When Cloudhawk ate and drank to his satisfaction, he returned to the emporium .

There he found Gabriel, his clothes ruffled and lipstick smeared across his face . He was enveloped in a cloud of booze stink and perfume . The look on his face was one of shame and resentment .

Cloudhawk tried to explain away his guilt . “Gabby… eh… I forgot to tell you about a friend of mine who works at the bar . We lost track of time catching up . Did you have fun with the ladies?”

He could hear Gabriel grinding his teeth . “What do you think?”

“Come on now, don’t be like Caspian . I arranged the finest girls for you, full-figured with everything a hot-blooded guy would like . Quality goods like that are very rare in the wastelands, you know . Outside of the Sandbar you could pa.s.s through ten outposts and not find the like . C’mon, I did you a favor . Don’t repay my kindness with att.i.tude, alright? Show a little respect . ”

“There is nothing funny about this situation!”

“Don’t lose your temper over this small stuff . ” Cloudhawk wasn’t the least bit concerned that Naberius might rear his head . On the contrary, he walked right up to Gabriel and patted him on the shoulder . His voice was sincere . “Listen to me . Your life in Skycloud is in the past . You’re never gonna be a pious believer, it’s better to accept a life of freedom and sin out here in the wasteland . ”

Cloudhawk was a simple man with a soul as stained as anyone else out here, but his words weren’t completely nonsense .

A man lived a hundred years max, and it was a rare man who was able to live for himself . The ideals and morals of the old world were gone . It didn’t make sense to live by their restrictions any longer . Those girls were just doing whatever they could to get by, so that they could live the best way they knew how . Wasn’t what they did a form of kindness?

No one knew what tomorrow held . Out in the wastelands, every minute you kept breathing was a gift . With the limited time you got, you went for the things you wanted . The world was different now, and the way humans lived was forced to change with it .

Of course, Cloudhawk didn’t start to wax philosophical with Gabriel . The elysian would learn all that on his own the more he experienced real life . He would have to .

Cloudhawk called out as they walked into the store . “How are the preparations?”

One of the shop a.s.sistants replied in a soft voice . “Relax boss, we have everything ready . We’ll be all set to open tomorrow morning . ”

“Good . Do what you can, I’m not a slave driver . ”

“Yes, boss . ”

The two girls who looked over his shop were on the young side – seventeen or eighteen years old . The little one with white skin and a pretty face was called Neve . The other, less attractive but plump in all the right places, was Jasmine . When Cloudhawk and Gabriel first got to the Sandbar, they came across a slave trader while walking the streets . The two helped the girls get free from their cruel owner .

Even though the outpost had come under elysian control, there wasn’t anything they could do about the wasteland’s thriving slave trade . But it wasn’t like the slave trader Cloudhawk stole from could lodge a formal complaint, since most of his corpse had already pa.s.sed through a wolf’s digestive system . The dead weren’t known for vocal opinions .

Cloudhawk really was conscientious of his new charges . He didn’t exploit them or force them to do anything they didn’t want . He even paid them a salary and provided lodging . They were free, or close enough for it not to matter .

He gave them as much freedom as they desired . If they didn’t want to be here, they were free to leave at any time . But the girls cherished this opportunity to work, especially when they say that even elysian soldiers feared their boss . With him, they felt like they had found a safe and reliable benefactor . In the wastelands, beauty became a liability . Without the strength to defend oneself, or a haven where safety was promised, beauty became a matter of life and death .

“Elysian goods will fetch five times their price out here, maybe more . We’ve got full sets of armor, swords, bows – stuff that would fetch five gold in Skycloud will earn us twenty a piece in the wastelands . ”

“The guns, ammunition, and old tech we got for dirt cheap will sell for twice the price, too . The higher to can sell ‘em for the better . At the end of the d ay we’re the only racket in town, so people will accept or prices or go empty handed . We’ll have a monopoly on the city’s black market in no time – and that’s when we loosen Adder’s stranglehold . You ladies got it?”

Cloudhawk had his ideas set . He was determined .

The slender Neve replied in her gentle voice . “Don’t worry, boss . We’ll make sure everything runs smoothly . ” Jasmine – darker in complexion but with a body that made blood race – nodded in agreement .

The difference between the two ladies went deeper than their appearance . Neve was sharp, and with time and opportunity she would grow to be a shrewd business owner . Jasmine was quiet, laid back, but Cloudhawk saw she was a talented control methuman . Eventually he would train her on how to use weapons .

Aside from the juxtaposed beauties, there was also Gabriel .

Cloudhawk was confident their business would be fine . If something untoward should happen, they had the city’s Magistrate in their corner as well . His emporium was just the first step in Cloudhawk’s plan to corner the Sandbar’s black market . Cigarettes, drugs, guns – everything except slaves, he was willing to deal in .

Legal or illegal, it didn’t matter .

The Warden used his influence and connections to have goods delivered from the elysian lands . Things like medicine, which were effective and had a market out in the wastelands . Elysian medicine wasn’t banned for sale, like weapons . It was still restricted, but most normal drugs were free to sell with the proper permissions .

One of the current elysian army officers – Drake Thane – still owed Cloudhawk . A connection like that couldn’t just go unexploited . He also had the Magistrate wrapped around his finger . Eventually becoming an established, reputable and legal merchant company wouldn’t be difficult .

On the other side he could trade wasteland minerals, leather, and other rare animal parts back to the elysian lands . With Cloudhawk’s abilities, it was only a matter of time before he established himself here in Sandbar Station .

