Shadow Puppets
Telkarnith sat in the parlor, trying to relax over a cup of artu tea, and likewise trying to ignore the sounds of arguing from down the hallway. Donna and Rachel were at it again, and he wasn't even sure what it was about this time. He knew he really ought to get Rachel to go somewhere else, but he didn't really have the heart to after she'd helped them out back in Scalyr.
Rachel stormed past, stomping her way down the hallway toward the back of the house. The doorbell jangled, and Donna called out, "Telkarnith! Someone to see you!"
Telkarnith sighed and sat aside his cup. Hopefully it was the horse buyer from Taverak he was expecting. When he got to the foyer, however, he was shocked to see a familiar face. Jack, the monster hunter he had encountered in Scalyr. What in the world was he doing here? Sudden panic gripped him.
Jack just chuckled softly. "Relax, Telkarnith Chelseer. If I were here to kill you, you'd have never seen me coming."
"What are you doing here?" Telkarnith wondered, raising an eyebrow and not relaxing in the least. He wondered where Helkhar was right now.
Jack didn't answer immediately. "Is Helkhar about? Because I much desire to speak with him."
"You'll forgive me if I don't leap to trusting you without some explanation," Telkarnith said. He'd be more comfortable if he had his sword with him, but he didn't tend to take to carrying it around the house. Foolish complacence, perhaps.
Jack chuckled again. "I dug up some information on you. You had excellent character witnesses, by the way. But I started to suspect something wasn't right when I couldn't get back into Port Fins. Tanivalis has all but closed its borders to anyone that they think looks suspicious. Apparently I meet their definition of suspicious. And I've heard rumors of vampiric involvement." He made a face. "In my line of work, it never hurts to suspect there's vampires involved in anything, but in this case the evidence was more solid than that."
"So... you don't think that we murdered that poor girl?" Telkarnith asked.
"No," Jack said. "I know perfectly well that most werewolves keep to themselves in the wilderness and don't go randomly rampaging in cities. And I went and spoke with the Rhondar myself. I didn't trust the second-hand sources, and well I did, because they diverted investigation and made this werewolf out to be more of a monster than necessary. I think they're covering up the real culprit in an attempt to frame an outsider, and blowing the entire thing out of proportion to boot. I've never seen Tanivalis turn so isolationist, and especially not over one murder."
"That's... very strange," Telkarnith said, frowning. "And what about me? Didn't they think I was a werewolf too?"
"Catch," Jack said, tossing something shiny at him. Reflexively, Telkarnith grabbed it out of the air. It was the silver spoon Helkhar had taken as a trophy from Port Fins. "Not a werewolf. I didn't think so. Just didn't match up with other information I found."
"Where did you get this?" Telkarnith wondered.
"It also pays to be a tad sneaky in my line of work," Jack said with a smirk.
Helkhar popped his head in at the entrance to the foyer. "Jack?" he said. "Fancy seeing you here. What brings you out all this way?"
"Ah, my good boy, Henry Stark, was it?" Jack said. "I didn't expect to see you here. Been keeping out of trouble, I hope?"
"Well, I don't think I've done anything especially foolish recently, I would hope," Helkhar said with a shrug.
"Not hunting werewolves or anything?"
"Of course not," Helkhar said lightly. "That's not what you're here for, is it?"
"As a matter of fact," Jack said. "I am hunting a werewolf, though not to kill him or anything. If I were, he'd be dead before he ever noticed. I don't suppose you've seen a fellow by the name of Helkhar around here, have you? Probably looks like a young barbarian male in his human form. You've no doubt seen his wolf form, a huge silvery wolf. I know he's around here somewhere. I've seen him loping off into the mountains in wolf form from time to time."
Helkhar raised an eyebrow, but kept his cool. "If you're not looking to kill him, why are you looking for him? Didn't you say shapeshifters are evil or some such?"
"Not all," Jack said. "For instance, I know there's werewolves up in those mountains and that he was probably going to meet with them. But he always came back here. And Wishingsdale hasn't even had reports of sheep being killed by monsters, nevermind any people. Investigations by other parties to the contrary, I don't believe that Helkhar was actually responsible for that murder back in Port Fins, and I need to speak with him about it. It's very important."
"Jack, have you ever seen a werewolf up close?" Helkhar asked. "Have you ever actually spoken with one?"
"No," Jack said. "I've killed a couple in my day. Mad, bloodthirsty things, like rabid animals. But most of the real werewolves I've heard about never come near the cities."
Helkhar grinned broadly, and said, "Jack, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Helkhar."
Jack blinked, and stared at Helkhar for a long moment. "You... are a werewolf?" Telkarnith wasn't sure on the wisdom of telling this hunter outright who and what Helkhar was, but it was too late to back out now.
