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Chapter 2 - Cityscapes
The day was dawning bright and clear as Davian and Griffin left the dark, moist confines of the dungeons. The sharp entry into the morning sun, which had just broken above the various buildings of the city, had them both blinking hard. People were just beginning to move around in this section of the city, getting their wares out for the day's sales or cleaning shopfronts. According to Temkin, the region of the city they were on the move to visit was a good half hour's wandering through the streets. Choosing to keep themselves a little less noticable, Griffin and Davian chose to walk the distance. Davian had made sure that Griffin had no paraphernalia pointing to the fact that he was a member of the military. An act that wasn't needed, but helped to soothe Davian's fears that something within the system might eat its way out and devour the two of them. [Davian] The trip through the city was educational for Davian. He had never visited the city, it was just the next step in his neverending wanderings. He memorized the layout of the place, where the sewers entered and exited, and where the seedy hangouts were located. All information he would need to have in the coming weeks. Stopping and purchasing a fried bread cake as they passed a vendor on the walk, Davian ate the food without tasting it. His mind was busy running through the myriad corridors that this job had opened. A vampire in the higher beaurocracy, a lycanthrope brought on to help with a sewer system contract (he vaguely wondered if that was related or if it was the work of someone outside the current target), and a special forces military man who was gung-ho on getting his task completed. Swallowing the last bit of his cake, Davian finally deigned to strike up conversation as they walked. His voice was pitched low so it did not carry to any passersby, but he did not hide the conversation. "So what makes you an Elite Special Forces officer?" The question was innocent enough, but an edge of sarcasm crept into Davian's voice.
Griffin had changed clothes before leaving the council building and now blended perfectly into the early morning hustle and bustle of Almeda's capitol city. His clothing was nondescript, worn, yet serviceable. The hilt of the rapier at his left hip was slightly tarnished and he wore it comfortably. He watched his new partner from the corner of his eye as they made their way through the increasingly crowded city streets. The man's eyes were never still, darting here and there, taking in everything. Griffin was forced to smile. In another situation, a man with such keen powers of observation would have made an excellent member of the Special Forces. Griffin caught the sarcasm that laced the vampire hunter's question. He responded in kind. "What makes you a vampire hunter? I imagine the process was much the same for both of us: we both started small and as time went on circumstances, experiences and acquired skills led us to where we are." He was being intentionally vague. He knew that M'reaoux was looking for more substantial information - if he had any special abilities or skills, for example - but Griffin wasn't about to just give away that type of information. Years working under cover had taught him to be extremely cautious about the sharing of personal information. The less people knew about you, the better. Shades, Griffin doubted that even Temkin knew everything there was to know about him. True, this man was supposed to be his partner, but trust was a two way street and so far, M'reaoux hadn't been the least bit forthcoming about himself. Griffin would share more when it was required and when M'reaoux himself was less of a mystery. [Davian] Giving a glance back to the man as he returned the nonchalant and non-informative answer, he finally gave Griffin a heartfelt grin. The man could be cautious, which was good. He didn't know how he'd react if the soldier started pouring out his guts with a simple question. They passed into a region of town that very quickly became less than amiable to strangers. Davian glanced up and noted that the houses on the hill well above them were gleaming in the sunlight. New construction for certain, and a lot of very expensive glass and ornamentation as well. That must be where they were headed. Looking back at his current surroundings, Davian thought that this part of town would be a great place to base his facade operation in. There might be those in town who knew him, or knew of him and had found out he was there. He would need to set up operations to appear to be doing something else. Layer within layer. It was the only way to survive in the world that lived apart. "What is the name of this area?" He shifted the subject of their talk after some span of time. He suddenly had another use for the gold the council would provide him. If he made a few coins on the deal, then all the better.
