Logan's Journey: Chapter Five

WRITTEN: 6 December 2012
==Chapter Five: Familiar Faces==
To get to Bowerstone Industrial from Mourningwood, Logan and Walter needed to travel through the sewers at the back of Mourningwood’s small, peace loving village. 
'We've descended into the chasms of the netherworld, stared death in the face and waded through things so foul I'd rather not think about them,' Walter said as they walked through the sewer, 'but this is where it gets really ugly. And buried somewhere beneath it all are the people Lillian has left behind.'
Logan did not say anything; instead, he followed his godfather silently, listening to what the few people on the street were saying to one another. Walter led him towards a factory courtyard where a large and angry crowd had gathered. Right in the middle of the courtyard on a raised platform stood a bald man addressing the crowd. He was the one fuelling their anger.
'Reaver is exploiting us!' he yelled. 'We deserve fair pay! We demand better working conditions! We're workers, we're not slaves!'
Logan, who had been watching the bald man, heard someone bang something on metal. Looking up to the deck above, he saw a well-dressed man in a tall top hat, whacking his cane against the railing, looking down at the man below, Reaver. The bald man did not hear or get the message.
This won’t be good, Logan thought. His Uncle Reaver never appreciated being ignored.
'Reaver treats us like animals!' the man continued to yell. 'And we're not going to take it anymore...'
Down went the cane again.
'...there's only one thing for it. We have to stand up to Reaver!'
Reaver shook his head, pulled out his Dragonstomper and shot the man in the leg.
'But lying down is so much easier than standing up,' he drawled. 'My dear friends, in order to raise morale, I am offering prizes to the most deserving workers. The rules that will govern what I like to call the Reaver Team Spirit Award are these: firstly, any worker that so much as murmurs another complaint will be shot. Secondly, any worker who takes more than a three-second break will be shot. Thirdly, any worker who breaks any other rules I have yet to formulate, will, yes, you guessed it, be shot.' As if to enforce his point, Reaver shot the man in the leg again. 'You may return to work now. As you know, I am a generous man, and likely to start handing out prizes right away. So go on. Shoo! Be off with you! Chop chop.'
'That's why we are here,' Walter told Logan quietly as the crowd began to disappear, but Reaver remained on the balcony staring out across the polluted river. 'That's why Albion needs you. Your sister must have been out of her mind when she handed control of Industrial to Reaver.'
‘She trusts him. He is the only family she believes she has left,’ Logan replied.
‘Even so,’ Walter said, leading Logan to the entrance of the Bowerstone Sewers outside the Bowerstone Industrial tavern, the Riveter’s Rest. ‘Together, Lillian and Reaver are dangerous enemies. Right, this should be the place,’ he added as they stopped just outside the sewers. 'Somewhere beyond this door is the base of the Bowerstone Resistance. Ready when you are.'
'Let's just get it over and done with,' muttered Logan, opening the door and walking inside. He gagged a little at the stench.
'I really love how much time we're spending in caves and sewers these days,' Walter muttered as they walked through the sewer. 'I should warn you, I don't know what kind of reception we'll get. I know their leader well enough, but it was never safe for me to come down and meet the rest of them. They're not exactly the most trusting of people.'
‘Page didn’t seem that bad when I met her,’ Logan said conversationally.
‘You’ve met Page already? How?’ Walter was looking highly suspicious.
‘Er – are you sure we’re in the right place?’ Logan asked quickly, trying to change the subject. ‘Shouldn’t we have run into some sort of guard by now?’
‘You’re right, we should have,’ Walter replied, still staring at Logan suspiciously, as they entered a room full of crates and barrels. He would not drop this subject. He would merely postpone the conversation. ‘Maybe we have got the wrong place –‘
'Don't move!' a tall man ordered, jumping out from behind a barrel, pistol aimed at the two of them. Moments later, two other men joined him. 
Logan automatically drew and raised his hammer, but Walter gently touched his godson’s shoulder, shaking his head. Logan lowered his hammer.
'Who are you and what are you doing here?' the first man ordered.
'I'm Walter and this is -’ Walter looked at Logan as though he had forgotten his own godson’s name. ‘Well, that really doesn't matter right now. We're here to speak with Page.’
'I say we shoot them!' said another man.
'Listen! We're on your side! Just hear us out!' Walter said urgently.
'We don't make deals with spies. Shoot,' said the first man.
'Wait!' cried Walter.
'Put your weapons down!' ordered a new voice. Page walked into sight not looking very happy. 'I thought I gave the orders round here, Kidd,' she said to the first man.
'Sorry, Page. Got a bit carried away,' Kidd apologised.
'Walter, glad you're alright,' said Page.
'And I'm glad you came in when you did,' replied Walter.
