The Black Rose, while not the most unsavory of places, it still played host to the people who moved in dark circles and even some of those in the grey areas around them. If it was information you needed, here was one of the best places to go to get it. That is unless you had permission to delve into the Thieves guild itself. But you didn't talk about the Thieves guild. If you knew it, you knew it and if you didn't, you would never learn about it. The door of the Black Rose opened as a patron was about to exit. Bernie threw his customary stein of beer and it smashed into the door splashing beer all about. The patron just grinned and waved as he stepped on out and just as quickly stumbled backwards back into the bar before tripping and falling to the floor.
Suddenly 1, then 2, then 3, then 9 women charged into the bar all wearing the red leather of the Elite force of Lord Beyon and just as quickly they all vanished as they jumped into the shadow. Bernie stared as he watched patron after patron falling over in their chairs to lie unmoving on the floor. Bernie's hand reached under the bar and grabbed hold of the thunder stick he kept there for emergencies and suddenly he screamed out in pain as Allie appeared with one foot on the shelf behind him and the other smashing his hand. Bernie looked up just in time to see her leather clad fist slam into his face.
Within the matter of minutes every soul within the bar was either unconscious or bound as Allie walked back and forth. The anger on her face had silenced every voice that rose up to complain. Even Steph was sitting there extremely docile.
"I'm only going to ask this once. The first one to give me the truth will be allowed to leave without further harm. The rest will be missing some pieces." Allie told them darkly. Just to drive home the point her blade flashed out and she drove it through Bernie's thigh. Bernie screamed as he thrashed against the bonds holding him.
"Don't worry, this time it wasn't a vital area. That will change as we progress. Where can I find Tim right now?" Allie demanded.
Those conscious looked about at each other except for Steph who glared at Allie the entire time.
"I see that you aren't convinced how serious I am. Let me make it perfectly clear, someone put a bomb in the hotel room that Walter the Bard and his family were staying in. As far as I know there is only one person in his town who has it out for Walter right now. So one of you, right now, is going to help me find him." Allie told them before she pulled her dagger out of Bernie's thigh and then stabbed it through Steph's left hand.
Steph screamed out and everyone's eyes went wide open in disbelief.
Suddenly the door which had been secured against being opened shattered and blew back into the bar. As every head turned to look Lady Paige stormed through the doorway carrying a large two handed hammer. Allie saw Cabe come in after her followed by Sir Sylvester and Ray.
"Where is this Tim character?" Lady Paige demanded with great anger.
"My Lady, I was just in the process of trying to find out." Allie replied.
"Allie?" Lady Paige stared before she strode over quickly.
"Lady Paige it is good to see you have recovered. This is Steph, she owns the place and this is Bernie, he serves and pseudo manages the place when she isn't here. I was demonstrating, with my sisters' help, what I'm willing to do to find out where he is." Allie told her.
"My Lady, this isn't exactly the work for you. While I know you could easily beat these people to a pulp, Walter would kick our butts if we allowed you to tarnish your noble reputation. If you would step outside and let Allie and I work, we'll bring you the information fairly quickly." Ray told her as he stepped up. He grabbed the dagger in Steph's hand and twisted it before pulling it free causing Steph to scream again.
"Oh, I'm so sorry Steph. I thought Allie had just stuck that in the table. Look, I don't want to see you hurt anymore. You tell us now who Tim hired to bomb Walter's hotel room and where we can find them both and we'll get out of your hair toot sweet. That's a hell of a deal." Ray told her before patting her cheek.
"You miserable little toad, you'll pay for this." Steph started talking before he pressed the edge of the dagger against her throat.
"I'd really reconsider the next words to leave your lips. I'm already a bit ticked that I spent all this time waiting on Tim to show up at the address you gave me. I'd still be there if it hadn't been for the explosion I heard." Ray told her.
"Fine, he was talking to Agger last night. I don't know if that is who made the explosive for him or not." Steph told them. "As for where Tim is right now, He didn't show up today. So if he is involved in that, he is probably already out of the city by now."
"If he is out of the city you might check the old ruins to the north. He likes to hide out there from time to time when he is in trouble." One of the others spoke up.
"But before you travel all the way up there you might want to check out Breuba's cellar. He sometimes hides out there if things are a little hot at the moment. And I'm thinking this is pretty hot." One of the other men said.
"That's a good point." The other nodded.
Lady Paige looked at Allie. "Do you know each one of these people?"
"I do my Lady." Allie told her.
"Good, let them all go, but if I find out they've lied to us to aid this Tim, then I'm going to rain a hell down on them like they've never experienced before." Lady Paige told them before she whipped the huge hammer around and shattered about four feet of the bar and causing a shockwave to rumble through the bar shattering everything made of glass and causing support beams to creak, crack and groan.
