I gulped, licked my lips, and looked at the old man with an expression of fear and desperation.

"Bodrick approached me and my Sebyan friend when we got to Sosalk," I said. "We had escaped from Aslanor. There was a nasty fight between the mad wizard and the Church in there, you see. We both lost our home. They destroyed an entire forest. How powerful can one get?"

"Get to the point Darkstar," Fischer said, fuming.

"Anyway," I said. My eyes darted left and right, as though I expected someone to barge in on us at any moment. "Bodrick tells me there were some people in Merinsk that wanted to see him fail. He employed us to make him look weak, even stage his own a.s.sa.s.sination."

"That's what the entire incident in Sosalk was about?" Fischer asked.

"He's a tricky one, I tell you," I said. "He even got the mayor, a fine man by the name Kristof, killed. He wanted the entire thing to look authentic, whatever that meant."

"And?" Fischer asked. He took a seat in front of me and looked at me with interest. I knew I had him then.

"He hired me and Nag, that was my Sebyan friend's name, to stage an attack against him. We killed his double, who didn't know anything at the time. Then we escaped." I looked at the old man with a fearful expression. "Are you sure no one's listening in on us? If you hadn't caught Beatrix, I'm afraid she'd be lurking around somewhere."

"Beatrix?" Fischer asked. "You mean Bodrick's daughter?"

"Yes!" I said, a little too enthusiastic. "She's the freaking merchant robber! Imagine my surprise when he introduced her to us…"

All color left the old man's wrinkled face. Sweat trickled down his bald head. His eyes widened, as much as an old man's eyes could anyway, then he got up and inspected the room. He even called his bodyguard and asked her to take a look at the surroundings.

I suppressed a smile. We were alone together, at last.

"Go on," he said, crossing his shaky arms.

"Bodrick had me working with Beatrix after we reached Merinsk, but after he got his hands on some helm, he decided it was time to get rid of us. Nag and I were a liability you see. We knew too much. We could have exposed him."

"Why are you telling me all this now?" Fischer asked. "You could have come to my office in peace, instead of killing all my men."

"You saw me as the enemy," I said. "I tried talking to your guards, but they attacked. I had no choice but to defend myself. I wanted to tell you about the attack on the s.h.i.+p. Bodrick told us to steal some painting. That's when I decided I had an opening to come and talk to you."

Fischer scratched his bald head. He looked at me, confused and indecisive. "That slimy motherf.u.c.ker!" He got up and got to his desk. He drew an obsidian dagger then waddled toward me.

"You know," he said, playfully transferring the dagger from one hand to the other, "Your trick could have worked." He smiled then leaned in closer. "If you lived as much as I have, you would know that manipulating others into releasing you takes more effort than that!"

'Who said anything about being released?' I thought as I observed the dagger.

"Your tale about Bodrick checks," Fischer went on. "But there's no way I'll believe the rest of your story. There's something else that bugs me about all this. Could you maybe, clarify this for me?"

"What's there to clarify?" I asked. I kept a close watch on the obsidian dagger that kept approaching.

"Mr. Darkstar," Fischer put a hand and my shoulder and leaned in. His dagger was aimed at my eye. "Why would the boss want you captured alive? I could have believed your little story about Bodrick. He's smart, creative when it comes to revenge plots, but I don't see where you and the boss fit in all of this."

"Who's this boss you keep talking about?" I asked. "I wouldn't have come to this city if it weren't for Bodrick. I really don't know why some nameless man wants me captured anyway."

"Well," Fischer smiled. "Since you're a dead man anyway, I don't see any harm in telling you."

The weakest link! Bingo!

My eye quavered as I looked at Fischer, but inside, there was a small version of me doing backflips. "Dead?!" I asked. "I-I-I thought we had a deal!"

"Deal?" Fischer scoffed. "You killed my men, stole from me. Did you really think I'd let you leave this place in one piece. You'll be food to the sharks. Not even Hartwell can track that!" Fischer froze. He looked like someone who let something very important slip.

Hartwell! I've heard that name before. I needed to dig deeper.

"L-l-listen man," I said. "I was just following orders."

"I'll deal with the one who issued them later." Fischer quickly recovered. I had to hand it to him. "Do you know what I think when I look at you?"

I shook my head. "Please," I said. "I told you everything I know."

"I see a man who could have done much better by joining the winning team, yet you decided to work for Bodrick."

"It's not like I had any choice," I said. "He had my girlfriend. He even killed her when I refused to kill the mayor for him."

Fischer snorted. "Serves you right!" he said. "If you knew what's best for you, you would have come to me sooner."

"How about you take me to this Hartwell," I said. "I'll tell him everything about Bodrick. I'm sure he'll reward you handsomely."

"I'll expose Bodrick myself and get an even better reward," Fischer said. "Well, since you think you can use his name with impunity, I can tell you about Hartwell. I'll give you a piece of my mind about this despicable man before I slit your throat."

"Hey, hey, hey… Why don't we skip the killing part? Please?"

