The remains of the Geblex had covered everything within a thirty-foot radius. Thankfully, The cage prevented some of its blood and matter from being sprayed everywhere, but anything small enough to fit through the bars had done so. Flying remnants of the Geblex had hit all four of them by the truck. The stench now that the body had exploded was even worse, and apart from Sniffer, the others had all heaved and began vomiting. Kyto had started the process, soon followed by Reece and John. The rear of the truck was entirely covered in the smelly, foul, and putrid contents of the corpse. The tops of their bodies had all been splattered, their bottom halves being protected due to the truck's raised sides.
Kyto was bent double retching, and Sniffer gently removed a flap of the monster’s skin or what may have once been skin from his hair, pulling it out and leaving a gloopy residue behind.
"Fucking hell," John said as he stopped emptying his breakfast and recent coffee alongside the Geblex's remains now covering the area.
Kyto dry heaved again, nothing left inside his stomach to come up.
"That is the worst smell I have ever encountered," Reece said, wiping bile from his mouth.
Sniffer was hardened to most things, and even though he had been splattered like the rest, his stomach was hardier, having witnessed what Tiddles had done in his past.
"I am not sure I will ever get rid of this smell from the truck," Sniffer said, looking at his ruined vehicle.
"John. Can you get a guard detachment from the barracks? We will need at least six members, and I want buckets and some fuel brought here." Reece said.
"Yes. Sir." He said.
"Also, tell them to bring burning masks," Reece added.
"Burning masks?" Sniffer asked.
"Yeah, they are impregnated with smelling oils for those working at the rubbish pits on burn duty," Reece added.
"Grab extra masks," Sniffer shouted after John.
"Ok," he replied, walking towards the gate.
Kyto stopped heaving and stood upright. His stomach and throat were sore from his fit of vomiting and dry heaving, having burned his oesophagus. "Well, that was a fucking disaster," he said with a croak.
"At least we know to make sure we keep any future Geblex bodies out of the sun," Sniffer said, smiling.
"Future! If I never see a Geblex body again, I will be happy. I don't think I will ever remove this smell from my clothes." Kyto said, his face a pale shade of green.
"I think I will just burn what I am wearing," Reece stated.
"Same here," Sniffer said.
Slew appeared by the gate, and Reece ordered him to get coffee for the three of them and bring some stools out from the guardhouse. He did not want them to return inside and stink the place out. Slew obeyed without questioning Reece's orders when he saw their state.
It took about half an hour for John to return with six guards in tow, and Reece began to order them about getting them to clean the worst of the remains from the back of Sniffer's truck. They had to make several trips back inside to get more buckets of water before the truck was washed down. A small crowd had gathered by the gate to discover what was happening, but none wanted to get too close to the stench. John had grabbed coveralls from the guard house, and the four got changed, dumping their spoiled clothes in a pile. Sniffer then moved his truck away from where it had been parked, and Reece ordered the guards to cover the area and the clothes in fuel.
Once Reece was happy, he got everyone to step back from the area where he lit the fuel. The immediate fireball that shot into the air could be seen across New Talisia and the surrounding ground, and the remains of the Geblex were burned along with their clothes. It was mid-afternoon by the time they had finished the clean-up exercise, and Callum, the guard supervisor on duty, had returned from his patrol.
The truck still smelled, and Sniffer would head into town and grab some of the smelling oils. Even the burn masks John had brought back had not kept the smell away completely.
"Thankfully, we only brought one body back," Kyto said once he had finished washing himself down in the guard house and scrubbing his hair with gusto to remove any of the remains.
"Yeah. Imagine a few of those being left in the sun." John said, shivering at the thought.
"Can you show us on the map where the factory was?" Reece asked.
Sniffer walked over to the large map of the area pinned to the guard house wall and indicated the factory's location. "Callum, can you get a patrol to go out there, please and stay in the area for the night," Reece asked.
"Will do, sir," Callum replied. He was a man in his early forties and stood bolt upright whenever he spoke to Reece. His mannerisms were those of absolute respect to the Captain of the Guard.
