Patches

Hey. Okay. So, not sure if there's many people left that remember, but a long time ago I used to frequent these parts. I began to write a story that slowly took over my life, a story called Innocence. I finished nearly a year after I started and proceeded to the sequel, which I named Broken. I never finished. But scattered behind the scenes of this story was an instrumental character with an eye patch. His name was Niri. Not much was known about him. Not much was said and not much was asked. But if the world waited around for questions than there would never be any answers, and so here it is. This is Niri's story.

 

The first thing you need to know about me is that I'm not in it for the publicity.
The second thing you need to know about me is that sometimes I'll say things but I don't really mean them.
And the third thing you need to know about me is that I wear an eye-patch.
And no, I'm not a pirate.
It's actually a funny story, really. My buddy, Cap and I were just horsing around in the market place, giving a show of sword fighting to the people for lack of better entertainment. Thing is, Cap's a bit clumsy, and when I say a bit, I mean a lot. He tripped over a one-legged chicken, and well, the rest is history, as well as my left eye. Though I do suppose it was my fault for letting him use a real sword in the first place.
But I'm getting ahead of myself here.
I'll be honest. It's been awhile since all of this happened. Hell, it's been ages. But I've got some time to kill, and a story to tell, and I figure I might as well write it all down before I forget....
There were four of us. Still are, if you know where to look. Cap is the youngest of us, but only by a few years. He's a bit of a klutz, but all around, he's a good guy. Of course his real name isn't Cap. That'd be a hell of a stupid name. It's short for Captain, but we only call him that because we used to tease him about never ranking up. His real name is Verran, but everybody likes Cap better.
Then there's Zepros. But we'll normally call him Zep or Z. The guy's wicked good with a sword, and not too bad with magic either. We were great pals once. Still are. Sorta....
Avain is the only girl in our group, but from the way she fights, you wouldn't know it. There's always gotta be a bad ass girl in any good story, and half the time they make 'em up. But trust me, you can't just make up a girl like Avain. She's one of a kind, and she'll give you hell if you forget it.
And me? The name's Niri. They call me the hero of this story, but like I said, I don't care too much for the details. I act like I do, but I don't. It's all rather complicated, and I wouldn't even be going into any of this if I hadn't sworn myself to honesty. But I did, and I am, and I guess I have to live with that now. Because that's the real reason I'm doing this. It's time the world got its facts straight, time they stopped making up the details and actually listened for once.
So, yeah. My name is Niri. And I guess this is where I tell you to sit down and shut up, 'cause I've got a bloody story to tell you.

 

It's hard to say when exactly the beginning was. There are a lot of beginnings in life, but there are only a few that ever really matter. And maybe if I was a little bit dumber or a little bit smarter, I would have started at the end, at the battle that changed my entire life's purpose. But that would be a hell of a confusing story and – let's face it – I've got all the buggin' time in the universe.
So let me start at the beginning – the real beginning. The morning of a full moon in the middle of winter, when it's so cold you'd swear you're bones are made of ice. The thing about Erram is that even though it's pretty far south, the winters are still wicked. Some people say it's some sort of curse, others will go on and on about global warming. I honestly don't give a damn as long as I have my leather gloves and a good, warm, fire.
Of course the fire was out by the time I woke up and the room was frigid. I would have given anything to stay under the warm covers...then again, I say that everyday. When I finally did manage to get my ass up and get ready for work the sun had scarcely begun to rise. I skipped breakfast, put on my coat and slipped on my gloves before heading for my post.
It was a relatively quiet time in our history. There were no wars, no rebellion, none of those ugly affairs. Yeah, there's always the occasional murder but besides that, it gets boring. And with no war to fight for and no battle plans to draw up, us warriors were basically left to stand somewhere and look pretty. I consider myself lucky that I got one of the better posts, along with Cap. We had the ever interesting weapons section of the marketplace, conveniently located by a few good bakeries.
Despite the obscenely early hour, the Marketplace of Erram was already pretty crowded. There were more than just a few people trying to get their weekly shopping done. I made my way over to my post. Cap was already there, looking sleepy as hell.
“You're late,” he said with a yawn.
I shrugged. “You say that like you expect me to be early.”
Cap grinned slightly and handed me a cup of warm apple cider, which I took gratefully. We made small talk for the rest of the morning, commenting on the weather, dinner plans, things like that. This was my life, and I needed to show you this because you needed to know that once upon a time, I was as insignificant as anybody else. Yes, I was a celebrity of sorts around Erram, but it's not because I did anything especially important. I saved a few damsels in distress, fought off a werewolf or two, rescued a cat from a tree, even solved a few murders. Word of that stuff gets around, especially when you're blessed with my good looks. But I was simply a warrior, a soldier, just another face in the line-up waiting to get killed. Never in my life had I done anything outside of my job description.
Nothing really happened that day. We broke up a potential brawl, patrolled the streets, made sure anyone with grabby hands knew we were watching them. It's mundane work, almost insulting actually, especially when you consider the fact that we were trained to fight great battles. But instead, they had us on low-level security. It had been years since we'd seen any action, and don't get me wrong, its not like I want a war. But even our monthly werewolf hunts had been suspended ever since the protesters started going on about werewolves having feelings too. I don't know how many poor bastards are going to have to get killed before they come to their senses....
But the day was ridiculously boring, as was the day before that, and the day before that, and the day before that. And that's how my life was. I don't know weather Cap minded at all, but knowing him, he probably didn't give a damn. He must've liked it better than a hunt anyway. He was always complaining about those.
The best part of any day came in the evening when the four of us gathered at The Raven's Claw, a favorite tavern of ours. The food was good, the beer was better, and it normally wasn't too crowded. Cap and I walked through the door and into the warmth of the room, alive with fire and pleasant conversation. As tavern's go, this one was ridiculously peaceful. They had a bar fight maybe every few millennia so far as I could tell.
We weaved our way through the few groups that were in there, nodding to a few faces we recognized from the barracks. Avain and Zep were sitting at our usual table, the one right by the fire. We joined them, tried exchanging stories from our day, then promptly failed to come up with anything interesting.
“This is ridiculous,” Avain said, rolling her eyes. “It's like the entire city is on some sort of pacifist kick.”
Cap nodded in agreement, though he wasn't complaining. Hunting and fighting made him pretty nervous, but he tried not to show it. You can't show weakness, not in our line of work. Enemies can and will use everything they can against you. That was one of the first things they taught you.
Z left to get us our drinks while Avain continued to rattle on about how peaceful the city seemed. Unlike Cap, she liked action. Or she said she did, anyway. Personally, I think it's all a ruse to get us to treat her like 'one of the guys.' It must be working, because we respect her for it. Zep came back a minute later with two mugs in each hand. He passed them out and sat down next to Avain, looking over his shoulders both ways before speaking.
“It's only Erram, you know,” he half-whispered.
“What?” I raised an eyebrow.
“It's only Erram. That's peaceful, I mean. The other cities are in a state of disorder.”
“And where did you here that from?” Avain said between sips.
Z lowered his voice even more. “There are rumors. I even heard that some sort of major fight broke out over in Trebis. Details are sketchy, of course, but I'm working on it.”
“Trebis? No way.” That was Cap. “ the citiy's huge. They've probably got more soldiers patrolling the streets then we do. No way any fight is going on over there.”
“Of course not,” Z agreed. “Unless they're part of the fight.” He let that sink in a moment before going on. “I'm telling you, something's not right. I'm sensing some sort of takeover plan. I bet –“ Avain interrupted him.
“You're such a conspiracy theorist.”
I nodded. “The job's getting to you, man. Maybe you should take a vacation or something.” Z gave an annoyed sigh and sipped his beer. “Just wait and see. I'm telling you, something's going on.”
“Sure,” Avain said sarcastically.
“I hope not.” Cap said. “I'd rather not die in the middle of a war, thanks.”
“No, it'd be much better to die sitting on your ass, doing nothing. You're completely right, Cap.” Z told him. Avain snickered. “Hell, don't you want to be worth something when you bite it?”
Cap knew they were joking, but his shoulders still slumped a bit. Z didn't notice though, or if he did, he didn't stop to apologize. “Might as well use some of those skills you learned. You barely ranked up anyway. You'd think that you'd want to try to get better instead of embarrassing yourself. For Star Sailor's sake, you took Niri's eye out.”
“Hey, back off, will you? It was a bloody accident. We've been over this,” I told him. Z muttered something under his breath, but relented. “It's not like you're without fault either. You haven't forgotten about the blacksmith fiasco have you?”
“I though we agreed not to talk about that,” he replied sharply.
I gave him a lopsided grin and shrugged. You could tell he hated that. The thing about Zep is that he can get moody, and when he's uptight like that it's fun to mess with him a bit. The blacksmith incident was a bit of a sore subject for him. A few years ago we were chasing a couple of thieving idiots down a side street. They were going fast, but thanks to our training, we were able to keep up with them. I was breathing hard when they turned a corner. We followed them, completely in rhythm with each other. Even our breathing was in time with each other.
The two guys made another turn. They were slowing down, getting more and more desperate to escape. After a brief run through one of the narrowest alleys I had ever been through, we emerged onto one of the main streets, and it seemed like they disappeared into the crowd. I was about to give up when Z yelled, “There!” and took off. I followed him.
After that, the chase was chaotic. We weaved through the crowd, trying not to knock over the elderly or trample the children. At one point, Zep almost got his sorry ass run over by a cart, but I held him back just in time. A few minutes later, the partners in crime tried to slow us down by knocking over some barrels. Stupid move, really, since they lost more ground than they gained.
They were panting hard when they ducked into a local ironworks. I signaled to Z to keep going while I ran around the back to try to head him off. He nodded at me, then darted into the door while I squeezed through the alleyway next door.
I was extremely aware that every single footstep counted if I wanted to end the chase. I pushed myself to go faster, even though my heart was practically on the verge of exploding. It'd been a bloody long day and to be honest, I didn't feel like putting up with their idiocy.
The back doorway was empty, as well as the street. It was possible that they had outrun me, but I seriously doubted it. I waited for about 20 seconds before I drew my sword and slipped inside, through the broom closet. Sounds of combat drew me towards the front of the forge. It seemed like Zep had been jumped, or else he had decided to go ahead and fight them without me, which was just a stupid idea all around. I gripped my sword tightly and darted over to help, but before I could get there in time, they knocked Z to the ground. He would have been able to take them if they hadn't fought so dirtily. But before I knew it, a simple chase had turned into a hostage situation. One of the goons, the taller one, picked Z up by the collar of his tunic and put a blade to his throat.
I was essentially helpless, which is the absolute worst thing anyone can possibly be. You have no idea how much I desperately wanted to try something stupid, trick them, fight them even. But I couldn't risk getting Zep killed. I could only stare dumbly as they tied us, the blacksmith, and his assistant to a pole, lit a match, and set the building on fire.
We were both incredibly lucky that I was able to reach my pocket knife. Hell, we were lucky I even had it on me. I sawed through the ropes without too much difficulty. Thankfully, Z wasn't hurt too badly, and he could walk on his own. The blacksmith and the assistant were fine, if not a little shaken. Everyone got out okay, with minor burns at worst.
The building itself wasn't as fortunate, and after having run a good 4 or 5 miles, I was in no shape to stop the fire with magic. It burnt to the ground. To this day, only ashes mark the spot. The blacksmith didn't have the money to rebuild and no one wanted to buy the lot. As for the thieves, they got away.
I learned later that Zep was the one to provoke the fight. Apparently he threw one of his daggers and the shorter one, clipped his shoulder. He fell, and Z drew his sword. The taller of the two came back to defend him. We got into a lot of trouble for it too. They almost fired us, but instead they had us switch partners, which is how I got to working with Cap. To this day, Z still hasn't managed to forgive himself.
I'll admit, it was a low blow, bringing the incident up like that. I don't always think before I speak, and thinking before acting is even more difficult. I probably would have gone on talking about it if Avain hadn't put a stop to it.
“Alright you two, cut it out. Men,” She complained. “Always trying to show each other up in the stupidest things.” Cap laughed nervously at that, but Zep and I were stiff and silent. I had touched a nerve and Z wasn't ready to forgive and forget. Alright, I could accept that. I also have the rare but powerful gift of knowing when I'm not wanted. I told the guys I'd be back in a bit, then went over to the bar to hit on some girls.

