Chapter 13

Fear and Loathing

Thaler was in a foul mood, even by his standards. His expression mirrored Hirad's own feelings nicely. They had been two more when they had reached Pont Vanis. Now Denser was dead and Sirendor alone. The spy had vanished immediately after their arrival, while they looked for quarters.

That part was easy enough. Regis had led them to a guesthouse off the Grand Canal, again run by someone who apparently knew him. They had been fed and given rooms, and when Hirad had wondered how Thaler would ever find them, the Temerian had been blown inside by a gust of cold wind that was matched by his glare.

'So I have two leads. The useless lump of an in-law left me the name of his private eye. I'll talk to him. And I'll look into the local crime scene. Apparently it's fallen into the hands of whatever organisation it is we are looking for. Not the Order of the Flaming Rose and not Salamandra. That's a good thing, but it leaves me clueless. We'll then …'

'We will do nothing,' Thraun said, his voice soft but determined. 'You will do nothing. You are paying us. You will let us do the work.'

The Unknown Warrior shrugged. 'He seems capable enough.'

'He's an old man,' Hirad said, following Thraun's thoughts. 'He may be a good spy, but there will be trouble. There has to be.'

'Underworld's tough to get into, as a rule,' Jandyr said. 'They're sceptical people. Leave that to the experts.' He glanced at Thraun and Will. 'Two of us should also see that investigator.'

'Erienne and I will go,' The Unknown said. 'I still think Thaler could be useful, especially talking to him.'

'No,' Thraun said. 'We tried that once. Having an employer with us. The employer ended up dead.'

'I don't respond too well to threats,' Thaler said.

Will looked at him. 'We can't babysit anyone on a job. Or find the time to gag someone who's freaking out. You want us to work for you? Then you'll have to accept our rules. You stay put, or we're out.'

'You don't all seem to think this is part of your rules.'

The Unknown gave Thaler a long look. 'It is now. I am not the only one who's allowed an opinion, you know. And if they are out, I am out. So their rules are my rules. Are we clear?'

'What about me?' asked Regis, his expression mildly amused. 'I was allowed on the graveyard, Thaler was allowed in the crypt. What changed?'

'Thaler had significant knowledge about where he was going, as opposed to us. Here, we're all clueless. We had no idea what we were looking for or up against. In hindsight, it was a mistake to let him go. But our two objectives are both things done best by only a very few. And those are Erienne and I on the one side and Thraun and Will on the other.'

'We'll go at once, Unknown. No better time to catch a thief than the dusk.'

'Have fun. In fact, I think now's a good time for our chat with Thaler's colleague, too.' He looked at Hirad. 'You two find out if we can get silver weapons somewhere.'

'You might want to talk to a fence,' Regis said. 'They're tough to come by, and I don't think my fence has any, but he might now where to get them. If I am allowed to escort you there, follow me. He isn't talking to strangers.'

'You're hardly an ordinary customer, Regis. I don't think the rule applies to you. Only to Shani and Thaler.'

'I was in the battle of Brenna, you know,' the medic said.

The Unknown ran a hand over his face. 'I am well aware that working in a military hospital is one hell of a dangerous job, and I really don't want to diminish the work done there. But it's hardly the same as asking to fight in the front ranks. If you want to be safe, you have to leave us altogether. You are our medic. Thaler our employer and a guide. You two stay safe. End of discussion.'

Ϡ

'I didn't think you'd come.'

Sirendor looked at Varilia, framed in the door. 'Me neither.'

She smiled and stepped aside, allowing him in. 'I know. Regis inspires trust. He does that. He asked me to find you if you didn't show up because he felt certain that you would want to help your friends from here.'

'I feel like the worst coward in the world. I should have gone with them.'

Varilia tutted. 'You should learn to face something that is not only out to kill you but to eat you alive.'

'Like you.'

'Not quite, Sirendor. Wine? Or something stronger? Vodka?'

He was going to decline, but then he nodded. 'Vodka, I think. Thanks.' He watched the vampire pour the clear liquid. She seemed young, but probably, she was a lot older than he was. 'I was thinking, perhaps I can try and infiltrate that organisation.'

