Curselock

Chapter 37: Information

The Huntress was annoyed. It wasn’t the fact that there was a “city” below the city of Shoutwell, one that decisively dealt with crime. Nor the fact that it had remained hidden even after a full scale Royal Inquisitor investigation. It wasn’t even the fact that her marks, Leland and his two friends, had found it before her.

No, her seething irritation didn’t have anything to do with the Smuggler’s Guild, at least, not directly.

She scoffed at the body of a dead Witch, one that had tried, and failed, to run from her. From her! She couldn’t believe it. Did these irreparable peons not know who she was? She wore her Inquisitor crest directly on her armor, surely they’d know who she was with a simple glance.

But that wasn’t even the worst part of it all. The Huntress did not like cleaning up, specifically the mess of babies. How the butler didn’t notice the six other Witches that remained hidden in the shadows was beyond her.

But then again, the man was a thieving pirate. He hid it well, but she recognized his rapier skills from an ancient report she read years ago. In fact, the Huntress had hunted Boor, or rather the former Shoutwell crime lord, way back before she was promoted to Royal Inquisitor.

Who’d have thought that following some children would solve one of this city’s greatest mysteries? she asked herself.

She sighed. Boor was nothing but a shadow of his former self, the Ruthless Rapier, as they called him. Now he was an old man, one playing house with a noble family.

He’s not worth the battle, the Huntress mused, going through the pockets of the thugs she had just dispatched.

Low level, she decided. Far down on the totem pole, probably nothing more than fodder to escape the Witch brand. No, there were big players in the underbelly, ones that she simply had to let go. At least for the moment. She’d be back, and she’d clean this entire Guild up.

But first, Leland.

And the Sightless, she supposed.

The Huntress skipped across the scaffolding and found a vantage point in line with the ladder to the deep dark unknown. She watched three boys and an old man scale the rusty iron, descending despite their obvious hesitance.

Leland had surprised her again, although she couldn’t quite place why. His Lord was still up in the air, as was just how his spells worked. She’d never seen such a display of beauty and brutality before. He soothed two combatants while shearing the souls of four others. What kind of Lord could do such a thing? None she’d heard of, that was for sure.

Still, as long as Leland stayed on the path of law and order, she’d allow him to live. His unique combat prowess could easily place him in the kingdom’s top rank of fighters. However, that also meant he had the potential to become one of the kingdom’s greatest enemies.

If it came to that, she’d need to prepare against the Inquisitors Silver as well. No doubt they’d come for revenge. No self-respecting mother and father would abandon their child.

Unlike her own.

The Huntress huffed, now more annoyed. She had only met Leland once, and he was somehow causing her to think of her family.

“Pathetic,” she whispered about herself, pushing down her self-loathing and refocusing on the task at hand.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Jude asked.

The group was resting on the last rocky platform before the final stretch to reaching the bottom of the cavern. Glenny had long returned Leland’s ring of regeneration and Boor had handed over a small vial of red-brown liquid, but somehow his headache still blazed.

“Yeah,” he answered. “I don’t think this is a normal headache. I just need time.”

Glenny frowned at that. “We don’t have time. Murderer sociopaths are killing people, remember?”

“I know, I know. Let's get down there and do what we came here for,” Leland said, stepping off the safe platform and onto the flimsy ladder.

They descended slowly, each step down risked breaking the thin layer of rust connecting the rungs to the side railing. As the minutes passed, the sound of waves grew louder. Eventually the ladder became slick with salt and water, making the final steps that much more difficult.

Leland was the first one off and he found a small walkway leading directly to a partially rotted wooden door. He frowned, finding the situation oddly familiar.

Jude was next off the ladder and instantly said, “Oh no, not another door at the bottom of a drop.”

Leland snapped his fingers. “I knew it looked familiar.”

Glenny was next. “I bet Boor says this is the true true Smugglers Guild.”

“Hah! Deal, ten gold,” Jude laughed.

A moment later Boor exited the ladder and stepped forward. He then turned to the boys, “I would like to welcome you to the true true Smugglers Guild.”

