Prologue

The shoulder high grass around him swayed gently with the warm tropical breeze typical of an early summer night. On one end of the gently curved length of chain in his hands was a small steel ball covered in spikes, the other terminating in something akin to a bo shuriken. His kusarigama had served him beautifully since its original forging by his own hands, both ends and every link of the thin chain. He had gone against the traditional sickle style because while it had proven effective, the added weight slowed him down considerably and when routine dictated fighting off more than one man at once, speed was nearly everything and his was nearly impossible to match. Right now was one of those occasions. Luckily his pursuants lacked hounds. Killing a man silently was easy work, but stifling the pained yelps of a dying beast was a different job indeed until you were able to grant the creature the mercy stroke if the kill wasn’t instant. That acted like a great big alarm as to where you at least recently were. Tonight, there were barely a handful of men on horseback. He’d likely not only get away clean, but with a few horses to hasten his travels in the short term and line his pockets later, and nature would handle the bodies. Now it was just the matter of setting about the task. He slowed his breath to nigh silence, inaudible behind the swish of sun dried grass against itself and anything within it. As the first foeman came into range, the sudden explosion of crimson and gray from the imperceptible and immediate act of violence when the shuriken end of his weapon punched through the back of the target’s skull were the only evidence Kai even existed in this unmanaged field. Another stroke of luck was that the quick tug used to reverse the trajectory of his weapon didn’t end up lodging the back of the shuriken end of his kusarigama against the inside of his victim’s forehead, and the corpse merely rode on for a bit before realizing it should fall over. The thump of their comrade falling out of the saddle drew the attention of the rest of the hunting party currently saddled in misfortune. This night really was just lining up perfectly for Kai. These were no horse warriors, and they dismounted to sweep through the field, using their swords to mow the lawn about waist high before them and yelling amongst themselves. Kai circled to his left to flank them, stifling the urge to giggle as the spiked ball end crashed through the orbital bone of the leftmost of the remaining four men chasing their death, further dwindling the support for their cause. He immediately began a hasty retreat, but veered off to the right to allow their rightmost to pass him in a murderously harmless manner in a botched flank attempt. The burst of gurgles as the man’s throat vanished from the shuriken end punching through it alerted his colleagues who turned suddenly to find their imminent demise. Before them stood Kai Akunin, one of the most terrifying men in the entirety of the Realm. Born Kai Bishop to a wealthy business magnate and head of a well looked upon family, it was discovered around the age of 8 that Kai’s parentage was not as initially thought. He began to manifest the sleeker build and pointed ears of his biological father, an elf whose name his mother never coughed up despite the screams that accompanied his father’s methods of asking questions about infidelity. Kai was publicly outcast and denied as his father’s heir, and according the newspapers and town criers, his mother had unfortunately died in a hunting accident. Kai was renowned almost equally as an alchemist and an assassin in the present times, his reputation looming larger than life much as he was now before the last pair of men on his trail. The ends of his kusarigama were spinning in opposite directions, slinging the gore they were covered in in circular spatters. This time he didn’t bother to restrain his amusement as it dawned on them who he was, and what was about to happen. He smelled the smoke while the gears turned, his prey deciding between surrendering peacefully to death or fighting for their lives and openly laughed at the resolve on their faces as the decision solidified into a vain attempt at violence. They lunged forward in unison, swinging their swords in a one handed chopping motion. To their surprise, Kai stepped forward toward them, his laser quick reflexes allowing him to use the spiked weight to ensnare the sword arm of the man on his left, and use the man’s sword to block the attack on the right. As the pair came together and stumbled, always a hazard with live steel but remarkably worse when faced with a half-elf man slayer, he spun to his left, using the shuriken end of his kusarigama to hammer fist through the base of that guy’s skull, blasting the occipital bone through the brain stem. Kai took a step back, grinning as an expert tug reclaimed the weighted end of his toy. “Disarm yourself and you live to tell the tale, but if you don’t tell the tale I’m coming back for you.” The thump of the longsword and buckler hitting the ground came almost immediately after the word disarm had left Kai’s mouth which brought about a supervillain level smile. “Good boy. I’ve made enough widows tonight. When you wake up, go debrief to your guard captain and find a person to lay with if you don’t have one. I have ears everywhere. If you’re not spilling your guts over lunch at the inn by the day after tomorrow, I’ll be spilling them for you. Enjoy your nap.” Kai reached to a pouch at his belt and pulled what looked like an orange pebble from within. He licked the pebble with a smirk, setting it sizzling before tossing it at the man who’d chosen life. While Kai himself caught a hell of a buzz, the man surrounded by the fumes the pebble was giving off rapidly collapsed into a deep sleep. The concoction gave Kai about 20 minutes, more than long enough to strip whoever it affected of anything he thought useful and vanish into the night which is exactly how that went. In fact, Kai almost had time to make the next town as he was traveling in a straight line rather than following the road. As the crow flew, there was about two miles of prairie in this condition between Goldenglow and Ravenscrest, with a seasonally slow and shallow river betwixt, with the latter holding both his destination and his client. A man walking into the Ravenscrest inn covered in blood was no unusual sight, considering the owner and most frequent visitor. A “chosen family” type sister and brother duo in order, the sister a small and frail looking young woman known as Kinneret Duggan and a man seemingly carved from sword steel named Elton McGonagal. Kinneret, addressed as Kinnet by friends and family not only owned the inn, but also the brewery and just happened to be the mayor of the town. Her brother and bodyguard, Elton, was the War General of the Republic as well as the head of the local clergy, which meant that he knew what you were up to almost as fast as you did. To the locals, Elton also ran the clergy guild The Sacred Touch, flagged with a golden, splay-fingered hand in a golden circle on a white background. While that guild ran absolutely legitimate business and counted members aligned as such, it was also a front for The Black Hand, the local organized crime syndicate. It was under this premise that Elton hired him to retrieve the documents in his messenger bag, one of Kai’s two official occupations, that of alchemist and courier.

