There was an irritating nervousness in me while I walked down the streets towards the Steelheart Company office. I escaped a prison cell, so the guard are going to be looking for me, I kept thinking to myself. City guards weren't exactly common in the east end of Vehrehr, but in the less crime-ridden areas they did show themselves somewhat regularly even if they did nothing else besides that. The likelihood that I could encounter a guard was quite high, though the likelihood that they would recognize me or care was somewhat less high. It depends on how descriptive their record of my face was, I thought, none of them saw me after I removed the implants, but apparently they did have a description of me before I put them in. Still I wouldn't put it past them to just assume that I'm related to their missing prisoner because of my height and skin again, considering they did that last time.

I kept to the sides of the street and make sure I walked quickly between alleys. I did end up seeing a guard, but they weren't looking in my direction, so I was able to duck out of sight. I need a hood again, I thought, I should buy one. As I thought about purchasing clothing I remembered that I had almost no money and scowled. I have to sell this golden necklace, I thought, it's the only item of significant value that I have that isn't otherwise useful. Maybe Dawpvaol knows someone who I can sell it to. Once the guard had moved on I went back into the street and quickly made my way to the Steelheart Company office.

I pushed open the doors to the office, then closed them behind me. As usual the room was empty except for Dawpvaol, who had called out a tired-sounding greeting without looking up from her paperwork as I entered. The door had a small bar for locking on it, so I quickly locked the door to have some privacy. It's not like I suspect them of leaking information, I thought, but this conversation could turn violent if it goes wrong. I walked to the counter and stood silently, waiting for Dawpvaol to look up.

“Alright what do you-” she began, looking up then stopping. Her normally stern face loosened for just a moment, then went back into its regular expression. “Did you lock the door?” Dawpvaol asked.

“Yes,” I replied. Dawpvaol shuffled the papers off of her desk into the storage cubbies underneath.

“Where is Koylzmeyl?” she asked, and I frowned.

“That was my first question,” I replied. “Given that you don't know either, I can only assume he is dead or has been captured by the Hatchet Crew.” A strange pulse of sensation occurred in my chest. Dawpvaol frowned as well, though it was hard to tell how much since her normal expression looked very similar to a frown.

“What happened?” she asked. “Explain fully.” I explained everything that had happened on the day of the assassination attempt to the best of my ability, including the plan and the results, ending with being picked up by the guard. Dawpvaol was silent, only gritting her teeth when I mentioned how Yaavtey stopped the knife. “Where have you been?” she asked at the end.

“Recovering,” I replied. I had no intention of giving her information about my stay with the guard, nor the conditions of my “release”, but the movement of her lips told me that she might already have known. “Were you aware that Yehpweyl is an informant for the Hatchet Crew?” I asked.

“Who?” Dawpvaol asked.

“The owner of the inn that Koyl and I had been staying at,” I specified, “I'm not sure of the name.” The fact that I still couldn't read properly irritated me. I had been picking up a few words, but I hadn't had time to sit down and really begin to decode written Uwrish.

“What street is it-” Dawpvaol began, then she stopped again. “Right, you wouldn't know. Can you describe her for me?” I gave Dawpvaol the description, then a description of the inn, and she grunted in reply. “Sounds like Tehlao's,” she said, “I think her daughter was named Yehpweyl actually, so it's probably her. To answer your question, I am sure someone suspected her involvement, but you must understand that we do not keep track of these things so closely.”

“I would accept that explanation if it were not for the fact that you sent Koyl and me to assassinate a target without proper intelligence,” I retorted. “The fault for the failure of our operation largely lies with your company. Had you provided us with the barest minimum of the needed information our plan could have been adjusted accordingly, and we likely would have succeeded on the first attempt. Now, Yaavtey will be suspecting an assassination from one of us, making the task more difficult.” To her credit, Dawpvaol didn't even flinch when I indicted her and the Steelheart Company.

“That won't be necessary,” Dawpvaol said, “you have done enough. As far as I know, nobody in the company was aware of the extent of Yaavtey's force magic ability either. What you described is not normal, but I have no reason to believe that you made it up. This job is clearly above your ability, so I will be sending for specialists instead based on your report.” It was my turn to grit my teeth. I was used to being spoken to in the manner Dawpvaol was speaking to me, but to be told I was inadequate by a human caused my anger to bubble up.

“No,” I muttered.

“Sorry, what was that?” Dawpvaol asked.

“I will be the one to kill him,” I said, “I need the money the job will provide, and if Koyl is dead I will be taking his half as well.”

“Your contract is canceled as of now,” Dawpvaol said flatly, “I understand that you need money, but what you are doing is suicide. Even with the advantage of surprise you barely survived your encounter with the man. Had you not been picked up by the guard he might have found you still breathing and simply finished you off. For your own good, stand down and let someone more suited to the task handle this. You can still earn money on other jobs, and this failure will not be held against you.” In a flash, I slammed the desk with my hand before I could stop myself.

