Chapter 9: An Ally

Fen couldn’t sleep. His mind kept running through his evening over and over again, trying to find the point where a shadowy cult member could have snuck a note into his pocket without him noticing.

He had been so tense the entire time he was sneaking up on their warehouse that it couldn’t have possible happened then unless they had used magic on him. From there he had gone straight to Regis’s house fast enough that even a supremely experienced pick-pocketer couldn’t he done it, so that ruled that out, again unless they had access to magic.

Regis’s home was warded extremely heavily, and he had only been in there for moments, so that left the only rational explanation to be the gang Fen had visited earlier in the night.

Fen gave up on sleep sometime around dawn and went back to the alley where he had confronted the thugs. They were naturally not there, so Fen posted up on a nearby street corner to watch and wait.

The city awoke with the sun, and people began to hustle past Fen. He was able to read the city in their movements. They weren’t yet aware of the unrest that Fen was starting to uncover, and they were acting just like normal people going about their lives. It brought some measure of comfort to Fen that if he acted well then these issues that seemed so massive would likely leave most of these regular people unscathed.

Fen watched for a long time, but when the sun shone down on him over the rooftops the warmth caused his eyelids to droop. The sleepless nights were catching up to him, and he was quickly lulled to sleep.

He awoke when a shadow blocked the sun and an ominous sensation fell over him. Fen’s hand shot to the hilt of his dagger even before his eyes were fully open to register what was in front of him.

It was the thug with a silly hat from the night before. “What are you doing back here?” The man demanded.

“I have some questions for you.” Fen answered.

“You already got all the answers you can expect.”

“My meddling dug up more questions all the same.” Fen said, intentionally using some of the language from the note. No glimmer of recognition showed in the man’s eyes, so Fen doubted he knew about the note.

“Well, you have an interesting way of getting my attention. Sleeping out on the street like that is sure a quick way for someone of your renown to get killed.”

At the implied threat Fen threw himself to his feet, and in the blink of an eye the man with the funny hat was thrusting a knife at him. Fen moved faster, drawing his own dagger and slapping the thug’s knife away.

Before enough time had passed for passing people on the street to even notice the clang of the knife on the stones Fen had his dagger leveled at the man’s throat.

“I had to see for myself why they called you Thunderblade, but I can’t say I doubt the nickname anymore.” The man’s face broke out into a grin.

Fen sheathed his dagger before any of the bystanders could notice the conflict. “Now let’s talk about those questions I had.”

“Sure thing.” The man proffered his hand, and Fen took it. “Name’s Oskar, ask away.”

“Which one of your guys might have an association with the cult?” Fen began walking down the street with Oskar at his side, taking a measured pace to avoid attention.

“None of them.” Oskar leaned down to pick up his knife, tucking it away into the folds of his strange garments.

Fen could see the man getting defensive, so he decided to take a leap, pulling the note from his pocket and proffering it. “This was slipped into my pocket last night. Unless someone used magic on me, it was one of you.”

Oskar inspected the note before cursing. “I recognize the writing, unfortunately.”

“And?” Fen prompted.

“We’ve got a new guy, goes by Spar. I’d bet my hat that’s him.”

Now the real leap. “Are you willing to help me get these guys?”

Oskar frowned. “What kind of trouble are we in?”

“I’m asking you for help, if that’s any indication.” Fen said.

“Do you have any idea what they’re planning though?”

“Honestly, no, and I’m not sure how much I’m willing to say if you aren’t going to help me.”

Oskar grimaced again, taking his time to consider before answering, “I’m not sure this is the right move, but, sure. I’ll help you.”

“Alright then. Here’s where we’re at.” Fen glanced around the street to make sure there were no ears too close before continuing. “The King has been hiring The Chosen Storm to do his dirty work for a couple months now. The Queen found out and she’s going to blackmail him with that. The cult is the only loose end I still have to look into.”

Oskar’s frown returned again. “Those other things don’t sound like loose ends to you?”

“They’re things I at least know about now, the cult is still a completely unknown element.”

“Well, I said I’d help, so I’m in now.” Oskar said. The frown seemed to be a permanent feature now, and Fen couldn’t say he blamed the man.

“Ok, my first order of business is going to be to look into the things the cult did for the King.” Fen said. “It might bring me a lead.”

“I’ll check my boys.” Oskar said. “They might have heard something around town.”

“Let’s meet at The Vulgar Lake day after tomorrow to share what we find.”

“Sounds like a plan. Which alley should I nap in if I need to get a hold of you sooner than that?”

Fen chuckled. “Just meet me at The Lake.”

The two parted ways then, both looking more grim than before they had met.