CHAPTER 5
UNWILLING ALLIES OR THE WOODENSNAKE STREET
Tusss, you do understand that you and I are in grave danger?
"Yes, Boss. Kinda get it."
I smiled at his new address. Boss! A crafty type. He understands that the Harijan will not forgive the murder of Auda either me or him. Even if he brings them to my head, they will only finish him off for failing to protect the owner. Maybe with less cruelty, but definitely finish him off. And he understands that better than me.
"Call me Max. I'm not your Boss, Tuss."
"Okay, Master Max."
I lowered my 'teleporting revolver'. No sense to keep it pointed at him anymore and trying to threaten. We are now allies in any case. Tuss might be very useful in the future.
"Where's Shania, Tuss?"
"I don't know, Max."
I wasn't surprised. A pawn shouldn't be notified about the location of important captives.
"Any assumptions?"
"The Harijan's restaurant."
"A fancy restaurant at the dock with sirens?"
"Yes."
"Who's your boss?"
"Don't know, Master Max."
"What?"
I couldn't believe it this time.
"You don't know who you're working for? Sorry, but I can't buy it."
The girl who had been silent until now intervened in our conversation:
"He's telling the truth."
I turned to her.
"Yeah, but how do we know when you're telling the truth?" I sarcastically remarked.
The girl chuckled:
"No way to know, Boss."
"I'm not your boss."
She was still teasing me, the little one!
"So you both 'work' if that's what you can call it, and you don't even know who you're working for?
"But we know it now, Boss." the girl said cheerfully, deliberately repeating the annoying word for me.
I couldn't come up with a response. It felt like a bee sting in my backside, her tongue and mind were too sharp, no way to beat her on her ground. So I decided to just ignore her.
"Tuss, I choose to believe you this time. It's possible that pawns like you," I added deliberately pressing on the pawns, "but you couldn't have heard anything during all your 'honest gangster activity'. Who should I have knocked down? Who's your boss? It's a Zingaru or a human?"
"Who should be killed, I don't know exactly. Some sort of politician, I think. Tara hinted."
"Who is Tara?"
"Boss's deputy. He's the only one in contact with him. Everything goes through him or Auda."
"So the boss is a human?"
Tuss shrugged, still facing away from me while responding to my questions:
"Auda's not a subordinate. He's a lawyer, the boss's partner."
"What kind of guy is that Tara anyway? How do you meet him?"
"If we wait here a little longer, you'll definitely meet him, with the rest of the gang for sure. Right away." The little one again interrupted.
"Shut up, for God's sake. Damn, kindergarten! Did they not teach you not to interrupt adults while they're conversing?"
The girl sighed and shrugged with an innocent look.
"They did, but I interrupted them too."
I paused for a moment. She was right. We really should get out of here. It's not the right time, reinforcements will come, or even worse, the military patrol from the port district. They are even worse than bandits. Corruptors and the worst scum of Bridgeport.
"Okay. Tusss, get your car. We're getting out of here."
Tusss, obviously relieved, went to execute the order. Apparently, the arrival of the others worried him even more than I did.
Less than two minutes later, I and the girl hopped into the backseat, and Tous, with the agility of a professional driver, steered onto the road.
"Where?"
"The Woodensnake street,"
I finally said, putting away the revolver I had been waving around, not realizing I still had it in my hand…
"Where to now?" Tusss asked again after a while, turned around to me, braking at the traffic light, just before the entrance to the Wooden Snake. The long street in the old part of the metropolis crosses almost half the city from south to north.
"Drive straight, I'll say when to stop," I mumbled.
The green light lit up, and we were off again.
"He doesn't trust you," the telepath girl commented with an appeasing smile.
I kept silent. I was tired of her already. She was impossible to shut up. Well, possible, if she hadn't been able to read people's feelings. She didn't feel threatened by me. And it amused her. 'Tough guy' outgunned a whole gang of gangsters but she wasn't touched. A sentimental and kind guy, whatever he might seem from the outside. With Auda, she didn't behave like that. Never dared to behave like that. Quieter than water, lower than grass. Because she read perfectly in his brain this coldness and cruelty with which he would have dealt with her, if she had shown stubbornness. Damn, who would marry such a thing afterward? Nothing couldn't be left hidden. It will be torture, not a wife!
