Published at 3rd of August 2024 7:48 am

Book 2 Chapter 14: So, We're Even?

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Dantes climbed quickly and easily onto the roof of the building behind which was the alley that Felix was still pacing in. He made his way to the edge of the building, and shifted into ratform before shifting back when Felix’ back was turned. He crept quietly behind him and gave him a gentle shove directly onto the top of the sigil he’d written on the ground.

Felix let out a yelp as he landed on it, and then seemed to freeze, his eyes wide open and his body hanging suspended a foot in the air.

Dantes peered at him, seeing that his eyes were mobile even though his body was frozen in place.

“Hello Felix.” He took a step closer to make sure that Felix could see him, and was gratified when his pupils landed on him. “You alright? You seem to be having some trouble.” Dantes chuckled to himself as Felix didn’t respond. “Honestly, not a bad idea. Render me immobile at our meeting, maybe kill me? I’m honestly a bit impressed, you didn’t seem like the type.” He stepped closed and started rifling in Felix’s pockets.

“Unfortunately for you, I am and whether or not I kill you will depend heavily on what I find in your pockets.” He continued his rifling, finding a coin pouch, a tin of rolled tobacco, some burnsticks, and finally a small key that made his fingertips tingle.

“Hmmm, it looks like you prepared what I asked for. No knife either? Unless…” He moved to Felix’s boots where he found a simple dagger tucked into it. He slid that into the sheathe he had in his sleeve letting out a tsk, tsk, tsk as he did so.

“Now, I don’t know much about magical theory, but I’d bet…” he moved the cloth off the sigil and scuffed the edge of it with his boot.

Felix fell the rest of the way to the ground.

Dantes watched him carefully. He didn’t have any weapons on him anymore, but he was a mage, and that meant he could be dangerous. Just because Dario had told him he wasn’t talented with offensive magic, didn’t mean that was the whole truth. He tensed his will, ready to send all the nearby vermin at him in force if he needed to.

Felix looked up at him with tears welling in his eyes. “Please, don’t kill me.”

Dantes stayed tense, expecting a feint of some kind, but none came. He sighed. “Why would I do that? You gave me what I asked for.” He held up the key. “I assume this is what I asked for?”

“Yes. Just send some will through it and you can create a small pocket that vermin can move through.”

“Why a key?”

“Symbolism is important with enchantments and seals. If you wanted to break a anti-vermin enchantment for instance, I’d maybe tie it to a hammer. How we perceive things effects how they work.”

Dantes thought about it. A hammer to fully break the enchantment? Now there was an idea.

“How much juice does this need? Will it run out?”

“Maybe eventually. It’s not breaking anything, just creating a window. It’ll last a long time.”

“If another mage was to look at this, would they be able to tell you’d made it?”

He looked confused. “I suppose so. Not many can subtly alter an enchantment using another object.”

Dantes smiled as another method of control fell into place.

“So, we’re even?”

Dantes closed the gap between them in almost no time at all. “No, we’re not even. I beat you in a card game by a mile and asked you for a favor and in return you planned to kill me.” Dantes shoved him into the wall. “I’m going to want more of these. I’m going to want at least one of those hammers you alluded to, and after that we’ll see where we stand.” He loosened his grip and dusted off Felix’s jacket with his hand a bit, then looked up at him and met him eye to eye. “There’s no reason this needs to be hard for you. After we’re through what I feel you owe me, I’ll pay you for your services. How would you like more gold to gamble on cards?”

There was a slight twinkle in his eye, just beyond the fear on his face.

Dantes shook his head. “I’ll see you again next week. The hammer isn’t as high a priority as the keys.” He paused at the edge of the alley as he was walking away and took the dagger he’d taken, driving it into the coinpurse he’d taken from Felix and sticking it to the wall. “Try something stupid like that again, and I will kill you.”

