Chapter 4

  The proposition

  Temperature drops evermore as the sun has vanished to bring forth night. Rows of numerous winter birds alike sat abreast on every roof, while the occasional roar of a fire drake keeping a forge alight for the blacksmiths echoes vacant streets. The city left had an eerie atmosphere, however, some parts of the city were warm & alight.

  On one of the more quieter streets, tucked within the second ring lies an abandoned storehouse, now holding the meeting place Arthur had organised. The store house was empty apart from a few crates set up as a table, complete with smaller crates & a table cloth with tea brewed, ropes & pulleys hung off exposed beams tucked away while Lanterns lit up the room.

  The first to arrive was Remidemus. He was alone & more than a little confused, he found himself sitting, pouring liquor from his flask into his teacup. He sat in silence until he heard the wide shed door open.

  Zenthia entered. Her & Remidemus both sized up each other.

  “Are you Arthur?” Zenthia asked

  Remidmemus chuckled “I am not”

  Remidemus stood up leaving the teacup half full on the makeshift table, holding out his hand,

  “Remidemus, at your service”

  “Zenthia, Ranger. What’s going on here?”

  “Well if I had to guess, I would say whenever Arthur arrives we will be most likely working together”

  “Working together, we don’t know what we are even doing yet. Do you? Might have some idea-” Before Zenthia could continue, a third person entered the warehouse.

  The two watched this new arrival enter. Homeless, with ruff stitch fixes along his robes but walked into the room with confident conviction.

  “Oskar Lotusfall. Wizard, Is Arthur here yet?”

  Remidemus was the first to introduce himself “Not yet mister Lotusfall”

  “Please Oskar is fine; I suppose this is the team am I to assume?”

  There was that word again, team? “What do you know about this mission?” Zenthia examined the tea & poured two cups & the three sat around the table.

  They suspected that it was an infiltration mission of some kind. Oskar wore a pair of gloves, some makeshift spikes layered on the soles of his boots & a satchel to replace the one that was stolen.

  Remidemus was bound in a breastplate, a single old pauldron & a set of Cuisses, the set he hadn’t worn in some time & a backpack. All signs of a well prepared man ready for anything, leaning against the crate table was his longsword still wrapped.

  Zenthia was adorned in her winter cloak, strapped leather armour reminiscent to a waistcoat or a Corset, a pair of bracers & shin high boots with leather coverings that reached the knees, over one shoulder hung a recurve bow complimented with a full quiver, wrapped around her waist was a utility belt full of unknown curiosities.

  From the outside Arthur looked through one of the windows & smiled, he entered.

  Zenthia was facing the door as he approached.

  Removing his hat, he took a bow & introduced himself “Hello, I am Arthur Ravenwood, I assume you heard the word of this meeting miss Ranger” maintaining his gentleman manner.

  “Lucy gave me this” Zenthia withdrew the letter “She said to come here if I wanted to make a difference. What are we doing here?” replied Zenthia holding up the note with the wax seal.

  Oskar & Remidemus took a long look at each other, both peering into one another’s eyes as if they were talking in thought.

  Oskar broke eye contact to scan from head to toe, this beast of a man, the armour almost looks new. Though, looking closer you can see the dents & scratches of battle.

  Remidemus doing the same. To him Oskar looks ruffed up. Did he make those boots himself? doesn’t look like he’s from around here. Where’s his weapon, does he need one? These were all thoughts Remidemus had. Although before he had a chance to say anything.

  “All three of you have the same question & the best person to answer would be my employer, & as it would happen, he has just arrived” said Arthur,

  His butler attire of browns, blacks & oranges, made him eye-catching, like rust on black stone. The noble gracefully placed his left arm to his back & his right across his waist, taking a heavy bow towards a shadow darkened beam.

  Cold sweat ran down Remidemus’ brow as he sensed darkness within the shadow.

  Zenthia & Oskar were suddenly & simultaneously put on guard, one from experience & the other from stresses of the previous days.

  The shadow began to protrude & stretch making the form of a cloaked man tearing out of the shadows as if it was fabric. The torches now burning a copper green left the room with a less inviting nature yet none moved.

