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Archives: New Marmo Republic

Chapter 8: Missing Elayne

    Itoya pushed open the doors to the inn, dressed in his disguise. The commoner look was a problematic one for him, considering how well groomed he normally was while in the castle. Though he tried his best to act tough, it really wasn’t in him. Instead, he came off a little foolish. It didn’t help that, unlike his sister, he was no good at the games of chance that she was. His poker face was poor all around.

    In the bar, Itoya—who called himself Horrace there—and ‘Elayne’ weren’t as tight as they were in real life. Though they spent their evenings in recognition of each other, they were supposedly more of good friends than anything else. The usuals all assumed the lad had a bit of a crush on her and had his mind to marry her, but she didn’t want that.

    Dressed in dirtied leather and a ripped tunic, the fair-skinned prince walked in to the main room. Elianna was going to get it! It was this late and she was gone! He had searched the entire castle, but she had broken her promise. Why did he even trust her?! He should have known that her lust for this kind of thing would take over...

    Trying to keep his temper and concern hidden, Itoya walked over to the bar. “Did you see... uhh... Elayne tonight?”

    “Gambling?” he asked, exacerbated. “Of course, my thanks,” Itoya said softly, his dignified voice slipping past his fake drawl as his concern grew. Without waiting for more, the disguised prince hurried up the stairs to the room where the bartender told him she would be. Instead, though, he found the faces of Zira and Edwin.

    “Excuse me...” he said, gathering his fake commoner voice again. “Have any of you seen Elayne? She’s a regular here and the tender told me she’d be up here somewhere...”

    Zira turned around to see a young man in the doorway of the room. “Elayne?” Zira asked. That had to be the girl. “I don’t know her name, but there was a girl gambling with a few men up here. They’ve escaped through the window, I think. What is she to you?”

    What would have possessed her to jump out a window?! What they were doing wasn’t illegal, as far as he knew. What did she get herself into? “Which direction did she go?” His voice had changed from poor to rich in seconds. “You must tell me! It is of the utmost importance that I find her before sunrise!”

    Edwin turned to look at Zira, nodding. He was thinking the same thing and that was not good because there was a reason behind taking someone like that. A young man approached them, in asking about a girl named Elayne. Hearing the shifting voice, he frowned as his younger years in training let him pick up on some things. “Don’t try to hide who you are. I might not know who you are, or this Elayne, but both of you need a lot of work pretending to be something you’re not. Why is it so important to find this girl so soon?”

* * *

    Linda’s eyes stopped at the door as she noticed a young man coming through it. She sighed once again and spoke softly, “Another man.” She looked at the stairs, then got up and walked over to a window. “It looks like rest won’t be as peaceful as normal,” she said as she looked at the dark streets.

    Gaidrich had watched the harried looking young man enter the inn, and heard his talk with the bartender. Somehow, things kept getting more complicated.

    Alm hopped down from his chair. “I’m gonna go upstairs and see if there’s anything worth stealing again.” Without waiting for anyone else, he dashed off upstairs to pillage the empty rooms.

* * *

    “It is not of your concern!” Itoya said sharply. “Are you going to tell me which direction they went or not? I have no time for your games!”

    “I’m the only person who saw them leave,” Alm stated from outside the door. He was going to pilfer the rooms, but the conversation caught his attention. “They went out that window,” he said, pointing at the open window. “From there, and giving my height, the exact way they went is unfortunately unknown to me.” Alm paused and put his finger on his lips. “She’s your sister, isn’t she? That’s why you’re concerned. No one demands so quick an answer unless it’s family or a lover. You don’t seem the type to have a lover like that, so I assume it’s the former.”

    Zira glanced down at Alm and shrugged. “I have no idea,” she replied to Itoya. It would probably be helpful to him if she explained everything she knew now. She was quite surprised he didn’t automatically accuse her, assuming that as an ’evil dark elf’ she would have something to do with it. “I didn’t see her leave, we just came up here to see if everything was alright. We saw the girl come in earlier, and she went upstairs with a group of gamblers. I went to check on them to make sure they weren’t doing anything questionable, but when I listened, all I heard was them playing a card game.”

