Industry & Intrigue Read Free

myths of the colossi.”
    “ Myths? I thought you said
your culture
believed in them?” asked Reese, puzzled.
    “ We do, but it is more of a
spiritual belief,” Xerin sat back and explained it to him. “You
have to understand, the Wei have been very superstitious in the
past. Thankfully much of that has been overcome, though we still
have our little rituals. In my land the colossi were only ever told
in the tales of the ancient world, benevolent beings that
indirectly aided heroes during the Age of Dragons. Most of this is
merely exaggerated stories for children, but the same theme is
always present in the stories, gigantic, benevolent beings. Even to
this day many drakons think that all the fossil evidence is simply
large dragons, much like you questioned this morning.”
    Reese shifted in his seat and
grimaced, he hadn’t meant to sound harsh with his
question.
    “ Oh relax, I did not mind,” she
said. “I have put up with a lot worse from my own people,
especially with where I decided to focus my vocation.” She stood up
from her chair and walked over to the bookshelf on her right.
Stretching to her full height, she managed to reach the top shelf
and pulled out a thick, blue book.
    She placed it down in front of Reese.
He looked at the title- The Gates of the World and other tales: Alkon
translation .
    “ T hat should get you started, most of the
drakon myths and legends involving colossi are in there, see if it
gives you any insight,” she said and invited him to pick it
up.
    “ Thank you professor,” he replied in
excitement. He hadn’t expected her to lend him a book straight
away. He eagerly picked it up and examined the cover. It had a
several dragons flying in formation and large rising sun behind
them.
    H e turned to leave and Xerin said, “Oh and
Mr. Galius, however much you study that, do not let it interfere in
your regular studies, understood?”
    “ Yes, of course professor. Don’t
worry I won’t,” he replied and he was quickly out of the office and
walking down the hall. He couldn’t wait to see what the book had to
offer.

Chapter 2
     
    Brenna Moreland hated the docks of
Alkos City. It wasn’t the morning crowds or the fact that there was
barely room to walk with all the cargo piled up or that she would
often get bumped into by a seaman running to reach his ship. What
she despised was the smell.
    She had never liked the
sm ell of the
ocean and it was overwhelming at the docks. In addition were the
fish markets, one street over from the docks and passing by was
enough to make her feel nauseous. The final layer of the dock smell
was the dirt and soot mixed in from the industrial
section.
    Various factories had
smokestac ks
pumping out fumes daily, companies had found it easier to locate
their manufacturing centers near the docks for ease of shipping.
Not to mention the convenience of Rainac Train Station on the
southern end of the docks. The station served as a hub for cargo
from all over the empire. Wedged between the docks and the
industrial sector was an area known as ‘The Den’. The name came
from when smugglers had used the area, before the docks had become
a vibrant and commercial operation.
    But the Den remained an area of cheap,
low-lying buildings and vacant yards, which serviced the poorer
classes working or trading in the district as well as functioning
as discrete operating areas for criminals, which was what had
brought Brenna here on this morning.
    Brenna was a sergeant in the
Justice Branch, a specialized unit of the Alkos City Watch that
focused on policing the drug and sex slave trade that flourished in
the less affluent sections of the city. She had dressed down to
ensure she blended in, wearing dirty, black and brown clothes and
messed her dark red hair around to look ill-treated. She had skipped her
usual morning bathroom routine so that she didn’t appear too clean.
The snitch she was meeting knew she was a watch officer, but in
this part of the city one could