"This beautiful area," Griffin said, gesturing at the malodorous stream of refuse that meandered past them on it's way to the river, "Goes by the name of Fenmoor, but its residents simply call it The Gully. It was originally intended to be a scaled down version of Overlook Park, but the sewer problems quickly overrode any such notion. Those in the Park hope that the construction of a new sewer line will not only improve their own neighborhood, but clean up this one as well. "Not that it will happen. The Gully is so full of cast offs and miscreants it would take an army to move them all out - open sewer or not. The place does have its uses, though. I know of several places here where we could set up shop should the need arise." [Davian] Davian nodded his head without bothering to reply. His eyes continued to dart casually around their surroundings, noting things that might be useful later. He was thinking about the involvement of the lycanthrope in this whole scheme and as of yet still had no viable explanation. A vampire would have to know who was a lycanth and who wasn't. That is, if the vampire even had anything to do with the sewer project. The stench of human settlement was getting to Davian. Vampire caves tended to reek, but in a different way entirely. The smell of so many humans crammed in such close quarters without proper sanitation was not pleasant. He increased his pace slightly. There was a breeze on top of the hill, he knew from the few remaining trees that swayed in its grip. "Where are we going," he asked Griffin as they continued up a winding road. Realizing he hadn't asked well enough, he restated the question. "That is, are we going to explore the sewers themselves or are we going to find the builder responsible for the construction, or what?" If they were going to explore the construction efforts, he figured now would be a good time to gather clues, but it would let any were-beasts know that they were present as well. Instead of voicing all of his thoughts, Davian continued, "We'd be extremely hard pressed to find any rats or wolves or bats this time of day." [Griffin] "About a month ago the Committee for City Improvements authorized an exploratory dig to assess the possibility of extending the existing Almedea sewer system into Overlook Park. The dig discovered a system of natural caves in the cliff side under the Park. Our beastly victim, Jeremy Woods, was called in to head up a team to map the caves and determine if any might be useful for the project. He insisted on using his own group of hand picked men for the exploration." Griffin had known about the dig, but had only become aware of Woods' involvement as he perused the file while he changed clothes. "The day before his death, Woods was making noise about a major discovery in the caves. He wouldn't share the details, however. The next morning, he was discovered dead in the main cavern. That was four days ago. The cavern has been magically sealed off so hopefully, the scene will be undisturbed. I figured we would start by examining the scene and then see where our noses take us. We might need to search the tunnels. What do you think?" [Davian] Lifting an eyebrow and watching Griffin from an angle, Davian was impressed by the knowledge Griffin had about the subject. He decided that Griffin must have been brought up to speed after he'd left the meeting or something similar. "We should certainly examine the site, although I haven't an idea of how to pass through a magically sealed area. Were you given an indication how that was to occur?" Without pausing, he continued with his thoughts, "I'd daresay there may not be a connection between our dead lycanthrope friend and the vampire aside from the one destroying the other. The two do not get alone well at all," he kind of smirked at the thought, it was a lot more than just 'don't get along' where the two races were concerned. "It might erupt into a turf war or worse. Speaking of the two friends, I daresay that when our vampire friend fed on the lycanthrope, he was satiated in a huge way. He may not find the desire to attack again for some time, especially considering the side effects of the were-blood...that is to say that he would have found he was severely drugged for a while." The two walked past a side street where Davian caught a glimpse of secretive movement. Not a surprise in this part of the community, but that movement for some reason gave him itself to his consider it. His sixth sense, or more likely, his years of underground training made him aware of such things. A nice ability to have when hunting thieves. Without pausing in his stride or indicating with body motions that he had seen anything unusual, Davian kept talking, "We have company, but I'd still like to know how we're to pass through a magically sealed portal." He was hoping that Griffin had some sort of device that would nullify magic, he had been hunting one for ages. [Griffin] Griffin had also seen the movement. He was fairly certain they hadn't been trailed from the palace district. He had seen nothing before now and Davian surely would have spoken up if he had. Griffin mentally applauded the hunter for his wariness as he evaluated the possibilities of the situation. It was highly unlikely that anyone would recognize the two of them as government agents: Davian had never been here before and Griffin was adept at changing his persona. His mind settled on the most plausible explanation - a lookout for the local thieves guild. He studied the immediate area. The street ahead narrowed a bit and