Chapter Two

 “No individual may engage in sanctioned or unsanctioned magical or combative fieldwork within the Kingdom of Valdreya unless duly certified under the Heroic Licensing Act. All unsanctioned acts of public violence, spellcasting, or monster-slaying shall be treated as unlawful vigilantism.”

-Heroic Licensing Act §67.1 (Crown-Guild Accord) 

Coren

The punch to his gut sent Coren doubling over and brought up the sudden urge to violently expel everything that remained in his stomach. Given that he'd already thrown up twice, he felt his odds of getting the hat-trick was relatively fair. It wouldn't be with much pleasure, but that was life for you. Or at least, it was Corens life tonight. Still, this beat standing around in the rain.

The next punch, aimed higher and at an awkward time from the pattern established, drove Coren out of his internal stupor. A vice-like grip on his face pulled his face upward to look at the attacker. Strangely, it wasn't the same broad-shouldered hooligan that seemed to crawl out of the cracks of criminal work like rats escaping a ship. This man was shorter, and wider, but with just as mean a hook as any goon Coren had ever dealt with. 

"Coren, Coren, Coren." The man muttered, harshly releasing his grip on Corens cheek and more or less throwing him back to the ground. 

"Yeah, hi to you too Carl." Coren spat. He was pretty sure his jaw was dislocated, which made the task of actually talking far more difficult, but there was an expectation about these things. Decorum was meant to be maintained. "You look well, business good?"

"Booming!" Carl almost popped with excitement as he said the word. The motion gave Coren an idea of what was coming, but the next punch still hurt like a bitch. 

"OH! Hey, watch out here, we've got a sprayer." Carl jumped back as the small amount of vomit came pouring from Corens mouth. "What does that make today Coren? 2?"

Through the gag Coren managed a muttered "3" before devolving into a coughing fit. 

"What am I supposed to do with you Coren? I mean I can't just let you walk in here and walk out on your feet. I have a reputation to think of. Not to mention, you messed up one of my crew pretty badly. Someone said something about triple digit healing fees." 

Coren spat, not at Carl because he was well aware of what would happen if he did, but at the ground and with a look of disgust on his face. 

"Healing is too good for them." 

"Oh?" Carl let a small smile break across his face, but the expression never reached his eyes. He walked toward Coren, bound and held as he was there was little to fear. A few of the newer goons stepped forward to stop their Boss from getting too close to the very dangerous, and very likely to have an escape plan, prisoner. Someone waved them off from behind Carl, a figure that Coren didn't recognize and didn't have the patience to think about. Carl was the important one. Leaning in so their faces were little more than a few inches away, Carl dropped down to a knee and gently rested a hand on Corens shoulder. "What could they possibly do that would make you risk life and limb for the simple act of-"

"She was a child, Carl."

Carls entire face didn't drop, but the words died on his tongue before he could finish the thought. He looked slowly to the man who waved off the goons. He was tall, well built, dressed in a suit, and most importantly he was nodding his agreement to Corens words. Coren could have hugged him, if he hadn't been bound and beaten within some feet of his life. At least someone in the world wasn't actively out to fuck him over.

"You're sure? Bet your life on it sure?" Carl said, not to the man, but in a way that directed it clearly towards Coren. 

"I wouldn't be here getting beat to a pulp if I wasn't." Coren said, almost chuckling at the idea of spending a single day off getting treated to this "Spa" of treatment. "Honestly, your guys are pretty good, even gave me a run for a moment."

"They caught you Coren." Carl said

"There was quite a few bodies on the ground before they did though." Coren shrugged. 

Carl and Coren shared a long, tense stare. Both waiting for the other to break. Eventually it was Carl who dropped his head in resignation and motioned for the goons to move in. 

"Release him, stand him up, and for the sake of the holy give him something to drink. For gods sake Martin, you couldn't have told me about this earlier?" 

