3 Bronze Fang

Theo woke up refreshed and energized the next morning. All the exhaustion from yesterday had been washed away by a good night's sleep.

He stretched and prepared himself for his morning routine. Making sure he was ready to leave his cabin, he checked that he had everything on him.

The academy's scroll, his coin pouch, the mixture and last of all the envelope.

It was something of a habit he had developed, but it was an extremely useful one. Once Theo was sure that he had everything, he left the cabin and began his morning run.

The physical conditioning and habits his father had engraved on him from a young age had saved his life more times than he could count. He didn't need to be strong enough to overpower anyone if he could run away from them.

Though, even if his conditioning was around the level of a beginner Warrior, it wouldn't be enough to actually escape from one if they gave chase.

Just the muscle growth generated by exercise couldn't even compare to the augmentative effects of the abilities they could use with the aether.

The exercise also prepared him for the path of a Warrior if he failed the third step. So, it kept him motivated to run every day.

Theo ran on the usual trail he used on the outskirts of the town. Many people were already up and about, going about their day.

They ignored Theo as he ran past them, and Theo in turn ignored them.

Or he tried to, but an unusual sight caught his eye.

A young boy, clothed in dirty rags and about the age of ten was leaning against the side of a wooden fence, smoking a wooden pipe.

Theo frowned and slowed his pace to a light jog as he approached the boy. Eventually the frown on his face transformed into an amicable smile as the boy turned to look at him and he stopped in front of him.

The boy's eyes were filled with distrust and a general wariness. The boy was ready to bolt at a moment's notice and Theo noticed it.

"I only want to ask you a quick question." Theo took a step back, trying to show that he wasn't a threat.

The boy didn't give him a verbal answer but did give a slight nod.

"Where did you get that?"

The boy took the pipe out of his mouth and gave a slight cough before speaking.

"The same place… as everyone else… duh." The voice was gravely and interrupted by coughs, a sign that the boy had smoked for quite a while.

The smile disappeared from Theo's face as the frown returned. He didn't say another word and walked away from the boy while the frown only continued to deepen.

'I guess it was inevitable. It's honestly surprising that they abided by the deal this long.' Yet the frown was locked in place even as he re-started his run.

'I need to leave.' Theo decided then and there. Even if he didn't manage to finish the aetherial pathway today, he would be gone by the next morning.

He had made a deal with the leading gang in Riverrock, the Bronze Fang. Theo would supply them with his drug, and they would pay him a percentage of the profits. He had given them two strict conditions which they had to obey, or he would go to a different employer.

First, with each dose they sold, they had to give a warning against overdosing.

Second, children under the age of fifteen were strictly prohibited from being sold to.

The first condition helped ease his own consciousness about what he was doing. If they were warned, then it was their fault if they overdosed. Even if Theo made the drug purposefully as addicting as he could.

The second condition was his bottom line, and they had broken it.

Theo erased the frown from his face and continued the run in utter silence. The caws of the crows sounded especially loud today, but Theo didn't pay it much attention.

He had soon looped around the entire town and was returning to his cabin. There were men carrying sacks on their shoulders, going inside his house, and then leaving empty handed.

The guard overseeing the process wasn't the one who usually tailed him.

Theo broke into a cold sweat. He looked back and noticed a man jogging behind him, heaving in exhaustion before he noticed Theo looking at him and nodded at him.

Fuck.

The guard had decided to join him on his morning run. Why, why today? The guard was usually a lazy bastard who let him run alone, why would he follow him today?

If he had noticed him talking to the kid, he would surely report it back to Shane who would report it to the leader.

Theo controlled his emotions as he nodded back, trying to look as relaxed as possible.

'I need to be quick.' Theo thought as he entered his cabin. The guard would definitely send word back as soon as he caught his breath. He would need to leave before the gang sent any of their Warriors to restrict him.

The people bringing supplies hadn't finished yet, and more were being brought in every second. It seemed that they wanted him to make quite a large batch this time.

Theo already had everything he needed to leave, but he needed a valid excuse to break his normal routine, and to somehow lose the guards.

Theo went and began opening the sacks one by one with a frown that deepened with each sack opened.

The guard overseeing the process saw his frown and walked towards him.

"What is it, sir?" He asked.

"Didn't Shane tell you that I needed Propar this time?" Theo turned to look at the guard with an admonishing tone in his voice.

The guard looked taken aback. "Sir. We weren't told about any new additions to the supplies."

"Give me five silver." Theo waved his hand dismissively. "I'll go buy them myself, if you're incapable."

"Sir, I can do it." The guard said nervously.

Theo looked at him straight in the eyes with a piercing gaze.

"I'll give you another chance, but on the condition that my personal guard will accompany you."

"Yes, sir!"

The guard raised his hand to his shoulder and banged on it twice before turning around and leaving the cabin, leaving Theo inside with the occasional handyman bringing in additional sacks.

He narrowed his eyes and contemplated on bringing some of his clothes with him before deciding to only bring a cloak. More baggage would only slow him down. Theo had enough coin to buy new ones anywhere he went.

He waited for a minute before walking out of the cabin, as if he was overseeing the process and making sure no one stole anything.

Theo glanced around and made sure that neither of the two guards were present before telling the handymen to continue their work while he went to deal with some business.

He began briskly walking towards the docks. It was the only way for one to leave this shitty town. No coaches ran through or from here.

