Chapter 21 Don’t Cross Me

“Who goes there?!” A muffled voice called through the heavy gate. A slit opened up and a man peered through. The flickering firelight cast by the torch hung next to the gate cast the duo in yellows and oranges. Isaac’s black armor was now missing its knee guards after the encounter with the Tunnel Horror and Lenna’s royal purple armor was scuffed and scorched, taking away from its once prestigious appearance. The pair held themselves casually yet powerfully side by side in the light so the guard could get a good look. Lenna’s helmet was on and Isaac’s hood was up, something he rarely did as there wasn’t a need for it most of the time.

The pair held out a pair of softly glowing badges showing that they weren’t doppelgangers. “Adventurers, from Safeharbor.” Isaac said loud enough that his voice carried back down the tunnel they had come from and hopefully pierced through the thick wood-like gate.

“Names and ranks!” The guard demanded.

Isaac pulled out his platinum badge from somewhere inside of his cloak and Lenna held hers out towards the guard from its position hanging around her neck. “I’m Isaac, that’s Lenna. Platinum. Open up.” Isaac replied curtly. Platinum level adventurers were basically celebrities, sometimes even treated like nobility, and Isaac figured it might be a good idea to act the part.

The guard quickly vanished and the pair heard the bar holding the gate closed be removed from its resting place. “How long?” Lenna whispered.

“Ten minutes?” Isaac offered. The pair were placing nonexistent bets on how long it would be until someone recognized them from the last time they were there.

“I give it three.” Lenna replied as the gate was pulled open.

A pair of guards met them with spears in hand but held casually at their sides. “Adventurers.” One of the guards greeted them. Isaac couldn’t tell if it was the same one who had interrogated them through the gate as his voice wasn’t muffled.

“We need to speak with your sergeant.” Isaac told the guard as he walked through the gate with Lenna casually trailing behind. “Where is he?” He asked while coating his platinum badge in shadows and then flicking it with his other hand. The shadows dispersed in poof and the badge was gone. Lenna had let hers fall back to her chest as soon as the gate was being opened.

“Y-Yes sir,” The guard began, pulling his eyes away from where Isaac’s badge had been. “Take this street to the end then turn left. When you are almost at the end of that street it’ll be on your left.” He directed Isaac down one of the three streets that opened up by the exit.

Isaac stopped and looked back over his shoulder slightly towards Lenna. “Let’s get this over with. I don’t want to be here any longer than necessary.” He told her and then headed off in the direction the guard had shown them without any further words for the guards.

Lenna gave him a curt nod and picked up her pace from a casual stroll to a purposeful walk. “Agreed.” She replied in a voice that was infused with might and status. Not the status of her noble lineage but the status of a platinum level adventurer who had put creatures that most could only have nightmares about in the ground. The guards just stared after them in silence.

Isaac and Lenna were half a block away before the gate started to be closed behind them. “Still think three minutes?” Isaac asked once they were out of earshot.

“I shouldn’t have bet against you.” Lenna replied flatly.

“You could duck into that smithy or take off your helmet.” Isaac joked. “Just wait two more minutes.”

Lenna shook her head. “I’ll take the loss, thanks.” She said. Isaac chuckled quietly in reply.

The streets were mostly empty. The few passersby eyed the duo with a mix of curiosity and trepidation. There weren’t many newcomers to a place like Ben’s End. The small town only really existed as a relay point for trips to the outpost and collecting mushrooms from the nearby mushroom forest. Most of the residents were the families of the guards or adventurers who worked there so they knew everyone else who was supposed to be walking their streets. The fact that Isaac and Lenna had arrived early in the morning and not late into the evening was also a cause for the residents to eye them curiously. Usually caravans would pace themselves so that they would arrive at their destination around mid to late evening. They did this so that they weren’t pushing themselves any harder than necessary and were thus better prepared for any complications.

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The duo arrived at the guard station. A guard was leaning against the wall just outside of it nodding off. “Switch.” Isaac whispered and hung back to let Lenna take the lead.

Lenna barely kept herself from scowling at him for making her take charge in a social interaction as she walked past him. She held out her badge at the guard. “Wake up soldier.” She ordered him.

The guard startled and almost dropped his spear. He fumbled for it a few times before finally grabbing it securely. He straightened up and looked at her. His face went from embarrassment to confusion when he realized that she wasn’t a member of the guard or military. It then went to surprise at the platinum badge held a few feet from his face. His gaze shot from the badge to Lenna and then to Isaac who was busy cleaning the underside of his nails with a wicked looking dagger made of an impenetrable blackness. “Wh-What can I do for you?” The guard stammered and then swallowed hard.

“Get your sergeant.” Lenna ordered him.

The guard nodded quickly before ducking into the guard station. “You’re a lot better at this than you think.” Isaac said quietly without even turning towards her.

“That doesn’t mean I like it.” Lenna replied in much the same manner.

A set of armor with presumably a man inside walked out of the guard station to meet them. “I heard you are asking for… me.” The guard’s voice trailed off before finishing his sentence. “Do I know you?” He asked.

