Saithorthepyro

  Five Years Ago

  Alice Skall felt the ch of sand under her boots as she kept her back firmly against the wall. The rough wood wasn’t fortable, but like hells was she turning her back to anyone. Not on the surface, especially not in Ureet, and definitely not in the headquarters of the Bck Fme.

  So far it wasn’t impressive, but she hadn’t seen too much of it yet, just endless underground structures and tunnels carved out of granite. Walking through some reeking, slimy tuo a nondescript wall that had opened up. She’d been bustled through the area, blindfold kept firmly on and the recruiter making it clear that a knife would tickle her throat if she so much as tried to peep.

  They’d brought her here, and told to wait with the others after a long trek through the tunnels down here.

  Alice didn’t have a choi this. She’d built a reputation that had kept her safe mostly. Most folks could take her in a fight, but it wasn’t worth the bother for the bit of space she’d cimed in the Dredge. A little se of a ruined warehouse that got flooded when the Nover overflowed its banks wasn’t worth having your eye gouged out or a busted knee. Either of those was a swift death senten the quarter.

  But it would not st. Space was getting tighter, and the Watch sure as hells weren’t letting people out to relieve the pressure. When she’d woken up to twers looming overhead with an offer, she took it.

  The fact she’d never known they’d beeill one nudged her awake had helped vince her to take that offer.

  So now here she was, leaning and scowling and hoping that a scrap of reputatio anyone from messing with her.

  They’d brought her down to a fighting pit, or at least that’s what her mind assumed. Walls of wood taller than her head around a circur, sand-filled pit. Seating further above, radiating out. Those seats were empty for now, occasionally someone passing through and stealing a go the pit before tinuing on their way.

  Alice didn’t like that. Being stu a fighting pit, not with everyone else down here.

  There weren’t too many others. Only two other trainees were here, a bookish fellow who didn’t look like he belonged. His weak gaze and nervous gng didn’t help with that impression. But his hands didn’t quiver or shake, which caught her eye.

  The st oared cockily her way when she looked up, easily with a head and a half on her and just as wide. He wi her, scars criss-crossing his face.

  Aliew some idiots who carved themselves up like that just to look intimidating. With luck, he was one of those, so he wouldn’t be too dangerous. He would, however, be dumb enough to mess with one of them to prove his dominance. Which meant probably biting some important part of his anatomy off. Only thing that worked and stuck with some of this type. Only ohat involved getting a rep that made people leave you alone. So, two threats, one of whom was more passive thaher.

  Of course, that ighe five in the middle of the pit, each of whom ointedly ign the three trainees, all of them with a fming goat’s head carved into their upper arms.

  Full members of the Fme, ranging from a shrinning one in a battered top hat to a hulking giant who might as well be hewn from rock. One wearing a cloak with a dozen Watch badges sewn to its outside to a well-dressed oh a missing eye. And finally, someone who didn’t look like any other Infernal Alice had ever seen, with almond-shaped eyes and a wider nose, reading a book. Strao see one of those not being used as kindling, but Alice supposed the Bck Fme actually bothered to teach people how to read.

  Being able to spell her own name, Alice might have a head-start on those.

  Please let whatever reason they’d all been brought here, not be some test where the three of them o take on these five. Alice could throw down for a scrap, being the crazed lunatio one would mess with was what had kept her alive, but she khat three versus five weren’t winning odds, even if the shaker’s steady hands meant something and the brash one would take orders.

  No one else had shown up since she’d been shoved in here, and no one had spoken a word yet.

  That was going to ge soon.

  She scowled at the rgest Infernal as he started walking over. The other trainee just winked again. Was he trying to unicate in code? Flirt? What the hells was his issue?

  His moving got the five in the middle to look over their way, but only briefly. Top hat smirked, then he Giant, whispering something that made Fner and Cloak roll their eyes and One-eye wince.

  She stayed still as the other traitled in near her, shoulders almost toug.

  “So,” he said, looking down at her from the er of his eyes. “You new here too?”

  She grunted nonittally in respohe sudden movement had the bookish one looking her way now, and his eyes had narrowed. Definitely more to that one.

