Chapter 173: Book 3 Chapter 36: I'm Just the Muscle

Dantes walked through the dark corridors of the Pit as he moved toward his blood tree. Moving in the Pit still came very naturally to him, though now he could do it with his eyes closed, and frequently did while he monitored things both above and below him. He’d been sparing in the feeding of his blood tree, giving it only drops when he fed it and doing his best to nourish it in other ways. He understood the risk and reward provided by blood ritual now far better than he had before, and he didn’t intend to waste such a valuable tool.

He was being followed. Had been for quite some time. It was four men with various levels of orcish blood. They wielded crude clubs and dull daggers as they moved quickly through the tunnels to reach him.

Dantes stretched his neck and arms a bit before shifting into a rat and moving into a darkened corner of the tunnel he was in. He waited patiently until the orcs entered the hall, each of them looking around it warily with their weapons raised.

“I swear I can still smell him here.”

“Yeah, I thought I heard him in this direction, then it stopped outta nowhere.”

“Could he have heard us?”

“Nah, he’s got some elvish in him, but we were too far back in the tunnels.”

One of them shook his head. “We should just turn back and wait for him to head back toward the Undermarket to grab him.”

“Fuck that, he killed my brother. I want him dead.”

Danted wondered idly which of the orcs he’d killed had been the man’s brother. He assumed it was one of them that was part of the old orcish gang he’d killed when Tel had died, but he didn’t really remember any of their faces. He watched as they searched a bit more around the tunnel, sniffing and listening for any signs of him. He considered sparing them. They certainly wouldn’t be able to find him at this point, but they’d just be a problem again later. Or they’d hurt Aurelio and his men who were much more vulnerable than he was.

Dante stayed crouched in the shadows as he shifted back into himself, reaching for his pistol for a moment, before changing his mind and grabbing his dagger. The sound of a gunshot in there would deafen him, and be echoing around for months.

He walked perfectly silently until he was behind one of them, grabbed his mouth with his wooden hand, and drove his dagger between the man’s ribs, puncturing his lungs. The orc tried to cut his wooden hand with his tusks to free himself, but received only splinters as Dantes drove the dagger into his back two more times.

Another of the orcs turned to look in his direction just as Dantes dropped his companion to the floor. He started to yell, and raise his club, but as he went to strike him, Dantes slipped neatly beneath his attack, and drove his dagger into his stomach, wrenching it upward to disembowel him.

The other two orcs moved toward him, but Dantes pushed the dying orc away from himself and into the other two, though he needed to let go of his dagger as he did so.

They pushed the body off of themselves and started to attack him, one with a swift dagger, and the other with a heavy club tipped in stone from the walls.

They seemed slow. Dantes hadn’t really bothered with fighting anyone close quarters in some time, preferring to use his pistol, wands, wooden hand, or vermin. He had been training with Jacopo every day though, and Jacopo had been training with both Vampa and Zak regularly as well which may have leaked into Dantes a bit through their connection. On top of that he now had the enhanced senses, reflexes, and instincts of cats, dogs, rats, roaches, pigeons, and bats. All that together had seemed to turn him from a mediocre brawler into something a little bit beyond skilled.

He slid between the orcs just before he was going to back into a tunnel wall, and they collided into one another. The one wielding a dagger whipped around, and as he did so, sliced his companion across the nose, causing him to drop his club and clutch his nose.

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As the one with a dagger turned around to see what he’d done, Dantes closed in and punched him as hard as he could with his wooden fist. He felt something shatter in the orc’s jaw as he hit him, and felt a broken piece of tusk lodge itself in a wooden knuckle. He followed that up with a swift kick to his jewels, then broke the nose of the orc that had just been cut as well. He let them throw a few more half-hearted attacks in his direction that he dodged again. He was smiling as he did it.

“Your playing with your food again,” sent Jacopo

Dantes chuckled a bit, and took a few steps back from the orcs, extending his wooden fingers like sharp stakes, skewering them both and killing them instantly.

“I think you’ve spent a bit too much time as a two-leg today.”

“Yes. But why?”

“Repeating the same joke you’ve told before, is one of the most two-leg things you can do.”

