Nalen Kara strode through the streets of Gren, eyes fixed firmly forward  as she pushed her way through the crowds of people that thronged the  wide, cobblestone street. Gren was a bustling trade port, she could  smell the faint bite of salt on the air...buried underneath the more  overpowering stenches of rotting fish, trash in the gutters and the  earthier tones of the thousands of people and animals living in close  quarters. She made good progress, despite the chaos of the streets, men  and women giving way as they saw her coming. Perhaps is was the  determined expression on her sharp, dark face, maybe it was the bright  red uniform coat of an Imperial Officer or maybe her reputation had  preceded her: ‘The Warden’ sometime overseer of Alysa Prison, also known  as ‘The Devil’s Gullet’ and currently one of the Empire’s greatest  enforcers of law and order.

A grim smile darkened her haughty  expression as her gaze swept the streets. There were criminals in this  city, as there were in every city, but Gren seemed to have attracted the  presence of some particularly noteworthy ones, for word to reach her.  The reports she’d received had been brief, confused, but the plain  facts, once she’d pushed past the panicked rumor-mongering and hearsay,  was that within the last month more then a dozen young maidens had  vanished; taken off the streets, from the places they worked or in the  few cases stolen from their very beds in the night. As no ransoms had  been demanded, nor had any bodies been found, the going assumption was  that this was the work of a slaver, or a gang of slavers. Nalen prayed  she had gotten here in time, before the innocent maids were whisked away  to an awful life of bondage...and more importantly, before the slavers  themselves could make good on their escape.

In this, Nalen knew  she would be working alone. She’d seen what constituted local law here  in Gren and was not impressed. Bully boys for the wealthy merchants,  only good for beating up anyone who threatened their money. At best,  they would be completely useless in an investigation like this. At  worst, they would be a danger if one of their bosses was somehow  involved. The Warden’s progress through the streets had taken her down  one of the smaller side streets. The class of people on display here,  rogues, pickpockets, thieves and whores told her straight away she’d  come to the seedier side of Gren, though that seemed but a relative  difference. Her uniform stood out all the more. Perhaps she should have  brought some sort of disguise, but the haughty officer dismissed that.  Let them see the face of Imperial justice and be thankful it wasn’t  aimed at them... this time.

Of all the establishments of ill  repute on this street, “The Sow’s Ear” seemed to top them for  wickedness. Under normal circumstances, Nalen would have preferred to  lead a squad of her men in raiding it, rounding up all the wicked within  and started pressing till she got the information she was after. But  time was an issue. Every hour she delayed was another hour the missing  girls could be heading out of the city...and her quarry with them. Under  such constraints, much as she detested it, subtler methods were called  for. The informant she was here to meet looked little better then most  of the criminals she fought, but she had been assured by her contacts he  was trustworthy, of a sort, and could be relied on as far as her silver  held out.

“Yes...” He said, tapping two of the coins Nalen had  laid on the table together, listening to the ring. “I’ve had my ear to  the ground, talked to my usual...sources. The ones behind the  kidnappings aren’t local boys...foreign slavers, arrived about a month  ago, two of ‘em.”

“Two men?” Nalen asked, a little credulous.  The number of abductions here so far hardly seemed likely two men alone  could have done it.

“They’re good...or rather one of them is.  People in the...business...call him “The Professional”. He’s been at the  trade for a decade or more now. Had probably enslaved ten score maidens  in his time. I’d be wary tackling him, ma’am.” The informer said,  bowing his head. “ You’d not be the first officer to come to misfortune  at his hands...and you might imagine what a slaver’d make of you...” He  gave her a leering grin.

Nalen scowled back at him. “He won’t  get the chance.” She said confidently. “’Professional’ or not, he’ll be no match once I find him, I can assure you. And what about the other?  How can I find him...”

“The other?” The informant cackled. “Oh, he won’t be hard to find...”

 ***

“Aaah! Get away from me, you creep! Help! Help!”

Nalen had walked, perhaps, two and a half blocks from the Sow’s Ear  when she was confronted by the sight of young woman, naked but for a set  of drawers about her waist. Her hands were bound in front of her with  rope while a rolled up strip of cloth hung about her neck. Likely it had  been used to gag her but tied too loosely. She was certainly making a  racket now as she sprinted out onto the street, looking around as she  screamed.

