The wooden wheels creaked and groaned as they kicked up the dust from the road, in danger of falling apart at any moment. The people lining the streets stopped and stared at the dented and beaten coach that rolled into town. Davenford was a modest town, mostly wooden homes lined the dirt streets. A single cobblestone road ran through the town connecting the small shopping district to the train station on the edge of town. The only reason Davenford even had the station is because of the large kinetic gem deposit that was being mine here. The town's folk were mostly farmers and modest workers, certainly no one of high wealth would have any reason to be seen here. The coaches wheels skidded to a stop in the town center and a pair of boots planted themselves in the dirt, Clay held on to his side trying to keep the pain at bay and threw his bag over his shoulder. Troy followed behind, shielding his eyes from the blazing sun. The coachman waited until his passengers evacuated his carriage and said, “Welcome to Davenford. Don’t leave anything behind because I won’t come back looking for you.” His grip tightened on the reins, “Oh and I’ll be sending a bill to Archibald for the damage, wouldn’t have been on the trip if it wasn't for you two.”
“Do what you have to.” Clay said as he rapped on the side of the coach and began to walk away. Troy followed behind attempting to help Clay out but he waved his hand in resignation. They hubbled down the street, wading past the occasional groups of people, eventually stopping in front of a modest wooden building. The sign above the door read Medical Office and Drugs in bold lettering. Clay swung open the door and a wall of smells hit him in the face. A fusion of concoctions and potions blended into a clinical sterile kind of smell. A small man in a white vest and slacks looked up at Clay and Troy. The blood red tie and a small red cross pin on his breast stained his otherwise pure clothing.
“Welcome gentlemen, how may I be of assistance?” The man put down the box of vials on the table and approached the duo.
“Hey Doc. We had an encounter with a pack of Infused beasts, one of them slammed me into a rock.” Clay motioned over his side. “My side is killing me.”
“Alright, let's get you over here.” The doctor pointed over to a chair near the back of the room. “Let's make sure nothing is broken.”
Clay stumbled over to the chair, while the doctor got a small tray of tools ready. A variety of scalpels, tiny hammers, and forceps laid arranged on the metal tray. Clay grimaced imagining what the doctor would do to him and noticing his face the doctor let out a small chuckle.
“Don't worry, we’ll just be using these for now.” He picked up a stethoscope and a small green gem. Troy was examining a large cabinet full of remedies when he asked, “so where are we going next? Should we go find a Songbird to send a message?”
“No, no point in sending a message before we even have what we came here for. Let's meet up with Lloyd and get the pendant first.” Clay answered through gritted teeth. The doctor was pressing hard on his ribs with one hand, the other hand glowing green as it grasped the gem.
After a few minutes the doctor put down his tools and said, “Well nothing seems broken, just badly bruised. You seemed to have absorbed the worst of the impact.” He nodded towards Clay's arms, acknowledging the twisted skin. “I energized your cells a bit to speed up the healing process. I’m going to give you some pills for the pain, just make sure you eat an extra meal for the next week or so, you’re going to need it.” Clay handed over the coin and hobbled out of the office now in even more pain from the manhandling he received.
“Alright, let's go find this Lloyd.” Clay said right before popping a pill in his mouth. “Carry this for me, we’ll check what we need to resupply after we get the pendant.” He handed over his pack to Troy.
“Are you going to be alright? We can stop and rest if you need to.” Troy said, but was waved off.
“I’m fine. Let's get the pendant and eat something first. We’ll figure out if we need to leave right after or if we can stay for the night.” Clay finished.
They made their way down the dirt path until they hit the cobblestone of the main street, shops lined the street and crowds of residents and travelers moved to and fro like ants. A cacophony of laughter and singing led them to a two story saloon, filled to the brim with miners and laborers even at the early hours of the day. A jaunty tune rolled through the building as a pianist pounded away at the keys, his hands rapidly moving like a pair of dancers. Clay made his way through the crowd to the counter and beckoned to the barkeep. A large man with a big handlebar mustache walked over.
“What can I get ya?” he asked.
“Give me the strongest thing you have and some information.” Clay put down two gold coins on the table. “Looking for a man named Lloyd, he’s supposed to meet me here.”
The barkeep poured an amber liquid into a glass and slid it in front of Clay. “Hmm, haven't seen Lloyd here today. You a friend of his?”
