We entered the queue, maybe forty groups deep in the line. Even though we had arrived when the sun had barely crested over the horizon, we hadn’t managed to be among the first to arrive.
“Let me make this very clear,” Javier said, turning into the wagon. “We’re traveling mercenaries. We have no formal affiliation with Titan city. It’s quite frowned upon for the city guard of other cities to be entering others. Some cities even consider it an act of war. There are more formal procedures in place to handle that sort of open situation, but we aren’t having one of those. This is a fact-finding mission, so our cover means that we don’t incur Malagost’s wrath on our home, understood?”
We nodded, the implications all too clear. Being caught meant more than the mission. It meant the sanctity of Titan City. Being caught was a reflection of our failings. If we couldn’t even manage to remain incognito, how were we going to get to the bottom of the prey beast soul issue?
For all that we had hyped ourselves up, when we finally managed to pass through by the city gates, the guards had barely cared, not even doing any basic fact checking towards our cover. A simple answer was enough for them to be willing to let us through, a fact that wasn’t lost on the team. Was the negligence a reflection of why those guards were cast out of the city? Or was that caliber of guard the same as the ones we had defeated, which was to say, pathetic?
“First things first, we need to find an inn to tether our wagon and use as a base for our operations in the city,” Javier said. The mere thought of scouring the city for a reasonable place to sleep evoked a dreadful sigh. It was almost too much burden to bear.
“Don’t worry, I know a place,” Alain interjected. I raised my eyebrows, but Alain wasn’t forthcoming with any further explanation. We followed his directions to The Hammer and booked our rooms.
The rooms only had one bed each, a larger mattress than the one’s at the barracks but it looked far less comfortable. There was a dirty window leaking in light and a sole table to place one’s possessions upon. It was a bare bones room intended for a quick stay, which was exactly what we were intending. I was paired with Alain, Mia with Vera and Javier having a room all to himself—the privilege of leading our team.
“Alright, Alain, go out there and start getting to work,” Javier commanded. “You know what to do.” Alain saluted and departed the room, leaving the rest of us to continue our briefing.
“We’re trying to do much like what we did back in Titan City. Understand what’s happening here, how far the movement has progressed— as much information as we can get on the prey soul situation here. Thankfully you all have prey souls, so any questions you ask shouldn’t come off as unexpected. Just do your best to get a sense for Malagost, really. That’s the bare minimum I want from you. We are going to head out into the city and return by dinner time with what we’ve learned. Understood? Get it? Make sense?”
I nodded. I was ready for a second chance. Hopefully this time I could learn something better than second-hand opinions on the best drinks served in the city. Not like those were of use to me anyway. It sounded like their palettes had differed greatly from my own.
“Vera, Perry, you two go off on your own,” Mia said. “I’ve got an idea and that requires me to be by my lonesome.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. Javier had already left, leaving the three of us behind to coordinate our own searches.
“Emphatically so. Can’t let Alain be the only one to search alone. I just know I can beat him at this investigation stuff,” she said, balling her fists by her side.
“Alright. We’ll see you later then,” Vera said, waving her off. She pulled me out of the room and we headed out into the city, ready to explore and find out what it was like in another urban environment.
“You know, if you had told me I would have entered two different cities within the last two months, I wouldn’t have believed it. My village was all I knew,” I said. We were walking down the streets, keeping an eye open for any suspicious activity. Of course, suspicious was a bit harder when one’s barometer for city life was a bit skewed from lack of experience.
“I didn’t even know I would be in one city in my lifetime,” Vera replied. “I had expected to never leave my village. I thought I would stay there, get married, live by the doctrine and eventually die there.”
I couldn’t say that I had such a fatalistic view of my prior home, but I understood all too well the feeling. “It felt like there was nothing else to the world. That everything only existed within those boundaries of the village. That you were bound to the rules of the village beyond anything else.”
“And yet here we are, in Malagost city. If two village kids like us can make it to the city, well, I think that shows that change is possible for everyone,” she said. “But don’t let our time in the city steal what matters most to you away. I still carry the doctrine in my heart. Even if some of the others in the city don’t care as much, that doesn’t mean that I have to give it up, Perry.”
“You’re all too right, Vera. How did you get found? I know you mentioned something about a contest, but that doesn’t really give that much to go off of for my mental image of what happened.”
“Well, you see, my village had a yearly ritual to welcome in the harvest. More of a festival, really. Nothing against the doctrine, just something to bring in good energy to our humble village. A motivator to get through the hard work knowing that entertainment was on the other side.”
“There was a feast, a dance, and a feat of strength, the latter of which I won. You had to break rocks with a slam of your hammer, and well, I managed to break the biggest rock in the fewest swings.” She blushed at the memory, my eyes noticing how thick her arms truly were. She may have been on the shorter side, but she was compact and dense. I could see how she had won the competition.
“So how does that add up to you getting discovered by Javier?” I asked. Something felt like it was missing.