Elton looked up as the door opened and cracked a friendly smile, seeing one of his most trusted acolytes arriving right on time. As both the War General and an exceptionally proud werewolf, Elton had seen an incredible amount of violence and was desensitized to the gore Kai currently wore. “Right on time. You’re damnably good at your job, Akunin. Go get cleaned up and we’ll talk over dinner.” He raised his brandy snifter full of Hell’s Kiss, a blazingly potent alcoholic beverage that included sulfur and wormwood in the recipe that sent most imbibers on a wild trip but merely served to keep Elton somewhat tame in a frequently Winehoused state. He was either drunk or a whole ass problem, and he saved the latter for the battlefield. As Kai obeyed, wishing to rid himself of the blood coagulating in his hair, Kinnet spoke to Elton. “By Kamran’s grace, Elton, do you have to constantly plague my launderers with the stink of blood and shit? Every time you send that halfbreed somewhere, he comes back looking like you spent a night in the fight pits. The which you do at least twice a week. Have you considered we need you around here? Not just Ravenscrest but the whole Republic as she sits. With the Circle of Dragonfyre raising hell everywhere, and the threat of the Eternal Trinity to the south, you don’t get to fuck about and get yourself killed, War General.”

Elton’s eyes rolled at the accusations so hard, he’d have told Kamran himself he’d glimpsed the underside of his own frontal cortex. “Listen closely, sister of my heart. You’re the one that wanted the deed to that winery. Of course I got that done for you because it was a thing you wanted. Be glad I sent Kai. Benny doesn’t have the fortitude to have gotten it signed. Serah wouldn’t have been able to get out. Rath, well, we both know that half-drow bastard would have come OUT of the winery with a head to toe crimson glaze and we’d see the smoke from here.” He took another sip from his glass after swirling it around, the action releasing faint whisps of smoke scented with sulfur and cinnamon. “And I fight at the pits because population control is required. I can’t have common scum interfering with my own enterprises. Besides, Kinnet, I’m a fucking God, and the whole of the Republic knows that war is among my domains. The whole of the continent knows that I could be a violent scourge to create peace with the same effort it takes you to pour someone a pint. But war only begets peace in a total eradication, and you can’t kill an idea. Hence I haven’t reduced the lands of The Eternal Trinity to ashes. It wouldn’t be economically viable, plus Emmarie would have me skinned repeatedly were I to commit to such atrocity in the name of Her Republic.” The last comment drew chuckles from all three present, as Kai had silently dropped from the second floor balcony that overlooked the common room to join them. Kinnet offered a smirk at the dramatic entrance. “Do either of you jesters know what stairs are for?”  

Kai offered forth his messenger bag toward Kinnet, giggling as he did so. Tonight had been very fun, more lucrative than anticipated as he’d sold all five horses at the stable for a decent price plus his guild bonus, and now he was about to get paid an exorbitant sum for a few pieces of paper with some stamps and signatures. “Yes ma’am. They’re for people that can’t jump and don’t know how to make an entrance.” He looked toward Elton, who nodded in return, before continuing on. “I believe these are for you. Ol’ General Puppy, Duke of whatever he calls his little black house he’s never at, sure does like you a lot judging by the carriage I’m gonna have to hire to carry all this gold home. Speaking of gold, anyone want to buy their bank shipping schedule? Or maybe hire me and the family to hit it until they change it?”

Kinnet accepted the offered bag with a greedy squeal of glee and clap of her hands. To say she was excited was like saying fire is warm. The contents were delicately pulled from within, specifically the ones she was after which were right at the front. The rest weren’t even looked at. Business was business, and Elton had only paid, so far, for the retrieval of what she currently held. While Kinnet was enthralled by financial ecstasy, Elton laughingly made to clout Kai upside the head. The amount of people that could talk that kind of shit about Elton in public and keep their tongue was few indeed, but the vast majority of both The Black Hand and the Sacred Touch were among them. “Shut your noise hole, mudblood or I’ll be Duke of beating you until you actually shit yourself. The gold for tonight’s obviously not so fucking clandestine activities is already in your vault, and the receipt specifies for courier services. That’s on your desk, or so Rath sent back. A couple hundred gold over yonder in hand as a bonus. So this bank shipment schedule you mentioned. Do we know a single thing about it other than time and location?” As Elton mentioned the extra gold, he gestured to a leather pouch sitting atop the bar nearest Kai, opposite Kinnet.