Helkhar giggled. "Uh-huh, uh-huh."
"Seriously?" Jack peered at Helkhar some more, and said, "You're obviously more man than monster, though. I'll admit that I'd never have known. You're better at this than I thought, I'll give you credit for that."
"Why don't we head back into the parlor and discuss this all over some lunch?" Helkhar suggested.
They headed back to the parlor, where they found Rachel quietly fuming over a cup of tea. She raised an eyebrow when she saw who their guest was. Telkarnith didn't trust inviting this man into their home and offering to eat with him, but he wasn't going to refuse Helkhar, as unwise as it might be.
Jack said, "I don't believe I've introduced myself properly, either. My name is Jack Goldenkey, originally from Scalyr."
"Goldenkey?" Rachel said. "They're one of the wealthiest of the human merchant noble houses..."
Telkarnith smirked. "Going to start trying to hit on him instead of me, then?"
"Well..." Rachel said thoughtfully.
"I'm not looking," Jack said with a smirk.
"Rachel, would you go ask Thalayal to see about getting lunch ready?" Helkhar said.
"Hmph. Alright, then." Rachel stormed out of the room.
"What was that about?" Helkhar asked.
"I have no idea. She's weird." Telkarnith shrugged.
Jack chuckled softly. "The joys of noble life? You see why I spend all my time hunting monsters rather than hanging around my house?"
"You have a point there," Telkarnith said.
"So, you really could have killed me without me ever noticing you?" Helkhar said.
"That's what crossbows are for," Jack said. "You don't mind if I, you know examine you a bit, try to learn a few things? I've never actually had a chance to get an up-close look at a werewolf who wasn't trying to gnaw my face off before. And I've already seen quite clearly that some of what I thought I knew was wrong. You obviously don't have hairy palms or a unibrow."
"Well, alright," Helkhar said. "But can it wait until after lunch? I'm starved."
Jack nodded. "I want you to tell me everything you can remember about that night."
"Well," Helkhar said. "I was feeling uneasy and restless, and couldn't sleep. I went outside for a bit, and I smelled something wrong. Like something that had been dead for a while and was starting to rot. I heard dogs outside, barking and howling incessantly. They sounded distressed by something."
Telkarnith added, "My shaman friend thought it was a chupacabra, whatever that is."
"I'm not discounting it, at this point," Jack said with a shrug. "But you know the number one reason why I know you didn't do it? There were more deaths. Even months after you were driven out of town. The people in Port Fins were too panicked about it to think reasonably and kept blaming them on roving packs of werewolves. They insisted that you'd gone and rallied entire packs of monsters against them."
"And we haven't even been back there at all," Helkhar said, frowning. "I hope too many people haven't been hurt."
"Do you know anything else about what has been happening in Port Fins?" Telkarnith asked.
"Precious little," Jack said. "Rumors that have trickled out, and what they've told any travellers they didn't like trying to get in. I haven't been able to go in and do more investigating. They've let in very few even merchants - usually just bought their goods at the border and took them the rest of the way themselves. Tanivalis doesn't want to deal with the rest of Kalor at the moment."
"They can't possibly patrol the entire border," Telkarnith said. "Sure, there's a few major passes that they can watch over coming in, but you could still cross over almost anywhere, never mind leagues of coastline you could land on."
"And that's made them only all the more paranoid," Jack said. "The monsters had to get in from somewhere, right?" He snorted softly. "They never stop to consider that the monsters might already have been in their midst."
Rachel came back into the parlor carrying a tray full of sandwiches and more tea, and said brightly, "Lunch is served." Telkarnith wondered at the sudden mood shift, but didn't feel like saying anything and inviting more trouble.
"What, that's it?" Helkhar said, looking at the measly little sandwiches.
"Telkarnith said 'lunch', not 'nine-course banquet'," Rachel said, sitting down and inviting herself to join them. "A pleasure to meet you, sir. My name is Rachel Cor."
"I'm still not looking," Jack replied.
"Oh, far be it from me to be so crass," Rachel said lightly. "I'm not that kind of girl."
Jack sighed softly and rolled his eyes, and turned his attention back toward Telkarnith and Helkhar. "It would help to find a way back into Port Fins to find out what's really going on in there. I had hoped you might be able to tell me something of use, but this winds up only bringing out more questions."
"Port Fins has shut their gates?" Rachel said, raising an eyebrow.
Jack nodded. "No outsiders are being allowed inside."
"How do they know who's an outsider and who's not?" Helkhar wondered.
"You know, that's a good question," Jack said. "They didn't ask me for any papers or anything. But I haven't heard of them keeping people from leaving."
"It's the gloves," Rachel said smugly.
The others all turned to look at her.