Kyto found it strange that they had this regimented approach as he had never been witness to anything like it previously and the authority that ruled the township.
"Kyto, Sniffer. Thank you for your work investigating the incident. I will get a payment sent through for what you have done so far." Reece stated.
"There is no need. TJ just asked us to have a look. It is fine." Kyto replied.
"Nonsense, payment where payment is due."
"Well, thank you then, and if you need anything else done, please let us know," Kyto said, smiling.
"If we do, I will let TJ know. Anyway, I better get back to the paperwork. I have enjoyed the time away from my desk, but unfortunately, I have reports that need filing." Reece said.
They parted ways, and Kyto and Sniffer headed into town. New Talisia's market stalls were open at various times, and many of them had no set schedule. Some were morning stalls, others in the afternoons, and some stayed open in the evenings or night. It did not matter what they sold; it was just what the stall owners wanted to do. Tabs and Crystal had been regularly staying open throughout the day since they had opened the stall, and from their experience, Kyto was aware that people would turn up at any time. The township operated 24 hours a day, and there was always a bustle of people moving around. The bars in the town never seemed to close, and Kyto had witnessed people staggering out of the bars first thing in the morning, worse for wear from nectar.
"Shall we get some food? The girls probably won't finish for another few hours yet." Sniffer asked.
"I am not sure my stomach is up to eating yet," Kyto replied, still feeling delicate.
"Ha. We could see if the girls have eaten yet?"
"Please, no food," Kyto replied, turning green again.
"How about some tonic that would sort your stomach out."
Kyto facepalmed. Why had he not thought about his healing? He concentrated on his strands; slowly but surely, they formed inside him and began to soothe his throat and settle his stomach. "Actually, a bowl of stew may go down well now." he smiled at Sniffer.
"What did you just do?" Sniffer asked with a confused expression.
"Amazing what a little mana can do for your appetite."
They headed towards the Broken Tap, the bar that Kyto had discovered sold the best food since he arrived. Upon entering, there were several patrons, and they took a table waiting to be served. It did not take long for a woman to walk over and ask them what they wanted, and they both ordered stew and bread and two free nectar. Sniffer had started drinking free nectar and enjoying that he no longer woke up with headaches. They were chatting away when the door to the bar burst open.
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A man entered the bar looking dishevelled, and Kyto recognised him from the man he had helped outside one of the other bars when he had been thrown into a puddle. His clothing was ill-fitting, and his face was drawn and gaunt. He walked over to a table at the side of the bar, away from the main crowd, and sat by a wood burner. Kyto watched as he moved his hands towards it, obviously warming them.
Kyto and Sniffer were making small talk when one of the staff in the bar noticed him sitting there. They walked over to the man and started speaking to him. Kyto could not hear what was being said over the general level of conversation, but it began to look animated as the man grabbed the dishevelled man on the shoulder and dragged him from his seat. "Hang on," Kyto said to Sniffer, standing and walking over.
Sniffer watched as Kyto crossed the room.
"Hi there. I still need to repay you that bowl of stew." Kyto said, addressing the dishevelled man. Both men turned to look at him, the dishevelled man looking at him confused.
"You know him?" the bar staff asked.
"Yes. He helped me out the other day, and I said I would get him some food the next time I saw him. Come and join us. I am sitting with my friend over there." Kyto turned, pointing towards the table Sniffer was at.
The dishevelled man stood and followed Kyto, joining them at the table. The staff member followed them.
"Can I get another stew, bread and free nectar, please," Kyto asked, grinning at the man.
The bar staff member grumbled under his breath as he turned away and walked back towards the serving area.
"Thank you." the man said with a look of surprise.
"No problem. I know what it is like to be left out to fend for yourself." Kyto said.
Sniffer looked at the man warily.
"What is your name?" Kyto asked.
"Brandon," he replied.
"Nice to meet you. I am Kyto, and this is Sniffer."
"So, what do you do?" Sniffer asked.