    “Oh, bloody Falis, making my sleep life non-existent!” came a groan from the next room. Abruptly, the door opened, and a woman exited. Her hair was tied in a loose ponytail, her garb a simple black vest and skirt. Most notably, an eye patch covered her left eye, but the large scar that ran across most of the left portion of her face was clearly visible. While her right arm was bear, her left arm was covered in bandages. Her face was twisted in anger, and both hands firmly placed on her hips. “Alright, I accept I ’ave ta deal with downstairs noise. ’ell, I even understand I ’ave to deal with noisy bloody people playin’ games in the next room... but I’ll bloody not accept people yellin’ in the ’allway. Show some propa manners, eh?”

    It was clear; like Alm said, this man was most likely family of the girl. That would explain a lot of things, except why he was hiding who he was, as well as the girl. Edwin would let it go until later, since it was important to find the girl. “Alm, would you be able to remember the man who gave you the coin and how he looks?” He knew Zira could, but if there was more the one person that knew what this man looked like then it would be easier to track.

    Tilting his head to look at the lady who had just emerged from a nearby room with a frown, he spoke to her, “Forgive us for the noise, but there are matters that have came up that require it.”

    “What he looked like?” Alm sighed. “I dunno, all you humans look the same to me. Stupid and big. He wasn’t that stupid looking, and he had these things perched on his nose, kinda y’know translucent-like and whatnot. He had purple hair, and he was kinda slight. Very pretty, from a completely neutral standard. I don’t go that way, if ya know what I mean.”

    Itoya, flustered and lost, hung his head. The game was up. If his sister was not found by morning, they mine as well have thrown the crown in their father’s face. He had tried so hard to keep this under control!

    “If you can recognize him,” he said, turning to Alm, “I will pay handsomely. If any of you can assist me in—uhh... her finding and the capture of the man who took her, a reward will be paid to each. It is imperative that we find her as soon as possible. The repercussions of failing are unthinkable.” Itoya paused for a breath and cleared his head. “I’m sorry I cannot explain why, but you must trust in that this is far more important than any guild contract you could have found and will pay better. Of that, I promise.”

    Silemria eyed the young man who had addressed her with a slightly puzzled look. By the look of it, she was either confused by his presence, or the fact he had apologized. When she noticed Alm, she gave a quick look up at Zira, then rolled her eyes.

    “Meadow sprite? Well, I’ll be blinded by Barbas...” she mumbled under her breath, looking finally at Itoya. She appraised his face, then cocked her head lightly to the side. “Interestin’... nobility always does like ta go slummin’ once in a while... but don’t ya think maybe ’angin’ around mercenaries and thieves might not be the best place ta sow her wild oats?” Giving a slight dismissive wave, she continued, “Well, I’ll do it. Free of charge even, lad. But ya got ta realize, this isn’t goin’ ta end quietly... and unless Cha Za decides to be more friendly with his favor than he usually is, it’s gonna take a while. You better make yer own preparations.”

    “I will ignore your commentary thus far because you are quite inaccurate,” Itoya replied to Silemria swiftly. “But your assistance I will take. And for any of you, if money is not what you seek, you may name your price and I will find a way to get you what you desire.”

    Alm laughed. “Money is fine by me. It’s shiny, attractive and pays well for women. That’s all I need for now. That and food. The more exotic the food the better.” He paused to reflect on his demands. “Make that three things: Women, food and money...and fun. Four things then. Fun is pretty important too.”

    “I’ll help,” Zira replied. “I’m worried about her too now, as are my companions. We should organize a search quickly. It’s been no longer than ten or fifteen minutes since Alm saw them leave, so they shouldn’t have been able to get too far. Let’s go downstairs and we’ll split my group up to search.”

* * *

    On the ground floor, Gaidrich crossed to the stairwell and peered up. By the snatches of voices coming down, a major debate was in the making up there. Quietly, he mounted to the middle of the stairs, hoping to make out what was happening.

    “We really need to find that girl,” Linda said, taking one more look out the window before she walked over to the stairs. “Should we go up stairs and check it out?” she asked Gaidrich in a soft voice. “I wish to know what is going on. I hope we find the girl soon.”

    Ultarik got up and headed to the stairs. He joined Gaidrich on the stairs and overheard the conversations upstairs. Obviously something was going on and he’d missed most of it, but he decided to at least ask; “What’s going on guys? Why the sudden commotion? Where’d the girl go? I never saw her leave.”

    Gaidrich glanced over at Ultarik. “Apparently, the people she was playing with took her out the window,” he told the big man. “And now that young man up there is requesting, somewhat stridently, help in finding her and her kidnappers. He’s offered to pay very well, incidentally.”