 

I was in the middle of a very stimulating conversation – and when I say stimulating I mean absolutely ridiculous because this air-head was one of the idiots protesting against werewolf hunting- when I was either rudely or mercifully interrupted by a guy by the name of Hovrrick.
He's the type of guy that's too big for his own good, and as a consequence, he knocks over things a lot. I still can't tell if it's by accident of if he just doesn't give a damn, but either way, when he's around, you better be on alert. “Hey, No-eye!” came his booming voice.
I rolled my eyes – that is, eye - and turned around. “For the hundredth time, it's Niri.” The guy gets a kick out of screwing up my name. He thinks he's such a clever bastard, the fool.
“Yeah, whatever, cyclops.” He replies, and I squash the urge to take one of his eyes out. “Listen, I heard there's some sort of fighting going on in Trebis. I want in on it.”
“And where did you hear that from?” I asked.
“You guys.” Hovrrick answered.
“I never really took you for one to believe in rumors.”
“So?”
“So? So it's a rumor. Sorry, big guy. You'll have to wait for the actual violence, just like the rest of us.”
Hovrrick grunted with discontent. “You better not be screwing with me.”
“I'm not. Believe me, I wouldn't lie to you, bud. I'd just come right out and say it. I'd tell you I don't want you on my team.”
“Is that so?” he said slowly, an edge to his voice.
That should have been the queue to shut my mouth, but like I said, I'm a talker. Can't shut up for the life of me, and it's not like it was any secret that we weren't good friends. So by that logic, I figured I could mess with him for however long I wanted. “Let's face it, you'd drag us down. You understand why that can't happen, don't ya sport? Better safe then sorry.”
Hovrrick glared and put his hand on the hilt of his sword. “Better sorry than dead.”
“Is that a threat?” I smirked and cocked an eyebrow, knowing he'd absolutely hate that.
“Would you like it to be one?” His grip tightened.
“Gentlemen, gentlemen, please,” Came the voice of the bartender, Shona. Her father used to own the tavern, but he passed it down to her when he got tired of running it. She's a sweetheart, that girl. Couldn't hurt a fly if her life depended on it. “Either put your egos away or take it outside. I don't fancy a bar fight right now.”
Hovrrick gave me a long, steady look then backed off, probably to go terrorize someone else. I just grinned at him.
I was relieved to discover that the dumb wolf-rights blond had left somewhere in the middle of my discussion with Hovrrick. Man I hate that guy. Doesn't know a thing about what it means to be a real soldier. Guys like him are only in it for the violence. They don't know a thing about honor, duty. They don't know a thing about helping people, not for the glory or the publicity, but just for the sake of doing it.
“You okay? You've got that look on your face.” Shona looked at me with concern.“Anything I can do for you?” I swear, if you don't love that girl than there's something wrong with you.
I shook my head, dissolving my thoughts. “I'm fine, just thinking about something, that's all. How've you been?”
“Since you asked me yesterday? Not much has changed. Business is a bit slow. Not looking too good for the tavern.”
“I'm sure it's just the cold weather chasing them away. They'll be back when it warms up a bit.”
“I sure hope so. And I hope we can hang on 'till then. It's those big chains, they're squeezing us out. Soon there won't be any room for the little guys.”
“Give me another beer, would you?”
“Sure thing, Niri.” She passed me a mug and gave me a smile. “How's work been going?”
“Same as business. Slow as hell. Haven't had an interesting day in months.”
“Even with that government takeover going on?” She smiled wryly.
I laughed half-heatedly. “Word travels fast, doesn't it?”
“It's hard not to overhear,” she told me.
“Yeah, well, don't believe everything you hear. Just the idea of it...it doesn't make any sense. Zep's probably just making all of this up for lack of anything better to do.
Shona nodded at me while wiping down the bar. “You know, the King ought to careful. A bored army is a dangerous thing to have.”
“Don't say that too loudly, or else they'll start sacking some of us.”
“So you'd rather there be a war?” She raised an eyebrow.
“No, no. Of course not. God, no. We don't need a war. I just...I dunno, Shona...”
“You wish you could be more useful?”
That's the great thing about Shona. She knows. I dunno what, she just knows. Like she can see inside you, see exactly what you're feeling, and she hits home every time.
Shona laughed softly. There were the beginnings of laugh lines showing up on her face, and her curly hair was as long as ever, a light blond against her pale skin. “You always seem so surprised when I read you like that.”
I realized my mouth was slightly open, my face betraying my awe. “You gonna tell me how you can do that one of these days?”
“Maybe.” she winked at me and we were silent for a bit, each of us lost in our own thoughts, alone.

 

