The Black Briar drug dealer's name was Darian, and he was really quick to tell us that he had a wife and daughter. I believed him, but that didn't change the fact that we'd beat the crap out of him until he told us where the Briar were taking the kidnapped kids.

Eliaria and Miko had gone outside to keep watch while Flint and I worked.

Darian sat in a chair, his shirt bloody, and his face covered in bruises. I felt bad for him, but it was nothing compared to the guilt I had for the kids that had been taken.

"I'll ask you again," I said, stepping closer and looking down at him, "where are the kids being taken?"

"I don't know," Darian said, his voice cracking.

"What are the Black Briar doing with them?" Flint asked, leaning forward, his voice hard.

"Nothing," Darian said, shaking his head, "I don't know anything."

"You're lying," I said, grabbing a fistful of his hair and pulling his head back.

"No," he sobbed, his eyes filling with tears.

"Listen to me," I said, glaring at him, "I want you to listen closely."

I tried to think of a badass line from a movie or book. I needed something to break him. My mind raced, it had been so long since I’d seen a movie. Something about a ring? A boy and his dog? I couldn't think of anything.

"Do you hear that?" I asked, tilting my head.

"What?" Darian asked, looking around.

"That's the sound of nobody giving a shit," I said.

"What?" he asked, his voice shaky.

"Nobody gives a shit if you die," I said, "nobody will miss you. Your child will forget you, your wife’s probably already banging your neighbor."

Darian snorted loudly trying to hold back the tears, "You're right," he said, nodding as he cried. "I knew it, that bitch wife of mine never loved me."

Flint looked at me and shrugged. This wasn't working, we needed a different angle, something that would actually scare the man.

"If you don't start talking," Flint said, "I'm going to cut off your eyelids and burn out your eyes."

"Why?" Darian asked, "that sounds horrible, why do that to me?"

"Tell us where the kids are, or I'll kill you," I said, tightening my grip on his hair.

"You're scaring me," Darian said, his eyes wide.

"Good," I said, leaning closer, "you should be scared. Now tell me where they are, or I'll make sure you never see the light of day again."

Darian took a deep breath, and his face hardened, "go ahead and kill me. I'd rather die than betray my brothers."

I stared at him for a long moment, and then nodded, "as you wish, Flint, chop off his dick and shove it down his throat."

Flint drew his knife and advanced on Darian, "this will hurt a bit."

"What the fuck! No!" Darian shouted, his face pale, "stop! I'll tell you, I'll tell you."

"Too late," Flint said, his grin widening.

"I'll tell you," Darian said, his eyes bulging, "just don't cut it off."

Really, after all that, the threat of castration is what makes him talk?

"Tell me what you know," I said, glaring at him.

"The Black Briar are working for the sliven priests of Tiamara," Darian said, his eyes pleading.

"Why do they want children?" Flint asked.

"I don't know," Darian sobbed, "I'm just a lowly dealer, they don't tell me anything."

Flint stepped closer, his dagger gleaming, "you have two seconds to tell us everything you know, or you're dickless."

"A prophet or something started appearing in the priest’s dreams a week ago," Darian blurted, his words spilling out. "I don't know what she said, but it caused a stir amongst them. They came to us asking for the children, really, that's all I know."

A woman spoke to them in their dreams. That can't be a coincidence, but if it's Nidalee, why is she involved with something like this? Or is this Patches’ doing? The thought made me feel sick.

"Where are they keeping the kids?" I asked.

"In the temple," Darian said quickly.

Flint looked at me, "Yeah, we know where that is."

"So, what are you going to do to me," Darian asked, his eyes flitting between us.

"You're going to stay right here," I said, nodding at the chair. "Once the kids are free, and the Briar are dealt with, we'll come back for you."

"But what if I need to use the bathroom?" Darian asked, his lip trembling.

"Hold it," Flint said, patting him on the cheek.

***

Now that we knew where the kids were being taken, it was time to make a plan. We couldn't just barge into the temple. That would end with us getting killed, and the kids getting hurt in the process.

I looked at Flint, "We need a distraction, something big enough to pull the guards away from the kids."

A faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, "How much of this dragon's breath do we have?"

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Twenty vials," I said, "enough to get a small army high for a few days."

"Perfect," Flint said, "now we just need a barrel of wine and a sexy zorin."

Miko's eyes narrowed, "I don't like the sound of this plan."

"Do you have an outfit that's a bit more..." Flint said, trailing off.

"Slutty," Eliaria said, smiling.

"Not helping," Flint muttered, shooting her a dirty look.

"You do remember when I said that I don't do quests," Miko said, folding her arms across her chest.

"You said that you don't face monsters," Flint said, "this would be a simple delivery job."

"So why don't you deliver it yourself?" Miko asked.

"Because the Black Briar would be hell of a lot more suspicious if some guy appeared at a temple giving out free wine," Flint said, smirking.

"What am I supposed to do," Miko asked, sighing.

"You're just going to walk up to the front door and hand over a barrel of wine spiked with so much dragon's breath that they'd be seeing pink elephants," Flint said.

"You do realize that sliven aren't attracted to zorin, right?" Miko said, frowning.

"What," Flint said, "that's not possible."

"Sliven females look like giant lizards," Miko said, "they have six breasts that look like fat tumors and scales covering their whole body."

"That's a really disturbing image," Flint said, shuddering.

"So you can imagine that to them, we look like animals," Miko said, "not to mention they like their sex cold."

"Cold?" Flint asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Like ice," Miko said, smiling.

"Wait, what," Eliaria said, her face turning red.

"Ok, so my plan's ruined," Flint said, "any other ideas."

