Gild, Turwyn, and Prisolyna stood over the dead body of the white haired thug, watching the blood slowly leak from the slit he had cut in his own throat and wondering what they were supposed to do now.

“What did he mean by saying Linith would see him soon?” Turwyn asked.

Gild shrugged. “No clue. He was our only lead too. I'm starting to get the distinct feeling that someone does not want us finding this Linith.”

“What do you mean? Tiki didn’t give you anything?” Prisolyna asked.

“No, he flipped his lid when we mentioned the name Linith and threw us out. At first I thought he didn't know anything about it, but now I’m less sure.”

“I still want to know what he meant by Linith seeing him soon. Would they come here to discover the body? Was this man a warlock, pledging his soul to a demon and now that he’s dead, would be sent to the Other Realm?” Turwyn looked at the elf and gnome, angry and bewildered.

“I don't think that's how warlocks work,” Gild said. As Turwyn turned his confused anger to him, he quickly added, “But I’m not sure. It's very possible that's what he meant. I can't really offer a better solution.”

Gild kicked at the body. “I mean, he's clearly dead. It’s not like he’s going to get up and walk away to meet this Linith.”

Turwyn said nothing, but did not look entirely satisfied. Gild decided to change subjects.

“How do you think they found us so fast? We left that shop and only a few minutes later we were being followed.”

“It was actually immediately,” Prisolyna said. Gild and Turwyn turned toward her.

She gave them a half shrug. “What? I had nothing better to do and found myself near the pawn shop. I followed you two once you left. It was a good thing I did too, or you’d both be dead in that warehouse.”

Gild opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. She wasn't wrong. And in her shoes, he probably would’ve followed the two people he’d just tried to rob and joined with instead.

“Well, thank you Prisolyna,” Turwyn said. “You’re right, without your help we absolutely would have been killed in there.”

“It's my part of the job,” she said, smiling at him.

“Do you think Tiki might have done something to tip them off?” Gild said, tapping his chin. “Unless they were following us before we went in and waited until we left. But that wouldn't make sense. They knew we were asking about Linith and Tiki is the only one who would’ve known.”

“I think it's time we pay the fence another visit,” Turwyn growled. “And see if he sold us out to be killed.”

“Agreed,” said Gild. They turned back down the waterfront road.

“Should we do anything about the body?” Prisolyna asked passing.

Without glancing back, Gild said, “Sounded like it was a problem for Linith to me.”

The elf shrugged and caught back up to the paladin and gnome. Gild gave her a sidelong glance as she walked next to him. There was one other person who knew they were looking for Linith, and she would have had time to let someone know while they were out. But if she had done that, why kill the thugs and rescue them? He shelved the suspicion for later, it was time to deal with the fence.

Walking past the warehouse, now a raging inferno of fire lighting up the night sky, they saw a small crowd had gathered around, watching the building burn. No one was coordinating any sort of effort to put the fire out, even with the river a few dozen yards away. As long as no one learned it was them who had started it, Gild didn't have a care in the world about the fire. It was the cost of kidnapping him.

Maybe next time whoever owned the warehouse would think twice before letting thugs use it as a base of operations. And if the owner didn't know about the building's usage, hopefully they had some sort of coverage for it.

Soon they found themselves back at the pawn shop they had visited earlier. It felt like days ago they had been there, even though it was only half a day earlier. The building was still shut up tight, with curtains drawn over the windows and no lights shining inside.

“Ok,” Gild said. “Let's make a plan about what we are going to-”

“Tiki!” Turwyn shouted, pounding at the front door. “Tiki! Open this door and get your ass down here!”

“What are you doing?” Gild hissed at the paladin.

“I’m confronting the lawbreaker,” Turwyn said, his tone suggesting he was explaining something simple to a child. He turned back to the door and pounded on it again.

“What you’re doing is giving him plenty of notice to try to flee out of some secret door or window!” Gild said, causing the man to pause his banging. “Tik, fly up and cover the building for me please. Let us know if anyone is seen running out and follow them.”

“What signal should I use?” the imp asked.

“Just shout at us. If Tiki takes off running it means he already knows we are here and we need to get him soon.”

Tik gave a mock salute and flapped away, his tiny form quickly being swallowed up by the night.

“He’s a cheeky one isn't he?” Prisolyna asked. Gild just grunted and waited. After no shouting came down from the imp, he faced the elf.

