3rd day of Ransalacue, 5571A The sewers beneath Talantier
The Divided Lands
Johann had no trouble finding the place.
He'd been here before.
Only once that she knew of, of course, but there had been other times. His superior Raelia had ordered him to locate where she stayed back when the potential new recruit had first been approached. The sewers of Talantier were probably the largest and best-designed such network of any city in Tristoland and thus an accidental, unplanned meeting was extremely unlikely. Raelia however, was taking no chances.
After all, technically they both shared the same home.
It consisted of a chamber set off from one of the main tunnels, right next to where it made a sixty-degree turn to the left. Running about fifteen feet long by a little over six feet in depth, it had originally been designed by the sewer architects as a supply depot as well as a refuge for workers if a sudden surge from the Arlos river that ran through the city produced a flash flood in the sewers. A deluge of that size had yet to happen (the water level in this tunnel would have to rise over five feet to reach the enclave) but the human and elven builders back then, like Raelia and Johann now, always believed in planning ahead for the worst-case scenario.
And sooner or later, the worst-case scenario always happened.
Johann clambered up into the chamber and looked around.
It was utilitarian, as befitted the personality of its regular occupant. The rough wooden bedframe, probably constructed onsite, held a mass of straw inside an old burlap sack. The quilt on top was a true patchwork affair, sewn together from as many fabric scraps as she'd been able to find.
The old supply cabinet had been retrofitted with homemade shelf doors, each closed and locked (and probably trapped to boot). Johann shook his head as he imagined what meager belongings the half-elf possessed that she cared about so much about; or were the shelves booby-trapped in preparation for the imagined riches that she thought would one day occupy them?
He wasn't looking forward to this talk, but he knew it had to be done and Raelia knew, as Johann did, that he was the best person for the job. He was just about to wonder if he should try sitting on the lumpy sack of straw when he heard footsteps approaching.
They weren't very loud, but you didn't make it far in the Nightsong Guild with only average hearing.
"Hello, there!" Johann called out so as not to surprise the room's tenant.
The footsteps stopped. There was silence.
Several seconds later Caffrine Esslos stepped around the corner.
The rogue couldn't say she was surprised to hear the voice of her contact here, but she wasn't happy about it. This place was the closest thing she had to a home and having other people in it, even people she knew, reduced her sense of security.
The teenager released the grip on the morning star that she'd purchased not an hour ago and was now hanging down from her weapon belt. She crossed her arms across her chest and looked up at the thirty-something human, giving him her best cynical look.
"I hope this is important. You know I don't like meeting here."
Johann nodded, stroking his close-cropped blond beard that matched his equally short hair.
"It is," he replied. "We've had a disruption."
Caffrine approached and, not taking her eyes off Johann for even a moment, climbed up into the alcove. A quick glance showed her that everything was in its proper place- she hadn't expected otherwise- so she faced her fellow rogue head-on.
"I assume it concerns me or you wouldn't be here. Let's have it."
He affected a pseudo-aristocratic mien.
"We're not savages, my dear. We can catch up first. It's been a while since we talked and judging from what I'm seeing," he gestured at her, "quite a lot has happened since then."
"Unless you brought tea and crumpets with you, let's skip the chitchat," Caffrine replied tartly. "This," and her gesture encompassed both the studded leather armor she was now wearing and her new melee weapon," is just extra protection. Things have been rough lately, but it's nothing to do with the Guild, so let's just move on."
"The change I was looking at," replied Johann without missing a beat, "is that nasty-looking scar on your right arm."
Caffrine silently cursed herself- Johann never missed a trick- but when she looked from her arm to the human's face, she saw there that small inkling of actual caring that she had never been able to decide was genuine or just a ruse on his part.
"I'm fine," she said wearily, thinking that she'd barely had any sleep in the past forty-eight hours and was looking forward to some. "With your contacts, you'll find out about it before the criers do, no doubt. Like I said, some unpleasant business that's now behind me. Back to business, please."
Johann nodded, conceding defeat. "Someone important was planning an operation with the Nightsong. Highest level," he added for emphasis. "All information was need to know."
Caffrine nodded to show her understanding.
"Four people were coming to Talantier from somewhere far, far away. So far in fact, that there are no maps for their homeland. These people had a job to do here in town after which I was supposed to meet up with them, pay them for services rendered and then give them further instructions."
She saw his lips tighten.
"I never received those instructions from Raelia because I never met with those four people, and the reason I never met with those people is that they never reached here. They were killed on the road north of the city."
Caffrine frowned. "Bandits?"
Johann sprang the trap.
"You tell me, Caffrine," he said. "They were killed by a group of six individuals who have since taken to calling themselves the Light in the Darkness."
The young half-elf closed her eyes, not even bothering to hide her frustration from Johann, which would have been impossible at any rate. She sat down on her bed, cradled her head in her hands and swore.
Caffrine was an accomplished curser for her age and like most long-time Talantier residents, was fluent in profanity in both Common and elvish. She started with the latter for a few choice phrases and then moved to the human tongue, finishing with "Sand in a sandwich!" (a local favorite) before looking back up at her contact.
"Anything you can tell me?" he asked.
"You know that was before I met them," Caffrine said, "and I know they had no idea who they were, but they did show me a note they recovered from one of them which referenced the Nightsong."
She peered at Johann. "It was from someone named Hawkins."
His face tightened, the smug expression that had just been there evaporating.
"The one we're working with, Caffrine. Nothing else you need to know, my dear. Any non-Nightsong mentioning that name in public could be at risk for their health. Do we understand each other?"
She just stared at him.
"Caffrine," the human said, an anxious look on his face now as he wrung his hands together. "We've known each other for five years now. I was never happy you turned us down- I'm still not- but we've still managed to make things work. Please don't put that at risk. If this band continues to get in our way, knowingly or otherwise, their own health will wind up in dire jeopardy."
His eyes bore into hers.
"And that kind of disease is very contagious, my dear. You don't want to be around people like that."
Caffrine considered. She didn't like it when Johann called her "dear," but she knew that was just the older human's way of warning her whenever the teenager was about to undertake something that might not be in her best interests.
"I understand," she said at length. "I'll stay with them so I can stay abreast of their plans; if they plan anything that could cause trouble for you, I'll steer them away from it."
There was a long silence.
"All right," Johann acquiesced. He gave the half-elf his first smile.
"Get some sleep, girl. You look like rat scat."
She smiled back, a little thinly.
"By the way," she said, reaching around to the side pocket of her backpack and extracting two vials of a milky-white liquid that she showed him. "I need more training. Will these help pay for it?"
"Be cheaper if you joined."
Another thin smile.
"Not happening, dear."
Johann raised an eyebrow at that but Caffrine knew he'd gotten the message.
"I'll have someone identify them. We'll take it from there."
The rogue nodded and waited until Johann had clambered back down onto the stone pathway that ran parallel to the wastewater flow before she started unburdening herself of her weapons and encumbrance.
"Caffrine."
She glanced over sharply. The Guild rogue was looking up at her with as serious an expression as she could ever remember.
"If things start to go bad with those people, get out."
The teenager said nothing; she couldn't, as her mouth had suddenly gone dry, but she nodded again and waited and watched until the Nightsong member's form had vanished into the darkness of the tunnel.
Caffrine Esslos lay on her bed of straw underneath her patchwork quilt and listened to the flow of the water and the squeaking of rats, which had become more and more common in the past few weeks.
She had no idea what to do.
She had no idea what she should do.
