Chapter 68: Just a chat

Chapter 68: Just a chat

... And so the gnome sailor says to the orc, Ive never seen a man firmer in his beliefs. finished Dantes with a smile.Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

Seras face contorted as she tried to resist laughing, but holding it back just meant that it came out with a loud snort that drew the stares of people nearby. Thats a terrible joke.

Thats what makes it funny, replied Dantes with his mind's eye still watching Gaspard drunkenly sleep. I learned that joke from Vera actually, heard her telling it when she thought I wasnt listening.

Really? I cant picture her telling a joke. A wry observation maybe, but not a joke.

You just havent seen her drunk enough then.

Sera raised her eyebrows, and prepared to ask more questions when a large man in a dark red Tymond naval officers uniform, along with the requisite mustache, walked into the Vixen. She swiftly amended her expression to something a little haughty, and he immediately asked to share a drink with her.

The rest of the afternoon went by with little issue for the Vixen, which let Dantes obsessively watch Gaspard as he stood at the door, nearly vibrating with anticipation. The girls left him mostly alone as they swapped who manned the door with him. Usually theyd make smalltalk, or even flirt a bit, but they could tell his focus was elsewhere and saw fit to give him his space.

Decker didnt arrive at the Vixen until the sun was setting. He had a tired and miserable expression on his face, but this time Dantes ignored it, not letting him get his customary drink and instead quickly collecting supplies from his room, before collecting Jacopo in a nearby alley. Gaspard had started to stir in his sleep, and the building he was in would take more than an hour to reach by foot, or paw.

He walked toward his destination until he was as close to Midtown as he was willing to risk as a human. He no longer felt any agitation at the large milling crowds in Rendholds streets, and that day he didnt even see them. He simply moved, and the crowd parted from him almost instinctively, knowing danger when they saw it.

This one will bleed today? asked Jacopo, peering through the same rats mind that Dantes was looking through.

Oh yes.

No taking away from him? No complications?

He doesnt have anything to take. Except his life. The only thing he might offer to delay losing that is information on the others.

Good. Some sense. Finally, muttered Jacopo mentally. Whether he meant good sense to the world at large or from Dantes himself, he didnt take the time to consider.

At the edge of Midtown, Dantes shifted into the form of a rat and continued on his way. The pace was much slower than he wanted, but being recognized could cost him far more time.

Dantes threw himself to the side at the last moment, and a ball of white energy blasted past him before hitting the brick wall behind him and launching both of them with concussive force.

Fuck. muttered Dantes as he stood up, and looked for Gaspard in the haze of dust and debris the wand had kicked up. He heard him bolt up the stairs, and then stillness. He cast his focus to a rat hed already placed there, and saw Gaspard sitting at the top of the creaky steps with the wand pointed downward.

Whered you find a thing like that? yelled Dantes from below before he shifted into rat form and moved into a hole in the wall where he began climbing upward.

Did a job for an academy graduate. Pushed a rival of his off a high balcony. Ive got plenty of charges on it to burn through too.

Dantes reached the second floor and shifted back into human form, creeping up behind him. He had rats make some additional noise near the bottom of the stairs to help mask his movements.

Gaspard couldnt hear him. He could only hear his heart beating in his ears, and small bits of debris in his eyes were making it hard to see for him as well.

Dantes lunged at him from behind, grabbing the arm that held the wand as he did so.

Gaspard loosed another blast on the ceiling, but Dantes kept his grip strong, and when they landed on the ground he slammed Gaspards hand on the floor again and again until he released the wand which Dantes brushed away.

Wait, wait! yelled Gaspard as Dantes threw him into the wall. Please, Ill tell you anyth-

Dantes fist hit his gut with enough force that he was thrown into the old brick wall behind him, and a cloud of dust came off of it. Everything went red. For a few moments, all of Dantes plans, questions, and focus on the vermin around him dropped completely. He was all muscle, rage, and brutality and he rained down blows on Gaspard like a typhoon.

Dantes barely managed to hold himself back from killing him, but when hed stopped Gaspard had spat up blood, and teeth. His face was a swollen and red mess, and his body had kept him mercilessly conscious.

Dantes breathed heavily. His fists were covered in small cuts, and the bones in his knuckles felt as if theyd cracked. The building groaned, as if the fight had been too much for its old frame to handle. Dantes grabbed Gaspard by leg and started to drag him down the stairs.

Gaspard groaned as he bounced on them one by one. Dantes grabbed his bag, and then dragged him out into the alley. A light rain was falling, and Dantes pulled up his hood before he started to move down the alley, deeper into the dilapidated square of Midtown in which hed found himself. The building they were in had been falling apart, and theyd made a lot of noise that might attract people, so he needed to move Gaspard to a second location.

He looked at Gaspards battered form and noted that he was finally unconscious. Jacopo rode on his chest, watching him for signs of struggle.

You go ahead and nap for now Gaspard. Well get you to your second location soon.