'I wasn't exactly expecting you,' said Page. 'Let's talk somewhere a bit more private,' she added, leading them to a large room with a map of Albion and Aurora in the middle.
‘I hear that you have already met Logan,’ said Walter.
‘I did more than meet him,’ she said. ‘I saved his royal ass.’
‘What do you mean you saved him?’ Walter demanded, giving Logan a stern look, who tactfully avoided his eyes.
‘Yeah, back when Lillian had him locked up with my rebels, ready to have him executed.’
‘Logan,’ Walter growled.
‘Now’s not the time, Walter,’ Logan said quickly, with a forced smile.
‘No, now is the time. I cannot believe you didn’t tell me about this.’
‘I didn’t tell you because I knew what you would say.’
‘And what would I say?’
‘I told you so,’ Logan replied cheekily. ‘I told you that there was no use talking to your sister because she’ll kill you. So you can save your breath, Walter. I’ve already scolded myself with what you would say.’
‘Can you two please continue this conversation later?’ Page asked with a hint of annoyance. ‘I thought you would know better than to bring the Prince here,’ she added to Walter.                                                                     
‘He’s not just a Prince, Page,’ said Walter. ‘He’s a Hero.’
‘Then give him a medal,’ said Page. 
Someone’s got their nickers in a twist, Logan thought. That or this is her good mood and I met her on a really good day.
'No,’ Walter chuckled. ‘I mean he's a Hero. Like his father!'
'Really?' Page looked taken back, though she soon got over her shock. 'It doesn't change anything. Have you heard all the terrible things the citizens of Albion are saying about their Prince? They think he is as bad as Lillian.
‘Then let him prove himself,' Walter replied reasonably.
'It's not me he needs to convince,' Page argued. 'The people of this city need someone they can believe in. It is them he needs to prove himself to.’
'Looks like you have a lot of work to do,' Walter said, turning to Logan. 'You have a whole city to inspire.'
‘I know that you are nothing like your sister,’ Page informed Logan, ‘which is why I am going to help you. I am, after all, the voice of the people. I know of people who are in need of help. You know the old Bowerstone Orphanage and Shelter, the place that is now a brothel? Well the lady who founded it is in desperate need of help. I was going to send Kidd tomorrow to deal with it, but I think that you should do it.’
‘What does she need help with?’ asked Logan.
‘Her fiancé has been kidnapped and held at ransom by Nigel Ferret, a criminal leader who operates in Bowerstone Industrial and Bowerstone Market.’ 
‘Where is she now?’
‘She lives in the first three houses next to the pub with all the orphans of Bowerstone. Even though the Orphanage was closed, Linda could not bear to leave the children alone to fend for themselves.’
 ‘She sounds like a kind hearted woman,’ Logan said quietly. ‘I shall go there at once.’
Page smiled and nodded at him.
Returning the smile, Logan left the Resistance’s secret headquarters and walked to the houses Page spoke of. When he knocked on the first door, it was answered by a cute, little red haired girl.
‘Yes?’ she said nervously.
‘Is Linda around, sweetie?’ Logan asked, bending down to her height so she didn’t feel so threatened by his presence.
‘She’s next door. Come, I’ll take you to her.’ 
The little girl took his hand and led him next door.
‘Linda, there’s someone here to see you!’ the little girl said as they entered the downstairs room.
‘Oh, hi,’ Linda greeted as she cleaned three year old boy’s face. ‘Are you here to adopt?’ She looked and sounded hopeful.
‘I’m afraid not,’ replied Logan. ‘I’m here to help you get your fiancé back from Ferret.’
'You are? Oh that's wonderful!' Linda exclaimed. ‘Ferret took my fiancé as a ransom until I could get the money he wanted. I tried to work up the courage to rescue him, but Ferret and his gang has everyone living in fear, including me. That's when I thought that if I had someone like you with me... you could go in there and show them what fear really is...  I don't know how you knew I needed help,' she added, suddenly suspicious.
‘Page told me,’ said Logan. 'So, where is Ferret now, do you know?'
'Yes. Ferret demanded that I brought the ransom in a weeks' time, but I'll bring him something better.' 
She grinned before giving the eldest child orders to look after the others. She then led Logan to a house across from the Bowerstone Brothel and knocked confidently on the door. Moments later the peek hole of the door opened and oily voice said, 'Linda. You just cost me a bit of gold, luv. I bet old Harry it'd take you the full week to get the money. You're an industrious one, ain't cha?'
'Just open the bloody door, Keith,' Linda said impatiently. 'Let's have done with this.'
Slowly the door opened allowing Linda and Logan to enter an ancient looking room with a mercenary type figure standing beside the door, who Logan took to be Keith.
'Right, Mr Ferret's down those stairs,' said Keith, before he caught sight of Logan. 'Whoa, hang on, who's your friend?' he demanded. ‘He’s not your new boyfriend is he?’
