Dragon in Disguise

Viren spent most of the night reading, only pausing to nap briefly whenever he got tired. By the time dawn arrived he was ready to spend a full day exploring the city and finding jobs. He slipped out of his door and down the stairs, keeping an eye out for any members of the Black Bear Company. He didn’t see any, and quickly left the inn.

He would eat breakfast away from the inn. Hopefully he could avoid any more trouble if he minimized the time he spent inside the inn aside from sleeping.

After asking for directions Viren made his way to the downtown part of the city, where people did their shopping, and many stores and stalls were located. There he purchased a berry pastry and a honey sausage. He ate it as he walked.

After some time spent wandering around, Viren had still not found a place where he could get some work. He crossed his arms and frowned. “Lost?” a voice said. He turned. It was a lady sweeping the step of her home who had spoken.

“Yes,” he admitted.

“Well, I’ve lived here all my life, so I can give you some directions,” she said with a kind smile.

“I was looking for a place where you could post and accept mercenary work,” Viren said. The woman nodded.

“Sure, you’re going to want to go down this street until you see the Starry Healer’s Hut. Take a right at that road and then a left at the first branch off. From there you should see a large building. That’s the City Center. Go in that direction. Along the way you should run into the guardhouse. That’s where you’ll find what you’re looking for.”

“Thanks for your help.”

“Oh, it’s no problem. Have a nice day!”

Viren went on his way, following the instructions of the lady. Soon he arrived at the guardhouse. It was a good-sized building, a little bit smaller than the inn he was staying at. In front of the building, under an awning, was a table with a guard sitting at it. A few feet away from the table was a board covered with papers. It was very similar to the ones at Edgedale.

Viren approached the board, and the city guard studied him. “You aren’t part of a company, are you?” the man asked suspiciously. Viren shook his head no. The guard breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. The Tiger Claws aren’t too bad. But those Black Bears…” he shook his head. “Well, I don’t know a whole lot about your type, but work will probably be sparse with so many of you in town.” Viren sighed.

“Yeah, I know.” The guard looked at Viren a bit closer.

“Say, aren’t you a bit young to be a mercenary? Especially a lone one.”

“I’m old for my age.” The guard squinted.

“That doesn’t make a whole lotta sense…” Viren moved to look at the board. He saw several bounties out for some bandits that paid well, a couple escort jobs, and some other random things that paid well. “Those ones interested the companies the most.” ‘Of course they did.’

“That one there, the one requesting meetup at the fish market, is new,” the guard said helpfully. Viren found the one he was talking about.

Good fighter needed, it read. Meet at Fish Market entrance for more info. ‘Less information than I would like,’ Viren thought. ‘But its better than nothing. No harm in checking it out.’

“Where’s the fish market?” Viren asked the guard.

…

The smell of fish filled the air. The fish market only had one entrance, so it was easy to find. Viren was now waiting there for… someone.

He looked around the fish market, trying to find someone who might have been the one to put up the advertisement. His eyes rested on a boy about his age. On his left stood a young girl with a backpack who looked about eight years old, and on his right was a girl who was also Viren’s age.

They made eye contact, and the girl nudged the boy. They walked to Viren. “Are you here for the job?” the boy asked Viren.

“Yes,” Viren said. “But before I accept it, I need some more details.”

“That’s understandable. I couldn’t put too much on there, otherwise the Hawk might have gotten word of it.”

“The Hawk?” The boy nodded.

“Here’s the rundown. The Hawk is a dangerous man who has a monopoly on all the lending in the city. He also is the boss of the underworld around here, so he keeps stealing any proof the city guards gets, paying off mercenaries, and threatening anyone who tries to stop him. In other words, he’s untouchable.”

“At least,” the older girl said, “up until now.” She smirked. The boy nodded.

“Yeah. Anyway, my parents got into some debt with him, and when they died, he… visited me, and told me it was up to me to pay it off. Long story short, I’ve been late paying, and when I can pay it’s not enough.” He paused. “And, that guy is downright evil. Even if I could pay up, he would still need to go down.” Viren tilted his head.

“So, you want me to fight him?” The boy shook his head.

“No. Me and Gail can take care of that. I need someone to cover us though. The Hawk will be surrounded by fighters. If you can manage to take care of multiple men at one time and keep them off me and Gail, then you have the job.”

“I can do that,” Viren said. “What’s the pay like?”