* * *

    “Very well. We shall discuss rewards when everything is safely taken care of,” Itoya said, agreeing with Zira. Honestly, he had no clue where to start. Such things were not his cup of tea at all and his fear of his father discovery of this sunk in too deep for him to think straight. This was only supposed to happen in his fables...

    Zira gave a nod to the young man, then hurried back downstairs. “Everyone, come with me,” she said to all surrounding her, and waved for them to follow as she walked to the door.

    The dark elf hurried downstairs passed Gaidrich and Ultarik, leading the others. Realizing that all her companions were no longer at the table, she stood at the base of the stairs and waited for everyone to gather. Once they were all within earshot, she gave her instructions. “We’ll go to the stableyard to try and see if we can see a sign of where they’ve gone.” Zira turned away, then continued her hurried pace to the back door to the stableyard.

    “I’ll catch up... not in the mood ta try ta track people in my bloody pajamas...” Silemria said in a dismissive tone. “Should be down in a few minutes... don’t worry, I’ll catch up.” She gave a slight wave before heading back to her room and started to grab her weapons and gear. Well, she couldn’t have hoped for a better opportunity than this. Still, something smelled a bit fishy to her. Either these kids were poor, and the brother could put on a good act of high society or they had some serious connections. In either case, she could use it. Grabbing the scabbard that carried her two swords, she buckled it around her waist and started heading for the stables. At this time of night, the kidnappers would have to be very silent. Any bit of noise would reveal their information, but in that silence, they would have to be slow. Perhaps Cha Za would have an easier time favoring them after all. “If my bloody horse doesn’t screw it up...” she mumbled to herself.

    Putting on the last bit of her armor, Silemria pulled her leather gloves tight over her bandaged hand. While a novice would judge her burned side as her weak one, it was a ploy as much as her boasting. Get too close, and she would make you pay the price with quick strikes and tricks. Such was the sword style of the mercenary. Now, the night outfit she had been wearing was packed away, and she was as she usually was. The tight vest which showed her curves looked ornate, the black cloth with gold trim was simple, fairly inexpensive, and allowed free movement. Of course, a blow would go through it easily, but she had yet to have that problem. Unlike some, she opted for breeches rather than the skirt, the hardened leather was a must, when treading in tall grass could yield unwelcome scratches, insects, and even roots. While some preferred down-turned boots, she much preferred them tight against the legs, providing no way for rocks and things to slip in and damage her main weapon, her feet. While one sword hung loosely, the second held firm, and double sheathed. That was another secret; and one she wanted few to know until she drew it. Finished with her armor, the mercenary tied her hair into a tight bun. Long hair was a major encumbrance, and a quick snag would be just as lethal as a quick dagger. With considerably more composure, she started downstairs; while her movement before had been somewhat casual, now there was a deadly grace with each stride.

* * *

    Itoya followed behind Zira closely. Though her race concerned him by default, he was taught better by his father. Hopefully, monetary reward would be enough to convince them to do their best in this. That did not mean, however, that he was not going to join them. When all of this began, he vowed to protect his sister from anything that could happen. Guilt and fear made a powerful concoction that leaving the job in the hands of others would never cure.

    Ultarik quickly turned to join up with Zira once she passed him, looking to Gaidrich, knowing he would most likely follow too. He grabbed his equipment upon hearing Zira’s instructions, then followed her to the stables. This should prove to be an interesting night, having to help track down some kidnapped girl, he thought. “I’ll do my best. These men won’t get away with this so easily. I heard she got taken, that’s about all.”

    Gaidrich swung into step alongside Ultarik, swiftly gathering his things from their spot beneath the table. And now I’m taking orders from a dark elf! Strange, strange days, he thought wryly. As the party made its way to the stables, Gaidrich eyed the back of the head of his new employer, the young man. He was clearly terrified, and the mercenary wondered privately if he might be a hindrance in what could come next.

    Following Zira downstairs with a frown, Edwin placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. There was a lot on his mind; what the lady had said about nobility slumming, that girl was in more danger than if she was nobility. Just following Zira’s lead Edwin tried to look for any signs of that could have been tracks.

* * *

    Alm had meanwhile all but forgotten his previous goal, and now out of the watchful gaze of the others, he could get down to stealing the whole lot of whatever was up here. You know we’ll get paid if we go with them, his mind poised before the grassrunner could cause any mischief.

