by Reece Dinn
'A second?' one guy bellowed.
'Haha. Spew?' the Brebuu chuckled, its floppy ears shaking.
Batterox rumbled. 'What do you call it if not spewing?'
'Ejaculation.'
'Ejacuwhat?'
'Orgasm, then ejaculate. These words aren't difficult. This is a third language for the brebuu.'
'And a second for us yegeyor,' said Batterox.
'I like 'is word, spew,' said Awon.
'You would,' scoffed Batterox. 'Fucking simpleton.' He downed the rest of his mug of ale then filled it up again.
Awon walked away, suddenly angry. He liked Batterox but it was becoming harder not to punch his teeth in. He was a good guy to have by your side, so he decided walking away, rather than starting a fight, was the better course of action, even if it did feel cowardly.
He headed back over to Norox. His friend was as he'd left him, staring into the fire. The red haired whore was still asleep, although now she was curled up into a ball.
'Yer still bein' a jenni 'bout 'em guys yer killed?' he asked, sitting down beside him.
Norox snorted. 'What else should I be thinking about? Six people I've killed. Six. They'll never think, speak, or feel again. Never have children, or raise what children they have. How can you not think about who you've killed?'
Awon shrugged. 'Cos they wouldn't 'ave thought nothin' 'bout killin' me.'
'You don't know that.'
'Sure I do. Look 'round. Yer think any of 'em are worryin' 'bout who they killed? No. There celebratin' cos they know that they 'ad ter kill or be killed. Like I said, it's war.'
Norox sat down on his rear. 'So you think you're some kind of soldier? Some kind of war hero?'
'Don' be stupid. But it's similar, ain't it? We fight, winner takes all. Jus' depends on who yer fightin' really. Who yer fight, an' what reason yer fight for, decides whether yer a hero or not,' said Awon.
Norox turned to regard him. 'That was actually quite wise.'
'Full of it me.'
'You certainly are.'
The two of them chuckled. Awon raised his mug of ale to him. Norox raised his and they clinked them together.
'See. Yer lightenin' up,' said Awon.
'Still feels wrong celebrating killing,' said Norox.
'Then celebrate survivin' instead.'
'Aye. I can do that.'
'Gonna find me a girl after this. That one,' Awon pointed over his shoulder to the red haired whore, 'is too busy sleepin', an' Farma isn't up for it.'
'How'd you manage to mess that up? Gods you can be such a prick.' Norox made a grunting noise, then rumbled.
'Fuck 'er. She'll come 'round. I..' Someone booted him in the back.
'Wha' the fuck?' he spat, twisting around, reaching instinctively for his cleaver. His hand stopped when he saw who'd booted him. 'Red? Boss, I mean.'
'Yer turn on guard duty,' slurred Red.
'Wha'? Guard duty? Me?'
'Who the fuck am I talkin' ter if not you? Yer think yer too good fer guard duty?' He hiccuped, then burped. 'Get up there 'fore I make yer eat yer own shit.'
Awon huffed, but forced himself to say, 'yes, boss.'
Red sniggered, then hiccuped again. He kicked him in the back once more before walking away, hiccuping as he went.
'Guard duty? What the fuck?' mumbled Awon.
'Got to do as you're told, Awon,' said Norox, making that grunting sound again.
'Don't be usin' me words against me.' He snatched Norox's mug out of his hand. 'Takin' this. Gonna need it where I'm goin'.' He gave his friend a bow, then headed towards the pathway that led to the surface. He staggered around the group still milling around Batterox and the Brebuu, hoping not to be seen.
'Where going?' asked the Brebuu as it grabbed his arm and dashed his hopes.
'Got guard duty?
'Guard duty? Ha.' It released him and turned back to its crowd, chuckling to itself.
Awon made his way up top, avoiding guys lounging along the pathway drinking or fondling whores. It was almost romantic in a way, a guy and a girl fucking while hanging over the edge of the path. He wished he'd brought a girl up top with him too.
The blonde haired guy with acne all over his face was guarding the hideout's entrance, or rather he was slouched half asleep against the wall beside it, his clothes caked in mud.
'Oi,' Awon shouted in the guy's ear, then booted him in the shin.
