FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I didn't waste any time in getting to the dinner, Mr. Ward hurrying along behind me. I didn't sense anyone following us, but still, I'd rather not spend any more time with the kid out in the open than I had to. Especially since Bill's diner was on the opposite side of the city than the train station by the kid's apartment. At least the rain held off for the walk.

Mr. Ward blanched as he saw the battered and worn building, at this rate I was wondering if the paleness would bleed from his skin to his fur. I hid a grin and gave the weathered door a good shove.

"Hey, Bill, my client here has a price on his head, might want to wake up the serpents." I yelled over the wailing of the door hinge.

"Did you really have to shout that to the entire place...?" Mr. Ward complained from behind me, "Oh, never mind." He muttered as he saw how empty the place was.

Though to be honest it was actually pretty crowded. Every booth aside from the one I usually go for had at least one person in it. Admittedly that was still only about ten people but still...

The old man looked up from the grill and nodded at me before tapping out a peculiar rhythm with his spatula. An odd clattering and clinking came from the backroom as the "serpents" stirred. One of my more impressive accomplishments I must say. Shortly after this place opened Bill came to me looking for some way to protect the joint. His demands were simple: the solution had to be powerful and capable of moving around in tight places. Also he preferred that the solution not be living. It's cheaper that way - don't want the help eating you out of business. After a few trial runs I came up with a pair of chain golems. Little more than animated piles of chains, my spells bound the constructs into shapes that resembled headless Naga.

One of them slithered from the backroom. It was a mesmerizing sight, the long loops of chains rolling and sliding over themselves as the construct moved. Tendril-like arms were tipped with wicked hooks, the chains curling up to keep the sharp tips from digging into the floor. It came right up to me and leaned against my side, much like a cat. I smiled and idly rubbed the spot where its head should be. The individual chain links all shivered and rattled to produce an odd metallic purring sound.

Eventually it had enough and returned to its post. I'm still not quite sure how it happened but the animation spell left both golems with very cat like traits. It was really kinda cute. Mr. Ward stood there staring after the construct, his jaw agape. I reached over and pushed his mouth shut before snapping my fingers in his ear. That jolted him out of his trance and he followed me over to the corner booth shaking his head the whole while.

"Figures you would like a place like this." Mr. Ward muttered as I flipped through the menu.

"Been in business for over forty years, got to be doing something right." I gestured up at the old calendars hanging from the walls.

He wrinkled his nose at the sight of them. "How does that get past the health inspection?" he asked, staring at some of the older ones. The grease and dust was so thick the aged paper appeared almost black.

"They're high enough not to be a bother." I pushed the menu at him, "Now hurry up, I'm getting hungry."

He gave me a disdainful look and picked up the menu. The same waitress as last time came by, seems she found a minute to cut that hole for her tail. Oh well, that show was fun while it lasted. She gave me the same forced smile but it brightened a bit as she glanced at Mr. Ward. It was actually a predatory kind of smile. I'd have to keep a close eye on my client, looked like he had more than one hunter interested in pursuing him. We put our orders in and I leaned back against the wall, taking a moment to make sure my sword wasn't about to fall into the aisle.

"I probably don't want to know but what was that in my apartment?" the kid asked apprehension clear in his tone.

That surprised me a bit, I took him for the sort that would rather just do his best to ignore something like that and try to put it behind him but I answered, "That was a Silencer, part of an old cult that I thought I, and a few bounty hunters, had wiped out ages ago. They claimed to be a religious order dedicated to the elimination of magic. Of course, as you may have noticed, they're massive hypocrites. Sure, they use a more faith based form of magic, but still."

"But I'm not a mage..." Given the way his day had been going so far I was willing to pardon Mr. Ward for missing the obvious.

"They also work as assassins when times are tough. Hardly surprising really, their abilities make them perfect for it." I explained. "Since they got their cage rattled pretty hard a while ago, I'd say they're still having a pretty rough time of things. Hell, to be honest, I'm surprised they managed to get themselves back together. Guess the hunters and I missed a few. And here I thought I was perfect"

My client shot me a dirty look before saying, "So the people that want me dead hired these Silencers to kill me." Now he was getting it. There might be hope for Mr. Ward yet.

