Author's Notes: Hey everyone, I hope that you had a good Easter, as always I own nothing.
Once Karl regained control of his temper he forced himself to think. Heincle could not have gone far, he may have a lead but he would be moving slowly. Slaving was, at least openly, illegal in the Empire and so he would have to have some way of concealing them from detection. That would explain the runts in the dirt. Unfortunately he had likely already left Averheim and even if he had not there were likely dozens, if not hundreds, of wagons coming in and out of the city every day. On top of that, Karl did not have a clue what the man looked like. He looked over at the body, maybe he shouldn't have killed the man but he had been so angry. Still he had squandered a valuable clue and Marx would have been furious had he known.
Fortunately the scent was still strong enough that he could follow for as long as it lasted. Luck was with him and the traffic was not overly terrible and he was able to follow it to the gate. Close to dark the gates were closing and Karl received suspicious looks from the guards but said nothing and Karl headed off into the gathering gloom. He saw at once that while he could follow the scent he would stand no chance of catching it without a horse in his human form. He looked back and saw that he had moved beyond the sight of the guards. He removed his clothing and equipment and turned into his wolven form. He gathered his things up in one of his arms and took off running.
In his wolf form the scent was much stronger and he had no difficulty in following it. Unfortunately it seemed that he had underestimated how far ahead of him Heincle was. It seemed that no matter how hard Karl pushed himself he did not seem to draw any closer to his target. After running for what seemed like forever he saw the sun beginning to come up. He kept pushing himself throughout the morning and he was sure that he was getting closer but he felt his energy waning after being awake all day and running all night. Perhaps if he spent more time in his wolven form he would have more energy but circumstances always seemed to compel him to be in his human form. He resolved to spend more time in his wolf form in the future. That resolve; however, did nothing for him at the present time. He did not want to stop but he was growing more tired by the moment. He saw a little depression where he could rest without the risk of being seen. He curled up and resolved to rest for just a little bit, twenty minutes at most and then be on his way again. He closed his eyes and was instantly asleep. The glare of the sun on his face woke him. He glanced up at the sun and cursed, from its position it had to be at least noon and Heincle and his caravan where now hours ahead of him. He sprang to his feet and took off running.
He pushed himself even harder than before, determined to make up for his mistake and catch up to the caravan. The caravan had a significant lead, but Karl was moving faster and again the distance began to close again. As he traveled along he saw signs of the caravan. There were scraps of half-eaten food, piles of horse manure and a body that Karl found near sundown. It was a man of about twenty, a workman by the look of him. His wrists and ankles had bruises from shackles and he had been beaten severely. It appeared that Heincle was not a man who tolerated defiance from his captives. The sight stirred something besides anger in him, to his disgust he found himself getting hungry. He fought the urge but he had not eaten for more than a day. He moved on but the growling in his belly continued.
He pushed on, knowing that if he stopped to hunt he would lose even more time. He ran the rest of the day and on after the sun had set. He was determined to press on but keeping the wolf form apparently meant that he needed more food than he did in human form. He was finally forced to leave the trail and hunt for food. Worse, after he had caught and eaten a rabbit he found himself growing tired again. Though he tried to force himself to keep going he eventually succumbed and fell asleep. Rising shortly after sunrise he took off again, determined to catch up with his prey.
He noticed that the caravan had left the road and was now moving across the countryside. This helped in that it slowed the caravan down and the likelihood that his wolven form would be seen by anyone had diminished considerably. On the other hand, it also meant that he could not count on help from road wardens or other agents of the law, whatever happened he would be on his own. While part of him was far from thrilled at the thought of that inside him the wolf gave a contented growl at the battle which was to come. He did not come upon his target that day but to his delight he saw the glow of a campfire against the night sky.
Seeing that they had stopped for the night Karl slowed his advance, making sure that they did not see him advancing on them. As he drew close he saw that they had camped in a hollow formed by several hills, concealing them from any observers save for the glow of their fire, not there would be anyone out here so far from anything. Darkness was gathering but in his wolf form that did not bother Karl, though he did have to make sure that he did not stare at the fire and ruin his night vision. As he drew closer he began to hear sounds but they were all jumbled together and he could not yet pick out individual voices. Then the wind shifted, bringing the smell of the camp towards him. He could smell horses and people but there was more. He smelled wolves and worse. Goblins! He growled in disgust, it would be a long time before he forgot that stench, though there was something wrong, the smell was slightly off. That; however, was not the worst of it, there other smells that he recognized. He could smell Dwarves, but these did not smell like the Dwarves that he had traveled with. Like the Goblins their smell was wrong, tainted in some well, they stank of Chaos. Chaos worshiping Dwarves! He had never heard of such a thing, but if it was true there would be less of the filth by the time he was done.
