Chapter XVIII: Allies in the Empire

It was hard for Jinxie to immediately determine exactly which sensation she disliked more; the cold, dispassionate glaring of the Grand Vizier Razfahd, or the cool and calculating eyes of this woman, Naja Salaheem. Every time she looked at Jinxie, the Mithra woman seemed to be sizing her up like a side of meat; never before had she felt so much like a mannequin on display. The red-coated woman would occasionally let her eyes slide off of Isset, whom had been relating Jinxie’s story to the mercenary queen, and look Jinxie up and down with looks ranging from solid appraisal to unconcealed disbelief at what the Puppetmaster was telling her.

Salaheem herself was a figure that no doubt drew stares in a crowd. Standing no more than a few spans high at most, she wore a pair of men’s pants, though still in the loose-fitting Aht Urhgan style, and a scarcely concealing top, along with a somewhat ridiculous-looking tiny crown on her carefully combed rust-colored hair. On top of all that, however, her open-fingered gloves were constantly gripped around the shaft of an enormous spiked mace, which she would occasionally tap against the edge of a desk riddled with splinters and indentations from harder encounters with the metal monster. The Mithra, Isset had explained, was the owner of a mercenary company that catered to whatever need those who paid might need. While relatively new, Salaheem’s Sentinels was developing quite the reputation, and the tiny woman with the large mace standing behind a desk in the somewhat cramped audience room was the one behind it; though the methods she used were questionable to say the least.

“So this scrawny thing wants to convince the Empress into giving up some soldiers?” Naja asked, and Jinxie realized she was being talked about.

“Even so, Naja.” Isset replied. Isset was a mystery; the colorfully-garbed woman whom had appeared outside the castle gates had given no reason for wanting to help them, but she was apparently a member of this organization Naja had put together. The puppet, always at her side, swayed gently back and forth as his owner discussed matters with her boss. “Razfahd had her thrown out like a rotting Troll carcass, but Shoki showed me everything that went on.”

“So what,” Naja remarked, and Jinxie was aware that she was now being addressed directly, “you want to hire some mercenaries? Forget it! I’m not sending my people to risk their necks across the Gugru Blue when it doesn’t look like you’ve got a gil to your name to pay me back for it.”

“No, Naja, no.” Isset said, stepping in front of the woman as she started to angrily brandish her mace. “I was thinking . . . Jinxie does something for us . . . something that reflects well on the company to the Empress . . . then they owe Jinxie a favor, and the Sentinels reputation gets a huge boost. Everybody gets something.”

“Sounds good in theory,” Naja began, “but theories don’t put gold pieces on the table. What could she possibly do that would help us that much?”

“Well, I was thinking . . . she could take care of that . . . ‘problem.’” Isset remarked, in an almost offhand manner.

“HER?” Naja said, astonished, and then let out a quick, biting laugh. “She doesn’t look like she could arm wrestle a Qiqirn, you think she could – “

“Hey!” Jinxie chimed in. Naja stopped, and Isset turned, both of them staring at the flaxen-haired Red Mage. “Stop talking about me like I’m not here!”

“Do something to show me you are.” Naja fired back, scraping one of the spikes of her mace across her desk as she rounded to the other side. With one hand, she lifted the enormous crushing weapon and leveled it at Jinxie, who remained still in defiance. “You can’t impress the Empress, lady, you’re not going to impress me. I didn’t make this company what it was by letting every skinny thing that drags itself in through the door become a charity case!”

“Naja, just hear me out,” Isset started to say, but Jinxie cut her off.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with this place,” Jinxie said coolly, not taking her eyes off of Naja. “You selfish, condescending Aht Urhgan people, thinking you know so much about everybody else. I have seen things you can only dream about, Naja Salaheem. I had to cross the open sea and escape hordes of demons just to make it here. What’s the most dangerous thing you’ve done today, Naja? Polish that stick? Maybe yell at some of these straw-spined mercenaries I’ve seen wandering around this hole you call a company? I don’t know why I came here, I should’ve known better than to think that the people of Aht Urhgan would be able to think of anyone but themselves for even a second."

“Jinxie,” Isset said, taking a step towards the woman, but Naja raised a hand, her eyes narrowed and head tilted as she regarded Jinxie.

“So,” Naja spoke, “it looks like there’s some fire in your belly after all.”

“If you’ve got something to say, say it.” Jinxie said, turning as if to go.

“I can help you.” Naja said, perhaps a little too quickly, and Jinxie detected a slight tinge of desperation in her voice. “We’ve had . . . that is to say, the Empire has had, a, uh . . . a problem, out in the Wajoam Woodlands. I’ve sent a few of my mercenaries out to deal with it, but . . . they had some problems with it. The . . . problem."

“What is this ‘problem?” Jinxie asked cautiously.

