I didn’t try running. Helvek had spotted me already and made swift progress to where I stood. All running would do is delay this and antagonize him and Almaseck. Not something I could afford to do, nor want to do. No matter how much this delayed me, I was on decent terms with both of them.
As Helvek neared I could make out more details. He still had his tusks polished, and the guild sigil tattooed right underneath his left eye. It seemed a little silly, but I used to polish my horns. I really couldn’t judge.
I waved a hand in greeting. “Helvek, good to see you! I’m sorry, but I’m not here on guild business. Mr. Kalasyp, a fellow alchemist, hired me to check on his-”
His steady baritone cut me off. “Mr. Kalasyp already sent word that you’d be entering his lab. That’s not what this is about, Miss Falara. Mr. Almasek would like to see you.”
“It seems many people want to see me as of late,” I said. “How truly urgent is this?”
“Very urgent,” Helvek said. “He said he’d appreciate you treating it like a serious matter. No delaying this for days like you usually do because you’d rather do something else.”
“I treat everything seriously. It’s just some things by nature are more important to me than others. We all have our priorities.”
Helvek remained quiet. The orc, as far as I knew, didn’t have any strong opinions outside of the ones the Guild paid him to have.
I sighed. “I’m not getting out of talking with him before I can leave, right?”
“You are correct.”
***
Helvek had escorted me right to the guildmaster’s office. It was busier than usual, a dozen adventurers gathered. All of them must be here for one reason or another involving Almaseck, and I’d offered an apologetic grin as I’d been marched past the entire queue.
I really did not want to get on the bad side of a group that included Loony Marvin, the Chainer of Kelackel, Vraspus Chilltooth (a fake name to be sure but actually skilled at his craft), two paladins of very different deities, and Harask Many-cloaks, who was rumored to be varying members of a massive ratfolk tribe who took turns wearing an enchanted cloak.
They hadn’t seemed too upset. Maybe not here for the guild master, then.
Helvek was behind me, guarding the door. It was an arrangement I was used to, as well as this office. A desk of black wood, some rare material from deep in the earth, was the centerpiece. A high-backed chair on one side, several others on the other. Lining the walls were display cases and trophies, treasures found, and heads severed respectively by the guild master. I’d heard stories about many of them several times during the frequent recruitment speeches. Almaseck had once claimed I was making their spirits sad by refusing so many times in a row.
Adventuring had started as a way to get ingredients that threatened to devour the rest of my life. Not in a serious way, but it was hard to ignore how all the usual groups I worked with were regularly dropping hints about how great it would be to do this full-time. Or how each manager was sure to mention how they were recruiting for full-time positions. How there always seemed to be a Guildmaster ready to talk to me about the possibilities of joining the Guild.
The city had ten guild masters. I’d met and talked with every one of them four times apiece at a minimum over the last year. All of them had their peculiarities, but none of them I’d call odious. They wanted people with talent, so it was a little flattering.
“Ah, admiring the griffon head?”
I turned around to see Aaron Almaseck.
The guild master was a short man, shorter than even my current form, and you’d think him fat at first glance, round and practically poured into a suit. I’d learned by my third meeting that what most would think of as fat was nothing of the sort after he’d punched out a rowdy orc recruit who’d gotten a little too full of himself. Dark hair in braids obscured brown eyes that were usually lively.
When they weren’t, it was a good sign to watch out.
“There’s a good story attached to how I cleaved that head off of its owner,” he said, heading for his chair.
I smiled genuinely. “Yes, I believe I’ve heard it four times already.”
“Well, I do like to repeat a good yarn.”
“This year, I should clarify.”
He laughed, settling down in the chair.
“Apologies about keeping you so long, I had a few things to deal with that popped up right now. It couldn’t be avoided. One of my groups went missing somewhere down deep and to the south, hunting reports of something creeping out of tunnels and going after livestock outside the city. They’ve got the surface tunnels closed, but you know how it is, new ones always open. Wish I knew why.”
“Dwarves, likely trying to get some revenge,” I said.
“You might be right. But the official policy of Her Majesty, which means an official policy of the Guild, is all the dwarves who aren’t citizens of the empire are gone. Anyway, there’s a bounty for whatever is down there. They vanish for a week, I think nothing of it. Groups are gone for longer, even if it’s a small area compared to most guild responsibilities. Once it hits three, I get worried and send another group down. They returned with a pair of arms they found. Turned to stone.”
I paused. That was…disconcerting, if only because of what might be in the underground. “A basilisk?”
“It certainly wasn’t a sewer gator, and while it might be dwarves, I don’t want to contemplate them taming a basilisk,” Almasek replied. “City officials are already being made aware, although it’s deep enough down that they’ll leave it to us for now. Question: How quickly could you whip up a cure for petrification?”
I frowned. “The guild has alchemists, you can’t tell me you haven’t asked them yet.”