'Of course he’s not. In your parlance, he's the "bagman" and that gold doesn't leave his hands until my fiancé's walked out of your fetid little den.'
'Alright, no need to get all uppity,' said Keith. 'You just watch yourself around Mr Ferret or things'll get unfriendly fast.'
'Whatever,' muttered Linda, leading the way down the stairs Keith mentioned before.
Once down the stairs they came to a large room where a number of men sat at different tables drinking and playing cards. At the far end of the room, standing in a doorway was a porky little man with two guards standing either side of the doorframe. Logan knew this to be Ferret.
'Ah, Linda,' Ferret drawled. 'I cannot tell you how elated I am to have this unfortunate situation brought to a satisfying resolution. Your associate can dispense with her burden by piling the funds upon a table.'
‘Wow, there were some big words in there for a common criminal,’ Logan muttered, looking around.
'There's no gold, Ferret,' Linda said happily. 'Now you cough up my fiancé from whatever filthy corner you're keeping him in, or my "associate" is going to start collecting heads and piling them upon a table.' To emphasize her point, Logan raised his hammer threateningly.
'My initial judgement of your character was clearly misguided,' said a calm Ferret. 'You possess some heart after all. Lads, tear it out,' he ordered before leaving the room, closing, and locking the door behind him.
‘And here I was giving him the benefit of the doubt of not being a coward,’ Logan said as Ferret’s men began to surround him and Linda.
‘Ferret is the very definition of a coward,’ Linda snorted.
This actually made Logan laugh as he fought off Ferret’s men.
Fifteen minutes later, Logan had disposed of all of Ferret's men, though he did not pile any heads upon a table. 
'Your men are dead, Ferret!' Linda yelled through the locked door Ferret was hiding behind. 'Unless you want to join them, let us in!'
'It's open!' replied Ferret's panicked voice.
Frowning, Linda tried the door and it was indeed unlocked.
'I could have sworn he locked it,' muttered Linda, before shrugging and walking into the next room where Ferret was found sitting on an old wooden chair. 
Linda walked confidently over to him, before drawing a pistol and aiming it at his head. Ferret paled. 
'You brought this on yourself, Ferret. This didn't have to happen.'
'It still doesn't!' Ferret said quickly. 'We merely got off on the wrong foot. I'm no threat to you without my men, and I'm only too happy to return your fiancé. I can be quite accommodating.'
'Get on with it then!'
'Well, the thing is, he's actually not on the premises, exactly, at the present time,' Ferret admitted. 'He's incarcerated within a nearby... facility, shall we say. That access hatch will provide you with... well, access.' He motioned to the end of the room where there was quite a fall, which led into the sewers.
'The sewer?' Linda exclaimed. 'You fellows are a sophisticated lot. Please, go and get him,' she added to Logan. 'I'll keep an eye of Ferret.'
'No problem,' said Logan. He was used to the sewers now.
Sighing, he walked over to the access hatch and looked down, before telling Titian to stay with Linda. He then dived into the water below. When he came back up, he swam to shore and his eyes soon found a young man, around Lillian’s age sitting there watching him warily. The man looked very familiar to him and it took him a few moments to figure out why.
‘Elliot?’ Logan questioned.
‘Yes?’
‘The last time I saw you, you were just a boy.’
This caught Elliot’s attention. He stood up and began to look more closely at Logan. He did look familiar to the younger man. He took in his casual, but expensive clothes, and hammer, before his eyes fell upon the Guild Seal. This he recognised. How could he forget it? Didn’t Lillian steal it from her father’s bedroom one day to show him? There was only one way someone could have the Guild Seal.
‘Logan, is that really you?’ A smile began to form on his face.
‘Yeah, it’s me.’ Logan laughed as he brought Elliot into a brotherly hug. 
When Elliot was five, his parents died in a house fire, and seeing as his parents were friends with Sparrow, the old King allowed him to live in the palace with them and he was basically like a little brother to Logan. Growing up, there were times that Logan had hoped that Elliot would become his brother-in-law, though that was clearly not going to happen now. Not that Logan blamed him. After meeting his sister, he’d feel sorry for everyone who ended up marrying her.
‘It is good to see you again,’ Elliot continued. ‘I never thought that I’d see you again after that hearing.’
‘I never thought that I would see you either,’ Logan admitted, ‘and if I did, I never thought that you would be happy to see me. Not many people are.’
‘I know that you were telling the truth,’ Elliot said firmly. ‘I know that you would never murder Sparrow out of hatred. I could see the agony in your eyes. A true killer would not have that look in his eyes.
‘At least someone believes me,’ Logan sighed. ‘Come on. Let’s get you out of here,’ he added when he heard the laughter of hobbes.
'What are you doing here anyway?' Elliot asked as they searched for a way out. 'I thought you'd be in hiding.'
