In the village of Tram, Kingdom of Orphen, covered in robes, Xavier and Moger descended from a carriage at nightfall.
'Don't forget that I am known as Aleum in this kingdom.' Xavier reminded Moger as they walked to their destination, the brothel "La Carnaza".
Xavier hadn't visited Tram in almost five years. Much had happened since that night, when he visited these alleys in the company of Vralia and his gang of criminals. A joyful night, no doubt. Xavier smiled a little while he remembered that adventure. But it was time to get serious.
'We have come to see Diela,' said Xavier to the tall and strong man who guarded the alley.
'You're not a frequent customer, and you're asking directly for Diela.' The black giant answered. 'Who sends you?'
"Ah! This is going to get violent," Xavier thought. 'Vralia sent me,' he finally said.
The guard in the alley pointed his spear at Xavier. 'Vralia is dead.'
'Moger, don't kill him.'
As an unexpected lightning bolt, Moger appeared in front of the dark-skinned giant. He lost consciousness from a single slap. Xavier passed over the giant and knocked on the door. He didn't remember the rhythm Vralia used to knock at the door at that time; too many years had passed.
'Who are you, and what do you want?' a woman on the other side of the door asked.
Xavier recognized the voice.
'Diela, I am an old acquaintance of Vralia, Aleum, do you remember me?'
'No, I don't remember you, where is Timbu?' Diela asked.
"Timbu?" Xavier thought. "Ah! He must be the guardian."
'I'm the virgin. I am the virgin who Vralia brought five years ago,' Xavier revealed with some shame.
'Oh! Boy. You've grown. That scar sits you well, you look manly. Diela's fat face said as she looked out the door small window.
'I brought you someone,' said Xavier.
Diela looked at the robed man, of whom she could see nothing, not even a piece of skin.
'Who is your friend?' asked Diela with some suspicion.
'He is in the same situation as I was when I met Vralia, but he got badly burned during the Dragon Wars... let's say he is not even presentable.' Xavier invented the story in the moment.
'Well, I'm sure one of my girls can work with him for a fair price,' said Diela, finally opening the door.
Xavier passed through the door and immediately took out his dagger and put it on Diela's neck.
'Believe me, I don't want to hurt you,' said Xavier.
Despite her situation, Diela was very calm. That was a bad sign. Xavier got away from her and let her go.
'Wow! In the end, you do have some skill,' said Diela, playing with a small dagger, making it rotate and move between her fingers at a fast speed. No one would expect such skill from such a fat woman.
'I've been serious; I don't want to hurt you. I come for business, and I think I have come to the right place,' commented Xavier as he pointed to the dagger. 'I hear from other mercenaries that you are not only the Madame of this place; you are also a mediator, and you know a lot of people.'
'You're well informed, boy. What are you looking for?'
'Garland, the red one.'
Diela's face suddenly changed and became very serious, with a frown.
'Come, we can't talk here.'
'Stay alert; if necessary, burn the whole building; this woman is dangerous.' Xavier alerted Moger.
Diela took them to a room and closed the door. It was a simple room with a pair of high-quality sofas and a small table in the center with sweets, a bottle of rum, and some glasses. A fat girl was sitting on the couch, young, about twenty years old, and the resemblance to Diela was evident.
'Is Timbu alive?' asked Diela.
Xavier responded with a nod. Diela looked at the girl, made a gesture with her head, and the girl left the room.
'How do you know Garland the Red?' asked Diela.
'As all mercenaries know, it's a secret told in a loud voice.'
Although it is true that all mercenaries knew about Garland, the biggest drug and ilegal potions trafficker in the three kingdoms, Xavier learned of his association with Diela by chance. Garland was a client of the brothel, although he visited only every once in a while.
'He's a dangerous man. What do you want with him?'
Xavier snapped his fingers. Moger pulled a couple of vials from the inside of his clothes. Every vial was labeled.
'Basilisk blood, from the jungle of Morr, is pure, in all three varieties: red, green, and black.' Xavier said.
'Black!, How did you get that?' asked Diela astonished.
'That's not important. The important thing is that I can get it; I need a distributor,' Xavier replied.
'You have come to the right place,' said Diela with a smile.
'Perfect. My friend here will be your contact from now on. They call him "Silence", He is a very powerful magician, but he doesn't speak much. If you want to know how strong he is, you can ask your guard dog what happened when he wakes up. Tell Garland that if he wants the rest, he should meet with us at Finch Forest, by the river entrance, in three days, in the afternoon. Xavier picked up the black and red basilisk blood and got up from the couch, ready to go.
'Since you are here, you should relax and spend a while with the girls. I can give you a discount.' Diela teased.
'And give you the chance to kill us and steal the bottles?' Xavier answered.
'What can I say? A girl must try to make a living' replied Diela, winking an eye at him.
'Is Marle still here?' asked Xavier more out of nostalgia than interest.
'No, she left a few years ago. I heard she moved to the southern kingdom or something. But I have other girls,' Diela insisted.
'Goodbye Diela'
Xavier and Moger left the venue. Diela's daughter and the rest of the girls were trying to move the heavy Timbu.
'Help them.'
Moger lifted up the giant man with ease while the girls watched in awe and dragged him into the brothel. The girls tried to get closer to Moger, who gave out a frightening growl, causing them to retreat.
