Two weeks into Secondmonth, Wulf figured they had time to take action. They still needed to push closer to Iron, and a single dungeon run at the end of the semester wasn't going to cut it.

Which was exactly why he and Kalee had set up another meeting with Captain Basil.

"Are you sure about this?" Kalee whispered as they walked along the wall. "We could blow everything with Varl."

Wulf had no connection to Varl, and he had more than enough to take Varl out of the picture right now. But as Athllas had made abundantly clear, that wouldn't be good for diplomatic relations, to say the least, and Wulf personally was curious about the alchemist they had making reema for them.

If he couldn't get to that alchemist, and things went south, he didn't want them thinking he was the reema supplier.

So they were just going to turn in a low-ranking Lion. Give one up to the authorities, and use it as a bargaining chip.

Wulf pursed his lips, then said, "I don't think so. Varl might be suspicious, but he won't have any direct evidence we did it."

"He's been weird lately," Kalee said. "I haven't seen him around much, and his lieutenant has been giving us all our tasks."

Wulf nodded. "Are you still getting that…feeling about him?

"It hasn't left." She shuddered. "It's…it's the same feeling I got around the demon-spirit who took me in my last life. I can't explain it. It's like…a sixth sense, like the Field is moving differently, alerting me to danger."

With a grimace, Wulf stopped and stared out over the city. "I believe you."

"That's the thing," she breathed. "I don't know if I believe myself. It can't be…"

"Varl might be working with the demons," Wulf suggested. "I trust my intuition." At least, he did now that he'd had a good win with Irmond. "I trust yours too. You ever see his eyes flare orange before?"

"What, so orange eyes is the sign of a demon?" she said somewhat jokingly, but pointed to her own eyes.

"Glowing, flaming orange eyes? I don't know any human or human-like race that has glowing orange eyes."

"Sure. But that was just a glimpse. Could've been a trick of the lighting."

"Or," Wulf said, "we could be ignoring a problem until it gets big enough to hurt us. We'll see how Varl reacts to one of his lower-down dealers getting snagged, alright?"

She nodded unsurely. "Alright."

They continued along the wall until they reached the tower where they were supposed to meet Captain Basil, then ascended until they reached the top. Captain Basil was waiting for them. He dismissed another guard with a flick of his hand, then, when the guard was out of earshot, said, "What do you have for me?"

"We don't have enough to turn them all in yet," Wulf lied—he was pretty sure he could have gotten everyone involved with the Lions at least arrested, according to Byrante law. "But we have enough to give you a couple of the lower dealers."

Captain Basil tilted his head. "I'm glad to assist."

"But we need something, too," Wulf added.

"An exchange?" Basil narrowed his eyes. "You didn't seem like the type to hold something over my head."

"Call it a sign of our goodwill, and of things to come," Kalee said. "I promise, we're not trying to screw you."

"We're just looking to get access to the guard mission posting board," Wulf said. "And permission to complete some extra missions that would hopefully involve combat. We're willing to give the extra pay to any of the guards who would've previously taken the missions in the city."

"You…" Captain Basil raised his eyebrows. "Why?"

"We need the mana," Wulf said. "Me and my crew."

"Why not purchase more mana-water from the academy? Since you seem to not be strapped for funds."

Kalee shook her head. "That won't provide the best advancement. We're looking for solutions, not to burn our future on a cheap power-up."

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Captain Basil snorted. "Very well, then. It's a deal, as long as I make it quite clear that you're not taking anyone's extra pay. And be warned—you won't like what you find on most missions. It's a big city, and it's not for the faint of heart."

"We understand," Wulf said. "Thank you, sir." Reaching into his haversack, he withdrew a scroll of regular parchment, which he'd written down their target's—a boy named Reginald—complete schedule, and where exactly they could catch him if they wanted to bust his deal.

But Reginald was also loyal—he wouldn't talk and give away the rest of the Lions, no matter what. He was the perfect choice for the assignment.

Captain Basil took the scroll. "Good doing business with you, son."

~ ~ ~

"They got Reginald, sir," said Carril. Carril used to be the 'lieutenant' of the boy once known as Varl. Gom Pyek heard, using Varl's weak ears, but he wasn't paying attention.

