Gwen’s PoV

Gwen was watching the burning docks. She winced. Probably saying “I’m sorry for burning a good bit of your city down” was not going to be very helpful.

Davis walked up beside her and just watched the city with her. A few minutes later it seemed some kind of magic user with a water ability was found. Giant waves from the sea where quenching the fire bit by bit.

Gwen said to Davis “I don’t think we can go back home after this.”

Davis nodded and said “Probably not.”

She wanted to apologize but she bit her tongue. Gwen was so tired of feeling weak. Her newfound hotheadedness got them into this mess but still the words just wouldn’t come out.

Fighting back tears she was surprised when a hand patted her head.

“Davis?”

“No need sis. No need. It will be fine.”

Once she got her emotions under control she asked “What do you think will happen to King’s End?”

“If what Forrest said is true, then there is no stopping Jacksberg from absorbing King’s End. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jacksberg or Shila tried to stab each other in the back. But unless there is a prolonged war King’s End will be absorbed by one of them.”

“But they are making preparations to fight right now!”

Davis nodded and said “True. But if there is an alliance between Jacksberg and Shila and it is honored for even a short time, it will allow Jacksberg to tighten their fist on the extremities of their land. I have no doubt that Shila will be looking to do the same. For a short time they will want to put their affairs in order while they can.”

Confused she asked “You mean there was nothing we could do?”

Davis said “No, we could have tried to get better terms, but they would have just been words. Still it might have saved lives. The reason why King’s End stayed independent for all this time was because each of the three had to be constantly vigilant. Honestly in a couple generations I bet the entire peninsula will be under one banner.”

Gwen asked “What do we do now?”

As she asked the question Maria yelled over the rail with her hands waving saying “Princess! Fluffy! I’m here!”

Davis smiled and said “I know where Maria wants to go.”

Gwen sighed and said “Are you really saying to follow him around just because my daughter likes his dogs?”

Davis raised an eyebrow and said “Didn’t that already happen once before?”

Grrr. He had a point. Finally Gwen asked “Do you think we'll ever be able to return?”

“Maybe. Maybe not. At the very least it's going to take a couple years before people forget the evil lady that burned the slums and the docks down. Even a number of merchant captains are probably going to tell that tale”

Jim’s PoV

Man he sucked at swimming. Actually he didn’t know how to swim, but apparently if you have enough strength and you flop around a bit it will make you move. Will it make you move forward in the right direction? That was the tricky bit.

Luckily he had rudder A and rudder B. As he was getting off course a little bit rudder A corrected his angle. Then he rubbed rudder A’s ears and said “Who’s a little good doggie rudder! You are!”

Fluffy actually rolled his eyes back at him! Bad rudder! Eventually through their combined efforts they made it to the boat. Or was it a ship? He wasn’t sure which one it was. He vaguely remembered that calling one the other got people angry at you. Oh well.

Jim tossed them both in his inventory and then made his way on the boat. As he got on board he met a heartbroken little girl who looked at him saying “What.. what did you do to them! They were just with you! I saw them! What did you do to Princess and Fluffy!”

Sighing he pulled them back out of his inventory. As they dropped out he noted that they each had a leather boot in their mouths. And they were both right footed boots. They couldn’t even take a matching pair! Hopefully it was ones with the weeds in them.

And instantly the heartbroken little girl filled with joy as she tumbled with her friends. Eww. What the hell was she covered in?

Glancing over to the party they were all colored in red.

Jim asked “So how did those peace talks go with Jacksberg? Last time I checked those normally didn’t get started with burning parts of the town down and getting covered in blood.”

Scarlet’s PoV

Scarlet was brooding. When she overheard Davis’ remark about each of the city states being “constantly vigilant” she wanted to dagger him. What did he know? Her people got betrayed from within at the highest levels.

As Jim asked his question Scarlet instantly pointed at Gwen and said “Her fault! Yep. She tried “negotiating” with a few of the local gangs and then the gangs “negotiated” right back. Mostly it involved zapping and burning all the stuff. Definitely her fault.”

Gwen snapped back “Oh? And how do you know that necromancer wasn’t after you?”

Jim asked “Necromancer?”

Gwen nodded and said “After around 30 members of the gang attacked the shop a necromancer came around and attacked us.”

Jim asked hopefully “But the necromancer is okay right?”

Scarlet was just as confused as Gwen so she let her answer the question “Umm.. No. Maria used a new healer spell on him. I don’t think he made it.”

Jim looked stunned and said “You killed Necromancer Bob?”

Scarlet helpfully pointed to Maria and said “Yup. She did it.”

Gwen barked to Scarlett “After you explicitly told her to!”

Davis stepped in and asked “Who is this Necromancer Bob?”

Jim sighed and said “He was one of my favorite characters in the ga.. Err.. I mean when I viewed what might happen in the world. Bob was a funny guy. Had great dialog lines. Seriously death jokes everywhere. Damn I completely forgot about him. Wait so you killed over 32 people in town?”

Scarlet asked “Why does that matter?”

Dejectedly he said “He was a mercenary who signed on with the local guard to keep the peace. After 32 die he is dispatched. But his contract was open to bid on. Poor Bob..”

