Present Day - 2020 A.D. (0 A.R.) - February - New Miami - 12 Days left
In America, we used to joke about people in Hollywood selling their soul for money or power. I mean, what other explanation could there be for the meteoric rise of the super rich and super hot and super famous people plastered all over our media, movies, and magazines?
Here, I met things that could qualify as the ones selling that dark dream. Even surrounded by the two squads of heavily armed Sun Aelves ready to die for their queen, my butthole seriously puckered as we walked past what should have been darkened alleys with stalls complete with low hanging canvas coverings where sinister deals took place. Instead, everything was in plain sight. Bright and cheery store fronts hawked their offputting deals right next to other stores that advertised all the inane shit I didn’t need.
Maevana’s soldiers strong armed anyone who got in the way of the group but that didn’t mean I was blind. You would have to miss this. Sentient beings collared up and chained to walls, purposely bound in such a way as to display their wares. Slaves, servants, living goods, whatever disgusting term you wanted to call it, here they were. This part of New Miami would not have been on the front of any tourist advertisement.
“Where are we going?” I angrily whispered, my fist clenching too tight on Gungnir. Just about every part of me wanted to level the fucking place to the ground, bring it back to nature if only to alleviate the mortal outrage. Maevana rolled her eyes and kept walking, our quick pace making her dress swish in the wind as we passed more and more salesthings calling out to us.
“Rein in your temper!” She hissed, letting her tight group of guards part the crowd for us. “Outer worlds such as this one do not have rule of law until a central authority is established. It will take a century or so for that to occur. Until then, mind your tongue!”
I did so with great reluctance. That didn’t stop me from burning the sights into my brain. New Miami had been built up a great deal since my last visit. Sigils and rune-script were worked into the white solid stone walls that seemed to be the standard construction material around here. It wasn’t until we got further into the city that the stone gave way to beautiful futuristic metalwork that look more akin to some mad artists dream. I couldn’t see nails, screws, or welding of any kind. The metal forming the buildings and doors and window frames looked like they had been grown into place. But I knew better.
Magic.
It was all around me. Tiny pixie-like things flitted about, delivering miniature boxes or spraying plants with water that spouted from wands the size of needles. They moved too fast for me to make out their features. Around them grew palm trees, thick vines laden with alien fruits, and guardian plants that lived on every corner and at least some fauna was placed as a centerpiece in every storefront or house. Floating lights of the brightest whites and yellows made sure that no corner could hide a shadow and even magical panes of glass took the place of televisions.
Marveling at the lack of mundane necessities like screws, nails, and other mortar like materials, I paid extra close attention to how everything was put together. Figuring now was the best time to get in some practice, I pulled up a basic ‘Monocle’ spell and then got busy adjusting it so it wasn’t super obvious to any passerby that I was inspecting the world around me like some five year old noticing a disabled person for the first time. The rune-worked streets we walked on had even more runes that I noticed the second time around due to my very small ‘Monocle’ spell floating in front of me. Accelerated movement runes on the underside of the road carried us along a bit faster than normal while runes of ‘kinetic-bouncing’ gave us a bit more spring in our step as well.
Kraken noted that the atmosphere was a bit stifling, grumpily muttering along from his very comfortable spot within Gungnir. All of the ambient mana in the air was gone, sucked away by large formations channeling the etheric energy into the city walls where the power circulated. Mana batteries were still technically a lost art, leading the Centauri to pursue other options to hang onto mana. It fascinated me that Earth Sorcerers were the key to producing crystals that perfectly retained mana, which led me to believe that the Dwarves probably did have that secret knowledge. Maybe it was speciesist of me but who cares. Stereotyping fantasy races is allowed. If I were them, I’d keep it a secret to hold a tactical edge over the other races.
Reeanth cautioned me a long time ago to not get comfortable with the idea of using mana batteries of my own making to bargain for things. According to her, the prisms were rare enough for people to hunt down the source and anonymity is clearly my best friend.
I gave a sideways glance to Maevana. Well, former anonymity. Walking around with royalty will get me noticed by the wrong folks. The slight woman next to me was over a foot shorter than me and the Sun Aelven guards were about my height. If anything, it looked like they were escorting me and I just happened to have a lady friend next to me. Trying not to notice Kraken rolling his eye at my inner monologue, I had to split my attention between ignoring him, watching the ‘Monocle’ AND dodging her little attempts to hold my hand. However, Maevana did say she knew where she was going. I only hope Kalderan and Toreen were leading me astray.
