《The Great Realm》


 Prolouge

    Unknown corner of the Great Desert, Southern Realm


    Five years. For five years Devin, a below average enchanter, has been searching for the temple described in an old tome called ''The History of the Lost Gods''. The book had given him hope,describing an artifact that bestows immortality, created by a god of old as a gift to his high priest.


    It was nearly six years ago when a healer had informed him of the magic based disease that his beloved wife, Lorett, was effected by and the despair he felt as he was told that it was terminal.


    The only known cure was an alchemical concoction which included blood of a wyvern and help from a Master Alchemist, both ridiculously far beyond reach of someone of his status and wealth, considering that even a king of a small realm would need to spend a fortune to obtain.


    At the time he was devastated, he was about to lose the most important thing in his life and he was completely helpless. With all the feelings of fear and frustration welling up in him, he started to desperately search for anything and any possibility to at least prolong her life by a few more years.


    It was then that a stranger approached him with an old history book claiming that the answer he is searching for lies within its contents. Oddly enough now that he thinks back, he can''t remember anything about the stranger or even why he believed the story to be true.


    After he read the book, he became obsessive, frantically searching for the temple described in the tome to the point of even shutting his wife out as she insisted that he should forget about the cure and simply stay by her side till the end, because she was afraid of dieing alone.


    After that his memories become jumbled and faint, he can''t even remember the last time it was when he saw his wife.


    Was it last month? No, a year? Why haven''t I seen her in so long? What have I been doing all this time? No matter how hard he tried to remember, all he felt was confusion and a sense of loss.


    It doesn''t matter. Once I obtain the Immortals Medallion, I can spend all the time in the world with her. We can even finally take the time to have the children Lorett has always wished for.


    ¡°Sir,¡± a particularly rough looking dwarf grumbled, interrupted his thoughts, ¡° the scouting group that I sent out earlier has returned with news of a buildin'' made of obsidian, hidden towards the center of the Jungle.¡±


    ¡°Was there any statues of snakes by the building?¡± Devin asked in excitement with a crazed glint in his eyes.


    Wollts, the leader of the group of dwarven mercenaries, paid to protect Devin, flinched at the sight of the insanity and obsession in Devin¡¯s eyes that had been growing ever more pronounced these last few weeks.


    ¡°Aye, two large stone sculptures are guarding the entrance to the god forsaken place, not to mention all the toe-biting snakes that litter this jungle, nor shall we forget the cursed snakes that would just pop up out of the sand in the desert surrounding this unholy patch of elf rock.¡± complained the suffering mercenary in an increasingly irritated voice.


    ¡°Five of my men are suffering from various poisons and just this mornin'' Yolgrin found the spawn infesting our mead! Now we can''t even drink our mornin'' beverages out of fear of food poisoning!¡±


    Who?


    ¡°Yes, yes, I will be sure to compensate you all as soon as we return safely to the adventurers guild in Galindale. But first have your men clear a way to the temple, we are nearly finished with the expedition.¡±


    The dwarf grumbled to himself some more with an expression on his face, clearly showing his doubts that any amount of money is worth being denied his morning alcohol. ¡°Alright you unsightly lumps of rotten stone, forget the mead and get your arses ready to travel. We''re headed toward the center of the hearth and if yer'' not payin'' attention to where you put yer'' feet you''ll get bitten. Tonight we''ll just have to make due with the ale.¡±


    The group of dwarves groaned in unison as they got up to get ready, most still chewing the leftovers of their breakfast.


    There was a flurry of activities, small men packing up their tents and burdening the small wagons with barrels, as the mercenaries got ready to enter the jungle at the edge of where desert and jungle meet. Devin had nearly nothing on him except a sleeping mat and a leather bag that held a few coins, a map, the History of the Lost Gods, and a key, shaped as a skull eating a snake, curled up in a particular manner.


    The key and the map were the most recent discoveries that Devin had made, which had led him to this oversized oasis, or small jungle if you will, here in one of the largest deserts known in history.


    The group, led by Wollts and the scouts that had left at the break of dawn in search of the temple, fully entered the forbidding canvas of elf rock, as the dwarves so wisely name any gathering of trees.


    The jungle itself was ominously quite, with only the occasional hiss of one of the many snakes and the deeper they went, the darker it became, leaving the dwarves unsettled as the light should be shining much more through the leaves than it was.


    After only a few hours of fighting their way through the underbrush of the jungle, often stopping to fend off the occasional serpentine monster, they had finally arrived at the temple to the joy of the whole party even if the dwarves were mostly happy about finally opening the ale and building a camp to repel all forms of snakes, both normal and magical.


    The temple was a large, black structure with engravings carved all over it and two large snakes acting as pillars at the entrance.


    ¡°Let your men rest for another hour, but then we head in. I''ve been searching for this place for years, I refuse to wait any longer than that.¡± commanded Devin to Wollts as he excitedly inspected the carvings on the walls, reassuring himself that this really was the temple he had been looking for.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°No need, I''m sure that my men want this to be done with as soon as possible so that they can return home. This journey has been rough on us all. First the endless deserts that had us up to the waist in sand and now reptiles in an already uncanny jungle. I''ll have half follow you in and the other half will stand guard at the entrance, keeping both the wagons and our back free.¡±


    Wollts gathered his men together and after a quick conversation, he split them into two groups, leaving only those behind, that he trusted not to start drinking while they were gone. The remaining men gathered their weapons and a few torches, made of dry branches from the edge of the forest and some rags drenched in tree sap.