  “I think you are,” the brash one said, leaving the wall, now in front of her and peering down. “You’re Alice Skall, aren’t you?”

  She yawned. “Yes, I am she. Seen my handiwork?”

  “Yeah,” he added, friendliness draining out of his voice. “You’re the bitch who bit my sister’s nose off. Got anything to say to that?”

  She didn’t, except to get ready. Making any moves for her head-knocker hidden in her jacket would probably provoke an attack, but she quietly shifted positioing ready as she stared up at his face, gaze full of casual dession. Which sister might that be? Was it the one who’d snu at night trying to steal her stuff, and she sent pag minus a nose and two fingers?

  “Is this part of some test, or is this one just being an idiot?” she called out to the five in the middle.

  His eyes narrowed, his hand going inside his threadbare coat.

  “e on,” he snapped, leaning down. “Pay attention to me, you little-”

  She pushed off of the wall, horns and head ramming into his own with a heavy smack. Pain sprouted in her head, but she felt his wist and snap.

  He recoiled, but he wasn’t grabbing for his nose or taking his eyes off her. Despite the pain inside and the tears in her eyes, she hurried.

  While he was distracted by the tears in his own eyes, she aimed the blow well. The point of her boot went right between his legs, and he crumped downward. No one else was moving, or interfering, which she’d expected by now. Alright. She could hardly back down now, so she moved towards him, the jaws closing down around his ear and preparing to bite.

  A gunsh out, thunderous as it echoed ihe room. Alice moved backward, fists up as she turo fa unknown threat, teeth ready to sink into this one instead.

  An reen-skinned Infernal with dimly glowing eyes pulled the hammer ba his revolver, chamber turning. “Don’t even think about it, ss. You try to bite me, we got a body to dump ireets, and I got to go pick up another rat to fill in the quota. You lot. I told you to keep an eye ohree?”

  “You did,” Ragged top-hat said. “Big boy here tried pushing some of the other recruits around. Oaliated. I’d say an ear is a pretty even trade for deg to shake down a fellow recruit, don’t you, Golvar?”

  “Boss to you, lickspittle,” the green-skinned Infernal snapped. “You quit your whimpering!”

  That was barked at the rge Infernal on the ground, who was currently trying to force his nose ba pce.

  “Calmere, Tally, drag this oo the infirmary. Get his nose fixed properly. Maybe we try him ter. You, girl, your name?”

  Alice blinked zily, drawing it out. “Skall, Alice Skall.”

  “grats. You just got your first week’s wage docked.”

  “He came at me,” she sneered. “Was I supposed to let him beat me?”

  “No, you were supposed to avoid him till these five ha. Which is a good point, you lot have anything to say for yourselves? Or were all five of you terrified of some random asshole?”

  The fner finally shut her book, speaking in a ft, bored tone. “One of them decided to assert his dominance over the other, paid for his overfidence, and perfectly demonstrated why he will probably be drummed out. Always know how intimidation will turn out before you do it.”

  “Excellent Malvia,” Golvar said. “Almost like the boss said it himself. Still, he’s gon ara ce, and you five should have stepped in anyway, so your pay is getting docked instead.”

  That got a few moans and groans from the cloak wearer and the oh the missing eye, but not the other three. Either Golvar was joking or they didn’t care too much, which had to be the former. Who the hells wouldn’t be upset about losing money?

  “Gods, this is a miserable lot,” Golvar said, looking over her then the bookish ohis is really all they could bring me?”

  “Perhaps you should ask the boss about l our standards again,” Ragged-hat said.

  “Perhaps you should have aint unclogging the plumbing in this pce, Machti,” Golvar said. “You wanna go bother the Boss about it, see if he finds it useful, go ahead. Think he’s aboveground trying to keep everyone from freezing to death this winter, see if he finds it amusing.”

  Right. The ‘Boss’. Giovanni Versalicci. Alice had actually seen him twice, when the Bck Fme showed up in force, usually t some sembnce of order to whatever catastrophe had hit the Quarter test. Fire, raid, Halpsus priests deg to atta the name of their god, and the Watch doing fuck all.