“We don’t really have very much, especially elysian goods . What happens when we sell out?” Gabriel wasn’t as confident as his commanding officer . The longer he spent with Cloudhawk the less reliable he found the wastelander to be . “Armor, for example . We only brought a few sets . ”

“There’s plenty!” Cloudhawk was full of confidence . “You still don’t trust me? It’ll all be fine!”

The next day, Cloudhawk’s Emporium was open for business .

Magistrate Seacrest’s unsuccessful raid the day before had served to advertise the place, and that it was above the law . They sold what they pleased and the elysian soldiers did nothing about it .

The only other person in Sandbar Station Hammont turned a blind eye to was the barkeep, Adder . For better or worse, the guy kept a low profile and traded in intelligence . What a bold thing, then, that this new stranger would so openly challenge Adder’s established dominance .

The anomalous circ.u.mstances earned a fair amount of suspicion from buyers . This had to be a trap, right? To flush the bolder heretics out into the open . Once the store began welcoming customers there were many who came to peruse, but no one brazen enough to make a purchase . After two or three days, Cloudhawk still hadn’t sold a single thing .

Cloudhawk wasn’t so confident anymore .

He’d sunk all his a.s.sets into setting up shop . Paying off his debts – indeed, having money to live – all depended on the success of Cloudhawk’s Emporium . His inventory was solid, but no one was willing to buy . It was all rather awkward .

He spent days, from morning to night, ruminating on how to solve the problem . As he pondered, a pretty scent came in on the breeze . Cloudhawk’s keen sense of smell picked it up right away . This wasn’t the sort of stuff prost.i.tutes wore . It was a naturally sweet aroma .

The other patrons stared with wide eyes as the green-clad figure appeared . She was beautiful, so beautiful she would have turned heads in the middle of Skycloud city . Her clothing was unique and out of touch with rugged city; a well-tailored green gown was wrapped around her, and her face was hidden behind a thin veil . The quality of her gown’s material wasn’t elysian-grade, but it was a far sight better than the stuff typical for the wastelands . It was hard to tell where she was from based on clothing alone .

Half the woman’s face was hidden beneath the veil . The cute shape of her nose and her plucked brows were clear, and the pig-tail braids on either side of her head added a youthful charm . Everything about her was mystifying, alluring, like a beautiful lark appearing from a deep forest . There was none of the rigorous elysian intractability about her, nor the rough crudeness of the wasteland .

The girl’s eyes traveled along the walls, lingering on the soldier’s equipment hung there . She seemed especially interested in the rapid-fire crossbows . Her voice dripped like s.h.i.+mmering pearls . “I’m interested in purchasing in bulk . Do you have enough?”

“I do!” Cloudhawk perked up when he realized she was a potential customer . “How much do you need?”

She lifted a delicate finger and pointed at several items . “Three hundred… oh, no . Five hundred sets . ”

The shop a.s.sistants were struck dumb, as were the lingering window shoppers . Cloudhawk mirrored their sentiment .  Five hundred sets? She had to be joking! That was enough to outfit a small army, what did she need all that for?

Cloudhawk paused and looked the woman over . She was definitely unusual, but she didn’t look loaded to him . Anyway, she could stuff enough gold for five hundred sets of weapon and armor in her dress . Cloudhawk rolled his eyes at her . “The lady seems to know quality . These are elysian goods, you won’t find the like anywhere else in town . One set would be full body armor, a sword and a crossbow – fifty gold coins total . This includes five bolt cartridges and a hundred white crystal arrows . ”

None of this fazed the woman, who nodded without hesitation . “Alright . When can I pick them up?”

Was this b.i.t.c.h crazy?

One set was ten times the cost she would find in the elysian lands, but that wasn’t outrageous . But five hundred? That was twenty-five thousand golds coins! That was an outrageous sum even for elysian n.o.bility . And this chick didn’t even attempt to bargain .

Cloudhawk began to suspect there was something wrong with her head . “Yeah, we got it . The problem is your order is too large . You’ll need to leave a deposit . ”

“I don’t have any gold . ”

She said it without a hint of concern .

Her revelation was met with quizzical expressions . Cloudhawk almost kicked over a table in frustration . She was f.u.c.king with him! He was preparing to throw the audacious woman out on her a.s.s when she pulled a bulging parcel from the folds of her dress . She pulled the cloth aside to reveal its contents, and everyone froze .

Pitch black stones were nestled inside, each one a neat little cube whose s.h.i.+mmering faces caught the light appealingly . They s.h.i.+mmered like gemstones and drew the eye mysteriously .

The girl carefully picked one from the pile and handed it to Cloudhawk . “As I said, I don’t have gold . However, my mother a.s.sures me these could fetch you as much gold as you need . ”

“What is it?”

“This is eboncrys . ” Gabriel approached, taking the cube from Cloudhawk’s hand . “It really is eboncrys – an energy crystal . They use it to power equipment in Skycloud domain . A cube like this will go for a couple hundred gold, easy . ”

This little cube, a couple hundred gold? He had to be joking! If he hadn’t heard it from Gabriel’s mouth Cloudhawk would have called bulls.h.i.+t . But he trusted his companion .

“My name is Autumn Draper . ” The girl in green covered the eboncrys crystals back in their wrapping . “Is that enough for a deposit? When can I expect my order to be ready?”

Cloudhawk swallowed . “Give me a few days . ”

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