CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: THE BOSS CAVE
Against the far wall of a bigger cave, a chubby nissling sat on a throne made of wood and bone pooled in lit from long torches stuck in the dirt. A man dark clothes stood just inside the pooled light, a hood completely covered his head and face. The windows of Fawkes' mask shrouded the man with a brilliant blue aura despite it letting him see everything else in shades of green. The more brilliant the aura the more powerful the magic being used, and the brilliance of that blue matched the brightness of the torches. Whoever this was, they were using powerful wizard magic. It surprised Fawkes. Only the sack should be revealed with colors here.
No! Bitter, useless fury whirled through Fawkes as he glared at the hooded man. Nothing he could do would help against such a powerful mage, except get himself noticed or dead.
" — had to cut the strap?" The man said in Bexi with a nasal voice. He waved at two nisslings who stood near the throne. Glimmering sigils sparkled within a blue aura through Fawkes's mask as he looked at the sack resting on the dirt between them. One strap had been cut off.
Oh, Garzio! Fawkes sucked in a breath. It's so close! Can I outbid this fellow? I think I brought enough coi—
The chubby nissling turned to the two by the sack.
"Sspeakss!" It commanded in Bexi.
"Had to, Bosss," one nissling said. "Sstrap sstuck on body. Otherss coming."
Others? Fawkes thought. Had the nisslings seen him and PeyPey?
"Many otherss," the other nissling added with a vigorous nod. Too vigorous. The little fellow was lying!
I have to try! Fawkes stepped into the cave. JuJu twitched his ears but went with him.
"Hmmmph. Its power is holding so it's still acceptable." The man in black snapped his fingers and a well-stuffed pouch appeared in his hand. He tossed it to the dirt floor where it landed with a jingle.
Fawkes stopped. They aren't haggling. He HIRED the nisslings to take the book? Steal it from under the murdering wizard's nose?
"Bring," the nissling on the throne commanded, with a toothy grin.
The two nisslings each used one hand to pick up the sack. With plenty of jostling and a bit of tug of war, they managed to get the sack to the masked mage. They dropped it at his feet then rushed over to the tossed purse.
Fawkes went to take another step but JuJu stomped a paw on his foot, pinning him in place. He stared down at his dog who looked back up him then shook his head with a snort.
The masked man picked up the sack by its remaining strap.
"Good doing business with you."
"We gotss other fanciess youss can -- "
"Talk to my people." He clenched his free hand into a fist. He vanished, causing the air to rush in on itself with a soft thud. The long torches flickered at the sudden breeze.
A quick spell! It would only take the wizard a mile at most. Did he have a hidden boat?
"Yousss boss leftss you the hard way againss," the officious nissling said from beside Fawkes.
"Damnation!" Fawkes swore aloud, letting out all the fury and bitter disappointment seething within him. Oh, Garzio, I'm sorry.
The four nisslings fell down laughing. Fawkes flushed beneath his mask but did not correct them. Let the nisslings think he was not happy at being left behind. At least the not-happy part was right!
"Whatss people? Who himss people?" The chubby nissling, still speaking Bexi, demanded of the two who emptied the purse.
"Dunno bosss." One said, never turning away from the coins the two were counting. It was not going well as each would snitch a coin or two from the other's piles to add to their own.
"Ahhh, bosss," the officious nissling said, wiping tears from his eyes. He got up to point at Fawkes. "Himss people."
"Wait, I—"
"Letsss hagglesss." the chubby nissling said to Fawkes with a greedy grin. He turned to the two sorting the coins. "Gets the shiniesss."
Haggle for loot I don't want? Can I dare refuse? A flash of all those crossbows lined up on the cave walls made him wince and cross his arms. Fine. I will buy one maybe two things.
The two hurried behind a crude curtain of snakeskins. A moment later, they dragged out a chest missing a hinge, never stopping until it was on the floor before the throne. The chubby nissling rubbed his hands together.
"Comess. Lookss. Buysss," It waved a chubby hand from Fawkes to the chest.
Fawkes huffed out a breath and went to it, JuJu padding along beside him. The two nisslings opened the lid. The one hinge creaked and groaned but held the lid up all by iteslf. Inside were silks and satins, mostly torn and blood-stained along with an assortment of broken jewelry and an array of trinkets that had seen better days. As he stared at the junk, one of the nisslings sniffed at JuJu's saddlebags with a dreamy look.
The huge dog growled deep and low. The dreamy nissling yelped and jumped back where it regained its bravery and stared longingly at the saddlebags.
"I must be very particular," Fawkes told the chubby nissling grinning at him from the throne. "Can't spend the boss's money on just anything."
"Yess. Plenty of shinies. Choosse."
Fawkes sat down before the chest and rummaged through it, wondering just how little he could get away with buying. He looked at JuJu and nodded towards the place the wizard had been standing. The dog went over there and began sniffing while keeping an eye on the dreamy nissling that followed just out of biting range.
It took an hour for Fawkes to haggle his way back out of the nissling lair with junk bulging out of the saddlebags. Once outside, he pulled off his mask, stuffed it into his belt pouch, and stomped down the mound back towards Boatessa.