  Those assholes joined in half the time to help them burn anyoely suspicious with that o be suffitly damned Light. Raring to nail some silver spikes through people’s eyes.

  “Don’t suppose he’ll be down soon?” She asked, lig at some of the blood oooth.

  Never hurt, pying into people’s expectations, although none of those here seemed too impressed.

  “You got any reason for wanting to know that, trainee?” Golvar asked.

  Oh. Shit. Probably not the right question to ask, sidering hoeople probably wanted Versalicci’s head.

  “Nah,” she said casually. “Just w if we might see him as he es back or something.”

  “You won’t meet the boss for a while,” Golvar said, then sidered the one being taken away. “Well, except maybe him if the boss is heading through the infirmary or something. But nah, fresh fish like you don’t meet with the boss. Not till you earned your fmes, and that’ll be awhile.”

  “You have t in a dozen Watch heads,” Ragged Hat said.

  “You don’t,” Golvar corrected immediately, rolling his eyes. “These five are here to help me herd you and, in case anything goes wrong. Malvia, Mitu, Maria, Machti, Morder. You already put together whose name goes with who, hopefully. If not you’ll figure it out. Now, we are behind schedule, and now I gotta take time out of my busy as hell life to oversee you two getting your beaks wet.”

  “Sorry, but do we have to ge our o something starting with an ‘M’?” The bookish one asked in a quivering tohat Alice retty sure was fake. She couldn’t tell for certain.

  The middle one ughed, the beaten-up top hat threatening to fall apart from the movement. “Nah, four of us had them hung on us by our parents. Malvia picked hers because she’s an edgy little scapegrace.”

  The fner’s ral expression turned into a sful scowl as she looked at the top hat wearer. “This is why no one likes shariails with you, Machti.”

  “Oh please,” Machti scoffed. “Did you think sharing that with me wouldn’t cause it being used? Or did you think you’d impress me by saying you picked the first one cause it sounded like malevolend the sed one because of what harrow supposedly means?”

  The muscle, Mitu, grunted. “Still say it’s a farming tool.”

  “That is not all it is,” the fner said, her scowl deepening.

  “It’s the one most people are going to know,” Mitu said. “Ain’t like many use that other one.”

  “Just ignore her. It’s what most of us do anyway,” Machti told Alid the others.

  “I once again note you didn’t this many of us with you to train the recruits,” Malvia said, talking to Golvar.

  “Noted. I don’t care. I’m not heading through those tunnels with less than six, and I want some spare bodies to shove behind us in case something tries to eat us.”

  Alice tried not to frown. The tunnels leading down here weren’t clear of creatures? If she’d known that when they’d brought her down, she’d have insisted on being allowed more than her wooden head-knocker led inside her coat.

  Still, with this many people, there shouldn’t be a problem. When Maria gestured for her to fall into liween herself and Morder, Alice followed, lig the rest of the blood off her teeth.

  ***

  After close to an hour of trekking, they finally reached the surface, emerging into the quarter itself from an old Dwarf Gate.

  On all three sides of it, the bed, charred skeletons of buildings stood, remnants of the st fire to sweep through the Quarter. Desiccated walls remained little more than waist-high.

  It was too ret for rebuilding to have happened. Alice could remember it. Hells the bruises from it still ached. She’d had to fight hard for her bit of a building then, only to be forced to cede. There was no holding back the flood when the fmes had forced a wave of Infernals to the partially Nover flooded part of the district, hoping the river wouldn’t catch alight and the water would keep the fmes at bay.

  It had kept them at bay long enough. Long enough for city mages to jure rain to put out that r inferno. Not to save them of course. It had threatened another neighborhood. And even if the fire had never reached into the Nover…Alice closed her eyes, still remembering the heat, scorg in it’s iy, the screaming of those uo make it to safety fast enough.

  Part of why she’d been willing to take that offer. Standing buildings would be squabbled and fought over soon, now that the heaving mass they called the Nover River had finally frozen. No more deg between freezing in the cold snow or the chilly waters for those who’d stayed out of the flooded district.

  Case in point, bundles s started moving as soon as they emerged from the gate, sleeping figures struggling to rouse themselves either from sleep or the snow’s chilly grip. Some didn’t move at all. Earlier than normal. This was going to be a cold one.

