A hum left Elijah’s mouth as he sat atop a crate with a sly and devious smile playing on his lips. The man kicked his leg carelessly while his hands supported his weight behind him. Azeline leaned against the wall just to the left of him with her arms crossed over her chest and a pensive look on her face.
The two had sequestered themselves in an abandoned alleyway, far from prying eyes and curious ears, for their inevitable meeting with a few choice gang leaders. This town has always had an infestation of criminality, but things have appeared worse over the past year. It was so bad that even speaking about the gangs of this town appeared to be a touchy subject for anyone Elijah had talked to, including Mara.
According to her, the organized crime syndicate that had a death grip on the town operated with relative impunity. They controlled the flow of both legal and illegal goods, facilitated back-room deals, and kept the peace among the various factions vying for power. It was a delicate balance that required constant maintenance and a firm hand.
But all that changed when the Imperial auxiliaries, or "feather lovers" as the locals had taken to calling them, seized control of Glennsworth’s Guard Corp. These outsiders, with their strict laws and rigid hierarchy, had little patience for the shadowy dealings of the underground and cracked down hard on any overt criminal activity. This, in turn, disrupted the carefully cultivated networks and alliances that had kept the underworld running smoothly and strained the relationship between the powers that operated within.
The heavy-handed approach turned the situation into a powder keg waiting to explode. With the Gilded Courier's influence and power diminishing, the various factions began to turn on each other. Old grudges resurfaced, and new rivalries emerged as each group sought to fill the power vacuum left in the wake of the Imperial takeover.
The final straw came when one of the Gilded Courier’s leaders made a bold move to usurp another, destroying what control the Syndicate had left and shattering the already fragile alliances. This sent the entire town into a spiraling chaos of violence and mayhem as thugs and their affiliate gangs there, were once kept in check by the once powerful Association clashed in the streets.
Cooperation, once the cornerstone of the criminal underworld, became a distant memory. The violence had become so bad that moving goods, both legal and illegal, had become a treacherous proposition, with shipments routinely intercepted and stolen by rival factions. Merchants had to pay multiple hands to keep goods safe, but this soon became unsustainable, and anyone who wished to conduct trade within Glennsworth avoided the majority of the districts altogether.
However, the Gilded Couriers still maintained control over a handful of districts, where their word was still law, but people still tread carefully. The mere mention of The Gilded Couriers was enough to send townsfolk scurrying for cover, unwilling to risk the wrath of the warring gangs.
It was, in short, absolute chaos. And it was chaos that Elijah found endlessly attractive. For chaos bred opportunity.
"it always seems to come back to your boss, huh?" A chuckle escaped Elijah’s lips as he turned to Azeline, and his eyes sparked with mischief.
Azeline shot him a side-eye glare, her jaw clenching with irritation. "Eli, Shut the hell up." She grumbled after letting out a sigh. "You always have something smart to say, don’t you?” She continued, running a hand through her hair which flowed casually down her shoulder.
This idiot was so annoying that she almost regretted coming out here to act as muscle for another one of his stupid schemes. However, at the same time, Azeline couldn’t help but appreciate his impish nature. Sure, he was an outright devious bastard, but he was clever, resourceful, and, most importantly, reliable.
Especially when he handed one of Einar’s enforcers, who had helped backstab her and her team, on a silver platter. questions Elijah seemed to badger her with to fill in some of the holes in Mara's story, providing Elijah with a clearer picture of the complex web of alliances and rivalries that made up Glennsworth's criminal underworld. It wasn't a complete picture, but it was enough to start forming a plan.
Elijah leaned his back against the wall while his hands went into the large sack light pocket near his abdomen. A thoughtful look spread across the operator's face as he contemplated the bigger picture of his current plan. It was fully formed, but things were slowly merging, especially when Azeline started filling in the holes in Mara’s recanting of the local politics. The shattered criminal underground wasn’t even the tip of the iceberg when it came to the complex web of alliances and rivalries in this new world. Thugs, Bosses, Kingpins, Nobles, Kings, and hell, even apparent deities were in on the action.