Martin, the man who was rapidly revealing himself to be Carls new second in command, or something close to it, shook his head and pulled a fist sized stone, gilded in places to give it a more put together appearance, and made a few motions in the area above it. "Unfortunately, no, we hadn't had the time to take care of it. I had planned for the next week to be a good cleansing while I had taken this week to set up replacements for certain people, but it seems that someone got to Coren before we could handle the situation ourselves."

"Shit." Carl muttered

The bindings holding Coren in place were eased and eventually released by a quick motion. Carl extended a hand to him, which Coren accepted. Pulled upright and standing tall, Coren stood a good few heads taller than Carl, and quite a bit thinner. Still, Coren felt a strange sense that he was the smaller of the two in this moment. Sighing, Carl grabbed a tankard of some frothing liquid as a pair were brought in on a tray by a very confused looking bar maid. 

Coren rubbed the pressure spots where the rope had dug in, but once the beer arrived he quickly grabbed it and guzzled down half the contents. The flavor was... well, palatable was the best he could describe it if pressed. It was clear that Carl hadn't felt that sorry about the situation, or else he would have broken out the better booze. Still, the fact he could move freely and wasn't getting beaten was a huge plus, and second was that he had something to drink. 

"Sorry about this Coren. Certainly not my intention to go beating on someone just doing their job." Carl said, sidling up next to Coren and taking a sip of his own beer. 

"Funny that, figured you were informed and just covering for him." Coren said

Carl shot him a glare that, if wielding daggers, could have killed without hesitation. "You know me better than that." 

"I knew twelve year old Carl like a brother, and I know Carl the Mob Boss who doesn't show weakness. So which role are you playing tonight?" Coren asked

"How about we say I'm a mixture of the two right now, and let's just be thankful for that." Carl said. He tapped his glass absently, it was evident he was trying to build a feeling of ease. Or at least confusion to the event, and it did seem that Carl had been honest. As honest as a criminal. 

Coren held out his fist, pinky extended. "Pinky-swear?"

Carl laughed, a deep bassy laugh that echoed through the room and drew the attention of Martin from what he'd been dedicated to. "Are you fucking serious? You're, what, thirty-something and you wanna hold me to a pinky-swear?"

Coren simply stood, hand extended, staring at the shorter man in his eyes with a intesity that made it clear he was, indeed, thirty-something and treating this as a binding contract between men. Carl's laugh faltered and the smile that had followed slowly shifted to a face of understanding. It wasn't about the promise. It wasn't about any of this world. It was for the man Carl had been before the world had done its vicious work on the poor rotund boy who had loved all things colorful and bright. The man who now spent his time working in the dark and hiding in shadows. 

"Shit Coren. This..." Carl motioned to the hand with his drink "You really think that I'd let anyone mess around with children and still work for me?" 

"I don't presume to know anything Carl, I'm just offering you a chance to show me who you are right now so I can determine for myself." Coren said. Adding, almost as an afterthought, "For old times sake." 

Sighing, motioned with his hand to make the swear. "Look, I see what you're going for here, but I'm missing that finger, so lets just say I did and go from there." Carl said 

"You lost your pinky?" Coren asked, lowering his hand and feeling a new sense of ease wash over him in the area. 

"Ugh, long story. Gambling, drinking, a girl... look, I'll tell you about it some other time." Carl said, taking a larger drink of his beer. "Still beating people in your off hours I see. What don't they pay you enough in that fancy fucking stadium of theirs?"

It was Corens turn to laugh. "Yeah, you could say that."

"I heard about the coach change. Anyone we'd know?" Carl asked

"You follow Skythe?" Coren asked, almost more surprised than worried. Then a more reasonable idea occurred to him. "Why do you follow Skythe I guess I should really ask." 

"Come on Coren," Carl said, wide smile spreading across his round, bearded face. "Its a chance to make money. Though I haven't bet on your lot for some time."

Coren let out a resigned sigh and looked up. "Yeah, I guess I don't blame you there. No it's no one we'd know. Fortunately for me, none of the old gang got wrapped up in that stuff."

"You hadn't at first either." Carl pointed out. "You came back and got swept up into the program with a dozen other ex-soldier types." 

