Dreamer's Throne

Less than an hour had passed before Obe heard footsteps heading their way. Whispering a warning to the rest of the gang, he stood up, gripping his mangled shield in one hand and his bent axe in the other. The fight against Hollice had been brutal and had taken a toll on his equipment. Her focus had been strength, and each and every one of her attacks had been powerful enough to bend metal.

Licking his lips, he watched the doorway of the chamber they were in carefully. He was confident he knew who it was that was coming toward them, but he still found himself shaken from the vicious battle they’d just undergone. It was better to be safe than sorry. Ryn had ordered the others to load their crossbows, though they kept them pointed at the ground for fear of accidentally pulling the trigger no matter who walked through the door. The footsteps got closer and then stopped, just around the corner of the door. Nerves fraying, Obe called out sharply.

“Friend or foe?”

“Friend, hopefully,” Viper’s rough voice came back, causing everyone in the room to breathe a sigh of relief.

Until Ryn spoke up.

“And those creepy flower monsters? Are they friends too?”

The question caused Viper to pause for a moment as he appeared in the doorway. Shrugging, he looked at Ryn as he responded.

“You have nothing to fear from them. Everything is resolved. Here is the token you’ll need to prove your success. I’ll deal with the… cleanup. You’ll find the equipment that is salvageable under the inn tomorrow or the day after. Give Garrett my regards.”

With that Viper turned and left, leaving Obe holding the Swamp Shark’s seal. Staring in shock at the pewter block with the shark fin design on it, Obe couldn’t believe what he was seeing. This was the second time he’d fled from an unwinnable battle, leaving Viper behind, only to find out that everything had been handled without issue. Remembering Ryn’s question, Obe took a deep breath, trying to calm his trembling heart.

“Lets… let’s go home.”

“Yes please,” Ryn said, her voice barely trembling. “Today has not been a good day.”

“I wouldn’t say that, Ms. Ryn,” one of the gang members said, causing everyone to look at him sharply. “We’ve still got our heads, haven’t we?”

“That’s true,” another said, with a lopsided grin, “we could have gotten eaten by giant flowers with teeth.”

“And claws, I saw claws.”

“We could also have been stabbed and squashed at the same time by that giant lady who was hitting on Obe.”

“Hitting on? You mean pounding,” one of the gang members joked, poking Obe in the shoulder.

“It’s true,” Obe grimaced, massaging his shoulder. “And it still hurts.”

Exhausted but in high spirits, the gang pulled themselves together and began the trek back to the inn. Too tired to bother keeping a lookout, it was a miracle they didn’t run into any monsters. Or maybe it was the occasional white flower hidden in the shadows of the passages. Climbing up into the inn after locking the gate behind them, they sealed the entrance to the crypts and stumbled into the great room. To their astonishment, they found Garrett waiting for them by three tables that had been pushed together and covered with a large spread of food and drink.

“Welcome home,” Garrett said, a wide smile on his face. “I’d get up to welcome you but, you know.”

Grinning, Obe walked over and took out the Swamp Shark’s seal, holding it up in triumph.

“We return victorious!”

Shouts and cheers broke out as the tired men rushed to the table and began to eat and drink, replenishing their empty bellies. Picking up the seal, Garrett looked at it carefully, his thoughts impossible to read. Glancing over as he picked up a large drumstick, Obe saw a deep turmoil in Garrett’s expression and stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

Looking up, Garrett flashed a smile, his expression calm once again.

“Nothing. Eat up, you deserve it.”

As the gang finished stuffing themselves and the feast wound down, Garrett tapped his fork against his cup for everyone’s attention. Lifting his cup, he looked around the room.

“Well done, all of you. The fact that you came back alive is a clear sign of your hard work and, more importantly, your commitment to each other. A toast to all of you!”

Lifting their cups, the gang’s excited shouts lit up the room.

“Cheers!”

“It only worked because of your plan,” Obe said, lifting his cup to return the toast to Garrett.

“And your incredibly sketchy connection with an incredibly sketchy mystery man,” Ryn said, joining the toast with half a smile.

