Chapter 116 Gang War I.
Just like an archer who leads his shot.
Habits and path is the easiest way to kill a person.
Never stick to your habits.
Never become predictable.
Rakisha, Mother of all Demons.
After a few minutes walk through quiet and seemingly abandoned streets, we hear the sound of raging battle up ahead. Shouts, yelps, metal clinging against metals, and the screams of the dying creates a deathly cacophony of madness.
Once we turn the corner we can also see the battle that takes place at a street crossing. Men punching, clubbing, choking, and hurting one another in a destructive chaos of murder and mayhem. A man with a muddy white armband and a blue fish on it manages to limp out of the battle, panting. Only for a bald man to pounce on him from behind. The two fall to the ground in a pile, and while the man with the fish mark attempts to fight, the bald man is stronger. The fight ends with a dagger stabbed repeatedly into the torso of the loser.
The bald man stands back from his victim, panting. I note that his black armband has the mark of a red arrow on it, and that he has a scar that runs from his forehead to the edge of his mouth, crossing close to his left eye. The bald man pants heavily and raises his eyes to meet my own. For a brief moment I feel something brushing against my skull, a mana prodding. His brown eyes open wide and he turns to run, leaving the raging battle behind him.
I quickly prod him back. What I sense from him is a rather weak power. He has his wood and crown mana pools open, not even formed much less connected, open. This man is self taught. He probably awakened some form of magic during the chaos that took place in the city.
He's unimportant right now. I'll look for him later. According to Jerro, these are the two gangs who would be willing to follow me, and they’re fighting each other... great!
“I’m going to try and stop the fighting, but if I fail, we’re here to help the ones with the fish symbol on their arms. Sharla, hide somewhere. Ryon, make sure no one gets close to me. Berthold, find a good archery position for yourself. And Zoe, don’t overuse your magic, mana dehydration has some nasty side effects. Let’s go!”
“Kushjak!”
One of them manages to break free and runs toward me with a spear and a loud war cry. He drops to his knee, Berthold’s arrow sprouting from his leg.
“Tans fiuak”
"You’re covered in oil. If you won’t stop this insane fight this instant, I’m burning the lot of you. Fotyr.”
My magical voice is carried over the stunned silence. The men slowly cease their fighting and distance themselves from one another, raising their weapons with caution etched on their bruised and dirty faces. Glancing nervously toward me and their opponents.
The wounded and the dead are left in the middle, covered in filth, oil, and blood. I see a man on his knees, collecting his intestines from the muddy ground, bowling loudly for his mother. Another crawls out of the battlefield, desperately trying to carry both of his dismembered legs.
“This madness has to stop! I came to take control over this city, and I do not wish to have more needless deaths. Fishermen, take me to your leader, we’re going to have a chat.”
The men with fish on their arms look at me awkwardly.
“And you, Red Arrows, go to…”
“It’s a spear!” one of them shouts.
"Red spears!" the other adds.
Like it even matters. I roll my eyes. “A spear, fine! Go to your leader, tell him to come and see me at the Fishermen's base if he wants to stay in power.” They all just stand there and look at me, dumbfounded. “What are you all waiting for? Go! Do I need to kill one of you to inspire fear? Is that what you guys want?!”
The red spears scurry out of there. They soon disperse to the streets on the left, leaving the Fishermen gang and the screaming wounded behind.
I walk toward the Fishermen and cancel my 'Increase Voice' cantrip. “Take me to your leader,” I command.
“What about the wounded?” a black-bearded man with a bloodied fish armband asks. His voice is a low gruff more akin to a growl.
“Take those who can be saved with you, I don’t care what side they’re on, and kill those who can’t be saved.” I don’t have healing potions for all of them, and I’m not about to waste my own and put myself or my friends at risk for a bunch of thugs…
He nods and gestures for his gang. They get to work, dragging wounded and cutting throats. Instead of joining his men, the black-bearded man walks by my side. “Name’s Shorr, I lead the Fishermen,” he offers a bloodied and callused hand for a shake.
