Chapter Thirteen - Bright Lights, Big City
Peresten was bustling when we finally arrived there. I’d never been in a big city before. I’d been around them, seen them from the air, but this was my first time seeing all the buildings from a position significantly lower than a cloud. I stared in awe at some of them, wondering how they’d been built.
There were hundreds of people around us, from adults to children to everything in between. I couldn’t believe how many people could fit inside a city. I had to keep from bumping into so many of them, the city was so packed. It made me curious if every big city was this crowded. If so, then hiding in places like this actually wouldn’t be hard.
“C’mon,” Kenny said. I had a brief second where I didn’t recognize him, but it didn’t last long. He’d shaved his head and pasted on a fake beard that Irvine had given him for, apparently, just such an occasion. What that meant was a mystery to me, but whatever. I just took it relatively in stride.
I’d done almost the same thing, I guess. I’d cut my hair short, almost boylike. I slipped gloves on over my hands to cover up my scar, but the gloves didn’t have fingers and they ended halfway up my arms. I wasn’t sure it would be enough of a difference to fool anybody, but it was all I had.
I carried my bag slung over one shoulder as Kenny and pushed our way past the throng of people. He said he knew where we were going, but it seemed like we needed to stop and pick a new direction every few minutes. I didn’t honestly know if this was his plan or just if he was lost. Maybe he was doing this to make us harder to track, though with this many people, I didn’t think it would be that easy to find us.
I heard something overhead. I looked up and nearly pissed myself as a dragon with some kind of harness on flew over us, to the stunned silence of exactly nobody. Kenny didn’t even stop to marvel at it, and I would have assumed his natural dragon curiosity would have kicked in despite the situation. I was actually very surprised.
“What the hell?” I asked.
“What?”
“Did you see that?”
“See what?”
“That dragon that just flew over us.”
He gave me a puzzled look for a second, then seemed to realize what I what I was talking about. “Oh, yeah. Those dragons.” He shook his head. “I didn’t, no. I’ll tell you later.”
“Um, why not now?”
He squeezed my hand. “I’ve got reasons.”
I didn’t know if I even wanted to know what those reasons were. It sounded frightening, whatever it was. Maybe I didn’t want to know.
I continued to follow him past a crowd of people who were all kneeling in front of a large building with four pointed tower structures surrounding it. I couldn’t see any doors or windows to the building or the towers, and the whole thing looked to be made of some kind of black metal. Whatever the hell it was, those people almost seemed to be praying to it. I considered asking Kenny, but decided against it. I just locked it away to ask later.
Eventually, we made our way into an alley behind a large brick building that looked to be at least fifty to a hundred years old. Kenny pulled me around to a door that didn’t look like anything special, just a bland red door, with a closed slot at eye level for someone over six feet tall. A single light bulb illuminated the area, though it was unnecessary, since the sun was directly overhead.
Kenny knocked on the door and then waited. I would have asked him why, but instead just waited alongside him. Finally, the slot slid open and a pair of yellow snake-like eyes stared out at us. “Who’ssss assssking?” a voice slurred.
“It’s Kenny, Corbran, I need to see your boss.”
“Kenny. Nicsssssse haircut.”
Kenny rolled his eyes. “Open up, man, c’mon.”
“Who’sssssssss the girl?”
“My sister.”
I saw the yellow eyes widen, and then return to being those creepy, reptilian slits. “You didn’t have a ssssssssssisssssssster the lassssssst time you were here.”
“Not important, I need to see your boss.”
“The bosssssssss will decssssssssssside what’sssssssssss important. I’ll go sssssssssee if he wantssssssss to ssssssssssee you.”
The slot slid shut and then the only sounds were those of the people in the city milling about. I wanted to ask Kenny a thousand questions - What’s going on here? and Who are these people? chief among them - but I held my tongue and waited for the answers to come, just as he waited for word that we could see ‘the boss’, whoever the hell that was.
At around… I don’t honestly know how long after the reptile person left to get their boss that somebody came back to the door. The door swung outward, and there stood a man who had to be almost twice the size of Captain Bertrand. How this guy supported his muscles was beyond me. He was dressed in a pair of tan trousers, a sleeveless shirt and a short brimmed hat. His face was clean shaven, save for a large and bushy mustache that curled downward at the edges.
“Come,” was all he said, in a voice so very deep.
I followed behind Kenny who followed behind the huge guy. We were led through the cramped hallways of the building, into different rooms, down different hallways, and then finally into a room that looked very much like the lobby at Irvine’s hotel back home.
Home. I was there for a week, and already it was home to me. I felt a tear stream down my cheek, so I reached up and wiped it away.
