Night had fully arrived in the time the reunited friends had been walking. The clouds combined with the advancing hour had robbed all but the faintest light from beneath the forest canopy, which rustled as the wind began to pick up. Nial had denied Windle’s request to light a torch, not wanting to risk being seen as they approached Paedren’s location. Through the cover of the trees they eventually spied a mid-sized stone building situated in a clearing. From the rear, it was nondescript but for a single wooden door next to which stood the outline of a man leaning with his back to the wall. An ember traced from the man's lips down to his side as he exhaled a swirling lungful of smoke into the night air. The glow of torchlight created a penumbra around the walls, and the sound of chatter became louder as they approached. Nial placed a hand on Windle’s shoulder as they approached the clearing “Wait” his voice hushed “That’s close enough for now.” Windle stopped, turning to look at Nial “What is it?” he whispered back.
“I need to plan how I’m going to get in there.”
“Oh,” Windle seemed surprised. “I thought you’d just…” a hint of bitterness in his voice, he held up his bound hands and wiggled his fingers in the gloom “You know.”.
Nial looked at him flatly “It doesn’t work like that.”
“Well, how does it work?”
“I don’t have time to go through it with you now, Windle. She’s in there?”
“Usually, yes” The small man replied, sighing “She has an office near the back.”
Nial gave a short nod “And the guards?”
“Numerous and mighty.” Windle grumbled.
“Look, Windle,”
“No, you look, Nial.” He hissed “I’ve thought you were dead for the last two years and now you show up in my office, a Binder and threatening me. You ambush me and drag me through the woods demanding answers all to get to Paedren. I know she’s important to you, Nial and you want answers on why we abandoned you, but I’ve had to deal with the guilt of leaving you for two years. I’ve grieved. It’s a little difficult for me to accept that my once friend is now threatening to kill me without telling me why.” Windle finished his speech and stared at Nial, his shoulders rising and falling with his now heavy breaths. Nial stared back, eyes wide. The outburst had been unexpected; Windle had used to be such a quiet, unassuming fellow, on jobs he would always be trying to win the approval of both Nial and Paedren, never asking for plans to change to suit him. To think that his actions had pushed his friend this far caused Nial to reevaluate his actions. “You’re right.” He said, keeping his voice low “I’m sorry, Windle. Perhaps I have been too heavy handed up to this point.” He pulled Windle’s hands towards him and untied the rope. “You can go. I’ll take care of things here and I’ll come and find you for a drink when I’m done.” he handed back the dagger.
Windle tucked it at his waist and rubbed at his wrists “I don’t know what you’re planning, Nial, but be careful. Paedren’s not who she used to be.” Nial smiled sadly in the darkness “Neither am I.”
The darkness covered Nial’s approach as he crept to the edge of the treeline. The man against the wall continued to smoke, staring contemplatively into the middle distance. As Nial got closer, the small amount of light allowed him to make out the man’s clothing. He was dressed smartly, but his posture didn’t indicate this was from habit. A uniform, then. Upon the lapel of the man’s coat, a glint caused by the man’s cigarette caught Nial’s eye. A badge, perhaps? He lowered his hood and adjusted his weapons and armoured arm to hide them as best he could. Time to turn on the charm, I think.
Nial left the trees walking directly for the man, who was now staring at him, confusion in his eyes. “Ahhh, that’s much better.” Nial beamed with all the friendliness he could manage. “Hang on, this isn’t the front entrance. I must have gotten turned around!” He laughed. The man by the door stood straight, flicking his ember into the grass. Approaching Nial with a slightly menacing gait he asked “What are you doing around here?”
“Oh, I’m terribly sorry, my friend. I came outside for a breath of fresh air and thought to answer a call of nature, but I seem to have wandered too far in the wrong direction.” Nial added a slur to his words and swayed slightly as he spoke. Just a few more steps.
“I’m not your friend and you’re not supposed to be here.” The man growled, reaching out for Nial’s arm. As he got close, Nial lashed out with amazing speed, catching the man’s wrist and twisting it with his armoured left hand. Before the man could cry out his right hand snaked through the man’s flailing limbs and delivered a jolt of blue-white energy to his temple. Causing the man to collapse. “Such diligence.” he said, lowering the now unconscious man to the floor “Don’t worry, I’ll let myself in.”
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The interior of the den oozed opulence, Nial kept close to the edge of one of the larger rooms, eyes roving over the clientele. His newly acquired coat had provided him with a set of keys, a basic, ill-fitting disguise, and a new name, Gerthan. That poor man. He had been forced to abandon much of the armour on his left arm to ensure the coat fit. However, the gauntlet remained and he now tried to keep it out of sight. Passing through what he assumed was the kitchen to get here, the other staff hadn’t paid him a second glance, all seemingly too busy with their work. Nial could feel his heart in his throat. After so long searching, there was now a chance he’d see Paedren face to face. He’d rehearsed the moment hundreds of times over the last few months since he’d heard the rumours of her being spotted in Verine, but now that it was almost here he had trouble finding the words. He shook his head. Stay focussed he thought. From here, he couldn’t make out the games the patrons were playing, but dared not stray too far from the edge of the room and risk discovery. The clientele all seemed to be fairly rich, and very drunk. He was sure many were residents of Verine, merchants, politicians and the like. Movement from outside of the main crowd caught his eye, a woman in a coat similar to the one he was now wearing picked up a small, padded mallet from an ornamental table and used it to strike an equally small gong. The room quickly fell silent. Nial glanced about seeking the reason for this interruption when, from out of a doorway to his right, she emerged.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Nial smiled, even from this distance Paedren was just as he remembered. Her dark hair, greying at her temples was pulled back out of the way, her pale skin reflected the flickering light from the oil lamps. Wearing a well-tailored long, brown coat, she confidently strode to the centre of the room trailed by a gaggle of followers, all of whom wore the standard uniform. The crowd parted, and Nial made out several sets of cards and dice on the tables which were now exposed. Paedren turned with her arms outstretched, her smile serving to deepen Nial's own. He had missed her despite everything that had happened. "Honoured guests," Paedren’s voice carried across the quietened room "I hope you are all enjoying yourselves.'' The crowd roared its approval before Paedren waved her hands to calm them once more "Wonderful. As always, we here at the Golden Claw want to thank you for your patronage."