"What?" Rachel said. "Didn't you ever notice that everyone from Port Fins seems to wear gloves all the time, whether or not they're in Port Fins at the time?"
"I wasn't really paying that much attention to what they were wearing," Telkarnith said.
"Hmph. Men." Rachel sniffed. "You think you know all about fighting and killing, but you know nothing about blending in and making yourself seem to belong where you don't. And you never pay attention."
"Is it really that obvious?" Telkarnith said.
"Well, I thought it was, anyway," Rachel said. "They're big about covering up every bit of skin they can, even in the summer. Prudish sorts."
Jack frowned thoughtfully. "Well, if you're such an expert in disguise and subterfuge, Rachel Cor, you think you can get me into Port Fins?"
"Us, you mean," Telkarnith put in.
Jack rolled his eyes. "Sorry, I work alone, and I don't need to be babysitting youngsters with delusions of grandeur, either."
"Aww," Helkhar said. "But I want to go, too!"
"I'm sure we can be useful," Telkarnith said. "I'd love to know what's going on, myself... and I'm dying to get out of this house. Besides, didn't you want to learn more about werewolves?"
Jack sighed. "There's going to be trouble, you know. You could all wind up killed. There may well be vampires involved somehow, and that's always bad news."
"I'm willing to risk it," Telkarnith said. "And I am trained as a shaman. Those abilities might come in useful as well."
"Fine then. You, me, the werewolf, and the mistress of disguise here," Jack said. "I'm not worried about her. She seems to be able to take care of herself."
As if sensing that they were discussing going somewhere without her, Donna appeared at the parlor door. "Ah, we have company?" she asked. "What's going on here? Did I overhear mention of going somewhere?"
"You're not going anywhere, Donna," Telkarnith said, giving her a hard look. "Definitely not until that baby is born. That's non-negotiable, so don't even think about it."
Donna sighed, but didn't argue. "Fine, fine. But don't even look sideways at that floozy," she said, pointedly avoiding looking at Rachel. "And would you bring me back some korlag cake?"
"Having cravings again?" Telkarnith said with a smirk. "Fine, if all works out, I'll bring you all the korlag you want."
Donna said, "You do that." She headed out of the room again.
"So," Telkarnith said, turning to Jack, "when do we leave?"
"You know, Telkarnith," Jack said, looking across the campfire at him and poking it with a stick. "I haven't known many elven nobles who kept human mistresses."
Telkarnith groaned softly and said, "Was it that obvious?" He didn't really want that to become public knowledge, anymore than it already had. It was probably too late for that anyway, though.
Jack snickered softly. "Don't get me wrong, it's not like I actually care or anything, I'm just a little surprised, is all. Most elf nobles I've known still think of humans as children who need to be taught and guided."
"I never thought that," Telkarnith replied.
Helkhar was off hunting down some fresh meat for them (although mostly for himself), and Rachel was inside the cart working on their disguises still. It felt weird traveling with an actual cart and horses for once, but they were trying to play the part of merchants from Port Fins returning home with goods. It meant for slower traveling, though. They had barely made it across the Rhetain Mountains and into southern Flyland after a week of travel. Telkarnith was glad that the horses bred on his ranch didn't seem bothered by Helkhar's presence. Most other horses seemed terrified of him.
Telkarnith thought he heard movement from the foliage, and turned to look, expecting to see Helkhar back with dinner. But instead, he found their camp surrounded by unkempt men with weapons.
"Look what we have here, boys," said one of them. He had nicer clothing and a nice-looking sword and chainmail, so he might have been their leader. "A merchant noble caravan without enough guards. It's unfortunate. These are dangerous parts, you know. Anything might happen to you, and no one would be the wiser. I suggest handing over a bit of coin for your own protection."
Telkarnith stared at them for a long moment, hand drifting to his sword hilt. "What, you're not seriously attempting to rob us, are you?" He hoped that Jack would back him up here.
"Of course not," said the bandit leader. "We're simple tax collectors. Now hand over your safety tax, or we won't be able to guarantee your continued safety."
"How about 'no'?" Telkarnith said impatiently.
"Well, that's unfortunate," said the leader. "Because as you might have noticed, there's only two of you and six of us."
Telkarnith drew his sword and said, "It would be unfortunate were anything to happen to you, because no one's going to miss a bunch of bandits."
"Hah," said the leader, lunging at him with his sword.
Jack was behind him with his own sword. The man was a skilled fighter, and Telkarnith noticed that now his own skills far outshone those of their adversaries. The spirit of his ancestor inside the blade was not commenting on his foolishness this time. Telkarnith hadn't quite trusted Jack and had been worried about fighting alongside him, but the hunter had his back and didn't let him down.