I shake his beefy hand. He’s nearly two meters tall, my head barely reaches his long black beard, but with my slow growth I am used to being the shortest person in the room. “Good to meet you, saves me the time to go looking for you. I’m here to bring order back to this city. Play your cards right, and you’ll find yourself in a position of power.”
His broad shoulders are twice as wide as my own, and with his height, I have to lean my head back to look him in the eye. The smile under his beard reaches his brown eyes. “And if I play 'em wrong?” I have a feeling he’s still underestimating me, he’ll learn.
“Then you’ll end up dead in a ditch somewhere,” I reply dryly. There’s no need to cover it with pixie dust for you, cross me, and I’ll kill you.
The smile doesn’t leave his bearded face. “Blunt. So how do I play ma cards right?”
“Help me recover this city, help me keep its residents alive. As long as you obey my command, you can become the next ruler of Apricot City under me. I’m not here to stay. I have another city to bring into the fold.”
He grunts and hums in his low voice before speaking again. “Another city, I’ve heard Queen Phoebe kicked the bucket. Are you Queen Tiara or Queen Inara? Your names are confusing. How did you two split that pie?”
I raise an eyebrow; Too many people in these cities just blindly worshiped me like a chosen of their god. It's refreshing that he doesn't. But I can't afford niceties right now. Under normal circumstances I'd have him speak casually with me, but now I need him to obey, and obey he shall. “Inara… Last time I saw Phoebe she was missing her arms, legs, and tongue, but very much alive.” He backs off with fear clear in his brown eyes. No more looking down on me, huh? I inhale through my nose, his bloody grimy smell turning into a pleasant soft scent of anemones and cinnamon. A rush of power lights up my veins and my lips curve into a grin. “Relax! Not my doing, she had other enemies. If it was up to me she'd be headless too. I don't really bother with torturing my enemies, I don't see the point. If someone becomes a threat, I end them.”
He nods thoughtfully. “Won’t say I’m sad to see her gone, she wasn’t a good queen. Your Grace, if I may ask…”
Good. Back into your line and lick my boots, my little dog... “Ask away.”
“Thank you, Your Grace. Do you care about the people’s well-being? Or do you simply want to ensure there’s order and tax income from this place?”
Now I have to establish his undying loyalty to me and he's my good pawn... “Shorr?” I take a step back and look into his brown eyes. “I’ll pay you a gold coin for every person you can save and two gold coins for every child saved. I’m here to save as many as I can and kill anyone who’ll try and harm the people of this city, they’ve suffered enough!”
“Good! You don’t have to pay me a copper, Your Grace, this city needs a monarch who cares for it.” Stop it! Just stop! I force my face back into a neutral expression as he drops to one knee, despite my insane urge to smile madly or arch and sigh in pleasure. “I pledge allegiance to Queen Inara, as long as she serves the people I shall serve her with everything I have!”
He remains on one knee, with his head lowered. Do I really need to play with people's hearts like that? Why do I give into my base instincts so much? Why can't I just tell him what I want without all the manipulations and the drama? Why do I have to...
He's waiting for a response, it wouldn't do to keep my new little pawn waiting...
UGH!!! “I accept your oath, rise! And let’s save this mad city.”
*
About half an hour later we are on our way to the docks. After the fishermen gang moves a series of wooden barricades and clears a passages in the debris littered street, we walk through a small narrow kill zone that this gang had prepared. I eye the bowmen in the windows on both sides. This kill zone wouldn't be a threat to me, but they could easily stop a small army in this narrow passage.
Once we cross their makeshift gate, we're in the docks district. The people here look way better than the ones at the city entrance. They aren’t skeletons in skin for once, and some semblance of city life is being carried out. A small market with goods and customers, guards wearing the fish armbands at every corner, and even children playing in the dry and somewhat clean streets.