The guy jumped as he woke, bashing his head against the wall. 'Wha'?'
'I'm on guard duty now. Yer can go back down.'
'Oh. Thanks.' Without another word he got up and shuffled past him.
Awon sat down with his two mugs of ale and rested his back against the wall. He'd have to do his best to make the two mugs last until someone relieved him. He took a sip, then set both mugs down on the ground.
A knock on the door.
Awon jumped, instinctively grabbing his cleaver. 'Who the fuck is it?' he shouted.
'Open the door,' the guy on the other side shouted back.
'Why should I?' he replied, standing up and approaching the door.
'We bring a message for your boss. Banen, or Cutter, or whoever is in charge.'
'A message?' Awon opened the door, cleaver held ready to hack down whoever was there.
Fenon, the Konar-chase from Suchai District, stood waiting on the other side, arms behind his back. Two more Konar stood behind him, rifles aimed at Awon over Fenon's shoulders.
'Fuckin' Konar,' Awon spat.
Chapter Forty Seven
'Ah, Tenemu's boy,' said Fenon, with a smirk. 'Sorry to see you've not moved up in the world. I hear you're father is doing well though, working for Renu's Butchery in southern Suchai, I believe.'
'Whatcha want, Konar?' said Awon.
'Polite as ever. I told you. I'm here to see your bosses. Be a good minion and go get them.'
'Come in an' see 'em yerself.'
Fenon chuckled. 'And offer myself up to this nest of cretins? Not a chance. Go get him. Now.'
'Cunt,' spat Awon. He closed the door behind him and ran back to the cavern.
'BANEN. WE GOT COMPANY,' he screamed, his words echoing all the way to the ground below.
'WHAT?' Banen boomed back.
'THREE KONAR. THAT FENON GUY. GOT A MESSAGE.'
The cavern erupted with noise. Guys scrambled to the pathway up, those already on it springing into action. Banen forced his way through his guys as he bounded up the path, nearly sending a couple over the edge. Red was right behind him, knocking aside those that had managed to avoid Banen. Weapons were produced seemingly out of nowhere as the Merchers ran.
'Where is he?' growled Banen as he reached the top.
'Waitin' outside,' said Awon.
Banen shoved him into the wall and hurried to the front door. Red followed after him. Not wanting to miss the action Awon chased after them, eager to be ahead of everyone else.
Banen smashed the door open, narrowly missing hitting Fenon. 'What do you want?' he growled.
The two Konar with the rifles panicked at the sight of the huge gang boss, but they kept their rifles trained on him.
'You must be the infamous Banen,' said Fenon. 'And Red, always a pleasure.'
'Cut the shit,' slurred Red. 'What do yer want?'
'I'll get to it then. The Konar-kas demands that you attend a meet tomorrow evening on the twenty third hour with the leaders of the Drowner gang, and himself, at the remains of the Cutters' old hideout. You may bring ten extra men with you, of course. There will be Konar posted around the whole area. No violence will be tolerated. We will open fire without question at the first sign of it. This will be a day long ceasefire.'
'What does your Konar-kas want?' asked Banen.
Fenon flashed him a wan smile. 'To negotiate an end to this little war of yours.'
'The war will end when yer all dead,' said Red, hiccuping.
'You will want to hear what the Konar-kas has to say. It is to your benefit,' said Fenon.
'Benefit?' said Banen. 'How do we know you're not just gathering us together to kill us at the same time?'
'You have the word of the Konar-kas that this isn't the case.'
'Banen.' Gobmu shoved past Awon to come up beside his boss. 'This could be good for us.'
'Good? We've as good as won. Why would we stop now?' snarled Banen.
'Because the Konar may very well back the Drowners up with full force if we don't,' whispered Gobmu, though it was still loud enough for everyone nearby to hear. 'That's not a battle we want to fight.'
'You should listen to your man,' said Fenon.
'Shut your mouth,' spat Banen, pointing a big finger at Fenon. He turned back to Gobmu. 'And what about my ruling this city?'
'Perhaps we can convince the Drowners to surrender themselves and pledge allegiance to you, like the Cutters did,' said Gobmu.
Banen stroked his chin a moment. 'Fine.' He turned back to Fenon. 'We'll go to your boss's meet. See you there, little Konar.'
