Scene:

A large lake. Boats sailing. Children laughing. Occasional dragon bursting out the water. But not there, the lake wasn't the place. Near the lake, hidden within a cluster of trees, was a warehouse. Outside the warehouse, a group of people watched a man beat another up.

Louis Mack drove past the large lake in the outskirts near the capital. Boats with white sails snapped taut in the wind and drifted across the lake's smooth surface. Children darted everywhere on the shore, dousing each other with buckets of water, shrieking as they frolicked. An enormous fish burst out the water. It was no ordinary fish but a dragon. It's needle-like wings glinted in the light and it sprayed the crowds with a fine mist of water to the delight of all. But not here, this was not his destination. He steered towards a cluster of trees and set his car on a brambled path leading to a large cabin. Shadows of people vanished as he roved between the trees and when the forest thinned did he hear shouts and cries of pain. Mack's car puttered to a stop and he hurried out.

"Basil!"

Mack pushed through the people watching the spectacle of Rock beating another man to a bloody pulp while screaming obscenities.

"I don't give a rat's tit you can't pay! That's my money you spent, my money that's gone!"

"Please! Another week, just one more, please!"

Rock cracked the man's jaw, roaring, "You can't pay me now, you can't pay me then."

He stopped, breathing heavily, and a glint of viciousness lit his eyes. "You're worth more dead."

And he broke the man's spine.

"Basil Rock!"

He dropped the corpse and glared at Mack.

"What."

"Have you heard? Eldhrimner is-"

"Yes, I did," Rock said, fishing out a handkerchief to clean his hands, "What of it?" He pulled Rock aside as the cleanup began.

"Are you not concerned?"

"Not in the slightest."

Mack scowled and pulled at his beard, "They have everything. Everything! We are ruined." Crows circled overhead cawing their awful cackles. "We must escape, not by plane but by train. The news came this morning. Eldhrimnir's closest allies died in a fiery crash."

Mack paced in front of the warehouse, "It must have been them, no dragon dares harm an Arsenian without provocation."

A sudden movement startled Mack. Rock tightly gripped the other man's shoulders. Strands of brown hair covered eyes that lacked fear.

He hissed, "Calm yourself."

Mack inhaled. The peppery scent of pine cleared his mind of some panic.

"Better?"

"The repercussions, Louis! I can't begin to imagine-"

''Seeing to Eldhrimnir's safety was our responsibility. Our partners will hunt us in his stead."

Mack shook his fists, "Precisely! We must escape to salvage at least our lives."

A hint of amusement trembled Rock's voice as he said, "It was a good trick, storing the secrets in an unassuming place. Took the government twenty years to find."

"But now we've been made!"

Rock pressed a finger into Mack's chest and growled, "Arwen's dogs made the first move. We will retaliate with a vengeance." Mack looked at Rock, horrified, as he dropped the blood stained handkerchief.

"This means war."

"We cannot," Mack stated, snatching his glasses off to wipe the sweat from his brow. He slipped them back on and said matter of factly, "Declaring war is a very bad idea, my friend. I suggest you rediscover your sanity prior to continuing this discussion."

Basil Rock chuckled and shrugged off his coat.

"Louis. I can be brash, foolish even. You are timid, prone to worry. We compensate for each other's deficiencies. That is how we survived in this cutthroat industry. That is what made our partnership strong, made our businesses thrive."

He tossed the coat and the wind whisked it deep into the woods.

"Arwen must die. If we kill that damn old man, the country is ours. We can profit off it however much we want, and no one can stop us. Think of the influence we can wield, the wealth at our disposal! All ours if Arwen Mordecai dies."

"Basil."

"Do not deny my words, Louis. You've thought the same. He's been in power far too long. It is time for a new world order."

"I-I."

Rock, voice low and stiff, wrapped his arm around Mack's neck, "Do you see it, the paths before us? Left. Hyenas. Right. Arwen. We die either way unless we try."

Mack pushed Rock away but clutched the other man's vest.

Basil...he'd always been an excellent actor. His saccharine voice engrossed people with tales of business proposals that ultimately failed and when victims sought restitution his body silenced them.

Mack despised Basil because he was right. He was unhinged, but he was right. With that evidence at his disposal, there was no way Arwen wouldn't send his dogs to tear them apart. He'd be hunted beyond the borders of Arseny until he crossed the realm of death, and only then would he be safe. But if, just if they could kill Arwen and take Arseny for themselves, no longer would they need to run or hide. They could venture out into the open heads held high. Wouldn't that be nice? Mack had always been careful to stave off greed before it became fatal.

Could one call this ambition greed for gold and glory, or was it really greed for survival?

Mack released Rock and angrily spat, "Bastard."

"So?"

"Green is King. That is our maxim," Mack sighed, "I'll live and die by it."

"Good man!" Rock shouted.

"I refuse to take direct action."

"Your presence in Arseny holds the line and gives our contemporaries the courage to retaliate."

Mack took off his glasses to polish, "How do you plan to resist?"

Rock looked at the spot on the ground marked by twigs and leaves flecked with blood. "Why do you think we are out here in this goddamn place? He called us here to use the isolation to ambush us with a swarm, fifty or so people, fellow debtors and thugs he hired, with my money most likely, the scoundrel."

"The assassins must've blundered terribly for you to still be alive." Mack replied dryly, preparing himself to listen to another of Basil's fabricated stories. Rock shook his head and led his friend to the cabin.

He placed his hand on the door and leaned close to Louis. "I found Arwen Mordecai's murderer."

Mack wondered who the brave fool was as Basil pushed the door, creaking as it opened.

A man stood amidst piles of butchered bodies bearing no resemblance to the humans they once were. Blood from his fits dripped into the lake below and ripples echoed across with each step he took.

"The name's Scott, Liam Scott."

He offered Mack a hand, smiling at his silent joke, "Who's next?"