Syler silently entered the last door on the left. Malakia's chamber. Opulent wealth flaunted only for her personal taste. Magic paintings with moving figures adorned the walls. Handcrafted colorful rugs overlapped and covered the entirety of the hard metallic floor. A four poster bed meticulously made stood opposite the room from the door. Two squashy armchairs faced a fireplace with magical fire that shed only light. A large chest sat at the foot of the bed.

A quick scan. A picked lock. The chest opened. A pile of magic items. Weapons, bracers, amulets. A deck of cards held inside an intricately carved leather case. A bone the size of his forearm wrapped with crimson leathers on one end. He tossed that to Toots, who happily plopped down and began gnawing on it.

He wasn't interested in most of the rest of it, but he picked up a small piece of black fabric, a one foot diameter circle. He set it on the ground and began unfolding it, seeming to double its size with every fold.

When it reached 8 feet in diameter, the center oscillated open, revealing a pit 10 feet deep, filled with draka and gemstones. He picked a diamond the size of his fist from the hole.

After tucking the refolded fabric into his armor, Syler locked the chest again, set the diamond on top of the chest, and pulled the vial from Kuku from his ring. He added drops of the Blue Eye Special onto the gem, rubbing it in to ensure fully coating it. The bright blue color quickly faded. After scanning the walls he gripped the edge of a large landscape painting by renowned Avian painter Will McWho and pulled, swinging it open along a secret hinge. A doorway opened into a small landing and a ladder to the surface. He applied more Blue Eye Special to several of the higher ladder rungs and closed the painting.

He closed the door behind him as Tootsie and he stepped back into the hall. He leaned against the wall and slid down, groaning as he sat. Tootsie’s enormous shadowhound head pressed into his lap as she laid next to him, pressing her weight against the door.

Syler scratched her behind her ear as he gingerly pressed the area of his chest where the vine sword pierced, gritting his teeth against the pain. “Got me pretty good. Take watch while I rest a bit, will you? Nudge me if you catch sound or smell of her.”

Tootsie grunted in agreement. The gentle rhythm of sleep followed soon after.

An hour later, he was awakened by an excited headbutt to the shoulder. He opened his eyes to see Tootsie sitting in front of him, tongue curled up in a happy pant, three arrow shafts buried deep into her torso. He sat forward immediately, worried, and surveyed the hallway.

Four bodies were scattered around the hall, guards he did not recognize. The next shift. Not expecting a shadowhound. Broken bows and bloody bones.

“Good girl!” he patted her on the head, “Thank you for letting me sleep. Our target here yet?” Tootsie shook her head. “Okay, you’ve earned a good rest yourself, buddy.” The arrows clattered to the ground as Tootsie returned to her yellow furred form, only registering as small scratches on her skin.

A small puff of golden yellow smoke later and Syler was alone, his mechanical eye trained on the master suite as he cleaned up the mess, dragging the bodies from the hall into the barracks. Not much he could do about the blood, so he left that for the recovery and clean up crew that the Guild would no doubt send once he was finished.

A short time later, Syler was sitting opposite the door when he heard Malakia climbing down the ladder. She stepped through the opening made by the painting, removed her gloves and loosened the tightness of her bodice, sighing in relief. She was gathering up the fringe of her dress to begin removing it when she noticed the diamond resting on the chest. Tilting her head, she walked to the gem and examined it briefly, turning full circle to see if anything else was out of place. Seeing nothing as such, she gingerly picked up the diamond, rolling it over in her hand.

Syler deactivated his blue eye’s glow and shifted his armor back to Zandar’s red and gold. “Nothing else has been moved,” Syler said as he opened the door, causing Malakia to drop the gem in surprise.

“Zandar? How?”

“Malakia, I am here to sell my old wares from when I was an adventurer, many of which you wanted for yourself, if your treasure room is any indication. If you think a few mercenaries are capable of taking me out, I might be a little offended.”

Shock quickly shifted to anger, “No, how did you get in here?”

“Into your private sanctum? None of your business.”

She drew a small dagger from within her dress and threw it at Syler. One of the red leather strips lashed out, the blade piercing it and sticking fast. Syler plucked the knife from his armor as it returned to its natural form, shifting from the red and gold to the telltale ebony hues of Penumbra.

“This is a good blade,” Syler said, “You mind if I keep it?”

Malakia growled in response.

Syler motioned to the two chairs, “Will you sit with me?”

“You need to leave.”

“No, I don’t. Ends to tie up and all that.”

“Now!” she yelled and lunged at him, but almost lost her footing.

“The dizziness will only increase over time. It’s better if you sit down.” He approached her and she swung at him, overreaching and falling to her hands and knees. Syler picked up the diamond with one hand and pulled her up with another, guiding her to a chair.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Who are you?”

“Let me put it this way. The Guild always pays its debts, and you owe much.”

Fear flooded her face, and she shifted slightly in her vain attempt to get away, but her muscles were no longer responding.

