Shara peeked around the alley corner at the run-down medical clinic across the way. Only a few people had gone in and out during the time she and Tel had been spying from the alley, but nothing obvious suggested it was a trap.

Then again, why would a trap be obvious?

“Can’t we just go in?” Tel asked quietly from behind her where he leaned against the wall, having completely given up on the pretense of staking the place out. “It’s been raining non-stop, it’ll be dark soon, and we didn’t find a single clue about the enclave. Neela and Born are our best bets to find them at this point.”

“Anything else you’d like to whine about while you’re at it?” she snapped at him, then pushed out a breath and turned to look at him. “I’m sorry, you didn’t deserve that.”

“Now you’re the one apologizing,” he said, a forced smile on his face. “But, seriously, how long do you want to wait? We should be going in any time now if we want to meet them. Though, I don’t know how this connects to dinner.”

“I don’t want to meet them,” she said, her logical mind warring with the irrational need to find her mother herself. Tel had been right – she wanted to be the one to figure it out. To prove she didn’t have to rely on anybody else. It was stupid, and yet there she was, standing across the street in the rain instead of walking in the front door and getting the answers she’s been after for years.

“Look at it this way,” Tel said, drawing her attention back up to his eyes. “It sounds like we did them a service out there in the woods, right? With that portal. The information on the enclave, and where your mother is, they’re just payment for services rendered. They aren’t giving you anything you didn’t already earn.”

Shara put her hand on the wall of the building beside her, finger tap-tap-tapping as she considered his words. Was he right… again? If he was, how was it any different than her paying coin for information? She’d done that more than a few times. They weren’t giving her anything for free. It wasn’t charity. And it certainly wasn’t because she needed their help.

“They owe us more than that,” she said, finally.

“Really?” Tel asked flatly and pointed at her waist where she had the cudgel from the strange building hidden under her shirt. “I think you got compensated pretty well finding that.”

“Which reminds me, let’s not tell them about it,” Shara said, making the decision to go in and see what they had to say. Tel obviously noticed her change in opinion, and pushed himself off the wall in anticipation of finding out about the enclave. Or getting out of the rain. One or the other. “Depending what they saw in the woods, they may not know about it or your magic. Let’s not advertise either of those things.”

“Agreed,” Tel said. “I don’t trust them yet either.”

“Okay, then,” Shara said, nodding at the Clocksmith. Despite what he said, and seemed to think about himself, he was surprisingly reliable. “After we go in, follow my lead. If I don’t like what I’m seeing or hearing, I’m getting us out of there.”

“Please don’t say any more,” Tel said, quickly raising his hands and patting the air. “Anything else will make this a plan… and we both know how that goes.”

Shara narrowed her eyes at Tel, but nodded. “Fine. You have a point,” she said. “But are you sure you want to do this? If they’re wrapped in more of that portal business, it could be dangerous. More of those ugly monster things and that weird eye.”

“Shara,” Tel said, and gestured to himself. “You think they would send me to deal with one of those portals?”

“You handled yourself out there pretty well,” she said. “Had my back. And, let’s be honest, not only are you the one who figured out how the whole setup worked and fixed the clock, but we never would’ve even made it that far if you didn’t step up out there in the woods.”

“I…” Tel said, clasping his hands in front of himself and shuffling his feet. “That means a lot coming from you. Thank you,” he finished quietly.

“Credit where credit is due,” she said.

“I never would’ve made it this far without you either,” he added a moment later, lifting his head to meet her eyes.

“Oh I know. We’re nowhere close to even,” she said, reaching out and gently punching him in the shoulder. “Back to my point though. You sure?”

“I’m sure,” Tel said. “Even if there are more of those portals… and the monsters, though I could do without those, Born and Neela, and their people, they must know where that building came from. Where the portal came from, and who set up that… those containment pillars. They have answers to questions I didn’t even know I had. That’s exciting.

“Really, I’d like nothing more than to lock myself in a room and fix clocks for the next twenty years, but part of me is also very curious about what we found. And why I’ve never read anything about it.”

“What, you’re not going to stay on the road with me?” Shara asked, realizing she was only half-joking as the words left her mouth, but forced a wink at him.

Tel’s eyes widened at the question, apparently as caught off guard by her words as she was. “You… you would let me…? All I’ve done is cause you… trouble.”

“You’re also possibly the best cook I’ve met,” she said. “And I’ve met a lot of cooks.”

“I just follow the recipes,” he said.

“I can’t even read the recipes. Just take the compliment.”

“Ah, sor… ummm… thank you.”

“You’re welcome. And, let’s both keep all our options open after we see what happens in there. Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Tel said, his eyes down but moving side to side like they did when he was really thinking about something.

Huh, maybe he actually would consider traveling with her.

After I rob the enclave? Then again, if Neela does know where my mother is, maybe I won’t need to. Arg, too much thinking!

