Tales of Undeath: The Von Virtus Chronicles

LXI. The Bull's Horns

While Jargen and Syl rifled through Cabdan's office upstairs, searching for clues to his hidden fortune, Punjo, Rel, and Tyssa crept cautiously toward the mysterious laboratory below.

Punjo (hushed): "Wait... I'm hearin' somethin'."

They froze, straining to catch the sound. The steady, echoing thud of boots grew louder through a nearby door -- the very door that was supposed to lead them to the lab.

Tyssa (hushed): "The guy's coming back!"

Rel (hushed): "Dammit... Find a place to hide. Quick!"

They scrambled, eyes darting around for cover. Tyssa spotted a nearby supply closet filled with cleaning tools. She dove inside, but it was barely big enough for one.

Rel (hushed): "We can't all fit in there -- Punjo, what are you doing?!"

Punjo, unfazed, casually fished around in his pocket, his demeanor calm, even leisurely.

Punjo (hushed): "All's gonna be alright... No need ta panic. Just gotta find it..."

Rel stared at him, incredulous.

Rel (hushed): "The guy's almost on top of us! We've gotta move!"

The boots grew louder, their heavy thuds pounding in sync with Rel's heartbeat. There was no time left to run, no more corners to hide behind.

Punjo (hushed): "...Oh, we won't be hidin', lad. Yer gonna need ta trust me on this one. Stay put."

Punjo stepped toward the door as if he were welcoming the guard in for tea. Rel, mouth agape, tried to make sense of the madness.

Rel (hushed): "What the hell're you saying, Punjo?!"

Finally, Punjo found what he'd been searching for -- a small pebble. He rolled it between his fingers, then aimed toward a delicate vase near Rel.

Rel's eyes widened in horror.

Rel (hushed): "No! Don't --"

CRASH.

The pebble hit its mark, toppling the vase and sending it shattering against the floor. The sharp sound echoed down the hall like a gunshot.

Rel's heart nearly stopped. He clenched his fists, his body tensing as the door handle began to turn. Punjo, meanwhile, pressed himself against the wall beside the door, as calm as if he were waiting for the tavern doors to open.

Guard: "Alright... whoever's out there, you picked a real bad fuckin' day to screw with me!"

The door burst open, and there he was -- the same guard who'd dragged a corpse from the cellar earlier. His eyes locked onto Rel, who stood like a deer in headlights near the broken vase.

A grin spread across the guard's face as he reached for the blade at his belt.

Guard: "Bad choice, little thief. You messed with the wrong house --"

Before he could finish the sentence, Punjo struck. Moving with surprising speed and precision, he wrapped his thick arms around the guard's neck, pulling him into a brutal chokehold.

Punjo (hushed): "Shhh. Kid's not the one messin' with ya, pal..."

The guard squirmed, clawing at Punjo's forearm, but it was no use. Within seconds, his body went limp. Punjo let him drop quietly to the floor, then dusted off his hands with a wide grin, pleased with how neatly he'd handled things.

Rel, however, was far from satisfied.

Rel: "What the hell were you thinking, man?! What if someone *heard *us?"

Punjo just shrugged, unbothered, as if they hadn't narrowly risked exposure.

Punjo: "Could've. Yeah."

Without missing a beat, he grabbed the unconscious man under the arms and started dragging him toward the nearby supply closet, his voice calm as ever.

Punjo: "And what if there's five guards about to turn that corner right now? Or an army waitin' behind that door? Could be anything, lad."

Rel's jaw dropped, his frustration boiling over.

Rel: "Oh, *come on* -- you can't be serious --"

Punjo: "Dead serious."

Reaching the closet, Punjo heaved the guard's limp body onto his shoulder, propping him up against a pile of dusty brooms like a poorly dressed mannequin. Tyssa, having crept out of her hiding spot, stood beside Rel, both of them staring at Punjo like he'd lost his mind.

Punjo: "Look, you can't prepare for every hiccup -- you'd go mad tryin'. Times like these, you go with yer gut...  On our way to the lab, the man told us ta be careful with one guy, and one guy alone. One important detail ya can't forget -- Syl's got more ta lose if things turn to shite than any o'us... So ya know what my gut told me?"

Rel blinked, still trying to process Punjo's bizarre confidence.

Punjo: " It told me there ain't five guys. There ain't an army. There's one single man, 'n that's it. If the man who's got the most ta lose trusts that there's no-one round these parts right now..."

Punjo clapped his hands together, dusting them off with finality.

Punjo: "Then that's what I'm bankin' on, too!"

Tyssa crossed her arms, skepticism written all over her face.

Tyssa: "T-that's insane... You're literally gambling with our lives based on Syl's word! How can you even think like that?!"

He grinned.

Punjo: "Not my first rodeo, that's how. Weren't by chance me 'n Jargen met... Though that's a tale fer 'nother time."

Rel shook his head, disbelief mixing with a twinge of reluctant admiration.

Rel: "You could've at least *told* us what you were planning!"

Punjo: "Sure! But where's the fun in that?"

He let out a hearty laugh, the sound far too loud for the tense situation, though he seemed to thrive on it... Rel could only stare, exasperated.

Rel: "Punjo... I'm really starting to think you're crazy."

Punjo stopped laughing, though the grin never left his face. He turned, looking Rel dead in the eye.

Punjo: "Might be, lad. But don't forget -- if I'm crazy, you're just as bad. You're here, ain't ya? Robbin' the house of one of the city's most dangerous bastards, trustin' the guidance of a man who could stab us in the back at any given moment... Takes a special kind of crazy to walk into that with your eyes open."

Rel opened his mouth to respond but found no words. Punjo, satisfied, turned to Tyssa.

Punjo: "And you, lass! You're in this too... Looks like we're all a bit touched in the head, eh?!"

With a strangely reinforced sense of respect for the madman in front of them, they silently follow him, trusting that his judgement wouldn't lead them astray. The unconscious guard lay hidden in the supply closet, propped up like a forgotten puppet. As they stepped through the same door the guard had come from, a narrow corridor stretched ahead -- just as Syl had promised.

Punjo (hushed): "Just a few steps more..."