This final chord of Fatal Error’s set left the crowd at fever pitch. The room was heaving with people, crammed into the abandoned Emporium shoulder to shoulder as they cheered loud enough to rattle whatever windows were left unbroken. Fatal Error herself stood just five feet away, her conjured illusory instruments still buzzing around her as she gasped for breath. Ogan didn’t know how she managed to keep so many spells up at once, and the way she incorporated the incantations into her lyrics was nothing short of revolutionary in the music scene, and the crowd could all see that. The sequins on her glitzy hot pink and indigo outfit caught on the countless matching magelights floating above the crowd, and she looked nothing short of divine. Ogan didn’t follow the old way like his ancestors had, but if he could still choose a patron he’d choose her.
“Thank you Empiiiiiire!!” she yelled, her voice amplified by a rune-marked collar around her neck. “You’re always the best crowd to play for!”
The crowd screamed again in approval, and Ogan joined in too.
“I’ve got another gig for you in two weeks time that will knock the mana out of you, and I expect to see every one of you there cheering twice as loud!”
Another wave of cheers. A chant of “Er-ror! Er-ror! Er-ror!” began. The performer on stage blew kisses out to the crowd in response, then began playing a more relaxed version of “Broken Evoker” - a fan favourite - as she went to the front of the crowd to sign things and shake hands with fans. Ogan took the chance to break from the crowd a bit. He pushed past all manner of people - other dwarves with fierce war paint and spiked-out beards, some elves with luminous enchanted clothing, even some humans with custom T-shirts made showing Fatal Error doing her signature move of flying over the crowd with her instruments following behind in formation. Everyone goes nuts over the aerial dance routine. Ogan was a big guy for a dwarf, but he tried not to throw his weight around. Fate didn’t tolerate any of that at her shows. He nodded to the bouncers at the door, who recognised him and let him past the queue of people moving to the merch store.
Outside, the night air was cool and refreshing after the heat of the crowd. The repurposed Emporium spelled “EmpirE” in neon pink lights that flickered slightly, with the last ‘E’ a vibrant orange instead. The rest of the sign had long been taken away, as trophies or scraps. The Big Three didn’t often let these properties go, but protests and at times straight-up riots about the corpos sticking their noses into the Inks District left the branch unprofitable enough that they’d packed up and left. In many ways, Empire was a monument to rebellion. It becoming the go-to place for up and coming indie artists like Fatal Error was just a nice bonus.
Ogan murmured a quick incantation for Conjure Cigarette, and he had just brought the newly summoned tobacco to his lips when Big Pete caught his attention from the corner of the building. Ogan sighed, and followed him into the alleyway.
The stretch between the side of Empire and the run-down flats next door was dark, grimy, and unassuming. Certain mages sensitive to mana flows like Lil Pete swore they could feel the countless wards they were passing through, but to Ogan the place just stank of piss. He did know that the graffiti along the walls on either side was carefully placed to cover the runic arrays though, since he was the one who sprayed it.
He soon arrived at a nondescript metal door on the side of the building, with a mound of trash piled up against it. The bags, wet cardboard, and empty bottles were just simple illusions, placed there to make the door seem unused. Ogan walked right through them and pushed open the door, crouching to get through even at his diminutive height. Inside was a long concrete corridor with dim magelights leading down an impossibly long corridor that stretched off into darkness. Another defence. Ogan walked exactly 29 steps down the hall, tapped the magelight above three times, and waited a few seconds before tapping it three times again.
A section of the wall slid open, accompanied by the sound of music and a waft of smoke. Nota was burning his special incense again, and the hazy clouds in the air formed shifting fractals that had a mild hypnotic effect if you stared too long at them. Big Pete and Nota were sat together on a sofa, staring up at the morphing shapes. The music played from a pair of pink illusory guitars, and sat next to them was the one and only Fate Delazzio, Fatal Error herself. She was slumped back in her chair with a small wet towel over her eyes, sipping some kind of dizzying green drink from a curly straw.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
“Fuck, my head feels like it is going to explode. Whose idea was it to add a second lead guitar for ‘Hoi Pollpoi’ when I’m already juggling four other instruments and trying to sing that one high note?” she said, her voice a bit raspy.
“Blame Lil Pete for that, he’s the one who said it would be cool.” Ogan said, grabbing a beer from the minifridge before sitting down in his spot near the coffee table. He picked up the stack of papers about various incidents around town that Nota had deemed worth his time.
