Published at 22nd of October 2023 9:42 am

Book 2: Chapter 23

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Garrett sat in the soft glow of the Dreamer’s Throne, his hands clenching the arm rest as his mind strained to manage all of the pieces of his plan. This was the first time he had taken such direct control of so many variables, and he was starting to feel the extreme strain of it. The fight against Katrin had come close to draining him completely which is why he had backed Viper out. She was too skilled to overcome directly, even with the help of the flower ghouls, so Garrett had changed tactics mid-fight to apply more mental pressure to her. Feeling a tug on his mind, he took a breath and dove back in, his mind splitting up as he sank deep into the earth.

The rumbling cages had already been dragged under the city wall and were quickly approaching the exit that led out into the swamp, so Garrett commanded the flower ghouls who pulled them to slow down, eventually dropping the chains and retreating into the surrounding earth to hide. After a brief flurry of digging, only the gleaming petals of the ghouls’ heads were sticking out of the earth, and a young man in a red mask walked out of the shadows.

Vale, the converted member of the Howler gang, carried five blooms above his head that made him fiercely loyal to Garrett, but they didn’t allow for Garrett to control him directly, so all he could do was issue directions while watching closely.

Open the door to the middle cage.

Striding over to the middle cage, Vale undid the seal and threw the door open, stepping out of the way in case anyone inside decided to get frisky. None of them had any idea about what had happened in the other carts, but when the five assassins stepped out of the cage, they did so cautiously. Seeing only a single crimson masked person standing in front of them, Patolov’s eyes narrowed and he glanced at the other two carts.

“Where is everyone else?” he asked, his voice harsh.

“They’ve preceded you,” Vale said.

“What do you mean?”

In the cart, Ryn was still tied up, lying with her back to the door and her hands bound tightly behind her. A soft voice that she recognized immediately spoke in her mind, causing her eyes to light up as she realized that the time had come.

Get ready.

Able to watch through Observe the Dream, Garrett watched as Ryn shifted slightly, trying not to attract any attention as she focused her mind, causing a small music box to appear in front of her. She had been testing the box for a while, and was just starting to figure out how it worked and now she activated it, causing the faint music to start playing. Almost immediately, the assassins all tensed, unsure where the music was coming from, and Vale moved back, causing them to draw their weapons. The music swelled and Ryn flexed her wrists and ankles.

The movement was tiny, but for Patolov, who was on edge, it was clear as day and he spun around, his eyes fixing on Ryn. While it was his job to bring her back alive, his senses were screaming bloody murder, and he lunged toward her, his short sword stabbing down toward her back, intending to cut straight through her spine.

Now!

Without a moment to spare, Ryn twisted her waist and pressed with her arms, seeming to bounce straight up in the air in an explosive motion. At the same time, the ropes snapped, freeing her arms and legs as she grabbed the top of the doorway and swung herself out of the cage, getting on top of it in one smooth motion. A premonition slammed into her and she turned and cartwheeled, barely dodging a blade that stabbed up through the wood under her. Patolov, single minded in his focus, had entered the cage and stabbed straight through the ceiling, thinking that Ryn would be lying on top, gathering herself.

Accompanied by swelling strings, Ryn danced away, her body moving with an uncommon grace as Patolov tried to cut her feet open. Down below, the other assassins had turned toward Ryn, but before they could move to assist, they found themselves under siege. Out of the tunnel, the awakened from the Klein Family charged toward them, weapons drawn. Helger and Abbius stood at the back, armed with a short bow and crossbow respectively, sending bolts and arrows at the assassins as Pax and Maximus led the charge.

Wielding her massive axe with two hands, Pax brought it around in a wide arc, causing one of the assassins to dodge to the side, only to take a well placed steel bolt in the side, under her ribs. A shout of pain echoed in the room, soon joined by others as Vale, Maren, Luff, and Asher all joined the fight. Standing half way between the front line and the two archers, Kinsley and Estele threw out their own abilities. Kinsley targeted the assassins, setting them on fire with sparks that danced from his hands, while Estele sent golden light surging into Pax and Maximus.

