Tension hung thick in the air. Karzghul continued to hold his spear’s point to Kel’s throat while he and the man wrapped in black cloth stared at each other. Or at least, Kel assumed that the new arrival was starring at Karzghul. His head was turned in the right direction, but he was wrapped head to foot in those dark strips of cloth, making him appear as nothing but a bizarre silhouette of a slim, athletic man. She wasn’t even certain how he could see anything with his eyes covered like that. Meanwhile, Niva struggled to pull her wrist out of the man’s grasp, while Drolya tried, in turn, to wriggle her way out from Niva’s arm, unleashing a stream of profanity all the while.

“Let her go,” the man in black said.

“Fuck you!” Niva yelled. She continued to struggle and did not loosen her hold on the dwarf in the slightest. Karzghul, however, responded by pulling his spear up and stepping away from Kel, allowing her to stand back up.

“There,” the man said. “Now it’s your turn.” Niva’s eyes flashed to Kel, who nodded as their gazes met. Somewhat reluctantly, Niva let go of the struggling dwarf, who immediately ran away from her and into the swarm of small piranha like creatures which had been encircling them. They quickly formed a perimeter around the dwarf, snarling at Niva but not leaving their mistress’s side.

Satisfied, the man in black let go of Niva’s wrist and, moving faster than Kel could track, was suddenly standing next to Karzghul. “What’s the meaning of this?” he asked.

“What do you think?” Karzghul said with a snort. “Drolya lost it again.”

If the man had a reaction to that, Kel couldn’t see it through the blank canvas of the cloth wrapping that hid his face. “And they’re the ones you were looking for?”

“Yes sir,” answered Karzghul. While the two had talked, Kel had stepped next to Niva, sword and shield still at the ready, and now the man in black turned to them.

“I sincerely apologize for my subordinates’ behavior,” the man in black said. “My name is Fu Takulien. Despite the actions of my guild mates, I believe that we have a common interest in Mr. Kashin Qadullah. If you’d be willing to overlook my guild mates’ transgressions and speak with me, I believe that we could be valuable sources of information to one another. If you are amenable to the idea...?” he trailed off.

“Certainly,” Kel said as she dismissed her sword and shield in a burst of light as a show of good faith. “As long as those two won’t be a problem.”

Fu turned to the two Divers behind him. Drolya had apparently stopped listening already, her back turned as she preoccupied herself with watching and muttering as her pet piranha monsters ate the bodies of their own dead swarm members. At least she didn’t seem likely to hold a grudge about Niva killing them, Kel mused.

Karzghul nodded to Fu. “Sure thing, boss,” he said. However, Kel saw him subtlety make a sign with his right hand, sticking his thumb between his index and ring fingers and flicking the hand in the direction of the canal.

Fu turned back to them. “Shall we move to somewhere more comfortable?” he said. “There’s a square with some benches and tables so that we don’t have to stand in the middle of the street while we talk.” Kel nodded her assent. “Excellent,” Fu continued. “Allow me to lead the way.”

Kel and Niva followed the three Divers down two streets and to a public square centered around a fountain. As they took their seats at a table under the shade of a strand of trees, Kel considered the other group’s actions. The signal from Karzghul to Fu had clearly been some sort of communication that they were being watched from the canal and needed to move inland to talk. He must have seen the conversation with Torvonel and suspected there was still a Tide Master in the water. The route here had been only through crowded, well traveled streets where it would be highly unlikely for him to have additional forces waiting to launch an ambush, likely calculated to put them at ease. Whoever these people were, they were well organized.

Kel and Niva now sat on one side of the table, while Fu sat on the other next to Drolya, who still had one of the piranha monsters with her and was petting it, ignoring the rest of them. Karzghul stood behind them.

“I believe introductions are in order,” Fu said.

“You first,” Niva said.

“Fair,” he replied. “We represent the Diluvial Guard Diver Guild.”

“The Diluvial Guard?” Niva asked. “You mean you work for that nut job who thinks he’s the Deluge Tyrant reborn?”

Karzghul visibly tensed at the insult but made no move to act on his displeasure. “If you wish to be uncharitable with regards to the Imperator’s heritage, I suppose you could characterize us that way,” he said dryly. “But our current business concerns much more mundane Diver matters and not ancient Darazzini culture. May I ask your names?”

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

“Dame Keloran Beriss, of the Order of Our Lady of Roses,” Kel said.

“Niva, not really affiliated with anybody or anything,” Niva said.

“A pleasure meeting you,” Fu said. “What is your interest in Mr. Qadullah?”

“I said, you first,” Niva said, annoyance edging into her voice. “I don’t know where you get off asking us when your goons attacked us out of nowhere.” Drolya and her pet both hissed at Niva in response, until Fu calmed her by resting his hand on her shoulder.