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Days passed. The weather grew colder and colder. We kept warm by magically enhancing our jackets to keep our body heat in. Cap nearly got frostbite on his foot, poor kid. The monotony was torturous, and it was getting hard to separate one day for another. And then something miraculous happened. About two or three weeks after I pissed Zep off at the bar, Cap and I were standing at our post, trying to keep warm, when I spotted a messenger boy.
“Hey, Cap. Look.” I patted his shoulder and pointed and the kid, clad in a red cloak bearing the symbol of Sorroth. They were for official use only, not your average postal service. They have to be quick, resilient, and ready for anything, especially inclement weather. The brave, the proud, the strong. The messenger boys. And in case you're thinking about making fun of them, let me remind you that I myself was a messenger boy before I was a soldier.
Caps eyebrows shot up with surprise. “You think...?”
“I don't know, man. I sure hope so.”
Our eyes stayed glued onto the kid as he ran. I held my breath each time he passed by another set of guards and silently prayed to the Star Sailors that the message was for us.
“I have a message for Solider Niri and Solider Verran,” the kid was out of breath by the time he got to us.
Cap winced at the use of his real name, but I grinned. “That's us!”
He held out an official looking scroll with the royal seal stamped on the back in candle wax. “From the General of Investigations.” He told us. I took the scroll and gave the kid a few coins. Then he scurried off to deliver more letters. I find it terribly ironic that the kid had more work to do than we did. However, if the letter said what I thought it might say, that was about to change.
Cap tore the envelope from my hand before I had a chance to even look at it. He ripped it open unceremoniously and took out the papers containing our orders. I watched his eyes anxiously as they darted through each word, each letter.
“Well?” I asked. I couldn't take it anymore.
Cap smiled and gave a slight nod.
I took the piece of parchment from Cap and read it myself. We had been assigned to carry out an investigation. We were to go to a small side street near the outskirts of the city to take a look at a crime scene. There's was a murder that needed solving. Cap and I left right away. No reason for us to stick around, it's not like the fruit stands were going to miss us. We walked briskly, in time with each other, but not as in sync as Zep and I had once been. A partnership like ours takes awhile to develop. Zep and I had worked dozens of cases together before we had been split up, but Cap and I had only been on a few in the last 1 or 2 years. That's the thing about our military. There's so many of us that no one seems to get a lot of cases. And before you ask, because I'm sure you're confused, no, we don't have a separate task force to solve murders. They leave that up to the soldiers, and it's a huge part of ranking up. Of course the better you are at solving cases, the more likely you are to get one. If there's a war and the soldiers are needed elsewhere, murders take second priority, unless it was an Ehlrend or one of our own, or some other important official. In that case, we work as fast as we can to bring the bastard that did it down. No one messes with us. No one. On the way there I started quizzing Cap about some of the standard procedures dealt with during a case. Cap is the newbie, the rookie. He's only been my partner for around two years, and that's not a very long time when you live as long as we do. But he's got a lot of potential. Trust me, I would know. I don't work with airheads. I had a couple replacement partners before Cap, and let's just say that those idiots didn't work out for me. I think Cap has potential though, and that's really saying something considering it's technically his fault that I wear an eye patch now...which isn't necessarily a bad thing since it makes me look completely bad ass.
When we arrived at the crime scene, there were a few guards looking after the body. They noted the crests on our tunics and let us through.
“Huh. Well that's bloody interesting.”
The man was there, lying on his back on the side of the road, eyes closed, face turned towards the sky. His clothes were a bit dusty, no doubt from the dirt on the street. He wasn't breathing, which is actually quite typical of a dead person. But other than that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the man.
Nothing at all.
I'm talking no blood, no signs of struggle, no broken bones, no scrapes on his knee. Hell, the guy didn't even have a splinter in his finger. He might as well have been sleeping, and no one would know the difference.
I gave the body a good once-over, walked around it a couple times. Cap was checking our surroundings, looking for a murder weapon, potion bottle, anything that could tell us what happened.
“There's not even a bloody footprint!” I sighed in frustration. Some jobs were easier than others. Then again, I'd much rather be catching criminals then staring at a bunch of fruit. “Found anything, Cap?”
“Maybe...” he said. “I've got some broken bottles, and a mug. From a bar, it looks like.”
“Anything on there that say's which bar?”
“Not that I can see.”
“Well here, give me a look. Maybe my eyesight is better than yours.” Cap chuckled and tossed me the mug. I caught it easily. Cap was right. Didn't say anything. There was a picture of a rabbit though. “A rabbit? Of all things they choose a rabbit?” I muttered to myself. I tossed it over my shoulder, and it hit the wall with a bang. So much for preserving the crime scene. Cap gave me a sideways glance but didn't say anything.
I looked back down at the body. The skin had turned blue from the cold air. “Oi!” I called. “Oi! Hey, you, yeah you. What time did you say the body had been found?”
One of the guards turned around to face me and shrugged. “Dunno, sometime this morning.”
“Thanks,” I yelled back. I looked down at the dead slab of meat.
Cap came over to join me. “Any idea what the cause of death was?”
“No idea.”
Cap nodded and went to scan the street one last time.
That was about the time that the other half of our team showed up. Cases were normally worked in pairs, and you can imagine my delight when Hovrrick showed up as the other half of our team. I didn't recognize his partner. Probably some other **** with a common sense deficiency .
“Nice of you to join us.” I said dryly, but Hovrrick didn't catch my tone. I know for sure he didn't ignore me, since that requires an IQ higher than that of a jellyfish.
“So who do we get to beat up?”
Behind me, Cap pinched the bridge of his nose. I sighed, suddenly losing any molecule of respect I had for him. Typical, him expecting us to do all the work while he gets to do the fun part and gain all the credit. “The investigation has only just begun. It's impossible to tell at this point.” My voice was flat.
Hovrrick grunted in annoyance while his pbartner crossed his arms. “When are you gonna be done.”
“It's gonna bloody take awhile, alright? Why don't you make yourselves useful and...hell I dunno, stop blocking the sunlight. And stop breathing my air, while you're at it.” I promptly went back to looking at the frozen slab of meat that lay before me. The things that come out of my mouth sometimes, I swear.
Much to my displeasure, the duo took that as an invitation to come closer to the body. “Well?” Hov asked after a moment of gazing at the body. “How'd he die.”
“Maybe a spell? Potion?” Cap had come up behind me, joining in on this lovely little gathering.
“Good guess, but highly unlikely. There's absolutely no sign of a fight going on here. Unless someone jumped him from behind or something, I'm going to say no on the spell theory.”
“Maybe he just dropped dead.” Said the other elf, the one whose name I didn't know.
“Yes, that seems to be happening a bloody lot lately, hasn't it?” I said, completely sarcastic. It went over his head, but beside me, Cap snorted.
“Hovrrick. Check his pockets. I wanna know if he was robbed.”
“I'm not touching no dead body. You do it.”
“As the senior investigator on this case -”
“Senior? What makes you senior?”
“I've worked over twenty cases. Tell me, Hovrrick, how many have you worked on?”
He glared at me and reluctantly bent down to check the corps's pockets. He took out a pouch full of coins and a few other things like scraps of paper and a pocket watch.
“Not a robbery,” I said decisively.
“Obviously,” Hov's buddy said, as if he knew more about these kinds of things than me, which is doubtful.
I sarcastically thanked him for his observation and knelt by the body. It really was in near perfect condition. Enough muscle to be healthy, enough fat to be well fed. There was a bit of a gray beard starting to grow on his face, and his hair needed a trim badly. I pulled his eyelids open. They were bloodshot, tendrils of angry red lines grasping at his dead vision. I pulled my hand back and they snapped closed once again.
Interesting....
Of course if we were going to get anywhere in this case, we'd need to know his name.
“Cap, you ought to see this. C'mere.” I waited for him to kneel down before taking the dead man's frigid arm – gross, I know, but terribly necessary. I muttered an incantation in elvish and waited. Not even a few seconds later, a flame appeared, dancing across his arm with great speed. In a moment, it was over, leaving behind a series of lines burned into his skin.
“Whoa.” Cap said.
The fire left behind a name and an address among the burns. Marlock Wrent. 42 East Pallor St. Erram.
“That looks like it hurt.” Hov said.
“Yeah well, it's not like he's gonna feel anything, you dolt.”
“Shut up, hurricane.”
“Hurricane? Do I look like a hurricane to you?”
“Of course you do. A hurricane's only got one eye.” He and his buddy thought that was hilarious for some reason unknown to me. They nearly rolled over and died from the laughter. In fact, I much would have preferred if they had.
My God, I swear they get lamer by the day.
Cap and I stood. “We'll go to Pallor street. You boys can stay here and try not to kill something.” I don't think they heard me. Too busy laughing at who knows what.
We left the side street in a hurry. I was eager to get inside and get away from the cold. It was bitter outside, the kind of cold that eats at your bones and tears at your flesh. Not even my good leather gloves or magically enhanced coats could keep us warm.
No one answered when we knocked on the door. Instead, as fine upstanding gentlemen of the law, we broke in.
The house was small, as most houses in this part of the city were. Two rooms and a bathroom. A broom closet. Not much, but it's something. The room smelled musty, the bed was unmade, and the tables were littered with empty beer bottles and bar mugs.
“Sheesh. You think he was intoxicated?” Cap wondered aloud. “It's like he took half of the bar home with him.”
“I dunno. Seems kinda far fetched. We haven't had a drunk death in years.” No, ladies and gents, this was not sarcasm. See, being an elf comes with many perks, including a long life span, the use of magic, things like that. And among these perks is the ability to 'hold one's liquor.' We don't get drunk as easily as humans or even dwarfs do. Our bodies are able to rid our system of alcohol a lot quicker, and even when we're intoxicated, we normally think pretty clearly. We can drink as much as we want and barely get a hangover. That's why it's extremely unlikely that old man Marlock drank himself to death.
“Either way, it's still apparent that our victim took a few too many trips to the bar.” Cap said. I agreed. Guys like this normally ended up as hermits. They got addicted to alcohol, addicted to the drunken euphoria that came with a few too many beers, the spaciness that often came with a side effect of death. Things like this were more common during wars, civil disputes, things like that. But it's not completely uncommon in times of peace. People get bored. They get tired of getting up every morning and going to work. So instead they drink themselves away.
Cap started walking around, looking at the empty bottles and mugs, and the bookshelf, and the bed. I followed suit, careful not to step on any broken glass from the less fortunate bottles. “Probably wasn't married. I don't think the Mrs. would let the house stay this messy. Plus the bed isn't big enough.”
“The guy was smart though. I mean, judging from his library at least. He's got some pretty intense reads.”
I walked over to Cap, who was reading some of the titles on the bookshelf. He was right. There were books on things like the anatomy of the werewolf, magical properties of dragons, and even “Sorroth Through the Ages,” a universally hated book because of it's unnecessary length and terrible organization. Didn't even have a bloody index. Barely had chapter heading, for Star Sailor's sake!