    Lighting the torches, they climbed the stairs leading to the entrance and then passed the two statues, as their group entered the temple. For a moment all they could see was darkness, but as their eyes gradually adjusted, they beheld a large hall with pillars distributed evenly throughout the room. The pillars themselves were amazingly intricate, as they looked like multiple snakes coiled around each other and covered in scales.


    Devin, too impatient to wait any longer, grabbed a torch from one of the dwarves and without caution or any hesitation, took large quick strides into the depths of the hall.


    Wollts, not wanting his source of income to be eaten, made haste in having his men follow Devin, leaving the occasional torch behind to light the way back.


    As Devin made his way deeper, a large stone archway slowly became visible, distinguishing a pathway that led to a staircase, leading into the depths of the earth.


    ¡°This is the pace I''ve been looking for! Finally, after so long, I''ve finally found it.¡± Devin panted while rushing down the staircase, leaving the mercenaries to scurry in behind him.


    ¡°Goddammit fool! If you rush us like this you''ll get us all killed! We don''t know if some monster or magical beast has made it''s nest in the depths of this place!¡± Wollts said as he grabbed onto Devin, preventing him from running of into the unknown that the darkness of the stairway hid from them.


    ¡°Improbable. This temple still has the blessing of its god. Have you even seen a mouse or spiderweb since we entered? Not even the snakes that live in this jungle have entered. I can still feel the thrum of magic from the walls and pillars. The temple is still under the protection of its god, so no creature or magical beast will be able to live in here without being driven insane by the divine power imbued into this place.¡± Devin scornfully replied. Nonetheless he adjusted his speed to allow the short men to keep up with his longer stride.


    Wollts mumbled to himself with a dark expression on his face, cursing Devin and regretting taking the mission from this maniac. Still he couldn''t just leave Devin here to die, his reputation and the reputation of his team would go down as the Mercenary guild takes note of all missions and their completion. As long as they survived this he could even notify the guild of Devin¡¯s unstable behavior, preventing less experienced mercenaries from taking his missions and getting themselves killed with him.


    As they step down the staircase, inexplicably, the dwarves start to feel claustrophobic. The feeling of the darkness slowly closing in on them as even the light of the torches dims ever so slightly, the deeper they climb. The silence is deafening, as even Wollts, the hardiest dwarf among them, has to repress the urge to flee. As if there is a predator just out of sight, slowly stalking them and the darkness itself is seeping out of the walls, reaching out to grab them and devour them. The very temple itself hates them and want''s them dead. The only one not effected by the darkness was Devin, as nothing but eagerness was to be seen on his face.


    Just before the dwarves give in to their fear, the staircase suddenly ends, opening up once again to a similar hallway as by the entrance, but on a smaller scale. Although the hallway was similar, there was still a few large differences. The pillars were lined with many small golden snakes with ruby eyes glinting in the firelight of the torches and the walls were line with small holders filled with a blue powder. From the entrance you could already see the other side of the hallway and the floor was littered with various trinkets and gold coins.


    At the sight of the treasures, some of the dwarves were ecstatic, rushing in to grab what the can, letting their greed get the better of them.


    Wollts, afraid of possible traps, shouted to them, ¡°Stop, you stone headed idiots! Don''t touch anything until Devin has checked everything for traps or curses!¡± The few dwarves about to grab the spoils, immediately stopped and with an apologetic look turned back to their boss when they suddenly froze with a blank look, horror creeping up their faces, eyes directed at something right behind the group at the entrance.


    Devin, seemingly not caring about anyone or any thing, simply kept walking while stopping to investigate all the oddities of the room.


    Wollts on the other hand was terrified of how his comrades were reacting. Pulling out his war axe, he jumped forward, did a roll then twisted around ready to fight. The other dwarves reacted in a similar fashion, if a tad bit slower. But what Wollts saw truly terrified him as it was something he didn''t expect.


    The entrance and staircase were gone. The wall was as smooth as any other part of the room.


    Shocked and with slight panic, the dwarves rushed to the wall, hoping that it was only the high class magic type ''Illusion'' , a magic that utilizes immense knowledge of how light works along with well honed magic control. But the attempts to pass through were in vain, as the wall was as solid as any other rock. With the dwarves innate knowledge on stone work they could tell that it wasn''t just a thin barrier but solid rock of at least a dozen meters thick.


    As the dwarves were panicking, Devin, as if he was in a trance, was just staring at the wall an the other side of the hallway. With slow, deliberate movements, he reached into his bag and took out the key he had tucked away since the beginning of his travels into the desert, in search of this very temple.


    It was at this moment where a soft ''tink'' sound of metal hitting metal was heard. The dwarves in their panic, simply ignored the sound, thinking someone kicked one of the many small treasures on the ground. Only when once again, then more such sounds started echoing out from all over the hallway, did the dwarves realize what was happening.


    The golden snakes were falling off the pillars. The snakes were about the length of three fingers and just as thick. Wollts, already suspecting what was about to happen, quickly gave his men orders, ¡°Line up against the wall! Get your weapons ready! We fell into a trap! Devin! What the hell are you doing! Get your ass over here!¡± Despite Wollts and the other dwarves shouting, along with the loud sound of numerous metal snakes hitting the ground and each other, Devin remained in a trance, not moving and just staring at the wall, the key softly glowing in a red light, unnoticed in his hand.


    After the last snake fell down, there was a sudden silence. The dwarves stood in a line with their backs against the wall, waiting nervously for something to happen. Wollts, with great foresight, kept his gaze directed at the piles of golden reptiles scattered across the room and thus, was the first to notice as they started to squirm and twist, becoming ever more life like.