He walked a few blocks, dexterously creating a small leather loop connected to the key with his left hand, then he gave the key to Jacopo who was able to wear the key as a kind of small necklace. They followed the smell of food to a nearby restaurant, and Dantes leaned against a wall while Jacopo skittered out of his jacket and down a nearby alley.

Jacopo circled the building, finding a small crack in a far corner. He moved slowly until he hit the shield that blocked his entry. Dantes sent him brief instructions on how to use magical items and Jacopo sent his will through the key. He strained against the shield, but felt it give. Instead of a wall, it was like pushing on cloth or flesh. He sent a bit more will through the key and made it through. He moved through the restaurant and toward the kitchen where one cook was yelling at another. He clambered onto a counter and tore a hunk of steak from a plate. He dragged it off the counter, and carried it back to where he’d broken through. There was no resistance on the way out, and he crawled up Dantes leg and back into a pocket where he tore into the steak with gusto.

Dantes smiled, releasing his focus on a rat he had watching Felix drink. He wanted to be able to find him in case the key didn’t work as he’d promised.

“Well, we’ve got it tested. Now to try it out on something a bit more challenging.

…

It took them some time, but they reached the docks without much issue. The salt air was particularly strong and blustery, with dark clouds gathering on the horizon. Dantes stood on a rooftop, watching the warehouse below as men entered and left with fair regularity. Carrying goods of all kinds. After Dantes had watched Pacha intimidate his rat, Ket, Dantes had been tailing the man which had led him to the warehouse below. According to Ket the warehouse was where the majority of Mondego’s smuggling operation passed through. Pacha had been attempting to get the authority and the men to organize a raid, but the docking authority had been blocking him. With the brief conversation Dantes had heard between Danglars and his people, he had an idea of who was pulling the strings there.

Dantes had found that the warehouse was beyond his ability to infiltrate alone due to the large number of guards, and it also had the anti-vermin protection that many warehouses that stored food on the docks also had. He watched through Jacopo’s eyes as he pushed his way through the enchantment.

Jacopo squeezed under the gap at the bottom of a closed door and made his way inside. He scurried into the darkness between two crates to avoid being seen, and slowly made his way into the rafters of the storehouse to observe what was happening. He was unimpressed by what he saw, but Dantes’ excitement was building as he looked through his eyes.

He saw barrels of gunpowder, vials of dust being sorted by women who’d been stripped nude to guarantee that they weren’t stealing any of it, weed by the bushel full, guns, swords, even books and a smattering of what he assumed were offensive magic wands. It was the largest collection of valuable and smuggled goods he’d ever seen. He encouraged Jacopo to keep looking across the whole warehouse so that he could get a clearer picture.

Jacopo complied, and moved toward the far wall of the building. Which was walled off from the rest. On that side were cages. He saw men, women, and children within them. A few of them looked as if they’d been lightly beaten, but for the most part they looked well fed and not sick.

Slaves thought Dantes as he looked. Or, future slaves at the very least. Slavery was legal in Rendhold, but there wasn’t much use for it. Frasheid had use for them, as they relied on their slaves to grow crops, but Rendhold didn’t produce much of its own food and could always turn to its criminals for a source of easy and free labor. Even paying people a few coppers for work seemed more economical than providing room and board and food to the labor force. Certainly there were a few Uptown nobles that kept domestic slaves, but usually those were descended from the ones brought there by Frasheid royalty. It was all beyond him, as he’d never really considered owning one, or given much thought to it in general. He did know that buying and selling slaves was limited to those with special permission and authority, which he highly doubted Mondego had.

Jacopo did another loop, and this time Dantes counted the guards and people working. There were nearly fifty people there. The guards were armed with blades, guns, and even wands in some cases. It was possible he could overwhelm them all if he had a full vermin marks, but even that would be difficult. He considered sending Jacopo in with a burnstick to light the gunpowder, but that was too risky to Jacopo, not to mention that any fire it caused could spread across the entirety of the docks. He’d have to consider other options… get creative.

Jacopo made his way out of the building and they met in a nearby alley. There was still more work to do.

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