Dark Stag Ch. 15

Another guard rushed forward trying to tackled me. He was met with a side step and a swift kick to the jaw. He collided with the wall, landing on his friend. Another, less giddy guard came, swinging his staff with more precision. Still, he wasn't much for me. I dodged his quick taps as he geared for an over the head power strike. He did so, bringing the staff over his head, slamming it down with force in an effort to incapacitate me. I rolled backwards as the crackles of electricity sounded like lightning hitting the ground just inches from me.

The powerful strike left the man open! I got to my feet far faster than he could react, kicking him squarely in the jaw. As I did, a large mass slammed into me! It was another guard, one with immense strength! He picked me up and slammed me to the hard floor of the warehouse. The blow was almost stunning! Almost...

He put his hands around my neck in an attempt to strangle me, placing his weight firmly on my stomach. That was a big mistake! It still gave my core and hips leverage! With this advantage, I sprung the man forward, the man having to use his hand to keep his face from hitting the ground. It was then I swooped an arm, underneath his then grabbed his shirt, pulling it over his head.

I wrapped my legs around his body, as I twisted the shirt as tight as I could around his neck. I brought his face dangerously close to mine! I smiled as the man could feel the lack of air consuming him. His strength was fading fast as he tried to get away. However, he was too close to me to have any type of leverage.

Still more guards came, and slowly strangling the man was not going to work. I threw him off of me, elbowing him in the jaw, as more guards surrounded me. I spat the letter out, it being ruined by my saliva. These men had to be addressed.

"I just took out seven of you all," I said panting, addressing the remaining fourteen or so, "And I can take the rest of you out... Or, none of you will have to get hurt and you can stand down... I'm not here to fight..."

My words meant nothing. Man after man rushed forward, fighting me aimlessly with no coordination or skill. One by one, they'd either take themselves out or I'd take one out. Eventually there were only four left. These men were hesitant.

"Don't do it to yourself..." I warned.

Still though, the men were brave. One rushed forward at impressive speed, bringing the butt of his staff up. I stepped back, not expecting him to suddenly redirect it and send the crackling staff towards my head. Somehow I managed to dodge it, the move leaving me impressed.

I was expecting for him to be left wide open after such a strike but he was standing firm with the staff in one hand. He knew martial arts of some form. I pointed to him.

"I'll save you for last..." I said, before rushing to another guard. I put him down within two seconds, the man having lost will to fight. The three remaining guards stood behind the one who had some type of combat training.

"Last chance..." I said, truly not wanting to fight.

"Summer..." A firm voice said.

I turned, seeing Devari standing next to a man that looked nearly identical to him. Devari's face was expressionless as ever. The man standing beside him, not so much. His eyes darted back and forth between the numerous men littered across the warehouse floor. Devari's then nodded. As he did, I was struck from behind, a shock spreading through my body. Everything went dark.

I woke up sitting in a chair, my ankles and hands tied down extremely tightly. My vision was slowly adjusting to the dim light. My back was in pretty serious pain from where I had been struck. I didn't know how much time I had been out.

"Wow..." Someone said, "Just wow... You took down most of my men and would have definitely taken them all down if you hadn't been distracted..."

"I'm sorry..." I responded, my eyes falling to the floor. I could barely see in the dimness but this was definitely Devari.

"Everyone is telling me to kill you..." Devari said, reaching across his desk to turn on a light. He sat on the corner of the desk, sharpening that same flay he held for me. My heart began to pound. I knew just how crazy Devari was, "My guards are saying having someone that could kill them so easily within these walls is bad. They say you're a threat to not only them, but me, this brothel!"

"I promise, I'd never hurt you..." I said, fearing for my life. Devari looked at me peculiarly, this not being something he'd expect me to say.

"Who the fuck are you?" He asked. I took a deep breath, just unable to tell him, "You don't trust me? You think I'd take your truth and use it against you? Is this why you're lying to us? You think I'd hurt you?"

"I just can't... say." I said, trying to hold back these tears. Devari looked at me with frustration.