"So, let me get this straight," Elijah grumbled with furrowed brows. "Your boss and another boss have personal issues and turned to infighting and left a bunch of disgruntled gangs to run rampant to fight over scraps.” He continued as he adjusted the position of his concealed pistol at his waistband. “So now basically, the entire place turned into a free-for-all save for a few districts that only hold together hopes and dreams and a bit of money Mara gives them out of her own pocket?”
Azeline offered a simple shrug as if to say that it couldn't be helped. "Yeah, that's more or less it," she confirmed in a nonchalant tone.
Placing his hand to his face, Elijah pressed his fingers into his eyes to ward off the exasperation that threatened to overwhelm him. There were really no words he could think of to describe how stupid all of this was. From what he could gather, Glennsworth was a critical junction for smuggling, and the fucks just uprooted it over a personal grievance. He opened his mouth initially and gestured with his other hand to say something, but he immediately closed it and let out a sigh.
"Jesus Christ," he finally muttered, looking at them. "I mean, I guess it's not unheard of, but that's still really goddamn stupid," he continued with an incredulous look on his face. "How the hell did this all happen in the first place?"
Once again, Azeline’s shoulder’s went up in a manner that indicated that this really wasn’t her problem. "I dunno, Einar just kinda turned on her." She answered in a casual voice while Elijah stared at her as if she was an alien. "Indi had been feuding with the piece of shit since even before she started contracting me out for work. As far as I know, they've hated each other from day one, but Einar never let his personal grievances affect business, but…”
A brief silence ensued as Azeline’s hand went to her hair and started twirling it as her brain started to recall the catastrophic drama that had gripped the criminal underworld. “Ever since Kjadnar left his son in control of this entire region, Einar's grown bold."
Elijah's brow furrowed, and he held up a hand, stopping Azeline mid-explanation. "Wait, wait, wait," he interrupted her in a confused voice. What does that mean? Who's Kjadnar, who’s the son, and why was he left in charge?"
A sigh left Azeline’s mouth when she realized she was going to have to backtrack and provide some context. "Kjadnar’s a bigshot Jarl that runs Gilded Couriers. It’s kind of an open secret, you know?" She explained almost impatiently as if this should have been common knowledge. "About a half year ago, a bunch of conflicts started popping up all over the place, hampering his operations everywhere, so he left his son, Ryndelir, in control of everything in Aldenshore."
“Huh…” Elijah's brow was furrowed, and his eyes glazed over as the gears in his head started to say, "Half a year ago?" he voiced as a thoughtful look spread across his face. “Yaaa… ya, ya, ya! Okay!” Elijah started snapping his fingers with each ‘ya’ and pointed to Azeline when he realized the timelines more or less correlated with when the forces invading Earth retreated.
Azeline nodded along. She had also come to the conclusion that this strange human and his people had a major role to play in that. "Yeah, your little war had a lot of unintended consequences. A lot of the smuggling routes and other operations were disrupted or put at risk, causing Kjadnar to have to deal with them. So now his son, Ryndelir, is in control of everything."
Elijah leaned back against the wall, his mind whirring with implications as he processed this new information. The war appeared to have a much more destabilizing factor than he or probably leadership had predicted. The balance of power in this world must be a lot more fragmented and delicate than what his world was used to, especially when it came to governing systems that were top-heavy, such as feudalism.
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Focusing his eyes, Elijah looked to Azeline as his hand stroked his small beard in a thoughtful manner. "So, this Einar dude saw an opportunity to take out your boss, Indi, under the son’s watch," he mused, "but why did they torch everything in their little spat and risk pissing off Kjadnar? Couldn’t they just backstab each other in the background? I don't get it."
Azeline looked up for a moment, a look of realization crossing her face. "Oh right, I forgot," she said, snapping her fingers. "Indi had managed to seduce and slip into Ryndelir's bed. So that's probably why that short dickhead Einar threw everything into a tizzy." She answered while waving her hand dismissively as if the complex web of interpersonal relationships was nothing worth noting. But for Elijah, it was the final piece of the puzzle.
"Oh," he said, drawing out the word as the realization dawned on him. “Oh wow. So this Einar guy saw that Indi basically outmaneuvered him by sleeping with the new boss, and the bastard decided just to flip the board entirely?"