Once he was out of eye-sight from his cabin, he wore the cloak and pulled the hood over, hiding his features.

Hopefully the guard hadn't had the time to inform anyone about what he had seen, and Theo might have enough time to get out of the town.

As he was walking through the crowd, trying to be as nondescript as possible, he noticed thugs walking towards his cabin, with the occasional guard following them.

The guard had obviously managed to inform the Bronze Fang. Theo quickened his pace while still trying to look casual.

Theo soon arrived at the docks and noticed that there was only a single passenger ship docked. All the others currently there were property of the Bronze Fang.

He could also hear the yells in the far distance. So, Theo walked straight to the ship and towards the captain who was standing on the dock.

The woman was wearing a glimmering silver badge that had three crows flying upwards depicted on it. The tricorn hat on her head mirrored the same designs but had a black base while each side had a silver crow.

"When is the ship leaving?" Theo asked her as soon as he was within speaking distance.

The woman yawned and looked at him curiously. "In two hours."

Theo could hear the yells getting closer. He scrunched his eyes and took a deep breath.

"One gold and we depart immediately." That was almost three times the normal passenger fee.

The woman raised her eyebrow in response and gave him a small smile.

"You're in quite a hurry, aren't you?" The smile on her face grew. "Two gold."

Theo frowned. "That's a tad much, don't you think?"

"Hmm… I don't know how much coin you would put on your life, but two gold seems like a reasonable price." The woman tapped her chin with a thoughtful expression.

"Tsk."

The woman had obviously noticed his desperation, the yells in the distance didn't help.

"Fine." Theo tossed two gold pieces at the woman.

"Thank you graciously." The woman gave him a mock bow in return. The smile on her face was almost dazzling as she yelled at her crew.

"We're departing immediately! Get on the ship or you're staying here!"

Theo walked to the ship quietly and took a place that was out of sight as the crew of the ship filed in. Though he couldn't escape the vision of the crows resting atop the masts.

The ship was quite spacious for a passenger ship, but then again, this one had looked a lot like the mix of cargo and passenger ships that had been appearing in recent years.

The sails were dropped, the anchor raised, and they had just detached themselves from the docks as the thugs from the Bronze Fang appeared on the dock.

"Look for him! He can't have gotten far!"

Theo heaved a sigh of relief as the visage of the town was slowly disappearing into the horizon. He had managed to slip out just in time before they had caught him.

If he hadn't escaped when he did, they would have surely placed major restrictions and surveillance on him to make sure he stayed there.

Though, he didn't have much alone time before the captain appeared in front of him.

"Welcome to the fabulous ride aboard the Thornham, captained by yours truly, Rose Wolfe."

"Now, where does our little runaway want to be dropped off at?" She asked while playing with a silver coin. "I can take you as far as Stillben."

Theo scoffed. Two gold could have gotten him halfway across the kingdom of Hubrias if he hadn't been in such a desperate situation, not to mention Stillben.

"Zeah." He said.

"The capital?" The coin between her fingers stopped for a moment before resuming. "Going to try your luck at the Academy?"

Theo narrowed his eyes at the woman. "Why?"

"Just a hunch." Rose shrugged.

Now that Theo wasn't in such a hurry, he could take a good look at the woman in front of him. She couldn't have been more than thirty years old.

She had short wavy silver hair that reached her shoulders. Her piercing eyes were a deep blue as she looked at him.

She was wearing tight black trousers and the signature dark green cloak that had dozens of flying and resting crows depicted on it that every captain of the Merchant's guild wore, but it wasn't fully able to hide the impressive bust of the woman.

Rose noticed him looking at her as she stopped playing with the silver coin and began making weird poses in front of him.

It drew a confused look from Theo. "What are you doing?"

Rose was still posing with a smile as she replied. "You were looking at me with such a curious gaze, so I decided to give you a better view. Two gold is quite a sum, after all."

Theo just sighed. Why were the captains of the Merchant's guild always so weird? Still, he wasn't about to stop her or complain and just continued watching with slight interest as the captain took new poses constantly.

It lasted for another two minutes, during which even some of the crew came and looked on as their captain made a fool out of herself. After it ended, she led him to his cabin underneath the deck and informed him that the trip to Zeah would take around three days.

That left him with a week until the Academy's entrance exams were to start.

Theo looked around his room that consisted of a single bed and nothing more. He sat down on the bed and took out the scroll, concentrating intently on it before consuming the last bits of the mixture within the bottle and starting the training.

/-/

Rose was deep in thought, sitting with her legs up on the desk inside of the captain's quarters, playing with a silver coin in her fingers when someone knocked on her door.

"Come in." She said.

A man in his forties opened the door and stepped inside. He was her first mate. He was wearing the same kind of badge she did, but it was bronze and only had two crows.

The man sat down in front of her on one of the chairs.

"Rose, you shouldn't do stuff like that." The man sighed. "The boy's get all riled up when you show off."

"Don't be such a prude, Ben." She smiled. "They can just get their rocks off at a brothel when we dock."

Ben just sighed. Honestly, he should have been used to it by now. How long had he known her? Around two years if she remembered correctly.

"What prompted you to do that?" Ben asked curiously.

"We have a passenger who paid quite generously for board, so I gave him a little show." She said with a smile on her lips.

Ben just looked at her, confused. "Why? You've never done that during a trip."

"Why… I wonder." She said with a small smile on her lips as she resumed playing with the silver coin between her fingers.