OCCULTA

TURGAY

Turgay Corvi was eighteen years old and an ave anthro—an eagle, to be exact. It had only been about a week ago that he got his feathers. It was an expensive and mostly useless procedure, but it was the last in the long list of toys that made him a full anthro. Hollow bones, improved eyes, talons, beak... any one would have been expensive for him, but Soaring Eagle paid for them all.

It was his reward for stealing the toy box from Necessarius.

The toy box was, at least for now, the pinnacle of toy maker technology. The fey had made them originally and sold one to Necessarius. Clarke then copied them, and those copies had been at the center of most of the recent advancements in toy technology. Turgay himself had spent some time in a 'sarian toy box to get his anthro buffs, which felt ironic to him.

It was Friday morning, and it was a bit cold in the back of the shipping truck where they were keeping the device. The most recent screamer attack was yesterday morning, and it had the 'sarians scrambling to patch giant holes in their defense. Apparently they lost a full company or more, and so they needed every man they could get on duty.

That meant they weren't paying attention to a couple of aves trying to smuggle the hottest item in the city.

Turgay didn't have anything against Necessarius, and neither did Soaring Eagle. They were just in the way, that was all. She had given them all direct orders to not kill anyone unless absolutely unavoidable, which Turgay was grateful for. He had never killed an actual person, and didn't feel like starting now. Besides, the 'sarians could forgive grand theft. Murder made them vengeful.

He hadn't been involved in stealing the toy box back from the vampires a couple nights ago. That had been left to a different group, who were not under orders to minimize casualties. It might sound harsh, but the Niktuku had done worse than leave a few bodies around when they stole it from the aves, and the Guruhi did the same to them.

“We need to make sure it doesn't get nabbed again,” Pigeon said. Turgay had no idea why he was called that—he was a crow anthro—but he didn't ask.

Turgay rolled his eyes. “If I had been in charge of security from the start, this wouldn't have happened. Skies above, what idiot thought it would be a good idea to drive through Nosferatu territory anyway?”

Once the box was on the truck last Monday, Turgay had gone separately, with most of the grab team. They just weren't built for the physical task of securing it from hostiles. Clearly, at least one of them should have gone with them regardless as an adviser, but the warhawks were arrogant bastards, and no one wanted to deal with them.

Of course, now that they were dead, everyone missed them, but that was normal. Just because they were jackasses doesn't mean they deserved to be tortured and killed.

Pigeon shrugged. “Dunno, Guy. But I've looked at the maps, and the choices were Nosferatu or Necessarius territory. Guess they thought they chose the lesser of two evils.”

Turgay sighed. The ferrets were significantly less organized than Butler's men. There would have been a good chance the truck could have gotten through their domain without being noticed. Just bad luck.

He felt the truck roll to a stop, and someone pounded on the side. Pig and Turgay grabbed opposite sides of the box and started rolling it towards the doors at the back. The device itself didn't have wheels, but they had it in a crate on a roller pallet.

One of the fledglings, who didn't have any noticeable ave toys yet, opened the doors and helped them bring it off the truck. It was only a hundred and fifty pounds, but that was a lot to aves. They were built for speed, not strength. It would have been easier if their truck had an elevator pad, but someone had decided to be cheap.

They got it down without too much trouble, and he looked around. They were inside a small warehouse, maybe ten stories tall, that was almost entirely empty. Their drivers had found more than enough room to bring the truck in completely and close the big entrance gate, so they could unload their stolen goods in private.

“Open it up,” a woman said, stepping out from behind one of the few crates in the warehouse. “I want to see it.”

The woman was one of Soaring Eagle's most trusted lieutenants, Delia. She was a hawk anthro, with dark brown feathers, a sharp black beak, and keen eyes. She was wearing a tight short-sleeved shirt and jeans, but didn't seem bothered by the cold. She just stared at the crate they had pulled out of the truck, fixated.

Turgay opened it up. He didn't need a crowbar, since his talons were strong enough to pry off the top. The inside was filled with golden straw, and some of the lighter pieces stirred into the air as he lifted the lid. Pig and the fledgling finished pulling it off and putting it to the side, while he brushed aside the packing to expose a pallet of shotgun shells, carefully packed away in their individual boxes.

Delia narrowed her eyes. “What is this?”

“Patience, Honored Hunter,” Turgay said. “This is just the smokescreen.”

The three of them—the Alpha didn't help at all—unpacked the shells carefully. Under the second layer of them there was a plywood false bottom, which Turgay removed. Underneath... was the toy box.

It didn't look like much. If anything, it looked like a mirrored metal coffin, though with air vents on the sides. There was a small keyboard for controlling it, but that was hidden under a recessed panel for the moment. It smelled of steel and plastic, strong even under the scent of the straw and wood that had been covering it.

Delia, however, was entranced. She brushed the reflective surface lightly with her talons, but flinched back as if afraid she would hurt it. She didn't need to worry. The thing was covered completely in that amorphous metal stuff. She wouldn't be able to dent it with a sledgehammer.

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This wasn't just any toy box, it was the original. The one that Necessarius had first bought from the fey and then used as a template to build a few dozen more. Turgay had seen one of the copies when he got some of his better toys. They didn't have the amorphous metal covering, since it was far too expensive to bother.

She licked the edge of her beak. “It... works? You tested it?”

Turgay shook his head. “We didn't have time. That was the plan, but then the ferrets intervened. We figured taking it straight here would be the best option.” They were still under orders to maintain strict radio silence. The 'sarians would be tearing the city apart looking for this thing, and advertising themselves was a horrible idea.