    The golden snakes moved as a giant mass, headed directly for the dwarves, their ruby eyes faintly sparkling as if these constructions made of magic and metal were excited about what was going to happen.


    Oddly enough, Devin was completely ignored by the snakes, as they launched their attack on the struggling dwarves. The dwarves fought desperately, using every trick they had, from small explosives to fire magic of one of the few dwarven elemental mages. But all was for naught as the snakes gorged themselves on the dieing men, eating out holes and burrowing into their flesh, the scales absorbing their blood, slowly turning from gold to a deep crimson.


    After all the dwarves were dead, including poor Wollts, who in his last moments regretted ever following the broken and insane man known as Devin, the now crimson snakes slithered away from the dried out remains of the fallen mercenaries and traveled to the other side of the hallway.


    As they converged in front of the blank faced Devin, they twisted together to form a small archway. The archway, full of the blood, and more importantly, the life force and remaining energy from the dead dwarves, started to thrum and vibrate from the collected energy.


    Utilizing forbidden magic and complex enchantments a doorway to a pocket dimension was opened. That in itself was not rare or special, but the stability and the thickness of the barriers that held this space apart from normal space and the energy needed to open its protective seals were.


    Devin stepped through the portal and only when he reached the other side did he regain a portion of his awareness. There he beheld a room, not much bigger than a bedroom, filled with gold and treasures to make even a king feel poor, artifacts filled with powerful enchantments and even piles of high quality mana stones. The whole room was densely packed with magic of all kinds and it was all-together enough to even buy himself a kingdom.


    But what caught his attention was a gray stone altar at the opposite side of the room, or more specifically the small silver amulet laying on the surface of the alter.


    Devin woodenly walked directly towards the altar, as if his body were numb or not completely under his control. With an empty smile, he reached out and directly picked up the one thing he had been searching for this whole time. He then proceeded to activate the enchantments buried within the amulet, not quite knowing why or how he was doing it.


    Then for a brief moment there was clarity. He remembered everything. His insanity, the acts of cruelty that he committed in order to fund his search and even the horrifying truth. His wife had been dead for over two years now, the news coming in form of a letter from his wife¡¯s remaining family.


    After that brief moment where he was free of the force driving him to search for the Immortals Medallion, also known as the Liar''s Pendant, an unimaginable pain wracked Devin¡¯s body and even his very soul, as an unknown force invaded his body and bit by bit devoured all that was left of the broken man. In his final moment, all Devin could feel was relief that he could finally join his wife in the afterlife.


    Devin¡¯s body, sprawled on the floor suddenly opened its eyes, as the new owner of the started laughing in pure joy, delighted to once again be free to serve his god, who was cast away and sealed, as all the other gods feared his god might. Looking around he was satisfied by the offerings and the temple, that was built in his name, the high apostle of the God of the End.

 Chapter 1

    Chapter 1


    Looking through the bars of his cell window, Dante sat there fully entranced by the moon, hanging in the night sky, shimmering in a beautiful blue color. Dante loved watching the stars ever since he was a child and would spend his nights in an open market place or some other spot where he could see the sky leading to him often getting yelled at by the night patrol for breaking curfew.


    Of course the ''Watch Dogs'', as locals called the inner district police force, never bothered arresting a known orphan, due to the fact that they couldn''t extort any credits from said child''s parents. The most that would happen would be that the child would get a beating, depending on the mood of the team leader of that particular patrol. No one would actually arrest him because it would just cause unnecessary trouble and extra paperwork for the whole patrol team and in the end the kid would just end up back in the streets because no one had the money to take care of another person.


    Unfortunately for Dante, he was old enough to be working, so as soon as the patrol saw him this time, they didn''t hesitate to arrest him. Normally Dante would be able to get away, with his carefully thought out escape routes but this time he really outdid himself. While watching the moon earlier, he slightly dozed of and as soon as he heard the patrol getting close, he hurriedly got up to find himself surrounded.


    Of course he didn''t just give up and let himself be arrested. Bolting in the direction of where two Watch Dogs were standing a bit farther apart than the rest, but failing miserably to escape, as he tripped over his own feet due panic. The moment Dante hit the ground, the Watch Dogs took the initiative to relive some stress by beating Dante into the ground, at which point he blacked out. Afterward he woke up to find himself in the cell, with bruises, possible a fractured rib or two and a nasty gash on his forehead, that thankfully isn''t bleeding into his eye anymore.


    Depressed about the implications of getting caught by the law enforcement and knowing that his embarrassing escape attempt would quickly become known to his circle of acquaintances and his ''work colleagues'', Dante was trying his best to distract himself by admiring the what little of the sky he could see through the cell window.


    Seeing the vastness and beauty of the sky had always gotten his heart to start pounding in excitement, as he felt the urge to see more of the world. Of course until now, he hasn¡¯t left his district, much less the city his district is a part of. Not that he hadn¡¯t tried before. He had only stopped trying right before he officially became an adult at the age of fifteen and only then because he realized that rashly attempting to escape, with no plan or preparation, won¡¯t get him out beyond the borders of his district, much less the dark looming walls, that cage in the people of the city.


    Although Dante was never much of a planer, he had come up with a simple idea, or at least the beginning of an idea, on how he could one day leave this city. Of course his plan had one tiny flaw, his best friend James. Considering that his plan may or may not be a tiny bit dangerous, his friend James vehemently rejected his plan, going on and on about how the government kills escapees on sight and that there was no way for Dante to bypass the security on the city walls.