turned abruptly to the right. He suspected that they were about to be ambushed. "I see," he said, slightly stressing the word. "The magical seal won't be a problem. In fact, I'm a bit more concerned about the possibility of roadblocks once we move forward." Given the hunter's casual warning, Griffin was certain the man would understand his cryptic reply. He rested his left hand lightly on the hilt of his sword and looked about the street, his eyes surreptitiously scanning the upper windows of the ramshackle buildings. He marked a pair of eyes and prepared himself for unpleasantness. [Davian] Giving a non-commital grunt at Griffin's warning, Davian muttered, "More the fools for the attempt. Just 'ware your head as they are likely to send something from above." He looked meaningfully at the side of the building bordering the street that they were walking upon. "Shall we perform your civic duty and remove the pestilence from the streets or just run them off?" His tone was nearly jovial as he pushed back his overly long coat to give easier access to his weapons. A thoughtful look crossed his face as they broke beyond the cover of the current building and movement could be seen from both alleys to left and right. "Perhaps we could recruit some help from a local thief by sending back one of them with a message." He turned to meet the men approaching from the left-hand alley, knowing that Griffin was watching the other. "Certainly they all don't need to return and the one only needs to remain alive and speaking." He chuckled, a not altogether pleasant sound. The men approaching from the alleys were typical bully type footpads. Probably rifled through people's homes at night and beat their dogs for fun. He counted five based on the scuffing of four sets of feet and the fact that he knew at least one more was watching from above. He made no move other than to tilt his head and watch the men as they came toward him, grins upon their faces. He knew those grins would die in a moment, but he said not a word and moved not an inch. "Well, well, well..." drifted from the alley toward him, "looks like we'll have some extra drinks tonight boys." [Griffin] "My civic duty nothing. I spend a great deal of my time among such riff raff, though not out of any pleasure for their company. Killing them will cost me no loss of sleep." He paused for a moment and Davian's chuckle echoed briefly about them. "But your idea has merit. It's likely that the local big shot might have useful information. Let's send him an appropriate message." Four men emerged from the alleys, two on each side of the pair. Three of them brandished short, thick swords. The largest of the four - a hulking brute that stood at least six and a half feet tall with enough muscles for two of Griffin - wielded a long spiked club. The Brute, as Griffin labeled the man, stopped just four feet from Davian and rested the greatclub easily on a leather-padded shoulder. It was the Brute's voice they had heard from the alley. "Welcome, gents, to The Gully. Just passing through or are ya planning on staying?" "Does it make a difference?" Griffin asked. He noticed that the man in the window now held a loaded crossbow. The other three thugs surrounded the pair. The Brute laughed, a rich jolly bellow. "Not really. The boss calls it 'See-man-ticks.' If you're just passing through, you get to pay a toll. If you plan on staying, you pay us to protect you. Either way it amounts to the same thing - you hand over all your money." "And if we don't we get to experience the pain of living in The Gully." The Brute's eyes danced. "That about sums it up." "Well, what do you think, partner?" Griffin asked Davian. "Do we pay or sample this pain they're talking about." [Davian] Davian glanced over his shoulder to take in Griffin and the two men on his other side. The big man with the club obviously led this ragtag group, but would he make the best messenger? Davian decided to find out. "I hear someone's boss is going to pay well for certain information we might possess." He had no such information, but it might spark one of them to step out of line. Davian watched them for a reaction. The big guy shifted his club to his other shoulder and stared hard at Davian. "Our boss doesn't want words Skeleton Boy. He wants your money." The man behind the giant bully shifted his feet and looked up. He had a gaunt face, but he didn't appear stupid. Neither did he appear nervous. That made Davian's decision for him. Breaking a man's will and grinding his ego into the ground in the process made the message to be sent all that much more poignant. "In that case," Davian replied, "I'll just leave the message out there and if one of you is smart enough to remember it, you can deliver it." Davian moved like a whip. He spun around and launched a dagger at the head in the window, which he noted with satisfaction had picked up a crossbow. He knew he'd missed the mark though, it wouldn't kill the poor bastard. A scream echoed through the building, reverberating in the alleyway. Davian smiled. "Tell your boss we want to talk with him. Tell him to ask around for Accident." The thugs hadn't moved a step they were so stunned by the sudden action. A second scream, this one just as horribly pained as the first echoed out of the building and the alley erupted into motion all at once. Davian's blade had removed the largest thug's fingers before he had even begun to swing his heavy greatclub. It fell to the street amongst a grunt of surprised pain and a few loosely twitching fingertips. Davian completed