After Telkarnith sliced halfway through their leader's neck, the bandits quickly realized that they were outmatched. This didn't save them, however. The one survivor who tried to flee ran face-first into a wall of fur and muscle. He screamed in terror as Helkhar knocked him aside into a tree. Bones crunched and the tree shuddered, a couple fruits plopping to the ground beside the body.
Rachel climbed out of the cart and looked around at their bloody handiwork. "Tsk, what a mess. Helkhar, did you bring dinner?"
"Uh-huh," Helkhar said, nodding and changing back into human form. He dragged in a large deer. "I get the good bits, right?"
"Of course," Rachel said. "Nobody else wants the internal organs. Could you boys make yourselves useful and clean up these bodies while I get dinner ready?"
Rachel set in to casually cleaning and butchering the deer. Telkarnith shrugged and helped move the bodies away from their campsite. Jack checked the bandits' belongings and dug out some coins and jewelry from their clothing.
"Looks like we weren't the first ones they tried to rob recently," Jack commented.
"Is that silver?" Helkhar said, glancing over. "Sheesh. Good thing they didn't try beating me to death with women's earrings." He pouted a bit, and added, "But I almost missed out on the fun entirely! You could have at least waited for me." He grinned broadly.
"Sorry," Telkarnith said lightly. "Next time I'll tell the people trying to skewer us and take our stuff to please wait a few minutes for our large, hairy friend to come back so he can bash their heads in."
"So," Jack said, pocketing the valuables and turning to Helkhar. "You can change form at will?"
"Uh-huh," Helkhar said. "Though certain phases of the moon make me want to change more."
"Certain phases? You mean when the moons are full?"
"No," Helkhar said. "When Halladan is new, or when Thondorron is half. Those were the moons I was born under and made my first change under."
"Huh," Jack said. "Interesting."
They returned to camp, where Rachel had neatly set aside the "good bits" for Helkhar and was busy roasting the rest of the meat. Helkhar cheerfully sat down to munch on his bonus portion raw.
"You know," Jack said, "I'd be more worried if I didn't know that was a deer."
They reached the primary pass from Flyland into Tanivalis in another two weeks. A hastily erected border outpost stood in the pass, and some other travelers were using it as a makeshift way stop, especially as it appeared that this group would be heading back the way they came.
Telkarnith and his party were donned up in the latest Port Fins fashions that Rachel had carefully concocted. To hide his ears, she'd given Telkarnith a ridiculous foppish purple hat with a large plume in it. He felt ridiculous in it.
"Let me do the talking," Rachel murmured to them as they approached the waypoint.
Some grim-looking guards approached their little caravan and said, "Please halt for inspection before proceeding into Tanivalis."
"Of course," Rachel said. "I hope this doesn't take too long. We've had a long journey and are eager to get home."
"Don't worry, ma'am," the guard captain said. "This will only take a moment. Although I might caution you that you may want to remain in Port Fins once you arrive there. Times may be getting rough for us in the near future, and you wouldn't want to be caught somewhere unpleasant during that. May we check what's in your cart?"
"Certainly," Rachel said. "Go right ahead. Just trade goods, straight from Hrackston."
The guards went over and poked through their cart a bit, and after a cursory inspection, seemed satisfied that their trade was legitimate. "Alright, everything checks out here," said the captain. "Go on through. Good journey."
As they led the horses on through, a merchant from the other caravan called out, "Hey! Why do they get to go through and we don't?"
The guard captain said, "Cool your horses. They're just Tanivalis natives coming home. Now, do you want us to pay for your goods and send you on your way, or just turn you back empty-handed with a full cart?"
The merchants continued to grumble as Telkarnith and his group went past, but that silenced the louder protests. They made their way through the pass and into the valley of Tanivalis without further incident.
Once safely well away from the outpost, Telkarnith said, "That went better than I thought it would."
Rachel chuckled. "It's all about playing into expectations. People see what they want to see. You just have to make sure that they want to see what you want them to see."
They arrived at the gates to Port Fins a week later, which appeared to be much more heavily guarded than the mountain pass. It stood to reason, as there was only so much one could feasibly put on the border and still not be able to control everyone coming in, but the city itself may as well be preparing for a siege.
"Please halt for inspection," said the guards at the gate.
Rachel sighed. "Is this going to take long? I want to get home already."
The guards came over and looked through their cart, but one of them gave a long look at Telkarnith. He shifted nervously, trying to look nonchalant. It wouldn't do to blow their cover so close to Port Fins.
"Which one of you is in charge here?" the guard asked them.
"I am," Rachel said.
"I'd rather speak with your husband or brother, woman," the guard said, snorting.
"That would be me," Helkhar piped up, stepping into role without missing a beat. "But I would prefer if you did not speak to my wife in that tone of voice. She's the best merchant I've ever known, whatever you might think."