Despite being highly trained, the assassins were overwhelmed in an instant. Direct combat was not their forte, and they were outnumbered, to say nothing of the vague haze that filled their minds and pulled their attention toward the gently waving flowers that filled the room. It was only a matter of seconds until the first one fell, stunned by a blow from the side of Pax’ axe. Grabbing her, Pax threw her back toward the wall, and when she came to, she found herself staring at a crossbow bolt that was pointed right between her eyes. Pain in her jaw indicated that someone had forcefully removed the poison capsule in her mouth, and Helger was currently tying her tightly.

Patolov had been unable to catch Ryn, despite destroying the majority of the cart’s ceiling, but as he turned to leave, he heard a loud clang and the door slammed shut. Dusting her hands off, Ryn grinned happily as the cage started to shake, but she was already off to the next thing, following Garrett’s directions. Furious at being trapped, Patolov hacked at the steel cage, splintering the wood that lined the inside, and even managing to bend the bars of the cage, but he was well and truly trapped. He could feel an intense disorientation creeping toward him, and every time he blinked, the flowers that lined the walls seemed to have grown larger in his sight, causing him to blank out.

The rest of the assassins were in an even worse spot, and the three who were still fighting were quickly subdued and tied up, ending the fight. Patolov was still occasionally struggling, but the team ignored him, as per Garrett’s instructions. They were just finishing cleaning up the battlefield when Viper walked out of the tunnel, causing everyone to stop and look at him. He was alone, but he carried a broken short sword that he tossed down in front of the captured assassins.

“Everything has been dealt with, except for that one,” Vale reported, pointing at Patolov.

“Get the first and second carts hooked up and we’ll transport everyone back over,” Viper said, looking around.

“Hey, I wanted to ask, how do these things move anyway?” Maximus asked, only to get an elbow in his ribs as Pax made a slicing motion across her neck.

“Seriously, don’t ask,” she hissed, “you don’t want to know.”

“Okay, that just makes it sound worse,” Kinsley said, jumping into the conversation with shining eyes.

Petrifying all three of them with a cold glance, Viper gestured to the carts.

“No more messing around. We have work to do. Get the carts set, and get everyone loaded. Make sure that none of them escape as the boss has plans for all of them. Make sure you secure Patolov well. The boss is especially interested in him. I won’t be coming with you as I have a meeting out in the swamp.”

It didn’t take the team long to get the carts disconnected, rearranged, and reconnected and they bundled the assassins into the first cart and the new second cart, paying careful attention to Patolov who was tightly bound. They had been forced to gag all of the assassins to keep them from biting their own tongues, something Ryn had done with relish. She gave all of them a few kicks for good measure and then sat on the bench, glaring at them as they began the ride back through the tunnel system. Viper and Vale watched them go and then headed the opposite direction, toward the surface and the swamp.

Once he was sure that the return trip was going smoothly, Garrett took direct control of Viper, eager to see the outside world for the first time. Or, at least, for the first time since he had woken up in this body. As a young noble, Garrett had looked over the walls a number of times, admiring the world outside the city wall before retreating to the safety of the palace. This time, however, he was going to get to experience the world outside the city as it truly was.

Climbing until they reached another large chamber, one where Vale had his camp set up and would be staying for the foreseeable future, they dropped off some of the weapons and armor they had kept from the fight. Garrett’s plan was to keep Viper close, confining his activities to the city and the catacombs and sewers under it. Vale, on the other hand, would remain outside of the city, handling things on this end. With the young man’s complete loyalty ensured, Garrett felt fine leaving him to manage this end of the tunnel system, and there would be flower ghouls nearby to help him if he ever ran up against a threat he couldn’t handle.

