Theo and Moger took control of the Garland operations base at Eltinar. Contrary to what Moger expected, the place was right in the center of the citadel. "The Down Low" was a tavern that served as a cover for the Garland band. Moger and Theo waited until late at night, when the taverns closed and became accommodations for the travelers to spend the night.
'Tell me about Garland; why is he called the red?' asked Moger while they waited.
'They called him The Red because he was ruthless, cruel, and a degenerate. They say he once forced one of his men to eat his own daughter because he tried to scam him. If you weren't so strong, the chief would have killed you and taken the bottles of Basilisk's blood,' replied Theo.
'Wouldn't he lose the opportunity to do business with us?'
'Nah! You are a small-timer. Real money comes from the nobles. Nothing goes on in the citadels without their approval; all the nobles have their hands in some form of illegal business. That's why the band can operate in the middle of the citadel; everyone knows that the tavern is a front. But the nobles use our services: robbery, kidnapping, murder, blackmail; we do all kinds of jobs for them'.
'And how shall we sell the blood without the participation of the nobles?'
'It is impossible; they are the customers. The greatest consumers are the nobles. The poor cannot afford such a thing; basilisk's blood is the favorite drug of the great lords. Knights like black basilisk's blood. It's a powerful stimulant; it makes them go wild in battle.'
'How does the tavern works?'
'Late at night, when it closes, it turns into a refuge for travelers, as in every other place. Here, however, almost no one enters. The place is full of our band members. The chief and his close men slept upstairs in the rooms on the second floor. The rest of the band sleeps downstairs in the tavern.'
'Who are Garland's trusted men?'
'You killed them all that day.'
'How many men are left in the gang?'
'We used to be forty men. Soo, twenty-nine now that the others are dead'
'Thirty with me,' said Moger.
'About that... in the band only force and brutality are respected; you'll have to take control in that way'
'No problem,' Moger assured, smiling under his clothes.
By midnight, the tavern was closing, and Moger and Theo came in. Theo approached the bar.
'Memin, kick out all the visitors except for the guy who came in with me. We have problems,' Theo told one of his colleagues.
Memin didn't ask questions.
'Well, we're closing. You, the three of you on the left, and the group from the corner, get out," Memin announced, pointing to those who were not members of the band.
'We wanted to spend the night here,' said one of the visitors, drawing out a copper coin.
'Not today, pall. Go somewhere else.'
Malhumored and complaining, the customers began to leave. When they had all left, they locked the door, and Theo gathered the gang next to the bar.
'Garland is dead,' declared Theo without hesitation.
Silence reigned for a moment, but more out of surprise than out of respect. Then several of the band members began to smile. A new boss had to be chosen, and the most ambitious of the group wanted the position.
'Wait, wait, I know what you're thinking. But it seems that we already have a new boss,' Theo announced, pointing to Moger.
The criminals laughed.
'Who is this clown?' said one of the criminals, trying to push Moger.
Like something out of a silly novel, in less than a second, the criminal lost his arm. The short swords on the waist of the "New boss" were of good quality and were sharp. He cut through the criminal's arm without difficulty, a stream of blood dirtying his clothes. The wounded man retreated, screaming in pain.
'You just ruined my fucking clothes,' Moger yelled, instilling fear in everyone.
His voice was deep and grave; it was more like a kind of growl than words. A second later, that man threw himself on the wounded criminal, knocked him down to the ground, and then, with his boots, he stepped on his head until it burst like a water melon.
'Theo, get me clean clothes. I don't like my face to be seen, so make sure they are similar to the ones I'm wearing.'
Recovering from the surprise, the most ambitious criminals began to react by taking out their weapons. Six of them threw themselves at once against Moger. The criminals' daggers and swords were blocked or evaded with ease. Meanwhile, Moger's attacks always reached their targets. Seconds later, there were seven bodies on the ground.
'Anyone else?' asked Moger, cleaning his swords.
Nobody answered.
'I'm sorry, Boss. What shall we call you?' asked Memin.
'Garland. Theo will give you the details. We will continue to operate as usual' Moger placed the three bottles of Basilisk's blood on the table. The two he had and the one they recovered from Garland. 'The only difference is that now you work for me, make arrangements to sell this, and clean this place up,' he ordered as he picked up the body of one of the criminals.