Fenon smiled. 'Well gentlemen, I shall leave you to your festivities. Good night.' Without another word he spun on his heels and walked off.
The other two Konar lingered a moment, then slowly backed away, rifles still raised to shoot, but now held in shaking hands. When they were far enough away they lowered them and hurried after Fenon.
'Always hated that smug prick,' slurred Red, swaying slightly on his feet.
Banen slammed the door shut.
'We goin' to see 'em, boss?' asked Awon.
Banen ignored him. 'Get the men prepared, Red. Bring your best four. Those good in a fight. I'll send for Cutter. I want the rest of the crew ready to attack should we need to make a hasty retreat.'
'Aye,' said Red.
Banen rubbed his hands. 'I reckon things are about to get interesting'.
'Or very bloody,' said Gobmu.
The next evening they headed to the ruins of Cutter's old warehouse, not bothering to look inconspicuous as the walked the dimly lit streets. Cutter had approved of Red's choice of men; Awon, Batterox, the Brebuu, and Ekviv. Banen picked Gobmu, Blue Bandanna, and two other mean looking guys who Awon recognised but hadn't yet learnt their names.
Everyone was armed to the teeth, but looked nervous, save for Awon who was excited. A meet between the most dangerous men in the city, and the potential for the biggest fight between the gangs there's ever been.
'Can you smell the fear?' Ekviv whispered in Awon's ear. 'Savour it. Feed off of it. Let it give you strength.'
'I can feel it,' he whispered back.
'Good. There's hope for you yet.' He sniggered and small specks of his spit peppered the back of Awon's neck.
Red glanced back at Awon. 'Don't yer be doin', or sayin' anythin' stupid, lad. I'll gut yer myself if yer do. In fact, jus' don't say or do anythin' at all, yer hear me?'
'Yes, boss.'
'Not even if yer see Paten's boy. Especially him. Yer fucked up the last meet we had cos of 'im. I'll let 'em 'ave yer if yer do it again.'
'Yes, boss.'
Red sneered. 'Good. Finally gettin' through that thick skull a yers.'
A fire burned inside the ruins of the old warehouse. The Konar had set off the dynamite they'd found in their raid and blown a hole through two of the walls.
Konar were dotted all around the area in twos and threes, most mounted on burmaback. Awon pondered whether they should just kill the Konar and steal their burmas. They'd be a force to be reckoned with if they could fight on burmaback. One Konar spotted them, shouted to the others, then spurred his burma into motion and bounded for the warehouse.
There were a lot of guys inside, several holes blown out of the warehouse's walls by dynamite during the raid. The guys covered one side of the warehouse, with many more guys around them, Konar most likely.
'Okay, boys,' said Banen. 'Be ready for anything. If a load a dragons fall out of the sky I want you to be ready for it.'
'Aye, boss,' the gang murmured.
'Dragons? That'd be fuckin' great,' said Awon.
'You ever seen a dragon?' Ekviv asked him.
Awon shook his head.
'You don't want to. Nothing more frightening than a dragon.'
'Yer 'fraid of dragons? Thought yer weren' 'fraid of anythin'?'
'You'd be a fool if you didn't fear creatures that breathe fire.'
Awon stopped. 'They breathe fire?'
Ekviv stopped to regard him. 'Of course they do. How'd you not know that?'
Awon set off again. 'Now I really want ter see one.'
'From what I hear you might get to sooner than you think,' said Ekviv, clapping him on the shoulder as he fell in beside him.
'Really?'
Ekviv sighed. 'Don't listen to the newsreaders, do you?'
'No. They're borin'.'
'That's enough of that talk,' said Cutter. 'Let's deal with this shit first, yes?'
'Yes, boss,' said Ekviv.
'Dragons?' Awon muttered to himself. He forgot his current situation for a moment as he began to imagine what dragons looked like, and how much they could destroy with a single breath.
A squad of Konar trailed them on burmaback, rifles at the ready, waiting for any excuse to open fire. Banen had asked for more of the crew to lie in wait around the area in case anything went wrong, but with at least two Konar on every street corner, plus more on the rooftops, the chances of them going unseen were low.
