Downtown Druid

Book 2 Chapter 55: There's No Reason to be Subtle

Dantes left uptown feeling relatively good about his meeting overall. It made the problem of taking care of Mondego that much smaller, but he knew it wouldn’t be quite enough. If they’d fully sided with him, he’d have all the edge he needed, but that’s not what he’d managed to get from the meeting.

He shifted into a rat and made his way into Midtown with Jacopo. If that was all the work he could do with members within Mondego’s operation, he’d need to get some assistance from the members outside of it as well. He knew that a number of smaller unaffiliated gangs that would normally have free reign to go after Mondego’s territory were being held back by the Fingers, but he also knew even their authority had its limits. If Mondego attacked their territory, then they’d have the freedom to respond as much as they’d like.

Dantes and Jacopo made their way to the northern tip of Midtown, where it met Uptown, a bit of the guild district, and the docks all at once. He scrambled up the wall of a small inn as a roach, and peered through the window.

Jayson, Zak, and Jayk were sitting around a small table, eating some food that even from outside Dantes could tell was quite appetizing, likely something Jayson had cooked up for them. Dantes slid under the poorly framed window and into the room, then he shifted back to himself just behind Jayson, who was in the middle of describing his last visit to a nearby brothel.

“So this whore is actually married to some guy named Clive, which is crazy to me. Could you imagine being married to a whore?”

“Was she a whore before they were wed or did she have to take the job after they married?” Dantes asked casually from behind him. The other two stared up at him holding forks halfway to their faces.

“You know, I didn’t think to as-”. Jayson nearly jumped out of his chair, but Dantes gripped his shoulders firmly to keep him in place.

“It’s okay. Just me. Sorry for the scare, it’s dangerous for me to go through the front door anywhere in midtown right.”

“Hey boss,” managed Zak. He was able to recover a bit more quickly than the others, even managing to shovel a bit of food into his mouth.

Dantes released his shoulders. “If you have the extra I wouldn’t mind a plate. It smells great.”

Jayson nodded and stood up to get him a bowl.

“How was the meeting?” asked Jayk, straight to business as always.

“It went well. Four of them agreed to be neutral until everything settled, and one of them is now scattered across the stomachs of a thousand vermin.”

Jayk frowned. “Are you sure that’s going to be enough?”

“No. That’s why I’m here.”

“What do you need?” asked Zak through a mouthful of food.

“Well, I was hoping you three might be up for doing a bit of work tonight. Nothing major, just attacking a few of the smaller gangs on the border of midtown and making it very, very clear we work for Mondego.”

“Trying to get them to start moving in? The Fingers won’t speak up if he starts it. It’s not a bad idea,” said Jayk.

“I’m thrilled it meets your approval,” said Dantes dryly.

“I mean. Do we have to be obvious about it or should we be subtle and lead them to draw conclusions on their own?” asked Jayson.

Jayk shook his head. “No, there’s no reason to be subtle. They want an excuse to move in on some territory. If anything we’re going to be doing them a favor.”

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Dantes stroked his chin. “It may be good to make it really obvious for them. Is there anyone you work with that’s well known who you wouldn’t miss?”

The three of them exchanged glances. “Zed?” asked Jayson.

“Zed,” said the other two in unison, nodding.

“Alright, let’s get Zed sorted and then start paying a few visits,” said Dantes as Jayson handed him a bowl of food. He smelled it, and noted the nice kick of pepper wafting into his nostrils. “After we all eat, of course.”

…

The five of them moved carefully through darkened alleyways as they made their way to the stash house for the Jagged Tooth, an orcish gang that controlled a good ten blocks of profitable territory on the edge of midtown. It was one of the only purely racial gangs on the surface, and most of what they did was run protection for non-guild businesses that couldn’t afford to set up anywhere else. Aside from that they dabbled in everything else, from drugs, to killing, to whores.

Dantes led the way, while Jayk, Jayson, and Zak followed behind. In the far back of them was Zed, a half-orc half-halfing with pink eyes, a bald head, and a shitty attitude.

“I don’t know guys. I know you say this is an easy score, but I don’t trust this fucker,” he said, pointed to Dantes. He was whispering, but in that way where anyone with ears could hear every word that he was saying.

“It's cool man,” whispered Jayson back. “We know him from back in the Pit. He’s solid as rock and if he says it's an easy score, than I believe him.”

“How does he know they’ve only got two guards on the place?”

“He knows a whore that gave him the tip for a bit of dust.”

“Why doesn’t he just hit the place himself then?”

“You think it’s easy to take on two full-blooded orcs alone? The guys a mutt like the rest of us, he can’t handle that shit alone. How about you stop asking so many fucking questions. We get in there, we fuck em up, we take their shit, and then we leave without anyone any the fucking wiser, head down to the Knight’s Sheath and get some whores for the night, eh?” said Jayk.

“Fine man, fuck. I just got a bad feeling is all.”

“You always have bad feelings. That’s why we always have to take care of shit for you,” said Zak.

Dantes was quickly realizing why they decided this particular man was expendable. He stopped at the edge of an alley and peered at the storehouse. There were in fact four orcs there, but that wouldn’t actually be a problem. Dantes gestured for everyone to move closer to the building with him as he pulled out his pistol.

Zak drew a shortsword, Jayson a wicked dagger that seemed to be dripping with something, and Jayk a small crossbow. Zed held a club wrapped in razor wire, a bad choice for fighting orcs, but then he didn’t need to do well in the fight.

Dantes crouched and made his way to the front door. He could tell it was unlocked, after all, who would fuck with them? He started to count down with his hands when Zed interrupted him.

“Wait!” he whispered so loudly it made Dantes cringe.

Zed pulled out a small tin and opened it. It was full of dust. He put a bit on the back of his hand and inhaled it quickly with his nose. He shivered for a moment and then looked at Dantes and nodded.

Dantes counted down to one and pushed open the door.

Zed ran in screaming at the top of his lungs with his club raised high.

An orc near the entrance drew a knife from his belt quickly, grabbed Zed’s club before he could swing it, and casually stabbed into him before raising the blade up his groin through his stomach.

“Well that saves us some trouble,” muttered Dantes under his breath as he moved through the door and casually shot the orc that had gutted Zed in the head.

Zak slipped through the door shortly behind him and met an orc moving toward Dantes with an axe. He slid under the Orc’s overhead swing and drove the sword into his heart.

The other two orcs charged, grabbing a table and chucking it at Zak who dodged under it.

One of the orcs suddenly fell as a bolt from Jayk’s crossbow struck him in the side of his head, and the last one swung a club at Dantes who caught the force of it with his wooden hand. It would’ve shattered the bones in his other one.

Jayson slipped behind that orc, and slid his dagger in between his ribs. The orc stumbled backward, then tried to take another swing at Dantes before suddenly collapsing.

Dantes slipped his pistol back into his coat and looked at the damage.

“Been a while since I did something like this without rats, and roaches.”

Jacopo squeaked a bit in his ear.

“Aside from you of course.”

He looked at the three others. “Well, I won’t be able to carry the loot back, but take what you want. Are you still up for the other targets?”

They all moved to start looting, smiles on their faces as they shoved bags of dust and gold into their pockets.

“Are they all stash-houses?” asked Jayson.

Dantes nodded. “Yep, I’m hoping that’ll provide a bit more of a finger pointed at Mondego. Who else would be short on funds and nearby with all the trouble he’s had recently?”

Zak shrugged. “It means more gold for us now, I don’t really care that much for the reasoning.”

Dantes had always liked Zak the best.

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