"A bit of this and that," Brandon replied.
"Dishonest work then," Sniffer said.
The man’s face flared with anger. "If you call trying to scrounge a living in this hell hole a dishonest job, then yes," he replied smartly.
"So why are you 'scrounging'," Sniffer asked bluntly.
"I need to fucking live." Brandon snapped.
"Why do you call it a hell hole?" Kyto asked.
"It is one, I have been here my whole life, and unless you are born into one of the original families or a relative, you get fucked over," he said.
"That is not the experience I have had since I arrived," Kyto replied, frowning.
"Well, it is the reality for those in the town who were considered trash by the ruling members," he added.
"Ruling members? I thought the town had a vote for the leader?" Kyto said.
"It does, and if you ever looked at the previous leaders, they all have ties to the originators. Cooper, who is in charge now, is the great-great-grandson of one of the founders, and that Captain of the Guard, the pompous prick, is also," he said.
"So, the votes are fixed?" Kyto asked.
"Not so much fixed, just that the people know that if the member put forward is not voted in, their businesses may easily start to be taxed much higher," he said.
"How do you know?" Sniffer asked.
"That is what happened to my family. My dad had worked here as a tanner all his life and had a great reputation among the traders. When the next leadership vote came around, he had put his name forward as a candidate. He secured nearly half of the votes. The problems started straight afterwards, though, and they started to accuse him of all sorts of made-up shit. My mother ended up leaving him due to all the rumours that were spread about him, apparently having several affairs, and when he was accused of rape, she could not take it anymore." Brandon said.
"If there was no truth in the rumours, why did your mother leave him?" Sniffer asked.
"I was about 16 at the time, just before my coming of age, and I remember it clearly as though it were yesterday. That prick Reece arrived and dragged him out of our home, and he was locked up. Mum could not cope with the apparent shame and left with one of the travelling traders heading over to the West. Leaving me behind, and I have never seen her since," he said.
"So, what happened to your dad?" Kyto said.
"They executed him."
"What?" Kyto said with surprise that since his arrival, he had heard nothing to say that executions took place. TJ had informed him that thieves may be sentenced to lose a hand if repeat offenders, but nothing about deaths.
"He was found hung in his cell," he replied.
"Well, that is not an execution?" Sniffer said.
"It is when it was done by them and made to look like a suicide. They tried to say he had hung himself, but I know my dad, and I know that he would never have done anything to anyone and would never take his own life," he stated.
"How can you be so sure?" Kyto asked.
"He was my fucking father," Brandon replied, snapping.
"Ok. I understand that, but have you ever found evidence that he did not." Kyto asked.
"Yes," he replied.
The bar staff member walked over and placed their food on the table. He begrudgingly placed a bowl before Brandon, sneering at him as he did.
"Thank you," Kyto said, smiling at him.
"You are welcome," he grumbled as he walked away.
Brandon dove into the stew as though he had not eaten in a week, and looking at his drawn face, he may not have. Kyto slowly ate his stew while Brandon demolished his. Once Brandon had finished his bowl, Kyto stretched off. "I am full already. Do either of you want the rest?"
Brandon's eyes looked hungrily at the bowl. "I am fine," Sniffer said, understanding what Kyto was doing.
"If you do not mind?" Brandon said.
"No. Please do have it; there is no point in wasting it." Kyto said, pushing his bowl over.
Brandon tucked into the second bowl, eating it a little slower.
"What evidence did you find?" Sniffer asked as he finished his stew.
"A journal," Brandon replied with a mouth full of bread.
"Well, if you have a journal, I assume you can identify who did it?" Sniffer enquired.
"That is the problem. No one’s name is in it; it is just written evidence of what they had been instructed to do."
"So, you have a written journal of what happened to your father but no names or anyone to corroborate the story?" Sniffer said.
"Exactly. It would not matter who I took it to as no one would believe me and say it was written by myself." Brandon stated.
"How long ago was this?" Kyto asked.
"Twelve years now."
Kyto looked at Brandon's face. If his story were true, that would only make him thirty-one, and he looked much older.