Fortunately the wind was taking his scent away from the wolves and he prayed that it would remain so. Deciding to trust to his teeth and claws he his clothing and weapons when he reached the base of the hills and crept up and, concealing himself behind some bushes at the top of the hill, looked down at the scene below. What he saw stole his breath and made his stomach curl in disgust.
In the hallow below were the charts that he had been seeking, they were rather like the wagons the Dwarves had taken when they went treasure hunting. These were different; however. They were not platted and there were locks on the doors at the back and very small slits to allow air, all in all they gave off an unpleasant air. That paled in comparison to the malevolence being given off by those around them. A man that Karl assumed was Heincle and a dozen other men were standing by a fire. Facing them was a small crowd. Some did indeed look like Goblins but they were somewhat taller, nearly as tall as a man though more slender, they had bulbous noses and floppy ear. They were clad in crude armor, mostly leather with some metal bits attached. They were armed with spears and scimitars and all had several knives thrust into their bels. There were about eighteen or so of them, fourteen of them on large wolves and two each on a pair of wagons. These were armor plated and pulled by some strange creatures which Karl did not recognize. What grabbed his attention; however, were the Dwarves.
There were four of them and they were indeed Dwarves, though not like any Dwarves Karl had seen. They had short, stocky builds similar to the build of the Dwarves which Karl had journeyed with, but there the similarities ended. These Dwarves' beards were black as pitch and were curled in long tubular shapes which fell down their chests. They mouths looked normal except for the fact that they all had what appeared to be tusks growing from their lower jaws, clear sign of mutation. Disturbing as these were they paled in comparison to their eyes, they seemed normal but even at a distance Karl could see the cold cruelty in them, there was not a shred of mercy or compassion in any of them.
Three of them wore black armor and conical helmets. Two of them carried blunderbusses and had axes in their belts and shields slung over their shoulders. The third's armor was more elaborate and his helmet was taller as well. A pair of pistols were thrust into his belt and held what appeared to be some kind of spear or halberd. Beside him was a huge Ork clad in crude plate armor and carrying a massive axe and had skin far darker than that of the Orks Karl had fought before. The final Dwarf wore only boots, a pair of breaches and a helm that incorporated a mask that covered his face. He did not appear to be armed save for a long whip which sported a number of barbs on the end. The more elaborately dressed Dwarf, who seemed to be the leader, went up to Heincle and began to speak.
"You have what you promised manling?" The Dwarf asked, in a voice that sounded as if it was coming from the bottom of pit and held all the warmth of a winter storm. Heincle, a man of medium height dressed in the traveling cloths of a successful merchant, nodded, clearly nervous and eager to please.
"I do indeed my good Sir and more. I think you will like this." He gave a signal to two of his men who rushed to one of the wagons. They entered it and hauled out a captive. It was a Dwarf and though bruised and shackled he continued to struggle and even redoubled his efforts when he saw his tainted kin. At the sight of him the tainted Dwarves chuckled evilly while giving truly chilling grins.
"In deed, this will do nicely. Yes, this makes it very much worth our time." He turned to the Goblin creatures and the other Dwarves. "Load them up! And be quick about it!" At his words the Dwarves and their allies sprang into action.
The moved to the carts and began pulling people out and shove them towards their own wagons. Karl decided that he would wait till the two groups separated as he did not want to fight them both. His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of a woman screaming. She was clutching at a baby as one of the Goblins tried to rip it away from her. Her cries attracted the attention of the whip-wielding Dwarf he swung it at the woman while he cursed at the Goblin.
"Get rid of the useless brat and get the woman in the wagon you wrenched pile of filth!" That settled it, Karl was sure that it was foolish but he was not going to let a child be murdered by the wretched creatures and their tainted masters. Just as the whip stuck the woman Karl reared to his full height a loosed as loud a howl as he could muster. All heads turned towards him but before they could react he sprang forward.