Gwen said triumphantly “So ha! It was both our faults! You killed that Aaron guy and the others to find him! Ours were only like 30!”

Scarlet thought 32 people seemed oddly specific. Also he was definitely hiding something. Everyone was hiding something though. She put it in the back of her mind to think about later.

Jim sighed and said “You know, I don’t think yall are a good influence on the kid. Seriously two major battles in a week? For an eleven year old?”

Scarlet piped up helpfully “She participated at the battle in King’s End too!”

Jim said “Maybe y'all should go home.”

Davis cleared his throat and said “That won’t be possible. Word travels. Once the word gets out about what happened here anywhere in Jacksberg’s reach will not be safe for us.”

Jim looked to be in thought for a few seconds and then he said “Davis, how did you like your occupation as a guard?”

Davis shrugged and said “Was good enough. Gave me a sense of purpose. I feel like I let King’s End down though. They had high hopes for me. Even called me a hero. Now they are left blind to the inevitable threat.”

After a few more seconds of thought Jim said “Look Davis, I could really use some loyal people in my world. I am tired of hiding out in a dinky hotel. I want to go home, and as you have seen I'm vulnerable a lot of the time. I’ll make you a deal. Help me out for the next couple years and I’ll make sure King’s End won’t be bothered by Jacksberg.”

Perking up Scarlet said happily “Oh, oh! I’ll go! I’ll go!”

Jim scowled at her and said “You still have a bit more time before you earn my trust. I still remember what you tried to do to me.”

Jeez how many times was he going to count that against her? It was only three little pokes. Scarlet stuck her tongue out at him and then turned her back.

As she was walking away she heard Davis say “Done. I will protect you to the best of my ability. I give you my word.”

Milly’s PoV

Milly was annoyed. She was having a conversation with her cousin and Jim just cut her off! She was in the black void again with all of the goodies. Looking longingly at the glittering red vials she tried to tamp down her greed. And then exhaustion hit her.

After finding a number of the more comfortable looking cloaks and vests she made a makeshift bed. When she tried to lay down in it she felt something poke her.

Shuffling the new bedding around she found a weird little helmet. It had colorful roots covering it with little metal parts sticking all over the place. Curious she dug at the little roots to find that they were only metal strings.

Shrugging she grabbed it from one of the protrusions and it broke. Milly kicked it. How in the world could that be a good helmet if it broke so easily?

Laying back down she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

Charlotte’s PoV

Charlotte was ecstatic! It was payday! Not only had the deal with Mr. Montgomery gone through but she also got the first payment from the silver deal.

The doctors had judged that Mr. Montgomery could easily live for more than 30 years now, so in total that was 32 million dollars they were getting from it. Also they were getting 30 million from the silver contract. They were going to pay in those instalments for the next 7 years. Once she got the money she had the perfect place already scouted out to restart the project.

As she was getting ready she got a phone call from Jim. Picking it up she said excitedly “We are getting paid 62 million dollars today!”

“Fantastic. How is the work visa or whatever it is going? Also I got three more people I want to employ that aren't from around here.”

Charlotte sighed and said “Still no paperwork?”

“Yup!”

Rubbing her temple she said “What information do you have on them?”

“Uhhh.. name’s and age?”

Sighing she said “Well, tell me that at least.”

Jim started rattling them off “I have Milly, she is in her early twenties. I have Davis and Gwen who are in their late twenties. And I have Maria who is eleven.”

Seriously? Eleven? Annoyed she said “Do you know what child labor laws are?”

“I don’t know? Is that like minimum wage laws for children?”

“No Jim! Is she even attending school?”

Jim paused and then said “Uhh.. No.. is that bad?”

How could he be so smart in some things but so stupid at the basics. Suppressing her annoyance she said “Kids have to go to school Jim. It’s the law.”

“Oh. Can you handle that?”

“Fine. Tomorrow. Just let me finish what's on my plate first. I’ll come by tomorrow to talk to these people.”

Jim said cheerily “Thanks Charlotte! Your the best.”

She hung up the phone. After she got this money she was going to hire an assistant. This was getting nuts.

Mr. Montgomery's PoV

Mr. Montgomery was staring at the mirror in wonder. He had been checked out by three separate doctors and they all agreed he should easily be able to live for another 30 years.

Mr. Montgomery was almost 80 but now he looked like a fit 50. All of his ailments had disappeared overnight. He could actually run! The idea of living to well over 100 made him smile. He had so much time now.

One thing that was nice about being rich was that you made all sorts of acquaintances. People who could make things happen. He had just called a meeting with a few of those who owed him favors. The cat was going to be out of the bag soon. Even though all of the doctors and staff had sighed NDA’s it wouldn’t stop the rumor mill.

With a phone call here and a nudge there it shouldn't be too hard to get a few of his so called friends to become very interested in this Jim fellow. That would keep his hands clean. Straightening his tie he looked at himself in the mirror again. He looked like a sharp businessmen from the past and not an old and dying cripple.

He wondered how the world would change if there was a true fountain of youth. The very wealthy would never have to die and give all that they had earned in life to incompetent younger versions of themselves. Mr. Montgomery liked his kids but they did not have the drive. The will to make things happen even when things turned to crap. But he did.