“A Hydra.” Naja replied flatly. “It just showed up here a few weeks ago and started walking around the woodlands like it owned the place. So far all sending out people to fight it has earned us is a few fancy funerals. It’s seriously affecting troop movements out in Wajoam, so the Empire is aching to get rid of it. Situation being what it is though, they can't spare the numbers it would take to drag it down. If you can do that, you'll have the gratitude of the Empire. Then they’ll give you a reward for sure.”

“You want me to kill a Hydra?” Jinxie demanded, eyes wide with astonishment.

“I won’t be sending you alone,” Naja scoffed, “that wouldn’t make any sense. I’ll have a Sentinel go along with you; that way you’re acting as an official representative of Salaheem’s Sentinels, and the company benefits right along with you. Win-win. What do you say?”

Jinxie considered it for a moment. Hydras were mythic, even in Mindartia, and she wasn’t exactly leaping at the chance to run off and fight one. On the other hand, if she didn’t, she might as well have wasted her time coming across the sea in the first place. The possibility of appealing to the Empress directly had failed, but perhaps putting the Empire in debt to her would work. She looked up at Isset, but received no help from the foreign woman, who only stood with hands clasped behind her back, idly looking up at the ceiling. Xaerus had not entered with them, explaining that she had an errand to run. This was all up to her. Of course, the choice between taking action or doing nothing was no choice at all.

“Naja," Jinxie said, taking a step forward towards the mercenary as she extended her hand, "you have a deal. If this will convince the Empress to send aid to Mindartia, I'll do it. I’ll kill the Hydra for you.”

The Mithra clapped her hand against Jinxie's with a feral grin. “Absolutely,” Naja said, smooth as silk, “just come over here, I have to have you sign off on the lease of an agent to work with you.” The Mithra crossed back over to the other side of her desk, laying her mace down on the battered surface of it, and produced a few sheafs of parchment lined up closely with one another. “Now, just sign the bottom of this last one . . . “

“I’ll sign off on it, Naja.” Isset interjected, even as Jinxie reached for the quill on Naja’s desk. Naja looked surprised, and then scowled as Isset dipped it in ink. “Which one was it again?”

Naja’s nose wrinkled as she produced the parchment, and Jinxie couldn’t be sure amidst all the sheets the owner of the Sentinels had pulled out, but she was certain that it had been a different one that she had originally presented for her to sign. Isset affixed her signature to the bottom of the contract, which Naja immediately snapped away from the Puppetmaster, scrutinizing it closely.

“Alright,” the crowned Mithra said after a moment, tapping her fingernails across her desk surface. “congratulations, you’ve hired the services of Salaheem’s Sentinels. Abquhbah!” she shouted.

The bespectacled secretary in the corner immediately leaped to his feet from where he had been, playing on the ground with Drake. Snapped at attention, he barked out “Yes, Naja?”

“Find a mercenary to go with these two into Wajoam. Someone good,” she amended, “none of the, uh, “straw-spined” ones we’ve got wandering about.”

“Uh, Mistress Naja,” Abquhbah said nervously, tapping the ends of his fingers together.

“What is it?”

“Well,” he started, “it’s just that, uh . . . “

“Spit it out!” Naja demanded, smashing her mace against the desk. Wooden splinters went sailing out in all directions as Naja pried it out of the surface once more, the petite woman staring daggers at the stammering Abquhbah.

“Well, there’s only one left off-duty!” he managed to get out in a rush. “It’s, you know, that one.”

“What? Oh, don’t tell me,” Naja rolled her eyes back, pressing thumb and forefinger against the bridge of her nose.

“He’s all we’ve got.” Abquhbah said apologetically. “Everyone else has been hired to help deal with the Beastmen attacks.”

“Ugh.” Naja grunted, shaking her head. Taking a moment to adjust her crown, she looked at Abquhbah, and then slumped back in her chair, changing her gaze to examine Isset. “I take it you’re throwing in with this one, too?”

“Got to keep life exciting somehow.” Isset told her, to which Shoki responded by leaping up twice and clapping his hands.

“Fine . . . Abquhbah, send them over to where he is. Tell him he’s on duty, effective immediately, and he’s to follow Sergeant Major Isset’s orders to the letter. Got that? Write him a . . . you know what? He won’t read it. Just . . . be forceful, Isset.” Naja’s attitude towards this new mercenary had Jinxie understandably worried as Isset flourished a mocking bow.

“I’ll keep him on his best behavior.” She promised, and then turned to walk out the door. “Come on, Jinxie, let’s go meet your mercenary.”

“Abquhbah,” Jinxie said, stopping at the timid young man, “could you do me a favor, and – “

“Actually,” Abquhbah said, cutting her off, “can I ask you something first? Could I keep watching Drake here while you’re gone? He’s so adorable, I just can’t get enough of him. There isn't a lot of, uh . . .” he directed a sideways glance towards Naja who had begun tapping her mace into her desk, producing a grim chopping sound. "cheer in the office . . . you know."

