Devvyn wasn't sure how many slaps from Gaur it took for him to pass out, but when he woke up, Gaur was back at his table, finishing his meal as if nothing had happened. He groaned and shifted, but found that he couldn't move. Gaur had tied his hands and feet.
Devvyn groaned, trying to flex his tied hands. "I can't believe you hit me."
Gaur smirked, chewing on a piece of meat. "I was just putting some sense into your head. Stealing Echos? That's not the way to go."
Devvyn mumbled, "Whatever." He cleared his throat and tried to sound confident despite the ache in his jaw. "Look, I'll make a deal. I'll give you the Echo Locator if you let me go."
Gaur laughed and then coughed as the meat stuck in his throat. He pushed back his chair, stood up, and sauntered over to sit beside Devvyn, his eyes gleaming with seriousness. "The Locator's the least of my problems now. Honestly, I don't care about it anymore."
He leaned in close and dropped his voice. "Didn't expect you to be a thief, little Devvyn. A lot of others have tried. They're rotting in jail now." Gaur's grin twisted darkly. "You're gonna end up there too if you don't tell me the name of that girl and any other accomplices."
Devvyn was trembling, but he shook his head. "It's just me and the girl. I forced her to help."
Gaur sneered. "I don't buy it. But hey, if you want to go to jail so bad, it's your funeral."
Before Devvyn could respond, the door slammed open, and the Echo Hunter who had ordered Aela to deliver the letter strode in, dragging Aela and Jelric behind him. He roughly pointed at Jelric. "Caught this one sneaking around." Then he glared at Aela. "And this one said you hired her. Last I checked, we don't hire kids."
Devvyn shot an exasperated glance at Aela and Jelric. Aela glared back at him and Jelric simply shrugged.
Gaur nodded, a cold smile playing on his lips. "Thank you. Leave them to me." He turned back to the Hunter. "Anyone else around?"
The Hunter shook his head. "Most of the Hunters are leaving. They're done for the day. I've collated the numbers of Echos we brought in and will have someone bring the total to you soon."
"Good. Great work today. Tell the rest of the team."
The Hunter saluted Gaur and left.
Gaur's smile faded as he looked at the captured trio. "Now what do I do with you brats?"
Gaur crossed his arms and gave Aela a long, assessing look. "You know," he said slowly, "I was never actually going to cut you. That was just a little show to get your friend here to crawl in."
Aela narrowed her eyes, unmoved. "Could've fooled me."
"You should've run when you had the chance," Gaur continued. "But instead, the three of you came back. Stupid." He let the word hang in the air. Then he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked at each of them in turn. "But now that you're here… I think you're going to do something for me."
Devvyn stiffened as Gaur stood and crossed the room to the wall-mounted phone. He looked back at them, expression stony.
"What do you want us to do?" Devvyn asked warily.
Gaur paused with his hand on the dial. "Before I tell you," he said, "understand this—there are only two options. Do what I ask, or I'll send all three of you to jail."
Aela scoffed, but Gaur didn't flinch. He leaned slightly against the wall. "I need you to deliver something for me. A 7-lux Echo. Quietly. To someone in Golden Fields."
Devvyn blinked, stunned. "That's even more dangerous than stealing from you! If we get caught moving that through the city—"
"—You won't get caught," Gaur cut in, his tone cool. "Unless you'd rather go to prison."
He turned back to the phone, fingers turning the old rotary dial slowly. "Decide fast, or I'll make the call."
Devvyn's heart hammered in his chest. "I'll report you," he said, his voice rising. "I'll tell them you're illegally trading Echos."
Gaur chuckled darkly. "Who do you think they'll believe? An Echo Hunter boss—or a brat from the Lower City?" The dial clicked back into place, and Gaur lifted the receiver to his ear.
Aela and Jelric exchanged a look.
"Dev," Aela said quietly.
Jelric cut in. "We'll do it. Tell him we'll do it, Devvyn."
Devvyn clenched his jaw. Gaur spoke into the phone.
"Yes. I'm calling to report a thief," he began.
Devvyn's shoulders sagged. "Fine," he muttered. "But just one of us goes. Me."
Gaur folded his arms and gave a satisfied grunt. "That's fine by me."
Aela stepped forward immediately. "Wait—what? You can't just send him alone!"
Devvyn turned his head toward her. "It's fine."
"No, it's not," Aela snapped. "We're all in this."
Jelric stepped beside her. "Exactly. If anyone's going, it should be me. I came up with the plan."
Devvyn shook his head. "It's easier if one of us goes. We don't need to drag this out. I got caught. I'll handle it."
Aela crossed her arms, indignant. "Technically, I got caught first."
"Yeah, but—" Devvyn said, wincing as he shifted.
"Enough!" Gaur barked, slicing through their bickering. "He's going. That's final."
He stepped toward Devvyn, crouched, and untied his hands and feet. Devvyn winced and stretched his stiff limbs. "Strip off the uniform," Gaur ordered. "You'll attract too much attention wearing that."
As Devvyn peeled off the Echo Hunter uniform, Gaur turned back to his table. He opened a drawer and pulled out a small box wrapped in dull copper plating—the 7-lux Echo. Alongside it, he took out a folded map and spread it across the desk.