"You randomly came here and became apart of this brothel. You took down a giant with one move! Shortly after that, you killed an entire night shift of Official Guardsmen. Fast forward several days, you have knowledge on the situation of the brothel and a number of other things. Why are you here and what are you trying to do? Who are you fighting for?" Devari asked, more so concerned than anything.

"Myself, really. Have you ever been chased by a demon your whole life and now you have to stand and fight it? You know how that battle is yours and yours alone? I'm sorry, but this is my battle and I'm doing everything I can to fight it..." I said, a tear escaping.

That expressionless face returned. The long pause after the fact just added more agony to this situation.

"I know this demon you speak of... This demon makes you do things you don't like but have to. You think I want to run a brothel? You think I like being a slaver? You think I like shipping out human beings and expecting them to bring me back money simply for opening their legs? You think I like sitting here on this desk with you in front of me, deciding what the hell I need to do with you? No... But guess what? I got to do it and I'm not going to psych myself out about doing it either! Since you know quite a bit about me and according to Mardee, you know of our issues... I'll just be plainly honest with you. If I do this, will you tell me who you are, why you're here, and I'll see what I can do to help?" Devari said, sounding exhausted.

"I don't know... Just, I promise this won't happen again. Let's just forget this evening and continue onward..." I said, growing desperate.

"Yeah, I could just kill you and forget this all ever happened..." Devari smiled. His smile made my stomach twist with fear. I didn't know if he was serious or not. With so much on the line, this was not the way I'd want to be taken out. All I could do was shake my head, "See, this is it plainly. You don't trust me. You won't tell me anything because you see me as an obscurity, as someone that can stop your plans if I found out. Yet, look at me now? I'm sitting here trying to figure out what to do with you because you've given me so little to work with. You don't trust me? I don't trust you! You've been sneaking around, getting information on me and my livelihood when you've killed so many people! You can look scared and terrified all you want! I know what you're capable of. I watched you take down all my men..."

"Then kill me..." I said, growing frustrated. It shocked Devari, the boy staring at me for a long time.

"I can't really do that... See, that letter... Mardee said it did confirm you are some type of royalty. Whatever your business is here must be big and killing you, it could be bad news for me. I just don't know what you're trying to do. Are you using my brothel as a coverup for bigger things or are you here for specific reasons? Can you atleast tell me that?" He asked.

"No..." I said.

"Okay then, I'll take a little bit of a gamble and tell you some information on me, just a little. Then... You tell me a little on you." Devari suggested, "Does that sound fine to you?"

"Why not..." I sighed, seeing this was clearly a mind game.

"Brock Majdaniec, a long term business partner with my father, decided he didn't like the sanctions we were hit with from the audit about seven months ago. We deserved them... We knew the regulations and possible consequences of it if it was discovered we had a literate slave. So he was approached by a man on a corner with these vials, these flasks. The man said these drugs can bring in a lot of revenue because they' be super addicting to those who'd try them. Of course money hungry Brock was willing to try them and he was given a big pallet of them! The man said he'll swing by to pick up a percentage of what we've earned the next month at the exact same time. Never did it occur to Brock to ask about a revenue, a premium, a rate of interest and marginal profit. He just took what he thought were cheap drugs and begin selling them to in-house clients. We did notice a huge spike in revenue, but never bothered to ask why. Months went by before I start noticing an actual loss in profits. It went from two percent, to a staggering fifteen percent and I couldn't just stand by. We did an investigation and it turns out that Brock was in serious debt due to these drugs! The first batch we received was okay. However, the second and third batch put us in the hole because the supply was too high for the demand and Brock didn't bother to communicate this to us! Instead, he siphoned money from our revenue stream and used that to pay for his growing debt. I mean it put us in the hole bad! Since we were hit by sanctions, it was something we couldn't just bounce back from. What made it all worse was how unapologetic Brock was. He blamed us for it despite him being the one putting us in debt! We managed to pay off the sanctions without debt but it made us no profits for the month. His greed put us in that situation and the fact that he didn't want to take responsibility for it really made me mad. I'm a man of honor. When I say something, I'm going to stick to it no matter how bad it us. But when you cross me, you're dead to me! What Brock did was so bad I, just lost it... I stabbed him. I stabbed him so many times he looked like grounded lamb packed together in the shape of a human. And he deserved it! My father, an advocate for peace, didn't even stop me! He had to scramble and put together a slaver caravan. He left that night and never returned. That was the night the leadership of the brothel turned over to me..." He explained.

