“Need a light?” A soft voice called out of the blackness. 

“That’d be very much appreciated.” Louise said calmly. 

Somewhere, out in the dark, a lithe figure lit a fat wax candle, which flickered to life with a hiss of flame. A wave of light washed over the room, bringing the frail man in his wooden chair into being. 

“Which twin am I talking to?” Louise asked “Krull or Grull?” 

“Irrelevant,” the twin gave a wave of his hand, swatting away her question “everything that I see, so too does my brother.” 

“Alright then,” Louise shrugged her shoulders, pulling a battered old chair out of the darkness, before sitting down with a thud “O’ nameless one, I’m here because your messenger enticed me with a very promising proposition; one which I’m hoping you’ll elaborate on.” 

“And I shall,” Krull/Grull vowed, his voice echoing through the emptiness “just as soon as you give me what was promised.” 

More than a little vexed, Louise reached one hand into her leather pouch, pulling out a small metal-disk, which seemed to bleed green light. Miniature gears whirred across its surface, and at its heart was a tiny emerald. 

“Archeo-Tech is so hard to come by, without sacrificing scores upon scores of men,” the twin gave a sharp titter “the Ritorio twins thank you for your kindness, Miss Couriere.” 

“Now,” Louise spoke firmly “I’d like to discuss the reason I’m here.” 

“Of course, of course,” the twin bobbed his bony head “a girl wants passage into Feikaina..and the Ritorio twins can be of service.” 

“So you say,” Louise frowned “yet I’ve yet to see any evidence to validate your claims.”

“Prepare to be amazed.” The cold figure grinned, showing off rows of pointed teeth. 

A skeletal hand, crooked like a tarantula, went skittering into Krull/Grull’s long black cloak, and emerged not long after; clutching a pale scroll, bound by a red wax seal. 

“This will get you beyond the great stone walls, sweet Louise,” the twin said with a sharp smirk “the rest is up to you.” 

“That’s all I need.” Louise declared, snatching the scroll from the twin’s hand, and rising to leave. 

“Be warned, little general,” the figure called after Louise, as she made her way out of his den “Feikania is no place for the weak.”  
 
Louise stopped in her tracks. 

“Weakness has never been a problem for me.” 

In a blur of movement, the young woman darted back across the room, a slither of hard steel slipping out of her cloak. 

The twin tried to scream, but the dagger danced across his throat before he could gulp in the air, and soon his life blood was trickling down his throat. Louise ran her hands over his dying body, scooping up the Archeo-Tech Disk, and striding slowly out of the den; leaving Grull Ritorio to bleed out in his chair. 

Outside the wooden shack, Laurent stood over the pale corpse of the doorman, cleaning the flat of his blade on his sleeve. 

“Did you get what we came for?” He asked Louise, smiling darkly. 

“I did indeed.”