"It's an easy thing to slip into if you've already got the talents. Not much difference between what I do now and what I did then. Biggest thing is the lack of deaths. I," Coren paused to consider the next words "Well I won't say that I can actually sleep now, but its easier to pretend I can without the blood filling up around me." 

"They really did a number on you over there, huh?" Carl said.

"It certainly wasn't a vacation." Coren said. 

"Martin, get the healer and tell them to leave Jeremy alone. He can suffer a bit before I deal with him." Carl said

"Right away, sir." Martin said, then turned to leave. Before he could reach the door, it opened softly and a familiar face peered inside. 

"Uhm, excuse me." Rions head and upper torso was pressed slightly through the crack in the door, as if he wasn't entirely sure whether he should come in or not. Martin stared at Rion for a few moments, then nodded and opened the door further for him. 

Corens heart fell as he took in Rions form. For some reason, one he really couldn't place, he didn't want Rion to see him like this. Worse yet than that, he didn't want Rion here. This wasn't a Skythe issue, this didn't involve his Coach. Anger slowly bubbled its way up through his throat, and before he could stop himself he was sneering at the man. 

"What? Followed me all the way here?" Coren sniped "Couldn't trust me? Or are you doing this for all your team? Stalking them and getting involved in things that don't include you some kind of joy for you?"

"I was just-" Rions eyes froze on Coren, Coren wasn't sure what was about to happen, but he was certain that it would be some kind of snide remark. Instead, Rion rushed across the room to Coren and began to look him over with the care of a healer at work. "What happened to you? Who did this?" The anger and concern on Rions face surprised Coren, making him stumble on his breath for a moment, sending him into another coughing fit. 

Rions eyes quickly darted around the room, and the fire turned cold. However, it wasn't the cold that Coren was expecting, it was the cold of someone ready to kill. Jaw set, eyes firm, resolve made. He'd seen the look thousands of times, of hundreds of faces. He'd just never expected to see it on Rion.

"Who did this?" Rion repeated, this time with more force. Coren was certain that Rion was in no way directing the question to him. To Corens surprise, Carl raised his hands in mock surrender and stepped back.

"Things got a little out of control is all." Carl said. Coren wasn't sure but it sounded almost like Carl was trying to placate the man. But that didn't make any sense, why would a Crime Boss as ruthless as Carl placate some child. As he breathed out, Coren noticed that he could see his breath. That similarly was strange, because moments before he'd been certain that the room was far too warm to ever reach a temperature like that so fast. Unless...

Corens eyes slid down from Rions face, completely set and cold as it was, and headed down. Rions clothes were soaked, but they almost looked like they were freezing. It wasn't until he landed on Rions hands that he realized what was happening. Rion was pulled the warmth from the room and absorbing it into ice covered fists. 

"Out of control? You call this a little out of control?" Rion said

Carl's hands fell and he looked around the room, back to Rion, then to the door. 

"I'll tell you what, why don't you two take the room for now. The boys and I can make ourselves useful somewhere else, alright?" Carl offered

"That would be best, yes." Rion said. 

"Right. Take your time." Carl made his way to the door, motioning for his goons to follow. He turned back to Coren as he left and gave a sly smile that Coren wasn't quite sure about.

"Oh, one last thing." Rion said to the air, though Coren noticed Carl stopped and turned back while halfway through the door. "I'll compensate you for the room usage. So have no fear of that, but in the future I'd prefer if you don't damage my players. Understood." 

Carl nodded and, well he didn't run, but he certainly moved fast out the door. When he was gone and Rion was confident they were alone, he turned back to Coren and began to look him over. 

"Gods, they really got you. Are you okay? What hurts, what can I do?" The words almost poured out of Rions mouth with no pauses for sentence structure. 

"I'm fine Coach, really." Coren didn't feel fine, in fact he didn't know what he felt really, but having this man so close was putting his head through some strange emotions and sensations. Slowly, Coren felt the heat return to the room as Rion rested a hand on Corens chest. The pain eased and Coren noticed that even the aches and lethargy from being beaten was fading. There was something else, a smell like lavender with a soft sweetness behind it. "I.. uhm, thank you." 

