Chapter 28: Night in the City

  “I don't like this at all,” Corin said. He paced back and forth in front of what was supposed to be their camp. It was dark now. Zhi and Nanaua were led away at sunset, just as instructed. They hopped into a carriage and were blindfolded before departing.

  “Neither do I, my boy, but we must trust in them," Simeon replied. “They are both extremely capable on their own.”

  “If this Oixia knows of our current predicament, then why all this secrecy?” Corin said as if he did not hear Simeon.

  “What could be more important than helping us?”

  “Corin, we have no idea what the people here in Yranto go through on a daily basis,” Livia replied. “A fight against titans might be the last thing they want to do.”

  “What? Surely, they must also be threatened by titans! There is no reason for them not to want to help us!”

  “You don't build a city like this if you are under constant threat from titans,” she replied.

  Livia was right. Corin could not understand how, but a city like Yranto was not supposed to exist. No titan would ever allow it. Yet here they were.

  “But how? How is it possible?” he asked as he looked to Livia and Simeon. They both shrugged.

  “I wouldn't have even thought that you could appease a titan with rituals or anything of the like. But we saw that the forest elves are able to exert some measure of influence,” Livia replied. “There must be something similar occurring here.”

  “Do you think anyone here would know?” he replied to her.

  “I asked earlier," Simeon replied.

  After their encounter with the robed furtive, Simeon had walked around meeting the other denizens of the camp to get information from them. By the end, he had run out of most foodstuffs he had brought.

  “Most of them didn't even question why there was no threat from a titan,” Simeon added.

  “Perhaps you ought to go out to the city and ask there?” Corin replied.

  “I have spent all day trying to talk to others who had no interest in being in the same vicinity as me,” Simeon said with a hint of frustration. “If you want to know that bad, why don't you go out and see for yourself?”

  Corin thought about it. He had grown quite tired of his surroundings. He was not sure.

  “Oh, that sounds great!” Livia said as she got up.

  She walked over to her husband and grabbed him by his arm.

  “Simeon, we'll be back later!” she said, dragging Corin out of the camp.

  ***

  “How about this street?” Corin asked Livia.

  “We walked down that street already,” she replied as she led them elsewhere.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, that third building on the right with the bricks was the one they threw the glass out of that almost hit you on the head,” she replied without even looking.

  Corin looked over to verify if what his wife had said was accurate.

  “Oh I guess you are right.”

  Livia had been navigating the duo down the various roads of Yranto since they had left the camp, leading him by his hand. Corin could not make sense of what the layout of the city was supposed to be and could not distinguish between the different streets.

  This was further complicated by the teeming masses of furtives walking about. No matter which path they attempted to venture down, there were furtives of all kinds on each street. Some of the furtives were of a kind Corin had never seen before.

  These seemed very much like humans, but their skin was dark grayish, their arms and legs were very slender, and they had much larger eyes than Corin had ever seen. Whenever they walked by a light source, they seemed to cover their eyes, and if they stood in front of a stone building their skin blended in so well to the background that it was hard to tell they were there. Corin was amazed, as he had never seen them before, but the others around them did not seem to pay them too much attention. As he stared at a pair of these gray furtives, he bumped into a dwarf. Despite apologizing profusely, the dwarf was beyond angry at Corin and wanted to fight him.

  “Hey you! I don’t care what your issue is, you leave my husband alone!” Livia yelled at the dwarf as she towered over him.

  There were not many furtives that Livia could tower over, but this one was one of them.

  The dwarf was about to say something and Livia cut him off. “Do you want to fight? Is that it? You want to hit a woman!?”

  The commotion that Livia stirred started attracting attention. Furtives all around them stared and pointed at the two. Many of them stared down the dwarf. The dwarf did not even try saying anything and ran away without saying anything.

  Corin was left speechless after the encounter.

  “Come on, we still have a lot of ground to cover,” she told him after the dwarf left grabbing him by the hand.

  Down the road they saw another building full of activity.

  “Let’s try in here,” Livia said as she led him in. “Perhaps we’ll have better luck in here.”

