The trophy room was not as bad as Jaeger had expected. The room held armor stands, weapon racks, and various body parts stored on plinths, pedestals, and cases; there were even bodies, indeed dead, or in some cases dying, beings locked in their final moments. Nothing he saw was more disturbing than what he’d seen during the war. Then again, judging by Palu’s wane expression and Kaeleth’s disgusted look, he might be number to atrocities than most.

  “By Chaos itself, is that… is that a Hippo Colossus?” Kaeleth asked, circling something that Jaeger would best describe as pieces of a large mammal that were placed, bloodily rearranged to form a messy river horse.

  Swallowing Palu nodded.

  “Yes, that is Grappo the Gregarious, he was the leader of a large Hippopo pod on a neighboring island. They were trading partners with the city until Grappo discovered the Flesh Trader’s darker dealings. He traveled here to expose the Flesh Trader’s secrets. He never made it to the council; he is said to have died taking down a large pirate fleet.” He gestured to a nearby pristine pirate banner.

  Jaeger’s attention was drawn to a weapon rack. On it were many battle-worn weapons; some were known to him, while others were odd shapes, made of even odder materials. The one thing they all had in common was that they were broken. All of them except one, at the top of the rack, with space below it clear to draw the eye, was a simple machete. Its handle was a worn wood, and its blade seemed to be simple iron from what he could see. It was also stained in the black, tar-like blood of the Flesh Trader.

  “Palu, what about this one?”

  The former servant seemed almost happy to be drawn away from Kaeleth, who’d been questioning him about some of the more gruesome deaths in the room.

  “The weapon rack? These are simply weapons from those who stood against the Flesh Trader; most of them were broken in battle, and the few that weren’t he broke later as he tormented their wielders.”

  “And the machete?”

  “That is the only item in this room to belong to a living, and most importantly, free person.” He straightened and looked at the weapon with a fondness in his eyes. “To the Flesh Trader, it was a weapon he displayed out of spite, and it was also an object that caused anger in him.”

  Jaeger motioned for him to continue.

  “The man who wielded this, according to the mas...Flesh Trader was a blacksmith of a small tribe. His people had been delivered here as slaves, and the man had tracked them down. He arrived in a metal-covered apron and wielded nothing but this. The Flesh Trader said the man called out to a god and then tore through the guards like they were nothing.” He smiles at the memory while rubbing a faded whip mark on his neck. “He managed to free his people before the master confronted him, and in the battle, he left this planted deep into the Flesh Trader’s spine before retreating.”

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Jaeger nodded and moved to grab it.

  “This weapon deserves to be free of this place.” As he grabbed the weapon, a deep voice like a hammer striking an anvil echoed through his ears.

  “DELIVER MY WEAPON TO THE BLACKSMITH, HUNTER.”

  Depositing the machete into his storage, Jaeger felt an impression of who the blacksmith was and knew that whoever that voice was, they meant for him to deliver it to Lorcan.

  “What happened to the man who wielded this?”

  “I do not know. The Flesh Trader went to the man’s tribal lands but found nothing but a dense forest. He put considerable effort into finding the man or his people and couldn’t.”

  Nodding Jaeger continued searching the trophy room for anything to take. Between them, he and Kaeleth looted the room of anything worth taking, leaving with a haul of weapons, armor, accessories, and grimoires fit to outfit an army.

  “We’ll go over the spoils more in-depth on the way to the gala.” He told Kaeleth as she tried to crack open a grimoire with five circles with lines interconnecting them on the cover.

  She stored it away with a sigh.

  “Fine. Where to now?”

  “The Treasury.” Palu nods and leads them out of the trophy room and down the stairs. They pass by a few roving guards who simply nod at them before continuing. Jaeger waits until they are alone once again before speaking.

  “Depending on what we find in here; we can decide if we want to deal with the lab. I’m debating on whether to bother with the lab or not...”

  “You aren’t going to destroy the lab?” Palu asked incredulously, stopping in place.

  Jaeger shrugs and urges him onwards, not replying until they’re moving once again.

  “We aren’t here for that. We got what we came here for. The only reason we aren’t leaving now is that things have gone smoothly so far, and the more loot we get now, the more this looks like a heist.”

  “I thought you two were adventurers sent here to deal with the Flesh Trader and his crimes?”

  Kaeleth laughed, a low, menacing sound.

  “No. We weren’t sent here by any guild. This whole episode is simply a short task towards completing our actual goal.”

  “You killed the Flesh Trader, disrupting one of the most intricate and profitable slave trading, organ harvesting, monster producing operations in this part of the High Seas, as nothing more than a…a …a diversion?” Palu’s voice was incredulous.

  With a wicked smile, Kaeleth leaned forward before replying.

  “This was actually offered to us as the simplest and easiest way to complete this part of our larger operation.”

  Palu started to cry, with his next words clearly showing tears of frustration.

  “I’ve been here for years, doing horrible, unforgivable things, all while passing on what information I could to the guilds in the hopes they’d end this. And when it happens, it’s not even the guilds who end it, it’s a pair of rogues.” He looks up, eyes red and a hint of madness tinting them. “Tell me, was everything I did for nothing?”

  Holding up a hand to forestall Kaeleth’s most likely cutting remark, Jaeger begins to speak, only to be interrupted by a loud crashing sound. Kaeleth pushes past him towards a window facing outside.

  “I’m seeing five men coming in through the gate, or what’s left of it. The noise appears to have been them breaking it down. Wait.” She squints, and a small flare of runes slides across her eyes, encircling them. “They’re guildies.”

  “How can you tell?” Jaeger asks.

  “Well, one of them is flashing his adventurer badge like it’s some holy symbol. Another is dressed like a damn road detective, a third is decked out in full holy man regalia, and the last two are carrying staves with floating orbs. Looks like a coalition force from the Adventurers Guild, The Law Association, the Magician’s Lodge, and The Religious Order; I can’t tell which temple they belong to, though.”

  “Looks like you got your wish, the guilds are here to handle this.” Jaeger pushes Palu forward, hustling him. “The treasury now!”