"Seems that way." I answered him tersely.

Mr. Ward fell silent and huddled against the wall. I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of droplets hitting the roof. They slowly picked up speed and before you knew it the rain was pounding the streets. I've always enjoyed watching the way the water ran down the curves of the old diner, there was something oddly hypnotic about it. I also took the time to think. Once we got back to the Heart I would pretty much have to drop the kid off at Alice's and immediately start making the rounds with the black market dealers. Given the information Malak had given me I had anywhere between a few day to a few hours, and since the group's sorcerers had stopped their attempts to curse Mr. Ward, I was willing to be we were pressing closer to a few hours.

Our food came out and we ate in silence as I continued to ponder our dilemma. Mr. Ward seemed surprised by the quality of the food, can't say I wasn't expecting that. These kind of dives tend to be miles better than the overpriced slop he had to be used to. Around us people came and went as the rain continued to pour. Our waitress came by to refill Mr. Ward's coffee and to offer dessert. It was amusing to see how oblivious he was to her, shall we say, assets. I didn't mind, we were in no rush and we still had a fair amount of time before the trains were running again. Of course once they were I'd probably end up dragging my client through the streets just to make good time.

I kept any eye on the clock and as our time to go grew near I signaled the waitress and told her to put it on my tab. All the actually money and my cards were at the office. About seventy five years ago I learned the hard way that carrying that kind of stuff on me was usually a bad idea mostly because of my tendency to lose my clothes in a fight. Some days I wish the old fashioned coin purses never went out of style, just hang it off a belt or around your neck and you were set. Didn't have to worry about holes in your pockets, or losing your pants to an angry mob. Being new, the waitress gave me an odd look before hurrying into the back and checking with Old Bill. Once he reassured her it would be fine she came back out and I wrote an I.O.U. on her notepad. Mr. Ward gave her an awkward glance, I think he was beginning to catch onto her, and left her a more than generous tip. I merely raised my eyebrows. Wisely, I decided to keep my mouth shut.

We were drenched within minutes of stepping outside. I could have conjured a barrier to keep us dry but I didn't mind the rain and Mr. Ward would just have to deal with it. Besides, I remember hearing something about tigers liking water, I wonder if he inherited that part. Didn't really care either way, we weren't really in any kind of position that allowed for creature comforts. I hurried to the nearest station that I knew of that had a line for the Heart, and for once Mr. Ward sensed the urgency of things and actually managed to keep pace with me.

We skidded to a halt in the station just as the first train was pulling in. Unfortunately it wasn't the right train and we wound up waiting about fifteen minutes for the next one. During that time Mr. Ward quickly checked over his bag to make sure the waterproof seals were holding up. I didn't have anything to worry about since the enchantments on my sword helped prevent rust.

A soon as the right train rolled in I unceremoniously shoved Mr. Ward on board and guided him to a seat at the very front of the car. I carefully watched the other passengers, of which there were quite a few. I guess the delay really messed with peoples' schedules. Fortunately no one seemed to show any interest in us. I think the kid was complaining about something but I was really paying enough attention to him to catch it. Too busy scanning the area for potential threats; I'm funny that way.

The train lurched into motion and I relaxed; I knew from experience that this particular line had more people getting off at the following stops than on. So, from this point on all we had to do was wait for the regulars to leave and then we'd be off to the Heart. A little behind schedule but I should be able to make up for that as long as the kid and I didn't run into any issues on the way back to the bar. And if we did, I guess I'd just have to take things seriously for a bit, some days everything just feels like being a headache.

Sure enough the stops flew by and before long the car was pretty much empty. The conductor looked a bit annoyed, guess we were the only ones heading to the Heart on this line, but he radioed ahead to the driver and within a few minutes I could feel the magic of the barriers beginning to leak through the car. This line was much like the first one I took the kid through, a few moments of inverted colors and not much else, at least not in the car itself. Outside the car on the other hand things were quite a mess. Lots of flashing colors and ominous sounds, there were even a few loud bangs on the side of the car. Mr. Ward was deep in thought so the first bang made him nearly jump out of his skin and latch onto my arm like a frightened child. He looked up to see me staring down at him with a raised eyebrow. He sheepishly let go and turned away, his ears flat against his skull.

