Chapter 30: Pieces and Places

I returned to Silverwall to find the pieces all falling into place.

A runner handed me a note not a second through the Miner’s gate, shoving it into my hands while he made a flashy grab at my coin purse before darting off.

“What the heck was that?”

I glanced at Electra as the two of us slipped deeper into the city. It only took me a second to read the note, before I smiled.

“You want to know what the play is?” I asked.

She stopped, giving me a determined look.

I took the crate full of hummingbirds that we’d so painstakingly collected, pushing it into her hands. “Get this to Maarin, I showed you where his shop was before we left.”

She blinked, before taking the box. “And you?”

I just grinned, shoving the scrap of paper I’d been handed deeper into my pocket. “I have a trap to walk into.” I took a step back. “I’ll need one of those scrying mirrors as soon as you have a working pair.”

Electra blanched. “How the heck am I gonna get one to you?”

“Don’t worry.” I turned. “I’ll send someone by to pick it up.”

I heard her huff behind me, but I was already dipping into the nearest alley. I sent Blue off with a quick mental instruction, General Tock still riding on his back. There was no reason for them to get caught up in this, especially not with the Watch in the city. I didn't want them sniping anymore of my tech.

The way back to the old docks was twisting and narrow as always, but now there was something else in the air; a feeling of anticipation. The people who lived here didn't know what was going to happen, only that something was clearly coming.

After all, no matter how hard the Guild tried to hide their members, there was nothing that could make them blend in with the rest of the people who lived here.

Dee and Dum were about 5 minutes from the warehouse.

“Boss,” Dum said. “Been a lot of new faces around here in the past few days.” He grimaced, casting an eye over his shoulder. “We need to take another way back.” At his side, Dee nodded.

I let out a breath. “How many?”

Dee grimaced. “More than us, boss.”

I nodded. That was… unfortunate, but we could handle it. “Have you spoken to Rel?”

Both men shook their heads. This time, I did grimace. The note had been annoyingly vague, the kind of thing that even I could barely make heads or tails of. Maybe she was worried about it getting intercepted by the Guild.

Though, that did beg the question, how the hell did she learn about that meme?

I shook my head. “Nothing for it,” I said.

“We don’t have time to beat around the bush here, boys. Speed is more important than stealth.”

Dee and Dum shared a glance, before their expressions firmed. “Whatever you say, boss.” Dum put a hand on my shoulder. “Just wanna let you know that we're behind you all the way, no matter nothing.”

I smiled. “Thanks.” God knew I would need it.

The closer we got to the warehouse, the clearer the tension became. Where normally people weren't scared of me anymore, even going so far as to thank me for helping out their families or giving their son a place to work, now there was an utter lack of people on the street. Anyone who saw my little group vanished almost before I could make them out.

I sucked my lip. Now, I was hoping that the Guild would make a move, but I didn't think that I'd pissed them off so bad they'd jump straight to a coup the moment I was out of the city for a day.

Just goes to show, you should always be careful what you wish for.

The warehouse looked the same as always, but here the tension was even thicker. About half the men and women I'd recruited looked down as I came into sight, refusing to meet my eyes. The other half, the ones that Rel and the Guild hadn't brought in on their little plan, just continued to look around. They were wary, but they had no idea what was going down.

They were the too loyal, or the not loyal enough.

To be fair, I barely had any better idea what was going on. The first hint that something had gone wrong was that Rel didn't greet me the moment I came to a stop in front of my foundry. I'd expected a chance to talk before plans were set in motion. But…

I reached out to open the doors to the warehouse, only for them to be thrown open from the other side, revealing half a dozen adventurers, Rel, and Delia, the Guild knight, at their head.

… It looked like that wasn't going to be much of an option.

Delia smirked at me, teeth flashing. “What a pleasant surprise; I was just about to go looking to tell you the news!” She twirled her spear once, slamming the butt into the dirt hard enough to send out a whoosh of air. “I'm afraid that the Guild has reevaluated our current working relationship.”

My eyes snapped to Rel. I barely had to fake the expression of surprise on my face. She was supposed to delay until after I got back, not go full speed ahead.

“Rel, the fuck are these people doing here?”

She looked down for a moment, before gathering herself and meeting my eyes. “Sorry, Via, but there's been a change in management.”

I glared. “So I see.” I took a look around, taking in the group of adventurers, mostly level 10, along with my own ‘people’ that were spreading around to completely surround me. “The moment I leave for a minute, you get too big for your britches.”

“I'd like to think the only person with questionable taste in attire here is you,” Delia said. “After all, this could have been a mutually beneficial relationship! But someone had to go ruin it.”

“Yeah, that someone being you flunkeys.” I rested a hand on the pommel of my sword, but the real trick was the mana slowly gathering in my other palm, hidden behind my back. “Or was half market price not good enough for you?”

Delia tsked. “I don't want to talk about prices this and market that.” She placed a hand on Rel’s shoulder. “Maybe fast talk would have saved you here if we didn't know exactly how much money you were putting into your own pocket. But, thanks to our mutual friend here, now we do.” A low murmur swept through the rest of my gang.

I grit my teeth, and this time it wasn't feigned. That was a wrench in my plans. The last thing I needed was the other guilds, or even the guard, knowing exactly what my profit margin was. If the Guild managed to turn enough of the city against me, they wouldn't even need to run me out of town.

