A Monster Life Ch. 49-51

Iphigenia chuckled. 'Even better than the places where you need a lot of money and fancy clothing to attend.'

'How did the merchant describe it? You won't find a more wretched hive of villainy and scum?'

She laughed once. 'That sounds like a line from a cheap theatre play.'

'This is it.' she said a little later after passing through several narrow streets, as she pointed out the sign depicting a sitting black cat with red eyes. 'The Witch's Cat. Dunbar said that despite the looks, it has excellent beer and wine and finger food. We only shouldn't ask what they put in it.'

Ulric glanced at the people loitering outside in what he hoped weren't their best outfits. 'Oh good, it'll be just like fast food from my old world.'

The inside of the tavern was larger than it seemed from the outside, and apart from an upper floor with tables, it also contained one sub floor for the guests to occupy. Maidens moved about with food and drinks between the dense setting of tables and chairs, and swerving around too active hands while subtly returning smacks upside the heads of the owners of said hands. 'Well, technically maidens.' Ulric said to himself and toned down his nose at the thick smell of people mixed with food and drinks, and the oil used in the lantern to light the place.

Elzbieta gestured at a table to the side, and the party settled in under curious and obvious admiring glances from most men and women. One of the younger maidens moved over and looked over the new customers with a quick and experienced judging eye. 'What'll you have?'

'We'll start of with a jug of wine and beer.' said Iphigenia, and the maiden slipped through the gap between two other tables while casually pinching the top of the hands that tried to discover how thick the layer of the clothing covering her rear was.

The curiosity towards the party died down quickly enough by the time the jugs and mugs arrived, and Ulric and Kaui poured everyone a good drink. Ulric took a drink from his beer and licked his lips with an approving nod. 'So, how do we go about now?'

Iphigenia looked over the crowd casually. 'Keep our eyes open for anyone who seems to receive a lot of visits from friends. Usually they are the ones that sell information. Or anyone looking like they might work for a rich household. Quite often they know an interesting thing or two.'

Ulric chuckled. 'Yeah, I guess we won't see anyone with a symbol floating above their head.'

Elzbieta raised an eyebrow. 'Is it like that in your world?'

Ulric nearly spat out his beer and wiped his muzzle. 'No. That would have made life a whole lot easier because then we would know which people to talk to. Or avoid at all costs. It's one of those game things.'

Elzbieta nodded. 'Ah.' she said and tried not to think too much about the strange ways of where he came from.

'You're always complaining!' called out a man's voice from a table next over.

The party glanced at the four people sitting at it, two human men and one who seemed to have an orc in his ancestry, judging from his thick jaw and slightly pointy ears, and one slim feline woman with white fur and spots like a Dalmatian on her arms. She gripped her long skirt. 'But you all have much larger shares.'

The orcish brute leaned on the table with one arm. 'That's because we go in there directly with swords to chop everything to pieces.'

The feline bit her lip. 'But I stunned them all for you.'

'That still doesn't take away their deadly fangs and claws, or do you want to spill their blood and guts yourself next time?'

The feline shuddered. 'No. But-'

The brute sighed exasperatedly and raised his hand. 'I'm just about fed up with you again!'

The feline shut her eyes and winced, but the expected hit did not come. She opened her eyes to the startled members of her party looking up at a hooded canine gripping the brute's wrist. 'I don't like violence.' he growled low. 'Especially by muscle heads who try to hurt others weaker than them.'

The brute glared up at him, trying to wrestle his arm free. 'This has nothing to do with you!'

Ulric leaned a little closer to him. 'When you try to hit someone openly in front of me, it has something to do with me.'

The other two men jumped up from their seats and reached for their swords, but froze when Iphigenia and Elzbieta prodded the tip of theirs at their throats out of nowhere. Elzbieta shook her head. 'That would be the last stupid idea you'd ever have.'

Ulric looked at the stunned feline for a moment. 'Now, from what I overheard, she disabled whatever you were hunting, so that you could kill it without much risk, correct?'

'We still had to kill it!' grunted the brute.

Ulric growled low once more. 'Do you prefer to try that with a fully conscious opponent? Because I can give you one.'

The brute swallowed at the dim red glow emanating from inside the hood. 'Okay, no!'

'Then it seems to me fair sharing is in order.'