The young woman was followed a moment later by a  short, heavyset young man. He was dressed in a blue jerkin and leathers,  which had a round symbol daubed in white over grey trousers. Perched on  his head was an iron cap from under which a mess of reddish-brown hair  spilled out. “Hey!” He called, chasing after the fleeing captive. “Get  back here!” He came up short as he suddenly saw Nalen coming in her  bright red guard’s cloak. He spun around, nearly tripping over his own  feet in his haste to turn and run.

Nalen sprang forward,  pausing just long enough to cut the rope tying the girl’s hands and  loaning the girl her cloak to cover up before she went chasing off after  the fleeing slaver. “This will be easier then I thought.” She said  quietly to herself. Though the slaver had disappeared around an  alleyway, but he was certainly making enough racket she didn’t have to  worry about following him. She hurried to the alleyway, noting it was a  dead end, but one of the buildings had a side door open.

“I am  Nalen Karen, an officer of the law!” She announced loudly as she walked  towards the building. “Surrender peacefully or suffer the consequences!”  Personally, she was hoping he resisted. It would be more fun. She  slowed, entering the building cautiously. She could no longer hear the  slaver’s noisy flight, so she assumed he had realized it was futile to  try and escape and planned to mount some equally feeble attempt at  fighting her. Her eyes quickly scanned the dark room as she entered,  ready for any sort of ambush…

“What the…?” Her gaze had slipped  past him and been forced to double back once her brain caught up. Not  because the slaver was particularly well hidden, but rather that it took  a moment to process the strange sight that greeted her. In all her  years as an officer of the law, she’d never considered one of the  criminals she pursued might have actually attempted to hide by standing  in a corner of the room, holding a small potted plant in front of his  face.

“You! Criminal!” She barked, pointing her sword. “Surrender or die!”

“Ah!” He yelped, then yelped again when, in his haste to raise his  hands up, he dropped the potted plant which had smashed on one of his  feet. Nalen watched uncertainly as the slaver hopped about on one foot,  clutching his other bruised one, swearing up a storm. It took her a  while before she was able to get him to stop so she could lock his hands  behind his back with one of her sets of manacles.

“You don’t  understand!” The slaver, who gave his name as Andy, protested as she  dragged him back out into the street. “I’m innocent! I was framed!”

“I watched you chasing that poor girl five minutes ago.” Nalen grunted in annoyance.

“Um...that was my evil twin?” Andy replied. “No...wait...I was under a mind control spell and it just wore off!”

“Shut up!” She growled, giving him a light cuff to the back of the  head. “I don’t care about any of your excuses. Once I catch your partner  the both of you are going to prison for a long, long time.”

“Partner?” Andy asked, confusion in his voice.

“Yes, your partner, this ‘Professional’ as he calls himself, though if  the alternative is you, that’s not a hard bar to clear.” Nalen told him.

“That bas-” Andy sputtered. “Oh yes...that partner. Um listen, what do  you say I help you catch him and you let me off with a warning. I mean,  he’s the real brains behind the operation, I’m just a poor innocent pawn  in his schemes...” He continued in a begging tone.

Nalen  sighed. Her first instinct was to hit him again, but she briefly  considered the lack of other leads and changed her mind. “Any  cooperation you provide will be taken into consideration by the judge  when passing your sentence, criminal.” She replied. If it were up to  her, she’d knock a couple days, a week at the most, off his fifty year  sentence, but letting him know that didn’t seem likely to motivate the  slaver to help her.

“Oh thank you thank you thank you!” Andy  said in a hurried rapid fire, nodding his head. “You won’t regret this! I  promise you!”

“I already am.” Nalen replied, grimly. “Now, where is this professional?”

“Oh that’s easy!” Andy replied, grinning widely. “He’s set up base in a warehouse down by the docks!”

***

“It’s this one, I’m sure of it!” Andy said confidently, pointing with  his shackled hands to a large brick building ahead of them.

“You said that about the last three warehouses we checked.” Nalen growled back at him.

“It’s not my fault all these warehouses look alike!” Andy protested feebly. “And besides it was dark when he showed me it.”

“If he’s not here, I’m taking you to jail and tossing you in the  oubliette.” She warned. “I’ve wasted far too much time on this nonsense  already.”

“He’s there! He’s there!” Andy said, as much to  reassure himself as her. The two crept up to a side door. Well, Nalen  crept, Andy it seemed had trouble moving silently even at the best of  times, much less with his hands chained together.

