Downtown Druid

Book 3 Chapter 2: Is Something Amusing?

Dantes was smoking a cigar made of blended tobacco and weed as he watched men throw their lives away for his profit on the drake fights when Jayk found him.

“The Elven Kings are waiting.”

Dantes knew that. He knew that Jayk knew he knew that.

“Alright,” He blew out a final puff of smoke before putting out the cigar. “I suppose I should meet them.”

Jayk nodded and they started to make their way upstairs.

“Any updates?” Dantes asked as they moved.

“We’ve managed to re-establish another smuggling route. The trouble on the roads on the way to Rendhold have made our services at the docks more necessary.”

“Good. Any news on Godfrey?”

“Nothing new. He’s still impossible to track. Meets with nobles at the Silken Sin or at the Temple. No one without at least a few drops of blue in his blood speaks with him now that Mondego is gone. Aside from…” he looked around at the full club.

Dantes nodded. “I know, but thank you for staying on top of it. Don’t let the elves into the room for another ten minutes. Make them sweat a bit.”

“You want me to have some of the men ready to help depending on how things go?”

Dantes shook his head. “No, it won’t matter.”

Jayk nodded, and they separated at the entrance to his part of the new Vixen. The entire back half was his meeting room and personal chambers. He walked into that audience room, the moon was shining down into it through the glass ceiling, there’d be another druid conclave soon. The floor was soft moss, vines covered in leaves reached for the sky, wildflowers sprouted randomly across all of it spreading a pleasant scent throughout the room, and a large tree sprouted from its center. In front of that tree was another tree that Dantes had grown into the shape of a throne.

There were insects, a few mice, and two large black hounds in the garden as well. The insects and mice had found their way there on their own, but the hounds had been Mondego’s. They’d been mistreated and underfed, but had filled out nicely since he’d taken them in. They didn’t awake as he entered, he projected an aura of calm to them to keep them from being disturbed.

He sat on the throne, and sent his thoughts through his garden, not only this one, but all of them that were connected to it through him. At this point all of his small gardens across Rendhold seemed to be becoming connected more and more closely. Those first ones he’d made had been discovered, and he’d had to do more to protect them. He’d worked with wild dogs to patrol parts of them, had sent men to monitor others, and was trying to find a way to actually purchase the property they were on, but that had proven difficult without noble blood even with his growing resources. All of them teemed with life. Not only the vermin that had adopted him, rats, roaches, bats, pigeons, but cats, dogs, bees, crows, raccoons, all of them seemed to enjoy the greenery and at this point he was sure that even passively he may be able to gain the blessing of their gods.

There was a knock on the door, and Jayk swung it open. He walked in, and a half dozen elves followed him. They were all beautiful, with four men, and two women. They wore revealing outfits that showed off lean, but powerful builds as well as tattoos of elvish script, trees, and eyes, all of which he recognized as gang tattoos from his time in the Underprison. They were pure elves, with sharply pointed ears, fine features, and eyes ranging from red to purple. They were Elfland Kings, from the branch that had sent Reivare down into the prison all that time ago. Dantes smiled a bit as he remembered that first victory.

“Is something amusing?” asked the elf in the lead. He looked young, but with elves that was always deceiving. His hair was white, and his eyes solid purple. He had two long thin swords at his back.

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Dantes tilted his head a bit. “Many things are amusing, I was just remembering an old joke. An elvish one, in fact.”

The elf frowned at him. “I am Ranfall, I assume you are aware of why we’re here?”

“Because quite some time ago I killed Reivare.”

The elf leader’s mouth twitched at the corner. “Yes… you somehow managed to fool him with your low cunning and kill him… Mutt.”

“I did kill him, yes. Though I’m surprised it took this long for you to find me. You’d think with those ears of yours you’d have heard his cries for mercy and come running for me.”

Some of Ranfall’s group tensed, but he held an open hand behind himself to calm them down.

