Skulduggery 2

by Logan Jacobs

  “We can offer you a lot of--” Dar began.

  “Coin?” I cut the halfling off and ignored Wade’s brainwash bullshit. “I don’t need your coin. This is about--”

  “Your code.” Wade’s eyes were wide and intense. “Fuck your code.”

  “You don’t understand what you’re even talking about,” I snarled as everything inside of me exploded. I stepped forward to attack, but then I saw the dragon open its mouth and inhale.

  I stopped moving.

  “They made your precious code to control you,” Wade said as he held his snarling dragon back behind himself.

  “We already broke free from what controlled us, and now that can be you too,” Dar added as he lowered his weapon like the dancer.

  “I can see it in your eyes,” Wade said again as he pointed his knife at me, “you want freedom.”

  Ava, remember your training, Adrian’s voice boomed in my mind.

  “You don’t know me,” I muttered and kept my blade aimed right at Wade.

  “You’re right,” Wade stepped closer to me, “but I know that look you have right now.”

  “The look I have is how much I want to kill you,” I snapped.

  “You’re wasting your time and talent at that guild,” Wade pointed off into the distance, “and for what?”

  “For … ” I hesitated and tightened my grip around my dagger as my blood rushed to my face. “Adrian.”

  “Is that your guild leader?” Penny asked. “No shit, they are loyal, huh?”

  “No!” I snarled. “He was … ”

  Why was I even explaining myself to this group of idiots?

  “Your father?” Wade guessed. “Do I know you better than you thought?”

  “Quiet.” I pursed my lips and dug my feet into the dirt. “He wasn’t my father, and the time for talking is over.”

  “What’s your name, assassin?” Wade asked.

  I never revealed my name to a target. Especially one I was trying to kill just a minute ago.

  But for some reason, I wanted him to know.

  “Ava,” I answered.

  “Ava,” Wade echoed, and my stomach tightened when he said my name. “We can be your ticket out.”

  “I can leave anytime,” I said. “I don’t want to leave.”

  “Right,” Wade chuckled since he knew my bluff.

  He was right, I couldn’t leave even if I killed everyone in my guild. They’d hunt me down for the rest of my life.

  “I’m not asking you to leave your guild even though I know you want to … ” Wade said and stepped in range of my blade. “The age of the guilds is ending with us.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked as my mind raced with the thought of freedom from Fallor and his expectations. Free to be found only when I wanted to be.

  “Look around the room.” Wade gestured to the others. “Three humans, two halflings, and a dwarf united under one banner.”

  “Aye, a banner of whiskey,” the dwarf belly laughed. “It’s a hell of a thing.”

  “A united front to give the elven empire one big … ” Wade stuck up his middle finger, “fuck you.”

  “Are you talking about a full-on rebellion?” I asked, and my heart quickened.

  “Were you around the Halfling District today?” Wade asked with a smirk.

  “I was,” I muttered, but I didn’t bother to tell him that I was actually watching Wade and Penny work over the elven idiot from a secret cubby that Rindell let me use.

  “I have a theory the elves will kill themselves with a little … ” Wade clenched his jaw, “nudge in the right direction.”

  Fuck, that’s exactly what I thought after hunting down the elven politician in their perfect district.

  “I think she agrees,” Dar chuckled as he looked at me.

  “How could she not?” Wade wondered. “She’s human.”

  This was insane.

  What would Adrian think, though? He would never betray the guild.

  But would he if it meant killing the elves off?

  A rush of freedom invaded my entire being as if I jumped off a cliff one million miles up in the sky and flew through the clouds.

  “I-I can’t betray my guild,” I stuttered, and I felt the rush of freedom disappear.

  “That’s not you speaking,” the dancer said as her eyes locked onto mine.

  “You don’t know me,” I repeated. “I can’t let you live.”

  “Because of your code?” Penny scoffed. “You’d rather kill your own kind than rob the elves?”