Kenny sat down on one of the couches in the room. I was very transfixed on a vase in the corner that was about as tall as I was, and probably large enough that I could fit inside it. But its size was not the important thing to me; that would be the images painted on it. Obviously, there were dragons, but alongside them were creatures of the sort whose form Mithra took, as well as other beings that I could barely comprehend. The whole picture depicted some sort of battle, or maybe the aftermath of one, I couldn’t really tell.
What surprised me most about it was the size of the creatures like Mithra. Mithra was small, even for a cat, but these creatures were at least the size of horses, and some of them were almost dragon sized. Whatever their species was, I wonder what caused their extinction.
And then I wondered what happened to Mithra.
Hopefully, he was still alive, and made it away from all those Escorts. I needed my conduit, after all. Plus, death was just not something I liked. Except for food. I preferred my food dead.
My ponderance on the facets of dead food was interrupted by that reptile guy entering the room. I saw now that he was a snake-like creature, though he did have arms. Four arms, actually, each with two fingers and a thumb. He had no legs, and his head was almost gravity-defyingly large. He wore a shirt with palm trees printed on it, which he left unbuttoned.
“The bossssssss wantsssssss to know why he ssssssssssshould ssssssssssee you, Kineassssssssss.”
Kenny didn’t stand. “I have my reasons.”
The snake guy reached behind his back and pulled a dagger from somewhere. “No bullssssssssssshit, Kineassssss. You know the bossssssssssss doesssssssssn’t take walk-insssssssss.”
I stepped between Kenny and the snake guy, for some reason. I didn’t have any weapons and didn’t know any spells, so I was kinda winging it. Regardless, I said, “Put the knife away, now!”
Snake Guy laughed; a disgusting thing that I never wanted to hear again. “Look at the sssssssssssisssssssssster here. Ssssssssssssspunky. The bosssssssssssss likessssssssss sssssssssspunk.”
A new voice entered the conversation: “Settle down, Corbran.” The man who the voice belonged to looked to be about Irvine’s age, with shoulder length graying hair and a closely trimmed beard. He was dressed in a way that almost looked regal, with a blue and gold robe that extended to the floor, and a matching pair of slippers. He even carried himself as if he were a king, with his arms folded behind his back and his eyes never truly meeting anyone else’s.
Then I realized it was because he was blind.
I learned this because he bumped into a table and quickly readjusted himself. He was clearly confident on his feet, but still made some mistakes. That beefy guy who opened the door quickly came to the man’s aid, likely to make sure his boss was okay.
The guy cleared his throat. “As I was saying, there’s no need for conflict here.” He ‘looked’ at Kenny. “Kineas, so good to see you again.” I actually flinched when he said that. It was almost like he was making a joke of his own disability. “What brings you to my humble sanctuary?”
Kenny finally stood up. “Riley and I need fake papers.”
He turned his head toward me. “I take it this young lady is Riley?”
At first I nodded, but then I remembered he couldn’t see that, so I answered, “Yes, sir.”
He smirked. “No need for such formalities, my dear.” He returned his dead-eyed gaze to Kenny. “You’re on the run from someone. Someone with influence.”
Kenny nodded. “Yeah, Imperial Escort named Bertrand Sanstone, one of my dad’s old friends.”
The boss sat down on the couch opposite the one Kenny had been sitting on, crossing his legs. “I know him. He’s been a bane to my organization for many years now.” He turned to me again. “And why is the Empire’s premiere dragon killer hunting you?”
Kenny answered, “That’s - ”
The boss cut him off. “I was talking to Miss Riley.”
I gulped. “He’s…” I looked at Kenny, who just shrugged.
“If you think I’m not aware of your father’s dragon hiding business, you’re wrong. Are you a dragon, Riley?”
Kenny shrugged again, then nodded. “Yeah, I’m a dragon,” I answered.
The boss smirked again. “I knew as soon as you arrived. Just as I knew that the two of you would be coming here. The papers you requested were drawn up before you even set foot in Peresten.”
Kenny looked slack-jawed. “You’re kidding…”
The boss shook his head. “I don’t kid, Kineas. One doesn’t get where I am unless he can anticipate desires before the one who requests it even knows what they’re after.” He snapped his fingers and the beefy guy disappeared down the hallway. “Orrus is getting them for you now, but I suggest you rest here for the night. The Empire’s scouts were no doubt on your trail in spite of how cleverly,” there was a bit of a mocking hesitation there, “you’ve disguised yourselves.”
“You mean we did this for nothing because they still know who we are?” I asked.