“I can offer ten coin.” ‘Not as much as I would like… but I have a decent amount of money. And this job actually seems worthwhile.’ The idea of helping to take down someone like the Hawk appealed to Viren for some reason.

“Alright then.” He stuck out his hand to shake. The boy blinked in surprise.

“Huh, I was expecting you to barter up to fifteen.” Viren sighed. “Right! Are you good to go right now?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Follow me then.” The boy, flanked by the two girls, led Viren through the fish market and to a warehouse. They hid behind a nearby pile of crates and barrels just behind a shop. “Here it is.” He turned to the younger girl.

“Sally, stay right here. If things go wrong-” He was interrupted by the girl speaking.

“Things won’t go wrong. You’re too good of a strategist for that.” The boy looked impatient.

“Yes, but if they do-” The girl interrupted him again.

“Then I’ll go into hiding until a traveling caravan comes along. I’ll join them and learn a weapon until I become a master and get a pet wolf. Then, many years later, I’ll return and finish what you started.”

“What? No! Go to the guard house and explain the situation. They’ll know what to do.” The girl pursed her lips.

“But that’s so lame.” The boy sighed.

“But you’ll do it?”

“Uhhhhggggg, fine.” Sally rolled her eyes and plopped to the ground, sitting crisscross-applesauce. She plopped her chin into her hands. “I’ll probably just take a nap or something,” she sighed. The boy opened his mouth to protest before closing it again, probably realizing it was a futile gesture.

The other girl- Gail- patted Sally on the head. “Come on, Jim.” She cracked her knuckles. “I’m itching for a fight against a tyrant long overdue for a beat-down.” Jim nodded.

“Alright,” he said. “Here’s the plan. Merc,” he said, referring to Viren, “me and Gail know how to sneak into the warehouse. You just need to follow us. It’s a simple task to sneak into the backroom where the Hawk stays. From there all you need to do is keep his minions off us.” Viren nodded.

“Alright,” Jim said, drawing a deep breath. “Here we go.”

…

Sneaking into the warehouse was easy to do. Gail and Jim nimbly dodged and avoided the guards, and soon the three of them stood before a set of double doors. The wooden doors looked flimsy and poorly built. Jim clenched his fists and looked at them with apprehension. Even Gail swallowed nervously before getting a determined look in her eye.

“Don’t worry,” she whispered with confidence. “Kicking these down will be a breeze.” Both Viren and Jim took several rapid steps back. Gail shook herself and bounced in place. Viren unsheathed his sword in preparation and Jim, glancing at Viren, drew a machete-like weapon.

“HYAA!” With a loud cry Gail took a flying kick at the door, and they splintered a little as they flung open.

The three of them rushed in, using the shock their sudden presence bought to their advantage. Viren took in the room at a glance.

Seated on a large chair on a platform was a huge man (with muscles, not fat). That could only be the Hawk. Surrounding him was at least twenty- no, twenty-five men. All of them were equipped with some sort of weapon, and they looked menacing enough, but as Viren met the first one in combat he quickly concluded they were not trained professionally and would not be too much of a challenge as long as he kept his guard up.

Jim engaged the Hawk, shouting something, and Gail was close behind him, several small knives in her hands. The other minions yelled and tried to rush the two, but Viren disabled two of them quickly and caused large shadows to run across the others’ feet and around them, causing panic.

His shadow affinity wasn’t harmful, but they didn’t need to know that.

Viren moved around the room, engaging men and drawing their notice away from Gail and Jim. He moved fast, his strikes quick and decisive. It was a relatively easy battle, but he didn’t allow his focus to slip for a moment.

At one time Viren was fighting five men at once. He ducked, dodging a dagger swing, and swiped his sword at the feet of his attacker, causing him to tumble over. Viren popped up just as quickly and punched another minion in the face. He heard a yell behind him, and fast as lightning he turned around and swung his sword, cutting a gash in the yeller’s stomach.

Soon enough, he had dispatched all but one of the enemies. As his last opponent dropped, he turned around to observe Jim and Gail’s progress. Gail was clutching her arm, blood seeping through her fingers. She was leaning heavily on her right side and putting almost no weight on her left foot. A pained scowl was on her face as she watched the Hawk and Jim fight.

