by Noah Layton
He pried the lid open, popped it, sank his fingers into the gap and pulled it free.
‘My, my,’ he said sardonically, ‘What a surprise to find that you were telling the truth.’
The guards lowered their weapons, eyeing each other in confusion.
‘What is this?’ He continued.
‘I told you, it’s liquor. Why don’t you give it a drink and find out?’
‘What, so you can poison me? You’re a funny guy, Drake. Why don’t you have a drink first and test it for me?’
‘I’d really rather not…’
‘Oh, no, I insist. Rubin, get our guest a cup of this fine liquor.’
The guard to his right crossed to the bar behind us and picked up a glass, then returned to the barrel. He scooped out a small amount and crossed to me.
Oh, god…
Reluctantly I took the glass from him and examined the glass. The liquid was still and completely clear. I could smell it from where I stood.
Abarinthius 220 Vodka. 88% proof.
I raised the glass to my lips and sipped it. My entire mouth felt like it was on fire the moment it touched my lips, but I tensed up my body and took down a considerable amount, swallowing it with a stifled shiver.
‘Impressive. Well, you’re either incredibly committed to killing me or incredibly stupid. I suppose I might try a little of this in a few minutes, just as soon as I see that it doesn’t kill you. Right now I’m not sure which one it is out of those two possibilities. That aside, I must say that I am dismally fucking disappointed with you, Drake. Sneaking into this place in barrels? Are you fucking kidding me? That was your genius plan to get your revenge on me?’
‘It seemed like a good idea when I came up with it,’ I said through gritted teeth, presenting a repressed anger to him. ‘Apparently it wasn’t good enough.’
‘You know, me and Bartram and Wargo always thought you were a pretty smart guy. That’s why I put the hit out on you in the first place. I couldn’t have somebody as intelligent and idealistic as you sitting among our ranks. It’s far too bad for business.’
‘Bad for business?’ I repeated. ‘Are you kidding me? You’re in bed with the gangs, and you say I’m the one who’s bad for business?’
‘What did I tell you when you first arrived on my front door looking to join my guild? Go ahead, what did I tell you?’
‘You said… no matter what, always follow the money.’
‘Exactly. We follow the money. We kill the small-timers, we stay out of the way of the gangs, and every guild in the city gets a nice little pay-off to stay out of their way.’
‘A pay-off? I never saw any of that. Looks to me like it was just you following the money.’
‘Did you really think I was going to share it out?’ Killian laughed. ‘Maker, you’re even stupider than I thought. That’s what the hunters for guilds in this city do. They drink, they get high and they gamble, and then they come back to work and get assigned to kill some idiot who abandoned his tab at the local bar. I gave a little to Bartram and Wargo now and again, but by their own admission they were the same as all of the other hunters.
‘In the meantime, guys like me, the heads of the guilds, we scrape up the bribes of the gangs and watch while our idiot minions run around. How did you think I was ever able to afford a place like this? And this isn’t my only property in Spire City, you know? I’ve got a few other spots that will bring in the gold and keep me well-fed and well-fucked into retirement.
‘You could have had the same life, Drake. You’re smart enough, but damn, you’re stupid when it comes to making the right decision.’
‘This is what you call right?’ I replied. ‘What part of this is right? You let corruption run rife when you should be hunting down the real criminals who pay you off!’
Killian took another deep, booming laugh.
‘I trust you paid a visit to Wargo already?’
‘He’s long gone, just like Bartram.’
‘And I am guessing that it was Wargo who told you all about the true nature of this business you are in.’ I nodded in response. ‘Bartram was always a loose cannon. Wargo was too, actually, but there was an intelligence to him despite his rage, one that he kept well-hidden. I used to be able to see him as being the one to take over the guild one day, right up until you came along. You were smart. Well-controlled. Calculating. At least that’s what I thought before you came up with a crackpot plan like this and sealed your pathetic fate. How did they die?’
