Lounges filled the room with soft satins and fluffy cushions atop them, stained with bright dyes. Lexi and Earon seated themselves, and despite not asking for it, Moon-fairy brought chilled tea and sweet, powered jellies atop a silver tray.

“You didn’t have to,” Lexi said.

“I do every day and for people, I like far less than you,” Moon-fairy said with a dismissive wave as she exited the room.

“Seems like you got some fans.”

Lexi shrugged, “we’ve all been through the same rubbish. So, we tend to look out for each other.”

“Makes sense.”

A silky curtain brushed forward and three women dressed in revealing silken robes and covered in jewelry came through it.

“Lexi!” One of them said, extending her arms and rushing toward Lexi. “You never said you were visiting!”

“It just came up, Hannah” Lexi squeaked from the tight grip wrapped around her.

“Well, I'm glad it did,” Hannah said, releasing her grasp and turning a raised brow on Earon. “And he is? Not someone special, is he?”

“What, no,” Lexi shook her head. “He’s a friend, we’re working on a bounty together!” Lexi proudly bobbed her head.

“A bounty, you?” Hannah’s thick, red lips curved into a cheeky grin. “You really are full of surprises, little Lexi.”

The two other girls returned to work shortly after, whilst Hannah joined the duo, and they sat around the cushioned lounges.

“So, this is the guy that crushed those poor guards?” Hannah frowned. “I’ve heard of him.”

“And?” Earon inched forward.

“Look, I'm not sure I'm the best person to be asking. But since you’re with Lexi, I’ll do my best.” Hannah’s eyes glanced over to Lexi’s. “We had a few clients, mostly guards complaining about this guy before all this happened. He was a bit of a menace around here. Getting into arguments with guards, always trying to bargain with the merchants. And look, everyone does that around here, but the way he did it, it was insulting. From my understanding, he had only been in town a couple months and half the merchants in the lower city had barred him entry to their stores.” Hannah shook her head. “That’s not easy to achieve. Everyone here is trying to scrape together as many customers as they can.”

“So, you think it was related to an argument between the magician and a merchant?” Earon said.

“Perhaps,” Hannah shrugged. “But nobody liked the guy. Tildor down at the Spirited Griffen was charging him double for ale. And even then, he didn’t like the guy’s business.”

“You seem to know a lot about him.”

Hannah smiled at Earon. “I know a lot about everyone who makes a name for themselves around here, that’s why Lexi brought you here. There is something though.” Hannah glanced around and lowered her voice. “This stays between us, okay?”

Lexi and Earon nodded.

“He had been seen with a knight; Sir Andreas, I believe. He’s an influential guy and not the type you normally see around here. People are chalking up the guard’s lack of interest to those killed, being foreigners, but I don’t think that’s it. You don’t just crush half a dozen people to death in broad daylight, and get away with it. I don’t care who they were. Someone doesn’t want this magician being brought to justice, and if I had to guess where to start, I’d say, Sir Andreas is the answer.”

Earon stared off into the distance as they walked from the gentleman’s house. Hannah hadn’t been able to offer much more information besides her hunches, but it had made everything more complicated. No wonder Najan had said five silvers wasn't enough for the job.

“What are you thinking about, Earon?” Lexi glanced over.

“That this job just got a whole lot more complicated.” Earon sighed. “Having to beat a trained magician was bad enough, now it seems we’re investigating some kind of conspiracy.”

“Stupid Najan,” Lexi scowled. “He would’ve known this.”

“How are we meant to get close to a knight? And even if we do, it's not as if he’ll just tell us what we want to know. Especially if he is involved somehow.”

Lexi scratched at her chin. “No, you’re right. We’re not going to get anywhere trying to interrogate a knight. But if he’s been seen in the lower quarter, then that means he must come down here, right? What if we were to follow him?”

“And if he sees us?”

Lexi’s eyes glanced up and down Earon. “Well, perhaps this would be a better job for me?”

Earon gritted his teeth. He didn’t particularly like the idea of getting Lexi to do the work for him but couldn’t think of a better plan.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Night had fallen on the bustling city whilst Earon sat at a table beside an open window of the Spirited Griffen. The tavern was the only place known to be frequented by the magician known as Bigger, and so, they had agreed that Earon would wait there for Lexi; under the assumption that Sir Andreas might lead her there.

Earon’s fingers tapped against the table, a pitcher of rose tea at his side and a waterpipe at the table’s center. A few drunkards had looked at him funny when ordering the tea, but he wasn’t about to compromise his job by consuming alcohol.

Come on Lexi, where are you?

Neither knew how long it might take to track the knight to the lower quarter, but it was agreed that Lexi would return to the tavern if she wasn’t having any luck. That was several hours ago, and Earon’s foot had begun to tap nervously.

“Psst.”

Earon glanced around. Only hunched over patrons with tightly held flagons surrounded him.

“Down here.”

Earon looked down, it was Lexi, pushed up against the central leg of a nearby table.

“How?” Earon mouthed.

Lexi raised a finger against her lips and nudged her head to the side.

Earon looked up. Standing beside the tavern counter was a figure entirely shrouded by a heavy robe. Narrowing his eyes, Earon noticed the slightest of glimmers beneath the figure’s cloak.

Steel.

The figure was armored beneath their robes.

Earon turned back to Lexi and nodded.

