Oria chugged the large pint down to the last drop. With a satisfied sigh, she slammed the mug down and waved the bartender down for another. Oria grabbed a handful of the roasted nuts sitting next to her and checked out the rundown tavern around her. It reminded her of Amom’s tavern.

The wooden floors creaked from age and neglect. The tables unbalanced with worn down chairs that rocked uncomfortably. The broken windows that let in the cold draft that caused goosebumps, and then, there were the useless bums that wasted every coin to keep a perpetual buzz. Many looked down on such places, but she felt at home here.

It was early evening. The workers should be here soon alongside the man she’s waiting for. The bartender slapped down another mug.

“Can I get one too,” Someone sat onto the stool next to her, “Been a long time Or.” Oria turned to see a large, muscular man with greying hair and full beard sit next to her. His clothes were stained, and he smelled of hard work.

“Yes, it has Vik,” Oria said taking a sip, “How’s the straight life treating you?”

“Good, good,” Vik said taking a nut, “Sorry to hear bout the guild, real shame.”

“It was inevitable. Taern pissed off Decker and left me with the mess,” she said with a sad smile, “Now I work for a real monster with a penchant for pretty ladies.”

“Pretty ladies,” Vik said with a deep laugh, “Then why did he hire you?”

Oria leaned onto the bar with a seductive smile, “What man wouldn’t want me?”

“A smart one.”

Oria slapped the bar with a laugh, “Why are we friends again?” she said.

“Who said we’re friends,” Vik said taking a large sip, “I’m here to get paid. Speaking of which, should we get down to business?” Oria nodded, “The Bloody Fangs are bringing in a shipment tonight. Paid Decker well to use the sewers and store it in one of his warehouses.”

Oria took another handful of nuts, “What’s the product?”

“Cursed gear from up north,” Vik said, “It’s the good stuff too from what I hear. Gear worn by lich-knights and even a wight general.”

“Damn,”

“Exactly,” Vik said finishing his drink, “Collectors will pay big money to get a full set of armor worn by a wight general.”

“Thanks for the tip,” Oria said sliding a coin purse over, “The boss will be really happy to hear this.”

Vik’s eyes went wide when he opened the purse, “Or, are you serious?”

Oria nodded, “You’ve been good to me, Vik. Now it’s time to return the favor,” she said leaning over, “Change is coming, and I fear it will only get worse. You need to get your beautiful wife and kids out of this city as quickly as possible,” She stared him in the eyes, “This new guy is a real monster. He has no qualms about involving civilians if it means getting what he wants.

Vik mouthed, “The arena?” Oria nodded, “Shit,” he said, “This is the worst time. Lily’s four months pregnant.”

“I’m sorry Vik,” Oria said getting up, “But you really need to get out of this city.”

“Thanks, Or.”

Oria waved at Vik as she stepped out of the Tavern.

Oria wandered around the slums. The married workers were stepping into their homes, greeted by their lovely wives and happy children. The bachelors gathered into their groups to head off to their favorite taverns. The filthy streets were alive in a way that she loved. Oria walked into the alley and down into the sewers.

She took a few steps, “Rat,” she said a rat appeared out of the shadows, “Take me to the monsters.”

Oria felt at home here in the sewers as she did in the slums above. The rat led her down the winding corridors. Music echoed off the walls, the lovely melody brought a smile to her face. The music grew louder, and she came to a camp with a rickety wall.

“Open up,” Oria said.

“Oy, what do you want?”

“I’m here to see the monster,” Oria said with a sigh.

“Oh, you’re the bitch. One moment,” Damn whore! Oria growled as the wererats pulled aside the wall. She passed through the wall and the rat bowed, “Sorry for the wait. Lady Meridith should be here soon.”

“Just tell me where the monster is?” Oria snapped.

“The…green tent,” the rat cowered, “Can’t miss it.”

Oria gave him a small smile, “Thanks,”

Oria didn’t get far when she saw Meridith approach her with a deep scowl.

“You’re late,” Meridith said crossing her arms, “What took you so long?”

“Sorry, but that’s between me and the boss,” Oria said stepping past her.

Meridith stopped her, “Don’t ignore me!”

Oria pushed Meridith out of the way and continued to the tent. The sight caused her to stop in her tracks.

“Stop, that tickles,”

“We enjoy hearing your laugh,”

Reviled sat next to the Amu’Ryjin woman with it arm around her shoulders. She was laughing as the monster’s tongue slid down her cheeks. Not only that, but a toddler sized mushroom stood next to them dancing with an egg about the same size.

“Welcome back Oria,” the monster said drawing her attention. Its tongue slid back into its mouth, “Sit.”

“Yes sir,” Oria said. She sat down next to the warrior.

Meridith stormed in and sat on Reviled’s other side, “Master, this is unacceptable,” she said, “She can’t disappear for nearly two weeks only to-”

“Will you shut up!” Oria said glaring at Meridith, “I told you I was doing a job that the boss gave me. Just accept that you’re not as important as-”

“Enough, both of you!” Reviled said causing both women to look at the ground, “Oria,” she swallowed as she looked at the monster, “If Meridith asks you for something, you do it. Understood?” Oria nodded. “Do not abuse your position, Meridith. We must be unified if we want to overthrow Decker.”