The Alpha nodded. “Good. It's good that you don't know. The less people that know the details, the better.”

Turgay frowned. There was a trick to doing it with a beak. “Honored Hunter, if there's been some change of plans that we need to be aware of...”

She waved her talons, dismissing his worries. “No, no, of course not. But if you're tortured, it's best if you don't know where this is going. That way, you can't sell us out.”

Turgay sighed. What did that have to do with knowing whether the thing even worked? But he nodded as if he understood. “Where do you want this, then?”

Delia paused. “I'm not sure. One moment.” She turned and called to someone he couldn't see. “Kioman! Where's your car?”

“Look, we can just leave the toy box with you,” he said. “Pigeon and I—”

Turgay stopped as he looked at him. It couldn't be. It just wasn't possible. No one could be that stupid.

Pigeon was on the phone.

And the caller ID clearly said 'MC.'

Turgay grabbed his cell and threw it as hard as he could away from them. “You idiot!” he hissed, grabbing Pigeon's shirt and pulling him close. “What is wrong with you?!”

“I was just checking my messages,” he said, as he tried to peel Turgay's talons out of their death grip. “Screw off. MC said I won a prize.”

Turgay blinked. “You won a...” Realization dawned, and he wheeled back to a clearly confused Delia. “They know! They're coming!”

Then the doors exploded.

Turgay didn't know what the 'sarians were using, but the shrapnel from the door hit Pig in the side and the fledgling full in the face. They both went down, but at least Pigeon would be getting up again. Seconds after the explosion, Necessarius troops began piling into the warehouse, guns blazing.

Delia cursed. “To arms, warhawks!” A dozen more hawks, all armed with machine guns, appeared from hiding and started returning fire.

Turgay wasn't getting paid enough to fight, and he was unarmed anyway. He worked at a gun store, how was he unarmed? He just hunkered down as best he could and tried to drag Pigeon out of danger. Unfortunately, this seemed to attract the Alpha's attention.

“Eagle!” she cried angrily. At least she had the sense not to use his name. “Take the toy box and run!”

Turgay stared at her. “What?” That would never work. The only sensible option right now was to return the device and beg for the Big Boss's mercy.

“Now!” she ordered, emptying an over-sized pistol at the enemy.

Turgay cursed. He had no doubt that if he tried to surrender or even simply ignore her orders, she'd turn that gun on him without hesitation. He had no choice. He threw Pigeon on top of the toy box, tossed his own phone away, and started moving.

Luckily, the device was still in the crate and on the roller pallet, so he just had to get behind it and push. Some bullets streaked past him, but they all missed. The 'sarians were probably afraid of hitting the toy box. Apparently someone had forgotten to brief them on its durability.

The warehouse was small, but it was pretty much empty, so there was a lot of open space to run through. The warhawks covered Turgay as best they could, but he wasn't worried about the Necessarians inside so much as the ones who would be waiting for him outside.

On second thought, as long as they didn't shoot on sight, he should be okay. He could surrender, figure out where they were taking the device, and find a way to relay that information back to Soaring Eagle. It wasn't perfect, but it would work.

Turgay pushed on with renewed vigor. He ignored the landing bay, going for the smaller double doors next to the giant gate. He pushed the doors open with the crate, held his hands up in surrender, and...

Nothing happened.

He blinked.

No one was here.

Well, this was arach territory, after all. The spider kemos were a small subculture, but they liked their ambushes, and Necessarius would have to be careful about sending troops into the area. Turgay must have just gotten out before their men came around.

He realized that meant he had little choice. Soaring Eagle had managed to score alliances with both the Lolths and the Minervas. Great for her and all, but it meant that if they saw Turgay captured by the 'sarians, they'd just kill everyone and grab the toy box. Not to mention that Butler's troops would know that, and would shoot on sight to keep their jobs easier.

“What's going on?” Pigeon said from inside the crate. He tried to sit up, but stopped when he saw his torso. “Guy, why am I bleeding?”

“Because you're an idiot, Pig,” Turgay said. “Now shut up and lay down.” Finally making a decision, he began to roll the cart north. They were in South Middle now, but his warehouse and boltholes were at the edge of South Central, not too far away.

Even just getting out of arach territory would be helpful. They bordered a giant clan in that direction, but the Colossi generally stayed out of this kind of thing. It was as close to a safe run Turgay would get. It would be best if he could steal a truck, but he wasn't holding out hope on that. Besides, his skill at hot-wiring was below average.

Turgay pulled into a dark alley filled with dumpsters from the restaurants. The smell was horrific, but where there was rotting food, there were ghouls. Turgay saw one nestled against a dumpster, glaring at him with one eye. He was mostly baseline except for the nighteyes, and wrapped in a big wool blanket that covered his ragged clothing. It was still pretty cold.

Turgay licked his beak. He wouldn't part with the blanket easily, and even if Turgay was willing to, he just didn't have the skill to take it from him by force. Instead, he went the other route. He took out his wallet.

The ghoul came fully awake as Turgay pulled out all his cash. Not really all that much, but it was still a lot to a homeless ghoul. He nodded and offered it. “For the blanket.” He licked his beak again. “And to tell the 'sarians I went down Hades street instead.”

The ghoul hesitated for a moment, then shrugged off the blanket. He exchanged it for the money quickly. Turgay understood what his speed was supposed to imply. He could have robbed him blind. But he didn't.

Turgay nodded his thanks, wrapped the cloak around himself to hide his ave toys, and pushed the crate carrying his bleeding friend and the most valuable item in Domina down the alley.

Behind him, the ghoul started whistling as he walked away, presumably to find a store to spend his money.