Ometra

It was busting. The street was so wide, that ten carriages would walk side by side. And the sounds! Kyrexiel had never heard that combination of music, fighting, calling out goods, and the snapping of wings as Rashakas with flying shorv took into the air.

And the smell! A mix of sweat and blood. And shit.

"Wow." He whispered, looking at the Rashakas themselves! They moved on the streets in a way that natural predators walk, smoothly avoiding each other even with the large crowd. And their eyes glowed softly with different colors.

"This is the beating heart of the Crumbs. And it's here you will find anything you want in the Dominion. If you don't find it here then it's not in this Dominion." Elyrixa said.

She and her team moved between the crowd like shadows, darting between gaps that should be too small for them. Kyrexiel himself had healed enough that he walked as if he owned the place.

He took small easy steps, as if he were in the castle, and surprisingly the people walked around him. But with a lot of glare and curses.

"Don't draw unnecessary attention." Elyrixa hissed at him and he tried to imitate them but it was impossible. Urlk finally told him it was a bloodline technique that allowed them to walk between any gap as much as there was another side.

So he settled into walking fast and not running into anyone. It was strange, because everyone seemed to have somewhere to be, and yet, the road was packed full.

Elyrixa and Urlk didn't cover themselves with hoods, the rest should have looked out of place. But Kyrexiel soon realized that a lot of the people here were criminals and some took great pains to cover their faces.

"Here." Elyrixa gestured as they slowly wove their way right off the street, they stopped in front of a big building with the brown stones still intact.

Kyrexiel heard fait music and flashes of colored light coming from the inside. 'A club?' He thought to himself.

They walked towards the building and the bodyguards recognized Elyrixa that they let them in without any hassle. Inside was almost as Kyrexiel predicted but in a different way.

The first floor was big and it was packed with people eating and drinking. Music came from a corner where an old Rashaka with a beak for jaws was singing.

Skimpy dressed men and women served food and drinks, a smile not far from their curved painted lips.

The room was lit up with blue lighting that sparked from a rod above, enchanted tools. And the air was heavy with thick smoke that Kyrexiel was suspicious to breathe in.

They picked their way across towards the bar, carefully on where they stepped because some were moaning and grunting right there on the floor.

Elyrixa shook her head in disgust. "This is where a lot of the people in the Crumbs spend their money. There are lots of these types of inns scattered around. Eat, drink, and fuck. Everyday."

Kyrexiel shrugged. He didn't see anything bad in it. It's not everyone that has or should have ambitions. Some are content with the current of life. They prefer that life move them instead of the other way around.

The big barman was drinking something dark in a cup when they reached there, he raised lazy eyes to them. "How can I help?"

Elyrixa dumped a crumbled paper on his large table and the barman picked it up with a raised brows. "What do we have here...oh...I see. Follow me."

Kyrexiel looked away from a woman with a tight short wrapper, Urlk saw him and winked.

The barman slid open the table in front of him, folded it open, and created a space for them and all twelve of them went into the bar where another door had been opened, this one behind a shelf of bottled drinks.

They went in, into a push short hallway, and even before they entered the large room, Kyrexiel was already hearing the cheering.

"What's happening inside there?" He asked.

Instead of speaking, Elyrixa hastened her steps and the guard standing there opened the door for them to enter. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the low light of the big room with an arching ceiling.

At the center of the room was a square raised wooden platform, and two figures were battling it out with their fist.

Rashakas surround them, cheering and booing. Low music was playing, and alcohol flowed freely as they gambled. Kyrexiel shook his head and muttered. "No matter where you are there's always somewhere like this."

Without any apparent gesture from Elyrixa, her team dissolved and mixed with the others. She told Kyrexiel as she led him forward to a set of stairs. "They'll gather information and if I need them, they'll be there."

"Tonight, all you have to do is observe since you know nothing about our line of work. Observe for a few days." Elyrixa said as they climbed the stairs up.

At the top of the stairs was a space that faced the fighting platform below. And it was packed tight with tall muscled Rashakas that moved with swiftness that should not be possible.

Elyrixa made her way forward. "This are the Ometra clan. Their clan leader owns this inn and some other places in the Crumbs. Watch out for them, they are intelligent brutes."

A voice boomed in front of them. "Now, Elyrixa Scuridae. Are you spoiling my name again?"

People parted for them until Kyrexiel saw the speaker, he was sitting on a big chair that could hold his muscled weight, he held a metal cigarette in his right hand and his eyes were on those fighting below.

Even among the others of his clan he was the tallest and most muscled.

The man had short dark hair, and bushy eyebrows that hid dark piercing eyes. He wore only trousers and his torso was covered in thick brown hair, over grey hide. It reminded him of a bear. Only his hands are normal.

Kyrexiel shook his head 'I don't want those hands near me'

"Your name is already spoiled."

The man turned his head to smile at her. "Maybe but you don't have to add to it."

Elyrixa rolled her eyes. "Kyrexiel. This is Orso Ometra. One of the crime Lords of the Crumbs. And the clan leader of the Ometra."