Ronka, seems, to feel my state:
"Max, if she burdens you, she can be sold on the black market. You'll make a lot of money. Although I wouldn't recommend it. She's very useful. Dina senses danger at a distance тире most sensor-telepath couldn't.
Upon hearing that suggestion, Dina leaned over her seat and began pounding Ronka's back with her small fists:
"I'll sell you! Stupid dimwit!"
I was forced to pull her away from distracting a driver before she caused a traffic accident. Although her weak blows to Ronka were probably something like tickling.
"Come on, calm down! Nobody is going to sell you anywhere. You can go in all four directions. If you wish!"
Mumbling to herself for the show, she relaxed and stopped trying to harm Tuss.
Mostly it was an act. Apparently, she had friendly relations with the smartest ever Ronka. And not without a reason. Tusss was the most reasonable and least cruel of the whole gang. And 'little witch' telepathically felt it, of course.
"Have you got parents, a pain in the ass?"
"No."
"Lies." Ronka threw without turning.
"Humbug!"
"She's a daughter of some baron from a magical territory. She ran away from home to see the 'wonders' of Bridgeport."
"So you're from the other side of the Wall?" I asked her, slightly surprised. "How did they let you into Agartha at all?"
"No way they did," she huffed. "Climbed over the wall."
I was even more surprised. The state of magicians, which was "destroyed" by the technical civilization of the 'egineers', on land was separated from the rest of the magical world by a solid wall, which was far higher than the famous Chinese one, built by the combined efforts of many magicians and magical creatures of Rydii. In order to separate them from the danger posed by technical civilization.
You could only get behind the wall through special gates. They were called the Agartha Gates, named after one of the kings' magicians who proposed the idea of building the wall. You could also get there by sea. This way, a bustling trade between Bridgeport and the rest of the world was running. Rich inhabitants of foreign countries bought generators, refrigerators, irons, and other technical household amenities in exchange for their goods, mostly raw materials and food. Bridgeport became incredibly wealthy because of this. But the wall obstacle also kept it in check. And sooner or later it was all bound to explode. Businessmen and merchants could not reconcile with the loss of such a huge part of their profits due to the sea traveling and obstacles that the magical territory authorities imposed on them. They needed a railway, throughout the continent. In short, the war could have started today, tomorrow, and in ten years. There was no exact date, but the clash of interests could not but provoke it. And it was also clear who would win unless they come up with a spell against bullets, as Kulu-Kulu and Ita Torrin group was looking for.
"Wow," I said, taking in her lithe figure. "Are you an alpinist? 'Tiger of Snow?' How did you manage to climb over that ninety feet high sheer basalt wall?"
"Can't tell you. It's not my secret."
"Ah. Did you answer Auda the same thing?" I asked her.
"No. But you're not Auda. You are a good guy, a kind person. You won't torture me for not telling my secrets." She giggled.
I turned away shaking my head. Little witch!
"Stop the car!"
Tusss abruptly pulled up two blocks from the Magic University. I still didn't feel like telling him where I was headed. Better be safe than sorry later. I'd take a stroll with the girl and send him on his way to lie low or gather info on Shania, if he manages. We needed to act fast before the gang' mobs started massive searches for the killer of their comrades.
"You kinda don't trust me, Master Max," said Tusss still looking ahead through windshield glass.
"Should I?"
He signed before responding. "Course not. Trust to no one. And her too!" He nodded to the telepath girl, calmly talking about the girl as if she wasn't present.
Tusss left us heading in direction of the port. I didn't know why. It wasn't really any of my business. He was better versed in Harijan's mafia business than I was, and it wasn't my job to teach him where it was best to hit rock bottom. Besides, he was probably going to run away. Over the wall. I hadn't really expected anything from him. Ronkies were Ronkies. Almost always cowards. Big micro-giant cowards.
