Reviled admired the gold glistening in the lamplight. Thirty-two gold bars were stacked neatly next to twenty large bags holding gold coins. It took the rest of the night to get the wagons back to the camp. Thankfully, it gave the camp enough time to build a new tent to store the amassed treasures.

“It’s pretty,” Meridith said looking at the gold, “Are you going to hoard it like a miser?”

“No,” Reviled said with a chuckle, “We start planning for the next steps.” Reviled turned and sat on the floor gesturing for everyone to sit. They all sat down with Cappy hidden behind the larva egg.

“What’s the next step?” Mina said, looking between Reviled and Meridith.

“We start encroaching on Decker’s territory,” Reviled said looking at each of them, “Decker’s wealth mainly comes from the criminal element lurking within Jericho. He’s pretty much untouchable.”

Meridith turned to the group, “We learned that the hard way when we tried to hire the thieves guild,” she said, “It’s why Reviled decided to subjugate the wererats instead.”

“The wererats easily outnumber Decker’s thugs,” Reviled said turning to Skivret, “Your excellent foot soldiers in our war, once properly outfitted.”

“So, we’re expendable,” Skivret said with a sad laugh.

“No, your kind are vital to our plans,” Reviled said, “We must be careful when presenting ourselves to the people of Jericho. One wrong move, and we’ll have every high-ranking adventurer and soldier hunting us down.”

“Why haven’t they?” Kogna said glaring at Reviled.

“There’s evidence linking Decker to us,” Reviled said, “Our existence would lead to Decker’s demise.”

Kogna turned to Meridith, “But why haven’t you betrayed him?”

“If he dies, then so does my love,” Meridith said giving Kogna a determined stare.

“We devoured her lover,” Reviled said. Mina stared in shock, “If we die then his soul is destroyed. No afterlife. No resurrection. No reincarnation.”

Kogna bowed, “Forgive me, ma’am,” he said. Meridith smiled and he turned back to Reviled. “I will serve you in thanks for saving my sister and I,” he said, “But I want you to send Mina back home.”

“No, I’m staying!” Mina said beating on her brother.

“That’s not wise,” Reviled said staring back at him, “She’s safer here under our protection.”

“Kogna, I understand you want Mina safe,” Meridith said, “But think about it. It’s a long way back to the coast, and anything could happen. Bandits, pirates, even the undead, but if she’s here then she has both you and Reviled to keep her safe.” She gave a sly smile, “And trust me, Reviled hates it when people touch his things.”

Reviled chuckled, “We’re still find bits of Taern stuck in our gears,”

Kogna stared at Mina, “Fine,” he turned to Reviled, “But if anything happens to my sister, I’m coming for you,”

“Understood,”

“We should get back on track,” Meridith said, “Since we’re trying to compete against Bartholomew and Baron it would be smart for us to have a front business.”

“A…what?” Mina said.

“It’s a business that can act as a front for our criminal activities,” Meridith said, “Like Delilah’s brothel, or the arena’s smuggling ring.” She turned to Reviled, “We should pick a business that plays to our strength.”

“What about an adventurer’s guild?” Reviled said with a chuckle.

Meridith sneered, “I should slap you for that,” she said, “But that won’t work. Most cities will only allow one guild.” She tapped her chin in thought, then slide over to Reviled, “How about a tavern?”

“What do you have in mind?”

Meridith leaned in close, “I really want a golden goose,” she said with devious smile.

Reviled cackled, “As you wish,”

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

Oria sat at the bar in the thieves guild playing with her drink. She took over the guild when Taern disappeared five months ago, and the guild suffered greatly for it. Business practically dried up after the former boss botched the job for Decker, and many of their members left to become adventurers. The remaining members sat around with broken spirits.

She to a swig of her drink and grimaced, “Taste like piss,” she said pouring more. Rapid pounding came from the door leading into the tavern. “Let ‘em in,” she said to the guard.

A wiry man pushed his way in, “Boss, we got trouble!”

“Tell me something I don’t know,”

“The arena was attacked tonight,” he said standing next to her.