He was aiming for the Dwarf leader, seeking to take him out before he could react, but before he could reach him the huge Ork interposed itself between Karl and the Dwarf. Fortunately for Karl the creature was unable to bring its axe to bear before Karl crashed into him and the Ork had no shield. It stumbled back a few feet but did not fall over. Karl slashed at it but despite its crudeness the creature's armor was effective and Karl's claws scrapped off of it. Meanwhile bedlam of another kind was breaking out though Karl hardly had time to hear what was being said.
"You filthy treacherous worm!" The Dwarf leader was screaming at Heincle. Heincle, for his part was screaming almost as loudly that the Dwarves had betrayed him. Even as Karl and the Ork fought the Dwarves and Goblins laid into the humans.
Karl and the Ork continued their struggle as the larger conflict swirled around them. It was not clear which of them was stronger but the Ork was clearly the meaning. Seeing that it could not get its axe into play as long as Karl was so close to him so it decided to get some distance between them. Its head lashed forward and crashed into Karl's face and Karl yelped in pain as his snout crumpled under the blow. This gave the Ork time to cock its fist and send it slamming into the side of Karl's head. Stars flew before his vision and Karl stumbled. The Ork brought its axe up and brought it crashing down. Karl saw it coming and only had time to throw himself to the side. His attempt to evade were not entirely successful and axe sliced deep into his side, though it failed to strike any organs.
The wolf roared with fury and this gave Karl fresh strength. He threw himself forward before the Ork could right itself. Like all of its kind the Ork's head was hunched down low and this enabled Karl to get the thing into a headlock. To his delight Karl saw that the creature had no neck guard and with his free hand he drove his claws into the creature's neck till he heard it snap. He dropped the corpse and looked around to see what was going on. The Dwarves and their allies were winning, but not by much.
The humans were outnumbered but all of them were hard-bitten men and this was clearly far from their first fight and they were all well-armed. Five of them had fallen but they had done for many of the Goblins and they looked to be on the verge of breaking. Had it just been the two groups the men might have won, but they were not the only ones in the battle. There were only four Dwarves, but tainted or not they were Dwarves and they fought with all the determination of their untainted kin. No, there were only three Dwarves still standing, the one with the whip had fallen with several bullets in him. Just as the Ork fell one of the Dwarves discharged its blunderbuss and three men went down. Karl charged him, trying to get to him before he could reload. The Dwarf saw him coming and went for his weapon at his belt. Before he could draw it the untainted Dwarf came behind him. He threw the chain around his tainted kin's neck and yanked it back cursing in his native language.
Seeing that the Dwarf seemed to have things in hand, Karl turned towards the other blunderbuss-wielding Dwarf. Unfortunately the Dwarf saw him coming and brought its weapon up and fired. Karl emitted a sound that was part howl and part scream as it seemed that a thousand burning shards ripped through his body. Blood flew everywhere, his right cheek was ripped off denuding his teeth and when he looked down at his right hand two fingers were gone. Pain the like of which he had never known flooded him and as it did so he felt his mind slipping away.
The pain was causing his control to slide away and the wolf to regain control. It was something he had struggled against since he had claimed control and he knew he should fight it. But he hurt so much that he didn't have the strength and he let his mind slip away. Just for a moment. He told himself as his consciousness dimmed; just till the pain stops.
While his mind dimmed it did not vanish it changed as the wolf claimed it. It reveled in its new freedom and stove to extract revenge on the hairy thing that had hurt it. It dropped to all fours and charged forward, every time its right paw hit the ground pain shot through it but it did not shy from the pain as the man did, it embraced the pain and drew strength from it, it remained the wolf to avenge itself on the thing that had hurt it. The hairy thing had pulled out a weapon had a shield up but that was alright. The wolf struck out at the shield to knock it away but the hairy one was stronger than it looked and not only was it able to keep its shield but it was also able to launch a counter-attack. Its metal weapon lashed out and tore into the wolf's still wounded belly. The pain was intense but it was not enough to halt the wolf's charge and it crashed into the hairy thing. It was like hitting a lump of rock, but even stone yields to enough force and the weight of the wolf bore the hairy thing to the ground where they crashed in a mass of flailing limbs.
