Well Done by Andrew Seiple

Author:Andrew Seiple [Seiple, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-06-02T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18: ENTER THE JANITOR

Once, the markets of Gnome had played host to traders from across the known worlds. Goods brought in on steam-powered dromonds made or broke merchant families on a daily basis. The fruits of empire were laid bare to the jewel in her crown that was the eternal city.

The tradition had continued throughout the centuries, even as the empire crumbled. Mind you, the quality suffered a bit. And as the trade routes shifted to account for things like major mountain passes being surrounded by walls of black oblivion, and the whole industry of money-changing and currency speculation was destroyed overnight by the universal coin shift, one could easily say that the markets of Gnome had lost their luster.

Which isn’t to say that they’d been forgotten.

In fact, as Chase moved through overturned stalls, and smashed tents, and past open shops that showed shelf after shelf of wreckage and abandoned goods, she knew that the rumors she’d heard had been true. This was one of the first places targeted by the rioting mobs fleeing the dragon. Almost everything edible, or of that right balance between portability and profitability, had been taken.

But Chase wasn’t here looking for salvage, or wealth, or food. She was looking for a particular black-and-white beastkin... and failing.

“You’re sure he ran down this street?” Chase asked, pausing to perch on an overturned sausage-inna-bun cart.

“Positive,” Carmina curled her nose. “Gods, the smell still lingers. Old grease over bad meat.”

“You’re tracking him by smell?” Chase raised an eyebrow.

“No! No, no, no.” The catgirl waved a hand around at the gray-stained street and the gutters choked with sodden ash and grime. “It’s rained since then, and everything smells like burnt anyway. Except for places like this, where the odors were too strong. Like that filthy cart you parked your bottom on.”

“I don’t smell a thing,” Chase sighed. “You’re sure you’re out of biscuits?”

Carmina threw her hands up. “You just ate like two hours ago!”

“I know. That was pre-breakfast,” Chase said, folding her arms. “And I did a vision after that, it took it right out of me.”

That was a bit of a lie, but she was feeling hungry from all the walking she’d done since then. Her stamina was down, and she was cold. With most of the ash out of the sky, Gnome had lost its insulating layer. Winter was grinding down... this part of the land rarely saw snow, but the chill could bite deep at this time of year.

“Yeah. A vision. Looked like a power nap to me,” Carmina sneered.

“Not my fault it knocks me out for a while,” Chase hopped off the cart. “So let’s try this again. Where did he go after he ran down this street?”

“He didn’t.”

“Didn’t what?”

“He didn’t go anywhere. He came around the corner there.” Carmina pointed back the way they’d come, where the main via branched into smaller lanes and wound through the entrance of the district. “I went ahead to cut him off at the next junction. But he never showed up.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.