"No, I think you are onto something," Miko said, her smile growing, "everyone loves wine, especially if it's free. It would be the perfect distraction."

"Ok," Flint said, "but how does that help us?"

"You and I will deliver the wine," said Miko, "you seem like a capable guy, so I'll trust you to keep me alive."

"While everyone is getting high," I said, "Eliaria and I will sneak into the temple."

"And save the kids," Eliaria said, nodding.

"Ok," I said, "it sounds like we have a plan. Let's head to the market and see what we can get."

***

A few hours later, a wagon pulled up in front of the temple. Miko and Flint were inside the back of the wagon, dressed in black robes. Two large men moved to intercept, and a sliven priest stepped forward to meet them.

From our vantage point, Elia and I couldn't hear the conversation, but we could see their expressions.

"This must be the place," I said, nudging her.

"Yeah," Eliaria said, nodding, "there were no guards the last time we were here, and there is a lot more activity."

Our job was to keep lookout, while Miko and Flint made the delivery. If things went sideways, we were to take out the guards and provide a distraction so that the others could escape. Once the wine was safely inside, we'd give them a few hours to get intoxicated and then rescue the children.

It was a simple enough plan, but something about it had me on edge. How were Nidalee and Patches involved in all this? There had to be something else going on, but what?

"You know it's strange," I said, "this is the second time we are stopping priests from doing terrible things. What the hell are they teaching you guys at Sunday school?"

"Sunday school," Eliaria asked, tilting her head, "what is that?"

"Yeah," I said, "sorry, it was a joke."

"Oh," she said, frowning, "why is that funny?"

"Never mind," I said, sighing.

"There was an entire book dedicated to Tiamara at my old temple," Eliaria said, her mouth tight, "she's just a floor boss. Her spawn point was sealed many years ago, the scholars believe that's what caused the sun to disappear."

"So taking the kids, is that a revenge thing or a ritual to free her?" I asked, frowning.

"I don't know," Eliaria said, shrugging, "I wish I did, but I think the only way to find out is to talk to someone that worships her."

"If that's the case, then we'll find out once we get inside," I said, nodding at the temple.

"Maybe," Eliaria said, she hesitated and then added, "are you going to kill them all?"

"If it comes to that," I said, glancing at her, "do you have a problem with that?"

Her hands were clenched into fists. I knew she wasn't comfortable killing, she was a priestess of the god of life and healing.

"I don't know, it just seems... wrong," she said, she sounded afraid.

Who is she afraid of, the Black Briar, the sliven… or me?

"These people are evil," I said, looking back at the wagon, "they've been kidnapping children to do who knows what with them. Do you really want to spare their lives?"

"I know," she said, nodding, "and I will do my part. It's just... the world is already full of so much pain and suffering. Is adding more really the right thing to do?"

"If there is a way to stop them without killing them," I said, "I will do it. But if I have to kill a hundred of them to save a single kid, I will not hesitate."

She was quiet for a long moment, her eyes fixed on the ground. When she looked up, she gave me a small nod.

"Okay," she said, "I understand."

"Good," I said, patting her on the shoulder.

"Bastion?"

"Yeah," I said, looking at her.

Her face had gone pale. "When this is all over, we need to talk," she said, her eyes meeting mine.

I had no idea what she wanted to talk about but I nodded, "Sure."

She opened her mouth as if to say something, then shook her head and turned away.

I frowned, her sudden change in mood was confusing. But I didn't have time to worry about it. Miko and Flint had been inside for a while now. I was beginning to worry that something had happened to them.

"We should check on them," I said, frowning.

"No, wait," Eliaria said, grabbing my arm, "they are coming out."

A large group of sliven and Black Briar had gathered around the wagon. Two large men lifted the wine barrel off the wagon and carried it toward the temple. Miko and Flint were standing by the side of the wagon, talking to the small group of priests and Briar members.

"It looks like they are making friends," Eliaria said, nodding toward them.

"Yeah," I said, frowning.

I couldn't hear what they were saying, but it was clear that the Briar guards were trying to hit on Miko. Flint was trying to keep the men at bay, but Miko was smiling and acting friendly.

It was hard to tell just how strong these guys were just from their appearance. The one talking to Miko looked like a typical thug. He had broad shoulders and thick arms, but he wasn't particularly tall. I pulled the shard of oracle glass out of my pocket and looked through it. The guy talking to Miko was ranked Obsidian-2 and had no foundation card. The others had similar ranks.

"Well, that's interesting," I said, frowning.

"What?" Eliaria asked, glancing at me.

"None of them have spell cards," I said, putting the glass away.

"That doesn't mean they aren't dangerous," Eliaria said, shaking her head.

She was right, and I had no intention of underestimating them. But if it was only these few guys, I was confident that we could handle them. The only problem was that I had never actually killed a person. At least not with my own hands. If it came to it, could I take them out without resorting to murder?

I watched as Miko and Flint laughed with the thugs, and then the group dispersed, waving as they left. Miko and Flint stood there for a moment before turning and heading back toward the wagon.

"It looks like everything is going according to plan," Eliaria said, a slight smile tugging at her lips.

"Yes," I said, nodding, "it feels a bit too easy, though."

"Easy," Eliaria said, arching an eyebrow, "what about this is easy?"

"I don't know," I said, rubbing the back of my neck, "maybe I'm just paranoid, but I feel like we are missing something."

"Whatever it is," Eliaria said, her brow furrowed, "I'm sure we'll figure it out."

"Yeah," I said, smiling, "we got this."

All we could do was wait for them to drink the wine and hope we weren't doing nothing while terrible things were happening to the kids inside the temple.

***