  “I’m not a human,” I spat. “I’m a half--”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Wade said as he held his hands out to the other members of his group. “We are multi-racial here. We are just united by our goals. The guild just wants to use--”

  “That’s not how we work, our code is everything to the--”

  “Guild,” Wade interrupted. “Why are you so dedicated to them?”

  I paused at his question, because it was the first time someone had asked me. It was the first time I asked myself.

  Why was I so dedicated to a guild that meant nothing to me before Adrian found me? Adrian was dead and gone. Fallor only kept me because I made him the most coin, but I lived in rags and the gutters most days.

  Wade was … right.

  Fuck.

  “I’m not promising you anything,” I sighed as I lowered my weapon to my side.

  “No promises needed,” Wade responded. “Will you help us rob the elves?”

  I sheathed my dagger, lowered my hood, and unleashed my blonde hair.

  Wade’s look seemed to change for a split second before it returned to an intense gaze.

  “What’re we taking from them?” I asked as I looked around the room at the others. I wasn’t used to having a lot of eyes on me.

  “A chest,” Wade explained, “a chest with something powerful and useful to our cause inside.”

  “Okay … ” I crossed my arms. “Do you know where it’s at?”

  “I do,” Wade said, and a smile formed on his lips. “The pyramid temple in the White City. You know it?”

  “I’ve been in it,” I replied as I met the eyes of everyone else still watching me.

  “Can you draw us a map?” Wade asked. “Or is there anything you can tell us about the place?”

  They should be dead, or I should be dead.

  Instead, I felt that feeling of freedom rush inside of me again.

  “I can get you inside,” I said, “but if I do this, then we’ll add the Assassin’s Guild to your list of enemies. Are you willing to do that for me?”

  “I’ve taken out one guild so far,” Wade chuckled. “I can take out another.”

  Chapter 21

  A few days had passed since the beautiful but deadly assassin agreed to help us. I wasn’t sure if she was entirely on our side yet, but she was proving to be an asset in planning for the chest heist.

  “I’ve pretended to be a lot of things in my life, but a corpse, that’s one role I don’t want to play,” Dar groaned as he put on an ornate white robe over his cloak.

  “You want to be in showbiz, right?” I asked the halfling as I tossed another robe to Cimarra. “Here’s your chance.”

  I tried to keep a calm demeanor, but I could sense the keys’ magic buzzing within my guts. Were they nervous, too? Or were they just excited they’d be used to open another chest tonight?

  “Ava’s been in the pyramid temple before to stalk her target,” Cimarra said as she tied the white robe’s drawstring around her waist. “This was how she got in.”

  “Assassins will do anything,” Dar sighed as he raised the robe’s hood that swallowed his entire head. “Fucking elven rituals.”

  “We’ll do anything, too,” I responded, “especially if it’s proven to work.”

  “I’m with you.” Dar nodded as he pursed his lips. “Just don’t let my role as a corpse become my reality.”

  “I won’t.” I clapped my friend on his shoulder. “
As you’ve told me so many times, we’re in this together.”

  “The wagon’s ready,” Ava reported as she peeked her head through the stable door. “We must move quickly to ensure we’re on time.”

  “Did stealing the hearse go smoothly?” I asked as I donned my own white robe.

  “As smoothly as it could.” Ava glanced to Penny, who just walked in beside her.

  “We now have our very own hearse.” Penny smirked. “You corpses ready to be sacrificed to the moon and the sun?”

  “I-I’m not sure about this, ya know?” Selius peered up at me as he adjusted the large robe to fit him as best as it could. He looked like a child wrapped in a massive blanket.

  “All you gotta do is play dead, lad,” Skam said as he stood near the door. We’d covered the tattoo over his eye with makeup from the theatre so the elves wouldn’t question anything. “We should load you all up, we don’t want the theatre folk to spot the hearse.”

  “He’s right,” I said as I tossed the last robe to Ava. “Ready to be sacrificed with us?”

  “I’ve already been,” Ava smirked, “according to this elven ritual at least.”

  “You and Penny know what to do?” I asked both the dwarf and pixie.