Turning away from Tel before he could say anything else, Shara checked around the corner again. “By the way, I think there’s a sign above the door. What’s it say?” she asked, looking for anything to change the subject. Thoughts of finding the enclave vault weren’t supposed to be uncomfortable.

“Doctor Pain,” Tel said, coming up beside her in the mouth of the alley, not doing anything to hide he was there. “What?” he asked when he noticed her looking at him. “I thought we were done with the sneaking bit.”

“Fine, again,” she said. “And, Doctor Pain? Would you go to a doctor with that kind of name?”

Tel looked up and down the street at the run-down buildings. “Not the most well-to-do part of town, from the looks of things. They’re probably happy to have a clinic here at all. Name or not.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“The Burnt Quarter is one of the rougher parts of the city. Even the Tailcoats don’t come here much, which I guess explains what we’re doing here,” Shara said.

“Oh, this is the Burnt Quarter? I guess that explains things,” Tel said.

“You know why it’s called that?” Shara asked, looked both ways down the street – a wasted action since the street likely hadn’t seen a horse-drawn cart in years – then started across towards Doctor Pain’s clinic. What a name.

“Do you know much about the wall around Bastion?” Tel asked, following behind her.

“It’s big? What else matters?” Shara said.

“It’s not the size that’s important, it’s how it’s used,” Tel countered.

Shara stopped cold in the middle of the street, rain or not, and just looked at him. “Did you seriously just say that?”

“Uh… but really, this time. It’s not just… an excuse about… you know…” Tel said, face turning red, and brushed his hand through the air to dismiss the comment. “Look, really. The wall is from the Escalation War. Built to keep sorcerers out, and the people inside safe. Fun fact, it’s reinforced with a tremendous amount of order, which of course created a tremendous amount of chaos to balance it, which actually empowered the State’s enemies,” Tel explained.

“Yeah. Very fun. I bet you’re a hit at parties with the trivia,” Shara said, but gave him a smile to make sure he knew she was just teasing him. “But what’s that have to do with this being called the Burnt Quarter and size not mattering? Cause you know, it usually does, despite what people say,” she said, getting to the front door. Was she supposed to knock? Just walk in?

“Another fun fact,” Tel said. “The wall didn’t exactly work. The sorcerers who attacked lobbed fire over the wall, burnt this section to the ground and killed almost everybody in it. The State barely managed to put the fire out before it destroyed the rest of the city. After that, at the time, well, nobody with any money wanted to build here. Worried it was haunted or something. The attitude must’ve hung around, and anybody with any influence used it elsewhere.”

“Great. So, they made it real thick instead of making it real tall. I’ll give you this one, they didn’t use it properly. Does that actually help us now?”

“Not in the least. Are we going to go inside?” Tel asked, pointing at the door.

“I was wondering the same thing,” a man’s voice said as the door swung inward. “You need something? Don’t look injured to me,” the man went on.

Shara blinked to make sure she wasn’t imagining what she saw, then forced the words out of her mouth. “Are you… Doctor Pain?” she asked, the man in front of her looking quite the opposite of any doctor she’d ever met. Naked from the waist up, his baggy pants looked to be held up by a worn rope, and every visible inch of him was wired muscle covered by scar-crossed flesh. How could a person survive being cut and stabbed that many times?

“Yeah,” he said, scratching beneath his square beard – the calloused knuckles evidence of their frequent use – then moving his hand up to brush the top-knot pony-tail out of his face.

“An actual doctor?” Shara asked. “Of people?”

“No. Of rocks, so I can probably do something about what’s in your head. What. Do. You. Want?” he asked.

“Uh, sorry to interrupt Mr. Pain,” Tel said.

“Doctor Pain,” the man quickly corrected.

“Right. Sorry. Doctor Pain. We were told to come here by some… friends.”

Doctor Pain rolled his eyes with an audible groan. “Of course you were. Big oaf that looks like he’s always wearing a sweater, and the smaller woman who anatomically should never pair up with somebody like him?”

“Ana-what-now?” Shara asked.

“That’s them,” Tel quickly said. “Are they here?”

“No,” Doctor Pain said and stepped back, hand going to the side of the door as if to close it.

“Wait, wait,” Tel said. “Are they coming?”

“If I let you in, they’ll probably show up,” the Doctor said, and really did start closing the door.

“So why are you closing the door?” Shara asked, snapping her hand out to push back on the old wood.

“Because I don’t want to see them either. If you bugger off, I won’t have to,” Doctor Pain said.

“Is that any way to talk about your friends?” Born’s voice called from further inside the building, behind Doctor Pain, and the man groaned again.

“How did you get in?” Doctor Pain asked, turning from the door, which let Shara push it open again. “I blocked the back door.”

“An entire book case. And a couch. They were difficult to move,” Born admitted, coming into view with Neela beside him.

“That was the idea,” Doctor Pain said flatly. “The bookcase was full of books.”

“Sorry about the mess,” Born said with his usual stupid smile. “Think we might’ve woken your guest up too. Heard the chains rattling.”