“Of course not,” the boss answered, “and I’ve already taken the steps necessary to help the trail grow colder. Various people in my employ, all matching both your pre- and post-disguise descriptions, have been sent out. Rumors have been spread and false information disseminated to the point where you could be as far east as the Imperial Capital or as far west as the Plains Tribe.”
My next question was, “Wouldn’t they be surprised we’d traveled so far so fast?”
“Of course not. The Empire’s agents aren’t particularly concerned with how you are somewhere, only that you’re there, and that will get them on the trail.”
“Is that how you hide in such a populated city?”
His smirk was a full-on grin now. “I don’t hide, Miss Riley. The Empire knows who I am, where I am and what I do, but none of it can be traced back to me.” He spread his arms across the back of the couch. “And because they can’t pin me with anything real, they don’t try. They assume I’ll slip at some point, never knowing that I’m always five steps ahead.”
“That’s why we’re safe here?” Kenny asked.
“Exactly,” the boss answered, “the Empire will never look for you in the one place they know you’d never go, right under their nose.” He turned to Snake Guy. “Have their rooms set up, put them next to Gwen’s. Make sure they get some food at dinnertime.”
Snake Guy bowed. “Of coursssssssssssssse, Bosssssssssssssssss.”
He turned back to us. “I hope you’ll enjoy dinner. Sea bass, I think we’re having tonight. I spare no expense when I entertain guests.”
The rooms we were put in was actually one room with a half wall between two beds, with windows that looked out on the alley where we’d come into the building. The rooms were quite nicely furnished, too. The beds were fit for royalty, there were a pair of bookcases on either side with so many different kinds of books that I’d actually be in heaven if I could read better, and elaborate chandeliers hung from the ceiling. If only the walls weren’t purple, I’d almost want to stay if at all possible.
Kenny laid down on one of the beds, and I sat down on the other. Something about this whole situation seemed… weird. It almost seemed too easy, as well. The boss,whatever the hell his name was, just kinda handed us everything we needed. Something bad was gonna happen, I was sure.
“Do you trust these guys?” I asked. I sat down on the half wall.
He nodded. “I do. They’ve helped me out before.”
“But, what about all the stuff they already knew about us? And now they know I’m a dragon, which means they could sell us out to the Empire.”
He sat up. “The boss has helped me escape the Empire before, he’d never sell me out to them.”
“What happened?”
“I’ll tell you some other time, because it’s not important. What is important is that he’d never sell us out.” He laid back again. “And he’s got a cute daughter, if you’re into girls.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I don’t know what I’m into.”
“You’ll figure it out.”
“What about you? I bet you’d like to sneak over to her room right now, right?”
He chuckled. “Uh, no. I’m, um…” He cleared his throat. “Girls aren’t really my thing, if you catch my drift.”
I felt my eyes widen. “No way, really?”
He blushed. “Yeah, I’m gay.” He shook his head and put on a more serious face. “But that’s not really important. Least of all to you. You should be worried about what you’re attracted to. Especially since we’re on the run.”
I laid flat on my back and stared at the ceiling. “Yeah, maybe.” I hadn’t really put any thought into it. Would my sexual preferences be different now? What even were they in the first place? I’d been traveling so much trying to avoid dying that I’d never really stopped to consider any sort of romantic relationship with any being. Maybe I didn’t actually have a preference.
I sighed and decided it wasn’t time to care about that sort of thing. Instead, I needed to worry about what was going to happen to us in the near future, about how we would get to Sandhog Ridge without being caught, and about what would happen when we eventually got to Sandhog Ridge. Would Irvine and Sharena even be there? They hadn’t sent us any word via those magic letters since we escaped Endawa, so for all I knew, they’d been captured, though I assumed their captors would try and contact us pretending to be them.
I sighed again. I had too much to worry about. I needed to deal with one thing at a time, and Sandhog Ridge was still a while away. The first priority was… something. Something I wasn’t sure of yet. But when the time came, I’d be ready for it. I hoped.
On the subject of the time being ready, I asked, “You gonna tell me about that dragon from before?”
Kenny grunted something that sounded like Huh? then said, “Oh, yeah.” He sat up, and I could just barely see him over the half wall. “That dragon… it wasn’t alive anymore, in a manner of speaking.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“It was captured by dragon hunters and a magic user cast a spell that… destroyed its mind. It’s essentially brain dead, and the Empire uses brain dead dragons kinda as airships.”
I didn’t understand how that worked. Airships were kept aloft with magic, at least that’s what Sharena’s magic lessons taught me. Dragons didn’t need magic to stay in the air, so why would Kenny compare the two?
Then he answered my silent question. “The Empire uses them as slaves for a means of transport between nations.”