“Well, we normally get merchants coming around that time of the year for trade and word spread of my success. From there, evidently it got to Javier and he stopped by the village and was impressed by what he saw, inviting me to join him, if I could keep up.”
My body shuddered at the memory of running to Titan City. “I understand all too well… I had barely slept the night before but if I didn’t manage to keep pace with him I would have been abandoned.”
“Let’s not fixate on our struggle,” she said. “Let’s go get something to eat. Maybe people are a bit looser lipped here than in Titan city.” I appreciated her optimism. Even if it was wrong, well, there was nothing that could go awry with a good meal in one’s self.
“That one looks good,” I said, pointing down the road to a bustling pub. “Maybe we should have just picked somewhere more popular last time rather than close to where we wanted to go…”
She shrugged, no thoughts on improvement passing through her mind, and motioned for me to follow her inside. We scrambled for a seat, motioning for the barkeep to bring us over some drinks and the special of the day.
“It’s mystery stew,” the barkeep said, planting the mugs and bowls in front us. “Don’t ask what’s in it. That would spoil the mystery, and then it wouldn’t be mystery stew anymore, now would it?”
I couldn’t argue with that. I put my mug to my mouth and drank deeply, embracing the local flavor of beer. It was a heavily hopped drink, at least compared to what I’d drank before. It was growing on me, but I wasn’t sure how Vera would handle it.
I took a look at her and smirked at the sight of the foam surrounding her lips. She had already finished her mug. “Reminds me of the stuff we made back in the village,” she said with a gentle shrug. I could only shake my head at the declaration.
We made small talk, keeping an ear out for anything, and were rewarded for our patience. At the bar two men were getting rowdy, demanding more and more from the barkeep.
I sipped on my mystery stew, trying to not let my surprise linger on my face. What they were saying was important, and I wouldn’t let eating my food obscure me from hearing the sentiments they had to share.
“Can you believe it?” the first man said. He hiccupped, gulping down more liquid as though drowning himself would be the cure to his breathing ailment. “It’s been three months to the day and nothing’s changed. I thought things were supposed to be different once prey beast souls were in charge.”
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“This was just an excuse for prey soul supremacy,” the other man said, clasping his friend around the back. “Let’s drink to the new hierarchy of shit.”
He slammed his mug into his friend’s, beer spraying everywhere, the barkeep staring at them with disgust. She already whipped out a dirty rag, ready to clean up. Experience left its mark.
“May the doctrine guide me and lead me to a world where prey beast souls are as dangerous as predator beast souls.”
“May our guards show the might of the prey beast souls.” They toasted again. It was a lovely sentiment, even if they didn’t mean it, until a body flew across the room. She had long blond hair, a slim body, and a scowl affixed on her face. She kicked the first man into the wall. He collapsed to the ground on impact. The attacker's fluffy rabbit legs extended from her lower torso, white fur matted with a splash of blood.
“If you talk shit, you get hit,” she said. Others in the bar started to rise behind her, summoning their beast soul features onto their respective persons, ready to continue wailing on the two gossips.
The man cowered, starting to blabber nonsense, too inebriated to adequately defend himself from the impromptu mob violence.
“Should… should we do something about that?” I asked Vera, my body tensed up. It felt like I was mirroring the man on the ground, who was anticipating the fluffy foot about to slam into his stomach.
“We might draw attention to ourselves doing so, Perry. Is that alright?” Vera asked, wincing as the other man was slugged in the face, a rat about to bite into his shoulder.
“I think they’ve gone a bit too far. Let’s see if we can deescalate things. It’s our job to protect the weak, and those idiots are certainly weak.” I rose from my seat, slowly walking over to the crowd wailing on those idiots, trying to think of the proper things to say.
Thankfully, Vera’s outburst would suffice just as easily. “Don’t you think you’re doing a bit too much? The doctrine wouldn’t sanction this violence,” she said, frowning behind my shoulder. “The doctrine supports violence commiserate to the violence received. An eye for an eye. They acted stupid and you’ve taught them a lesson. We’re supposed to be better than them.”
"You heard him talking,” the woman said, slamming her furry foot into the man once more. He vomited out a bit of booze slurry, holding his stomach gingerly. “He deserves everything he gets and more.”
“I think he’s been sufficiently injured,” I added, stepping forth. “I’m sure he’ll know to hold his tongue going forward. Even if he’s an idiot, he was a drunken idiot. I’m sure when he’s sober he knows his place. Give him a bit more time before we step straight to murder.”
The woman locked eyes with me, filled with a cool brutal intent, before turning away. “Come on then. Let’s leave the trash on the ground where it belongs.” The rest of the crowd dispersed, leaving Vera and I to tend to the drunkards.
They were spectacularly bruised, no part of their body spared from being pummeled by angry fists and feet. If they had weathered any more of the abuse, I wouldn’t be surprised if they had ended up dead.
“Let’s get you cleaned up a bit,” I said, hoisting the man on the ground up. Vera helped the other man get back into a seated position, and we posted them at the bar.