Jude’s face fell while Glenny smiled with pride.

“Before we go in there,” he continued. “Just remember that the ‘items’ in there are property and are being sold for a lot of gold. You will disagree with most everything being sold, do not make a scene. That is the fastest way for us to get into trouble.”

Leland took a deep breath. “Are there going to be people for sale?”

“As in slavery?” Boor asked. “No. That was outlawed here many years ago. There may, however, be smuggled mercenaries looking for work. Although I suspect those would sell their services up a few levels.”

“How do you know all of this? We heard what those Witches said to you.”

Boor placed his hand on the door. “Later. Remember why we came here.”

He pushed.

It was just a hallway.

“I expected more,” hummed Jude.

“As did I,” Glenny added.

Boor took a step in and removed a stick from a nearby barrel. Lighting the torch, he spoke, “Let’s go.”

The party made their way through the hallway and quickly found multiple intersections and muffled murmurs of conversation. Doors, often with runic carved locks on the outside, lined the walls, each numbered and each closed.

They eventually entered a small opening, one with tables and a bar counter. A few patrons sat around, each wearing hoods or sitting in the shadows. Boor ignored them and the looks he received, striding right up to the barkeeper.

“Charly.”

“Boor.”

“I’m glad to see you haven’t aged a day.”

“Stop your pandering. Why are you here? Last time we saw each other you made me lose an eye.” The barkeeper pointed a mangled hand at his face, more specifically his velvet black eyepatch.

“Well, I wouldn’t mind taking the other…” Boor said, receiving a snarl in return. “But we are in a bit of a time crunch. You do now the Sightless Cult is in town, right?”

Charly scoffed. “Yeah, so what?”

“Rumor is a smuggler named Poppy brought over their ‘Lord.’”

The two men held a long stare before the barkeeper turned away. “Well, is it true?” he asked the shadows.

A woman leaned forward, a thick hood blocking her face. She tilted her head, looking at Boor and the children following him. “What do you think?” she said, fading back into the shadows.

Charly shrugged. “There you have it. Now, get out.”

Boor gave an annoyed look to the boys.

Leland coughed. “Our… source said she’d be the one to ask, not that she was the smuggler who brought the parts.”

Poppy’s voice came from the shadows. “And who’s this source?”

Hesitantly, Leland said, “Can’t say.”

“And why do they think I know things?”

“Because you deal with body parts, and the Sightless brought in body parts.”

Poppy then stood from her chair and ventured over to the bar. “Come with me,” she said to the group.

They followed her out of the bar and into the hallways. They passed doors and vaults, the entire time Boor kept his sword hand on his tattoo. Poppy abruptly stopped, fished out a set of keys, and pushed open her door.

The stench was what hit the group first. Rotting meat mixed with boiled eggs, the smell of excrement and mold. Poppy pushed a rune by the doorframe and suddenly light sprung into the small room.

Body parts hung from chains, arms were locked against the floor, and heads lay within glass prisons. Each item had colorful gems encrusted into their ears or teeth, shiny metal weapons clutched between their dead fingers, or elaborate tattoos drawn on their skin.

Dark primal urges radiated from each part along with the feeling of nausea. Poppy quickly shut the door.

“I sell cursed body parts. Specifically, ones with cursed artifacts latched onto their original wearer. Don’t worry, these are all grave robberies. Not murders, if that was what you were thinking.”

“I wasn’t,” Jude quickly said.

Glenny swallowed his disgust. “And people buy them?”

“Oh you’d be surprised.”

“So you don’t know anything about the Sightless Cult and how they are reconstructing their ‘Lord’ here?” Leland asked.

Poppy thought for a long moment.

“Please, people are dying.”

She didn’t seem to care.

Boor sighed and rubbed his temples. “I’ll draw you a map to under the Guild’s main vault.”

“Big Boss or Simon?” Poppy asked, her face non-interested.

“Simon.”

“Deal!” She laughed. A few minutes and a rough sketch later, Poppy said, “Okay, here’s what I’ve heard…”

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