopped himself mid-sentence. He did not mean to say that.

Suran was unphased, “I know.”

Somehow that response seemed worse to Shroom. He suddenly felt very small in the large room.

“As I was saying,” Suran resumed his explanation, “During our escape, my companion was captured, and I will rescue her.”

“Ah, I see. A female companion. Is she your wife?”

“…No.”

“Best friend?”

“No.”

“Business partner?”

“No.”

“Then what the hell is she?!”

“She is a companion I met a few days ago.”

“What? Excuse me? You met her a few days ago?” Shroom was flabbergasted by this idea. “You are willing to risk everything for someone you just met? If this is this case, it is not too late to turn back and avoid this mess. She sounds like nothing to you, so just leave her be and save yourself.” And save himself the trouble, he hoped to himself.

“It is true, I just met her, but I am responsible for her. She put her wellbeing in my care and even risked her life to help me during our escape. I cannot and will not leave her behind. Her freedom will come at the cost of Namnoc’s security.”

“Well, you are the boss here. What do you want?”

“I need your help in identifying someone.” Suran reached into his coat and pulled out the letter. Taking out the writing, he handed it over.

Shroom took it and looked it over. “So… is it this H.v.A you want to know about?”

“Correct.”

“Well… There is not much to go off with just that. Anyone could have those initials.”

“What if the ‘H’ stood for Hendrick?”

“Let me see… Hendrick v. A… Now who could that be?” Shroom’s face paled, “C-care tell w-what type of person you are looking for?”

“Someone who deals with grain. Maybe deals in shipments. Possibly a noble or government official.”

“No, no, no, no, no, no, I can’t believe it,” Shroom shook his head violently, almost breaking out in nervous laughter. “Before I say any more, how do you know so much?”

“Some people don’t know when to stop talking.”

“Oh. Clyde. Well… from what you told me, you are looking for Hendrick von Auer. A nobleman. Rich merchant dealing in grain. Deputy of the Land of the Holy Empire of Valeryia. One of the top officials in the entire Empire.” Shroom slunk past Suran and stumbled into a chair. “Out of all the people in the world, we have to deal with this man…”

“I need you to tell me where he lives.”

Shroom laughed like a madman, “You are insane, whatever your name is. Why would you want to go into the jaws of the beast?” He was already regretting his decision to help; a slight desire to simply curl up and die was born within him.

“One, I need to confirm that my companion is under his care. Two, to deliver this letter.” He held up the letter container.

“Why would you want to do that?”

“To control the information. Clyde does not expect the letter to be delivered, so we can use that to our advantage.”

Shroom sighed, looking as if he had aged 10 years since the conversation has started. He rose from his chair, “You seem to know better than me. I will fetch pen and paper and arrange the address for you.”

As Shroom was exiting the room Suran said, “Your servants are in the cellar. You can release them if they will not be a liability.”

“O-of course.” Shroom had completely forgot about them. At least they were safe.

He made his way out the door before Suran called out to him one last time, “And my name is Suran.”

Shroom took note and committed it to memory. He could think of no worse of a time to meet such a man then when drunk as he is. Why did these things always have to happen when he was drunk?

Chapter 18 – Rising Tide

The days, the months, the years, he slowly spent losing everything surfaced before him. He fought each moment to alter the events, but his efforts were in vain. He resigned himself to watching what time could not wash away. It infuriated him how the struggle for his home was so vivid and clear, yet not a single scene nor memory of his home came forward.

Now everything had changed, yet nothing was different. The girl was nothing to him; he was unsure if he could even call her a friend, but could he leave her to become like the rest?  He could not. He had done much more for lesser people. To do this, for someone like her, was nothing.

Everything was different, yet, at the same time, nothing had changed. To do what he must now, he will do what he once did again.

 

“Wake up already, ya bloke!” Several slaps to the face roused Suran. The voice continued in disgust, “Eyuck, the guy is already sweating, and we haven’t even done anything yet! Is there a towel around here?”

True to the man’s words, cold sweat beaded all over his face. Suran instinctively tried to move his hand to wipe his face, but both of his hands were tied together behind his back. His vision finally came into focus – there was not much to see. He was tied to a chair bolted to ground, he could see that much, but the entire room was dark; a dim yellow light overhead illuminated only him, leaving the rest of the area shrouded.

Even though he could not who was around him, he could hear them moving about. Cabinets and drawers were being rummaged through, metal objects clanging and rattling against each other, and low whispers.

Then a clap.