The guard sighed, and said, "Fine. My apologies. Can I get your names?"
"I'm Henry Stark," Helkhar said. "This is my wife, Rachel, and my cousin Thomas. And our hired man, John Black."
The guard mulled over this for a moment, then went over and plucked off Telkarnith's hat with a gloved hand, revealing his pointed ears.
"Hey!" Telkarnith exclaimed.
"Henry, your 'cousin' here is an elf," the guard said.
Henry rolled his eyes. "Half-elf, technically. My uncle had a thing for the elf girls. Drove Grandma nuts."
The guard shoved the hat back at Telkarnith, and muttered, "Too damned common of a thing lately, if you ask me. We teppers should keep the blood pure, I say. Not dilute it with human or elf or what-have-you."
"I agree completely," Henry said, sighing long-sufferingly. "But I'm still not going to disown him over it or anything, even if he is a mongrel. The poor guy's embarrassed enough about it as it is."
Telkarnith pulled the hat back on his head, doing his best to look embarrassed.
"Alright, alright," the guard said, shaking his head a bit. "Everything else seems to check out. You're free to enter the city."
They headed on through the gates, Rachel muttering, "Finally. And do we really have to drag your doof of a cousin along everywhere, Henry?"
So far so good. They'd gotten in the city, at least. First things first, they went and found a merchant to sell off their cart and trade goods to. All that junk was legitimate, at least. Once that was taken care of, Rachel pulled them aside to a quiet area to speak in.
"We're probably going to need a place to stay while we investigate," Rachel said.
"Can't we just stay at an inn?" Telkarnith asked.
"They've cut off all travel, though," Rachel said. "That'd look awfully suspicious."
"Why would it have to?" Helkhar asked. "I've got an idea. Just trust me and follow my lead, okay?"
"Lead on," Rachel said, giving him a bit of an amused look and a slight grin.
Helkhar led them off to a nearby inn, a somewhat seedy looking establishment, if not completely rundown. The common room was empty, without even any sign of whoever might run the place.
"Hallo?" Helkhar called out. "Anyone home?"
There came sounds of grumbling from the next room, and after a minute, a man looking at least half-drunk stumbled through the door. "What is it? What do you want?" he slurred.
"I'm sorry," Helkhar said. "Is this establishment closed at the moment?"
"Hardly gotten any customers since they closed the gates," the man said. "Business is terrible. At least I still get the occasional people coming in for food and drinks with their friends, but it's too early for that. You people looking for lunch?"
"Yeah, lunch sounds good," Helkhar said. "Also, I was looking to book a room for the night. On the quiet, you know... we've got some stuff planned, don't want the missus finding out about it, do we?" He grinned slyly.
"Hah, you're a lifesaver," the man said, laughing uproarously. "Yeah, I'll take your coin and keep it quiet, she won't hear about it from me! The place is empty - the only places getting any business are down at the docks, and my place is too far for them to bother with. They're letting in some of the Unarians, but not anybody else."
"Why are they letting in the Unarians?" Telkarnith asked.
"Damned if I know," the innkeeper said. "Money or politics, I don't know which, don't really care, either. Anyway, I'll see about digging up some grub for you people. What would you like?"
"Whatever you've got, and plenty of it, on me," Helkhar said with a grin. "And don't go shy on the meat, either."
Helkhar handed the man some money. The four of them took a seat at a table to wait for the innkeeper to bring out their food, and Telkarnith commented, "This was all just a ploy to get you lunch, wasn't it."
Helkhar giggled and said, "Uh-huh, uh-huh."
Telkarnith was amazed at how far Helkhar had come from the awkward young werewolf who had visited Port Fins before. He had proven to be quite the quick learner - especially when learning things that would lead to food.
After eating a hearty meal, they went upstairs to talk in private. Jack said, "I'd like to do some investigating on my own. You three should try to stay out of trouble in the meantime."
"I'm sure we can manage to dig up some information ourselves," Telkarnith said.
Jack snorted. "You, Telkarnith, are about as subtle as a rampaging minotaur. I work best alone, and one person can get into places three or four couldn't. Feel free to poke around yourselves if you like, but do please try not to get anyone trying to kill me in the process, will you?"
"Hey, contrary to what some here might think, I am not a complete bumbling fool," Telkarnith said with a smirk.
"Only a partial bumbling fool," Rachel quipped. "Anyway, I'm going to go take a look around on my own as well. I know quite well how to be invisible in plain sight, and I might spot something you'd miss. Telkarnith, if you really want to go out yourself, please stick with Helkhar and listen to his advice."
Telkarnith stared at her, practically gaping. "You- wait- hey!" Helkhar giggled.
