Mon'Ter

Chapter 13: Elyenora's side.

Approximately Ten hours ago, before Mon’Ter stumbled onto the large room inside of the underground hideout. 

… 

Mon’Ter had just left in search of clues on his own, he had wanted to help contribute somehow since all he had been doing till then was just walk along together with the two girls, Elyenora and Shana. 

After he told them that he’d go look around, his visage quickly vanished among the crowds and the two girls went on along their own way. 

Shana had advised they go visit one of the shadier people among the brokers, it was a ways away from where they stood now however within an hour or so they managed to reach their destination. 

They walked down a few old murky alleyways which got progressively dirtier the more they walked through them, in the end it led them to a cover made out of some old dark red rags made of fur.  

Upon moving past the cover, Elyenora and Shana stumbled onto a small clearing between the city buildings. There seemed to be a small market place here, with a decent number of cloaked figures roaming about them and inspecting the merchandise. 

It was a black market of sorts, where people sold illegal items ranging from drugs, to rare poisons and even some exceedingly expensive weapons made with dreadful metals unlike the usual iron and steel or luxurious mithril and adamantine. 

Weapons made from metals such a Mordax, an ore that has corrosive properties and is banned from use due to the grotesque results that the victims of such blades face, pain unlike a mere slash is the least of your worries as you slowly melt wherever you might have been cut at. 

“This is Breles’ black market then?” Elyenora asked, turning to Shana. 

“Yup, I used to follow some shady people around as a kid you know!” Shana puffed her chest out, “There was quite a few times I met up with cutthroats and illegal merchants! My friend who we’re about to meet is whom I have to thank for this life filled with thrill, Hahaha!”  

“You seem rather proud of that background, huh?” Elyenora grinned, finding the way she bragged to be funny. 

“Of course! It did end up teaching me how to fight after all, although not as capable as you Ely, I can handle my own just fine.” Shana grinned widely,  

“I guess you really do have such a habit like the carriage owner said, huh?” Elyenora suppressed a giggle. 

“Hey I don’t brag that much... Do I? I don’t think I do...” Shana replied in confusion as the two walked over towards a man that stood before his tent. 

He had a small rag placed in front of him and seemed to be selling an array of different poisons which could even kill Rare class beasts. 

The man in question was middle-aged, perhaps in his late thirties with a badly trimmed beard and a multitude of scars on his face, one of which ran down all the way from his left ear up to his mouth. 

He had auburn brown short curly hair and eyes of the same color, wearing a dark cloak over his normal plain cotton shirt and leather pants that were made out of the skin of some beast.  

“Hey there Derry Derek ol’ pal!” Shana said, raising a hand with a smile to say hello. “Long time no-” However before she could finish, the man in question cut her off. 

“Oh, hell no! What in the name of the goddess are you doing here Shana? Get out of my sight you stupid girl!” The man, Derek, bellowed in obvious anger. 

“Ehhh? Come on old man! Don’t be a such a sore face! I’m here to ask for some assistance is all.” Shana said in persuasion. 

“The last time I assisted you, I had to get you and your little brother out of a den full of thieves that ended up destroying my face as a whole! I mean look at this scar girl! How am I supposed to show my face around people without them thinking I’m some thug, huh?!” Derek bellowed, angry while thinking of the past. 

“You have a little brother?” Elyenora commented on the side, looking towards Shana. 

“Yeah I do in fact have one.” She replied, “He’s a cute little critter that one, turned ten last month in fact!” 

“Hey! Don’t just ignore me after coming to ask for help!” Derek shouted, gaining their attention back. 

“Sorry, sorry! Look, I apologized for that time okay? I was really just curious to see if we could steal some of their money and buy some stuff!” Shana replied, smiling wryly as she spoke of her past. 

“Steal some money... From bandits?? With a five year old in tow?!” Derek bellowed more and more with each sentence, he seemed to just be getting angrier at the girl. 

“He was six! And hey, I was only fourteen at the time! Can’t blame a fair maiden in the making.” Shana flipped her hair with a grin. 

“Where do you get so much stupidity and so much confidence from?” Derek murmured, having pretty much been done with her antics. 

