“Walker,” Rede looked down at him as they relaxed in Garet’s
office. Since he needed to find a new home, he told Walker that they could use
it permanently. “What in the actual fuck?”
Walker chuckled, “Spies make the best allies as a crime
lord. Garet gave me vital information I needed, and in exchange I gave him
vital information he needed as well.” He sighed heavily, “They were good days…”
“What happened?” Callie asked him.
“I was betrayed.” Walker told her flatly, “My partner…” He
closed his eyes and bit his lip tightly, “Let’s just find out what this old
friend has to say.” He shook his head, “I’ll warn you all in advance…I’ll
probably kill them, friend or not.”
“Why?” Callie looked at him confused.
“Because the only people who ever called me friend…” Walker
paused, “They all left me for dead.”
“Wouldn’t a crime lord normally see such a betrayal coming?”
Rede asked.
Walker smirked, “It’s a lot more…complicated than that.”
“Stop questioning his methods,” Shade spoke up finally, “We
don’t know the details. Just like you didn’t know the details of my life…don’t
judge until you know the whole story.”
“It’s alright, Shade,” Walker glanced over at her, “They’re
in their right. I mean let’s be honest here. Details or not, I WAS a world
renown criminal. Maybe I should have known better.” He pushed himself off of
the wall and stretched out cracking his back, “Stay close to me. If things
haven’t changed that much…then these streets will be full of corrupt guards,
petty criminals, gangs, mafia members…it was a bloody mess.”
“Thought your criminal activities were to help the poor?”
Callie asked him.
“They were.” Walker shook his head, “These people, they
aren’t poor, or as poor as many others, just greedy. Those that are truly poor?
They’re the ones working day in day out on the docks. They’re the ones helping
out each other because they know how hard it is to make it by day by day.
They’re the ones that’ll skip meals so their kids can be full and when they’ve
reached so low that they can’t keep going on? That’s when they contacted
someone like me.” He paused, “I might not be here anymore, but I left a lasting
impact on this city. There are others like me, trying to help the helpless.” He
looked back at them all, “There’s good in this city, ranging from the lowest
ghetto to the wealthiest noble.”
“You miss it.” Shade reflected.
Walker frowned and turned away, back towards the door, “I
miss a lot of things, Shade…I miss a lot of things” Without waiting for a
response Walker pushed the door open and walked out into the alleyways of Port
Phishk. The alleyways, while not crowded, were very narrow, two could walk side
by side, no more. They were also disgusting. Trash was scattered all over,
sometimes even sewage was tossed on these backstreets.
Walker quickly led them to the main streets. It was midday,
the busiest time. The streets were crowded with merchant stands that always had
a handful of people trying to shop, pubic speakers that spoke on anything and
everything, ranging from all viewpoints. Newspaper boys ran from person to person trying to sell the
news. The mass of people would slowly have to part just to allow for carriages
to pass through. Walker looked back at his comrades and grabbed Callie’s hand,
who was right behind him, “Everyone grab hands and hold on tightly. It’s easy
to lose someone in this crowd if you don’t know what you’re doing…and none of
you do.”
“This is chaos!” Rede exclaimed as he grabbed the hands of
those behind and in front of him.
Walker chuckled, “This…this is trade.”
“But you can’t tell what’s going on at all!” Rede looked at
him confused.
“You learn the hang of it sooner or later.” Walker smiled
and led them out into the crowd. He was used to these streets, but no one else
in his party was. He could feel them often being pushed and shoved around by
others while they slowly made their way through the massive crowd.
As he led them, a young paper boy ran up and started walking
along side Walker, “Phishk Paper Daily, sir! Only two gold coin for today’s
issue!”
“Didn’t you close down
five years ago?” Walker asked the boy confused, “Thought the Current Times took
over!”
The boy nodded at him quickly, “I’ll be right back.” He said
swiftly before disappearing back into the crowd.
“What was that about?” Callie asked him.
“You’ll see.” Walker smiled and continued to lead them
across the horde.
Within seconds the boy came running back holding a new roll
of paper, “Ten coins.” He told Walker.
“And five for the messenger.” Walker responded pulling
fifteen coins out of his pocket.
“Thank you kindly, good sir!” The boy took the coins
excitedly.
“Keep fighting the good fight , kid.” Walker smiled at him
and nodded before the kid ran back off to sell newspapers.
“What’s that?” Callie asked him.
“The only newspaper worth reading in this city.” Walker
responded. “You see that church off farther down the road?”
“Yes.” Callie responded.
“Lead the others to the alleyway on the left side of it.”
Walker told her, “I’m going to do some light reading. I’ll meet you there.”
