Theft, Murder, and Crystals Read online

  “A shrewd ploy,” Valkhorn said. “But our coffers are overflowing. I want more, much more. And something for poison, to resist it. Some of our brothers have eaten some bad bread, if you understand what I mean.”

  Samuel swallowed. Everything about this was going to suck. “I’m afraid things have changed, my friend. We, uh, well our operation took a bit of a hit.”

  “The guard have found you?” Valkhorn asked.

  “No, not the city. Someone called the Falcon?”

  Valkhorn laughed. “You let that third-rate guild rob you? How pathetic you are!”

  The heat rose up through Samuel’s face and an anger overtook him, for a brief second. He wanted to slap Valkhorn, but resisted jumping into a losing fight. “We weren’t expecting someone to attack us. They took all of our crystals, including the empties we need to make new orders for you.”

  “I see,” Valkhorn said. “That is most unfortunate.” He said nothing else for a moment and simply stared at Samuel. “And your plan is?” he finally asked after a few minutes.

  “We’re going to need to get more crystals, it’ll take time. The fastest way would be for you to get our wares back.”

  Valkhorn growled. “So now I have to play the city guard for you?”

  “Hey, let me remind you that without me, you wouldn’t be so successful in your efforts,” Samuel shouted. He didn’t mean to lose control of his temper, especially when Valkhorn weighed a hundred pounds more than him and carried two axes at his side. All Samuel had was a knife and a crystal that let him run fast. No doubt Valkhorn carried such a crystal too. “You need us too much to let us get robbed.”

  Valkhorn scowled at that but paused. A strange smile came across his face, sending chills up Samuel’s spine. “You’re right. We do need you. You must relocate your operation to our headquarters. You will be safe there. Then, we shall retrieve your stolen crystals.”

  “Uh, no thanks, we’re happier working on our own,” Samuel said. “Just get the crystals back and we won’t charge for the next batch of orders.”

  “This city is big and the men and women inside of it are vicious,” Valkhorn replied, looming over Samuel. “Think about it for a moment. Your operation is small, how many? One, two? Three at most? How long will you last outside of some serious protection? You will come and work in our headquarters, safe and sound. We’ll pay you a monthly fee for your work. Then, no crystals go to anyone else. We keep a…oh, I heard the scribe say this word once. A mon…a monopoly. Yes, that’s right. We will have a monopoly on crystals and you will be handsomely rewarded.”

  Valkhorn’s smile was from ear to ear, he appeared to be quite pleased with himself for coming up with such an elegant solution. But this idea wasn’t amenable to Samuel. It wouldn’t be long before their new office space became a prison.

  “I’m afraid me and my team prefer the independent entrepreneur lifestyle,” Samuel said. “Freedom is worth the risk.”

  Valkhorn’s smile vanished and his hand dropped down to his axe. “You may want to reconsider.”

  “Hey, man,” Samuel said, putting his hands up. “Don’t be threatening me, okay? Need I remind you that because of me, you are more successful than you’ve ever been? Don’t bite the hand that feeds.”

  “You are not the hand that feeds, you are the hand that spins thread into gold,” Valkhorn said as he pulled his axe free. “And you’re coming with me!”

  “Well isn’t this just great,” Samuel said as he dug his hand into his pocket, grabbing hold of the gem. The speed gem activated immediately, releasing a surge of energy through his entire body. Samuel felt as if his legs were on fire and he was quick to run in the opposite direction of Valkhorn.

  Valkhorn, surprised at this, swung his axe at empty air and screamed at the top of his lungs. “You’re a dead man!”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Samuel grumbled. Of all the people he had to ally with, a numbskulled barbarian with no business sense was turning out to be the poorest decision he had made. He should have seen this coming. Why the hell did he think this was going to be so easy? But then again, Samuel kind of expected everything to be easy. Normally, he’d just give up on the scheme at this point, as he had with the horse racing, the goat wrangling and the poker tournaments, but this was different. Cimir had been seriously injured.

  Giving up would have been easy for Samuel, but Cimir had disagreed immensely with the plan of just ditching their hard work. Healing his eye was an easy enough task, but Samuel worried that his scheme would eventually get Cimir killed. The reality of finding his unconscious friend in a secret building had been a kick in the teeth. Even now, a few days after Cimir was able to heal himself, a knot still formed in Samuel’s stomach whenever he thought of that terrible scene. He would never be able to forgive himself if his best friend died due to his antics. For Samuel, dodging death due to a few poor decisions was a daily occurrence, but Cimir? The poor lad didn’t deserve something like this.

  But, Cimir was a man of honor, or so he had angrily ranted to Samuel. They would not rest until they found the Falcon and figured out how to bring him to justice. Secretly, Samuel hoped that Cimir would cool off and just leave the attack in the past. The last thing Samuel wanted to deal with was a conflict. Negotiations and trading was one thing, but fighting? Killing? Samuel had no taste for such things.

  As he ran along the ground, each foot barely touching the ground before springing off with supernatural vigor, he noticed a large, black mass in front of him. While his speed was increased, his reflexes were still average at best, sending Samuel crashing into what felt like a brick wall.