“Whoops!” He  said, bumping into a stack of barrels which, from the briny smell,  carried salt fish for ships provisions. Sure enough, the one on top  tumbled over, smashing open on the alley pavement. What seemed like  every rat and cat in the city seemed to congregate in an instant,  momentarily forgetting their usual animosity in the face of such a  feast. Nalen glared over at the slaver who smiled sheepishly. “Sorry!”  He said, almost yelling to be heard over the loud yowling and squeaking.

Expecting to find nothing more then another empty warehouse,  Nalen went to the side door. She took out her knife and slipped it into  the lock. The cheap rusty lock was simple enough to pick and soon she  got the door open, wincing at the squeal of rusty hinges, though  truthfully they were hard to hear over the commotion behind her,  including a loud squawking from Andy who it seemed had somehow managed  to get himself covered in some of the chum and was being set upon by  half a dozen alley cats.

“Quiet!” She warned him, shooing off  the cats with a wave of her sword, which she had drawn. “Stick close,  and if I get even a hint that you’re trying to escape or to warn him,  I’ll run you through. He nodded and began frantically promising to be  good in the same rapid fire speech until she raised her blade  threateningly.

Nalen went ahead of him, moving between the  large shelves filled with more fishy smelling barrels, eyes peering  through the gloom. Fortunately, the walls of the place were stout and  heavy and had actually done a good job of muffling the sounds of the  alley, to where she hoped anyone inside wouldn’t have been able to  distinguish them from the louder noises coming from the main street.

Not that she was expecting to find anyone here, not after the last  couple of warehouses. She was therefore taken by surprise when she came  around the corner of one shelf and saw a figure hunched, halfway down  the next row.

It was her second slaver, of that she had no  doubt. From behind, she could see a black cloak, its hood pulled up, out  of which only an arm and an a leg, both likewise clad in a black shirt,  pants and black leather gloves and boots could be seen extended. No one  dressed like that, lurking in a dark, empty warehouse could be up to  anything good. If that wasn’t enough, the fact he was bent over a young  woman in the process of tying her up was a giveaway.

One thing  was apparent from the start, this fellow was certainly better at keeping  his captives restrained then Andy was. Like Andy’s brief prisoner, this  poor girl was naked, lying on the wooden floor of the warehouse. Unlike  his, she was going anywhere soon, judging from the neat, tight coils of  rope lashing her arms and legs. A band of cloth covered the lower part  of her face. Judging from the muffled whimpers coming from behind it,  the muzzle was holding more cloth packing the inside of her mouth.

“That’s him!” Andy whispered, before Nalen hurriedly shushed him.  Grabbing the chain of his shackles, she quickly wrapped the chains  around a handy hook for hanging tools, so he couldn’t run away or try  and interfere while she dealt with his partner. Satisfied he wouldn’t  get free without a noisy struggle, she turned back.

“You must  be the Professional, I presume?” Nalen announced in a loud, imperious  voice, stepping from around the corner into view. The figure jerked up  in a start, turning. As it did, Nalen could see the front of his jerkin,  strung with several black belts from which hung more lengths of rope,  shackles and gags, as well as the scabbard of a sword, partially  concealed by his cloak. Beneath the concealing hood, he’d gone a step  further and covered his face with a cloth mask, black in keeping with  his theme it seemed, blank of everything save two holes from which a set  of piercing brown eyes glared out.

“You presume correctly.” The man replied in a low baritone voice, calm and steady. “And is that Andy behind you I see?”

“Hey...” Andy called from the far end of the shelf, shrugging sheepishly. “Can’t win ‘em all, right?”

“We shall see.” The professional replied, his voice grim. Andy gulped nervously.

“Step away from the girl.” Nalen ordered sharply. To her surprise, the  Professional silently took a few steps back, leaving the girl to squirm  and grunt on the floor. Nalen slowly stepped forward, keeping her sword  pointed ahead, dividing her attention between the slaver, his captive  and the narrow aisle of shelves. She’d fallen into too many traps in her  career not to be wary. But the Professional made no move as Nalen  reached his captive. The warden knelt, still keeping her sword pointed  forward, her gaze half directed towards him as she took her knife and  sliced the cords binding the girl’s hands.

“Free yourself and  then step back.” She told the girl, passing her the knife.  “I’ll be taking this criminal into custody.” She added, taking a few more steps forward.

The Professional  nodded his head slightly as he drew a plain, but very functional short  sword from his belt, as if beginning a formal duel. “You are welcome to  try.” A dagger joined it in his offhand.

