“What was it you said?” Ren rubbed his chin, looking thoughtful. “Ah, yes! You said you’ll ‘gut me slowly’ while I beg for death. Isn’t that right?”

Omar’s eyes widened and he groaned in pain as he tried to say something, but his dislocated jaw and shredded tongue made it difficult to speak.

“Aww, it's ok,” Ren crouched and patted the man. “This alley would indeed witness a gutting, just not mine.”

He reached over and unlatched the man’s sword belt. On it was a longsword, as well as a belt knife which Ren pulled out and examined. It was a decent blade, but Ren suspected it wouldn’t have quite the same precision as his golden knife, so he tossed it aside. As for the sword, it was of better quality than the shortsword he had recently broken, so he kept it.

Turning back to Omar, he grinned and wiped the blood and grime off [Sunslicer]. “See, aren’t I considerate?” he dangled the cleaned golden blade in front of the man. “I cleaned off your friend’s blood off my blade so I won’t be poisoning you with whatever sickness he might’ve had.”

Grabbing fistfull of the man’s clothing, Ren ripped it open with the strength of his fingers. Omar squirmed away from him, trying to hide his exposed midriff, but a firm knee planted on his chest, kept him in place.

“Now this is going to sting a little, so stay still.”

With surgical precision, he made a clean line across Omar’s abdomen. The cut was deep enough to cut through the skin and muscles, but shallow enough not to perforate the organs hiding underneath. Muffled groans of agony bounced off the alley’s walls, and the hurried sounds of slamming shutters informed Ren that at least one resident of the nearby buildings was home. Dammit, he’ll have to go a bit faster.

Thick veins bulged out of the man’s head as he screamed into his rag stuffed mouth. He turned bright scarlet like freshly harvested summer tomatoes and his eyes widened in response to the intense pain, as Ren's cuts continued to torment him.

“Apologies,” Ren bowed to the struggling Omar. “But I’ll have to make another incision to speed things up.” Taking the razor-sharp knife’s tip, he made another cut, this one running vertically so that it started just below his chest, running over the horizontal cut he’d made earlier and ended below his navel.

After ensuring the blade was completely clean of blood and dirt, he resheated it then dug his fingers at the intersection point of both cuts. With some pressure, he pried the skin and muscle apart, accompanied by the man’s re-invigorated screams as well as Aylona’s retching.

His finger finally wrapped around a coil of intestines and he pulled. What followed was messy, disgusting and honestly a huge waste of time for Ren. But the man had somehow gotten under his skin with his constant mocking, and name calling. He would have let him be, but Omar just had to set up an ambush. At that point, his fate was sealed.

When all was said and done, Ren had loops of Omar’s guts wrapped around the man’s neck, and used it to slowly strangle him. When he finally died, Ren’s stolen cloak was covered in blood and digestive fluids. He tossed the cloak away, happy that it had protected his Temple robes underneath, leaving it with only minor stains. Turning towards the whimpering mess that was Aylona, he made his way over.

Time to finish up the last loose end. For her, a simple clean stab would do; no need to drag it out.

Seeing Ren’s attention fixed on her, the woman fell on her knees, threw her hands in front of her and banged her head on the cold hard floor in supplication. “Master, please spare me! I am yours to do as you wish. Just command me what you want and I will make it happen.”

Reaching down, Ren grabbed a fistful of her hair and wrenched her prone head back. She grunted but didn’t dare protest, her slender neck laid bare as merciless eyes stared into hers. The smart thing to do was to kill her, and yet he hesitated. A frown formed on his lips as he searched to understand where the unease was coming from. Unbidden, the memory of Priest Keta’s worried eyes watching Aylona leave the classroom with Omar, popped into his mind. Ah yes. That must be it.

Maybe he could make use of the woman. To Aylona he said, “Who was he working with?”

“The Syndicate, Master.” she replied immediately. “He runs…ran one of their Brothels on the south side of the Skirt.”

“Oh? And who is the Syndicate?”

“Uhm, Master. The Syndicate is the biggest gang in Greendale.” She licked her lips nervously. “I don’t know anybody apart from the other girls and Carr.” Seeing Ren’s tilted head she hurriedly added. “Carr and Omar ran the Juicy Plum. That’s the Brothel I work at.”

“And this Carr, will he come looking for me?”

“No Master!” She tried shaking her head but Ren’s fists were unforgiving, clutched tightly over her hair. “O-Omar was ambushed by the Cranes!”

Ren smiled, a truly frightening thing. “Was he now?”

“Y-yes. I saw it with my own eyes! Everyone at the Lucksmith’s Parlor saw one of their members drag me out, and Omar tried to confront him but they piled up on him.” The more she talked, the more sure her words were. “I managed to escape only because they didn’t consider me as a threat and Omar and his men fought viciously!”

“Uh-huh, quick question...” Ren shook his head sadly. “You think I’m stupid?”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Wha-aaa?”

Ren slapped her mid question, her teeth biting into her tongue. “I saw the well dressed man at the bar send you over to me.” He snorted at the renewed fear she displayed. “You haven't mentioned him once and you expect me to believe that in your concocted scenario, he would just, what, forget about me? Or that the Cranes were the one ambushing Omar? And not the other way around?”

“I-Im sorry Master.” she sobbed. “I had to. They would kill me otherwise.”

“And you think I won’t?” Pulling her by the hair, he dragged her over to Omar’s corpse. “Look at it.” Disgust paramount in her face, she closed her eyes.

