by P. G. Thomas
*******
Hearing a knock at the door, Jedimac rose from his comfortable chair, looked back at the two henchmen sitting at the far side of the room, and then opened it. Standing in the doorway, a midlander almost ten inches taller than he was, being at least twice the guild leader’s weight, whose hands and face told of a pension for violence. Beside him, a diminutive lady, being neither young nor old, having long black hair, and the scent of a fragrant perfume floated from her, but her eyes seemed absent. Stepping to the side, he let both in, and then the large man removed the cloak from the lady, exposing a low cut dress with a high hemline. Extending his hand, Jedimac gave the large man the required payment, and taking her by the arm, he led her up to his silenced bedchambers. Once inside, he locked the door, and standing behind her, gently kissed her neck. Undoing the bow that held her dress in place, he watched it fall to the floor, exposing her soft, white skin. Taking her by the hand, walking her to the bed, after helping her get comfortable, he lit the scented candles. Extinguishing the oil-burning lamp, he walked to the other side of the bed, but remaining dressed, laid down beside her.
“I am so glad you were free, Bellawa. I have so much to talk about.” Even though she remained quiet, he began to caress her naked body. “It came today, the Night Key. The Shadow Council gave me the title of the Unknown. Even though I knew I could present a strong argument, I thought the same last year and the year before. Yes, I know I told you they would back then, and, yes, they never did, but today it showed up.” While he continued to stroke her body, she moaned with pleasure. “Even though I may not know everything that is happening, with the Black Watch under my command, I can birth the secrets of Darkpaye into the light, bringing this congestion back to a lawful chaos, maybe even winning a few points with Mother. You knew you were coming here. That perfume, it’s my favorite, as you smell like spring. Oh, I forgot the best part. That damn Earth Guard, Moonshadow, he is now in my debt. I have missed you so much,” and then he hugged her. “Just let me listen to you breathe, and smell your sweet fragrance while I tell you the rest,” and she moaned with pleasure. An hour later, Jedimac walked Bellawa down the stairs.
The escort gave his head a shake, as she was not lathered in sweat, her hair still finely groomed. “Unable to get the stallion out of the stable? Don’t blame ya, she’s old. We gots fresh fillies now, real young. Ya should stop by and see the new selection, as maybe one of dem will get the stable doors open.”
Ignoring the insults, Jedimac was still reveling in his recent good news, but he also handed the escort several gold coins. “I gave her a generous gift for her services, which you will not search for and take.”
“Id never do that.”
Jedimac tilted his head to the side, “I am serious.”
“What, like she is going to tell ya. She’s blind and deaf, can’t even talk, so you’d never know.”
The escort had been trained to size up his clients quickly when first arriving at a new location. Here, he had seen no possibility of a threat from the small man, who had greasy hair and a thin, wiry beard. While the escort may have been a young man lacking experience, Jedimac was neither, as his experience outweighed the heavier man by thrice. It took less than a second for Jedimac to sweep the right leg, bringing the large man down to a manageable size, and before the escort could counter, he felt the cold steel at his throat.
“While life may have robbed her of sight and sounds, there are more than enough ears and eyes to compensate for her misfortune, Raderic, yes, I know your name. That you are her new escort and her old one died of an unsanctioned crime, one punishable by a slow death. I also know that you take horsemeat to your crippled mother with cataracts, telling her it is cow, and that you sold your sister, who you abused for years, to one of the worst brothels. Beyond that, you beat the girls that you are supposed to protect.” As Jedimac forced the cold silver blade through the first layer of skin, Raderic felt the warm red blood begin to trickle down his throat. “Bellawa is a very special lady, who offers me that which no other of her profession can. You will treat her with respect, as you will now treat all of the ladies that you shall now protect. If you fail to, I will have you brought back here to my house, and in my stables, we will have a lengthy discussion about stallions. Raderic, please listen carefully. Today you are a new man. Should you disappoint my faith in your abilities to transform—well, let’s just hope it never comes to that.”
