Published at 22nd of October 2023 9:42 am

Book 3: Chapter 5

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The others went much more smoothly as they heeded their boss's words and relaxed their defenses. For each one, Garrett sent out a dream flower seed, planting it into their minds. He refrained from growing any blooms past the first, and instead commanded the flowers to begin absorbing the energy of the curse. It took about forty minutes for the flowers to absorb the entirety of the curse, and by morning all five of the remaining awakened had been cleared. As morning was just about to dawn, they prepared for the next phase of their plan. Though Cynen was going along with Garrett, it was clear that she still had some reservations, but she played along.

When she reappeared in the inn’s office, Garrett was already sitting in his wheelchair, a calm expression on his face. His shoulders were slightly stooped, his weak looking body and thin face giving him a fragile air, making it impossible for her to equate him with the confident, broad shouldered mask wearing man she had just been negotiating with. All it had taken to achieve the misdirection was a simple use of Illusory Dream, creating an image of him to remain standing nearby while he slipped out of the Ghost’s Mirror. When she saw him, Cynen nearly sneered, until she remembered that it was Garrett who was the public face of the Klein Family, and they were now allied.

“That masked man. Your leader. What is his name?” Cynen asked.

A faint smile crossed Garrett’s face as he met Cynen’s fierce gaze.

“He isn’t our leader. But you can call him Geller, or the Dreamer.”

Taken aback, Cynen walked over to stand in front of Garrett, looking down at him with narrowed eyes.

“He’s not in charge?”

“No. Though you can take anything he says as the will of the Klein Family. Just as you can take my words in the same way.”

“Who is in charge? Can I meet the boss?”

Shaking his head, Garrett let his gaze sweep over the five awakened who had appeared behind Cynen as Isabelle threw them out of the Hollow Space. Each of the five carried a bloom that had been strengthened by consuming the curse, growing to two or three blooms. This was Garrett’s true insurance policy. Of the seven awakened who had come to attack, there were only these five left, and each one of them was carrying a dream flower. They would continue lurking beside Cynen, growing naturally and serving as Garrett’s eyes and ears.

It was a risk of sorts, as there were undoubtedly mysterious artifacts that would be able to tell that they were carrying parasitic dream entities within their bodies. Furthermore, the dream flowers would begin to propagate when they returned to the crypts, increasing the spread of the flowers to the northernmost part of the city. The spread of flowers was already impossible to miss in the dream, and seeing more pop up might raise some suspicion, but Garrett knew it was a risk he had to take. Ideally, he would have been able to plant a dream seed in Cynen herself, but her soul spark was simply too strong and she would have been able to tell it was there.

There was a knock on the door and Obe opened it up, faint confusion appearing on his face when he saw Cynen and the others. They all looked tired and like they had gone through a fight, but otherwise were unharmed. Cynen in particular stood out to him as he saw her casually talking with Garrett. Stopping by the desk, he bowed to Garrett.

“You wanted to see me, boss?”

“Yes,” Garrett said, holding out a piece of paper that had some writing on it. “Can you get this copied and distribute copies throughout our territory? Can you also call Gavin here? I’d like to talk to him about our new agreement with the Grave Walker gang.”

“Sure, boss,” Obe said, nodding his head and quickly leaving the room with the piece of paper in hand.

Cynen watched him go, a faint confusion on her face. Sensing that she had a question, Garrett just looked at her and waited. After Obe vanished, she turned to Garrett.

“Just like that? No questions?”

Chuckling, Garrett waved his hand.

“What need is there for questions where there is trust?”

Shuddering, Cynen shook her head.

“There is something really wrong with all of you. You use mysterious artifacts, you work with monsters, your lieutenants just obey your commands with no hesitation. It’s creepy. But don’t get me wrong, I’m happy you’re on my side.”

“I was going to say, aren’t you the one who wanders around the crypts? That isn’t a whole lot better.”

This time, Cynen was the one who chuckled.

“True. I’m starving. Where do I get some food?”

“Follow me,” Garrett said, wheeling himself toward the door. “I’ve asked Francis to prepare a large breakfast.”