"Unless it involves meat," Rachel quickly added.
"Aww," Helkhar said. "I can be subtle and eat meat, too!"
"Just be careful," Rachel said. "They're extra-paranoid about werewolves at the moment. You don't want to be run out of town with torches and silver spoons again."
"Right," Helkhar said.
The four of them headed off out of the inn later that afternoon and split up, heading off in separate directions and vanishing into the crowds. Telkarnith muttered under his breath, "I still hate this hat."
Between his shaman senses and Helkhar's wolf senses, Telkarnith hoped that they might be able to pick up something that might be out of the ordinary around here. At the moment, however, he was still wondering what in the world the Unarians were doing here if the people of Tanivalis were keeping out all other outsiders.
"Let's head down to the docks," Telkarnith said quietly aside to Helkhar. "We can pick up a bite to eat for dinner at one of the inns there."
The smell of salty air was strong down by the waterfront, but he couldn't shake the feeling of something being not quite right, almost as though someone were watching them. A medium-sized dog barked at them from an alleyway before running off into the shadows. They headed inside one of the inns, and found it boisterously crowded with sailors, most of them gloveless.
The two of them went up to the man behind the bar, who said, "Don't got any rooms for non-sailors. Can get you ale and supper if you want, though."
"That'll be fine," Telkarnith said.
"A nice plate of meat for me," Helkhar said. "Whatever kind you've got." He passed over some coins.
"Have a seat wherever you can find room. I'll be with you in a moment," the barkeep said.
All the tables in the common room were occupied, however, so they looked for empty seats at the end of one of the larger tables. The sailors were gambling over a card game further down the table.
"Hey," Helkhar said. "You people mind if we sit here? The place is packed."
"Heh," said one of the sailors, scoffing at them. "Landlubbers. Deal you boys in? Bet you don't have the skill or the luck to beat us."
"Well, if you like, but I'm afraid I don't know how to play," Helkhar admitted.
"Bah, poker's easy," said the sailor. He gave a quick rundown of the rules.
"I think I've got it," Helkhar said. "Go ahead, deal in me and my cousin." He pulled a coin out of his pocket and tossed it in the pile.
The dealer flicked some cards at them. Telkarnith looked at his. Nothing good. His complete lack of poker face must have been obvious, as the sailors were sniggering at him. The barkeep came by and sat down mugs of ale for them, and said, "Your dinner will be along shortly."
Helkhar looked at his cards, then leaned over to Telkarnith and showed them to him, and said, "Are these good?"
Telkarnith's eyes widened a bit. Two men across the table promptly folded. Helkhar looked over at them in confusion. "Okay, maybe I don't quite get this game yet." He smirked.
Their food arrived, and they played a few more hands. Helkhar caught on quickly enough once he figured out the rules, and figured out not to ask Telkarnith to help. Telkarnith, for his part, proceeded to lose every single hand. Helkhar seemed a natural at bluffing, however, and started winning enough for the both of them.
"You're better at this than I gave you credit for, son," a sailor said. "Don't often see the landlubbers willing to go head to head with us sailors."
"What makes you think I'm a landlubber?" Helkhar asked.
The sailor laughed. "It's pretty obvious. I bet you've never even been on a ship in your life."
"Well, no, you're right, I haven't," Helkhar said. "You don't find it scary to be surrounded by all that water?"
"Heh. It's our life, is what it is. The name's Wesley, by the way."
"Henry," Helkhar said. "I'm surprised to see so many Unarians in town."
Wesley shrugged. "We come where we're told to. I don't get involved in politics."
"So who sent you here?" Helkhar asked.
"Eh," Wesley said. "Our orders come from the Duke of Westraldine. They've waived all tariffs for trade with Tanivalis. Port Fins is almost Unarian territory now. There's been talk of helping secure the city with a Unarian military presence."
"Really?" Helkhar said. "I'm sure we could certainly use the protection, what with all the nasty things going on lately."
"It'll be a beneficial arrangement all around," Wesley said. "From the sounds of things, Flyland's going to throw in their lot with Unar also. And best of all, I get paid. Another hand?"
"Sure."
The sun had set by the time they left the inn and headed back out onto the streets again. "We should probably head back," Telkarnith said. "The others are likely waiting for us." He lowered his voice and said, "Is something wrong?"
"Something smells funny," Helkhar said. "Can't you at least sense it?"
Telkarnith looked around. He certainly felt something not quite right, although he couldn't put his finger on it. An almost palpable presence of evil. "Yeah..." he murmured. "Let's hurry up."
Around them, there were the sounds of dogs barking and snarling in the near distance, and coming closer. The street seemed suddenly very empty aside from the two of them. They didn't get far. Dogs leaped out of the shadows, growling and snapping at them. An entire pack of large, vicious dogs was upon them in moments.
