The HaRT Knight Decaverse

Heir of Magic

Chapter 14

Merrick the Wolf

The Wandering City seems just as never-ending as the sand of the desert, Alexander thought as he made his way through the confusing stone maze of closely grouped structures. A massive cylindrical tower—taller and wider than anything he had encountered on Moondrake—protruded from out the center of the city. The smell of sweat and sharp spice filled the air along with the constant calls from merchants who had set up stalls in the streets, selling everything from diamonds to fruit. Metal-smiths sold swords of unknown designs, and cloth merchants sold outfits that were see-through and adorned with golden chains.
By noon Alexander was lost, and no matter how many people he asked for directions, he only ended up more confused.
“Right. Then you just go left, right? You’ll see the fountains ahead, but you can’t just walk straight at them. You need to take another left, right? Then make a right turn when you reach the giant rock, right—”
Alexander stopped listening to the skinny man’s directions and just smiled, nodded, and said, “Thank you.”
He left the man and tried to at least find these fountains he talking about, but instead of fountains, he ended up in the middle of a camel enclosure with no idea of how he had done so.
Alexander was almost starting to long for the desert after he set off down another street that looked exactly like the previous three. Why would someone want chains made of silver, anyway? He thought as he shifted the bag on his shoulder.
For what felt like the hundredth time that day, Alexander stopped to ask someone for directions. Before he could, though, he heard a commotion in the street next to the one he was traveling on. He could not see what was causing it because of a wall he felt certain was just built to complete the feeling of a maze.
“He’s getting away!” someone shouted on the other side of the wall.
A man appeared at the top of the wall and held out both arms to balance himself as he darted along it. All the people in the street stared on, amused at this unusual display, when, suddenly, the man tripped and came tumbling down, right on top of Alexander.
If he had been a normal man, the collision might have toppled him, but his angelian strength helped him to remain upright as he caught the man in his arms.
“Sorry about that, mate!” the man told Alexander in a Svartalgard accent. With a devious grin on his face, the man patted Alexander on the chest and said, “But thank you for breaking my fall. Strong like an ox, you are.” He turned to run, but just as he started to move, he stopped and turned in the opposite direction, and stopped again. Uniformed men were approaching from both ends of the street in pursuit of this strange man. “Oh, bugger!” He exclaimed and turned back to Alexander. He gave him a wicked grin and asked, “Tell me, friend, can you do this?” He laced the fingers of both his hands together and his two middle fingers popped up in opposite directions and wiggled.
Alexander was so taken aback by the strangeness of the moment he tried to imitate the other man without conscious thought. Without another word, the man leaped forward, placing his left foot in the basket made by Alexander’s interlaced fingers and pushed himself up and onto the roof of the building behind them.
“Thank you, friend! I owe you a drink!” the man shouted as he vanished from sight.
Alexander was still trying to figure out what had just happened when someone tackled him to the ground. He tried to struggle, but five more men were upon him in no time, pulling him to his feet and restraining him.
“Let go of me. What is this about?” Alexander protested.
“Friends with Merrick the Wolf, eh? Any friend of Merrick’s is an enemy of mine,” said an old but muscular man stepping forward.
“Who? I don’t know anyone like that. I just arrived in the city. I know no one here,” Alexander explained.
“You’re lying. No one has entered the city in over a week,” the old man said, pointing his sword at Alexander’s throat.
“Ah, Captain. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that young man is telling you the truth. We never met before today. But so far, I like him,” said the man Alexander had just helped escape, standing on a rooftop nearby and staring down at the Captain.
“Come down here, Merrick!” the Captain shouted at the man on the roof.
“No thanks, Captain. I’m enjoying the view from up here far too much,” Merrick said sardonically.
“Damn you, Merrick! When I get you, I’ll kill you,” the Captain said, turning purple with rage.
“It’s a date. But you have to buy me dinner first,” Merrick said as he smiled even wider.
“Someone, shoot him down with an arrow or something!” the Captain screamed like a madman.
“Ah, that would be my cue to leave.” To Alexander, Merrick said, “Sorry friend, may you be luckier in the next life.” He turned to run but collided with the fist of the man who had snuck up behind him. Merrick tumbled backward and off the roof, landing in the middle of a group of guards who restrained him. When they pulled him back to his feet, Alexander saw he was still smiling, even though his bleeding nose looked broken.
“Good work, son,” the Captain said to the guard who had struck Merrick.
“Aye, nice hit. Ye got me good, lad.” Merrick laughed.
“Would you like another one to shut you up?” the guard asked.
“No, thank you. You already proved your masculinity the first time, and if you overdo it, you’ll only bring it back into question.” Merrick grinned up at the man who hit him again. “Okay, it’s back in question.” Merrick chuckled through the blood and pain only to be hit once more in response. “Okay, it’s resolved. You must be a pederast.”
The guard raised his hand to hit Merrick again, but before he could, the Captain intervened, “No. We don’t want to kill him too fast.”
“I’m sorry, but can you let me go now? He admitted to not knowing me. You heard him yourself,” Alexander said.
“No, you’re not going anywhere. You’ll hang alongside your friend here,” the Captain said, not even looking at Alexander.
“Come now, Captain. Don’t be unreasonable. He’s done nothing wrong,” Merrick interjected, just as Alexander was about to open his mouth to argue.
“You’re trying to help him. That’s enough reason for me. I can’t believe you thought you could get away with it,” the Captain said while shaking his head.
“Do what?” Merrick said, looking genuinely confused.
“Lord D’Lamkhar found you in his daughter’s room with no clothes on,” the Captain said, his face mere inches away from Merrick’s.