  You could tell people were trying to find warmer shelter, though. You could actually walk through the alley and only have to worry about stepping on someone every other step.

  The bundles kept their distance, watg while Golvar cleared his throat.

  “Giovanni Versalicci is passing out food, bs, and fuel two blocks down from the Hell’s Own,” he announced. “We’ll do it from this gate at some point soon, but if you ’t wait, that’s where it is for now. If you’re not in touch with one of the groups we ah.”

  Some of the Infernals moved, maybe half. The rest stayed, unwilling or maybe even uo make the journey.

  Golvar led them through, past those, into more crowded areas, past about three blocks as snow swirled around. The freezing sidered their luck, sidered Alice’s group, and decided it wasn’t cold enough yet for an almost assured death as Golvar led them to a small warehouse. One of the walls had fallen in, leaving the roof sluggishly held up by the three remaining walls, slumping towards the ground.

  There was a veritable host inside, but they cleared out as Golvar entered. It didn’t take long for him to uncover a metal trapdoor.

  “Tunnels?” the bookish one said, looking cautiously at the trapdoor. “You want us to head underground?”

  Alice added to his pint. “Yht us all the way to the surface for us to go baderground?”

  “Yeah, and if that’s an issue, this is going to be one of the easiest things you’re asked to do,” Golvar said. “Amazingly, when people have trekked up to the surface, people don’t expect them to head back down. Helps keep pces like this secret. Now, as for why tunnels? We don’t rob from our own, and close to no non-Infernals live in the quarter. So, tunnels. Aboveground, Watch has got enough presehat getting out is tricky with a group this size. Underground, between the beasties and the Dwarves squabbling with Her Majesty over territory? Much easier to slip through. The only ones who got this fully mapped out are the dwarves, and with those tensions, well, long as we don’t make too muoise, they’ll turn a blio us traveling through. So e on my little teef-lings, we’ve got rich humans to rob to help those in need.”

  Golvar disappeared dowrapdoor, Morder and Maria right behind him.

  “Teef-ling?” the bookish one asked.

  “Teeth,” Machti said, opening his mouth and pointing at his ow of pointy fangs. “The rest? No idea. Hey professor, you got any idea what the rest of it means?”

  Malvia didn’t respond, already dowrapdoor.

  “Always dug out of responsibility,” Machti said with an exaggerated sigh. “We were supposed to wait till all you fresh blood was down there before heading down ourselves. We are forever doomed to be the reliable ones, aren’t we Mitu?”

  “Seems that way,” Mitu rumbled, but Alice missed the rest of the versation, already heading doweps. Something about those two…she’d rather take the three retively silent ohan potentially be stuck with the new ones and those two.

  ****

  The tunnels lead to a trapdoor, which lead to a celr, racks of wine on all sides as the group of Infernals unloaded into it.

  Alice resisted the urge to whistle. Skall didn’t whistle, and also it would make noise. Hells fet her part of it. This was bigger thaire house he Nover she currently lived in. And this was just the wine celr?

  “Maria,” Golvar whispered, pointing at the celr door.

  The cloaked Infernal nodded, moving to it and pressing an ear against the keyhole. Time ticked by, Alice resisting the urge to move too much.

  “It’s clear,” Maria said, standing up and opening the celr door. Warm air flooded the celr as they hurried up.

  Alice gawked a little as she emerged into a hall bigger than her little scrap of spa the flooded district.

  The walls here didn’t have holes, not even tiny oo peer through into the room. Mostly wood paneling, some of it carved into intricate patterailing ses like out of a storybook page before you burnt it. Hells, they had aper on their walls!

  A clock chimed, startlihey came in sizes that big but you could still put in your house? It was easily twice her height! And the hall ceiling was bigger than most warehouses!