  So far, their attempts to learn anything meaningful about the city had been inconclusive.

  This building did not seem different to any other they had already gone to. The room was dimly lit and it was filled with tables with furtives of all kinds shouting at each other. In a corner smoke rose as three humans inhaled smoke from a long wooden stick that they passed around. Corin had never seen anything like that before.

  I wonder what that is.

  In the center there was a single table and a crowd stood around cheering on. Corin saw through the crowd what was grabbing their attention, two dwarves arm wrestling. A human walked away from the table with his arm bent wrong. Corin instantly grimaced.

  Ouch! I am definitely not going to try that.

  At the very back there was a large bar, with a dragoor and a sparrowling taking orders from those around it. Corin looked around, he did not have high expectations about learning anything here.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “First off, what do we have left?” Livia asked as they walked in.

  He pulled out a little bag and from it picked two small red gems.

  “This.”

  “That’s all?” she asked.

  They had bartered most of their valuables so far and were down to their last items. The information they had gathered so far had not merited any of what they had bartered away.

  She snatched one of the gems from Corin's hands and led him to bar. The green scaled dragoor greeted them with a warm smile.

  “What will you have?” the dragoor asked.

  “I was curious about information,” Livia said as she put the red gemstone on the table.

  The dragoor grabbed the gemstone and without even giving it a second look pocketed it.

  “About?”

  “Are there any giants in the area? Any that might threaten the city?” she asked.

  The dragoor took one look at her and then Corin. With no pause, he broke out laughing, unable to contain himself. It was the same reply that they had received in other places.

  “I have to admit, you got me good,” the dragoor said after finally ceasing his laughing. “What is it that you actually want?”

  “I'm not—” Livia began, but Corin interrupted her.

  “We'll have whatever you suggest, good sir,” he said as he patted Livia's shoulder.

  She turned to look at him with anger fresh in her eyes.

  The bartender poured from a large barrel into two metal cups handing them over. Corin grabbed them both and tried to find a table for them. The place was so crowded that he found it hard. As he walked along, Corin bumped into a tall, hooded furtive.

  “Sorry,” Corin said, but the hooded furtive ignored him.

  Finally Corin found a table and they sat down. He drank from the cup. This drink was different from the one the dwarves gave him. It was dark and bitter, but despite the differences he knew to moderate himself this time.

  “I don't understand how not one of them knows about a single giant in the area,” Livia said. “I mean, is it really possible? That this one bit of land is free of a titan?”

  Corin drank as he listened to his wife.

  “Corin?” she asked him.

  He hastily gulped down the beverage and coughed.

  “Are you even listening to me?” she followed up.

  Corin nodded as he continued coughing.

  “Of course,” he coughed again. “Giants, where are they?”

  “Do you even care?” she asked her tone indignant.

  “What do you mean?” He asked, now getting defensive. “I followed you everywhere tonight, what do you mean do I care? How do you even say that? Did I do something that would indicate otherwise?”

  “Just now when I was talking to the bartender you cut me off!”

  “He had already said his piece! What more did you want from him?”

  “It’s not him Corin, it’s you! You should not have interrupted me!”

  “There was nothing more Livia! Why can’t you accept that? What about this whole thing can’t you accept? There are no giants around here, do you not see it?”

  She put her hand to her forehead and rubbed it, Corin knew she was angry.

  “Corin, after all you have seen, you don’t think that everything that goes on in Yranto would attract the attention of any titan? Is that really what you believe?”

  “I don’t know,” he replied.

  She only stared at him.

  “Then why don’t you tell me what to believe? That way you can just move on from this,” he said.

  “You yourself were asking the same thing in the camp!” Livia said, exasperated.

  Now he began to get frustrated.

  “Livia, I already said it. We went all around the city asking. This is the seventh place we have stopped at, and everyone we asked has said the same thing. Why do you think that is?”

  “Corin you are not seeing-”

  “Oh Livia please stop,” he cut her off again. “You don’t always know everything, alright? Why can’t you just accept that and move on!”