About that time, Charles, the official innkeeper, came from the kitchens with a trio of platters. One contained a whole smoked boar and carmelized onion pie studded with carrots and celery, a mountain of mashed potatoes, and a coffee pot full of gravy made from the drippings from the pie filling. The second carried an assortment of thinly sliced cured meats, various cheeses, and sliced vegetables such as carrot, celery, beet, and jicama, as well as a dish of a creamy dip that smelled heavily of dill. The third carried a coffee pot, a decanter of water, and three glasses filled to varying degrees with Hell’s Kiss. Two of them contained an ounce or less of the unholy concoction, but the third was almost relying on surface tension to avoid spilling. All three thanked Charles, offering varying compliments as well as a whole gold each to cover the cost of this 20 silver meal plus a tip. As usual, Charles covered the cost of the meal himself to avoid the hassle of making change. As was tradition, the trio took up their glasses of Hell’s Kiss and toasted to victories and “making a lot of fucking money together.” Prayers were made over the meal. Even a God should show gratitude, after all, but Elton was barely finished before Kai was attacking the charcuterie. Nobody begrudged him that. He was the only one at the table who’d done anything close to hard work tonight, and his half-elf metabolism was through the roof. Kai spoke between crunches of carrot stick. “Not a lick, chief. Not to tell you how to run your show, but I’d suggest sending Benny and Serah to check it out. Benny has a wonderful knack for blending in with the local derelict population, and my wife is pretty convincing when she wants to be.” Those were delicate ways of saying that Sherry “Benny” LeJoon and Serah VanGeer-Akunin were a thief good at looking like a young male hobo and the best spy in the Republic since the Spymaster himself, Tyrus Logan. Elton offered a considering glare then a nod to the suggestion. “Two thousand for the schedule and have Benny and Serah suit up. 1000 each for the scouting trip and a delivery. I’ve got an order for a few barrels of trout from the hatchery I’ll send out with them. Fair enough?” At Kai’s nod of acceptance, he looked toward Kinnet with a smirk. “Cough up a couple coins, shithead. 60/40 split. You lot keep the 60 for doing the work, Kinnet and I will finance so we’ll split the small half. Assuming the job’s worth doing, and only once. A small dent in the local economy, an insurance claim, and they come out ok. We come out with clean money. CLEAN. Minus the four you’ll have to replace, of course.” Kinnet’s eyes widened a bit at Elton volunteering 2000 gold out of her own almost draconic hoard, but relaxed a bit when she remembered he’d just spent 50000 to steal her a new business. “Fine, fine. I’ll make it back from the first month with the winery, the which you’re lucky for because otherwise, fuck you. That’s my money you’re volunteering, you bellend!” The corax was known for being as greedy as a dragon, but infinitely more subtle and less destructive. But she also offered wonderful lordship to those in her town and thus under her protection. Ravenscrest was a democracy, the mayorship decided by popular vote every 4 years. Every election, Kinnet won by a landslide with the head of the healer’s guild and Elton’s ex wife Kitanna Moonsong a distant second. Elton himself received one vote, signed by his own hand. Having the War General of the Republic counting himself a resident of the city was a boon to the economy as visiting dignitaries were often given access to his substantial quarters at the inn, while he returned to Gorefang Keep, the monstrous black castle and fortress just north of Ravenscrest with its own unincorporated township that worked themselves hard, but were rewarded for it. Their work had paved the way for expansion after he’d bought the initial castle and fortress, and the surrounding acreage, and despite working to exhaustion at whatever job they did, they were never otherwise left wanting. These were the type of people Kai found himself around, despite being shunned by his family and society at large due to his supposedly unfortunate genetics, due to his incredible talents. They’d met through a mutual acquaintance named Tyrus, who’s official position with the Republic was the High Accountant, but he also happened to be the current spymaster as well as an accomplished necromancer. As the meal was finished, the trio said their goodnight. Kai couldn’t fly, but his elven taint made the leap to the second floor and flip over the railing look effortless. Elton merely vanished, reappearing in his quarters. One benefit to being a planeswalker was the ability to teleport in general. Kinnet was left shaking her head and rolling her eyes in disbelief. “Well, if you can’t beat them, join them.” In a snap, a smallish raven was flying out the kitchen door and to an open fourth floor window. The penthouse was hers, and hers alone.