‘Painfully.’
‘I thought as much. You see, Drake, you act all high and mighty, but at the end of the day you’re still willing to get your hands dirty, and you’re still willing to cause pain when you want to. Funnily enough, I’m also very much willing to cause pain, too-’
A sudden crack sounded from outside. Every head in the room collectively turned to look through the blurred windows and into the courtyard.
Another crack. Another.
Suddenly they were booming everywhere, not loud enough to be explosions considering the windows were still in place, but enough to put everyone in the room on edge.
Then one much louder sounded.
The six guards who had been manning the courtyard suddenly burst into the tavern, backing out of the yard. They all entered quickly, scrambling over each other, until the place was filled with them.
The last one in closed the door after himself.
‘What in the blazing shittery is going on out there?’ Killian yelled at his guards.
‘Bright lights,’ one of the guards, ironically not the brightest himself, muttered frantically. ‘Bright lights and bangs!’
‘What do you mean? From where?’
‘From the barrels that he brought!’
The guards shaking hand raised and pointed directly at me.
Killian shook his head, a look of genuine disappointment stamped on his face.
‘You hurt me, Drake,’ he said as the bangs subsided. ‘You actually mentally hurt me. You make me pity you. You make me pity you so much that some small part of me actually doesn’t want to kill you. Is that what you want from me, Drake? Pity? Because I find you a tad pathetic. No, that’s a lie. I find you very pathetic.’
‘Any chance that sympathetic side of you is growing?’ I asked.
‘No,’ he laughed. ‘But you’re funny. What was that even supposed to be? Some kind of explosion to wipe out my guards out there? Looks like it didn’t go to plan, but then I guess the same could be said for a lot of the stuff you’ve tried to pull off today.’
There was a long, drawn moment of silence. Then a steady growl emerged from my left. I looked down to see Grimdrom’s face contorting into a vicious snarl. He looked up at me with an all-consuming expression of rage.
Then he dived at me.
‘You stupid motherfucker!’ He yelled into my face as I crashed onto my back and hit the floor with him atop me. ‘I trusted you to pull this off, and now you’re going to get us all killed!’
He sucker-punched me hard across the face with one of his small but rough hands. My head spun to the side, and across the room I heard hysterical bouts of laughter.
‘Enough,’ Killian laughed. ‘Get them off each other.’
Four guards crossed to us. Two pulled Grimdrom, still kicking and screaming, from me, while the other two dragged me roughly to my feet.
‘As much as I would have loved to see you continuing to beat the shit out of my ex-employee,’ Killian said sarcastically, addressing Grimdrom, ‘I’m going to need you to simmer down before we kill the three of you. I want to see the whites in Drake’s eyes, clear as day, while I cut his throat. Calm yourself, dwarf, or you’ll regret it even more than you already do.’
Grimdrom eventually settled, but his rage-filled eyes were still focused on me. The guards steadily let him go, and he resumed his place next to me.
No sooner had he stood back in place did he reach into the pocket of his overshirt, unbuttoning it and rifling around.
/> Two guards immediately stepped forward, their swords raised.
‘It’s just my pipe,’ Grimdrom said, retrieving it along with a match. He shoved the end of the pipe into the corner of his mouth and looked to Killian. ‘Would you at least afford a dwarf the opportunity to have a final smoke before he meets his Maker?’
‘Of course,’ Killian replied. ‘Far be it from me to deny a man coerced into such a shitty plan by such an incompetent fool a final smoke.’
Grimdrom lit the match and held it to the bowl of the pipe, lighting the tobacco. My eyes focused on the flame from the moment it lit the crushed leaf, to the moment it went out with a quick jerk of his hand, practiced a million times before.
‘Do you mind if I have a smoke too?’ Cassandra asked, leaning past me. ‘If I’m going to die, I might as well indulge myself one last time.’
‘Of course,’ Grimdrom said. ‘What difference does it make now?’