  “Urrgh,” he groaned as he fell onto his back. His bones made several noises that bones generally shouldn’t make. Fortunately, Cimir had given him a healing crystal as well and as he writhed on the ground in pain, Samuel managed to activate the crystal. The soothing sensation ran across his body, saving him from agony and perhaps even from liquified internal organs.

  “Sorry,” came a deep gravelly voice from above. Samuel focused upwards to see that above him was none other than the Stonemar who had robbed him a few weeks back. At least, he assumed it was. They were all about the same, giant rocks with hands and eyes.

  “Hey!” Samuel shouted. “Didn’t you rob me earlier?”

  The Stonemar stared at him, its burning yellow eyes glaring at him. After a moment it spoke. “Yes.”

  “Oh…” Samuel said. He scrambled to his feet and hopped a few inches away. “Well I’m sober now, so don’t try to fight me.”

  “You seek revenge?” it asked. It did not move or shift, rather it simply stood and stared, hunched over with both of its massive arms against the ground to keep it upright.

  “Uh, no. I just ran into you…” Samuel mumbled. “Hey, you want a job?”

  “And you lure me into a place where you can kill me?” the Stonemar replied.

  “No, no, no. Look, you got me fair and square the other night. From one crook to another, I can respect your ruthless opportunism.”

  “I’m not a crook,” it said. It shifted a little and grunted at him. “Times are not easy for creatures of stone.”

  Samuel nodded in agreement as he stared into the mournful eyes of the creature. While telling their expressions wasn’t easy, he could see some kind of sorrow or regret of the monster. “Hey, I get it. We do a lot of things we aren’t proud of out on the streets.”

  “You will say whatever it takes to lure me to my death,” the Stonemar said as it turned to walk off.

  “Look, I’m going to level with you, there is a very large, angry man currently howling about killing me no matter what,” Samuel replied. “In my opinion, I like living a lot more than I like revenge. Now, a big ole’ bruiser like you can probably put a beast like him in the ground without hesitation, am I right?”

  “Humans are much weaker,” the Stonemar said. It stopped moving away but didn’t turn to face him. “That much is true.”

  “Exactly! We’re basically la
rge, wet bags full of organs, easily smushed by big guys like you. So, I’ll pay you lots of gold if you agree to follow me around and make sure that I stay alive.”

  The Stonemar said nothing. “I am not poor.”

  “It’s really late man, why don’t you have a house?” Samuel asked. “Why aren’t you sleeping inside somewhere safe and warm, instead of wandering around the Golden District at some ungodly hour?”

  “There are no homes for Stonemar in Glimmer, my gold…my gold is not as good as I thought it would be.”

  Samuel nodded at that. Practices of discrimination against non-humans were fairly ubiquitous in Glimmer. “Sorry to hear that. But look man, or Stoneman, I can help you out. Navigate landlords, get you hooked up with somewhere good to live. Whatever you need.”

  “As long as I protect you?” the Stonemar asked. It turned around to look at him. After a few moments of pondering, it spoke “Why not hire a mercenary?”

  “Well, it is an incredibly long story that involves maybe pissing off all of the mercenaries in the city. But fortunately, only two guilds are actively wanting me dead.”

  The Stonemar sighed. “I am sorry for robbing you.”

  “Hey, no offense. Trust me, if the situation were reversed, I would have robbed you too,” Samuel said.

  “You… speak truth. You are strange, for a human. You don’t lie about how terrible you are,” the Stonemar said. It tilted its head and looked past Samuel. “You should get behind me.”

  Samuel turned around to see Valkhorn hot on his heels. In his right hand was an axe and in the left was a crystal of speed.

  “Samuel Goldenwine!” Valkhorn bellowed. “Come forth and meet your fate!”

  “I will handle this,” the Stonemar said. It ambled forward a few steps and towered over the warrior. “You will leave this man alone.”

  Valkhorn laughed. “You foolish creature, do you not know what- “ his words were interrupted as the Stonemar reached his stony fingers’ down and wrapped the entire hand around Valkhorn’s head. Valkhorn’s hands began to thrash and spasm but after a few seconds he stopped moving entirely.

  “Oh, my gods!” Samuel shouted. “Did you just kill that guy?”

  The Stonemar released his grip, allowing the dead body to fall to the ground. The state of Valkhorn’s head and helmet was gruesome and Samuel felt his stomach turn at the sight.

  “I surmised he was not going to leave you alone,” the Stonemar said. It turned and looked at Samuel. “His skin was like steel. I apologize for taking so long to end him.”

  “Oh, I think I’m going to be sick,” Samuel gagged. Sure, he had seen dead bodies before, but this was…this was beyond horrific. Still, despite the intense nightmares that this image would be sure to bring for the rest of his life, Samuel couldn’t help but think that he made the best business decision of his life by hiring this rockman.

  Chapter 13:

  Cimir sat in front of the forge, his heart pounding. The memories and lessons of all that he had learned from his High Priest mentors back in the homelands came to his mind. The words of his head master of destruction magics, Hemlock, echoed in his ears.

