Use

He'd tracked it to the private wharfs of Lord Valenier. Old senses from Heaven and Hell had their uses, especially when it came to tracking fiends. This creature was a bit too infernal to keep it from registering on his divine senses. It might have even been a cambion of sorts, but that was irrelevant. It had killed a member of the Zhentarim a month ago, an agent of the Order a week back, and now the bounty posters were up all over Waterdeep, thus Nomad's involvement. It didn't matter who paid, just as long as they paid. So he put his skills to use, and he'd been the only one capable or willing of tracking the villain this far.
 
Now for the matter of trespassing on a noble's property...
 
A quick step and jump had the issue of the fence remedied in short order as he heaved himself over it. If he got caught, he'd manage. Hopefully the guards wouldn't mind him taking care of their problem for them. None were in sight at the moment. Most were busy chasing after the devil that had just darted into their midst. He tailed a few, moving as silently as his armor allowed and blending into the shadows of night, glad for yet another useful talent he'd retained from an old life as he became invisible to mortal eyes. They eventually led him to a moored clipper, Valenier guards crawling all over the ship in search of the trespasser. Nomad grinned. They'd never find what they were looking for. The devil had already eluded the likes of them dozens of times. So he waited, knowing his chance would soon come.
 
An hour of searching later and the guards had turned up nothing. The captain of the Valenier guard himself arrived, the veteran dwarf barking orders for the guards to return to their posts before speaking quietly with different sergeants about what to do next. He searched the clipper himself, then waved the issue off, ordering a small detail to keep their eye on the ship before returning to parameter watch. Nomad shook his head. He'd have to intervene or those guards would be dead by morning. Another hour of waiting, then the guards started passing a flask between themselves. He crept ever so slowly forward, disguising his invisible footfalls with each lapping wave as he made his way on board the ship. From there, his divine senses led him into the hold, his prey hiding nearby.
 
He sniffed the air. "So you're a demon. Thought you might have been from the Hells at first."
 
Silence, even though he knew exactly where the cambion was.
 
"You can walk out of here in chains but alive, or not walk out at all," he whispered, knowing the demon was likely to choose the latter.
 
As it sprung from cover, his blade was already moving.
 
***************************************
"I find all of that rather hard to believe, Gerard," Arkan replied as he assessed the hooded warrior standing over the body of the cambion.
 
"Then we'll pull the hood off an' get to the bottom of this," the dwarf captain replied, marching forward at the trespasser. "Best let us see yer face, friend. Need to know you ain't no demon yerself."
 
"You'll find I'm worse if you lay a hand on me, dwarf," came the rough reply. "I didn't come to fight you but I will if you make me."
 
Gerard laughed, looking back to Arkan, the nobleman flanked by an entourage of fully armored and heavily armed guards, all ready to beat this stranger to a pulp. Arkan tilted his head, his eyes narrowing as he assessed the warrior. Gerard noticed him regarding the corpse of the demon as well. He knew his friend better than to interfere when the man was putting pieces of a puzzle together, and evidently, Arkan saw a puzzle worth solving. Gerard held his ground, smirking at the dark warrior.
 
"Ye have a hard time puttin' them pants on in the morning?" the dwarf prompted next.
 
The stranger's blackened visage stared ahead. "Not really."
 
"Woulda thought so with the size of them balls ye seem to have."
 
A snort came from the darkness beneath the trespasser's hood, but that was all. Gerard kept grinning. He liked the warrior standing before him. At any moment, Arkan need only give him the word and he would put this stranger in a world of hurt. The warrior probably knew it but he stood indifferent. And until then, he'd killed the cambion and saved a few of the Valenier guard in doing so. That wasn't lost on Gerard, who held his ground and waited for his orders, hoping Arkan would know what to do given the nature of the situation.
 
"How did you track the demon?" the nobleman finally spoke, drawing the stranger's attention.
 
