Two nights after the raid on Taffer's and I'm still holed up in my room. Neither the Spats or the Bulls came busting my door down. I never told my landlord though. Even if he is a Son of Aiden, he knows his wrath is short of the Spats. News spread throughout slowly but surely and there were some disturbances in and around Cutty. Some of the populace looking for retribution attacked some knights, waving around bloody daggers, swords and spears after leaving their victims lying dead in the gutters. Cleaners had a lot to complain about, Sons of Aiden or not.
Piers had been extremely quiet. No letter or runner sent. Kaden occasionally walked past the building, but never came in. Yesterday I peeked outside with the window open, only to have Kaden wave me off. As soon as I closed the window, an entire battalion of Spats came marching past, some of them glared at Kaden. However, they weren't the only one trudging through Cutty. A large host of the population followed behind, jeering and throwing stones at them. The local guard and constables shadowed both parties in an effort to prevent a riot, but I heard from a neighbor that they were only a quarter of their full strength. The City's finest just decided to take the day off, I guess.
A knock came to the door and a note slid underneath. I went over and picked it up. My eyes widened as I read it. It was tall order even from Piers.
Something's come up, Oren. I need you to get to Rothaid and lift the jewels inside the Spat Cathedral there. I know you swore off never to go there but some friends of mine are willing to part with 1,000 galleons just to get their hands on it. You do this job and the money is yours, as well as any favor you want from me. Anything at all, no matter how large. Take your time in getting everything you need. Just get the goods to me in three days. And stay away from Brinewood. The Spats have put checkpoints on The Road Between.
Good luck, Oren. Give Kaden my best.
As if on cue, another knock sounded at the door. Tinclair's voice rang out, "your swordsman friend is here to see ya!" I walked over to the door and let him in.
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After a warm tea drink and telling of what my next job was, Kaden was a mix of questions and remarks. "Rothaid, I've heard of it before." "It's nicknamed: the Damned City. I've only entered it once and it was for a job to lifting a "priceless" trinket. I've never wanted to head back since that job." "I've heard only stories," Kaden said, "The siege, the sickness…" "Hmm. Well, you can only believe one. The city was infested with an unknown plague, killing off the population in 2 days. There are still pockets of disease in certain parts of the city. We'll have to tread carefully." Kaden's eyes widened slightly. "What about the guards?" I answered, "they usually have patrols placed inside to discourage looters, but they're sloppy. We can easily slip by. However, once night falls, they move to the outskirts and the patrols are doubled." Kaden nodded in understanding. "I assume night brings out dangers unknown to your countrymen?" he asked. I glanced at him. "People tend to disappear at night in the city or wind-up dead with body parts missing."
"How are we to enter?", Kaden asked. I pulled out the map roll and laid it out on my table. "Here's the map of the city, the only copy ever made. There's actually a massive hole in the outer wall that we can enter. There we'll make it to my makeshift hideout a little ways away from the walls to the inner city. The inner wall is the greater challenge. There's are several ways through, most of which, made by scavengers and thieves. But they're also small, tight, and prone to collapse. Two of them caved-in while I was making my way out."
The swordsman darted his eyes up and down the map until he stared and pointed to a particular spot. "What about the inner gate?", he asked. A slight chill came over me and he glanced up. I said, "There's a legend that you can only cross the gate once. Sometimes someone gets a lucky break and crosses it twice. Other times, scavengers disappear when once they cross the threshold for the very first time." Kaden, rightfully confused, asked, "Is there something that lurks there?" "There are many things that lurk in that city", I said. "I haven't seen anything except other people and one or two Mukade. The rest is just hearsay. Anway, we'll use the main gate if we need a quick escape. I'm not taking any chances. We'll try our luck on a sturdy scavenger hole."
Kaden shakes his head. "Assuming it doesn't collapse in on us. Remind me why you're doing this?" "For a certain rat who will owe me a big favor after this. In this line of work, you can never have too many of those. Let's get this over with." "Lead the way." With that we ventured out towards the wild greens.
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There was a lot more patrols surrounding Rothaid than usual. The last few times I was here there would've been three patrols. I lost count after the 14th, 15th and 16th were sort of… combined. Kaden was also concerned. "You said that creatures come out from the city at night," he whispered. "What kind are they?" "Aside from the Mukade, I haven't seen anything else other than cultists. But a couple thieves I know say that they've seen corpses moving around in the fog. Statues in different places and positions." "Statues? Really?" "Well, I haven't seen any of that sort." "How deadly are your Mukade?" "Very dangerous. They're quick with a hundred pincer-like legs. They can easily drag people down into tight crevices or wrap themselves around and bite their heads off." "That sounds a lot like Harotani." "Harotani? That's what you call them?" "If your Mukade can multiply as much as Harotani, I'm sure these guards have plenty to fear." I looked up and saw that the guards were quickly moving away. "Let's go."
