Chapter 72: Worms In The Rain

"Uh, sir. We're not really open just yet." Ben stated while scratching the back of his head.

"The door was unlocked, was it not? And you are an inn, correct? So, I see no issues then, now hurry along and prepare my room. I'm rather tired from the travel, and with the borders closing I suspect I'll be staying here for quite some time." The fat merchant explained, leaving no room for Ben to argue.

Ryan picked up on something the merchant had said. "Wait, the borders are closed?"

The merchant looked at him with a troubled look on his face. "Well, saying they're closed is putting it lightly. Amine has made some worrying movements, putting Morgania on alert. They have preemptively shut down their border with Amine, I am assuming to stem the flow of information should there be any spies in their midst."

"When did all of this happen? We just came to the city not too long ago." Ben asked, the feeling of anxiety constricting his chest.

"The decree was passed down just yesterday. I will just count myself lucky for the fact that I had yet to leave the city, sparing myself the long trip to the border only to be unable to cross it."

The boys were at a loss for words, standing around awkwardly in a stunned silence. The fat merchant was beginning to grow impatient, he let out a huff, reminding them that he was still there. "I do have to say, the customer service of your inn does leave one wanting. If there were any others I could patron I would, but you seem to be the only ones in the city with any vacancies."

"We're what now?" Now it was Richard's turn to finally speak up, which was entirely out of character for him.

"Oh yes, with the borders closed now, there are many merchants such as myself that are in need of temporary lodgings as we plan out alternative routes. As they are forced to stay in the country and will be turned away at the border, it is only a matter of time before you all become very busy indeed." The fat man said, in a weirdly jolly tone.

…..

"C'mon, all you heard it right? Some Idiot walked into the ballroom. It's all quiet now, so we just need to go in there, take whatever is left on the corpse, and get out, easy."

A tall and lanky man was trying to convince four other men to go along with his idea. He was wearing light leather armor with dark brown boots to match. He had two long daggers attached to his hip, and a small pouch filled with little bottles of holy water making 'clinking' noises as he moved around.

"I don't know Frank; the ballroom is nothin' but bad news. Everyone knows not to go in there if ya can avoid it." One of the four men said, scratching his chin as he spoke.

A third man was nodding his head, looking like a chicken pecking at seed. "Chuck's right. We could end up just like those poor saps."

The last man, the largest one, had yet to speak. He focused on what the others were saying, deep in thought. He was a full head taller than Frank, the lanky rogue of their group, and as wide as two of him as well. He carried a five-foot long, two-handed sword that had been sharpened on both sides of the blade. His armor was leather, studded with well-oiled iron.

"Let's do it." The large man said. "We all could use the money, hells, that's why we're down here to begin with, isn't it? We have all the time in the world so there's no need to rush, we can take our time, make sure we don't trigger nothin'."

"Ya sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. You all know Frank's a coward; he would never do anything that would put his hide on the line."

Frank looked around the small group as they all laughed at his expense. "C'mon boss, there wasn't a need for that, now was there?"

The large man they all called boss slapped Frank on the back, knocking the air out of his lungs. "Sure, I did. Look, they changed their minds, didn't they?"

…..

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Within the confines of the ballroom, what looked like a gruesome crime scene was spread out across the floor. Coagulated pools of dark blood drenched the ground, making every step Professor Kal took feel sticky, and made a wet tearing sound. It had taken him some time to separate the bent and twisted metal from the charred flesh and bone of the cave dragon; now though, he had made separate, neat piles for each entity.

Absolutely covered in the macabre filth, Professor Kal was wrenching apart the mangled chandelier with a large, iron tool, carefully checking each piece for any unique traits. Trist, the zombie dog, was sitting in a corner happily chewing on a large bone that had once been the arm of the terrestrial cave dragon. So far, he hadn't found anything noteworthy, but wasn't deterred in the slightest. A diamond was never found on the surface, one always had to dig to uncover it.

Trist suddenly dropped the large bone and had taken up a defensive stance, her heckles standing at attention. She had finally sensed the group of living beings that had been stationed just outside the door leading into the ballroom. Professor Kal had known they were there for a long while now, he just decided to ignore them just like he would any small insect scurrying around on the ground. As long as they didn't bother him, he would let them be.

Light, timid footsteps sounded out from behind him. The adventurers seemed to have given up on trying to sneak up on him. Trist held her ground, snarling with her yellowed teeth bared. Professor Kal still had his back turned to the group, hunched over a heap of gilded metal and broken crystal.