  Livia did not say anything, all she did was stare at him.

  She has no words to say. She is very, very mad.

  “I'm sorry,” he said, “it has been a long day-”

  “Corin!” someone shouted from elsewhere in the room.

  He began to turn to see who was calling for him but heard a voice.

  “Don't,” a familiar voice said.

  A hooded man sat next to Corin, the same furtive Corin had bumped into mere moments ago.

  “You?” Livia asked recognizing the individual. Her face went from anger to fear.

  Corin had not seen his face and but felt alarmed. He turned and was face-to-face with the hooded man. He instantly recognized him.

  “Daum?”

  “Corin!” he called out once again.

  Corin instinctively began to move his head.

  “Did I not just say to not to look over?” Daum whispered with frustration.

  Corin stared at the former Zifor.

  As the man kept calling out, the room had quieted. Most in the room looked at the man shouting.

  Corin knew something was wrong. His heart rate ticked up. He did not know why Daum was here or why the men in the room called his name, but he knew something bad was afoot.

  “They are going to come to this table. You must not tell them your real names. They are with Throk,” Daum said.

  Corin's heart raced.

  “Impossible. Throk should be dead.”

  Corin looked toward Livia, who had the same horrified expression.

  “Are you armed?” Daum whispered to Corin.

  Corin had not brought any weapons with him.

  “Do you know any recently arrived furtive by the name Corin?” The man who had been shouting could be heard asking at a different table.

  “Still too trusting,” Daum replied to Corin. He shifted about as he grabbed something from his waistband.

  “Here,” Daum whispered without making eye contact with Corin.

  Corin reached for Daum's hand and grabbed a heavy object with a smooth leather handle. Without looking, he could it was a knife.

  “I'll wait for you outside. Be discreet,” Daum said as he got up.

  After he walked away, the men who had been calling Corin's name approached the table. As they approached, Corin gripped the knife so hard he felt he might shatter the handle.

  “You two,” one of the men spoke.

  Corin turned to look at him. The two were in front of them now, both humans. They both wore long cloaks, hiding their bodies underneath. Corin knew they were armed. The one who spoke had an unkempt appearance with a matted black beard and long hair running down the side of his face. The man behind him simply observed. He was clean-shaven and showed no emotion, only staring at Corin. Corin shifted uneasily in his chair.

  “Yes, what is it?” Livia replied.

  She feigned a smile.

  The man looked at Livia.

  “What's your name?” the bearded man barked.

  “Delilah,” she replied. It was her mother's name.

  “Where are you from?”

  “Oh we're from the Serno Valley, a small town called Anthia,” Livia continued.

  Corin also tried to smile as he gripped the knife under the table.

  The man interrogating Livia mulled something over after hearing her response. He turned to the other one, who only shook his head.

  What is that even supposed to mean?

  The bearded man turned to Corin. He gritted his teeth in anger just by the look of the man.

  “You know, a group of furtives came here not so long ago,” he eyed Corin. “From what I heard, they're quite the dangerous group.”

  “Dangerous?” Corin said as he stared at the man. His tone was unnatural.

  I need to calm down!

  “How so?” Corin followed, doing his best to regain his composure. He stopped rocking in the seat.

  “They're not from around these parts,” the man replied. “They came to Khorsor from the sea. Everywhere they’ve gone they’ve left many dead.”

  Corin only wanted to grab the knife and plunge it into the man’s chest.

  “That sounds horrifying. We'll have to keep an eye out for that, won't we, Marcus?” Livia asked looking at Corin.

  Corin still looked at the men. He did not reply to Livia but felt a sharp pain in his foot as she kicked him under the table.

  “Ah?” Corin turning to Livia. He quickly caught on. “Yes, of course. The last thing we want is to run into killers here.”

  He eyed both men intently.

  “Yes, if you hear anything about them, you will tell us, won't you?” The bearded man stared at Corin.

  “Of course. Who exactly are we telling?” Corin asked.

  “You may call me Massin,” the bearded man spoke.