The dark warrior stared ahead for a moment. "Carefully."
 
"It was invisible, slipped through the parameter, even made it past ten of my guards before the eleventh noticed something was off, and I pay the eleventh because she has a useful talent for sniffing out fiends."
 
The stranger's head turned to the woman standing at Arkan's right. Arkan could tell he was assessing her, no doubt noticing the symbol of the Raven Queen emblazoned on her tunic. Though he couldn't see the warrior's eyes, he knew when they shifted back to him after a slight turn of his head. A nod, and he knew all he needed to.
 
"Which god do you serve, paladin?" Arkan posed next.
 
"The one I choose, and don't call me that."
 
The slightest of grins appeared on Arkan's face. "A name, then."
 
"Call me Nomad."
 
"Very well, Nomad. You trespassed on my docks. Caused quite a stir among my guards. I'm curious, were it not for Gerard keeping an extra detachment nearby to catch whoever came out of the ship, how were you planning to exit my property?"
 
"Same way I came in."
 
"Enlighten me."
 
"I wouldn't have killed your guards, nobleman, if that's what you're asking."
 
"So you say, but a bounty of 100 gold pieces can make men ignore many virtues."
 
The stranger stiffened. Gerard watched the careful dance as Arkan set about dismantling this man who thought he could cling to his secrets. He'd seen it dozens of times, but it never grew mundane for the dwarf. Arkan was already sorting the man's intentions, his origin, and whether or not to have him thrown in the stockade or worse. It was up to the stranger to maneuver his way out of that fate.
 
"I'm not hunting a demon for the sake of principles," the dark warrior replied.
 
"Hmm...You're so certain of that?"
 
"I'm certain I'm good at what I do, and I want to get paid for it. If there's a fine for trespassing on your property, then tell me and I'll pay it."
 
"The fine is arrest and then you're in the hands of the magistrate," Arkan was quick to reply, Gerard still grinning as he watched the walls closing in on the stranger. "But that fine can change, depending on what I decide to tell them."
 
A growl came from the darkness of the warrior's hood. "You think your men would have handled the demon better?"
 
Arkan's grin widened. "I'm certain they wouldn't have, given what I know about them and what I know about you."
 
"Then you have everything you need, nobleman. Tell the guard whatever story you think is best, but we'll always know the truth of it."
 
"Indeed," Arkan finished the discussion, turning to Gerard. "Dispatch a messenger. Tell the magistrate the bounty on Miraxas has been claimed and I'm overseeing transfer of both the claimant and bounty."
 
Gerard nodded, chuckling as he did so and turning to the stranger. "All over now, lad. You done did it."
 
"Follow me, Nomad," Arkan instructed the newcomer. "Let's discuss the fee of your trespass."
 
Another growl from beneath the hood. "How much more money do you need, nobleman?"
 
"None from you," he was quick to retort. "Keep the bounty, but I still mean to collect. I have a task I think you'd be quite suited for."
 
*********************************************
"Are you going to tell me how you found this one?" Arkan posed a week later.
 
Nomad scoffed, then threw the Abishai forward, the white scales on its face somehow blanching even paler as it stood before Arkan Valenier, whom it knew well. The creature, beaten quite severely, trembled before the man and its captor. Arkan knelt before it, meeting it at eye level and noting how Nomad had bound its mouth shut as well, neutralizing all threats.
 
"No torture," Nomad stated after the nobleman had inspected the quarry. "Or this is the last time we do business."
 
The man's eyes narrowed, but he nodded. "Done."
 
Nomad didn't know if he'd annoyed Lord Valenier or if he'd given the man yet another reason to assess him, thereby betraying even more of his history to the perceptive noble, but it didn't matter. The Abishai was on Arkan's list for performing acts of loyalty to Tiamat, and where Nomad didn't care much for the one who'd replaced the queen of dragons, he'd been personally acquainted with the former's cruelty. As far as he was concerned, anyone who did Tiamat's will deserved a life sentence. But that was up to Lord Valenier now.
 