“The reasons it took so long are immaterial. We know you are under the protection of the Fingers, so while we can’t take our reparations from you in blood, we want them in gold.”

Dantes leaned on his hand. He knew why they took so long to find him. It wasn’t just because he’d been in hiding while he was attacking Mondego, the Elfland Kings had an organizational issue. They were a philosophy more than a group, and that always meant that they were more loosely collected cabals scattered around rather than anything firm and mobile. Ironically, they were probably at their most united in the Underprison and the jails of other nations where they were forced to rely on one another for protection. Still, they did have outside help, and Dantes knew that even in Rendhold a number of wealthy elven merchants and nobles gave to their cause.

“How much?”

“Ten-thousand gold.”

Dantes laughed. It wasn’t ironic, or mocking, it was a genuine full bellied laugh that echoed around his sunroom. His dogs awoke, looking at him curiously.

The scowls of the Elfland kings spread and a few of them stepped forward, hands on their weapons.

One of the women leaned toward Ranfall and whispered into his ear. Dantes’s enhanced senses made it easy to hear, but unfortunately it was in Elvish. Still, the tone was easy enough to understand. They wanted to kill him.

Ranfall reached for the swords on his back, but stopped when Dantes held up his hand.

“Think about what you’re doing. I’m a druid. A druid who you’re about to threaten in his garden. I don’t know if there were druids in Elfland, but I’m sure you’ve all heard of or met some of them in your combined long lives.”

The Kings all hesitated.

“You’d kill those who came to deal with you?” asked Ranfall.

“Only if you finish drawing those swords.”

There were a few more quick whispers in Elvish.

“Will you pay what we ask?”

“No, but I will let you leave.”

More angry mutters in Elvish, but Ranfall took his hands off his sword. “We will collect what you owe.”

“You’ve been spending too much time with cats, playing with your food so much,” said Jacopo through their connection.

Dantes sighed. “You’re right. But shouldn’t you be focused on what Vera’s teaching you?”

Jacopo sent a bit of mental grumbling his way and nothing else.

Dantes sent a warning to all the animals in the garden, and held up his wooden hand and revealed sunrise, the yellow enchanted marble in his palm. He sent his will through it, and a brilliant flash of light came from it soundlessly, blinding everyone in the room.

The elves all reached for their eyes, and in that moment Dantes had the thickly coiled vines that grew around the room wrap themselves around them and start to tighten, lifting them up by their necks. It was over before it could even begin. Dantes walked over to them, and extended his wooden hand into the shape of a stake. He killed them each one by one, finishing the last one before her sight could even return.

When they were dead he had the vines release the bodies making them fall to the ground with dull thuds against the moss.

He nudged his head to the hounds. “All yours, eat your fill.”

The dogs leapt up excitedly, sending a dozen rapidfire thank yous his way as they bounded toward the bodies and began to tear into them.

Dantes reshaped his hand and pulled a cloth from his coat wiping the blood from it. He then pushed open the doors to the meeting room.

“Killed em, huh?” asked Jayk.

Dantes nodded.

“I’d like to tell you that it will probably cause us trouble in the long run, but fuck them. The Elven Kings are shit.” Jayk was a Mutt like Dantes, though one with a lot more mixed in more recently. He’d been thrown into the Underprison just like Dantes had, and had experienced a kick to the ribs or a spit to the face from an Elven King high on his own supply of perceived superiority.

“Yeah, that was always the plan. They always seemed to think that because the Fingers extend protection to me that means it extends to them when they meet me. I was also curious how much they valued Reivare.”

“And?”

“Ten-thousand gold.”

Jayk chuckled. “I would’ve guessed two copper and a boot with a hole in the sole.” He looked over to the dogs who were muzzle deep in corpse. “Once they're done I’ll have the boys take what’s left to the usual spot.”

Dantes nodded. It would be foolish to waste the potential favor that could be gained from fresh meat.