The Aftermath ✔

11 TIMING IS EVERYTHING

In a hotel parking lot in München, Manny held out his hand and tapped his palm.

"You hit my harpy, asshole. A little more. Whores do not come cheap in this city."

The dwarf sighed and emptied yet another pouch of decorative stones. "That's all the runes I've got. Honest."

Standing close as previously instructed, Trixie cradled her right wing.

"Well, look at her. Her wing is still busted up and everything."

"But why was a harpy even walking? Why would one even come close to a road? They know better than most of the Gateways—"

"Oh? So you're denying you hit my harpy?" Manny challenged. "Because I can call a few wolves up here. Bet they would love to check your cargo too, tiny."

Teeth grinding, the dwarf shoved his hands down the front of his trousers and fished around.

When he dragged out another pouch from his nether regions, everyone grunted.

Everyone but Manny, who waited for more runes. Magic flowed like water throughout the earth and like water, it could take on various forms depending on how it was tampered—gas, liquid, vapor, or solid. Everything on earth had some rune in it and that rune could be extracted. The most basic form was rune stones, for which dwarfs were famous for making.

"What is that one?" Manny inquired, pointing to a yellow stone. "What is that one? That honey?"

The dwarf held it up and squinted. "Might be. But I've had It for ages."

Manny snatched it. "This'll do."

He turned to Trixie but she took a step back, hands raised. "Please. Please no," she begged.

Try as he might, Eli couldn't make sense of it. There was a note of anger in Manny's voice when he asked, "Will this help you or not? It has helped already, has it not? The dose you got on the road."

"Don't," was all the harpy said as she took a shaky step back.

Manny groaned in the back of his throat and turned to the dwarf. "You got a holder?" He spoke before the man could protest. "It wasn't a question. Course you do. Gimmie the nicest one you got. And I can tell the difference."

Five minutes later saw Trixie's forlorn expression when Manny put the beautiful pendant around her neck, the yellow rune safely inside.

"There. That should help."

And he was right. Trixie practically glowed. She looked more radiant. If not for her miserable expression, Eli might have mistaken this for a nice gesture.

"Harpy, you come with me. You two," Manny didn't look back as he said, "you two can fuck off. You know where to find me."

He didn't get far. Still clutching her wing under her jacket, Trixie trailed behind him. So did the dwarf.

When Manny stopped to inquire, the little man straightened his beard.

"Different echelons open for different power levels. Let's just say...I don't make enough to see the 'good' offers. But a vampire...and a harpy?" He snorted under his breath. "That's gotta be an amazing selection. Hope you don't mind."

Manny kissed his teeth and made his way to the motel. "Considering where your runes just came from, this will be hilarious for many reasons."

There was no sense to keep places like these shrouded in magic, and yet they persisted.

An establishment like this was visible to all magical creatures. The door to the hotel was a regular swinging door but before they reached it, an ancient gate fell from the sky—one side then the other. They slid apart to reveal the colorful world.