When we reached the Heart station the kid practically bolted onto the platform, then he made the mistake of looking back at the train. Several large dents and a few gouges marred the top of the car. A while ago something had moved into the tunnel and was too stubborn to leave. To pass the time, it took to taking pot shots at the passing trains. It didn't really matter since the cars were reinforced with various spells and even as the kid watched the damage began to repair itself. His jaw started to drop but then he got a hold of himself. Maybe he was getting used to the Heart. I shuddered at the thought.

As I walked by I spun the kid around and pulled him along until he finished getting himself together. Time was pressing and we didn't have time to stand around gawking at self-repairing trains. That and there was no point in looking around this station, it was one of the more well-kept ones in the Heart and as a result it look rather normal, even a bit bland. On the plus side it was two blocks closer to the bar.

We hurried through the ever crowded streets and we were lucky enough that people realized we were in a rush and got out of our way fairly quickly. Though at one point I had to dodge around a pair of over aggressive street merchants only to double back and pull Mr. Ward from their midst. We arrived at the bar just in time to be greeted by a most amusing sight. Some poor idiot had decided to try and rob the place, must be new to the neighborhood.

A young feline, seemed to be from one of the lion tribes, had pulled a gun on Alice and was trying to stare her down. Anyone with any sense would tell you how much of a bad idea that was. Between her pupil-less crimson eyes being almost unreadable and her tendency to react faster than most people could pull the trigger, it never ended well for the person on the other end. Sure enough, while the man was still focusing in her eyes her arm flashed up and her steel finders locked tightly around the barrel, twisting the gun from his hand. It went off and the bullet passed over her shoulder, harmlessly through Ross, and shattered a bottle of cheap vodka. The lion stumbled back, clutching at his sprained wrist, as Alice vaulted over the bar. She swung herself around and kicked him hard across the face as she went, her nails digging bloody furrows across his muzzle. What followed was a decidedly one sided fight. Broken teeth were scattered about the bar mixed with splatters of blood and the dazed lion lay in a twitching heap in the middle of it all. Ross came around the bar and picked up the man by the scruff of his neck. He hauled the lion to the door and dragged him up the stairs before leaving him in the alley.

Alice leaned against the bar and wiped the blood and spittle from her hands, not that it made much of a difference given how much of it stained her fur. I nodded to Ross as he returned and he gently ushered Mr. Ward downstairs. Poor kid was looking a bit sick again. I wondered if they offered therapy for this kind of thing. Kid might need it if I could keep him alive long enough.

"What took you so long?" Alice asked, not looking up from cleaning the blood from the joints of her hand.

"Trains were running late and the kid had a visit form a Silencer."

"Didn't you kill them off a while ago?"

"Must have missed a few." I shrugged, "No one's perfect."

"You got that right." She chuckled, I frowned and tossed a balled up napkin at her. She dodged it and chucked the blood soaked cloth at my face.

I peeled the rag from my horns and dropped it into the trash with a sigh, Alice laughed. Our conversation soon turned to the business at hand. Fact one; our target was a very secretive and perhaps very old group. Fact two; they purchased a very large amount of materials used for cybernetics from my client. Fact three; they took out several books on forbidden alchemy and summoning rites. As we tossed ideas back and forth I suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

"You look like you can't decide if you want to make a point or burst out laughing." Alice told me.

"I'm pretty sure this whole thing is going to end up going somewhere I've seen before."

There have been a few instances in the past where I've had to deal with some kind of doomsday cult and their attempts at a homebrewed apocalypse. Though admittedly they haven't been quite as competent as this one in the past. Either way I was starting to get a picture of what these guys might be doing. It would most likely be something Real Bad, but the good thing about is that it's tricky to pull off and easy to break.