Lady Paige turned and stormed out of the bar and up the stairs.
Ray turned back around and grinned at the people before him. "And that's when she is in a good mood. You don't want to see her angry folks. So if something had slipped your mind before, now would be the time to confess. That would of course be for your own good."
"Give them another half hour to consider their life choices and then let them go my sisters." Allie said to her fellow Elite and then turned and walked out with Cabe and Sir Sylvester.
"A-Ray-rivederci." Ray said before he stepped back into the shadow and disappeared.
Cabe looked at Lady Paige standing in the alley. "What is our next move my Lady?"
"Where is this Breuba's cellar?" Lady Paige turned to Allie.
"I'm afraid I don't really know my Lady. I can make some inquiries." Allie told her.
"Don't worry about that Allie. I know exactly where it is." Ray said with a smile as he stepped out of the shadow.
"Lead the way then Ray, the sooner the better." Lady Paige told him.
"Is Walter okay?" Allie asked Cabe.
"He'll probably have a splitting headache once he regains consciousness but Toby said he would be fine." Cabe smiled at her.
Allie slowly let out her breath in gratitude.
Ray took off leading them back out of the alley and then turned north and kept walking.
"It is actually a good thing Allie told her sisters to keep them there for another half hour. Otherwise I'm sure one of them would have beat feet to Breuba's and told them we were coming. Then they'd scatter like the rats they are. I've got to warn you my Lady. Compared to Breuba's the Black Rose is a four star restaurant. I'd like to make a suggestion if you would listen." Ray told her.
"Go ahead Ray." Lady Paige told him. Her anger was slowly building again.
"Let me go in with a disguise and see if Tim or Agger are in there. If so then you can destroy the place. If not I know one person who should be there and they will tell me where Agger is." Ray told her.
"Fine, but you come right out and let us know if they are or aren't in there." Lady Paige told him with anger dripping from her voice.
Ray grimaced as he nodded.
They covered four blocks to the north and then over eight blocks to the east before he stopped before an alley.
"Okay, this place is just inside this alley. But they'll have some people watching anyone who enters the alley so I need all of you to wait here." Ray told them before he entered the shadow.
They'd been waiting about ten minutes when Allie hissed.
"There's Tim now." Allie said pointing down the street. She took a step and disappeared into the shadow.
"Allie?" Cabe called after her.
"By the wise Lady." Paige called out as she raised her hammer. The Hammer pulsed with the blazing white light of Athena and just as quickly Lady Paige took off running down the street as energy from her hammer pulsed down her body and entered the street they were all now running on and Cabe and Sir Sylvester became infused with that white light as well.
All three of them ran down the street as if they were charging horses.
Tim had heard Cabe calling out Allie and fearing someone was talking about that Allie and she was after him he took off running north up the street he was by.
Lady Paige, Cabe and Sir Sylvester all turned and ran to the north.
They saw Tim turned to the west to go down another street. A moment later they heard metal on metal coming from that direction. Cabe gestured and he disappeared and then reappeared at the intersection of the two streets.
"Allie!" He yelled as he began gesturing as he intoned a spell.
Paige's eyes went wide seeing a shadowy figure pop out behind Cabe with his blades raised high to strike. She threw her hammer just before his blades came down. Just before they struck Cabe the hammer slammed into the side of the man behind him and knocked him away as he tumbled about twenty feet away from Cabe.
Cabe's spell went off and Allie was surrounded by a fiery shield. When she struck with her blades the shield set flame to what she struck. Those before her began backing up from the tremendous heat being thrown off by the shield.
Paige grabbed up her hammer as Sir Sylvester charged down the street to help Allie. Paige swung the hammer around and slammed it hard into the top of the man's head as he was trying to get back up. There was a revolting crunching noise and he collapsed back on the ground twitching. Paige saw Allie and Sir Cabe were facing six men and she saw another six running up the street dressed much the same as the ones they were engaged with.
Paige ran down the street even as Cabe was preparing to cast another spell.
Paige leapt up through the air and swung that massive hammer around and it crashed into the ground before those first six men as she landed next to Allie. A shockwave rolled out and all six men fell under that unrelenting power. Sir Sylvester and Allie moved in quickly and wasted no time ending those men's lives.
The six charging men slowed to a stop and then were knocked to the ground as that same shockwave reached them. Cabe finished the spell and twin trails of red almost smoke like sailed out over the heads of Lady Paige, Allie and Sir Sylvester. The trails ended over the heads of those six men and then exploded in a large fireball that engulfed all six men and they heard them scream in pain as they were quickly consumed in that magical fire.
"Where did this Tim go?" Lady Paige demanded.
Everyone looked about for a moment and then they heard the sound of flesh against flesh and they looked to the east just down the street to their right they saw Tim as he fell out into the street.