    As Dante reminisced about James¡¯ nagging, with a sigh, he waited for his friend to eventually show up and pay the watch dogs the required bribery. The watch dogs had probably already searched him for any loose credit coins or credits for short, usually plastic coins with a number on it, and after not finding anything on him, contacted his registered residence.


    Considering he and James where still both registered at the orphanage, due to James wanting to help the children who still ended up there after both parents died to overwork, and Dante¡¯s overly complicated line of work, James would have likely already been informed about his situation.


    Of course because of the curfew that is still in effect until about four-thirty in the morning, James probably won¡¯t be here for another four to five hours, if you include how long it takes for someone to get here from the orphanage.


    So until then, Dante had a nice splintery wooden board to get some sleep, that was dearly needed in order to survive the endless nagging that James was definitely going to subject him to. So Dante made himself comfortable, utilizing years of experience from sleeping in similar circumstances and slowly drifted of to a somewhat peaceful sleep.


    ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


    Hearing the suppressed jingle of keys and the sound of metal softly grinding against metal, Dante was instinctively jolted awake just in time to see a slightly haggard man in a blue and gray uniform, slightly slumped over, obviously trying to sneak into his cell.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Startling the watch dog slightly with the suddenness of him waking up, the watch dog gave him an annoyed look, disappointed that he can¡¯t wake up his peacefully sleeping prisoner with a nice punch to the gut. The unhappy dog whined a little under his breath, before he abruptly turned around and left with the cell door wide open.


    The watch dog gave him one last annoyed look, before telling him in a mocking voice, ¡°It seems like your mommy has come to pick you up, please do come again. Next time me and my buddies will spend much more time with you. And don¡¯t forget to bring all your playmates along, street scum like you doesn¡¯t need any credits. You¡¯re all better shipped of to work in the mines anyway.¡±


    Hearing about the mines made Dante shudder, as he ignored the provoking words of the government dog was practically throwing at him. As he gingerly got up and followed the watch dog to the exit, he thought about the mines. Unlike the many rumors about the government and the things it did, there was no room to doubt what happens to people that go to the mines, as the government made sure that everyone knew. As a punishment to troublemakers and criminals, they would be sent to work in one of the multitude of existing mines to work eighteen hour shifts of intense manual labor. Any signs of discontent or even slaking would be immediately be punished with an electrical beating of the high powered electric batons that the mine overseers carried around.


    ¡°Dammit Dante, I had to use my savings to bail you out this time! That money was going to be used to help repair the orphanage, you dimwit. Why can¡¯t you just get a normal job in the factory like everyone else?¡± Dante, still slightly groggy from the events of last night, wasn¡¯t really paying attention when James suddenly started to lecture him, yanking him from his musings.


    ¡°Oh come on James, I wasn¡¯t on a job last night. I was just stargazing. And don¡¯t just start talking about those kinds of things here, or do you want me to stay?¡± Dante complained to James in a hushed voice. Grabbing his oversized friend by the arm, he hurriedly limped out of the station without letting James say anything that just might get him an extended stay in the locally hated ¡®dog pen¡¯.


    Noticing Dante¡¯s less than healthy condition, James gave him a concerned look before saying in a much or subdued tone, ¡°Fine, but when we get home we need to talk about getting the money back as soon as possible. The orphanage really needs to be renovated if we expect the younger kids to survive the winter.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for bailing me out.¡± Dante said, as a feeling of guilt wormed its way into his heart.


    ¡°You would do the same. Just like when found me in the street back then.¡± James nonchalantly replied, reminding Dante of how he found James around fourteen years ago.


    Dante had been wandering the streets aimlessly at the time, having just been dropped of by his father at the orphanage, who wasn¡¯t capable of taking care of his son alone anymore with his weakening body, now that his wife had just died. It was then that Dante had found James, who had no memories of who he was and where he came from. Feeling a strong amount of empathy for James, he simply brought him back to the orphanage with him. Considering how this was a usual occurrence, that a child would wander in himself after the death of his parents, or when they were simply abandoned by their guardians in order to save money, the older kids, who at the time were in charge of keeping things running, simply accepted James and let him stay.


    ¡°Yea, I would. But still¡­ Thank you.¡± Dante said, trying to express how grateful he was to have a friend like James. Back when they where younger James was actually much shorter than Dante and would quietly follow him around all the time, which led to them both getting into trouble all the time. It was only a few years ago when James went through a freak growth spurt that made him into the lumbering giant that he was now. The younger kids nowadays even liked to call him the friendly giant to tease him.


    Thinking back, Dante realized that it was also shortly after the growth spurt, that James stopped following him into trouble and started to actively try to prevent him from being reckless, always worrying about what could happen to him.


    Silently walking through the streets of the district, both Dante and James kept quiet, as they observed the place that they grew up in. They saw how the people were suffering, the houses falling apart, the people were malnourished and broken, most with a dull look in their eyes as they went on with their life.


    The place that they were in was the lowest of three sectors in the 8<sup>th</sup> of 19 districts that make up the city. A person can, with exceptional talent and luck, be promoted into a higher sector, which means more pay and an altogether better life than before. Leaving ones district is considered impossible by most civilians, but can also be done, even if it extremely rare, but leaving the city is impossible for any reason.


    Most people that live in the similarly built districts, work full time in various factories or production lines with workers in the higher sectors taking the roles with higher responsibilities.


