The two monks each bowed their heads with understanding and left.
Evisar stepped up to Fortiac. “Your Worship. We did not mean to bring this trouble to your doorstep. We didn’t think anyone knew we were here.”
Fortiac nodded his head. “I understand. It is not your fault. You didn’t attack my brothers. You are good folk and it was the will of Fortuna that we took you in for the night. You were obviously meant to be here. Now if you will excuse me, I must attend to my brothers and our temple.”
Evisar added one more thing. “With your permission, we will search for Xander outside the Basillica?”
Fortiac said, “Please do. That man is strongly bound to the will of Fortuna. You should have seen him battle the vampires. Even with my power, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Fortiac turned around and left with his entourage. Evisar gathered the companions around him and said, “While they make safe the Basilica, I think it is our responsibility to search the city until we find Xander. Brother, why don’t you take Ellen and search the grounds outside the High Priest’s room for clues. Valihorn and I will check the High Priest’s room for anything of interest.”
Before Evisar could turn to Nero, the Agent of the Crown said, “I will go out into the city and try to find Xander.”
Evisar said, “You can’t go out there alone.”
Nero said, “I always work alone. I’m used to it, and it’s how I work best. Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.”
Evisar nodded his head in agreement, eager to begin the search. This was not the time to be overly cautious.
_______________________________________
Nero left the room with a hidden smile on his face. Xander was in Guild custody once again, thanks to him. Now the Talon Thieves Guild would get the diamond back and destroy the Philosophers of Armena, and it was all thanks to him.
Chapter 95: Nero’s Plan
Nero left the Basilica with the rest of the companions to search for Xander. In actuality, Nero had planned the entire attack with Daniel and the Guildmaster. Things hadn’t gone exactly as planned for Daniel. Daniel hadn’t killed the High Priest of Fortuna, nor taken Mestel as his apprentice and newest member of his family, but Nero had gotten what he wanted. The vampires had been instrumental in recapturing Xander, but Daniel had lost a large portion of his family in the process. Nero shook his head as he walked down an alleyway of Locus. He could only imagine what a vampire was like when enraged beyond reason, but Daniel’s loss was not his concern – unless he blamed Nero for the loss of his wife and sought revenge. There was little doubt in Nero’s mind that Daniel would be able to replace his other losses in short order.
As far as the Guild was concerned, Nero’s plan had worked brilliantly. Xander had been recaptured and was under Guild control once again, the wizard inside the gem would soon be tucked away in a Guild vault, and his plan to bring down the Philosophers of Armena was proceeding precisely as Nero had hoped. Surely all of these things, when taken into consideration by the Guildmaster, would elevate him to a new status in the Guild.
Gods, he loved power; there was no denying it. He never looked back. With each step that he took, he forgot the past and only had eyes for the step directly in front of him. Now that he had a taste of power, it made him want it all the more. Rank had its privileges, and now that he knew it to be true, it made him want it all the more.
He headed down the dark alleyways of Locus much more carefully than he had earlier in the night. Guided by the pre-dawn light, he was able to navigate the narrow streets with greater ease. Nero spent a long time going from street to street and alley to alley, seemingly to look for Xander, but in actuality, he just wanted to make sure no one was following him. When he was certain it was safe, Nero turned for the Guild safehouse where Xander was being held. From the outside, the safehouse looked like a legitimate ice house, but in reality, it served as a Guild prison. No one was on guard at this early hour, so Nero walked up to the front door and knocked. It took a long time for someone to answer, but when the door opened Nero was somewhat shocked to see Sivan flanked by two hulking humans.
The guard on the right asked, “What you want, little man?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I came here to buy some ice.”
The guard took an intimidating step forward until the little halfling, Sivan, held his hand up in front of the guard and said, “That is no way to treat someone who is of the Thirteen. This is Nero, and I will personally vouch for him.” Nero watched with fascination as the two large guards, who could easily have taken on twenty elves, stepped aside with reverence. Sivan continued, “Come in Nero. We have already begun preparing the prison for what you have in mind. Why don’t you come with me? I will give you a tour and show you Xander’s cell.”
Nero followed Sivan into the ice house. The top floor consisted of a shop area with a countertop and a hallway leading back to the owner’s living quarters. Behind the countertop was an extra-wide stairwell leading into the cellar. As Nero descended into the basement, he felt the temperature drop noticeably with every step. The bottom of the stairs opened up into a cellar that was eighty feet by eighty feet. The temperature was near freezing, with ice blocks stacked in rows fifteen feet high from floor to ceiling. There were four rows of ice, with three narrow walkways extending the length of the building. The ice was covered in sawdust to insulate it from melting during the long summer.
Sivan reached the bottom of the stairs and took two lanterns off a hook. After lighting both lanterns, Sivan handed one to Nero, went immediately to his right, and started walking down the far-right hand walkway. The ice was oppressively high, and the rows were stacked close together. Nero had to duck and weave in more than one spot so as not to get hit upside the head by a brick of ice. Being two feet shorter than Nero, Sivan did not have the same difficulty; he walked quickly down the corridor of ice. Though the ice was leaning in on him and the lantern light bounced off the ice crystals in odd ways, Nero saw the end of the ice row up ahead. He found it rather cliché that Sivan was leading them to the end of the row where they would no doubt pass through a secret door on the far wall in order to enter the prison; however, Nero was pleasantly surprised when Sivan stopped ten feet short of the far wall and turned to the right.