"Ah," said 'Varl'. "Let them have him."

"Sir?"

"Is it a problem?" The trifles of some stimulant-dealing gang in an Academy didn't matter to him. His force had almost entirely awakened, and any moment, he'd have enough ancient fiends to burn this city to the ground, killing all—including the disturbances—inside it.

But he wasn't any closer to finding out why they were disturbances. If he couldn't explain why, if he didn't take initiative, Gom Huteyn wouldn't reward him as greatly for this.

"Someone gave us up, sir," Carril said. "It was too precise. Someone on the inside told them where to find Reginald."

Varl shifted in the space beneath the stairs, turning to face Carril. "You think they're coming for us next? That they can arrest us, or that it would do anything? I am stronger than these pathetic non-Ascendants."

"They knew exactly where to find Reginald, and how strong he was." Carril crossed his arms. "They'd bring enough to hurt you. It wouldn't just be mortal guards."

Varl shook his head. "Ah, a problem."

If they caught him, they might find out his…occupation. Someone would get suspicious. As it stood now, none of the locals understood that the demon spirits were able to control the fiends, and Gom Huteyn would surely like to keep it that way.

He would punish Pyek greatly if he caused the humans to find out. If Pyek was caught.

"What if it was the alchemist?"

"It may have been. It may not have been." Varl narrowed his eyes. "But last time we gathered reema from him, he was slightly suspicious. Perhaps we should pay him a visit. I'll request a meeting. It could take a while." There was also a chance to learn a little more about the disturbances in the cords, and the Ascendants they cam from.

Varl's body was only a Low-Silver, by these people's rankings. Pyek was stronger, but not infinitely strong. Most of the professors would still give him a hard time.

It was the fiends, and his ability to communicate with them, that gave him his power over this city. He couldn't get himself caught before he was ready.

~ ~ ~

Wulf didn't waste any time looking through the missions. They visited the guard office the next morning, and Captain Basil let them in, then handed them a permission slip so they could enter on their own next time.

A bunch of the other guards stared at the four of them curiously, and there were a few whispers of "So these are the kids who are running missions for us and handing us the pay?"

On the other side of the office, across the chairs and desks and communal table where a bunch of non-perishable snacks waited, was a cork-board. About fifty slips of paper had been pinned to it, each with a different mission, potential hazard level, whether you needed to be an Ascendant or not to take it, and the payout.

There were, of course, a few Ascendant guards. They were all around Iron, but most of them were at least in their forties, if not their fifties. By all measure, they were average for Ascendants.

"Take the hardest mission," Irmond whispered. "We've gotta challenge ourselves, or the Field isn't going to reward us."

That was true, but Wulf didn't want to hurt their chances of befriending the city guards, and he didn't want to look like a showoff. Instead, he picked a mission rated relatively low, and said, "This one."

It had a medium hazard rating, was recommended for Coppers and above, and limited to only Ascendants. The payout was three silver Crowns.

Destroy criminal Ascendant in the Altin Quarter Slums – The 'Red Cleaver' – last seen at slum stockade gates. Lair is nearby.

During lunch, they embarked on the mission. Considering they were all Coppers, and were used to punching above their weight, this shouldn't be an issue, but Wulf kept his guard up.

They took two horses across the city, navigating outside the old town wall, and riding south until they reached the 'slum stockade'—a tall barricade made of wooden posts, designed more to keep people in than out. There was a single gate, and two wary guards stood outside it, tapping their fingers on their spears and glancing around.

Seith rode alone, and Wulf and Kalee shared another horse. Irmond flew Speckles high above, circling the slums and hunting for their target. Already, he was getting better at maneuvering the bird, but it wasn't perfect.

"Red Cleaver!" Wulf called. No one responded.

One of the guards, however, was much more useful. He pointed out a warehouse to them. It was a high-ceilinged but dilapidated within the dusty streets of the slums, with broken windows and crumbling walls.

"We're pretty sure he went in there," the guard said. "And we haven't seen him come out recently."

"Got it," Wulf said.

"Thanks for the assist," the other guard said. "We couldn't have taken him alone."

"We'll see what we can do," Wulf said.

This shouldn't be much of a challenge.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.