Oria scoffed, “Who’s stupid enough to attack the arena?” she said.

“Don’t know, but they succeeded,” the man said biting his nails, “They released a bunch of elithan ants, and robbed the arena treasury!” gasps filled the room.

“What!” she said dropping her glass, “They robbed the treasury?”

“And released ants!”

“Forget about the fucking ants!” Oria said slapping him, “The treasury was robbed which means everyone will come looking for us.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“What do we do?” another member said.

Oria slammed her fist onto the bar, “Dammit, we have to disband the guild,” she said, “The guards will come looking for us-” a loud knock came from the sewer door. Another knock came in the rhythm of an old code. Oria signaled for everyone to draw their weapons, “Open it,” she said when everyone was ready.

The door creaked as the lock came undone and a strong gust of wind forced the door open. It destroyed the face of the man who unlocked. He lay on the ground with blood gurgling in his throat. A man in filthy brown robes stepped into the room with a hand on his sword taking in the room.

“You have a lot of…nerve coming…here,” Oria stared as two beautiful women followed with six skeleton soldiers protecting them. The men around her couldn’t stop staring at the shorter woman, their eyes fixated on her exposed cleavage, but Oria turned to the woman she did recognize. “What do you want?” she said.

The woman in red ignored her, “It’s more run down than I remember,” she said pouting at the interior.

“Don’t ignore me bitch!”

The woman turned to Oria in distain, “The only bitch here is you,” she said, “Your guild is no longer needed as of today. Consider this your eviction notice.” Oria seethed at the woman’s contempt smile. “But don’t worry, you all can still be of use to our master,” A sharp growl came from the door, and heavy footsteps echoed down beyond it. A monster stepped through the door, and despite missing one arm, the aura it produced caused her breath to quicken. Oria pushed herself against the bar, desperately wishing she were on the other side. She caught a few of her men eyeing the stairs. Both women stood to the side presenting the monster, “I give you the new ruler of Jericho’s underworld,” the red woman said, “Reviled Legion.”

The monster looked around, “Unimpressive,” it said turning to the red woman, “Are you sure you want this place, Meridith?”

“The land is what’s important,” Meridith said, “We can burn this place down then rebuild.”

“If you think that’s best,” the monster turned to all of them, “The rest of you are unimportant. Kill them.”

Blood splattered on Oria’s face. The group closest to the stairs were dead, cut in half by an unseen force. The Amu’Ryjin swordsman sheathed his blade. The group to her right drew their short swords to fight off the approaching skeletons, but the enclosed space worked against the thieves. One by one the rest members were killed. Their blood painted the stones red.

Oria looked around frantically, I want to live! She couldn’t see a way out. Tears welled up in eyes as she stared directly towards the monster. Dammit! She ran forward and threw herself at the monster’s feet.

“Please don’t kill me!” Oria said, she was practically kissing the floor, “I can be useful to you.” She screamed as the monster pulled her up by her blonde hair.

“How?”

Oria quickly looked at the monster’s companions, “I have contacts all throughout Jericho,” she said, “It’ll help you compete with Decker!”

The monster stared into her eyes for a long time, “Very well, Oria,” it said. It knows my name! The monster released her, “Strip,”

Oria stared at the monster in horror, but she slowly got to her feet. Her hands wouldn’t stop shaking and it made undoing the buttons of her vest difficult. She tossed her vest to the side and started undoing her belt. She kicked it away when it fell at her feet. Oria struggled with the laces on her leather pants, and eventually decided to squeeze out of them. Her hands tightly gripped the hem of her cropped shirt and she forced herself to pull it off. The cold air bit her exposed skin, and Oria wrapped an arm around herself. She didn’t have the heart to finish undressing. Oria swallowed hard and looked at the others in the room.

The swordsman stared at her, a cold, uninterested stare. The short woman looked away. Her face red in embarrassment. Then there was the red woman, Meridith. She gave Oria a smug smile, and it took every ounce of control for Oria not to cover her chest. The presence of the two women made her conscious of her breast size. She turned to the monster. It’s piercing red eyes gave no hints to its thoughts.