“Do you have any rags back there?” Vera asked the barkeep. “It would be nice if we could wipe away their blood. You know, trying to staunch their wounds.”
The barkeep nodded, and I put a tip on the counter for her trouble, seeing if I could get the men's’ attention. “You awake?” I asked, gently shaking the one closest to me. It was a kinder measure than prodding their bruised bodies, but only slightly.
“Wassat? Mom, is that you? I don’t want to get up.” Clearly he was still drunk or had some sort of concussion. I hoped it was the former. That was easier to work with.
“No, we’re the ones that just helped you and prevented you from being mauled to death by a horde of your fellow city folk. Perhaps you should lay off the drink.”
He glared at me through his black eyes. “Don’t you tell me not to drink, ma. Drinking’s all I’ve got left since the prey folk ruined everything.”
‘Well, if he’s going to be telling me things, I guess I can work with this,’ I thought.
“What’s going on here in Malagost? We’ve only recently entered this great city,” I asked, patting him gently on the back.
“Oh ma, you wouldn’t believe it. Three months ago the prey beast souls took over the city. They took our jobs, they took the city guard, they took everything. They claimed they were redistributing the wealth,” he slurred.
His friend spoke up, staring at his bruised hands. “Any time they think someone is stepping out of line, a horde of them just beats you up, like how you saw a bit before. You don’t need to be the strongest to beat up other mediocre people. Numbers is enough force.”
That was certainly truer for people than spike feeders. Spike feeders were always dangerous if not hardy. The same couldn’t be said for our soft flesh.
“The toughest part ma, is that I still care for my neighbor, even if they don’t seem to care for me anymore. I don’t want to kill em, ma. I don’t want their blood on my hands, but that’s the only way I can conceive getting out of this. They’re about ready to kill me, ma. Am I not supposed to fight back? Just roll over and die?.”
I grimaced at the way this situation had escalated within Malagost. This was extreme. We saw mob justice committed over drunken complaining, and yet the wounded drunkard suggested that wasn’t the full extent of the situation. I just hoped this wasn’t a portent for what could spread to Titan City.
Vera finished wiping down her drunkard and I quickly followed, leaving them behind and going back to our table to finish up our meal and pay our bill. We had to keep up appearances even if our appetite had vanished into thin air.
“I don’t think we need much more, do you?” I asked Vera. She shook her head, unable to speak lest her distaste become evident. “We might as well just hang out at the inn. I don’t know what else we need to find. I think we’ve gotten all we need.”
She nodded and we started on our way back, continuing to appraise all that we saw with new eyes. Every interaction seemed disingenuous, or fraught with peril. Living in Malagost had more peril than living on the road. You knew who your enemies were out in the wilderness. You didn’t know who you could trust in Malagost.
“Shut up. Take it back,” a voice shouted from around the corner. I locked eyes with Vera and nodded. We had to put a stop to whatever it was. We ran around the corner, hoping to stop that familiar voice from escalating things further.
We couldn’t let Mia drive herself into a corner.
She stood with her back to a wall, surrounded by three of the locals and further out, a crowd of watching the ensuing chaos. “What seems to be the problem here,” I said, stepping forward, putting my hand on the shoulder.
“These assholes made fun of my family,” Mia spat, fists bunched by her side. “They don’t know me. They don’t know who I am, and yet they were willing to talk shit.”
One of her aggressors shrugged, bearing a toothy grin. “Look love, it’s not my fault you took it that way. I said you looked like you had been raised by wolves, given your feral attitude. I didn’t say nothing about your pa.”
My eyebrow shot through my hairline. This is what triggered Mia? She wasn’t proving them wrong. “Mia,” I said, stepping next to her, words soft enough only for her ear. “They don’t know you. You don’t know them. You’ll never see them again. They only said shit to get a rise out of you. Don’t let them get to you.”
“Maybe your family means nothing to you, Perry, but they mean everything to me. They were besmirching my family’s honor. Just because you don’t have pride doesn’t mean that I don’t.”
“Mia, I’ll pretend you didn’t make the same kind of overtures that these assholes just did, for both of our sakes. But these shitheads don’t know who you are, okay? It doesn’t seem like I’m getting through to you so I’m going to make this perfectly clear. They’re only talking down your family to you because you reacted to it. This would be like a child mocking your parents. Do you react to the child saying that your dad smells? No, Mia. You know that they’re immature and just trying to get a rise out of you. Swallow your pride. Save it for when someone who you actually know denigrates your family, not this random fucker on the street with a big mouth.”
She swallowed, turning away from my face. “Fine. Only because it’s for the good of the team.”
Mia turned back to the assembled crowd, forcing a fake smile on her face. “You know what, I thought about it again. That was a pretty good joke. Do you know anymore?”
The other’s faces drooped, no longer sensing a target to mess with. “You’re not fun anymore,” he muttered, walking away. The crowd started to disperse, leaving the three of us standing alone on the street.
“Should we be going back then?” Vera said.