"I'm not as good at this kind of stuff as my brothers, I've always been a more practical person, but I know enough to help I think. The mouth might hurt for a second though." 

"What do you-" The sensation of Corens jaw sliding back into position was grating at the least, it was horrible and almost worse than any dislocated shoulder fix. It didn't hurt, but it was a sensation that sent daggers through his mind and made his skin crawl. "Ah, I see now." 

The silence that filled the room was so awkward that Coren almost wanted to shout just to break it up. To his surprise, it was Rion who actually broke the quiet.

"Coach." The word was soft, said with confusion and reverence. 

"What?" Coren said.

"You called me Coach." Rion said. 

"Yeah, er, well.... You know it just kinda slipped out." 

"Do you care about this team?" Rion asked

Coren felt like a record on repeat as he muttered his confusion once more. "What? What are you talking about?" 

"The Dawnbreakers, do you care about them at all?" Rion asked, stepping back and sadly removing his hand from Corens chest. He wasn't aware that he'd felt at peace in those moments until it was suddenly removed from him. Irritation flushed within at this loss, at the question, at the situation. 

"Of course I do."

"Then do something to help me help them. Let me help."

"You don't know anything about the sport." Coren shot back "You're reading books in your off hours just trying to gain enough knowledge to speak on the subject with a child. What the hell do you think you can do?" 

"I know that I can try." Rion said. He stood firm, eyes transfixed on Coren, ignoring the whole of the world around them. 

Coren felt the unease reassert itself. "How?"

"A fake match." 

"Practice." Coren corrected. "Practice match." 

"Right. Well, we play the best in the league. If i'm not mistaken, I've heard that you transferred over from the Blue Lions a few seasons ago. I also heard that you may have a connection with some of the upper staff members enough to secure us a match." 

"Even if I could, and thats a huge if, what would that accomplish? You want to crush the spirits of the team before we even start the season?"

"I want to show them what we can do. What I can do." Rion said

"How?" 

"Run the first half the way you normally would. Do all the basic techniques and tactics, then during the second half run mine."

"You have tactics and techniques?" Coren asked, surprise evident on his face. "In such a short time?" 

"Well, I have the foundations of something along those lines. However, I don't suppose I'll know for sure until we try them out in the actual match."

"It's a stupid idea and I'm not about to waste my time pulling strings just so-"

"You care about this team. Everyone sees that, hell's I can see it and I've only been here for a few days." Rion said. Coren was going to interject, but Rion plowed through. "But this team, these players... Something needs to change. I don't know much about the sport, but I do know that you can't win a battle with soldiers that already feel defeated. You're not like that, you care, you try. Others follow your lead, but there's still something missing. I'm trying to see if I can figure out what that issue is." 

"You think it's that simple?" Coren asked skeptically

"No, I doubt it is. But you can't fix something without figuring out what's wrong first. You can guess, take stabs in the dark, all the various bits, but the truth is that I need to see the team in action and I need you to be the one to convince the team."

"What? No, no, no. I'm not about to become some prancing posturing pony for you." Coren said

"I'm not asking that of you." Rion

Coren felt the sense of another word hanging on the end of the sentence, but he let it fall away. The idea wasn't terrible, and in his position, Coren probably would have done the same, but that didn't mean that he was willing to do it. It was crazy, it was stupid, and more than likely it would set them on a course careening for relegation. But still... 

"I..."

"Please." Rion said

The silence returned, followed by little bits of other things. Confusion, lust, anger, annoyance, fear, and numerous others all congealing into a miasma of uncertainty. Eventually Coren sighed and raised his hands in resignation. 

"Fine. Look I'll put some feelers out and see about getting the match for a few weeks before the start of the season? Fair enough?" 

"More than fair!" Rion said. He wasn't jumping for joy, but the expression on his face melted the whole of Corens heart to the point that he was annoyingly pleased with doing this for him. "Why don't you head home. I'll have a few last words with our host about payment and things."