NOVEL NEXT B3 - Lesson 23: "The Turning Of Gears."
Hugo let his gaze linger for a moment longer as the bruised, still-snoring card shark was hauled out of the gutter, two city guards grumbling about "damn drunks" and "worthless dice-rats." The tavern's lantern light caught in the haze as the door swung shut behind them, leaving only the thick scent of spilled ale and the mutter of late drinkers in their wake.
He turned away from the Ragpicker's Den, boots squelching in the city's evening muck, and ducked into the narrower streets where lanterns grew thin and the shadowed corners stretched long. Alpha's drone followed in his wake, gliding in low on insectile wings, its red eye pulsing with lazy contentment.
"Well, that was fun," Alpha chirped into his ear, his tone bright as a coin spinning through fingers. "What's next?"
Hugo kept his eyes on the slick cobbles, the city's pulse running in the distant clangor of bells and the call of market criers echoing between stone and shutter. He flexed his sore shoulder, feeling the familiar throb, and let the silence stretch as they walked.
He waited until a pair of lantern-boys scurried past, their swinging lights scattering gold across the wet cobbles, before he spoke. His voice dropped low, careful not to carry. "I have to ask — what are your goals here, Mr. Alpha? Why all this cloak and dagger?"
Alpha answered with a soft buzz, hovering as they slipped beneath the striped awning of a shuttered fishmonger. The air still reeked faintly of salt and brine. His words came measured, precise. "I have three main objectives here in Halirosa. I prefer to keep things tidy, even in a city like this."
Hugo grunted, his boots crunching on grit as the street dipped toward the river district. "I'm listening."
"First," Alpha said, "I need a base here in the city. Somewhere I can move goods from the dungeon — sell a little, buy a little — without attracting the wrong kind of attention. A place no one notices at first glance, but that everyone in the know eventually learns to find."
Hugo raised a brow, glancing at the drone as it hovered near a leaning signpost. "You already have the Nexus Hub in the mountain. You poured half a city's worth of labor into that place. Why not use it?"
Alpha's optic flickered, the mechanical equivalent of a shrug. "It isn't ready for regular business. Not yet. Too raw, too far from Halirosa proper. Most traders won't waste half a day's trek just to haggle over spirit herbs or insect chitin. Not until I've made a name worth the journey. A small local shop lets me start quietly — build trust, sift out opportunities — and without advertising what I can do to every thief who thinks they've spotted easy prey." A faint hum vibrated the air. "Besides, managing invitations for every curious merchant? That's more trouble than its worth."
Hugo snorted. "You're not wrong. A shopfront here would make things easier."
Alpha's laugh crackled over the comms, bright and sharp. "And that's just the start."
They rounded another corner. The streets narrowed, squeezed between sagging stalls and the skeletal remains of old markets. Halirosa's heart quickened after sundown, and in every shadow lurked either a bargain or a blade.
Hugo took a deep breath. "What's next, then? Your second goal."
"Connections," Alpha replied, his voice growing more clinical. "I want the local Guild and adventurer crowd on my side. Eventually, I'd like to start funneling them toward the goblin outpost. People already see the Deep as a place of opportunity. I just need to given them reason to chose our little corner over the clan's or sect's. And the more adventurers and traders who visit, the easier it is for me to research cultivators, mages, and anyone else who wanders into my web."
Hugo gave a dry chuckle. "And here I thought you just liked making friends. But you know, Guild politics aren't much better than the clans or sects. They'll want their cut, and the more successful you look, the bigger the cut gets."
"That's just business," Alpha said, unbothered. "Besides, I'm not opposed to making deals. Let them profit, as long as I do. And the more they rely on me, the more leverage I have when things turn sideways."
They passed a stall where a pair of children played knucklebones beneath the watchful eye of an old woman. The city's pulse slowed here, the air thick with the promise of rain and secrets.
"And the third goal?" Hugo asked, voice softer now.
For a moment, Alpha was silent. The drone's red eye dimmed, then glowed brighter. "I want Icefinger's gang gone. Completely. Systematically dismantled until no one even remembers his name. No loose threads."
Hugo paused, his lips pressed into a hard line. "That's not a small task. You're not the first to try, and you won't be the last. The Guild's spent decades fighting that bastard. He's like rot — every time you think you've cut him out, he comes back, meaner than before. His people have their hands in every pie in the city. Maybe beyond. The gangs, the traders, the smaller sects. Even the Watch has to play nice or risk open war in the streets."
