Flameseeker (Book 3) (17 page)

Aidan chuckled. “That is his name. It is Draconic.”
He spoke Draconic to the kinling, who nodded quickly.

The kinling ran to the desk. It stopped a safe distance
away from Jarial and pointed to the cereoxin that he held. He barked and then
pointed to the batraphine on the desk.

Jarial looked thoughtful at the kinling. “Interesting,
so is it saying that the cereoxin and batraphine was used in the injection?” he
asked Aidan.

Aidan nodded.

“Interesting,” Jarial said, returning the cereoxin
to the desk. “Somehow, the effects of these substances had an opposite effect
on your body than what was intended, Aidan. It was as if your body fed off it
and enhanced itself, or perhaps it has aged you, which explains why your features
are so much more prominent now.”

Kaijin raised his eyebrows. “Is that so? Could it
have something to do with his heritage?”

Jarial shrugged, then went on to examine the ice wand
on the desk. “Perhaps, but it seems to me like that alchemical experiment was
still in the testing phases. It’s unfortunate that Aidan had to be the victim.”

“Is it?” Zarya asked. “I mean, Aidan was going to
eventually become this sooner or later, right?”

Jarial nodded, then stored the wand in his bag.
“Yes, perhaps you’re right, my dear.”

Omari sneered at the kinling. “So what was this
half-Dragon doing down here with all these kinlings?”

“Aidan?” Kaijin looked to the giant expectantly.

Aidan and the kinling drummed up a seemingly detailed-sounding
conversation in Draconic. Finally, Aidan addressed the rest of the group. “Rhyzaryk
says he and his brothers were cast out of their forest tribe years ago, and
they came here and took up residence in tunnels. Vheradan discovered them and recruited
them into his gang. They pillaged and traveled and made their living here,
there, everywhere. Then one day, Vheradan had crazy idea to sail to Salanis for
better opportunities.”

Kaijin nodded as he digested the information. “Anything
else?”

Aidan shrugged. “Apparently Vheradan was skilled
alchemist, and Rhyzaryk was his apprentice. Vheradan was testing a new formula
that alters mind and body.”

“And you were their test subject.” Zarya scowled.
“Despicable.”

Rhyzaryk hung his head, his tail curling between
his legs. He growled a message at Aidan, who looked taken aback.

“What did he say?” Kaijin asked.

Aidan’s mouth hung agape, but he quickly recovered,
smiled, and nodded to the creature. “Rhyzaryk says he is honored to be in the
presence of Koraseru descendant, and asks forgiveness for attacking Aidan with
wand.”

Kaijin blinked. “What?”

“What a wonderful thing to say.” Zarya smiled at
the kinling.

“This has got to be a trap,” Omari said. “He probably
wants to be let go so that he can call for his ‘brothers’ and ambush us.”

Aidan slowly shook his head. “Aidan has feeling
that is not case.”

“What will he do down here alone, without a
master?” Kaijin asked.

Aidan shrugged. “Aidan is certain he will survive.”
He cast Rhyzaryk a glare and spoke in stern Draconic. The kinling gulped and
nodded frantically in reply.

Kaijin was puzzled. “What did you say, this time?”

“Aidan made him promise not to hurt any more
people or cause any more trouble, and for him to live honest way of life. And
if he breaks promise, Aidan will turn him into ice statue, too.” He smiled
coyly.

Kaijin chuckled. “Sounds fair enough.”

XVII

Kaijin and his friends rested briefly to gather
themselves before moving on to the next room to find Nester. Aidan made the
kinling, Rhyzaryk, guide them.

The room, lit by four torches on each of the
walls, appeared to be living quarters. A nest of hay, with blankets and pillows
strewn over it, sat on one side of the room. The slimy stone floor was
cluttered with tattered clothing, books, torn parchment, and other debris. Old,
ripped tapestries, some bearing the city’s colors, hung crookedly from nails
lodged between stones in the wall. At one of the far walls, under a halo of
torchlight, Nester was busy fiddling with one of several locks on a large,
wooden door. He didn’t seem to notice the group’s presence.

