Chapter 306 (1/2)

Book 3, Chapter 42 – Fat Mama

Just as the old drunk had told the they'd ever seen So long as your stuff was good, it didn'tas you had the coin, anything was for sale The black est draw for outsiders

There were treasures beyond counting, a veritable path paved with gold Everywhere one looked there were opportunities for riches and teuideposts from the lift, which led them to the heavily trafficked avenue There was hardly any room to shuffle from stall to stall

There were allor fancy threads They had their wares in booths or out on blankets, and even Cloudhaas taken aback by hat he saw

An unassu man of dark complexion sat before a blanket, with the barrels of all sorts of guns poking out from the bottom A weapons wrack erected behind hi up for display; power tools, chainsaws, flamethrowers and so forth

Across the street, a stout fellow squatted before a rug He had allwas overfloith other explosives

Cloudhawk randomly picked one of the caves that served as a storefront and stepped inside He was greeted with a small warehouse of rusted metal robots at exorbitantly pumped-up prices

Aside froes was also relatively common; rocket launchers, particle blades, even laser rifles Rare ether with other mysterious and unknown ites for hiured, would net him quite a hefty profit

Autu to contain her irritation

Was this asshole here to restock his own shop, or help her with her uns and bullets, alot co her money!

“Hey, don't blame me” Cloudhawk put his hands to the side of his head, vexed by the scale of things “This place is fuckin' huge There's almost no point By the time you find it the sands will have sed this place up”

Autuht face and didn't buy in to Cloudhawk's nonsense Instead, her delicate features were set in determination “I need to find it No matter what”

“Son of a bitch, you're stubborn At least tellfor so we ask around You expect us to just wander in to some random stall and find it?”

This gave Autuet here, and if she wanted even half a chance to succeed in herto learn what it was anyway, sooner or later Shefor a pan flute It was stolen froade of our people named Brier

“A flippin' flute? How much could that be worth!”

“It's not just a flute It's an artifact, bestowed upon us by our patron God!” Cloudhawk's flippant response appeared to really anger her This vulgar ruffian really had nothing but profit on his ift from the Gods? “The flute is called the 'Call of the Shepherd Goddess' You demonhunters would call it a relic”

A relic, huh? No wonder

Cloudhawk shook his head “If that's the case, let's stop wasting ti for”

Autumn scowled at him skeptically “You haven't even looked, how do you know?”

“I just know”

This was Cloudhawk's unique talent, but Autumn wouldn't understand

Cloudhawk traipsed a circuit around the market with her in tow He sensed resonance fro whole – and certainly nothing that would feel like it earned the na about the Crimson One or his plans Both travelers were at a loss

Suddenly, Cloudhaas struck by a flash of inspiration He pulled Autumn after him

The sector he led her to was different frooods were sold here – slaves

“Hey there friends, is that girl for sale?”

A slave trader stepped into his path and blocked his way She was a rotund woe face Cloudhawk had never seen a woe mouth A set of beady eyes were set in rolls of fat, and on her head was teased hair with dozens of sloppy braids that made it look like a nest of snakes One look at her face was enough to tell she wasn't a good person She looked at Autu people for a living told her this one would fetch a good price

The mere concept threw Autumn into a fit What the hell was this? Was this the scoundrel's place? To pretend to help and then sell her into slavery?

Cloudhawk didn't give her a chance to flip her lid He smirked before she could open her ?”

“Young oods, but you don't have a ood price, not liketile person in this whole place who doesn't know Mama Jade I know a lot of folk in the market for a pretty slave People who'll pay top price I'oods”

In the wastelands woiven status Merchant women especially This slave trader, Maly as they came But the rich quality of her dress spoke volumes The jeweled necklace nestled in her chins did, too Each of her ten sausage-like fingers bore a bejeweled ring Her face was painted in layers of ostentatious makeup With every moveh she'd bathed in it It didn'tno matter how you trussed it up

If there was one thing Cloudhawk knew about the wastelands, it was to never underestimate the fat ones Mama Jade's rolls of fat did just as much to show off her abilities as the rich clothes she wore