Light rain began to fall from the sky. Softly at first, but quickly picking up in intensity. In only a few short moments, Hugo had to project a thin film of spirit energy around his body to prevent from being soaked.
Alpha's voice was calm, almost icy. "So I've heard. The way his men talk, he's just as much a boogyman to them than anyone else, and seems tangled up in every bad thing that happens in this city. But more importantly, he's already tried to kill my people once."
The [Wasp] drone turned to look Hugo in the eye. "In six hundred years, no one has ever survived to repeat that mistake."
Hugo stopped at the mouth of a narrow alley, the lamplight flickering over rain-slick stones. "You think you can do what the Guild, the clans, and a dozen other powers couldn't? That's a tall order. He might not be the most powerful mage in the city, but there's a reason so few openly oppose him. And even if you do manage it, that just leaves a gaping hole that people will rush to fill. That could cause more chaos than you realize, boss."
Alpha's response was a digital hum, almost a purr. "Then I just need to make sure the gap is filled with something better."
Hugo's eyes narrowed. "Are you thinking of replacing him? That's… ambitious."
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Alpha chuckled. "It wouldn't be my first time."
Hugo froze, mid-sentence, then shook his head. Maybe that wasn't a story he needed to hear right now.
"You make it sound simple," he said instead.
Alpha mentally grinned. "All I need is a network I can trust. Or at least influence. Let the Guild think they've won a great victory, let the clans carve up what's left, but the foundation will be mine. Quietly. Securely."
Hugo considered that, the weight of it pressing down as hard as the city's old stones. "You'll need leverage. Information. And allies."
A brief pause. "That's why I have you, isn't it?" Alpha quipped, though beneath the humor there was something else — an edge, steely and earnest.
Hugo shook his head, but a small, wry smile crept across his face. "I think you overestimate me, boss. I was just some low-level thug. It's not like I have the kind of connections you think I do. To do what you want, we'll need to move fast. Icefinger's men are nervous about something, and after tonight, you can bet they'll be watching for new faces in the city. That will only increase once Robert returns with news about events in the Deep."
Alpha's drone drifted closer, his voice colder than the former bandit was used to. "Let them worry."
They walked in companionable silence for a moment, boots scuffing the street, listening to the city breathe. Somewhere, a bell tolled the hour; across the rooftops, thunder threatened in the darkening sky.
Hugo tilted his head, glancing at Alpha's hovering form. "So, where do we start? Shop? Allies? Or do you want to take another poke at the underworld tonight?"
Alpha paused, humming thoughtfully. "Let's start with the shop. The sooner I have a base, the sooner we can move on to the rest."
"Any preferences?" Hugo asked, eyeing the rows of shuttered stalls and empty windows as they passed.
"Somewhere central," Alpha replied. "Not too nice, not too seedy. Good foot traffic, but easy enough to secure. If it has a back entrance and a cellar, all the better."
Hugo nodded, mind already turning over possibilities. "I know a few places we could check, if you don't mind getting your feet muddy."
The drone's eye glowed brighter, eager. "Lead on, partner. Let's see what Halirosa has to offer."
As they slipped deeper into the city, the wind picked up, carrying the scent of rain and distant incense. Overhead, storm clouds curled against the dusk, and for a heartbeat, Halirosa felt balanced on a knife's edge — old powers shifting, new players moving, and two unlikely allies weaving their own designs into the city's tangled web.
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The room was silent but for the quiet, arrhythmic tapping of Icefinger's claw on the blackwood desk. Each stroke drew a thin line of rime across the polished surface, frost blooming beneath his touch. Shadows flickered from the firelight, dancing over the old velvet curtains and carved moldings, but even the hearth's warmth seemed to fade, ceding ground to the gathering chill. Yet even that light seemed swallowed by the burning, uncanny blue of Icefinger's eyes as they cut through the gloom.
Across from him, Seeker stood with a practiced calm, though the twitch at his jaw betrayed nerves. He adjusted his cufflinks and cleared his throat with the easy confidence of a seasoned negotiator, but even he couldn't hide the tension that radiated from his shoulders.
"So it's true, then." Icefinger's voice was quiet, the words sliding through the cold like a knife through velvet. "Magnus is dead."
Seeker inclined his head, lips twitching into the ghost of a smile that never reached his eyes. "I had Seraphina go over the soul candle three times, boss. No tricks. No hidden marks or soul fragments. Magnus is gone."