Nalen silently cursed  giving her own to the girl. It would have been quite useful, the cramped  confines favoring the slaver’s two shorter blades. At least hemmed  between the shelves, he couldn’t flank her. Still, if she could keep him  from closing the distance, the longer reach of her blade would tell in  the end. She shifted into a formal fencing pose, one that spoke of  countless hours training under the finest sword masters. Despite her  apprehensions, she gave a confident grin. There was no way a lowly  slaver like this scum could best her with the blade, even two on one.

The slaver scum, for his part, stood still, short sword held in a low  guard, dagger raised for a high strike once he’d parried his opponent’s  blade, waiting for her to make the first move. She did so, advancing  step by step, still wary for a trap, until she was at the edge of her  own blades reach. She made a few feints at first, testing his mettle  without giving him the chance to bat her sword aside and rush in before  she could recover.

To her surprise, he showed a fair degree of  skill as well, ignoring those swings which did not come close enough to  hit him and deftly catching the one strike that did on the dagger’s wide  cross-guard. He raised it up, trying to clear a space for a swift  advance, but Nalen countered, taking a quick step back of her own,  sliding the top clear of his dagger and lowering it en point to skewer  him if he was rash enough to charge. He was not.

“You’re quite skilled with a blade.” He said with mocking politeness, giving another bow of the head.

“Not too late to surrender peacefully.” She replied. “Whether you die  spitted on my blade or rot in prison makes no difference to me, but I  assume you have some preference.”

“Certainly, and I prefer to leave here with my freedom intact and continue my business.” He replied.

From the sound behind Nalen, his current business was just about free.  The young woman had finished cutting the rest of the ropes binding her  and was removing the cloth muzzle from her face. Briefly, the warden  considered asking for her knife back but discounted it. She couldn’t  turn to take it from the girl, and the momentary distraction from  fumbling for it behind her back might be all the opening her opponent  needed to get past her guard. Besides, it would be better for the girl  to get away while the warden was covering her captor.

“Soon as  your free, run for it!” She told the girl, without looking. She heard  bare feet padding on the wood as the girl hurried to obey. Perhaps it  was seeing his payday getting away, but the Professional suddenly surged  forward, his dagger going to block her long blade while his short sword  stabbed in low to hobble or gut her. Cool as if training with her  fencing instructors, Nalen reacted to this sudden attack, batting the  dagger aside forcefully, freeing her blade to sweep down and parry the  short sword. She then launched a counter attack of her own, stabbing  again and again with her blade, pushing him back as he fumbled to block  her point.

For several long seconds, the two went back and  forth, steel ringing on steel, neither able to get through and deliver a  finishing blow. Even so, Nalen’s confidence soared as the fight went  on. She had the measure of her opponent now and although he was  surprisingly skilled, in the low, dirty street fighting form appropriate  for a base criminal, she was sure her superior technique and limitless  endurance would succeed wearing him down sooner or later.

All  of a sudden, the Professional broke off, stopping his attack in  mid-swing and hurriedly shifting into a guard. Nalen, who had been  preparing to parry paused a second, wondering if he had made a mistake  and was considering how best to exploit it when she was suddenly jumped  from behind. The warden had just enough time to realize it was,  inexplicably, the naked girl she had just helped free, when a rag was  pressed tight over her face. One brief whiff was enough to let her know  it was soaked in drugs and she held her breath to minimize the damage  before she could struggle free of her unexpected attacker.

Unfortunately, her previous attacker didn’t give her the time to do  that. Distracted by the girl hanging on her back, Nalen reacted slowly  and before she could get her sword in place, the Professional was past  the point, dropping his own weapons to grab for hers. She grunted in  dismay as her long sword was wrenched from her fingers and sent  skittering down the aisle behind the Professional.

He,  meanwhile, had added his own, not inconsiderable strength to holding the  warden down and keeping the drugged cloth pressed tight over her face.  She bucked and struggled, but the two of them were sufficient to hold  her, at least long enough. Her own exertions, not to mention the brief  sword fight before that, had left her out of breath and scant seconds  had passed before her lungs burned for air. Though she knew to do so  would mean breathing in the drugs, she couldn’t fight off her body’s  demands forever.