"Wow..." I said, shocked to know the explicit details.

"You?" He responded, demanding I tell him something.

"I was in the King's court. I left, for reasons... But as soon as I did, things started getting very strange there. Essentially, the King was strung out on drugs. To my knowledge, he died and now there is a big power struggle going on between prince Richard and Sir Socoshian... I want more details but that's all I know. What I'm trying to do is stop Sir Socoshian by finding out as much about him as a I can." I said, this not being the total truth. Devari leaned back with his arms folded. I wasn't sure if this was what he wanted. He sighed gearing to speak.

"He puts people in debt. People owe him money and are forced to ally with him. His debt goes deep. He can't be shut down either because it will cause not only this Ziggurat to collapse but all." Devari said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"He made this industry drug dependent. Everyone who's anybody was scammed the same way we were. Sell these drugs but we won't tell you the premium and as a result you owe us because there's no fixed premium! The rate is variable! That's how it works... People are willing to do anything for these drugs, including borrow and borrow what they don't have and owe debt. Threats and checks are the name of the game after that point..." Devari clarified.

"Wait, how does that work? Wouldn't the money eventually run out that everyone's borrowing?" I asked.

"The drugs, have a high premium, the premium so high no one can pay for it! Everyone wants the drugs because they are incredibly addictive... As I said, the debt is a scam that you can't claw out of. When you have people borrowing actual money that is lent from local banks, they give it to Sir Socoshian's debtors who just bring it to him. He puts the money right back in the banks, now his money, and the cycle repeats itself. He's getting richer! He's just scamming people with debt money to make himself more money..." Devari responded.

"That makes sense now..." I said.

"It's not just that. The money loaned out for other reasons, such as to buy a home or start a business is his money. When it comes time to pay it back, the interest rate is so high the person or group who took out the loan would never be able to pay it off! Drugs literally got him one foot in the door and somehow this man has managed to put the vast majority of this town into a financial sinkhole." Devari explained.

"Damn. Can I write my source and tell him this information? He'd want to know about the status of the brothel since I'm in it and the debtor situation." I asked. Devari looked torn.

"How helpful would this source be?" He responded.

"This source is the same source that helped me do what I needed to do the Official Guard..." I said back.

"What was that even about?" Devari asked.

"I had someone in the Official Guard helping cover my trail. My trail was still cold but his trail was hot so they called him in for questioning and the Official Guard can get pretty torturous... I didn't want him to die so I did what I could. My source told me to leave no trail or witnesses and that's precisely what I did. Everyone who saw me had to die that night." I sighed.

"So you busted someone out of holding at the Official Headquarters?" Devari asked, shocked.

"I had no choice. They would have inevitably got the information they wanted..." I said, trying to shrug but the ropes were keeping me locked in one spot. Devari chuckled, getting to his feet.

With the flay, he cut me loose. Still though, I was frightened to move.

"So, I'm guessing we're on the same team?" He asked.

"Yeah..." I said, the man extending out his hand to help me up. I took it, Devari pulling me to my feet.

"This never happened, okay? I want things to go back to what they were! I'll make sure of this!" Devari said.

"Yeah, this never happened." I responded.

We walked out of the office, everyone on the main floor looking at me in shock. As I scanned around, their eyes began to cower. This was not what I wanted. I didn't want these people to fear me! People didn't need to know what I truly was, a savage, a warrior of indiscriminate bloodlust.

I returned to my room, seeing it had been searched. I rolled my eyes, closing the door behind me. Before it could close entirely, a foot caused it to stop. A hand gently pushed it open. It was Devari! I backed away sitting at my desk.

"I want to see you write this... what happened to your room?" He asked.