He tried his best to act natural, forcing himself to stare past the hooded figure when he did try to catch a glance.

Several minutes went by as they waited, and Earon’s heart pounded with anticipation the entire time.

Earon didn’t even see the second figure enter the tavern and wasn’t sure how long he had been there before he slid over to the hooded man. Both wore robes and were hooded, but the second to arrive looked markedly disheveled. His robes were torn in several places and dirtied.

Neither looked at the other, and Earon couldn’t hear a word, but he could make out the slightest of lips movements under their cowls.

They were being discrete, but they were definitely talking to one another.

A few minutes later, the hooded figure Earon believed to be the knight, silently left the tavern. A minute later, the second figure did the same, save through the rear entrance.

Earon glanced down at Lexi, nodded, and followed after the second figure.

Outside, the figure’s pace had quickened, and Earon was forced to forgo what little stealth he had to keep pace.

Whilst lights filled many homes and establishments, few still walked the streets at this hour, and Earon couldn’t help but feel brazen as he basically ran after the figure.

They turned down one alley, then another, crossing a courtyard, then across a street and into the grounds of an empty warehouse.

Earon had let his thoughts wander as he dashed after the figure, and almost didn’t realize that the figure had halted under the moonlight, at the center of the storage grounds for the nearby warehouses.

“Think I didn’t notice?”

Earon froze.

“There are perks to working with knights, but their methods can get so boring.”

Was he talking to Earon?

The figure turned and dropped its cowl. A youngish man with short dark hair and a beard narrowed his focus on Earon.

“Do you know why they call me Bigger?”

A tremor raced through Earon's body and his lip quivered.

“No answer?” Bigger cracked his neck to the side. “It’s really quite simple.” The magician’s hands weaved through the air and some words escaped his lips.

Timber creaked and groaned, stealing Earon’s attention and forcing him to look above his head, where a metal wheel that sat at the top of a timber beam, as part of a lever used by the warehouse had grown several times its size.

“Shit!”

Earon dove into a roll as the timber snapped and the oversized wheel smashed into the ground, digging itself into the dirt where he had just been standing. Chains thrashed as the wheel fell, with one whipping up dirt inches from Earon’s face.

Before he was even on his feet, Bigger was charging forward.

“Shit!”

Earon clambered and stumbled into a run, almost falling over several times as he forced one foot in front of the other.

“Too slow,” Bigger teased.

Earon skidded to a halt as the arching, iron frame that hung over the entrance to the storage yard expanded in seconds and crashed to the ground in front of him.

He turned to see Bigger’s seemingly empty hand extending over his head.

Earon’s eyes widened as sparks crackled and a giant club expanded before his eyes.

A rock bounced off the side of Bigger’s head and Earon rolled to the side as the club came crashing down a second later.

“Who dares?” Bigger screamed as he spun around.

Lexi stood several meters away, jaw agape with a handful of stones in her hand.

“I’ll kill you for that,” Bigger stomped forward, glaring at Lexi with hate in his eyes.

His hands began to wave through the air once more as he spoke his magic words.

Back to his feet, Earon dipped into his pebble pouch and filled his palm.

“Run, Lexi!” Earon shouted and as Bigger turned his head to the side, sent an overweight pebble hurling toward him.

Blood sprayed and teeth went flying through the air as the little rock collided with Bigger’s jaw and sent him sprawling across the ground.

But Earon’s attack wasn’t over and several more pebbles followed in quick succession. However, not to be outdone, Bigger whipped his hand through the air whilst pulling a button from his robes and expanded it in an instant. The button grew to the size of a large shield, intercepting Earon’s pebbles.

“Not bad,” Bigger sneered as he jumped back to his feet. “Didn’t realize you were a magician yourself.”

“I dabble,” Earon said as he dashed forward and to the side, flinging pebbles as he ran.

Bigger took hold of his giant button, but every one of Earon’s pebbles rocked him as it slammed against the makeshift shield and spread cracks across it.

Dropping his robes as he ran, Bigger exposed the belt of darts that clung around his waist.

As he threw them, the darts flew through the air for only a second before Bigger spun his magic and they expanded to the size of javelins, smashing into the ground only inches from Earon, who frantically dodged as he ran.

He was fast and his magic was better. But it took longer, and for every javelin Bigger sent flying toward Earon, he sent several pebbles flying back; the two dancing around each other as they flung projectiles at one another whilst circling the storage yard.

Bigger grunted as one smashed into his shoulder, then another into his arm – resulting in his left arm dangling from his frame as he urgently enlarged another javelin.

Another pebble smashed into his side and then another into his right shoulder, but Earon had been careless and the javelin hurling back at him skewered his leg and he cried in pain as he toppled to the ground.

Panting, Bigger wiped blood from his face. “Not bad kid. You almost had me.”

Another rock smacked against Bigger’s head. “I’m not done with you!” Lexi shouted from across the yard.

“Shut up, I'll deal with you when I’m done.”

Another rock smacked against his head.

“Stop that!” Bigger raged and turned with a readied dart toward Lexi.

“Mistake,” Earon groaned as he focused his mana and his concentration on a pebble, flinging it at the back of Bigger’s head.

Bigger coughed, blood dripped from his nose and his eyes reddened. Then he fell. Earon’s rock had crashed straight into his brainstem - killing him instantly.

Warlock – Level 11 achieved.