Chapter One: The Carriage Heist

The second the driver realized his copilot was being yanked from his seat by a weighted chain around his neck, his own head was facing the wrong direction with a sickening crack like a green limb. Kai and Rath swiftly swapped clothing with the carriage drivers, leaving their own clothes in their bags and the dead, naked drivers lost in the brambles a safe distance away. Benny and Serah had done a very similar job at the carriage station, and the pair of pairs had swapped positions since the delivery team was expecting two men at the site of exchange. Right on time, the carriage rolled into the station. The archers in back were stoic in their watches, arrows set to strings in case need arose. The driver examined Kai and Rath’s carefully doctored identification papers and compared Rath’s signature to that of the man he’d slain. After deciding they were alike enough, the co-driver opened the door. Kai yarded on the massive box of coin, slowly dragging it close enough to the edge for Rath to get under the other side. With a groan of effort, the pair freed the coin chest from the carriage while the delivery team marveled at two men doing the job of six. When questioned what manner of beasts they were to do such things, Kai managed a chuckle and said “The strong kind.”  Benny got down from the driver seat and opened the door and Kai set his end into the carriage, swinging around to Rath’s side where the pair pushed the box into the trap door built into every carriage for ease of transfer where it clicked into place. Once it had, Kai turned to wink at the delivery guards. He’d known it was there, he just wanted to show off. The teams exchanged the customary shake of hand to wrist before the next team to take custody was watched by the last until they were out of sight. As simple as that, four hidden bodies and a quick right turn and the family of self-declared Mudbloods were free and clear. Or so they’d thought. After the robbery of the Goldenglow Winery, the city had posted guards atop the great hall that served as the city offices. These guards had not only watched the exchange, but had possessed the rare opportunity to witness the deviation in course. In response, they’d both blown their alarm trumpets toward the eastern guard house and blinked their lantern shutters that direction to serve as a heliograph. When the alarm sounded, all four of the would-be thieves groaned in exasperation. Within minutes, every road out of town would be barricaded with pikemen and archers. While the carriage raced down the road headed east, intentionally the opposite direction from Ravenscrest to divert initial suspicion of The Black Hand’s main holdout being behind the robbery, Kai began barking orders. “Benny, keep the reins. My love, rip the spine out of anyone that gets close. I’ve got the pikemen and the gate. Rath, do what you do best, but let’s endeavor to keep it clean like the client requested.” A nod was given toward the smallish bow of bone and yew, enchanted to turn any shaft nocked upon it into whatever the archer wished. Rath was excited at first to loose some death into the roadblock racing toward them at a speed that would tear the group to shreds on approach, and cost the gold in the impact atop that, but the reminder to not steep their haul in blood brought a grunt from the man that thought himself a human tainted Dark Elf. The white-haired murder machine looked equally frustrated and disinterested as the one shaft launched turned to a fan of arrows, each tipped with one of Kai’s knockout gas pellets leaving trails of the orange smoke as they struck into land and the protective wood walls surrounding the inside of the fighting platform that protected the town walls. While the town guard were steadily dropping like sleepy flies, there were still enough disciplined men with sharp objects to be a problem, as well as the gate itself and the pile of slumbering guardsmen in the middle of the road. Kai lept atop the carriage, gathering darkness to him with a circling of his arms. His mind guided his chi, his chi guided the darkness, and within a moment his palms guided it all forward in a blast of concussive force created of pure darkness that erupted forward in a wide blast before focusing into a thick beam. The first cleared the path of human meat and sharp steel, while the second portion of his attack blasted the gates clean off their supports and knocking down the drawbridge. While approaching the gate and the murder holes between that and the drawbridge, Benny plucked what appeared to be a small white stone from their pouch and activated it with a bead of sweat from their forehead. The requirement of water as an activator marked it as something of Kai’s design, though special made for the half-fae thief and support specialist. As the boiling oil was attempted to be dumped upon the robbers, the shield materialized to protect them in a portable bubble for exactly one minute. No spell nor weapon, intentional or improvised, was capable of penetrating the bubble inward, but from inside it offered no such restrictions. Typically this was done so that the more combative parts of the family could reverse the flow of a fight and this was no exception. Kai took a pinch of sulfur from a small pouch at his waist and placed it in his right palm. He raised that palm to his mouth and blew slowly across the top of the sulfur, his intent causing it to erupt forward as a flaming dragon, the type of snake-like dragon seen frequently on the eastern continent where his elven kin originated during lunar festivals and such. His aim had