  “You, son, must never suffer an injury,” Hemlock had said. They had been sitting in the highest point of the underground realm, known as Srkliiiianika, translated to Poisoner’s Peak.

  “But what if I do?” Cimir had asked, sitting cross legged. The large serpentine creature before him did not frighten him, for his mother had been just as him, striped green and black, with a large hood and fangs of the sharpest type.

  “Then you have won,” Hemlock had replied. His arms had reached out to produce a small sphere of burning red heat. “A man who does not strike to kill is a man who allows his opponent to seek revenge. When you wield the power of destruction, the fourth element of reality, you have permission to tear down creation. Never strike unless you wish to destroy. And never destroy a thing halfway.”

  Cimir had soaked in those wise words. He had reveled in them, for after all, the power to destroy was far more important than the power to create. For destruction could undo creation, but creation could never truly restore what was lost. It could copy, it could repair, but it could not ever make a broken thing whole again. There were many lessons that he had learned in his youth, but now, as he sat before the fire, Master Hemlock’s words came echoing louder than ever before.

  “Never suffer an injury,” he mumbled as he stretched his hands out to the single grey crystal in the kiln. He only had a few neutral ones left, but this would be what he needed to win the fight against the Falcon. “Because then you have won.”

  The energy from his hands mingled with the gem and he began to shape it. Each moment passed as his concentration changed from idea to idea. A silver stallion, a burning sensation and finally, the absence of breath. These three ideas joined together would give him just the right spell he needed. The spell to ensure that the Falcon would no longer be able to fly.

  After hours of concentration, the weapon was ready. Sure, Cimir had made Samuel promise that they would never sell weapons, but this? This was different. Cimir’s honor had been taken from him. It was true that the eye was easy enough to repair, but it wasn’t the same eye anymore. Destruction had taken the eye that had seen so many strange and beautiful wonders in his life. Destruction had removed his eye that for 22 years had given him guidance in a cold world. Did he regrow the eye? Of course, but creation could never undo destruction. This eye was new, a stranger to him. It would have its own strengths, its own weaknesses. He would have to learn from it in time.

  But the eye was also his victory. For in not slaying their enemy, the Brotherhood of Arms lost the war. He would not make the same mistake as they did.

  As Cimir focused on crafting his newest tool, the door from behind opened.

  “It’s me!” Samuel announced as Cimir turned to face him, clutching the warm crystal tightly.

  “Oh, it’s good to see you,” Cimir said.

  Samuel kicked his boots off and sat down at the table. “Likewise, you have any luck with some self-defense crystals?”

  “Self-defense…yes,” Cimir said. He placed his new weapon in his pocket and hoped that Samuel wouldn’t enquire any further.

  “Great. Well the good news is that our biggest buyer, Valkhorn, is dead. Uh, because he tried to kill me and I’m such a badass that I was able to hire someone much bigger and stronger than him to kill him.”

  Cimir frowned. “I’m sorry, what?”

  “Look, Valkhorn came to the unfortunate realization that enslaving us would be cheaper than paying us as freelance magical item artisans. In retrospect, I’m surprised he didn’t think of that earlier. So, with Valkhorn dead, their weird ass guild will probably fall apart. So…yeah. How was your day?”

  Cimir sighed at that and shook his head. “Why do these things always seem to happen? You were supposed to enlist his aid in retrieving our items. Now he’s dead? And what, you think that his buddies aren’t going to come after us now?”

  “First of all, I tried to get him to help, but the moment he realized we were vulnerable and weak, he decided to take advantage,” Samuel said as he wagged a finger at Cimir. “And secondly, I’ve hired us some protection. A real champion, a Stonemar.”

  “Stonemar?” Cimir asked. He smiled a little. “It would be nice to meet a non-human for once.”

  “You familiar with the race?”

  “Their homelands were close to East Mion,” Cimir replied. “We’re on friendly terms with them.”

  “Great, well, you’ll have a lot to talk about. He’s getting all of his stuff, I’m moving him in here. That way, we have someone watching over the kiln and our supplies 24/7.”

  Cimir nodded at that plan. This wasn’t actually a bad idea. Having some on-grounds protection would help him focus more on getting stuff done and less on worrying about who was coming in.

  “So, now we just need to figure out what to do about the Falcon,” Cimir said.

  �
�Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that. You said they wanted to place orders with us, right? Well, the idea comes to mind that maybe it wouldn’t be the worst idea to just work with them. Sure, it’s a bit of a shakedown, but do we really want to fight them?” Samuel asked. “Money is much better than violence.”

  “I figured you’d say something like that,” Cimir replied. “You don’t want to get into any unnecessary fights, I can respect that.”

  Samuel let out a sigh of relief, but it was misplaced because Cimir produced a crystal from his pocket. His eyes glimmered with excitement.

  “But I’ve been working on a reprisal,” he said, holding the crystal up. “A way to get revenge without risking our lives. And this is it.”

  Samuel grimaced. “I take it you aren’t interested in just spooking them?’

  “No. My friend, this will ensure that the Falcon dies. And it will be in such a way that everyone will know it was magic. His lackies and goons, his allies and friends, they’ll all be terrified. No one will come after me.