Our journey took us up past numerous buildings, some built into the wall making up the concentric circles and some that were just grand enough to stand on their own. The Centauri either had no sense of style or they just invited everybody in and let them design their stuff however they wanted.
“Is there a purpose for all this?” I asked, pointing out the weird building with pyramidal tops and others that were just skinny towers. “What’s with the odd construction?”
Maevana’s chatter died as one of the guards took over the tour part of our walk. This guy was one I hadn’t met yet. Lo’ordaen gave a pretty good overview. He walked on my left and happily answered my questions.
“Defensive philosophy dictates that more walls are better than fewer.” Lo’ordaen said, nodding his head. “Any sort of intrusion of magical beasts is easier to contain when cities are set up in such a manner. This general guidance is followed more closely on more recently colonized worlds. More places for the citizenry to retreat to leads to greater survival rates and improves overall resiliency.”
I nodded along with him. “And that’s why a bunch of buildings are built straight into the walls, combining defensive structures with living spaces.”
“Correct.” Lo’ordaen pointed towards a wide building we were walking towards that reminded me of a fat monk doing a squat. “Some, such as the Merchant persuasion, their preferred construction is separate for obvious reasons.”
“Security and theft prevention.” I grunted. The overbuilt frames and thickness of the main entrance door spoke for themselves. Sumbitches looked like they could eat a few grenades without a scratch.
Maevana huffed next to me. “Obviously.”
Lo’ordaen kept right on, going so far as to raise his voice a bit more while giving me a wink. Maevana’s face got a bit redder from being ignored but I I could see that this wasn’t new. Clearly, these guards had been in her company for a long period of time.
“Merchants build down. The top floor of any of their buildings are the welcome areas and display either the most common tools and supplies or depictions of greater treasures below to entice customers to stay longer.” Lo’ordaen pointed to our right where the walls opened up. “Guilds build up as the tower motif has been in fashion for the last two thousand years and crafting buildings build up and down but mostly out. They need the space more.”
Maevana grabbed my arm and began ushering all of us towards the largest building of a most unusual design.
“I’m not going in there!” I said, hard stopping thirty feet away from the hideous amalgamation of the Eiffel Tower and its cousins on acid. “Someone shat out crappy versions of Paris, Japan, and the Roman arches onto the floor and slapped it together? Who the fuck makes something like that?”
Lo’ordaen yanked me back around the corner of the nearest wall. He hissed in my ear. “Gnolls and trolls build shit like that!”
Maevana glared at me every chance she got when she wasn’t glancing around with a worried expression on her face.
Closing my eyes so I wouldn’t have to look at a building that defied the conventional laws of good sense and beauty, I pulled Lo’ordaen closer. “You know that looks crazy, right? As in any other store looks more reputable and less likely to collapse around our ears?”
Lo’ordaen sighed and clapped me on the shoulder. “You said you needed to purchase things to make a Grimoire, right?” I nodded mutely, trying to figure out what the fuck I had just done. Lo’ordaen pulled my head down and hid us both behind the line of guards. “Then this is where you buy that stuff. Silver Gnolls and Golden Trolls have incredible hearing and really bad tempers. Ever since the Gremlins enhanced their intelligence with mad alchemy before the war, they’ve been the best smugglers and worst enemies. Let us do the talking and Maevana will cover the purchases. It was part of the peace agreement our Queendom worked out with New Richmond.”
He looked around before whispering to me. “Where we are going has a less than a stellar reputation. However, they are best known for acquiring less than legal goods.”
I held back the biting retort about someone trying to marry me off to a damn stranger without my consent but the glares from multiple directions shut me up before I could open my mouth. And I wasn’t sure what goods were legal or not in the new world I found myself in. Leaving aside the classic trope of marrying two families for peace aside since I was technically in the ‘damsel’ position, Kraken just laughed and laughed, making sure to keep our mental link just open enough for me to hear.
With an additional glare from Maevana letting me know to keep my mouth shut, she led us into the building that was just an awful sensation of riotous colors clashing in every single way possible. The drapes that should have been a rich purple were a garish yellow shot through with hot pink and spatters of what could only be bodily fluids. Not one piece of furniture was of the same height or build so we were forced to awkwardly stand around but that didn’t phase the perfect diplomat Maevana at all. The haphazard piles of goods strewn across the width and breadth of the room put junkyard decor to shame.
