Eternal Rest

Back in the workshop, Bones sat at the alchemy table, continuing his meticulous work while Hem sat next to him and Darsumi stood behind, glancing over his shoulder.

"Don't keep us waiting! What are you working on?" Darsumi asked again.

"A type of bomb," Bones said, not taking his eyes off his work.

"Ooo…" Hemdus made an 'O' with his mouth and slowly started distancing himself. "Are ye really makin' a bomb? In my workshop?!"

"Yes! I, uh, I'll be careful, Hem. Not to worry!" Bones tried to reassure him but saw Hem was still distancing himself, looking at him dubiously.

"Why have you decided to make a bomb of all things? What kind of bomb is it?" Darsumi asked, getting to the important questions.

"See, when I was observing humans around me, I noticed one common weakness they all share, and everyone else for that matter. It was once even my own!"

"Weakness that everyone… shares?" Darsumi repeated, puzzled.

"Yes. You see, they have the tendency to need to breathe air!"

"Ah yes, quite the flaw!" Darsumi said sarcastically.

"Amused, are you? Just wait until you see the effect of my bomb!"

"Alright, so this new bomb, what is it going to do exactly?"

"What I am making is a highly concentrated poisonous substance that is highly virulent and spreads fast once in contact with air."

Bones turned to Darsumi and continued, his eyes gleaming with a mixture of excitement and determination.

"The poisonous fumes resulting from the explosion should cause difficulty breathing, coughing, wheezing, and overall weakness. Those at the point of impact will feel the brunt of it and suffer the most harmful effects from the chemicals. Sudden collapse, convulsions, and possibly even death are a possibility. I just need to find a way to disperse it quickly enough…" Bones finished, returning to his work.

"Gobrick's beard, Boney… dat's monstrous!" Hem said. "I wouldn’ wanna be yer enemy…"

"Thank you, Hem. It would make me sad if you ever were one. I've grown quite fond of you dwarves."

cough "Well… ye 'no," Hem started mincing words, "We're just glad ye weren’ the type of undead lookin' to eat our brains!"

Bones raised a hand to his chest and said, "It warms my heart to hear you say that, Hem. I would never risk our friendship for a midnight snack!"

Darsumi snorted and laughed.

"Ye 'no? I feel a bit insulted just now! Takes a real bond for a dwarf to open up like that!"

"I'm sorry, Hem. Are there many brain-eating undead out there?"

"Sure, most will try to take a bite out of you," Darsumi replied, then switched back to the topic at hand. "You said you need to find a way to disperse the fumes?"

"Yes," Bones said, his tone growing more serious. "The effectiveness of the bomb depends on how rapidly and widely the fumes can be spread. I need a mechanism that ensures the gas disperses quickly once the bomb is detonated."

"Hmm, ye need somethin' that can blast the gas out in all directions," Hem mused. "Maybe somethin' like a burstin' charge that spreads it evenly?"

"Exactly," Bones replied, nodding. "A bursting charge, or perhaps a pressurized container that releases the gas instantly upon impact. Do you have any way to acquire something like that?”

Darsumi stroked his beard, thinking. "I believe I do. You should find Mirami and ask her for help. She makes most of her gadgets herself, smoke bombs included!"

"Oh? That would be perfect! I'll go find her after I finish here. Thank you!"

"Then, we'll leave you to work in peace!" Darsumi said, motioning for Hem to follow. On his way out, Hem pleaded with Bones not to destroy his workshop.

Hah, what characters! Bones thought. I think I know why the bomb was a surprise though. I can't imagine many would use gadgets and bombs on the battlefield surrounded by the constant barrage of spells. If I can get Mirami to help me, all that will be left to do is find a container for the bomb and test it!

Bones finished grinding the leftover dried Blue Orchid before evening and left the smithy, heading toward the pub where Mirami spent most of her time. The pub had a classic look for that type of establishment, serving mead and ale to a working class that made up most of the clientele.

Bones found Mirami in a booth hanging with her dwarf friends. He approached their table and, after greeting the bunch, asked to speak with her privately. Once they were away from the crowd, Bones explained what he needed her expertise for and asked her if she could help him. He didn't know much about the young dwarf apart from being a thief and a burglar, but Mirami always came off as an easy-going type.

"Why sure, Mr. Bones. Come by my place tomorrow afternoon and we'll see what we can do for ye! Let me write down my address."

