Burning Night: A Tale of the Everburning City

Chapter 5: Adrian

"There is no walking away from us, boy," Stenman Xavier had said, in that vicious rasp he called a voice. There was no humour in his dead eyes, and his two enforcers somehow became larger and more menacing without moving from their casual lean.

Adrian Keates believed the man who said that. Stenman Xavier had not carved his place in the world with empty words and idle threats. The head of the Porters, the largest smuggling company that worked in the Undercity, had a reputation for being extremely good at what they did, true to their word, and vicious to people that crossed them.

"I'm asking to buy out my contract, boss. I take my debts seriously," Adrian had insisted, and even then he had known how this conversation would end.

"You don't sign-on with a company like ours expecting to just walk away after a few years. I'm sorry about your sister, but buying out your debts just means you start taking a share of the profits. It doesn't give you license to take what you know about us and give it to someone in the upper City. You really think the Orderlies wouldn't love to know what you know?" Stenman had asked.

"I'm no snitch, boss. I just don't want to keep doing this. It reminds me of her," He said, playing his single best card.

It had almost worked. He could see the struggle playing over his boss' face, the sympathy playing against the potential liability that Adrian would present.

Sympathy didn't win out, but Adrian was surprised at how happy he was, when Stenman looked like it had actually put up a fight. "Afraid not, kid. I'm willing to make some extraordinary accommodations for you, and you've been nothing but loyal and upright. But letting you go is beyond what I'm willing to indulge."

Quickly, Adrian said "of course, Boss. Thank you for even considering it."

That part was important. If he hadn't bowed at that moment, he'd have died in Stenman Xavier's office.

"Of course. Like I said, you've been nothing but loyal. Go home, take a bit of time off, and think about some other accommodation we could make. A transfer, or I could have you training in another field. We'll talk about this in a couple of days."

Which was polite for: I'll kill you somewhere else. Enjoy your last evening.

Adrian was already packed, and had bribed a couple of tram conductors to take him up to the City. To survive alone, he needed to fade into an organization with people enough to disappear into, and enough muscle to keep Stenman Xavier from looking. And since he couldn't Craft, that made the military his best option.

Which brought him to today, standing in a recruitment line as far from the Porters, and his life until now, as he could manage to get.

The sun was blistering hot, magnified by the reflected light being bounced off the surrounding buildings, and the nearby torches. He was sweating badly beneath his loose fitting shirt, and was fairly certain he had already soaked through the arm pits.

What made it worse was the guy in front of him, dressed in a thick shirt, a dense vest that looked like the standard issue gear for forge workers, and very well made boots, looked completely unfazed by the heat.

He took a quick glance through the line, and as far as he could see in either direction, everyone else seemed to be at least a little bothered by the heat.

"Recruits, at attention!" Adrian heard a voice cut through the air, and the line of recruits rippled with startled excitement.

Adrian stood as straight as he could manage, noticing that everyone around him seemed to be doing the same.