proven true, narrowly missing the structure but giving off enough heat to keep any archers looking to prove something hiding behind the safety of the stone they’d built the town wall from. Before the bubble had faded in a bluish sparkle, they’d safely escaped out of sight of the town and barely slowed to a safe pace to make the turn north when it had come time to do so. A few minutes after setting north, they pulled the wagon into a clearing most people not used to making daring escapes would have missed even after Serah had marked it with a red silk ribbon during the scouting operation. Once inside the clearing, Benny brought the carriage to a stop. The horses were grateful for the break, being nearly blown from the pace of the escape. They were each given a bowl of water before being strapped with a feed bag of oats and molasses. While the paltry amounts of each were barely sufficient to keep them going, barely was enough to count as Kai and Rath had stashed the horses they’d ridden toward Goldenglow lands in the clearing a few hours prior, and these big hauling beauties had been treated quite gently. They were ready to handle the heavy lifting for the rest of the trip. While the pair of horses that were supposed to make a delivery mere blocks away were recovering, Serah moved between them with a grace that appeared as if she were gliding. She gently stroked the horses as she danced between them, the half-shade feeling what remained of their life essences. She frowned as she gave a gentle wave of her hand, the gesture untethering the horse from the tree. No sooner had the reins begun to fall freely from the branch they’d been tied around than the creature took off through the trees and underbrush with a southern bearing as fast as it could gallop. It wouldn’t last long at that pace. “The beast will make it far enough the wrong way to either mark us headed the wrong direction or succumb to exhaustion and feed the woods. We should change, and we should leave.” Serah placed exactly zero value on life of any sort outside their foursome, and was even short of words amongst their chosen kindred. As a shade, she was able to touch and consume the life essences of other people and even animals, and as a quite accomplished journeyman in necromancy she was willing to manipulate those essences with a borderline glee. Tyrus Logan, the Spymaster of the Republic as well as its chief practitioner of necromancy, found a surprising joy in teaching both crafts to the young shade due to her pure malice and willingness to sacrifice others to further her own purposes. She’d implanted a thought into the rapidly fleeing horse that it was being chased by a bear. They changed into their gear one at a time, the other two standing guard, one over the mouth of the clearing and the other over the carriage. Once they were all properly geared, they set about as a group to change the livery on the carriage and harness the horses to it in preparation to make way toward Ravenscrest. The flown flags were changed from Goldenglow and the House of Garthsson to Ravenscrest and The Sacred Touch, with the previous flags stowed to enter the nearest fireplace upon delivery along with the used uniforms. The House of Garthsson was led by a man named Bjarni who’d misled himself with the title of King. While Bjarni Garthsson was indeed the ruler of his town, a title passed from heir to heir, he was no king. Such titles didn’t exist in the Republic as the High Chancellor Herself Herself, Emmarie Longspear, had created the Republic from a patch of dirt by unifying the towns that had popped up out of necessity into a nation that looked after their own. Having a “King” amongst her subjects frequently made her grit her teeth in private, but having Elton McGonagal as her eventual right hand gave her the peace and poise in public that her position demanded. Bjarni Garthsson maintained his own fighting force that he also provided to the Republic during times of war. In fact, the soldiers provided by Goldenglow proved to be among the finest infantry of the Republic. Ravenscrest offered no such luxuries to the Republic. While the town had a sufficient quantity of well-trained guardsmen, they lacked the ability to maintain a fighting force. Instead the town paid extra into the Republic coffers through taxes and provided the vast majority of the Republic’s medics and clergy in times of battle. It also seemed to cough up the right people for nearly any dark ops for the right price. One single time, King Bjarni had thought of using his soldiers to siege Ravenscrest, hoping to weaken the town and allow him expansion. Elton had used this siege to catapult himself into the War General position, allowing the town walls to be invested heavily by Bjarni’s infantry with their siege towers and battering rams against a minimal force of half-assed archers. Of course, Bjarni took the ease of the siege to the ego, thinking his troops could easily smash through a pile of archers that could barely hit the broad side of a barn. That was before the sky darkened and began raining a purple tinted acid that ate away at both gear and flesh. Another of Kai’s creations, this one proving that Rath was quite the disturbed individual. Game over. Bjarni learned rapidly that physical might is only one aspect of battle, and that Elton was overall just way better at the craft. Surrender was taken and by treaty so was Goldenglow by the Republic. The War General chose to deliver all documents personally to the High Chancellor. When asked how he’d taken both the battle and the town without a single casualty, Elton had merely