The Forgotten Forge
Chapter 2: The Intruder
The rain started to lighten up as I neared my apartment. I rent. Buying is too permanent for me. Plus; you never know when you're going to need to move to a different part of town because you ticked off the wrong people. Always good to have a way out. No solid ties to anything. I've had this particular apartment for about a year now. Not quite the longest I've owned an apartment, but most of the previous ones were in a very slummy district. They were affordable, but not too many upstanding citizens would consider going to the districts in Lower Dura.
It had been a relatively quiet jaunt from the murder scene, mainly because I was saving most of my breath for the running and Lucan was never much of a talker. The shifter didn't seem to be much of one either.
"So what's your story?" I asked between breaths. Maybe a little personal, blunt maybe, but hey, I was short on talking juice.
"Not much for small talk are you?" she retorted, completely steady. I guess it is true that shifters can run. I don't get to deal with two many shifters, and the ones I do come in contact with, it's usually not the kind of contact I like very much. Shifters usually tend to live in more wild areas, like the Eldeen Reaches, north-west of Breland.
"Excuse me…for not inheriting…a running trait. Just looking…for a name…to go with the face." Running and talking are not a good combination for me. Lucky for me, my apartment is in the next tower.
"Rheia," she spoke softly. The rain had soaked her black hair which glistened in the light of the everburning torches that occasionally lit the streets in Dura. Her loose clothing clung to her figure. She was muscular, but lean, hinting at smooth curves. If it wasn't for her sideburns and heavy forearm hair that all shifters have regardless of gender, she'd probably be quite attractive.
"You can stay at my place tonight if you want to. It's not much, but it'll keep the rain off. We can talk more there," I said after I caught my breath a little. I had slowed down to a slow jog. I hadn't heard anything remotely similar to a Watch whistle in a while. We were probably safe. If not, too bad for me, I preferred my lungs not to burn, thank you very much.
"Sure. How far?"
"Woman of many words." Always a friend of sarcasm, I am. "You can stop running. We just take this lift up a few floors." We had entered the tower my apartment was in and the rain could no longer touch me. Good; I didn't care too much for being soaked to the bone. There wasn't much to the inside of this tower. Not at this level. Mainly there were just a few closed shops, some empty stalls, and the large hole at the eastern side of the tunnel. The lift was a large metal plate that was magically raised or lowered from this level to anywhere in the tower. This was one of the better towers in the district. Most towers in Dura had either stone steps or platforms.
"Lucan, you want to fetch the lift for us? I still need to get my body back to normal. Too much running for me." Good old Lucan. He never gets tired. He never eats, never sleeps, and never has to go to the bathroom. Perfect roommate. With my hands on my knees, I stood resting, while Lucan went towards the giant whole and pushed the button that sent the lift to this level. Sure, I probably could have done it, but why do that when I'm obviously not up to full strength and there's a perfectly good person who's not tired at all.
"So you from around here?" I asked after I straightened. I started to walk towards where the lift was going to end up.
"Yes." She also strode towards the lift.
"How long you been here?"
"A while."
"You know, if you actually answered my questions I'd be done a lot faster." That's me. Always the nosy one.
"If you stopped asking questions you'd be done a lot faster." That's her, the antisocial one.
The metal lift had risen to our level. We each stepped onto it and Lucan hit the button to go up. This was so much better than stairs. The stone walls started to move down around us as we slowly moved our way up the tower. They should really have music for these things.
"Sooo….what were you doing at the murder scene dressed for a fight?" See, they need music. If they had music I would have been preoccupied.
"I'm not carrying any weapons. And I thought you were going to stop asking questions," She said as she turned her head towards me. She was just slightly shorter than me so her head was inclined slightly. Her green eyes locked with my own blue eyes for a split second.
"I'm an Inquisitive. It's my job to ask questions. And, yes, you're probably right. You probably weren't carrying any blades. But you were carrying enough wands for the Brelish army. I just want to know why." She looked away first. One point for me.
"It's not against the law to carry wands."