“It would seem that Viper proved useful,” Garrett said, hiding his smile behind his cup.

“Useful? He pretty much did the whole thing by himself,” Ryn replied.

“That can’t be true.”

“It is,” Obe said, his voice becoming quiet. “Garrett, what’s going on with him? Is he a Shaper?”

Smiling without saying anything, Garrett looked around at the gang. Everyone in the room had fallen silent and was listening intently to hear what he was going to say. Garrett had known this moment would come, but he hadn’t expected it to come so soon. Still, he knew it was a bridge that had to be crossed if his many plans were to come to fruition. Sighing, he gestured to Obe.

“If you don’t mind, would you help me check that there’s no one outside? What I’m about to say will need to be taken to your graves.”

His face solemn, Obe nodded and took a turn around the room, making sure there was no one lurking nearby. Once he had shut and locked the door, he returned to the table and sat down next to Garrett, watching as the young man took a deep breath.

“Today is a day to celebrate, not only because we survived a war against an enemy gang, but because we have, in many ways, been reborn. You have all entered the crucible and emerged refined.”

Looking around, Garrett could tell that his words were resonating with the gang members, but before he could continue, Ryn banged on the table and pointed her finger at him.

“Hey, stop beating around the brush and tell us how you know creepy mask man!”

Hearing the chuckles from around the table, Garrett shot her an annoyed glance, but she didn’t even blink.

“Fine. Viper serves me. For a time he was masquerading as an adventurer, but from now on, he’ll be supporting us from the shadows. Obe, to answer your question, he’s not a Shaper, not yet at least. The flower ghouls are a special type of monster he knows how to control. How is that? Concise enough for you, Ms. Ryn?”

“That was good, but you missed a couple things,” Ryn said seriously, her eyes stabbing into Garrett’s. “Who are you? Why do you have an almost-Shaper protecting you from the shadows, and why are you so pathetically weak compared to him? Shouldn’t he be our boss?”

Far from taking offense at the pointed questions, Garrett’s eyes brightened, gaining a new appreciation for Ryn’s sharp wit. While it seemed on the surface like she was questioning his authority and position in the gang, in reality she was setting him up to establish himself as the new leader. Shooting a quick glance at Obe, Garrett could see nothing but encouragement in the man’s gaze, so he closed his eyes and nodded. When he opened them up there was a sliver of decisiveness in them that had been hidden before.

“My name is Garrett Klein, former aide to the royal family. I was present when the assassination attempt against the king and his family succeeded, with only one of them making it out alive.”

“Succeeded? What do you mean by succeeded?” one of the gang members asked, only to get shushed by the rest of the group.

“I mean that, with the exception of one person, the king and his family were all killed, paving the way for the royal duke to become the new king. Regardless, that has little to do with us. As for why Viper serves me, suffice it to say that he and I share a connection stronger than blood. What was the next question?”

“Why are you so weak?”

Grinning, Garrett tapped his head.

“Because all my strength is up here. I don’t need physical strength of my own so long as I can leverage the strength of others. I believe you should all understand what I’m talking about after what you’ve witnessed tonight.”

Thinking through the meticulous planning Garrett had shown, there wasn’t a person in the room who didn’t grasp exactly what Garrett meant. Nodding his head, Obe helped cement his point.

“Honestly, I would much rather face off against two Awakened than get on the wrong end of one of your schemes. At least then I would have a chance to run away.”

Smirking, Garrett shrugged.

“As for being your boss, Viper won’t do that. His place is in the shadows under the city. Besides, he has some, um, friends to look after.”

“If Viper won’t be our boss, what about you?”

When everyone turned to stare at the gang member who spoke, he blanched and stood up, bowing to Obe.

“S… sorry, I… I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Waving his hand, Obe looked surprisingly relieved.

“If you hadn’t suggested it, I would have. We need a boss, and I’m not cut out for it. I’m a good hammer, but not everything is a nail. That’s why I stayed out of the fight between Henrick and Gorn. You’ll face no competition from me.”