'Boss, don't worry about it; I'll clean it up,' offered Theo.
'I'm not cleaning; I'm just hungry,' he said as he went up to the second floor carrying the body.
The criminals looked at each other. Theo was one of the less important members of the band, so Garland usually sent him to pretend to be him in dangerous situations. He was one of the few members who believed in the exaggerated lies told about Garland. It was true that he was a ruthless killer, but the rumors were vastly exaggerated.
'It must be a joke,' said Memin.
Everyone thought it was a way of making himself look rude and dangerous. Although the "New Chief" had no need to make such a theater, he was strong, and the bodies on the ground already demonstrated that. The criminals overlooked the matter and began to clean the place.
"When he falls asleep, we kill him." Many of them thought at the same time.
They would not leave the band in the hands of a stranger. They waited for a few hours. Then Memin and two other members of the band went up to the second floor. Slowly and silently, they opened the door to the room. The new Garland didn't bother blocking it up.
'Finally, it was about time you guys came up!'
A pair of bright eyes looked at them from the bed. The rest of his body was still covered in clothes. Only those wild animal eyes could be seen shining in the dark.
'Take away the remains,' said Moger, controlling his magic to cast a small flame that lit the oil lamp.
"It is true that he is also a magician," they thought, remembering what Theo had told them moments earlier. Although that surprise didn't last, at the foot of the table lay the half-eaten remains of the body that the new Garland had brought up. Memin almost vomited, while the other two men had turned pale.
'What are you waiting for? Clean this up,' Moger urged them.
'Yes, boss, immediately.' Theo had come into the room with new clothes for his new boss.
'Not you, Theo. Let them do it. By the way, from now on, you will sleep upstairs,' Moger said. 'Any objection?'
'No, none,' replied Memin.
'No, nothing,' said the other two men in choir.
'Great, because I was beginning to get hungry again.'
These last words turned the men to a pale white that could be appreciated even with the scarce light from the oil lamp. The three of them tried to leave.
'Ahem!' Theo cleared his throat. 'Don't you forget anything?' he asked, pointing to the remains of the body on the floor.
The other criminals looked at him with some contempt. Theo began to sweat, turned around, and left the room. The other criminals began collecting the remains of the body with shame and fear. The "New Chief" had devoured his legs, an arm, and, above all, his face. The skull was covered with blood and the remains of muscle, and the lipless face showing its teeth was a frightening sight.
The next day, Moger, Theo, and Memin went to the mansion of one of the nobles, who was an intermediary.
'Jaffar, how have you been?' asked Memin.
'Cut the crap,' replied the low-class nobleman angrily. 'What have you brought me today?'
Memin took out the three vials of Basilisk's blood, one after the other. 'It is pure, directly from Morr's Jungle.'
'Black?'
'Yup,' answered Memin with a smile. 'And that's not all; we can bring you more, a lot more'
There was a certain degree of excitement in Jaffar's face, but he controlled himself immediately. 'May I?'
'Of course,' replied Memin.
Jaffar opened the bottle of blood labeled black, and with a tiny spoon, he took out what would be the equivalent of a drop.
'Let me help you,' Memin said, helping him get the drop in his eye.
In seconds, Jaffar's face turned red, his scleras filled with ingurgitated blood vessels, he smiled in ecstasy, the veins of his face and neck dilated, and his heart could be heard beating strongly in the otherwise quiet room.
'Yes, yes, yeah, this is good!' cried Jaffar. 'Bring me more of this.'
'Of course, it will be a pleasure. As for the price, what do you think of about thirty gold coins in total?'
'Twenty,' replied Jaffar.
'Twenty-five,' replied Memin.
'Thirty,' said the hooded man, who had remained silent and to whom Jaffar had not paid attention.
'Twenty, if you disagree, tell Garland to come and negotiate with me personally.'
'Hum,' said Memin, 'well, you see Jaffar; from now on he is Garland.'