    “That’s true,” he responded to himself aloud. “I really wanted to steal something though.”

    There is time for that later. Come on, hop to. We have to save the princess before the villain stains her maidenhood.

    “You’re right! How could I have forgotten my true task!” Alm yelled. Without another word or thought the young grassrunner ran down the stairs and out the door.

    Uh, Alm....Do you even know where the stables are?

    Alm blanched as he viewed the surroundings, which was clearly not the stables. “DAMMIT! I’m lost already!”

    Linda hurried back to the table and picked up her staff and bag. As she was getting ready to go to the stables, she heard Alm in the guild lobby. She sighed as she caught up to him and dragged him to the stables.

    Alm pouted when Linda dragged him to the stables. She could have just told him that he was in the wrong area. Now he really did feel like a child. Stupid woman. We’ll show her one day, Alm vowed silently. The smell of the stables was enough to send the grassrunner into a tizzy. “My GODS! Don’t these horses bathe? In WATER? Preferably with SOAP?” he exclaimed loudly.

    As Silemria approached the group, she heard Alm’s outburst. “Well, I’m just glad it doesn’t seep through the bloody building while eatin’. Would put a cramp in yer stomach real quickly.” Crossing her arms, she gave a light shrug. “I dunna think that they left by ’orse. ’oof clops make a bit o’ noise, ’specially at night. Coach, maybe, but ’idin’ one in a place where vagabonds linger.” Looking towards the door, she gave a light point. “Hmm... I know there be a port ’ere. What do ya think the odds are of ’em stuffin’ our quarry in a crate and tryin’ to ship out? Might be risky, but I’d say a bit safer than tryin’ to grease the palms of the guards here.”

    Gaidrich scratched the back of his neck, considering Silemria’s suggestion. “Or maybe they just walked it,” he said. He glanced around the courtyard. “They could have a safehouse or escape route nearby, and plan on lying low awhile.” Gaidrich looked down towards his feet, then growled and scuffed his boots on the ground. “Damn paving stone tells you nothing,” he muttered. He felt useless in this strange city.

    Itoya was too distressed to think about it. The comment about being shipped away scared Falis right out of him. “If she leaves this city, I can’t imagine...” He bit his lip. Oh, Itoya knew well what would happen. A princess abducted to another country? A war could be started over such things! And all because of a stupid card game... “Please just tell me you all can find her...”

    “I can,” Alm chirped. “I have an uncanny knack for finding things that people don’t want found. First I start off with my gut’s intuition, and then I cross-reference it against all the evil acts I would commit, were I evil, and then I wander aimlessly until I find it. Or find something better.”

    “That be a possible outcome too, mate.” Silemria gave a light nod at Gaidrich. There were quite a bit of possibilities, the most grim being that they planned to execute her and leave her body in a wide open area where it would most definitely be found. But, if they had wanted that to happen, odds are they wouldn’t have gone to very great lengths to kidnap her. Just wait in some back alley, then a dagger to the back. “Eh, bloody ’ell. Well, we know this guy is bloody careful, so I’m bettin’ he’s not gonna use the most flashy escapes. But that still leaves to many open ends for the rat ta slip outta. Well, we’ll have to bloody hope he made a mistake somewhere in Valis, otherwise we’re done before we’ve even started ta track.”

    Itoya felt very ill-at-ease with all of this relaxed speech on the subject. After all, she was the—no, no she wasn’t! She was just a cousin, a friend, a fiancée, anything but what she was. Any more and he wondered how trustworthy these people he had only just met were. After all, what they had to say on the subject, and the manner of their speech to boot, were all signs of less than honest people. His distraught choices were already poor. Leading them was a dark elf, notorious for their sneaky ways and servitude to the darkest of masters. Racism aside, there was no reason to trust this woman. He didn’t even know her name. The only thing he was prepared for in all of this was being overwhelmed. If there was one thing he did well, it was deal with too many problems at once.

    Zira examined the stable yard, but there was little to be found. The cobblestones didn’t leave anything that could be tracked out to give them an idea of what direction the kidnappers could have gone.

    “I’m going to have to try a tracking spell,” Zira said, then turned to Itoya. “Do you have an item of hers handy?”

    Itoya looked at her blankly for a moment before beginning to shuffle through his ragged pockets. Finally, he produced a coin and held it out. “She won it fair and square. Will it work?”