Icefinger's gaze dropped to the cold, extinguished candle at the center of his desk. The black wax was shot through with icy blue veins, the soul flame within long since guttered out. For a heartbeat, he simply stared, his breath curling visibly in the air. Then his claw struck the desk one final time.
A thunderous crack split the silence. A jagged mass of ice erupted from the side of the desk, smashing into the paneled wall with a force that rattled the sconces and set dust sifting from the ceiling. The three lieutenants all flinched: Seeker with a full step back, one hand raised as if to shield his face; Orion with her tails fluffed and bristling, the silvery fur shot through with frost; Kira alone held steady, though her green eyes widened in the dark.
Icefinger did not apologize, did not even glance at the ruined wall. "Orion," he said, his voice colder than ever, "your report."
Orion's composure wavered, the kitsune's ears flattening as she brushed melting frost from her hair. Her tails coiled in tight, anxious arcs behind her as she cleared her throat. "Not much to add, I'm afraid. Just unconfirmed reports that two of the expedition leaders have returned, but the Guild's locked tight. Whatever they brought back from the Deep, they aren't sharing." She licked her lips, glancing sidelong at Seeker. "My agents can't get close. The apparent scout leader hasn't left the Guild since he returned, and the mage has a tail — probably council, maybe even one of the High Clans' people. No gaps in the watch so far. I… didn't have anyone watching for them. Not with the timeline. By all rights, they shouldn't have made it back this soon. I suspect they left days ahead of Magnus' death. Maybe seeking reinforcements — or maybe running."
Seeker sniffed. "Which means whatever went wrong, they saw it coming."
"Maybe," Orion replied, bristling at the interruption. "There are also reports of two others with them, but both vanished soon after entering the city. Unconfirmed identities." She shifted her grip on her staff. "We're sending out feelers, seeing if their companions talk to anyone — but so far, nothing."
A brittle silence lingered. Icefinger's stare seemed to strip away all pretense. Orion stumbled, her breath coming faster, the air frosting in her hair until she looked crowned in snow. "I'll have more soon," she added quickly, voice trembling. "Just need time."
Icefinger turned away from her, slow and deliberate, the chill in the room intensifying until every exhale steamed in the dimness. "Kira."
The catkin stepped forward, cloak whispering over the rug. She moved with feline poise, emerald eyes slitted against the cold, voice calm and measured. "The Ironheart clan is furious. They're pressing for blood payment. But the rush to the Radiant Sea has everyone's attention. I do not expect them to press the issue soon — not for a month, maybe longer. Their old alliances have weakened. They grumble, but they will not move unless someone prods them."
She paused, tail lashing once. "The market is more dangerous than usual. With so many seeking passage east, tempers are short. Smugglers run double, sometimes triple shifts. Half of them would kill for an edge." She flicked a glance at Seeker, who grinned despite himself.
"Good," Icefinger murmured. He sat back, the ancient leather groaning beneath his weight. The frost that laced the edges of the desk continued its slow conquest, spidering across in intricate, deadly patterns. "Losing Magnus is a blow, but let the Ironhearts sulk for now. We have more pressing matters."
He fell silent, the only sound the soft crackling of ice and the ragged hiss of dying flames. The fire in the hearth stuttered, then blinked out as frost crept up its stonework. Darkness swallowed the corners of the room, and the velvet curtains hung limp and heavy in the unnatural cold.
With a flick of his claw, Icefinger dismissed them. "Go. Find me answers. I want every piece of this city's filth turned over. The Guild thinks it can hide from me. Remind them that even secrets freeze."
The three exchanged nervous glances. Seeker offered a low bow, ever the performer; Orion ducked her head, gathering her scattered dignity; Kira faded into the darkness as if she'd never been there at all. The heavy door groaned open, spilling a thin wedge of hallway light before swinging shut behind them.
Inside, Icefinger remained motionless. The frost advanced, slow and inexorable, climbing bookshelves, freezing ink in its wells, fogging the crystal decanters on a sideboard. The black candle sat dead and cold, a memorial to loss.
He stared at the candle, lost in some private calculus. "Magnus," he whispered, barely audible over the settling of ice. "You fool. I warned you. Now look what you've cost me."
The last of the fire's heat vanished as the frost reached the heart of the coals, snuffing the faintest glow. In the sudden, absolute dark, Icefinger's outline seemed to swell, shadows writhing about him.
In the gloom, only Icefinger's eyes gleamed, the blue brighter and more merciless than any flame.
Beyond the windows, Halirosa's city bells rang in the distance — cold and hollow, echoing in the night.