The wolf gained the top and pined the hairy one's limbs with its own. The creature was still struggling and making angry sounds at the wolf. This angered the wolf and it struck. The hairy thing's skin was too tough for the wolf's claws but the skin on its muzzle was not as thick and the wolf bit down again and again. Its skin on the muzzle was tough but it soon gave way and blood filled the wolf's mouth. Normally this would thrill the wolf but this blood was tainted and foul, as was the hairy one's flesh and the wolf spat it all out after each bite. The thing at last stopped struggling and lay still and its flesh smelled dead. The sound of one of the creature's weapons sounded and the wolf turned.
The alpha tainted hairy one was holding something smoking in its paw while another hairy one, this one without any taint fell to the ground. The wolf pulled itself up, knowing that the alpha hairy one would come after the wolf if it gave it time to prepare another attack. It saw the wolf coming and brought its stick-weapon to bear. As it did so the wolf could smell the magic on it. The hairy one barked something that the wolf did not understand but did not like. The smell of magic increased and then fire came from the stick. The wolf jumped to the side but the fire grazed it and set its fur on fire. The wolf howled and threw itself to the ground and rolled about, trying to put the fire out, it succeeded but not before its fur and skin were both burned.
The man often thought that the wolf was all rage and instincts, but the wolf was also cunning and gave a piteous wail and lay still, there was so much pain that it was not difficult. The tainted one stared at the wolf for a moment and then slowly advanced on the wolf. It said something which the wolf did not understand and then laughed coldly. It came up and kicked the wolf and laughed again as it turned away. Once its back was turned the wolf sprang. It was weakened and could not bear the tainted one to the ground, but it did have the strength to latch on despite the tainted one's efforts to shake it off. The wolf bit down on the thing's head and though some of the wolf's teeth hit the creator's hard skin and skull and broke off the wolf held on and pulled up. The tainted one struggled but was unable to dislodge the wolf, who kept pulling up. There was a pop and the tainted creature went rigid and then fell to the ground, the wolf falling with it. The wolf tried to rise but the pain was just too great and the wolf slid into the comforting darkness.
The sun had risen by the time Karl woke up. He was still exhausted and there did not appear to be single part of his body which did not hurt. He found that, while still naked from changing back to his human form, a dirty cloth had been spread over him to preserve his dignity. He brought his hand up to his face and was pleased to see that his fingers were in process of growing back, though they still had a ways to go. The sound of someone moving drew his attention back to his surroundings. He looked around but at first did not see anyone, though there were a number of smells. Finally he twisted around and was stunned by what he saw. A woman was coming towards him, a bowl of something in her hands. She was barefoot and clad only in a torn and dirty shift, but that was not what startled Karl. He knew the woman.
"Olga?!" He said, his voice strained and his throat sore.
"Yes." She said simply. She had clearly seen him in his wolfen form, that much was clear from the wary look in her eyes. Yet at the same time there was something else different about her eyes, the hopelessness that he had seen before was gone.
"What are you doing here?" Karl asked her, his mind slowly coming out of the fog of pain.
"I was stolen from the Palace of Pleasure by those men. They took me to a warehouse and then they put us in those carts and they brought up here."
"Where is everyone?" Karl asked, looking around again and still not seeing anyone else.
"They ran away after someone found the key to our chains. They," here she paused and looked nervously at him as fearful that he would become angry. "They were afraid of you and wanted to get as far away from you as possible in case you came after them." Karl was not surprised and did not even feel all that upset, it was to be expected. Then something occurred to him.
"Why didn't you run as well?" She paused and looked uncertain and embarrassed.
"Well, I was going to but when I heard you making those noises when you were hurt and I could not leave you." Karl found that touching but a thought occurred to him and he shuddered at the thought.
"What if I had attacked you? I…I was not quite myself." She grew slightly pale at his words and he could smell fear coming off her and he moved to reassure her.
"Do not worry, I am in control now, but you took a great risk." She shrugged and her eyes took on a look somewhat similar to the one that she had had in the brothel.
"It's not as if I could have escaped if you had wanted to hurt us." She paused and when she spoke again her voice became heavy. "Besides, slavery or life under Henry, being torn apart did not see so bad when you think about it." Karl did not know what to say, she rescued him by speaking again.
