Downtown Druid

Dantes landed on the roof of the vixen, and made his way to Jacque’s and Alessa’s rooms first, Jacopo deciding to head to the garden to eat something while he checked on them. Everything in the rooms had been packed and moved, which Dantes found relieving. The plan was to hide them and a number of the other more vulnerable people from both the Vixen and Midtown in his gambling den. It could be entered from both the basement door with a magic key, or in the Guild district, but that entrance was heavily concealed and barricaded.

Relieved, Dantes walked to his own chambers, where he found Sevryn waiting for him with a smile. She was wearing chainmail with a sword on her hip and several javelin’s secured at her back as well as a dagger on her belt. Her arms were unarmored, which he found strange, but stranger still was the fact that she was still wearing the gold necklace with the green stone.

“I asked that you be taken to the gambling den, so that I would know that you’re safe,” said Dantes as he forced himself not to return her smile.

She shook her head and stood, placing one hand gently against his face. It felt warm, and he resisted pushing his face into it.

“Every fight needs a beautiful woman in the audience, don’t you think?”Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Dantes wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, kissing her deeply as he did so. They stayed together like that for a long time, feeling the warmth of one another and hearing the jingle of the chainmail between them.

“Syn,” said Dantes, gently rubbing her face with his hand.

She smiled, her eyes shifting color from purple to blue, to gold, and back. “I’m surprised it took you this long to figure it out.”

“I suspected for some time, but I was having fun playing the game with you.”

“And you wanted a suitably dramatic time to reveal what you knew?”

“As if you weren’t doing the same?” replied Dantes with a smirk.

She shrugged, “If we didn’t have similar ideas of fun we wouldn’t be together would we?”

“Very true. How did you keep me from knowing it was you? Usually I’d see flickers of any changeling no matter what form they took.”

She pointed to her necklace. “It’s a very powerful illusory amulet. I took it from a noble I killed in Uptown. It basically gives people the ability to change how they appear to other people, but doesn’t make physical changes like I do.”

“So you just have it match the physical changes you make?”

“Exactly.”

“And your first thought was using it to seduce me?”

“Yes, it was.”

“I think I may love you.”

She looked surprised, not blushing, but rather her skin paled significantly, as if she was having trouble maintaining her shape for a moment.

He kissed her again, and this time she seemed to almost melt at his touch as he’d nearly done when she’d touched his face. He’d thought that once he admitted out loud that she was Syn, he may feel less attracted to her. The true form of changelings was frightening, long white limbs, huge black eyes, but he felt no such thing. Instead all the affection he’d felt for her from his time in the Pit blended with how he’d felt for her as Sevryn, colliding into one another and becoming something new and unique. She was a friend, a lover, and a partner. He’d never had a woman who was all three. The fact that she could take any form he might desire, was also a welcome bonus that he wouldn’t complain about.

They pulled apart for a second time. “I have a lot of questions, but I think we can wait on them until later given the circumstances.”

Syn smiled. “I think that’s fair.”

They walked out of Dantes’s chambers and through the garden where they collected Jacopo. The bar was packed, but not with the usual crowd of drinkers, gamblers, and degenerates. Everyone left was heavily armed. Dantes saw Vampa in his full suit of armor they’d had restored so he could act as Jacopo’s bodyguard, Jayk looking over a large crossbow that faintly hummed with magic, Jayson still had the exploding hand crossbow Dantes had given him, but was also wearing thickly padded armor with a steel helm, Daisy’s hook hand had been replaced with a wicked curved blade and there were four separate pistols strapped to her chest, Sand was wearing a full suit of dwarven armor sharpening a hefty ax, and Wane was focused on a small staff he was holding, his eyes faintly glowing as he muttered under is breath. Aside from them, he saw dozens of men and women that were readying to fight. He knew them all, most were members of his organization, but plenty were just men and women he knew from Midtown, there to protect their homes and businesses. There was only one notable person missing. řΑℕＯ𝔟Ěꞩ

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Eyes all went to him and Syn as they descended the steps, and a bit of the grimness that was hanging over them cleared a bit. Dantes smiled, and gave a few hellos, and strong pats on shoulders as he moved toward his inner circle, starting with Vampa.

“Where’s Zak?” he asked.

“I sent him with the women and children to protect them. He took a few other men with him as well… Felix insisted on joining them.”

Dantes nodded. “Vera and Zilly are already with them?”