‘What about me?’ I asked.
‘I’m sorry, my pipe is reserved for people who didn’t coerce me into an unintentional suicide mission.’
‘Hahaha!’ Killian roared, as several of his lackey-guards joined in. ‘Would you listen to this dwarf? What a riot. You know, I’ve been thinking of having comedy nights at my tavern. You could have potential to be a performer.’
‘Not my speciality,’ Grimdrom growled, taking a puff from his pipe before leaning past me and handing it to Cassandra.
‘A pity. It would have been a good reason to keep you alive. And what about you?’ He turned to address Cassandra. ‘It’s still my intention to drink and fuck myself into old age. I’ve never had a foxgirl before, but I hear your kind are remarkably… Flexible. I’d be willing to let you live a little longer in exchange for some favours.’
Several of the guards laughed and murmured amongst each other.
‘It’s tempting,’ Cassandra said, licking her lips and raising the pipe to her mouth. ‘But I think I’ll take my chances.’
She inhaled deeply from the pipe and coolly let out a long stream of smoke into the air.
‘Remarkable. Another useful skill of yours, Drake. You can convince someone to be loyal to you until the end. Just another ability that would have served you well if you had taken a more… Financially rewarding path.’
‘My path is the right one. The just one. The one that doesn’t let criminals run this freaking city.’
‘The running of this city goes to the strongest, the smartest, and the ones most willing to do what it takes to dominate. It looks like that isn’t you. Sometimes I used to think the boys were stupid for mocking you for taking information down in that fucking book of yours, but in the end it looks like it wasn’t of any use after all.’
I calmed my mind and took a deep breath.
‘What if I told you that you were wrong about that?’ I replied. ‘What if I told you that I knew exactly how this whole situation was going to go down before I climbed into that fucking barrel? And what if I told you that you won’t live long enough to realise just how wrong you are about me?’
‘How do you count on that?’
‘With me stabbing you to death while you beg for your life.’
Killian stared back at me with an expression that said I can’t believe you had the gall to say that. Then his familiar laugh sounded, and he pulled his weapon of choice from the thick sheath at his belt – the dual-bladed, twin-handed scythe with the long, sharp edge.
‘At least you’ve still got a sense of humour when you’re staring death in the face, Drake. All the same, the little dream in your head where you come out on top from all of this is finally collapsing in on itself, just like every other one of your hopes and dreams. I have over a dozen armed guards. You have nothing, and you and your companions are about to die with nothing. When we’re finished setting upon you, nobody will be able to tell the three of you from pigs’ carcasses at the slaughterhouse. This is the end of the line. I win. Any final words?’
Killian affixed his grip on his sword
I stared back into his eyes. Slowly, a wide happy grin drew up onto my lips, and I whispered a lone, single word.
‘Boom.’
What followed all happened in slow motion. Cassandra, her aim by far the best out of the three of us, hurled the pipe across the room towards the barrel of liquor.
The sparks dwelling quietly in the pipe ignited the highly flammable liquor, quickly turning three cubic feet of vodka into three cubic feet of fire.
The flames raced down the barrel before Killian and the guards could even understand what was happening, but it gave Killian enough time to put his minions between him and the barrel.
Cassandra, Grimdrom and I all turned and practically hurled our bodies behind the bar the moment the pipe left Cassandra’s hand.
‘SH-I-I-I-ITTT!!!’
I didn’t know who was yelling it – me, them, or all three of us, but I knew damn well that I was thinking it.
The barrels outside hadn’t malfunctioned at all. The liquid inside the barrels outside was a diluted mix of explosive designed to make as much noise and sparks as possible without blowing anything up. They had been accurately activated by hidden charges that Veronica had set off, using accurately thrown fire-lit sticks of wood as she hid behind the wall that surrounded the yard.
It had gotten everybody inside, right where I wanted them, but that was the least of my priorities.