The meeting was slated for close to midnight, and there was still at least an hour until then, so Viper and Vale stopped to grab a bit of food before heading up through the final length of passage to the surface. The ghouls had dug out the tunnel into a small hill covered in bushes and stones, hiding the entrance on the opposite side from the city, and a rough gate had been placed across its opening. After opening the gate, Garrett spent a moment scanning the swamp that stretched into the distance, looking for threats before crouching and sliding into the bushes.

Though it was unlikely that the city guards would spot them from this distance, Garrett didn’t want to take any chances. He knew that there were awakened among the guards, and he couldn’t risk one of them happening to have a far sight ability. Vale followed closely behind him as Garrett wove his way through the bushes. They had set the meeting location in a large group of dead trees on the edge of the swamp where there was a small, broken down dock, and Garrett wanted to check it out before the others arrived. Rough grass crackled underfoot and the land seemed to sink with each step, leaving boot prints that filled with water when they raised their feet.

It was rough going, but Garrett didn’t care one bit as they tromped through the swamp as quietly and carefully as possible. Soon, the trees grew close, and Garrett spotted the shack where they were supposed to meet up. Its windows gaped like empty eyes and the leafless trees cast long, fingers of shadow over the derelict structure. Taking a moment to appreciate how well the scene fit the horror theme that had dominated his life recently, Garrett laughed and continued toward the small house. Stretched out in front of the building was a long dock that was half collapsed in the water, its rotting boards providing plenty of cover for the small creatures that hid under its shadow.

Testing the door, Garrett found it unlocked so he opened it up and looked around the dusty space. It was a single room, with a kitchen and a broken down bunk bed whose straw mattress had long since been raided by the rats and other vermin who were nesting in the walls and under the broken floor. Garrett could hear them scurrying about with every step he took, and occasionally caught a flash of movement from the corner of his eyes. The moon was high in the sky, its thin crescent casting light through the hazy fog that hung over the swamp, and thin beams of silver caught the stirring dust kicked up when Garrett entered.

“Who built this place?” he asked, looking back at Vale who was standing on the porch watching the swamp.

“I’m not sure, boss.”

“It’s a bit of a shame it’s fallen into disrepair, but we don’t want to fix it up too much, or we’ll attract the attention of the adventurer’s guild. The saving grace is that we’re far enough from the city that I don’t think we’ll have many people out this direction. Is that dock even going to allow us to land goods? Huh, this place needs more work than I thought.”

“Yes, boss.”

Rolling his eyes at the uninspiring replies, Garrett shook his head and lapsed into silence. For the next hour they waited quietly, each occupied with his own thoughts. Garrett could have discovered what was in his subordinate’s mind without effort, but he found it tiring to keep up a two sided conversation by himself, so he just let the taciturn young man alone. As the moon rose to its highest point, a small boat appeared in the distance, quickly closing in on the broken dock. The wide sail skillfully captured the wind and carried the boat to a rest next to the shore. Jumping out before the boat had come to land, a hardy looking man pulled it up and tied it off, holding it in place as the others got off the boat. There were two thin, sharp looking men, one with a large mustache, and the other with a big beard, who walked toward Garrett confidently, trailed by a hulking brute of a man who glared at Garrett and Vale from under a heavy brow.

“Are you Viper?”

Standing up from the crate he had been sitting on, Garrett nodded.

“I am. You must be Dodgson and Veroni. You’ll have to forgive me, I don’t know which facial hair goes with who.”

Laughing loudly, the mustached man held out his hand for a handshake.

“I’m Dodgson. This ugly git is Veroni. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Though, I have to inform you, we’ve already been warned about you. Carraway told us we’d have to be on our top game with you or you’d clean us out.”

Shaking hands with Veroni, Garrett shrugged.

“Carraway is too kind. We’ve worked together a bit, and he’ll be the one making all the real money from selling your goods in the city. I’m just the one who gets things from here to there. I’d invite you inside, but it’s even worse than out here.”

“That’s okay,” Veroni said, combing out his beard with his hand. “We don’t care what the conditions are like as long as it leads to profit.”

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