"You tried to kill my wife, my son." Walter stepped out and grabbed Tim and yanked him up as he spun him around to face away from him.
"Never again will you darken this fair world." Walter yelled before his shoulders jerked and Tim's neck snapped as Tim's head was now facing Walter. Walter shoved the body away from him and it collapsed on the street. Walter spit on the body before he turned and smiled seeing Paige walking towards him.
Walter turned and walked down the street and caught Paige up in his strong arms. Walter buried his face in the crook of her neck and just her up in his arms.
Allie blew a whistle she had before Cabe caught up with her and they both grabbed the other and hugged each other tightly.
A moment later Ray stepped out of the shadow and looked around. "Dang it, I missed all the fun out here."
Sir Sylvester laughed at him.
"I don't know what you are laughing at, I'm not hugging you." Ray grinned at him.
Sir Sylvester shook his head as they stood there waiting.
The whole area was becoming active now that the fighting had stopped and a few moments later a number of Allie's sisters emerged from the shadow.
"Sister's, I don't want the truth of what happened here to get out. Get Sir Sylvester, Walter and Lady Paige out of here. The rest of you stand here as the ones to apprehend Tim and his protectors for trying to kill the Lady Paige, Walter and their son." Allie told them before she grabbed Cabe and they disappeared into the shadow as one of the women grabbed Sir Sylvester and they disappeared into the shadow.
Walter had heard Allie and he slowly stepped backwards and into the shadow taking Paige with him as he continued to hug her.
"I'm so happy you are okay my love." Paige kissed his neck.
"The feeling is most mutual my love." Walter told her as their lips met.
"My Lady, Walter, we need to move away from here before the constable arrives here." One of Allie's sisters told them as she stepped up to them inside of the shadow.
Paige looked up and frowned seeing they were in the shadow.
"I will not hide from the law over this." Lady Paige informed her.
"It isn't about the law my Lady. Allie knows Tim's Dad is going to want retribution. And rather than have people dogging you for revenge his Dad won't be able to do anything because we took care of a criminal who had tried to kill a visiting dignitary's family." The young woman smiled as she explained.
"That is actually a solid plan my love. While I do not fear Tim's Dad I would worry he might try to target Ralph for revenge." Walter told her.
Paige looked down and looked at the face of Tim and she slowly nodded.
"I wouldn't have believed that Tim would have fallen so far from the service of the wise Lady. He was indeed Lord Markus's other." Paige told Walter as she sighed.
"Very well, we'll abide Allie's idea. Though a part of me wants to travel to Los Vargus and end his Father." Paige told Walter.
Walter smiled as he turned with her and they began moving quietly through the shadow with Allie's sister leading the way. They moved out away from the intersection where most of the fighting happened as the constable and several deputies were arriving and beginning to talk to Allie's other sisters.
"Where are Cabe, Sir Sylvester and Ray?" Paige asked softly.
"Allie took Cabe into the shadow and they are probably half way back to the hotel now. One of my other sisters took the large one. I'm not sure where Ray got off too." She told Lady Paige.
"Never fear, Ray is always near." Ray told them as he joined up with them.
"What kept you from the fight? I would have figured you would have wanted a piece of Tim." Walter asked.
"I would have but Agger was inside of Breuba's and I had to take a moment to remove him from this life. By the time I found out where our Lady had gone all the good stuff was over." Ray smiled.
Greetings! Hoping this finds everyone well! Not as nice of a day today here, overcast, possibility of rain but still warm.
Railman - LOL No, I don't enjoy hurting him, but you don't think he would have dodged out of the room rather than try and protect his wife do you? hehe Yep, Lady Paige was very close to doing something that could have been really bad for her as a Paladin!
Margaret - I hear you on not being too computer savvy, it seems like every year something new comes out that is more of a mystery for me than it use to be. lol But if you google "fanfiction grykon" the very first 2 links that comes up is to my profile page, first one for computer, second one for phones. That is about the easiest way to explain finding it.
Lucy - How right you are! hehe
Franxine - Why thank you! I think Ray and I are a little alike in that regard. lol But we got to have some drama...be pretty boring story without right?
Susan - You're right, it was a bit of a cliffhanger! Yep, Walter is doing well. Though I am almost certain his wife might take him to task for going after Tim alone. lol I'm glad they are still requiring people to wear masks! March Madness here is, well, Madness. Though from all accounts the visitors are being careful, it is the locals who are being stupid by not wearing masks and not observing social distancing. And the restaurants that we're closed for indoor eating have thrown their doors wide open. *shaking head*
2LawDog - Thank you! LOL Yes, Ralph's head and fared! lol Both should be corrected now. So funny the things that escape us even after proof reading a chapter 4 or 5 times. Well it looks like the evidence isn't really needed as much anymore. lol