Jacopo sent back an anguished groan.

…

Dantes stepped into his audience chamber to find Jayk waiting for him, sipping from a mug of tea with a small tray filled with dinner sitting and waiting for Dantes to eat it. Dantes had one of the branches of his throne pick up the tray and hold it to the side so that he could sit, then had the branch move it again to hold the food in front of him. Before he started eating, he welcomed the affections of his hounds who were barely holding themselves back from leaping onto him and knocking him over. He gave them a healthy bit of pats before shooing them so he could eat..

“No offense Jayk, but I much prefer welcomes from Sevryn, or Jacque and Alessa, or Vera.”

“I feel odd talking business around the baby, and if Sevryn gets to you first that’s a guaranteed hour before we can get to business.”

Dantes smiled. “It’s a beautiful thing for a friend to know me so well.”

Jayk averted his eyes and coughed a bit. “Let’s just get started.”

Dantes nodded to him as he speared a piece of fish.

“Shipments are still down, but steadily trickling up. Still no ships from Frasheid or Viscent though. Tensions seem to be very high with them.”

“Giving over Gavain didn’t help?”

Jayk shook his head. “He gave himself up, but he refuses to apologize for what he did, or ask the slave revolt to step down. Rumor is the torture has been exceptionally cruel too.”

Dantes frowned at that. He didn’t blame himself at all for Gavain’s fate, it seemed like it would happen whether or not he was around. Still, it wasn’t as if Gavain had done anything wrong.

Dantes shrugged. “Poor bastard, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Jayk nodded. “Felix has gotten everything set up for the first no-rules gambling table. Several of Diamond’s people are very interested, as are many of Fritz’s.”

“I’ll have to make sure I can be there too. I’ve been wanting to see the fruits of that work for a long time. Make sure to only let those who seem like they’d be the biggest draw play.”

Jayk nodded.

“Jacopo has successfully purchased the land your gardens are on, as well as several other plots throughout the city… Though I’d guess you knew that already.”

Dantes smiled and nodded as he sipped some wine.

Jayk frowned a little bit. “Some of the men, as well as some of the people in midtown, are starting to believe that I have taken things over since you went down to the Pit. They’re claiming that they no longer need to pay up to us because it’s not really you in charge anymore.”

Dantes frowned. “Give me names, and places. I’ll visit them personally to show them exactly how wrong they are.”

Jayk nodded. “Yes boss.”

“Obviously, you’ve been in charge the whole time! I’m just the muscle.”

Jayk’s serious expression broke for a moment as he chuckled.

“Last two things. Argenta’s daughter was here again. She left another letter in response to your last one. She seems fairly eager to see you again.”

Dantes nodded. “I’ll answer that later. What’s the last thing?”

“The new drugs that we’ve begun to sell. The ones you got from your contact?”

Dantes nodded, his mind briefly picturing Lorna wearing nothing, but leaves.

“The sweet red leaves are selling very well. The powdered black roots as well. Some of the others have very strong effects, making people see and hear things, but people usually don’t want to try them more than once. There was one, the pink flower petals, that has killed four people already… but they died with smiles on their faces though so I’d call it a wash.”

Dantes nodded. “I’ve got a meeting with the fingers in two hours. I’m going to spend that time with Jacque, but while I do I want you to prepare two sets of samples for each of the new drugs. I know a certain gnome that may be very interested in giving them a try.”

Jayk nodded. “No problem boss.”

“And what about the disruptions? How has the guard been reacting?”

“We’ve been giving a number of smaller gangs access to guns and wands across the city, as well as large amounts of the new drugs that are the most clearly successful. The moratorium we’d previously placed on harming guards directly has been lifted, leading to mostly injuries, but also a number of deaths. Overall, the guard is looking bad, and Belman is pushing the blame onto those in charge of Midtown.”

Dantes nodded, smiling. He’d warned Pacha that he was a stabilizing force, now he’d see what things were like without him. He wasn’t really gone of course, so it would take a bit of manufacturing.

“And Dulles?”

“Crushed by falling logs during his forced labor. A tragedy.”

Dantes nodded. “Well done.”