“Are you able to get us in there? Quietly?” he added, giving Turwyn a look. Turwyn just offered him an apologetic shrug, one massive hand still poised to resume banging on the door.

“Sure thing,” the elf said. She went to the door and, after a quick look around to make sure no one was watching, kneeled down and whipped out a lockpicking set. Fortunately for them, the fire seemed to have drawn most of this area of town's attention. No one was out on the street and nearly no windows around them had a light in them. After a few seconds, there was a soft click and the door swung open silently.

Prisolyna drew one of her short swords and stepped through, into the building. Turwyn went through right after her, with Gild bringing up the rear. As he stepped in, he turned to close the door. A small hiss interrupted him and Tik flew in through the crack, scowling.

“Were you just going to leave me out there?”

“Well, yeah, you were watching the exits for us.”

“There aren't any other exits. If he does have an escape it's underground and I'm no use out there.”

“Fair enough, just keep quiet.” Gild closed the door behind them, letting it click softly. The pawn shop looked the same as it had earlier, just much darker. No torches were lit and it was near impossible to see. Turwyn pulled open the curtains, letting some of the moonlight and street gasp lamps sill in, offering some illumination.

“Should we split up to search for him?” Turwyn asked.

“Maybe,” Gild said. “I can take the upstairs, you two search down here. Oh, and look for any trap doors or something leading down below. Tik didn't find any other exits so his only escape route must be under the building.”

“Thanks Tik,” Turwyn said, nodding to the familiar. Tikpuk offered Gild a grin so smug it nearly made him sick.

“Someone appreciates all I do and looks out for me,” the imp whispered. Gild waved a dismissive hand at him and started picking his way through the stacks of items toward the counter. There was a small curtain hanging over a doorway behind it, surely that would lead upstairs.

As he walked toward the counter, the rows of magical items and garments hanging just behind it caught his eye. It wouldn't be too much of a bad thing to take one or two or several, would it? He glanced back towards the paladin, who was engrossed in searching every inch of floor for a hidden trap door. Smiling to himself, he went to the end of the counter, eyes still locked on the items, and promptly tripped over Prisolyna squatting just behind the counter.

“What are you doing, hiding behind the counter like that?” Gild asked, catching himself against the nearby wall. He straightened himself and turned to find her, looking down at the body of Tiki staring at the ceiling with glass eyes, several large stab wounds in his chest.

“It's probably safe to assume he didn't tip the thugs off to come after you,” Prisolyna said softly.

“Or if he did, he paid for it with his own life.”

Gild sighed. “Well, shit. What do we do now?”

“Find anything?” Turwyn called from the front of the shop.

“Yeah, Tiki is dead.”

“What?” Turwyn came over, bending over the counter to look at the body. “That was our last lead, wasn't it?”

“Yeah,” Gild said. They all sat in silence for a few moments, looking at the body of a man they had been talking to just earlier that day.

“I know he was a dick to us, but he probably didn't deserve this to happen to him,” Gild said. “Maybe it was a gang that did this and it was just unfortunate timing?”

Prisolyna shook her head, standing up. “No, he was untouchable to all of them. He hung in a delicate position where they all wanted him alive for information, and none would fear the wrath of the others by killing him.”

“Hmm,” Gild said. He snapped his fingers as an idea came to him. “Turwyn, you're a paladin. Can you resurrect him, or communicate with his ghost or something?”

“Ah, I don't know about that.” The paladin said, standing up and moving away from the counter. “It wouldn't be proper, plus the soul has to be willing. It takes a lot out of me to do that and I don't want to risk it.”

“Risk it?” Gild said, moving around the counter to the front of the shop with the paladin. “This is our only lead onto something obviously very dangerous and very evil. Isn't it within your duties as a paladin to investigate something like this? One, its a murder, and thats reason enough. Two, it's dealing with an evil entity that needs stopping.”

“Or it's just an entity you want caught to get that soulstone of yours.”

“You were on board with that!” Gild retorted. “And we can stop something truly massive once we get it. Why can't you just commune with the dead then?”

“Gild,” Tik said, fluttering at the gnome's shoulder. He waved impassively, still focused on the human.

“It wouldn't be proper. He was a thief, gang member, and likely did worse things than we know about beyond that and fencing! I can't commune with an evil person. Who knows where his soul went and I don't want to risk bringing the attention of a less than savoury realm down on us.”

Prisolyna leaned against the wall, watching the two men argue, with a small smirk on her face.