A moment of silence lingered between the two as Azeline's eyes went up and to the side in thought. “Yaaa… That's a good way to put it," she agreed. "I didn't think of it like that, but yeah, that's pretty much what happened."
Elijah scratched his head in amazement. "Wait, you didn’t think that—Okay, you know what? It doesn’t matter," he chuckled incredulously. "Wow, that made everything make a lot more sense… and convenient."
The man then jumped off the crate and started pacing. "Mmm… Ya… ya, this perfect…!" Elijah spoke to himself as he started to rub his hands together. "This is gonna make shit a whole lot easier."
"Wait, what?” Azeline snorted, looking at Elijah as if he had lost his mind. “You’re not actually going to try and insert yourself into this, are you?”
A predatory smirk flashed across Elijah’s face as he came to a stop. "Of course I am!" He laughed as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. "No one is going to expect a third party wading through the shit and ripping the rugs out from underneath everyone while they bicker and fight!"
Azeline stared at him for a long moment, trying to decide if he was serious or not, but the gleam in Elijah's eye, the confident set of his shoulders, told her that he definitely wasn’t. "You're Crazy!" She nearly shouted as she moved to confront him. "Hold on a second!" Azeline continued in an outraged voice. "Are you planning on taking out my boss and using me to do it!? You saved my life, Eli, but I’m not gonna turn on Indi! I'm out!”
“Oh please," Elijah rolled his eyes and grabbed Azeline’s arm before she stormed off. "I’m here for the lizards, not gonna mess with your little clique, okay? I’m friends with YOU, so I’m more than inclined to help Indi with her Einar problem if push comes to shove.” He explained as Azeline glared at him. “I’m here for the lizards, and I’m more than certain your boss would be quite interested in working with us."
A scowl formed on Azelines face as her long ears twitched in agitation. She wanted to rip into this idiot, but she couldn’t deny the validity of his words. Elijah and his people were a powerful wildcard that Indi would be ecstatic to make contact with. But that still didn’t make her feel any better with how excited he was to stick his nose into their business. So she held her glare for a while longer, trying to discern whether he meant them harm or not before letting out an exasperated sigh. As far as she could tell, his actions so far had been primarily directed against the Empire. There were a few exceptions, but the intent was, again, directed towards the Empire.
"Yeah, whatever," Azeline groaned in a begrudging tone before crossing her arms. “I believe you.” She flipped her hair and walked a few steps away before looking over her shoulder at Elijah. “Just don't do anything cute, okay? I’d rather not run you through, but I will if I have to"
Elijah started to laugh as he bowed his head for a moment. “Oh come on, Aze,” He said, holding up his hands in a palcating manner. “When have I ever lied to you?" he asked with his trademark charismatic smirk, knowing he was full of shit.
Azeline scoffed and opened her mouth to lay bare just how deceitful this bastard of a human was, but before she could say a word, Elijah cut her off.
"You know what? Don’t answer that," He interjected, causing Azeline to burst out laughing and cover her face with her hand. “I mean, maybe I withheld a bit of information and construed the truth a little, but I never full-on lied to you!” Elijah tried to say it with a straight face but found himself smiling as he closed the gap between them. “C’mon, you know who we’re REALLY after!”
It took a few moments for Azeline to stop chuckling, but eventually, she looked up at him with an amused expression. “Gods, you’re such an idiot.” She said before turning around and flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Ya… Ya, that’s true," she finally conceded and rolled her eyes.
But before Elijah could make another annoying remark, his earpiece crackled to life. "Heads up," Kwon’s voice echoed out in a distorted manner. "We've got one of Mara's girls and 8-foot mobiles heading in your direction."
In a fraction of a second, Elijah's demeanor changed. His face turned serious as he grabbed the half-face balaclava that hung around his neck and pulled it over his nose to conceal his identity. The man then threw his hood over his head before looking at Azeline "It's showtime," he said, slapping her on the shoulder. "They're on their way."
