Tanisha led the way inside the building. Eyes of a dozen people followed her and Bjorn as she took in the atmosphere. It looked more like a bar than a headquarters for Jackrabbits, as she had been told. She quickly looked around for Alfred, but someone stepped out in front of her.
“Anything I can help you with, sweetheart?” A gruff man said. “I would be more than happy to take a request for you.”
Tanisha was about the same height as the guy, which was impressive since she was over six feet tall. He had a smirk on his face and alcohol on his breath. He leaned closer to Tanisha to block her path so she would have to talk to him.
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Identify
Name: Thaddeus Maxwell
Species: Human
Level: 35
Vocation: Prana Spearman
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Tanisha wasn’t worried about the man and continued to look around for Alfred, but when he stepped in her way again, she had no choice but to acknowledge him.
“The name’s Thaddeus Maxwell, and yes, I am that Thaddeus Maxwell who killed the golden boar that rampaged the area a week ago,” he said with an arrogant voice. “I’d love to tell you about it, how about I get you a drink? Weー”
Tanisha said sharply. “I’m looking for Alfred. Robert sent me. Can you point me to him?”
“Alfred? Alfred-Alfred-Alfred.” Thaddeus rubbed his chin in mock contemplation. “Hmm, it’s not ringing any bells, but if you need a hunter, baby, me and my boys can help you out. I'll even give you a discount.”
Tanisha felt Bjorn’s anger rising through their bond, and she was now afraid he was going to kill the man. Well, not that he would kill him—he wouldn’t do that unless she was in danger—but even without venom, Bjorn was deadly. Crippling a member of the Jackrabbits was probably not going to be an excellent first impression to whoever was in charge.
Tanisha took a step around the man. “No thank you. I'll be on my way if you can’t take me to Alfred. Come on, Bjorn.”
A hand grabbed her, and she turned to see that Thaddeus had grabbed her wrist. That was when all bets were off. Tanisha knew human customs were odd, but she felt strongly that you don’t just grab somebody in any culture. The tattoos across her body flared to life as her anger rose.
The office was full of smoke from his cigar and not that pansy-ass razz he got from the last trader, but the good stuff from Mesha. Alfred didn’t know how they got it through the border, and quite frankly, he didn’t care. He picked back up the cigar he had to leave burning at his desk when he had to kick out that rat bastard Kevin. The idiot almost killed his whole team when he decided it would be a good idea to fire an arrow at an armored chrysalis during a recon mission.
He sat in his velvet chair and picked up his glass of whisky in one hand and the cigar in the other. He would get to a mountain of paperwork on his desk after breakfast. Then he heard a crash downstairs and people yelling, “Fight, fight, fight” he sighed loudly.
What’s the chance they'll tire themselves out, and I can ignore this one?
As if to answer his question, another crash, followed by screaming about grabbing a chair, immediately got him to his feet. He ran out of his office and crashed into his assistant, who looked like she was just about to open his office door. She clattered to the ground, and he worriedly bent down to check on her.
“Shit, sorry Ashley, are you okay?” Alfred said as he helped the young woman up to her feet.
The young woman dusted herself off.
“I'm fine, but there’s another fight,” Ashley said with a deep Meshian drawl. “Don’t you worry about me?”
Without another word, he nodded and ran down the stairs, honestly confused as to what was going on. A large crowd had gathered to watch an incredibly one-sided fight. Thaddeus was getting thrown halfway across the bar by a wendigo, or maybe demoness, with glowing marks all over her body. No one had weapons out, which was good—at least they followed that rule. The crowd grew as more people filed into the bar for a better look.
The demoness looked to be handling her own well enough, dodging and weaving attacks and only taking hits if doing so left an opening on her opponent, which she took advantage of with decent efficacy. Thaddeus had no chance, but the big man looked like he was enjoying himself. Alfred knew he would have to talk to him about his bias towards stronger women.
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Alfred could tell the woman was holding back, but she was getting angry. She would get serious if he didn’t stop whatever was happening soon, and blood would spill. However, he wanted to see how it would end if he let it go on just a little longer. She was not trying to kill, and Thaddeus getting humbled wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Ever since he took out that golden boar he and his team had been insufferable smug.
“Alfred, do somethin'! You can’t just stand around and watch,” Ashley yelled.
“Yeah, yeah,” Alfred responded.
Alfred leaped into the air over the heads of everyone who had, by this point, become a mosh pit. He landed between the two fighters. He grabbed Thaddeus’ final punch and moved him out the way of the demoness’ final kick that would have taken his head. Thaddeus was panting heavily and barely on his feet, and both eyes were slowly swelling. He was covered in what looked to be his blood.