“Alright then! Let’s get this show on the road – no time to waste after all.” A familiar face stepped into the light. It was the well-dressed man from the warehouse, this time sporting a black suit. He rolled a toothpick around in his mouth and spit it out, “I assume you know why we’re all here.” The man inched in close to Suran’s face with a devilish grin.

Suran neither responded nor flinched, staring right back into the man’s dark eyes.

The man pulled away and chuckled lightly, “Not a talker?” He pulled away back into the shadows, “Let’s see if we can’t fix that.” A snap of a finger and two musclemen walked out from the shadows. “I’m not a patient man, so I’ll ask you one more time before having my friends here help you,” the voice circled around Suran. “Do you know why you’re here and what’s going on?”

Suran’s body was still sore all over from the one-punch from Sammy, especially his abdomen. He needed to find a way out, and until then, he opted to play along. “I assaulted your warehouse. You killed everyone then left me to fight ‘Sammy’.”

The two men looked at each other in unease. A moment later Suran heard metal objects thrown off a table violently.

“God dammit, not again! Why the hell does this ALWAYS happen?!” The dressed man rushed back into the light and obnoxiously close to Suran’s face, “Do I really look like that damned brother of mine?!”

Now that he had mentioned it, Suran realized something was off. Black stubble covered his face, he was lacking a tie, and the top buttons of his shirt were undone. His rugged look was a far cry from the picture-perfect attire from yesterday.

The musclemen on the right of Suran spoke up, “Well, Clyde, I mean you guys are twins after all…”

“Oh shut up, Lewis!” Clyde barked back. “We may be twins, but we have nothing in common.” He began storming around the room in a fit, “Who was always picked first for Duelynball? He was! Who was the one talented at magic? He was! Who was mother’s favorite child? He was! And, do you know who the oldest is? I bloody am! How is any of this fair, huh? The oldest gets shafted all the way to hell!”

The muscleman Lewis leaned in towards Suran and whispered to him, “Sorry about this. Clyde tends to get worked up sometimes, especially when you mention his brother…”

“Lewis, I said SHUT UP!” A wrench flew through the air and clunked him on the head. Lewis winced then began to rub the point of impact with a frown.

Clyde rambled on, “You know, he gets to be the talented one, join the ‘Terrible Ten’ – bloody stupid name by the way – and gets to roam around the world doing all the fun stuff, and I get to stick around here and baby sit you fools! I’m nothing more than a glorified babysitter! Who has to bend over sideways keeping all these garbage Lords in order? I do! And don’t you even get me started on handling that crabby old, Hendrick – that stupid broad of Sammy’s better tide him over for now. Not to mention all the scheduling work I have to do! I have to maintain the docks, keep inventory of the grain, collect payments, and this list of shit I have to deal with goes on and on and on and on and on. Thank god my brother left, on the ship I had to arrange by the way, or I would have gone out and found him right now just to clobber him” Clyde took a deep breath and sighed. “My brother gets to go out and be the important one, one of the most feared criminals this side of Mazurka, and what do I get? Manager duty.” A short pause came from Clyde, ushering in silence. “It’s just not fair,” he concluded.

He cleared his throat, “Enough of that. I went on for too long.” Clyde reemerged from the shadow dragging a chair. He spun it out in front of him, plopped down on it, and rested his arms on the headrest, staring at Suran. “Now do us all a favor and answer my questions so we can get out of this stupid hole.” He raised up one finger, “First, why were you here last night?”

“To rescue Annabelle.”

“Sure, sure you were.” Clyde shifted in his chair. “Several days ago there was a riot out in the markets.”

“Was there?” Suran knew probably exactly what he was talking about. He accidentally stirred up a riot by questioning sellers about grain prices.

“Yes, yes there was, and you were there. What were you doing out there?”

Suran said nothing.

“What are your connections to Lord Reginald, hmm? Why were you visiting him so often?

“For Annabelle.”

Clyde shook his head and rolled his eyes, “Then how about why did you target Shroom?”

Silence.

“Look here, whatever-your-name-is, there are two ways we can do this: the easy way and the hard way. I’m not a patient man unlike my stupid brother, so I’ll only give you one more shot at this. Who is it that you are working for?”

Nothing.

“For the love of” – he abruptly stopped in frustration – “What do you know? Do you even know anything?!”

Suran tilted his head slightly.

Clyde threw his arms up and jumped out of the chair. “I don’t know what you are accomplishing here.” He went back into the dark of the room and began rummaging around. A clang noise came out then a yelp, “Who the fuck left this on the ground? God damn my toe…” A moment later the lights flipped on. “That’s much better. Whose idea was it to turn this off again? Lewis, was it you?”

