NOVEL WEB Chapter Twenty-Four: The Black Hand
Yugo awoke with a groan, his head felt like it was going to split open… where was he? All he could see was darkness. He was… naked? Yes, he felt cold and bare from head to toe. His helmet had been removed, and some sort of cloth had been put over his eyes. As his eyes adjusted, he could see light seeping in through the dark cloth. He strained his arms, but found that he had been securely tied with a strong rope. His ankles had been bound as well, as were his knees and calves, strangely enough. Even each of his individual fingers had also been tied, and testing the restraints was painful. If he wanted to try and dislocate his joints, he would end up breaking his fingers in the process.
He was laying on a cold hard floor, tapping his head gently on it, he could conclude that it was made of steel. This stranger that had defeated him was wealthy indeed to have a floor made out of the stuff. Was he in that giant metal cube that the stranger had thrown his target into? Perhaps, but his situation was dire, he could think about all this when he was free.
Well, at least he hadn’t been killed. He could still escape with his life, it would just require him forfeiting his pride to do so. Keeping his mouth shut, he chomped down on his teeth multiple times in the pattern he had been taught… Once the beat was finished, he slumped like a corpse. Questioning couldn’t begin if they thought he was unconscious, now he just needed to wait until he was warped out of there-
“Wakey wakey?” He heard the stranger ask, “I saw you movin’ yer mouth around there.”
Damn, he was in the room with him after all. No matter, it shouldn’t be too much longer before he was warped out. Still, it would take some time for the warping to cast…If he needed to part with sensitive information to avoid torture, he would. After all, Yugo’s loyalties lay with his clan, not with his employer.
“Well I know yer awake.” He said, “I wanna know why you ninjas were trying to kill Prolo. Don’t try and shift around on the floor neither, yer surrounded by a buncha bear traps. You get too frisky and it’ll be hard to pull ‘em off ya.”
Yugo’s brows knit together. Ninjas? What on Faenor was a ninja?
“Joseph,” He heard his target ask, “Perhaps we should exercise more caution in speaking with him? What if he can still cast?”
“Suppressor cuffs are still on, kid.” The stranger, Joseph said, “He can’t cast, and if he tries to do some dislocating crap I’ll kick his teeth in. Make sure you stay back too, I’m wearing my gear so if he spits on me I won’t get no diseases. You ain’t wearing nothin’ to protect you from that.”
“Just ask me what you want to know, and let me go.” Yugo said sufferingly.
It was true that he could no longer cast, but the warping spell would not be his own work. He just needed to hold out until it could be done. He had done the signal exactly right… hadn’t he?
“Alrighty then.” Joe said, “Who hired you to kill Prolo?”
“Madame of Relias.” He answered honestly.
Yugo heard Prolo gasp audibly at that. It must have been truly disconcerting to hear about that. He himself would not want Madame as an enemy, though divulging this information may do so. Again, he cared not, his clan could not be attacked by her as it was a war she couldn’t afford. He supposed that he could try lying, but if this man had an equivalent to the Truth Rod, he’d know Yugo’s words were false. Joseph had so many strange implements at his disposal already, he couldn’t write off magical items. He’d tell him nearly anything to avoid torture.
“...Why?” Joe asked.
“From what I understand, Lord Letsher offered Madame’s gang permission to operate borderline-freely in Letsher… all that had to be done was executing Prolo, so my clan was hired to accomplish that. Lord Letsher had been hiring fools to come kill him, so Madame sought my clan for aid, with the promise that we would be given a fortune.” Yugo said.
Where was that warp?
“Alrighty, now what is your clan's name?” Joe asked.
Yugo remained silent.
“I can just kill you if you don’t wanna talk.”
Yugo cursed, “We are known as The Black Hand.”
“Y’all gonna keep coming after Prolo?” Joe asked, approaching footsteps making it clear that he had moved closer to Yugo.
“...Perhaps.” He replied.
Pain exploded up his shoulder as Joe’s boot stomped down on it. Was the bear trap claim a lie!? Surely he would have triggered one of them based on that approach? Still, Yugo remained still, not flinching from the pain just in case the traps really were there.
“Yes!” Yugo shouted, “We will track him down until he dies!”
Where was that damned warp!?
