Crossover - Chapter 55

Shaddar waits by the bar and the regulars of Goggo’s Fisticuff Pit stay well away from him.  Even they can sense he wishes to be left alone.

Toothsnatcher waits nearby, but close to the door in order to intercept any threats that enter the building.  He is surrounded by slightly drunk fans who are congratulating him on his victory and questioning him as to his fighting style and where he learned it.  The minotaur mostly answers in monosyllables or a variety of grunts.  The locals find his behavior quite novel and there is much laughter from their group.

“Where’d ya get this scar?” asks one of the men.

“Someone was clawing at me as I broke his neck with my bare hands,” growls the annoyed minotaur.

The group surrounding him laughs and raise their mugs to his grim reply.  It is obvious from their thoughts that they do not understand that Toothsnatcher is being quite truthful.

Shaddar shakes his head.  “Idiots.  They must have never heard the proverb: ‘Never pester a minotaur’.”

Shaddar is pleased and a bit surprised when the bookie returns with Flame and several others in tow after only a few hours.  They must have been nearby.  Even more surprising is the fact that Toothsnatcher has not killed any of the humans who are buzzing around him like fruit flies.  It is a testament to the thrall’s iron control of his rage.  He only looses it when needed.

Flame looks much the same as the last time Shaddar saw him during the riot.  A tough, competent fellow with an iron eye-patch bolted right into his face to hide a grisly wound.  The human takes note of the large, and popular, newcomer right away and frowns.

“Spice merchant?  No way.  What is this really about?  If it’s about black peppercorns I’ll skewer this fool for wasting my time,” Flame thinks.

The bookie walks Flame and his group past Toothsnatcher and introduces him to Shaddar before fleeing the building as fast as he can.

Flame looks Shaddar up and down, clearly not impressed with what he sees.

“I don’t know you,” Flame says softly.  “And no one in the Guild has a deal for ‘spice’, whatever that means.  Explain yourself quickly.”

Shaddar is amazed to see from the man’s thoughts that he doesn’t recognize him at all.  Apparently the information learned by the constables and heroes takes a bit of time to percolate down to the Guild of Villains. 

“Tell me, Flame,” Shaddar begins, “How open are you to… new opportunities?”

“New opportunities?” Flame says skeptically.

“Yes.”

“I’m not interested in funding your chili pepper boat.”

“I was more interested in discovering if you are interested in helping me to run this city, when I take it over,” Shaddar says while rubbing the claws of one hand against each other.

“What in all the Realm are you on about?” Flame says with a slight headshake.  “There is no spice that popular!” 

“Do I look like a spice peddler?” Shaddar says with a trace of humor in his voice.  “Or do I look like a death peddler?  Only one of those professions suits me…”

His thoughts quickly review what he has seen, the outfit the Toothsnatcher wears, and the rumors he has heard on his way to Goggo’s.  Understanding dawns on Flames face. 

“So...  You’re with him, are you?  Hawke sent you to talk to me, did he?”

“Not really,” Shaddar exhales as he leans back to rest one elbow on the bar in a show of unconcerned relaxation.  “Hawke acts at my behest.  I thought that it would be best if I came to speak to you personally – no intermediaries between us.”

“What?  Who are you, then?”

Shaddar motions over his head with one tentacle and calls, “Toothsnatcher?  Come over here and inform this human as to who I am, will you?”

Toothsnatcher pushes through the swarm of admirers and is quickly in position.

The minotaur curls his bovine lip as he grunts out the answer, “He’s the Boss.”

Flame shoots a quick glance over his shoulder at Toothsnatcher.  “Yeah?  Huh.  Oh, I heard that you beat the Crusher, fellow – good job.”  Flame returns his gaze to Shaddar before continuing, ”But your illusionist magic isn’t going to impress anyone in the Guild of Villains.  We’re the real thing, lads.”

“Oh,” Shaddar says with a yawn, “We’re not trying to intimidate you, Flame.  We’ve been doing a few tests here and there to see what the true level of martial prowess is within your Guild.  And I must say: I find it to be woefully lacking.”

“Woefully lacking,” Flame says with no emotion.

“Indeed,” Shaddar says with disappointment.  “Sorry.”

There is a moment of silence in which two red spots slowly color on Flame’s checks.

Shaddar leans forward with his hands on his hips.  “Do you not value an honest assessment?  Some constructive criticism?”

“Who does this guy think he is?” Flame thinks with indignation.  “Where does he think he is?  This is my pub!  This is my city!  He’s a nobody!  A freak who isn’t even good enough to be a member of my Guild’s entertainment section!”

Shaddar leans in close and answers the questions he has seen in this human’s mind with a whispered reply, “I know who I am, Flame.  I know where I am.  I know all about your jumped up delusions of control in this town.”

Confusion, which transforms almost instantly to outrage, colors Flame’s expression.

Flame whistles a sharp, high note and the pushers in the pub react at once.  All of the regular patrons are hurried out of the room without delay.  In less than a minute, the pub is quiet.  It is now filled with angry Guild members who all have their eyes on Flame and the pair that have obviously angered him.

“I don’t know who you think you are, lunatic, or what you think you are the Boss of,” Flame hisses in a businesslike whisper, “but nobody comes into my house and disrespects me like that without an educational experience that they won’t forget.”