By contrast, a wooden desk that sat on the opposite
end of the room was surprisingly tidy, with parchment stacked in neat piles.
Atop one of the stacks was an inkwell and unused quill pen.

The shiny object that Kaijin had spotted earlier
was gone.

Rhyzaryk growled at Nester, baring his fangs. He
was about to lunge at the brownie when Aidan grabbed his tail and pulled him
back. Rhyzaryk yelped and cringed, then looked to the giant, who shook his
head. He let go of the kinling’s tail, and balling his fists, Aidan stormed
over to Nester.

The door unlocked with a loud click, and Nester
stood. He turned around and smiled proudly.

Nester’s gaze moved upward to Aidan, and his eyes
bulged. He plastered himself flat against the wall. “Whoa, mates! There’s a ’uge
monster about to—Aidan?”

Aidan gowled menacingly.

“Aidan ...” Zarya warned.

Nester sank down to the ground as Aidan loomed
over him. The three familiars remained with Rhyzaryk while Kaijin, Zarya,
Omari, and Jarial drew nearer and surrounded the brownie.

Nester shuddered. “Don’t ’urt me, mates! I ain’t
done nothin’! I swear I ain’t done nothin’!”

“‘
Nothing
’?” Kaijin said. “You ran off to
leave us to deal with that kinling ambush!”

“And look what your cowardice has done to Aidan!”
Jarial pointed to the giant.

Nester looked at everyone, and his face went pale.
“I—I didn’t mean to. I—ah, was just makin’ sure there were no more kinlin’ folk
in ’ere.”

“By picking locks?” Zarya asked, putting her hands
on her hips.

“Tell us another one,” Omari said.

Aidan grabbed Nester by his topknot and lifted him
up to eye level. “Do not lie to Aidan!”

Nester cried and flailed for Aidan’s hand. “Ow!
All right! All right! I give up! I’ll explain! Don’t ’urt me!”

Zarya placed her hand on Aidan’s lower back, and Aidan
relaxed. He set Nester back down.

Pouting and not making eye contact with the group,
Nester pulled out an ornate silver spoon from within his jerkin. It glistened
in the flickering torchlight. “It looked like it was worth somethin’, so I took
it. After all, if it
is
worth somethin’, then we’ll ’ave some money for the
rest of our trip, aye?”

Kaijin blinked. “A spoon? Really, Nester? You put
us all in danger for
that
?”

“You have
got
to be kidding me.” Omari
seethed.

“You’re lying,” Jarial said, crossing his arms.

Nester looked up toward Jarial and shook his head.
“Nay! I found it on the desk over there. I ain’t never seen a spoon like this
before, I ’avent! I’ve got a good eye for this kinda stuff. So I decided to see
what else these blokes ’ad around ’ere and found this door. It’s gotta be a
vault or somethin’ to ’ave
this
many locks!”

Rhyzaryk snarled something, and Aidan looked over
his shoulder. He nodded to the kinling and turned back around.

Aidan glowered at Nester. “Rhyzaryk says there is
nothing in there that surface thief would want.”

“Nay, ’e’s lyin’, I tell you!” Nester said.
“What’re you doin’ listenin’ to that bloke, anyway?”

“He’s displayed a lot more credibility than you
have, Nester,” Zarya said.

Nester puffed out his chest. “Aye? Well, if ’e’s
so ‘credible,’ then ’e ain’t got nothin’ to ’ide, now would ’e? Let’s look
inside!”

Before anyone else could argue, Nester swung open
the door, revealing a tiny room full of curious objects: weapons that showed
slight tarnishing and rust, broken gold and silver jewelry, bent silverware, a
dented chalice, a scratched crystal ball, and more. The objects all shone
slightly as flickering torchlight from the larger room poured in.

Rhyzaryk cried out and ran toward the group.

Kaijin spun around in time to see Sable and
Percival catch up with the kinling and block its path. Miele swooped down from
the ceiling and at Rhyzaryk’s face, making the kinling yelp in fright.
So
perhaps Nester really has stumbled across their treasure horde,
he thought,
facing his friends again.

