Chapter 12: Gamble

Fen and Regis spent hours poring through the papers Fen had stolen from the cultists, and it really made Fen appreciate Regis all over again. His special informant skills helped him to glean hints from the papers that were going straight over Fen’s head.

Apparently the cultists were in the area searching for something, and the marks on the map that didn’t indicate hired hits were the places they were looking. There was no indication of what they were looking for, but there were tons of mentions about “choosing the storm” in contexts that gave Fen the chills.

Regis suddenly leaped to his feet, scuttling over to one of the overfilled shelves and scrambling for a book.

“What is it?” Fen asked.

“They’re digging into the ruins in the area!”

“We kinda already figured that out.” Fen noted.

“Give me a minute.” Regis flipped through the book he had found, and Fen saw that it was full of hand written notes. His face kept scrunching and unscrunching as he searched, and it flung his beard around in a humorous way. “Ok, I’ve got it.” He turned the book to show Fen, but he kept explaining anyway. “A while back I heard rumor of a ruin that the University at Kheltirm purchased from Unger a while back. They were going to open a dig there, but they haven’t gotten around to it yet, and it’s not on this map yet either.”

“So this is a likely spot for them to be searching?” Fen asked. “And if I go there first I might find whatever it is they’re looking for and be able to keep it from them.”

“Hopefully.” Regis said. “The alternative is that you spoil some future archaeological site and piss off a bunch of scholarly types.”

Fen nodded. “That’s a worthwhile risk. Where is this place?”

Regis placed a mark on the map, probably less than a day’s travel outside the city. It was intriguingly close to another red mark on the map.

“I’ll get going then.” Fen said, strapping his sword belt on and stepping out into Unger. The western sky was painted a brilliant array of reds and oranges, but Fen ignored it as he made his way over to The Vulgar Lake. He was very late, and Oskar was sitting impatiently at Fen’s customary table in the corner, several empty glasses scattered around.

“Took you long enough.” Oskar said. “Were you napping again?”

“No.” Fen took a seat. “I raided the cult’s headquarters and found a lead.”

Oskar covered his surprise quickly and snarked back. “Well, I’m glad you found something, because I’ve got basically nothing. What did you find?”

“They’re here looking for something that they plan to use to ‘choose their own storm,’ but I don’t know what it is or what that means yet. It seems like the raids they’ve been doing in the city are just a distraction.”

“That’s not great news.”

“Well, I’ve got a place to look that they haven’t found yet, so that’s my next step.”

Oskar nodded. “Are you asking me to come with?”

“Not necessarily, but I won’t turn you away if you wish to help.”

Oskar sat there for a long time, pondering the situation. Eventually he shook his head. “I need to stay here. My boys need me, and if things hit the fan with the cult I’d rather be here to make sure I can secure my neighborhood.”

“I understand.” Fen said. “What did you find?”

“Like I said, basically nothing.” Oskar said.

“Anything will help.”

Oskar shook his head. “Fine, I kicked the new guy out and he promised that he’ll get his revenge when the storm hits. That’s all I found, even looking into what the cult has been doing in the city got me nowhere.”

“One of the cultists threw some lightning at me.” Fen said. “I wonder if all this talk of a storm hitting is literal.”

“I hope not. My roof leaks.”

“Well, I’m going to be off now. I have to beat the cult to that site, even if it’s empty.” Fen nodded to Oskar. “Thanks for your help.”

“No need to be patronizing.” Oskar said, grimacing.

Fen smiled. “I promise I’m not, I seriously appreciate your help. I’m pretty used to doing this all on my own by now, and it felt great to know that I had someone on my side.”

Oskar grinned. “Well, you’ve earned my trust. Whenever you need someone, I can still be on your side.”

Fen clasped the man’s hand, nodding in appreciation before he departed into the night.

For a moment Fen thought about stopping by Captain Goran’s house, but once more Fen knew that the man would have professional qualms helping on such a mission, especially now that it was hard to hide the fact that he had accepted the help of Oskar. It looked like Fen was on his own once again.

A wave of relief washed over Fen as he stepped out of Unger. He realized in that moment that feeling cooped up in the city had made him feel like he wasn’t accomplishing anything, but now, being on the move and seeing different scenery made him feel a sense of progress he hadn’t yet felt during this bizarre case he had found himself pursuing.

He obviously didn’t yet know what he would find when he arrived at the ruins, but he didn’t allow himself to dwell on that just yet. Instead, he just let himself enjoy the sound of his boots thumping on the road.

Eventually he drew close to the point where the map indicated he would find the ruins, and thankfully the moon was full and the sky was clear, so there was sufficient light for Fen to use the map to navigate cross country without having to light his lantern.

It didn’t take long to find the location of the mark, but Regis hadn’t been certain of the site’s precise location, only that it was a door in a hillside in this general region.

So Fen enjoyed some more wandering about, pacing back and forth over the hills, scrutinizing every door shaped rock until he finally found one that was undeniably a door.

It was very unimpressive. Over the last few hours he had built it up in his mind to be some epic Dwarven structure from the ancient times, but it was nothing more than a simple door of stone, half buried in the scree of the collapsing hillside.

Fen dug his way to the door, flinging the loose rocks aside as quietly as possible until he could swing the door open. It moved effortlessly, gliding as though on freshly oiled hinges, revealing a deep darkness in front of him. It was a darkness that had been undisturbed for centuries, and staring down into it gave Fen a chill.

After a moment of pondering if this was worth it, Fen lit his lantern and stepped into the darkness, lamp in one hand, sword drawn in the other.