I thought this guy was a thug leading a gang… not this… I may have been too harsh on him… “I apologize for being harsh on you, Shorr, I thought you were a brainless thug leading a gang… You’re doing a good job protecting the peace here.”
He moves his hand in his black beard with a gentle smile. “Doing ma best. We control the only active food source in the city, it allows us this much. Hunger is a cruel mistress, and our stores are dwindling, we’re already rationing as it is.”
I can see the abundance of fish in the market stalls. “I’m guessing that’s fish, hence the name?”
He chuckles. “Most of us are fishermen by trade, when the riots happened we banded together to keep our neighborhood safe. That’s why we’re called the fishermen.”
“Makes sense. Tell me about the riots.”
His brown eyes darken for a moment. “The criers announced that Queen Phoebe lost her battle at Red Cedar, and the city is now under the rule of Queen Inara. I mean yours, Your Grace… hrm… There was a week of peace, but none of the levy Queen Phoebe took ever came back home. People figured they were all lost. We grieved but continued with our lives, not much we can do about it…”
He sighs, smoothing a thin scar on his large palm. “Administer Shabil Gemhand was managing the city as usual, but a week after that announcement—while everyone were grieving and planting trees for their dead—Lord Gemhand disappeared. I don’t know what happened to him, or any of the royal council. You hear all kinds of stories. Some say they just left us, others say they got killed by Marvu and his band, some crazy ones even claim a flying mosquito monster killed them all, if you can believe madness like that. All I know is Marvu and his band of bandits showed up at our gates the next day. They killed all the guards and took away people and food. From that point, people were just trying to survive…”
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Gemhand again... does this family spread across this island? Is Olfgram even the head of the family? And if not, who is the head of the family? That's irrelevant at the moment. I focus on Shorr again.
Shorr shakes his head to himself, fists clenched. “Your Grace, not to sound ungrateful, but where were you until today?” He gathers his courage to ask.
“Rebuilding Red Cedar City from the wreckage Queen Pheobe left it at, and dealing with a foreign soul trying to take over my body. If I had known things were this bad, I’d have send some forces sooner, but my Spymaster assured me everything was fine… He has a lot to answer for…” I should’ve appointed Sharla to the role of a Spymaster from the moment she came back… but I was too busy with Luard’s stupid soul! All over my snaking morals! “I’m sorry. I am not trying to avoid my responsibility in this. Some of what happened to you and your people is the fault of my own negligence, but I’m here now, and I’ll do whatever I can to help. How long will your food last?”
He scratches his thick beard and thinks about my question or answer for a long moment. “I... I see. Food? I’d say about a month, but we can stretch that with rationing, if I can free enough of ma men to fish in the river, we'll last even longer.”
I cross my hands surveying the bustling market. Ryon is already hitting on a young woman and offering her food. Berthold makes some conversation with a group of guards. Sharla charms a small group of middle aged women into gossip. while Zoe sticks closely to me, eyeing me with awe and worship that makes me flinch. “A month is plenty, I’ll send shipments of food from Red Cedar City, we’ll buy more from other cities if need be.”
He sighs in relief. “That is good to hear.”
I ignore Zoe and focus on the big man who rules this district. “Please tell me about the other gangs.”
“The ‘Red Spears’ has a stash of iron weapons, they’re our immediate threat. They’re trying to take over the docks in order to take our food and trade those weapons away, but merchants don’t dock here anymore or we wouldn’t have a food shortage.”
He sighs and continues, scratching his thick beard. “There are ‘Marvu’s Raiders’, the band of bandits who started this mess. They control the city gates. Marvu and his bandits sell citizens as slaves to a bunch of bandits and slavers out of town in exchange for gold, food, and weapons.”
"Wait." I raise my hand. "If Marvu's Raiders control the city gate, how come it was unguarded when I entered? There was only a really small gang of teenagers who watched the gates from afar. Wouldn't it make sense for them to seal the gate and control who comes and who goes?"