"You say that for pretty much everything."

"Not my fault if it's true. Also I've got a good idea of who we should talk to."

I knew of one black market dealer that specialized in procuring corpses and body parts. I guess it's pretty easy to do when you work at the Heart's morgue. Given that cybernetics are next to useless without something organic to attach them to I had a feeling she'd be the first person our target would go to.

If I'm right we'd probably be able to get her to tell us where the group is hiding. Or at the very least we could stake out the place where the deal would be going down and just follow them back. Worst case they've already done their business and killed her, much like they're still trying to do with Mr. Ward. If that happened then I'd have to get creative and come up with something different.

As we left, Alice checked her shotgun and clipped it to a shoulder strap before stuffing her pockets with extra shells. I noticed they were all of custom make that had been loaded with holy water soaked silver shot. Things in the Heart had an obnoxious habit of not staying down once they died. Also the morgue didn't just deal with dead bodies, some of them had been put on loan and the original owners haven't come back yet, some of them never do.

Once we reached the mouth of the alley I opened a Way. The morgue was on the very edge of the Heart and for very good reasons. The two fastest ways there were to either take the hospital's train, a good half hour trip, or to use one of the dedicated Ways. Before we could step through the tear, the Way snapped shut. I actually jerked back in surprise, there aren't many people that could slam the door in my face, so to speak. Alice reacted better than I did, she drew her handgun and began to scan the alley and the street for the threat. Only a few seconds later she stomped hard on my paw. That snapped me out of my daze and I turned to follow her gaze, drawing my sword as I did so. A trio of felines stood a short ways down the sidewalk and people seemed to be avoiding them as much as they avoided us. The middle one fit the description of the man we've been after. He was flanked by a pair of pumas, I could just barely make out the runic marks on their dark fur.

"Now, now. Can't have you interrupting any important business, can we?" The middle one said. I remembered Helgarth saying his name was Markus. "Though I must say, well done in dealing with the Silencer, he killed three of ours before the boss decided to send an unmarked initiate to make the deal."

Well, well... he knew I fought the Silencer and I hadn't sensed any presences in the room other than the Silencer, Mr. Ward, and myself. Strange...the Silencer's mantra would have also caused any observation spells to fizzle. So they had to have had some other kind of surveillance going on, probably something technical and high quality enough to survive being close to them. And that cost. Then again they bought a shit ton of cybernetic materials so I guess a few high end toys wouldn't put them that much over budget.

Markus glanced over his shoulder at his guards and then vanished. Well, that's an impressive trick. Color me surprised - there weren't many who could pull of the instant vanishing act. It clearly wasn't an illusion, I would have sensed the energies around him if it were. He must have opened a Way just big enough for him to slip through and weak enough to collapse immediately afterward without leaving much of a trace. I was dealing with someone with a strong magical talent. Oh joy, life just got more interesting. Unfortunately even with their boss gone, the pumas didn't seem in any kind of hurry to leave. Light flickered around their hands as they conjured weapons. A pair of swords for the one on the right and a sword and gun for the one on the left.

Alice dropped the one of the left before his constructs could even finish taking shape. He hit the ground with two holes through his head. The other one was a bit quicker, as her gun barked two more time he conjured a barrier that sent the bullets ricocheting into the side of the building across the street. Another spell jammed her gun as she went to fire again. Entropy spells, they suck.

Alice wasn't about to waste one of the valuable blessed shells for her shotgun and she was smart enough not to risk a sword fight with an experienced spellsword. She fell back and worked to unjam the handgun while I gave the puma a mocking bow. He rushed me, trying to take me off guard. I sighed, what's the point of having a reputation if no one pays attention to it? I needed to hire a better PR man.

My own blade snapped up and met his. The conjured steel rang like it was real as it meet enchanted steel. We locked blades and to my surprise we were fairly evenly matched. Life really was getting more interesting. I smiled. That seemed to unnerve him for some reason and after a few seconds of struggling against each other, I managed to throw him off balance with a sudden twist and flourish. As he stumbled, I stepped forward and head-butted him. Something in his muzzle crunched under my horns.