We made our way to the opening and slunk in. No guards in sight. Kaden taking in the sights, calmly said, "Looks like the city you're from." I froze and looked around. I never noticed it the first time. The buildings, whether crumpled or decaying bore the same resemblance to the ones in the City back in Estheaven. I shuddered a bit. A sort of picture flashed in my mind of Cutty Province in ruins. I shook it off. "Yeah, the Spats like their architecture." We walked down the darkened streets toward the building that had my stash. Some of the surrounding buildings had collapsed a bit since I was here last, but my claim was still standing.
I scaled the debris up to the window. I peered inside. Everything was just how I left it. I glanced back to see Kaden climbing up on all fours and knocking down loose brick and stone. I rolled my eyes. "Hurry up, swordsman!" I hissed and turned to heave myself into the building. I briskly stepped towards my stash hidden in the shadows of a nearby wardrobe. A tiny glint of silver assured me that it was still there. I snatched the satchel and reached towards the top of the wardrobe. I felt another satchel there and pulled it down. Rations for the night.
I heard scrambling and turned to see Kaden heaving himself inside. He crawled in, scraping his chestplate against the frame. Thankfully it wasn't loud, but it was a bit jarring. "Care to lend a hand?" he asked while picking himself up. A sense of guilt came over me, but up and left. "I told you this would be risky, swordsman. I don't stick my neck out for anyone," I said. Kaden stood up and looked at me. He didn't look angry or even upset. He was curious…again. "Thieves don't look out for each other then? You don't even look out for your landlord?" I dug out a piece of wheat bread and turned back to him. "I just pay my rent to him. I'm not exactly indebted to him." I tossed the bread to Kaden and he caught it. "Ah, but does he not offer you warmth and safety?" he asked. Before I could respond he continued. "Are you not indebted to me for saving you from the Spastani Knights?" I sat down in a collapsed sofa. "Do you want money?" I offered. Kaden chuckled. "I'm not a mercenary, Oren. You don't have to pay me anything. I'm simply wondering if you feel obligated to help me when I'm in trouble?" I eyed him, contemplating my answer. "Well, I'm not going to sacrifice myself for you, if that's what you're asking," I snapped.
Kaden laughed and I nearly froze up. Kaden stopped abruptly after noticing my reaction. He turned and went to the window peeking out. I hadn't heard any patrols nearby when we came here, but we had been talking since entering this hideout. Kaden turned back. "No one's out there," he said and I sighed, relaxing a bit. "Insane bastard," I quipped. "You willing to fight a whole bunch of guards if you make too much noise?" Kaden shrugged and I swear I saw him smirk for a moment. "I could say I was trying to turn you in," he said. There was a long pause before he started chuckling again. He watched me as he was having a laugh. I just rolled my eyes. "Come along, Oren. I'm trying to past the time and have a good one." "I can see why you and Piers get along easy," I said. He nodded. "He has a good sense of humor. He's also a hard-working man. He doesn't make an honest living, but he does do good to those around him."
Piers the Rat being a saint. Now I've heard everything and it was my turn to smirk. Kaden continued. "Why don't you be more like him?" I raised an eyebrow. "I'm not asking you to change your ways," he clarified. "I ask if you can give back to your community in some way. Doesn't have to be a lot." I sighed. "Because the community didn't do a damn thing for me. All those years of being out in the street by myself. Not parental guidance other than what my dad told me. Do you think anyone else in Cutty or the entire crummy kingdom would offer their hand to help a poor degenerate character?" Kaden glanced to the side and turned back with a response. "Piers tries to change that." "Piers can give a single silver spoon to anyone and say he's helping the poor. Doesn't mean he's moving mountains to change the state of Cutty. It's been poor, rundown and scummy and it will continue to be that. We just make do, because nobody else is going help us out." Kaden stood there nodding and taking it in. "You hadn't thought to try?" "Why should I? What's the use of scratching someone else's back if they're not going to do the same for you?"
Kaden perked up, "what about the Sons of Aiden?" I scoffed. "What about them? A bunch of kooky tree-huggers, religious nuts with swords and shamans that are addicted to green-fire spores who only draw in the public because they all hate the damn Spats. That's all they do. Whenever the Spats go out in public, the Sons are there to harass them. They're not public servants, just an angry mob. They don't do anything for the community except get them riled up to fight the Knights like in the old days." Kaden again stood there nodding in silence. "You care not for either side?" he asked. "I have no love for religion or the men that preach it. They're all lunatics. They're just really good at killing." I huffing at this point and tired of going around circles with the swordsman.