*******
Trying to sit up, Sam could feel the restraining straps. Attempting to transform into an otter, his body failed to answer the call, and then he heard his sister whimper. Even though he howled to her, his only response was an attendant placing a muzzle on his mouth.
*******
When the sunlight began to stream into the room, Panry bolted upright, “Get dressed. We need to get back.”
As the group finished their breakfast, a portal opened in the front room where Panry and Jasmine appeared, but before any could ask, he rushed out the back door. Jasmine stood quietly in the middle of the room, her hair disheveled, her tunic on backwards, and all eyes were focused on her, “I—I—I do not have to say any thing.” In quiet, she headed upstairs to get herself organized.
Shortly after that, they heard Panry at the back door, “Steve, Ryan, Eric. We need to go now.”
Steve, knowing that Panry was hatching a plan, wanted more details, so he headed out to the carriage followed by the other two. Gayne advised that both he and Mirtza would be at the school that day, leaving a few minutes later.
Logan looked at Lauren, “Guess I’m staying here with you today.”
*******
After Eric had materialized the carriage, Panry held open the door, telling Ryan and Steve to wait, and even though unsure why, they did. When Panry boarded, he asked Steve to help Eric guide the carriage to the destination, and before he could ask for a reason, Panry entered the carriage, calling for Ryan to do the same, telling him where to sit. Then he closed the carriage door with an authoritative denial of entry.
Steve climbed onto the driver’s bench, “I’ve a bad feeling about this.”
On the ride to the fortress, once on the other side of the bridge, Panry leaned forward to Ryan, “If you desire to go with me this day, this berry you need to consume.”
While Ryan never question it, trusted him, today that trust was misplaced, and instantly he fell asleep, reverting back to normal.
It was past midday when the carriage arrived at the fortress, and Panry stepping out called to Eric. “Take carriage back to Gayne’s, as when Rage Heart wakes, he shall be angry.” Before either could react, Panry pulled the hood of his cloak over his head, disappearing from sight.
Jumping down from the carriage, Eric checked on Ryan, “He’s asleep.” Then he looked up to Steve, “What the hell just happened?”
“Kid, I’ve no idea, but we need to get out of here.” However, Steve had realized that the cloak Panry wore was not the same one when he entered the carriage.
Climbing back onto the bench, Eric directed the carriage to a deserted street, opening a portal to take them back.
*******
Lauren, sitting on the patio and grasping the staff, looked at the growing buds on her plant. Bringing forth the magic, an image of the plant that she now called Promise appeared in her mind. Releasing the magic from the staff, she made the plant grow faster, sending it out into the Bright Coast, causing more flowering buds to erupt from the soil. The insects, compelled by the staff, began to pollinate the flowers of hope, helping to transform them into the fruits of promise, having but one mission: to quench the despair that the children of Mother now fed on. Around midday, the sound of a plate on the table broke her concentration, and turning, she saw a meal that one of the house staff had prepared with a cup of bean juice. She took a quick drink, looked at Jasmine, “So, what’s new?”
“Not—nothing,” stammered Jasmine.
“Since I hated it when people pried into why Ryan was spending so much
time with me, I won’t do the same.”
“Nothing happened!”
It was an hour later when the back door opened. Hearing the excited calls from Steve and Eric, from the dining room, Lauren watched for a brief second as Steve carried Ryan up the stairs, and dropping her staff, she dashed inside after the one she loved. Once in the bedroom, she looked at both, “What happened?”
Eric shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know. I was sitting on the bench.”
“We went to Zymse keep,” advised Steve, “and Panry stepped out of the carriage. He said to bring Ryan back here, as he would be angry when he woke up, and then he disappeared.
“Panry disappeared? You mean he was lost in a crowd?”
“No, one second he was standing at the carriage door, and the next, he wasn’t,” replied Eric.