    Zira took the coin, but realized that this likely wouldn’t work. It was permeated with his aura now. “Hmm...I’m afraid this won’t work,” She frowned, and thought. The cards! “I’ll be right back!” she said, then dashed back inside.

    She charged upstairs to the room the girl had disappeared from, and looked at the cards scattered across the table and floor. The last person to handle them would have either been the girl or one of her kidnappers. Zira took one of the cards from the table, close to the chairs where the player may have dropped it, then ran for the window and leaped out.

    Moments after she had run upstairs, Zira landed back in the stable yard in a crouch. It likely gave her companions a start, but she was in a hurry.

    Holding the card out in front of her, Zira began to cast a spell; “Spirits of Darkness find the one I seek, seep into the secrets they hope to keep. Find the one known as Elayne, to save her family a lot of pain.”

    A dark haze obscured the card in Zira’s hand, then returned to the shadows. Even though it was night, when the dark spirits were most abundant, if this spell worked, it would cost her a lot of energy. It was worth it to find the girl, though. Zira steeled her will with her determination to find Elayne.

    {This way...} the dark spirits whispered in her ear, beckoning her out onto the street. Only she, and perhaps Alm, would be able to follow their lead.

    Zira glanced over her shoulder at the other mercenaries. “Follow me,” she said sharply from the strain of the summon. At a fast walk, she hurried onto the street, following the lead of the spirits.

    Though the strange workings of dark shamanism scared the principled young man, Itoya did not hesitate to follow her. He had read much of the spirits and their mysterious workings, but had never actually seen work cast. What Zira was following exactly, he couldn’t see. He just prayed to Falis that these spirits were interested in obeying the woman and not playing undue tricks.

    “Well, that bloody well saves us a lotta trouble,” Silemria chuckled. If she had been shocked, or disturbed by the workings of dark shamanism, it didn’t show. As she started following Zira, she stopped, looking at one of the smaller horses. It was a patch work of white and brown spots, and not terribly large. Despite all that was going on, it had stayed perfectly still, calm, and was still just lazily eating what was in front of it. “Hmm... don’t wanna take ya unless I have ta. Be a good horse, although I know thats sayin’ a lot ya damn trouble maker,” she said in a rather monotone voice. The horse, if it cared, didn’t show, and continued to eat. Silemria growled, then followed Zira.

    Gaidrich could not check a small exclamation at Zira’s magic. “Nice,” the mercenary hissed, grinning tightly. The Band of Iron had its own shaman, a half-elf named Radun, but he seldom called on spirits. Gaidrich, fascinated by magic, relished the chance to see it worked.

    Still grinning, Gaidrich followed along beside Silemria. He had been fearing that the trail had gone cold before the chase truly began, but now they had, in his opinion, at least even odds of finding the girl and her abductors.

    Seeing the shamanism, Ultarik said nothing. This was a job and he would focus on his role in this search. Following Zira, he hoped the girl was alright, nobody should get abducted over something like a poker game. “So how are we gonna get her back? I’m sure they won’t respond well to words,” he spoke as he cracked his knuckles. He was looking forward to them trying to forcefully stop them. Such men were cowards and deserved no mercy, or so he thought.

    Alm watched Zira call upon the dark spirits for help without a word. There were spirits of darkness? How could I not know that? I mean, I knew that there were spirits of earth, wind, fire and water, even spirits of wood, but darkness? I wonder if darkness spirits look hot. That would be cool. Hot darkness spirits, entwined with a naughty Undine, or maybe a Sylph. Alm let out a perverted chuckle at his current train of thought. “I’d get in on that action,” Alm related to his thoughts out loud, not paying attention to the current curve of the conversation.

    Zira didn’t respond to the people following her. She had to focus on controlling the spirits. Ultarik’s questioning only frustrated her, and she grit her teeth to avoid snapping at him. The path was leading them further into the city.

    “He who stumbles to find tactics in the dark is destined to fall at a simple straw,” Silemria chuckled, although her eyes weren’t focused on anyone in the group, but rather the area around them. She was trying to gauge any noise in the darkness. “Until we gauge the situation, nothin’ we can really plan. Besides, the more ya talk, the more likely that if they’re near, they’ll know we’re commin’.”

    Noticing the path, Silemria did note that it didn’t lead towards the port, and not to the city walls. It looked like the other mercenary was right; they might be going to a safehouse to lay low for a while. She just wish she knew this city a bit better to fully plan what would happen, and where this path was leading.

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