"Not too many," she replied. "The ones who do, however, won't stop until I'm deep underground." She didn't look pleased with how the evening ended. Although I managed to save her life, the a.s.sa.s.sin ran away.

We were sitting in a study of some sort. Bookshelves hung on the walls, filled with books on geography, politics, and history. A large mahogany desk was neatly placed in front of a balcony with gla.s.s doors. Elsa and I sat in armchairs near the desk. Servants placed a coffee table between us, with gla.s.ses of white wine on top.

"Does the name Bodrick ring any bells?" I asked.  

Upon hearing the name, Elsa let out a soft chuckle. "He's back in town I hear," she said, playing with her hair.

She had changed from her evening ball dress into a light brown tunic and leather trousers. They hugged her strong legs nicely, emphasizing her shape, and her bubbly behind. Thank the G.o.ds she sat down as soon as she got into the room. I would be staring at her a.s.s all night long then, forgetting about the a.s.sa.s.sin and my purpose behind staying here, in this luxurious manor.

"The one who tried to kill you was his daughter," I said. "She has a strange power that one. She can blend in with the environment. You won't even see her coming."

Wanda… That b.i.t.c.h was good at hiding, and disappearing. I had managed to s.n.a.t.c.h the knife that was meant to kill the baroness, but I didn't have enough time to chase after Bodrick's daughter. She used the same spell that helped her and her father escape from me back in Sosalk.

A blinding light had suddenly engulfed the ballroom as soon as my spell subsided. When it was over, Wanda had disappeared, and the baroness's mage arrived. People took it as the mage displaying her prowess in using spells. In truth, it was a good diversion from the attempt on Elsa's life, so we didn't bother correcting them.

"But you did see her," Elsa retorted. "You saved my life. For that, I shall be eternally grateful."

"You can show your grat.i.tude by telling me what the h.e.l.l is going on," I said in a low, angry whisper.

"I don't even know where to start," Elsa said.

"You can start by telling me what Fragment you possess," I said. "You could also fight my spell. No one's ever done that before."

Elsa arched one eyebrow at me. Her round chin gave her a feminine, fragile look most men would find irresistible. Fat dimples showed on her cheeks as her full lips pursed into a charming smile. She got busy rearranging a loose hair strand behind her ear, as if it was the most urgent task of the night, then looked at me.

"I don't possess any Fragments," she said. "I just have powers others would kill to have."

"What kind of powers?" I asked.

"The power to break a Fragment's spell, for instance," Elsa replied. "I can't fully control it yet, nor can I comprehend its full extent. All I know is, people want me dead."

"Where and how do I fit in all of this?" I asked, slightly annoyed. I knew she had something in store for me. She just loved dragging the suspense longer and longer.

"Aside from breaking a Fragment's spell," Elsa said. "I can also detect how many Fragments one has. I can even tell what kind of powers they have. Do you know how valuable that is to the underworld?"

"No," I said flatly. "I don't really see how that will help them unless they can extract Fragments from others."

Elsa smiled once more. Her eyes fixed me with mockery and antic.i.p.ation.

"Can they really do that?" I asked with my eye narrowed to a slit.

"You don't know anything of the underworld, or the Holi Wars," she said. "How did you manage to survive this long?"

"I got lucky I guess," I said. "You haven't told me why you sought me out though."

"Before I do that," Elsa said then picked up her gla.s.s of wine. "Why don't you tell me what brought you to the Wolf-Fights?"

"Look lady," I said. "I only met you hours ago. There are rules to negotiations. First, I need to know I can trust you."

"Why?" Elsa asked. "What can possibly make you trust me?"

She had a point. I couldn't think of anything she could do or say at this moment to make me trust her. To tell you the truth, I couldn't trust anyone anymore. My only friend was miles away, probably worried since I hadn't reported to him yet.  

"I'll tell you one thing," the baroness went on. "You have two Fragments. One is a gift from the Primordial G.o.d Minsec. The other you stole from a powerful soul. I can't tell who it was, but I can tell it was a woman's. She's growing weak. You've a.s.similated most of it."

This baroness was the real deal. I've never told anybody about Eva, not even Nag.

"What do you want from me?" I asked. "Why seek me out?"

"You're a smart man," Elsa said. "You've seen the a.s.sa.s.sin after me. I think you can figure out what I need you for."

"You want to fight back," I said. "You want me to lend you my powers."

The baroness smiled. "I knew I made the right choice," she said, beaming.

"What's in it for me?" I asked.

"You'll make a great, powerful friend in this harsh world," she said. "Besides…"

She leaned forward on her armchair. My eye got glued to her ample cleavage then. "You make me a very happy woman. I'll make sure I repay you tenfold…" She sighed then. Or moned, I couldn't tell. I was too busy staring at her inviting t.i.ts. "Nothing would make me happier than seeing my enemies breathe their last before my eyes. Would you like to see me happy, Zedd Darkstar?"

I gulped loudly then nodded. Whenever I moved, my clothes would sc.r.a.pe against the scratches she left on my back and arms. I could still taste her lips against mine. I could still smell her in my skin. My manhood throbbed. I couldn't think straight anymore.

"Your grat.i.tude won't be enough," I finally managed to say. It took a great amount of willpower, greater than any spell I cast before, to utter that sentence.