Bones received a small note with her address written on it and stored it. "Then, I leave you to your friends and I'll be seeing you tomorrow! Thank you and have a good night!"

"Ye too, Mr. Bones," Mirami said with a wink. "I'll be expecting ye. Have a good night!"

Mirami waved him goodbye and Bones slowly headed back toward the smithy. As he walked through the narrow streets of Stonefall, a figure approaching from the opposite direction drew his attention. There was something about the approaching figure that made Bones' spine tingle. When they were just a few meters apart, Bones recognized the young man he had seen once before.

"Small world… it's been a wh-" thump

Bones' senses were completely cut off. The last thing he remembered before blacking out was a lightning-fast hand reaching out to him.

As he came to, he could faintly make out voices around him.

"That… n't work."

"-at? Why?"

"Why? Because he is a skeleton! Wait… I think he's waking up!"

Bones finally got his senses checked and working. He saw that he was sitting in a chair, tied up in a ransacked room, watched by two people. On his left was a young girl, tapping her finger on the hilt of her rapier, but the man on his right fully drew his attention. Both were the figures he had seen in the Adventurer's Guild the first time he came to Hagos.

"Ahem, like I already tried to say, it's been a while, former branch guild leader and adventurer," Bones said to Rayne, who leaned closer and stared him down.

"Quite a while. Are you having fun being an adventurer?" Rayne asked, his tone indifferent.

"I do. A membership has its perks. What can I do for the two of you?" Bones asked, looking at the two.

Rayne straightened his back, turned, and walked over to the window, looking at the lights in the distance.

"I need information, and I am prepared to do anything to get it out of you. Do you understand me?"

"Well, if I'm getting this right, you're threatening me?! With what exactly?" Bones asked in a mocking tone.

The situation he got himself into caught him by surprise, but the moment he saw Rayne, he knew what he wanted.

"I told you I'm prepared to do whatever it takes!" Rayne pressed.

"You have nothing to threaten me with!" Bones chuckled in response.

Rayne frowned. He knew he didn't really have a way to extract the information he needed out of the undead, but he was at the end of his wits. He felt his chance to catch Silva was slipping, and every second he wasn't making progress was a wasted second.

It had been half a minute, and Rayne was lost in thought, doing nothing but standing there. Bones saw no reason to delay this any further, so he turned to Belle.

"Is he okay? This is getting a bit awkward."

Belle glanced at Rayne, then turned to Bones and answered his question. "No, Bones, he's not okay. I'm afraid he is going to lose it if he doesn't find-"

"Silva! Yes, I remember from the interrogation."

"-then what? I torture the information out of him? What would even work on an undead?" Both Bones and Belle turned to Rayne, who kept voicing his thoughts, still looking out the window.

"Torture wouldn't work, nor is it necessary, Miss Belle." Bones shifted back to young girl.

"Then, do you know where Silva is?" she asked, hopefully. Bones grinned.

"Tell me! Please!" she pleaded.

"Sure. I'll tell you where you can find him and the rest of the Hounds!"

"Ohmygodreally?" Belle blurted out.

Rayne, still lost in his thoughts, muttered, "Light affinity works best on undead, but this one is a bit different. They're weakened by the sun, and this one doesn't seem to be affected by it! What if I don't find Silva… No! One of his goons ought to know where he is!"

"Yes, but could you untie me? This is getting out of hand."

"You won't try to run away?" Belle cocked her head and asked.

"Could I run away from the two of you?" he asked, and Belle shook her head, giggling.

"Then I won't try and run away. Could you…do something about him as well?" Bones motioned toward Rayne, who was still lost in his own world, occasionally shaking his head and whispering, "this won't do!"

"-ne?"

"-ello?

"Hello! Rayne?" Belle screamed.

Rayne snapped out of it and turned around, only to see Bones untied, waving at him, and Belle with her arms spread wide, silently mouthing "what the fuck?"

"Uh, wha…what are you doing, Belle?" Rayne asked, looking at Belle incredulously. His expression turned serious, and the room temperature started dropping.

"Wait, wait, Rayne! We made a deal! It's done!" Belle hurriedly said.

Rayne abruptly stopped and glanced at Bones, who winked at him. "What is?" he asked.

It didn't take long for Belle to explain what transpired. Convincing Rayne, however, did.