Nero joined him a few steps later. As near as he could tell, there was only a wall of ice in front of him. Sivan held his lantern in one hand and bent down at the waist to walk through a small fissure in the ice. Nero got down on all fours and held his lantern just inside the fissure. Nero sighed with relief as he saw that this narrow passage ran only a few feet before it opened up again at what Nero presumed was the prison door.
Nero crawled into the fissure and came up behind Sivan. Nero asked, “How exactly do you get prisoners into the prison?”
Sivan looked at Nero matter-of-factly and said, “Carefully.” Then he raised his hand and knocked out a pattern on the wall/door in front of him. “For security reasons, the door to the prison can only be opened from the inside, meaning that if anyone ever did find out where the prison was located, they still couldn’t stage a rescue operation.”
“Who does the Guild keep here?”
“The Guild maintains three prisons in Locus. This is the least secure prison with the least important prisoners. The Guildmaster and I decided to use this prison for your plan because once the location of this prison is known to the outside world, we will likely have to shut it down and move its location. In general, this prison is where we send people who have critical information that we haven’t broken yet. Or if we want to turn someone into a double agent, this is where we send them to be conditioned. There are actually three levels to this prison.”
Sivan was interrupted when a muffled male voice came through the wall. “Yes.”
Sivan stopped the history lesson and said, “We wish to see what the Talon holds.”
Nero thought it was an odd password, but the man on the other side opened the door nonetheless. Sivan led Nero throug
h the door and shut it behind them. Nero looked around at the least secure of the Guild’s prisons and was immediately impressed. The prison looked nearly impregnable, with bars that could hold the strongest person captive and anti-magic forcefields that prevented wizards and priests from casting spells. There were no fewer than three high quality guards in view at all times.
Sivan walked around the first level with Nero. “As you can see, there are three guards on duty on each of the three prison levels at any time. This level has two long rows of magical and normal cells divided by steel reinforced doors at either end, making it so the guards can close off one row from the other in times of emergency. Through a steel door at the other end is a staircase leading down to the other levels of the prison. The more dangerous enemies of the Guild are kept on the bottom level, while the more manageable prisoners are kept on this level. Even though this is the Guild’s least secure prison, I assure you that anyone in these cells is a very dangerous individual.”
“So, you said the Talon Guild is likely going to have to abandon this prison in the next few days.”
“If your plan works, then that is true.”
Nero was taken aback. “It must cost a fortune to build a prison like this.”
Sivan smiled back. “Several fortunes in fact. Let’s just say it is more money than you or I will ever see in our lifetimes.”
Nero was prepared to take that bet. He wanted it all. “And the Talon Guild is giving up this prison just for the hope that my plan will lead to the destruction of the Armenien Philosophers?”
Sivan smiled again. “That’s right. The Guildmaster is placing a tremendous amount of faith in you and your plan. It is both a great opportunity for you and a tremendous risk.”
Sivan walked down the first corridor explaining who the prisoner was in each cell. “This fool is the leader of an independent thieves’ guild that challenged our power in Locus several years back.”
Nero looked at what had probably been a powerful man at one point, but now had a long beard, looked old, and was clearly underfed.
“On this side is a powerful vampire who moved to the city and posed a direct challenge to Daniel.”
Nero walked slowly by the vampire’s cell. The vampire was pacing around like the caged animal he was. He seemed to be a twenty-five-year-old man in perfect health, with pale skin. The cell had thicker-than-usual bars with holy water that continuously flowed from the ceiling down the walls and bars, into small pipes below.
“Over there is a medusa that Keth managed to subdue just northeast of the Dragon Spine Mountains. You can actually look directly at her while she is in this cell without turning to stone. The forcefield effectively blocks her power.”
Sivan made it seem like this was any ordinary captive, but this was a beast of myth and legend. No one ever got to look at a medusa, except from behind, so Nero could not resist this opportunity. She was actually quite beautiful except for the snakes that took the place of normal hair and the golden crystal eyes. As Nero and Sivan walked by, the medusa watched them closely. All of a sudden, her gold eyes flashed as bright as the sun. Nero looked away and literally felt the magic bounce off the forcefield. Nero continued walking as if nothing had happened, but it was clear from Sivan’s smirk that he had noticed Nero’s loss of control.
Nero asked a question as if nothing had happened. “I remember meeting Keth at the most recent Inner Circle meeting, but I don’t know what he does for the Guild.”
“He is the half-orc in command of our security and warrior forces.” Nero nodded his head and Sivan continued. “In this cell is a female follower of Fortuna who actively petitioned the Crown of Kentar to maintain a tighter grip on Locus. We ignored her at first, but when the Crown began paying attention to what she had to say, we quickly arranged for her to disappear. She is a powerful priestess and is obviously kept in an anti-magic cell. As you can see, she is unconscious right now. I thought she might be useful to your plan, so I transferred her here on my authority from the third level of this prison.”
