Fan Fiction ❯ The Secret of the Always ❯ A mercenary needs weapons, you know ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3

The keeper of the weapons shop was a wily old retired mercenary who had tried to go legitimate with his grocery business. It hadn't worked, so he decided to urn guns as a secondary source of income. He greeted Nemesis warmly when he saw him walk in the back alley door.

"Nemesis! So good to see you, my boy. What might you be here for today?" He wrung his hands together and smiled up at him.

"Well, Derg, I just got paid for my last job and I've got some cash to spend." Nemesis walked over and dumped all his equipment on to the counter. "OK, I want my piece buffed and cleaned. I want my dagger sharpened and my crossbow re-strung. The one on there now is a little sticky. Too much resin, I guess." The clerk rang up the prices and began carrying everything to the back room. Nemesis turned back to Derg. "I'm also in the market for something new. What do you suppose I could use?"

The man's eyes glinted with glee. "Well, laddie. I'll just show you some of my newest imports." He cackled to himself as he hobbled over to a large wooden box. "These are just in from the Dark regions of the East. This," Derg said, hefting a large weapon from it, "is an especially intriguing find." He held in his hand a long sword, scribed with dozens of strange runes. "They called it a rune blade of the Ka'bas. They were supposedly great elven warriors who enchanted all their weapons with great magics. Unfortunately, none of the sailors knew Ka'bassi, so I don't know what they say. For you... 300 Gath. What do you say, old friend?"

"I'd say you're trying to rip me off. 300 for a complete mystery? I guess you think I've dulled a bit in my age." Nemesis took the weapon from him and waved it around. It was surprisingly light for its size. "Try again."

"Well then. You aren't into gambling with mystery? All right, 150. But no less."

"You're a good man Derg. I'll take it." Nemesis sheathed the blade and slung it from his shoulder. "Anything else?"

"How much more do you have?" he answered.

"350. What good do you have?" Derg led him over to a large gun rack filled with everything from handguns to bazookas. He pulled down a compact weapon, hardly larger than his pistol.

"This, my friend, is this week's special. The Taltrex Corporation VT-601 Compact Assault Pistol. We like to call them Caps. It has two fire modes, a single shot and a six round burst. It usually sells for 250, but for 350 I'll throw in a silencer and 600 rounds. Sound good?"

Nemesis looked the gun over. It was shiny and new. The magazine port was ahead of the grip, so it closely resembled an Uzi. He had never owned any real weapon other than his little handgun, and here he was buying a sword and a machine gun. Nemesis chuckled to himself. Hmm, times change, he thought. "I'll take it." He took the weapons to the counter and the clerk rang them in. He paid the 500 Gath he had with him and turned to leave. "Thanks, pops," he said over his shoulder. "See you around."

As Nemesis left the shop with his new purchases, he noticed something strange. The sword's runes began glowing bright blue. Interesting, Nemesis thought. I wonder what that means… He turned the corner out of the alley and discovered what it meant. He bumped straight into a shorter man, carrying a stick and muttering what sounded like an incantation. The man stumbled backwards and looked up at Nemesis, then the blade he held in his hand. Nemesis suddenly noticed several other odd things. The small man was not touching the ground; instead he was levitating a few inches. Also, the staff he carried glowed with the same blue color as the runes of his sword. The last things were his ears; they were quite pointed at the ends. He was an Elf.

Nemesis broke the awkward silence. "Excuse me," he said, trying to sound polite.

The other just kept staring at the blade. He then muttered several other things and the sword flew from Nemesis' hand and straight at him. The Elf caught it and waved it in the air. He spoke then, in abnormal English. "Thou are'st the one. Which be thy name, hooman."

Nemesis suppressed a slight chuckle. The man's English was very strange, indeed, though Nemesis was sure that Elves spoke their own language. "My name is Nemesis, good sir. Who are you, by chance?"

The small man smiled and began speaking more regularly. "My name is Tii'jan Macraw. As you can probably tell, I am an Elf. I have been searching for you Nemesis. It was by no chance or fluke that you came across that blade. It is the Sacred Blade of Ka'Bas, Keeper of the Dark Gate of Gaz. It was that gate from which the darkness came." Macraw fell silent, looking Nemesis over and then turned around. "Follow," he said simply. "I'll explain when we reach our destination." With that the pair trudged toward the edge of the city.