"And he implicitly said, when you asked him, that he knows where Silva was and is willing to sell him out?" Rayne repeated, having a hard time believing it.

"For the tenth time, yes!" Belle answered, exasperated.

Rayne turned to Bones, who sat in the chair rubbing his wrists, relieved to be free from the bindings. "Why? Why now and like this?" Rayne asked. There was no reason for Bones to give up Silva now. Unless…unless something happened between them? That would explain his willingness to cooperate. A thought occurred to Rayne.

"You're running away from him, aren't you? What happened?"

"Things have changed," Bones simply said, not willing to comment further.

Rayne snorted and agreed to a cooperation, saying he doesn't really care what happened between them as long as he can have Silva.

Before working out the details of their deal, Bones asked to change the location to a more…accommodating place. The trio left the building and visited the nearest pub, where they sat in a booth and ordered ale.

"You can drink ale?" Belle asked Bones in surprise.

"Not really, it dissolves immediately. Mana potion is my choice of drink," he replied, and Belle made a sour face after hearing that.

Bones turned to Rayne and asked how they found him.

"We followed the thugs Silva sent. We didn't know they were searching for you, though," Rayne replied.

Rayne had been looking for Silva all this time and knew Silva hired numerous thugs to work for him. He tried interrogating them, following some, and bribing for information, but no one knew where Silva was. They all said that Silva would find them when he needed something. Last he was looking for him was in the Underground City, where he saw a group of thugs leaving Hagos.

He followed them to Stonefalls and watched them search the city until they gave up and left. Rayne stayed and waited, trying to find information on who they were looking for until he spotted Bones going through the city's gates. Bones was dressed differently but still covered his head with the hood and walked a bit hunched, looking down. It was enough for Rayne to notice and focus his attention on the suspicious figure. He still wasn't completely sure it was him until tonight, when he got close enough and still failed to use Identify on Bones.

"So, you’ve been tailing me since I entered the city?" Bones asked.

"Yes, and it wasn't easy. You're quite elusive for a skeleton," Rayne admitted.

"Why not approach me directly?" Bones inquired.

"We couldn't risk alerting Silva. We needed to be sure you were alone and willing to cooperate," Rayne explained.

Bones nodded, understanding the caution. "Alright, let's get to the point. I can tell you where Silva is and the location of the Hounds' hideout, but you need to make sure he is really there when you go after him!"

Rayne nodded, urging him to continue. Bones explained that Silva spent most of his time Underground, no doubt making plans for the festival. Rayne’s heart started racing at the mention of the festival. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

"Rayne…stop it!" Belle said, raising her voice. Rayne took a deep breath, calming down. "I can't let them succeed like they did in Westbrook!"

"It won't be like Westbrook! The necromancer is dead!" Bones affirmed, then continued. "Look…"

Bones revealed that the Hounds were preparing something big, much bigger than Westbrook. At the mention of the mana bombs, Rayne threw another fit, his rage barely contained. Bones further voiced his opinion, stating that the hired thugs were part of the plan but couldn't specify their exact role or where Silva planned to detonate the mana bombs. Rayne wanted to go immediately and raid the hideouts after Bones disclosed the locations, but Bones persuaded him not to.

Bones leaned forward, emphasizing his point. "Think about it, you attack them now and you catch some of them. If you want all of them, you need to do it prior to the attack when they'll be gathered in the same place, Silva included."

Rayne reluctantly agreed to wait after considering Bones' words. He also needed time to prepare. At first light the next day, he would go straight to the Adventurer's Guild in the capital and request the guild leader to let him form and lead a small task force. Even if he wasn't a member of the guild anymore, he had no doubt his master would comply with his request. The assault needed to be handled with a small group of people as Rayne didn't know who to trust in the guild but his master.

"I think I've told you everything. I take it you won't be mentioning my involvement in this to anyone?" Bones asked after finishing his ale.

Rayne nodded. "We'll respect your decision as part of the deal. Your involvement stays between us."

Belle added, "We appreciate your help, Bones. Let's just hope this plan works."

Bones bid them good night and left the pub, feeling a strange sense of relief mixed with unease. He knew Silva wouldn't take betrayal lightly, but it was a necessary risk.

Rayne finally leaned back in the chair and relaxed, closing his eyes. Finally, a solid lead on Silva. He felt a renewed sense of purpose, a fire igniting within him.