“Come on Turwyn. You know that's not how this stuff works. Even I know that and I’m about as far from a paladin as you can get.”

“What does that mean?” Turwyn demanded.

“Gild!” Tik said, pulling at his robes now.

“What?” Gild spun around to the imp.

“The body is gone.”

“What do you mean?” The three of them hustled over to check behind the counter, only to find that the body was in fact, gone.

“Well,” Turwyn said. “Where did it go?”

A soft scraping noise, behind them and slightly above, just past the magical items Gild was coveting, answered their questions. On the wall was Tiki, or at least, the body of Tiki. Tiki was watching them, his tongue lolling from his mouth.

“Is, is he still alive?” Prisolyna asked in barely more than a whisper. Tiki screeched at her, an unholy wail of grinding nails and icy winds.

“That's an undead!” Turwyn shouted, pulling his axe from his back. Tiki roared again and tensed up, preparing to jump off the wall towards them.

“Burn it, Gild!” Prisolyna said.

“I’m not going to burn another building down!” he said. “It's too packed in here. Plus, who knows what crazy crap he had here, the whole building might blow up if I cast any fire at it.”

Tiki leapt from the wall with surprising speed towards the elf. She jumped back and Turwyn charged forward, swinging at the undead beast with his axe. Tiki managed to hit the floor and collapse, avoiding the axe swing, before popping back up and lunging for the paladin. Turwyn used the momentum of his axe to pull himself to the side of the lunging undead.

Tiki barely missed him, biting down on empty air and scrabbling at Turwyn’s shirt as it fluttered by. Gild backed up, putting himself nearer to the counter in case he had to duck or hide. There was no shame in hiding from a fight you could only bring more damage and destruction to. Prisolyna darted behind Tiki, stabbing at him with her swords. The blades plunged into Tiki, but did not seem to faze the man turned undead.

“Jump back, Pris!” Turwyn shouted. Pulling his axe back. She leapt back as he swung, hitting Tiki in the mid section and cleaving him clean in two. His legs dropped, spewing a foul smelling black blood. The top part fell to the side, spewing the same nasty fluid. Tiki hit the floor, his arms splaying out before coming to a rest.

Silence hung over the fence’s shop and they waited.

“Is it dead?” Gild whispered, peeking around the counter at the body. “I mean, is it dead again?”

Tiki screeched again, hands scrabbling at the floor to try to get to anyone or anything within reach. With a massive grunt, Turwyn heaved his axe into the fence’s skull, splitting it and throwing more foul matter around.

Panting, he turned to Gild. “Do you want to know why I couldn't resurrect him? Why I couldn't commune with the dead?”

Gild said nothing as the man glared at him.

“I’m not actually on a mission from my order. I was kicked out before I could be ordained, okay?”

He kicked at the once again lifeless body, losing some of his anger in the process. “I am trying to do good deeds on my own to gain holy power, to be seen as worthy in the eyes of the Seraphim and become anointed.”

“Great,” Gild mumbled. “A paladin without powers and a renegade star elf thief who’s never stolen. I always seem to attract the finest talent in my travels.”

“You’re one to talk, ‘mage’” Prisolyna interjected. “With your goofy ass looking familiar, that I’m incredibly suspicious of.”

“Hey,” Tik said, but she ignored him and continued.

“You only cast fire spells and cantrips that bind in a way that suggests torture. You keep making these strange references to being anti light, you defend those who fraternize with demons, and whatever it is you're hiding in your bag! I noticed you only sprung your little trap when I was near it.”

Gild glared at her, then at Turwyn. They both looked back at him, neither looking entirely angry, but more a mixture of suspicion and, in Turwyn's case, betrayal. Tik rested on his shoulder, fluttering his wings nervously.

“Gild, don't,” he whispered.

“Fine!” Gild said, throwing his hands up. “Fine! Since we’re all coming clean and spilling our guts to each other, take a look at this!”

He pulled the pack off his back and dumped it on the floor. Inside was a book on how to control demons, another on demonic summoning rituals, some bits of dried meat, a water skin, and a channeling stone. He stared at them, challenging them to say anything.

“You're,” Turwyn said, his eyes wide. “You're a warlock!” Prisolyna stood beside him, a smug smile on her face.

“I should have guessed.”

“Happy?” Gild asked. “Now everything is in the open. I’m a warlock and Tik is an imp. What now?”