He nodded, his reasoning for sending Zak with them transparent. Dantes didn’t blame him, he’d seen Zak’s growth from training with Vampa and Jacopo. He’d improved far more quickly than both of them.

“A smart choice.”

Vampa nodded.

“Thank you for watching over this one, by the way,” said Dantes pointing to Jacopo on his shoulder.

Vampa actually smiled, something he’d only seen briefly when he sometimes looked at Vera. “I could watch him embarrass, bully, and kill the nobles in Uptown for the rest of my life and die a happy elf.”

Dantes laughed, and as he did so he noticed Decker at the bar. For a moment, he assumed the large orc was having a drink, but as he looked closely he realized he was sharing a long kiss with Hema, Clay’s sister. She was standing on the bar to facilitate their embrace. Decked had a long hatchet at his belt, and brass knuckles. He’d grown a thick full beard, and his skin was a darker shade than it had been before, likely from all the time he’d been spending gardening in the sun.

Dantes walked over them smiling. “I see that gardening agrees with you my friend.”

Decker smiled a bit, scratching his beard. “It’s been a welcome change. Though, I do miss my old job sometimes.”

“There are sweeter things than wine though, eh?”

“That’s very true,” responded Decker, looking at Hema without even a hint of shame in his eyes.

Hema shook her head, pulling his beard a bit. “I’m going to join Clay with the others in hiding. We need to make sure we’re ready to treat anyone that gets hurt.”

Dantes took his new shortsword from his belt and held it out to her. “This sword, please give it to Zak.”

She shrugged and took it.

“It can manifest and shoot flames. Definitely let him know that before he starts using it.”

She nodded, “I’ll do that.”

Dantes clapped Decker on the back. “Good for you.”

“It is, isn’t it?”

Dantes saw his hounds being spoiled by Lead in the Chamber, who he’d kept contracted since the incident with Serpica. It seemed like the best way to keep him from blowing his head off at a distance at someone else’s behest. He whistled to one of them, and the hound ran toward him, bowling over several men as he did so.

Dantes leaned down and gave him a healthy amount of scratches and pats before getting serious.

“I want you to go with Hema to where Jacque and Alessa are and watch over them. Can you do that?”

He replied with a lick across Dantes’s face. He smiled and embraced the hound for just a moment before letting him trot over to where Hema was. Dantes pointed at him and she nodded, understanding that she needed to take him with her.

Dantes moved to where Jayk and his other lieutenants were talking.

“We should go to support those on the walls,” said Tak, his scales flaring. “If the gates full then the city will swarm with Frasheid rapers. Viscent is still bombarding the docks, they are not yet a threat.”

“When they stop bombarding, they’ll be able to head straight to midtown, burning the city down as they move and taking as they want. I know a lot of kobolds have taken refuge closer to the gates, but-”

“It’s not an issue anymore,” said Dantes, interrupting them. “I’ve already driven away the Frasheid army.”

“What?” asked Jayson.

“I snuck seeds that housed powerful lifeforce within them into their food several days ago. When they ate them, I had the seeds cling to the sides of their stomach. After the city pardoned me, I commanded those seeds to grow. A third of them were dead in moments.”

Jayson swallowed, Jayk nodded grimly, but Daisy laughed, much to everyone else’s surprise.

She saw their gaze and settled herself down, though she kept wearing a smile. “I’d heard that an army lives and dies on its stomach. I never knew it was so literal.”

Sand let out a snorting laugh.

Tak nodded his head. “Then me and mine will help to defend midtown. Since those others have been slain.”

“When do you think Viscent will start sending in men?” asked Jayk.

“I’m not sure”, replied Dantes. “They’ve been bombarding the dock for quite some time now, but my guess is they’ll make a move once all of their ships are in the harbor.

“Will the guard shift here to help us?”

Dantes shook his head. “I’ve been listening to their discussions. The guard is going to send most of its men to the inner wall, to defend Uptown in the hopes that the remaining sailors, some of the inner guardsmen, and the prisoners I recruited will soften up the enemy forces enough that they’re forced to negotiate. Argenta is working to change the council’s mind on it, but it’s martial law right now, and Belman is in charge during the fighting.”

“So they’re leaving us all to rot,” supplied Jayson. He shook his head and shrugged. “I suppose that’s no different from usual.”

“And just like usual, I have a plan.”

Jayk sighed heavily. “Good. For a moment I thought you were going to delegate everything to me.”