Elsa straightened up in her seat. She looked vexed, but she smiled anyway. "I'll help you a.s.similate Minsec's Fragment," she said.

"I can do that on my own," I retorted. "Tell me about the Holi Wars. Tell me about those other G.o.ds. I want to know what I'm fighting for."

Her mouth agape, her eyes opened wide, Elsa looked at me as though I just blasphemed.

"How did someone as clueless as you got one of the most powerful gifts?" she asked.

I could tell from the tone of her voice that the question was rhethorical. I looked at her defiantly. I didn't say anything though. I just sat opposite the baroness, waiting for her to go on. She might have realized I wasn't going to make any comments, since she sighed then began speaking.

"If I tell you," she said. "Will you help me against my enemies?"

"It depends on what you'll tell me," I said.

I must have pushed my luck too far. Elsa's playful demeanor disappeared. Fat creases appeared on her forehead. She looked p.i.s.sed, ready to hurl herself at me and beat some sense into me. I didn't falter though. I knew she needed me. Although I desperately needed some answers, I knew the baroness was even more desperate than I was.

"I'll tell you who I'm targeting first," she said. "You may change your haughty att.i.tude right after that."

"Bodrick and the underworld," I said.

"What do you know of the underworld?" Elsa asked. She looked p.i.s.sed. I smiled internally. I could read through her, despite the fact that she kept her cards close to her beautiful chest.

"They're a bunch of rich, bored people who think they can control the world?" I said, smirking.

"They're rich, alright," she said. "Most of them have connections all over the four continents. They're influential. They can get you anything you want, provided you pay the right price for it."

"And they want to extract that power of yours," I said, a hint of mockery in my voice, "to sell it to some power hungry man who wants to secretly rule the world."

"You may laugh about it," Elsa said, her eyebrows were almost knitted together. "You may mock me for believing in such things. I used to think like you. I used to laugh at the conspiracy theories my father always warned me against. Everything changed when I learned of the man targeting me, or rather, the man controlling the underworld."

"He's a man then", I said. "Aim for the heart and don't miss. Your troubles will instantly vanish."

"Have you heard of a wizard by the name of Theolonius Stalwart, Mr. Darkstar?" Elsa asked, turning a deaf ear to my jeers.

That name alone was enough to wipe the smirk off my face. "Is he the one hunting you?" I asked. I felt a cold chill run down my spine. Nothing could convince me to go against my grandfather, not even the promise to win the Holi Wars.

Elsa shook her head. "He runs the underworld in the western continent. Every valuable item, or person, needs to go through him after its capture or a.s.sa.s.sination," she said. "This should tell you how powerful this organization is, but I hear he's very busy hunting a traitor these days. He wouldn't mind if a small branch in Biarkh got mysteriously annihilated."

"Are you asking me to help you wipe out the underworld?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. Her smile was back, a mischievous, psychotic kind of smile. "Just a small branch that n.o.body really cares about, not even the great Theolonius Stalwart. He'll develop a special interest in this branch if he knew about me though…"

"Is Bodrick one of them?" I asked.

Elsa snorted. "That weakling couldn't even get a token to be their customer," she said. "I guess he was trying to prove his worth by killing me."

"But that weakling recently acquired an item that has the entire city in turmoil," I said. "He almost managed to kill you too." I added.

"That's why you were at the Wolf-Fights?" Elsa asked. "You were hoping to find information about the secret vault?"

I nodded. It scared me how much information this baroness had. She also picked up on the smallest hints. She was sharp, intelligent, and strong too…

Elsa began laughing then. She threw her head backwards and laughed, for minutes on end. I just watched her, mouth agape, puzzled, and somewhat annoyed.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"This," she answered, gesturing with her hands at everything and nothing. "This whole thing is ridiculous. Don't you think life is playing a horrible trick on all of us?"

"I'm not sure I follow," I said, frowning.

"The underworld has its own internal rules I won't bore you with," she said. "The gist of it is, you want their blessing, you do their bidding. Bodrick needs their protection. For that, they must have asked him to kill me. Don't you find it funny?"

"I still don't follow," I said, my forehead hurt from too much frowning.

"He could have gotten what he wanted," she said. "If it weren't for you, I would be dead. The helm he needed to protect would have vanished, untraceable. You'd never get your hands on it. You'd have lost the war before it even started."

"You know about the helm?" I said, surprised. Doubt began seeping through the back of my head. This baroness was more dangerous than I initially thought. She knew too much. What other things was she hiding from me? I couldn't help but wonder.

"If you ask the right people the right questions," Elsa said. "You'll eventually get the answers you're looking for, provided you're willing to pay the price of course. I'm a wealthy baroness. I can buy the city's custodians if I wanted to. Information is cheap, it only takes money and a little intimidation."

"I don't even know what he's hiding that helm for," I said. I had to admit it. I was lost. I knew Bodrick's daughter was after the helm, but I didn't even know what it was for. If anybody could provide me with the right answers, it was the baroness of MilkWeed.

Elsa looked at me with wide eyes then guffawed. "You're really something else, Zedd Darkstar. Why are you chasing after the helm then?"

"It's personal," I said. I subconsciously clenched my fists. "I want to see Bodrick suffer. He manipulated me once. I want to repay him with interest."

"That helm he's hiding," she said. "It's the only way for you to get to Milogac, did you know that?"