They spent the night sleeping on the floor of a tavern, as almost all travelers and mercenaries usually do. It was the best place to go unnoticed. It wasn't too far fetched to think that Diela could use any of her contacts to track them, try to kill them, and steal the basilisk blood. The next morning, they traveled to the Finch Forest. They waited until the agreed-upon day.
'They are coming,' Moger warned.
Four men were approaching the forest at sundown.
'It's a trap. They couldn't get anyone into the woods because we've been here from the beginning, but that just means they're going to try to attack us with numbers. Remember, you can kill them all except Garland.'
'Who is Garland?' asked Moger.
'I don't know. I suppose he is the leader of the group.'
A few minutes later, the four men arrived at the edge of the forest.
'Get the fuck out. I don't have the whole day,' yelled the man at the head of the group.
'That must be Garland,' Xavier recognized as he and Moger went out of the woods to receive their visitors.
'So you are, Aleum, 'The Handiman,' said Garland with some contempt in his voice.
Xavier looked at him from top to bottom. It was a white man about forty years old, around a meter seventy tall, with short black hair, a beard a couple of weeks old, and a pair of short swords hanging on his waist.
'Well, it is an honor for the legendary Garland the Red to know my name,' replied Xavier.
'Don't be so full of yourself, boy; you're just a lowlife mercenary. We know you have nothing except a couple of bottles of basilisk blood. Hand them over to me, and maybe I'll let you live,' Garland said, unsheating his swords.
Xavier imagined this. In the distance, one could see a group of men approaching on horseback; they would be on them in minutes.
'Calm down, Garland; there is no need for a fight,' said Xavier, while thinking, 'I need to make time for them to come near; there must be no survivors.'
"I need to make time; we can kill them now, but it's better if the whole gang is here; we don't know how many men are hiding in the trees." Garland thought. 'Are you sure? How many men do you have in the woods?'
'None, we're alone,' Xavier assured. 'We are here for business'. A hooded Moger stood on his right without making any movement.
The horseback bandits reached them, and now the number of Garland's men had increased to twelve. Each of the four horses carried two bandits on their back.
'Remember, don't touch Garland,' said Xavier in a low voice, unsheathing his daggers. While Garland's men were trying to surround them.
Moger pulled out his two short swords and went on the attack at inhuman speed. In a matter of seconds, two of the bandits had been beheaded. Confusion reigned in the minds of the bandits. After assimilating what was happening, they teamed up against Moger. With his inhuman reflexes, he blocked the attacks of his enemies and engaged them at the same time. Even if a blow fell on him, his hard skin limited the damage to a superficial wound. Less than a minute had passed. Of the twelve criminals, only four remained alive. The horses, feeling Moger's aggression, ran away.
'Wait, wait, we can come to an agreement,' said Garland.
'Oh! Don't worry, we will come to an agreement,' replied Xavier, moving his head in a gesture of affirmation as he looked at Moger.
As a monster out of a horror story, Moger threw himself onto the surviving bandits. They tried to escape, but it was useless. Now only Garland was standing.
As Xavier approached him, the man broke down.
'I am not Garland,' cried the man, kneeling down. 'He is Garland,' the man pointed to one of the bandits whom Moger had beheaded in the first seconds of his attack.
'What?' asked Xavier.
'Garland, the boss, he never approached first. He always sent one of his men ahead to act as a decoy. I don't know why you wanted to kill him, but I'm not Garland,' explained the man panicking.
Xavier had seen many criminals during his years as mercenaries; this man was not lying.
'Damn it!' Xavier screamed.
"Shit! I fucked up," Xavier thought. "What hell are we going to do now?" An idea passed through his head.
'Hey, what is your real name?' asked Xavier.
'Theo, my name is Theo.'
'Do you know Garland's clients?' asked Xavier.
'Of course, I know almost all of them,' said the man, trembling, and with a forced smile, maybe he could get out of this alive.
'Could you sell them this?' Xavier showed him the vials.
'No problem,' replied Theo.
'Use your magic. Shoot to the sky; show him what you can do,' Xavier told Moger.
Moger followed his instructions and, turning his back on Theo, removed the bottom of the clothes that covered his face. A flame of fire spread toward the sky. Theo was in complete panic.
"A mighty magician," he thought as he saw the column of fire rise.
'Enough.'
Moger covered his face again. Xavier approached him. 'From now on, you will be Garland the Red,' he said, turning and looking at Theo. 'You'll show him the business. From now on, you work for us. You will be our contact with Garland's former customers. Do you understand?'
Theo nodded enthusiastically.
Moger took the bodies to the woods. Half an hour later, he was coming out of the trees after a bountiful lunch.
'Remember, there is no honor among criminals,' said Xavier. 'Never trust a criminal. When the time comes, we'll have to kill them all: Theo, Diela, and the prostitutes.'
Moger looked him in the eyes. 'Don't worry, humans are nothing more than food to me.'
'Hurry up,' Xavier yelled.
Theo returned with the horses; fortunately, they had not escaped too far, just enough to get away from Moger. Although he thought of running away at some point, being pursued by a magician capable of killing eleven men without using his magic was not a desirable future.
Xavier rode on one of the horses. He didn't have much experience as a rider, but enough to travel without having to walk.
Moger had more difficulty riding the scared animal. Moger used his force to tame it. Seeing that he could not escape, the horse eventually surrendered.
Moger and Theo traveled towards Eltinar Citadel, where Garland's contacts were located. It shouldn't be hard to sell the rare basilisk blood. Xavier traveled to Fuera de Mola.