Before she could respond Walker took off and disappeared in
the crowd, “Shit!” She cursed under her breath. No one else had noticed Walker
leaving them due to just how crowded it was. Shaking her head, she slowly led
the party over to the church.
The crowd thinned out completely as they entered into the
alleyway Walker spoke of. Unfortunately that meant everyone could now see he
was no longer with them. “What happened to Walker?!” Rede shouted at her.
Callie shrugged, “He said he was going to do some light
reading and meet us here.”
“What?!” Rede looked at her baffled, “And you just let him
run away?”
“I didn’t have much of a choice.” Callie took a deep breath,
“I’m sure he’ll-“
“Keep his word.” Walker finished as he walked out from the
other side of the alleyway, “Sorry guys, just had to catch up on the happenings
in this city.”
Callie noticed the paper he had bought was gone, “Where’d
the paper go?”
“Where it belongs.” Walker smiled at her.
“What are we doing beside a cathedral?” Rede asked him, “I
thought we were going to your home!”
“We are.” Walker responded, “ But you all would attract way
too much attention walking through the front door.”
“So we head to a church?” Callie looked at him confused.
“Secret entrance.” Shade told them. “That’s the only logical
explanation.”
Walker smiled at her, “Quite right indeed.” He walked over
to the cathedral’s wall and pulled out a small square stone from his pocket. He
placed it in the hands of one of the many statues on the walls, and immediately
a thin doorway cracked open. Walker nodded at Callie, “Lead the way, dear.”
Callie shrugged and led the way through the door. Everyone had to turn sideways
to squeeze through the crack in the wall, but it quickly widened out for them
to comfortably walk in single file, even Gorgos. After Gorgos went through,
Walker grabbed the stone out of the angel statue’s hands and quickly slipped in
after them before the crack closed back up.
Everything became pitch black when the crack closed up
behind them. Callie couldn’t even see her hands in front of her face. Suddenly
with the strike of a match, Walker lit up a torch that had been resting on the
inside of the cathedral’s wall. The flickering light lit up the passageway
fairly well, “Just follow the pathway until it opens up into a massive room,
Callie.” Walker told her.
“You made this?” Rede asked him.
“Sort of.” Walker responded.
“What do you mean by sort of?!”
Walker chuckled, “Some things are easier left unexplained.
Let’s go.” Callie led them down the small tunnel for nearly a quarter of an
hour before the tunnel finally opened up into the large room Walker spoke of.
The room was full with dusty tables, maps, and papers. Walker took a deep
breath and walked over to the main table. “Just like I left it…” He mused to
himself.
“This was your home?” Rede asked him.
Walker smirked, “No. This was my base of operations.” He
walked over to one of the many tunnels that led out of the room, “This leads to
my home.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, “Let’s see who was ballsy
enough to summon me.” He didn’t wait to see if they were even going to follow
him before taking off down the pathway. This one was much shorter than the
last. It ended abruptly with a ladder that led up to a closed hatch.
The hatch creaked open and dust poured down onto him as he
pulled himself up and onto the wooden floor of his home. As everyone else came
through the hatch, they all gasped seeing what Walker’s home looked like. It
was made of wood, poorly put together, and creaked with every step they took.
Some of the nails weren’t even put in all the way, sticking out of the floors
and walls. Walking out of the backroom they could look out the dirty windows to
see other houses built just as poorly, looking as if a strong breeze would
cause them to crumble. The roads outside were made of dirt and dust. Rede
turned around to look at Walker and apologize for assuming he had lived in a
castle, but Walker wasn’t there.
Suddenly dust fell down from the wooden boards above them as
they heard a loud ruckus coming from upstairs followed by Walker screaming,
“YOU MOTHERFUCKER!” They all quickly climbed up the ladder that led upstairs
and stared in shock as walker had a mimic pinned to the far wall with a dagger
at its neck, “Give me ONE good fucking reason why I shouldn’t kill you right
now!”
The mimic didn’t look like it was afraid of him or trying to
put up a fight at all. It relaxed against the wall even with the tip of
Walker’s dagger pushing against its neck. It swallowed and looked at Walker
with…sympathy, “Night didn’t betray you, Walker. The Mimic council betrayed
her. She’s in our prison, has been ever since that day.”
“Why should I believe you?!” Walker screamed at it pressing
the dagger even harder against its neck. Green ooze-like blood started to drip
out.
A tear formed in the mimic’s eye, “Jelia’s dying wish was
for you to know the truth.” Walker’s aggressive attitude suddenly dropped and
he relaxed looking at the mimic in shock. The mimic nodded sorrowfully at him,
“I lost my love, but you can still save yours.”
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