Page 48 of Storms & Sacrifice
“What is ‘flauk’?” I ask after the officer leaves Khazak’s office.
“Fertilizer. You would know it as...” Khazak pauses as he tries to think of the word. “Saltpeter. It is mined by dwarves in the west, who then send it to a group of halflings who process it into fertilizer.”
“Eww, fertilizer?” As I scrunch up my nose, there’s a knock on the open door as Ragnar enters the office, ready to start the night shift.Damn, is it that late already?
“I heard there was another robbery?” He comes in looking both worried and excited.
“Yes,” Khazak sighs. “This one took place just outside ofthe city.”
“Do you think it’s related to the last one?” Ragnar takes a seat across from Khazak.
“Unfortunately, yes. Once again stole a single item was stolen: flauk. Saltpeter,” Khazak repeats the information we just learned. “Additionally, we were told they wore the same black robes as the one we found at thefactory.”
“Wait, the carriage!” The mention of the robes jogs my memory. “I’ve seen it before.”
“You have?” Khazak asks me.
“Yes, and so have you. Twice.” If I’m remembering right, at least. “The first time was on my first day here when I saved that little girl. The carriage that almost hit her was black with black horses. Then it happened again a few weeks ago when we were on our way to the factory.Youpulledmeout of the way that time.”
“I remember that.” Khazak’s eyes go slightly wide.
“That can’t be a coincidence.” They passedrightby us. “They must have fled the warehouse once they knew we were tracking them.”
“If that is true, then it means they are taking the cart in and out of the city.” Khazak turns to look at Ragnar. “We need to speak with the guards working each of the gates, and then we need to tell the entire force to be on the lookout for that carriage.” He pauses and looks at the clock on his wall. “Perhaps we should stay and continue working a little longer.”
“Are you sure? They probably won’t try anything again so soon. I’ll talk to Keenguard and make sure we get the info to everyone.”Wow, is he actually asking to do more work?“I can talk to the guards tonight, too. That way you two can attack everything with fresh eyes in themorning.”
“That sounds like a good plan, Deputy.” Khazak smiles at his friend.
“Who the hell steals sulfur and saltpeter anyway?” Ragnar asks no one in particular.
Sulfur?“Did someone steal sulfur?”
“Yeah, the brimstone.” Ragnar turns to answer me. “That’s just sulfur.”
I don’t think I knew that.Sulfur and saltpeter.Why does that soundfamiliar?
The words continue to nag at me as we pack up our things and head home for the night. I stop thinking about them sometime during dinner, and it’s not until the next morning when I see a tired looking Ragnar leaving for home that they return.Sulfur and saltpeter.I spend the rest of the morning in the breakroom, trying to figure out why those words are stuck in my head.
“Drepa lat, David.” I look up from my cup of coffee to see Nikka walking in.Must be working at this station today.
“Drepa lat, Nikka.” I repeat back her ‘good morning.’ Turns out reading about a language doesn’t mean much until you actually startusing it.
“You are getting better.” She smiles as she pours her own mug of coffee and sits to join me. “What is on your mind?”
“Just something that Deputy Rockfang said yesterday.” I chew my lip as I continue to think on it. “‘Sulfur and saltpeter.’ Those words mean...something, but I can’t remember what.”
“Sulfur and saltpeter?” Nikka frowns. “Those are two of the ingredients in—”
“Black powder,” we both say in unison, Nikka’s words finally making things click.
“The only thing missing is—”
“Charcoal.” “Carbo—I mean charcoal.”Lessin unison.
“Where did you hear those words?” She sits up straight, as one does when talking about explosives.
“Yesterday, there was another robbery—this time the only thing they took was saltpeter,” I inform her.