He nodded in response, pulling a piece of paper out. “I have. And most of them don’t have the materials. What I am asking is, as a personal favor, do you have any materials from your very reputable stores that can help make these.”
I drummed my fingers nervously. “Not on me. And for in my lab….well, I don’t expect to find it intact when I next return.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Something likely to follow you down here? Problems with the law?”
“Probably not, and maybe,” I answered. “I didn’t start the issue with the law; honestly, they are pretty low on the list of people after me.”
Almaseck grunted. “You could stay down here, depending on other factors. While you were working, the groups you were attached to had some of the highest clearance rates on the boards. I need that. Young alchemists are a rarity in the underground.”
I smiled politely. “Most young alchemists probably think you can make money much more safely simply brewing on the surface above. No offense to the guild.”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“None taken,” he responded, marking something in his book. I resisted the urge to try and take a peek. “I can’t say I don’t understand. The basilisk does make me wish the timing could work out more.”
I drummed my fingers on the table. “The brewing isn’t the problem, it’s getting access to the ingredients itself, which is fluid from the creature's eyeballs. If whoever takes it down is careful not to damage anyone who is petrified, it’s a simple matter from there.”
“Unfortunately, the damn thing will insist on not making it a simple matter,” Almaseck growled, expression tempestuous. “I’ve had the displeasure of fighting one. You’d think the gods would have figured petrifying people with a look was enough and not make it hard to injure and damn strong.”
I nodded. I’d never seen one in person, but I had seen a skeleton at the Imperial Museum of Dungeonology. It figured a lizard the size of a horse could have some serious punch behind it. Maybe not enough to shatter stone on its own, but you couldn’t judge something or someone’s strength by how they looked.
“I do have some small way I can help,” I offered. “There is one young alchemist who seems to consider the thrill of adventure greater than the safety of a lab.”
Almaseck grunted and considered me for a few seconds. Realizing he wouldn’t directly ask me, I continued.
“Miss Harie, Mr. Halmon's apprentice, asked me if I could get her into the guild or at least talk to you about the possibility.”
Almaseck groaned in response, closing his eyes for several seconds before they snapped back open.
“I can’t imagine you are under any illusions this is the first time she’s asked about this, on her own or through intermediaries,” he told me.
“I figured as much,” I said. “I’m guessing Mr. Halmon is the issue?”
“Addrias Halmon is one of the most paranoid and vindictive people I know,” Almaseck said. “Honestly, your insistence on being so polite all the time is probably the only reason he hasn’t shot at you yet. Not because he likes you, but because I hope he’s on his last legs with the Guild and needs a believable reason.”
My grin became much less genuine as I processed that. “Hope? I thought the guild had to approve and manage all the suppliers down here. Do you not manage that?”
“I manage that for close to all of them,” Almaseck said in a disgruntled tone. “I can’t say who Halmon has in his pockets, but they are further up the food chain than myself. So I’m not exactly enthused about taking on one of his current apprentices and risk drawing his ire. So for right now, the answer to the young lady is no.”
“She’ll be disappointed, but I suppose we all learn the taste of that sooner or later,” I replied.
Well, I’d have to remember all of this for later. I’d never have guessed the sketchy gnome was that well-connected or had that much influence, but I supposed that’s why he acted the way he did. Distract your mark from your intentions.
“I do have an issue I could use some answers on. Related to my own troubles. It’s a little bit of a stretch, but are you acquainted with the gang known as the Purebloods?”
Almasek’s eyes narrowed. “I am. I dealt with them a few times, and none of them were pleasant. You’ve met them?”
“Unfortunately, yes. They attacked me because I was trying to aid…well, a member of the Black Flame.”
Almaseck grunted noncommittally. “That’s none of my business. I can tell you that most of my dealings with those are usually gang members trying to get some cash on the side or working a job through the guild. Not this lot, though. Came right down, informed me if I wanted to operate, I’d need to stop hiring non-humans.”
“That seems like a bit of an overreach,” I said. “They leaned on the entire guild or just you?”
“Me and every human guild master. And you’re right on the overreach part. I settled for letting Helvek work the one that came here over since the asshole decided to insult Helvek to his face. Travult settled for letting them go with a firm no. Carsacci apparently let her people know it was open season till they got out of the underground.”
Almaseck turned to the window overlooking the street, snorting derisively. “Fucking three-fourths of the guild is non-human, and it’s hardly a secret. They were insane to even make the attempt.”
“They might not be that insane,” I said. “The number of guild members who aren’t human might be the point. You are one of the riskiest but fastest ways to become someone in the empire without race being a major factor.”
“They did hint they had ties to some of the bigger pro-human movements. Wouldn’t shock me if they had some kind of connection, although no one would stand up for them publicly. You said you tangled with them because of the Black Flame?”
