{"sf1_id":940039,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Chapter 7: Bounty of Work","author":"Andre Valias","words":1332,"posted_at":"2015-12-02T14:01:00.000Z","tags":["Bear","Dark","Dragon","Dragonian","Elf","Fantasy","Male","Medieval","Mercenary","Payment","Ursaren","banter","captain","guard","job"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/940039-chapter-7-bounty-of-work","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/940039","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=940039\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"The afternoon sun dipped low in dusky sky and fierce rays of\nsunlight pierced the glass windows of Mykolas' office. He sat at his desk,\nevidently undone by the paperwork on his desk. For the whole day he had done\nnothing but attempt to muster concern for the issues and affairs of the city's\npeoples. But after the fifth or eighth case out of dozens, Mykolas could only\ncare more about ruffians stealing sweetrolls or beasts bothering, what Mykolas\nviewed to be, peasants, with a lack of caution. It was frustrating to have to\norganise time and resources to resolve the issues, after all of which Mykolas\nresigned to sitting back and patting his belly, just feeling the sluggishness\nalready that was too familiar to the administrative side of his work. He needed\nto escape and do something.\n\"Sir, someone's here\nto collect a bounty.\" A guard noted at the slightly open door to the\noffice. Mykolas rolled his eyes for only a moment, but then pushed the\npaperwork a little to the side as he realised this might be the only highlight\nto his day.\n\"Send them in.\" Mykolas\nbeckoned. The door opened, and Akalgan stepped into the office. He promptly\nheld up the doom viper's dried and severed head up towards Mykolas. The sight\nwas just as surprising as it was impressive, which was to say very impressive\nto Mykolas. \n\"So there was a\nbounty for this thing to be killed?\" Akalgan inquired for certainty. \nMykolas looked up at the face behind the viper's own and\ntook in Akalgan's draconic features. He especially wanted to keep the face in\nmind, along with a name. \n\"Yes, there was.\" Mykolas\nreplied simply. He pulled out a parchment from his desk and readied a quill. \"So then-- for three hundred gold pieces,\nyour name please?\" Mykolas asked.\n\"Akalgan.\" The\nDragonian replied. Mykolas turned the name over in his mind.\n\"And you would spell\nthat as...?\" Mykolas asked. \n\"A-k-a-l-g-a-n.\"\nAkalgan answered, the head of his slain mark tucked under his arm. \nMykolas put the name down to parchment under address for a\npromissory note. \n\"Ah. A Dragonian,\nhuh?\" Mykolas murmured to spark conversation as he wrote. \"Not too far from home, but farther than a\nDragonian would be.\" He noted. Akalgan smirked.\n\"You aren't wrong.\" He\nagreed. Mykolas glanced at him with a raised eyebrow.\n\"And what would a\nDragonian be doing in Blackhold, if you don't mind me asking?\" He inquired\ncuriously as he continued his drafting.\nAkalgan smirked.\n\"Am I too much for\nthe city?\" He retorted in jest. Mykolas shrugged.\n\"Humour me, a humble\nand sole Ursaren captain in a city full of 'grayskins'.\" He elaborated with\na hint of empathy and without looking up. Akalgan looked over the Ursaren for a\nmoment, and noticed how out of place the sight did seem for a moment.\n\"I am travelling the\nworld to see things that only gods have seen.\" He answered honestly. He\nglanced at the severed head of the doom viper tucked under his arm. \"This is just another one of my conquests\nover almost seven decades of wandering the land.\" He remarked thoughtfully.\n Mykolas was intrigued\nmore than ever. \n\"And was that vile\ncreature a challenge or a wonder to you?\" He asked pertinently. Akalgan\nchuckled and looked back at the captain.\n\"Both.\" He\nanswered simply. Mykolas paused in writing and looked at him incredulously, and\nAkalgan shrugged. \"It was a wonder to\nfind one of these fiends slithering around in the sewers of an established\ncity.\" He elaborated as he cast his gaze over to the windows overlooking\nthe parade grounds. \"The challenge was--\nof course, killing it in close quarter circumstances, and in a place where it\ncould drown me.