“Come-eeeein! Cummmeeen!” The shopkeepers walked out covered in far too many cloaks deliberately pulled down to hide their features. Walking masses of robes with sibilant voices. That’s all I could make out.
Maevana kept her head held high but allowed all of her guards to nod in greeting. The creak of a tightening grip within leather pulled the disproportionately shaped Merchants to a sharp halt.
“Weeaeelcum! All are weeealcuum to our humble . . . shoooop. Puhghleese, make yourselvesssish comfortable.”
I watched them like a hawk. Two of the larger Merchants were just as covered in robes but they towered over the smaller one who spoke like a slimy back alley drug dealer. Even the greedy hands rubbing together were covered in gloves so I couldn’t make out what they looked like but Kraken filled me in.
The smaller one was a Silver Gnoll, sort of a cross between an anthropomorphized jackal mixed with a disease ridden rat. Basically, the seedy scum of the universe reviled by all except for the fact that they were shrewd businessman and even better scavengers. Working together with the Golden Trolls who were known for being almost disgustingly infatuated with precious jewels, this unlikely teamup resulted in a genuinely formidable force.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
It took everything within me not to act repulsed as Kraken flashed an image in my brain of what a Golden Troll looked like. Apparently, having on enough jewelry, in their mind, equated to being good looking and clean but that didn’t phase them at all. The robes were for covering up the sight and smell that repulsed anyone and everything. Knobbly faces with misshapen heads, gigantic limbs that were not the same length, boils and pustules barely covered up with sapphire bracelets or ringlets of gold. Buckteeth, beady eyes, coarse hair that held onto the stink, and an attitude to back up their ungodly strength. Just their presence was a bargaining chip, begging you to accept the deal just to get them out of your breathing space.
Maevana politely waved off the offered refreshments, smoothly casting a ward of clean air that I would have missed if not for the ‘Monocle’ spell that I still had up and running. It meant that I couldn’t run off and peruse to my heart's content but that temptation was quickly waning.
The lead guard of the Aelves stepped forward and looked down at the lead Gnoll, steadfastly ignoring the bristling Trolls at his shoulders. He looked like he was going to hurl but that Aelf flipped a large golden coin to the Gnoll and said one world.
“Basement.”
*******
The change in behavior from the moment that guard said the word ‘basement’ to us actually getting to said ‘basement’ scared the living crap out of me. I found myself sitting in a brightly lit, large square room carved from dark blue stone. The air itself was on the verge of freezing and only Maevana, myself, and four guards were allowed down here on the bottom floor.
The lead Gnoll and his bodyguards carefully stood at the other end of the room and slowly began removing their garb. It was worse than I feared. Mr. Hyena-faced Silver Gnoll delicately unwound the dirty mockery of a turban from his head, gingerly threading each fold of the cloth off the metallic spikes sticking out of his exposed brain. Thick, curved plates of glass covered most of the gray matter but it didn’t stop me from gawking at the sight of a living creature walking around with a brain not protected by a skull.
Maevana pinched me before I could do anything and we just watched as the Trolls also revealed their exotic craniums. All three of them sported spikes sticking out of their brains and hints of electricity ran up and down them like a damn Tesla coil.
Kraken couldn’t contain his excitement and since nobody but me could hear him he nattered on and on. [THIS EXPLAINS SO MUCH! We’ve heard accounts of slaves and bounties being captured by the Conglomerate before but nobody has understood how they perfectly coordinated their efforts! Can’t you see? Perceptions are shared through the antennae!]
Pushing the explanation to the side even though I really wanted to know more, Maevana took the lead negotiating for the materials I needed for the Grimoire. I only paid attention with half an ear.
During my training in New Richmond, most of Kraken’s time was spent scanning the orb given to me by Hermes and doing several necessary tasks. First, after every delve into the memory orb, Kraken created a perfect replica of the memory and stored it away. Second, he gathered a list of general lessons so if I ran out of time I could just learn from his condensed lesson plan. Third, Kraken compiled all of the lessons and reviewed the memories to generate a large list of possible materials needed to create a Grimoire.
“One hundred half sheets of fine gold, fifty pounds of purified liquid mana, seven rolls of living leather from a Bloody Gnarlwing, five untainted memory orbs, Gruelsnag tendon fresh from the body, all of the blood from two desert ye-heers, and the services of an Alchemist.”
Maevana’s lead guard leaned forward with a wicked smile. “And access to the scavenger room.”
