The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage: Wandmaker Vol.2

WM [15] Good Time To Be Alive

Tanisha led the way inside the building. Eyes of a dozen people followed her and Bjorn as she took in the atmosphere. It looked more like a bar than a headquarters for Jackrabbits, as she had been told. She quickly looked around for Alfred, but someone stepped out in front of her.

"Anything I can help you with, sweetheart?" A gruff man said. "I would be more than happy to take a request for you."

Tanisha was about the same height as the guy, which was impressive since she was over six feet tall. He had a smirk on his face and alcohol on his breath. He leaned closer to Tanisha to block her path so she would have to talk to him.

Identify
Name: Thaddeus Maxwell
Species: Human
Level: 35
Vocation: Prana Spearman

Tanisha wasn't worried about the man and continued to look around for Alfred, but when he stepped in her way again, she had no choice but to acknowledge him.

"The name's Thaddeus Maxwell, and yes, I am that Thaddeus Maxwell who killed the golden boar that rampaged the area a week ago," he said with an arrogant voice. "I'd love to tell you about it, how about I get you a drink? Weー"

Tanisha said sharply. "I'm looking for Alfred. Robert sent me. Can you point me to him?"

"Alfred? Alfred-Alfred-Alfred." Thaddeus rubbed his chin in mock contemplation. "Hmm, it's not ringing any bells, but if you need a hunter, baby, me and my boys can help you out. I'll even give you a discount."

Tanisha felt Bjorn's anger rising through their bond, and she was now afraid he was going to kill the man. Well, not that he would kill him—he wouldn't do that unless she was in danger—but even without venom, Bjorn was deadly. Crippling a member of the Jackrabbits was probably not going to be an excellent first impression to whoever was in charge.

Tanisha took a step around the man. "No thank you. I'll be on my way if you can't take me to Alfred. Come on, Bjorn."

A hand grabbed her, and she turned to see that Thaddeus had grabbed her wrist. That was when all bets were off. Tanisha knew human customs were odd, but she felt strongly that you don't just grab somebody in any culture. The tattoos across her body flared to life as her anger rose.

The office was full of smoke from his cigar and not that pansy-ass razz he got from the last trader, but the good stuff from Mesha. Alfred didn't know how they got it through the border, and quite frankly, he didn't care. He picked back up the cigar he had to leave burning at his desk when he had to kick out that rat bastard Kevin. The idiot almost killed his whole team when he decided it would be a good idea to fire an arrow at an armored chrysalis during a recon mission.

He sat in his velvet chair and picked up his glass of whisky in one hand and the cigar in the other. He would get to a mountain of paperwork on his desk after breakfast. Then he heard a crash downstairs and people yelling, "Fight, fight, fight" he sighed loudly.

What's the chance they'll tire themselves out, and I can ignore this one?

As if to answer his question, another crash, followed by screaming about grabbing a chair, immediately got him to his feet. He ran out of his office and crashed into his assistant, who looked like she was just about to open his office door. She clattered to the ground, and he worriedly bent down to check on her.

"Shit, sorry Ashley, are you okay?" Alfred said as he helped the young woman up to her feet.

The young woman dusted herself off.

"I'm fine, but there's another fight," Ashley said with a deep Meshian drawl. "Don't you worry about me?"

Without another word, he nodded and ran down the stairs, honestly confused as to what was going on. A large crowd had gathered to watch an incredibly one-sided fight. Thaddeus was getting thrown halfway across the bar by a wendigo, or maybe demoness, with glowing marks all over her body. No one had weapons out, which was good—at least they followed that rule. The crowd grew as more people filed into the bar for a better look.