Reflexively, Telkarnith drew his sword. "What the-"
Helkhar was behind him, huge and hairy, swatting away the dogs as best as he could. They were vicious things, perhaps rabid, and kept fighting until they couldn't move any longer. Telkarnith tried to make sure that none of them bit them, for fear of catching whatever might have infected them.
Once the dogs were down, Telkarnith peered about to make sure there weren't any others. "Why the hell did they attack us?" he wondered.
Helkhar, returning to human form, said, "I hope nobody saw that."
"Did any of them bite you?" Telkarnith said.
"Yeah, but not bad, it'll heal quick enough," Helkhar said.
"I hope they didn't infect you with anything," Telkarnith said, frowning. "Let's get back to the inn, before anything else leaps out at us."
"Good idea."
They hurried back to the inn, keeping an eye out for anything else that might look to attack them. If anyone noticed the fight in the alleyways or Helkhar's shapeshifting, they didn't seem immediately inclined to run them out of town. They got back to the inn without further incident. They slipped in the back way to avoid the common room, and headed up the stairs. Jack and Rachel were already in their room waiting for them.
"What happened?" Rachel demanded. "You didn't blow our cover, did you?"
"Your concern for our well-being is touching," Telkarnith said dryly. "We were attacked by a pack of rabid dogs." He described the encounter.
"Strange," Rachel said.
"Rabid dogs?" Jack said, frowning. "No, I think they were something much worse. Ghoul hounds." He pulled out his repeating crossbow and started fiddling with it and swapping out ammunition as he talked. "A little taste of vampire blood, and something becomes a ghoul. Bloodthirsty and enslaved to the vampire in question. Ghoul animals can be especially vicious."
Helkhar said, "I thought something smelled funny."
"So, wait a minute," Telkarnith said. "You don't suppose these ghoul dogs might have been responsible for the killing of the inn girl when we were here before, and the subsequent deaths, do you?"
"Entirely likely," Jack said. "Not knowing any better, people might have thought that werewolves were responsible." He looked over at Telkarnith. "You weren't followed back, were you?"
"I don't think so..." Telkarnith said, frowning.
"Not good enough," Jack said, shaking his head. "Always assume the worst. And I'm assuming that a vampire was watching you and sent his hounds upon you, then traced you the entire way back here. Get changed real quick, then let's go down to the common room for the moment. If they're trying to keep a low profile, they'd be less likely to try something in the midst of a crowd."
Telkarnith and Helkhar changed out of their torn clothing and into fresh garb. Thankfully, Rachel had prepared more than one set of clothes for each of them, just in case. Then the four of them headed downstairs. The common room wasn't as crowded as the one down by the docks had been, but there were at least a dozen people hanging around, drinking. They took a seat at an empty table in the corner and ordered some food and drink.
Their food had barely arrived before the door opened up to admit three men, who headed over toward the bar and ordered drinks. Telkarnith noticed something felt really wrong about them, especially the one in the middle. Most people's spirits felt vibrant and alive to some extent, but that one felt... dead. A perversion of life that should not be walking around.
"Don't stare," Jack said quietly. "Keep your head down. And whatever you do, do not look him in the eye."
"I think they've already noticed us," Helkhar said softly, burying his face in his food.
Telkarnith said, "Is that-"
Jack said, "Quiet. And I'd know that face even if I didn't suspect what he was. That's the monster who murdered my sister."
"Shit," Telkarnith whispered.
"I don't like this," Rachel murmured. "I'm leaving."
"Rachel, wait-" Telkarnith hissed. She ignored him and slipped out the door into the night.
The vampire casually approached their table, bracketed by his companions, and said to them, "Well, now, fancy meeting you here. I wasn't aware that they served dogs here now."
"You're awfully cocky for a bloodsucker," Jack said.
"Such cheek!" the vampire said. "Although I suppose I could not expect to converse like civilized beings with this sort of ilk. Are these people aware of just what they're harboring in their midst, hmm?"
Helkhar said lightly, "Probably not, otherwise they'd be trying to kill you, too."
The vampire chuckled. "It walks like a man, it speaks like a man, all the while trying to hide the animal underneath its skin. Most amusing."
Helkhar smirked. "I'd rather not sit here and pointlessly trade insults. What exactly do you want with me?"
"Direct and to the point," the vampire said. "Ah, the art of subtlety is lost on your kind. No matter. Allow me to introduce myself, if you will. My name is Morgan Windsor. Perhaps, rather than all this needless animosity, we can come to some sort of mutually beneficial arrangement, instead. I doubt that you would be willing to agree to such a thing, however. Your kind has never been known for being reasonable and civil."
