Theft, Murder, and Crystals

by Benjamin Duke

  Purchasing several pieces of real estate around the city was also important. These were innocuous places where Samuel could hold court. No more meeting under a bridge late at night. No, now Samuel had over six different meeting places. Deliveries would be handled by someone else, Elias would be in charge of hiring that individual. Samuel’s job was to talk about the product with the people who could make decisions. The only crystals he carried were for demonstration and self-defense.

  Things were changing for the better and Samuel was grateful for Elias. Did the stranger have some kind of alternate agenda? Absolutely. But as far as Samuel could tell, the agenda had nothing to do with causing either him or Cimir any harm. As long as Elias improved the business end, they would let him contribute. He had little reason to worry.

  As he continued to smoke, the door burst open, with a flustered young woman. Samuel sort of recognized the blonde haired girl, but he couldn’t quite remember where from.

  “Sir! Sir!” she gasped as she rushed to his desk. How the hell did she even know where to find him? Samuel had been relaxing in his “executive office,” as Elias called it, conveniently located in the Market District, it was an office that only a few people knew about.

  “What is it?” Samuel asked.

  “It’s the…Fern, the Friendly Fern,” she said, still panting and trying to catch her breath. “There was an attack. Some men, armed men, they came in and grabbed Sali!”

  “The hell?” Samuel growled. He finally recognized her. She was Finese, one of the workers in the tavern that he had invested in. “Did they hurt her?”

  “No, they just took her, and…they killed one of the bouncers. He tried to be a hero but these guys, they fought like I’ve never seen.”

  “And I can guess who they are,” Samuel muttered. He looked up at the girl. “How did you know I was here?”

  “Sali told me to come find you, before they hauled her off. She said you’d probably be here.”

  Samuel nodded. He had smoked a cigar with his dear friend just a days ago, talking about her plans to take over a tavern in the Mermaid District. She had been skeptical about his ability to invest in her ideas, but when he paid for the place in cash, she was quite impressed. And now, she was in trouble because of the Endless Legion.

  “Look, I’ll take care of it,” Samuel said.

  “We should call the city guard,” Finese said. “They’re going to hurt her.”

  “Yeah, I have a contact in the guard,” Samuel replied as he stood and grabbed his red coat. “But do me a favor? Go back to the tavern and clean it up. Can’t have the business stop because we lost a bartender.”

  “Are you serious?” Finese asked. “How could I possibly do that?”

  “Because, when Sali gets back and the place is a mess, she’s going to kill the both of us. Now, get moving, I’ll take care of this,” Samuel said. The woman took a deep breath and settled herself for a moment, before quickly exiting the room.

  His hands were shaking a little, as he grasped one of the speed crystals in his pocket. Sali was a good woman, smart and tough. She could handle being kidnapped, he was sure. But…what was about to come next was deeply unpleasant. It was clear that Tadmin’s Endless Legion was desperate enough to pull a measure like this. They couldn’t be allowed to continue to operate in Glimmer, not if they were going to be set against Samuel and his crew.

  Samuel was quick to return to their new headquarters, where Elias and Cimir had their respective offices. The building was an unassuming warehouse in the Kraken District, a part of the city mostly relegated to industrial work, such as blacksmithing. This was where they would conduct their meetings, Cimir would work in much more comfortable space and Elias could plan for the future.

  As per the agreement, no course of action could be taken without a vote from the three partners. As much as Samuel wanted to just send Groth to find the Endless Legion and kill them all, he would need to clear it with Elias and Cimir. Cimir would go along with anything, of course. Elias was the real concern here. The man wanted to keep things quiet and discrete. Attacking a guild hall was anything but.

  “Ah! Samuel, how are you?” Elias asked as Samuel entered into the dining room. He was sitting down, reclining at the head of the table. The long wooden table in the center was full of all sorts of meats, cheeses and fruits. Normally, Samuel would have put any business aside to eat such plentiful and delicious foodstuffs, but he didn’t have the time or the stomach.

  “Where’s Cimir?” Samuel asked.

  Elias shrugged and pointed to the western door. “Where do you think? Studying in his workshop. You hungry? I just had these imported in from Glia.”

  “There’s no time for that,” Samuel said. “We’ve got some trouble. Cimir!” he shouted, “get in here!”

  After a moment, the door opened and Cimir, bedraggled and still in his long johns, shuffled out.

  “What is it?” he asked, yawning. “I was busy conducting an important experiment.”

  “We were attacked again” Samuel said. This got both of their attention immediately. Elias sat up and cleared the plate away from him as Cimir stood straight.

  “What happened? Are you hurt?” Cimir asked. Samuel could see the fire in his eyes, eager to set about attacking an enemy presence.

  “No, it wasn’t against me,” Samuel replied. “It was against Sali.”