“You kidnapped a nobleman to coerce his wife, and not for the first time, mind you. You’ve hired unsanctioned assassins to kill me and dozens others. You’ve stolen from the rich and the poor alike. You’ve personally eluded and killed Penumbra agents.”

“I-I’m sorry!” Malakia began to plead.

Syler shook his head as he formed a shadow blade in his right hand, dropping to one knee next to Mal's chair. “When your victims pled, did you show them mercy?”

“I don't want to die! I'm sorry!” It came out a whisper.

“Sorry doesn’t settle debts.”

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The Corner Inn was abuzz with dock workers and clergy alike. Gene sat at the central table, sipping a mug of Frostbeard ale and enjoying the nightly revelry. Syler made no attempt to hide his entry, and Gene motioned for him to an adjacent chair he had kept empty.

“- and the misfired crossbow bolt hit the central beam that had been on fire, making it buckle and the building collapsed on them!” The crowd groaned. “The click of stationary rods alone saved them from being crushed under the weight!” The crowd at the table erupted in laughter and cheers.

“You ready?” Syler said after taking his seat.

“You have exceptional timing. I just finished my story.”

“The clerics healed you.”

“A benefit to crashing a party in the Temple District.”

“Let’s go.”

Gene stood and addressed the crowd, “Alas, friends! I must be going now. I’ll be sure to come back with more stories for you.” More cheers as they walked into the brisk night air.

The cart trundled back westward, passing through the two lower gates into the Noble District. Syler shifted his armor into the dress of a driver.

“I wanted to thank you again for your help in the sewers.”

“I’m sorry that you were taken by her. I didn’t intend to involve you so directly.”

“It all worked out in the end.”

“Even so.”

“Apology accepted.”

Syler nodded. The brakes whistled lightly as Syler parked the cart in front of the Whitley residence. People still milled about, mostly cleaning up the mess left behind by the party, and there were several guards present talking to Pilar and several angry partygoers.

They ran up to the commotion and Gene pulled Pilar into a long kiss.

“Are you okay?” Pilar pushed Gene to arm’s length and looked him over.

“I’m fine! Are you okay?”

“Just stressed, my love!” She hugged him again and turned her relief to Syler, “Thank you for saving him. Did you get her?”

An orc guard to whom she had been speaking looked confused and irritated. “Her who? We are not finished here.”

“I’ve got this,” Syler told them, “Go relax.”

“She tried to sell us fake magic items! Arrest her now!” a particularly angry looking human woman in a red dress with close cropped hair yelled at the orc guard.

“You can’t leave yet, ma’am.”

Syler’s eye flared blue, “Any issues you have with her you can direct to me.”

The woman blanched and she fled deeper into the crowd.

“Evening, Thokk.”

The guard clipped his pen back into his clipboard, “Evening, Blue Eye. You working again?”

“Just sorting some stuff out.”

“You Zandar?” Syler nodded. “Fake magic items?”

“Switched in transit here.”

Thokk pulled the pen from the clipboard again, “Where?”

Syler held up a finger and ran over to where Gene and Pilar had moved to rest, returning with the wand Gene had used to escape. “Privately.” He stepped into the cart and held the door for Thokk to enter. Once they sat down he continued, “Behind the Scattered Blood Bar in the Stacks. This wand will get you in there. The alley drops into an abandoned section of tunnel.”

“How many?”

“Around twenty, including Malakia.” Thokk nodded, and continued his hasty note taking. “Penumbra claims the others. I claim the Mau. Center door on the left hand side from the garage is the treasure room. All stolen goods, including the auction items.”

Thokk finished up his notes and looked up at Syler, “Anything else?”

“The earnings from the auction are to go to the Wyat Orphanage in the Valance District.”

“I’ll let Pilar know.”

“Thank you.” He left without another word. Thokk leaned back in the seat and took a deep calming breath before leaving the cart.

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“You’re earlier than I expected,” Zadrera said.

Syler placed a Mau ear on the bar, slid another green draka into the bar to trigger the private zone. “The client?”

“No foreplay, eh?”

“The client.”

She pouted, but answered, “Maxwell Lawson.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“The Guild takes breaking contracts seriously.”

“What I did cleared the contract.”

Zadrera shook her head, “What you did released you from the Agency.”

“We made sure the engagement contract was canceled as part of the deal!”

“I don’t know what to tell you. The Guildmaster approved the action.”

“Kagun approved it?”

Zadrera nodded.

Syler pulled out a tekrystal with the Knowledge and Sun runes etched into it. He tapped the runes and whispered, “Raynard Lawson.”

A deep voice came from the stone, “Hello?”

“Are you enjoying Longbottom Plantation?”

After a brief pause, “Blue-Eye. How are you enjoying retirement?”

“I’m not. Cara is dead.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. You have my condolences.”

“I found out today who is responsible.”

“I assure you it was not me.”

“I know it wasn’t you.”

“Then why are you calling me?”

“It was Maxwell.”

A longer pause. “Oh.”

Syler heard a string of muffled profanity from the stone. “I’d rather do this easy.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“So be it.”