  Now entering the room was a tall, lightly pale figure, his eyes an amber red matching the gemstone broach on the collar of his snow-white shirt, a dark grey wool coat cloaked his figure, his shoulders pulled back in a proper manner & exuding an air of well-deserved respect. Clearly showing the stature of a first-generation noble, his hair was a salt & pepper lion's mane combed back complimenting his well-trimmed Verdi beard.

  The crickets in the room even the noise outside went silent.

  “My apologies, it appears I am late;/ I apologise for my tardiness. Arthur, is everyone here?” The man's tone was calm & collected if not with a hint of. Mild embarrassment?

  He was neither tall like the local half giants nor was he short, at first glance he would almost appear human.

  “Indeed sir, these three are here because they were interested in making a difference” replied Arthur retracting from his bow & gesturing to the three now standing. “May I introduce, Remidemus, Zenthia & Oskar”

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  The room felt tense, though slowly calmed down.

  “Excellent work Arthur, I suppose an introduction is in order. My name is Lord Surrugal Vanderheart. “Soo lu Gaul” “van der hart” I am responsible for keeping the undergrounds of the city in check & keeping this kingdom's shadows safe. We are all here tonight because I require your assistance. There is a new weapon seen in the walls of the city & from what we have heard they can be the size of a wand or as long as a staff, a metal contraption wrapped in wood” Surrugal slowly approached the table.

  “What do you need from us?” Remidemus with an air of confidence.

  “Have you got any leads of these weapons, Or are we going in blind?’ Zenthia chimed in keeping her composure steady while inside sensing danger from this figure.

  “Our last informant sent us a message, not long after he went silent, we went searching for him & we found his body down Fogbow ally with a hole in his head execution style. What we need is for you to help us find these devices & bring them back so we can destroy them,” replied Surrugal, his tone stoic.

  “When we find these items, how do we find you?” Oskar asked, in somewhat shock of this information, & wondering if that could have been that loud bang he heard the other day.

  Surrugal reached into his coat, pulling out three wax sticks about a foot long wrapped in blue paper bound in red ribbon

  “These are calling candles. They last for eight hours when lit, you can put them out at any time, once you light them you will be taken to a small dimension where I’ll be called & meet you” replied Surrugal now bearing intense eyes looking towards the group.

  “How can we trust you?” Zenthia presumptuously taking one of the candles

  “You cannot nor would I expect you to, not yet, though what you can trust is that we’ll pay you, half now & a half after cleaning up this mess, that is what we can ask you to trust” said Surrugal matching her steely gaze.

  Reaching into an impossibly deep pocket again & pulling out three large coin pouches. Surrugal gave each pouch & the other two candles to Zenthia, Remidemus & Oskar. Each one’s eyes widened by the weight & size of these pouches.

  Oskar, opening the pouch nearly forgot to breathe, this had to be two hundred gold pieces, you could humbly retire with this, & there's more coming at-.

  Surrugal met his eyes “I hope this help the grasp of current events”

  Oskars hands now shaking hearing the sound of the money encouraged both Remidemus & Zenthia to also look into their coin pouches.

  The room fell once again silent neither three knew what to say nor what they were getting themselves into, this was serious.

  Noticing the discomfort the coin brought to the still quiet room Arthur chimed in. “We understand that this may be a lot to take in, but this goes to show how serious of a situation this could be & why we need to take care of it as soon as possible before the king & queen become endangered” Arthur’s tone held reassurance.

  Zenthia’s eyes shot up, she wasn’t just any ranger, she was a city ranger, stealth protector of the city & yet she had not seen nor heard of this Lord or these weapons, was this something Olo knew of?

  “At this point we only have an idea of this weapon and its destruction, until we know more we need to keep this quiet Understood.” Surrugal turned to Oskar “Arthur tells me you are a wizard, & your wand was broken Mr Lotusfall, is that correct” said Surrugal genuinely interested.

  Oskar gimmased “Yes Sir, earlier today I was taken by surprise by a gang of goblins who took almost everything I had, once they saw my wand they swiped that too & snapped it” Oskar looked crestfallen “I managed to purchase a component sack with what money I had left so I can cast some minor spells but without a wand or some kind of focus it will be difficult to for distant precision, however doable” replied Oskar trying desperately to keep calm while holding so much money.

  Remidemus grew even more excited, he had never met an actual wizard before though not what he had expected, & in his mind, he saw wizards as old grumpy people in nice robes & funny hats with big beards. This Oskar guy can’t be more than thirty, Remidemus thought to himself not knowing much about elves & how they age either.