Three Konar outside the warehouse watched them intently as they approached, their rifles not raised, but could be at a moment's notice.
'Evening lads,' Banen shouted to them.
'The Konar-kas is waiting inside,' one Konar said in a monotone voice.
'I'm sure he is.'
The Konar motioned for them to enter through the hole in the wall. One by one the Merchers stepped inside.
The Drowners were lined up against the far wall of the main part of the warehouse, or what remained of it at least. Awon's gaze was immediately drawn to the guy at their centre.
'He has blue skin,' he blurted out.
The guy's skin was pale blue, almost unnaturally so. He'd heard the stories that the Drowner was one of the blue skins from Wenoda, but he'd never thought it'd actually be true. Other than his skin the Drowner wasn't particularly interesting. His body was neither big nor little, tall nor short. Just an average guy, wearing a black vest and black trousers. A rope was tied around his waist, a noose dangling from the end of it.
'It's about time you arrived,' the Drowner said, folding his arms. His voice was surprisingly soft, his features relatively plain. Awon couldn't help but be disappointed.
'We're in no hurry,' replied Banen.
Awon scanned the rest of the Drowners' faces. He recognised Jonbu from the last meet. The guy wore a different coat this time, a long, silver one that almost touched the ground. He had knives strapped to either leg. The rest of their faces he didn't recognise. He was disappointed not to see Tombu. His back still hurt from where the bastard had beaten him with the bat. Vengeance would have to wait for another day.
Around the rest of the room were armed Konar. In the middle stood a Konar dressed in much grander armour than any Awon had ever seen. This guy's armour was bulkier and silver instead of bronze, with fancy markings all over it. It was too big for his slender frame, making his appearance ridiculous rather than intimidating. The Konar had a long, drooping face that was like melted candle-wax.
'Welcome, Merchers,' he said. 'If you haven't guessed already, I am the Konar-kas of this city. Please situate yourselves on this side of the room.' He indicated the side opposite the Drowners.
'That's some grand lookin' armour yer got there,' said Red.
'Ha. Was just thinking the same thing,' said Banen.
The Konar-kas didn't look amused, but then with a face like that Awon imagined it would be difficult to make any kind of facial expression.
'I've brought you all here so we can put an end to this conflict. I will tolerate it no more,' said the Konar-kas.
'You backed the wrong team and now you're worried that you're going to lose,' said Cutter, which drew laughs from the other Merchers, Awon included.
'I admit I was rather surprised when I discovered that you and the Merchers had joined forces. A most unexpected turn of events.'
'And now that your boys are about to lose you wanna make peace, that it?' said Banen.
'Lose?' said the Drowner. 'You presume too much, my friend. You've won a victory, sure. However that hideout is but one of many. I have many more men at my disposal, from a far wider range than this city. Your victory is far from assured.'
Banen cracked a knuckle. 'That so?'
Awon noticed Fenon enter the room behind the Drowners, his arms folded behind his back in that arrogant way of his. Other than the Konar-kas he was the only Konar without a rifle.
'Gentlemen, let's not descend into petty squabbling,' said the Konar-kas. 'I have not brought you here to discuss a peace treaty. I'm all too aware that that would be a futile endeavour. My proposal is this, a final battle, all in. Last man standing wins, winner takes the city.'
The Drowner rubbed his chin. 'Winner takes all?'
'I wish to put an end to these gang wars for good. If that means allowing one gang to dominate this city, then so be it. If you can't fix the problem, then handle it, my father taught me.'
'So you want us to kill each other, so you can then slaughter the survivors?' said Gobmu. He turned to Cutter. 'It seems you were right after all.'
'I wish I was glad to be right,' said Cutter, his face creasing into a scowl.
'No, that is not what I'm proposing,' said the Konar-kas. 'I wish to shed as little blood as is possible. Besides if I kill all of you my men would no longer have jobs to do. No criminals, no Konar.'
'We're to trust your word?' Cutter asked.
'The alternative would be worse, believe me.'
'An' what yer gonna do if we say no to this battle of yers?' asked Red.
'You'll be exposed for the cowards you are,' said the Drowner.
'I didn't start anything, these lot did.' Banen pointed to Cutter and Red. 'I'm just profiting from it.'
