Four Hundred Years Later

  Edon watched his quarry from the rooftop as he kept note of where his allies were a few buildings over. The overcast skies made the streets of Hogun even darker than usual. While the Gold and Silver capital cities had various methods of lighting, most areas in the Bronze capital used torchlight, particularly the slums and back alleys. While it made it much more difficult to follow someone, it also made it much easier to not get spotted. There were no city guards in this part of the city, but Edon was sure their quarry was not moving alone. He likely had protection tailing him, or ahead of him. Edon’s crew had not been able to spot them yet in the few nights they had been following this man.

  He was taller than most, and did not stand out in any particular way. Most would never have noticed his goings, as he wore a ratty, nondescript cloak. Edon made it a principle to know what was happening in his crew’s territory. His scouts had noticed the man regularly following the same path on certain days, before losing him. This was the first night that Edon had laid eyes on their target. His posture did not match that of most people in this part of Hogun. In the dark streets, most people shuffled, heads down and shoulders slumped. It was subtle, but after observation Edon could tell that he was moving with purpose and intent. It had not been easy to pick him out at first, but it was noticeable after a few minutes. The previous time, Edon’s scouts had spotted him coming from the market sector of the city. It wasn’t proof of where he was coming from, but he was definitely not from this area of Hogun.

  Edon moved to the next rooftop silently as his quarry took a turn. The locals of this area called it the hobble, named after how the buildings slumped up against each other in a cramped fashion. There were no defined streets or grid in the hobble, it was a web of alleyways and short streets, taking cutting turns into small openings or clearings between buildings. Edon motioned silently to Rahn, instructing him to stay on the north side of their target. Rahn silently changed his path between the rooftops, keeping their quarry between the two of them. They lost sight of him between two buildings, but Rahn motioned to Edon where he had come out of the alley headed back north. While the general path matched what Edon’s scouts had described, his path was intentionally meandering, so as to not stand out. After a few more streets, he went into a small dilapidated building, two stories tall. Edon moved over to where Rahn was, making sure to keep an eye on the building.

  “The scouts were never able to tail him this far, right?” Rahn asked, in a whisper. Edon nodded, thoughts whirling through his head.

  “I’m surprised they were able to notice him. The more we followed him, the more I realized how skilled he is. We were only able to keep up with him because this is our area. In any other part of the city, he would have been able to lose us.” It made Edon uneasy that someone could so easily slip under the radar in his territory. Another shadow came up from behind and joined them on the rooftop. It was Dims, one of the crew’s newer members. Edon still felt unnerved by him occasionally, the way shadows seemed to wrap around him in the night. Dims had been following on the ground, a few streets behind. He was already the stealthiest member of the crew, due to his unique abilities. Edon motioned to Dims. “Check the perimeter of the building for other exits.” Dims was gone before Edon could even notice his presence. Several minutes later, Dims reported back that the only visible entrance was the one their quarry had entered. They waited on separate rooftops until dawn, but as the sun rose, they saw no sign of the stranger that had been moving through their streets.

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  After a short rest, Edon met with the crew leaders back at the base. He had assigned a few scouts in the street to look for the man to leave, but did not expect any results. The man had given the slip to the best tails in their organization, and must have had another exit that was not visible from the outside. Edon rose from the bed, and made his way downstairs. He could smell the stew in the kitchen, as breakfast had given way to lunch. Their base of operations was in the backrooms of an eatery, which served workers in the district. As he opened the door to their meeting room, the others were already gathered, seated around the table with their meals. A bowl sat at the head of the table, waiting for Edon to join.

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  To the right, Rahn sat directly next to Edon, as his second in command. Having finished his soup, he was absentmindedly adjusting the strings on his dulcimer. He glanced up as Edon entered, and then returned to his instrument. Further down, Dims sat next to him. Usually Dims wouldn’t be present at a meeting such as this, but was present due to his role in the previous night’s operation. Ultimately, he had gotten the best look at their mysterious individual. Even in the day, his presence appeared only dark, the shadows in the room leaking towards him.

  To the left, Beltahn sat in his bright merchant robes, enjoying his stew. He served as the primary smuggler and fence for the crew, being the only “public” member of the group with a reputation. Him even being here would seem odd, but Beltahn owned a few businesses in the area, including the eatery they were currently using. Finally, in the corner sat Tix. As always, his spectacles perched on his nose. Today’s peculiarity was a small wooden block puzzle with interlocking pieces. Tix slid it into different combinations distractedly, then stopped as Edon entered.

  “It’s good to see you Edon!” exclaimed Beltahn, smiling ear to ear. Rahn rolled his eyes at Beltahn’s theatrics. “I’m glad you were able to get the sleep befitting our leader!”

  “We didn’t get back until after dawn Beltahn, I needed to at least get some sleep.” Beltahn motioned to the two individuals across the table from him. “I’m not convinced Dims even sleeps, and Rahn makes a point to outdo me every morning.” Edon quipped back. Rahn nodded. “Can we get started with the meeting now?” The group agreed, and they proceeded.

  “Starting with the ledger..” Beltahn began, “There’s not much of note other than what we added from the wools we pinched last month. The payment just arrived back from the shipment.” Before Edon could speak, Beltahn continued. “Yes Edon, I took the standard twenty percent for overseas sales. And I remind you, I charge forty to most people I do business with.” Edon groaned mentally. The penny pinching old merchant complaining about twenty percent off a shipment he had paid nothing to purchase? Edon motioned for him to continue. “All other costs have been consistent since our last meeting. However, we aren’t paying out to quite as many crew members recently. We have a slight surplus from being short on hands.”

  “Just waiting for Edon to find anyone worth his salt to bring in. I’ll train them up as soon as he does.” stated Rahn, smirking.

  “You know as well as I do that we haven’t found anyone near good enough in months.” Edon replied. “We barely have enough participants to keep the underground fights entertaining these days. Our last potential recruit got pinched by the coppershields for barfighting in the northern district. We’re lucky he never got tied back to us.” Rahn reluctantly agreed, still mumbling under his breath. Tix spoke up from the corner, his voice pitched.

  “Can we proceed to the discussion of this mysterious individual? We have general business, but that’s the reason we’re meeting outside of our regular schedule.” Edon nodded, then motioned to Dims in the shadowed corner.

  “I never got a good look at his face. By his gait, his mannerisms, I would think that he’s some kind of aristocrat. He knew the area but definitely doesn’t call it home.” Edon nodded in agreement. “By what I can tell, he either stayed the night there or had another exit. We still haven’t heard anything back from the scouts. The primary question is, what is an aristocrat doing running business in our corner?”

  “Have you noticed any irregularities in your sales or trading recently Beltahn?” Tix asked. “If he’s doing some sort of trading, maybe you’ve caught wind.” Beltahn shook his head. The room sat in silence for a moment, with no answer proposed to the question.

  “Alright then.” Edon spoke, breaking the silence. Next time he’s out, we tail him again and make sure he doesn’t have protection following. I don’t want to investigate inside that building unless we have to, but have the guys keep an eye on goings around there.” Rahn nodded, and motioned for Edon to continue. “In the meantime, keep extra watch on our bases. We don't need coppershields catching notice of our operations.”