And, if they turned enough of my people against me with insinuations like that…

But I couldn't let that thought show on my face. Instead, I turned my glare on Rel. “So, you think you can lie to both sides and come out on top?”

But Delia just laughed. “Please, as if the truth wasn’t painfully transparent.” She leaned forward. “I wondered why a little bottom feeder like you would be willing to sell at such rock bottom prices, but it’s because you're still making nine coppers for every one you spend, and pocketing seven of those for yourself.”

She cast a glance around the rest of my gang. “Has anyone else ever wondered where the rest of that money was going?”

The ‘rest’, as she so eloquently put it, was how I had been bankrolling my industrial cum internet revolution. But… from an outside perspective, it probably didn't look that way.

Especially not for people who lived their lives in the slums, at the mercy above one would-be crime lord or another. I doubted that the rest of them had my business acumen.

But there was no way out but through. I made a show straightening myself, even as I finished weaving the spell hidden in my offhand. “Fucking fine, you got me. Didn't have to make such a big damn show about it.” I pulled a sullen glare at the woman. “Tell me what you want.”

“Why, Via.” Delia smiled, wagging a finger. “I don't think you're in a position to give me anything that I want.”

I closed my eyes, letting out a deep breath. “So it's like that then.”

Delia shrugged. “Easy come, easy go. Maybe next time you'll learn to play nice.” At that, her little band of enforcers started forward, brandishing their weapons, and their higher levels, with cheery and bloodthirsty grins.

The rest of mine who were in on it drew their own clubs and nightsticks. The ones who had actually been caught by surprise let themselves be pushed back without making a fuss. I’d have been upset, but you didn’t survive in the ghetto by sticking your neck out. The only two who stood by me were my boys.

That was why I never recruited henchmen.

“Boss?” Dee asked. “What's the play?

“Come now.” Delia twirled her spear again, leveling it up at us. “We’re just here for that two-faced bitch. Step aside, and I'm sure little Relia here would be more than happy to keep you on her payroll.”

Rel flinched when Delia reached out, combing a hand through the girl’s short cut hair.

“Or don’t.” The woman grinned. “Really, either is fine with me.”

Dum shifted, moving to cover my back. “Boss?” he asked again.

I glared for a moment more, before slumping. Fuck, but this was a rough spot. If not for the note that runner had slipped me, I’d have thought Rel decided to jump ship in truth. As it was, there was nothing for me to do but hope my girl knew what she was doing.

Because I’d been taken off the board before I even realized it.

“No reason for you two to go down with me.” The words tasted sour in my mouth. I’d never been good at giving up, even when that was the plan. It was made worse by the fact that I didn’t even know what the plan was at this point. “Get yourself a fat bonus for turning on me, at least.”

Delia laughed. “I like the sound of that. Go on, then. Show us all exactly how loyal you two are.”

I flicked my hand out, bolt of inky black energy lancing towards her face.

Her spear flashed out, shattering my spell. I grimaced. So much for taking one of their pieces off the board.

Delia’s smile grew. “Cute,” she said. “But a tier one like you is no match for my mage hunter class.”

I sighed, lowering my hand, and holding them both out, palms down. “Can you blame a girl for trying?”

Delia hummed, walking forward even as Dee and Dum stepped away, joining the crowd of people who’d turned on me. “You know, I think I can.”

Her spear lashed out again, and I heard more than felt the impact it made against my skull before everything went black.

I woke to a pounding headache.

My body felt stiff, and sore, my swollen cheek pressed against my shoulder.

It was dark, and my face was pressed against something hard. With a cough, my eyes fluttered open. I saw a stone floor, stone walls, and iron bars.

A classic jail cell. The only thing missing was a cot. Instead, they’d given me a moldy pile of straw.

I staggered to my feet, massaging my face and wincing. “That’s going to bruise.” It was hardly the worst hit I’d ever taken, but it still stung. I looked around the rest of the room. The cell itself was small enough that even I wouldn’t be able to stretch out fully lying down. Outside the bars was a rickety wooden chair, and a set of stairs leading up into the darkness. It wasn’t a full prison, then.

I quirked my lip. Had they really left me down here unattended? I called on my mana, forming the Summon Demon spell with the ease of long practice.

Then it shattered with the sound of breaking glass.

>> Skill Locked

I blinked at the message, and then down at my hands.

It was only then I noticed the silver shackle clamped around my right wrist. It was a few inches long, inscribed with bright patterns whose meaning I couldn’t discern. Those swirls glowed lightly as my mana dissipated against my will, before fading back into the rest of the metal.

I groaned. “Of course they’d have something like this.”

I tried my other hand, of course, only to get the same result. Looks like Maarin hadn’t been lying when he said enchanters could do a lot with the right materials.

With a sigh, I set myself down against the wall, right below the small window set maybe two or three feet out of my reach. It was barred too, of course, but it was nice to know I couldn’t have gotten up there even if I wanted to.

The stone was smooth and mortared together, no footholds.

Nothing left to do but—

My head snapped up at the sound of scratching, but no one came down the stairs across from me. I looked up farther, towards the window, just in time to see a familiar muzzle and blue mane peek through the barred window. A grin broke out across my face as Blue dropped the pouch he’d been holding in his teeth, before pulling back and vanishing. I caught the pouch out of the air and pulled out a small hand mirror.

On the back, a single glossy hummingbird feather was set into a copper inlay.