    Other than work, there is next to nothing that the standard person can do in the very limited free time a person has. Most children after birth stay in the hospital for their first year. After that the parents, if they haven¡¯t died, take the child home and then immediately register it for the orientation facility, where they learn basic knowledge and language every day, in synch with the job schedule of the parents. The children continue to go there until the age of fifteen, which is considered the age of when a person can start working. The exceptions were orphans, because there was no one to enforce the children to go and due to the fact that they weren¡¯t required to go in order to later work in the factory, most orphans spent their time doing illegal activities to earn some credits.


    Leftover credits, which are rare enough as it is, can mostly be spent on extra materials that are used in the orientation facility, such as paper and various writing utensils. Some people use it in more illegal ways, such as bribery, alcohol, prostitution and drugs meant to enhance productivity.


    And it was all these things that both Dante and James saw as they made their way home, despite how early it still was and that most inhabitants were still at work. But as James felt sadness and helplessness at what he could see, Dante felt disgusted and angry. He had always thought, even with the lack of evidence or known precedent, that life could be better.


    It was for that very reason that Dante wanted to leave the city. He wanted to explore, he wanted to see more than this dreary place in his life and he wanted to find out if life has more to offer than he hopeless and gray world that he grew up in. And with only two things holding him back, the wall and James, he was nearly ready to leave.

 Chapter 2

    Chapter 2


    Arriving at the orphanage, a two stories tall, gray and run down building with a roof that was slowly collapsing in on itself due to rotting wood, the two friends entered through the broken door frame of the front entrance and made their way towards the community room.


    Arriving at the fairly large room, barren except of a single couch and a few chairs, James gently helped Dante into the couch before taking a seat across from him.


    James gave him a concerned look and asked, "Are you going to be okay?".


    "Yea, I''ll be fine. It will probably take a few weeks for me to completely heal though."


    With a huff and a very irritated look James then said, "Fine. I''ll help out again on your next job."


    Mildly surprised, Dante asked, "Why? You hate what I do. If you''re worried about what will happen with my leg then don''t. It''s not the first time I''ve done a job injured."


    "I was serious about us needing the money, and with both of us there we would get a larger cut of the profit. And yes, I am worried that your leg will get in the way, so I''ll be there if something happens."


    Leaning back, Dante took a minute to think about James'' offer.


    "Then should I sign up for a bigger job this time? We might as well get enough money together to pay for the repairs all at once. With both of us working together, we shouldn''t have to be worried about getting caught."


    With a snort, James asked in amusement, "Like that one time you fell through the roof and interrupted that couple during their ''bed activities''? Or the time you tripped on a loose floorboard and fell down the stairs, waking the whole house?¡±


    ¡°Come on! We were just getting started back then, it¡¯s not my fault that I was clumsy at that age.¡±


    Laughing, James stood up, ¡°I need to go to work now if I still want to get my pay for today. You need to go and get in touch with Jared about a new deal.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go visit him later, after I¡¯ve had something to eat first. He doesn¡¯t like to be disturbed in the morning anyways.¡± Dante told James as he also got up and limped of to the kitchen, his stomach growling loud enough to make James look at him with a smirk plastered on his face.


    While James got his stuff together for his job at the factory, Dante went to the kitchen to get himself one of the packaged meal rations that people in the two lower sectors were accustomed to eating. As he was preparing his meal, opening the individual plastic wrappings and heating up some water, James suddenly popped his head into the kitchen ready for work and with a serious look on his face.


    ¡°We need to talk about something after the we finish this next job. I wanted to tell you tonight but I think it would be better to wait until you have enough time to flip out without risking getting put into jail.¡±


    ¡°Why? Whats going on!? Hey!!¡± Dante yelled at James, as the latter practically fled the house.


    Taken aback by his friends ominous words, Dante took his time to eat his extremely bland food while considering what kind of dire news James wanted to talk to him about. Whatever it was, James was obviously ¡­afraid... of talking to him about it. It was disturbing that there was something that James was actually afraid of talking to him about.


    With a nervous sigh, Dante put the matter temporarily behind him as he got up and hobbled over to the trash chute and discarded the leftover wrappings of his preservable breakfast.


    As he closed the panel in the wall that covered the chute entrance, an odd question entered is mind. Where did the trash actually go? It was odd that he never considered what happens after the trash was thrown away, but with all his other worries he never even thought to ask that question, nor does anyone talk about it.


    With his mind filled with a mild curiosity over such a seemingly unimportant matter, he slowly went around getting himself cleaned up and ready to meet with Jared, the man who delegates the various ¡®tasks¡¯ that people like Dante do.


    Finishing up, Dante slowly made his way out of the house and headed down to the outermost ring of the lower sector, a place where even the watch dogs had to be careful, known as the slum area, because of how people who, for some reason or the other, couldn¡¯t work anymore gathered there, committing crimes such as prostitution, theft and even the rare murder in order to survive.


    As he headed out with the sun at its peak, because he wasn¡¯t exactly eager to get to his destination, Dante took his time walking down the trash littered streets of his district¡¯s slum area. Occasionally he would greet a familiar face of someone he grew up or worked with, as he was well known among the residents of the area, like most orphans that at one point in time end up down there looking for a job.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Despite the slow tempo he was traveling at, it didn¡¯t take long for him to arrive at a small office building with all the windows and even the front door completely boarded up. To a random passerby, it looked like an abandoned shop that should have been torn down a long time ago.


    As things were though, this was a well know place for anyone with criminal activity, as a hub for various ¡®deals¡¯, often referred to as simply the Shop. Most of its activities are held in its basement that had access to the sewer system that is branched out like a maze through the whole district. There are even rumors that say that there are hidden passageways that lead to other districts.