“Hehe,” Elyenora could simply smile softly to the side, feeling that things were rather complicated between these two. “Seems like you two get along well.” 

“We don’t!” Derek shouted, while Shana said, “We do!” 

“Ugh! Just, tell me what you need so I can get this over with, you only ever cause trouble to me specifically and I don’t know why!” Derek said, facepalming all the while. 

“Well sir,” Elyenora stepped up, “I’d like to inquire about the child kidnapping that have been happening in recent times, anything you know involving the city lord Jalid Talherd would be much appreciated if you’d share it.” 

“Talherd? You wanna know about that guy? If I told you anything about his business, they’d cut my throat.” Derek spoke more quietly, “Shana I swear to the goddess if you get me into trouble with this...”  

“I won’t, I won’t!” Shana cupped her hands in plea, “You obviously know something so please, please tell us! We’re willing to pay even!” She spoke in a hushed voice. 

“It’ll cost you a fair penny if you want my lips pried open, this is serious business. The stuff I’m sure you already know about should be a good indication of that.” He replied. 

“Yes, and its exactly because I know that I need to act upon it.” Elyenora said confidently, gazing at the man with her sunset like eyes which radiated a sense of light. 

“Mmm, are you a noble missy?” Derek asked, looking at her eyes, “If so then I have even less of a clue as to why you’re here of all places trying to save a bunch of no name brats.” 

“Those ‘brats’ as you called them are simple children! Knowing Talherd and his reputation, who knows what atrocities he’s up to with them.” Elyenora replied, visibly angry at the man’s words. 

“Don’t get feisty with me now! Come now, I’ll treat you girls to some tea.” Derek spoke, turning to his tent, “I’ve got some in my tent here with all the goods.”  

“You’re not gonna poison us are you...?” Shana asked, a bit worried at the prospect of an illegal poison maker serving tea. 

“Do I look that awful to you?” The man asked while turning back, his heavily scarred face not giving him much credit in that regard. 

“You do.” Shana replied solemnly. 

“And who’s fault is that!” He bellowed. 

“Mine.” she replied curtly. 

“...” Derek had no words for that much honesty, “Just come on inside already, you dumb girl...” 

The three people ended up entering Derek’s tent, it wasn’t too small but with three people it did get a little crowded. 

“Since you’re friends with Shana, the little bugger, and of course are willing to pay, I’ll cut you a deal.” Derek spoke to Elyenora. “Give me a single gold coin and I’ll tell you all I know about the on goings that Jalid Talherd is doing.” 

“A-A gold coin?? You money grabber!” Shana bellowed. 

“Shush child! Normally I wouldn’t say squat even if you beat me for it, this information is delicate within the city after all and could get me into trouble.” Derek replied. 

“Fine then,” Elyenora replied, “You can have your gold coin.” She said and held out the one piece of gold that she had gained from robbing Almer Talherd in her hand. 

She had not only taken his teeth, dignity and pride. But of course, also his coin bag as previously mentioned. 

In it there was a single gold coin, nearly twenty-two silver ones and about fifty-seven copper coins. 

In total that meant that Elyenora’s current bag held approximately One gold, forty silver and one hundred thirty-seven copper coins. 

“Pleasure doing business with you then.” Derek grinned as he took the coin, “Now listen up cause I’m not repeating this a second time.” 

“Okay, tell me.” Elyenora said and crossed her arms. 

“Hey where’s the tea?” Shana asked, a tad confused. 

“Shush child,” Derek told Shana, whom promptly pouted in return,  

Turning back to Elyenora afterwards, Derek spoke. “Jalid Talherd has been taking in kids from the slums for the past month and a half, I’m not entirely sure what he does with them however he shuts anyone that dares question it up. To my knowledge from my informants, the place he takes the children to is somewhere beneath the city. Old legend has it that this city was built atop of an old dungeon that was cleared out a few hundred years ago. That’s the basics of the situation.” He explained, looking at Elyenora. 

“And the more specific part?” She asked. 