Then he grabbed the backpack, opened it, and methodically removed the three stolen Echos. He placed them into the drawer, locking them away. He glanced at the three of them. "Don't get any funny ideas about taking those Echos back." Finally, he slipped the 7-lux Echo into the backpack and held it out to Devvyn.
Devvyn took the backpack from Gaur's outstretched hand. It felt heavier now, not just with the 7-lux Echo inside, but with everything it meant. He sighed. Life really needed to cut him some slack.
"Come," Gaur said curtly, walking back to the desk. "I'll show you the route."
He gestured at the three of them. "All of you. Sit."
They obeyed, sliding into the chairs opposite his desk. Gaur flattened the map across the surface and jabbed a thick finger at a spot marked in yellow. "You'll take the train eastbound to the Golden Fields. From there, you'll pass through a Cornfield, keep going until you see this boulder. Behind it is a small farmer's shack. Wait there until someone approaches you and says, 'The orchard's full this season.' That's your contact."
As he spoke, a dull clatter sounded from outside—a metallic thump, as if something had fallen. Gaur paused mid-sentence, his eyes narrowing. He stood silently for a beat, then strode to the door and yanked it open.
A Hunter stood just beyond the threshold, slightly winded, holding a folded paper.
"Lyle asked me to bring this," the Hunter said, holding it out.
Devvyn leaned slightly, peering through the narrow gap between Gaur and the doorframe. His eyes landed on the Hunter outside—tall, broad-shouldered, with close-cropped hair and a stiff posture. But it wasn't his stance that caught Devvyn's attention. It was the faint birthmark curled around the Hunter's eyes—an uneven, crescent-shaped discolouration, just a shade lighter than his skin. It framed his gaze like a natural mask.
Their eyes met for the briefest moment, and the Hunter looked away.
Gaur snatched the paper from his hand with a grunt and slammed the door shut without another word.
Devvyn strained to hear the Hunter's footsteps retreating down the corridor, but there was nothing. Before he could dwell on it, Gaur's voice snapped his attention back.
"Eyes on the map, kid. This Echo needs to get there by afternoon."
Gaur tapped a different line on the map, trailing his finger around the station. "Your contact will give you my payment. Touch even one coin and you're dead. Also, don't take the same route back to the train station—just to be safe. Go around this way, through the other end of the Cornfield. You'll exit quite far away from the station, but it's a walkable distance."
He glanced at Devvyn. "Got all that?"
Devvyn nodded. "Yeah. I got it."
Without another word, Gaur folded the map and slid it into the backpack. He clapped a heavy hand on Devvyn's back with a thud that nearly knocked him over. Devvyn stumbled forward, catching himself on the desk with a grunt.
Gaur grinned. "Good. Let's hope you don't screw it up."
Jelric and Aela stood up as Devvyn slung the backpack over his shoulder, but Gaur's voice cut through the room like a whip.
"Sit your asses back down," he barked. "You two are staying here."
Aela frowned. "Why?"
"Insurance," Gaur said, folding his arms. "In case your friend decides to run off with my Echo."
Devvyn scoffed. "Wow. I'm offended you'd think that of me."
Jelric raised an eyebrow. "I mean… we did just try to steal from him."
Devvyn shot him a glare. "Not helping."
Jelric shrugged. "Just saying—he might have a point."
Gaur crouched under his table and pulled out a worn deck of cards. He shuffled it with surprising care, the cards flicking and folding in his thick fingers. Then he dealt a hand to Aela and another to Jelric, and slid a small pile of coins into the middle of the table.
"Pick up your cards," he said gruffly.
The three exchanged puzzled looks.
Aela finally broke the silence. "What's going on?"
Gaur shrugged. "We're playing cards. Three-Card Brag. You've never played? I'll teach you."
Devvyn blinked, disbelief written all over his face. "So, you're gonna sit here and play a game with them while I'm out risking my life delivering an Echo for you?"
Gaur frowned, eyes narrowing. "Get going before I change my mind and call the guards."
As Devvyn stood up and headed for the door, Gaur reached into his belt and dropped a gleaming knife onto the table with a sharp clink.
"Take this," he said gruffly. "You'd better protect that Echo with your life."
Devvyn hung his right arm over his head to shield his eyes from the sun. There was a dull ache throbbing in his jaw and a persistent headache pulsing at his temples, and the sun's glare wasn't helping.
His face hurt where Gaur's slaps had landed, but thankfully, there wasn't much swelling. Just some discomfort.
Outside, guards stood at their posts, fishermen mended their nets by the docks, and hawkers called out, selling food to the occasional passerby. Their noise merged with the gentle lap of waves against the pier, a stark contrast to the tension he'd just left behind.
The Hunters had already cleared out from the shores, and all of the warehouses had this huge iron lock on them. Devvyn frowned as he walked. That wasn't how the Hunters operated. They always shipped the Echos on the same day into the city, where the council then handled distribution.
He remembered the letter Aela read. Something was up with Gaur's numbers, and he'd changed the way he worked. He wondered if that was why Gaur had taken to selling Echos illegally or if he'd always been doing so.
He adjusted the strap of the backpack, took a deep breath and started moving faster toward the train station. The quicker he got this over with, the quicker he would be back home with his friends.
It was his first time going to the Golden Fields, as there wasn't much there except stretches and stretches of farmland. But he knew it was a one-hour journey. If he hurried, he could be back to Eternis by evening.
