Riding into the merchant quarter, Jaeger finished rolling himself a few cigarettes of yago leaf and thought over what the stable master said when he asked for directions to the Black Rose.

  “The hell do you want with that place?” The man ran a hand over his striped head before sighing loudly. “No, never mind, don’t tell me. I guess I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. You’ll want to head down Main Street until you reach the merchant quarter. From there, look for black roses, whole bushes, mind you. Just follow them, as long as you follow them right, you’ll always be within sight of the next bush.”

  Jaeger raised an eyebrow before rubbing his aching head.

  “Hey, kid, you asked me for directions. I can tell you got no idea about the Black Rose, so I’ll fill you in.” The badgerkin pulled out a pipe and tapped it. “The Black Rose is a club that’s always on the move and welcomes only those who are invited. It’s a place of ill repute and varied rumors, supposedly it's everything from a masquerade tavern to a black market auction house. Only those who get in are sure, and none of them tell the same story. I ain’t never been, but I’ve heard tell there’s only one way in. You gotta find and follow the trail of black rose bushes. But if you ain’t invited, those roses only lead to death or so the rumors say.”

  “Why?”

  “Why does it move? Or why’s it invite only?”

  “Both.”

  “The club is some kinda magic, so it moves, but it never leaves the city. It also can’t be found unless it wants to be found, which is why it's invite-only.”

  “So it's not an illegal club?”

  Bastion shrugs his shoulders.

  “Depends who you ask. Everyone’s heard the rumors about what goes on inside, but none of the law guilds have tried to stop it, and the only church that’s against it is the cult of Celibus.”

  Jaeger nods his head in thanks and mounts Ventress, riding out the last thing Bastion said rings in his mind.

  “Don’t go accepting no gifts once you're inside, that’s how they get ya.”

  That reminded him of the stories from Beseria about traveling into the underworld. So many things here were similar but different from how things were back there that he decided to keep some of the stories and their warnings close to heart.

  As he was debating the existence of a shared underworld, he spotted a bush of black flowers off to his right. Putting those thoughts to the back of his mind, he directed Ventress closer so he could examine them. Sure enough, black roses.

  “Well, girl, let’s hope our elven friend got us an invite.”

  Ventress snorted up at him, and he gave her a reassuring pat as he looked for the next bush. Like Bastion said, it was within eyesight, just down the street. Once again, he pushed his horse off towards the bush. Thus began a pattern: traveling from bush to bush as midday turned to afternoon. Down back alleys, past bustling storefronts, across a short bridge, and through a warehouse district. He quickly lost track of where he was; it struck him as he was going that Patterson was huge.

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  Jaeger had rarely lived in or worked out of large cities; with competent or corrupt town guards, there wasn’t much call for bounty hunters. But he’d been to the capital city of Beseria before and after the fall, and while it had been large, it could have fit inside Patterson. This city was immense and full of life.

  “That’s a fancy horse and kit you’ve got there, stranger. Why don’t you hand it over, and we won’t have to do ya no harm?” A voice called out as a dozen figures leaped in front of him.

  Then again, Jaeger mused to himself, he’d never been threatened half as much in Beseria’s capital as he had been in Patterson; maybe size wasn’t everything.

  “No.”

  His blunt refusal seemed to throw the figures in front of him, and they fell into a hushed whisper before one stepped forward.

  “You must not know whose territory you’re in. This here is Ganker territory, and anyone coming through pays a toll. Me and the boys here woulda let you go with a bit of coin left in your bag, but now we’re gonna take everything you got.” The figure tapped a hand axe against his leg as he stepped forward and held up a recognizable chain. “You know what this is? It’s a sign that we ain’t playing around, we’re affiliated with our own ‘guild’, so you’d best hand over what we want before we get serious.”

  Jaeger saw the Killers Chain, and his hand twitched for his pistol, but something stopped him. The chain had no tags, which meant he’d be unlikely to collect much of a bounty on it. So he decided to try a different route, if that didn’t work; well, a low bounty wasn’t no bounty.

  “Do you know what this is?”

  He displayed his arm chain, Spikey Union. It seemed to almost pulse when he showed it, the effect was stronger on the receiving end because the thug almost dropped his chain. He scrambled backwards and started to push the other thugs out of the way, liberally bashing with his axe until a way was made. He moved back to Jaeger, fear almost radiating off him.

  “We’re so sorry about the misunderstanding. Please take this as an apology, I promise that this will not happen again.”

  The man presented a pouch and waited for Jaeger to respond.

  “Toss it here and then get out of my way.”

  “Right away, sir.” The man expertly tossed the pouch in Jaeger’s waiting hands and then turned back to the others. “You heard the Respected Associate, get the hell outta his way and tell the others about him. He’s given free rein through our territory.”

  Before the thug had spoken, the other gang members had been visibly angry at his actions. In their eyes, not only had he beaten some of them to clear a path, but he had also paid the man they’d been about to rob. Upon hearing the words Respected Associate all anger vanished and was replaced by fear. They scattered like test rats freed from a charm-chirurgeon’s laboratory.

  Once the streets were clear, Jaeger continued on his way. He’d been skeptical about the use of the Spikey Union, but this interaction had sold him on it.

  “I got paid and didn’t have to do any work. Maybe the rest of the night will go as well as that did.”

  Ventress shook her mane and made clear her thoughts on the likelihood of that happening. He rolled his eyes and pushed her forward; they had more roses to follow.

  He didn’t ride into any more trouble, and he wasn’t sure if that was because he didn’t cross territories or if word had spread. Either way, he followed the bushes and was thankful when he reached a building that had a black rose embossed on its door.

  The building was an inn supported by columns and arches with a domed roof. It reminded Jaeger of the old empire buildings back in Beseria. The building would have been inconspicuous on Main Street, looking as it did, but amid this warehouse district, it stood out. He didn’t see anywhere to tie Ventress so he simply rode to the front door and got off.

  “You can return to the guild if you want. If I need ya, I’ll call out.”

  She whinnied and trotted off into a small sunset before disappearing.

  “That sure makes leaving her behind a safer option.” He muttered before walking up to the rose door and knocking.