"Hrm. They let people in. The gate is probably fortified now that they know you're a mage. Or maybe not. I don't know enough about that part of the city, it's too far from the docks."
Right... "What about the last gang?"
“Last gang is the ‘Flayers’. These are mad men who barricaded themselves in the palace with all the food storages the palace has. They kill anyone who gets too close, they flay and impale their victims at the palace’s gates as a warning.”
“A pleasant bunch…”
“A bunch of madmen! That’s what they are. We’re the only ones trying to keep the peace, I’m relieved you chanced upon us first.”
I smile at him. “That’s not a coincidence. Another question, are people getting sick?”
“Yes, we quarantine the sick in an old storehouse, we had to burn the place and switch to another storehouse since many of them had died and the place was rotting. It wasn’t an easy choice…” His voice fades and the glint in his eyes darkens.
“But it was the right one, good work!” I’ll need to learn a lesser cure disease spell… If only my grimoire wasn't locked! Or maybe a potion… probably easier to distribute… Let’s stabilize the situation first, then heal the sick… I hope I can heal them…
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
“Headsman!” One of the men wearing a fish armband gets closer. “Ovin from the Red Spears sent a messenger, for the sorceress lady.”
“Get him over here!” I command. The man only does as I asked once he gets a nod of approval from Shorr.
A couple of minutes later, a man with a terrible mohawk haircut approaches us under an armed escort. “Your Grace,” he says with a theatrical dramatic bow. “Word from Ovin: You want us to bend the knee? You come in person! That’s all. Can I go now?”
This is a trap… What is he going to do once I get there? He controls the iron weaponry… there are plenty of options… I’d rather avoid fighting in the city’s streets, if this can be solved by words then I have to try… Besides, he needs to get close to me with iron, if he can’t touch me, it won’t help him much… and I have plenty of magical defenses to keep iron away… kinetic defense, orbiter, my armor, water barrier that I can always freeze…
“Tell your leader I’ll come over once I finish my business here, should last me about three days.” And now he’ll think he has three days to prepare for me…
“As you wish, Your Grace~,” the man's tone is a mocking one, he gives me another theatrical bow. With a nod from Shorr, the Fishermen lead the messenger back to their makeshift gate.
“It’s a trap,” Shorr states the obvious, once the man disappears.
“I’m aware, but I’d rather avoid fighting on the streets if I can help it. His iron doesn’t threaten me as much as he thinks it does. I might end up fighting and killing him if he’s too persistent. You can tag along with your men if you want, but I’ll be fine on my own too.” Sounds like they respect strength, it’ll be more impressive if I take down a bunch of them on my own… more likely to stop fighting faster… Jerro did say that the Red Spears will be loyal to me…
Shorr nods. “I’ll make sure ma men are ready in three days then, what will you…”
“No.” I cut his sentence. “I’m going in tonight.”
“Tonight? But…”
I answer before he can finishes the question. “I want Ovin to think he has three days to prepare his ambush, but I’m going to drop there tonight, unannounced. It’ll give him a good excuse to attack me at the very least.”
Shorr nods in affirmative. “He'll notice us if we get too close to his district. He has men watching the streets."
I shrug. "Maybe so, but how fast can he prepare his men to face us? He'll be caught off guard."
"Very well, I’ll make the preparations.” He turns to leave.
I hold his beefy arm, I can't even wrap my palm around it. “A few more questions before you go.”
He turns with a grunt. “I’m listening.”
“Do you have people watching the other gangs too?”
“Of course.”
I raise an eyebrow. “So they’ll warn us if they’ll make a move.”
“Yes.”
“Good, tell me something about Marvu, if I send a beautiful woman his way, will he keep her to himself? Or sell her?”
“I wouldn’t know, I’ve never met the man face to face and ma information in that part of the city is vague.”
So if I’m sending Sharla there, I’m sending her in blind… I can’t do that. “That’ll be all.”