"Perhaps not," Helkhar said. "Try me anyway. What do you want?"
"Oh, there is much that might be accomplished through cooperation. I could see to it that you're treated like a king, with all the bitches and food you could possibly desire, and all you'd need to do is handle a few small favors for me."
"I already have all that, thanks," Helkhar said with a smirk. "I've got a better proposal for you. You leave me and my pack alone, and I don't rip your damned face off."
"So crude," Morgan said, tsking and shaking his head. He turned away, clasping his gloved hands behind his back and stepping to pace toward the center of the room. Then there was a sound as Jack's crossbow fired, and a wooden bolt was suddenly jutting out of the vampire's back.
Morgan's startled companions, large, burly men themselves, quickly moved to protect him. Telkarnith drew his sword, thinking that they were going to be run out of town by an angry mob. Again. The common room erupted into chaos as half-drunk patrons alternately joined in the brawl, attempted to separate people, or tried to call the guards.
"Damned cocky son of a bitch," Jack spat, quickly firing a few more shots from his repeating crossbow at the vampire's men.
Telkarnith hoped that Helkhar would keep his head and stay in human form, but it was too late. The large, hairy wolf-man went over to the vampire's prone body and ripped his head from his shoulders. Between sword, crossbow, and werewolf, the crowd quickly thinned and decided that this fight wasn't one they were going to win. The ones who were still standing, anyway. The remaining patrons scattered.
"Good work, Helkhar," Jack said. "Let's see if there's anything decently flammable."
"This watered-down ale isn't going to burn very well," Telkarnith said dryly. "And I think it's a bit late to go back into the kitchen and ask if they have any garlic."
"See what you can find anyway, and hurry it up," Jack said, taking the moment's breather to reload his crossbow with fresh quarrels.
Telkarnith went back into the kitchen, and located a clove of garlic, some cooking oil, and a candlestick. Feeling a little ridiculous about it, he came back out into the common room and proceeded to shove the garlic into the mouth of the severed head and douse the body in oil, then ignited it. It wasn't particularly eager to burn, and Telkarnith muttered at the waste of time, all the while wanting to be as far away from this place as soon as possible.
"I think it's kind of, sort of burning now," Telkarnith said. "We don't exactly have time to burn this thing to ash or scatter the ashes in sunlight, either, you know. And do we even have holy water on us?"
"At least you were taking notes," Jack said. "Maybe we should take the body with us and destroy it properly when we're someplace safe."
"Great plan," Telkarnith muttered. "I'm surprised the guards aren't already here."
"Gather up the body and let's go," Jack said.
Helkhar said, "Guy was a bastard anyway."
They grabbed the body and headed outside. There was a commotion down the street as people with torches headed toward their location. "Here we go again," Telkarnith muttered. One of the horses was missing. Perhaps Rachel had already made good on her escape. Jack swung himself up on the other one, and they quickly secured the body behind him.
"Let's ride!" Helkhar said, shifting into wolf form.
Telkarnith didn't argue. He climbed up on Helkhar's back and they made a break for it. As they approached the city gates, however, they realized that the gates were securely closed.
"Aw, shit," Telkarnith said. "What are we going to-"
Helkhar didn't even pause. Telkarnith held on for dear life as he realized Helkhar was going to just keep running straight at the gate. He buried his face in Helkhar's fur as the huge wolf collided with the gate, sending wood splintering around them. Guards shouted futilely at them as they stormed past, and a couple arrows flew past their heads.
After a while, they managed to lose their pursuers in the woods, and continued on well past midnight to be sure that they were safe. They made camp and started up a fire, and rested.
Telkarnith sighed, leaning against a tree and watching the dead vampire finally burn properly. "I think that was less than helpful, all things considered," he commented. "Jack, what the hell were you doing, attacking him in the middle of the inn like that?"
"I prefer to take whatever opportunities present themselves," Jack said.
"Right," Telkarnith said. "So we've got confirmation. There was a vampire involved and screwing around with stuff."
"I doubt he was the only one," Helkhar said. "I get the feeling that there's more of them out there."
"Well, we've scored a major victory today, anyway," Jack said. "We took down a high-ranking monster."
"High-ranking?" Telkarnith said. "Hell no. Don't count him as being more important just because it was personal. Were you even paying attention? That guy was totally a toady. That was way too easy. And no one remotely high-ranking would strike at us so openly like that, exposing themselves in the process. That guy struck me as nothing but a young fool just playing at being a manipulative bastard."
Jack stared at him for a long moment, and then said, "Sadly, you're probably right. We'd best be cautious."
"I hope Rachel is alright," Telkarnith said. "Let's get this dead bloodsucker dealt with, and then get back to Wishingsdale as quick as we can. The others need to know about this."