The brute glanced at the feline, then at the bag of coins in front of him. 'Fine!' he said and shoved the bag hard towards the feline. 'But you're out!'

The feline looked down at the bag she caught in her paws, then at her old party leader and the canine.

The brute looked up at Ulric. 'You can take care of this failure of a cat if you want.'

'That's not a nice thing to say of a lady.'

One of the men scoffed. 'You don't even know this is-'

'Shut it!' said the brute. 'Their problem now. We are out of here.'

Ulric let go of the wrist, and Iphigenia and Elzbieta stepped back to let him and the men leave amidst their grumbles and the murmurs of the other guests.

Ulric looked at the feline. 'Are you all right?'

She nodded. 'Thank you.' She looked at the bag again. 'I don't know how to thank you for this.'

Iphigenia sheathed her sword. 'Do you happen to know a little about this city and the area?'

The feline nodded. 'I've been here for some time.'

Iphigenia gestured at the table where Kaui and Conchim sat ready to support a fight. 'Have a seat with us and a drink. We have a few questions.'

The feline nodded again with a quick smile. 'I'll answer what I can.'

She sat down with the others and gratefully accepted a mug of the wine.

'So, let's begin with a name and what your abilities are.' said Iphigenia. 'You mentioned stunning the opponents.'

The feline nodded. 'My name is Caylais. I have some magical power of the lightning kind.'

'Lightning?' asked Ulric.

'It means causing anything from light shocks up to flashes like the thunder and lighting from a storm.' said Valdys.

'Ah. That's what we call electricity.'

'I thought you didn't have magic in your world.' said Elzbieta.

He shook his head. 'We have discovered how lightning works, and how to create it for ourselves from a very light charge to stronger than lightning. It's used everyday in and around the house.'

Elzbieta nodded and Iphigenia introduced everyone from the party. 'So, what was up with that whole dispute? Sounded like this has been going on for a while.'

Caylais looked into her mug and nodded lightly as she curled up her long, spotted tail around her skirt. 'From the time I came here to work as an adventurer and increase my skill, I've only been in two parties because beast folk like me aren't very welcome to join them. The only two who'd hire me were the one you just met, and a previous one who left one night without saying a word, and without leaving me my share of the money of the quest we did the day before.' She twitched her whiskers sadly. 'I couldn't find someone to join up with until these guys were willing to let me in. And had been working me to the bone for a small share. But I couldn't leave because I had nowhere else to go with the little money I had.'

Ulric sighed. 'Isn't there some way to report this to the guild?'

Elzbieta shook her head. 'Most guilds don't care about foreign folks. Unless something really bad happens like murder, they'll look the other way.'

'Will you be all right now?' asked Ulric.

Caylais smiled a little. 'With this I can see where I can go from here. Maybe I'll try my luck once more here, otherwise it'll have to be elsewhere.'

Iphigenia nodded. 'All right, now onto why we asked you to join us. Who are the people of interest here?'

Caylais rubbed her black nose once. 'Well, there's the Drukkna family, who rule over the city. They claim their ancestors were the ones who founded it and they control everything here. The guild, trade, the guard, anything of importance. There are a few merchants that are on friendly terms, but they don't have much influence on what goes on here, unless it's also in the interest of the Drukkna.'

'I assume the guard is a pretty strong force then.' said Elzbieta.

Caylais sipped from her wine. 'They have a fair number of people, but since hardly anyone dares to stand up to them, they're not as strong as a third of them in experienced adventurers.'

'Any wizards or alchemists here?' asked Valdys.

Caylais shook her head. 'Apart from the ones making a living as adventurer or merchant, there are no residential ones with real power living here.'

Valdys hummed. 'So, if we're interested in buying or selling powerful artefacts, we're out of luck.'

'The Drukkna family have some, according to rumour. It is said they have a protected treasure chamber holding their riches.'

Valdys glanced at Ulric. 'Sounds like a good place to start looking for the next piece.' she said over the link.

Ulric gave barely a nod. 'Agreed. Doesn't sound like there's anyone else who could hold onto it.'

Caylais kept answering more casual questions about interesting places while they tried their luck with the local food. Ulric figured his bloodwolf stomach was built for digesting much more nasty things and gave it a shot, and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. The girls giggled when he ordered another round with his tongue hanging out.