spread his hands with a smile and replied “I let him think he’d already won.” Thus began the rivalry of sorts between the King and the High Chancellor, with King Bjarni thinking he was owed more and the High Chancellor ensuring that Bjarni was “king” of nothing but his own little village. When the carriage pulled into town, there were a pair of the High Accountant’s personal couriers to take over the reins. While the man was gleeful about inflicting an unholy amount of pain on those who held information he needed, he was equally honest and incredible with mathematics and the head of his own division in The Black Hand. There was only the briefest of objections as Benny handed the reins to Serah and ducked into the smithy to verify the presence of the Spymaster who assured the halfbreed thief that those were his handpicked men, that night, and had traveled with him. Benny emerged from the smithy, giving a nod to Serah whom handed off the reins to one of the drivers and the carriage was off to the tower at the center of Capital City. The quartet entered the smithy past a blast of heat from the forge still being fed, and salutations were made to the Spymaster and their brother of The Black Hand. “It’s going to take me a few days to have the count done. I’ve been tasked with making sure that the employees at Prince William’s cafe haven’t been taking more than their fair wages. More petty than his mother, that one, but what would you expect of a Gods damned cat? And of course our fearless leader requires both my signature on the count and a significant period of time between tonight and dispensary of shares. Oh, don’t you spoiled lot of pups look at me like that. You’ll be fine. You’re plenty rich already to get through until next full moon…” Tyrus paused for a second to let that marinate before he continued. “Because of course the full moon, the damnable dog-brain.” They all shared a chuckle at the last bit. Tyrus was Elton’s closest associate other than Kinnet and his woman, whom Tyrus could have sworn was named Astrid, a tall and strong built blonde with all the right curves and tanned skin who’d won his attentions by defeating the War General in the world’s biggest upset during an event Elton had called The Week of Warfare, during which he travelled to each village accepting any challenge from their strongest warriors and mages. He’d even called a temporary truce with the Circle of Dragonfyre for the week and invited them to challenge him. That day he bested six of their brightest hopes at once. Astrid had defeated Elton in what the Republic had called a match of honors, but any fighter worth their salt called them scar matches where the victor gets to place a permanent scar on the loser. While Elton’s plan was to leave a wolf paw print just inside Astrid’s iliac crest, essentially autographing her pelvis, Astrid had won and thus left a five pointed star on the side of his neck as her name would have suggested. She was his only defeat all week. He encouraged her taking pride in her victory, even boldly displaying the scar she’d left upon him though usually with a firm grip on one of her ass cheeks. This time, it was Rath that spoke, atypical of the half-drow. “We accept these terms, and may your travels be safe Mr. Logan.” Rath was already done with what he frequently called that teeth flapping horse shit and was in the process of turning the carriage’s prior livery to ash, using a poker to ensure every last bit of Bjarni’s flag had been fully consumed by the flames. After saluting Tyrus once more, Rath and Serah exited the smithy to head toward the inn. That pair weren’t built for heat, and their departure came as no surprise. Benny excused themselves too, but waited outside for Kai who was also torching the uniforms they’d worn during the escape, the lack of stealth of which Tyrus was currently giving the half-elf hell for. “A dragon? Are you fucking serious Kai? Couldn’t have just, I don’t know, thrown a regular ass fireball? You had to personally sign the Gods-damned robbery? I’ve half a mind to make you pay for the repairs to their gate and wall, and a whole mind to tell you to get your shit together. You might have the protection of The Hand but if there’s evidence to convict he’s still the War General and beholden to Republic law. Pull your head out of your ass.” The accusation of signing the heist brought about a smirk on the face of the Mudblood still standing near the coal bed, almost unaffected by the heat it put off. “Pull the stick out of yours, Tyrus. The only thing that could link us to the robbery is my alchemy, and there’s documentation that says I’ve sold a carriage full of knockout gas and shield pellets to people of all sorts of repute. From the High Medic herself, Kitanna Moonsong, to the lowliest of green-as-grass members of the Thieves Guild. And since I haven’t yet registered the Flaming Dragon Technique with the Mages Guild, it’s just a cool fuckin’ thing I can do. Could have been anyone. Take a breath. It’ll all be ok.” Kai gave Tyrus the salute due him as a commander within The Black Hand and exited the smithy to find Benny leaning against the wall and the other two probably already halfway home. When Benny raised a brow at Kai’s visibly frustrated expression, Kai rolled his eyes and tilted his head toward the wall between him and where he’d last seen Tyrus. “Quite curmudgeonly tonight. It’s fine. I’m gonna go annoy the dog for a bit. I’m hungry.” Without a further word, Kai leapt to the rooftops to jog to the inn. That smoked boar pie the other night had been a work of art and he was ready to eat one all to himself.