Jim had lost his weapon and was rapidly dodging strikes from the Hawk, who was bleeding from several places on his body. As he watched Jim howled and leaped at the Hawk, punching him in the nose with a splintering crack that almost made Viren wince. The Hawk stumbled a few steps back, but Jim pressed his advantage and kicked him savagely in the left knee. The Hawk’s left leg gave out for only a few seconds, but it was enough for Jim to elbow him right between the eyes.

The Hawk was out like a light, and Jim collapsed to a sitting position immediately after he hit the ground. “Jim!” Gail cried, and she limped over to him as fast as she could manage. Viren meandered over to the pair, eyeing unconscious and groaning minions as he did. He occasionally stopped to kick one unconscious if he showed signs of trying to get up.

“Nice finisher,” he said lightly to Jim, who was panting heavily with wide eyes. The comment seemed to jerk him back to reality. He looked around, then back to Viren.

“Maybe I just should have paid you to do everything,” Jim said. Viren shook his head. ‘I wouldn’t have been able to take on the Hawk and his minions. Not unless I turned into a dragon, which would not be wise.’

“Nah,” Viren said. “You did just fine.” Jim nodded and exhaled. Viren spotted a rope and used it to start tying up downed opponents, starting with the Hawk of course. Jim stood and started looking through some crates and a desk. Gail sat down.

Viren finished tying up the minions and walked over to Gail. “Do you need help?” She shook her head no.

“I’m fine. Or I will be. I already bound my arm, and Sally is good with medical stuff. She’ll treat me as soon as we leave.” She sighed. “It’s too bad I missed the last of the battle though. I was looking forward to punching the Hawk in his sneery little face.”

“Found it!” Viren and Gail turned to look at Jim, who waved some papers around with a triumphant look on his face. “Evidence.”

…

Somehow, they managed to drag the twenty-nine men outside using a board and some more rope they found in the rest of the warehouse. As it turns out the minions standing guard in the warehouse had joined the fight without Viren noticing, which wasn’t much of a surprise considering all the commotion they had made.

Sally promptly treated Gail and then Jim, and they started dragging the board containing the Hawk and his minions to the guardhouse. They made quite a commotion along the way, but nobody tried to stop them.

When they finally dragged the board all the way to the guardhouse, the guard who was sitting out front jumped up in alarm. Jim dropped his rope and walked forward to meet the guard. “I defeated the Hawk,” he said casually. The guard stood there in silent shock before he came to his senses.

“BOSS!” he yelled. Seven more city guards came rushing out, and a man with a slightly fancier uniform was on their heels. His eyes widened as he took in the scene, but he didn’t miss a beat.

“Somebody, explain,” he said. Jim pulled the papers containing proof of the Hawk’s crimes from his pocket.

“I have proof!” he said. The guard leader snatched the papers up and read them quickly.

“Jef, run these up to the city hall. Get them approved now.” Jef grabbed the documents and started running. The leader turned to Jim. “Don’t turn him in yet.” Jim looked confused.

“So I just… stand here?” The leader nodded crisply. They stood awkwardly for about fifteen minutes, all of them keeping a close eye on the unconscious Hawk and his minions. A female guard came out with a medical kit to help Gail with her wounds, but Jim declined any more treatment. Sally pulled out a book from her backpack and settled down to read.

After fifteen minutes, they heard the pounding of feet. Jef came into view, panting. “They approved,” he gasped when he was close enough. The city guard leader turned to the man at the desk.

“Bill, write down a bounty offer, and make it snappy. Forty- no, fifty coins for the Hawk and an additional five coin for any of his underlings.” Bill quickly wrote out the bounty offer and stamped it with an official looking seal once he was done.

“One official bounty for the Hawk and his underlings, to be paid upon delivery to the city guardhouse,” he said. The leader smiled.

“Now you may turn him in,” he said to Jim. He paused for a moment, but Jim didn’t move. “Carla,” he said, his voice amused. “Go to the bounty stash and grab…” he paused while he counted. “195 coin, payable to young Jim here.” Jim was still in shock, and Gail looked ready to faint. Only Sally seemed unconcerned.

“Well, I guess we’re rich now,” she said. “You should really do stuff like this more often, Jim.” Jim just shook his head. A couple of guards took charge of the criminals, putting them in temporary cells until they could be transferred to a prison.

Carla brought out the money and handed it to Jim, who promptly turned to Viren and handed him twenty coin. “Thank you,” he said. Viren nodded and left shortly after.