  “We have it easy compared to you.” Skam scratched at his beard and tapped the bag around his shoulder. “We climb the pyramid according to Ava’s directions, and we wait for you all to rise from the dead.”

  “I wouldn’t call it easy, but … ” Penny’s eyes softened, “just look up when you’re ready for me.”

  “You have enough rope?” I asked Skam.

  “Ava gave me a very precise layout.” The dwarf nodded to Ava next to me. “I think we’ll have more than enough.”

  “You will,” Ava agreed.

  “Alright then, corpses in the back.” Skam gestured for us to follow. “Penny and I will get us there right at sundown.”

  “Do ya mind not callin’ me a corpse?” Selius squeaked next to me.

  “It’s what you are though, little halfling,” Skam chuckled as he tussled the young halfling’s hair when he passed him by the door.

  “You’ll be fine,” I said as I nudged the kid, “the elves will need to see five bodies in the back of the wagon, so we need you. Just stay close to us, and it’ll be okay.”

  “Okay, I just get squeamish around death, that’s all, ya know?” Selius rubbed the back of his neck.

  “The only race that’ll be dying tonight are the elves.” I smiled to Selius, who liked that answer.

  As we walked out of the stables, the ground was still wet from the rainstorms, and the sun glowed a dark orange as it began to sink below the clouds for the day.

  We now had the advantage of knowing the sun would wait for us, though. We were the daily offerings, after all.

  “Isn’t she a beaut?” Skam chuckled as he slapped the enclosed square, black carriage and opened the two rear doors for us to climb in. “Penny and I won’t be able to hear you once you’re inside, anything else you want to tell us?”

  I looked over the carriage and then gestured for the others to climb in first.

  “Be smart and quick,” I said and felt Penny put her hand in mine. “We’ll see you there.”

  “Aye.” Skam moved to the front of the wagon.

  “See you soon.” Penny pulled me down and kissed my cheek gently. “Don’t die for real.”

  “I’ll try.” I smirked before I climbed in with the others in the back of the hearse wagon.

  “That goes for all of you, too,” Penny said as she shut and locked the rear doors.

  “It’s roomy in here,” Dar mused as he patted the wooden insides of the wagon. “The dead go out in style, huh?”

  “Dar.” Cimarra shook her head and sighed.

  “What?” Dar shrugged and looked around the wagon for some help.

  “By the way, we also have to wear these.” Ava ignored the halfling and laid out five masks in front of her as the wagon started to move forward.

  “What’re those?” Selius asked as he reached for one cautiously, like it would bite him. “They look like elves’ faces.”

  “They’re death masks,” Ava answered the nervous halfling and picked up a black and gold one. “The elves do this every week, and they think they’re smarter than their own gods, so each corpse has to wear a mask that looks like an elf.”

  “To trick the sun and moon into thinking they are offering themselves?” Cimarra asked with a skeptical look.

  “I don’t make their rules up.” Ava shrugged. “Use your blade to pick out the eyes so you can see, and I suggest wearing them the entire time.”

  “Fuckin’ maddening,” Dar scoffed as he chose a red and white mask for himself. “Wonder what this asshole’s name was, Gorgophonian?”

  I was the only one who laughed with my friend.

  “They weren’t real elves,” Ava explained. “They’re all the same elven face, just different colors.”

  “Only the elves would think they’re smarter than the sun or moon yet still dedicate their lives to worshipping it,” I chuckled again as I picked the black and green one.

  “They debate which side can offer more bodies per week, so that’s what they’re doing,” Ava explained.

  “It just seems so trivial,” Cimarra said as she reached down and took the blue and white one.

  “They’re bored,” Ava suggested, “I learned a lot when I observed them.”

  “Like?” I asked.

  “That your little hunch about allowing them to kill themselves,” her green eyes narrowed, “is more right than you think. Who do you think even hired the guild to kill the politician?”

  “Another elf?” Dar guessed.

  Ava nodded.

  “All they need is a nudge.” I smirked as I stared into the black eyes of my elven mask. “We should keep these for other heists.”