"Uh... Hey man, you, ok?" A deep but concerned voice asked Professor Kal from behind. "Where's the rest of your group? What's with the dog over there?"

The group of four men had wary expressions on their faces as they looked around in horror at the gore surrounding the robed man. They could only see Professor Kal's back as he rummaged around in the wreckage. He was wearing his black robes and was easily mistaken for a living person due to his posture hiding his undead features, although he was covered in blood. The men must have just glanced at Trist, it would have almost been impossible to not notice that she was an undead otherwise.

"I would suggest you move on to better things and leave me be." Professor Kal spoke in his raspy, deep voice, continuing to sift through the precious metals.

"Where's ya crew? It... can't be just you, right?" One of the men said, his tone probing, lacking any of the concern in the first man's words.

"Last chance, leave now." Professor Kal said, his voice oozing annoyance, as he tossed a golden candle holder into a large pile of similarly gilded metal.

Professor Kal had been separating every part of the chandelier into easily manageable piles. The pieces may not have been what he was looking for, but they were still made of precious metals, thus extremely valuable. They could also be used as mediums for any enchantments he may want to do in the future. Gold and silver were very good conductors, not as good as orichalcum or mithril, but still would allow mana to pass through them with very little resistance, making them worth the effort to collect.

The men's faces, once filled with concern and compassion for their fellow man, were now twisted with the all too familiar expressions of envy and greed as they stole glances at the ever-increasing piles of precious metals. Even though they originally held the intention of robbing a corpse, when they had seen that there was a 'survivor' within the notoriously deadly room they had switched to a more philanthropic mindset. But like so many men before them, when faced with the earthly temptation of gold, silver, and other shiny things, they quickly cast aside their good intentions.

The men's hands crept over to the hilts of their weapons as they silently spread out, cutting off any escape for the man in front of them. Professor Kal paid them no mind, still preoccupied with digging out the diamond in the rough. He allowed them to dig their own graves. He had given them more than enough warning, he figured if they no longer felt like life was worth living, who was he to interfere with their mutual decision.

The crisp sound of steel sliding against steel echoed within the room as they unsheathed their swords or daggers. The four men had formed a semi-circle around the man in black, still not able to see his face clearly because of the way he was standing. They were able to see the thick blood soaking his robe and smell the foul stench of viscera and cooked meat.

"We're real sorry about this." The largest of the men started. "We all have debts to pay and mouths to feed up top, I'm sure you understand."

"You insignificant worms!" A deep grating voice assaulted the men's ears. "No, at least worms serve a purpose, they wriggle quietly amongst the filth, not pestering a soul, eating shit, and turning it into something useful."

The man in blood-soaked black robes stood up abruptly, slamming the glass he held in his hands onto the ground, causing it to explode into innumerable minuscule fragments. Now that he was standing, they were able to get a clearer view of whom they were talking to. His head was bald, no, not bald, but fully bare, down to the bone. Only tatters of flesh hung on to the back of his neck, barely keeping his bleach white skull attached to the vertebra.

The men took a step back, startled by the barking of the dog they had chosen to ignore. Turning around, they all saw what they had missed earlier. The 'dog' was rotted, exposed bone laid bare for all to see, just like the 'man' before them. Matted fur bristled with rage as the zombie dog, head lowered, stalked ever closer to them.

"You, just like most humans, only take; only think about what the world can give you, the thought of contributing to even your own kind never enters your meager, little minds." The voice of the man commanded them to turn and look at him.

The sound of metal clanking loudly on the hard floor rang on deaf ears. They all stood in disbelief as their eyes came into focus on the fiend standing in front of them. Its skeletal hand was clawed around a gnarled black staff that seemed to suck in the ambient light around it. Their eyes moved past the plain black robe concealing the rest of its body and landed on its face. Withered strips of ashen skin stretched across its face, giving it a permanent grin, displaying its pure white teeth.

There were no eyes staring back at them, only blazing multicolored flames filling the hollow eye sockets. They were mesmerized by the dancing flames, caught in rapt attention at the contradictory beauty between the dazzling fires and the monster's sinister façade. Opening its jaws, the same grating voice wailed from its mouth, only seeming much more menacing than before.. "Ah, don't lose hope now, it's no fun if there's no struggle."

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