Nero stopped in front of her cell and had a look. She didn’t look like much at the moment, wearing simple clothes covered in grime, but underneath all of that he could see she was a beautiful woman.
Nero asked, “So if this is the Guild’s least secure prison, who is housed in the most secure prison?”
“Creatures much worse than what you have seen here.”
Nero continued, “Why didn’t the Guild just assassinate this priestess of Fortuna?”
“Because sometimes it’s necessary to look at the big picture. That’s why these prisons exist. It was hoped that she could be turned into a double agent and be our informer inside the Basilica of Fortuna, but she resisted. Gram recently requested that she be transferred into the Underworld to be a part of the spell he is preparing. She was to be moved today, but I thought the Guild would be best served by bringing her here, with the Guildmaster’s approval, of course.”
Sivan went through the steel door at the end of the first row of cells and started going down the next. “And here, finally, is Xander’s cell. He doesn’t rank as dangerous an enemy to the Guild as these other prisoners, but we thought this prison would best suit your needs.”
Nero stopped in front of Xander’s cell and turned toward the ex-Guild employee who had caused so much trouble. “Thank you for your efforts on the Guild’s behalf, Sivan. I think this prison will do nicely. Is he going to be unconscious for a while? He can’t know I was ever here.”
“My guards roughed him up pretty well when he first arrived. I thought some significant bruising would make your story more convincing. I assure you that he will remain unconscious for some time.”
“Excellent. Can you let me into his cell?”
Sivan nodded his head and snapped his fingers. Seemingly out of nowhere, a guard came up from behind and unlocked the cell. In truth, Nero’s sixth sense let him sense the whereabouts of everyone on this floor of the prison except for the vampire, but he played along so as not to give anything away.
The guard opened the cell door a few feet and then backed away. Nero walked slowly, purposefully, confidently into the small cell and over beside Xander. The rogue had been stripped of all his gear. Nero nudged Xander with his foot, softly at first, and then harder. When Xander did not stir, Nero knelt down to examine him. Nero felt a little odd examining one of his friends in this dungeon. It was almost like he was mixing his two worlds together. Xander was being held by the Guild, and he potentially held the secret to the Guild’s future success, but Nero was also helping the companions as a Philosopher. Xander was his friend and a fellow elf, and it was Nero’s job to help him recover the First Heir of Armena. Standing in the cell, it was strange that he should now control Xander’s destiny, deciding if he would live or die. On the other hand, this was exactly the kind of power Nero had been craving his entire life. And he wanted more.
Nero turned back to Sivan. “His gear is missing. I assume you searched it thoroughly when Xander was brought inside the prison and that it is stored somewhere nearby.”
“We did, and, it is.”
“And the gem was not found among his belongings?” Nero said.
“We did not find the gem in his gear or on his person.”
Would you have told me if you had? Nero knew he and Sivan were playing on the same team, but he had no illusions about Sivan’s loyalties. He would have happily recovered the gem himself and handed it over to the Guildmaster without Nero’s knowledge.
Sivan continued, saying, “I don’t think he has it with him.”
“I know he does,” Nero replied confidently.
Without another word, Nero went down on one knee and began searching Xander’s body. He had watched the rogue with great scrutiny for a long time, and there was no place Xander could have hidden the gem, except perhaps at the Basilica of Fortuna. It had to be here. Nero emptied Xander’s pockets and searched every nook and cranny of Xander’s studded leather armor. The gem didn’t seem to b
e on Xander’s person, but Nero didn’t panic right away. Nero’s deft hands felt around the rogue’s neckline until he came away with a fist sized pouch that he lifted over Xander’s head. He untied the small pouch with anxious fingers and emptied it onto the floor. A fist sized platinum coin plunked to the floor, but nothing else. The gem wasn’t there!
Unbelievable. This scum had bested the Guild yet again. Nero yelled out in irritation and jumped to his feet. He kicked Xander in the ribs and then he kicked him again.
Sivan said, “I thought as much. My men are very thorough at …”
Nero tuned Sivan out as a thought crashed into his mind like thunder. He had to have it on him. Nero wasn’t buying into Xander’s game this time. Nero held up a hand to silence Sivan; he walked back over to Xander and bent down to collect the pouch that had hung around his neck. He examined it carefully. It felt empty to the touch. He turned it inside out. He saw another tie string sewn into the inside of the bag. Nero felt this inner pouch and did not feel anything except the side of the bag. Nero untied the string to this magical inner pouch and turned the bag upside down. A brilliant, fist-sized diamond fell out of the inner pouch and clunked onto the stone floor. Nero let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. At long last, there it was, lying on the floor in front of him. It had taken him almost half a year to find it, but he had finally accomplished his mission.
Nero came back out of the cell with the diamond in his hand. He turned to Sivan and said, “Do you know what this is?”
“Yes, it is the gem that holds the High Wizard of the Sorcerers. By keeping him locked away, the Guildmaster hopes the Sorcerers will be paralyzed into inaction when he makes his move against Kentar.”
Do the Gods Give Us Hope? Page 20