Kaden nodded. "How long do we have to wait here?" Finally, a relevant question. I glanced out the nearby window. It was still a bit light out. "Not long. The patrols should be evacuating shortly. But we still need to wait until the sun has set." Kaden grabbed a seat in a rusted chair and began nibbling on the bread. "How long has this bread been sitting here?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "It's only been seventeen days. Just suck on it," I said as I pulled mine out.
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The sun had set and we made our way towards the inner wall. It was nearly pitch black with the stars providing some light. I had already gotten used to it, but the clanking metal from behind told me that Kaden was not. Soon we made it to the inner wall. I pulled out a small flare crystal and shined it near the base. Here and there were scavenger holes with many collapsed. The fifth one after the yellow marker, as I recalled. One, two, three, four, five. There. A hole big enough for me and, if he's fortunate, Kaden as well. He did only bring two swords this time. Speaking of which, he finally joined me from behind. "This is it?" he asked. "Yes. Wanna go first?" I offered. He shook his head. "You show me how it's done." "Alright then. Follow me from behind then. Don't want you to be left outside."
I bent down, got onto my stomach and began crawling into the hole. Holding the crystal in my right hand I could see the sides of the hole. Not too many scraping marks, so it hasn't been used in a while. I spotted the opening not too far away and slowly kept crawling. I heard clang of metal from behind and Kaden cursing a bit. I chuckled a bit and crawled on. The tightness of the hole was unpleasant, but honestly my thoughts began racing about that bridge. The last and hopefully only time I saw it, it gave off a sense of dread. Like something was lurking there on those planks and watching me.
I snapped out of that thought and find myself at the opening. I heaved myself out and got up to dust off. I pocketed the crystal, but it was still kind of light. I turned towards the hole and a glaring light was emanating from within. Soon Kaden popped his head out and his left arm which was carrying a lamp the brightest candle I've ever seen! "Kill that flame!" I hissed at him. I glanced around. Nothing was around except for spots of green fog. Kaden clicked his tongue. "It was hard to see in there. Your crystal wasn't giving off that much light." He blew out his lamp and the darkness rolled in.
I turned around again and spotted the nearby street. "Follow me, swordsman," I said, turning back to Kaden. "Put your mask on and stay away from the cracks in the ground." I strapped on my home-made mask and started the trek to the Spat cathedral with Kaden following. Nothing much had changed since I was last here. A couple buildings seemed to have collapsed due to damage and decay. Disease patches and green fog dotted around the inner city. The occasional sound was the wind blowing through and some loose mortar and stone tumbling off a crumbing building. It spooked Kaden a bit as he staggered away from a nearby pile. After a few more blocks, the cathedral was in sight. It was different than the sunken one in the Catacombs as this one was a lot smaller looking. Hopefully there is no Flaming Head in this one.
The doors laid open and the inside was a mess. I heard Kaden gasp. The benches were strewn and broken about, tapestries were torn or burnt and there were dozens of corpses all over inside. Corpses. "Those aren't going to start walking, are they?" Kaden whispered, sharing my concern. "I'll be quick," I muttered and sauntered in. I shifted around each and every corpse and scrapped wood. I held up my crystal to try to see anything of worth. Nothing glinted and the grisly heads of the corpses were the only things revealed in the dark. These bodies have decayed for a long time, nothing new about them.
I sighed and pocketed the crystal. A sense of familiar experience came about as the light didn't fade away in the cathedral. I turned toward the door, expecting to Kaden with his bright lantern lit again. But his silhouette was turned away from the building and looking at the source in the distance. This light was actually bouncing of the darkened walls, dancing with the shadows instead being constant. A fire. I briskly walked past the debris and corpses towards the doorway.
Kaden turned to me as I joined him. "It started not long after you went in," he said. "Didn't you say something about cultists?" I watched the light from the other side of a block of buildings flare and flicker. I turned to the busted down doors. There were scratch marks on there and the hinges appeared to have been broken off. "Seems these madmen have stolen your prize," Kaden said. I turned to him. "Well, I didn't back down from the Trenchers," I replied. "I'm certainly not going to back down from cultists." With that I briskly walked towards the pyre light.