Chapter 9
As Jedimac was going over the charter rules of the Black Watch with his selected crew, a knock at the door interrupted him. “DAMN IT. I said no interruptions.”
After another knock, Corackas, his second in charge, entered. He was twenty years younger than Jedimac, educated from good stock, but his parents died during the Darkpaye invasion. He had endured years in the labor camps, which had made him stronger in some ways but also quiet. He was a few inches taller than the Guild Master, though almost skeletal in appearance, but fast, the fastest that he had ever seen with a knife. When he had seen the scrawny youth in his mid-teens take on ten boys in a street fight and win, he knew that a desire smoldered behind those angry eyes. He had brought him into his guild, paying for his tuitions, and on many occasions, personally tutored the young man with so much potential. Corackas had risen quickly in the guild, always knowing his place, completing tasks efficiently and effectively, yet never violating guild laws. When asked to do more, delivering unforgettable messages, the youth showed a remarkable creativity. It would be Corackas who would rule Jedimac’s guild when the responsibilities of the Black Watch occupied him. The second in charge walked up to Jedimac, handing him a piece of paper.
After reading the note, he shook his head before reading it a second time. “You are sure?”
“I just found out he was bragging about it last night at a bar.”
“EVERYBODY OUT, NOW!”
The ten thieves all instantly stood and left, including Corackas. Jedimac’s hand was shaking when he held the piece of paper over the candle, as its base was now covered in black ashes of similar bad news. He began to pace his office, calling out to the walls, “LEAVE ME ALONE.” The sounds of several secret panels closing responded silently. In anger and quick succession, he pulled out three concealed daggers, throwing them at a painted image of a man on the back door, and all landed where the legs intersected with the torso. Retrieving them, after putting them back in his coat, he walked up to his desk, locking the charter in a bottom drawer. Reaching down to the lower drawer on the other side, he pushed the handle to the side to deactivate the first trap, and pressing a piece of molding around the drawer, he disabled the second. With his keys, unlocking it, he pulled out two small bars of gold, placing them in a leather bag. Securing the drawer, reactivating the traps, after entering the front of the guild, he turned to Corackas. “I have some personal business to attend to.”
An hour later, walking through a nondescript door, he found the necessary forms, filling out two identically. When done, he placed them in front of the clerk who sat behind the desk.
The clerk reviewed each to make sure they were the same, having no discrepancies, and then pointed to a section on the form. “If you fill out this, I can categorize your purchase to see if a discount applies.”
Jedimac placed a bar of gold on the desk.
The clerk inspected it, returned his gaze to the form, “In the section for guild assistance, you drew a line through it. I would like to point out that our members are highly trained, and we have a money back guarantee. Quite often, we have clients who are looking to save some wealth, who only wish to procure the authorization, but when things go bad, as they failed to make the necessary plans, well, it tarnishes our reputation. To discourage this, we have implemented a penalty fee, encouraging our clients to accept our generous services.”
Jedimac placed the second bar of gold on the desk.
“Even though you did not sign the form, you did tick off the guild privilege box, so I will have to get the boss to approve it.” Going to the back door, a figure in the shadows reviewed the papers. From the dark, looking first at the desk where the golden payment reflected in the sunlight, he then looked at Jedimac, “He was never here.”
“Who?” asked the clerk. Returning to his workstation, he marked both forms sanctioned/paid in full, placing one on the corner of his desk. After filing the second, he placed the two bars of gold into his bottom drawer. When he looked up, the office was empty, so he went back to his remaining paperwork.
Jedimac walked into his guild an hour later, handing the piece of paper to Corackas, “Invite him out to the house tomorrow,” and then he pointed to the largest thief in all of the Bright Coast, “We will also need Tiny.”
Corackas reviewed the document, ensuring it was not a recent forgery.
