Published at 22nd of October 2023 9:42 am

Book 3: Chapter 6

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"Is that the pressure you're under?" Garrett asked Cynen as Ryn wheeled him back into the grave walker's main hall.

The Grave Walker’s leader grimaced at the question, her frustration evident.

"Yes," she practically snarled. "Both the Brass Tiger Syndicate and the Ebony Association hold seats, and recently they've been putting pressure on us, trying to hasten our downfall. I should have guessed they would show up today to rain on our parade."

"It's good to know who the enemy is," Garrett said, his expression unreadable. "Both of them seemed strong, though not quite at your level. I take it that they are the leaders of their gangs?"

"Yes.”

“And are they allied or just coordinating with each other?" Garrett asked.

Shrugging, Cynen found a chair and plopped down in it.

"I'm not sure. I thought that they were competing, but now it maybe looks like they're not."

"You know what they say," Garrett replied with half a smile, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend. It could be that they're just working together to ensure that you don't grow any bigger. Since the Family has joined the Grave Walkers, you've become more of a threat, and no doubt they are coordinating to make sure that threat doesn't grow. Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of attention to spare them at the moment, but eventually we'll have to deal with them. Why don't you tell me a little bit about how this council works?"

Slouched in her chair, Cynen gave Garrett a long look before nodding.

"Fine, I'm getting the feeling that you're going to be doing most of the strategizing, so it would be a good idea if you knew what was going on. The council is an informal ruling body that runs the gangs in the city. It was formed to guard against the major guilds, though every seat in the council has agreements with the different guilds, just under the table. We're all engaged in illegal activity, so we can't officially work with the guilds, or we'll draw too much attention from the city guard. But the council is a way to make sure that none of the gangs get out of control. Some years back, a gang war erupted. It was right before the Grave Walkers were established, when we were still hunting the remnants of undead in this district.

“The gang war wasn't on this side of the river, but instead was in the upscale districts outside the palace. It ended up destroying a lot of property, and the ensuing crackdown nearly crushed every gang in the city. It was after that the gangs got together to establish the Ten Seats, agreeing to enforce a set of rules, though there's not much of that anymore. Instead, it's a lot of political fighting, backstabbing, and trying to undermine each other. The more powerful gangs are always competing for seats, and there are at least three who have been eyeing us up. Two of them are associated with the Brass Tiger Syndicate, while one is under the Ebony Association. They're all local gangs in this area, and both the Brass Tiger Syndicate and the Ebony Association are angling for another seat on the council."

"Oh, I didn't realize that associated gangs could control more than one seat," Garrett said, his eyebrows rising.

"Yes, actually, the top two seats are all controlled by the same gang, the Moonlight Council and Rackham's Blade.”

“I'm actually familiar with both of those names," Garrett said, leaning forward. "Moonlight Council? Isn't that a bunch of young nobles?"

"It is," Cynen nodded, with a nasty grin that showed her teeth. "They like to come and play around, but they've got the money and their own personal armies, so there isn't much we can do. Rackham's Blade is one of the top mercenary companies, and is employed by the Moonlight Council to keep the rest of us in line."

"Curious," Garrett said with a musing look. "This is sounding more interesting all the time. We might have to rethink our strategy if we can have multiple seats. And how do these challenges work? Paskal mentioned that you might lose your seat. I assume there's some sort of challenge process?"

"Yes," Cynen said. "When the council convenes, the opportunity arises for a challenge to any seat. The challenge has to be supported by another seat to give it legitimacy."

"Okay, and how is it settled?"

"The same way any gang war is," Cynen replied, shrugging. "Single fight, group fight, all-out war. The challenger proposes, and if the defender agrees, they hash it out. Winner takes all."

"Good to know," Garrett replied. "I'll continue to work on a strategy, but for now, we have more pressing matters. The corruption in your gang has not been eliminated entirely. In fact, on the way here, I detected the curse in many of your men. We need to deal with that as soon as possible. Additionally, I need your help in exploring the underground tunnels, the crypts. The necromancers are building an army of zombies somewhere, and if we can find it before they unleash it on the city, that would be best."

From the look Cynen gave him, it was clear that she didn't quite believe Garrett's prediction of a mass zombie wave. But she had already agreed to help, and so she nodded.

"Fine, I can lead the way myself. There isn't anyone in the gang that knows the crypts better than I do."

"Good," Garrett nodded. "I'll be sending some of my men with you. They'll be waiting in the crypts under the mausoleum. I know everything has changed rapidly, and so don't feel in too much of a rush. It will take some time for our gangs to get to know each other, but I trust that this will be the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership."

Shaking her head, Cynen stood up.

"I sure hope so," she replied. "And if it's not, I'm going to burn this whole place to the ground."

With those words, she left, leaving Ryn and Garrett alone. Everyone else who had come with them was out, beginning to implement the gangs’ merger. In the silence of the once-great hall, Ryn looked at Garrett with a skeptical gaze.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Ryn said. "It's not like we actually need this, the Grave Walkers. Aren't we just attaching ourselves to more trouble?"

To her surprise, Garrett nodded. "Yes, that's exactly what we're doing. The Grave Walkers are clearly in trouble, but that's even better for us. Let's head back to the inn."

Stepping behind Garrett, Ryn took hold of his wheelchair and began to push him out of the building, lifting him down the stairs and gathering Abbius, Helger, and Maximus, who were standing nearby. Under their escort, they began the trip back to Dreamer's Inn. It was clear that Ryn didn't understand what Garrett had said, but she remained quiet until they had arrived back at the inn, and entered the privacy of his office. There, she shook her head and fixed him with a hard stare.

