"The Cobalt." One of the dozen shit holes run by Axta The Bright, and yes, it is an ironic name for someone with as dark of a soul as Axta's.
Axta built her reputation from buying politicians left and right, owning slaves who she claimed sold themselves to her, but she wasn't fooling anybody with her little "Worker Bees," and yet she somehow got away with it. It probably helped that she was one of the 7. There weren't many laws that the 7 couldn't break. They were horrifying creatures, with strength beyond imagination, and taking one down would lead to countless casualties, so unless it was something big, the authorities just let them be.
The Cobalt, like her other shit holes, was a front, of course. Money laundering, drug dealing, auction blocks where anything could be bought or sold, but Kaeron wasn't here for any of that. He needed information.
He had knocked out a vampire that had denied him their booth and was now scrolling through the text's he had received from his ex Brianna, who had somehow gotten his new phone number.
Message 1:
"I've changed my mind.
I forgive you for cheating
On me. I just.. didn't understand
At the time that you had
To do that in order to
Realize you love me."
Message 2:
"Why aren't you answering
My texts or calls??? Are
You with that whore again???
Message 3:
"I'm sorry. For not
Being able to satisfy you
In bed. That's it right? The
Reason you cheated?? I'll
Do better I swear... We
Should Have a threesome.
Just let me know you're
Getting these. Okay??"
He should tell her to stop texting him, especially after she blew up his old car, but he liked them crazy, and she... was fucking nuts.
So he shot her a quick "I had to come out of pocket to buy a new car after you blew mine up you stupid bitch," text and then put his phone on sleep mode, as the person he was meeting, finally entered the bar. A dwarf that went by "Einzor The Rogue." Dwarves didn't have last names. Instead, they went by the title given to them by their father at the age of 13. Most of the Dwarves Kaeron had met were arrogant little pricks, who acted as if the tallest of them weren't only 4 feet tall, and Einzor was not the exception, actually he was worse than most.
Einzor met Kaerons gaze and smiled. "How's it going, you cheeky prick?!" He looked at the bartender. "Two beers!"
Kaeron clenched his fist. He and Einzor almost fought every time they met, thanks to that big mouth on Einzor, but Einzor was no idiot. He had many people in his ear, so if there was a secret or some kind of difficult information to obtain. He was the guy you went to, and he had allied himself with some very powerful people. So Kaeron couldn't just slit his throat and be done with him. That never stopped the fantasies, though.
Einzor offered his hand for a handshake, and Kaeron didn't even acknowledge it. "I need to know everything you know about the Pumi desert."
Einzor pulled his hand back, swiped at the nonexistent lint on his white t shirt that was obviously too big for him, and sat.
"I had heard that you've been headed this way, but I didn't actually believe it until you called me yesterday." He looked at Kaeron, a hint of the deviant that was Einzor The Rogue showing. "So what would bring the infamous Fire Breather looking for information on one of the most dangerous places on Solaris."
Kaeron shrugged. "I've taken an interest in the sand dunes."
"The sand dunes, huh? It wouldn't have anything to do with the young brunette you picked up, would it?"
"Who?"
"Who indeed. Who is this mystery girl. I would love to know."
Kaeron gave him a look that would wither a tree. "I don't know who you're talking about, so I suggest you just answer my question."
The bartender, a mean looking older vamp woman with a few scars on her face, plopped two beers onto the table and headed back to her post all without a word.
Einzor smiled. "You always were a poor share." He took a drink of his beer. "Fine... the Pumi desert, Pumi desert... It's hot, unbearably so, most of the time. Monsters, some of which are so ancient and mysterious that even I know nothing about them, rule the land, and the few towns that are still standing are run by lunatics and cannibals, and..."
Kaeron rolled his eyes. "I'm not looking for the stuff that can be found on fucking Google. I need to know lore. Like about the Arcane River, or what Legend says about Itara."
Einzor didn't even try to hide his surprise. "Why are you asking about Itara."
"I just told you I need to know about lore."
Einzor looked at him as if trying to read his mind and then sighed. "Supposedly, it was the birthplace of the first species to have roamed Solaris, um.. Some of the researchers that survived that search for Itara a few years back swear they had seen glowing winged creatures who were whispering in their heads..."
Kaeron lifted a hand. "Like telepathically? Is that even possible?"
"The researchers were all fucked up when they came back from the expedition, you know, seeing things, hearing voices, for all I know the desert cracked them, and their testimonies were nothing more than the nonsense of crazy people."
Kaeron loosed a breath. What had this girl gotten him into.
"Oh!" Einzor snapped his finger. "There is something you should know." He took a swig of his beer. "Stay clear of the Dullahan."
"The what?"
Einzor looked at him as if he were dumb, until Kaeron scowled at him. That's when he began laughing, smacking the table with that heavy hand of his. "You really should leave that dump of a town you stay at more often, Fire Breather.
Kaeron's scowl turned into a growl, but Einzor continued. "Legend says the Dullahan is the protector of Itara and all its secrets, but unlike Itara, the Dullahan is no myth. It's well known around those parts, and not even you stand a chance against it."