“The more specific part is that there’s a group that is against Talherd’s wrong doings, they know a lot more than me, like the entrance of the place, and want to stop the whole operation of the f*cker. Even kill him from what I’ve heard.” Derek replied. 

“Where is this group then? They do base themselves in this city, right?” Elyenora asked. 

“Indeed, you can find them in the red-light district in fact. Just make sure to go there after ten o’clock, else it’d be harder to meet up with them.” Derek explained, “There’s a brothel called the Red Night of Bliss, underneath it is a decently sized bunker that serves as the group’s base. To get in you’d need to know a code.” 

“What’s the code?” Shana asked this time while popping her head closer to Derek’s face, annoying him a little in the process. 

“On the red night’s eve, we shall strike at the dungeon’s core.” Derek said, giving them his answer. 

“Got it, is there anything else?” Elyenora asked, curious for more information. 

“Other than the fact Jalid’s a tougher cookie to take down than you might think so you should stride with care, that’s it.” Derek replied, “Now go get ready and meet up with the guys over there! The longer you’re here the more trouble you cause me!” 

“Fine, fine.” Shana sighed, “We’re off Derry! Thank you again!” 

“Thank you for your time and help, I hope we’ll meet again under better circumstances.” Elyenora spoke solemnly and took off outside. 

“See you when I see you, tsk.” Derek clicked his tongue, glad that the problem child name Shana was now gone and hoping that this wouldn’t end too bad for him like the other time. 

‘Why do I have a soft spot for that damn child... None of this is worth it.’ He thought and let out a sigh. 

The two girls proceeded to leave the black market like place soon after, going back to the main streets.  

...  

The two girls walked over on the main street once more, Elyenora humming in a little joyful mood since she’d found out a good piece of information finally.  

“Hey, Ely.” Shana spoke up. 

“Yes?” Elyenora asked, turning to her as the two walked. 

“I’m glad we got to find some information and stuff after all the duds today,” Shana spoke, smiling since she was happy to have helped. “Of course, due to my awesome connections!” She puffed her chest out in pride. 

“Pfff, Haha!” Elyenora laughed, “Yes you did help out quite a bit there Shana, I just hope Mon’Ter is going to be back by the time I go speak to that group whom are against Jalid Talherd.” She said. 

“Yeah, about that...” Shana spoke, “Do you mind if I meet up with you later too?” She asked. 

“Oh? Not at all. You’ve already more than repaid your debt from before!” Elyenora smiled in understanding. “If there’s anything you’d need I’m more than grateful enough to give back the kindness.” 

“Thank you!” Shana smiled, “I just wanna go check up on my little brother, it’s been about a week since I last saw him so I’m sure he misses me by now, hehe.” She said with a giggle. 

“Is he with your parents?” Elyenora asked, a tad curious. 

“Uhm...” Shana stopped in her tracks, prompting Elyenora to do the same. “No, we’re both Orphans you see...” She fiddled with her fingers a little, “He’s at the local Orphanage waiting for me to come back from work.”  

“Oh dear... I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have spoken without knowing.” Elyenora got worried, thinking she might have offended her new found friend. 

“It’s okay Ely, I’m used to it after all! I just feel rather sad that he’ll never get to see our mother or father’s faces...” Shana replied, as if reminiscing of old times with a sad gleam in her eyes. 

“Hm,” Elyenora smiled, hoping to brighten the mood. “Well in that case I shouldn’t keep his good old sister locked up with lil ol’ me forever now, right? Go meet up with the kiddo, send him a hug from me too!” She grinned as she patted Shana’s shoulder. 

“I will, thank you Ely!” Shana smiled kindly, still happy to have assisted her new friend. “I’ll be seeing you later okay? Goodbye for now!” She waved good bye and rushed towards the direction of the orphanage. 

“Goodbye, Shana! See you later as well.” Elyenora waved, turning around and proceeding with her humming as she walked once more. 

She had a few hours to kill so the obvious course of action would be to grab a bite at some local food place! 

‘I just wish Mon’Ter hadn’t run off, he’d get some delish stuff to eat too then.’ She thought whilst still humming, enjoying the breeze of the slowly fading daylight. 

…