\" He then explained, and as he did he tapped the doom\nviper's skull indicatively. \nIt was perhaps Mykolas' longing to be free and able to\nengage in more practical rather than administrative duties all the time that\nkept him so engaged with Akalgan. However, there was only so much time it would\ntake for him to finish drafting the promissory note. He laughed to himself and\nwent on with the note.\n\"Perhaps you might\nenlighten me on how exactly this challenge went over a few mugs of ale, and\nmayhaps your other exploits.\" Mykolas invitingly hinted. The suggestion was\nnot unwelcome by Akalgan, who thought it over in his head. He then smiled.\n\"And perhaps you\nmight entail your own in exchange.\" He suggested in response. Mykolas\nlaughed a little louder than before at the tiny impasse.\n\"I have little to\nspeak of myself, I'm afraid.\" He clarified as he finished the letter and\nheated the wax rod to drip on the bottom of the note. As Mykolas used the stamp\nof his office to seal the wax, Akalgan shrugged.\n\"It's a good thing\nyou're buying the drinks then.\" He retorted. Mykolas ceased laughing, if\nonly to give Akalgan a slight glare that was betrayed just by a half grin\npulling at the corner of his mouth. He then rolled his eyes and readied his\nquill once more. \n\"Then those\nexploits--\" Mykolas began as he signed the note at last. \"--best be worthy of being sung in the halls\nof kings.\" He said, as a challenge to Akalgan. The proud Dragonian smiled\nand put the head of the viper down on the desk.\n\"Sung in the hall of\ngods, they will be.\" He replied confidently. Mykolas handed Akalgan his promissory\nnote of 300 gold pieces with a smirk, and then looked at the viper's skull he\nwas leaving behind. \"You can keep the\nskull as momento-- something to remember me by when I leave.\" Akalgan added\nas he turned away. He then paused. \"Where\nwould be the best place for one wandering and itinerant Dragonian to earn his\ndrinks with tales of his exploits?\" Akalgan asked. Mykolas looked up from\nthe skull up at his new person of interest, and smiled.\n\"The Nighting Mare is\nan excellent place to be in an hour, coincidentally a little after I finish up\nhere.\" He responded. Akalgan nodded his head with a silent 'ah'. \n\"Coincidentally and\nconveniently the place I have residence at.\" He remarked. Akalgan then\nwaved as he left. \"We will speak again\nsoon.\" He said in brief farewell. Mykolas nodded, and once Akalgan had\nleft, he sat back with a groaning stretch.\nThe dusky light had dimmed and night was beginning to fall\nwhen Akalgan left the barracks. People were still wandering about on their way\nto places, perhaps either taverns or homes for dinner, but Akalgan expected\nmost of them to be off the streets relatively soon. He then looked at the\npromissory note in his hand and read what had been written. \nTo Akalgan,\nThe sum of 300 gold pieces for services rendered in the capture and\nkilling of the Doom Viper within Blackhold's sewers. The benefactor may choose\nto exchange this note for the full payment, or part payment and the rest as\npromissory notes. \nSigned,\nCaptain of the Guard Mykolas\nAkalgan scoffed over the formality of the writing in\njuxtaposition to the one who wrote it. \n\"You really do not\nbelong behind a desk, my friend.\" Akalgan thought aloud. He rolled up the\nnote carefully and started making his way back to the inn, and on his way he\nwatched every person he passed warily. He has known people before who were\nrobbed of their payment, and given his earlier encounter; Akalgan was not\ntaking any chances. Although, Akalgan was not in opposition to another Dark Elf\nconcubine, as far as he was concerned. On various encounters with Dark Elves,\nAkalgan did find the younger Dark Elves to be 'aesthetically pleasing', even\nthe boys. And he definitely had nothing against making concubines out of\nthieves if it meant he would get what he might pay for at brothels for free,\nand especially for as long as he pleased. He smiled at the thought. ","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/921440-a-tale-of-ashen-wings-chapter-6-the-doom-viper.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/940042-chapter-8-the-street-urchin.json"}