Going into the very back office, Jedimac sat down in front of one of the guild members who had his face pulled close to an oversized journal, which he was feverishly writing numbers into, stopping only when he realized somebody was looking at him. Jedimac smiled at the scrawny young man, who had ink stains on his face, and a broken nose that had never healed correctly. Tillman was the first accountant he had hired from Gayne’s after the demonstration of numbers that the school had hosted. From that day, he had been surprised at the young man that could barely hold a sword, but with pen and ink, he had waged a war on costs. While most of the guilds liked the color red, for Tillman, it was the wrong color, so he continually found new ways to increase the old guilds profits. “I know you were surprised to hear I selected you for the Black Watch. I am hoping they have chosen the Unknown wisely, realizing that if he finds the money, he will find the power. To do that, he will need those who have skills with numbers and tax records. If, after the meeting, you feel your skills are not required, let me know so that I can send a substitute.”
Tillman nodded, dipped his pen into an inkwell, before continuing his battle.
*******
“Are those dreams or nightmares?”
“Fury, I have no idea. I gifted him gentle sleep, so the images of the Unchosen should be pleasant.”
He nodded, “Pleasantly disturbing perhaps. Are such things even possible?”
“As Mother only talked to me briefly about her visit to his world, with limited knowledge, I am unable to answer your question. Wake Earth Mother.”
Rolling over in the meadow, John began to stir, feeling very refreshed.
“Sister is here.”
With the words shocking his eyes open, when they focused, he saw the tall figures of the demi-gods towering over him. “What happened?”
She smiled, “You were tired, as Sister approaches, please make yourself presentable.”
Straightening his clothes, after standing, he pushed his hair into place, pulling out stray strands of grass. When done, he saw Tranquil and Fury sitting on their familiar chairs with a vacant one for him, and in the middle, a large stone block that his satchel rested on. Walking over, before he could ask, a large mug of hot bean juice appeared in his hand. Then the winds around the three chairs began to increase, circled them, forming into a stable swirling vortex approximately seven feet tall, being only a few feet in diameter.
“Sister, you remember Earth Mother?” Tranquil turned to John, “She would like to know how she can help.”
Setting down his mug, which instantly disappeared, he walked up to the stone table, extracting the pan with the yellow root. “We believe somebody planted these in Mother’s forests. It appears to be a fungus that supports its life by killing other plants to digest them. However, this particular one is unique. When
it rains, it secrets salt that helps to kill the surrounding vegetation.” John looked up to Tranquil, “Does she understand?”
“Should she require clarification on any point, I will interpret her thoughts into words for you.”
Fury shook his head, “The short answer is yes, now continue. Damn Earth Mother.”
“What did I do?” asked John.
“Not you, the long-winded one,” then Fury pointed to the root, “now explain how to kill this…thing.”
John looked back up to the swirling vortex, “When the forests started to die, you made it rain, thinking there was a drought, but it just helped to create more salt, killing the forests faster. In essence, whoever planted these roots used you to help harm Mother.”
The swirling vortex grew in size and speed, emitting a mournful howl.
Tranquil stood, “Sister, it is not your fault, as none of us knew what was happening,” She then turned to John, “Who planted this foul yellow creation?”
“We don’t know.”
“Why would this Zymse do that?” asked Fury.
John shrugged his shoulders, “Right now, he just seems to be ground zero for all of the bad that is happening. He has one of Lauren’s daughters, has a brand of trollmare protection, and has converted some Bastards to his beliefs.”
Even though the whirlwind had calmed down, the last part of the sentence resulted in it emitting a hollow, anguished scream of pain.
“How can Sister help kill this root so that Mother heals?”
Looking up to Tranquil, John pulled out the bottle of H2O2. “This is hydrogen peroxide: basically two atoms of hydrogen and two of oxygen. When I found the root, it barely filled the pan, but the more I watered it, the more it grew. When I started to feed it this,” he held up the bottle, “that’s when it began to die.” He took a deep breath, “Now for the tough part. Water is formed when two hydrogen atoms attach to an oxygen atom. Since we already have water here, all Sister has to do is add one more oxygen atom to the water, which will kill the fungus.”