“Impressive. Still, for all we know, he might have been using them as a paper weight. Even if they aren't too dusty, we can't assume anything.” I hated to burst the kid's bubble, but I had to make sure he knew how to take life with a side of reality and an extra dose of skepticism.
Cap didn't seem to mind so much. “How about next of kin? Family members that can tell us more about him?”
I shook my head. “Guys like these normally cut ties with their families. Even if we could track someone down, I doubt they'd be much help.”
He made a “hmm,” sound and went on to keep looking. “There's not much here.”
“I suppose it's too much to hope for a secret room behind the bookcase.”
He didn't answer me. Instead, he held up one of the metal bar mugs. “One of these was left at the crime scene.”
“You think it's a clue?”
“Could be. Give it here.” He tossed it over to me. Just like before, I found the design of a small rabbit etched into the metal. I had no idea what it meant or how to find out, and you have no idea how much I wanted to toss it over my shoulder again. But it had to be significant.
“Well?”
I paused before answering. “I'm not sure. But I don't see anything else. Come on, let's go.”
“Back to the crime scene?”
“Nah, they probably moved the body already. And Hov's probably long gone, or else he's frozen to death. You remember how to log information? Do some paperwork?”
“Yeah, but -”
“Good. You oughta get used to doing that.”
Cap rolled his eyes -both of them, the lucky bastard, - and sighed. “Fine.” Paperwork is the worst part of any job, and this one was no exception. But I let him off easy. There wasn't much evidence to log. He'd be done in under a half hour if he did it right.
“It's getting late. I'll meet you at the bar when you're done. Got something I wanna check out.” We walked out into the frozen evening and parted ways a few blocks later.

 

A long walk to the palace and about a dozen security checks later, I strode into the palace library. Our library is grand, with bookshelves towering over you, reaching all the way up to the ceiling. In a smaller but just as impressive room in the back, records were kept. Werewolf hunts, accounts of battles, case files, you name it. I was about to head over there when someone caught my attention.
“Hey, you. Clean that up. You think this is a free for all? I've got an entire library to keep in order, the least you could do is pick up after your own mess.”
Ugh, librarians. I swear, we oughta put a muzzle on them. I turned around, expecting to see some old bat wagging her finger at me. That's not what I saw at all.
She was a pretty nice looking broad, hair tucked into a bun, thin eyebrows, attractive face, and a great body once you looked past all the books she was carrying.
“Well? Don't just stand there. Get those books off the table.” she ordered.
“I – um, those aren't my books.”
“Of course they aren't. They're the property of the most high and prestigious Library of Erram.”
“No, what I mean is that I just got here and that mess ain't mine.”
“That's what they all say. Clean it up. And fix your grammar while you're at it.”
Librarians. Sheesh. “I'm sorry love, don't think I can. No idea where they came from. See, I just got here. I was looking for one of them classics books by one of them famous authors because, see, I read all of the time. When did you say you got off work again?”
She sighed in exasperation. “Never mind. I'll take care of it. Shoo.”
“No, really, I could-”
“Go.” She pointed to the door, but of course I had some important work to do in the Records Room. So I went the other way. I heard her huff behind me. Sure, I felt sorry, especially because that was one fine dame. But I had some work to do, so excuse me for trying to weasel my way out of cleaning up a mess that wasn't mine. And if I happened to get a date out of it, all the better!
The guard at the door to the records room checked my credentials a final time before letting me in. He closed the door behind me, and then it was just me and a few million files, alone.
The winter sunlight was weakening, but it lit up the room with a brilliant shine and made my research that much more enjoyable. I walked over to the criminology section and scanned the files for the 'death by intoxication' section. It was the second smallest section we had, runner up to the 'death by tone deaf choir' section. No, I'm not making that up.
I pulled out the seven files and plopped them down on a nearby table and spent the next hour looking through them. There wasn't a lot of detail, mainly because no one considered a drunken death to be too important, but also because they were so rare, no one was really sure what they were looking for. I got a lot of nonsensical information that really didn't have anything to do with the case, but I did find that bloodshot eyes seemed to be a common factor in all of them. Unsurprising, since that's normally what beer does anyway. In one of the cases, a drunk man jumped from a nine story building. Not so much 'death by intoxication.' Death by stupidity is more like it. And believe me, we have plenty of files on that.
An hour passed. I'd gone through about half of them when the sun started going down. Of course I could have just cast a light of my own, but I figured I'd call it a night. I gathered up the files and put them back on the shelf, inhaling the scent of musty parchment. Most of these were old. Like I said, crime rates have dropped dramatically and as such, we don't really have a need to file anything.
“Oh, you again. I thought I told you to leave.”
I turned around to see the same girl from before. Probably trying to get rid of me before I made another mess.
“I had some work to do. Don't worry, precious, I'm putting away my files. See? I'm cleaning them up and putting them away. I wouldn't want another encounter like before.”
She adjusted her glasses. “Very well. Here at the most high and prestigious Library of Erram, we take great pride in our organization of information.”
“Yeah, yeah.” This is why I hate libraries. “Look, I'm sorry about before. I was busy.”
“So I see.” She went over to the next row of bookshelves and put some scrolls on one of the higher shelves. “You're working on a case, I presume?”
“Yeah, solving a murder. Or a supposed murder anyway.”
“Really? Well, I hope you catch whoever did it.”
“I intend to.” I left after that. Out of the Records Room, through the library, past a few more librarians, down the marble hallways, and out into the dying sun.
On my way to the pub, I swung by old man Marlock's house one more time. I grabbed one of them metal mugs, shut the door behind me, and shivered all the way over to The Raven's Claw.
That gang was already gathered by the fireplace when I got there. Cap was talking about something excitedly. Zep spotted me and waved me over.
“So then we rushed over and saw the dead body, did some investigating. There's no sign of what killed him, no blood, no broken bones. Nothing. Hey, Niri! Then Hov came by, along with his partner and tried to run the show, but Niri here got him to back down.”
“It was nothing, I just don't like the guy is all. Cap, keep your voice down, you aren't even supposed to talk about the case at all.” It was a commonly broken rule, and depending on who you told, they almost always let you get away from it. Since Z and Avain were fellow soldiers, it didn't matter, but it's for the best if you make sure no one can eavesdrop on you.
Cap went right back to his story, but he did lower his voice, thank the Star Sailors. Zep and Avain listened with interest since it was the most that had happened to any one of us in months. But as cases go, this one was rather boring. No blood, no core, no arrest yet. It was a work in progress, I'll give you that. But it's not like anyone's gonna write a murder mystery on this.
Cap finished up his story, right up to the report he had written. Avain expressed her jealousy that we had gotten a case to work on while they were stuck on guard duty. And the Zep started going on about our 'corrupt monarchy.' I left somewhere in the middle of that and took a seat at the bar.
“Oi! Shona! Give me a round, will ya?”
Shona smiled and filled up a mug for me. “Hey, Niri. How've you been? Work still going slow?”
“Actually, it's been a better day than I've had in months. How's business?”
“Still slow. This is probably the busiest it's going to get.”
I looked around at all the people. It wasn't too bad, there were enough people, but there were also a few empty seats. Thinking back to a year or two ago, it wasn't very full at all.
“But never mind that. Tell me, what happened? You haven't had any good stories in awhile.” She dragged her stool over and sat across from me, ears open.
“Well, I got assigned to a case today.”
“Really? Well congratulations! What was it, a murder?”
“Well that's what we're going with right now, but I'm not so sure.”
“You think it was an accident?”
“More like self inflicted.” I told her about the crime seen, how it was clear of blood and murder weapons, how the body was in perfect condition, save the bloodshot eyes. Of course I wasn't supposed to, but I knew I could trust Shona. Plus I wanted to ask her something.
“Huh, that strange...so you think he was drunk?”
I nodded. “Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. I about to write it off as such, just want to make sure I checked out all the other possibilities first. Hell, I even went to the library today to check out past cases like this.”
Shona pretended to look impressed. “Well that's dedication. Who would of though, one-eyed Niri going to the library of all places.”
“Oh shut up.” I took a sip of beer and waited for her to stop laughing.
“Oh, gosh. I'm sorry, couldn't resist.” She said once she had calmed down enough. “Was it worth it anyway? Going to the library?”
“Not so far. The case files weren't written too well. But I did have a question for you.”
“Shoot.”
“There was one of these at the crime scene.” I pulled out the metal mug and handed it to Shona. “There were also several at the vic's house, which is where I got this one. Does that mean anything to you?”
“It's a mug.”
“Yes, I know it's a mug. I'm not an idiot. ”
“You sure about that?” she just about kills me sometimes.
“Take a closer look.”
She peered into the inside, turned it over, turned it over again, and gave me a look that would kill a lesser man. “You screwing with me?”
I chuckled and told her to look again.
She finally saw the rabbit, engraved on the handle. “This?” She raised an eyebrow.
I nodded. “That.”
“Oh. Well that's an easy one.” She stood and grabbed a mug of her own off the back shelf, then returned to her stool. She placed both of her mugs in front of me. “Spot the difference.”
“One of them has a rabbit on it.”
“Right? And the other one?”
I took it in my hands and examined the handle. Instead of a rabbit, there was a miniature bird. “A raven?”
“Yup. There's a raven on all of them. On all of mine anyway.”
“You mean like The Raven's Claw?”
“Exactly. It's sort of a tradition. Way back when the very first pub opened up, there was a disagreement between the two co-owners. They were brothers, and the younger brother was upset that the eldest brother got paid more. So he decided to open up his own pub. Except he didn't have the money to buy a lot. Instead, they divided the bar in half and had each mug branded with different pictures. One was a fox, the other was a crescent moon. That was how they kept track of the mugs, and how the customers knew which brother to pay. When the younger brother finally earned enough to open his own bar, he left behind all of his old mugs and got new, unbranded mugs instead. Barely a month later, the building burnt to the ground. The younger one died in the fire. Now, it's considered unlucky to have unbranded mugs. It's a silly story, really. But I'm not one to take chances, especially with my bar at stake. And I've seen too many unfortunate thing happen to some of my fellow bar owners that never took the legend seriously.”
“Huh. Interesting. So if I find the pub that this mug belongs too, I'll find the pub that the vic was drinking at?”
“You betcha. And lucky for you, I happen to know the bar that this mug belongs to.”
“Do you, now?”
“Sure do. They're one of the chains that are running me out of business.”
“Which one?”
“They call themselves The Rabbit Hole. Dumb name if you ask me. Dunno why everyone's rushing over there. Anyway I'm pretty sure there's at least three of them in this city. Not sure if they've branched out of Erram or not.”
“The Rabbit Hole?'
“Don't you listen to anything I say?” Talking about her competitors gets her rattled up sometimes. And when she gets like that it's hard to calm her down.
“Course I do, Shona. And thank you, I owe you one.”
“Anything to take them down. If I have it my way, this bar is gonna be here for a long, long time. Ain't no way I'm gonna live to see it's downfall.”
“Damn straight.”
When I left for the night, I gave her a bloody good tip.

