The Old City

0.15: Regrouping

Elsewhere...

"Hurry up," called Alan. "If we don't get back soon, it's both our heads."

His hands were bloodied, a knife in one hand, his other supporting a comrade's limp corpse. Staying alive was a dirty business in the Black Phoenix.

"It's not easy!" cried Prout, twenty short feet away and yet miles apart. "Do you already have two?"

"I have three. If you only bring back two, Lucien will sick the dogs on you."

"I can't go through this again..." Prout said, voice creaking with agony.

"You won't have to if you only bring back two." Alan walked over and finished Prout's work. Then he stepped toward another man they'd called 'friend' just hours before. After a few moments, he handed Alan both scalps and stood as straight as he could, as though any bend in his back would recognize the atrocity of what he'd just done.

"He's in a bad mood because of what happened with Granada," Alan sighed. "I hope this is enough."

He lifted Prout off the ground and hefted his arm over his shoulders. With his free hand, he flicked a open a lighter and dropped it on the bodies.

None of the squad leaders can know we did this...

The blood never washed out of his clothes, even in the rain, but at least the long streaks and spots of red made it seem like he had fought in battle.

***

After his seventh review, Lucien finally put Mordat's report down. The heavy pages documented dozens of accounts from today's battles and the gang lord felt he finally had a solid grasp of the day's events.

Two mages come out of nowhere and break up a battle between our gangs...and they're strong enough to hurt Granada. They are dangerous because we don't know what they want...or do we?

"You said they helped some children and disobeyed your order to stand down?"

The Enforcer who had confronted Marcus and Seneca earlier that day sat perfectly still in a chair across from Lucien's desk. He'd nervously watched the gang lord read Mordat's thick report and think in silence for over an hour. Mordat himself stood at the end of this long roomy, squarely in front of the metal door.

"Yes, sir."

Lucien once again returned to thought.

Indignant to authority. Moral enough to protect children...what to do, what to do...,

Marek will try to acquire them, of course. That fool doesn't realize this type of person would never bow to his command. They are probably soldiers who just returned to Soran, or else I don't see why they would interfere with a small conflict like this. Sick of takin' orders. Disillusioned with battle. Irate at their powerlessness in the grand scheme of the war.

Too powerful to be ignored, too unruly to be controlled. And they hurt my pet. There is only one thing to be done.

"It's time for a hunt."

***

The Mermaid's Wing

With each passing word, dread trickled further up Angelica's neck. The footsteps that creaked by in the hallway sounded like cannon fire aimed squarely at their room. She had grown more cautious as an adult, less interested in the adventures these two used to embark upon through the city.

Consequences used to mean nothing, yet today they seemed to be all that mattered. She had thus far been empathetic to Seneca's eccentricities. She'd sat through his tears, his night terrors and his apathy. But now she would speak her mind.

"You fools..." Angelica whispered. "Marcus, you haven't lived here in a decade, but you must realize how idiotic this is. And Seneca! You know better. I know you know better. We need to run. The Mermaid's Wing is not a safe place."

"Granny Anya loves me," Marcus protested. "She would never sell me out."

"But none of the guests give a single shit about you – and they wouldn't sell you out. Lucien doesn't give rewards to people who give him information. He lets them live as a courtesy. He will not care why you intervened. He will not care that you stopped Marek from takin' his stronghold. He will only want to kill you."

The rickety floorboards creaked as Angelica paced the room. Marcus watched her with a half-amused look that did not help her anxiety.

"You don't understand just how deep this pile of shit you're in is. I cannot believe you just came back into our lives and not a week later, signed your own death sentence – not only yours, but Seneca's too!"

"Marek and Granada weren't that strong. I doubt Lucien will be much of a problem either."

"Lucien took his seat by killin' the previous gang lord, not a weak man by any means." Angelica's voice was deep and serious. The change in tone took the men aback and reminded them of worse times they'd shared as children. "You two were playin' at war when he came and broke the back of the First Ring...

"The smell.

"Of the bodies.

"He racked up.

"Would curdle your blood.

"He's stronger and crueler and cleverer than you. And now you're his prey."

Angelica, whose calm voice and oceanic patience had now stretched to their limits, was here beseeching them to find some way out. She needed them to survive, couldn't lose another friend.

"What can we do then?" Marcus asked. "I'll leave the inn before sunrise but where should I go?"

"You can stay with me," Seneca proposed. "Not a soul knows where I live but Angelica and my landlord, who's never left our building. I don't have a shift tomorrow so we can lay low and think how we will react. But it is crucial that we aren't reckless."

"Go now, while there are no eyes on you," Angelica agreed. "I will leave in an hour. I may know someone who can help find a place where Marcus can hide." I just have to find him first.

Seneca nodded agreement and pushed himself up. He had tightened on the floor, his muscles having forgotten the taste of battle, unsure how to react to the day's exercise. He had not realized how far he had let himself go; in the war, he might have used this much magic in an hour gone on for days. This newfound weakness surprised him but as he flexed his shoulders, he pushed those thoughts away and looked forward. A new feeling emerged: RESILIENCE.

If I am to save Marcus then I must return to form. I can't lose him and I won't give Angelica another reason to cry...

Marcus had thought similarly. "Don't worry," he said. "We aren't goin' anywhere. Anywhere but the top. The top of this ring and the top of this godsforsaken city. You have my word; I won't stop until then. I won't let anybody kill me or Seneca."