his turn and stared hard at the man who had been behind the leader, daring him to come closer or to run. It wouldn't be long before the thug who was missing a few fingers recovered enough to start grabbing and smashing with his other hand. [Griffin] The ruffians might not have moved, but the instant Davian began his spin, Griffin's sword leapt from its sheath. The stunned thugs in front of him recovered to find the guardsman settled into a loose fighting stance, his rapier leveled before him. "You could leave right now," Griffin said in an easy tone. "Or I could teach you how to dance. The choice is yours, though I must warn you that I tire easily of my dance partners." The Brute's grunt of pain decided them and they rushed forward, swords raised. "As you wish." The man to the right was quicker, but he overextended himself in his haste. He was unable to alter his attack as Griffin sidestepped left. Griffin parried the thrust of the more reserved second attacker even as stuck out a leg, deftly tripping the first. The man hit the dirt with his face. "Lesson number one: balance. Maintain your weight on the balls of your feet at all time. Keep your center of balance low and over your feet or a fall might occur." The second man pressed forward attempting to use his fallen companion as a stumbling stone. Griffin fended off the haphazard hacks and chops with minute movements of his blade, deflecting the poorly aimed blows with an economical efficiency, and easily avoided the fallen man who was struggling back to his feet. "Lesson number two: precision. Your movements should be perfectly executed, timed exactly from the placement of each foot to the positioning of the blade. Wild, sloppy movements waste time and energy." The first man was now back on his feet and joined his fellow. The addition of another sword to the mix failed to make an impact. Griffin's blade moved with blinding speed and uncanny accuracy, easily turning away the increasingly frustrated attacks of the thugs. It soon became apparent that he was toying with them. The first man, losing his temper, bum rushed the guardsman, risking a minor injury to force his way past Griffin's guard. Griffin simply twirled aside, his cloak swirling out behind him like a bullfighter's cape. The man hit the cloak with a sickening crunch and fell back unconscious, his face a bloodied mess. The cloak fell aside revealing the cracked support post of one of the street's buildings. "Lesson number three: always be aware of your location on the dance floor." Griffin noticed three more men charge from a nearby building. Reinforcements. "Lesson number four: always end your dance with a bow." Griffin parried yet another clumsy thrust and riposted, his rapier ramming to the hilt in the ruffian's stomach. The man doubled over and fell to the earth, sliding off the now crimson blade. "I told you I tire easily of my partners." Griffin ignored the whimpers of the dying man and saluted the newcomers. "Which one of you is next?" he asked politely. He cast a glance at his partner, interested in how the hunter was faring. [Davian] Almost, but not quite laughing aloud as Griffin 'taught' the bully thugs dancing lessons, Davian went about his work with ruthless efficiency. He had no desire to play with anyone. If they were to die, he would kill them quickly. The largest of the bullies, the one who had led this ragtag band, was leaning against the wall desperately trying to hold his guts into his open belly. He whimpered as he stood there, blood trickling through his fingers. Davian stood still as a statue, watching the skinnier man. He was aware of Griffin turning to look at him, he was aware of the men rushing from a nearby building, and he was aware that the screams had died off inside the building where the crossbowman had hidden. He did not turn his head, however, at any of these things, but stood apparently at ease in the center of the alley. His opponent would have turned to run if the newcomers hadn't come rushing out to support him, Davian had no doubt. He wanted this man to run back and tell his daddy the news. Davian whirled in a circle, the motion very sudden. His cloak swirled around him, lifting slightly in the current. A dagger came whisking from beneath his cloak, the throw hidden in the fabric as he turned. The man he wanted alive somehow managed to deflect the dagger, but he heard a distinct grunt indicating that he had taken the man completely off guard and maybe injured him slightly. Davian joined with Griffin as the newcomers breached the gap in space between the combatants in the alley. Not pausing for a moment in his motion, he sidestepped to give Griffin swinging room and removed the first man's kneecaps in a sudden drop below waist level. The man fell on the ground screaming like a baby. Davian would finish him later. He caught the sword of the next man on his own blade, the clang of metal loud in his ears. He was fairly certain the man he had sent the dagger at had left the scene. Davian had wanted to do more damage to the bastard, but he had his hands full. The screech of metal on metal beside him told him that Griffin was engaged as well. [Griffin] Griffin took the last man as M'reaoux engaged the first two of the reinforcements. This opponent was more cautious than the others, moving forward in a steady, rhythmic fashion, his drawn rapier held almost casually. Ignoring the slaughter the hunter was affecting on his companions, he settled before Griffin in a practiced dueling stance. "Someone with training. Maybe I'll get a workout yet."