“Wonderful. That’s just great,” Doctor Pain said, sarcasm practically dripping from his words.

“Since we’re here now, though, shall we let our new friends in?” Neela asked, pointing at Shara and Tel.

“You just do what you want anyway,” Doctor Pain said, throwing up his hands and stepping to the side. “But don’t get me mixed up in this anymore than you already have.”

“You can put the bookcase right back where it was after we leave,” Born said.

“So you can move it next time you barge in?”

“It’s just there to make you feel better anyway,” Born pointed out.

“That’s enough,” Neela said quietly, putting her hand on Born’s forearm. “Doctor, we wouldn’t have gone through your clinic if there was a better way. I’m sure you’ve heard about the Tailcoats in town?”

“Which is exactly why I don’t like this,” he said, but sighed and waved for Shara and Tel to come inside. “Well, don’t just stand out there like idiots.”

Shara gave one more look up and down the street, nothing catching her eye, then headed into the clinic first. Pretty standard waiting room with a desk on one side and a couple of benches on the other. All unoccupied. “Slow day?” she asked.

“It was,” Doctor Pain said.

“Ignore him. Despite his bedside manner, Doctor Pain is truly a master at what he does. If you’re ever seriously hurt, he’s the one to come to,” Neela said. “Now then, if you’ll follow us,” she finished, gesturing around the corner they’d just come from.

“What was that you said about Tailcoats?” Shara asked, keeping an eye on the closed doors along the hall. Great place for an ambush, if that’s what they were planning.

“Was it just one Tailcoat?” Tel asked, and Shara glanced at him.

‘Anad’ she mouthed without saying the name aloud, and Tel shrugged.

“I wish it was only one. No sooner had the detachment that… assaulted the enclave south of us left, than another arrived, this one under disguise. They didn’t want anybody in the city to know they’re here,” Neela explained, starting down a rickety staircase to some kind of basement.

Great. First a sketchy clinic with a doctor that looked more like a bareknuckle brawler, and now an even sketchier basement? This day was just getting better and better.

“Do you know why they’re here?” Tel asked.

“Of course,” Neela answered. “They know there’s an enclave in Bastion. They’re here to root us out.”

“You don’t seem particularly nervous about that,” Shara pointed out.

“Shara, there is a permanent garrison of Tailcoats in the city, and has been since shortly after the Escalation War. A Tailcoat presence is nothing new to us. We’ll be careful, as we always are. But, this isn’t for you to worry about, you won’t be in the city much longer,” Neela explained, rounding another corner and leading them into a surprisingly comfortable-looking living room. Except for the overturned bookcase, the flipped couch, and enough books that even Tel whistled softly.

Oh, and the trapdoor leading even further underground.

“I get it,” Tel said quietly, and everybody looked at him. “The enclave, it’s not like the one where I was. All in one place, I mean. This one… it’s not one. There are probably dozens of small enclaves spread out through the sewers of the city, so even if the Tailcoats found one, most would still be safe. Right?”

Born and Neela shared a look, then Neela stared hard at Tel. “You got all that from seeing this?”

“Yes,” Tel said, wilting a bit under the attention. “And that Doctor Pain reads romance novels.”

“What? What are you talking about?” Doctor Pain said, his head snapping between Tel, Born, and Neela. “Those… ahem, those are my daughter’s.”

“You don’t have a daughter,” Born said. “Does he?” he whispered, voice still like rumbling thunder, to Neela.

“Okay, look, the Doctor’s reading habits aside, now that you have us down here, and want us to go further down, how about you lay it out for us? What do you want? And what do we get out of it?” Shara asked. At this point, she could probably still get her and Tel out of the building. Sure, Neela and Born were definitely sorcerers of some kind, and maybe Doctor Pain was too, but she had the cudgel. That should be enough of a surprise if they needed to bolt.

Going into some sewers though? Besides the yuck factor, that was going to be harder to get out of.

Neela and Born shared another look.

“It’s that or we walk,” Shara explained.

“They might go to the Tailcoats,” Doctor Pain said, a new edge to his voice.

“They wouldn’t,” Neela said quickly. “We had them followed, their rooms searched, their contacts watched, and their backgrounds checked. There isn’t much on him,” she pointed at Tel, “besides his time in the enclave and his odd friend from the woods, but we know more than enough about Shara.

“But that’s not the point. I can’t tell you everything,” Neela said.

“Give us the short version,” Shara said.

Neela blew out a breath, but nodded. “Trust has to start with somebody,” she said. “We are part of an organization called Swallowtails.”

“It’s a type of butterfly,” Tel said quietly.

“I know that,” Shara lied. “And what do Swallowtails do? The organization, not the butterfly.”

“Our role is, and has been since long before the Escalation War, to keep portals to the Chaos Realm closed. Your mother and aunt are part of our group,” Neela said to Shara, “and we’d like you two to join as well.”