  “This is a property on the northern edge of Abaster Hills,” Golvar said, mentioning one of the more wealthy neighborhoods iy. “Currently? The owners use it as a home when they aren’t on their estates in the try ao e here. So no nig any silverware or messing with any furniture. We his pce to look normal for when they e back. You bend some fancy silver knife, and your share of any jobs is getting docked to buy a rept that matches perfectly. If you wree one-of-a-kind heirloom? You’re paying for the revenue we’ll lose for having to leave this pce. Damage part of the building, I’m using your iines as lining for my boots. Get spotted outside here? I’m leaving you for the Watd we’ll see how many fingers get sill they bee vinced you know nothing. I’m going to peek outside real quick, make sure no one is lurking about.”

  “He doesn’t mean that,” Morder whispered to them as Golvar walked further ihe house. “Nobody gets left food ihe Coffin, and a bunch of us have been ihe Coffin before and made it out. Everyo Maria.”

  “And I intend it to stay that way,” Maria snapped. “So how about you actually listen to what Golvar said?”

  Alice looked over each of the five full members of the Fme. Not any scars she could see on them, and no missing digits either. Golvar hadn’t kidded when he’d mentioned clipped digits. She’d seen some survivors of the Watch prison. Severed fingers had been one of the more minor tortures they used on those unfortunate enough to be brought in for ‘questioning’.

  “You seem pretty intact for people who have been ihe Coffin.”

  Machti grinned, wiggling all the fingers on his right hand. “It’s a secret. If you ever lose some fingers, you’ll find out quiough. But Maria is right, best to respect the rules, because Golvar won’t let anyone heal your ribs once he’s done kig them out of pce.”

  “Noted,” the bookish trainee said, any attempt at a quake gone from his voice. “What are we to do?”

  A good question. So far they’d spent two hours walking, mostly to just hang about in some fancy family vacation home? She doubted it.

  “Right noait,” Morder expined while Machti moved into another room, waving for Mitu to follow him. “When Golvar is vino one knows we’re here, we’ll take you out, see how well you stay ued by the Watch outside the Quarter. Just to get an idea of your skills. Don’t worry too much. Watch patrols here are down. Too busy dealing with the Kelts rioting in the ports to keep patrols going, and the private guards the rich hire don’t look too closely if you aren’t trying to break into the houses. They’ll report it, but only ohe day es and they aren’t worried about getting knifed ohey veoo far from their employer’s property. Malvia’s been on more of these than most of us, isn’t that right?”

  Malvia had set herself up near a bench, leaning against the wall with her eyes closed. Alice realized that not only was the fifth one, Maria, gone, but she couldn’t remember seeing her leave.

  She’d have to make sure that never happened again.

  “Yes,” Malvia said, not b to open her eyes. “Mostly because he enjoys invenieng me. They typically aren’t lethal as long as you keep a level head. Explore the house some, get used to the yout. When we have bigger jobs in this neighborhood, we’ll be based out of her more often than not.”

  Morder had goo join Mitu and Machti, leaving only Alice, the bookish Infernal whose name she still didn’t know, and Malvia. The bookish Infernal traded a look with Alice, theured towards what looked like the kit.

  Alice went up the stairs, not feeling hungry and also not wanting to tempt Golvar’s anger for a bit of food, no matter how rich it might be.

  Now this furniture? Hells, that was tempting to take some pieces off of. Some of those decorations looked gold, and that silverware looked like actual silver instead of tin. She ended up in a sitting room, looking over a painting, trying to figure out if it was actually worth anything.

  It was just a woman smiling, which probably didn’t mean much, but it, being the terpiece of the room, hi it being worth something.

  After a while, she let those idle thoughts fade. It’s not like she could smuggle more than some silverware, maybe some other odds and ends. Assuming Golvar wouldn’t notice. He seemed like the kind of person to tally ead every piece just in case someone disobeyed him.

  She did try one of the chairs by the table, out of curiosity, and it actually felt…o sit in. Not sh wooden bench trying to get a splinter jammed up your backside. She settled in, enjoying the feeling of a cushion for a moment, before a smell got her attention.

  Cooki. They must have started cooking downstairs. Hells, actual food? Is this what running with the Bck Fme meant?

  Salivating, Alice headed back towards the stairs. Something moved outside the window, and she froze.

  The figure running across the roof was obscured. Even her dark vision could not see far enough to make out too maails. Enough though, to make out the custodia with the copper badge on the front.

  The Watch was here.