London Pale Read online

  ***

  As Aiden walked the old streets of Philadelphia, feeling the familiar twinge of D'Natis roosting on his shoulder, he couldn't shake the dream. It was always the same dream, almost every night. He tried to brush it aside, knowing there were more important things to worry about.

  It had been some time since he had been down to the Gryphon Claw pub. It was a place where the Old World types, usually called Agnecs, went for some drinks and the local news. More importantly, Menlir would be there. Aiden didn't normally like dealing with the old Faun.

  Menlir was a D'Tari master, which not only meant that he naturally outranked Aiden, but also that he had actually finished his training. This was something he did not often forget to mention. The old Faun also had a reputation for being cantankerous.

  The Gryphon Claw was hidden in the large room at the back of a normal pub where normal people, usually called Amblers by the Agnecs, filled the front room, chattering and drinking with no knowledge of the secret world carrying on in the back.

  After Aiden, with D'Natis still on his shoulder, had arrived in the spacious back room, he spied Menlir in the far corner. A Faun, Menlir was naked, furry, and goat-like from the waist down, but today he wore a not-so-casual blue vest over his large belly. Aiden wondered if the Faun was going to attempt entering the Ambler world at some point. It would of course take more of a disguise than that.

  Aiden took a deep breath and waded through the tables and chairs until he reached Menlir's corner.

  As they both nodded to each other, Aiden and Menlir shared the same look of distrust. Aiden took a seat at Menlir's gesture, and D'Natis hopped from Aiden's shoulder to the back of an empty chair. For a moment, Aiden wondered who would speak first. The man and the Faun simply glared at each other.

  "Glad to see you got my message," Menlir broke the silence. The word 'glad' seemed forced.

  Menlir leaned down and took a leather bag from beneath his chair, rifled through it, and plopped a file folder down on the table in front of Aiden. Opening the folder, Menlir produced three photographs of a woman.

  "Do you know who this is?" Menlir asked, then looked around as if suspicious.

  She did seem familiar... "I think I know her, from my time at the... Guild," Aiden admitted, not having wanted to mention the place where he'd been trained.

  "Name's London Pale," Menlir said matter-of-factually. "You two probably passed each other a few times."

  Aiden couldn't help but stare at the pictures. The woman was beautiful, dark-haired, and tall. If he'd have known how she was going to turn out, he might've kept in touch.

  Menlir's chubby fist came crashing to the table, making D'Natis jump. "She's a N'Iatari sympathizer," he said. "At least we have good reason to believe it."

  Aiden's hopes fell. The N'Iatari were enemies of the D'Tari, despite how they had the same kinds of powers. Could London have actually gone over to them?

  "So what do you need me for?" Aiden finally asked.

  "We have word that she's leaving for the N'Iatari Guild on the west coast in just a few hours, and we need you to bring her in before she can arrive," Menlir said, stroking his beard with the slightest grin forming. "It must be quick, and covert."

  Aiden shrugged. "I heard there was good pay."

  Menlir smiled, stiffening his shoulders. "I'll pay you whatever you want, in any currency."

  Aiden raised an eyebrow. "What's the catch?"

  "You must bring her in within two days, or you get nothing."