  “My friend is Riccus.”

  “We'll keep an eye out for these killers, Massin,” Corin replied.

  Riccus whispered something into Massin's ear.

  “Well, business awaits.” Massin said. The two men promptly left the establishment.

  As soon as they left, Corin stood up.

  “Come, we need to warn Simeon. Those bastards are probably looking for him,” he muttered to Livia.

  “Wait.”

  “Wait? What do you mean?” Corin was bewildered.

  Other people around them were looking at them.

  “Sit down,” Livia muttered.

  Corin was incredulous.

  “He's in danger!” Corin whispered.

  Livia looked around them, and Corin did so too. He noticed the eyes on him. The whispers amongst the other patrons spread.

  He reluctantly sat down.

  “You are correct,” she began in a hushed tone. “They will be looking for him, and they probably figure we'd go right over and warn him.”

  “But they don't know who we are,” he replied almost instantly.

  “You think they’re not suspicious after your performance just now?” she said.

  “So what? We wait?” he said.

  “No, we need to speak with Daum,” she replied.

  Corin scowled. She was right, but the last person he wanted help from was one who nearly killed him.

  “Fine.”

  ***

  In the middle of the night, the streets of Yranto still teemed with masses of furtives. Groups of furtives came and went, others stood around as if waiting for something, and a few unfortunate ones slept by the side of the street.

  One of those, a tall individual with a hood over his head, stood in a corner near where Corin and Livia had just left.

  Corin and Daum made eye contact. Daum moved away from the corner and merged into the crowd, moving down the busy road.

  “Let’s follow him,” Livia whispered.

  Corin and Livia kept their distance. Daum led them through a variety of streets, some of which they had already traversed and others they had not seen before.

  Finally, Daum led them to a red brick building on the corner of a busy intersection. The bricks on the side of the house had holes in places, and the windows were boarded up. The door leading into the building was barely attached to its frame.

  This place has seen better days.

  Daum approached the door, propped it open, and walked in.

  Corin and Livia looked around. There were many furtives around, and they couldn’t know if Massin and Riccus still followed, but they went into the building.

  It was hard to see anything inside of the building. The only light came from the street candles outside, and from a single candle on a table down the end of a hallway. From the light all they could see was a long hallway with various doors. Ahead, they saw Daum's faint silhouette go into one of the doors.

  They followed Daum, beyond the door there was a staircase that led down.

  “Where is this going?” Livia asked.

  Corin looked out the door, masses of furtives walked by. He did not know if they were being followed. “It doesn’t matter let’s go.”

  The duo went down the staircase. It went down much deeper than either expected. The staircase was so steep that it was impossible to tell where exactly they were headed. They finally saw the bottom of the stairs and saw another door. They opened it and discovered something that completely caught them by surprise.

  “Is this… another street?” Corin asked.

  They both looked left and right. They were in what appeared to be a long tunnel that ran a similar route to the street they had just come in from.

  “It seems like it,” Livia said. “There must be an undercity here.”

  Much like the streets they had just left, this one also had furtives about. But there weren’t as many as there were above, and these furtives were different. Unlike the carefree furtives topside, these ones were very aware of their surroundings. Their eyes would shift from side to side, they crowded around large fires, and all that could be heard were whispers.

  In the distance Corin and Livia saw Daum moving. Corin and Livia followed. Much like the streets above, Daum followed a confusing path, leaving them unsure of where they were headed to.

  They finally found themselves in an almost deserted corridor, Daum stopped at the end of a small pathway. He looked at both sides and waited for Corin and Livia to reach him. Once they did, he made them stop and wait.

  Corin watched as well. No one followed them.

  Daum went down the cramped corridor. At the end was a thick metal door with no markings. Daum walked to the door and tapped on it. One knock, pause, another knock, pause, and one more knock.

  The door opened, and a familiar face greeted them.

  “I see you managed to find them!” Simeon smiled as he stood holding the door open.

  “Simeon?” Corin asked.

  “Let's wait until we're inside to get reacquainted,” Daum said.