Once Koyl calmed down from his episode, Yehpweyl entered the room and spoke with him for a few minutes privately. When she emerged she told me to carry him out to the back yard while she fetched spare clothing for him. Yehpweyl insisted that she be the one to help him bathe, so I left the pair alone again once I had finished transporting Koyl. During the thirty minutes that they were gone, I took out all the currency in the backpack and sorted it into stacks on the table, grouping by coin type. Then Yehpweyl came back inside carrying Koyl over her shoulder, aided by Koyl holding her neck with his stumps. She set him down in a chair, sat in the chair beside him, and we got to talking money.
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“So they're all fake?” Koyl asked, dripping water onto the table as he leaned over it. His newly-shaven face showed yet more scars I hadn't seen when rescuing him.
“Those ones are, definitely,” Yehpweyl said, gesturing to the coins Koyl was pointing at. “I've never heard of a fully bronze-colored ngoywngeyt coin before. The rest, well, these over here-” she gestured to one of the columns of stacked twelve-ngeyt coins, “-look wrong. See how the letters of the engraving look bad?” Koyl, with some effort, leaned over the table to get closer.
“Shit you're right,” he sighed, “how did you spot that so quickly?” Yehpweyl puffed her chest out a bit and smiled.
“I do run a business,” she said with a hint of pride, “I've seen my fair share of fake coins. I suspect that they're probably all fake like you said, but those two piles are the fakest looking of them. The rest, I can't really tell. Maybe if I took a knife to some of them.” Mentally I was re-adding up the values of the coins, excluding the fakes.
“The Hatchet Crew was heavily involved in producing counterfeit currency, according to Thaajh,” I recalled. “We have around four hundred ngoywngeyt of passable fakes, plus whatever these are.” I pointed to a pile of coins that were plated in gold and had four square holes in them. Yehpweyl and Koyl both looked at me, then at each other, then back at me. Is this supposed to be obvious or something? I wondered.
“Those are worth sixteen ngoywngeyt each, Yuwniht,” Koyl informed me, “It's been a long time since I've seen a real one, so I can't tell if they look fake or not.” Ah, right, sixteen inner lines in four squares, I thought, that is surprisingly logical.
“They look real to me,” Yehpweyl said, “I took eight of those as part of my payment. Already traded one in at an exchange early this morning to get some lesser currency and buy food for you two. Speaking of which...” Yehpweyl got up from the table and walked back into the kitchen. I was still full, but I heard Koyl's stomach growl. Recalling what he had said he was being fed with I could understand why. It's astounding that he could even survive for that long with next to no nutrition, I thought, warbreed can only go about five days without eating before they're starved to near death.
“Five hundred and sixty ngoywngeyt then,” I said, “that should be enough to get to the mainland, right?” Even if we have to be smuggled, that may be safer at this point, I thought.
“I don't know,” Koyl sighed, “sorry, but my brain is addled at the moment. I don't think I realized just how hungry I was until right now. It feels like my gut is going to turn inside out if I don't eat something.” Koyl rubbed his stomach with his right stump, and it growled again.
“So about your arms and legs,” I began.
“It's going to be a rough couple of weeks,” Koyl sighed quietly, “I had to get help, uh, wiping my ass out there, you realize that? I've never been so embarrassed in my life. I can barely even stay in this chair properly, and these pants and the shirt...” Koyl's pant legs hung loose, along with the arms of the shirt he was wearing.
“How long will it take for you to grow them back?” I asked.
“Thirty days or so,” Koyl replied, still eyeing up the money on the table.
“Has this happened to you before?” I asked. That question tore Koyl's eyes away from the money for a moment to give me a strange look. “How do you know?” I clarified.
“Everyone knows this, don't they?” Koyl asked back. “Five days for fingers and toes, fifteen for hands and feet, thirty if you're cut below the knee or elbow, then sixty for a full arm or eighty for a full leg. On average.” Well I didn't know that, but the information is useful, I thought, I wonder how the process works. I know it grows a sort of nub that then inflates in the case of fingers, but for a whole arm does the entire missing limb start small, or does it come back one subsection at a time?
Yehpweyl came back with a plate of sliced-up meat and tubers, as well as some utensils. She sat down beside Koyl and took a scoop of food in the spoon, then brought it up to his mouth.
“Now be good and open wide,” she joked, “you were so well-behaved out in the yard.”
“I'm not a child,” Koyl hissed, turning his head away.
“Oh that much is very clear, but I still have to treat you like one,” she quipped back. “Now open up for the bird.” With a strange half-whistling noise, Yehpweyl steered the spoon towards Koyl's mouth, and he reluctantly accepted it. Just what is going on here? I wondered. I couldn't help but think back to when Yehpweyl had screamed in my face about not caring if Koyl lived or died. I could hardly believe she was the same woman in the scene playing out in front of me. Is this just an act, or was that the act? I asked silently, unable to find an answer.
“Most expensive meat and tubers I've ever eaten,” Koyl mumbled with his mouth full, “but damn does it taste good.”