"So…what happens now?" Her words shook Karl out of his own thoughts and reminded him of his orders from Marx and set about following them. He rose shakily to his feet and the blanket fell away. He made a frantic grab for it but Olga gave a mirthless chuckle.
"Have you forgotten what I am? I've seen far worse than a naked man." That was probably true but Karl could not bring himself to just walk around naked and so he grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around his waist and, studiously ignoring what he suspected was a chuckle from Olga, set about his business. He was pleased to find the body of Heincle almost at once. The body was missing a chunk of its skull and Karl guessed that the man had been on the receiving end of one of the Dwarves' black powder weapons. That took care of that but there was still the matter of the book. He sniffed around, suspecting that the book would smell of magic. Karl was distracted by the smell magic from the spear, or whatever it was, but after a moment he detected another smell and followed it.
It led him to one of the wagons. Inside there were a number of boxes and chests. The smell led him to one of the chests which had a lock on it. He fed the wolf into his left arm as his right was still recovering and ripped the lock off. Inside was a single leather-bound book. He could not read but he could smell the stink of magic coming from it. It was clearly the book Marx had sent him after, now all that he needed to do was to bring it back to Altdorf and this task would be done He exited the wagon and found Olga looking at him curiously.
"What is that?" She said, indicating the box.
"Not something nice I assure you." Seeing her look of non-comprehension he continued. "We all have masters, mine sent me to retrieve what is in this box and to… deal with him." He said indicating Heincle's remains.
"He was the one responsible for this." Olga said, venom entering her voice. "I am glad he is dead." She looked at him and the anger was replaced with a look of uncertainty.
"What is going to happen to me now?" That gave Karl pause, he had not thought about what was going to happen to her. She had helped him and he could hardly leave her alone in the middle of nowhere.
"I think I will track down the others, they will likely be trying to get back to Averheim. I'll follow them and make sure they reach it safely. You can come with me and return as well." This did not seem to please her. She squirmed nervously and then began to speak.
"What will you do then?"
"I have to take this back to my master in Altdorf." She was quiet for moment then she spoke again.
"Take me with you!" She said quickly. Karl looked at her startled.
"What?"
"Please! Take me with you! You saved me from slavery but what I was taken from was no better. Henry beat me, the customers beat again and again. I can't take it anymore!" She looked like was going to cry. However; she mastered herself and continued to speak.
"You said you have master, you can be mine. I am strong and I can serve you, I can cook and clean and I know how to please a man. Let me come with you to Altdorf and I will serve you well." Karl did not know what to say. Then he remembered how he had felt the last time, how he had felt so helpless that he could do nothing to help her. Now he could, he would take her back to Altdorf and then, well he would think of something.
"Very well, if that is what you wish, I'll take you to Altdorf with me." She looked so happy she might cry. Before Karl could react she threw her arms around his neck.
"Thank you Master! Thank you!" He awkwardly disentangled himself from her arms, she was stronger than any women he had ever met.
"There is no need to call me master, Karl will do.
"Now. We have to go. I am going to go get my equipment. Is there any more food?" She gave shrug.
"Mostly if you count the slop that they were feeding us."
"The people who were bringing you here must have some food for themselves and I am fairly certain that they would be eating better than their captives." With that he went to retrieve his gear. He quickly retrieved it and returned. Olga had several bags of food and a wineskin.
"How are we going to catch up with them?" Olga asked, someone had taken the horses which pulled the carts were gone, as were the carts that the tainted Dwarves had brought.
"We won't need them," Karl told her; "Don't be afraid." This last was said in low and he hoped calming voice. He then shifted into his wolven form. Olga went pale but at Karl's indications she gathered the gear and supplies into her arms. Karl then picked her up in his arms and took off running.
Though Olga's heart was pounding in her chest so hard that Karl half suspected that it would burst from her chest she eventually nodded off. It was near to noon when Karl came across the fleeing prisoners. They were moving slowly but Karl was pleased to see that they seemed to be sticking together, with the ones who seemed to be injured riding on the horses. Knowing that seeing him would only cause them to panic Karl slowed his pace and made sure to keep at a distance. He trailed them through the day. With the setting of the sun they stopped and set up a crude camp and some gathered what fuel they could and lit a few small fire.