  “If we get out of this one,” Selius chuckled but stopped when he saw my expression.

  “Just make sure they are on before the elves confirm the number of bodies in here,” Ava said as she brushed her blonde hair back.

  “So, the last time you did this, to kill an elven politician, you rode with … ” Dar cleared his throat, “real dead people?”

  “I did,” Ava nodded, “it’s the only way I could’ve gotten inside the building to learn his habits.”

  “Where do the bodies come from?” Cimarra asked.

  “As far as I know, each district is supposed to offer at least five bodies at the end of each week,” Ava said.

  “Who keeps track from each district?” I asked.

  “Coroners,” the assassin smirked, “we’re providing the bodies from the Entertainment District this week, though.”

  “Did you have to kill the coroner to get this?” I poked for more info on the mission I sent Penny and the assassin on.

  “No,” she narrowed her eyes, “we came to a mutual understanding.”

  “Shit,” Dar muttered.

  “I overheard you in the barn, halfing.” Ava leaned forward toward Dar. “You’re right, I will do anything.”

  “Well, I’m glad you’re on our side now,” I said as I eyed the mysterious assassin. I hoped to the Ancients my instinct was right that we could trust her.

  “Ten gold, right?” Ava questioned.

  “Ten gold.” I nodded.

  “Then, yeah, I’m still on your side,” Ava said as she leaned her head back against the carriage’s wall.

  We all sat in silence and rocked with the wagon as we heard Skam and Penny’s muffled voices talk to each other.

  “Once we’re inside, what happens?” Selius asked Ava with wide eyes.

  “They take us to the ceremonial chamber to wait our turn to burn,” she said with her eyes shut.

  “When do we break out of there, though?” Selius’ voice shook with his question.

  “That’s up to Wade.” Ava gestured to me.

  “What did you do when you were here last?” I asked.

>   “Well, being alone is much easier than having four others with me,” Ava opened her eyes and motioned to all of us around her, “but I waited until they opened the door to collect another body, and I grabbed the handle before it shut.”

  “They do it one by one?” Cimarra asked.

  “That’s what I saw.” Ava nodded. “It’s all very dramatic based on the noises I heard.”

  “How so?” I asked.

  “They have a group of fake mourners follow the body as they walk to where the offering will be burnt to honor the sun if we are on their side, or the moon if we find ourselves on the night elves’ end of the temple,” Ava said as she rubbed her ribs where Penny’s blade had caught her.

  “And you remember seeing an area of glass displays?” I questioned, even though I had asked her this a million times already as we prepared for this mission.

  “As I’ve told you before, there was a historical museum of sorts that the nobles require the elves’ offspring to learn about.” Ava leaned forward. “It has to be in there.”

  “I agree.” I nodded and rubbed my hands together. “If it’s not, we’ll find it.”

  “There’s evil for ya,” Selius muttered.

  “What?” Ava asked.

  “Elven children,” Selius scoffed, “count me out if we ever have to deal with that.”

  “Fucking elves and their kids,” Dar spat, “no thanks.”

  I looked to Ava. The other night she had almost admitted to being a half-elf, but I’d stopped her before the words were out, but she didn’t seem upset with Dar’s words.

  “What’re you looking at?” Ava asked as she stared at me.

  “Nothing, nothing,” I dismissed her with my hand. I was trying to see her ears, but her hair covered them. “I just wish this trip didn’t take so long.”

  We sat in silence again, but I was sure everyone’s minds were busy trying to guess what was about to happen.

  Cimarra had intertwined her arm around mine and rested her head on my shoulder. She hadn’t really gone out with us on a heist before, so I could tell she was a little nervous about how she’d do.

  I would have preferred to leave her safe back at the theater, but Ava said we needed five bodies, so Cimarra had to come.

  “Do they check inside our wagon at the wall?” I asked Ava.

  “They didn’t with me,” Ava adjusted her position and moved her mask to her lap, “but we should put on our masks and take positions just in case they do.”