‘For five years I was, during which time Walter trained me every single day, but then for another five years I travelled all over Albion hunting down trolls are slaughtering them, just like Dad and I always planned to.’
'Really?' said an interested Elliot.
'Really,' said Logan. 'You should have seen the places I have been to, Elliot. I've been to Mistpeak Valley, Brightwall, Bowerstone and Wraithmarsh...'
'You've been to Wraith - watch out,' yelled Elliot, pulling Logan out of the way of a colony of bats came flying at them.
'Why is it always bats?' Logan sighed, before shooting them with balls of fire.
'Wow... you were amazing,' said an impressed Elliot. 'I've never seen anything like that! It was like seeing something out of,' he paused before continuing slowly as realisation began to hit him, 'Walter's and your father’s stories, about your father...  you're a Hero!' he said, looking Logan up and down, hardly daring to believe his eyes. 
'It's not all it's cracked up to be, believe me.’ Logan grinned down at him as they continued on their way.
'Hmm, things are becoming clearer to me now. When Lillian started to behave so appallingly, I told myself that she wanted to prove her strength by seeing off a few agitators, but it's more insidious than that. Taking lives is brutal, but to take away hope, to force an entire kingdom to live in fear... that's true tyranny.'
'And it's going to take more than a Hero to stop her,' said Logan. 'It's going to take a full scale revolution. That is the reason I've been travelling Albion with Walter at the moment. I've been collecting allies to help bring Lillian down, but I've also been making friends too. Not to mention the weird quests I've been going on.'
'When we're out of here, you will have to tell me all about them.'
'I will,' Logan promised as he went into combat with hobbes. ‘None of them are like the quests Dad used to tell us. A lot of it has been quite embarrassing.’
‘How can it be embarrassing?’
‘I had to dress in a chicken suit to round up some chickens in front of the citizens of Brightwall,’ Logan said bluntly.
Elliot started laughing. 
‘I would have paid anything to see that!’
‘You should have seen Jasper’s face when he saw me dressed up like a chicken,’ Logan laughed. ‘I bet he was questioning my sanity, though I was doing the same thing.’
‘It’s not your sanity everyone is questioning,’ said Elliot, suddenly serious.
‘I know what you mean,’ Logan sighed sadly. ‘When did you leave the castle?’
‘Few years ago,’ replied Elliot as Logan fought off more hobbes. ‘When Lillian and I hit our teens, we started dating, but as we got older, all she was interested in was money, presents, making people’s lives miserable and sex. On several occasions I caught her cheating on me and I eventually saw that she wasn’t the girl I fell in love with. I gathered my belongings and left the castle, but not until her and I had a few words. I bought one of the houses the orphaned children are living in and a month later I met Linda. We started out as friends but then it became more than that.’
‘You sound like you’ve done pretty well for yourself. I’m glad you’re no longer with Lillian, even if it does mean I no longer get to have you as a brother-in-law.’
‘Ah, but you will always be my brother,’ Elliot informed him. ‘I’ll never forget all the things you did for me. Like scaring off those jerks who had it in for me.’
‘They deserved it.’
After a while, Logan noticed that the structure had become man made instead of being natural cave.
'You should almost be back to Linda,' he said.
‘Good.’ Elliot had a lovesick look on his face.
‘You really love her that much?’
‘More than that,’ replied Elliot. ‘Linda is the most amazing woman I have ever met. She started the old shelter from nothing, and she fiercely fought to keep it up and running despite Ferret and Reaver, though once Lillian stepped in there was nothing she could do. Working with her feels right, after all those years in the castle doing nothing.’
‘You’ve got it bad,’ Logan chuckled.
‘I’m sure one day you’ll experience it too.’
‘Maybe. Ah, here we are.’ They had arrived at the exit.
Logan opened the door and entered the room beyond only to find an unconscious Linda and a wounded Titian.
'Linda!' Elliot exclaimed as he hurried over to her. Logan went to Titian and gave him some Dog Elixir that Jasper had found in the Sanctuary.
'Elliot,' Linda groaned as she came to. 'Ow, my head,' she added rubbing the back of her head. 'That weasel Ferret must have struck me when my back was turned.'
‘Why did you turn your back on him in the first place?’ Logan demanded. ‘He could have killed you!’
Linda tensed.
‘Ignore him, love,’ Elliot said soothingly. ‘He’s like an older brother to me, so it’s no surprise he’s now protective of my fiancé.’
‘Thank goodness you're alright,' said Linda, embracing Elliot and looking over at Logan. 'I'm forever in your debt. Thank you for everything.’
‘It was my pleasure,’ Logan replied with a smile. ‘You take care of yourself, Elliot.’
‘You too,’ replied Elliot as he watched Logan and Titan leave.