Tik ran as fast as he could, rushing through crowds, jumping over and past fights between mercenaries, drunks, and the usual attention-seekers found on the streets of Crimson Town. He turned corners and darted through alleys that no outsider would dare enter. The stench of alcohol, blood, and dead bodies lingered in the air.

  A very effective “keep away” sign. Not that there were many visitors in these parts anyway. Even the soldiers avoided the area unless forced to come down.

  The city was poorly built. It was a miracle it hadn’t collapsed over the years. Houses stood on flimsy pieces of wood connected to rotting beams that were slowly corroding from time, moisture, and heavy use. The poor conditions and lack of security had driven many of the townsfolk to immoral activities to survive. Prostitution, robbery, and murder were daily occurrences.

  For six-year-old Tik, the stench was nothing more than a familiar scent that reminded him of home. It never stopped being unpleasant, of course, but ignoring it had become second nature.

  Just like he ignored the homes swaying side to side, the wood cracking, breaking, and slowly whittling away as he sprinted through the streets.

  He finally reached his destination, the Red District, the crime center of Crimson Town. He rushed into an establishment called the Drunken Lion, shoving aside a door that was barely hanging on its hinges.

  “Water, please!” he called to the barkeep as he reached the bar.

  “Tik, weren’t you supposed to be doing rounds? Why are you here? What’s the rush?” the barkeep asked, already grabbing a glass of water.

  Tik tapped his feet anxiously, glancing around the bar.

  “It’s a long story. First, me and Tok were scavenging, and then we saw this thing come out of the water. But it wasn’t a thing. It was a body. A dead body that wasn’t dead. I poked it with a stick, and it broke the stick when I tried to poke its baby. Then Tok told me to come get help, and now I’m here.”

  The barkeep looked at the young child and said nothing.

  “WHERE’S RADAHN?” Tik screamed, jumping off his stool after chugging the water.

  The barkeep grabbed the empty glass and started cleaning it. With a small smile, he looked up and pointed with his eyes toward a door on the second floor.

  “Thank you, Cage!” Tik shouted as he bolted toward the stairs.

  He reached the door and grabbed the knob. The wood beneath his feet shook, and he heard footsteps followed by silence. Peering through the keyhole, he caught the cries of a man pleading.

  “No, no, Radahn! I promise she’s lying! I would never do that! I’ve been a customer for years. Do you really want to lose my money over a stupid lying bitch?”

  Tik facepalmed.

  “You aren’t the brightest one around, are you?”

  A deep voice responded.

  “First you try to touch one of my sisters, then you come into my house to tell me they’re lying, and insult them to my FUCKING FACE.”

  A tall, muscular man covered in scars and tattoos approached the seated man. He grabbed him by the shirt and slowly lifted him to eye level. The man’s frown and demeanor changed completely in seconds.

  “The medical bill for my sister’s injury will be 1,000 quill, plus 5 for the liquor, 200 for wasting my fucking time, and 100 for my door. That’s...”

  The man looked confused.

  “What door?”

  Radahn smiled, glanced to the side, then smiled again before hurling the man through the air.

  Tik quickly jumped aside as the body flew toward him. The man crashed through the door, glass and wood scattering everywhere as the frame shattered completely.

  Tik looked up to see a seven-foot-tall, pale, red-haired man standing beside him. Scars covered his face, one particularly prominent across it, yet his appearance didn’t match the wide smile he wore.

  “HEY, TIK!” Radahn boomed, approaching the broken railing. “And 200 quill for the railing!” he shouted down to the man sprawled on the first floor in a pool of blood.

  “You have TWENTY-FOUR hours to get me my money, or you can leave my fucking city, prick.”

  The man stood with what little energy he had left, said nothing, pushed open the door, and left.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Radahn looked at Tik and noticed how worked up he was.

  “Now, little one,” he said, patting Tik’s head with a smile, “what’s the matter?”

  Tik pouted.

  “I told you, stop treating me like a kid! I’m six now!”

  Radahn let out a quick laugh and patted his head again.

  “Oh right, sorry. I forgot you’re a big man now. So what’s the matter, big guy? You look like you just saw a ghost.”