“No, more of a business associate you could say.” Clay said, picking up the glass to his face. A strong aroma hit his nostrils, a concoction almost strong enough to burn his nostril hair. He took a swig of the liquid, feeling the warmth traveling through his chest as it burned his throat.
“Tell ya what, you buy one more drink and I'll tell you where he lives,” the barkeep said, sliding the coins into his pocket. Clay wasn't a big drinker but he wasn't opposed to dulling the pain he was in even further and slid his glass towards the barkeep.
Troy stood behind the pianist, taking in the jaunty melody, the jovial crowd. He reached into his bag looking for his journal, shuffling past sheafs of papers. As his hand found its way to the soft leather cover of his journal he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Come on, I found out where Lloyd lives. Let's go find out why he’s not here yet, and stay close from now on,” Clay said.
“Why, do you think something happened?” Troy asked, putting his bag back over his shoulder.
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“I doubt it, but I don’t want to lose you in the crowd.” They walked out of the saloon, leaving the crowd to their revelry. A few minutes of walking the dusty roads, through the narrow alleys between buildings they neared their destination. As they approached the building Clay noticed noises coming from the side alley, a conversation or maybe an argument. He motioned to Troy to keep quiet and silently stalked over to the alley, trying to pick out the whispers. Peeking around the corner he spotted a man, short hair the color of fall leaves and stubble on his face, the man they were meant to meet. LLoyd his back to the wall, was surrounded by six men dressed nearly in all black, light armor plates covered by leather jackets. Mercenaries or maybe private military, their uniforms did not look familiar.
“Listen, Lloyd. All we want is the pendant and we’ll be on our way. We’re generous, even willing to pay you for it. Or we can just beat you and take it,” one of the men said, getting into Lloyds face.
“Gentlemen, there's no need to get violent. Listen, the pendant is already spoken for, perhaps you can discuss it with the ones who are purchasing it,” LLoyd stumbled as he raised his palms in defense. The man in black sighed in resignation and motioned to one of his men while lighting a cigarette. The largest of the group walked over and slammed a fist into Lloyds stomach, doubling him over in pain. Clay observed from behind a crate wondering what the hell Archibald has roped them into. Why was a pendant so important? Clay turned behind him and saw a clear path to exit the alley but hesitated and turned back. Two figures stood a few feet away from them.
“Now who do we have here? Boss, we've got a couple of dims here.” Man turned for a confirmation and as the leader gave his hand signal began to walk towards Clay and Troy. “Come on, let's have us a little chat.” Clay pushed Troy back and stepped out from his hiding spot.
“Stay back, if things get dicey, run and get help,” he said to Troy and squared off against the two men, fists at the ready. “Any chance we can figure this out without bloodshed?”
The men chuckled as if amused by the proposition and then the smiles fell from their faces as they noticed Clay's hands. “We’ve got a kinetic, boss.” Both of the men reached to their sides and pulled out cudgels, metal bands wrapped around the heads ready to inflict pain on anyone sorry enough to be on the other end of the strike. Clay ran through scenarios in his head as the thugs approached and cursed himself in his head for not finding a gem cutter in town first thing. His revolver was an option but not ideal in town. He thought of running for a moment but that option instantly left his head as he heard Lloyd cry out in pain. Clay reached into his vest, fingers wrapping around cold metal, he clenched his fist and cleared his head. Ducking under a cudgel aiming at his head, the hand left the vest now gripping brass knuckles. A wind brushed across Clay's face as he narrowly dodged a fist. Twisting his body, he sunk his fist into the side of one thug knocking him off balance. Troy watched from the sidelines, taking in every duck and strike. Archibald has said that Clay could handle himself but he never expected him to be able to go toe to toe with two armed men. A moment passed and Troy's hand reached for Clay's bag, surely there was something there he could use. A grunt of pain tore Troy away from the bag and he saw Clay down on one knee, a fist crashing into his face. Troy jerked up to run away, to go find someone to help but he hesitated, could he run into the scuffle and do something to help? Another strike brought Clay onto the ground, two figures looming above him ready to dish out more pain.