Jinxie blinked. The same favor she was going to ask him for he had just requested of her. She gave a slight smile, taking her child and cradling him again once more before placing him in Abquhbah’s arms. “That would be fine, Abquhbah. Thank you.”

“Thank you, Jinxie.” He said enthusiastically, and immediately began making playful baby noises towards Drake At her desk, Naja sighed discontentedly, and Jinxie could hear her muttering under her breath as she started scribbling things down on a sheet of parchment.

“Interfering with the wishes of the President . . . 15 coin fine . . . disrupting the workplace environment . . . 12 coins . . . having that “new baby” smell . . .14 . . .”


Xaerus was still nowhere to be found by the time Isset had led Jinxie to the place where Abquhbah had directed them to go. It was not a long way from the building Naja owned, a small office located near the wharf, the smells of fish and the sea air mingling somewhat intriguingly with the scents of incense and metal that lined Naja’s headquarters. This place, however, a shoddy little shack in Whitegate’s residential district which faced out towards the main square, smelled of something entirely different.

“What is that?” Jinxie asked of Isset, her nose wrinkling at the strange aroma.

“It’s a plant that grows in Bhaflau thickets.” Isset replied, her arms folded as Shoki knocked away at the door to no response. “and it’s probably the reason we’re not getting anywhere with knocking.”

“What do you – “ but before Jinxie could finish, Isset reared back her slender fist, and with a solid step forward, punched the door square in the center. It flung back on its hinges, swinging open and admitting them in, but sending a thick cloud of smoke out. Jinxie coughed as the overpowering scent filled her nostrils, and flicked her hand upwards with a release of elemental air magic, winds blowing the fumes away from her. Isset was already peering her head inside, stepping into the room as Jinxie followed her.

“Hey!” Isset shouted. “Private, are you home?” No response was given to Isset’s inquiry, but she tried again. “I know you’re hiding somewhere, Private! Get in here!”

Jinxie looked up as the sound of a door slamming shut was heard, and found herself looking at whom she could only assume was the man in question. He was lean and taut, stripped to the waist and barefoot, tanned from exposure to the sun. His eyes seemed narrowed in a permanent squint, and his head was surmounted by a mass of shaggy, uncombed black hair which fell down in tangled clumps over his eyes. His posture was so languid that Jinxie imagined he could fall asleep standing up if he wanted, and as he looked the two of them over, head swiveling loosely rather than seeming to move of its own accord, he withdrew the wrapped tobacco from his mouth, setting it down in a nearby tray. There were people in Mindartia and Quon who smoked tobacco, both wrapped tightly like this one or in large pipes like the San d’Orians, but Jinxie had never seen one which smelled like this one did.

“Sorry, Issy,” the man said lazily, “I was washing my dog.”

“Speed, you don’t HAVE a dog.” Isset said with an exhalation, shaking her head.

Speed blinked, looking about from side to side. His house was unlit and dank, and the smell of his smoke was lingering everywhere. Here and there were loose pieces of parchment, and there were throwing knives embedded in the walls, which were coated in a thin, dust-covered layer of peeling paint. Clothes were tossed about haphazardly, some of them seemingly undisturbed for weeks, others wrinkled and torn as if worn day after day, and it seemed that he slept on the food-stained sofa in the room they were in from the indentation of a body forced into the thin cushions. He took a long moment to consider his surroundings before replying.

“I could’ve sworn there was a dog here, man . . . “

“Speed,” Isset said sharply, “we’ve got a mission. Naja’s put me in command, and I signed off for a partner . . . and you’re the only one available. This is Jinxie, she’s from Mindartia. We’re going to go help her kill the Hydra.”

The bare-chested mercenary looked at her for a moment, rocking back and forth on his feet, then stopped. “Hey Issy. When did you get here, man? Is that little machine dude with you? Oh, did you bring anything to eat? Man, I am starving.”

“Speed!” Isset yelled at him, seemingly snapping him to attention. “Grab a weapon and let’s go! We have a job to do!”

“Oh yeah, right.” Speed nodded, and looked around his habitat again, dropping to one knee and rummaging through the strewn litter. After a moment, he pulled out from under a pile of discarded meat bones and dirty clothes, to Jinxie’s astonishment, an enormous battle-ax like she had seen hanging in some of the shop walls in the Empire. It looked like a crescent moon, and shimmered with precious gold adornment as he strapped it across his bare back. He hefted it into place with ease, though it must have weighed a considerable amount by the looks of it. “Okay,” he said, shifting the strap into place.

Isset blinked. “That was fast.” She said, “I thought it would take forever to make you get ready.”

Speed nodded once, then stopped, a furrow crossing his brow. He cocked his head to the side, his squinting glance settling on Isset. “Wait . . . . what? Are we going somewhere?”

Isset scowled, Shoki crossing his arms and shaking his head slowly from side to side. “Bear with me here, Jinxie,” she implored, looking at the woman with apologetic eyes, “this might take awhile.”

"Dude," Speed said, suddenly confused again, "where's my dog?"