Fischer's lips curled into an unpleasant smile. "Stalwart ordered you captured." He rolled his eyes then went on, "G.o.ds know what goes into his twisted mind. I mean who would want to capture an ugly mug like you? Maybe you're important to that mad man. Maybe your name isn't Zedd Darkstar after all. It's pretty strange name if you ask me.

"Anyway, Hartwell and that mad wizard knew each other before he came to Merinsk. If it weren't for Hartwell and his twisted methods, I would be the one leading the underworld. And you can't speak up against him, not if you want to keep your head.

"What's worse, you can't even speak his name unless you want him to pay you a personal visit. What's so special about him anyway? He can kill a man in the blink of an eye? One bolt can do the same, or a dagger through your skull."

I heard everything I needed to hear then. It was enough for Elsa to dig something about this Hartwell anyway.

"Lord Fischer," I said. "Do you know what? I don't feel like dying tonight."

"What can youuuu doooo aaa…" Fischer tried to speak but his mouth kept moving slower and slower until it barely moved. This selective slowing sure comes in handy when backed against a corner.  

I twisted my neck and got closer to the old man's weapon. The dagger he was holding was inches away from my eye. It took some maneuvering to get around its sharp edge.  I bit the dagger out of the old man's hand and got busy undoing the ropes. He was struggling to move and stop me from cutting myself free. His grunts came out like unnaturally long yawns.

Slitting his throat open was easy. He didn't stand a chance. It actually took more effort to hack his head off than killing him. I took the head and unlocked the crimson box he proudly kept on display on his desk. There was a spherical device in place of a lock. I only had to put Fischer's eye in front of it to hear something click inside.

I opened the box to find a dark orb, exactly as the junk shop owner had described it. There were also some folded letters and a sack full of diamonds. I took everything, stuffed them in a cloth sack, then looked for my gear. My clothes and sword weren't in the office. I cursed then headed outside. I needed to find the bodyguard and get her to tell me where my clothes and weapon were.

I heard a noise from the warehouse's entrance. Then I saw her. She was returning from the round Fischer had ordered. There were five shadows walking beside her. She noticed me, a dagger on one hand, a sack on the other, then cursed.

"Get him!" she screamed and the shadows ran toward me.

There rushed to meet them. I reached the first one, blocked his sword swing then kicked him in the nuts. He wailed. I stuffed the dagger down his throat. The second shadow was upon me immediately after. I ducked under his sword swing then rolled sideways just in time to avoid another shadow.

The mysterious woman joined them then. I was surrounded, with little to no s.p.a.ce to dodge or run from their attacks. –I feel like I have to explain how my powers work for you to grasp the severity of my situation at that moment.

To slow any object in front of me, I need to spend some energy. Let's say I had a bucketful of essence before each enemy that surrounded me attacked. Each sword had its specific weight, added to the force with which its user swung it.

In order to simplify all calculations, I coated myself with a bubble that would slow anybody's movement upon getting into its vicinity. If the bubble meats heavy resistance from one side, I'd reinforce it with infusing some more essence into the bubble.

I created the area of effect then jumped at the closest shadow. It was simpler than trying to execute them all while their swords were held down by my invisible aura. I rolled down the ground with the shadow I had just tackled. After I got away from their range, I stabbed the guard with the dagger multiple times then looked up.

I immediately got to my feet and jumped aside as another shadow followed us with surprising speed. I kept dodging and falling back. This b.a.s.t.a.r.d was fast, and he was costing me precious time. The woman and the three remaining shadows hurried to support their friend. I saw one of them run toward my left flank.

I threw the dagger toward him then jumped aside in time to avoid a thrusting attack. I held my attacker by the forearms then twisted them downwards. I used his momentum against him. He rolled in the air and fell on his back. I had disarmed him and killed the one who tried to flank me in one fell swoop.

I blocked the next attacker then kicked him away from me. The woman reached me then. With loud grunts, she sent a flurry of quick stabbing attacks my way. I had to keep all my wits about me to avoid them all. She was using a Bolignois fencing style, the most annoying of all.

I cursed and jumped back. I couldn't execute the shadow I had just disarmed. So I still had three enemies to deal with. The woman led the a.s.sault, with two shadows trying to flank me and get me to make a mistake.

'No chance, a.s.sholes,' I swore and gritted my teeth.

I parried one of the woman's trusting attacks and sent her sword in a shadow's way. This gave me a slight opening to kick the one in my left on the stomach then slit his wrist open. His sword fell with a clank and he hissed in pain. I could only see his eyes underneath the black mask he wore.

There was apprehension and fear, but there was also hatred. I didn't have time to catch my breath though. The woman kept her relentless a.s.sault while her only remaining ally tried to go around me.

Two people I could deal with, given I timed my selective slow spell very well. The woman was about to thrust her sword at my left leg while the shadow had a window to aim at my right shoulder. I willed time to slow around me then, but the woman had retracted her sword just in time to avoid being pulled into the area of effect.

I executed the shadow then turned to look at her.

"So there is a limit to your reach," she said. She put her right leg forward and held her sword close to her chest. She was ready to hurl another barrage of well-aimed thrusts. She was good, really good.