'Hmm.' Varilia looked him up and down. 'I could help you do it. But you wouldn't last long. You would have to be prepared to commit heinous crimes, Sirendor, or you would blow your cover.'

He shook his head. 'Don't these people have agents? Service providers of some sort?'

'They always need equipment. Equipment can be found in the most curious places, if theft isn't your thing. Those curious places, however, are often crawling with what you call monsters. And as I understand it, you want to avoid those.'

Sirendor's eyes narrowed. 'I want to avoid them because I know when I'm outmatched! I need to learn to fight them. Regis said you could teach me.'

'I can. What is your weapon of choice?'

'Sword. With or without a shield.'

'If without a shield, can you work with a dagger?'

'Yes.'

Her smile widened. 'I haven't got the means to come by a silver sword. A silver dagger is possible.'

'Hardly something I'd choose against something that can crush me in one fist.'

'Oh, you will learn.' Her smile turned into a grin that revealed her teeth. 'Trust me.'

Ϡ

The Unknown sighed. One last time, he knocked the door to the place one Marcos Delar inhabited. 'Erienne, please,' he said after almost a minute.

'Certainly.

He stepped aside and waited for her spell to blast the wooden door inside. The Unknown entered before the mage, finding a thin, aging man pressed against a wall. 'Robbers! Help!' His voice was feeble and a wet stain was quickly forming in his middle.

'You won't die today,' The Unknown informed him. 'We're just here to talk.'

'You … you …' He looked down on himself.

'Go and change. We'll wait here. All we want is to ask you a few questions.' Erienne's voice was soothing, the kind she might use with a frightened child.

'He could try and run,' The Unknown pointed out.

'I doubt that he can. These buildings don't have more than one good exit.'

'Go, then.'

They didn't have to wait long before the man returned, certainly cleaner and seemingly calmer. 'Marcos Delar?' The Unknown asked, and the figure nodded. 'Somehow I would have expected an investigator to scare less easily.'

'You got no idea. I know who you're looking for because I got a warning, and I backed out of that job for a good reason. I don't want to die.'

Erienne smiled. To The Unknown it was painfully obvious that she didn't feel like it, but the stranger bought it. 'Just tell us what you found out. We're not asking you to learn more or go after them.'

'Wh… what d'you know already?'

The Unknown planted himself on a chair. 'Precious little. That all crime here is organised, that the head is illusive. And that you are supposed to have at least some information.'

'N…not much, mostly history.'

'Of the criminal organisation? We know that. It came into being when the Balaians arrived.'

'Everyone knows that.' Delar was visibly more relaxed now that he seemed to believe his visitors didn't intend to murder him. 'But I know a bit more. Their first leader, he died a short time after they were founded. The new one, they say, is completely insane. He stepped up … let me think … a short time before Carduin threw his horrible feast.'

Erienne raised her hands. 'Marcos, we only just arrived in Lan Exeter. Who did what?'

He gave her a long look. 'Carduin is our mage. And he killed a dragon. I don't think that he did much more than stand aside and yell how to do it, but there you are. A bunch of sorcerers decided to get rid of a dragon that nested nearby. Killed a good few of our flock and the people were nervous. Personally, I don't know. Seemed excessive. But ever since Thanedd Carduin was odd.'

The Unknown and Erienne exchanged a glance. Only parts of what Delar said made any sense to them, and they doubted it had anything to do with their criminals. The Unknown told him as much.

Delar shook his head. 'No, just the timing. We'd thought with the leader dead, the nutters would vanish. And in the middle of Carduin's feast celebrating the defeat of the dragon … mind you, they killed more livestock for that feast than the dragon did in all the time it was there. Anyway, they came. With their new leader. Young guy, half a kid, yelling about how we were all harbouring murderers. Meaning the mages. They killed three of them. And a lot of non-humans, too.

'Carduin survived, but only just. Badly wounded he got. They knew how to kill mages. Some kept hollering at each other in Balaian, that's why we knew they were them. Terrible lot. Not the Balaians, not all of them, but these.'

'I suppose you don't think all non-humans must die, then?' The Unknown asked.

Delar made a face. 'Rubbish. They just want to be left alone, most of the time. Like dragons.'