Dragons as glorified air carriages? Just so that the Empire could get rich off of travelers? Jesus Christ, the idea of that was disgusting, and I’d think that even if I hadn’t been born a dragon. How the hell did these people sleep at night?!
I couldn’t think of that for now. I needed some sleep, in fact, and thinking about dragons being used as mindless transport slaves would keep me awake all night and likely send me into a bloodthirsty rage.
Hopefully I could sleep.
The evening eventually passed with little other than some snoring from Kenny. I merely rolled over and blocked it out, which wasn’t difficult. After that, we were awoken by one of the boss’s goons. Some clothes were laid out for the both of us, which almost unnerved me, until I remembered that the boss apparently knew every damn thing, which obviously must have included what size clothes we wore.
Kenny’s outfit was a simple pair of tan pants, a white shirt, a black vest and boots, and a bandolier that he wore from his right shoulder to his left hip. My clothes were… a little on the revealing side. A black skirt that made my school skirt look conservative and a light brown backless top that showed off a bit too much cleavage. Thankfully, the shoes were flat and the top covered all the way down to my hands, so my scar was covered up completely.
“I feel like a freak,” I said.
Kenny adjusted his bandolier. “He’s got us dressed like this on purpose.”
“Whaddya mean?”
“He doesn’t hand people clothes on accident. There’s a reason for this.”
“So, we’re about to do something we don’t particularly want to, aren’t we?”
“Basically.”
The boss’s voice entered the conversation. “You’re smart kids,” he said, a hint of amusement in his voice. “There is something I need you to take care of for me.” He walked into the room and sat down on the bed I’d slept in. “There’s a very influential event happening tonight, and I need representatives.”
“A pair of teenagers?” I asked.
“You won’t be the only two. You’ll be partnered with a couple of my best associates, and they’ll do most of the work.” He ‘looked’ at Kenny. “Kineas, you’ll go with Gwen, and she’ll meet with Miss Riley at the appropriate time.” My turn. “Riley, you’ll be partnered with Kallun, and he’ll then take Kineas for the final meeting.”
“Why are we going with the opposite partners?” Kenny asked.
“I have my reasons, ones you’ll come to understand soon.” He cracked his knuckles. “You’ll be doing little other than mingling, and providing a bit of security. Kallun and Gwen will be doing the negotiation work.”
Kenny folded his arms across his chest. “Lemme guess, we do this and you’ll give us anything we need?”
The boss smiled. “Of course. Anything within reason.”
“You’re blackmailing us,” I said.
His smile widened. “Perish the thought, Miss Riley. I was going to help you and Kineas regardless. This merely… sweetens the pot, so to speak.”
Kenny didn’t look pleased at all. “Fine. What exactly are we doing and where?”
The “event” that the boss was talking about was a school dance. There were other teenagers, very few adults, and the occasional little brother or sister that was forced to tag along for whatever reason. I couldn’t count the number of us all crowded into one place, but it was easily a larger number than the whole of the school back in Endawa. There wasn’t even a whole lot of room between people.
Kallun held out his hand, likely expecting me to take it. I wasn’t exactly used to this sort of thing, so I just did as I felt was right. Kallun was a nice guy, almost too often apologizing for what he thought were untoward advances. He was about as tall as Kenny, handsome in a rugged way. Puberty must have hit him really early, because he had five o’clock shadow that almost looked sprayed on. He was dressed in a short sleeved black tunic and white trousers, almost like he was trying to stand out, rather than blend in.
I hadn’t gotten a look at Gwen, whoever she was, nor had I even seen Kenny since we left the boss’s hideout. He had to wait for Gwen elsewhere, while Kallun and I were ready to go immediately.
Nothing had seemed out of the ordinary since we arrived, so what the boss was worried about, I had no idea.
“How much longer until you guys meet whoever it is you’re meeting with?” I asked. I made sure to speak quiet enough that most everybody else couldn’t hear me. Difficult, but not impossible.
“We’ve gotta meet with Gwen and Ke -- you’re brother, first.”
“His name is Kenny, y’know.”
He laughed, nervously. “Yeah, I do know that. I’m just… Yeah, let’s just find a good spot and wait.”
I giggled. He was anxious around this whole thing, I could tell. Maybe it was his first job. Hell, it was mine, and I felt absurdly anxious. Of course, that was because of many, many factors.
The “good spot” was close to the punch bowl, which was exactly where Kenny had told me most people would be hanging out during a big school party. Why Kallun thought that was the best spot, I didn’t know or care, I just wanted this to be over with.