The lift had reached the level with my apartment on it. Lucan hit the button to make the lift stop. We each got off the platform and entered the tower opening. There was no street running through this level. That's one reason why I chose this level for my home. Not as much traffic going through. There were actually about three levels to this section of the tower. Each level was a row of apartment buildings. The first level had its doors on the floor. You reached the next level by climbing a set of stairs to the walkway that created an overhang for the first level. The third level was the same as the second level, just a row higher. I was on the second level, third door on the left hand side. There were two sets of steps. One set started at the lift, the other started directly across the room. The room as a whole wasn't really that big. We were near the top of this particular tower; it ended early into Upper Dura.
Rheia started off the platform towards the center of the level. I crossed my arms across my chest. "My house is this way," I said pointing up the set of stairs on the left. The damp tunic moved against my skin uncomfortably. I really didn't like rain. Unfortunately for me, rain was part of the package for living in Sharn. "It's a little known fact that most criminals, when given a choice, will choose to turn right more often than left," I continued. Hence the choice in direction of my apartment.
She half turned and grinned. "Aren't we the paranoid one?"
"This is Middle Dura and in my profession, I tend to make a few enemies."
She turned towards me fully and started back towards the steps. "You? Make enemies?" she questioned sarcastically with her head slightly tilted to the right, "I never would have guessed."
Ignoring her blatant sarcasm, "Come on Lucan, let's go. I want to get out of these wet cloths."
"I, too, need to dry off. Let us go. Rheia, after you," the metal man said as he stood stock still on the lift.
With an eyebrow raised, "Why thank you Lucan. At least someone here has some kind of manners."
"Yeah, lucky me. Now can we get off the lift before someone else in the tower decides they need it." I started up the stone steps. Soon there were the light sounds of Rheia which were followed by the heavy feet of Lucan. My apartment wasn't very far from the steps. It was only the third one in, so you could see it from the top of the steps. The crude pillars that shot down from the floor of the third level's walkway cast shadows across the floor and halfway up the wall until it was swallowed by complete shadows of utter blackness. Even the parts that weren't shadowed from the pillars were still cast in shadows, just not as dark. The only light came from the two dim everburning torches at the base of each set of stairs.
My hand raised quickly as a sign for the other two to stop. I turned my head slightly, my eyes never leaving the door, so they could see my finger raised to my lips.
"What's wrong?" Rheia whispered into my ears.
I hadn't even heard her get that close to me. I was impressed, but I couldn't let it show. I kept my face in the shadows. I just pointed towards my doorway. The door was slightly ajar, not enough to be obvious, but I was a suspicious kind of guy.
"Couldn't you have just forgotten to close it when you left?" she asked, still whispering.
I shook my head slightly, "No, I always lock my door from the inside with a wizard lock, only I know how to open that," well, me and the wizard who helped develop the lock. "On top of that I have a mechanical lock on the outside that, as you can see, is currently picked. If you have any wands that won't break anything in my home, pull that one out. Lucan, …hmpf. Rheia, do you have any silencing spells you can cast on Lucan so he's not as loud as he normally is?" Lucan had taken my warning to heart, if he had a heart, and stood completely still at my signal. It's hard to move and stay silent when you're made out of metal, wood, and various other objects.
Without saying a word, and making only the slightest sound, she drew a wand out and pointed it towards the metal man and whispered a word under her breath that was hard for even me, who was standing right next to her, to hear. No visible effect had taken place, but I knew that the silencing spell had worked; Lucan had taken a step forward and his normally heavy footsteps were as silent as a stalking cat. I'd have to remember to ask Rheia why she carried a silencing wand around the city, the offensive spells were question enough.
I pointed at Rheia and told her to wait at the side of the door, she was our back up. Whatever enemy of mine is in there, they shouldn't know about her considering I had just met her that night. I pointed to Lucan and gestured for him to enter in front of me. His body could be repaired, mine had to heal. He came forward without pause or sound. Magic is a wonderful thing. Lucan and I walked to the door and I glanced at Rheia. "Wait until I call for you, or run. This isn't your fight." She just stood there looking at me. If anything she looked more resolved. I nodded. Good to see she's loyal, or just likes the idea of a fight. I wonder if she's part wolf.