Shorr nods and leave.
“Sharla?” I whisper as I glance at the fairy who's currently surrounded by a group of middle aged gossiping women.
She tilts her head to show she heard me, hugs three of them and kisses their cheeks before getting back to my side. She folds her hands under her breasts. “Yes, Mistress? Do you want me to seduce my way to that Marvu?”
“No. It's too risky and I don’t want to lose you over a battle I can probably win without the cloak and dagger. I want you to blend in this part of town, you shine in places of order anyway. Talk to the people, see what you can find about this Shorr and his fishermen. What kind of people are we dealing with here, and what kind of rotten snakes does he hide under his bed... if any.”
She smirks, the right corner of her mouth going higher than the left. "I already have a few rotten snakes, Mistress. He burned a bunch of sick and elderly people alive, they hate him for it. He also allegedly killed a man before the riots started. Some here really like him, almost worshiping him. Others see him as a necessary evil in order to stay alive. Want me to find out more?"
"Was the murder proven?"
She tucks a little bit of graying hair behind her ear. "Not that I know of. It's a rumor. A fishing dispute. It could've been an accident, but most murders appear like accidents first, Mistress. I could look into it if it's important to you."
"No. It's not. Even if he did murder someone it's irrelevant for the current state of affairs. As long as he's not mass murdering people, raping women, or harming children, I really don't care what he may or may have not done in the past. Do you think you can possibly sneak into the Red Spears base with Ryon and come back with some proper information? Numbers, weapons, the way their leader looks like, that sort of thing. I also want to know how do they treat the civilians under their care. Do they rape women and hurt children? Or simply don't let them into their base?"
“I don't need Ryon, it'll be better if I move on my own. It’ll be done, Mistress.” She covers her head with her hood and disappears into an alleyway.
“Ryon." I call out and make him turn from the young blond woman he's engaged with. "I want you to check on the city gate, see if they're still abandoned or if a gang took over and have closed the gates. If the gates are secured, find us another way out of the city if you can."
“After I snake,“ he answers, chewing on a piece of jerky. The woman at his side backs off from him with a her eyes open wide. She slaps him when he takes a step toward her and leaves with a huff.
I snicker. “Sure. Good luck with that. I need you to be back here by sundown, I want you around when we meet this Ovin character.”
“Ye,” he answers with a mouth full of food, rubbing his sore cheek.
“What about me?” Zoe asks.
“We’re sticking together. Let’s get some rest, tonight is going to be busy.”
*~*~*
Interlude 116.1
Moriz
Moriz sighs as he patrols the apple groveyard. It’ll be time for the harvest soon, just a little bit longer. He just came from the orange groveyard in the north, trees needed to be replanted over the correct bodies after the devastation the war had caused. He made sure everything was alright there, and now it’s the apples’ turn.
He can’t help but sigh again when he thinks about his Vivi. His only surviving family in this world, now lying sick in bed. He tried going to the Queen when she handed potions and remedies to the people, but the potion did not work on his sick daughter.
And the Queen just left her own city after bringing death and destruction to it, Moriz’s two sons had died for her and she can’t even give him a potion that works. This damn new General won’t let him petition to the Queen, he wouldn’t let anyone petition to that damned Queen.
“Snake the General… snake the Queen…” Moriz mutters as he moves his hand on a tree stub. He looks around in fear, this is treason. He shouldn’t say his thoughts aloud, if anyone overhears them he might lose his head. What will Vivi do without her father? Everyone knows how temperamental sorcerers are, they are famous for their fury, especially those with red hair.
A loud snort attracts his attention. Moriz freezes. A savage orc walks between the apple trees, the beast is nearly three meters tall and the stinking furs it wears should be burned and buried somewhere no civilized men should ever step. Moriz watches the savage with eyes filled with hatred. The Queen shouldn’t have brought these beasts to the city, they should go back to the forest where they belong!