Lewis shook his head, “No, it was Pyff.” He pointed to the other man standing silently.

With the lights on, Suran could see that they were all in a small, simple room. Metals tables were lined up against the wall topped with all sorts of tools. Clyde was going through a table. On that table Suran could see the form of his sword.

“Now where is the paper…” Clyde was going through all the cabinets and drawers.

“What you need paper for?” Asked Lewis.

“Well, since this guy won’t say anything, I’m just going to assume he knows everything. Like come on, how stupid does he think we are? All the grain business he was involved in has no other explanation. Better send out some letters, especially to that crone Hendrick.”

Apparently Namnoc thinks that he was involved in potential espionage or sabotage involving the grain industry, Suran concluded. Whatever Suran did spooked them; they felt he was close, or getting close to discovering their operations involving grain. Alarmed enough to immediately send out communication at the very least.

Next to Clyde was a metal door, the only visible exit to the room. Suran evaluated his situation. Right now, his hands were tied, but that was it. While the chair he was sitting on was firmly bolted to the ground, he wasn’t actually secured to it. An oversight by Namnoc.

Clyde was scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment, “You know, you can still tell us everything, make it easier on everyone involved. I hope you understand you aren’t leaving here alive – a small formality. It’s up to you to decide how you go out. Either way, you’re locked in here with us!” With the swish of a pen, Clyde held up his document happily, looking it over. Satisfied with the result, he began to roll it up to place in a container sitting on the table

“You are making one mistake.” Suran calmly said.

This elicited a light chuckle from Clyde, “And what would that be, guy-who-just-now-decided-to-talk?”

“I’m not locked in here with you. You’re locked in here with me.”

Clyde dropped the container on the table and began laughing. He turned around with a stupid grin and jeered at Suran, “That is the stupidest thing I’ve heard all day – maybe all week! It’s like some ridiculously cheesy line you’d hear at one of those nonsense action thrillers down at the theater.”

Unfortunately for them, this was no jest. Suran broke through the rope, abusing the slack in the knot. He instantly jumped out of the chair and elbowed Lewis in the face. Pyff jumped on Suran, but he held him up and tossed him right at the surprised Clyde, knocking him down. In a flash, Suran grabbed his black sword and unsheathed it.

Lewis, Pyff, and Clyde were all on their feet already, everyone armed with swords but an annoyed Clyde.

First to strike was Pyff. Suran spun out from the downward strike and cut Pyff’s jugular in the rotation. Pyff dropped his sword and grasped for his throat as he fell face-forward toward the ground. Surprise flashed on Clyde’s face, then raised his eyebrows as if he was rethinking his calculations.

Lewis was not shaken by the death of comrade. He readied himself, then charged in at Suran. His first jab was knocked away and his second slash met the same fate. His third and final attack was parried, and Suran casually drove his sword into Lewis’ chest.

“Do you know how fucking hard it is to get good help these days?!” Clyde shouted, obviously not fearing for his life. “And how in the hell did you break out of that rope? Do you know how much I spent getting that specially made and enchanted? Better not come out of my goddamn paycheck.”

Suran squared off in front of Clyde and spoke without emotion, “Your first mistake was underestimating me. Your second one was not tying me properly to the chair.”

Clyde shrugged and stepped towards the door. “Yeah… maybe I should not have underestimated the guy that got out of a fight with Sammy without broken bones. Oops.” He stood without any panic or fear overcoming him. “Well, I get to use this at the very least. They all told me it was a waste, but who is laughing now, ey?! Anyways, I said you weren’t getting out of here, alive or dead. Stick around and you’ll get to see what I mean~,” he concluded with a slight sweet, musical tone to his voice. He brought up his hand and waved at Suran tauntingly, “Cya.”

The ground beneath Clyde jolted out of the ground, lifting him towards the ceiling, lifting him through an opening in the ceiling. He was gone in an instant, and now a stone wall stood right front of the door. Drains from the ceiling opened up, and water began to slowly pour out into the room.

Suran was not alarmed, not even slightly. He strolled over to the metal desk and looked through it. The letter Clyde had written was still there, so he took it. Slowly, the water reached his ankles. He strode through the rising water toward the stone wall blocking his path.

He cocked his sword over his left shoulder, and swung it right at the rock formation. The sword didn’t cut through the rocks; his black sword smashed the stone apart, sending rock splinters spewing everywhere. Strength he used to have and strength he never had trickled through his veins.

Stepping over the rocks, he popped open the metal door and walked through. He would allow nothing to stand in his way again. He walked through the dark cave to the sound of crashing waves.