“More suited to the task?” I seethed. I nearly went on a tirade, but then stopped and painfully forced myself back into a calm state. This is just like what happened in Suwlahtk, I thought, this body's mental influence increases exponentially if I allow it any foothold in my mind. “Understand this,” I continued with deliberate calm, “that man will die by my hand, and you will pay me the promised reward when he does. Send your specialists if you want to, but do know that I will not be attempting to keep them out of the crossfire.” Dawpvaol's eyes narrowed at me.

“You should be careful with your words,” she advised coldly, “I am sure the guard would be very interested in your connections to the incident at Suwlahtk, of which we now have found tangible evidence.” Tension hung in the air and neither of us took a breath for half a minute. What kind of tangible evidence? I wondered, They can't be talking about witness testimony, nobody saw what happened except for Mihvay, who is missing.

“If you believe that to be true, you should know why threatening me with it is not a good idea,” I replied. “Or perhaps you think you know what happened in Suwlahtk, and that somehow gives you a feeling of safety? If it does, you clearly have incorrect intelligence on the matter. It wouldn't be the first time.” Again there was silence. “I'll be back with his head,” I said, then I turned around and left before Dawpvaol could say anything else. I only remembered once I was in the street that I had forgotten to unlock the small bar on the door. In my rage, I had ripped the locking bar out of the doorframe.

I wandered around for a while, primarily walking through alleys to try to avoid being spotted. I had forgotten to ask Dawpvaol about the necklace and where to sell it, but considering how she had been acting I concluded it was unlikely I would have gotten an answer anyway. If I didn't need her alive for the payout... I grumbled, my mind running through satisfying hypotheticals. I ducked into a side alley to avoid a bum, and noticed that I was in a familiar location. Right, if I just turn here then take the second left... I thought as I followed my memory, walking out into the black market that Koyl had brought me to some days before.

There were fences here, right? I asked myself. I strolled through the alleyway, looking at the stalls and makeshift buildings. Since I couldn't read anything I had to go entirely by appearance. Unlike when I waited for Koyl, the merchants and other stall owners were wary of me, looking when they thought I wasn't paying attention and averting their gaze when they thought I could see them. Eventually, I just decided to pick a stall and ask for directions.

“You,” I said to the short man in front of me, “I need a fence, where do I find one?”

“I don't know anything about fences,” the man replied, “go bother someone else.”

“I know you know where to find one if you have a stall in this market,” I said, “tell me where I can sell this necklace for the highest price possible.” I pulled out the necklace and showed it to him. The man didn't even glance at it, instead looking at me directly. He looked past me to my left, then gestured with his right hand subtly. Practically rolling my eyes out of derision, I turned around to see a bulky man who was nearly my own height, clean-shaven, walking towards me with a mace.

“Looks like it's time for you to go, buddy,” the man said, his voice incredibly deep.

“Tell me where to find a fence, and I'll leave willingly,” I replied. The man scoffed, then approached while tapping the ball of the mace into his left hand. “I have had far more than enough of dealing with you people and your stupidity for one day,” I continued, “my patience is running thin. Do I look like a guard to you? I know this place sells illegal goods, I simply don't care. Tell me where to find what I need.”

“You're not welcome here,” the man said. “Last chance. Get going, or I'll make you get going.” I waited for three seconds, and the man sighed before swinging his mace at me. His motions were so slow that I could have avoided them while only viewing them from my peripheral. A few of the people in the alley scattered away, and the merchant behind me scooped the goods out of his stall in a hurry and dashed off. I threw a single punch into the man's throat, crushing it inwards, then stepped back as he gasped for breath.

“Npoyt,” the man gasped as his throat popped back out, then he roared and charged in my direction with his mace arm raised. I avoided the swing, stepped to my right, grabbed him by the head by digging my thumb into his left eye, then smashed him directly into the stone wall behind me, head first. His groan of pain indicated that he was still conscious, so I drew my right hand back and smashed the wall with his skull several more times until he went limp. The mace dropped to the ground, the man's body slumped, and the alley was silent. It annoys me that Yaavtey’s techniques are this effective, I grumbled quietly.

“Can someone please just buy this necklace from me?” I asked loudly. For a moment there was no reply, but then a thin white-haired man in a cloak walked out of one of the buildings. His skin was disturbingly pale, to the point that I could see many of the veins in his face, and his eyes were nearly pink instead of red. His beard was patchy and thin, like a warbeeed pseudofemale, and he looked malnourished.

“Come into my shop,” he said. “Quickly, I don't like being out in the sun.” I followed him into a dark room and shut the door behind me.