Path of Their Own Ch. 01

Running a hand through his hair, Flak did some quick number crunching and then started again. "Okay, listen. Cut the miners to seven silver a day, cut those tools to four gold, and I won't argue your 'partner's' pay. Willhers will give you room and board and have the most experienced medics this side of the mountains. You'll be tapping into a new mineral source there for fuck's sake! Work with me here!"

The shop keep frowned as he mentally reviewed the offer. The benefits, the drawbacks. Getting two weeks up front would be a nice surge of coin into his pocket but the blow to his work force could slow his business down the line, unless Flak was serious when he said the ground below Atzla was rich in all kinds of ore. If it was, then that could bring a whole new kind of profit depending on what they had.

"Alright, Mister Flak, I'll accept your offer. Do you have the down payment?"

"I do," the Marine stated, swinging a pack off his back and opening up. All the jewelry, money, and trinkets the bandits had on their bodies were now in this bag. That included one hundred and eight gold coins, one platinum coin, and nearly two hundred silver coins. It was an impressive stock of money, but also a ridiculous amount of weight. And that didn't include what Petra had in the money belt she and Galen had previously collected.

Quickly counting out the coins that he owed with this deal, he pulled twenty-one gold coins in all and laid them out on the counter. When the shop keep double checked the numbers and gave a satisfied nod, laying out ten silvers in change before he stuck out his hand to shake.

Keeping their eyes locked as he took the man's hand, Flak spoke very clearly as he warned, "I will be checking up on the results of my investment. If I'm not satisfied, expect me to come back here, and expect there to be Hell to pay."

"I am a man of honor, Mister Flak. You have my word."

Releasing the shop keep's hand, Flak turned for the door and picked his pack up off the floor. "Good. Have a good day, Sir."

He walked out into the dirt street of Ricton to find Petra waiting for him on the side of the boardwalk. Having gone out to cut this deal alone, he was fairly surprised to see her there, especially when she and Felyn were supposed to be cleaning after all shooting they did yesterday. Something had to be going on.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, walking past her in the direction of Rose's inn.

"Galen's back," the Neko answered, keeping pace with him. Flak stopped and looked at her, blinking in bewilderment as he stared at her serious face.

He immediately broke into a quick jog toward the inn that was only a few blocks up the street. Already he could see the Private's horse drinking from a trough outside and that only made him move faster. Bolting straight into the building, Rose jumped at her front door suddenly flying open and gawked as he came sprinting through straight upstairs. He was moving almost as fast as when she invited him to join her in her sheets.

In that rented double room on the third floor, he found Galen collapsed on his bed with his boots off and his tunic on the floor beside them. Lying flat on his back with Celia on top of him, it was clear that they hadn't slept well for some time by how drained he looked. Across the room, Felyn sat on the other bed brushing out the receiver to the M60 while grinning and shaking her head at the couple.

"You're early," Flak said, dropping his bag of valuables by the door as he walked into the room. "You weren't supposed to be back for another day and a half."

"We got there early, and the horse moved a lot faster with only two of us..." Galen explained, yawning. "I decided we were gonna make a straight shot back here. Made great time but my thighs are killing me."

Grinning, Flak crossed his arms and leaned against the wall beside the bed. "I'd bet. You two going to be alright to hit the road again tomorrow? Or you want to wait a day? Relax and have a hot bath?"

"Hot bath," the Private said as he sunk into his mattress. "Hot bath, hot meal, soft bed."

Two more nights in town? Flak thought, his mind drifting to the raven-haired maiden downstairs. I'll make them some memorable ones.

"Alright, rest up then. We already figured out where to start the search for your next Elf, but that can wait until tomorrow. We're gonna have a lot of miles ahead of us day after tomorrow, so relax while you can."

Cuddling up with Celia, Galen gave a weak nod and muttered, "Will do, Sir," before he passed out again.

...............

Sitting lazily in a rocking chair in front of a fireplace in his study, the Enchanter rubbed his chin and stared into the flames. It disturbed him to learn of his hirelings being killed before they even got close to the Underdark. It was equally upsetting to discover that Giran authorities were already departing to go verify the bodies to award some Baron the bounties.

Astounding that a small town lord ended a group that burned three other settlements just as pathetic as his.

Especially since they were carrying weapons I enchanted myself.

What was most disappointing about that side of this whole affair was how the marauders' weapons had barely had the chance to feed him. Aside from some small game and the lives of seven sapient beings, they failed completely.

What a waste.

He had to send a group to investigate the deaths and collect their weapons. Should a man of his own caliber inspect the enchantments, years of work could come undone.

I will not tolerate a failure like the last one.

He would see every kingdom in Astiko erupt in flames and razed to the very stones they stood on before he failed again. Just as he would see them should he succeed. They would bow, or they would cease to exist. And when these mountains were engulfed in flames...?

He would move on to the fields and forests of Royer and purge them from this plane as well. All of the power would be his. All of their lives would be his.

Vengeance will be mine.

...............

Thank you for reading Act 2 of "Going Feet First." I hope you've enjoyed the start of this new tale, and I hope you continue to do so in the adventures to come.

I've been asked about the method of tracking time on Raska, so I will explain the standard here as simply as I can.

There are "zets" (seconds) "zetras" (minutes), "zetrans" (hours). There are 100 zets to a zetra, and 100 zetras to a zetran, 14 zetrans to a Raskan day (roughly 25 Earth-hours).

1 second = 1.56 zets / 1 minute = 93.6 zets / 1 hour = 56.1 zetra

1 zet = 0.64 seconds / 1 zetra = 64 seconds / 1 zetran = 106 minutes, 36 seconds

I hope this helps those who were curious.

Cheers,

Dark Pulse.