“So, how long have you known Kenny?” Kallun asked, randomly. He’d been getting some punch, I hadn’t noticed him leaving the bowl yet.
“A couple weeks,” I said, as I took the cup he was holding out for me. “He saved me from being killed by a bunch of assholes.”
“He’s good like that,” he said, with a hint of… something in his voice. Was it appreciation or was it something more? It was a strange sound or tone to his words.
I just nodded. “Yeah. So, what’s it like, anyway? Being a teenage gangster?”
He laughed. “I’m really not. My dad is, and the boss needed a teenager to do this. You, Kenny, the boss’s daughter… I’m not doing much, really. Most of everything was settled ahead of time.”
“So what are we doing, then?”
“Sealing the deal,” answered a new voice, a female voice. I spotted Kenny first, then the girl he was walking with, who could only be Gwen. She was dressed in a way that I could only describe as slutty, with a low cut, strapless dress that only really covered from just above her nipples to about mid-thigh, leggings that were only just darker than her skin tone and a pair of shoes that made her six inches taller. Her hair was styled in ring-like curls down to her mid back and her makeup was quite heavily laid on. “You must be Riley,” she said.
“And you’re Gwen?”
She smiled. “Don’t let the look fool you. I hate dresses and makeup makes me feel disgusting. This ugly styling is only sticking around long enough to finish up my dad’s business dealings. After that, it’s back to pants and sweaters.”
I chuckled. “Is that why you’re kinda overselling it?”
She patted me on the shoulder. “Trust me, when it’s necessary, flaunting is the only way to go. I just hate that it’s almost always necessary.”
I had to admit, two minutes into meeting her, I kinda liked Gwen. She was friendly, personable, and seemed to know I felt uncomfortable in the clothes I was being ordered to wear. If we’d met elsewhere, I wondered if we’d actually be able to strike up any kind of friendship.
I also couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something familiar about her. I couldn’t tell what it was, but hopefully it wouldn’t nag at me during this “business dealing”.
Kenny put his arm around Kallun’s shoulder. “So, now that we’re all together and ready to get this crap started, what do we do?”
Gwen pointed to a door off to one side. “You two will meet a man in that room there, he’ll identify himself as Harpoon, from what Dad told me.”
“Harpoon?”
“Dad says these small time, big ego guys love their silly code names.” She looked at me. “Same with ours, she’ll go by Chalice.”
“Where are we going?” I asked.
She pointed to another door, same side of the room. “There.” She cracked her knuckles. “Now let’s get on with this.”
I just nodded.
I followed Gwen into the room, which turned out to be a locker room. I could only imagine the room Kallun and Kenny were using for their meeting was also a locker room. The room was almost completely covered in shadow, except for one small portion of it, which was lit up so bright it was almost blinding.
Gwen led the way into the room and sat down on a bench in front of some lockers. She crossed one leg over the other and waited in some way that slightly resembled patiently, but also looked incredibly bored. I merely stood beside her and tried to be patient.
Finally, a pair of older women walked into the room, followed by one about Irvine and Sharena’s age. She carried a satchel. They weren’t dressed in any kind of formal attire that I recognized, though I’d only actually been wearing clothes for two weeks, so my knowledge was limited.
Then I noticed the pointy ears. I had to stifle a gasp, as I was seeing something very few really did, and fewer still lived to tell about it.
Elves. These women were elves.
The oldest one spoke. “Good evening Gwyneth, it’s been some time. How’s your father?” Her accent was just barely noticeable, but it was there.
Wait, Gwyneth? That was Blodwyn’s mom’s name. That was a weird coincidence.
“He’s fine, at least when he’s not drunk. Sometimes he doesn’t realize what he’s doing until he’s finished.”
Whatever the hell that meant sent a shiver through me.
The woman looked at me. “And you’ve brought a mage, I see. Insurance?”
How the hell did she know that? I didn’t advertise myself or anything, so how could anyone know that?
Oh, duh, elves. Me stupid.
Gwen smirked. “Oh, Riley’s less an insurance policy and more a bodyguard.”
“And how talented is she at magicks?” Her eyes never left me.
Gwen didn’t answer, so I took my cue. “I know a few spells,” I lied.
The woman nodded. “Well, I’m sure.” She Sat down on a bench across the lit part of the room from Gwen. “Spells are aren’t my game, girl. I’m a purveyor of potions, and the recipes for said potions.” She opened her satchel. “And I believe it’s these recipes your father is paying for; correct, Gwyneth?”
Gwen nodded. “You’re right.” She then leaned forward. “Now, quit the foreplay and let’s get to the main event.”
The elf woman smiled again, and for some reason, it unsettled me.
