Chapter 18 #2
Upon entering, it quickly became evident someone had emptied the place out.
Display cases had been shattered, their contents missing.
Shelves upon shelves gaped, covered in dust and nothing else.
He walked further into the building, finding the same in every section he checked.
The second floor, reserved for unique garments, showed the least pilfering, the fabric left to rot in piles and tattering on the wooden mannequins.
He emerged to find Simhi staring off at the mountain, Mohan sitting with his back leaning on a wall, eyes closed napping, but Monty waited by the door.
“So?” Monty asked.
“Someone’s definitely been here,” Griff stated. “The store is cleared out.”
“Doesn’t mean the thief escaped with the goods,” Monty commented.
Griff pointed back the way they came. “It would have been easy with the bay close by.”
“Just because someone docked doesn’t mean they left. We passed plenty of bodies,” Monty reminded.
“But not sacks or crates. The corpses we’ve seen thus far had nothing on them which makes no sense.
I remember that just about everyone I saw fleeing that day carried something.
And don’t tell me everything rotted and eroded away.
Leather satchels are like shoes.” He indicated the bones sticking out of a dusty pair.
“Why do none of these people have any personal treasures with them? No jewelry. Nothing.”
Monty frowned. “But Vinmo and the others—”
“Obviously got unlucky, and they also visited only a few years after the eruption when things might have been much more volatile. I’m not saying the thieves didn’t experience any casualties, but the lure of treasure probably countered much of their common sense.
” No different than a pirate, although Griff robbed more for necessity than just to enrich himself.
“Are you saying the whole city’s been stripped?” Monty questioned.
“Most likely not. It is rather large, but I would wager everything close to the dock has been rifled through.”
“By who?” Simhi asked. “I can’t see someone from Saarpira doing it.”
Griff rolled his shoulders. “Could be anyone.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Mohan had roused himself and crouched several paces away, looking at something.
“What did you find?” Griff strode for him.
“A body that ain’t been here as long as the others.”
The corpse still held remnants of flesh and clothing. The hair, while wispy, still showed its dark color. However, it was the sheath and saber by its side that had Griff sucking in a breath. “That’s a Merisuan soldier.”
“Wait, what?” Simhi scurried over and huffed, “The emperor is the one who’s been stealing?”
“Not necessarily. Could be this soldier came as part of a scouting mission, while the theft was conducted by another group,” Griff murmured. “But it does raise interesting questions. Why would a country halfway across the world be interested in Verlora?”
“To steal,” Monty exclaimed. “Everyone knows Verlora made the finest things.”
“I’ve heard he’s a collector of rare objects,” Simhi added. “Wouldn’t surprise me if he’s had people pilfering Verlorian artifacts for his collection.”
Griff grimaced. “And keeping it secret lest others think to do the same.”
Monty snapped his fingers. “I’ll bet he’s the one who’s been spreading rumors about people dying.”
“We know that part was true. Vinmo and the others are proof,” Simhi reminded.
“But Vinmo escaped,” Monty pointed out.
“Barely. And now we know it was most likely the dragon that burned him so bad. Just like it roasted this soldier,” Griff stated. While hard to discern with the decay, the remaining garments showed scorch marks and the boots pitting as if someone dropped hot coals—or acid—on them.
“Speaking of roasting, we should take cover,” Mohan advised.
Rather than ask why, Griff stood and headed for the nearest building, Simhi and Monty by his side. At the doorway, he turned to eye Mohan who stood staring at the sky, or rather the large shape blotting it.
“Aren’t you coming?” Griff asked, keeping his voice low lest he attract the aerial predator.
“In a moment.”
“What are you doing?”
Mohan kept eyeing the sky. “Seeing how that dragon hunts.”
“By standing in the open?”
“Aye. Not moving, though. Some predators require movement to track their prey. Like the bears in Okkilam. If you ever meet one, stay still or lie prone on the ground.”
“You do realize some creatures hunt by sound,” Griff snapped. “So get your carcass inside.”
“The dragon’s path hasn’t shifted. It appears to be doing a circuit of the continent.”
Griff could see the dragon winging off, a speck that shrank in size.
“Well, that was interesting. It appears talking alone didn’t draw it,” Mohan stated as he turned to head for them.
“Or it wasn’t close enough to hear,” was Griff’s sour rejoinder.
Simhi had a question. “What makes you think the dragon hunts via movement?”
“Vinmo. The burn marks are most severe on his back as if he were running from the threat, which means the dragon must have been chasing him.”
“You took a risk,” chided Griff.
“We need to know what the dragon is capable of if we’re to protect ourselves from it.
” Mohan began walking towards them when the pavement under his feet suddenly exploded upward, tossing the man.
As Mohan reached the apex of his sudden flight and began to descend, a huge beetle emerged from the ground.
Absolutely massive! It grabbed the falling Mohan in pinchers and, as quickly as it popped into view, disappeared in the hole it had made.