After their meal was done, Caylais thanked them again for helping her.

'If those guys or anyone else gives you any trouble, come to us.' said Elzbieta. 'We'll deal with them permanently.'

'Thank you. Good luck with your business here.' said Caylais, and left.

'I suggest we see if we can find someone who knows more about the Drukkna estate.' said Iphigenia.

Ulric nodded and pat his stomach. 'We'll go back to Cat now and return after a good rest.'

Iphigenia giggled. 'Yeah, I can see you need some after wolfing down all that food.'

He shrugged. 'Can't help it. It's in my nature.' He looked for one of the maidens. 'Might as well take some extra back with us with the portion for Isa and Susi.'

***

The guards at the gate didn't bother them again when the party returned after their rest, and Ulric and the girls moved casually along the main street towards the docks until Iphigenia pointed at a broad side street paced with nearly white stone and trees planted in grass patched running down the middle. 'The estate's this way.'

They followed it while looking around at the more expensive looking houses lining it, some with fancy decorated boats moored at the canals to the side. The estate lay at the end of the street, surrounded by a tall wall and the main gate flanked by two guards. On top of the gate stood an iron wrought round family weapon depicting a ship with three masts and bulging sails. All that was visible were two broad, square towers with a covered stone footbridge between them halfway towards the flat tops.

Ulric looked up and down the towers and noticed a guard crossing the bridge. 'There's probably a main building at the feet of those towers, and the entrance to the chamber below if those rumours are true.'

Valdys eyed the two heavily armed men at the gate. 'Doesn't look like we'll be able to take a closer look.'

Iphigenia looked around. 'I'm pretty sure there are enough people going around the place for us to find someone to tell us what it looks like inside those walls.' She gestured at a wide alley at the side near the end of thee street. 'I think we can find that other tavern that way.'

A few narrow streets later, they stopped at a flight of stone steps leading down to a small dock at the water, and a door with a carving of a jug and a mug on it, barely lit by the lantern hanging beside it. 'This should be it.' said Iphigenia. 'The Down by the Water.'

Ulric sniffed the air. 'Indeed. I smell alcohol and hear multiple voices.'

They went down the steps and as soon as Ulric opened the door, a waft of air heavy with the smell of beer, wine, and chewed pacco hit his nose. Unlike the other tavern, this one was more intimately lit and the atmosphere was more subdued. He didn't think they'd have to worry about being drawn into a fight here.

Inside, they sat down at a table and the owner brought their drinks soon after ordering without using much words. Most of the other customers were older and spoke softly, while others just sat quietly and drank.

'So, what do we look for?' asked Ulric over the link.

'You remember the seal on top of the gate?' said Iphigenia. 'Something like that on clothing, or clothing itself which might look like they're working at the estate. Also, keep our ears open for conversations that might allude to the estate.'

Ulric surveyed the customers casually. 'Not much conversation going on.'

'Which should mean they're discreet enough to keep a secret or two. Unless the price is right.'

Valdys eyed a young man in a manservant outfit and rich with frills on his dress shirt, talking to two young ladies. 'What about him? He looks like he'd fit on an estate.'

Ulric pricked up his ears underneath his hood. 'He's talking about being in charge of the chambers of important members of the estate.'

The front door of the tavern opened with a rough swing and a bulky, bald man with light grey beard and leather vest tread firmly inside. He glanced around once, locked his eyes on the young man who froze, and stepped towards him. 'What has come into your crappy mind!?' he grunted. 'Wearing clothes like that and drinking here when you're supposed to clean out the stables!' He smacked the young man upside the head. 'Get to work or I'll have you scrub the floor throughout the night!'

Hastily, the stable hand left the tavern while the other guests sniggered, apart from the two young ladies who glared in indignation after him. The head of the stable turned and bumped into an old and hunched over man passing behind him, nearly knocking his mug with beer out of his hands and spilling some of the contents. 'You still alive, geezer?' he grunted, and went out the door.

The old man wiped his wet hands on his trousers and muttered under his breath as he headed for a table in the corner, and Ulric observed him closely. 'I think that just might be our guy.'

The others watched the man sipping his mug with slightly trembling hands. 'What makes you think so?' asked Elzbieta.

'I heard him mutter something about being the one who built those stables that other guy is in charge of, and the servant wing and the underground level of the family's fortune where he's paid out of.'