"So, for fifteen years, you have lived on the streets?" Kyto asked.
"No, the first year was fine. I survived off our savings, but I was too young and did not have the contacts my dad had, so I could not carry on tanning. In the end, I had to give up the house as I could no longer afford to pay for it, and eventually, I had to give up the stall and sell off the tools and frames to survive."
"That is a long time to be homeless. Why have you never left, gone elsewhere, or taken up a house outside the township? They do not cost anything," Kyto said.
"I did live outside for a while, but I had no idea how to hunt or trap and ended up half-starved before I came back into the town, and when I did, I was shunned."
Sniffer caught Kyto's eye and frowned slightly.
"Why were you shunned?" Sniffer asked.
"I was the son of a rapist and started getting accused of being like my dead father," he said.
"Yes. But you said this was a couple of years afterwards." Sniffer said.
"That is my point. The authorities have always had it in for me, and I have never stood a chance since they murdered my father."
"Why would they wait so long to start spreading stories?" Kyto asked.
"Because when I came back to town, I started seeing a girl I had been friends with since we were children," he said.
"And?" Sniffer asked.
"It was Cooper's daughter."
"Oh!" Sniffer said.
"I can see why you may believe they are responsible now," Kyto said.
Sniffer and Kyto sat silently for a few moments, not knowing what to say in reply.
"I suppose I could look into it a little," Sniffer said.
"And what good will that do now? It is years after the event, and no one would believe me anyway," Brandon said with a downtrodden look.
"Do you still have the journal?" Sniffer asked.
"Yes." he rummaged inside his cloak and pulled out a small, worn, faded journal. The pages were yellowed and stained, and Sniffer took it from him, flipping through them.
"This looks like someone's diary," Sniffer said.
"I suppose it could have been," Brandon said.
"You must know where you found it?" Sniffer asked.
"Yes. It burned down in the old guard barracks about ten years ago."
"And how do you know this relates to your dad’s death?" Kyto asked.
"Third page, second line. The tanner got it tonight." Brandon said.
Sniffer turned to where he had said and squinted, looking at the faded, scrawled text. Nodding his head in agreement. "Yep, it says that here, but that does not mean it has anything to do with your dad as a tanner."
"What?" Brandon said.
"It could have been any tanner, and you do not even know what got it tonight refers to," he stated.
"It is fucking obvious, isn't it." Brandon snapped.
"Look. I am only looking at this from the outside and am neutral about what happened," Sniffer replied sternly.
"Why don't we just ask a few questions and see where it leads us," Kyto said, trying to defuse the tension between them.
"Feel free for what good it will do you. Those bastards are slippery through what they have got away with over the years." Brandon said.
"Such as?" Kyto said.
"Disappearances and similar. Several traders have vanished without a trace before."
"Do you have any evidence to support vanishing traders?" Sniffer asked.
"Well, they always surprisingly seem to be traders competing in the same goods as the founders," Brandon replied sarcastically.
"Could just be coincidental," Kyto said.
"As if. Anyway, I have to go. Thank you for the food." Brandon said, standing and picking the journal up from the table.
He turned and walked from the bar, Kyto watching as he left.
"Well, whatever he was saying, he believes is the absolute truth," Sniffer said.
"How do you know?" Kyto asked.
"It is a skill I have," Sniffer said, smiling.
"Oh," Kyto said with surprise.
"It allows me to detect if someone is telling the truth, and his answers came back true every time, so even if it is not true to Brandon, it is."
"That sounds like a great skill. How did you get that?" Kyto asked.
"I solved a murder."
"What? When did this happen? You have not mentioned it before."
"It is not something that has ever come up in conversation or I had even considered until now."
"Well, if Brandon is right, then the town is more corrupt than it seems."
"I will do some digging and see what I can discover. It will give me something to do while Elizabeth is with the girls," Sniffer replied.
"Speaking of the girls, we should go see them and probably buy some new clothes," Kyto said, indicating the coveralls they were both still wearing.