“Forgive me, master,”

Reviled turned back to Oria, “What did you find out?”

“Pretty much what I expected,” Oria said, “With the thieves guild gone, the other gangs in the city are trying to fill in the void. A gang called the Red Fangs are smuggling in cursed gear tonight. They’re probably hoping to make some money to get ahead.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I’m curious,” the warrior said, “How does the underworld hierarchy work?”

“It’s not much different from any other,” Oria said, “Look at bandits like farmers, they work outside of cities to gather resources. Then once they’ve harvested enough, they bring it to the cities where the gangs purchase and house the goods. Fences work with those gangs to find buyers, and lastly, the king, in this case Decker, is responsible for keeping a sense of order.” She looked to Reviled, “It’s important for the king to establish their authority, otherwise the gangs will try to dethrone him if they sense weakness If you want to remove Decker, then you need to establish yourself.”

“Agreed,” Reviled said, its eyes dimming in thought, “What would happen if we intercepted the Red Fang’s shipment?”

“It would definitely get the message across,” Oria said, “But, they most likely will try and get Decker involved. There’s a sort of unwritten law that gangs won’t interfere each other.”

“Then how do they compete with each other?” Meridith said.

“As I said, it’s unwritten,” Oria said with a smile, “The gangs do fight each other. They just try not to get caught. Since we’re a new gang, we haven’t established ourselves as legitimate, so the other gangs will most likely use Decker’s authority to squash us.” Oria moved closer to Reviled “If we do steal the Red Fang’s shipment, I recommend sitting on it for a few months before trying to sell it. That way we can see if Decker will get involved.”

“What’s special about cursed gear?” the Amu’Ryjin woman said.

“It’s gear that came from the Wight King’s army, Mina,” Meridith said, “The gear is infused with necrotic energy that can greatly enhance the wielders power, but at the cost of draining their life-force. The church made it illegal to own because it creates a powerful undead once the wielder dies.”

“We may be able to use it then,” Reviled said.

“Selling it may be better,” Oria said, “The wealthy enjoy collecting contraband items, or we can sell it to adventurers. I’m certain we can find a few saps who desperately want to rise through the ranks quickly.”

“It’s dangerous to give them to adventurers,” Meridith said, “They could be used against us.”

“Regardless, We’re intercepting that shipment,” Reviled said, “We’ll take Kogna and Oria with us.”

“Actually, I would like Kogna to take the payment to the castle,” Meridith said, “The sooner we pay the money the sooner we can start building. Besides, we could use the extra bullions to pay for the materials.”

“Fine,” Reviled said, “Meridith, we’ll leave establishing the tavern to you. Also, speak with Rench to order the parts needed for our repair.” Reviled stood up, “Come, Oria.”

Oria quickly followed, “Are we going straight to the meeting?”

“We need to stop by the boneyard first.”

Oria quietly followed. She was familiar with most of the sewers under the slums, but it soon became clear that this wasn’t the sewers she was used to. The familiar sounds of rats turned to silence, and the stench of sewage turned into the sour decay of flesh. Oria gagged at the smell and fought back the bile that rose up her throat. A small amount made it into her mouth, and she spat it out onto the dank stones. A deep moan echoed through the tunnels and Reviled stopped in front of an empty water reservoir. The sight caused Oria to empty her stomach.

Five zombies shambled in the darkness tearing off the flesh of sewer rats. One picked up a human femur and gnawed on it. The bone was clean of flesh. Oria spat out the last of the vomit before turning away. Oria couldn’t stop her heavy breathing. Her stomach threating to eject what little that remained, but she turned around and tried to regain what little dignity she had left.

Reviled held out its right hand over the pit, and streams of dark red energy poured into it. The bones started rattling. The magic lifted the bones out of the pit and onto stone walkways. The magic bound the bones together into a complete skeleton with a sword in hand, and the magic settled into their ribs as a singular glowing orb. The orb pulsated as the magic latched onto the bones bringing the skeletons to life. Oria stared in horror as ten skeleton warriors bowed to the monster.

“Please take the lead Oria,” Reviled said causing the ten undead to stare at her.

“A-as you…wish.”

----------------------------------------

“They’re late.”

“Give them some time Bear,” Vixen said with a shrug, “It can’t be easy transporting cursed gear.”

“Still,” Hound said playing with the red painted fang hanging from his neck, “It shouldn’t be taking them this long,” He looked at the open sewer gate leading out of the city, “We need this to enter the big leagues.”

“And we will Hound,” Vixen said hanging off him.

“Stop flirting and take this seriously, Vixen,” Bear growled fiddling with his axe.

Vixen let go of Hound sidled up to Bear, “You should have told me you’re feeling lonely,” she said batting her eyes. She yelped in delight as Bear reached below her waist and squeezed her.

“They’re here,” Hound said drawing their attention.

