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Not A Fairy Tale
Arc 3 - Chapter 6

Arc 3 - Chapter 6

The old man looked like he had been down here his entire life. His skin was dotted with all kinds of browns and greys and yellows and blues and such. It looked like urine stains had eaten themselves into his skin along with other garbage that seemed to have fused with him. He was dirty and his hair was so thin that it was close to being translucent. The rags he wore as clothes were thin as well, had holes and cuts in them and he was also completely missing his right sleeve, showing his thin, malnourished-looking arm.

"So... what did you see?" I asked as I leaned down to him and looked him in the eyes.

I could see him visibly swallow since his neck was so thin that it looked almost unnatural when his throat bulged like that.

"Well... it was 'bout two weeks 'go. There was these people walkin' thru da sewas. And they, they was carrin' sumthin', yes they was. And the sumthin' was kickin' them," the old man explained, trying his best to speak an actual language.

"How many were there?" I asked.

"I... I didn't caunt them," the man replied.

"Well, then guess!" I said loudly, staring right into the man's weak dull blue eyes.

"Y-Yesh, th-there was... maybe... fifteen of 'em, y-yes, 'bout fifteen," the old man said with fear written across his face.

"And did they say anything? A location? Something like that?" I asked, eager for more information.

"Ehmm... I-I dunno, don't rememba," the old man said.

I drove my fist into the wall behind the man, creating a loud sound that turned everyone's attention towards me.

"Then use your stupid, human brain you old fuck!" I yelled right into the old man's face.

"Y-Yesh! Of course! Lemme think, lemme think... Yes, y-yes. They was saying sumthin', mentioned da, da... ehm... right, da Easd Corner'ouse," the old man said quickly.

"The East Cornerhouse, huh? That's not too far from here... well, that's at least something..." I whispered. "Anything else you can conveniently remember now?" I asked, again staring right into the man's eyes.

"N-No sir," he responded, hiding his face behind his two frail, thin hands.

I nodded and turned away, preparing to leave, my two fledgelings following me.

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"W-What 'bout payment?" the old man asked, crawling after us.

I glanced down at him, seeing him as nothing more than a pathetic maggot, a worm below all other worms.

"Payment huh? I guess you earned yourself something..." I said as I reached into my satchel and took out a bronze rectangle with rounded edges. "Here you go." I threw it on the ground in front of him and watched as he clung to it as if it would somehow save him from this life.

"Thank ya, kind sir, thank ya," the old man said as I left the chamber with my two fledgelings following behind me.

"What will you do now, mister Altair?" the wood elven girl asked.

"Go find the others down here and then go look for the two I send out to look around the area outside, then return to the boat. I'll take a look around the East Cornerhouse," I explained as we walked along the many tunnels that made up the dirty sewers.

"We can help you!" the small half-goblin girl proudly exclaimed.

"No! That place is too dangerous for you kiddos," I responded.

"Oh, c'mon mister Altair!" she said.

"No!" I said firmly. "Now go look for the others and return to the boat."

Both of them nodded, although the half-goblin girl was embarrassed.

'You'd make a great dad one day,' Ira said jokingly.

'Shut it!' I responded as I walked out of the sewers and stepped outside where I was greeted by slightly fresh air.

In the distance, I could see M sitting on some wooden beam. When he noticed me I saw him blur and appear on my shoulder.

"Where to now?" he asked.

"East Cornerhouse, apparently some people went there or something," I said as I walked up the stairs and then jumped up to the rooftops, grabbing onto wooden beams or windows and the like to get myself higher.

From here I could already see the place. It was a large tower in the eastern part of the town. If I had to guess it was about three hundred metres away. The building was so tall that it towered over all the others, and sticking out of the top was a large flag that had East Cornerhouse written on it, and it was probably one of the only correctly spelt signs in the entire town.

I made my way over there by jumping from roof to roof and ignoring the way too loud whispering that came from the streets below. The wind hit my face, it felt good on my growing antlers which were now starting to curve slightly, and there weren't any voices right now that could get to my ears.

After only a few minutes I stood right in front of the Cornerhouse, looking down at the streets below. Before jumping I pulled my hood back over my face and took a step forwards. I went straight down and landed in the middle of the street, whirling up a cloud of dust. It smelled like blood here, making my skin tingle. And the street was also bustling with humans. I felt like throwing up once more.

"The Crow," someone whispered.

"What? Da Crow is 'ere? What dosh he want?" someone, who was clearly drunk, asked loudly.

I turned my head and looked into two, dull grey-blue eyes. Light reflected off the man's bald head and his long, braided and exceptionally dirty orange beard slightly swayed in the wind. He was a mountain of muscles, wearing armoured pants, shoes, gauntlets and a far too small shirt that showed most of his muscular stomach. The sleeves were ripped, showing his meaty muscle arms.

"It is da Crow!" he said, raising the mug in his hand.

He grabbed his long war hammer from the wall and charged at me.

"How dare ya show up 'ere you maggot!" he yelled as he swung his war hammer at my face.

I just looked at him with a bored expression and grabbed the war hammer by the hammerhead.