“Bull, Rav, enough. We got what we needed.” One of the thugs dangled a silvery pendant and then pocketed it. A foot sunk into Clay's stomach one last time as the thugs left the alley, a laugh growing quieter as they turned the corner. Troy ran over as soon as the last figure left the alley. “Fuck, are you okay? I’m sorry, I didn't know what to-,” Troys hands hovered over Clay unsure if he should help him up or if touching him is even a good idea.
“Relax, I’m fine,” Clay sat up and wiped blood from his nose. A growl left his chest as the pain in his side came back with a vengeance, now compounded by the strikes to his face and ribs. Leaning on Troy he popped another pill in his mouth and stumbled over to Lloyd.
“You alright?” Clay said, getting on one knee.
“Well, I'm not dead so that's something,” Lloyd said. “At least they were nice enough to leave me this after the beating.” He picked up a small brown pouch from the ground that clinked and pocketed it. “You the guys I was supposed to meet?” Lloyd said as he attempted to stand. Clay nodded in response and helped him on his feet. “Well looks like you’ve got another party to deal with if you want that pendant fellas.”
“Don’t worry about it. Troy, bring him to the doctor, I’m gonna go send a message out to Archibald. I’ll wait for you at the Audiogram office. ” Clay watched as the two walked over in the direction of the physician's office and as they got out of view made his way to the shopping district. A few minutes later, passersby questioned, Clay found himself in a Lapidary shop. It was a small hole in the wall with just a few glass counters that had dozens of energy gems on display. A single guard watched as money exchanged hands and Clay walked out with half a dozen kinetic gems in his pocket and purse that was nearly empty. A few shops down the street Clay walked into a large building with a massive metal antenna on its roof. A chipper young woman at the counter greeted him, “Welcome to Songbird Audiogram services, will this be inbound or outbound?”
“Outbound.” Clay sat in the chair at the counter and the woman took out a small yellow gem that got slotted into a machine under her desk. Two microphones were placed on the desk in front of each of them and the woman put on a pair of bulky ill fitting headphones on her head.
“Name and location of recipient please. Oh and your name as well.” The woman flipped a switch on the machine and waited for a response.
“Send it to Archibald Ackford of Ackford Archaeology Group in Eastmouth.” Clay waited for the woman to relay the information on the microphone and on queue began to relay his message into the microphone.
Troy made his way to the Audiogram office with no issues, the giant antenna visible from the physician's office. He found Clay outside of the building smoking a cigarette.
“Any messages for us?” Troy quipped leaning on the wall nearby.
“No, I did give him a piece of my mind however. I’m sure as hell making sure we’re getting paid extra for this.” Clay took a long drag and threw the butt on the ground.
“So what now, do we just head home now?” Troy said, handing Clay's bag back to him.
“We can search around town and see if we can find any leads on the guys that got the pendant I suppose but I don't know how involved we should get.” He scanned the passing crowd, his gaze getting lost in the movement as he felt a light tap on his side. He turned, seeing Troy pointing out into the crowd and followed his finger seeing two figures in the distance. Two large men dressed in all black, the same men that beat down Clay were walking away into the crowd. Clay clucked his tongue and thought for a moment if it's worth pursuing.
“Alright, stay close. We’re going to follow them, but at any sight of trouble we are leaving.” Clay waited for a nod from Troy and they took off into the crowd. Trying to stay out of sight the duo followed the men down the street until they got to a large platform. The train stop was loud with shouting as people pushed into the large metal cabins. Clay bought two tickets which read Davenford to Hammerby. They managed to slip into one of the cabins just as the whistle blew for departure, the cabin jolted forward as the metal wheels began to roll on the tracks. The train was roaring down the track at full speed by the time they found their room, a small closet sized room with two benches on either side that can double as beds. They fell into the seats finally getting some rest after getting into town, another cigarette was in Clay's mouth ready to be lit.
“It’s gonna take about half a day to get to Hammerby, so we're going to relax for a bit. I’m going to go skim through the cabins and see if I can find our mysterious pendant thieves in a few.” He brought the lighter up to the cigarette trying a few times to light the flame when he spotted movement under Troy's bench. Two pairs of eyes looked back at him in panic, meeting Clay's look of utter confusion. It was a young man, short blonde hair, was all that he could make out in the brief moment before his gaze was pulled toward the room's door. A yellow robed man stood in the doorway and as he looked at Troy and Clay and an aloof smile took shape on his face.