Downtown Druid

Chapter 40: Shouldn't have been such an unrepentant-

Chapter 40: Shouldn't have been such an unrepentant-

Dantes placed a small pouch of weed, and a handful of blood-red grapes onto the raised stone in front of him that acted as a table.

Wane shook his head. Im out.

Tel reached into his pocket and put a handful of copper coins down.

Coin, eh? Whered you get that? asked Dantes.

Did a favor for someone in the Consortium, he said coyly.

What kind of favor? asked Wane with an eyebrow raised.

The kind that paid me in copper coins, responded Tel.

Dantes chuckled, Tel was getting more attuned to the Pit every day. At this rate hed become a well known name, or dead, those were basically the only two ways it could go.

Pillion placed a small pouch of dust next to the other bets, it had clearly recently had a scoop taken out of it. It probably didnt amount to the same value as the other bets, but Dantes decided not to say anything, and Tel followed his lead.

Pillion shook the dice, wincing as he did so. He was still having a bit of trouble from the beating hed received, that was probably why the dust had so recently been used. Dantes took a moment to reflect on the fact that he may have set into motion a course of events that had turned someone to the same addiction that had tormented him when he himself had arrived in the Pit five years prior, and smiled. Pillion shouldnt have been such an unrepentant asshole and it wouldnt have happened.

Pillion rolled the dice out and cursed the moment that they went still. Dantes muttered one under his own breath too as Tel smiled widely and pulled everything toward himself.

Fuck this. I wont be rolling the dice just to lose my shit all afternoon. said Pillion, collecting the dice and cup, and walking away muttering a colorful mix of elf, orc, and human slurs under his breath.

Wane sighed. I may need to tell Merle about the dust hes been doing. A bit here and there is no big deal, but when it makes someone like Pillion act like more of a dick There was a touch of genuine concern in his voice as he spoke.

Dantes ignored it. You guys have any dice?

They shook their heads.

Guess were done then. He moved to stand, then paused and looked at Wane. Unless youve got any news from the orcs.

Who? How do you know?

When your awareness fades from the rats you watch your back with, I take over. Its the elves, the two that work as bodyguards for Grimald.

Dantes resisted nodding. That made sense, Grimald was making his move, trying to figure out where he was getting the fruit, maybe having him killed in the process. He was certain the elves had no qualms about the arrangement either.

How far away are they?

Theyre a few chambers behind. Staying exactly that distance behind you.

That was good, that meant that they were trying to determine the location of the fruit first, not kill him. That gave him more options, let him control where they went, and when they attacked. He reached out his awareness and began gathering rats and roaches in as large of numbers as he could. Before long, there were hundreds of them moving in concert with him and his followers.

Once they were in place he switched with Jacopo to observe the elves more closely.

Ive never heard vermin be this active before. Even in the deeper caves, said the older of the two elves. He moved in almost complete silence, gracefully gliding through the maze-like caverns only a short way behind Dantes.

Could mean the fruits nearby. The younger one was squinting, as if reducing his sight would somehow let him hear Dantes footsteps better over the rising cacophony of scratching and chittering in the walls around them.

Its possible, but thats not the strangest part. Do you smell that?

The younger of them sniffed and gagged. I just smell roaches and rat shit.

The older elf inhaled deeply. Greenery I could swear. Its been so long Closest Ive gotten was smelling that one dwarfs booth back in the Undermarket.

Youre smelling dwarves now? I think you may just be losing it.

Its possible I mean, its not like hes growing the fruit here. He almost certainly just found some way to have it transported down here. Some way of passing messagesmaybe he didnt destroy all of our mirrors.

But what about-

Dantes brought his attention back to himself. He didnt need to hear their speculation, he knew exactly how hed done it, after all. He started moving toward his cave, forming a plan. He could never win a straight up fight, the elves were too skilled, it didnt take a trained fighter to see that. He could possibly drive them away with rats and roaches, or at least throw them off his trail, but that would just put off the problem rather than deal with, and the sooner the Consortium realized he couldnt be fucked with, the sooner he could start negotiating with them for his escape. He also didnt like how close theyd gotten to him, twice now. If it hadnt been for Jacopo he may have been taken completely unaware.

He smiled as his plan solidified in his mind. If they wanted to find his source, hed take them straight to it.