From Scratch

Chapter 11: His Plans Never Work

The rest of the way towards the capital was fortunate for the two travellers. By taking the quickest route they reached the city by the evening of the following day. Phantom ordered to abandon the wolgrams that took them there, for they would stick out like a whole flock of white ravens.

He and Meili entered the place without any troubles, but Danny did take his time to watch the gap in the wall and the forest of wooden constructions now surrounding it. The tons of rubble, the ancient bricks that had been blown up, were cleaned and tossed to a place Phantom didn't have the slightest idea about. First he would have to ask himself such question. Point was, the locals were busying themselves, and Danny was glad that he wasn't still persecuted for what he did. That would have put a hinderance on his farsighted plans. The sense of guilt was nonexistent, but he felt the embarrassment for having lost his cool like that. That physical remainder was mocking him and gave his critics something to rub into his face.

Shrugging those thoughts away, he and Meili went through the massive gates, carefully avoiding the carriages that moved back and forth. There was quite a lot, and from the talks of the bystanders Danny could make a conclusion that it was out of the ordinary for them also. The stomachs of the two guests were languishing from hunger, so Phantom put a special priority on finding a place where to eat and where to rent a room for the time being. Despite being a rich Pinocchio now, the teen asked the people around for an average place. As long as the place didn't reek, he was pretty much satisfied with any arrangement. His lack of any demand for comfort allowed to find a tavern very quickly.

Located a bit to the side from the main road slithering through the city, the joint was nonetheless lively, if a bit deprived of sunlight. There were only two windows overlooking the shadowy alleyway, and it wasn't nearly enough. Danny watched every guest closely, monitoring the surroundings for someone after his newfound wealth. Not that he was a dragon withering over his gold, but he didn't trust the scoundrel-looking visitors. Finding their way through the crowd and narrowly avoiding being crushed, the two sat at one of the free tables. Soon after a lovely lady came up to ask for an order. Phantom asked for two portions of stew, and something to drink. By standards of his world he was a person in his mature years, thus nothing was stopping him from indulging in some cold beer. That was the only cold drink they had, so he chose to try it. Meili got water.

As they waited for the meal and after receiving it, Danny decided to get more information.

"What person exactly are we looking for?" He whispered.

"Are you sure we should be discussing it here?" Asked the girl.

"Hey, if someone of your company wants to ambush us, it would make the job of finding them a less tedious one. So?"

Meili put down her glass. "The guy's name is Reisel. Looks like a bear, and he is a huge failure."

"That's one subtle criticism."

"Mother was much less subtle, I assure you. He failed big time, and she turned him into some... worm-like thing with no sensory organs at all."

"Jesus, that lady has no chill," Danny said, taking a gulp of his drink, "Reminds me of one book actually: 'I have no mouth and I must scream'. I doubt she read it though. I take it that Reisel is not that thing anymore, right?"

"Underneath his blindfold there are no eyes at all, not even sockets. He is on eternal probation now. If he fails something, he sure will experience something much worse."

"So I should not expect to get information out of him."

"You may be scary, but he is terrified of Mother much, much more."

Danny grinned deviously. "I have my ways of getting information," but then his expression turned serious, "I have less and less expectations that that 'Mother' will just cancel the hunt."