The man smiled and then came on in a well-practiced attack sequence. Griffin answered with the appropriate defense, backing slightly, then returned a thrust when the sequence played out. The man parried then advanced with a lightning quick series of stabs that had Griffin back on his heels. He countered each attack then stepped in suddenly. The two swords locked at the guards and Griffin found himself eye to eye with his opponent. "You're fast, I'll give you that," he said as he shoved the man, disengaging. "But your movements are too textbook, too easy to read. And I'm faster." Griffin leapt ahead in a furious combination of attacks that steadily drove his opponent backwards. The guardsman's sword moved so quickly, it was all the ruffian could do to keep from being touched. Griffin smiled in the thrill of the fight. The man had the makings of a fine fencer. Give me a month with him and he'd be a holy terror. A shame the circumstances won't allow for it. Griffin executed a combo that drove the man's sword out wide, then slid his sword tip along the ruffian's blade and twisted just so. The man gasped as Griffin's rapier nicked his hand. Griffin completed the maneuver and the man's sword gave a short hop into the air to be caught by Griffin's hand. "Oops." The man's eyes flared as Griffin tossed him back his weapon. "Play time's over. Let's end this." The man attacked eagerly with a cut to the neck followed by two quick stabs. Griffin batted the sword aside and stepped within the man's guard. He hooked the ruffian's sword arm and with a sharp twist of his hips flipped the man to the ground. The man grunted in pain. "Not...fair," he panted. "If you wanted pure fencing, you should have joined a club. Out on the streets we do things differently," Griffin said, disdain creeping into his voice. "Try to remember that in your next life." And he dispatched the shocked ruffian without further comment. [Davian] The sound of scuffling came to a sudden halt as the last of the scum fell to the ground, blood rushing from cuts on his throat and upper thigh. An amazing amount of blood in a body really, Davian thought as he walked across the alleyway to retrieve his thrown dagger. The largest of the ruffians was still moaning against the wall, his intestines now decorating his knees. Davian had heard tell that stomach wounds were some of the most painful. Flipping the dagger into his hand, he whipped it across the fellow's throat, silencing the moans forever. He turned to see Griffin end the last man's life, telling him something about joining a club. Davian preferred not to say a word, it helped add to his persona. That and prevented his opponents from gaining any ground by knowing him better. Although, he supposed, as he wiped the blood from his weapons on the corner of a thug's rags, silence could tell alot as well. Davian glanced around making certain that the fellow who'd slowed his dagger's flight was truly gone. Seeing no sign of the man, Davian joined Griffin as though nothing had happened. Sweat tickled his back as it ran down his spine, but he wouldn't let that show. His long legs carried him along toward the sewer project that was their intended goal. The vampire hunter was glad to find out that his new partner had some skill in fighting. They were likely to need all of their combined skills if this became messy. The two walked on in silence, climbing the gradual hill that soon turned
to oddly shaped houses clinging to sharp rock faces and sculpted marvels
of well-to-do middle class merchants.
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