Chapter Eighteen

Summary

• Hunt meets Bryce in a rundown district known as the Meat Market. Their banter suggests tension and distrust between them.
• The Meat Market is described as a lawless place where even the city's military leaders don't dare to send soldiers. The district operates under its own rules and is feared by many.
• Bryce insists she is not here to contact the Viper Queen, the long-time ruler of the Meat Market, who Hunt and others are wary of due to her rumored horrifying snake form.
• They enter a warehouse filled with ramshackle stalls, smoke, vendors, and food stands. A gruesome mosaic wall art displaying a cloaked and hooded figure of death with a scythe and an hourglass above the inscription 'Memento Mori' is in the warehouse. The mosaic serves as a reminder to seize the moment and enjoy life's pleasures.
• Bryce seems to know some of the vendors and the place itself, which arouses Hunt's suspicion even more. She tells Hunt about the vendors and the items they sell or help with.
• In one of the rooms in the warehouse, Bryce demands a dealer, a clumsy satyr, to sell her Obsidian, a pricey and dangerous summoning salt allegedly used in dark magic or demonic summonings. Hunt is shocked and concerned by this.
• Bryce successfully haggles the price down to ten thousand gold marks, using the threat of a call to the Viper Queen and the possibility of an upcoming visit from Bryce's boss, Jesiba, to pressure the satyr. Hunt isn't sure whether Bryce is bluffing or being serious, but either way, he's suspicious of her intentions.
• As they leave the room with the newly bought obsidian salt, Hunt and Bryce run into a woman with snake-like eyes, who Hunt immediately recognises as the Viper Queen.