Under the Cover of Darkness

Chapter 12 - Deadbeat

The middle ring of Ardor was often empty during the day, and during the evening, it was nearly the same. Being a portion of the city that housed the more wealthy citizens, this section rarely had much of a bustling crowd unless Princess Isada or the Great Champion Alric were to make an address and the inner city was already packed with spectators. Because of the lack of crowds, Alric found it to be the best place for the Company's base of operations since the inner ring would be too obvious if the four kept coming in and out so much and the outer ring had too many people too be able to meet and relay information without getting caught by enemies.

In turn, Alric had bought a struggling blacksmith's shop near the entrance to the west gate in the middle ring to act as the makeshift headquarters for the Company. Shops in that area of town were common only around the gate's entrances. As one furthered down the clean streets of the middle ring, they'd eventually come to suburban style areas where most permanent residents lived in the capital. Some shops meant for the purpose of serving these residents resided in these areas, but they were scattered sporadically.

The entrance of the store was a thick, light brown oak door that was equipped with a electrical lock, so that an employee could press a button from behind their service window and lock the door. Inside the old blacksmith's shop was a front area where the smith's work would have been displayed. The large magically fortified service window that was one and a half by four feet separated the storage room from the display room to offer max protection for the worker. Another door, similar to the front door, also connected the two rooms together. In the back room was generally where most of the work was done and prototypes were kept, so it often smelt of burnt metal and coal. The room had a chimney to let the noxious fumes from the fire out of the building, but this room, along with the front room, could not serve the entire purpose the Company needed the building for.

In the back room was a ladder that led up to a second floor above the front room. Up there, the former blacksmith had once lived, but having been payed a near fortune to move out, he left with what he thought was the better deal. Now, the former living area had turned into the meeting room for the five members of the Company. In the room, the same size as the common area below it, was a set of lime green colored couches that sat three each against the left wall and the wall across from the ladder. To the right was a mini-fridge against the wall, an application that Kristie, the shady turquoise Brefave girl, had implicated herself.

A small, glass coffee table was sitting atop an old raggedy rug in front of the two coaches, but the main piece of furniture was a large, circular, birch wood table. Eight chairs, the same tan color as the table, were all pushed in under it as if someone was expecting company, and in the late afternoon, Fitch stuck his head up the ladder and let out a fanatic, "Hello!"

As he finished his ascent into the room, the only person he caught sight of was the less than ladylike Kristie, snoring on the couch with one leg on the coffee table and an arm outstretched off the lime green cushions. Fitch crossed across the room towards the vociferous girl and stared curiously at her. At first, Fitch tried to sit silently on the other couch, but he kept finding himself glancing back at Kristie. The pressure of leaving her alone had become to great.

Suddenly, the snoring stopped, and the guile Fitch, who's urge to mess with her had broken through to her, tiptoed his way to the edge of Kristie's coach. He stood above her with a malicious smile on his face. Bending down to her head's level, he poked gently with his index finger to see if she hadn't died. Clumsily, the slumbering Kristie reacted by swatting away Fitch's hand and inaudibly mumbling something.

Fitch surreptitiously snickered to himself as he prepared to enact his genius plan. He geared himself to yell into her ear as loud as he could, but right before he could, Alric climbed the ladder with a mighty greeting. "Hello they're my little minions!"