Louis Mack drove past a large lake in the outskirts near the capital. White sails snapped taut in the wind and boats broke 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 not an ordinary fish. Its needle-like wings glinted in the light and, to the delight of all, sprayed the crowds with a fine mist of water. But here was not his destination. Mack steered towards a cluster of trees and set his car on a brambled path leading to a worn warehouse. People weaved in and out of his vision as he roved between the trees. The forest thinned. There were shouts and cries of pain.

Mack's car puttered to a stop and he hurried out. "Rock!"

He pushed through the spectators watching Basil Rock beat a man to a bloody pulp.

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

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

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 to me dead."

Before anyone could react Rock strangled the debtor. The man's windpipe crumpled like an aluminum can. Rock's red handprints, engraved on the corpse's throat.

"Basil Rock!"

He dropped the corpse and glared at Mack. "What."

"Have you heard? Nader 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 pulled at his beard, "They have everything. Names, dates, transactions, bank accounts. Everything! We are more than ruined."

Crows circled overhead cawing their awful cackles.

"We must escape, not by plane but by train. The news came this morning. Nader'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 gripped the man's shoulders. Strands of brown hair covered eyes that lacked fear.

He scowled, "Calm the fuck down, Louis."

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

"Better?"

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

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

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

A hint of amusement laced Rock's voice, "It was a good trick storing the secrets in an unassuming place. Took them years to find."

"But now we've been made!"

Rock pressed a finger into Mack's chest, "Arwen's dogs made the first move. We will retaliate with vengeance."

Mack looked at Rock, horrified, as the man dropped the blood stained handkerchief. "This means war, a fight for survival."

"We cannot," Mack stated, snatching off his glasses to wipe the sweat that dripped onto it.

He slipped them back on, "An ultimatum of battle is a very bad idea, my friend. I suggest you rediscover your sanity prior to continuing this discussion."

Rock chuckled and took off his coat. "Louis. I'm brash and foolish. 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 us thrive. Green is King."

He threw the coat at the ground but the wind whisked deep into the woods. Rock brandished the array of knives and guns he wore in his double shoulder belt. Mack felt his skin twist. His first instinct was to dart away like a rabbit.

"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."

Mack sighed, "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 don't know."

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. They'd be hunted beyond the borders of Arseny until they crossed the realm of death, and only then would they be safe. But if, just if they could fend off the well trained bloodhounds, 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, but could one call this ambition greed for gold and glory, or was it really greed for survival?

Mack muttered, "Rock, you fucking bastard."

"So?"

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

"Good man!" Rock shouted.

"But I refuse to take direct action."

"Your presence holds the line and gives our people the courage to retaliate."

Mack took off his glasses to polish with the hem of his jacket, "How do you plan to resist?"

Rock looked at the spot on the ground marked by cracked twigs where the corpse had been. "Why do you think we are out here in this goddamn place? He called us here to ambush us with a swarm, fifty or so fellow debtors and thugs he hired...with my money no doubt, the scoundrel. The man honestly believed I would spare his life after it failed!"

"Those were no assassins. You're still alive." Mack replied dryly, preparing himself to listen to another of Basil's stories detailing his heroism. Rock shook his head and led his friend to the warehouse. He placed his hand on the door and leaned close to Louis.

"I found Arwen Mordecai's murderer."

Flies burst out the dark warehouse abyss, deafening Mack with terrible buzzing and when the swarm at last scattered he had entered a human slaughterhouse. Bodies, feet bound in coarse rope, hung like butchered swine and cattle from the ceiling, stomachs slit vomiting organs onto a floor of simmering blood. A man stood amidst the rows of corpses holding no tool besides his fists.

"Howdy folks. The name's Scott, Liam Scott."

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