“Fuck Lil Pete then. He thinks everything is cool. I could sit on stage and read out the Horizon Port Pod service manual and he’d still be saying how much I rocked after the show.” she said, lifting up a corner of the towelette to glare at me.
“He’s not wrong though. You killed tonight.”
“Pssh. I know. Anyway, check out page fourteen.”
“We should probably wait for Lil Pete and Domino first”
“Don’t bother.” said Nota, not looking away from the smoke. “They’re laying low. Peacekeepers and Brimstone both have been sniffing around a lot lately. Besides, Sasha will be here soon.”
“Something happen?”
“Page fourteen!” Nota and Fate said in unison.
Ogan sighed and flipped to the page they mentioned. It was a lengthy one, for Nota at least. His divination skills were hazy, a pun which he loved to overuse, as staring into the smoke only gave him glimpses of events of significance around the city. It was useful for spying on the Big Three’s movements, but unless it really interested him he only really wrote a few lines and gave a vague sketch of what he saw.
This time though, the text took up most of the page, and the drawing was a frankly beautifully illustrated ink rendition of a section of the city that had seemingly been carved out into a perfect circle. Details such as Peacekeepers investigating the scene could be seen, and even things not visible with normal vision like the overlapping honeycomb patterns of the wards placed around the area.
Her timing suspiciously impeccable as always, Sasha popped into existence right next to Ogan the second he’d finished reading. He could see the smoke part around her as she pushed the air out of the space to occupy it. He’d never get used to her.
“Sasha hiiiii!” squealed Fate, her headache seemingly forgotten. She dropped the towel and sat up, and blushed when Sasha gave her a wink.
“Heya Fate. How are my favourite little revolutionaries doing?” she said, helping herself to the minifridge.
“Restless.” grumbled Big Pete, tearing his eyes away from the smoke. “We want to do something that isn’t just sitting on our asses.”
“Tch, I thought that you’d like the break.” Sasha said, sipping on her can.
“Just feels like we’re wasting time. I know you used to be some A3L bigwig, but you left, right? How come you get to tell us what to do?”
“Because you need me, and I could use you. That’s all.”
The air in the small hideout suddenly grew tense. Big Pete, unlike the somewhat timid Lil Pete, had a hard time controlling his temper. Ogan had taken him into A3L since he was motivated and good in a fight, but he didn’t have the patience for the prep work. Ogan could see him getting more tense, his pupils narrowing to slits, his teeth sharpening into fangs as his now-clawed fingers dug into the padding of the sofa. Ogan was about to intervene when he stopped. A clump of Big Pete’s dyed blue hair fluttered past his nose, and a hair thin cut appeared on his forehead. Not deep enough to draw blood, but deep enough to send a message. Sasha hadn’t moved a muscle, still sipping her beer, but at some point one of her daggers had appeared in her hand.
It was easy to forget, sometimes, that they were dealing with some incredibly dangerous people. He and Sasha had been in similar circles in the past, and he’d always known her as this laid-back but friendly enough friend of a friend who was known to hang out with some shadier types. Looking at her now, he didn’t know what she was capable of. He got the feeling of suddenly being face to face with a wild animal or dangerous spirit - unequipped, outmatched, and very, very careful not to make any sudden moves.
Pete didn’t have the sense for that. He stood up, knocking back the coffee with a loud scraping sound as he started putting together some string of insults before Ogan stood up, drew a fist back, and cracked him across the jaw. Big Pete stumbled back, stunned, staring wide eyed at Ogan who now stood over him.
“Shut. The Fuck. Up.” Ogan said through gritted teeth, hoping he was conveying anger rather than fear.
”Wooo! You tell ‘em, boss.” Cheered fate from the back, never one to read a room.
Sasha gave a lazy half smile, meeting Ogan’s eyes. “I get it, you lot have been sat on your asses for long enough. As it happens, I have a job for you.
Ogan gave a serious nod. “We’re ready, tell us what you need us to do.”
He would never express this here, but Ogan was getting impatient too. A3L had started as an independent movement of castaways and rebels looking to fight against the overwhelming corporate power of the Big Three, and though their new allies in the Free Mages had let them pull off stunts they never would have otherwise, they often had to wait for the go-ahead first, which felt less… rebellious. Sometimes he missed the days where he and his crew would vandalise a Horizon branch and spend the rest of the night running from the Peacekeepers.
“Good answer.” Sasha’s smile widened. “Tell me, what do you know about boxing?”