I nodded to Lucan, who was waiting for my signal to open the door. He had to duck slightly so he would fit under the door frame. His shoulders were still a tight fit, but he could make it through. He placed his two fingered, one thumbed hand onto the door and barreled in. I followed close behind. Lucan didn't draw his sword. In these close quarters he wouldn't be able to wield it well enough for it to be useful. I did draw my dagger. It was a simple straight piece of metal, pointed at the end and bladed on both sides. I drew another dagger from my boot with my left hand. I preferred to fight with two daggers. I wasn't bad with a rapier or a short sword either, but daggers were easier to hide, and throw if I needed.
Lucan went to the left and I went to the right, surrounding someone was a good way to get a quick victory. My apartment was fairly plain, a wooden living area, with a small bedroom near the back. My apartment was actually one of the nicer ones in Dura, I had indoor plumbing. That room was to the left of the bedroom.
The only thing out of place in the room, besides the slight mess that's always there, was the man sitting, with his legs crossed, in the middle of my living area in my chair facing my doorway. Yeah, not too much out of place.
"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" I asked with my blades still raised. So far the person had made no move from the seat and just sat there with legs crossed. I couldn't tell where his eyes were because they were shrouded in shadows cast by his hooded cloak which protected him from the darkness of the unlit room. He was either a messenger, or he had backup. A quick glance around showed that there was no one else except for the three of us in the room, there might be someone in the bedroom or bathroom, but I doubted it.
"You can tell your companion that she can come in. I'm not your enemy, just a messenger," said the man as he spread his hands out to the side, palms up, in a gesture of peace. His voice suggested that he was past his prime, probably late 40's, but I still didn't lower my blades. Age didn't mean weak, not in a world where a single sip of a potion will allow you to lift a block of stone the size of my living room.
"No one's here but us, old man." When in doubt, try to anger them. Angering someone usually makes them lose their composure and sometimes allows them to slip and reveal something they weren't supposed to.
"Have it your way, but I think the neighbors might get suspicious with a female shifter outside your door whilst we talk of the recent murder," he said simply as he placed his hands in his lap.
"We didn't have anything to do with that murder. Who was he anyways?" I asked. I'd given up on the angering him, didn't seem like he was the kind of guy to go and blow his top too often. I lowered my weapons, but didn't sheath them. I'm a pretty quick draw, but I didn't feel like taking any chances.
"I can't answer any questions, but my superior can." He still hadn't moved from his position. He even had perfect posture. His superior must be one of the nobles, or one of the dragon marked houses, which were basically nobles.
"Rheia, you can come in, don't put your weapon away, but don't come in blazing either," I shouted out to her, not taking my eyes off the intruder. "And close the door," I continued after she entered. The door thumped quietly into place. "Thanks."
"Sure," she responded. She was standing ready, feet shoulder width apart, wand out in front. All that was missing was the dog at her feet.
"Where's your mutt?" The thought just occurred to me that I hadn't seen it since we started our little jog through the city.
"Sent it to look after my own house. Got to have someone there. So who's this?" She asked, gesturing at the man in the chair with her wand.
"Apparently. You never know when you'll have an uninvited guest." A subtle poke at my house guest. I wondered if he'd get the point, or if it'd have to be more obvious.
"That's not important," the man said as he stood, cloak covering his body. "What is important is that my superior would like to talk with you about what transpired tonight. She was working with Mr. Clearwater on something important when he died."
"So, what? She wants us to continue his work because we happened to be at the wrong place right time? I don't think so. I'm not a scholar; I'm not interested in history." Never agree to working outside your jurisdiction when the messenger breaks into your house to give you the message. That's my motto.
"Who is your superior?" Rheia asked.
"Go to the Broken Anvil tonight and ask for Lady Elaydren," the man said as he walked towards the door. When he was close enough to Rheia to touch her he stopped. She moved to the side and he made a slight bow. He opened the door and bid us all a good evening. Yeah right.