As they were not going to go any farther that day Karl moved to a spot behind a small hill far enough away that they would not see him. He gently set Olga down, who stirred and awakened. Seeing this he shifted back into his human form and pulled his pants and shirt on. They ate some of the rations and then he moved to the top of the hill and altered his eyes so that he could watch his self-appointed charges. He expected Olga to go back to sleep but she came up and lay down beside him, he turned to looked at her and she flinched away from his eyes and he guessed they must have a somewhat lupine appearance.
"They do not appear to be moving anymore tonight, you should get some rest."
"I am used to being awake all night anyway and I slept most of the day already." They lay in silence for some time. Karl sensed that she wanted to say something but was unwilling to, he guessed her old profession was not one which encouraged one to speak out of turn.
"Something on your mind?" He asked her. She flinched but took a breath and began to speak.
"Mas…Karl…what…what are you exactly?" Karl supposed that the question was inevitable and in fact he was rather surprised she had taken this long to bring the subject up.
"To be honest, I am not sure what exactly I am. Oh, I know what I am and how I came to be what I am but the true origins of it all elude me." Seeing that had not answered her question he went into greater detail. He told her how he became a werewolf, though he did not tell her about his grandfather. He told her about the destruction of his village and his subsequent employment by Marx. He did not tell her anything about Marx and the work he did, only that a man gave him jobs which gave him the chance to use his abilities to help the Empire. When he finished she gave a little laugh.
"It almost sounds like a fairy tale, a prince with a terrible curse seeking to free himself from it." Karl smiled a little.
"Unlike the stories, there is no way back to being human for me." Her own look became bitter.
"That's fine, I do not believe in fairy tales any way." With that they lapsed into silence.
With nothing else to do Karl lapsed into thought. There was no way for him to become human again, was he sad about that? He had become used to being a werewolf and if he were to be honest he liked the power, the strength and speed that it gave him, not to mention that fact that the regeneration that it gave him. If he had not become a werewolf he would still be working for his uncle at the mill in a nameless village in the middle of nowhere. He wished that things had not occurred the way that they had but, in truth, he was not sorry that he had become a werewolf and had left that village.
The night passed without incident, though Karl did hear some wolves howling in the distance. The following morning the people set off again moving towards Averheim. A few hours after setting off they made it back to the road and their speed increased slightly. Around noon the sounds of horsemen was heard. Karl set Olga down and prepared to fight if the need arose. When the riders came into view he let out a sigh of relief, they were not outlaws, they were road wardens. Their arrival meant that Karl's duty was at an end. The road wardens would see the people back to the city, leaving Karl free to return to Altdorf and report back to Marx and decide what he was going to do about Olga.
Fortunately the journey there was also without incident and they arrived at the city two hours after the city gates opened. Karl had wanted to go into the city and get something a little more modest than a shift for Olga to where but she had been afraid of being alone, having never been outside of a city before. There were some looks and lewd remarks from the gate guards as they went by. Olga did not seem to notice these but Karl gave them a glower as they passed. Karl located a cheap inn and set Olga up in a room and left her with all the money he had in his purse and told her he would be back as soon as he could. He then made his way to Marx. Henry let him in and led him to Marx's study. The wizard was sitting behind his desk, almost as if he had not moved from it since sending out Karl. He paused in his writing and looked up.
"You have the book." The way he said it made it clear that he was not asking. Karl nodded and held out the box. Marx took it, opened it and gave the contents a look of loathing. He closed the lid and looked up at Karl.
"I presume the people involved were taken care of?" Karl nodded.
"Them and those they were working with, or at least some of them." Marx gave him a look.
"Explain." Karl then told about the where the men had gone and the strange Dwarves he had met. Marx seemed intensely interested in the Dwarves and made Karl go over it several times.
"The Dawi Zharr."
"The what?" Karl asked.
"Chaos Dwarves, Dwarves tainted by Chaos. They rarely come this far from their territory. This is rather disturbing, I shall have to give this some thought." He seemed to put action to words and slumped into silence. After a moment he seemed to remember Karl was there and looked up at him.
"You have done well to bring this to my attention. I shall have work for you soon, so go get some rest and come back the day after tomorrow. Till then I have a gift for you." At that Karl's eyes narrowed. Marx was many things and had been generous to Karl but that had always been in return for service, the man had never given Karl something for nothing. His suspicion must have shown on his face because Marx gave an exaggerated sigh.