“Does it matter?” Lenna asked and shifted her weight. The platinum badge hanging over her chest shifted and caught the light. “We’re here on a job.” She told him. “We require your cooperation.”

The sergeant looked down at Lenna’s badge and then up to meet her eyes. He couldn’t see hers due to the poor lighting but Lenna could see his perfectly fine. He looked wary of them but acquiesced. He nodded and then motioned them inside. “This way.” He said and led the way. The inside of the guard station was just as bland as the rest of the town. There was a stone desk with a middle aged human woman behind it who eyed the newcomers curiously. The rest of the room was empty. There were five doors leading away from the main room. Two of them were metal gates and the other three were the same mushroom wood that seemed to permeate through Ben’s End.

The sergeant led them through one of the mushroom wood doors into his office. His office was almost as plain as the entry room with the main difference being that the walls were lined with filing cabinets. His desk was also stone and the chairs sitting opposite it were stone as well. ‘Comfy.’ Isaac grumbled sarcastically internally. ‘Two more minutes and I’ll be right.’ He added with a hint of anxiousness and smugness wrapped into one. At the very least his guess would be closer than Lenna’s.

The sergeant sat at his desk. “What can I do for you?” He asked. He didn’t bother offering them to sit even though there were chairs right across from them.

Lenna glanced at Isaac and tapped him on the shoulder and then the side of her helmet twice. He nodded and stepped forwards while she stepped towards the now closed door to focus. She had been contacted by someone telepathically so Isaac was going to take over talking to the guard. “There was a gang causing issues in Safeharbor.” Isaac began. “They aren’t causing issues anymore.” He walked over to one of the chairs and leaned against the side of the backrest. “Some of their members are here. We are going to clean them out. We just need a place to stash them until they can get taken back to Safeharbor for whatever the new magistrate wants to do with them.”

“I… see.” The sergeant replied slowly and nodded even slower. “Is this an official job?” He questioned.

“I can’t answer that.” Isaac replied simply. “I have a list of names and descriptions. If you would cooperate with us we can be out of here by lunchtime. If not… my companion isn’t known for her subtlety.”

“Is that a threat?” The sergeant asked with narrowed eyes at Isaac.

‘Touchy touchy.’ Isaac thought to himself and then smirked. “It was more of a friendly warning but I can make it a threat.” He replied casually. “I just figured you didn’t want to have to clean up any more of a mess than necessary.”

The guard stood up and slammed his hands down onto his desk. “I won’t be threatened in my own town by some adventurer.” He spat out the final word like it was a mouthful of sand. “Unless I see an official bounty then I am going to assume that you are attempting to abduct the residents of my town.”

Isaac’s smirk never left his face. With his hood pulled low the guard couldn’t see his silver eyes and Isaac decided that now was as good a time as any to win the nonexistent bet he had made with Lenna. He took a step towards the guard and his desk. He put his boot on the edge of the desk and leaned in. The glowing stone on the sergeant’s desk caught Isaac’s eyes as he got closer. The two of them met gazes. “I’m either going to arrest the people on this list or kill them, Sergeant. Your choice.” He countered the guard’s ultimatum with his own. Isaac’s entire form started to be coated in a thin veil of impenetrable shadow that seemed to devour the light cast against it. The room darkened just from the lack of another object for the light to reflect off of.

“Show me a bounty or I am throwing you out of my town.” The guard countered and leaned in. It was then that he realized where he had seen those silver eyes before. “Wait. You were here a few months ago.”

“Was I?” Isaac asked with his casual smirk.

The guard’s eyes snapped to Lenna. “With a slaver.”

The inside of Isaac’s body was flowing with death flames in a moment. He had enough control to be able to boost himself with roughly double his normal strength in only around two seconds. Any more than that would take longer but that was enough for what he was going to do. Isaac reached out and grabbed the guard by the faceplate. He pulled the guard’s face closer to his own and his casual smirk and slightly amused demeanor vanished. “I don’t like it when people call her that.” He told the guard coldly. “She isn’t a slaver just because she has purple skin and silver hair.” He explained with a voice that made the sergeant feel like he had a pair of daggers pressed against his throat.

The sergeant tried to pull away but couldn’t, Isaac’s grip was a vice. “Let. Go. Of. Me.” The guard ordered. “Or I will have you arrested for assaulting a guard.”

“I was hired to ‘take care of’ the problem.” Isaac replied evenly. “Don’t cross me Sergeant, unless you want to find your name and description conveniently added to the list.” He threatened. “The only reason I’m giving you this warning is because of the help you gave us the first time we were here.”

The guard reached up and grabbed Isaac’s wrist. He didn’t pull but simply held the wrist of the hand that was still clamped onto his faceplate. “Let. Go.” He ordered quietly. Isaac did so, slowly, and withdrew his hand. “Thank you.”

Isaac nodded. “Now.” Isaac said with some of his casual demeanor back. “Are you going to help us round up the people on this list or do I need to go door to door to find them?”

The guard scowled at Isaac for a long moment. “Give me the list.”