"Let's go, miracle-girl," I said to Dina standing next to me, and started to walk towards the black mass ahead – the University of Mages, a hefty wooden building shaped like a three-hundred-meter-long snake, which is why the street got its name originally. It was one of the oldest buildings in Bridgeport – remnants of a powerful kingdom of mages of the past. And the snake was a regular emblem and a symbol of mages and magic. Wise reptile and all that stuff. Nothing unusual. What other symbol are the Mages supposed to choose, if not a snake? A monkey? Not a chance! There was no electricity here, of course. The building was lit by ancient spells, round colorful chandeliers-balls that were charged periodically. Usually, this was done by the lagging students. Three years ago I met a graduate of this institution, and he took me on a tour here. I was investigating a case of a missing child. That's how I got to know about the local customs. I was only in a few halls on the first level. What was going on further, in the magical laboratories, I had no idea - outsiders were not allowed there. It would have been funny to study here. Life was cheerful. Surrounded by talking animals, levitating wizards during the morning meditation, and gloomy and haggard professors from the dean's office in dark cloaks with purple snake emblems. If I had a talent for magic, I could have enrolled here.
"But, alas! I have no chance to be a local Harry Potter. Something was wrong with me. I wasn't from this world and neither took it in nor out. And, it seemed, it also disliked me as well. Yet a gift for magic requires not a small one. Some very rare genetic changes. A mutation with a frequency of one in ten thousand!
"Stop!" I commanded the girl at the gate, who was now oddly quiet and obedient.
"What do you need here?" she asked with curiosity, looking at the gloomy building. "It's dangerous here. Very much so and from all sides," she added awkwardly, composing a phrase.
"You will know a lot, you will soon age."
"I won't age. I have Elten blood with me. Partly"
I turned and looked at her. Dark green eyes, long golden well-groomed hair. Maybe she wasn't lying. Eltes are analogs for earthly Elves and surely the name derived from that because it was suspiciously similar. Refined creatures, with extra-long lifespans, once ruled this planet. It is said that they were exterminated in a war with Zingaru.
Zingaru also live long and there are few of them as if their ranks have decreased as a result of a long war in ancient times. There are also semi-eltes. Or semi-elves. Call it whatever you want. It is said that they are metis mixture with humans. They live very compactly in their communities and have little contact with humans.
"Didn't you wash your head?" I asked the girl avenging her as hard as I could for her mockery.
"I didn't have time," she protested somewhat gloomily, "we went to the coast with Taro. Gotta crawl for two weeks. You can't wash there. And when we returned, they brought you right here, and they didn't let me go back until you'd come."
"What did you do on the coast? Racket?
"We were collecting 'the cut' from the 'fishers'.
I couldn't help but curve the corner of my mouth. 'The cut' is a tribute in the local gangsters' slang. It's clear why they were carrying it with them. If the owner of a fish farm decided to hide 'the cut', it would be immediately revealed by a sensitive-telepath. It also warned about the danger of getting into someone else's business. The tax police on Earth would have put out a million for such a valuable employee to be hired without hesitation.
"And what? They didn't share the cut with you?" I asked with a hint of irony in my voice. A thirteen-year-old girl, seriously discussing a gangster's 'cut', is quite an amusing site.
"They were sharing," Dina's expression grew even gloomier. "And stay away from your stupid questions. Do your job, why did you come here?"
I shrugged and stopped my interrogation, not without a malicious satisfaction that I had spoiled her mood. There was no need for my thoughts, or rather feelings, to be read.
A quiet but distinct hammer strike on the gilded serpentine head of the doorbell echoed, producing a muffled echo that lasted for an entire minute. Obviously, the thing had some magical origin.
A few minutes later, a student on duty approached the gates. He had wild, porcupine-like hair, and a drowsy face. He yawned ferociously and mechanically rubbed his face, unable to decide how to react to strange visitors.
"Visitors at night are not accepted. It's the dean's orders," he rasped out through a chill-inducing yawn, waving his arms at us as if performing magical passes or simply shooing us away, "Don't ask, I won't let you in, guys."
"I'm from Professor Ita Torrin. Get Eger Rufus. He should have been warned of our visit."
The student stepped back from me slightly upon hearing my words.
"Are you joking?" he asked, slightly stammering, as if in great fear.
"No. Why do you ask?"
"Professor Torrin died three years ago. During a failed experiment. She had been buried a long time ago. I saw it myself."
I shuddered. What the hell was going on? I remembered the hollow, tired eyes behind the glasses. It didn't look like a zombie. A real human. For sure!
"Anyway, can you call Rufus or…?"
The guy on the other side of the gate flinched a bit. But he still went to fulfill the request, to call Rufus Edger, supposedly a president of the student council at magic university.
"Do you hang out with zombies?" My nosy companion asked. She couldn't let such a thing pass by her ears. Of course!