The night was still young and I need that favor from Piers. There was a small plaza on the other side of these crumbling buildings and as I walked, a street opened up with light coming from behind the corner. Kaden clanked behind me, but the sounds of a roaring blaze was almost drowning him out. I turned the corner and I nearly squinted to see what was in the square. Sure enough, a large pyre was erected and burning. Numerous people were standing about, adding things to the blaze or dancing about it. Many of them were cloaked in dark clothes, but some looked to be almost naked in the light on the other side. Kaden peered around me and saw the spectacle.
"Who do they worship?" he asked. "Nothing real," I answered. "They just have an obsession for Mukade." As my eyes grew adjusted to the immense light, I spotted a satchel on the outskirts of this circle of cultists. Shine glinted off this satchel which I came to figure out that it was gems and gold almost flowing out the top. The same ones that were supposed to be in the Cathedral. I turned to Kaden and whispered near his ear, "stay here. I'll be right back. If they see me, head back to the hole." Before he had the chance to say anything, I started towards the blaze.
Sure, maybe the light would reveal me and I would get spotted. But at that moment, I didn't really care. I need that paycheck. I stuck close the darkened debris as the light danced off the walls. The cultists seemed to enamored in their chanting or the pyre. All I know is that they're not paying attention. I inched closer and closer as the light and sounds grew more and more.
Suddenly, a small stone landed beside me, making me jump out of my skin. That damn Zaharan! It didn't make much noise considering the roaring blaze, but it sure startled me. I spun around to glare at Kaden, but something else grabbed my gaze. A long dark shape was moving up the side of the building. A very long dark shape. Mukade! As if reacting my thought, the thing glanced downward towards me. I watched it smell with its two antennas while I grasped a flash bomb. I never dealt with one of these before, but anything that spends a lifetime in the dark never likes light. A loose rooftile fell down in between me and the Mukade. I slowly looked up and I saw the Mukade do the same. There was a figure on the top of the ruined building.
In a flash, I jerked my head and watched the Mukade skitter violently and speedily toward the man on the roof. In another moment, it had him and I could hear his cries in the wind as its numerous legs pierced him in the dark. BOOM! A shot rang out from behind me and I turned. A cultist collapsed to the ground. The crowd of people spun this way and that trying to find the gunman. More shots rang out and musket balls and crossbow bolts landed all around. I locked on to the bag again and sprinted forward. Cultists were dropping all around and screams rang out all over.
I snatched the bag, but it had to take both arms for me to pick it up. These cultists have been busy. The bag felt as if it had thousands of silver spoons. I scrambled back to Kaden as fast as I could. Thankfully no one saw me or at least no who cared. The assassins on the rooftops were mainly concerned about wiping out the cultists. Maybe they're bounty hunters. Kaden pulled me over when I started slipping over the debris. "This place is a nightmare!" he sputtered. I couldn't help but nod. "Let's go," I urged and we hightailed it out.
We made our way back to the inner wall. The noise of musket fire and yelling echoed behind us. I glanced around looking for the hole. Kaden pointed to a section. The rat hole had collapsed. "You said the last option was the bridge." I looked behind us. The fire was still bouncing off the buildings, but now there were figures running out into the main street. "No choice now," I said. "Let's go!" We sped down the dark alleyways toward the bridge. I glanced down each alley that towards the main street. Dark figures raced parallel to us. Some grabbing each other and throwing them down. Bounty hunters. I should've known someone would send a kill-capture bounty on the cultists. I pressed forward, lugging the heavy hardware.
It took a while to reach the gate that led onto the bridge. I was in front while Kaden was lagging behind. I heard a crash behind me and I turned to seem him almost faceplanted. "Go! I'm right behind you," he yelled out. I turned back towards the gate. Just several blocks to go. More fighting was breaking out in the adjacent streets. As I neared the gate, two figures jumped out in front of me. One was trying to pin the other to the ground. I turned left and headed down the alleyway towards the main street. Only a handful of cultists were sprinting towards the gate and I crept close behind.
All of a sudden, the ground shook and I saw two of the cultists smashed into the ground, blood splattering about and on the surviving members. Everyone in the vicinity froze. I was dumbstruck and frozen with fear. Those cultists weren't hit by any debris or flying projectile. Their bodies sunk into the ground nearly instantaneously as if... something stepped on them. I watched as another loud quake shook the ground and two more cultists were squashed by nothing and into nothing. A bounty hunter nearby, probably the one that jumped at the gate, loosed a bolt onto whatever was in front of me. It glanced off something and I heard something creaking. More booming quakes, like footsteps, shook the ground and I saw the bounty hunter lifted into the air, crushed and flew leagues into the air.