Moriz’s heart misses a beat when the orc stops near Moriz’s tree and reaches for his belt. Moriz’s son is buried under that tree. Moriz panics as he sees the orc mumbling something in its growling language and touches the tree. The orc unbuckles his fur belt and pisses on the tree like the wild savage he is.
Moriz’ flushes with anger. That’s it! He gave his two sons to that Queen, he gave a son to the King before him, Jalier demands it, but he’ll be damned if he watches a savage desecrating his son’s tree and do nothing! Moriz closes on the orc from behind and uses his pruners to stab the orc again and again.
His vision fills with red as the savage shouts in his language. He had enough of these savages, and he has nothing to live for anymore. His daughter is going to die soon, his wife and three sons are long dead. Let the Queen and her lackeys execute him, let him be buried under a tree so another savage can piss on it, Moriz is done with this mad world.
*~*~*
Power level: 3rd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10: connected: 1 gem replenished per minute.
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 79
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5: formed: 16 gems. Conversion ratio: 6:1
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 26 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 13 gems
Light: Affinity 3: formed: 19/20 gems
Water: Affinity 6: formed: 39 gems
Earth: Affinity 1: formed: 6 gems
Wood: Affinity 2: formed: 13 gems
Gravity: Affinity 9: connected: 84/95 gems
Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword. Shavi’s Hair Dryer, Aria’s Enhanced Hearing. Aria’s Sonic Scream. Aria's Increased Voice.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame. Effrat’s Firefly, Effrat’s Fire Breath. Sorladika's Lesser Heating. Nuriss’ Ignite. Oniga's Soap Creation.
Light: Noxi’s Light. Lako’s Blinding Light. Rika’s energy hand.
Water: Water Evocation, Water to Ice, Ice to Water, Water to Vapor, Vapor to Water, Mayan’s Icy Spike, Ayla’s Water Jet. Ayla’s instant freeze. Ayla's Flowing Shield. Ayla’s Freezing Vapors. Hot Water Conjuration. Boiling Waterjet.
Earth: Alice’s Oil Summoning, Reiko’s Acid Spray. Alf's Copper Bolt
Wood: Arigor’s Lesser Vines. Kolosu’s Vegetable Summoning.
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burst. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s Lesser Shield II. Imari’s Minor Telekinesism. Imari’s Jump. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light Body. Alino’s Heavy Body. Alino's Orbiter.
Transmutation: Oniga's Laundry.
Spells known:
Light: Rika's Electric Channelb1
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb1x2. Tukado's Pushb1x3. Tukado’s defense IIIb1x4. Imari’s Lesser Flightb2.
Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison. Brigit’s Skin Restoration.
Focus capability: 18 patterns.
Social status: The Queen of Red Cedar City. Shaman of the Twin Moon Tribe. Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.
Personal Wealth: 1465 Magic Gems. 1420 Golden Peas, 45 Silver Scales, 32 Copper Bits.
Personal Items:
Magical necklace. Contains 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
5 potions of Lesser Healing.
4 potions of Pain Tolerance.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
Glitter ingredients. (1 bag)
Fresh rose petals, 36g
Fresh lavender petals, 7g
10 empty soul bottles. Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 30/100. Locked.
Present Companions:
Zoe
Berthold
Languages:
Toml’a
Sinteo
Myrsha
Felul
Nim
A'arkalu
Injuries and scars:
Curses:
-
Kingdom’s treasury: 3836 gold coins. 123 magical gems.
Kingdom’s citizen: 3,881 humans, 1,836 human children. Twin Moon Tribe: 1,158 orcs. 293 orc children. 529 sheep-slaves.
Kingdom's army: 1,156 Orc Warriors. 324 Footmen. 49 Peacekeeper Knights.
Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder.
Jolla SilverQuill.
Talbot Bookkeeper.
Marasi Chef extraordinaire (spymaster.)
Old Gardner Tiom.
Balgrum Orc Chieftain.