“This is a terrible idea!”

Augus just laugh. “Calm down. You sound like this is your first time bribing a guard.”

“This is the first time I have to bribe two entire patrols. That’s eight Guardsmen! There’s no way to do this with less people. What kind of city is this?”

This wasn’t a total lie for Arnel as he truly never had to bribe anyone before. Usually it’s others who approach him; approaches that he usually ignore. He wasn’t a total fool though. He knew some of his former colleagues took bribes but the scale of it was shocking to him. He don’t mind if one or two took some gold to look the other way but eight of them at the same time? He could only shake his head at that. Even Augus looked a little embarrassed.

“What can I say? Things are bad. Everyone is just trying to build a little something in case they need to flee. Look on the bright side; with so many guards on the take, no one will stop your goods.”

“People are so scared? This is just one mage.”

“A mage that destroyed one of the most powerful mage in the world. The Grand was thought to be invincible and this mage not only kill him, he then broke though the magical defenses of the city just to deliver The Grand’s head. Oh yes, people are very scared.”

Arnel almost laughed at that. He had heard of what really happened from the Kin and how the ‘delivered’ head of The Grand was nothing but an escape by the cowardly mage that was stopped by one of the Creator’s creatures.

“Why are you still here then?” He asked Augus. “A man like you should have no problem moving on.”

“Ha! Where would I go? Besides I’m an old man and this is home. Come on.”

A patriotic criminal? Will wonders never ceased? Arnel could only sighed as he silently follow the fixer into the garden. The Great Yachium Garden was the name but it’s greatness was arguable. Basically a plot of grass surrounded by a sundry of tall bushes, it was built so that the people of the city could have a place for some peace and quiet. Home to variety of exotic plants and flowers bushes, Arnel used to love the place but after weeks in the truly Great Kar Forest, he found the Yachium Garden to be lacking.

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Still, he has to admit that the mages in charge of the garden took their work seriously. Some of the exotic plants and flowers bushes were not native to the region and would have died without constant care but almost all of them were in great shape. Some were even slightly overgrown!

Augus took Arnel to the inner part of the garden where a Savage Tree stood. A short tree that has snow-white leaves, the tree is native to the far north. In a land where ice storms regularly sweep across the land, the Savage Tree was famed as a tree that could withstand anything nature throws at it. In times past, some mage decided to plant one in the garden as an example of the resilience of the city and generations of hunters and mages since then had taken on the task of caring for the tree. This was where they would be meeting their contact. It was a strange place to meet but surrounded by bushes taller than them, the three men could speak in private and Arnel had to admit the irony of meeting here to discuss the destruction of the city had something that appealed to him.

A man stood beneath the tree. Augus and Arnel walked towards the waiting man and to his sight surprise, Arnel didn’t recognized the man. Augus had introduced him as a man who could help him get his ‘goods’ into the city undetected but the fact that the man was an unknown was surprising to Arnel. As a former senior Guardsman, Arnel thought he should know who the man was.

Augus and the man began talking and the longer it went, the more suspicious it became. The talks was going too smoothly. The meeting place, the time, the amount of payment; everything was discussed and agreed on. Arnel played along but he couldn’t wait to leave the gardens. Something was seriously wrong!

The talks concluded without incident and just as Arnel feared, that was when the Guardsmen showed up. Half a dozen Guardsmen burst out of their hiding place in the garden and surrounded the three men. Arnel quickly realized that was wrong; the Guardsmen were just surrounding him. He looked at Augus who only smiled at him.

“Sorry but the city has a standing bounty for smugglers which is just too enticing.” After a short pause, the experienced criminal then added. “Besides, there’s just something about you I just don’t trust.”