"I've been thinking about this the entire way home, and I don't get it. What's the purpose? Why give ourselves more trouble? We're already in over our heads. We already have too many enemies."

"Exactly. We have too many enemies. We don't even know who all of our enemies are. And so, rather than spend all of our time paranoid that we're going to get stabbed in the back, we pick the one we want to fight. Humans are creatures that like taking the easy route," he said, smiling, as he got his ledger out of his desk. "Imagine you're one of our enemies. There's an upstart gang that is starting to encroach on your territory. You feel like you should do something about it, but then all of a sudden, that gang angers one of your rivals, another big gang that could crush the upstart just like you could. But rather than just general animosity, they specifically set themselves at odds. Are you going to continue trying to take down this upstart gang, or are you going to wait, trusting that someone else will do the work for you? We've attached ourselves to the Grave Walkers, who have all sorts of problems, and are already being targeted by two specific gangs, the Brass Tiger Syndicate and the Ebony Association. Because we now have a clear enemy, everyone else, all of our hidden enemies, will likely simply sit back and wait for us to be taken down. After all, even with the help of the Grave Walkers, we aren't a match for either of the other two gangs. And that gives us the time and space we need to grow stronger."

"You mean to say that we're using the Grave Walkers as a cover?" Ryn said, her brow furrowing as she tried to puzzle through what Garrett had said. "But what if somebody else attacks us anyways?"

"That's a possibility," Garrett admitted, "one that we will have to be prepared for. But you might think of it this way. By making very public enemies, we are increasing the likelihood that some of the people who don't like us will simply stand by, waiting to see what happens, waiting to see if we end up getting destroyed. Our goal, for the moment, is to delay the inevitable. We know we're going to have to fight the other gangs in the city, though it would be much better if we didn't. But we also need to buy ourselves time so we can deal with the coming zombie wave. Once we've dealt with that, then we'll have time to fight against the rest of the gangs. For the moment, by putting ourselves in the way of danger, we've actually bought ourselves time. After all, no one wants to expend energy and effort if they don't need to. Now, this will only work so long as someone takes action, which is why we need to investigate the Brass Tiger Syndicate and the Ebony Association so we can determine who it would be better to face."

Shaking her head, Ryn gave Garrett an amused look. "Let me guess, I'm getting volunteered for that?"

"You are the best we have," Garrett replied, flashing a cheeky smile. "Ryn, would you be so kind as to go check out their headquarters? I'm not saying you have to take anything, but it would be great to know what sort of resources the two gangs have, and any weaknesses that we might be able to exploit. Specifically, connections they have that would get them in trouble with the city guard."

Unable to resist Garrett's smile, Ryn laughed. "Fine, I'll see what I can find."

"Thank you," Garrett said. "Oh, and I know this is random, but I'm looking for a specific test from those kids we're recruiting for our new school, I'm looking for a Joe Trilby. See if anybody by that name has taken the test, and if so, bring it to me."

Curiosity bloomed in Ryn's eyes, but she just nodded.

"Sure, I'll take a look."

Twenty-five minutes later, Garrett was looking at one of the worst tests he had ever seen. Joe Trilby had indeed taken the test, just as his sister had said he would. Unfortunately, he was 15 years old, and so this was his only shot, and he had failed just about everything. Looking at the test in dismay, Garrett couldn't help but sigh, causing Ryn, who was watching him, to grow curious.

"Ugh, this would be much easier if his test scores were good," Garrett said, shaking his head.

"Why'd you want to see him?" Ryn asked.

"Someone made a personal request. His younger sister asked me to pay special attention to him, but with scores like these, there's no way we can let him in. Instead, we'll have to find something else for him to do. See if anyone needs a runner. We can employ him with the same agreement that the students are going to be signing, just without the guarantee of training. That'll at least give him a chance, and if he does well, I'll even teach him myself."

"When did you meet with his sister?" Ryn asked, but Garrett just shook his head.

"Alright, do me a favor and go break the news to him yourself. You should be able to find him at his house."

Garrett scribbled the address on the top of the paper with his quill, and then handed the test scores back to Ryn, ignoring the question she asked.

"If you see Pax around, can you send her in?"

"Fine," Ryn replied, shaking her head. "No rest for the weary."

After she had gone, Garrett closed his eyes, forming a connection with Viper, who was down in the crypts below. Two of the assassins, two of the red-masked assassins were with him, and a contingent of flower ghouls lurked in the darkness nearby. As soon as the connection was formed, information flooded into Garrett's mind, alerting him to everything that Viper had experienced since the last time Garrett had seen the red-masked man.

"Go to the Grave Walker territory. You'll meet Cynen and her men there."

In the darkness below the city, Viper stood up, and the two masked assassins mirrored his movement. Without a word, the three of them began to move, walking through the near pitch black. Occasionally, bioluminescent plants gave hints of light here and there, but for the most part, this area of the crypts was shrouded in complete darkness, though neither Viper nor the assassins minded. The dream flower they carried allowed them to operate in this pitch black environment without issue, giving them the ability to navigate the dangerous tunnels swiftly.

Garrett's hope was that Viper and Cynen would be able to find the necromancer's lair before the march of Lesrak drowned the city in undead. According to what Asher had told him, there was a tomb buried deep under the crypts where the dark hand made their base. It was here that he would find the skeletal hand of Lesrak, and it was here that he would settle things with the great ruler. He could feel the coming crisis in his bones, and knew that this was his first great test. It would determine whether he would continue to play the game, or if his second chance at life would end as his first did. Moving quietly through the darkness with the team, he continued to observe Viper through their connection, choosing not to jump in so he could keep his attention in his office as he waited for Pax.

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