“Allow me to apologize once again on their behalf,” Fu said. “Drolya is prone to outbursts. She ran into something down in the Depths during one of our expeditions. We still aren’t sure what it was or exactly what it did, but she has never been the same since. Many of us bear the marks of what the Depths have taken from us…” His hand was now caressing the side of his face and Kel found she was no longer quite as curious to know what he looked like under those strips of cloth.

“But returning to the business at hand,” Fu said. “We are seeking Mr. Qadullah, because he violated a business agreement with us. You see, he had offered to help us steal a certain magical item that the Twilight Eye guild was bringing up from the Depths…”

Kel was too flabbergasted to let him continue without interruption. “And you’re just admitting this to us like it’s nothing?” she asked, her sheer incredulity written all over her face.

Fu merely responded with a shrug. “That’s the way our profession is. I assume you’re hoping to join the Twilight Eye yourselves?”

“Actually, I’m not,” Kel said. “It’s just a job to recover this one item. This one STOLEN item.”

“Hmm, I had you pegged for a hopeful Diver who was taken in by the Twilight Eye’s reputation for honorable dealing. But make no mistake, even they’re willing to clash with other guilds over the extraction rights of highly desirable artifacts. We have faced them before in the Depths, and I assure you we will again. That’s how things are in Darazzo. You own only what you can defend. Pretending otherwise is merely naivete.”

Kel held her head in her hands, muttering “Sweet goddess, what is wrong with this city?”

“But if I may finish,” Fu continued. “The problem starts with the fact that the Twilight Eye never made it to our ambush site. When I investigated, I found that the Twilight Eye Divers had been ambushed earlier in their path, and Kashin was not among the dead.”

“It was a gods damned triple cross!” Drolya suddenly yelled.

“Yes, that is our interpretation,” Fu agreed. “We believe that he either found another buyer who would pay more or had already lined the deal up and merely wanted to bilk our guild for more money, which brings us to the second and much worse problem. If it had stopped at that, it would have been only a minor embarrassment, but Mr. Qadullah insisted on being paid upfront. It was quite a sum, and the Imperator had to personally authorize the deal, but the item in question was so valuable…”

“We already know it’s a magic cauldron that makes potions better,” Niva interjected.

“Ah, I can avoid dancing around the issue then,” he said. “Yes, the Imperator desired the cauldron enough to agree to Mr. Qadullah’s terms, and he has so far eluded our best efforts at tracking him down to discuss… repayment.”

“So you want to find the cauldron too?” Niva asked.

“Well, I suppose if it was possible to get ahold of it discretely?” he asked, to which Kel glared at him sternly. “But if not, we are willing to write it off as a loss. We are mostly concerned about tracking down Mr. Qadullah himself. We cannot allow this kind of betrayal go unpunished.”

“I’m not certain I like the idea of helping you find someone so you can ‘punish’ him, even if he is a thief,” Kel said.

“We don’t actually know much about him either,” Niva said, ignoring the glare that Kel shot at her. “We know that he offered the same deal to old Jabod the alchemist, but he wasn’t dumb enough to fall for it.” Fu let the barb go without comment or reaction.

“The only thing of real substance we know is that Jabod claims Kashin was also part of some spirit worshiping cult,” Kel added. “But we haven’t been able to find out anything else about it. Do you know anything?

“No,” Fu answered. “This is the first I’m hearing of cult involvement. We were working under the assumption that the other party was another guild or private collector. This opens up a new avenue of search for us, and for that I thank you. I imagine you should consider our own information about Mr. Qadullah’s activities a fair trade for it, but, please, if there is anything else you’d wish to share with me privately…” he was now turned specifically towards Niva, ignoring Kel. “...and in a setting where your companion’s morals will not obstruct business, I’d be happy to receive you at our guild hall at your convenience. With that, I thank you again and bid you farewell.”

Fu stood and bowed, before walking away with the other two following him.

Kel let out a sigh. “Good job getting rid of him without telling them about Gabiral.”

A flash of confusion crossed Niva’s face. “Wait,” she said. “Why would you be happy that I didn’t mention…” She quickly showed an expression of realization and just as quickly replaced it with a smile. “Yeah! I got him off our backs without mentioning the other lead. One more great deception from the genius manipulator, Niva Grell.”

Silence hung between them for a moment. “So how much gold do you think he’d give me if I did go in and mention that?” Niva asked, earning another glare and sigh of annoyance from Kel. “Come on! I was joking!” she said as she playfully grabbed the sides of Kel’s mouth and pulled them up into a smile. “It was a joke!”

Kel batted Niva’s hands away from her face. “Yeah, yeah, you’re always such a kidder when it comes to making money,” Kel said. “I can only hope that Jazathya really can get something useful from him.” With that, she stood up from the table and started walking away. “Now come on, we’ve still got the rest of the day to find out more, especially now that we know he was talking to other guilds too.”

Niva cheerfully skipped ahead of her and turned around, walking backward with her arms folded behind her head. “Other guilds like say… the Tide Masters?”

Kel rolled her eyes. “Yes, fine, keep harping on them if you have to, but make sure the next place has good food. All this fighting’s made me hungry.”