“I don’t like torturing folk pal.” Joe said in a low voice, “So I’ll cut you a deal, I won’t hurt ya again, so the next time you give me some vague shit, I’ll just kill you.”
“Joseph?” Prolo asked, concerned, “It is not honorable to kill a defenseless man.”
“Look kid,” Joseph said, “This guy don’t play fair either, and we gotta find out what we can from ‘em.”
“Very well but… you will do as promised and release him afterward, right?” Prolo asked.
Joe didn’t reply to the question, instead asking, “If I kill Lord Letsher will you guys back off? You won’t get paid if Madame don’t get paid.”
“We were paid to kill Prolo already, and we aren’t known for doing refunds.” Yugo said, frustrated.
Had he really clacked his teeth in the wrong rhythm? He had practiced it thousands of times, it shouldn’t have been possible for him to get it wrong. The warp should have activated by now, were they not listening?
“Alright then.” Joseph said with a sigh, “How can I find the Black Hand?”
Yugo’s lips tightened. That was not something he would tell this man, not even if he were killed for it. The warp was coming, it had to be. Just in case, he subtlyclacked his teeth in that rhythm, repeating it again and again instead of answering Joseph’s question.
“Stop being a freak and tell me.” He demanded.
Yugo simply kept clacking his teeth together, ignoring the order. Joseph sighed, and Yugo heard the sound of metal sliding on metal before he felt himself being quickly dragged away.
“What are you doing Joseph?” Prolo asked him, “You’re taking him outside?”
“Well yeah,” He replied, dropping him to open a door, “I don’t wanna make a mess in here. Listen to him chatter his teeth, he could be eating a cyanide pill. Well, maybe not that but an equivalent or worse, maybe he’s gonna blow himself up. I ain’t having him finish whatever it is he’s doing in here.”
“Wait! At least duel him if you intend on killing him!” Prolo pleaded, “This is dishonorable!”
“I ain’t a fancy pants noble.” Joseph replied, “This is how we do things on Earth.”
Yugo stopped clacking his teeth in shock, Joseph seemed to take note of this, and sighed again, “That’s just the Shard I’m from.”
“I don’t believe it!” Yugo yelled, moreso to himself than Joseph.
His mouth clamped shut, and he internally berated himself for speaking so openly.
“I don’t care if you believe it or not, that’s my Shard.” Joe told him nonchalantly, “I might just leave you out in the snow if you tell me what I wanna know…”
The clan’s records had always referred to the Outworld as ‘Earth’. Yugo thought he had come from another Shard with that drawling accent of his, but his true nature made so much more sense. His weapons were far too advanced to be from Faenor. He needed to be warped now. Cold air greeted his skin as he was thrown down a ramp, rolling into some snow before coming to a standstill.
“I’ll make it quick, but I warned ya not to waste my time.” Joe said, squatting down and pressing something hard to Yugo’s temple. “Actually, that’d be a waste of ammo. I’ll just stab ya.”
Yugo’s blood went cold as he felt a blade prick the flesh of his neck, “Alright, one last chance, I’ll leave ya out here alive if you tell me where the Black Hand is. If ya don't’, I’ll kill ya and leave yer body instead.”
He needed to buy time! If the Hand could capture an Outworlder then all of Everfae could be theirs for the taking! Though it pained him to betray this information to a stranger… it needed to be done for the good of the clan. Best case scenario, Joseph would come to try and fight The Black Hand, then they could apprehend him. A wish would be theirs!
“You have heard of Ugals, yes?” Yugo asked, trying to inch his head away from the knife point.
“As a matter of fact, I have.” Joe replied, keeping the blade point at his throat, "What about it?”
“Our hideout is at the base of a mountain near the Dwarfhold, five miles to the west. We are secluded in such a way that not even the dwarves can find us, but that is where we reside.” He said, “Now please, let me go.”
“Oh I’ll let you go alright.” Joseph said, “Let you go straight to hell, see ya later.”
Right as the knife began digging into his neck… he finally warped. Yugo grabbed at his bleeding throat, falling to the stone floor. He sputtered, holding the wound shut as cloaked men rushed toward him, bandages in hand. His ears popped painfully from the sudden change in elevation, but compared to his bleeding neck it was hardly noticeable. He grinned devilishly, already planning on how to capture the Outworlder.