 

I got up early than usual the next morning. The gray darkness was unnerving, and the cold was unpleasant as usual. I wasted no time in getting dressed and taking to the streets. I told Cap to wait for me at his place so we could find The Rabbit's Hole together. Shona had given me directions last night to the one nearest to the crime scene last night. Naturally, we did not invite Hov.
I knocked on his door and waited for him to come out. “Just a minute,” he called. But I was waiting more than just a minute. Probably wasn't even up when I got here. When he finally emerged, he was hopping on one foot and lacing up his boot. “Blimey, you're up early!”
“I told you I'd be here before dawn.”
“I thought you were joking. What's gotten into you?”
“Purpose.” I answered after a moment. “Now come on, we've got a long walk ahead of us.” I started walking, not bothering to glance over my shoulder to see if he'd follow.
It was about a forty minute walk. We would have been faster if Cap hadn't insisted that he knew a shortcut a gotten us lost. Bloody idiot. Still, you gotta love him. Sometimes.
Upon walking into the tavern, I could immediately see why Shona was jealous. It was pretty big, dozens of table littering the polished wooden floors. There were three different fireplaces, and the bar itself was twice the size of Shona's, complete with stools, bottles a liquor, and yes, mugs.
“Hey, we're not open yet. Go away.” The bartender was young, younger than Cap even, with dark, shaggy hair and a bar rag in his hand.
“Don't you know it's bad business to turn away a customer?” I walked over to him and leaned on the bar. “You the owner?”
“What do you care. Look, we're not open yet. Get out of here.” He went back to wiping down the bar.
“I care because I'm looking for him.”
“Why?” he looked up again.
I pointed to the crest on my shirt and watched him sober up. “Um...let me go get my Dad.” He disappeared through the back door.
“Nice place,” Cap said, clearly impressed. “Makes our tavern look like a -”
“Hey, shaddup, will ya? That's Shona's place you're talking about.”
“Right, sorry. I just...I see why she hates these guys, that's all.”
“Yeah well, Shona's brew of beer's probably better anyway.”
The kid came back out of the door, followed by his Pap. “Good morning, gentlemen. Is there something I can assist you with?” He was a clean cut business man, obviously from the upper class, probably never went hungry a day in his life.
“Do you own this place?”
“Yes, as well as the other four.” There was more than a touch of pride coloring his voice.
“Four?” I glanced at Cap, who seemed just as surprised.
“Yes, we've been expanding lately. Now if you'd be so kind as to tell me what this is about, I'd be very grateful.” I already didn't like him.
“The name's Niri, he's Cap. We're investigating a possible murder and we have a few questions for you.”
“Murder? I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong place. There isn't any murdering going on at my bar.”
I held up the mug I had swiped from the victims home. “We found this at the crime scene. Look familiar?”
“That could have been from any bar. Everyone uses -”
“But it came from your bar. You do mark your mugs with a rabbit, do you not? Please don't make this any more difficult than it has to be. Now, let's start from the beginning.”
“Fine, fine. Have a seat, then.”
“Thank you. And your name is?”
“Wentock. Wentock Maffingell the third.” Charming, isn't it?
“Right. So, Mr. Maffingell, do you know of a man named Marlock?”
“No. Is that all?” He was in a rush to get rid of us.
“Are you sure?” Cap said. “Medium height, gray beard, long hair. Most likely came to your tavern for several nights in the past month or so. Ring a bell?”
“No.”
“And you wouldn't lie to us, since that is clearly against the law, correct?” I gave him a hard look.
“No, I wouldn't lie. Now if that's all you gentlemen need to know, I have work to do.”
I glanced at Cap and nodded slightly. “Don't leave town.” he said. “Stay where we can find you.” He stood to leave, and I followed, giving him one final look of warning.
“I don't like him,” I told Cap when we got outside.
“You don't like anyone.” He said as he pulled his coat around himself, trying to keep the cold at bay.
“That's not true, I like plenty of people.”
“You don't like successful business men.” He retorted.
“I...good point.”
He laughed softly. “Still, I don't like him either. But I'm not sure he had anything do to with the murder.”
“Yeah, well...we'll see.”
“HEY! HEY, YOU TWO! SOLDIER BOYS, WAIT UP!”
“What in hell?” I glanced behind me. “Oh, it's that kid.”
Cap raised his eyebrows in question. We turned around and waited for him to catch up.
He was panting slightly by the time he caught up with us, his breaths making small clouds in the winter air. “That guy you were talking about,” he said between deep breaths. “Marlock, right? He;s been in the last few weeks.”
“Really?” I was terribly unsurprised.
“Yeah. Scruffy beard. His hair was graying. Kinda scrawny. Sound about right?”
“Sounds right...so then why would your father lie?” Cap asked.
The kid shrugged. “Beats me. Probably just being a bit difficult. Wouldn't surprise me. Besides, any bad publicity would hurt the business.”
“Alright then....what about you? Why should we believe that you're telling us the truth?” Cap was getting into this whole interrogation thing.
He shrugged again, almost defensively. “Hey, believe me or not, that's your choice. But Marlock was a good guy. Completely wasted most of the time, but not bad company.”
“So you talked to him?”
“A bit.”
“Anything notable?”
“Not really.”
“How long has he been going to the Rabbit Hole?” I asked him.
“Last few weeks. Probably started coming in around the time we first opened. I mean, at first I didn't see him too much. Only stopped in for a beer or two and a slice of cake. But later on he got worse. You know how it goes for guys like him. Nothing left to live for so they just stop living.”
I nodded solemnly. “Yeah, I understand. So you say this tavern has only been open for about a month. Was it the first one?”
“Nah. Third or fourth. The first one is by the eastern end of the market. Been open for a year or two.”
I couldn't think of anything else I needed to know right now, and Cap looked like he was out of questions too. “Alright. Thanks for your help, kid.”
“Yeah, well, just don't tell my father. He'll give me hell if he finds out I was talking to you. Just do me a favor and find out what happened to old man Marlock. He was...sort of a friend of mine.”
“Sure thing, kid.” I replied. “We'll come and find you if we have any more questions.”
“Like I said, just don't tell the pops. By the way, the name's Nalick.” He turned around and walked away. We watched him disappear back in the tavern from a distance.
The sun was beginning to spread through the streets. I was grateful for it, hoping it might warm up later. Cap and I started making our way to the crime scene, back to square one. Even though it had been cleaned up by now, we needed a new starting point, and that was as good a place as any. The road was slightly inclined. We walked up the hill and I breathed in deeply, setting a frozen fire to my lungs. I swear, there's no better way to wake a man up than to give him hypothermia.