Nester deflated. “
This
is it? All those
soddin’ locks were securin’
this
junk? What a waste!” He reached down to
grab a broken, silver necklace, but Zarya slapped his hand away.

“It may be junk to you, Nester, but it means everything
to them,” she said.

“The kinling was apparently telling the truth,”
Jarial added. “That’s more than what can be said about you.”

“Nay! You got it all wrong!” Nester exclaimed.

While Nester continued arguing with the others,
Kaijin slipped away to explore the rest of the living quarters. He approached
the desk, with the neatly stacked parchment. He skimmed through the parchments
and found a small stack of official-looking documents. The documents, addressed
to Vheradan, mentioned permission to board a ship. A red seal, branded with
Ostwyn’s city emblem, was affixed to to the bottom of the last sheet.

Kaijin took the documents back to his friends.
“Hey, everyone. Look at this.”

The group stopped arguing and looked at Kaijin.
Jarial took the sheets of parchment. He skimmed them and handed them back to
Kaijin. “These appear to be passenger papers to board a ship.”

“Passenger papers?” Kaijin repeated.

Perhaps a little
too
enthused, Nester
clapped his hands together. “Kaijin! You found ’em! These, uh, were the
documents I was lookin’ for! You’ve got good eyes, mate, you do!”

Thanks, I think.
Kaijin scratched the back
of his head. “What do you need them for?”

“This is our key to boardin’ th’ merchant and
supply ships,” Nester replied, nodding quickly.

Omari growled. “You mean to tell me we risked our
necks for a bunch of confounded papers?”

“How exactly is this going to help us?” Zarya
asked, leaving Aidan’s side, and the half-Dragon proceeded to close the door
back and reset all the locks. “They are addressed specifically to Vheradan.”

Nester smirked. “Aye, but I—ah, that is ... there’s
always a way. Trust me, mates! I got it all under control!” He snatched the
parchments from Kaijin’s hands.

Aidan stormed over toward Nester, who scrambled
out of the room, calling over his shoulder, “Go catch a few winks, mates. I’ll
take care of everything!”

Rhyzaryk turned to follow the brownie, but Aidan
growled something at him, and he stopped.

Zarya sighed. “I guess we should’ve known better
than to trust him.”

Aidan cracked his knuckles. “Aidan is tired of chasing
after him. Maybe tomorrow, Aidan will have more energy.” He said something else
to Rhyzaryk, and Rhyzaryk responded with yips and barks. “Rhyzaryk says there
is exit nearby. He will lead us there.”

“Excellent. It will be nice to finally sleep in a
bed,” Omari said.

With Nester gone yet again, the group members gathered
themselves and followed the kinling through another section of twisting tunnels
until finally emerging in another dark alley of the city.

Rhyzaryk returned to the tunnels, and Kaijin and
his group returned to their rooms at the inn.

* * *

Nester returned to Stix after leaving his friends.
After he did his patterned knock on the shanty’s door, the small window slid
open and Six’s face appeared. “Nester! You’re back!” The window slid shut, and
the door opened.

“Aye.” Nester let himself in the shanty and closed
and locked the door behind him.

Stix stood back, rubbing his hands together.
“Well?”

Nester fished through his belt pouches and pulled
out a shiny silver coin, holding it between his thumb and index finger. The
coin was bigger than standard silver coins used for trading, and etched on one
side of it was a profile of a brownie’s head, while the other side bore an
image of a laurel wreath.

Stix beamed, his eyes glittering like the coin.
“My lucky coin! You found it!” He extended his hand toward it, but Nester
pulled it out of his reach.

“Aye,” Nester said. With his free hand, he
retrieved the folded passenger papers from within his jerkin. “An’ you’re
sure
you’ll be able to duplicate these flawlessly?”

Stix looked at Nester, dumbfounded. “Of course, I
will, Nester! You won’t find a better forger than me, my friend.”

Nester nodded and handed Stix the items. “All
right, mate. You ain’t never let me down before. ’Owever, since there will be a
merchant ship expected sooner, I think these papers need to be made for
merchants, instead of normal passengers.”

“I can do that, no problem, Nester.”