Footsteps echoed in the dark and I saw a dark shape creeping toward the gate. It was Kaden! But he wasn't looking for the invisible giant. He was making for the bridge! I heard more creeking and saw the dust kick up as it took a step towards Kaden. That got his attention. He paused mid-step and looked at the kicked-up dust. I grabbed a flash bomb off my belt and I chucked it toward where it planted its foot before it could take another step. I glanced up, averting my eyes from the flash. But I wish I hadn't.
The bomb went off and the light illuminated invisible giant. It was immense, like the Flaming Head from the Catacombs. However, this thing was almost more terrifying. The bright eyes shined from the bomb and were looking towards me; they had no pupils. Its head was horridly deformed and the neck led down to bulky chest. The legs downward were rigid and thick like made out of solid bricks. But the fleeting moments I had to see it were enough for it to start sprinting towards me! As the image of the giant faded, the ground shook as it took the first step. I scrambled away as the tremors were nearly continuous. This thing is running fast!
I went around the side into the narrow alley. The ground behind me quaked as the foot of this invisible statue crashed down, sending up stone and debris. Screams echoed out from behind and all over. More people began popping out of the darkness. Cultists, assassins, whoever else there was. These stupid suckwads just had to come in the city on the same night and cause havoc. I sprinted around the left corner and towards the gate. Kaden was near the next corner, looking about and turning towards me and several other cloaked figures. He didn't draw either of his swords, seeing that we were all in danger. I stepped toward his side and he immediately locked eyes with mine.
"It seems your friend was right," he said, short of breath. "This gate really is cursed." Immediately, several of the cloaked people were stomped out into oblivion. Another person stopped himself short right next to us. We stood there in silence and then Kaden and I slowly began backing away from the gate. The other hooded figure noticed us and began doing the same. Some stone shifted underfoot as we walked back, but so did some more stone from the surrounding buildings.
I grabbed another flash bomb. Even though it quiet and no other footstep quaked the ground, I felt the giant wasn't standing still. As I turned to Kaden, my eyes widened as I saw he had taken out his lantern and had a lit match to light it. The bright light broke the darkness and my eyes turned away instinctively. My heart sank and I heard the third man to our right gasp loudly. The light from the lantern seemed to be as bright as my flash bomb as I could see the giant. However, it wasn't standing anymore. Its head was at the end of alleyway, looking straight at us, and its immense hand was reaching out toward us!
A short moment later, it bellowed and continued grabbing at us. The ground quaked once again and I fell over. I crawled frantically around the corner of the building and I was joined by Kaden. The other man ran straight on. I heard as this giant got up and started running again. The lantern was still on, however before I hissed at Kaden to kill the light, in one swift motion he extinguished it. I grabbed his arm and pulled him around. The giant steps echoed throughout but they were coming from the other side of this building. It was now or never.
Kaden didn't need to ask, we both sprinted to the gate and bridge. Behind us a building began to crumble. Soon we were at the threshold and the bridge opened up before us. Not skipping a beat, we both thundered onto the wooden planks. More screams echoed behind us and more quakes shook the ground. I nearly stumbled and Kaden fell but surprisingly just rolled right back onto his feet and kept running. We didn't stop running when we got into the outer city. We didn't stop when we reached the wall breach. There were guards with lit torches and they saw us run past, but they were huddling and hiding behind trees, rocks and debris. We kept running until we collapsed in the grassy plains, a good ways away from the city. I honestly ran so far for so long, but I was too scared to pass out. Kaden frantically opened up a canteen he had on him and drank the water within. He offered it to me after some gulps. I gasped out a thank you, before chugging it.
We sat there, panting and gasping. The light of the pyre could still be seen. For a while we didn't say anything. I lifted the bag full of gems and coin. It felt heavier now. "You got everything, right?" Kaden asked. I nodded. "Piers better be happy about this," I sputtered. After recuperating for long while, we got up and ventured back to Cutty. I parted ways with Kaden after entering the city, said he wanted to see Edwin about his wares.
I visited Piers later that night and dropped off the merchandise. To say he was ecstatic was an understatement. The Rat was practically dancing off the walls until he saw my face. Apparently what color I had in my face still didn't come back even after a long circumference. I told him what happened and left nothing out. He was astonished. "Mukade, cultists, assassins and an invisible giant?! What else was there?" he asked. I shrugged, "Hardly anything worth your time." Piers thankfully had the money upfront. 1,000 galleons and his signed "I owe you" favor waiver was promptly placed in my hand. I left in hurry back to my place after finishing the transaction. That was my last trip to the Damned City.