Doniger’s place looked like nothing more than a run-down warehouse from the outside. If it wasn’t for the animated illusion of a woman spreading her legs above the door, we may have walked right past it. I would probably still walk past it if we weren’t here to find someone.

There were two burly-looking guards outside, both level seventeen. They gave us the once-over but didn’t move from their posts. Khikall walked up to one slipping a cred stick into his palm. “Is Sha’Stis here tonight?”

The man looked over to his buddy, who was looking put out for not getting the bribe and Khikall tossed a stick his way as well.

“Yeah, he’s here, been with Minisa most of the night. If you got beef with him, don’t start it inside.”

“No beef, just wish to talk.”

The other guard snorted, “sure.”

As we entered, the noise and smells of the place assaulted my nose. There was some rubber-armed creature with four limbs banging away what would generously be considered a song at one end of the bottom floor. I coughed as the haze of narcotic smoke drifted past my nose. It was so thick I even got a status effect from it.

I Cleansed away the mind-altering effect as we weaved through the haphazard tables, filled with people gambling and playing whatever games of luck they played. The gambling parlor was a mix of eclectic species which wasn’t a surprise given the Bazaar located in town.

After asking the bartender when Minisa would be available we sat down and waited. I should have realized something was off based on the bartender's reaction but at the time I was tired of searching for this man.

About ten minutes after we sat down, Khikall alerted me to a change.

“We have company, five fighters just came down from upstairs and they are all looking directly our way.”

I turned towards the stairs as the five men reached the bottom. Identify told me four of them were level nineteen and the fifth, situated in the back was Sha’Stis and he was a bit higher level.

Sha’Stis | Runecaster/Conjurer Adept | 22/15

“Well, at least we know what Barcos didn’t tell us,” I grunted in annoyance.

Sha’Stis was a gangly-looking human with sunken eyes the color of dirty ice. His greasy black hair was slicked back making the widow's peak even more prominent and as he approached our table he sneered down at us over a hooked nose.

It made him look like a bird of prey, not that I found the short man’s appearance all that intimidating. He couldn’t have been more than five foot six with shoes on.

“Can we help you?” I asked, looking at the assembled ruffians.

“I hear you’ve been looking for me. Perhaps if you tell me why I may even let you walk out of here.”

I simply reached into my pocket and held out the signed orders Barcos had given us. I felt no need to lie to this man, He might be a pain to subdue but his so-called allies wouldn’t be much of a problem. One of his minions snatched it out of my hand and looked it over before snorting, then he handed it to Sha’Stis.

“So, that drunken oaf finally found someone to take on this suicide mission. Well, I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but I won’t be going to that wretched island, not that you could make me. But, hum… yes, you must have come in a ship. I will make you a deal, I will let the two of you live in exchange for your ship?”

Khikall didn’t like this threat and tried to stand but I put my arm on his shoulder and shook my head.

“I don’t see as we have an option here, do I?”

“No,” Sha’Stis said smugly.

“Well, I will have to take you to the ship and deactivate the defenses. What assurances do I have that you will let me live after?”

“You have my word that no harm will come to you or your companion, but your companion will need to remain here, you can rejoin him when I have control of your airship.”

“Fine,” I said through gritted teeth, really laying on the theatrics.

I stood slowly and Sha’Stis and two of his goons followed along behind me. Honestly, I would have figured getting him to the ship would have been the hard part. I didn’t expect the man to practically throw himself into being captured but hey it worked out for me.

At first, when he said he was taking my ship I was confused but then I realized he had probably overstayed his welcome in this town. Khikall had said nobody frequented places like Doniger's if they had somewhere else to go. He probably needed to get out of town before his debts caught up with him. I wasn’t sure if the man thought he was going to strongarm my “crew” or what his plan was once he got aboard my ship, assuming he had one.

As for his goons, they were probably expendable, otherwise, why leave two behind. It wasn’t like he could hold a ship with three people.

Leaving Khikall behind with the other two wasn’t an issue. I had no doubts that Khikall could take down those two idiots without much problem. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if he beat us to the cave where we docked the ship.

The four of us walked in silence. It was only broken when goon number one poked me in the back with the tip of his sword and told me to move faster. I suppressed my desire to rip that sword out of his hand and shove it down his throat. Only because I didn’t feel like dragging an unconscious Sha’Stis all the way to the ship. So for now I put up with it and tried to move faster through the thick mist outside of the town.

With my high Intelligence, I was able to easily recall the path we had taken through the jungle.

“Where are you going!” Sha’Stis demanded after we left the trail.

“To the ship, what, you didn’t think we were docked in the normal area did ya?”

“Of course not!” the man hissed in outrage, pretending he had divined my motives. I barely managed to not laugh, “just wondering what sort of idiotic plan you had to capture me. Let me guess, knock me unconscious and drag me out to these old smuggler trails?”

I shrugged, “I like to keep things simple.”

“Yes, simple plans for a simpleton. What of your other crew, they going to be a problem?”