There also seemed to be a three-headed hydra pup, which he didn’t see until he was in the middle of everything. Thaddeus’ teammates were all backed into a corner while the hydra prevented them from moving to help. The familiar also didn’t seem like it wanted to kill them but did leave some bleeding scratches on the three men.
The demoness looked untouched; the only blood on her was Thaddeus’. She didn’t even look tired from the exertion; her breathing was in perfect control. The glowing tattoos slowly dimmed, and her fierce expression relaxed. The crowd booed at his interference in the fight, and he saw several people pass around some coins from bets.
“Yeah, yeah, boo your fuckin' selves and get out of here. Bar’s closed, you lazy sacks a' shit,” Alfred said.
“Oh, miss, I found Alfred for you,” Thaddeus said, then his eyes rolled back, and he dropped to the floor.
“...and that’s pretty much what happened,” Tanisha finished telling her story. “You can talk to your guy when he wakes up, but I'm pretty sure there were a few other witnesses you could scrape together.”
Tanisha had her maya smoking pipe in her hands, breathing sparkly seiðr as she exhaled. Alfred’s office was rather interesting. Taxidermied heads of magic beasts and monsters adorned the walls. Books and papers were stacked in piles on his desk, and a private bar held a myriad of liqueurs behind him.
“No, I believe you,” Alfred responded. “And as the representative here for the Jackrabbits, you have my apologies for that idiot. It looked like you had everything under control, and I thank you for not killing anyone. Especially with, uh, Bjorn. I can’t believe you have a hydra as a familiar. That’s probably the craziest thing I've seen in years.”
“You should probably control your members better,” Tanisha responded.
“Easier said than done. The Jackrabbits aren’t one organization. We're contractors, too; we organize the monster hunters here and ensure they follow the town’s rules. So, they don’t work for us. We give them contracts from the town, and they carry them out. We have two dozen hunters in the Jackrabbits, but most people here are like Thaddeus and Kevin, mercs and thrill seekers testing their skills against monsters for fame and glory.”
“But you kicked someone out?”
“You saw that?” Alfred questioned with a swig of his drink. “We can make it so people that break the rules don’t get work. We also own this land so that we can kick them out. Now what can I do for you?”
Tanisha explained her plan about going on a hunt with Bjorn today with an escort so he can do it on his own from tomorrow on. She needs someone who can show them the ropes and the rules.
“Ah, I know someone who can help you with that,” Alfred stated. “His name is…”
Tanisha pulled out the letter she got from Robert. ” I think I hired you.”
Alfred took the letter with a bemused expression. “Hired me? That’s...” his words stopped in his throat, “... completely correct. What is that old jackass thinking? I have paperwork to do. Ashley!”
His assistant opened the door promptly. “You called, Alfred?”
“What’s on my schedule for today?” Alfred asked.
Ashley’s eyes wandered to Bjorn, and she took a nervous step back. “Nuttin' anymore. Robert sent someone to relieve you.”
“He left someone to handle all this?” Alfred stated while motioning towards the stacks of papers.
Ashley didn’t even look up and raised her notepad so she couldn’t see Bjorn. “Ye-yes. He’s already here, but I left him downstairs. Shall I go get him?”
“He freed me for a day?” Alfred said as a smile crossed his face. “Ha-ha, no takin' it back, old man! Ashley, you can get him and tell him the fort is all his. If he needs anything, tell him to ask Gramps! Tanisha, Bjorn, let’s go right now before whoever the poor sucker gramps got to take my job today finds out about this shit show. I know the perfect contract, and it’s still available since I haven’t posted it yet.”
Alfred took a paper from the stack on his desk, stood up, and opened the window behind him. He gave Ashley a few more instructions, then motioned for Tanisha and Bjorn to follow him. Alfred jumped out without hesitation and called up for Tanisha and Bjorn. They walked to the window, and Tanisha looked down, then to Ashley, who looked mortified. They were only on the second floor, so Tanisha shrugged and jumped.
When she landed beside Alfred, Tanisha caught Bjorn and asked, “Why did we just jump out of there?”
“Because I would feel bad if I knew who Gramps gave my job to today,” Alfred said with a smile. “Well, not our problem anymore.” He stretched his arms wide. “It’s a good day to be alive! First, let’s get you some proper protection. I can’t take you into the woods like that. Luckily, we have a good blacksmith here, too.”