“You’re not to talk unless told. We can’t risk you being found,” Trenton said to Raligoth, tying a cloth around his waist to hide the severed head attached to his belt.
“Right, of course. Absolutely no talking. Understood,” Raligoth replied, doing his best to wink and failing miserably.
With the gate fully open the party hurried on into the city unimposed. The human guards eyed them as they entered into the main thoroughfare, but otherwise gave them no issue. The city was marvelous with low built buildings sitting amidst sand and stone, their colors more reminiscent of the natural desert surroundings than typical cities. Given the lack of earthen minerals, it was probably difficult to construct tall buildings, steel being incredibly hard to come by in the barren desert. They likely imported most of their steel from Dasellium, the Liafer giving them easyish means to trade.
What was even more interesting than their buildings, however, was the racial diversity. Most cities were either human run, or some other predominant race. But Zerital was a mix of humans and salamanders, a half city, something Trenton had never seen before. Everywhere they looked was a spray of humans and salamanders bustling about, the two groups generally keeping wide berths from each other. It was surprising that the salamanders and humans still shared the same roads with how much tension was in the air, but it wasn’t like they had much else choice. It wasn’t like they could very well reshuffle a city as large as this one, and they weren't quite at the stage of military intervention.
“We’ll split up. Garrote, you’re with Leo. Kiva, you’re with me. We’ll meet in the city center at sunset,” Trenton said, everyone nodding to show their agreement. Trenton figured that without her magic, Kiva wouldn’t have much of a chance fighting. Her sword skills were passable, but nothing remarkable. Garrote, on the other hand, even without his other hand, was an exceptional duelist. He could see after Leo without too much issue, assuming that Leo would even struggle. He was inconsistent, but he generally came through when it mattered most.
Together, Trenton and Kiva set off to explore the eastern section of the city. Even though Trenotn had just ran some several hundred miles straight, not daring to stop to give himself a break, he felt fine, more than fine, even. The rage coursing through his veins seemed to be sustaining him more than any beverage or warm meal ever could, his mind set on what needed to be done.
Every now and then, they would stop some of the citizens, tending towards the humans to avoid starting a fight. But no matter who they asked, no one seemed to be in the know. A giant storma had to be hard to miss, but the city was also large. Blithe and Millie could’ve been just about anywhere. Asking random shop keeps or citizens wouldn’t get them anywhere. If they wanted to find a missing person, then they'd need to find the information center of the city, which was almost certainly the actual center of the city as well.
The two of them picked up their pace, making a pretty solid hour sprint to the inner sections of the city, Kiva struggling to keep up with Trenton’s endless endurance. The desert heat wasn’t doing them any favors, either, only expelling more water from their skin by the moment. If they went too hard, they’d risk heat stroke, so Trenton slowed down slightly, giving Kiva an easier time. As they continued running, Trenton noticed that buildings in the inner sections were much more sparse, greenery and foliage overtaking most of the environment. Trenton knew the Liafer was fertile, but being able to grow plants like this still several miles out from the river was still remarkable. It really was a natural wonder.
“Slow down,” Trenton said, holding out his arm to block Kiva from running past him.
“Why?” She said, panting heavily, her eyes unfocused.
“Look,” Trenton said, pointing forward.
Ahead of them, in a little clearing between the foliage, was a beautiful building overflowing with fountains of water, a group of richer looking salamanders surrounded by armed guards muttering among themselves just outside of it. They crouched low to the ground, hiding in the dense foliage to keep themselves hidden.
“-amidst the common filth? You’re mad, Ardrias!” A smaller salamander exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air.
“Oh please, the cooling houses were our inventions. Besides, they know better than to cross us. They’ll acquiesce to any demand we have. Now come, I’ll not hear your blabbering any longer,” the salamander in the lead said, heading into the building with his small cluster.
“Cooling house?” Kiva asked.
“Not sure, come on,” Trenton replied, breaking out of the foliage to enter after the group of salamanders.
