A Thief's den?

Stepping through the wrecked door behind the counter I was met with the deep ingrained smell of coffee grains and cleaning chemicals. My face scrunched with the smell as my ears lightly twitched as Iralia stepped past me through the chaotic mess that was the 'kitchen'.

There were many crates, plates, cutlery and bags filling the space. All of them stacked on top of each other as the vague sounds of skittling critters and bugs vanished into the dull shadows of the room. A shiver ran up my spin as i considered that I just drank coffee from the same materials that these animals were but I was soon brought out of that state by a small cough from Iralia.

The woman has a mischievous smile adorning her face as she held open a thick oak door. Sticky was what could be used to describe the door, I felt it as i passed, using my hands to brace myself as i stepped downwards into a basement area. A twinge of worry followed me as i heard the door close behind me but that was soon squashed as Iralia lit a small lighter, a technology that had seemingly been invented by the Dwarves.

"Come on lass, speed be the friend of all folk like I and me kin." I hurried down the stair, the wood croaking beneath my feet as the soggy subterranean atmosphere fully hit me at this moment. Damp smells of earth and water filled the space, interspersed with miniscule traces of cumin and peppers. Iralia stepped around me to the far wall from the entrance, the room being a small den of around five cubic meters in space. Barely anything was down here except a few braziers and some small crates with scrawling written into them, marking them coffee crates.

Laying her palm on the wall a circle of magic extended from Iralia's right hand, the wall shuddering and quivering before turning into mud and sloughing down onto the ground. This continued for a little while until the mud became a thin layer of stone slathering the floor.

"Follow, I shall show ye me friends." Briskly walking into the newly made passage she disappeared from sight. I flung myself forwards, following her. The entire passage was made of stone and seemed to be alight with small sconces, the flames a dull yellow and orange. My vision wasn't impeded by darkness but the brightness of the passage was disorientating. Iralia's figure could be seen by me as she walked forwards before suddenly dipping to the left. 

Groaningly i followed her, this pattern continuing for several minutes as the light dimmed and brightened at unexpected moments. It was as if this passage was meant to disorientate. My Unique Skill Growth was giving me unique energies at this depth as i felt closer to the shadows and light than i ever had been. Ignoring the new sensations I followed Iralia into a large cavernous space, stalactites and stalagmites dotting the interior walls, ceiling and floor. Water dripped sonorously in the chamber as the disparate sounds of still water being hit were ushered out into the space with the help of the faint wind.

The woman's movements continued until she was in the middle of this space, her hands opening out wide. 

"Come out children! We won't bite ye!" From our of the shadows tens of bundles of blankets emerged, the small figures shuddering in the cold dampness of the space. Their coverings seemed to do very little for them.

"B-big sis...? Ye bought a s-stranger?"

"Aye, I did, she be offering to house us up in another place, a better place... She be hesitatin because she thought ye was big bad thugs." The children, small and destitute as they may be, looked at me as if I was really stupid.

'Hey! I couldn't have realised that the 'we' she was speaking of was children!' The thought did very little to assuage my frustration so i just sighed, the action causing some of the children to chuckle.

"She silly, I like er." 

"Easy now youngster, she be the representative of our here salvation." The admonishment was missed on the young girl as she just shrugged before moving closer to me slightly. As she got closer i could see the small cuts and bruises on her small frame, the abuse being evident from the way she limped and hunched herself with every movement. I didn't think Iralia was the one to do it, so it must have been someone else, probably a noble.

"Miss, can ye save us now?" This was Iralia continuing to speak as the small girl hobbled forwards until she was within arm's reach. She didn't do much but stand there but her eyes were screaming everything she wanted, she was over living like this and wanted to bring herself up from the gutters. 

'Heh, she reminds me of a character from the Magician Series... Jimmy The Hand... Fuck it, they are just kids, they deserve better.'

"Sure, I would be honoured to help you all. You all have a place within our village." There wasn't any celebration as i was expecting, just a release from the depressing atmosphere of the chamber and a lightening of the facial features of Iralia, the woman looking much more relaxed.

"Heh! I told ye all I'd be findin ye all a place ye can live!" She clapped loudly as twenty more child-like figures emerged. Many were dwarven girls and boys with very few being of Elven lineage or Demi-human lineage. In total there were thirty children and most of them looked to be between eight to fourteen. One of the children was an elf boy around the age of twelve, his features glowing despite the dirt and soot marring his face.

'How the fuck do i find myself in these situations, even in my last life...' Nasty images flashed in my minds as I felt my attention slipping from reality for a few moments. Naturally i shook myself out of it before i could get too far into the memories but it was still unsettling for the kids as they backed up a little.

"Sorry... I just had some bad memories..."

"Understandable lass, just please be careful around the children."

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