It’s late afternoon, and while the streets are full of people, the market stalls are already emptying.
Vendors are packing for the evening, and most of them are in a rush to do so, which I absolutely don’t blame them for. Not many people want to be caught in the streets of Kozem after sunset.
A familiar voice calls, “Ey, boy! Ey, Hound!”
I slow my pace down, and glance over my shoulder to where the voice came from. My dear buddy Vexx stands in the shadow of a building, waving at me enthusiastically.
With a sigh, I stride towards the fae.
“What’s up, my friend?”
“I have a job for you, boy,” Vexx says to me.
He crosses his arms over his broad, heavily tattooed chest. Not a single patch of his skin is visible through all that ink. If I had as many tattoos as he does, I would forgo wearing a shirt at all times, too.
Both of his pointy ears have been chewed or sliced off. Brutal.
A huge knife hangs from his belt, which barely holds his rust-colored pants low on his abdominal. I would not trust it to keep my pants on, but Vexx seems to have a lot of trust in his belt.Good for him.
“What kind of job?” I ask, dragging a hand over my hair. “Would you mind providing me with more details, dear friend?”
“It’s a quick one. Not too dirty either. I’ll pay right now. A thousand frade,” Vexx says, looking around casually. As if someone like him could ever look casual. His face is permanently hard as the hardest stone in the northern Ekios mountains. “You won’t have to do anything, just stand beside me,gadgi.”
Gadgi. Means foreigner in Ekiosh slang. A little offensive. More than a little, actually. I’ve been called this since my first day in Ekios four years ago. I should be used to it by now.
Yet, it stings somewhere deep in my chest every time. A reminder that I don’t belong here, even after all this time.
I shrug. “What I wouldn’t do for a thousand frade?”
Vexx grabs a pouch from behind him and hands it to me. “Here. Now, follow me.”
I’m startled by the urgency.
“Oh, we’re going at itnow?” I ask, looking around.
Vexx opens the door on the side of the building that leads to the basement and ducks inside. I have no other choice but to follow.
The smell in the basement is horrible. The scent of piss, sweat, and blood mixed together makes me gag, and I’m forced to breathe through my mouth to keep my lunch inside my stomach.
In the middle of the basement is a wooden chair. Tied to it is a naked dwarf. Blood covers every inch of his bare skin.Well, shit. Why do I always find myself in situations like this?
Next to the naked dwarf stands a fae. A big boy, this one. Just as heavily tattooed as Vexx, and also shirtless.
Maybe I should stop wearing shirts too if I want to blend in? A belt barely holds his green pants around his waist. The largest butcher knife sits next to his left hip.
The moment our gazes lock, the bulky fae grunts and puffs out his chest.
Sweat drips down my back. But I keep my cool and smile at the fae. Criminals in Ekios are so different from those in Emera. It’s still jarring for me sometimes.
Before the big fae can come and smash my head into the closest wall, Vexx exchanges a few words with him I can’t catch. Whatever Vexx says calms the big fae, and he goes to lean against the wall behind the naked man in the chair. But his eyes are on me still, watching my every move.
“So, why exactly do you need me here?” I ask. “I’m afraid I’m not very good with torture, Vexx, dear.”
“This dwarf is from Emera. You’re from Emera as well,” Vexx says. “I need you to translate for me.”
I’m so relieved I could dance. The criminals of Jaakii wouldn’t understand. So instead, I clap my palms and rub them together. “That I can do with pleasure, gentlemen.”
Vexx nods and turns to the poor dwarf in the chair, who’s barely alive. He grabs the man’s hair and pulls his head up. I swallow the bile that rises in my throat. The naked dwarf is missing his right eye, and a part of his upper lips is…violently ripped off.