When they got into the building, they immediately noticed how pleasant the air was, the cool humidity contrasting the arid desert air outside. In front of them, a massive pool filled with water and ice sat tantalizingly waiting, the entire area filled with humans relaxing and enjoying themself. There was even water steadily dripping from the ceiling, little drips which landed lightly on Trenton’s face, sinking into the skin almost immediately.
Off to the side, a younger looking boy was crouched over the pool with his back to them. He looked to be forming little ice cubes in his hand, dropping them into the pool when they were just the right size, ensuring that the pool remained cool and refreshing. He must have been a worker there. They could’ve used ice runes, but they’d likely need to be replaced and replenished pretty often given the amount of heat they had to keep at bay. In fact, they probably also had ice runes lining the entire building on top of the mages just to be certain the outside air couldn't’ creep in.
As the group of lizards approached him, the boy stood, turning around to face them. Now that the boy’s front was visible, Trenton could see that he was actually wearing a strange mask made entirely of ice with only one eye hole, the mask completely covering his left eye. It was an odd look, only coupling with the fact that the boy’s entire body was also entirely covered head to toe in fabrics, the only section given room to breath his stark white hair. It was possibly the most chaste outfit Trenton had ever seen.
“Does it look like he’s missing his left arm to you,” Kiva said, squinting at the kid. It was hard to tell with all the loose fabrics the boy was wearing, but now that she mentioned it, he could only clearly see the boy’s right arm. The left side of his body was swaddled with a wreath of cloth covering his left side in its entirety.
Stolen novel; please report.
“Yeah, it kind of does," Trenton replied.
“Evening sirs. How might I help you?” The boy asked, his tone notably formal.
“Quiet, boy. You will speak only when spoken to. Do you not know who you stand before?” The lead salamander spoke, stepping forward to leer over the boy.
“No, sir, I don’t,” the boy said, rather calm considering the bile in the salamander's voice.
“We are the retainers to his holiness Kraijsh Tillian the third. You may give us your finest suite immediately as an apology for your ignorance.”
“Of course. 10,000 gold, please,” the boy said, politely holding out his hand to accept the payment.
Without warning, the salamander smacked the boy across the face, throwing him to the ground in a heap. Instantly, all chatter in the room stopped, the chilled environment somehow growing even colder. The boy lay on the ground, cupping his mask where the strike landed, his mask not even cracked from the blow. Slowly, the boy rose to his feet as other attendants rushed to help him, some of them charging towards the salamanders. All around them, the men started to trudge out of the pool, a viscous fury in their eyes, the guards raising their weapons to strike. They were set to kill each other if no one did anything.
“Of course, we’re so sorry, sirs. Right this way,” another attendant said, his eyes darting over to the boy. Before anyone could manage to take a swing, the salamanders were shepherded into another room, likely to the suite they were demanding moments ago. The rest of the patrons looked set to explode, but the attendants were doing their best to keep everyone calm. Trenton started forward towards the boy, clearing his way to get through to him.
“Are you alright, Karfice? That was a nasty blow,” an older man said, inspecting the boy’s mask.
“I’ll be fine. I can cover the suite. I should have enough saved up by now,” Karfice responded.
“Don’t be ridiculous, we have more than enough to let it slide. I just hope they’re satisfied. Lord knows we don’t need another fight. I’ve a mind, still, to alert the authorities, not that it’ll do much,” the man responded, letting go of the boy's head.
“And I’ve a mind to gut those freaks while their guard is down,” another man butted in, his voice gravelly.
“You know we can’t do that,” Karfice responded. “Be reasonable, Jargwee.”
“Yeah, I know, but we can’t keep going like this. We have to do something!” Jargwee yelled, the older man shushing him.
“Don’t be a disturbance. We can discuss this later,” the older man said, turning to Trenton, “Hi, how may I help you?”
“Karfice was it?” Trenton asked, looking past the old man.