Chapter Two: The Aftermath

While Kai had expected to cross paths with Elton at the bar, The Hand’s sour expression was not on the list of things Kai had forecasted for the evening. Nor was the greeting he received. “What the Gods-damned fuck, Kai? I’ve already received three dispatches from Bjarni, two from Tyrus, and one from Astrid that’s completely unrelated. You’re getting very sloppy, and that’s going to get pretty costly. Tyrus telling you to get your shit together isn’t a curmudgeonly stick up his ass, yeah he heard that, it’s the well wishes of an experienced rogue that by the time you’re our age you can buy your own island to retire to and pay some other young kids to do the dumb shit you’re doing now. Speaking of dumb shit you’re doing, you costly son of a shit pie, those three missives from Bjarni were a challenge to Ravenscrest in the arena. He wants our best six fighters on the sand, and neither you nor Rath get to play because I said so because you’re a walking hard-on lately. This is the part that really pissed me off. He demanded Astrid participate because I let her beat me once, even though she’s from Ironwood. Speaking of walking hard-on, but anyway, now I have to either keep my woman alive or find a new one because you’re a fucking IDIOT! Then…” Elton made air quotes to emphasize how dumb this sounded, paired with a mocking voice. “If I survive, yeah, we can chuckle about that, he wants me one on one AFTER a war with Ravenscrest that again, you don’t get to play in, because you’re a fucking IDIOT! Now I have to annex Goldenglow as a whole into Kinnet’s pocket and lose half the population of functional adults to warfare and another chunk to voluntary exile. But make no mistake, Kinnet is going to sign that declaration of war, and I’ll request the same from Emma since I can’t. And I’ll be right at the front of our assault, the tip of the fucking spear, so that maybe I can take Bjarni off the table and maybe save a few thousand lives worth of field hands and skilled workers. Toast to victories, my ass. Not tonight. And you are paying for the gate and wall, directly to myself and Kinnet. The deal is now 55 to 45, and your friends are splitting the small half without you included. Maybe working for free will teach you not to be a fucking IDIOT! Enjoy your damn pie. That’s why I was here too. Charles is a damn genius.” Shortly after Elton vanished from sight to reappear next to Astrid, Charles emerged from the kitchen with the aforementioned pie and a decanter of whiskey, as well as two slices of bread. When they were inquired about, Charles spoke with no hint of pleasure or displeasure on the topic. “Master Elton has instructed that after you finish your pie, you are to place those about your head and, quote, make a fucking idiot sandwich, Master Kai. Enjoy your meal, sir. Shall I have a room prepared, or are you just here for a meal?” After confirming it was only chow time and tossing Charles the customary gold to cover his meal and his discretion, Kai made short work of the meal and made for home without a word. Elton had verbally and financially spanked him twice tonight, and one of those occasions he wasn’t even present for. In fact by the time Charles was handing Kai his dinner, Elton was eating dessert, pausing only to laugh about how Astrid’s gyrating was going to break his nose or something. Astrid giggled and moaned in the same expression, giving the laughter an almost haunting quality. Elton laughed as he tightened his grip around her hips, attempting in futility to subdue Astrid’s wiggly ass. When she started howling and bucking like a wild animal, Elton redoubled his efforts, lapping greedily at the fruits of his labors before she stood up from the kneeling position she’d been in and moved a bit before kneeling again. Meanwhile, Kai was walking into the home he shared with his wife and their two equally misbreeded friends, his brain half lathered with the fire water and half with irrational drunk anger. All three of his chosen family knew that when he got like this, their best course of action was to leave Kai alone. Thus they did, while Kai pummeled the dojo, enchanted by Tyrus to be both sound and concussion proof, until the ground floor of the house shook just the tiniest bit. It was Benny that spoke up when Rath and Serah had looked toward them quizzically. “Tyrus tore into him a little bit before we left. I can only assume Elton did too, and more dramatic than the Spymaster as he’s known to be.” Rath and Serah both nodded and resolved to leave Kai to his own catharsis, chuckling at the continued seismic events that rose in strength and frequency until Kai finally emerged from the dojo, drenched in sweat with blood trickling from his wrapped knuckles. Finding his whole family outside the door, his eyes lowered a bit. “New deal. You guys get 15% of the haul each. I got a solid workout. Funds distributed at the next full moon. And we might end up with some wet work since Bjarni knows Elton orchestrated the heist, or at least thinks he does. Anyway, he wants Ravenscrest’s top six fighters on the sand, THEN a war. We don’t get to do gladiator shit because according to General Furball, I’m a fucking idiot. Any participation in the war afterward will be taking individual players off the table IF we’re allowed.”  Being excluded from the gladiatorial combat had Rath visibly seething, his eyes narrowing in a death glare directed toward Kai.  “Let me see if these pointy ears still work.  Not only did you start a war, but you started a war we don’t even get to play in.  I’m with the moon-stricken mutt on this one.  My brother, you truly are a fucking idiot.”  Rath’s psionic weapons were in his hands before the door was even fully closed behind him as the Drow entered the dojo and began his own ultraviolent catharsis. Benny, conversely, was relatively unaffected by the news, and merely shrugged at the half High Elf.  “I’m grateful I don’t have to fight.  There are many killers in this humble township, even more people in Goldenglow that don’t know my face, and the weight of both to be made in gold to be a spotter.  I’m going to make a fortune off your blunder.  First, I need a drink, a bath, and a nap.”  Benny rose from where they’d been seated against the wall and retreated toward the kitchen for the aforementioned drink, typically a cyan gin, hued by iris bulbs amongst the botanicals, with sparkling water and muddled cucumber.  With drink gathered, bathing was task number next.  Benny was meticulous about not even removing their bandanna where someone not amongst their fearsome family could accidentally catch a glimpse, let alone disrobing.  Though born Sherry, Benny was Benny to those who didn’t know better by introduction and reputation, and to those that did know better out of respect.  Serah had been seated beside Benny, and now reached a hand toward her husband to aid her in standing.  Kai pulled his diminutive wife to her feet and into his arms, sighing quietly.  Serah sighed as well, making a futile attempt to run her hands through her husband’s sweat-soaked hair.  She made a display of shaking her hands and making a smelly bathroom face before giggling as she spoke. “You know they’re both right, don’t you?  I’m pretty sure that since Elton won’t be able to help but be balls deep in it himself, we’re all going to be listed as non-combatants.  Benny is going to make a mint.  I might end up having to help Tyrus keep track of things.  Usually it would be Elton, but again, this is the kind of dumb shit he hopes to antagonize just so he can openly call hits and kill people in public in broad daylight legally.  Whatever.  You fucking stink, my love.  Go.  Now.” She stood sternly, pointing in the direction of their room and the bathtub contained within.