Azeline nodded to Elijah before rolling her shoulders and cracking her knuckles. She wasn't expecting any actual trouble from this meeting, but it wouldn't be unusual for her to need to flatten some rowdy dipshit who thought being loud and aggressive would get them what they wanted. These kinds of issues came with the territory when it came to bandits or thugs. Sometimes, you needed to slap one loudmouth idiot and put them in their place.
However, Azeline's hand still floated across the pommel of her sword to make sure it was somewhere easily accessible. While fisticuffs were the standard for dealing with thugs, she always was no fool. Whether it be towns or cities, the story was the same. Where the countryside bandit would usually turn tail and run, choosing self-preservation and deciding a mark wasn't worth the effort, a thug was prideful, stupid, and aggressive. You may beat one down, but they were petty enough to try and knife you in the back sooner or later.
Meanwhile, As Azeline prepared herself, Elijah continued his conversation with Kwon. The team sergeant's voice came back over the radio, stating, "QRF and overwatch are in position. Just signal when you want us to engage, and we'll engage."
"Roger that. Kill the traffic." Elijah responded calmly just before his hand went to the hem of his shirt. He pulled it up a few times, exposing his concealed firearm to get a few more practice draws before their contacts showed up.
Interested in the strange fighting style, Azeline turned and watched as Elijah's gaze became intense before he fully relaxed. The man put one foot back and took a more casual yet guarded posture as his hand grasped his wrist near his lower abdomen. But, as Azeline observed Elijah, she couldn't help but marvel at the way he carried himself. To the untrained eye, his body language appeared innocuous, almost harmless. He looked like just another casual bystander waiting for a meeting in a back alley.
Nevertheless, she knew better than that. Azeline hadn't known this man for long, but what she had learned over the short few weeks was that Elijah was far from harmless. There was a coiled tension beneath his relaxed exterior, like a lurking Grovemaw in the shadows.
Azeline scrutinized every inch of the man's body until she noticed a few fingers from his left hand hooked under the hem of his shirt. It was a deceptively casual gesture while his gaze remained forward, fixed on a few marred spots on the wall, as if lost in thought. But then, in a flash, Elijah's unassuming state transformed into something entirely different. His left hand ripped his shirt up almost to his chest, and in the same fluid motion, he pulled a black object from his waistband. Before Azeline could even blink, he had the object pointed at the marred spots on the wall, transitioning between imaginary targets with a speed and precision that was on par with any mana user.
Every hair on the back of Azeline’s stood up when she saw that display. She knew what that black object was. She also knew the devastating power it contained. The woman had seen firsthand the carnage Elijah and his people could unleash with those strange weapons.
It was unnerving, to say the least. The ease with which Elijah handled the alien weapon and the way he incorporated it into his movements... spoke of a familiarity with violence that only the most hardened career warriors and freelancers knew.
But just as quickly as it had appeared, the weapon vanished back into Elijah's waistband. And just like that, the lazy and goofy demeanor she had always associated with Elijah had come back in full swing.
“Dangerous…” Azeline murmured, narrowing her eyes.
With a shake of her head, Azeline turned towards the end of the alley, where she could hear the sounds of approaching footsteps near the corner where they were lurking. She tensed for a moment when one of Mara's courtesans, a lithe human woman draped in silks and jewelry, appeared to bow her head placatingly to the group of men following behind her.
The courtesan then gestured towards Azeline and Elijah until she was abruptly pushed out of the way by a brutish pale-skinned human before fully rounding the corner. When the group fully came into view, Azeline took stock of them and noticed most of them were humans. There were a few short-eared sun elves like herself, but they looked more or less like ordinary thugs.
And then there was the giant son of a bitch.
Built like a brick shit house and covered with greyish-green skin that stretched over a frame that stood well over six feet tall, his muscles bulging beneath his leather armor. Two small tusks protruded from his mouth, pointing upwards, and he had long, intricately braided hair that nearly touched the ground.
Elijah was the first to comment as he shifted closer to Azeline in an apprehensive manner. "What the fuck is that?" he whispered in a voice low enough that only she could hear.
Azeline ignored him as her face morphed into a scowl. "Great…" she clicked her tongue, her eyes never leaving the Orc. "A gods-damned Orc," she muttered under her breath.