“So did you sell the sword?” John asked, clearly intrigued by Gell’s peculiar tale.
“Sure did. Landed me a pretty penny for it, too, and no mistake.”
“Who’d you sell it to? Anybody who figures into this wild tale at all?”
“Nah, just some longshoreman over in Port Penrod. Reckon he figured he’d have a go at adventurin’. Name was… Darren? Darryl? Ah, somethin’ like that. I don’t remember — it was a fair bit ago now.”
“So there’s just one thing I don’t get about that story, Gell.”
“What’s that?”
“You fight through this cursed grove to the abandoned tower, right?”
“Yep.”
“And then what’s the first thing you see when you get in the tower? A lighted torch, hanging in a sconce. Now that’s just silly. If the tower’s abandoned and surrounded by a curse, who lit the torch?”
Gell laughed heartily. “Lordy, John, if you ain’t hit upon the exact key to the whole mystery. Who did light that torch? And why? Be honest with you, those were a couple o’ questions much on my mind after that little adventure. See, it turns out –”
Gell was interrupted when the door to the bar slammed open, and in charged a ferocious red-headed ball of hurry. “Gell!” she snapped, “We have to go now! They’ve found you!”
“Are you kiddin’ me? Already? Just when I was beginning to enjoy myself, too.” Gell rose from his seat at the bar, and tossed a small pouch down upon it. “For the drinks, John. Keep the change — I don’t intend to be needin’ it. ‘Fraid I won’t be able to continue my tale right at this moment.”
“There’s no time to chat! We need to go right now!” The woman was insistent.
“Okay, okay, I’m comin’. No need to get too excited. See now why I have my hands full with this one? She ain’t tryin’ to murder me in my sleep, she’s tryin’ to keep me from my drink.”
John was flabbergasted. “Wait, Gell, you mean to say this is –”
“Scarlet, yeah, in the flesh. Scarlet, this is John.”
“She… she’s the one who’s trying to kill you, yeah?”
“It’s on her to-do list, sure. But it ain’t top priority. And right now –” Gell flashed a wicked grin — “right now somethin’ more pressing’s come up. So if you’ll excuse me?”
Gell and Scarlet hustled out the door and ran swiftly down the back roads of St. Langostine. The rain — it seemed like it was always raining in this cursed town — patted softly down upon them as they travelled.
“Gell,” Scarlet hissed, “do you need to go back to your flat for anything? We may not be coming back for a long time, if ever.”
“Nah, I got Saturnine right here with me as always, and I got my hat — reckon that’s all I need. Let’s get a wiggle on.”
Gell, in spite of his size, could move quite quickly and silently when he had a mind to, and he and Scarlet padded along almost unnoticed through the night, until they reached the city walls. Scarlet, always prepared, had a rope anchored to the wall which she swiftly shimmied up. Gell followed, somewhat more slowly — rope-climbing was not exactly a great strength of his, but he could manage. Not quickly enough for Scarlet, though.
“Come on, come on!” she urged, “they’re sweeping in right now! If we don’t get out now, we may never have another chance!” Casting her eyes over the city from her elevated vantage point, she could see small flashes beginning to spread through it even as she spoke. The College of One was making its presence known in St. Langostine, and soon all of the city would be known to it. And they would, too, unless they hurried.
Gell finally heaved himself up onto the wall, and, with a gasp, leapt off over the far side, Scarlet following right behind him, and they began to head out into the deep night, trying to put as much distance between them and the College’s latest conquest as they could.
“Scarlet darlin’, I don’t mean to pry or anything, but where are we goin’? I assume you have a plan.”
“Of course I have a plan, Gell. We’re going to see an old friend of yours.”
“Thierry,” Gell said, smirking wryly.