As Drake continued walking down the alleyway, the lady with the dagger turned around, her narrow eyes piercing through the tax collector’s soul. “You gave me a warning for attacking you, not for standing here and minding my own business., So why don’t you go on back to your tax collection booth and cheat more people out of their-“ then came the second voice. Drake looked around, trying to find the source based on the reverberations, but the sound seemed to come from multiple directions, [i]clearly an amateur ventriloquist.[/i]

After a second, Drake being considerably closer to Raine, she turned back around and said, “Is this what you do to people that don’t pay taxes? Get your buddies and interrogate them when they’re alone?” Drake continued walking, ignoring her words as he did so. [i]I wish I’d just taken her coin to shut her up,[/i] he thought, grimacing. Before long, she was talking yet again, this time in a mocking tone, “Well, mister tax collector? What do you have to say for yourself?” Drake brushed past Raine quite casually, but was then greeted by two more voices.

Flake adjusted his voice towards the back end of the alley once more and, in the same voice as before, he said, “one more step and we’ll shoot the girl.” The sound reverberated off the wall perfectly, but then, Flake decided to add one more voice, this one a bit more raspy and aged, “Yeah, don’t take another step, ya’ punk.” Flake then watched as Drake stepped in front of Raine, shielding her from the unseen enemies at the back of the alley. He reached for his sword, saying, “You know who you’re messing with?” He grasped the hilt of his sword, his knuckles popping from the sudden strain.

Flake adjusted his voice once again and, in the raspy voice, he retorted, “dern’ straight. We’re talking to the drunkest bas** in Talgot.” Drake gritted his teeth, but the voice wasn’t echoing in the same way. He quickly looked up, but all he could see were balconies. [i]He’s on a balcony, but which one?[/i] Drake was glad for the excitement, but he didn’t want any civilians getting hurt, especially due to him. In a low voice, Drake told Raine, “hey, miss whoever-you-are, look up, see if you spot any movement.” Flake sighed silently, knowing that they were already on to his little plan. He closed his eyes and retreated from view a half-minute ago when Drake first started to look up. He was now waiting, thinking up the next move in his little game.