“Think you can also get us some fake goods, also?
To keep up with appearances, of course.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Stix pocketed the coin
and took the papers to a desk, which was already littered with other
parchments. In a single sweep of his arm, he brushed the old papers to the
floor and set the new documents atop the desk. “You didn’t run into Vheradan
while you got these, did you?”

“Aye, but my mates took care of ’im,” Nester said.
“I tried to see what else the scaly blokes ’ad ’oled up there. But they ’ad
nothin’! Can you believe it? Not a soddin’ piece of worthwhile treasure! Just a
buncha junk they ’ad locked away. Wasted a couple of lockpicks tryin’ to get
that soddin’ door open, I did.” He frowned bitterly.

Stix ran his finger along the spines of some books
on a shelf, then pulled out a few thick tomes. He stood on a sealed crate and
reached for some bottles of ink on a higher shelf. “Well, they’re kinlings.
They have strange tastes when it comes to treasure,” he said, not looking at
Nester. “I hope your friends were none the wiser when you found this coin.”

“Nay,” Nester replied, taking a seat on another
sealed crate. “They don’t suspect a thing.” He took the spoon out of one of his
pouches and set it atop a nearby table. “’Ow much’ll you give me for this? One
copper? Two?”

Stix looked over his shoulder at him. “A spoon?
And a bent one at that?” He snorted and turned back to the shelf. “Don’t insult
your fence like that.”

Nester shrugged, smiling innocently. “’Ey, it was
worth a try, aye?” He approached the desk and leaned against the side of it,
his arms crossed. “Somethin’ still bothers me, though: ’ow in th’ soddin’ ’ells
did they manage to steal from you in th’ first place?”

Stix paused and grimaced. He looked down a moment,
as if pondering his answer. “I was careless. Vheradan seemed like my usual sort
of customer. He came around here about a week ago, looking for a bundle of
hemlock. He tried haggling for a ridiculously low price. I felt rather
insulted. Anyway, I wouldn’t budge on the price, and he didn’t like that none
too much. I had no idea the guy knew magic. He did something to me that made me
feel like my head was spinning. I blacked out. Next thing I knew, I woke up
sprawled out on my bed. He and his little gang of kinlings had robbed me of all
my hemlock, as well as all the money I had on me—including my lucky coin. But
thankfully, they didn’t manage to find my secret vault. Anyway, I was going to
go after them, but I wasn’t prepared to face off a magic-user and a gang of
kinlings alone.” Stix smirked. “But then
you
came along. With friends,
to boot.”

Nester scratched his head. “If it really is a
lucky coin, then you wouldn’t’ve been robbed in th’ first place, aye?”

Stix shrugged. “Maybe. Who knows? It
is
a
special coin, though. Gives me a better insight on things.”

“What do you mean?”

Stix took the coin back out of his pocket and
showed Nester. “I bought this coin from a traveling gypsy a long time ago. She
told me it makes you see things clearer, and she was right! I can appraise the
value of items to the finest detail. It’s also easier for me to spot
counterfeit money. I’ve had customers who tried to take me for a fool like that.
This little coin’s helped me more than I can say.”

Nester raised his eyebrows. “Aye? That’s pretty
nifty! Where can I get a coin like that?”

Stix shrugged and shook his head. “You’re already
pretty sharp, Nester. I don’t think a coin like this would help you all that
much.”

Nester beamed, puffed out his chest. “Shucks,
mate.”

Stix re-pocketed the coin and sat at the desk. He
put on a pair of spectacles, then examined the documents, one by one.
Afterwards, he set the papers down, took off his spectacles, and faced Nester.
“It’s going to take me some time to duplicate these for all your friends, so
why don’t you stay here for the night? I’ll have this finished by morning.”

The thought of sleep was a welcoming relief to
Nester, who yawned and stretched. “Aye, not a bad idea. Thanks, mate.”

Stix pointed to a hefty stack of crates. “You can
use the room around there.”

Nester rounded the corner of the crates and discovered
a narrow doorway leading to a small, darkened room where a rickety wooden bed
sat. Rugs and pillows also littered the floor around the bed. Nester grabbed a
blanket and a pillow from the bed, and curled up on the floor in a corner of
the room.