Chapter 7 – Part 8

The oil lamp dripped slowly as Gorka tapped the table with his fingers. The shifter intelligence chief was thinking, trying to get his mind around the loose threads in his mind.

The problem wasn’t so much a lack of information, despite the spectacular and lurid accounts in some of the broadstreets. The problem was too much of it, and trying to figure out what was important, and what was not.

A respectful tap at the door, and his aide stuck a head in. “Boss, Parnain got the changelings saboteurs, and he dropped off the gnome,” the man said.

“What shape is the gnome in?” Gorka asked.

“Battered, but nothing serious. We gagged him after we bandaged him. Do you want to interrogate him tonight or tomorrow?”

“House Orien teleporter is coming at dawn,” Gorka told his aide. “Send the gnome back with him to Sharn, and order him locked in a hot cell in the Cogs. We’re not in a hurry. Let him sweat a bit.”

The human paused for a moment. “Ah, boss, our budget only allows for so many teleports.”

“I know,” Gorka said. “I’m staying here for a while, we’re sending back the gnome in my slot.” The shifter sighed. “Parnain leave either of the changelings alive?”

“No, and two of the five changeling merchants have vanished,” the aide told him. “The Wardens questioned Parnain, of course, but he was actually with them at the time of their disappearance.”

“The red-haired Medani who showed up yesterday and is probably gone now,” Gorka said. “Parnain’s cousin, you know. Wants to be like his uncle, hunts shapeshifters.”

“Anywhere near as good as Parnain?” the aide asked.

“No one is as good as Parnain,” Gorka snorted. “That’s why we put up with him, that’s why Medani sells him, and that’s why even given the sociopath that he is, he finds work.”

“I hear Tharashk has a tracker, really good one named Delegado,” the aide said. “Maybe they should go against one another. We’d sell tickets and raise our teleport budget.”

Gorka considered that for a moment. “I’d put my money on the half-orc, if it came to that,” he said. He sighed. “But even money says Delegado drew his last breath in the Demon Wastes.”

The aide blinked. “Are you – are you serious, boss?”

Gorka rubbed his eyes. “Unfortunately all too serious. There was serious potential in that half-orc boy, and now he’s likely filling a demon gullet.”