Chapter 7

  The party turned as they heard boots slapping wet stone approaching quickly.

  “Thunderfist, you bastard.” A small grizzled man stumbled into the alley.

  Other than his small stature, the first thing Astren noticed when the dwarf got close enough was the stench of cheap rum coming off of him, and he noticed Kaelira almost gag. He then noticed two things. One of the dwarf’s eyes was a milky white color with no Iris or pupil visible. Strange. More importantly though, he noticed the dwarf resting his hand on the thick iron cudgel slipped into his belt. Unsure how he knew, he instinctively knew who this was and why..The dwarf was Borin Cragjaw, smuggler and slumlord of the Guttershadow district. Of course he’d know the biggest names on the wrong side of order.

  “There you are! I’ve been lookin for ya all over. Thought you’d skipped town on me or somethin. And you brought Ghost and the Warlock along with ya. This your protection?” he laughed.

  “Uh, right…ummm.what did I owe you for again?” Matho asked.

  “What do you owe me for?! What do you owe me…Bah you’re dumb, but not that dumb Thunderfist. Or you finally take one too many knocks to the head?”

  He stepped closer just out of reach and lowered his voice. “Two kegs. Four nights ago at the Gilded Tankard. I took a bet, remember?” Not waiting for a response “Ya told me you could drink that Half-Ogre under the table. Damned near lost me tavern when ya passed out on the third tankard. So, ya gonna pay up? Or ya think ya’ve got another trick lined up to make me look a fool again?”

  Astren glanced to Matho, terrifying for a moment. Matho squared his shoulders to the dwarf, took half a step forward, leaning over the little man, Opened his mouth as if to explode in anger, and Matho froze. Fear spread across his face. He started looking in every direction confused. “What…Who said that?”

  The dwarf blinked, and doubled over in laughter. Oh gods damn boy look at ya! Ya git hit in the head and forget who yer talkin to. I’ve seen street rats more threatenin than you today, and one of ‘em was drunk and missin a shoe.

  Kaelira looked to Matho concern on her face. Suspicion mounting that he had just heard the DM’s voice in his head for the first time. Something she had yet to experience. She looked back to the dwarf. “How much does he owe you?”

  “You his keeper now horns?” he waved a hand at her dismissively. “Bah, was two imported kegs of Red Widow. Straight from the Tankard’s top rack. Shit ain’t cheap.”

  He looked back to Matho. “Pay up, or we settle things the old fashioned way. Cracked ribs and ruined friendships.”

  Kaelira looked back to Matho, who sat with his head in his hands as if trying to claw the voice from his skull. “Say he doesn’t have the gold. Any work you need done tor him to maybe work it off?”

  Borin laughed, “Don’t look like he’s in no position to do no jobs at all right now does it?”

  “Don’t worry, you leave that to me and ghost here.”

  “Hmph, didn’t expect sense from the one with horns..” He scratched at his beard thinking. “Funny you should ask, actually. Just so happens there was a crate was supposed to arrive for me at the Bonepier Market last night. Never did. You three find it, bring it back to me…intact” he added looking to Matho, “We’ll call the debt paid. Might even be some coin left over fer ya. If ya don’t fuck it up that is. Deal?”

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  Astren watched the dwarf tapping his hand impatiently on the cudgel. “So, before we go chasing down these thieves, what’s in the crate, and who knew about this delivery?’

  “Ha! You tryin’ to figure out if ya know ‘em Ghost?

  “Just making sure I know what we’re getting into.”

  “Ya know, even after a dozen years of moving half the product in this hovel, I ain’t untouchable.” He turned and spit into the nearly clogged sewer drain. “Word is, a new operation is in town movin’ goods and sendin’ lackeys after anyone who asks any questions. For obvious reasons I can’t exactly have that.”

  “You didn’t exactly answer the question there did you?” Kaelira asked.

  “Aye, I was gettin’ there horns. They got themselves a symbol…a purple handprint. I don’t know who the turncoat is, but I suspect someone told them the crate was full of my ingredients. Rare alchemical necessities for a special order. Not inherently dangerous, unless you know what to do with the shit.”

  Astren and Kaelira exchanged a glance. Astren didn’t like the idea of having to try to steal dangerous chemicals he had no idea how to handle.If they had to do this, he hoped Kaelira may have more experience with the stuff. Matho still didn’t look like he was adjusting well to their new environment. They needed to get the information they would need to make a decision quickly so they could try to get him calmed down as soon as they could.

  The dwarf continued “The only ones who knew about the shipment were the Tankard’s bouncer Grem, my runner Tillo, and me o’course. Tillo’s a damn Goblin. Twitchy little bastard. Too twitchy to be clever, and too damn clever to be loyal.” Seeing the weak link of the group, he went on “So, Thunderfist, You want in on this, or you gonna stand there lookin’ like a big dumb ox waitin’ for someone to tell you where to shit?”

  Kaelira and Astren both glanced back at the big man, and knew they needed to keep him quiet for now. He was not ready to really become Matho yet, and they had to protect him until he was. “It really sounds like we could be causing a lot of troubles for ourselves over just 10 gold.” Kaelira said.

  “Aye, could be yer right there.” He stepped forward a step, and the smell coming off of him almost put Kaelira on the ground. But, this is Guttershadow where debts aren’t always paid in coin. I’d have taken the coin no problem til ya asked about work. Now coin ain’t enough, and you walk away now…” he tapped the cudgel more deliberately now, and glanced back towards two men now standing in the shadows at the end of the alley..

  “Well, let’s just say I’ll owe ya. Yer call. I ain’t forcin’ a contract with ya. Say the word, I walk away…fer now. And so will your chance not to just be another corpse the streets of Guttershadow run red from. I’ll be at the tankard til midnight. Need yer decision by then, or I’ll make mine.

  With the dwarf gone, Kaelira turned and walked toward Matho putting a hand on his elbow. “Matho–Dustin, look I know this is freaky as hell. I don’t think we have a choice but to play the game for now. It was the voice right?”

  Matho gave no response.

  “I know, I haven’t heard it yet, and I’m not looking forward to it when I do. We know it’s coming now. You know what it sounds like. Maybe you can turn that into strength. Be angry at the fucking guy for invading your head like that and use that anger to power through.”

  Astren watched the exchange, awed by Kaelira’s resolve, even through the calm, he noticed the tiniest tremor in her hand. The tiniest hesitation as if she was holding something back under the surface.

  Then he noticed a flash in the corner of his vision. He opened the interface to find a new tab listed there. “Quest Log? Did you guys just get a notification for a quest?” He examined the new menu and saw several items listed, including find the missing crate and investigate the purple hand. He scanned the list of items in the menu until he got to the bottom. Survive Duskwatch was the last item listed. “What the fuck?! We didn’t agree to take on this fucking quest yet. What if we decide to kill the dwarf, or go to these Purple Hand people to offer to work for them instead? You’re just going to choose for us?! He yelled into the night air louder than he knew he should have knowing that Duskwatch listens.

  As if in response, Astren’s interface flickered, and changed. The Quest Log tab now showed no active quests. He heard the voice in his head again, “I do not choose. I offer. The dice fall where you place them.” The interface flashed away on its own without Astren choosing to close it.

  “Well, at least we can make up our own mind, or can we? Do we actually have any power here, or are we just the sheep being shepherded where he wants us to go?”