Shaddar responds in a conversational tone of voice, “Here’s what I think: You are going to sign ‘your place’ over to me and it’ll become my place.”

“Oh, you are out of your mind,” Flame says, taking a few steps back and waving his men toward Shaddar.  “Whichever one of you that lives through the beating my men are going to give you – tell Hawke that he’s a fool if he thinks he can take on the Guild of Villains.”  Shaddar is amazed to see that the man is serious – he actually plans on killing one of them to send a message!

“I was right,” Shaddar thinks gloatingly, “This man really lives up to the label of ‘Villain’!  It’s good to know that such things are still possible in this degenerate world.”

“Boring!” Shaddar yells while sending a mental command to his thrall: “Hit him first, but let him live so I can reason with him later.  Make him feel it…”

In a flash both Flame and Toothsnatcher have drawn their weapons and attack each other.  The sudden flurry of combat between them is a blur of movement that takes all of the normal brawlers and pushers in the room by complete surprise – the weapons seems to materialize in their hands and the sound of ringing metal fills the room.  Shaddar slips in behind Flame in order to get a good view of the fight and perhaps distract the human a bit.

Toothsnatcher scores first blood.  He wrenches the unholy axe blade from the joint of two metal plates to free his smoldering weapon.  Flame grunts in surprise at the pain, but his skills with his own weapon becomes quickly apparent.

“You are so dead!” Flame screams as he slices at his enemy.  With four lightning slashes, the minotaur is cut open.  He bellows in rage at the insult of being struck so easily by the powerful and skilled opponent that he now faces.

The brawlers are cheering for Flame, seeing the minotaurs first strike as a lucky blow. 

The owner of the pub, Wendy, is running back and forth behind the bar, yelling: “Nobody is seeing anything!  Nobody, you hear!”  She ducks out of sight quickly.

Shaddar taps Flame with his rod of withering.   There is a burst of darkness and vitality and strength fades from Flame on contact.  “What happened to me?” the human thinks with shock.

Toothsnatcher’s bellow of pain turns into a roar of outrage.  Foam streams from the corners of his mouth and his bloodshot eyes lock onto Flame.  His battering strikes with his axe do not penetrate the many layer of armor Flame wears, but the blows rattle the man’s bones and almost send him to his knees.

“I need to kill the guy with the scary axe,” Flame thinks quickly, “then I can put the hurt on the big talker easy enough.” 

His deft attacks weave past the blundering minotaurs weak attempts to parry and his puts four more slices into Toothsnatcher’s hide.  His attacks are not as powerful, however, as the rod of withering has reduced his strength.

An eventuality that Shaddar approves of completely.   Thinking to improve on the notion, Shaddar taps Flame with rod of withering again.   Weakness visibly floods the man’s limbs and his speed slows noticeably.  He gasps in dismay.

Toothsnatcher takes advantage of his opponent’s misfortune.  His axe moves up and down on Flame’s form like a giant, insane woodpecker!  Bits of armor and sprays of blood fly through the air.

Flame is terrified.  He has never been this hurt before in his life!  “Look at the gleam of murderous rage in his eyes!  I’ve never seen anything like it!” 

Flame drops his longsword to the floor and raises both hands in supplication.  “I yield!  I yield!”

The brawlers and Wendy can’t believe it.  They have never seen such fighting before.  Many of them hope to never see it again.  And it was all over so quickly!  Flame?  Losing?  Yielding?  Unheard of!

“Smart man!” Shaddar says with glee, tucking his rod of withering surreptitiously back inside his robe.  “Toothsnatcher?  How would you evaluate his ferocity?”

The minotaur stands panting.  He is trembling with effort as he strives to control his bloodlust.  Shaddar’s total control over his thrall helps him to step back from the brink.

“Had worse,” the minotaur rumbles, nursing a bothersome set of deep cuts on one shoulder.

Shaddar gestures grandly as he speaks, “High praise!  You should feel honored, Flame!  And tell me: How would you rate my warrior, Flame?”

“He got in some good hits with that… unnatural-looking weapon of his,” Flame concedes in a bad humor.  “I thought it was an illusion, but it’s real enough.  I don’t know how that’s possible…”

“Let me tell you a secret, Flame,” Shaddar says, crouching down close to Flame’s kneeling form.  His voice drops to an evil whisper as his tentacles lightly brush the man’s face, “Nothing you see is an illusion.”

Flame’s eyes go wide with shock.

“You’ve got my attention,” the man says quietly, as he tries manfully to regain his confidence.  “You want me to take a message to the Guildmaster?  Is that it?”

“No!” Shaddar says while standing back to his full height.  He walks around Flame as he speaks, “I want you to defect to my cause and organization.  Abandon your doomed Guildmaster and work with me, Flame…”

“Ha!  Never!”  His thoughts continue most revealingly: “I’d never betray my lover!”

“So,” Shaddar thinks coolly, “Flame is more than just a right-hand man to the Guildmaster.  What a grand opportunity this presents me!”

Shaddar sighs deeply.  “Very well, Flame.  Then I will take you up on your offer to take a message to the Guildmaster.  However, it will not be the manner of message that you envision…”

Flame throws his shoulders back and snorts, “What do you mean?”

Shaddar reaches his tentacles out slowly around Flame’s head as he whispers, “You will not deliver the message; you will be the message!  What’s left of you, that is…”

Chapter 1               < Chapter 54               Chapter 56 >