 

If there was one person I didn't expect to see that morning, it was a messenger boy. And yet, there he was, scarlet red cloak flapping in his wake, headed right toward us. Just like before, I took the envelope and Cap tore it from my grasp. I tipped the kid and he went on his way.
“Well?”
A sense of urgency colored his voice when he said, “There's been another murder.”
It was only a few blocks from where we were. We walked briskly, arriving at the scene a few minutes later. It was basically the same scene as last time, only this victim was young, around my age, and he had flaming red hair.
“Look what we got, Cap. It's a carrot top.”
“Ha-ha. Very funny.” He rolled his eyes and I grinned at him.
Just like before, no blood, no broken bones, no sign of a struggle. A quick incantation revealed that the man's name was Edril Scholt and he lived no more than a block from the crime scene. When Hov and his buddy -I really ought to learn his name- showed up, I made Hov check his pockets. Nothing seemed to be stolen.
“This case just keeps getting weirder.” I said, mostly to myself. “Okay, Cap let's go to his place, see if there's anything unusual. Hov, check for signs that a potion or spell was used. Seems unlikely but we've got to make sure we rule our anything we can.”
After that, we left. I have no idea if Hov actually did what I told him to or not, but it didn't really matter in the end anyway.
We knocked on Edril's door, and I was absolutely shocked when someone answered. It was a woman, dressed in heavy layers to keep the cold out. Her dark hair hadn't been brushed yet and her eyes seemed tired. She probably had only just gotten out of bed. “H-hello?”
“Hello, ma'am. Is this the residence of a Mr. Edrick Scholt?” I'll admit it. The kid's last name was pretty fun to say.
“Yes.” She seemed confused. “He's out right now...is there something I can help you with.”
And this, my friends, is the worst part of working a case. No one ever want to inform friends and family that a loved one has passed.
“Ma'am, I'm afraid we have some bad new. May we come in?”
I could see the concern creep up on her face. “Is he okay? Is everything...is everything alright?”
“I'm sorry to have to tell you this, ma'am,” I said sincerely, “but Edrick Scholt died sometime within the past few hours.”
I don't think I need to tell you that she was devastated, and rightly so. She invited us inside through a veil of tears. We sat down at a round wooden table. She had disappeared in the next room, probably to try and regain her composure. Maybe fifteen minutes had passed before she emerged again and set the kettle on the fire to make some tea. She sat on the other side of the table and put her head in her hands. “How could this happen?” she whispered.
“That's what we're trying to find out, miss..?”
“Reka. Reka Scholt. Edrick was my brother.”
“I'm sorry for your loss,” I told her, which seemed like a bloody dumb thing to say, but there isn't much you can say in a situation like this. “I'm sorry to have to bother you right now, but we need to ask you some questions, if that's alright.”
Reka nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
I paused for a moment before asking, “Has you're brother gone to a bar called the Rabbit Hole in the past month or so?”
She swallowed hard. “I don't know. I-he-he might have mentioned it but I d-don't remember.”
“Does he have a drinking problem?”
“A...a what?”
“A drinking problem.”
“I-ah...I'm not...I don't think so. Maybe a few drinks every now and then.”
“Where was he going when he left this morning?”
“He...he was out looking,” She sniffed. “For a job. He lost his about a week ago.”
“Where did he work?”
“Market place. He was an assistant at the fruit stand.”
“Thank you, Ms. Scholt. Just one more thing. Is there anything else that you would like to tell us? Strange behavior? Bloodshot eyes?”
She lost it then, unable to keep the tears at bay. She shook her head. We left before the tea was even ready.
“That was...horrible.” Cap said after awhile. “I mean...she just...”
“Horrible,” I agreed once he proved to be unable to finish he sentence. “Sometimes it's better. A lot of times it's worse. Part of the job, unfortunately.”
Cap nodded, but was silent, and that was how I decided that he needed to take it easy. Honestly, he looked like he was going to be sick all over my boots.
“Let's take an early lunch, eh? Maybe we can meet up with Zep and Avain.”
“Yeah, okay.”

 

“You guys got another victim. Now that's just unfair!” Avain wasn't too happy with the developments in our case. “You know what we did today? We kept someone from double parking a horse. I got horse manure all over my shoe. And you get two murders?”
“Hey, easy there. It's not our fault someone decided they wanted to drop dead.”
“So what's going on with the case anyway? Any leads?” Zep sure seemed to be eager to get some info.
“Uh, yeah. Well, sorta. We might be able to place them both at a certain bar. But it's sketchy. Pending further investigation.”
“The Rabbit's Hole, right?”
“Yeah,” Cap answered. “How'd you know?”
“Just a hunch. While you guys are living it up with murder cases, I've been doing some dirt digging of my own.”
“Ugh. Zep, please don't go on about this again.” Avain begged. “Please. I swear, if you talk about it again, I'll eat my own left arm.”
“Well I sure hope my food is better than that.” Shona came to our table, carrying a tray of bowls filled with hot soup.
“Of course, Shona. No one makes beef stew like you do.”
“You're too sweet, Niri. But it's not beef today. Thought I'd try my hand at rabbit meat. With any luck, that rabbit tavern will be cooked up too.” She distributed the soup and told us to “Holler if you need anything, will ya?”
I'll be completely honest here. You will never have a bad stew on a cold day. The warmth is just too tempting, even if it does taste like whatever's on Avain's shoe. But Shona's stew is absolutely heavenly, even on the hottest day in summer. Nothing beats it.
“I've said it once, and I'll say it again-”
“Actually, you've probably said it a hundred times by now.”
“-There's something going on here. Word on the street is it's some sort of drug or potion. Some type of spell, maybe. Probably dark magic, and the monarchy is behind it.”
Avain gave an exaggerated sigh. “Now you're just talking nonsense. And you better shut up about it too, before someone accuses you of treason.”
“Who's gonna accuse me of treason?”
“I will if you don't shut up!” Those two have the most ridiculous fights sometimes, I swear.
“Bloody hell, why don't you both shut up. It's too early for this.”
“Everything's too early for you.” Cap said.
“I'll drink to that.” I raised my mug and took a swig. There was a silence that followed, before Zep had to ruin it.
“Seriously, though.”
“My God, SHUT UP will you?” Avain had to listen to this all day, so no wonder she was fed up with it. I, however, had yet to hear the story. We were close friends, Z and I, so I suppose I felt obligated to hear him out.
“Alright Z, tell me what you heard. Yes, I'm serious, Avain.” I added before she could get the words out. “It might be pertinent to our case so I ought to hear him out.”
“Pertinent my ass,” She muttered under her breath.
Z was definitely happy to have someone to talk to. He was probably as annoyed by Avain as she was by him. Can't say I thought their partnership would last much longer, of course only time would tell.
“Alright, so I've got a couple sources and-”
“And these sources are?”
“They're my sources, Niri. Can't let you go buying them off me, now can I? Anyway, they told me that they saw someone, some sort of official, in an alley way with the owner of the Rabbit's Hole. Apparently they were exchanging money. Can't tell me that that's not suspicious, can you?”
“Please tell me there's more and that I didn't just wast a good fifteen seconds of my life.”
“Ugh, you are so hard to please.” He rolled his eyes and said, “Of course there's more.”
“Well? Get on with it then.”
“Kill me.” Avain whispered to herself.
“I've heard that the owner has been ordering the brewers to put the potion into the drinks. I've also heard that the potion is supposed to sedate anyone who drinks it.”
“And?”
“And it didn't work. All it did was cancel out the effects of alcohol. So they upped the dosage. And that's why there hasn't been any action lately. The drunks have turned into zombies, and anyone who has a drink from there is just...dazed.”
“That doesn't make a bloody lick of sense. Why in hell would the King want to drug anyone?”
“Because...it's not the King. It's the monarchy. The Council. Something like that.”
“Alright Zep, that's enough. You really ought to lay off the crazy pills.”
Avain snickered. “See? That's what I've been saying.”
“No, think about it! If everyone's in some sort of daze, then there's no army. Nothing to stop a war, rebellion, mutiny.”
“I'd quit while you're ahead, mate.”
“Fine. But you'll see.”
“Yes, I'm sure we will.” More sarcasm slipped out than I meant to, but Z didn't seem to care. Honestly, he was out of his mind. Drugging the beer? Isn't alcohol enough of a drug on it's own? The only thing that didn't sit well with me was that Zep wasn't one of the conspiracy theorists. He was normally better than that. Wasn't one to tell lies, or tall tales. Yeah, he was a little crazy sometimes, a little over confident in his abilities, but we all were to some degree. I had a feeling that the job was getting to him.
Still, that was another problem for another day. Cap and I had a couple of deaths on hand.

 

Three days later, we had another body. During the next week, we thoroughly investigated anyone our three victims might have known. They were all spotted at The Rabbit's Hole. Other than that, there was nothing to tie our victims together. As far as we could tell, no one hated them enough to want to kill them. We were fairly sure that no one used magic to cover anything up. I was about ready to pounce them dead by alcohol, except for the fact that it was so uncommon. My inner investigator was telling me that something else was going on, something more than what I was seeing, but whatever it was, I couldn't see the big picture. Hell, I couldn't even find what I was supposed to be looking for. So on the fifth day, I decided to go back to the library.
It's pretty busy there at around noon. For some reason completely unknown to me, some people would rather read a good book than swing by a bar. Bloody insane if you ask me, but you didn't, so I suppose I'll shut up about it.
I ran into that librarian from before. She gave me a hard look in the eye before telling me not to miss-shelve any book or scrolls at the “Most High and Prestigious blah blah blah.” More like pretentious. I gave her my honest word that I would do my best not to. She left me alone after that.
Despite the crowds, the Records Room was empty, and I was thankful. I got right to work, bringing the layers of parchment to the nearest table and flipping through them. I was done in less then an hour, and much to my displeasure, there was nothing useful. Can't say I was too surprised.
Maybe it wasn't a murder. Maybe it was just a few guys that had a little too much to drink. Maybe I was trying to beat a meaning out of something that wasn't there. The only thing that connected any of them was that damn tavern...
That bloody tavern.
That one librarian chose that moment to enter the room, lucky for me.
“Hey! I need a book on drugs.”
She stared at me, dumfounded for a moment.”
“Quick!” I half-yelled. My voice jolted her awake. She nodded.
“Come with me.” She didn't wait to see if I would follow her.
She led me through the maze commonly known as the library, not even hesitating when she came to an intersection. She probably knew the library like the back of her hand, just like I knew the Nemeran forest or the streets of Erram. Us elves are pretty good with directions, you know, and if Cap ever tells you that I got us lost in a bathroom once, he's lying. And drunk.
The Librarian finally stopped in-front of one of the bigger shelves, and I assumed the section went on for several more rows considering how broad the topic was. “Is there anything more specific you're looking for.”
“Uh...yeah. Tranquilizers. You know, something to dull pain, calm someone down. Might cancel out the affects of alcohol. It would probably be addicting. More so than the beer.”
“Is it used for medicinal purposes?”
“Um...I don't know. Probably not. Black market stuff...at least I think.”
“Hmmm...” She looked up and down the rows of neatly organized books, making her selection. She finally pulled out a huge, thick, leather bound book and handed it to me. She was stronger than she looked. “Start with this. I'm not sure if what you're looking for even exists, but if it does, we'll find it.”
“Thanks...uhh....”
“Anethia.”
“Right. Thanks.”
She pointed me to a table. “I assume this has something to do with that case you were working on. Have you had a breakthrough?
“I'll let you know when I get there. Thanks again.”
“Call if you need anything else.”
I nodded and sat down. The book was huge, but there were pictures, so I guess I'd find a way to manage. The next hour was spent flipping through the pages. There was good news. A drug like this did exist, and there were several different forms of it. Different mixtures, ingredients. Slightly different effects. It was a lot to take in. I stared at the words intently, wondering in the back of my mind how I had gotten from almost no information to way, way too much.
“Find anything?”
I was so absorbed in the book that her voice startled me. “Maybe.”
She nodded. “You'll have to forgive me, but I've taken an interest in this case.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What? Who shared the details with you?”
“Oh, no, that's not what I meant. I mean, just from what you've been looking at. Those files on the alcohol induced deaths, and now this book. Are you close to catching the killer? Maybe you've found the murder weapon?”
And here we have the classic case of a girl that lives vicariously through books. Probably read too many mysteries and now she's pretending to be a detective, snooping through my work. Though I've got to admit, I was having trouble finding something to be mad about. Damn, she was attractive.
“Sorry, can't discuss this with you right now. You'll have to wait for them to write a novel about it.” I thought it was funny, but she didn't take it that way. The interest had died from her eyes and I could almost see some unkind names forming on her tongue.
“Very well,” she said, suddenly very professional once again.
Great. Just what I needed, an angry librarian. “No. Okay. Bad joke, bad joke. I'm sorry. My brilliant sense of humor isn't for everyone.” One of these days, I might learn to shut up and quit while I'm ahead. But I think we can all agree that this was not one of those days.
“Very well,” she repeated, and took a deep breath. I got the distinctive feeling that I ought to leave soon. “Is there anything else you need assistance with? Or are you going to leave now?”
Ouch.
“Um, I think...yeah I think that's it.”
She snatched the book away from me and went to put it back on the shelf. Meanwhile, I got the hell out of there.