"No need to become so suspicious. I simply wish to make some changes. I have a feeling the house is being watched and I do not wish you to be associated with me so I am sending you to stay at a house that I own."
"You are giving me a house?" Karl asked, his voice incredulous. Back in his village to own one's own home was considered a mark of prestige and wealth.
"I am not giving you a house." Marx said, interrupting Karl's train of thought. "I am allowing you to make use of one. Henry will show the way and then you can come back and move you belongings to it." With that he turned his attention back to his papers, Karl clearly dismissed. He left the room and found the Halfling waiting for him.
"This way if you please." He said indicating the door.
They exited into the street and the servant took them to the left and down the street. As they walked along Karl could not help but notice that even everyone, even a few street toughs, gave them a wide berth and he also noticed that it was the Halfling, not him, who everyone was giving wary looks to. Henry led them several streets down till they came to a street of mildly successful merchants. They stopped in front of a two-story house and Henry unlocked the door and led them in. The place had simple furniture and needed to be dusted. The Halfling led Karl down into the basement.
"The master wanted you to see this." Henry said. He moved to the corner and moved serval crates. Underneath them was a ring. Henry pulled on this and opened up a trapdoor. From the opening came the smell of sewage.
"This leads down into the sewers. The master had some scent markers placed below which you can follow to a similar basement in the master's house. They will not last forever so we will take that route home so you can memorize it." With that the Halfling took the ladder on the side of the wall and went down with him. He smelled the sewers and underneath that something else. He followed it through several twists and turns till they came to another ladder going up to a trap door. Which in turn led into Marx's basement, not far from the cage containing the vampire. It looked startled for a moment then gave a look of distaste to Karl.
"You, working as a sewerjack now?" Karl gave it a false smile but did not reply. He quickly gathered his belongings and retraced his route to his new home. There were two bedrooms on the second floor and one on the first floor he placed his loot from the Dwarf hold in one of the top-story rooms and then went to retrieve Olga. On the way he found a couple of simple dresses that he hoped would fit. He reached the inn where he had left her and went up to the room. She was sitting on the bed, looking slightly nervous. She was visibly relieved to see him coming into the room.
"Your back!" She said, sounding both glad and surprised. Karl looked at her.
"You sound surprised." She laughed cynically.
"I am a whore, I'm used to being lied to."
"You are not a whore, not anymore. I brought you this." He extended the dress to her and her eyes lit up. He turned to let her change and she laughed at that. Once she had changed they walked back to the house.
"I will be sleeping upstairs, your room will be down here. I saw a market nearby, go buy food and something to clean this place up with please." He handed her a pouch filled with coins. She smirked and gave a poorly executed curtsy.
"Yes master." Karl smirked at that and then went back up to his own room. He went through his bags till he found what he was looking for, the elven sword and went back down the stairs.
"I am going out for a while and I do not know when I will be back. If you get hungry go ahead and make something for yourself. Don't forget to lock up if you go to sleep." As he walked down the street he felt like a parent. It was not like that but Olga was now his responsibility, he was glad that Marx had given him this house so he did not have to explain her to Marx, though he would not be surprised if he found out about it.
He pushed those thoughts aside for the time being, he would consider them later. For now he had more pleasant things to do, he had money and some time free from duties and responsibilities and he had something to that he had been wanting to do for some time. He looked down at the sword in his hand. It was indeed a fine weapon but it was not for him. Clare had told him that wizards of her order all had swords and to have one so fine would surely please her greatly. He smiled at the thought and took off walking.
Author's Notes: Hey everyone, I hope that you liked this chapter. While this one had a happy ending, the same cannot be said for the real-life victims of human trafficking, who number in the millions, so please pray for them. What did you think of the chapter, I think that the next chapter may not have a lot happen but I have something in the works, I have found that if I rush into an idea it hasn't been as good so I am going to try to develop the idea before I write it. Till then please pray for Asia Bibi, the persecuted Christians in Pakistan and elsewhere. Dona Perry, a missing woman with Alzheimer's, a child in the hospital after being hit by a car in Florida and all who are injured and victims of illness, human trafficking and all others who need prayer. Bye and may Jesus bless you. Also please check out the new story I have started Journey into Darkness.