“LOOK AT IT!” he roared, tightening his grip.

Her eyes snapped open as she sobbed harder. “I did this to him because he annoyed me. Do you want to find out what I will do to you once my patience runs thin?”

“No Master. I’ve learnt my lesson.”

“Hmm. I am not sure I believe you, Aylona, but I’m out of time.” He pulled out the coin purses from the loot sac and attached them to the opposite side of his belt. He then unfastened the loot sac and tossed it beside her.

“Inside that are some odds and ends that I need sold. I don’t care how you do it but I want those sold by the time I stop by next,” Ren released her hair and crouched, holding both sides of her face gently. “And believe me Aylona, I’ll be back. For your sake, I hope you come up with a convincing story for your handlers, leaving me out of it. Because if I come back to another ambush or you don't have my money, then what I’ll do to you would make what I did to Omar seem like a spring massage. Nod if you understand.”

She nodded, tears streaming down her face. Ren caressed her hair a few more times, before plucking out a few strands. “I’ll be keeping these as payment for your life,” he held them up to her eyes before braiding them into the mass of multicolored hair strands already wrapped around his knife’s hilt. “Don’t make me give them back.”

And with that he left Aylona alone in the alley, surrounded by the mutilated corpses of her previous pimp and his bodyguards.

—

He spent the next half an hour moving through the streets and taking evasive maneuvers. When he finally got to the Teleportation hub, he curled into himself, faking a gait. He produced his temporary temple papers and paid the fee without complaint. In a bizarre twist of fate, he found himself back in the heart of the Temple District, just as happy as he was to leave it hours prior.

The irony was not lost on him as he navigated the familiar streets towards his residence. The sun had set and the street’s were illuminated by the glowing mage stones affixed to the flowering trees that lined Serendipity Avenue. Being the main road of the district, it led directly to the sprawling Temple complex. But that was not his destination this evening; Ren was eager to get back to his room to plan out his next steps in Greendale.

He made it to his building and entered without fanfare. These people here were enough to give him a headache. The main doors of the residence did not even have locks! It was left unattended all hours of the day or night and anyone could just wander in. From what he gathered, their belief in the goodness of the universe prevailing—

“Are you Ren?”

He stopped in his tracks, looking at the lithe warrior leaning against the wall, beside his room’s door. “Who’s asking?”

“I am,” the response came lightning quick. “Well, are you?”

Ren examined the essence flowing within the Acolyte. She had to be in the mid to high Tiers, maybe Tier 7 and despite his white-knuckle grip on his knife’s hilt, she was completely unfazed. All she had on her was a knotted staff leaning on the wall beside her. His analytical mind quickly ran through thousands of permutations of what he’d need to do to best her if she decided to eliminate him. The results were not promising.

“No, but I live a few doors down,” he said, trying to get a gauge on her. “I can tell him you stopped by if you wish, miss …?”

“Aster, guide me,” she sighed deeply. “Ren, that’s your name right? You are a spitting match for the description Diviner Estrid gave me. And even if you were not, you are acting suspicious as all hells!” She shook her head. “If you are indeed Ren, then you must come with me. The Diviner has requested your presence.”

“Right now?”

“Yes. It’s of pressing importance and I was commanded to bring you with me.” She pushed off the wall and reached for her staff, staring placidly at him. “Now, am I going to be walking you towards her or will I be dragging you behind me?”

“Geez lady! No small talk?” he shrugged. “Yes I’m Ren, but I need to get into my room and change first before —”

“No, we leave at once,” she swiped her free hand in a dismissive wave. “Her holiness words were that it was of grave importance. And to bring you in immediately.”

That was how Ren found himself on his way back through the side streets until he was once more walking down Serendipity Avenue towards the Temple of Aster in the Temple complex. His guide was quiet and refused to engage in conversation, no matter what tricks he tried. Eventually, he gave up. He was fine with silence too, he’d just wanted to pry more information out of the woman.

With his taciturn guide leading the way, they got into the Temple without any issues and he was led back to the same room he had found the Diviner in a few days ago. Estrid looked just as beautiful as the last time he saw her, but this time, she wore her night garments. She didn’t seem the least bit bothered by it, but his guide turned bright red and became as uncoordinated as a teenager facing their crush.

“Ren,” Estrid called out in her silky smooth voice. “Thanks for coming on such short notice.”

“Honored Diviner,” he greeted with a tilt of his head. “It was no problem at all,” he lied with a smile on his face. Of course, he hadn’t come here of his own accord. He knew it, and she knew it. Alas, polite etiquette demanded they each play their role in this discourse.

“Amitabha,” she stepped down from her chair and walked towards the hovering [Aetheric Eye], examining it. “Xyla, leave us and stand guard at the door.”

The quiet guide immediately bowed to Estrid and marched out of the room, leaving them alone. Estrid remained quiet for several breaths as she gazed upon her artifact. The whisperings of the images were clearer to Ren than they had been on his last visit. He caught whisperings of disjointed words like fire…bazaar and dusk. Individually the concepts were crystal clear, but strung together, the words did not make a whole lot of sense. However, the overall feeling the [Aetheric Eye] projected was of immense opportunity.

“It is marvelous, isn’t it?” The Diviner finally spoke her thoughts aloud.

“Yes, Honored Diviner. It’s as lovely as its owner.”

She turned around, a small smile on her face. “Boy, you are way too young for me,” she chuckled in her beautiful voice. “Besides, your flattery is unnecessary. I called you here to give you an opportunity of a lifetime!”

“Oh?”