 

“Alright, I don't want you to freak out on me, but I think Zep might be on to something.”
Cap blinked at me. “You're joking.”
“I'm serious.”
“You can't be. What is this, some sort of 'prank the rookie,' kind of thing. Good God, I thought we had moved past this.”
“No, Cap. I'm being serious here. I'm not screwing with you. I honestly think there's something going on. Maybe not the whole overthrowing the monarchy thing, but the drug thing...it could be a plausible possibility.”
“And I'm a talking horse.” Horrible sense of humor, that kid. Hasn't been hanging around with me long enough.
“Just hear me out. Come on, I deserve at least that much.” And then I told him about what I found out in the library just hours before. And I could see in his eyes that there was hope for him yet. “Think about it Cap. The tavern is the only thing connecting the victims. We didn't even mention it's name to him and now he's come up with all this. There's got to be something going on. There has to be.”
“I dunno, Niri. It seems pretty far fetched to me.”
“Of course it does! All the best conspiracies are!”
“Well then what do you want to do?”
“I want to steak the tavern out.”
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I found myself standing in the freezing cold rain, completely hungry, tired, and worn out, just outside one of the nicest joints in Erram. I could even see through the window a spare table. Cap stood beside me, swearing under his breath. “This has got to be one of your worst ideas ever.”
“Had to have a bad one sometime, mate. Can't always be flawless.”
“Oh shut up.”
“At least the rain seems to be letting up.”
“Yeah, while I'm dying of thirst. Remind me again why we couldn't stop at Shona's?”
“There wasn't any time. Besides, we'll be out of here soon. We just have to talk to a few of their patrons, see what's up. See if anyone's dying.”
“Why in hell couldn't we do that on the inside.”
“Because we already know the owner doesn't like us. This way he can't throw us out into the pouring rain.”
“Because it'd be such a shame to get a little wet, wouldn't it now?”
“Oh shut up,”
That was our night. We went back and forth telling each other to shut up.
Then came the magical moment we were waiting for. The door swung open, and one of the couples inside had finally decided to leave. “Come on,” I whispered.
“Excuse us, but we just had a few questions.”
I don't think they heard us. They stumbled off in the other direction, muttering something about saving the werewolves. Typical.
We had a couple of other encounters like that. A few times we were able to talk to someone mostly sober, and they claimed that they weren't prone to drinking more than one or two beers a night, a reasonable amount. After that, I had to take pity on Cap. He was shivering hard, frozen to the bone, and his stomach was rumbling even louder than mine. We ran the entire way to Shona's.
Just before we went in the door, I grabbed Cap by the arm. “Hey, let's not tell Zep about what's going on, at least not until we figure our what's what. Wouldn't want to get his hopes up or anything.”
Cap nodded, though to be fair, I think he would have agreed to carrying me on his back for a week while making horse noises if it meant he got to go inside. I pushed him through the door and followed, shedding my coat once I had closed the door.
There's something about the warm atmosphere of my favorite tavern that feels so much more like home than the place I fall asleep at night. Maybe it's the friends, maybe it's the food, maybe it's the taste of a good brew of beer, and maybe it's all of those put together. But whatever it is that makes the tavern home, you get twice the feeling after you've been running around in the rain for God knows how long.
“Hey, 'bout time you two showed up. Where have you been? We thought you got eaten by a unicorn.”
“The unicorn couldn't catch us. The fire breathing dragon had better luck.”
Zep laughed, just like old times when we had been partners. God, I missed those days.
“Tell me, though, where were you guys really at? Cheating on Shona with another bar?”
“Wouldn't dream of it. I'd sooner give up my left eye.”
“Uh...Niri, you kinda lost that one already?” Cap so graciously informed me.
“Really, Cap? I had no idea. Thank you for your observation.”
By that time, Cap had caught on. He replied with a flat, “Don't mention it.”
We took our seats across from Zep and Avain and warmed up by the fire. Shona brought us another great meal. I complained about libraries while Avain complained about men. These were the good days, where all was right with the world.
The next few nights went kind of like that. Except it only rained once more and only for a little while. We hung out outside the bar at night, talked to people, asked them how they felt, what the beer tasted like, if they had seen the owner, things like that. We took down the names of everyone who talked to us, just in case. One night, the owner actually came outside and tried to shoo us away, saying we were “loitering,” and annoying his customers. I pointed out that we weren't on his property so he couldn't kick us out, and when he didn't relent, I showed him my “I can do whatever I damn well please,” badge, as I so affectionately call it. And then I threatened to arrest him for obstructing an investigation. He left us alone after that.
Only I suppose he had more influence then I thought he had.
The next morning, as Cap and I were walking around the market and talking about possible leads, another messenger gave us an official looking envelope, seal and all. This time, I was ready for Cap to try and grab it. When he made his move, I held it above my head, and the short bastard that he was, he couldn't reach it.
“Bloody hell, at least open it, will you?”
“Watch your language. That's my catch phrase and I'll thank you not to use it.”
I got around to opening it though, and I didn't like what I read. “Cap...we're...we're of the case.” I said sheepishly.
“Quit screwing with me. What is it, another body?” He ripped the paper out of my hand and read if for himself. I think saw his face pale slightly.
"Wait, but...what does this mean? I don't understand."
"I don't either...this isn't making sense. I've NEVER been taken off of a case." I took the parchment from Cap again and reread it. I saw something I had missed before, something about staying away from the Rabbit's Hole.
"What did we even do wrong?" Cap asked. He seemed disappointed, and rightly so. His first case ever and it has to turn out like this.
"We barked up the wrong tree." I showed him the note about the tavern.
"So...what, do you think the owner had something to do with this?"
"That's exactly what I'm thinking."
"But why? If he had nothing to hide-"
"That's exactly it, Cap. He does have something to hide. I bet his son had a feeling about it too."
"Please don't tell me you're actually buying into Zep's whole conspiracy thing."
"I don't know yet Cap." I told him. "Look, we'll talk about this later. Don't want anyone to overhear us and get the wrong impression.
Cap nodded as I crumpled the parchment in my hand and stuffed it in my pocket. We returned to our post and let the day go by agonizingly slowly. Back to square one.
I skipped dinner that night, didn't feel much like eating or talking to the others. Didn't feel like doing much of anything. They had taken me, Niri, wearer of the eye patch, off of the case with hardly any explanation. It had to be a mistake. Had to be.
I reviewed the information in my head. Three dead bodies, all seen at the Rabbit's Hole. The owner denied this. His son didn't want his father to know he'd been talking to us. They were expanding rapidly. And then there was the subdued city. Sure, there were a few fights here and there, but nothing like it was a year or two ago. We weren't allowed to hunt werewolves, even though there were several known cases of werewolf attacks that caused death. According to Z there was an outbreak of civil disobedience in Trebis. He was the only one I had heard that from. Surely if that was true, it'd be all over the papers. Maybe it was nothing. Hell, it probably was nothing. And even if it wasn't, there was nothing I could do about it. I was off the case, with no foreseeable way back on.
Sometimes I really, really hate my job.
I rose early the next day, up before the sun. Again. This was becoming a bad habit. A man needs his sleep.
Cap showed up about 10 minutes after I got to our post. “Early for once?”
“I know. It's a problem.”
“You know, we missed you yesterday at Shona's.”
“Yeah, well, I just wasn't feeling it last night. I've got a bad feeling about all of this, Cap.”
“You and me both.”
We were silent for a moment, until I said, “At least Hov and his shadow got their sorry asses kicked off the case as well.”
“Um..actually...not really.”
“What? Bloody hell, don't tell me they kept them on the case.”
“According to Hov, that's exactly what happened. He was at the bar last night. Wouldn't shut up about it either. Made sure everyone in there knew we were demoted.”
“I'm sorry I missed it. Would have liked an excuse to beat the living crap out of him.”
Cap tried to laugh, he really did, but he was in a slump. We both were. I couldn't believe they let that incompetent waste of brain cells stay on the case and not us. They didn't even do anything.
They didn't do anything.
My mind starting whirling again and I had to shut it down. There was nothing I could do. I was off the case, and unless I wanted to get fired I had to stay off of it. Besides, I couldn't let Cap get dragged down with me. If I was going to do anything – which I wasn't, mind you – it had to be done alone, without help, until I was sure that there was something going on.
I'll admit, I was scheming. It's something I'm good at, and it's hard to turn off when you get started. But I wasn't going to do anything. At least not at first. It was just something to keep me occupied, something to keep me distracted while the days dragged on. And that's all it was ever supposed to be.
Until about two months later, when it all started coming together.
The first clue came a week after Cap and I were kicked off the case. We had to break up a brawl caused when a customer didn't like the shape of the fruit the stall keeper was selling. The violence was uncharacteristic, but that's not what I'm talking about. Apparently the stall keeper hadn't had a fresh shipment of goods in days.
The second clue came just days after that. The soldiers that normally staffed the corner down the street from us were gone. After further investigation, we learned that they had been fired. Shame, really. They were damn good at their job. Fast forward one week, and there were dozens of other comrades missing from their posts. All of them were fired.
The third clue was obvious. Another branch of the Rabbit Hole had opened up two blocks away from Shona. Pretty soon, the tables were bare and Shona was beginning to consider closing up for good.
The fourth clue was less apparent. The local paper printers had stopped publishing. No one carried any newspapers. No one got any news. Ever.
The fifth and final clue was discovered on my latest trip to the library. They had strengthened the palace security. They almost didn't let me in. Don't know why, probably something to do with my involvement in that last case. One of those fancy palace guards stopped me at the last security check, right at the front entrance to the library. I could literally smell the parchment from some of the older books, and here they were telling me I had to go back after I wasted an hour of my life going through bloody security checks.
It was by the grace of the library gods, and one very snarky librarian, that I was able to get in. Anethia was by the door at the time, and she vouched for me. I could feel the guard's eyes on me as I moved past him and into the library. “Hey, thanks for that.”
“Where have you been?” She whispered urgently, then glanced behind her. “No, not now. Meet me in the Anatomy section. No one ever goes there.” And then she slipped through a poorly lit aisle and disappeared.
“Hey, wait!” I called, but she didn't answer. Instead, another librarian shushed me.
I find it extremely ironic that she expected me to know where the anatomy section was. I also thought the secrecy was a bit suspicious. But who knows, maybe I had finally won her over with my charm and amazingly good looks.
After ten minutes of endless wandering, I decided to ask for directions before I got even more lost than I already was. An older woman pointed me in the direction and gave me a funny look. I left before she could say anything.
Two minutes later Anethia found me and dragged me through a few more aisles. “Wait – what are you doing?” I was utterly confused.
She finally stopped walking. As far as I could tell, we were in the furthest corner from the front doors. Anethia was right when she said no one came by here often. The shelves were dusty and the books weren't as organized, rebelling against the uniform rows and instead leaning sideways, or even stacked up on top of one another. Anethia eyed the rows in irritation, as if resisting the temptation to set them straight. Then she turned her attention to me.
“Tell me you've noticed it.”
“I'm afraid you're going to have to be more specific, love.”
“They're watching us.”
“Who?” I glanced over my shoulder with a hand on my blade.
“No. Not now! Or at least I don't think so. And keep your voice down. I don't want them to hear us.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I don't know, that's the problem. I think it's the guards. They fired the old ones and put in those uncultured swine instead.”
“Back up, back up. Who's 'they?'”
“Will you listen to me? I said I didn't know.”
“Hey, calm down, calm down.” To be honest, she was starting to scare me, getting all rattled up about this.
“They won't let us leave.”
“Anethia, you aren't making sense. Start from the beginning. What the bloody hell is going on?”
“Lower your voice! Please, they can't know I'm talking to you, that's why they aren't letting any of you in.”
“Any of who in? Soldiers?”
“Yes!”
“Okay, okay. Just...tell me what happened. When did this all start?”
“Um...maybe a month ago. That's when the new guards showed up for the security checks.”
“They haven't let you out in a month?”
“No! Just...shut up, let me speak.” I nodded and she continued. “A month ago the head of Palace Security fired the old guys and brought in the new ones. He didn't introduce them like he normally does. In fact, no one's even seen him for awhile now. At first we thought the new guys were just substitutes, but they kept coming back. Two weeks ago, our head librarian asked the new guards about the old ones. They told her that she wasn't to ask questions. When she persisted, they took her away. She came back an hour later with a mark on her face.”
“They hit her?”
She nodded solemnly. “After that, no one talked to the guards anymore. I probably shouldn't have even told them to let you in.” Her faced darkened, and I realized she would probably share the same fate as the other librarian.
“Why did you tell them that?”
“Because we need help. And I figured that the guards couldn't do anything with you around anyway. They have to keep up with appearances.”
“Smart. But let me ask you this, love. What if I'm one of them?”
She waved her hand, dismissing the thought. “I'd thought of that. But I figured that if they weren't going to let you in, then you weren't one of them. And I'd seen you here months before all of this started happening. I had to take the chance.”
I considered what she had said for a moment asking, “Do you know why they're keeping you all hostage in here?”
She shook her head. “Only an idea.”
“Shoot. Anything can help.”
“When Helica came back – she's our head librarian – she told us that they kept asking her the same question. “What did you overhear?” Helica didn't know what that meant, but she thinks that they think one of us was spying on them. Well, maybe not them, but their boss. Something's happening. I think the monarchy or the council is in trouble.”
“Or both, most likely.”
“Has it been like this out there too?”
“Yeah. Not as bad, but you can see the affects. The papers aren't publishing anything. Shipments of goods are either slow or nonexistent. I haven't decided which yet. And the army...it's weakening. Bad. A lot of us are getting fired. Thankfully not me or anyone I know too well, but I have a feeling we're not too far from it. And you know that case we were working on? It never got closed. Cap and I were kicked off of it.”
“Are they stopping all of the investigations? No, they can't be. I saw some of them in the records room.”
I shook my head. “I honestly have no idea. I think some of them are still going on, but anything that's to closely related to what's happening is probably going to be put on hold.”
“Makes sense.”
“Definitely. Especially since Cap and I were close to uncovering the truth. Or at least part of the truth.”
“Well, what was it? I know it can't be – wait.” She closed her eyes and nearly stopped breathing. I swear, librarians are completely off their rockers.
“What the bloody –”
“Shhh! I hear something,” she whispered, lower than before. “Come with me.” She grabbed my arm and led me through dozens of aisles.
“I don't hear anything!” I protested, but she wouldn't have it.
When we finally stopped in a completely different section, she said, “trust me on this one. I've been working here for awhile.”
I shrugged and tried to say something but she held up her hand. “Wait.”
She listened hard and I listened harder but I still didn't hear anything. Bloody hell, she was a paranoid broad.
“Anethia?” I jumped. The voice had come from the right, maybe two or three shelves over.
Her eyes snapped open, but instead of fear, I saw relief spread over her face. “It's Helica,” She whispered. Then louder,“I'm re-shelving the ecology books.”
“Good, I have some more to re-shelve for you.”
“Should I leave?” I asked Anethia.
“No,” she said. “It's okay. Helica should probably meet you. Wait, what's your name?”
“You. I knew you looked suspicious. No one ever goes into the anatomy section.” It was the same woman from before, the one I asked directions from. “You aren't welcome here. Get out of my -”
“Shhhh! Helica, no. He's on our side.”
“Nonsense. If he was on our side he wouldn't be here. He wouldn't have gotten through.”
Anethia gave her the short version of how she got me past the guards, after which the head librarian considered me carefully.
She glanced back at Anethia. “I thought I told you to stay away from the guards. I thought I told you not to talk to them.”
“I had to. Helica, if we don't get help we're going to end up staying here forever.”
Helica looked back to me. “Who are you?” She said sharply. Her eyes were piercing, and she reminded me of a bird of prey.
“This is, uh -” Anethia struggled to introduce me.
“Niri.” I said.
“Niri!” she echoed. “He's been here before. The, uh, man with the eye patch that made a mess out of the front tables and left it. The one I was cursing?”
“That wasn't my mess.”
“That's what they all say,” Anethia and Helica said in unison. And in that moment I was very afraid that I would suffer death at the hands of two very angry librarians.
“No, really. I just...oh, never mind. That's not the point.”
“No. The point is that I'm not sure we should trust you.”
“Helica...it's not like we have any other options.”
She looked at me for a long while, as if trying to read my thoughts. I held her gaze steadily...or at least half her gaze, since...you know.
“Fine. But I want it documented that I don't like it. I don't like it one bit.”
“Wait a minute. What can I do? It's not like I can bring the entire army in here...hell at the rate we're going there's not going to be an army left.”
“You have to do something. We can't just stay here.”
I thought for a moment. You have to remember that back then, I wasn't a hero. I had never done anything truly, honestly remarkable. I did my job and I did my job damn well. But I'd never started a mutiny or a rebellion or a civil war, or whatever it was that I was about to do. And so the task ahead looked daunting, treacherous. It was filled with dangers and responsibilities that I wasn't prepared for. There had to be at least twenty librarians. With a library this big, there were probably more. But I had no back up, no game plan, no strategy, and I was hopelessly outnumbered. It was just too big of a job for me. There was nothing I could do. Nothing. And I would have told them that, set the record straight that I was just one man that was way over his head. But damn it, I had to look at Anethia. I had to see the wild fear and panic in her eyes. And I remembered that she had risked her own skin to get me here. And I just couldn't do it. I couldn't turn her down, I couldn't let down all of the people that were trapped in the Library.
"Alright, look. I'm not properly equipped to take down those two guards, never mind all of the ones further down the hall. I want to come back with more forces, but they probably aren't going to let me back in here. I'll need another way in. Please tell me you guys have some secret passage way we can use."
"Don't you think we would have used it by now if we had one?" Anethia said.
"So there's nothing? Not even a window I can climb through?"
"Nothing." she confirmed.
"Actually, that's not entirely true." Helica said.
"What? Well if there is one, why don't we use it?"
“Because it leads to the back gardens. They send out a patrol every five minutes, or so I've heard. It's doubtful that one of us would make it. It isn't worth the risk.”
“But if I gathered enough forces to distract the guards and sneak in...that might be worth the risk.”
“Yes.” She said slowly. “It might.”
“How do I find the tunnel?”
“Look under the bushes in the western wing.”
“Bushes. Western wing. Got it. Alright, I'll figure something out. I'll try and give you a warning if I can, but I might not be able to, so be ready.”
Anethia relaxed slightly, but Helica only seemed to grow more tense with each passing second. “Don't double cross us.” She warned.
“I wouldn't dream of it. The last thing I need is a few angry librarians out for my head.” The sad part is that I actually meant it.
“You should go. The guards will be getting suspicious.”
“Alright...where's the exit?”
“No, no wait. You can't leave without any books.” Anethia said.
“Is this really the time to convert me into a book worm?”
“No, she's right. It will look suspicious if you leave without anything. Get him some books. I'll be waiting to check them out.” She left for the front desk. A moment later Anethia was pulling me through another two dozen rows of bookshelves, making a few random turns here or there. We passed a few other librarians, each of whom looked at us like we were the strangest sight on earth. Which probably wasn't too far off, considering the circumstances.
We stopped in what I can only guess was the fiction section. Anethia started shoving books into my arm, moving from one shelf to another, flitting from book to book like a hummingbird. Soon, I had half a dozen reasonably thick, leather bound books in my harms, and a small scroll like a cherry on top. “That should be enough.” Sheesh, librarians. “The front desk is that way. You should go now.”
“Alright. See you soon, if all goes well.” I started walking in the direction she pointed when she stopped me.
“And Niri?”
I glanced back. “Yes, love?”
“Thank you.” she whispered.
“Don't mention it. Really. Don't” I winked, turned around, and walked.
Thankfully there wasn't a line at the check out desk. I walked right up to Helica and put the books down in front of her. “I'd like to check these out, if that's okay.”
“Library card?”
“What? I – uh...I don't think I have one.”
She was clearly unhappy. Helica issued me a card, a thin wooden chip with my name magically engraved on it, all the while muttering under her breath. “Our fate rests in a man who doesn't even own a library card. What is this world coming to?” I'm telling you, they're all mental.
She made some notations on a long scroll of parchment and wrote something else in the cover of the books I was borrowing. “I would compliment you on your choice of books, but I know you have nothing to do with it. You know, you really should read them in your spare time.”
“Sorry ma'am. In my spare time I'll be starting a rebellion. Maybe next month.” I whispered. She shoved the stack of books in my arms and told me to go.
The guard eyed me carefully on my way out. I wondered if he suspected anything and hoped that Anethia would stay out of his sight. Helica too.
And then the thought dawned on me that we we're actually in the middle of a government takeover.
If nothing else, Zep would be happy.