“Just me and the Jerboa, ship’s small, needed to be to fit in the cave,” might as well put him at ease, it would help lower his guard.

The man grunted in acceptance as he glanced at something strapped to his arm. Something to see if I was telling the truth maybe? It would make sense given the man’s cautious nature.

We entered the tunnel shortly after and made our way through the winding passages. I was prepared to be attacked but it never came. Either he really needed my compliance or his men were idiots. Probably a bit of both, I thought.

“What the hells is this!” Sha’Stis screeched as we entered the cave with Retribution.

“My ship, duh.”

“You lied to me, how? How did you get past my falsehood detector, there is no way that only you and that Jerboa can man this ship?”

“I don’t know what sort of shitty enchantment the Guild sold you but I never lied. Not that it matters, because you’re coming with me. I want to thank you for making this easy.”

The man hissed like a snake, “as if the likes of you could best me,” he said, starting a chant as his minions drew their swords.

I cast Silence and my armor appeared a moment later. I didn’t call out my staff, the area was too tight to use it so I just summoned my mace that had the same enchantment Consuming Void did.

I found that most people were so surprised by the gut-wrenching pain caused by the soul siphon ability that they would be stunned into a stupor for a bit. It worked better on people with a low constitution but I suspected our friend here didn’t have much to work with.

After disrupting Sha’Stis’s spell, the man looked a bit frazzled and tried to back out of the cave but his other minion was blocking the path. Probably because he had two glowing daggers sticking through his back from Khikall.

I slapped away the short sword of my attacker and smashed my metal fist into his face with a satisfying crunch. There was a spurt of blood as the man staggered backward. But he quickly recovered, stabbing his sword toward my torso. I twisted slightly, letting the blade slide across my armor as I brought my mace around and smashed his elbow in. Then I followed it up with an Arcane Bolt to his face. The distance was so short that it looked like arc lightning leaped from my palm and into his eye. I assumed he screamed as he clutched at his ruined face but my Silence spell was still active so I could hear nothing.

One more blow with my mace caved in his head and I pushed the corpse out of my way as I stalked toward Sta’Stis.

The man had seemed to recover from his initial shock and a rope of red energy was spiraling around his body. I kind of wanted to try and steal it from him but we needed this guy alive so I held off, not wanting it to be known I could steal skills. At least I got something from the thug I dismantled. I would have to see what that was later.

The red energy pulsed and froze into rings that expanded from the man's body, carving through the rock like butter.

I jumped back and avoided most of the attack but I lost a few fingers on my hand. I growled in annoyance as those would take time to heal.

The man was already trying to cast another spell but I had had enough. I activated Unstoppable Force and slammed into him.

The man smashed into the wall and bounced off, screaming in pain as my Silence spell finally ended. I may have overdone it as the man’s arms and legs were a mangled wreck. I pulled out a pair of magic suppression cuffs and slapped them on the dude. Then I healed him only enough to stop the bleeding.

“Y- You w- won’t get away with this,” he said through pained breaths.

“Get away with what? We’re just doing a job and returning you to yours. Just be glad we needed you alive,” I lifted the man like a sack of fruit and tossed him over my shoulder before I jumped aboard the ship.

I was actually surprised. I figured this stupid mission would have taken weeks to track down this idiot but here he goes practically handing himself to us on a silver platter.

Once onboard I strapped the crying man into a seat and shoved a gag in his mouth. He kept blabbering on about not wanting to go to that desolate island and he would rather die, blah blah blah, cry me a river, god.

Other than listening to the man moan through his pain and try to get the gag out of his mouth, the trip back to Hylatty was uneventful.

I don’t know who was more surprised, me or Barcos as we tossed his replacement down at his feet.

Then again, Barcos’s surprise may have just been due to his inebriation. I had to ask myself why we went through all this trouble for a drunk. Then I remembered how easily he moved with a blade even in that state.

“Old buddy, so good of you to finally come to take over for me, you know I was getting worried when you never responded to my letters. But it seems you are alive and well. Forgive me, I’m being rude and should hand over my duties to you. Now, as a vested member of the Avuilian Protectorate Port Authority, I duly turn over this position to you and tender my resignation. Chin up old buddy,” Barcos added, slapping the man on the shoulder and eliciting a wince, “I’m sure someone will be along shortly to relieve you as well. Oh, Captain, you can remove the cuffs.”

“You sure?”

Barcos nodded, “Yeah, he is oath-bound not to harm anyone unless they attack him on Protectorate grounds,” he added with a lopsided smile.

“Alright,” I said, removing the suppression cuffs.

Sha’Stis looked like all the life drained out of him as he collapsed to the floor and started bawling.

“Well,” Barcos sniffed, “the atmosphere here has turned rather… depressing, perhaps we should be off?”

I agreed, the less time spent at this port the better.

Barcos started whistling a jaunty tune as he practically skipped out of the rundown dive bar and headed for the ship. I gave one last look at the sad sack of a man bawling on the floor before I left as well.