Seven men stepped through the sewer gate. Six of them wore heavily worn gambesons with short swords strapped to their waists. They were filthy and smelled like they hadn’t bathed in months. The leader on the other hand looked closer like a merchant with his fine clothes and jewelry. The rough looking men dropped three large crates, magic runes glowing on the wood, onto the ground.

“What took you so long?” Bear said eyeing each of them.

“We had to wait for a patrol to pass by,” the bandit leader said, “So, do you have the money?”

“Let’s see the goods first, please,” Vixen said with a charming smile.

“Good thing your cute,” the leader said touching the top of a crate. The runes died and he unlatched the top. A set of black and gold armor glistened in the moon light, “Here it is.”

“Excellent,” Vixen said taking the full coin purse from her belt and tossing it to the bandit leader.

The leader opened the purse and smiled, “Pleasure doing business with you,” he said. His attention was drawn behind them, “Are they with you?” The Red Fangs turned to see a group of twelve standing in the darkness.

“They’re not,” Bear said drawing his axe.

“We’ll let you handle this,” the leader said backing away.

Two people stepped out of the darkness. One hid under a long cloak while the other was a slender woman with long blonde hair.

“This is Red Fang’s business,” Hound said pointing his sword at the two, “Leave now.”

“Not anymore it’s not,” the cloaked figure said.

“And who are you with?” Vixen said peaking out from behind Hound.

The blonde woman looked to her company, “We are…the Legion,” the cloaked figured said.

Vixen started laughing, “What kind of name is that?” she said slapping Hound’s shoulder.

“A fitting one,” the ten figures marched forward causing the Red Fangs to step back. “Kill the Red Fangs.”

Bear roared as he charged forward. He swung his axe at the nearest skeleton, but it fell to pieces before the weapon could connect. He tripped over the bones and a sharp pain rose in his chest. Three swords pierced his chest, and he watched as the skeleton beneath him reformed and swung its sword at his neck. Vixen screamed as Bear’s head rolled towards them.

“Get out of here Vixen!” Hound said, “I’ll hold them off!”

Vixen didn’t hesitate. She jumped to the other side of the sewers and ran past. She could see the turn in the sewers. Something slammed her into the wall, and something struck her face. The blonde woman held her against the wall. Vixen drew her knife and slashed at the other woman’s face, but she stepped back. The blonde woman drew her own daggers as she blocked her path.

The two went back and forth, dodging and slashing. Neither able to strike the other. In frustration, Vixen slammed her opponent against the wall and then brought her fist in for a punch. The blonde woman blocked the attack, and then brought down her dagger. Vixen screamed as searing pain ran down the left side of her face and across her eye, and she shoved her dagger into the woman’s side. The woman screamed in pain. Vixen felt the blonde woman loosen her grip and pushed herself away. She continued running with her hand over the left side of her face. Tears and blood mixed as she escaped.

----------------------------------------

Reviled watched as the skeletons struck the killing blow to the last Red Fang member. It was a disappointment. Both warriors looked strong, but fell to such simple tactics, the one with the axe especially.

“S-sorry…boss,” Oria slumped against the wall holding her left side, “I couldn’t stop the other from escaping.”

“A pity,” Reviled said placing its hand on her wound. Healing touch. Dark red energy seeped from its hand and danced over the cut. Oria sneered in pain as the wound closed. “Do better next time,” Oria nodded in understanding, “And take better care of yourself,” It said petting her head, “We’d hate to lose you. You’re needed to help run our organization.”

Oria looked at Reviled in shock, “Y-yes s-, I mean boss,” she said.

Reviled turned back to the bandits. They stood by the crates staring at them expectantly.

“We’ll be taking possession of these crates,” Reviled said looking at them.

“We’d happily hand the product over to you,” the leader said with a smile, “For the right cost.”

“You’ve already been paid.”

“The Red Fangs paid for the product, but unfortunately, they couldn’t take possession of the product,” the leader said, “You’re free to take them, if you’re willing to pay.”

“Are your lives worth the cost?” Reviled said pointing its finger.

The bandit leader chuckled, “That’s funny, but-” His eyes opened in shock when a bolt of lightning arced towards them. He reached out with his right hand and deflected the bolt, sending it into the wall. The bandit leader screamed in pain as he held his right hand.

“You deflected my spell,” Reviled said with a chuckle, “But it looks like the power still made it through. Kill them.” The skeletons moved forward.

“Wait! Wait! Wait!” the bandit lead said. Reviled commanded the skeletons to stop. “Let’s talk this through. I’m Erban, the leader of the Black Wolves bandit gang,” He patted the crates, “As a sign of good faith and desire for a genuine relationship, I offer this as a gift. What do you say?”

“We should take it boss,” Oria said, “The Black Wolves are one of the largest bandit groups in the area. If there’s anything we need, they can get.”

“Yes, yes, your lovely partner is correct.”

Reviled stared at Erban, the sweat pouring down his face, “We accept your gift. We look forward to working with you.”

“Likewise,” Erban said with a bow, “We’ll leave you to it.” He gestured for his men to leave.

“You’ll be able to contact them?” Reviled leaned over to Oria.

“I know exactly where to find them, boss.”