Jaffar looked at the stranger from top to bottom. He had been dealing with Garland and his men for years. There was no way for someone as tyrannical as Garland to let a stranger run his band, and killing him was difficult. Jaffar didn't like the changes. Memin was playing with him, maybe trying to scam him.
'Is that a joke?' asked Jaffar angrily. 'Do you dare come to my house to mock me? Who do you think I am? I am the great Jaffar de Lerca, a nobleman, not a nobody like you; you cannot disrespect me in my own house' Jaffar yelled, approaching Memin. 'I am Jaffar of Lerca. Do you think you are one of those nobles who claim to be of the highest class? Do you think you can play with me and offend me? You are nothing without me. I am the one who moves the threads in Eltinar; I'm the king in the shadows.'
As fast as lightning, Moger appeared in front of Jaffar. Holding him by the neck and raising him in the air with one hand. Memin and Theo had warned Moger that Jaffar was a small-time nobleman who acted as an intermediary for the dirty business of the nobility. He was nothing more than an expendable pawn, but sometimes he had grandeur delusions.
'I am the new Garland. Our business will continue as usual. But don't think I won't break your neck if you get too annoying. Is it clear?'
Even drugged, the fear spread throughout Jaffar's body when he heard the gutural voice of the hooded man from close, his putrid breath, and his imposing physical strength. Jaffar had dealt with many dangerous criminals in his life. But the feeling he got from this man was different, as if he were facing a wild animal, a predator.
'Clear' replied Jaffar in a low and weak voice.
The hooded man let go, letting him fall to the ground. Once released, Jaffar felt the desire to attack his aggressor. However, instead, he approached the table, took the bottle of blood labeled green, and, with trembling hands, tried to pull out a drop of blood. Again, Memin helped him. A few minutes after applying the blood, Jaffar showed himself more calm, slow, and even sleepy.
'Well, thirty coins,' said Jafar, whispering. 'In addition, there is a job for you. Can you take care of it?'
'What is the job about?' asked Memin.
'A family of low-class nobles from a village to the south has seen something they shouldn't have. We want you to take care of them. You know what to do; make sure there is no one left, not even the children.'
Memin looked at his new boss as if asking for confirmation.
'No problem,' replied the hooded man.
'Five gold coins now, five more when the work is done.'
Memin nodded in response. That same afternoon, they departed to the south to a village called Crovo. It was a rapidly developing village, halfway to becoming a town. The dwelling of the nobles they had to murder was a large house, without reaching a mansion level.
'Let's watch and wait for a good moment to strike,' said Theo.
'No. We will attack immediately. I will take care of the head of the family'.
There was no strategy. Led by Moger, the criminals attacked like a horde of savages. Moger destroyed the door with a kick, while the criminals were in charge of eliminating the members of the house and the scarce servants. Moger locked himself in the room of the family leader and his wife.
'I will not kill you or the children if you tell me what I want to know,' assured Moger. 'I have been paid to kill you because of something you know, but I am more interested in what you know than money. If you tell me, I'll help you escape to another kingdom.'
The head of the family was a black man, tall, thin, and bald, about fifty years old, with light green eyes. He had doubts about this man's words, and his voice did not induce much confidence either. But he had no choice.
'Okay. I'll tell you. Denuar Van Dotter, a high-class nobleman of Eltinar, was having an affair with a peasant of our village. His wife discovered the matter and sent one of his knights to murder her. We learned about the matter and tried to use it to "negotiate" with the Van Dotter. That's all'
'Thank you,' said Moger, cutting off his head with his sword.
'But you said you would not kill us,' said the wife of the nobleman who was murdered.
'I lied.'
In the blink of an eye, Moger had moved toward the woman, decapitating her too. He left the room.
'Take everything that is valuable. Finders, keepers' Moger informed his men, who received the news with a smile.
'Theo, when the men are done collecting the loot, burn the house. We'll attack the best houses in the area. Steal everything you can'
The members of the band were in heaven. The old Garland kept a low profile when he was working for the nobles; he did not want to draw much attention. The new boss was not worried about this.′
'This is going to end badly,' said Memin, seeing his colleagues let out their basic instincts. This would call the regulators.
The band did several jobs in the following months. The legend of Garland's brutality increased throughout the continent.