The Marenon Chronicles Collection - By Jason D. Morrow Page 0,8

walked to the chair and looked each of them in the eye.

“You really light up a room, don't you, pal?” Alric said with a smirk.

Julian ignored the comment. “Have you reached a decision?” he said getting straight to the point.

Alric looked at each member of his crew and then back to Julian. “First, I think you ought to know each member that you're dealing with.”

Julian nodded once.

“This is Inga. She has a higher sensitivity to magic than I’ve seen in any Sorcerer to tell you the truth. It’s proven to be an invaluable asset to completing our jobs.” Inga gave a slight nod of recognition.

He motioned to the giant of a man. “This is Coffman. He could take ten arrows to the chest before going down.” Coffman let out a low grunt, warning Julian not to overstep his bounds.

He then looked to the blonde man nearest to the window. “This is Lorcan Zamire and yes, your suspicions are correct, he is Erellen. He’s spent hours going over the mission plans with me and neither of us can figure it out.”

“Mr. Thirsk, I don't think you would have dragged your crew out here just to tell me that it can't be done, so please, get to the point.” Julian said.

“Well, let’s just be clear on exactly what you are asking for,” Alric said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs. “You want us to travel to Timugo, infiltrate the Anwyn’s territory, steal some sort of medallion kept in one of their most sacred areas, and somehow get it to you without being killed.”

“I don’t care if you’re killed,” Julian corrected, “just so long as I get that medallion.”

“Right. Let me be real with you, friend,” he said. Julian thought him to be an unusually vivid speaker, as if every sentence he spoke were of dire importance. “We need another man.”

“That’s not my problem,” Julian said. “You find the man you need and you get it done.”

“Fine. Let’s talk price.”

“Name it.”

Alric looked at all the others as if to give anyone a last chance to object. “Ten thousand.”

Julian nodded. “I think that can be arran-.”

“Each,” Alric interrupted. “Ten thousand each.”

“You can’t be serious,” Julian said squinting. “How can you expect us to pay forty thousand?”

“Well, when you take into account that we need an extra man then it’s fifty thousand,” he said. “What you want is a suicide mission. We’ve gone over the schematics a hundred times, and there is no way to accomplish this mission without one of my crew getting caught or killed.”

“Is that what your Erellen friend has come up with?”

Julian stared at Lorcan Zamire as he shifted in his seat. “There has to be bait,” Lorcan said. “I don't know how you got a map of the underground workings of Timugo, but if it's correct at all then we don't stand a chance of getting out with the medallion. The bait will go after a staff. It’s the staff of Uriah.” Lorcan took a deep breath then continued. “Trying to steal the staff will trigger an alarm and the fifth man will be caught, leaving us the chance to slip in and get the medallion.”

Julian's eyebrows furrowed. “If you only need someone to be captured then why the extra ten thousand?”

“No one will go on a job without seeing the money first. And anyway, running a job like this is a higher risk, so we demand higher funds.”

Julian nodded. Alric was right and they weren’t going to budge. The Dunarians had to go under the table with this sort of mission. Stealing the Anwyn’s medallion was cause for a war and the Dunarians were dwindling in numbers. Having the blame fall on a mercenary group would absolve the Dunarians if Alric and his crew happened to be caught.

“I'll give you half now, and half when you hand over the medallion.”

“Just like that, eh?” Alric said. It sounded as if he were about to laugh. “What does this jewelry do anyway?”

“You have a job to do,” Julian said. “I give you the money, you get me the medallion.”

He stood abruptly. His sudden move caused all four of them to come to attention. Lorcan and Coffman grabbed for their weapons, then sheepishly calmed themselves when they realized Julian was only standing to leave.

“I don't care much for your intrigue,” Julian said. “We just want to make sure you get it done.”

“Oh, it'll get done.”

“Good. Then I will be back in a few moments with the money.”

It was Alric’s