Arkan motioned for the guards to remove the prisoner, then motioned for Nomad to follow him deeper into the estate. "I trust the terms of our agreement were upheld?"
 
Nomad offered a nod as he fell in step with the man. "No one saw."
 
"I'll know if you're lying to me, Nomad."
 
"No one saw. You have my word."
 
"Hmm...I trust that carries more weight than you believe I believe it does."
 
Another scoff. "If you say so."
 
"I believe you," Arkan concluded at last. "You can breathe easy. Your payment."
 
Arkan pulled the pouch of gold from his overcoat, along with another, smaller purse. He handed both to Nomad. Upon inspecting the contents, even the veiled visage beneath his hood couldn't hide his surprise as his head snapped up.
 
"100 in gold and another 10 in platinum?"
 
"I took the liberty of retrieving the bounty from the magistrate," the nobleman explained. "To expedite things. The platinum is your compensation for services rendered. Were there expenses?"
 
The hooded visage tilted sideways. "I took it that expenses were my problem."
 
"I'm hoping for repeat transactions, Nomad. Your trespassing is no longer a factor as I understand your disposition at this point, thus, I'll pay your expenses in exchange for future work."
 
The warrior shook his head. "Thanks, but you don't know enough about me to make that kind of arrangement safely. And I don't like being forced into a corner."
 
"It was your choice to follow your bounty, illegally, onto my property, was it not?" Arkan replied. "I didn't force you to agree to the terms of restitution for your legal offenses either. As to the matter of my safety in my proposed arrangement, I assume you're referring to your involvement with the Zhentarim. They're business associates. Among many within Waterdeep. Anything else?"
 
Arkan could hear a low growl from beneath the shadows of Nomad's hood. "A thing or two. If you have paying work, I'm interested. I'll work for you again under one condition."
 
"Which is?"
 
"You tell me all you know about me right now. I'm not doing any jobs looking over my shoulder."
 
The nobleman weighed the request for a moment, then offered his customary, miniscule grin. "You're a paladin, of sorts. One of the Triad. Zhentarim agent as well, which is a unique combination. I know you're on the run from something or someone, though not in Waterdeep. You tend to frequent Neverwinter most. Your enemies are either as nomadic as you are, or not here at present."
 
Another growl. "And how'd you come by that knowledge?"
 
"I've fulfilled your condition," Arkan replied and closed the issue. "If you work for me again, we can negotiate once more."
 
Nomad pondered that as they made their way to the pavilion. Refreshments and cakes had been arranged for them, a young half-elf girl with lavender eyes assessing him almost as keenly as Arkan did. Beside her was a drow woman dressed in finery of blazing reds and violet, and every bit as regal in appearance as he'd expect from Waterhavian nobility. The scene was odd to him, to be sure. He continued to observe the scene, his eyes meeting the familiar dwarf he'd come to know as Gerard and captain of the Valenier guard. They exchanged a nod, then he looked back to Arkan.
 
"Forgive my rudeness, but I'll beg your pardon as I adjourn to tea with my family," the nobleman stated.
 
"No offense taken," Nomad replied. "I drink alone anyway."
 
"Mores the pity," he heard Gerard utter between chuckles.
 
"Till we meet again, Nomad," Arkan bid him adieu, handing him another purse of coins in the process and quickly silencing anything Nomad would say by joining the others. "Next time you're in Waterdeep, I'll find you if I have need."
 
With that, the nobleman turned and joined his curious family. Nomad offered them a bow as they smiled his way, then saluted Gerard before he was escorted from the manor grounds by a trio of guards. All the while, all he could think about was if what had just happened over the last two weeks had been real or not. If it had, he began to sense he had a peculiar, if not useful ally in how he went about providing for Zora. Time would tell if Lord Valenier deemed his use worth the intrigue.