At last, she gave in, sucking in air through  the rags. Almost immediately, she went woozy, though the fresh supply of  air this brought restored some of her strength as well. She made one  last ditch effort to shake free and even managed to throw the girl off  her back, but the Professional kept a tight grip on her with one hand,  while the other kept the rag in place as she shook her head frantically.  That brief surge of strength faded all too quickly and as more drugged  fumes flowed into her body, she went limp. With a moan, she sank first  to her knees, then to the floor, before everything went dark…

***

“Ugh...” Sometime later, Nalen came to. From her previous experience  with such matters, she guessed she hadn’t been out long, a minute or two  at the most. Unfortunately for her, that was time enough. To her alarm,  she found her arms pulled behind her back, bands of tight cord digging  into her wrists and elbows uncomfortably. Further down, her legs had  likewise been lashed together at the ankles and knees. And, almost as an  after thought, her captors had stripped her completely naked.

“Hhhmmmggppphh!!!” She grunted, anger helping to shake off the last daze  of the drugged fumes. Unsurprisingly, they’d gagged her too; a thick  rolled up cloth was tied between her teeth while behind it, a heavy wad  of cloth filled her mouth completely. She gagged, guessing where the wad  of cloth had come from, and where at least part of her clothes had  gone.

She was distracted from this by the sound of voices  nearby. Rolling over onto her side, she turned her head and saw the  Professional was standing a few steps away, talking with the girl he  had, not long ago, been in the process of tying up.    “Splendid  work, Holly.” He told her, his calm, flat tone tinged with just a bit of  happiness and pride. “Your deception was flawless and I couldn’t have  handled the take down any better.”

“Thanks, Pete.” Holly  replied. She was busy getting dressed...in Nalen’s clothes, the Warden  noted angrily, drawing a fresh round of grunting from the captive  officer, which went ignored. “But seriously, did you need to keep me  naked and tied up all day? I was beginning to have my doubts towards the  end, I’ll admit.”

The Professional, Pete she’d called him,  shrugged. “I had no way of knowing when Andy would lead her into our  trap. Even the best plans can only be so precise when using such  imprecise tools.”

“Hey! Happy to be of help...” Andy called  from around the corner. He rattled the chains of his cuffs. “Speaking of  which, Holly, did you find a key in those clothes or something?”

“'Fraid not...” Holly called back, teasingly. “So what now?”

“First...” Pete said, turning to Nalen for the first time since she’d  awoken. “We’ll deal with our latest guest...” The two slavers turned and  stepped over to the struggling captive. “With her out of the picture,  we’ll have some time to act, but we’ll need to be quick. It won’t be  long before her absence is noted and more lawmen arrive. We’ll need to  round up the rest of the merchandise fast. But first, let’s get her  packed away.”

Pete bent over and grabbed Nalen around her  middle. She kicked and bucked wildly as he lifted her up, especially  when he turned and she saw the other slaver, Holly, had gone to one of  the barrels of fish. As she opened it up, Nalen saw it was actually  empty, for now. She shook her head, grunting angrily as she realized she  would be going inside it. Despite redoubling her struggles, she  couldn’t stop the slaver from carrying her over to the open barrel.

“Don’t worry...” The slaver said, teasingly. “You won’t have to wait  long. We’re just waiting for the next moonless night, two days from now,  and then we’ll load all of you girls aboard and shove off!”

For a brief moment, Nalen was shocked by the revelation that the missing  girls were here in the warehouse, trapped in barrels like this one,  that it took her a second to realize he and said “all of you girls.” She  shook her head, grunting in dismay as she realized she was going to be  shipped off as well and sold into slavery.

All her  protestations were for naught. There was nothing she could do as Holly  grabbed her legs as Pete lowered Nalen, guiding the naked captive into  the barrel. Her feet met the bottom and she tried to stay standing, but  under pressure from both of them, they quickly forced her to bend her  knees, not stopping until her bottom came to rest on the rough, slimy  wood beneath her. She groaned, eyes rolling. Though the barrel might not  contain fish at the moment, it had not so long ago, and none too fresh  either.

“We’ll be back to check on you in a little bit.” Pete  said, stepping back. Nalen gave a whimper, fear sinking in as she saw  Holly approaching with the lid and realized, whatever happened next, she  was, at the very least, in for a long, smelly time in the barrel. As it  closed over her, everything went dark save a brief glint of light that  slipped in through a small hole drilled near the bottom for air. Through  it, she could heard her captors voices’ receding and they walked  through the warehouse.

 “We’ll start at the inn of Bronze Sable.  Their serving girls will do nicely, plus one or two guests I spotted  the day before.” Pete told Holly. “Bring up the cart around back just  after dusk.”

“No problem, Pete.” Holly replied.

“What about me?” Andy asked, rattling his chains, as if trying to give a hint. “What should I do?”

“Andy, I think you’re doing just fine where you are...” Pete said. “You just hang around...”