 

Instead of going straight to Shona's, I made a quick detour to dump the books at my place. If there was one thing I didn't need at that moment, it was the weight of seven thick books weighing me down. And the strange looks from my comrades. I had a reputation to keep up, you know.
The tavern was dead when I got there. And I mean completely. True, it was only early evening; there was still time before the dinner rush came in. But in all of my life, I had never seen the tavern so lifeless.
Shona had her back turned, cleaning off some counters and washing out some mugs. I tiptoed in and sat quietly on one of the stools.
“I know that's you, Niri.” she turned around and winked at me. “What have I been telling you? You're not gonna be able to scare me.”
“Damn, Shona. How did you know it was me?”
“Cute. You think I'm going to tell you all my tricks.”
“One of these days. One of these days, I'll get you. Mark my words.”
“Good luck, that's all I have to say.” she laughed softly, and we were silent for awhile. She wordlessly poured a glass of ale and pushed it towards me. I nodded my thanks, but she had left for the back closet, coming out a second later with a broom in her slender hands. She hummed as she swept to the rhythm of a song I didn't know, and we stayed like that, enjoying the presence of each other, denying the chill that came with loneliness.
Sooner or later, she came back around the bar to give me a refill. “What's going on, Niri?” she whispered. She leaned over the bar slightly, chin resting on her folded hands, elbows resting on the table. She looked me dead in the eye, silent, expectant.
I didn't answer right away. I tried to look elsewhere – the floor, the ceiling, my mug – but I couldn't tear away my gaze from hers. What did she mean, exactly? Was she talking about the bar? Or was she one of the few that had noticed the changes going on in the city and one of the few with the courage to challenge it?
I could see in her eyes that she was about ready to give up on me, something she probably should have done a lot soon. Because a short, sad, “I don't know,” was all that I had to offer. And so I told her that, and she just closed her eyes in thought.
I looked down at my half empty mug and sighed heavily. What's going on?
“You sound like you got half your soul sucked out of you.”
“Like you're so perky yourself.”
“Talk to me, Niri. I know you and I know when something's wrong and I know that you know more about this than I do. So let's skip the pity party and get straight to the problem.”
“This isn't a pity party, alright Shona? This is a party of one wondering what on earth he's going to do.”
“And why does this party of one need to figure out what he's going to do?”
“This party of one already knows what he's going to do. It's a matter of living with the consequences if he fails.”
“And what are these consequences?”
“A lot of people could get hurt...or worse.”
And then Shona stood up straight and crossed her arms while she waited for me to talk. And that is the brilliant thing about Shona. Because she won't take no for an answer. Ever. And she makes sure everyone knows it. Hell would sooner freeze over than win a stare down with Shona.
“There's this librarian.” I started. And then the words just started coming out, climbing on top of each other and I couldn't stop them. I told her everything. Every clue about what was wrong, every soldier I knew that had been laid off, every layer of security at the palace. And then I told her about the library. About the guards and the underground tunnel.
When I was done, she looked at me calmly. “So what are you going to do, Niri?”
“Well, for starters, I'm going to need your permission to use The Raven's Claw as a headquarters. And then we're going to take our city back.”
“That's my boy.” She winked at me again and smiled. “Alright, the first thing we need to do is gather up some forces.”
“Cap, Zep, Avain, you, me. Maybe a couple other guys I know. That's all we can count on right now.”
“Alright. Not ideal, but we'll make it work.”
“And you have no concern that we're essentially about to commit treason?”
“It's not treason. It's taking back what's ours.”
“I like the way you think.”
“And I like the fact that I'm going to take down that sorry excuse for a tavern.”
I laughed. “First thing's first. We've gotta free the library.”
She nodded. “Operation Liberation is a go.”
“That has a nice ring to it.”

 

Alright, well, that's about as far as I'm willing to go at the moment because I'm not sure what's going to happen next or how well written it will be. But I just might update. If you've come this far, then you have my eternal thanks for reading.

-Irin

 

Of course, Cap thought I was insane when I told him. He actually accused me of making the entire thing up. But once he finished hyperventilating (like I said, he doesn't do well with conflict), I outlined for him all of the things that were wrong. And then I did it twice more before he even started to believe me. But after the fifth time, he was all into it, trying to make up for his display of weakness from before. Made me swear that we would never speak of it again. Oops.
Avain was a little bit harder to convince. She was skeptical from the very beginning, and that wasn't about to change. I didn't fight her on it. I knew she would follow us, whatever we did, if only because she had nothing else better to do and would love a chance to prove us wrong.
Zep was a different case entirely. Or at least he would have been if he'd shown up at all. When dinner rush came and Zep didn't show, I had a gut feeling that something was up. Cap and Avain weren't as concerned. It could have been anything that was holding him up. And if it wasn't one of the numerous innocent obstacles...well, it was Z, after all. He was a better fighter than all of us. He was just...headstrong. He didn't understand his limitations, didn't even know he had them. That's what made him so dangerous.
As usual, I was the first to leave our table, but this time it wasn't to flirt with some girl. (Alright, maybe I did give that brunette lass a wink on my way out.) Cap and Avain waved goodbye, I gave Shona a nice tip, and then I opened the door and braved the cruel night temperatures and ruthless wind.
It was blustery, more so than it had been in months, and I feared a winter storm might be creeping up on us. Just what we needed, snow on the ground. Sure, snow can be wonderful when you aren't planning a jailbreak, but at that moment, snow meant footprints, and footprints meant that they could follow us. And that meant getting caught and getting killed.
I didn't know where exactly to start looking for Z. He very well could have been anywhere. I began walking toward his house, the wind at my back On the way there I passed one of the branches of The Rabbit Hole. It was a full house, packed to full capacity. Laughter rang out from the building, a couple rowdy cries here and there. I prayed to the star sailors that Shona wouldn't walk by it. There's no telling what she'd do or how she'd react. Probably burn the building down.
I knocked on Zep's door. No one answered. I knew better than to try to knock down door. No doubt he'd have the room booby trapped, paranoid son of a *****. Instead, I wandered around aimlessly through the dark streets. Despite the likelihood for snow, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It would have been a perfect night for star gazing. It's funny. Things like that can only be done if you were in the mood to do them, but you were never in the mood when you had time to do it. And no one had time to gaze at the stars anymore. That, I think, was why it was becoming a lost art.
Once, a couple decades ago, when we were all only just finishing up our training, we sneaked out of the barracks at night, outside the city walls, and we built up a campfire. It was just the two of us, me and Zep. We joked around a lot, wrestled each other to the ground. But when the flames began to die, leaving behind only a few pieces of glowing coal, we laid down on our backs and just watched the sky. It was one of those clear nights, the kind you only get to see a few times in a lifetime, and it was as if the darkness had an unfathomable depth, like it stretched on and on forever. We saw a few shooting stars that night, and it was the first time I truly believed that there was someone out there watching over us.
My feet shuffled on the ground while I tried not to shiver. Because damn, I swear the days were only getting colder and colder. Eventually I lost myself in my own thoughts, turning corners and crossing roads at random. That's why I still find it hard to believe that I actually ran into him,
“Bloody hell. I've been looking everywhere for you.”
“Then you obviously weren't looking in the right places.” He smiled wryly. “But actually, I've been looking for you.”
“Well whatever it is, it needs to wait. There's some important crap going down in the city, and we're right in the middle of it.”
“Hang on, I've got something to tell you.”
“Bloody hell, man, what did I just say?”
“Don't know. Wasn't listening.”
“Course not...Let me guess...you're going to tell me something about this bloody conspiracy you've thought up, aren't you? Probably trying to convince me that you're right about everything.”
“Hell yes, I was right. How'd you guess? Actually, never mind. I don't really care. The important thing is that you recognize it.”
“Oh, shut up.”
“Nope.” He grinned. “But anyway, you'll never believe what I found!”
“Let me guess? The Seven Lost Stones?”
“Ha-ha, very funny. No. I found something better.”
“Well go on, then. What is it?”
“Can't tell you,” he replied. “Someone might hear us.”
I looked up and down the deserted street. Not a soul in sight. But better safe than sorry, I suppose. “Well then why bother mentioning it?”
“I can't tell you,” he repeated, “but I can show you. Come on.” He looked around then darted down the nearest side street, calling over his shoulder, “Follow me!”
He led me through the southern end of the city into the western end. We avoided the more crowded streets, and more than once we took a turn through some shady ally. I could have sworn we had gone in circles at least twice, and I was completely convinced we were lost. “Zep, where in bloody hell are we going?”
He was panting hard. “Gotta make sure no one is following us.”
“No one's bloody insane enough to try.”
“Good.”
A few more turns and a final double back, and then, at long last, he stopped behind one of them old bakeries. The smell of freshly baked bread and the promise of the golden, warm crust was all too tempting, and I was entirely disappointed when Zep dragged my drooling ass around the back. We had arrived at a small staircase leading underground and ending with one of those wooden doors with the small slots so that hygienically challenged old men could ask you for a password, then deny you entrance just because they can. Bloody hell, I hate those guys.“There already, are we? Well that didn't take long at all.”
He rolled his eyes before growing serious. “Now listen. What I'm about to show you is something that few people are lucky enough to see. You should feel privileged to even stand outside of this door.”
Good God, he could lay it on thick sometimes. “I'm honored. No, really. So damn honored I can't even see out of my left eye.”
“You don't have one, you idiot. I'm trying to be serious here. You can't tell a soul about what you're about to see. You hear me? Not one soul. Swear it.”
I sighed. “Fine, I'll put up with these pointless shenanigans of yours.”
“Swear it. Say you swear.”
“I, Niri, brave and courageous soldier or Sorroth, do so solemnly swear blah blah blah. Happy?”
He blinked a few times. “Content.”
“Good. That's all you're getting out of me.”
“Fair enough.” We proceeded down the steps. Zep knocked on the door and the slot opened immediately. A rounded, middle aged man's face poked through. “Password.” he demanded.
“Phoenix Fangs.” Zep said, which was entirely preposterous, because Phoenixes don't have fangs.
It must have made sense to the doorman thought, because he closed the slot, unlocked the door, and let us in.
“Wait a minute. Who's that guy?” He put his arm out to hold me back. Z, who was ahead of me, turned around and put his hand on the doorman's shoulder.
“Don't worry about him. He's with me.”
The man gave me an intimidating glare. Or tried to, anyway. Didn't really work since I wasn't the least bit intimidated at all. In fact, I probably gave him a good scare. Eye patches have that effect on people. “Don't you bring any trouble unless you're man enough to back yourself up.” He warned.
“Noted.”
He let me through after that, though not without one last attempt at scaring me. Poor bastard. Never had a chance. I mean, sure, he was bigger than me. But I had a feeling that I knew my way around a blade much better than he did. Also, I wear an eye patch. That should speak for itself.
By then, I was able to get a good look around. There were a few wooden picnic benches, a makeshift bar made from a bunch of stacked wooden crates. Some blankets were hung from the ceiling, probably to serve as room dividers. The room was bigger than I would have imagined. There were, at the very least, thirty or forty people hanging around in there, drinking beer and laughing a bit too loud. The most promising quality was that it was warm.
“Dear God, Zepros. Tell me you didn't bring me to a wench house. I can win a woman by myself, thank you. I don't need you're bloody help to -”
“Shut up. This ain't no mistress house. Alright?”
“Then what the hell is it, then?”
“Sit down, I'll get you a beer.” He pointed me the nearest empty bench and vanished before I had a chance to utter another curse. I stood there, in the middle of the shabby room, trying to get my bearings in an unfamiliar place. A few people started staring at me menacingly and that's when I decided to take Zep's advice and steal a table.

 

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