“They were trying to rip a box off of him,” I confirmed.
“Probably just gang business. I did a little looking on the side myself, when they aren’t intimidating non-humans or checking each other for red hairs, they’re like any other gang.”
I chuckled at the idea of them going through each other's hair looking for strands. “Seeing if they have any Keltish blood? Do they check their skin color as well, make sure it’s within the acceptable range?”
“Maybe. Probably. You really that interested?”
I shook my head. “Not really. Just amused. They already set themselves quite the task of going after every non-human in the empire, then they want to add other humans to the mix as well? You think they’d pick their battles.”
“The smart ones aren’t on the streets selling wiz and khaliff to people in dark alleys when they espouse their ideas.”
He had a point. “I don’t suppose you have any concrete information? Known members, locations, anything like that?”
Almaseck considered me for a moment before speaking. “Some. Not much. I’ll have Helvek collect it before you leave. We do have one other matter to discuss.”
I nodded. “Helvek said this was urgent. And the Basilisk most alchemists could help you with. Why did you need to speak to me, Guildmaster?”
“Yesterday I was visited both by the City Watch and Mr. Voltar, the greatest detective of the empire. Separate times, same subject. Files on a freelance alchemist often employed out of my guild.” Helvasek considered me, steepling his fingers. “Why are they so interested in you, Falara?”
I didn’t move my head but I suddenly was much more aware of Helvek’s silent presence a foot behind me.
Mouth dry, I answered. “Well, I mentioned the Black Flame, Mr. Almasek, they likely-“
“If they were just trying to find out information on that they wouldn’t have been trying to find out what adventuring parties you’ve been a part of over the last two years. Unless you can think of how that’s relevant to your encounter with the Black Flame and Purebloods?”
“I honestly can’t,” I said. Best not to say anything too rash in here. My blood might as well be ice. This could not be a simple coincidence at this point, but how did that damn Voltar know?
“Perhaps if they want to build a case of some kind against me, they’re looking into some of the connections I’ve cultivated-”
“Halmon,” Alamsek cut me off dourly. “Why does every alchemist end up dealing with that graverobber Falara? It’s bad enough he’s already come up once in my life today. I prefer keeping that as the maximum.”
“He is very good at what he does,” I admitted. “Honestly, I’d say at least in terms of finding corpses to secure ingredients from, I suspect Necromancy. Or something related to death, he seems to know when everything dies down here. And since he clearly has connections high in the guild.”
Almaseck snorted. “I see your point. Well, they’ll probably have visited him as well.”
“Most assuredly so,” I agreed. And if they had, Halmon hadn’t hinted it to me during our conversation. It’s not like the gnome owed me anything, but hiding it was a slap in the face.
“Why are they so interested, Katheryn?” He asked.
The bluntness of it was like an old fish to the face in effect. Had he ever called me by my assumed first name before? I couldn’t remember. No one called me Katheryn. I made sure of it on purpose.
“It’s a personal matter,” I answered briskly. “I appreciate the concern, but it doesn’t concern the guild, so-”
“The guild is already involved,” he said in a voice filled with steel. Not loud, but each word felt like a hammer to my head. “Every guildmaster in the city has been approached by people about your activities in their section of the city. Not all by the Watch and Voltar. What did you do?”
“I couldn’t say-”
“Couldn’t or won't?”
My mouth snapped shut. Did he have a truthteller hidden here somewhere? I hadn’t eaten or drank anything down here, but a mage of the right talents could cast a spell. With what I’d done to myself, I wouldn’t be able to tell until it was reversed.
At least now I knew what other factors governed my staying here.
Almaseck considered me some more, leaning forward in his chair. My hands tensed. His eyes were cold. It felt like staring down a predator.
“You are a free contractor. Independent from the Guild. There’s very little I can do to pressure you into telling me why they are so interested, Katheryn. With some of the hints Voltar dropped, I don’t think pressuring you would do either of us favors.”
“More than you could possibly guess,” I said. “You wouldn’t like what would come out.”
It was supposed to be a jest, but before it left my lips, I’d twisted it into something darker without meaning to.
Behind me, I could feel Helvek tense, but Almaseck didn’t so much as twitch.
“I take it that wasn’t a threat?” He asked me quietly. The implication of what would happen if I said yes was plain. A dozen guild members, well-respected and experienced, just happened not to be doing anything today right outside his office.
How much had Voltar told him?
I shook my head. I didn’t trust myself to speak. The silence stretched until some words made their way out. “I didn’t intend to make one. I don’t want us to be enemies, Mr. Almasek.”
“It’s interesting you think we’d be enemies, Katheryn,” he said, getting up from his desk. “Until this matter is resolved, and until I’m given some concrete information about what makes the imperial government so interested in you, you are considered persona non grata to the guild and all areas it manages. You know the way out.”