  Zenthia had a different eye, she could see the slight hints & lines in the face & could tell he was older than herself being only Twenty six.

  Feeble to the age of some elves she has met, though even with her encounter with other elves she always found it difficult to properly determine age, after a certain point she was told by most to not worry about it after a while for knowledge & wisdom outweighs age in the eyes of elves.

  “If you’re after a wand I might know just the place, it’s a way from here but still in the city, I’m sure that old lady would have one there for sure” said Remidemus in an excited tone.

  “You will receive the other three hundred gold after the mission is complete, we hope to hear from you soon” said Surrugal declaring this meeting adjourned.

  The Lord returned into an incorporeal form & melded with the shadow of the beam once again & with that the torches began to flare bright & noise came back as if it never left.

  Zenthia’s heart was pounding her breath shallow as if she saw a ghost in her eyes. Finally, a real job, a mission, for the royal no less, this could be my chance to find Olo too, & with such a weird team. That tall guy with white hair?

  She had seen before shovelling the streets, he looked like he could lift a whole cart & that wizard. Just how old is he? Zenthia thought to herself before turning to Arthur.

  “And this location?” She asked

  Artur withdrew a map of the city, “there is a Pub right here Houses miners mostly, our informant told us there's going to be a group meeting there”

  Zenthia smiled “Did you want to grab a drink Arthur? It’s on me’ said Zenthia in the spur of the moment, trying to get some more time with him for he looked to be on his way out as well.

  Arthur shook his head & smiled “Thank you for your offer Miss Zenthia, however tonight I too must get going, I am a butler after all, & have some responsibilities I absolutely must attend” replied Arthur sounding genuinely apologetic.

  Zenthia sighed,

  “I do however still have a few minutes, you look as if you have a question you wish to ask me” Arthur chimed in.

  Holding up one finger. Zenthia looked Arthur in the eye, “I’m Looking for someone, a fellow ranger, Olo the ghost dragon”

  Arthur paused “Yes, he referred me to you when I approached him about four days ago, he said he was too busy to take on this task & to recruit his Greatest apprentice”

  Zenthia’s eyes widened in shock, “He referred to me?”

  Arthur nodded, “He was departing east, unfortunately that is all I can give you. Now I must be on my way”

  Zenthia shook Arthur's hand “Thank you Arthur, Safe travel home”

  Arthur turned to Remidemus having a one on one with Oskar & said his goodbyes before fading into the night.

  “Looks like you two have a plan brewing” Zenthia said in a hearty tone, excited for the adventure

  “I was just telling Oskar here about this place uptown in one of the side streets not only does she sell legitimate magic items, but she is also a wealth of information” said Remidemus with a spark of confidence & joy in his tone.

  “I’ve got a friend at the house of lady favours in mid-ring that may know a thing or two of what’s going on as well, so let’s meet up somewhere” said Zenthia

  “There’s an inn I am staying at called the Tuskenstien tavern. We can meet up there in a few hours” said Oskar trying to help as much as he could

  “Well this sounds like we have our missions. Zenthia we can meet up at the Tuskenstien inn in four hours. Does that work for you?” Remidemus chimed in excitedly. “I’m familiar with where it is so I will stick with oskar, it’s on the main road on the fourth ring you can’t miss it, Oskar & I will head to Gloria’s glorious emporium & get him a new wand & maybe even get some information, she might even know what we’re dealing with”

  Zenthia nodded “Sounds like a plan, I’ll see you then in four hours” With newfound vigour she prepared to leave.

  Oskar grinned “I like it. With this much coin I should be able to find something, thank you very much Mr Remidemus” said Oskar being formal & more ecstatic than he’s felt all day. Heart pumping & feeling the rush of adrenalin coming.

  “Please call me Remi,” said Remidemus in an oddly formal tone.

  The first to head off leaving the quiet torch-lit storehouse was Zenthia with a pep in her step

  “We’ll see you when we are finished with what we are doing, Miss Zenthia” said Oskar in high spirits as she left knowing he may get a new wand,

  “Hey! Call me Z” Said Zenthia, pulling her hood over hiding a smile towards Oskar & Remidemus with a new vision of hope.

  “Olo, I can do this.”