Mist smiled when she heard that statement. “Looks like we caught one after all. See, I was right; just hang out in a bar long enough in the bad part of town, and trouble just looks for you. They should have the info we need. Hurry up so we can leave before more bugs start gathering.”
Eir sighed as she looked at the men who pulled out knives as they walked towards them with sinister smiles on their faces. When they first arrived in the city, Eir suggested going to the bar to listen and find a shady connection to create some fake identification for them, but no one seemed to approach them.
They had assumed Bruni would be one and kept up their guard, but nothing happened even after they waited at the bar. His presence was, however, still strange, so they would follow what he said eventually but expect things to go wrong and prepare to rectify them.
When they left the bar, they found that nobody was following them as they expected, so they were dejected, but fortune favors the bold as they say. As they walked, two men who randomly crossed their path began to follow them, so it wasn’t a wasted trip after all.
Mist’s plan was fairly simple: to hang out and wait till some small fish take the bait and use them to find a big fish who they could use and manipulate to get the simple things they would need like identification, money, and even a place to stay.
As the men advanced with their knives drawn, Eir and Mist remained composed, ready to defend themselves if necessary. Mist kept an eye on their surroundings, subtly signaling for her animal allies to stay hidden in case they needed to intervene later.
Eir pretended to speak nervously as she asked, "Who are you? What do you want? If you don’t stop coming closer, we’ll hurt you."
The men paused at Eir’s words before laughing a bit. One of the men sneered, "You two are either really brave or really foolish to challenge us. We, the Flint gang, own this territory, and there’s nobody who’s gonna come to save you. Now why don’t you behave, and we’ll take it easy on you."
Mist chuckled softly, her confidence unwavering. "Told you we’d catch a fish in one day. Even though we look like this, we’re still beautiful by dwarven standards. To those around us, we look like helpless damsels in distress. See, this is why you should never doubt my plan just cause it isn’t as well thought out as yours."
Without warning, an irritated Eir sprang into action. She used her death magic and summoned some spirits she had tamed. They possessed the two men and started to viciously attack each other. The alley seemed to grow darker, as the death energy called more spirits towards that area, creating an eerie and intimidating atmosphere that naturally kept people from coming into the alley.
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As the two men started attacking each other under the influence of the possessed spirits, chaos erupted in the alley. The brawl between them was fierce, and their cries of pain echoed through the dimly lit space.
Eir and Mist stood back, keeping a safe distance from the ongoing fight. Mist kept her animal friends on alert, ensuring that no one else would be drawn into the conflict. A few bats circled overhead, while some moles.
The possessed men continued their relentless assault, completely unaware of their surroundings or the danger they were in. As the fight progressed, Eir noticed a curious symbol etched into one of the men's arms—an emblem that most likely belonged to the Flint gang, since both men had it.
Feeling that the dwarven men had sustained enough damage, she ordered the spirits to move over as she collected the knives the men had originally wielded. Now that they were injured and disarmed, she had the spirits release the men who collapsed and squirmed in pain as they cried out.
From their perspective, they had just been walking over to a couple of weak women threateningly, and the next thing they knew their whole bodies hurt as the women stood over them holding their knives. This terrified them, but they couldn't even find the strength to try to escape, causing one of them to relieve himself.
Disgusted, Eir and Mist backed away to avoid stepping in the urine. Eir’s gaze grew icy as she said, “Either you tell us what we want to know, or we’ll kill you right here and now.”
The men's fear was palpable as they lay on the ground, nursing their wounds and trembling in front of Eir and Mist. "Please, please don't kill us," one of the men pleaded, his voice quivering. "We'll tell you anything you want to know, just spare our lives."
Eir looked at Mist, and they both nodded. Eir spoke sternly, "Start talking, and don't leave out any details. We want to know everything about the Flint gang's operations, their leader, and any other information that might be useful to us."
The men hesitated for a moment, looking at each other for support, before finally deciding to cooperate. They shared information about the Flint gang and their connections with other criminal factions in the city. They revealed their leader Garik's ruthless nature and how he ruled the gang with an iron fist.
Upon finishing their explanation, Mist leaned closer, a mischievous smile playing on her lips. "Now that we have what we want, you two have a choice to make. You can either crawl away from this gang, and you’ll never see us again, or you can help us gather more information on the Flint gang and be of use to us. We will treat you quite nicely if you say yes."
The men exchanged uneasy glances, understanding the gravity of the situation they found themselves in. The Flint gang was notorious for their brutality, and they knew that crossing them could mean their deaths. "I'll help you," one of the men said, his voice low. "But you have to promise to protect me from Garik."
The other man shook his head and said, “I ain’t gonna help you, so let me go.”
Mist smiled and threw the knife she was holding up in the air as she stood up. As the knife fell back down aimed at the leg of the man who refused, he screamed, unable to move. Just as the knife was about to stab into his leg, Mist stepped on it, adding to its force, causing it to pierce all the way through. “There, as promised, you can now crawl away. Now you’ll never see us again so long as you avoid the Flint gang. If by some unfortunate circumstances, you appear before us again, I’ll take the life you barely managed to hold onto.”
The man who agreed looked upon his friend in horror, and as Mist turned to face him in the wake of his friend’s screams, she offered her hand. “Will you take my hand, or will you join your friend and crawl too?”