We were passing between the rows of the columns that separated the adjacent trading areas when a man covered in dark cloak quickly approached our group. I heard soft clocks as SAS soldiers flipped the safety levers, but I gestured for them to stand down. They did not react, until Aitan repeated the command. Good training, I had to admit, but I still felt somewhat irritated by that.
The man stopped not far away from me and quickly looked around. I noted how he checked out the tops of the pillars, apparently he knew that we had been followed. Well, these wannabe spider-men had withdrawn already quite a while ago, so he did not find anything.
After he confirmed our surroundings, I heard his whisper. Impressively, even with my perception, it felt as if he whispered directly into my ear, while he was standing full three meters away from us.
“I believe I’ll be correct, if I say you don’t have a relation with Bull’s Blood?” – sounded into my ear.
My mouth curved into a smile: “What if I agree with this statement?”
I could see the man shaking his head as he responded: “Nothing. I suggest you get out of here while it’s still safe. I have bad feeling about that place.”
I nodded: “Thanks, we will take your warning to heart.”
—
“What was all that about?” – asked Aitan when the cloaked man had disappeared in the shadows between the pillars.
I had finished analysing the short meeting and the things I had observed before and showed him a toothy grin: “Oh, I believe you are not the only ones looking for the missing people. I do not know about Ministry of Magic, but the Academy does take care of their own.”. Now that I thought about it, was it spelled Academy following the Latin origins, or Akadem as in Greek?
We finished touring around and found some catering businesses in one of the corners. Several shops had proper field kitchens set up, with smoke disappearing somewhere above. Several hundreds square meters were filled with bench tables, leaving a generous amount of empty space between each.
Although Aitan suggested that he and SAS sit separately leaving the whole table to me, I reasoned that it was unwise to spread out our forces and sat together with everyone. Because of the large area, a dozen or so filled tables did not make it feel crowded. Instead, it took quite some time until the waitress reached us.
Surprisingly, only for half a gold ounce, we got plenty of food for everyone. Although that could not be called cheap, it could still be compared to the prices of quality restaurants. Food was also good and plentiful, albeit Pine, one of the soldiers, looked miserable after he had ordered “Soul Shroom Stew”. Who could have expected that soul shrooms were mushrooms that got their name from the creepy, barely discernible wails they kept emitting after being boiled?
After the dinner, I looked at the rather tired soldiers. I thought for a bit, guessing what might happen in near future. I suggested to find a place to rest and prepare for the auction. Aitan tried to reason that they were trained professionals and could still keep looking for the missing people.
I pointed out that we had not found any signs of human trade anywhere, and told that I will need their help if the things heat up. After some arguing to and fro, I simply ordered Aitan to have some rest with his people, promising to notify them if I find something. Rabbi, after a moment of struggling with his priorities and authorities, finally gave in and agreed.
—
I walked away from the wall where SAS had set up their temporary camp and walked back towards the market. I adjusted the shape of the mask that I had created from my armor, so that it would be almost black and made it cover my hair. That ought to be enough to make most casual observers loose me.
Without soldiers following me, I could move faster and observe more details. I had noticed before that I could focus my attention on at most ten things without losing concentration, so not having to keep SAS in mind freed a significant portion of my mental resources.
While I moved around, I began to notice that the vendors belonging to Bull’s Blood were starting to claim that they were running out of stock and began to pack up. However, I clearly observed that they still had some of their merchandise remaining. They did it so randomly and discreetly that I would have missed that if not my memory and the fact that I had been focusing on the members of Bull’s Blood.
I also noted the gradual increase of non-human visitors. I could clearly recognize a group of redcaps amongst those. These redcaps did not act like a city gang, but looked more like a stereotypical mercenary band that had ended up as homeless bums.
Dirty clothes of unknown origin, sharp bladed weapons openly worn to show off suspiciously reddish stains of rust. And sinister dark red felt caps covering their wide ears. They laughed loudly, while browsing the wares on display, sometimes bidding, sometimes selling, but never openly causing any trouble. The other species I could not identify, although their appearances were similar to the stereotypical yetis, dogheads, satyrs, minotaurs, undines and other anthropomorphic cryptids I had read about.
