Tales of the Wastelander Ch. 36 - Teaser (Patreon)

“What was what?” Dohlrak questioned, thinking Ben was hearing things.

“Shhh!” Ben hissed as he shut the shutters on his lamp and went silent. Dohlrak was just about to berate his apprentice when he heard it too. The unmistakable sound of voices, talking as though they hadn’t a care in the world. Nodding, Dohlrak doused his light too, and the men crept along a nearby passageway, following the sound of the voices.

The men stayed as silent as they could, trying not to give away the fact that they were there. They were quiet enough as the voices continued uninterrupted, heading in the opposite direction. Both men rounded a corner and spotted two men in the distance down one of the main tunnels. The men they saw both held torches and walked quickly, not wasting any time as they moved.

“Well, this just got interesting! Let’s follow them, see where they lead us!” Dohlrak whispered. Ben nodded, and they set off after the men, keeping their distance, but not staying too far from them. Once they got to a decent distance, Ben could see that these men stood out, even among Meludgen.

The one who did most of the talking was short, maybe about six foot six, and wore fine clothing underneath a wrapping of rags. Ben guessed the rags were to keep the stench and muck from staining his finer clothing. He also walked with an air of importance, like he knew he was a man of means and power. Coupled with his handsome features and arrogant swagger, Ben guessed the man was a councilor of the city.

The other man was, in every way of the word, the Meludgen equivalent of a gigachad. He was massive, easily as big as Unktar had been, maybe even a little bigger! Ben didn’t know how that was possible, but he knew it was and the evidence was plain as day. He looked to be the man’s bodyguard, given his craggy features and the way he walked, as though he was ready to explode into violence at the slightest provocation.

He probably would, given any excuse, if the scars on his face were anything to go by. Neither man appeared to have noticed the Regulators hiding out only a few feet from them. If they knew they were there, they gave no sign, which heartened the pair that were shadowing this unlikely pair. They paid attention to the words being spoken, only staying close enough to overhear them, but keeping themselves hidden.

“Do you really think those bastards would fall for an invitation inked in red?” the first man asked.

“The courier stuck around long enough to see how they reacted, Roylan. They all accepted the invitation and were ecstatic to receive it,” the brutish man told them. “Except for one man.”

“One man? Of that entire group, only one man refused to accept the invitation to the Flesh Fair, Borus?” the man called Roylan asked.

“Yeah. The big one of the group. Bro’khail he is called. Farek is already looking into the man, to see if he would compromise us,” Borus told the smaller man.

“Slit his throat and be done with it, I say! No one who knows of our business and does not participate in it should be left alive to speak of it!” Roylan muttered.

“When such a man is bigger than me and has enough of a reputation that makes Unktar look small, it… gives others pause,” Borus said to Roylan.

“Still… I do not like it! There are already too many people who know too much!” Roylan griped.

“Maybe you’d like to try your luck at silencing the man?” Borus questioned.

“Me?! Not if you paid me all the money in the Expanse would I even try to go up against such a man! I would be dead before I drew my first breath in the fight!” Roylan replied, balking at the idea.

“Then how about you keep this talk of ‘silencing’ to yourself, before he hears of it?” Borus threatened with a devilish smile.

“Fine! I still don’t like it!” Roylan grumbled.

“No one said you had to. Just tolerate it and you will live on as you normally do, with no one aware of who you really are,” Borus said to him.