“Hmm?” Karfice said, snapping out of some sort of daze he’d fallen into. “Oh, yeah. That’s me. Do you need something?”
“Do you have a minute? I’d like to talk,” Trenton said, nodding towards the side where some benches and chairs sat. Kiva gave Trenton an odd look, but didn’t interrupt.
“Do I?” Karfice asked, turning to the older man.
“You do. Take off the rest of the day. I’ll cover your shift,” the man replied, the men around them clearing to give them some peace.
“So I do,” Karfice led them towards the bench on the side overlooking the pool, taking a seat in between Trenton and Kiva. “This is rather nice, actually. I really needed the break,” Karfice said, leaning head back against the wall. “What did you want to talk about? I don’t think I know you.”
“That was a pretty slick maneuver back there, a really convincing fake fall,” Trenton said, staring into Karfice’s one eye. He didn’t notice it before, but it was actually rather beautiful, an icy blue with entracing white highlights. It took a lot to even stay focused on the conversation at hand.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“You moved all of the presence in your body to your face the moment right before impact. That’s not the type of instinct an ice boy has. I imagine you’ve seen your fair share of fights.”
“...some many years ago, but I haven't fought in years. And I’ve no intention of getting back into it if that’s what you’re insinuating. I’m a worker. I give the people a service they can’t get anywhere else, a luxury they depend on. I much prefer that to bloodshed. Besides,”the boy shrugged, “I wasn’t even good at it when I was fighting, half the talent of a beached orca. I couldn’t help you even if I wanted to.”
“What kind of place even is this?” Kiva asked, pulling her eyes away from the scenery to focus on the conversation they were having.
“It’s a cooling house. We…” Karfice’s head began to dip, his voice trailing off.
“Karfice?” Kiva said, poking at his shoulder.
With a start Karfice refocused, his head swiveling side to side, “Huh? Oh, right. Sorry. This place is a free bathhouse, effectively. We just put ice in the water,” he shrugged. “The people love it, and it pays pretty well.”
“I’m surprised you got hired. You look a little young to be working yet,” Kiva mentioned, her eyes scanning his body to little avail.
“What can I say? I’m good at making ice,” Karfice said, casually forming a large ice cube in his hand and tossing it into the pool.
“5 days ago, two of my companions were kidnapped by salamanders, a water spirit and a large storma. They have to be within the city somewhere, but I don’t know where. At the very least, can you keep an ear out for anything?” Trenton pleaded, “Word has to spread around a public place like this.”
Without even hesitating, Karfice answered, “Oh yeah, that’s fine. I can do that no problem. I thought you were going to ask me to help you kill someone. Stop by tomorrow and I’ll let you know if I’ve got anything. But if I had to take a guess, it probably has something to do with the emperor.”
“Emperor?” Kiva asked.
“Emperor, the same one the salamanders mentioned earlier–Kraijsh Tillian the third. He’s kind of like the leader of the salamanders, big bloated fella from what I hear. I figure he’d be interested in a water spirit and a big storma. Godsburn, I think they call them. It’s supposed to be a rare strain of storma or something,” Karfice replied, rolling his head to lazily look over at Kiva.
“Where is he?” Trenton asked.
“In his palace somewhere in the northern district of the city. Never seen it myself,” Karfice said, letting out a yawn while stretching his arms.
“We should meet up with Garrote and Leo before we make any sort of move,” Trenton said, talking to Kiva around Karfice.
“Right. We can probably get a rundown from a local further to the north,” Kiva replied.
“Let’s go. Oh, and thank you, Karfice. I’ll-” Trenton said, looking down at Karfice. He was snoring. It wasn’t loud, but he was absolutely already conked out. They had been talking for less than 10 seconds. How did he even manage to fall asleep that quick?
“Poor kid must be overworked,” Kiva said, giving the sleeping child a sympathetic look.
“Probably, come on. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover still,” Trenton finished, heading towards the door.