Ruler Of Iron And Flesh

The musky smell of an underground tunnel assaulted Inian's nose. "It smells horrible down here."

Burt said, "it's because of the drug they make. It supposedly is a type of hallucinogen. It is highly addictive and will kill someone if they take it too much."

Inian plugged his nose and continued into the darkness.

The walls were rocky and wet, more like a cave than a bas.e.m.e.nt.

They soon spotted a torch in the distance where a man sat behind a set of iron bars. He was at a desk doing paperwork when the pair walked up to the edge of the iron bars.

The man asked, "names?"

"Marc and Alex."

"How much money do you have on you?"

Burt pulled out one of Inian's diamond coins that he stashed away on his person in case of emergencies.

The man's eyes widened considerably, "I will have you meet with the boss right away. Only he is authorized to do a deal on this level."

The man got up from the desk and unlocked the iron bars. They opened up to let Inian and Burt go through. Then, they followed the man into the depths of the operation.

He opened another door that led to a massive room. In that room, dozens of workers with masks were tending plants and other various machines.

'Those must be the drug plants,' Inian thought.

The man they were following led them to a solid steel door and opened it up. Inside was a decorated room with all kinds of artifacts and knick-knacks from other countries.

A large man wearing all kinds of jewelry sat at a desk.

"I told you not to disturb me while I'm doing paperwork!"

The boss slammed on the desk. Two massive guards behind him stepped forward.

The man stuttered, "I'm so...sorry boss, but these two men brought with them a diamond coin for purchase."

The boss's eyes stared at the two men, "sit down then and let's conduct business."

Inian and Burt sat down while the nervous man left. The boss smiled at the two of them, "so, you have come here for a big purchase? What would you like? Foller? Disniterin?

Inian looked to Burt who said, "um, we would like to make a large purchase of Foller. We sell to people down in Irigia. Is there anyone who directly sells to dealer's down in Irigia?"

The boss laughed, then pulled out a pistol, "you two must really be stupid." The guards behind the boss unslung the rifles from their shoulders and aimed them at Inian and Burt.

Inian and Burt both raised their arms up, and the boss continued speaking, "you two look so out of place coming here. What, you think you can come into my city and just start pulling information? I don't think so. How could you not even know about the drugs?! There's no such thing as Foller!"

Burt winced, "sorry, Inian, I think I messed it up for us."

Inian smiled, "no, you're fine Burt." He turned towards the boss, "so you control the whole city then?"

The crime lord smirked, "you're damn right. Now, tell me what organization sent you to snoop on my operations, and they'll be getting a bit of a welcoming package."

Inian slowly stood up, "I think it'll be the other way around."

Burt stood up and slowly backed away from Inian. He could see a crazy look in his eye that was very similar to after Inian killed the descendant.

The boss laughed, "look at this kid; he's got some guts!"

He c.o.c.ked his pistol and aimed it at Inian's face, "tell me now, or I'm afraid your friend will have to tell me instead."

Inian smiled with cruelty, "shoot me then, see how long your 'base' will last."

The boss pulled the trigger, and the shot bounced off of Inian's head and went into the wall.

The crime lord's hand shook, "what the?!"

Inian shook his head, "wrong choice."

Inian spread his wings from his back and slowly reached for the boss's face. His hand became skeletal, the closer he reached towards the boss.

The rest of his body became skeletal, and empty sockets replaced the spot where his eyes were.

A couple of icicles formed mid-air and impaled the two guards behind the crime lord. They fell to the ground with blood pouring out of them.

"Do you know why a reaper is one of the most feared monsters out there?" Inian's voice was raspy and changed to match the form he took.

The boss screamed and tried to step back, but Inian's skeletal hand grabbed his shirt's collar.

The air chilled as an icy fog leaked out of Inian.

"I...I'll tell you whatever you want, just let me go!"

Inian laughed, "a coward giving up other cowards, who're the main leaders in this drug organization?"

The man replied, "it's Demarcus, he's basically the king of the Ranid Kingdom. He runs the drug business in the hope of acquiring bright coins."

Burt asked, "what are bright coins?"

The boss answered, "they are incredibly expensive coins designed from monster cores. Apparently, it's a new discovery, and it allows a human to use powers and abilities from monsters. Each bright coin is worth one hundred diamond coins. They are so rare right now, and only exist within the Ranid kingdom."

Burt's eyes widened, "Inian this is huge news! We need to go report this immediately."

Inian continued holding the boss, "where is Demarcus located?"

"I'm not sure, but I promise I would tell you if I did know!"

Inian's toothy smile became crueler, "thank you, now, you didn't answer my question earlier."

The boss stuttered, "wh...what?!"

Inian leaned in close to stare the man in the eyes, "the reapers are one of the most feared monsters because of their eyes. You cannot look at them when you fight them, or else you may die from looking into their eyes. I ran into one and acquired their ability, which kept me from dying to one earlier. Death's eyes are what it is called. Stare into my eyes."

Inian forced the man's head to look directly at Inian's skull face. After a moment, the man began screaming and shaking.

Suddenly, he stopped screaming, and Inian dropped his body on the floor. He remained still as drool and foam came out of his mouth.

Inian transformed back into his regular self when Burt asked, "why did you do that Inian? He gave us the information."

"He could've gone right back to drug dealing. This was to stop him from causing any more trouble in the future."

Burt looked down at the body, "you know Inian, that sounds an awful lot like Marc's philosophy."

Inian shot an angry look at Burt, then walked out, burning the plants and other drugs as he left.