    In the past, Dante had hoped to use the sewer system to somehow sneak out of the city, going so far as to spend days mapping out the place. He never found a way out though, finding that any passage out of the district is blocked with thick bars of what appeared to be steel, because you know, Dante didn¡¯t know jack shit about metal types.


    It was also because of his expertise with the vast maze and its numerous exits that he was eventually hired by Jared, the boss of the Shop, to help his employes to navigate them to their target destination, a vastly more important job then what the average kid at the age of eight would normally get if they went to Jared to get a job.


    Spending most of his youth leading group of thieves and the one or the other hit man through the sewers, led to Dante picking up quite a few particular skills that had helped him make a name for himself in the underground community as a reliable business partner and an expert thief himself, using the money he earned to both fund his hopes to leave the city, buying information and such, and to support the other children that lived in the orphanage but couldn¡¯t work for themselves yet.


    Most of the jobs he accepted consisted of stealing things of importance, related to the inhabitants of the top sector of the district. The things he stole were mostly used either to blackmail someone in a higher government position or to remove evidence of some type of crime, but didn¡¯t want to be caught destroying evidence.


    The best paying deals were handled directly by Jared, as his role in the Shop was special. High paying clients that wanted their identities completely secure, would only speak to Jared, as the risk of him being implicated in any investigation was non-existent, due to the fact that he never went on any job himself and had a working relationship with people in the watch dogs that drove any inquiries about him away. He made his money by taking a part of the rewards of these deals and also through what the Shop earned by ensuring that all deals made in its walls are done with a certain amount of ¡®trust¡¯. Any ¡®employe¡¯ of the Shop that betrays a customers trust, often become a target to the Shop¡¯s hit men.


    Fortunately, Dante never broke the rules of the Shop, nor did he ever get on Jared¡¯s bad side and even had a good relationship with Jared. That very relationship with Jared is what lets Dante get high paying jobs quite easily and is also the reason he has a key to the upper floors of the Shop which lets him enter directly from the backdoor up on the street level.


    Dante went into an alleyway next to the shop, pulled his key out from his pocket and opened the heavy metal door that was slightly hidden towards the back of the Shop. With a squealing groan the door swung open to reveal a stone staircase leading downward into the dark. Without hesitation, Dante stepped into the unlit passageway with a well practiced and confident gait, letting the door close behind him, closing off his last source of light.


    After maybe a few dozen steps, he reached the bottom of the staircase and as if he could still see in the utter darkness, he reached out and grabbed the handle of another door. After unlock this one with the same key as before, Dante pulled it open and entered a blank white and relatively short hallway, that was thankfully well lit and ended with a thick, polished wooden door. Inside the hallway were two gray chairs sitting side by side against the wall on the far side of the hallway, where the wooden door was.


    Dante closed the door behind him, relocked the door and put away the key. He then proceeded over to the wooden door, gently knocked on it, then sat down in one of the chairs and waited for Jared¡¯s secretary to inform him of his visitor.


    Surprisingly, it wasn¡¯t even fifteen seconds until a very tall and muscular man opened the door to greet Dante. Normally Dante would need to wait at least around a half an hour.


    After confirming Dante¡¯s identity and a quick search for any weapons the bodyguard stood aside and said, ¡°The Boss will see you now. He seems to have a special job ready for you.¡±


    ¡°Great. Just in time too. I¡¯ll see you later Jack.¡± With a relieved smile Dante replied to the bodyguard. It was surprising that there was a job already reserved for him as it was usually a first come, first served thing for the jobs that Jared handed out.


    Walking past a few offices, the one or the other storage room and also an entrance to a large community room where people gather to exchange job offers and other things, Dante finally arrived at Jared¡¯s office.


    Gently knocking once again on another door, Dante waited for a moment before a pleasant voice was heard from inside the room.


    ¡°Come on in.¡±


    Sitting behind a wooden desk in the well lit room was a man who unlike his voice, didn¡¯t look pleasant at all, with an overwhelming body mass, oily hair, small beady eyes and rotting yellow teeth.


    His desk, covered with all kinds of snacks and candies that are usually only sold at a very expensive price to the inhabitants of the upper sector, his walls painted with all kinds of colors and even the small box on his desk that was gently and quietly playing soft sounds, all spoke of Jared¡¯s immense wealth and influence as these thing were all considered rare and expensive commodities only available to the higher classes of society.


    ¡°Dante my boy! Just in time! About an hour ago, I had a very interesting customer here that you absolutely need to meet. You see when she introduced herself, and more importantly who she works for, I immediately thought of you and how you are always asking about things from the outside. I was about to send someone to go fetch you and offer you to take on the job that she commissioned so that you can build a relationship with her organization.¡±


    As usual, Jared fired away with an enthusiasm that completely overwhelmed Dante, making it hard for Dante to voice the questions that were slowly building up in his head by this unusual situation.


    ¡°The job she is giving us is going to be extra exciting this time around and even if you don¡¯t get any connections from it, we¡¯ll both be cashing in an enormous profit. I¡¯ll have you lead the team this time so you can show off a bit and have a better chance to get more jobs from them. Oh and you need to come in again tonight to get the details directly from her so that you can properly plan out who you want to bring and what you¡¯ll be needing for the job. I¡¯ll let you choose the team yourself. Oh this is soo exciting!¡±


    Using the slight pause in Jared¡¯s barrage of speech, Dante hurriedly threw in a few questions before Jared could continue.