“Since Yehpweyl took a portion already, we're splitting the remainder,” I declared, taking half of the coins from each of the piles and placing them into my burnt and battered money pouch. They just barely fit, and Yehpweyl noticed. She handed me the money pouch she had given me when I went to talk to Tkaol, empty of course, and I put half of the coins inside to balance them both out. “I expect that you don't spend an extreme amount of it,” I added. “I have no idea how much money I will get from Steelheart, so no payment for copulation, please.” Koyl's face flushed and he cleared his throat, reaching up with his stump to rub it while his eyes broke contact with mine. Yehpweyl turned her head away, staring at a nondescript spot on the wall.
“You knew about that?” Koyl asked quietly. I looked over at Yehpweyl, who glanced at me and shrank back from my gaze. Koyl noticed the motion and shot her a dirty look. “You told him about that?” he accused.
“Well he-” Yehpweyl began, but I held up my hand and stood up from the table.
“I have things to do today that are time-critical,” I said. “We are safe for the moment, but guards could be here within a day, or even sooner. As such, I need to work as quickly as possible. Yehpweyl, where can I find a good supply of wood for carving?”
“Uh, there's a place just down the road from the Steelheart Company offices,” Yehpweyl answered sheepishly. “You're really not going to kill them right?”
“Why would he-” Koyl began to ask before I cut him off.
“Koyl, stay here and keep your eyes on your half of the money,” I instructed, “I don't want a repeat of what was happening before you got caught, understood? Also, your sword is in my room, do with it what you will.”
“Of course,” Koyl nodded, his face losing its last bits of pinkness, “thanks.”
“Yehpweyl, if the guards come, I do expect you to leave some sort of visible indication outside the inn,” I continued. “Break a window or something before fleeing. Bring Koyl if you can, but I would understand if you flee alone. The guards aren't after him for anything serious, and considering his state they wouldn't store him anywhere particularly secure.”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Comforting,” Koyl snarked, though I could hear apprehension in the tone of his voice.
“If it does happen, I'll leave him in the black market you met Tkaol, he'll be safe there,” Yehpweyl said, nodding in acknowledgment.
“Where are my weapons?” I asked, directing my attention to Yehpweyl.
“In my room,” Yehpweyl replied, “you'll see them when you go in.”
“Good, I won't be long,” I replied. “Also, get a cloak for Koyl, we're going to need one.”
I went to retrieve my weapons from Yehpweyl's room while she and Koyl chatted, discussing things of zero consequence to me. They probably thought I couldn't hear them while I was strapping the holsters for my sword and spear to myself, but I did catch enough words to make out the basic subject matter. Once I was done I walked past them again, making them go silent, then exited into the busy streets and began making my way westward. Honestly, I thought about the subject matter of their conversation, how can Koyl possibly have the energy to pursue those sorts of activities when he's been starved, beaten, dismembered, and cannibalized? I just don't get it.
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I approached the Steelheart Company offices with some caution, knowing that they were associated with the guard. My hood was up so the people on the street hadn't seen my face, and thankfully not much of the foot traffic paid any attention to me. I took a breath, then walked into the building to find it empty save for Dawpvaol. I approached the counter she was leaning over, and she glanced up from her paperwork at me. Somehow, she didn't recognize me and looked back down without reaction.
“The Steelheart Company is not taking registrations today,” she said professionally, “Please come back in one week.” I closed and locked the door behind me, then walked up to the counter, stopping one meter away from it.
“I'm not here to register,” I said. Dawpvaol looked up again, confused for a moment, then recognition set in and her face contorted into one of anger.
“You,” she hissed, “at least you saved me the trouble of having someone go find you.”
“I'd like my payment, as well as Koyl's half,” I declared. “The job has been completed. I assume that I don't need physical proof because the circumstances of the death were extremely public, and no less than a dozen guards saw the body last night. I'm also sure you heard about my presence at the scene, confirming my location.” Dawpvaol gawked at me, then clenched and unclenched her fists several times.
“Are you meaning to tell me that you killed Yaavtey last night?” she asked, voice dripping with hostility.
“Among numerous others, yes,” I said. “Payment, now. If there are bounties on any of the others who died last night at the Hatchet Crew guild hall, I will be claiming those as well, as the destruction of that building was my doing.”
“I removed you from that job!” Dawpvaol shouted. “Do you have any idea what you've done!? Was it you who set the fire!? Was it you who... air poisoned the man's home!? Do you even understand the kind of retribution you are bringing down on your head with this!?”
“I told you I would take care of it, and I did,” I retorted. “Payment. Now.”
“You killed three of our people, two of whom you cooked alive inside the guild hall when you set it ablaze!” she screamed. “You didn't even just kill adults! There were five boys between twelve and fifteen on that second floor, and you locked them in there with those animals when you set the place ablaze! There might even have been more! We don't know how many there actually were because the whole building collapsed by the time the fire crews got there! Most of the bodies are still buried under the rubble!”
