Fourteen

I’d figured I’d gotten about as much as I could out of these two. I asked for my leave, which they were more than happy to do. Jayrell offered me one more drink of nectar, but I happily declined. I felt like if I took one more, I’d already be going to bed.

I was led out of the Enclave and left alone at the wall of vines. I had a decision to make, where was I gonna go next?

In a situation like this, I’d normally flip a coin, but I had more than two choices to make.

I stood there for a good ten minutes going through my notebook and cranking the gears in my mind.

In the end, I decided I needed to get back to the scene of the crime and talk to the business owners. If I left them alone for too long, they may very well forget some of the details I may need.

It was a long walk back to where I needed to go. The rising and falling roots of the trees made it difficult to navigate.

On top of that, I know I saw creatures that would come after me if I made too much noise. I’d never come across them before but call it instinct.

One had way too many eyes to even bother counting, and it stood on two very long and narrow legs that ended in mighty talons. Another one I saw was the stuff of nightmares. It was an amorphous purple shape covered in mouths full of pointy teeth. All of these mouths laughed, all of them. And not in unison.

As I made it to the edge of the thicker part of the forest, I watched as a centaur eyed me with his bow. I stood completely still.

The centaur released the arrow. I immediately dropped to the ground. Something behind me let out a scream. I turned on the ground to see a creature that floated. The bottom half of its body swung like a pendulum, its top half a mass of bones and twisted flesh. It screamed and turned back into the forest.

“Thanks.” I called to the centaur. The centaur swiftly approached me and looked me up and down. He took a strong sniff of the air about me.

“You’ve drunk the nectar of the elves?” he asked.

“Yes. I drank with Jayrell and Faelana. I’m here on official business.” I stood my ground; I wasn’t going to let this creature intimidate me.

“That creature tracked you with that scent. Make of that what you will.” The centaur turned and galloped away.

My brain started screaming and flipping on itself. Was I given the nectar on purpose? As a way to get rid of me. But Jayrell drank the nectar as well. But I suppose he didn’t need to leave the Enclave. Was Jayrell trying to hide something from me, or was it an honest mistake?

Rattled, I continued my way to the murder scene. He weather was a lot clearer today compared to last night, which was a relief. Though the humidity was rough, I had to take off my lucky trench coat and fold it over my arm.

By the time I made it back to the alley, I was drenched in sweat, and I stunk. I looked about myself and wished I knew some kind of magic that could fix the mess I was covered in. Nothing major, jus something that could do little helpful things to me. Maybe Kipp would be willing to teach me.

I was back in the alley, looking at the two doors. The alley itself hadn’t changed from last night. Not knowing which door to pick, I took out a coin and flipped it. It came up heads, so I picked the door on the right.

The door was a rusted metal, covered in large bolts. It looked heavy and made a loud echo when I banged my fist against it. I waited a few moments, and nothing happened. Just as I was about to knock again, the door opened.

An orc, just over six feet in height stood in the doorway. They had a round belly and arms that looked carved from marble. Their hair was tied in a bun and covered in a hairnet. Glasses that seemed too small sat on the end of their nose and their tusks were of uneven length. The ensemble was finished with a white apron covered in blood.

“Can I help you?” The voice had a deep growl, but they didn’t seem annoyed.

“I’m detective Vince Clay. I’m investigating the murder of one Heston Barclay. His body was found in this alley Sunday morning. I just wanted to ask you a few questions.

“Sure. I’m just serving some customers. Are you right to wait a few moments in my back room before I give you my attention?”

“Yeah, not a problem at all.” I was relieved at how willing they were to talk. The orc stepped aside and let me in. The door slammed shut behind me, it made a thunderous roar as it did.

The room was dimly lit, but as I followed after the orc, the light grew slowly brighter. I figured this must’ve been the butcher.

“Wait here. I won’t be too long.” He orc pointed to a crude looking metal chair and walked back to the front of the business.

I was in the freezer room. Meat of all sorts of shapes and cuts dangled about the room on great hooks. The meat here didn’t just look like the kind of meat we served back in Edge City.

Wrapped around one hook was a tentacle still covered in suckers. It was longer than I was tall and thicker than my body.

As I sat there in the freezer, slowly cooling down from the heat I’d just been in, something else caught my attention.

I approached the hanging meat, pushing a few of the corpses out of the way. I was startled when I came to it.

It was a huge head. And it looked exactly like a dragon. The kind I used to see on the covers of some books back home. I couldn’t believe it.

“I’ve just finished with my customers and put a sign up at my door. Ready to begin? Ah, I see you’ve come across the dragon head. Yeah, that’s a delicacy. You want some?”