Erienne leaned forwards. 'Can you tell us anything else? Do you know their leader's name?'

'Or at least that of their organisation,' The Unknown suggested.

Delar looked at him. 'I know the old one. Blackwings. But they changed it with the new leader. I am not sure to what. Presumably, they recognise each other with some sign. The old ones have a tattoo. Seen it on a corpse once, even. The younger ones carry something on their person, some sort of token. But I don't know what.' He shrugged. 'The name of their leaders … no idea. I tried to find that out, but when I thought I got close enough I got a very clear message that I wasn't supposed to meddle.'

He didn't want to know, but The Unknown asked anyway. 'What message?'

Delar gave him another lingering look. 'The kind you have to bury.'

Ϡ

Hirad looked at the weapon with undisguised scepticism. He ran a finger over the blade and shrugged. 'Small.'

Regis took it from him and tested its point. 'Silver swords usually are. And if you try to fight a human you'll find that the blade dulls incredibly fast. But some monsters will go down if you whack its side against their faces. Assuming they have faces.'

Hirad managed to refrain from asking why he could handle the thing, then. Again, the vampire was making a point to demonstrate his superiority. It was either an act, or he really had no fear. He'd find out eventually. 'You said he wouldn't have any.'

'Yes, I did.' Regis tore his eyes from the blade to the fence. 'Incidentally, how did you come by it?'

'The usual way. Someone sold it to me, and I didn't ask any questions.' Hirad didn't like the man. He was fat and wore at least one golden ring on each finger. And he had an air of aloofness that the barbarian didn't care about one bit. 'Now I have an appointment with a few friends a little later, and I would like to be alone when they arrive. You can come back tomorrow.'

Regis handed the sword back to the fence. 'Of course. We will need more of these. Three more, to be precise.'

'Are you bringing witchers, Regis?'

Hirad folded his arms and stepped closer to the fat man. 'No. He's equipping us. Us being The Raven. Heard of us?'

The fat man blanched. His speech had revealed him to be a Balaian, and since he wasn't that young, he had to know who they were. Why that thought frightened him was a different question.

Regis blinked at him. 'Was that really wise?'

He shrugged. 'We're not trying to hide who we are. We have no reason. We also have no reason to refuse telling people our names.' He crowded the fence even more. 'Why we need equipment is none of your business. I don't care how you get it, I suppose it's better for you if I don't know. Just get what we need. We'll be back.'

They met back at the inn in somewhat better spirits. The information the investigator had was better than nothing, and Thraun and Will had picked someone they would follow the next day. Apparently the woman distracted her victims with her female attributes, vanishing from time to time to stash what she had taken. Before leaving, Will stolen her loot from the cache, watching from a distance how she freaked out over her loss. 'You going to return the stuff to her?' Erienne asked, sifting through a significant pile on the table.

'If she's nice,' the little man said.

'She was quite nice to her victims,' Thraun said.

Will grinned. 'Shame that doesn't work on me. But yeah, I'll give it back. Haven't you heard of honour among thieves? We'll do the same again tomorrow and when she starts getting frantic we'll be very kind and offer our help.' He scratched his head. 'I'm not sure if she's so clumsy or if I'm so good. Bit of both perhaps.

'Perhaps she wasn't too cautious because there's no need,' The Unknown said. 'Our investigator wouldn't touch that nameless organisation. If the guards won't either, and if all petty criminals work for them, she doesn't have to watch out where her stuff goes.' He looked at them all. 'But I also think the time for doing things separately has come and gone. Will, do what you did today again tomorrow, but don't leave alone with her. We'll all go. We don't know how many people are there to take her loot, nor do we know their skill. Better safe than sorry. Regis … can you handle your fence if he tries anything? He might get himself a bodyguard after Hirad's threats.'

'I never threatened anyone,' Hirad said.

'I know how you don't threaten. It's more frightening than a horde of Destranas, your not threatening.'

Regis chuckled. 'City dwellers don't seem to be a brave bunch. To answer your question, he may try and hire help. But it'll take more than a bunch of low-lives to hurt me. I'll get your weapons. Don't worry about me.'