“I told you to keep your people out of it, and it is not my fault that non-combatants were caught in the crossfire,” I replied with emphasis, keeping my voice level. “It is also not my fault that you are too incompetent to handle your personnel deployments effectively. You were well aware that I would be making a potentially destructive strike against Yaavtey, and you sent your people in anyway. Their deaths are your fault, or the fault of your commander if the order came from above you. Now give me my money!”
“Fulfilment of an assassination contract requires physical proof of the kill or the contract issuer's sworn statement attesting to the job's completion!” Dawpvaol yelled back. “You have neither, and you will get nothing! And the nerve of you to try to claim the share of a dead man! If you leave now you might just be able to get out of the city before the guards put you in chains. You can consider that your reward.” I am nearly certain that she never mentioned either of those conditions when we discussed the contract, I thought, not that it matters.
“I don't think you understand your situation,” I said gravely. “My demand for money was not a request. You can give me the money, or I will kill you and take the money. Those are your choices.”
“You wouldn't dare,” Dawpvaol scoffed. “If I live, the guard might not chase you past the border of Vehrehr. If I die, you die. Half the guards on Awsriyah Island alone are contracted through us, saying nothing of the other provinces. The only reason they didn't go tear that shehpshuwz you've been staying at apart and arrest you was because someone above me thought it was worth giving you a chance. Had Steelheart listened to my judgment, we would not have lost three specialists.”
“If your superior 'gave me a chance', they should have given you my payment as well,” I noted.
“They never had any intention to pay you, zaeternaaf,” Dawpvaol spat, curling back her upper lip in disgust. I had never seen Dawpvaol display such a lack of composure and professionalism, and the sight irked me.
In response, I grabbed the edge of the counter, gripped it with force magic, then ripped it out of the floor and threw it across the room with one hand. Dawpvaol didn't even flinch, springing into action with a dagger that popped out from inside her sleeve. Her movements were fast, obviously enhanced, but not fast enough. Dawpvaol went for several disabling blows, failing all of them, then stabbed at my face. I held up my left hand, letting metal slide through my palm, then closed my fingers around the grip of the weapon atop Dawpvaol's. I made sure the grip was tight, grinding her bones against the metal underneath.
“I understand that you are upset,” I said in a controlled tone, “but I am quite serious.” A hissing sound came from inside my grasp as I used heat magic, making Dawpvaol inhale sharply and grit her teeth. The hissing turned to sizzling, then the smell of burning flesh began to fill the room. “Give me the money, and I'll stop,” I continued. “As you said, it would be inconvenient if I had to kill you, but I can do plenty to compel you while keeping you alive.” Dawpvaol jumped off of the ground, dislocating her shoulder, and kicked me in the face. I felt my nose break and then re-set, but I kept my footing and grip on her weapon. Dawpvaol, expecting me to release my grip, ended up falling to the ground in a worse position than before, with her shoulder twisted to near-dislocation.
“I should have had you killed when I found out about Suwlahtk,” she cursed. “You murdered innocent people for no reason. Expecting someone like you to be civilized was sheer folly on the part of my superiors. 'Forest man' indeed.” I wrenched her arm again and something popped.
“Where is the money?” I asked, allowing the barest hint of my anger to slip through into my voice. “Final chance. I don't doubt that killing you would cause me more problems than it's worth. Give me the money, and I will merely incapacitate you.” Dawpvaol and I locked eyes, and I saw the familiar and murderous rage I had come to associate with warbreed females. Then, a moment later, she relented and it vanished as if it had never existed at all.
“There's money in the back,” she growled. “Just through the door behind me. Not for you, by the way. This is theft, and I'm reporting you the instant I have the opportunity to, so you had better hit me hard and run very fast.” I twisted and snapped her arm in a few more places, then let it go. Without the blade through my palm, my singular wound vanished in moments.
“If you send anyone after me, when I finish dealing with them I will come for you,” I warned her. “If that threat isn't compelling, consider this: When I'm done with you, I'll find whoever it is in this world that you value, and what I'll do to them will make what happened to Yaavtey and his family look merciful.” Dawpvaol opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by a boot to her face that broke her jaw into splinters. I wiped my hand on a clean part of her clothing, then left her unconscious and choking on her own teeth while I searched the back room for money. I hope she shares the fixation on how someone is killed that the Hatchet Crew had, I thought, or else that threat won't be very effective at all.
The back room contained a number of barrels for storage, empty crates, rope, boxes, tools, and most importantly a large reinforced chest with a primitive padlock on it. I went back out and searched Dawpvaol, finding a key stashed inside her clothing on her right hip. It needed to be forced a bit, but once it was in the padlock a single turn popped the latch without issue. Well, that's less money than I expected, I thought as I saw the jumble of low-denomination coins inside that didn't even fill one-tenth of its internal volume. There was no way I would be able to take all of it, however, as there were simply too many coins.
I took three minutes to grab around three hundred ngoywngeyt from the chest, stuffing my coin pouches to bursting, then turned back to Dawpvaol. She was still unconscious, bleeding from the mouth and wheezing. I think I have the perfect place to put her, I thought, looking inside the chest, just need to gag her and tie her up so she can't alert anyone. I'll keep the key as well, no sense making it easy on them.