Kaeron scoffed. "Is that really all? What a waste of time and money." He said, dropping a small bag full of vorx coins onto the table and standing to leave the same moment he got a text.
"You haven't even taken a sip of your beer."
Kaeron took out his phone and checked it.
From Lex:
"Need you to pick us
Up, we kind of got lost."
He was going to throttle them. He picked up his leather black jacket and strode out the bar.
******
"Hey Pea, we need to get Lily a phone." Lex said cheerful as always.
Lillian admired Lex's fearlessness. After spending half an hour hunting them down at the taco place they had situated themselves at, Kaeron was seething and spent an hour lecturing the two of them, and just as she had done during the lecture Lillian was keeping her mouth shut, too terrified to make Kaeron's mood any worse.
Lex, on the other hand, had, had no fear fighting back against Kaeron's fury with her own saying things like, "They were just having fun, or how they weren't a bunch of kids, so if they wanted to go out, they could go out, blah blah this, and blah blah that." By the end of it, they were both out of breath, Kaeron had to take a walk, and Lex even had tears in her eyes.
She apparently bounced back quick, however, because she was all smiles now. Kaeron, however, didn't seem to have his sisters ability to forgive and forget so easily.
He flinched at the statement and growled. "Low fucking blow Lex, and you really think I should do anything for either one of you after you ignored my one fucking rule?"
She really didn't want them to start arguing again, especially not while she was stuck in the car with them. They were fifth in the line of cars waiting to be let over the massive bridge that connected Parthist to Lucian Forest. She had to do something quick or be trapped for god knows how long with these two yelling and screaming at each other.
"So, did you learn anything from the guy you were supposed to meet up with?" Lillian asked.
Kaeron shot her a look through the rear view mirror, and she flinched.
"Yeah, did you learn anything worth trapping us in that hotel room."
"Lex." He warned.
"What? Can't even ask questions now?"
He scratched his head and loosed a breath.
"I learned how shitty and dangerous of a place we're going, oh wait, I already knew that, and I learned how much of an idiot I am for trusting you to be the voice of reason between the two of you."
"Pea, I don't know who's this little scared girl that you've got in your head, but it's not me. I can fight, you know that, and I had Lillian with me, and she has two daggers in her boots. One for me and one for her."
"That's not the point, Lex."
"No, you're in the wrong here... mostly.. I mean, if me and Lily hadn't got lost.. that's besides the point, but Pea, you have to back off a bit, I know to be careful, but I want to also have fun, while also showing Lily a few things she had never seen before."
"Fine, whatever, you wanna play dress up with red flag girl back there, go right ahead, but don't come crying to me when she drags you into something you can't get out of."
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
Kaeron focused his attention on the slow progress of the last three cars in front of them, and Lex turned her attention to her phone. That's how it always went when the two of them fought. They would yell and scream, or sometimes the more frightening option, arguing in low tones. Whenever they did that, Lillian honestly thought one of them would hit the other.
But they would always make up and go back to being the most disgustingly close siblings she had ever seen in her life. Not that she knew what it was like to have a sibling.
A wave of sickness stabbed her. She had wondered her entire life if she had any siblings, or who her father was, or if she had any other family she didn't know about. An aunt, an uncle, a grandmother, a great grandmother!?
She stuck her head out the window and inhaled for a long time, taking in the smell of her surroundings. The smell of fish assaulted her, followed by that type of fresh air that reminded her of good times.
This was real she was really on her way back home for the first time in years, and she was really escaping Tailon. This had been the second time today she had needed to reassure herself of it all. The first being right after Lex had punched that guy in the face.
Kaeron mumbled something about her being like a dog under his breath, and instead of flipping him off, she just ignored him and checked out the structure that held the Parthist Travel Bereau.
It looked as if it were a gate protecting some kind of Gothic castle. It loomed over them and absorbed the sun with its stones so black that no light could pass through. It was all solid until you got to the lower half, where it was hollowed out for passage, and on the inside for the office of the Travel Bereau staff.
Lillian smiled to herself. Today had been the most normal she had ever felt. She owed Lex for that, and she just might start saying yes more often to Lex's adventures from now on, as long as they stop getting caught, she really didn't want to have to deal with Kaeron's temper everytime they went on a trip for underwear.
They moved up a car length, and she sat back in her seat as Lex climbed into the back with her.
"Paulie's, Audi Bitches?" Lex asked holding out one half of her ear bud.
"Again? How about Shatter Me's, Magic?" She asked, taking the offering.
"You know about Shatter Me!?"
"Yeah, my.. old friend got me hooked on them."
Lex looked at her a question in her eyes that Lillian really wanted to answer, and she wrestled around with the idea of doing just that, but Lex spoke first.
"Fine lady, Magic it is."
"She's got, the key to my heart, she's got, the craze to my y, she's got, the ghost in my eyes, and she's got, magic, magic, and she's got magic magic, and she's got..."