The Arcane Trilogy: Sins of the Past - Book 2

Chapter 3: The Eve of War

The destructive power of Sevika's battle was made very clear to Paul as he and Thieram cleaned up 'The Last Drop'. The interior looked close to falling in on itself the longer the pair were at work. Fortunately, it did not take long for the old appearance of 'The Last Drop' to reveal itself, with the pair placing some spare tables and chairs across the floor. However, the Sevika sized dent in the bar was not something they could fix as easily. Paul chuckled at the thought of Sevika leaving a literal imprint on the establishment.

However, unfortunately for Paul, he was soon left to work on his own. Sevika came trundling down the stairs from the office, with her stump cleaned up, and ordered Thieram to round up 'everyone who matters'. Thieram nervously nodded before quickly rushing out the club, followed by Sevika marching back up to the office, leaving Paul alone to continue the clean-up. As he did so, the club slowly began filling up, with various thugs of widely different shapes and sizes trickling into 'The Last Drop'. Some would shoot Paul a side glance, judging him with silent stares, whilst others shot Paul very brief nods, that he would respond in kind. By the time that most of the guests who were considered 'important' had arrived, Paul had finished the re-arrangement and repairs that he was capable of doing, being unable to find anything more that needed to be done that he could do, praying that he had not indirectly landed Thieram in a world of shit. Bartenders always picked up on pieces of interesting information, so keeping him on his good side would not do Paul any harm.

Just after Thieram made his way back in, shooting Paul a thankful nod, everyone turned to hear the heavy steps of Sevika marching her way back down onto the main floor. The stump now had an attachment, with the arm that Paul assumed had been ripped off hastily wedged back in place, with leather straps binding it in place. The forearm followed suite, with the lower end of the metallic arm strapped around her abdomen, keeping it in place. A few curious eyes followed Sevika, but many stayed locked into their individual conversations. Paul stayed glued to the bar, near the dent her body had made, just as Sevika slammed her good arm down on the bar. The room was silenced as Sevika stepped up onto one of the tables Paul had set out. Paul prayed that it didn't give way.

"All of you, listen up, and listen good. I'm only saying this once." Barked Sevika, ignoring some of the glances that shot to her damaged arm. She didn't feel like defending her decision to face Vi in a singles fight when the bar was full of cannon fodder when the young Zaunite entered. Those who did eye her arm also lacked the courage or stupidity to ask. "Our lawyer over there tells me that someone on our side of the bridge attacked Piltover." Began Sevika, pointing to Paul, who felt all the eyes of the room turn and fall on him for a moment. Paul waved a slightly scared smile as the spotlight was suddenly thrown onto him. "Finding out whoever did it is far down the list of shit we need to do. First things first, we need to find Silco. This is still his operation, so we follow him." Continued Sevika, bringing the eyes away from Paul. "We will split into three groups. Ran, Myself and Dustin will lead a group each. You will have one hour, and if you don't find him or any trace of him, you come back here."

"Then what?" Spoke up the voice of a thug Paul didn't recognise. Sevika turned her gaze into the crowd towards the voice.

"Then, we prepare for war in his name."

Sevika then went around the large congregation, splitting people into the groups and giving them orders on where to search. Paul remained on his spot, watching the proceedings unfold around him, spying the door breaking through the gaps in the waves of thugs. He didn't focus much on what was being said, but as he felt a group grow in size near him, he decided that discreetly sneaking out would be his best bet. The sooner he could confirm Hoskel's demise, the better his mind would feel.

However, just as he made a move towards the door, a firm arm clamped down on his shoulder.

"Paul." Snapped the low tone of Sevika, noticing his very brief attempt to leave. "You will be going with Ran's group. They will be heading up to Southside." Simply explained Sevika, causing Paul to blurt out a small stutter that he tried to consume.