Iphigenia stood up. 'Let me try something.' she said and went over to the old man. 'Excuse me. May I ask you something?'

The old man looked up and smiled a wet smile. 'A pretty lass like you, always.'

Iphigenia giggled. 'I was just wondering, have you lived here all your life? I mean, I was wondering if you know what it looked like here many years ago, since my uncle told me a few things from back when he was a kid.'

The man stared forward and nodded slowly. 'I've known this city since I was born here and it wasn't as big as it is now.'

Iphigenia gestured back at the others. 'Would you like to join us for a drink and tell us about it? We're just a little curious about how it used to be.'

He looked up with a little sparkle in his eyes. 'Keep the beer coming and I'll tell you the entire history, young lady.'

Iphigenia giggled again. 'We'll do.'

***

The old man introduced himself as Unsar, and explained his father was a builder and he followed into his footsteps as a young lad, helping to build anything from a storage shed to parts of the city wall. He told about how trade made the city grow when the current lord's ancestors settled here, and how the landscape changed in a short time. The time a fire broke out and destroyed a large part of the city was told with the same fierceness as it burned.

'So, the lord's estate isn't from the time they came here?' asked Iphigenia.

Unsar shook his head. 'The original house burned down but the then lord wanted something new and bigger anyway, so they asked me to build them a new one.' He took another gulp from his beer. 'They wanted the whole works with a large servant wing, stables, store house, and a secure chamber for their valuables.'

'They must have a big collection of all kinds thanks to trading, I guess. Was there even space for such a chamber? And how can you keep such a thing secure? Must take plenty of guards and magic, but even those could be defeated or bribed.'

He nodded. 'That's why I had to think up something new and better.' He tapped the side of his head with his finger. 'They might think I'm daft now, but I know a thing or two.'

Ulric hummed. 'My guess is, you built it into the basement. Less accessible.'

Unsar grinned. 'Smart boy. But I did more than that.' He looked at the party members. 'So, are you simply interested in stealing, or are you looking for something specific?'

The others nearly spat out their drinks while he grinned mischievously.

Iphigenia wiped her mouth. 'What makes you say that?'

'Why else would you ask me about the city, when there are better places to have a drink and find someone old enough to tell you about it. Normal visitors don't come here.'

Iphigenia chuckled. 'We're looking for a special item. Something we need for our greater quest.'

'You're not interested in the family's riches?'

She shook her head. 'Not really. Or should we?'

Unsar leaned back. 'The family cheated me out of a chunk of my pay, as they did others as well, so a little revenge on the side would be appreciated. I don't need the money but it would hit them where it hurts them the most. I'll tell you everything if you can do me that favour.'

Iphigenia looked for one moment at Ulric, and smiled at Unsar. 'Deal.'

51 - Quest Impossible

Ulric pushed the narrow and packed boat under the cover of darkness through the narrow canal at the side of the estate with the help of a pole, until Elzbieta put up her hand. 'This is halfway.' she said over the familiar link to keep silent and nodded at Valdys.

Valdys slid her hand into the water and a moment later a small sphere of light sunk deeper, lighting the sandy bottom of the canal with occasional remains of jars and bottles and wood, and a round opening in the stone of the estate wall. 'It's here.'

Ulric picked up a sturdy leather belt with skin bladders filled with air, strapped it around his waist, and picked up a heavy crowbar. 'All right. I'll tell you when I'm through and you can follow, or if I need to return.' he said over the link to stay silent.

Iphigenia and Elzbieta nodded. 'Good luck, Wolfie.' Iphigenia said as they watched him slip silently into the slightly glowing water.

He followed the light into the opening and through the passage until he reached the rusted grate deeper inside that Unsar told them about. He probed the thick bars for a weak spot until the water was filled with rusty flakes and coloured red-brown. 'I can't find any weakness. I'll need to force it or hack at the stone.'

'Be careful, darling.' said Elzbieta. 'Return before you run out of air.'

'I will, don't worry, my dear.' he said, and wedged the crowbar between the grate and the stone it was embedded in, and gave it a jerk to test it. More rust flakes sprung away but the iron didn't budge. With his feet planted firmly against the wall, he pulled with increasing strength. "Break, you damned hindrance." he thought as he gritted his teeth and his muscles hardened at the tension.