  Tik grabbed Radahn’s pinky, the only part he could wrap his small hand around, and tugged.

  “You have to come.”

  Radahn followed as Tik pulled him down the stairs.

  “Me and Tok were scouting, and we saw this dead body. So we went to investigate, but it wasn’t a dead body. It was a guy, and I poked him, and, and he was holding this robe.”

  Radahn watched Tik hyperventilate and stumble over his words.

  “Tik, relax. Get to the point.”

  He scooped the child up and carried him down the stairs.

  “We found a guy and he has a baby, and they’re dying. They need help.”

  Radahn’s eyes widened. He looked at Cage and nodded.

  “Take care of the place, Cage. We’ll be back.”

  Passing side to side with a piece of bread in his hand, taking small bites, Tok muttered, “It’s been close to an hour now. Tik is the quickest runner we have. He should be back by now.”

  He walked back toward Chak. Both Chak and Arryn were asleep.

  “I’m glad they’re at least able to rest,” Tok whispered. “I wonder what happened to them… and how they have so many Phoenix Cores.”

  Tok looked up and down at Chak’s body. He had tried to move them farther inside the sewers, away from the riverbed, but it was impossible for such a small child to manage.

  “Come on, Tik, hurry up,” he said, sitting down near Chak. “Don’t worry. We’ll take good care of you. Radahn is the best boss ever! He cares for all of us like family. I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to take both of you in and do the same.”

  He glanced to his right and saw that Chak had one eye open.

  “Oh, sorry! I didn’t mean to bother your sleep,” Tok said, taking one last bite of his bread. “I’ll let you rest.”

  Chak shook his head weakly.

  “Continue.”

  Tok looked surprised, then blushed with happiness.

  “Well… there’s Tik, which you already know. He’s my brother. But not really. We don’t have a mom or dad… except for Radahn. He took us in when we were babies.”

  He grabbed his canteen and took a sip of water. Some dribbled down his cheeks.

  “Then there’s Radahn. He’s huge, bigger than you even. He was an orphan just like us. He always goes on and on about how we have to care for our sisters because they saved his life. They’re the backbone of everything. Oh yeah… don’t ever say or do anything stupid against our sisters. He will kill you.”

  Tok scratched the back of his head.

  “He can be really scary sometimes… Then there’s Cage. He’s really nice. He takes care of the front of the house and he likes to cook! He makes this thing that’s like a circle. He puts tomatoes and cheese on it. Whenever we have a good scavenging haul, he makes it for us. He calls it ‘cheese circle.’ I can’t wait for you to try it.”

  Chak was slowly drifting back to sleep as he listened. His body ached, but whatever cloth Tok had placed on him had dulled the pain. For the first time in the last twenty-four hours, he could really take in what had happened. Tears began rolling down his cheeks. He was far too weak to lift his hands to wipe them away. He wanted to speak, but the pain allowed only a few words.

  He held Arryn close and whispered, “Family,” before gently passing the baby to Tok.

  Arryn started crying as the young child held him.

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to hold him,” Tok said nervously. “I don’t want to drop him.”

  Chak slowly moved his hand and placed it on Tok’s shoulder before losing consciousness again.

  “Don’t worry,” Tok said softly. “We’ll get help for him soon.”

  He placed his hand near Arryn. The small baby gripped Tok’s finger as hard as he could, smiling and laughing. Tok’s face went pale.

  “Oh god! Please let go, please let go!”

  Arryn laughed harder, thinking they were playing. Tok’s expression shifted from playful to panicked as he realized how strong the baby was. Instead of pulling away, he just held Arryn closer and scooted nearer to Chak.

  Bushes rustled just outside the sewer entrance, abruptly waking Tok. He had fallen asleep while waiting for Tik. It couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes, but someone was outside and making their way down the hill toward the entrance.

  “Ugh, I don’t understand why the captain wants us to do these stupid routine inspections of the sewers,” one voice grumbled. “This place and those disgusting underworlders can all rot and go to hell. We’re just wasting resources even checking on them. Just let them kill each other.”

  Tok stood up, still clutching baby Arryn. He tried to wake Chak, but it wasn’t working. Panicking, he looked around, unsure what to do. He grabbed Arryn and started running deeper inside, glancing back at Chak’s motionless body.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered, tears welling up.