Frowning slightly, Garrett looked around for a moment and then nodded. As everyone broke into smiles, he held up his hand.

“However, if I’m going to take over, there will need to be some changes. I will not lead the Ghoul’s Tooth gang. If I take over, the Ghoul’s Tooth is buried today. Second, I need everyone to understand that I’m not interested in becoming the largest gang in the city. The strongest? Certainly. But I don’t care about size, only reach. And finally, I don’t want to be a gang at all. Gangs are organizations that run under the surface of society, dodging the guards for fear of being crushed. If I’m going to lead an organization, it must exist in both the light and the dark, in both the day and the night. If I become the leader, you need to understand that we will not be a gang. We will be a family.”

Quiet fell when Garrett’s words faded, but it didn’t last long as people began to nod, murmuring to the person next to them.

“A family sounds good. Isn’t that what a gang was originally supposed to be?” Obe said, standing up.

Standing up and nodding, the gang member who’d first asked about Garrett leading them spoke up.

“That’s what we want. A family. Strength. And the ability to walk tall in the light, even as we stand firm in the darkness.”

“I never knew you had such a poetic mouth,” Ryn said, giving him a thumbs up.

Laughter filled the room as she stood up and looked at Garrett.

“The most important question is not do we agree to your terms, it’s what are you going to call our new not-a-gang?”

Freezing, Garrett stared at Ryn, dismay clearly written on his face. As the silence stretched, Ryn’s eyebrows rose.

“You seriously didn’t think about it? Wow.”

“What about, uh… Shark… Tooth?” Obe said, his face completely red by the time he’d finished speaking.

Staring at him in something akin to shock, Ryn rubbed her forehead.

“I… wow. Just… wow.”

“We could be the Griffin’s Teeth! I like griffins,” someone suggested, only to quail under Ryn’s glare.

“What is with you and teeth? And besides, griffins don’t even have teeth. They have beaks. Beaks!”

“Red Coral?”

“Silver Steins?”

“We could be the twenty-two fangs!”

“Crystal Spiders!”

“How about Day Walkers?”

Facepalming as he listened to the gang members throwing out names, Garrett finally held up his hand for quiet.

“Thank you for all your suggestions. They have been noted and will be given the appropriate amount of consideration. We’re in no real rush to choose a name, so let’s call it here for the night. You can give your suggestions to Ryn, who seems to have some very particular thoughts about what sort of name we use, and she’ll sort them and then present them to the group. Finally, am I safe to assume that you’re all interested in having me serve as the new leader of our group?”

When no one protested, Garrett nodded.

“Great. In that case, let me give my first order. Go to bed. It’s late, everyone is exhausted, and there’s a lot to do. I know we’ve won the battle against the Swamp Sharks, but that’s only the beginning. According to the laws that govern the gangs of this city, this token we seized is the key to taking over their old territory, but there aren’t even enough of us to keep our own territory, let alone theirs. We will be able to move all their goods and possessions though, which is a must. No reason to leave that for others. Speaking of, if anyone knows people we can hire temporarily, or even people who might want to join us, let me know tomorrow, okay? We’re going to need to get some extra help if we want to loot them properly. We only have two days to deal with this, and I need all of you to be as rested as possible, alright?”

Standing up, Obe snapped a rough salute, causing everyone else to rise to their feet and salute as well.

“Oh, and Obe? I’m going to need a hand or two to get around until we can recover and repair my wheelchair. For the third time.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Obe said with a smile.

As the gang filtered out of the room, Ryn stopped by where Garrett said and patted him on the shoulder, a happy smile on her face.

“You know, if we’re not going to be a gang, we shouldn’t use a gang name. We should use a name that will one day be feared across the city. Like Klein. Or better yet, we could just go simple and be the Family. Regardless, congratulations on climbing the ranks. Just be aware that I still won’t let you boss me around.”

With a laugh, Ryn left, leaving Garrett, Obe, and a scowling Francis, who was muttering something under his breath about being left to clean up.