Schooling my expression so that none of my confusion leaked through, Kraken mentally poked me in the back of my head. [It’s not all for you.]
[The hell are you talking about?] I sent back, running the past few weeks through my head. [I only knew one of the ingredients on the list and was gonna just look around for the rest of the stuff.]
Kraken crossed his tentacle arms. [And that’s why you’re an idiot. While you’ve been training in rune work and wizardry, I’ve been putting in serious hours on your behalf. Not only did I negotiate you out of the fucking marriage contract, but I did all of the Grimoire research on my own! You’re welcome!]
I couldn’t let my cringy grimace show, so I took a deep breath and just let Maevana keep talking.
The Merchant Gnoll cracked his sickly knuckles before pulling out an abacus that shone with an unearthly light. He flicked the beads back and forth a few times before pulling out a green stick to chew on. “Greatly reduced taxes for four score yeeearrrss issn’t enouffff!”
Kraken ignored the intense trade route negotiations. His intensity however almost made the Trolls focus on me[You’re going to give Maevana something even more valuable than a marriage, you’re going to help her make her own Grimoire. That’s what she’s doing here, solving both of your issues at the same time.]
The Sun Aelf princess laughed and slowly pulled out a small diamond that looked to be almost liquid. It shimmered in her hand, unraveling as she inserted a hint of mana into a tiny circle of runes. I watched as the diamond flared into a translucent scroll.
The negotiations intensified as Maevana grinned. “And how much more could be put on the table for zero taxes on trade routes through our lands?”
Both of the Golden Trolls eyes almost popped out of their sockets and even the Silver Gnoll was taken aback.
Maevana dropped her last bomb. “Zero taxes for fifty years if you supply all of our wants and needs?”
The Gnoll darted forward to sign the document but Maevana held it up out of reach. Her glare stopped him in his tracks. “This includes retrieving or sourcing the listed items you do not have in your current possession.”
[Jesus man,] I noted. [She’s going hard. Throwing money around like she’s got an inheritance to burn.]
[Trust fund baby,] Kraken replied. [She is betting her inheritance. If you were paying any attention, some of the items on that list are pretty pricey though. How common do you think ten pounds of dust from feral Sungold fairies are? Or the crystalline antennae of the Ultium Geode snakes found deep in the Forbidden Desert?]
[I don’t even know what those things are, man.] But I had to hand it to the little lady. I was finding out that she really could possibly be the entire package. Beautiful, smart, tough when she needs to be, a little on the gambling side but did her research. I mean, using a Sorcerer to help her create and refine a Grimoire to put her in a position to obtain even greater riches and influence. Because it all rests on power.
Power.
That’s really what she’s after. Her guards have been hinted about it the entire time without really even realizing what they were getting at. For all of her wealth, it doesn’t really matter if someone can snap their fingers and make it disappear. But if she could get a Grimoire, use its power to boost her own and elevate her magic to the next level, who cares? Fighter jets don’t really care if someone’s got a pistol in their back pocket.
Deciding that my musings weren’t really that relevant to advancing my cause, I turned my attention back to the intense negotiations. They were coming to a close but Maevana was insisting that the Gnoll had overstepped. Without guaranteeing the materials within a specified timeframe, she asserted that she’d be well within her rights to bring the fifty years of zero trade taxes on their caravans and transports to thirty.
I coughed into my fist, clearing my throat. “I need something, something that should hopefully balance the books again.”
My royal escort gestured for me to continue and I did, pulling Gungnir from off my belt and transforming it from a dagger to a wizard’s spear. The three sided spiraling crystal blade glowed a deadly purple. “I hear you can gather things that nobody should really have . . . like a Centauri rune de-scripter. If it’s too difficult to get ahold of a whole one, a bunch of broken ones should suffice. Well, that and a few other things.”
*******
As the Aelves retired for the night in their plush embassy building, I was left to fend for myself. Not really as they offered a room on the boat for me but I had unfinished business. The damn Gnoll and his Trolls just didn’t know it yet. When dusk had fallen and most sentients had fled to the safety of their homes, I stole away until I was back within the main welcome floor of the Conglomerate Merchant house.
Opening the door without the protection of the Sun Aelven wind magic almost made me turn around. It smelled like half-baked death in here.
“I sssthouuught ourrr busy-nesssss had concluded?”