"And our coin!" a voice came from the crowd evoking a wave of raucous laughter.
"Yes, and your coin." Paedren laughed along. "To show our thanks, I would like to offer you a free round of drinks on the house." Again, the crowd roared its approval, Nial could certainly see why the venue was popular, but what had Windle meant when he implied things weren't as they seemed? "I'll now take my leave and let you get back to your fun." Paedren announced "Enjoy your evening." With that, the crowd cheered and resumed their gaming as severs carried full trays of drinks to the tables. Nial watched Paedren move through the crowd, tapping two individuals on the shoulder who promptly stood and followed her as she made for the door from which she had entered the room.
Nial checked that he wasn't being watched and walked with purpose to the doorway, which led to a corridor beyond. Without looking back, he stole inside, catching a glimpse of one of three doors closing as he did so. He approached the door carefully, the carpeting easily absorbing the sound of his steps. Upon reaching the door, he placed his ear against it, hearing muffled voices from inside. What now? He thought. He pressed harder against the door, trying to make out what was being said. Instead, his brow furrowed as he heard the sound of stone grinding against stone. Interesting… After a few seconds the sound stopped. Nial counted his heartbeats, he made it to six before the grinding began again giving way to silence a few seconds later. Nial kept counting. After a further 10 heartbeats he slowly tried the door handle. The latch slid away as the door opened. Sloppy. NIal thought. Or maybe overconfident. He cautiously peered inside, slipping through the doorway after confirming the room was empty.
A large desk strewn with papers, multiple bookcases, cabinets, and a brazier burned down to embers greeted him. The brazier struck Nial as odd. The rest of the building, including this room, were lit by oil lamps. No time for that now. He thought as he approached the desk. The papers seemed to be full of numbers in columns, accounting for the den’s finances, he suspected. The cabinets were mostly empty, holding spare changes of clothing, drink, and spare fuel for the brazier. Moving to the bookcases, he was surprised to find several books on the subject of thaumaturgical theory, many of which he’d read himself amongst treatises on finance and gambling, as well as binders of maps for the local area. Nial was puzzled, he could see Windle was correct when he said Paedren had changed.
Clearly Paedren and her party had come through here, but there was no other door. Nial looked around the room, eventually finding what appeared to be scorch marks on one section of stone wall, normal but for the fact the wall contained no lamp. Classic. He thought to himself, retrieving a piece of parchment from the desk and lighting it using one of the oil lamps attached to the wall. Upon holding the flaming paper near the marks a section of wall became transparent, revealing a lever. Expensive. Nial thought, his brows raised in surprise and appreciation. Clearly Paedren was putting Windle’s money to good use. He pulled the lever and a section of wall began to grind to one side, revealing a stone passageway beyond with steps descending into the earth. Nial extinguished the paper with his boot before following the stairs down.
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Nial crept quietly but quickly along the long stone corridor deep beneath the ground. He had been walking for some time, marveling at the effort and confused by the need for a tunnel this long. He heard voices coming from up ahead and guessed he must be catching up to Paedren. The voices became clearer as he approached “...and of course, your donation is greatly appreciated. You can be sure I will contact you as soon as a suitable partner is found for both of you.” Paedren’s voice echoed slightly in the tunnel.
“Thank you, Lady Dione.” A gruff male voice said “I look forward to it.”
“As do I.” Paedren was using her charming voice. The one Nial had taught her to better sucker in marks. Whatever was happening, she was playing these people. The talk of partners concerned him, but his thoughts were interrupted as he entered a large, well lit room. Paedren and her two associates were standing next to a large pile of various objetcs. From his viewpoint, Nial could make out jewellery, clothing, pieces of furniture, a plethora of ornaments made from different materials, blades of all kinds, even shields and pieces of armour. All together he was sure it must be worth a small fortune, but why store it like this? It was then he heard it. A barely imperceptible hum which lay just at the edge of his hearing. He looked again at the pile, a rune here, a gleam in the torchlight there. These items were all magical in nature.
Nial gasped. The sheer concentration of magical energy she was amassing here was dangerous. Much more and it would reach a critical mass resulting in a tremendous explosion of energy. Was that her plan? He hesitated. He needed to find out what was happening and warn someone. He turned to leave, causing a skittering of stone in his haste. “Who’s there?” Paedren called Damnit Nial cursed himself and concentrated, funneling power into his legs once more. He began to run, but got no more than two steps before he heard a roaring sound accompanied by the walls of the tunnel becoming illuminated in orange and red. A burst of great energy slammed against his back. His increased momentum caused him to careen forwards, bouncing off the stone floor as he did. Face down, he groaned. He heard footsteps approach before a boot rolled him onto his front. He looked at Paedren, flames dancing along her right arm. “Oh,” She cooed, her expression becoming amused. “Hello, husband.”