  He rushed toward the entrance to the underground city. As he turned a corner, he slammed into something hard, something that felt like bone. He looked up and saw Tik lying on the ground, holding his head.

  “What are you doing?!” Tok cried, wiping his tears.

  “Someone’s coming,” Tik said. “I think it’s soldiers!”

  As he pointed, a tall figure approached, ducking his head because the stairs weren’t wide enough to fit him.

  “Hey, Tok. You did good, buddy,” Radahn said calmly. “Tik told me everything. I got it.”

  Radahn made his way toward Chak, knelt down, and reached for him. He felt the warmth of the cloth.

  “How the hell did they get this thing to start working?” he muttered. He hadn’t seen a stasis cloth in years. Not since the last miners abandoned the shafts now known as Crimson Town.

  He pressed two fingers to the cloth and pinched them together. The cloth immediately stopped glowing. He spotted the lantern, pressed its button to turn it off, plunging the area into near darkness. The only light now came from the entrance above.

  He dug into the slot where the core had been placed, shook it free with one motion, and slipped it into his pocket. Then he hoisted Chak over his shoulder. Chak flinched slightly at the movement.

  “Fucker’s heavier than he looks,” Radahn whispered.

  He started walking slowly, picking up pace without making much noise. He tilted his head right, signaling the children to head down the stairs. The soldiers’ footsteps grew closer.

  “Did you hear about the fire-eaters’ ‘secret mission’?” one guard said from farther back, steadying himself against the wall.

  “Secret mission? Everyone knew about it,” the closer soldier replied. “The general had been planning the assault on that tribe for years. I don’t know what pushed him to do it today, but he finally pulled the trigger.”

  The soldier reached the bottom, pulled a small lantern from his belt, and tried to light it. It wouldn’t turn on. He hit it a few times until it flickered to life. He made the turn and started walking deeper into the sewers.

  “Hey, relax! Wait for me! I hate going down here. Why haven’t they built stairs or something? It’s so slippery!” the other soldier yelled, then screamed as he stumbled down the hill.

  Unable to stop himself, he slid past the first soldier and splashed into the sewer water.

  The first soldier stopped and sighed. “God, why couldn’t I just get paired with someone else? Or just give me guard duty back at the castle. I don’t ask for much.”

  “HEY! THIS WATER FUCKING STINKS! HELP ME!” the soaked guard screamed.

  The other grunted, set his lantern down, and turned back to pull his partner out. The light from the lantern now filled the rest of the sewer. For a moment, he caught a sudden shadow darting through the entrance to the underground city.

  “Eh… must’ve been my imagination,” he muttered.

  “Come on, you idiot,” the soaked guard called. “I don’t want to take the whole day scouting this shitty place, and you need a shower. Hurry up!”

  The soldier grabbed his partner’s hand and hauled him out. The uniform was stained brown, and the stench was even worse than before.

  “Yeah… I’ll just go ahead and scout by myself,” the first soldier said. “Stay here. You’ll just distract me smelling like that.”

  Radahn made his way down the steps and closed the second door near the bottom of the stairs, making sure the lock clicked into place.

  “I don’t think those two will be following us,” he said with a small grin. “As always, luck is on my side.”

  He placed Chak down gently and reactivated the stasis cloth with the reverse motion, pinching his fingers together in the opposite direction. The faint glow returned.

  “There you go. Sorry I turned it off earlier. I had to make sure all my excuses were covered just in case they caught up. Can’t exactly say I’m ‘taking a body down to the dead house’ when it’s being kept alive in a stasis cloth.”

  Tik and Tok emerged from one of the nearby withered houses, still holding Arryn. They hurried over.

  “Is he okay?” Tik asked, eyes wide.

  Radahn glanced up and immediately noticed the fine robes wrapped around the baby.

  “Those are some fancy robes,” he said quietly. “You two aren’t just anybody, are you?”

  He looked down at Chak’s unconscious form.

  “No… he’s not. But he will be. Let’s go. We need to find someone to take care of the baby first, then get him to Cage. Cage should at least be able to stabilize him until the doctor pays us a visit.”