The sun was high overhead when Cynen stepped out of the door of the inn, her five men following her. With them were Obe, Abbius, Leff, Helger, Maximus, and Gavin of Delver’s Butchers. A moment later, Ryn pushed Garrett’s wheelchair out of the doorway and the group proceeded toward the Grave Walker’s territory. A leaflet had already been distributed to the members of the Family, and when they saw the large group they didn’t have much of a reaction. They were already used to the powers of the gangs swinging wildly, and if what the paper said was right, the newest shift in authority wouldn’t actually impact them at all.

When they passed by the meat processing plant, however, the same couldn’t be said for the citizens who lived in the Grave Walker’s territory. They reacted with fear, and by retreating, clutching their valuables to their chests. Soon, word got out that there was a large group from the two gangs that was heading back to the Grave Walker’s headquarters, and members of the gang began to gather, lining the streets in their uniforms and masks. Many of them wore their aggression on their sleeves, thinking that the Klein Family had come to attack them, but seeing Cynen walking along next to Garrett was enough to cause them to stop. After a few dozen Grave Walkers appeared, Cynen gestured for the group to stop and stepped forward.

“This is less of a welcome than I was anticipating,” she said, her fierce gaze sweeping the gathered gang members. “Where is the excitement for our victory?”

Hearing her question, a murmur rose among the crowd and one of the gang members stepped forward.

“You won?”

“Hah, was that ever in question? We’ve just been hashing out all the details,” Cynen said, a grin sliding onto her face. “Let everyone know that we’re going to have a subordination ceremony.”

The murmurs gave way to cheers as the Grave Walker gang members realized that she meant what she said. Immediately, the looks that the group were getting changed and the Grave Walkers crowded around. Cynen led the growing group, bringing them to an ornate set of metal gates that led into the graveyard that sat on the northeastern corner of the city. It was a large area, and it was among the mausoleums that the Grave Walker gang made their home. Winding through the packed gravestones, Cynen brought them to a massive stone building with four different wings.

Though it looked at first glance as if the building was one solid piece of architecture, a closer inspection revealed that it was actually five buildings, arranged in an X shape that had been linked together by four additions that connected each of the corner buildings with the center structure which was the largest. Feeling someone watching him, Garrett looked over and saw that it was Cynen.

“What do you think?” she asked.

“It’s impressive,” Garrett said. “How did you avoid angering the authorities when you built it?”

Shaking her head, Cynen gestured to a symbol on the side of the building.

“Because they were the ones who built it. The leader of the group that would become our gang, the original Grave Walkers, needed a place to rest, so the king gave him this land, and even had the royal architects step out to create this building.”

“I didn’t know you had ties to the royal family,” Garrett said, looking around with interest as they entered the large double doors that led into the main building.

“We did, but that is gone now,” Cynen replied, rubbing the back of her head ruefully.

Inside the Grave Walkers’ headquarters was a worn looking hall. It seemed to Garrett that everything he looked at either glowed with gold leaf, or was made of rich looking marble. There was a large staircase that rose to a second floor, curving around the edge of the room, and a simple marble desk for a receptionist that was empty. Used to this, Cynen rummaged for something in the desk and held it up for Garrett to see.

“This is our guild’s seal, and it is what we will use when we officially sign our agreement.”

Looking at it carefully, Garrett felt like he could sense a faint touch of mental energy hovering around it. To his surprise, however, it lacked the distinctive feeling of the Dream. Garrett had assumed that all mysterious artifacts were connected to the Dream, but it seemed that this wasn’t the case.

“May I see that?” he asked, holding out his hand.

“Are you crazy? You can’t touch our artifact,” Cynen said, giving him an annoyed look. “Besides, it won’t activate for anyone but me.”

“Oh? And what does it do?” Garrett asked, leaning forward with interest.

“It creates a binding agreement. It will help us ensure that everyone is being truthful.”