"I don't hang out with zombies," I answered sharply and strictly, as it seemed to me. But I couldn't deceive her a damn telepathic girl!
"Ah, so you got me. They say that year-old zombies aren't that bad. Their flesh doesn't fall off, everything is in place, especially if you reinforce with spells..."
"Shut up."
Damn it! Why am I mad at her? She's just a child.
"And they are obedient too, they do whatever you want. Freak! Zombie lover!"
"Change the subject."
"Okay," she agreed too quickly. Apparently, felt with her sixth sense that this topic was too unpleasant to me.
"How did you hit them in the dark?" she asked something I didn't get at first.
"Who?" I asked absentmindedly, thinking about this mess with Ita Torrin. What the hell it all means?
"The people of Auda at the warehouse."
"By sound. I'm a sniper. It's my profession to hit the target, regardless of conditions."
"You shoot like... I don't know who. Never missed! If I had known, I wouldn't have given you away to Auda. Though it wouldn't have much of a help. The Harijan can tell when people lie too.
"What has my shooting got to do with it?"
"What do you mean? Do you know how scared I was? I almost fainted. You could have shot us, me and Tusss too. I haven't been that scared in a long time. When you were shooting, you were like a dead metal object. Emotionless, like a machine. I couldn't feel anything. It's frightening. Only a very strong cold from where you were. Almost like Auda. Only later, when Tusss spoke, you started to change. As if you were melting like ice. I still can't believe you could be so terrifying."
I snorted in satisfaction. There it is! That's why she was pushing those pins into me with every sentence. Fear! Revenge for the strike of terror on her back in the warehouse.
"And how do you feel me now?" She didn't have time to answer, because two figures appeared on the other side of the gate. It was the same student porter. And the second one was a red-haired short blondie of 1.5 meters, wearing a blanket for an unknown reason. And it seemed he was absolutely naked under this blanket. At least his hairy legs were visible up to the knees.
"I'm Edger Rufus. What do you need from me?" he asked.
"Professor Ita Torrin said you can help me," I explained shortly.
Silence descended.
The guy raised his eyebrow in surprise.
"Really?" he asked again.
I immediately felt a light tingle in the back of my head. Magical scanning! Which, however, immediately disappeared, as if it had been successfully suppressed. The guy turned his gaze to the girl. And unexpectedly he said to her sternly:
"Don't cover him, I'm not going to do anything bad to him. I just need to know if he is telling truth or not."
Dina unexpectedly shook her head, refusing flatly. "I won't take it off. You have no business in his head. He told you the truth. You can believe it or not."
Eger glanced at the other guy, and I knew he was about to subject the self-taught witch to a classical magical university education. Just what I do need now – magical duels!
I decided to intervene and lightly touched her shoulder. "I appreciate your effort, but do as he said. We don't have time to stand around here too long."
Dina shrugged, and I felt a tingling in the back of my neck again.
The guy nodded contentedly after a minute: "Alright. Let's go. Pars, remove the spell from the gates," he added, turning to his companion, and without looking back, strode off in his blanket towards the main complex of the 'wooden snake'. It was a strange building that only I had ever seen. Like a huge snake, winding for hundreds of meters, curving towards the ocean. With gargoyles on the corners of the roof and countless ornaments on the specially carved wood that wouldn't rot, corrode, or even burn, as people said. Probably it would take weeks to see everything here. A splendid place. Too bad tourists weren't allowed.
Rufus walked ahead, barefoot, striding with his usual gait along the wooden bracket path, and we followed him in the company of the student ward. I was a bit curious about, why the Head of the students was naked but decided to hold a question. And not in vain.
"Why is he naked? Is he casting a spell?" my companion couldn't let it slide off.
Pars turned his head towards the inquisitive Dina and replied with a bit of disappointment:
"No spell needs to be cast naked. He was probably playing strip poker with girls in the women's wing. He can't put his clothes back until he wins."
"I want to play, too!"
I grabbed Dina by the elbow and said seriously:
"First of all, it's too early for you to play like this. And secondly, one more such suggestion, and I'll give you back to the Harijan. And believe me, I'm serious this time."
"Wow! Did you take her away from the Harijan?" Pars asked with a voice full of admiration.
"No, I just bought her," I replied trying to sound indifferent. "At a bargain."
Pars snorted.
A sharp jab from Dina almost made me lose my balance...