    ¡°The client wants to meet me directly? What kind of job is it? Does it matter who I pick for the team or are there restrictions? What does she have to do with me wanting to leave the city?¡±


    Jared stopped for a moment to listen as a huge grin was plastered on his face before he said,


    ¡°Yes she wants to make sure that the person I send does the job perfectly on the first try, so she will need to meet you. Consider it a kind of test tonight. It¡¯s a simple in and out theft and you can take anyone with you as long as the job gets done, just remember that the less people you bring, the more profit you¡¯ll make. As for what she has to do with your little obsession, you¡¯ll just have to wait and see.¡±


    Although Jared has always enjoyed his work, this was the first time Dante has ever seen Jared so, well, mischievous and almost playful. It seems like the reward for this mission will be quite substantial.


    ¡°Great! You will be taking the job I assume? Of course you will! I¡¯ve already told the client all about you, so you have to take the job, okay? So listen, I need to get a few things ready and take care of some other clients, so you can go and do whatever you need to do. Be back here right before the curfew and don¡¯t you dare be late, alright Dante. We both need this job so make sure you¡¯re well behaved tonight. Go on leave me to my work boy, and don¡¯t let yourself get caught in such an embarrassing way by the watch dogs, like you did last night again. It¡¯s bad for your reputation.¡±


    Used to Jared¡¯s odd nature, Dante just shrugged and then silently left, not minding the abruptness of his dismissal, although he was slightly embarrassed that Jared already knew about his mishap last night even though he had already anticipated that Jared would hear of it. Without more information on the job that Jared had pretty much forced on him, Dante had nothing that he could do, except restock on basic equipment while he was still at the Shop, then go home and wait for James to finish work and tell him the news.

 Chapter 3

    Chapter 3


    Dante had been waiting in the community room for a few hours already, when the front door was opened and nearly a dozen small, hyperactive children rushed into the house and launched a two pronged invasion on the kitchen and community room simultaneously. Overwhelmed by their numbers, Dante laughingly agreed to their terms of surrender, to entertain the masses until dinner time.


    After the entrance was clear of the little monsters, a few of the older orphans, who decided to stay and support the orphanage after they started to officially work, entered the building with haggard faces, clearly exhausted after the usual day of mind numbing, repetitive work at the factory. Most of them shuffled deeper into the house, headed to their respective rooms to take a nap before dinner, while a few headed into the kitchen to fulfill their assigned kitchen duties. Only James and the small, cute, freckled faced Alice decided to join Dante in the community room.


    While Alice went to play with the children after slipping a small, shy peek at James, the latter took a seat diagonally across from Dante. Despite James¡¯ intentions of holding a serious conversation with Dante, the moment he sat down, a sibling pair of two sisters at the age of three and four respectively, practically jumped him, crawling all over him screeching for attention.


    Snickering at the sight of the enormous teen being overwhelmed by the two little harpies, Dante gave James a look that James immediately understood as ¡®we¡¯ll talk later¡¯, before he also turned his awareness toward a few children that were waiting with sparkling eyes for Dante to play with them.


    Spending the next few hours entertaining the group of children with board games and the occasional storytelling from Dante about the world outside as he imagined it, which the kids loved with a passion, it didn¡¯t take long for the smell of food to start an uproar of growling stomachs and to make any game or story pointless as all the children became fidgety with hunger.


    With the smell of food as bait, one by one, the older occupants of the house started to shuffle down into the living areas. With the responsibility of being old and missing the excuse of having spent time caring for the children in the afternoon like Alice and the two seemingly tireless friends, Dante and James, they fulfilled their duties by setting the long dining room table in preparation of the usual dinner.


    After the table was set, everyone who could be trusted to carry anything with any amount of weight was sent into the kitchen in single file from one of its entrances, then left with some kind of food out another entrance leading to the dining room. Thus the table was set and everyone had seated themselves in a spot of their convenience, with the older group towards one end and the younger ones at the other. As it was, no one waited for anything and immediately dug into the meal, filling the room with the sounds that normally accompany nearly twenty half starved animals viciously tearing apart their prey.


    Considering the speed at which they were eating, it didn¡¯t take long for them to finish and slowly start to relax as conversations began between them.


    ¡°So Dante, what did Jared say? Did you get assigned a job?¡± Asked James, too impatient to wait until later to question Dante about what had transpired in the afternoon.


    ¡°He was actually acting a bit odd today, he practically forced me to take a job and said I could take anyone with me. Convenient though.¡±


    ¡°So you are going on another job again? Do we need the money that badly?¡± Andrew, a random inhabitant of the orphanage asked Dante curiously.


    ¡°Yea, we really need to renovate the place for the upcoming cold months. After Dante messed up yesterday and got himself arrested, I had to use my savings so I¡¯m having him take responsibility.¡± James answered the other boy.


    ¡°So when is it?¡± Asked Gabby, another random person.


    ¡°Well actually, we need to go in later tonight to meet up with the client, which makes in itself is already unusual, but with the way Jared was acting, I¡¯m not sure if we should even take the job.¡± Dante said.


    ¡°Was he acting that strange?¡± James asked.


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    ¡°Wait! What do you mean with ¡®we¡¯? Who else is going with you?¡± Alice suddenly butted in slightly panicky.


    With a slight frown, James answered, ¡°I¡¯m going with him. We really need every extra chip we can get if we want the place properly repaired and I¡¯m the only other person who has ever done a job besides Dante. If I go, we can get an extra cut of the profit.¡±


    In response, Alice just looked at him and pouted slightly.


    With a sigh, James just said, ¡°We won¡¯t get caught, we never have.¡±


    Only slightly mollified, Alice turned away and stared at her plate, a pout still apparent on her face, letting them get back at their conversation.


