Darkness covered the slums. Shambles Way was deadly to anyone who didn't know their way around, and since the appearance of a new gang in the area, had become deadly even to those who did. Shopkeepers, hustlers, pimps, even the ordinary, unassuming folk who lived around here had found themselves beaten up, tortured, bullied into offering up a cut of their profits that would put them out of business within a week. Forty percent was extortion, and this new group offered no alternative.
They were a threat to Rose House and the movement that used it, too. If this gang were allowed to gain a foothold on Shambles Way, Ro could easily be put out of business, and the children they had all worked so hard to bring to safety would be back in pens within days. As Ro had said, something had to be done.
Something was being done. In the shadows of the network of alleyways that made up Shambles Way, there were thuds, muffled grunts, the sound of a body hitting the cobbles hard. As silence fell, a group of figures dragged an unconscious, bleeding man out from the alleyway, dumping him out on the main street. They spoke in hushed tones.
"How many more, Dec?"
"Just one," Declan replied, dark sapphire eyes flicking back and forth along the street. "By morning, there'll be so many of this gang lying beaten up in the streets, they'll have lost any hope of intimidation they've gained over the last few days."
He jerked his head to the three with him, and they moved on silent feet down into another set of alleys, lying in wait for the last of their prey to walk by.
It was brutal, tough justice, but it was the only thing these gangs understood. Every now and then, there was an incursion into the slums, and the gang responsible soon found that any such incursion was dealt with in harsh, unforgiving ways. This particular gang had had the misfortune to target one of Ro's students - that made this retaliation personal. Rose House had to be protected, at all costs.
Even from here, they heard the whooomph as the houses others had been sent to pillage and set light burst into flame, the flickering, grasping fire reaching up toward the starry sky in the darkness of the night.
Declan smiled tightly to himself. Three houses, traced back to this gang. Three houses, known to be centres of operation, places where they stored their gold and loot. All three would burn tonight, and all around them, in the streets of the merchant's district and the slums, their hired thugs would lie beaten senseless, to welcome the dawn.
A fitting punishment, maybe. Perfect way to get the message out, though. Shambles Way was not open to the gangs of RhyDin. They would not pass more than a week here, before steps were taken to evict them.
Permanently.
_______________________
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2304/2509025725_c8ce628763.jpg
They were a threat to Rose House and the movement that used it, too. If this gang were allowed to gain a foothold on Shambles Way, Ro could easily be put out of business, and the children they had all worked so hard to bring to safety would be back in pens within days. As Ro had said, something had to be done.
Something was being done. In the shadows of the network of alleyways that made up Shambles Way, there were thuds, muffled grunts, the sound of a body hitting the cobbles hard. As silence fell, a group of figures dragged an unconscious, bleeding man out from the alleyway, dumping him out on the main street. They spoke in hushed tones.
"How many more, Dec?"
"Just one," Declan replied, dark sapphire eyes flicking back and forth along the street. "By morning, there'll be so many of this gang lying beaten up in the streets, they'll have lost any hope of intimidation they've gained over the last few days."
He jerked his head to the three with him, and they moved on silent feet down into another set of alleys, lying in wait for the last of their prey to walk by.
It was brutal, tough justice, but it was the only thing these gangs understood. Every now and then, there was an incursion into the slums, and the gang responsible soon found that any such incursion was dealt with in harsh, unforgiving ways. This particular gang had had the misfortune to target one of Ro's students - that made this retaliation personal. Rose House had to be protected, at all costs.
Even from here, they heard the whooomph as the houses others had been sent to pillage and set light burst into flame, the flickering, grasping fire reaching up toward the starry sky in the darkness of the night.
Declan smiled tightly to himself. Three houses, traced back to this gang. Three houses, known to be centres of operation, places where they stored their gold and loot. All three would burn tonight, and all around them, in the streets of the merchant's district and the slums, their hired thugs would lie beaten senseless, to welcome the dawn.
A fitting punishment, maybe. Perfect way to get the message out, though. Shambles Way was not open to the gangs of RhyDin. They would not pass more than a week here, before steps were taken to evict them.
Permanently.
_______________________
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2304/2509025725_c8ce628763.jpg