Chapter Three: Battle Draws Near

Kinnet, Elton, and Kitanna were seated around the meeting table in the great room of Ravenscrest Town Hall, pouring over the freshly delivered declaration of war from Goldenglow.  Most notably, the list of known warriors listed as non-combatants. At sight of the first name on the list, Elton slapped the table and burst out in bellowing laughter.  While Kinnet was smirking at the display, Kitanna narrowed her eyes at her ex husband from across Kinnet.  “Elton, get yourself together.  This is a declaration of war, and you’re laughing like Xylon just told the funniest joke.”  Through visible and considerable effort, Elton indeed regained control of himself for a moment, though his words still contained the strongest hints of a giggle.  “You sound like Sir Elrohir, Kit.  Put the gavel down for a second and read that first name.  Bjarni’s a fucking warlord, and his name is the first one on the list.  You can condemn me all you like, but consider he’s using his warriors' lives like chess pieces.  I intend to take as many of them as I can so that our warriors don’t have to carry that weight or face danger themselves.  Speaking of warriors not getting involved, Kinnet, please list Kai and Serah Akunin.”  Kinnet knew why she was scribbling Kai’s name.  As an information broker, it was no secret that a solid two thirds of Goldenglow thought Kai had conjured that flame dragon that made splinters out of their gate.  Plus Elton being quite loud that night confirmed the suspicions, though only to her and Charles.  After Kinnet jotted her own name, she looked to Kitanna with the quill already to parchment.  Kitanna however, had her eyes closed and a look of grave consideration on her face.  After a pensive moment, the elf shook her head in the negative.  “No.  Though I’m a healer first and a warrior second, a warrior I am.  This town runs very well under our combined leadership, so I’ll be quite near Elton to make sure he stays alive.  Also, I’m moving back into the castle until this is over.  Tell Astrid I said thank you for keeping my side of the bed warm.”  The last part was spoken over a chuckle of her own.  Elton and Kit knew they were about as good together as oil and water, but they were still good friends and great at helping to run Ravenscrest.  “I’m kidding.  It probably smells like her, and she doesn’t smell all that good.  We’ll need a new mattress.”  Elton lost his composure and broke out laughing again, with Kinnet joining in this time.  The jokes were a very welcome moment of levity until Elton had a lightbulb moment. “Ya know, usually she smells like me.  So perhaps maybe you can enjoy one of the 23 guest rooms.  Oh, I know!  You and Kinnet can have a sleepover! You can do each other's nails and makeup, and gossip about boys!  But seriously, most of the town is going to be moving onto the castle grounds.  Something about a big wall, plenty of acreage to keep people from feeling cramped, a BIG FUCKING WALL, and protected by an exceptionally feisty black dragon.  Alice knows to listen to you two.  COURIER!”  Elton waited with something akin to patience while the nearest courier made haste into the room, his reply of “Yes, Lord McGonagal!” hastily panted out from speed of travel.  “Please have Benny, Rath, Kai, and Serah assemble here as close to immediately as possible.  Have the rest of your colleagues spread word to the town criers.  Town hall meeting at sundown tonight to discuss town security and resident safety.”  The courier gave a deep bow and hustled out to set upon the given tasks.  Shortly after the courier’s departure but before the Triumvirate had a chance to get into any meaty discussion, Charles entered, carrying lunch for the undoubtedly famished trio.  For Kinnet, he produced a salad of fresh greens, tossed with bits of onion and organ meat from a freshly killed deer that had been cooked with bacon grease, plus the eyes of the deer which could have been mistaken for soft boiled eggs but only because the irises were pointed into the salad.  Kitanna had a wedge of cheese, a large chunk of bread, and a mountain of grapes.  Elton had a mountain of meat that was the equivalent to three freshly butchered venison ribeye steaks, cooked to a perfect medium rare with a bowl of freshly grated horseradish creamed with mayonnaise, with a salad of melon, diced onion, and cheddar with a dressing most notably comprised of egg yolk, olive oil, and anchovies muddled to a paste.  While the ladies ate with something akin to manners, Elton’s attack on that pile of protein was like that of a man possessed.  His enhanced metabolism burned through food almost as fast as he could shovel it down his throat.  It was a residual effect of the lycanthropy virus that used to reside in his veins.  While his ascension to the Avatar of Kamran and eventually to his own divinity had cured the virus itself, many of the traits remained.  In his mind, he was still a werewolf but a lot more powerful than most.