    After a slight pause, Dante answered James¡¯ previous question, ¡°Although he was his usual excitable self, it was obvious that he was in an especially good mood. He was even teasing me a little.¡±


    ¡°So the payoff is going to be that big huh?¡± James muttered to himself as the frown on his face grew more prominent.


    ¡°He refused to tell me anything about it. He said we would get the information tonight, directly from the client.¡± Dante solemnly answered his friends statement.


    ¡°Should we refuse this time around?¡± James asked.


    ¡°Why would you want to refuse? Aren¡¯t you going to get paid a lot for this job?¡± Asked Andrew in confusion.


    ¡°The higher the pay, the harder the job.¡± Dante replied. ¡°But I don¡¯t think we can refuse this, for some reason Jared wants me to do the job, going so far as to tell the client about me.¡±


    ¡°Shit! What kind of job did you get yourself into, dammit!¡± James harshly cursed, keeping his voice low enough that the children couldn¡¯t hear him.


    ¡°Us.¡± Dante corrected, slightly amused that James was swearing. ¡°You¡¯re coming with me. I need you to watch my back for this and you already promised to come with me on the next job.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t promise anything.¡± James retorted. ¡°But by the way things look, you¡¯re going to actually need my help this time around.¡±


    Abruptly standing up, Dante said, ¡°Well James and I need to get ready, we need to be at the shop in about another hour. James, I¡¯m going upstairs to pack a few emergency supplies in case some thing happens. Meet me at the front door in, like, fifteen minutes.¡±


    Not waiting for a reply, Dante did just what he said. Going upstairs to his small single bed room, he opened a medium sized wooden chest at the foot of his bed. Taking out things like lock picks, rope and even a long, sharp, metal shard with a handle, that an acquaintance, who specialized in a much darker line of work, had given him, calling it a ¡®knife¡¯. He decided to bring the knife just in case, after all, this whole setup gave him an uneasy feeling.


    Putting everything in different hidden pouches all over his body and strapping his knife with it casing onto his lower back, he finished retrieving everything he might need. Looking at his room, he smiled, feeling gratitude towards the other members of the orphanage for giving him the only single room in the whole building. Everyone thought it would be best, considering that he had the highest income among them. That and his odd sleeping pattern, with his night work and stargazing, annoyed the fuck out of everyone who share a room with him.


    Going downstairs, he didn¡¯t need to wait long for James to show up, but considering that James had long ago got rid of all the equipment that a person need for these kind of things it took him much longer then Dante had expected.


    Engaging in some small talk about their everyday lives, the two headed to the Shop, forcing themselves to relax as much as possible so that they won¡¯t freeze up later if the situation called for them to move quickly.


    Arriving at the Shop in the same manner that Dante had earlier in the day, the two of them were being led by the security into a different direction than Jared¡¯s office. Knowing that Jared had probably needed to assure his guest of an escape route, but not wanting to use the ¡®secret¡¯ passage in his office, the correctly guessed that they were being brought to one of the many rooms with an entrance into the sewers. Although rare, this wasn¡¯t the first time that the two friends had met with a client, who wanted to meet the people being assigned his high payment task. None of tasks received that way went quite as well as Dante would have preferred, despite telling Alice that they have never been caught, those missions had all been close calls.


    This time the mission was bound to be one of the hardest that either of the friends have ever taken on, considering the attitude that Jared had shown, but despite how friendly Jared may seem, if they refused this and not only embarrassed him in front of his client, but possibly causing Jared to loose the profit he would earn if the client decides not to trust him with this job, without a doubt they would end up disappearing like everyone else who has damaged Jared¡¯s income.


    Opening the door to the room the security had brought them to, Dante froze. Everything else seemed to fade away into the background as Dante beheld the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. He was dazzled by her curly brown hair that dropped below the shoulders, longer and with more individuality than what the anti-conflict and personality law allowed, beautiful brown eyes, something that didn¡¯t exist in the district, as everyone had gray eyes with the occasional blue here and there and her cute, rounded face with the knowing smirk she was giving him.


    Not expecting Dante to stop so suddenly at the entrance, James walked right into Dante, causing the later to nearly trip as he stumbled into the room. Blushing a bright red, Dante tried desperately to save some of his dignity and looked toward Jared, waiting to be introduced. In the background James was completely bewildered by Dante and was gaping at the beet red face of his friend.


    With a raised eyebrow the brown haired woman asked Jared skeptically, ¡°This is the guy you wanted to recommend me? He doesn¡¯t look all that much.¡±


    Breaking out in a nervous laugh, Jared answered, ¡°Look at him getting all flustered! Can you blame him for being distracted by your beauty? Dante my boy! Come and introduce yourself! And you brought James with you! It¡¯s a pleasure to see you again, we really miss you here. Come! Take a seat, we have much to discuss.¡±


    Still red in the face, Dante faced the woman and stiffly said, ¡°My name is Dante, I¡¯ve been working for Jared for over ten years now. It will be my pleasure working with you on whatever mission you have in mind for us.¡±


    Looking over to James, the woman waited for him to also introduce himself.


    ¡°My name is James.¡± He said stoically, with only the slightest amount of suspicion in his eyes.


    With a smile the woman looked at both of them in turn, Dante quickly regaining his composure and James who kept all expression from his face while at the same time keeping himself in the background and then said, ¡°I take what I said back, they will do for the job. My name is Delilah. I am a representative of the rebellion and we need some help stealing a little something from the government. Would you to like to help?¡±