A Secret Man of Blood

Chapter Twenty-Three

Hours after its passing, whatever was smuggled on the ship has left its mark, as if the location has absorbed and crystallised some evil, the shadows charged with menace as Anya, Indigo, Sig and Squad search for clues. There's something eerie about the container, causing a chill to run down the spine of anyone who steps inside. The seven dead Elves have been torn to pieces, dried rivers of their blood exposed in detail by the wrinkling sunlight, bodies sprawled at terrible angles, as if they'd been taken by surprise and with devastating force.

Sig turns to Squad. "It looks, like we'll be needing those extra weapons I bought, eh?" he asks.

*

Sig and Squad are in a weapons store, Sig carrying a trolley full of axes and other sharp implements.

"You can't buy all that!" Squad complains. "You've already got a room full of weapons on Gaia."

"We can afford it," Sig assures him. "If we take the five hundred pounds you gave me and add it to my profits from investing the money, we'd have a total of—"

"Fifty pounds. And you're playing fast and loose with the word invested, there."

"Hey! I, and a lot of other members of the bullshit industry, would take offence at that comment."

They reach the counter and Sig piles the weapons up as the cashier looks on, surprised by the large bulk purchase. "That'll be two thousand eight hundred pounds, please," says the cashier.

Flashing an innocent smile, Sig giggles like a schoolgirl, taps Squad on the arm and, in a little girl voice, tells the cashier. "Daddy will pay!" before leaving abruptly.

*

"Seven security personnel dead," Anya says, observing the scene. "It looks like they didn't even get a chance to defend themselves." She turns to her brother. "Are you getting any magical readings, Indi? I'm getting nothing."

"The same," Indigo replies.

"I'll ask him," Sig smiles, kneeling down beside one of the dead Elves and talking to him. "Did you see anything?" The corpse doesn't reply. Sig explains to the others. "He says he's keeping his ear to the ground," Pointing at the Elf's severed ear, which is literally on the ground, Sig laughs, picks up the ear and speaks into it. "You found that funny, didn't you, ear?" He pauses as if listening to the ear. "He says yes."

"You know, Sig," Squad explains. "This really isn't the time for your severed ear comedy improv material."

"You say that every time I find a severed ear and start speaking into it!"

"...Maybe take that as a sign?"

"A sign saying: Do It?"

Anya smiles. "I hope he's not going to start carrying that ear about as his new sidekick."

"He can't have a sidekick, he's my sidekick!" Squad protests.

"OH, FUCK YOU!" Sig exclaims, then pretends he's listening to the ear. "He says I deserve better than this."

Indigo turns to Squad and his eyes have a golden core as if suddenly gilded with an idea. "How did whatever it was escape?"

"That's a good question," Squad agrees, his imagination rushing in torrents. "This port is surrounded by anti-enchantment spells and non-magical defences." He turns and calls to a nearby official. "Captain Savastano!"

A light-haired Elf approaches. "Yes, spectre?"

"Has the perimeter scan been completed?"

"Yes, spectre: there have been no breaches of the perimeter fence and the guards at all the checkpoints report no problems."