02: Bendor (II)

The management of his voice and movements startled Dukun. Bendor knew who he was, too, although Yanis Dukun had become a popular name in the world of organised crime. But Hayle! This man knew even of Davice Hale, let alone pin pointing who he was from just the silhouette his black uniform cast.
Obediently, the thieves pulled their balaclavas from their faces.
‘You sought me out, then?’ The man named Bendor asked. His mocking tone made Dukun cringe with fear. ‘Why did you refrain from knocking on the front door?’
Dukun swallowed a gasp, his eyes revealing his surprise. ‘But… Gan Bendor…’
Hayle remained silent. He did not feel he had the authority to speak with Bendor.
‘Speak up, Yanis.’ Bendor hurried. ‘You’re stalling.’
Dukun straightened. He knew the connotations in that word: Stalling. It implied that he was buying time, preventing the inevitable form happening. Was he going to be rejected? Thrown out? Killed? Obliterated?
‘Gan Bendor, excuse my behavior.’ He said, the formal language comforting him somewhat. But he could never feel entirely comfortable, so long as one so high was sitting so low, and he was standing over him.
‘Gan, I truly would not have expected you to dwell in such a small residence, and with no body guards?’
‘What of it, Yanis? You know quite well that who I am is only revealed to a very select few. A few that will be modified when I find out who let you in on my identity. How did you find out about me?’
Dukun swallowed again before continuing. ‘None betrayed you, gan. I have spies of my own, I am quite the established thief.’
‘You try to impress me?’ Bendor sneered. ‘Let me tell you something, Yanis. You do not impress me. I have obliterated more men than you have swallowed liters of water.’
The insult stung Dukun’s pride harshly. The thief stepped back, to be beside his ally, Hayle.
Bendor moaned. ‘Tell me why you’re here, and quickly. It’s almost twenty-three and I am very tired.’
‘Gan,’ Dukun replied, ‘we’ve come to ask acceptance into the Ar Dakar. I believe we have a strong force. My band of thieves would be an asset, for sure. To you.’
‘Don’t reason with me!’ Bendor snapped. ‘Why did you come to me? There are several Ar Dakar base locations that are made very clear to the underground world. And besides, we choose who enters the Ar Dakar.’
Dukun shuffled uneasily, waiting until he was sure that Bendor had finished speaking before he continued with: ‘That’s exactly why I came here, gan. You choose who enters the Ar Dakar. Not the squad captains! They follow orders from higher ranks, only. I sought you Bendor, because I know that nobody knows anything of Avanar Dakar except for you. I would have gone to him, but—’
‘Yanis, are you implying that you need to bring yourself personally to my attention? The master of a crime syndicate like yours will never go unnoticed by the Ar Dakar! Do you insult us so?’
‘Gan, I am sorry, gan. I did not mean it that way. I only wish to bring to your attention how eager I was… gan.’
‘And this could not be done by a captain of one of our squads?’
‘They wouldn’t, gan.’
‘You didn’t try hard enough.’ But he didn’t care. With a wave of his hand he dismissed the topic, and ventured to interrogate his intruders further. ‘This does not explain why you did not knock on my front door.’
Hayle stepped forward, now, slightly, as the intrusion had been his plan. ‘Gan Bendor, gan,’ he said, ‘as Dukun has said, we expected more of this place. We didn’t think your guards would let us meet face to face with you.’
‘Lunacy! Do you honestly think that I would become the victim of suspicion by enshrouding myself in guards?’ Bendor paused, contemplated, and then spoke again, looking at Dukun.
‘You have underestimated Bendor, and the Ar Dakar, for that matter! Leave my house immediately! I have no further business with you. I will see that the next time your face is seen by one of my kin, you are finished with. If I hear one more word from or about you, ever, I will have you obliterated. I trust you understand my capabilities. Most do.’
Bendor yawned, and raised his muscular arms in a stretch. He continued in a casual tone: ‘You have now disturbed a grumpy old man when it is past his bedtime. That crime is unforgivable! Leave now, Yanis Dukun, and leave innocent Davice your band of Ar Dukun. Have yourself moved to another continent, for fear of me, and never speak a word of your previous existence. Or of mine.’
Bendor sighed. The words had come so freely and meaninglessly from his mouth, a routine he had endured only too often. Too many novices had walked right into his house, and tried their hardest to evade his house’s notably non-existent security system. But they would never get at Avanar Dakar, or find out anything about him. Only he, Bendor, knew, and that was his trump card. Never would any kill him and risk losing all information about Avanar, and neither would they lay a hand on him for fear of angering the master of the Ar Dakar. Bendor was invincible!
But Dukun felt like he had been murdered. His whole life had lead to this confrontation, and he had failed. He had spent so long bending, shaping and molding the commandments he issued his elite Ar Dukun, simply to find the location of Avanar’s messenger, and to what avail?
Quickly, followed by his accomplice, Hayle, the thief scuttled around past the side of Bendor’s house, and ran down the street, never to be seen again.
Bendor gazed blankly into the distance in which the two thieves had disappeared, and thought to himself: That Davice Hayle would make a great Ar Dakar. I think a little invitation need be issued. And with that, and another yawn, Bendor held up three fingers in the air, the signal for the twenty snipers covering his back to relax. He was safe. The light flicked off, and an old man climbed his interior staircase to his bed once again. He wondered whether, in his position, he really needed so many guards as he stretched out under his covers. But he thought also that he was probably better off safe than sorry.