I had forgotten to get a wristwatch, but luckily a loud announcement soon reverberated through the underground space, shaking some dust free from the ceiling. In short, after some flowery excuses and species-neutral salutations, it notified that there was half an hour remaining before the auction. It also informed that the auction broker will soon finish accepting the goods.
I had initially planned to put up the diaries in my possession, but the situation felt a bit too tense to risk my goods. It would be awkward if the auction got destroyed and my items lost during the fight.
I quickly moved to Aitan and his men. They were already ready to go, although I could detect some stifled yawns. I had been correct, they had really needed this rest. They put away the empty energy bar wraps and did their final equipment check. Then, at Aitan’s signal, they lined up.
I nodded and said: “Let’s go.”
***
The auction was held in the very center of the underground hall. The stands, booths and shops were moved away and replaced by low, x-shaped folding chairs. For a moment I thought that I had been overly suspicious about the Bull’s Eye merchants leaving. But when I spread out my perception, I could not find ane one of them.
I had previously agreed with Aitan to bid together, and we got one paddle with our number – 42. I grunted as I thought about the answer to life, the universe and everything and led us to the chairs at the back, where a column would conveniently cover our backs.
After a few minutes, around three hundred seats were taken, leaving around one third empty. Then appeared the auctioneer, a middle-aged man with goatee and curly hair. He wore clothes that looked as if a spacious tunic had been interbred with a mutated toga. I had to admit though, that while looking odd, it did have some style.
With a booming voice, the auctioneer greeted everyone in a perfunctory manner and started the auction straight away. While I could not say that I had frequented auctions, I still had seen a few on TV.
And there, the auctioneers usually tried more to contact the audience and get everyone interested. Was the business culture different in the supernatural society? I heard Aitan whispering an order to maintain vigilance to Maple who sat next to him, who then in turn proceeded to relay the order to the others.
—
Behind the auctioneer, there was a path cordoned off by Bull’s Blood. There, a set of movable walls, significantly thicker and heavier-looking than the ones that had surrounded the appraisal service, led straight towards the restricted area of Bull’s Blood. This was the corridor that was used to bring in the lots to be auctioned off.
In addition to the perception-blocking properties of the walls, there were also several tens of people wearing Bull’s Blood insignias. What was different from the other people of that organization that I had seen before, these ones were wearing heavy-looking sets of armor and carried large, rectangular-shaped curved shields and short spears. That looked a lot like late Roman legionary equipment that had a chance to develop to the pinnacle of metallurgy.
Proper articulated leg and arm guards, neck protectors and advanced segmented gauntlets. I was also surprised at the thickness of their armors. According to the edges I could see, the metal plates were close to one centimeter thick. Logically, if the material used was steel, then the weight of the armors should have rendered them immobile. Some sort of special material? Weight-reducing magic? Magic was likely, as I had no way to pierce with my awareness through that armor.
—
First part of the auction was dedicated to all sorts of objects. Rare ingredients, artifacts, curios, even unknown objects of unknown purpose and value.
“Iron-corroding rock! Fifty coins! Fifty coins one…”
“Samara of Yggdrasil! For those who are not into botany, samara is the type of fruit that comes from an ash tree. Prices begin with twenty thousand coins!”
“Seven bones of a Catholic saint!…”
“Drop of water from lower plane, possibly one of the RIvers of the Dead. Does not dry and is heavier than mercury by around two and three-fifths times!”
“Artifact sword from the East, possibly planar drifting artifact. According to our tests, works as a medium for magic conversion!”
“…alloyed with star crystal. Apprentices started calling it ‘mithril’ several decades ago. Exceptional plasticity…” – I barely managed to maintain neutral face, although I heard a ‘Wow’ from the direction SAS men were sitting.
“…rare third eye of a sinner, verified using standard summoning! Six thousands, six thousands five hundred, six thousands eight hundred!…”
“…can’t be opened. Bids begin from one coin!”
I did not care much as I had no idea what to do with most of the objects anyway. However, I kept listening and made sure to remember all the details. It was a unique chance to easily learn some terminology and understand the limits and possibilities of the supernatural reality.
FInally, after a crystal containing the skills and knowledge of car driving was sold for thirty thousand six hundred and eighty-five coins, it was the turn of living “goods.”
Circle of Shards 