As the Silver Gnoll approached, I crossed my arms and growled, “basement”. Puking was on the table for a moment before I used Flesh Sorcery to kill my sense of smell temporarily. The disturbing proprietor of the establishment considered me for a moment, rubbing his many strings of gold encrusted jewels before nodding at me with squinted eyes. In silent agreement, I was led again down to the basement where the real business could be conducted.
[This is a seriously fucked up plan you have.] Kraken commented. [Doesn’t this go against pretty much all human morals? I completely agree but how are you not more disturbed by this?]
I paid more attention this time as I was escorted to the basement. A very thin halo of contained magic resonated around the doorframe we entered turning many flights of stairs into the bowels of the earth into simply one set of stairs. Not as good as an elevator in my opinion but infinitely safer . . . as long as the portal doesn’t snap shut on you.
As I walked into the same basement negotiating room from before, I carefully pulled my outer robes off and folded them nicely in the corner. Gungnir came alive as I pulled my favorite weapon from my belt and Svalinn roared with power as SAW fully engaged. My armor shone a deadly silver and black combination studded with many, many runes holding back incredible power.
My eyes glowed, evidence of me fully drawing upon the vast stores of power locked away within my soul. Gungnir’s crystal blade sang as I removed a few of its limiters. And just to heighten the fear of the terrified people locked in the basement with me, I let my canines grow until they poked out.
The Gnoll wet himself and his bodyguards pathetically tried to hide behind his much smaller frame. My empowered aura swept the room before concentrating the full weight of my soul against the flickering sparks they called a soul.
Unbeknownst to me, my eyes morphed into slits, temporarily evolving into draconian eyes to enhance my vision. It had a complimentary effect of scaring the living fuck out of the Merchants but at least it was in my favor.
“I have a need,” I said, letting my voice rumble deeper than normal. The subsonic tones shook them to their core. “But first I have questions.”
More urine pooled on the floor, the Trolls stench adding to their leader’s.
“ANYYYTHING!!!”
“What do you do with criminals? Real ones.” I leaned forward and tapped Gungnir against the floor. With a quick blast of conjured water that rippled out across the entire breadth of the room, I cleaned the floor and pushed the consolidated mess into the corner before freezing it solid. My effortless use of controlled power shocked the Merchants but I kept my face light as if my actions took zero effort. “The worst of the worst, murders, people who do the most evil deeds in the universe. What do you do with them? Are they killed out of hand or are they imprisoned forever?”
They shuddered in front of me and a tiny part of me liked it. That tiny piece of my evil side enjoyed the disgusting creatures cowering just out of reach, or so they thought. But this isn't what I needed. It’s not conducive to gaining the results to help me along my journey in a better way.
“I’m not here for your lives nor am I here to harm you in any way.” I said, pulling the weight of my soul back. With a casual flip of my hand, I pulled out one mana battery crystal brick from Gungnir, fully charged, and set it down on the ground. Gently, I used a bit of conjured water to skate it closer to them so they could examine it for themselves. “I don’t believe I have to tell you the impossible worth of the item in front of you, so please understand that I have a need for silence and results.”
A shivering hand tentatively reached out and tapped the mana battery glowing with condensed power. Pure greed flashed across the Gnoll’s face and the Trolls’ glowered with confusion.
“Annnyythingchhhkkk you rhheequirerrr, honnnorrred customerrrr.”
I pulled Setan Kober from my calf-sheath. The diamond blade of the dagger glowed a mix of deadly crimson and ominous black with a thin but bright core of braided silver, gold, and green. A seething hunger lurked within the blade of mine, my own Flesh Sorcery and the burning desire for more barely caged yet held at bay. The green part of the braided wire core was vine-like wood grown from Yggdrasil, providing the restraining influence.
To me, it was a deadly but untested work of art. To the Merchants still actively pissing on the ground, it must be something awful. Their rough faces had turned lighter shades of green and one of the Trolls was awfully pale.
My tone was soft and I gazed into the depths of my blade, holding it right next to Gungnir’s purple crystal. “Silence. I require your complete silence and cooperation. Your payment is in front of you.”
I cleared my throat and put my weapons away. “My apologies for putting you in this position but I did need to make clear the dynamics of our relationship.”
Frantic nodding and more loosening of their bowels let me know that they got the message but I couldn’t stand how disgusting it was. “Any humanoids that have committed the most heinous of crimes: murder of innocents, users of dark magics who have harmed innocents, anyone who has harmed children. Bring them here within two days time. I need . . . subjects.”