“I don’t see how that’s a problem. D’Lamkhar has nine daughters; it’s only polite to share. Besides, it’s more the other way around. She seduced me. And judging by how close your face is to mine now, you’re trying to do the same to me,” Merrick said with a defiant grin on his face. The Captain turned purple again, and with a scowl, slammed his head into his prisoner’s face. Sounding quite earnest, Merrick said, “If there is going to be any hope of this thing between us, you’ll need to work on your kissing, Captain.”
“That’s what this is about?” Alexander said in exasperation. “A girl. Do you want to kill us because of some rich fool’s daughter who likes to irritate her daddy with men he does not approve of?”
“Hold your tongue or we’ll cut it out before hanging you,” the Captain barked.
Alexander sighed. “I don’t have time for this. If you don’t release me right now—”
“You’ll do what, pretty boy?” the guard who had hit Merrick asked.
“Or I’ll—”
The guard cut him off by hitting him. In a mocking tone he said, “—you’ll bleed?”
Suddenly, everyone around Alexander found they couldn’t breathe. The Captain opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
“Or else this,” Alexander said. He released the air with an explosive force that flung everyone backward and away from the epicenter. The guard who had hit him was closest to the source of the blast and was thrown the hardest. He hit the wall of the building behind him with such force that there was a crack of breaking bones and a smear of blood where his skull made impact with the stone.
Shade, I didn’t mean to kill the bastard, Alexander thought. He forced his guilt aside and turned on his heels. As he set off running, he grabbed Merrick where he had fallen and lifted him over the shoulder that was not bearing the weight of the chains.
“Not that I don’t enjoy looking at your ass as you run—all serious and puckered—but I can walk by myself, you know,” Merrick said two blocks later.
Alexander dropped him to his feet and for a moment thought the man would attack him. But then, suddenly, Merrick smiled at him and patted him on the shoulder.
“Thanks for the save, mate,” Merrick said. He turned and added, “Come on, follow me. They’ll be chasing us again in no time,”
Apprehensively, Alexander followed. He does, at least, seem to know the city better than I do.
They ran through the deserted side streets and to Alexander’s amazement, he found it difficult to keep up with Merrick. The other man moved faster and more graceful than any other person he had ever seen. The bigger shock came when they reached a dead-end and, without pause, Merrick scurried up the wall with uncanny strength and grace.
“Are you coming or not?” Merrick asked when Alexander stopped to stare in awestruck disbelief.
Alexander focused on pushing the air down in a large enough blast to propel him forward. He hit the wall with a loud thud and two hands grabbed his shoulders and hoisted him over.
“Thank you,” Alexander said in a strained voice.
“No problem, mate. That was pretty good, but you need a little more practice. Now let’s see if you can do this,” Merrick said and ran towards a nearby temple. He leaped at the building and took three steps on the vertical wall that lifted him just high enough to grab the edge of a two-story roof. Alexander just shook his head; he knew the limitations of his skill too well to attempt that. As he looked around for a better solution, he heard the screams of people nearby. The guards were closing in on them. Fortunately, he found what he was looking for. A length of pipe leading up to the roof where it held a sign in place that read: Temple of the Lord of Citatori. Alexander climbed up it with his powerful arms until he reached the roof.
“I have to take points off for style, but I’ll give extra ones for using your head,” Merrick smiled, helping Alexander to his feet. “This way.”
Alexander hoped Merrick was not expecting him to climb this tower, but to his relief, he pushed open a stone door, invisible except to those who knew it was there.
The room on the other side was large and circular with wooden stairs running in a spiral to the top. When Merrick closed the stone door again, there was very little light to see by as they made their way up the stairs. Alexander’s angelian eyes could see where he was stepping.
Within minutes, they reached the top of the tower where the bell was housed. From their vantage point, they could see out over the whole city. It was a beautiful sight to behold as the stone buildings stretched into what seemed to be infinity, with millions of people no bigger than ants bustling between them.
“Hey, these are mine,” said Merrick as he stared into the bag containing the silver chains.
“Jared asked me to deliver them to you,” Alexander said, still staring out at the city.
“Thanks. I’ve been meaning to go fetch them for a while now,” Merrick said, throwing off his tunic and revealing the burned scars that covered his body. He seemed oblivious to these painful-looking scars as he took the chains and started to wrap them around his neck and shoulders.
“What are you doing?” Alexander asked.
Merrick hesitated, then said, “Weight training. The extra weight from the chains strengthens me as I go about everyday life.”
“And you use silver chains for that?” Alexander asked skeptically.
Merrick dodged the question with one of his own. “So what do I call you, anyway? You know my name, but I don’t know yours.”
“I’m Alexander.”
Merrick froze and a haunted expression appeared on his face for a split second. “Alex,” he choked as he spoke the name and a tear even escaped his eye.
“Yes, why? Does the name mean something to you?”
“No,” Merrick said a little too quickly. “I’ve just always liked the name.” He turned his back on Alexander and as he pulled his tunic on said, “So, what brought you to the Wandering City, Alex?”
“I’m supposed to meet a friend here. Before we went our separate ways, he told me to meet him in The Spider’s Den in the Wandering City,” Alexander explained.
“Ah, The Spider’s Den. I love that place. I can take you there if you’d like?” Merrick offered with a wide grin.
“Thank you. I would appreciate the help,” Alexander said.
“Great, then I can repay that drink I owe you when we get there,” Merrick said.
“Sorry?” Alexander asked, confused.
“What did you think the den would be, friend?” He paused, then said with his widest smile yet, “It’s the inn with the best mead in all the city.”