  “Ah yes, the gnome. Curious,” Elias said. “But this is not the room to discuss such affairs. If you will.” He stood and escorted the pair into one of the back rooms. Samuel had not seen this room yet, he assumed that it was nothing more than a closet, but it was, in fact, a full sized room with a large map on the wall. The map divided Glimmer into multiple territories, with different names and colors distributed on it.

  “Okay,” Elias said, pointing to Mermaid District on the map. “This was to be expected. Tell me everything that you know about this attack.”

  Samuel was quick to explain the situation. The Endless Legion was clearly the culprit and there was only one course of action: retribution.

  Elias nodded as he made a few marks on his map, taking a few red flags and sticking them onto various areas, one in particular marking where the Friendly Fern had been.

  “Alright then,” Elias said. “How are we going to handle this?”

  Cimir chuckled. “I’ve been working on different spells to take care of aggressors like this. All I need is the name of the leader and an image, and I can take him out.”

  “I fear this has become like a hydra,” Elias said. “You killed Valkhorn, Tadmin came. You kill Tadmin, who is to come next? The only course of action is decisive elimination of the entire Guild.”

  Samuel nodded. “So, who do we hire? I bet we could get the Sworn Blades to back us up. Between them and Groth, they won’t stand a chance.”

  “Add a few lightning bolts,” Cimir mumbled to no one in particular.

  Elias sighed. “Gentlemen, we have talked about this. Discretion, remember?”

  “How can we be discreet when those assholes attacked and killed one of our people in cold blood?” Samuel shouted. “Look, I’m all for keeping things quiet, but there’s no quiet way to handle this.”

  Elias nodded. “I suppose you’re right…but there may be a legal way. You said this guild is new right?”

  “Yeah, started by Valkhorn.”

  “Well, according to the charter laws of this city, no guild may be erected without vote on it by the Magistrate. Any guild operating illegally is guilty of sedition and conspiracy against the state and the people of Glimmer,” Elias replied. “So, I’ll talk to Captain Markov and give him what he needs to take them down for good. We destroy them completely, get our colleague back and more importantly, keep a clean distance between our operation and having any blood on our hands.”

  Samuel frowned. “Look, I’m really not bloodthirsty, at all, okay? But do you really think sending them all to prison is going to work? What if some of them escape?”

  Elias g
rinned. “Sedition carries the death penalty, my friend. They will not be going in to arrest, they will be going in to put down an active rebellion against the city. This is why you always fill out paperwork in Glimmer.”

  Samuel nodded at that. This was a grim task. But at the same time, there was little other recourse here. The only option was to ensure that these killers were eliminated entirely. Any other way would open up a chance for other people to get hurt.

  “I’m in agreement,” Cimir said. “If they want to keep trying to kill us, we should finish them off before it gets any worse.”

  “Then it’s settled?” Elias asked. “I’ll put in the word to Captain Markov and it should be handled within the day.”

  “It’s really that easy?” Samuel asked. “Just give the okay and… all these people are killed?”

  Elias shrugged. “This may come as a surprise, but the life of a criminal is cheap and short in Glimmer. If you don’t play it smart, you end up like them.”

  Samuel grimaced a little. A dread came across him as he looked at the large map containing information about all of the guilds present in the city, along with city watch presence and number of districts. How long would the three of them, he wondered, be able to play it smart?

  Chapter 16:

  Captain Markov was having a rougher than usual day. His boots, his brilliantly polished leather boots, that had been in his employ for nearly six years, were missing. Not because someone had stolen them, of course. But because he was unable to send his boots, along with his leather armor, his morningstar and his shield to the normal tailor who saw to their repairs and maintenance. Budget cuts were beginning to affect not only his appearance, but the performance of the city watch as a whole.

  The law wasn’t of much value to Markov. Laws changed based on the whim and will of the leadership in charge. One generation would despise Serpentine ale, for some bizarre reason and have it outlawed, and another generation would pass laws requiring all merchants to sell the stuff. In his tenure as a member of the city watch for nearly 30 years, there was only one law that Markov was able to confirm as immutable. The law of greed. No matter what, the men at the top would help themselves into the coffers of the men at the bottom.

  And unfortunately, now, it would seem that Captain Lewis Markov’s coffers were up grabs. With the recent change in government, with the Kalimar Hordes becoming the de-facto leader of the city state, Glimmer began to move money around in the most interesting of ways. With the arrival of Prax and his Kalimar Elite, the city watch was relegated to being of “second priority” in terms of security. With second priority came significantly lower amounts of gold to spend. It was bad enough Markov’s men were barely able to keep themselves afloat before the changes came, now they were in a hole. Men would quit their jobs for better pastures, but there were none, not with the influx of cheap labor due to out of work spellcasters.