He spat out blood and half a fang before lunging at me again. I guess quick doesn't always mean smart. This time I spread my arms and let him impale me. The twin blades sunk deep into my chest, it felt like they went through my lungs. I smiled and grabbed him in a bear hug, then drove a knee into his crotch. He dropped fast once I let go.

"Oh come on. That something I would do." Alice called, she had cleared the jammed bullet but the gun still wouldn't fire. "Fuck! The spell snapped a spring." she tossed her new paperweight aside and looked around for something heavy or at least sharp. Her gaze fell on my chest. I grinned in anticipation of what was coming.

The puma was just getting his breath back when Alice came over and pulled one of the conjured blades from my chest. She made sure to twist it on the way out. I bit my lip and tried not to moan from the mix of pain and pleasure. The poor sap had just gotten back to his feet when Alice kicked him right where it would hurt most. Twice in one day, poor guy. I hope he wasn't planning on having any children. I was pretty sure the blow was hard enough to lift his paws off the ground. He hit the ground again and this time he didn't seem to be in much of a hurry to get back up. Alice rested one paw on his chest and the tip of the blade on his sensitive bits. Finally, the pain was enough to break his concentration, personally I was surprised it held up this long, and the blade vanished along with the one that was still in my chest. "Alex?" She held out a hand. I passed her my sword. "Time to talk." she grinned.

Five minutes later we were stepping out of a Way and into the morgue. A massive concrete building, the morgue looked as miserable as most of things in it. The walls weren't painted but they were stained with ichors of various colors. The windows were dark and most were barred. Not that it mattered much, it's not the kind of place that needs to look pretty. It didn't help that most of it was underground. In fact, that added to the creep factor.

Alice and I passed through the heavy steel doors and headed straight for the main desk. The receptionist raised an eyebrow at me then looked pretty startled when she saw the fresh bloodstains on Alice's legs. The little old lady behind the desk looked more like someone's grandmother than the boss of this whole damn place. She's been here for the past fifty years and still insists on working the desk rather than being cooped up in the executive offices. "Evening. We're looking for Dr. Mary Greil. She around?" I asked, leaning casually against the steel desk and trying to ignore the stench of disinfectants.

"She's been a popular one lately. People been coming and going from her office for the past week. You're the first friendly face to be asking about her though, Mr. Derleth." the receptionist told me. "She's down in slabs 6B. I'm sure you know the way by now."

That I did. We headed straight for one of the main elevators, a freight styled affair with a few empty gurneys near the edges. We had barely gone below the first floor when the temperature abruptly dropped. Magic, it beats out even the best industrial A/C. Along the way morticians came and went, some carrying stacks of reports while others pushed body bag laden carts. Most of them paid us little mind, though a few gave friendly nods. After all we help keep them in business. Finally the elevator shuddered to a halt. We were a bit over sixty feet underground and just two floors above the bottom of the joint, this was the last floor where anything safe was kept. The floors below this were where things started to get weird. I've had to go down there a few ties for previous cases. It's hard to tell which makes my skin crawl more, the things in the slabs and cells or the people that work down there.

We worked our way down the mile long hallway until we got to the B slabs. The door was already open and I heard faint voices. I gestured for Alice to get closer to me and conjured a simple veil that would hid us and muffle our movements. We entered the slabs and ducked behind a cabinet. Markus's voice drifted over to us along with that of Dr. Greil.

"... the final payment, as per our agreement." Markus sounded quite smug.

"Thank you. Though one thing before you go." the doctor sounded a bit annoyed.

"Yes?"

"Find someone else next time. This job nearly cost me mine and if that happened we'd have all been in the shitter." There's a reason the doctor worked with corpses instead of the living. It had something to do with her charming bedside manner.

Markus muttered something under his breath. The doctor snorted dismissively and I heard the sounds of her instruments being shuffled about on their tray. Without warning Markus opened a Way, not an official one and nowhere near as subtle as the one from earlier. It closed shortly after it opened but the trace energies lingered. I smiled, "Got him." I muttered.