“W-why am I…doing…this?” she asked.

“Because, we won’t be fooled again,” it said. Oria hissed as Reviled’s claws dug into her left breast. Searing heat radiated from the monster’s claws causing Oria to scream in pain. She wanted to fall to her knees, but the monster wouldn’t loosen its grip, so she had no choice but to hold onto the monster for support. “Your guild betrayed us the last time we hired you,” Reviled said into her ear, “Meridith suffered greatly because of that, so consider this your penance.”

The pain dissipated, but Oria couldn’t help but cry when she saw the slave crest branded over her left breast. She fell to her knees with her face to the ground and screamed into the stone. Her life was no longer hers. Slowly, the tears stopped and Oria pushed herself up.

“Feeling better?” the monster chuckled.

“No,”

“Understandable,” Reviled said. It looked towards the ceiling, “The bartender is still here, kill him.” The blood rushed from Oria’s face. “Is there a problem?”

Oria shook her head. She put her shirt back on and slipped a dagger into the strap of her thong. Oria unlocked the door and headed upstairs. Thankfully, the tavern closed a few hours ago so there was no one to see her. The bartender stood at the bar finishing up the cleaning.

“What’s going on…downstairs?” The bartender turned and took in her appearance. “So that explain the noise,” he said with a chuckle, “Everyone’s trying to work out some frustrations.” Oria nodded.

“Hey, Amon,” Oria said, “Can I get something strong?”

“Sure boss,” Amon said reaching around pulling out a bottle from the bottom cupboard. He poured a generous amount into a glass, “Here you-”

Blood seeped from Amon’s neck. Oria drove the dagger deeper into his neck. She stared at the floor. She couldn’t stomach the sight of his hurt face. Tears slipped from her eyes as she imagined the betrayed thoughts going through Amon’s mind. Oria let go of the dagger, and Amon fell to the floor.

“I’m…sorry,” Oria said, and she slammed the drink. The burning sensation had a salty aftertaste.

Oria poured herself another drink, but she couldn’t bring herself to drink it. She stood at the bar crying. An oppressive weight rested on her heart as she avoided Amon’s gaze. She chugged the drink when the tears stopped and headed back downstairs.

Most of the corpses were gone when Oria returned downstairs. The skeletons were taking the last of the bodies into the sewers. The rats will be well-fed for the next couple of weeks. Oria found her clothes sitting on the bar, neatly folded, even the string on her pants were undone. She slipped into her clothes and turned towards everyone.

“I-it’s done,” she said.

“Good, give us your hand,” Reviled said. Oria held up her hand and watched as the monster conjured a rat in its own. The rat bit her finger, and she hissed in pain, “Now we can stay in contact.” Reviled chuckled as the rat disappeared. “We’ll be leaving through the sewers. Lock the door behind us then burn down the tavern.”

“Yes, sir,”

Meridith approached her with a polite smile, “I look forward to working with you.”

Oria smirked, “I look forward to it,” she said with thick sarcasm, “I can’t wait to learn how to service a monster.”

Meridith playfully patted Oria’s cheek, “Such a sharp tongue, just like Taern,” she said, “Too bad he couldn’t keep his in his mouth.” Oria’s smile vanished, “Good night.”

Oria watched as they left and locked the door behind them. She walked up the stairs. Oria picked up a chair and slammed it down onto a table, breaking both pieces of furniture. She pulled out a firewood axe Amon kept stashed away and started swinging at everything she could find. She broke open barrels, tore chunks out of the bar, and even broke one of the support pillars. She even threw the whisky bottles at the walls. Oria picked up the last bottle of whisky and took a deep drink, then picked up a lit oil lantern and threw it down on the floor as she walked through the door.

Oria felt the heat from the raging fire at her back, and she emptied the bottle in her hand. She laughed. Dark clouds covered up the morning sun with thunder echoing in the background. “Damn gods have a sense of humor.” She cackled as she walked down the street.