"You already know that we are looking for this woman's parents. Please tell us everything you know about them," I said getting right into it. I was chomping at the bit to find Jen's parents and finally finish this part of the quest.

"I will tell you everything I know, but you have to promise to not tell a soul where you got this information. If they knew I was telling you, I'd be a dead man," he said. I could see the fear in his eyes as he spoke, but he really wanted those spider fangs.

The three of us promised not to say anything about this interaction to anyone.

The man sat down and started to spill the beans.

"About a decade ago a man named Edrus started making a name for himself in Wolfhill. At first, he worked for the city government and was able to make connections with very powerful leaders. Eventually, he created the gold currency of the city using his position and power to line his pockets and the pockets of those he was connected with.

After the last six or seven years of consolidating power, he has taken over the city. The leaders are in his pocket and most of the city guards are in his pocket. The residents of this town are so scared of him that it is difficult for most to lead normal lives.

I don't know exactly why he has Roderic working for him, but I know that Roderic rarely leaves his side. I haven't seen a woman with her father, but I also try to avoid that part of town as much as possible.

Edrus has a giant portion of the Southern part of Wolfhill as his estate where he lives and conducts business. That's where you will find him and her father."

"Anything else we should know?" I asked the man who was getting antsy to leave.

"Just that his thugs usually have a patch on their arm with a wolf's head on it which lets people know not to mess with them. It is fairly easy to tell who are the bad guys and who are the innocent citizens. I wouldn't trust anyone as you get closer to his compound. Even a citizen might turn on you if they think they could get something from him." He got up to leave and reached out his hands. I gave him all the regular spider fangs that I had as promised and he left.

Jen went and sat on one of the beds looking down at the floor.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"I just can't believe my father would work for a man like that," she said still looking down deep in thought.

"Is your father a good man?" I asked.

"He is," she answered confidently.

"Then there has to be a reason that he is there. Don't give up without us even talking to him." I really was pushing for him to be a good guy because I didn't want to be mayor of Bettyford.

We spent a few hours going over ideas for ways for us to use our attacks together for maximum results and maximum safety. We had quite a few ideas even some utilizing my spells. I set out mattresses on top of the flimsy ones that were there atop the bed frames. I added the special mattresses on top of the old ones and we all got in our beds and fell asleep strategizing.

Mae let me sleep in and for the first time in quite a while I was able to wake up when I wanted to. Jen and Barry had slept in as well and we all were up and ready to go a little after mid-morning. I picked up the mattresses just to make sure they didn't disappear and we left the inn. It take us long to see a change in the city as we headed South. We started to see more abandoned buildings and even a few ruined ones. Jen thought maybe he was trying to send a message.

When we got to the large estate there was another change. Everything was pristine. It was like there was a dead zone surrounding Edrus's compound. He was definitely sending a message.

As we stood there trying to figure out the best way to enter the place, I got the feeling we were being watched.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" A harsh voice asked from behind us. He must have been following us or just been in the perfect spot to pop out behind us.

"We are travelers from Bettyford and are just trying to get an audience with Edrus. We aren't looking for any trouble," I answered trying to cover all the bases. I turned and looked at the man who was speaking. He just looked like your average well-dressed gangster.

"Well, you sure found it," he said tapping his palm with the club in his other hand.

I had some experience with baseball bat-type objects hitting my cloak so I wasn't overly scared of his threat. Swords and claws were a little more threatening to me at this point.

"I just want to talk to him. I'm not looking to hurt anyone." I said taking a step toward him. I figured if he wasn't alone we would have seen his backup by now. I was calling his bluff.

"You won't be the one doing the hurting." He smiled and started calmly walking toward me. When he got within swing range he did want he thought would be a finishing blow to the side of my cloaked head. Since I was ready for it I was able to push into the airbag and keep my balance. I stood there unharmed.

"So can we talk about how I could talk with your boss then?" I asked all proud of myself.

His look of surprise from the failed attack turned back to rage. He didn't get a second attack. I quickly extended my arm and summoned one of my daggers into my outstretched hand. Through practice, I was getting more and more precise with pulling weapons out of my inventory. The dagger was a little closer to his neck than I had intended but it served its purpose.

He dropped his weapon and put his arms up. "Don't kill me. I'm just doing my job. Boss said no one comes in today."

I used my Spell of Pulling with a minimal amount of MP behind it to pull his fallen club into my possession and instantly made it disappear into my dimensional space. He was really freaked out by this time and I was sure he was about to either flee or pee.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I said putting away the dagger. "Could you go and ask your boss if we can meet with him? We are really looking for Roderic Rhodia, but I am trying to be respectful and not cause any problems."

The man scrambled to his feet and ran toward the compound at a full sprint. "We'll wait here!" I shouted after him as he ran.

We saw some rubble nearby that would function as a bench while we waited.

"Why show him respect if he is a despot?" Asked Jen.

"If I learned one thing from the human villains I saw back home it is that they want respect more than anything. The wealth and power they acquire lead to the respect that they so desperately crave." I felt pretty good about my assessment even though it mostly came from movie villains.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see," said Jen.

"I hope he turns out to be nice," added Barry.

For whatever reason, Barry's words made my stomach turn. What if Edrus, after hearing we were out here asking about Roderic, just decided to send a squad of his goons out to murder us? I felt that was a more likely option than him being nice.

"I don't think he will be nice, Barry. In fact, I'd like you guys to go hide in those buildings just in case. If he wants to talk, I'll message you to come out, but I don't want to put you in harm's way." I pointed over to the buildings a short distance away as I spoke.

"No way. We are a team. We stick together," said Jen standing up as she got a little heated. "You can't get yourself killed trying to keep us safe."

"I can and I will." I pointed back at the buildings. "Please?"

"I'm not leaving your side. This isn't like when you fought the ogre. I'm equipped and I can help," she was speaking with more ferver than I'd heard her speak before.

"I can't let you get hurt because of a stupid choice I make," I said.

"And I can't let you make a stupid choice and get yourself hurt. We are a team and we deal with the consequences of our choices together." Jen was controlled and firm in her tone.

"Fine. We'll let Barry be the tie-breaker." After the words left my mouth, Jen and I looked at Barry in unison. After a few seconds of silence, he realized what I had said.

"What if we just hang back a little bit so we can still help you if they attack but are maybe a little safer?" Barry was clearly trying to make both of us happy.

"Fine. I'll agree to Barry's plan," said Jen. She could get a little feistier than I imagined.

"Fine," I added. I wasn't happy, but I figured it was as good as it was going to get.

We got into position and after about fifteen more minutes the batless man came back out to meet me. He had an armed cadre with him that were all wearing the same style of clothing, they also all had the same weapon. I guess a club was one of the better options with my cloak, but these guys all looked stronger than the first guy.

"Boss said no one comes in today," said the man with a dastardly smile.

"I said that I didn't want to hurt anyone." I smiled back at him.