Chapter 50: Ten copper on the big one!

Chapter 50: Ten copper on the big one!

Dantes stood in the center of the Maw, feeling the sun warm his skin. It was a feeling he missed, though that hadnt made him seek out the Maw in the past. Putting yourself in the center of a beam of light was something one should typically avoid in prison. Still, he hadnt exactly been smart about that since everything had started with the Elfland Kings. Hed put himself into the center of things more and more, and hed enjoyed every second of it. It felt like tasting who he was before hed been thrown down into the Underprison. Before hed lost everything. There was a way he couldve done things that couldve avoided a lot of the trouble, but at the same time some of it was almost certainly inevitable. Whether he rose in the shadows or the light, hed make enemies, that was simply the cost of rising. May as well choose the method he enjoyed more No, that wasnt quite right. If hed taken more care, Tel may be alive. There had to be a balance, and he needed to work to find it After his final display in the Underprison.

He looked at the edge of the light coming down from the Maw. There were a number of people gathering, curious about what the foolish mutt was doing before they recognized him, then their curiosity only grew. None of them approached him once they recognized him, one of the benefits of being known and feared.

He reached out to the rats he had tracking Blud. He was tearing his way through the Undermarket, hed nearly arrived. Dantes reached his hand into his jacket and cupped the Mothers Reach seed in his hand. It was hard to hold, the heat and pulsating making his entire body shake as he held it. When he reached out to it, he was stunned by a kind of roar that reminded him of the last typhoon hed seen hit the docks. He felt the same desire hed felt from all seeds, to unleash their potential and grow, but this volume was beyond even the craving for blood hed felt from his garden before hed managed to quell it.

Not much longer

He sent the thought to it, but wasnt even sure that the seed could understand over its own roar. He placed it back into his jacket.

Will it be much longer?

No, it shouldnt be.

Could you not simply use the seed now, and escape? Bluds forces are scattered. Even the Collared or Changelings alone could take them now.

Youve been watching my thoughts?

Yes. It is a way to pass the time. You often think of the places called brothels.

Well, I grew up in one, hang out and gamble in one down here, and I havent seen a woman in five years, so that checks out.

You have the thoughts about leaving now yourself, so let us leave. Isnt it going to be more dangerous with more people? Not to mention the chance the Blud manages to kill you.

More people may provide me more cover too. Theres more than a mile of old ruined buildings and a tall wall between the maw and the rest of the city. Used to have a lot of people living there, but it turns out it aint popular to live close to a pit full of criminals. The more people climbing up behind me, the more cover I get.

No one helped me. Well, except for your girlfriend once before I got thrown down here. I dont think thats what you were asking about though.

Blud didnt take the bait, instead continuing in a slow circle around Dantes, sizing him up and assessing other threats. He knew from what Ryker had told him that Dantes was clever, and deceitful, which made him cautious.

Dantes watched him circle, his hand gripping the seed tightly. He started to hear some yelling from the surface of the maw. The guards seemed to have taken notice of what was going on.

Ten copper on the big one! yelled one of the guards mockingly.

No one would take that bet. The other ones a bug compared to him.

Dantes ignored them. There wasnt anything wrong with being a bug as far as he was concerned, and it was all the more impressive when a bug felled a lion.

Bluds instincts were screaming at him that there was some kind of trap, but his senses couldnt detect anything. Nothing hidden in the sand, his remaining boys were in the crowd looking for any backup he might have, but all of the Mutts known allies that were there seemed to be keeping their distance. He could back away, but that would make him look weak, besides which the Mutt needed to die twice over for what hed done to Ryker, and now to the rest of his gang. Hed hoped to take him down slowly, but now it was kill or be killed by the other gangs just as the dwarves were. He needed to make a bloody statement then and there, no matter what his instincts told him.

Blud was stronger than Dantes, and faster. He could reach him in less than three full steps, and bring down his axe. Even if Dantes dodged the initial strike, once he was in Bluds range it wouldnt matter. Thered be no escaping him.

Unfortunately, while all Blud needed to do was charge a short distance and bring his axe down, something he could do in moments, all that Dantes had to do was lift the seed in his hand and think a command.

GROW!

A root shot from the seed with the force of a blunderbuss firing and pierced through Bluds heart, passing entirely through his body and driving into the sand that covered the maw. He died with a look of confusion on his face, cursing himself for not trusting his instincts.

The seed didnt stop there, and shot out a dozen more roots that pierced the ground. They grew and pulsed in a way that reminded Dantes of the God of Rats tails that had all been tied together. Once the roots were embedded, they began to spread and thicken, and soon from the center, a trunk began to coalesce.

Dantes took position and the moment its first branch began to form, he grabbed it, and then the tree started to rise.