"I should be asking you that, to be honest." I sighed.

"What ever... Let me see you pen it out." He responded.

"Very well." I shrugged, "I mean, I was gonna shower and get some sleep but very well."

Devari looked at me with a furled lip then an eyeroll. It made me laugh. I began writing:

'Did some digging. Turns out that the brothel is in debt to Sir Socoshian and that the debt situation is caused by Sir Socoshian's drug scandal. He bribes less than bright individuals into a high premium deal that doesn't have a fixed rate. As a result the premium can fluctuate and it typically does to the point that the person can't pay it of.

As a result, people take out more loans to pay off Sir Socoshian. Sir Socoshian puts the money directly into the bank so the money being lent out from that point on is his.

Loans being taken out for other reasons work the same way. It's all Sir Socoshian's money so every penny he gets paid is fed right back into the bank... It's a poisonous and predatory system that many are trapped in.

I'll update you as things develop. I'm still going to be here for a while, so watch the seasons!

Yours,

Summer'

Devari snatched the letter, reading it meticulously. I was nervous, because I placed in some keywords that Gou could decipher incase a scenario like this happened. It was relieving to see Devari being content with the letter. He handed it back to me.

"I'll send it in the morning. It's too late out for Bazhara to attempt to fly." I sighed, the exhaustion coming through my voice.

"How was training today?" Devari asked.

"Brutal. The Wolf fucked me like he hated me." I said.

"Well, out there in the client world, it happens. We always try to put our trainees through scenarios they'd inevitably go through. There are some weird and crooked people out there and some of them are our highest paying clients. If anything happens out of contract with our clients that brings harm to our escorts then we take them to court and sue them for brand defacement and contract breach." Devari shrugged. It made me laugh.

"Brand defacement?" I asked.

"Yep... you're mine! If someone fucks with you I gotta go after them. It's the way it is, mate." Devari said. I don't know why but it made me feel this warmth.

Devari was not at all the monster I thought he was. He was a smart businessman of the most passionate and cutthroat kind. In many ways he was very much like myself.

"That's reassuring..." I said. Devari seemed taken aback.

"The sarcasm!" He gasped.

"I was not being sarcastic." I smiled, the smile not helping.

"Sure..." He said, getting up, "Get some rest..."

"You're gonna be supervising tomorrow?" I asked.

"No, I'm going to be training my brother on some managerial stuff. Hopefully he doesn't fuck up. But anyways, go easy on Mardee. He's a bit intense but he has a good heart." Devari said, walking to the door.

"I will." I smiled.

"Goodnight." He said with a nod.

"Goodnight." I responded.

He was gone. He left me in the room so I could freshen up and get some sleep. I did so. The next morning came about and the training commenced. It was awkward, all the way up until the end of the week. It was some quite intense fucking, sex so intense it continued to make walking hard. On the last day of the week, Devari finally showed up. It was so gladdening to see him, I couldn't help but smile. I just wanted to hug him.

Mardee also was glad to see him.

"How's the training been going? Good I hope..." Devari asked.

"Well, of course, boss." Mardee smiled.

"I got it from here..."Devari said, patting him on the shoulder, before turning to us, "Well, well... let's see how things are... From the top of the week, I want to see it all!"

"Okay..." The Wolf said.

We went right into oral. Devari watched, scanning meticulously as the Wolf and I devoured one another. Soon, it was the intense, almost violent anal. Still Devari watched without much expression, only that typical deep analyzing he always did. We climaxed, finishing.

"How'd we do?" The Wolf asked.

"To be honest," Devari said, scratching his head, "It was like watching two machines at a factory collide into each other repeatedly. There was no passion, nothing... not even a kiss, a hug, a look, a glance... This is my fault. I'm going to give you an extra week to learn how to be intimate... Even, to fake it to you make it..."

"I'm sorry..." I said.

"You're still learning and your heart's not in this. It's okay." Devari said, not seeing it as a big deal.

"Boss..." Mardee said, rushing back into the training studio, "You won't believe what's going on!"

"What?" Devari said back, immediate concern for the well being of his brothel.