Because as the liquor inside the barrel before Killian ignited, so too did the charge within, the very one linked to the false bottom in the base of the barrel containing a hidden compartment that was filled with a small batch of Grimdrom’s explosive.
BOOM.
I slammed into the ground just as the explosion happened. A wave of dust and wood and raw, terrible sound flew over our heads and descended onto us in our hiding place.
The boom quickly subsided and the sound in my ears was completely replaced by a resounding ringing. I looked around at Cassandra and Grimdrom – they were both fine, and raising their heads from scattered pieces of splintered wood and small rocks.
I shook my head of the shock and gritted my teeth, pushing myself up from the ground and looking into the bar room floor.
The place was a mess of blood and bodies. The windows had been completely blown out, shedding light on the mass of fallen or groaning guards. The blast had taken out all but a few who were mortally injured.
It was Killian who I cared more about, though. Through the dust I coughed violently and spotted something moving.
Killian suddenly sprang up from the ground, shoving aside bodies and bounding for the stairs to the upper floor.
He knew that there was no one else to defend him, so instead of fighting me one to one, he chose to run.
‘Finish off the guards and get out of here!’ I called to my companions. ‘I’m going after him!’
I could barely hear my own voice over the resounding ringing, but Cassandra and Grimdrom seemed to understand my manic hand gestures.
I leaped over the battered bar top and dashed to the stairs, drawing my sword as I emerged through the dust into the clearer space of the upper hallway.
A series of rooms could be accessed by doors. All were closed except for one at the end of the corridor on the right that was swinging on its hinges.
I sprinted to it and kicked it open, holding my sword before me at the ready to cut down my enemy.
He was already on other side of the room, standing upon the ledge.
‘It’s over, Killian!’ I yelled at him.
He gave me a sharp scowl over his shoulder, looked out to the view before him, and jumped.
I ran for the window and peered through to see Killian scrabbling to his feet on the rooftop that began several yards below this one.
I climbed out and calculated my jump to the same spot. Killian was already putting distance between us as he hurried across the uneven rooftops of houses and cramped structures.
Looking down at the drop, I measured the v
ery same jump, prepared my body, and threw myself forwards.
I landed hard on the rooftop, feeling a twinge of pain in my ankles but quickly regaining my composure. My hands propelled my body up from the ground as if acting of their own volition, and my legs carried me forward across the rooftops in pursuit of my final betrayer, as Spire City sprawled out before me endlessly.
18 – The Chase
Killian was only twenty yards ahead of me as I jumped from one cramped building to another. For a guy much older than me was doing a damn impressive job of keeping the distance between us.
But if I knew him well – and I was pretty sure that I did – he would have more than a few tricks up his sleeve to try and take my down before I got to him.
My eyes darted rapidly between my target and my footing – the uneven rooftops that I was dealing with could kill me just as easily if I took a misstep.
And I had come too far now just to end up falling to my death.
I was closing on him fast, and as I kept glancing sharply between my footing and him, I eventually looked up to see him stop in his tracks.
I looked down hurriedly at my feet as I leaped over a yard-long gap between buildings, the drop between them spelling a fall of twenty yards.
Just as I reached it and looked up, Killian raised his weapon.
But it wasn’t his sword.
It was his rifle.
‘Surprise, Drake!’
I raised my arms, flashing back to the moment when all of this had started, when Rolo had shot me straight through the arm with his bow and arrow.
But this was a bullet, and my arms were no use in protecting me.
CRACK.
The spark of the gunpowder’s explosion twinkled at Killian’s wrist. I ducked just as he had spoken and felt the bullet graze the skin on my shoulder, slicing through my jacket and overshirt.
My attempts to defend myself sent me completely off balance, and combined with the strike of the bullet I staggered back and landed hard against the ledge.
My body slipped into the drop between the buildings.
I lunged forward and wrapped my fingertips around the edge, my legs dangling over the abyss.