Ignoring the barb, Garrett caressed his chin with his fingers. He had been learning everything he could about mysterious artifacts, but Garrett had never run into one like this. That seemed to suggest that there were more powers beyond the Dream than he had realized. Looking around, Garrett realized that there wasn’t a hint of the Dream anywhere in the large building. The building also lacked the depressive aura that shrouded the rest of the cemetery and instead there was a fresh, bright smell. Figuring it had to do with some way the building had been constructed, Garrett put it out of his mind and brought himself to task.

The plan was simple. First, allow the group to be seen clearly. Second, hold a subordination ceremony that would show that the Grave Walkers had won. Third, sign the agreement. With the first part of the plan complete, Garrett and Cynen began the second. Their ceremony wasn’t complicated, and it only took about ten minutes for them to perform it. Garrett recited an oath promising to support the Grave Walkers as the stronger gang, while Cynen returned an oath committing themselves to protect the Klein Family. The oaths were more of a formality than anything else, but they were performed for the sake of tradition.

More important than the oaths was the agreement itself. Garrett had drafted it that morning, and it was absolutely watertight. Even a careful reading would give the impression that the Klein Family was the weaker of the gangs, but it set things up in such a way that most of the benefits flowed toward the Family, rather than to the Grave Walkers. All of this was done in the main room of the Grave Walker’s headquarters, and by the time they were done, there was a large crowd gathered outside. This was the most important part of the play, as among the crowd were members of other gangs coming to see what was going on. Heading back out onto the steps, Cynen looked around proudly and gestured to Garrett, Obe, and the others.

“Today marks a great victory for the Grave Walker gang. We welcome the Klein Family, and associated gangs, under our banner. While we will not directly absorb their territory, they will be under our protection. Let the word be spread that we have gained a new subordinate gang.”

Murmurs rippled through the crowd as everyone looked at Garrett and the others from the Klein family. It was rare that a gang fight would end up with a solution like this, but it wasn’t entirely unheard of. Still, the Klein Family had been acknowledged as one of the fastest growing gangs in the city, so to see them pulled under the Grave Walker’s umbrella was an impressive feat. A heavily muscled man with an open vest that revealed his bare chest stepped out of the crowd and walked closer, stopping when he was at the foot of the stairs where Cynen had addressed the crowd.

“Congratulations, Death’s Flame. I didn’t realize you knew how to leave people alive. I would have thought that you would have burned them all to a crisp.”

“Paskal, has your boss let you out of your cage to run wild?” Cynen said.

Paskal just grinned at Cynen’s words as he stepped forward heavily, his foot landing on the first step.

“Don’t cause trouble, Paskal,” a thin woman said, appearing next to him. “This is supposed to be a happy occasion, not a clash between gangs.”

“Gero is correct,” Cynen said, her expression easing as she released the pressure she was building up.

The thin woman flashed a smile at Paskal and then turned to Garrett.

“Don’t let him scare you, Mr. Klein. I am Gero Twin Blade, of the Ebony Association. The muscle head is Paskal the Crusher, of the Brass Tiger Syndicate. We’re your neighbors, so we thought we would come by and see how things shook out.”

“You’ve seen it, so you can leave now,” Cynen said, her expression dour. “And don’t let me find you creeping around, or you’ll get a taste of my wrath.”

Sneering, Paskal looked at Garrett and shook his head.

“The company you are keeping is getting worse by the day, Cynen. At this rate, you’ll fall from your seat before the next meeting. It’s pathetic.”

Green flames burst to life around Cynen’s hands as she stepped forward, staring down the short flight of stairs at Paskal.

“Want to try me? You can see if I’ve lost my edge.”

“Knock it off you too,” Gero said, giving both of them a hard look. “If you want to fight, wait for the meeting. If you brawl in the street, you’ll cause problems for everyone.”

Spitting on the ground, Paskal turned around and walked away, not bothering to say anything further and with a little smile that wasn’t friendly at all, Gero trailed after him, leaving Cynen and Garrett looking after them. Her mood ruined, Cynen dispersed the crowd and stomped back into the gang’s headquarters leaving Garrett and the others outside.

“What was that about?” Ryn asked.

“I’m not sure,” Garrett said, “but I’m going to find out.”

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