  Instead, Captain Markov, with holey boots and a team desperately missing morale, was forced to make do with what he had. And today, as he walked across the cobblestone in simple walking shoes, meant to be used casually and not to endure the harsh rigors of patrol, all he had was his true love, justice. Regardless of his opinion of law, justice was different. A law that people disliked or was too harsh was referred to as unjust. Justice meant fairness, it meant equality and above all, it meant doing the right thing. He wasn’t the Captain because of the wealth it would afford him or because he cared about people’s admiration. None of those things were in the equation for him. Instead, he cared simply about being able to do what was right, regardless of the laws at hand.

  He finally arrived at his destination, a small little pub in the Kraken District. The seating was outdoors, and the barman would take orders from a hole in the side of the pub. It was designed so that the steel and smith workers could walk up place their orders and get their beer without having to go inside and get their filth all over the place.

  Waiting for him was none other than Elias. A runner had been dispatched to bring Markov to this meeting spot. It had been some time since Markov had seen his friend. He hoped Elias had some good news. Something would be enough to make this dreadful day a little better.

  “I should arrest you for loitering,” Markov said as he sat across from Elias.

  Elias chuckled at that. “Good to see you, my friend.” They shook hands.

  “The beer here is terrible, by the way,” Elias said, gesturing to the half-full tankard on the red table in front of them. “I would hesitate to order it.”

  “Thanks,” Markov said. He had little funds for beer anyway. “So, you have news for me?”

  “I do, I do,” Elias said. “But it is a sensitive matter.”

  “Hence, why we’re meeting in the Kraken District during working hours?” Markov asked. The streets next to the large, square buildings were completely empty. All that could be heard was the sound of artisans fiercely crafting away. The sounds of metal against metal echoed through the streets.

  “Shall we?” Elias asked as he stood. Markov nodded and joined the man, walking side by side down the streets.

  “Things are changing,” Elias said after a minute of silence. “But they are changing in my favor.”

  “How so? You finally win some money in a card game?” Markov asked. The seriousness in Elias’ voice made him uncomfortable. He would much have preferred if this was some kind of social call. His gut told him some interesting news would be coming shortly, news that Markov would most likely want to steer clear of.

  “Better. I located the source of magic,” Elias replied.

  Markov said nothing for a moment. “But you have no interest in telling me about it, do you?” he finally asked as they continued to walk. The sun was shining down upon them and it was hot. Despite the enormous crystal in the sky, it cast no shade on the warm streets.

  “No,” Elias said. “The less you know, the better. But I can tell you this much. The magic will be good for this city. I’ve managed to step into a good position and gained control of how it is distributed.”

  “Really?” Markov asked. “You’re a brave man for sharing this with the captain of the guard.”

  “Don’t kid yourself, Markov. You know the next time someone starts coughing this entire city will be destroyed,” Elias said. “I’m in a position to stop that entirely.”

  Markov nodded. “The thought has crossed my mind more than enough times. Mainly on how to prevent rioting for when it happens.”

  “Well thanks to my endeavor, you won’t have to worry about that. So, I’m here to make you an offer.”

  Markov grimaced. Here it comes. The bribe. That was how it always happened, didn’t it? He’d befriend some city official, they’d develop a friendship and then, inevitably, they would ask him to look the other way. Sure, they’d jingle some coins at him, to make it seem like a business transaction, but in the end, they just wanted him to do it as a “favor.”

  Still, Markov was curious. “Continue then, by all means,” he replied.

  Elias nodded a little and stopped walking. “You have been a good friend to me. We are united in not our interests nor our hobbies, but concern for this city.”

  “Can we cut the speech?” Markov interrupted. “Just tell me about the dead whore you need me to help remove from your house. Or about the man you want to disappear because he wronged you. I don’t have all day, not in this heat at least.”

  Elias chuckled. “Do you seriously deal with those problems?”

  “I deal with people who think that just because they are friends with a lawman that they can commit any injustice they like,” Markov replied.

  Elias shrugged. “Well, that won’t be me. Here’s the deal. I’m running this operation now. The supplier and the creator of the magical source have no clue how to run a business. Idiot savants, if you will. They figured out a loophole and they exploited it. Now that I’ve stepped in, they’ve given me the reins.” He paused, as if waiting for Markov to react, but the man held his peace. T
here was no reason to give any feedback until Elias shared it all. He continued.

  “We have plans to make quite a bit of coin, selling magical wares. Crystals, it would seem, are able to keep the magical properties. And as you can imagine, there is a premium on magic items that work in this city.”

  “So, you sell illegal magic…” Markov murmured. “That’s an interesting business choice. And so, you want me to look the other way?”

  “You’re already looking the other way,” Elias said. “I want you to profit from this as well. And not just you, but the city watch.”

  Markov frowned a little. “Go on.”

  “This is lucrative enough to fund your patrols, arm your men, ensure that they get paid. I know full well your budget has been shrinking. The Magistrate is finally reaching the point of corruption to where they only care about themselves. Do they live in the streets of the poorer districts? Do they worry for their lives in the evening?”