by J. J. Newman
“Even so, it’s not your fault. Even if that man attacked Aedrus because he helped you, that don’t make it your fault.”
Tsaeris was not so sure. He felt terrible about this, and that bothered him. He prided himself on his ability to shrug off almost anything and take the worst of life in stride. Yet what happened to Aedrus and his father had struck a chord inside him. One thing Tsaeris was sure of. He would find this man and he would kill him. He knew he had to make this right, and it was the only thing he could think to do.
“I wonder what will happen to the kid now. Probably end up in an orphanage.” Tsaeris sighed. He hated the thought.
“Not so,” Jarod replied.
“What do you mean?” Tsaeris looked up sharply.
“My father was good friends with the boy’s father, and has known Aedrus since he was born. He wasn’t going to let the kid waste away in an orphanage.”
“So, what? Is he taking Aedrus to live with him?” Tsaeris asked.
“No. Father doesn’t have time to raise any more children. My brother and I were enough to sour him on that forever, I think. No, he had Aedrus recruited. He’ll be an agent someday.”
“An agent? That’s...I didn’t know...” Tsaeris wasn’t sure how he felt about this. On one hand, it was better than an orphanage. But Aedrus had a much different life than Tsaeris had before coming to the Initiative. How would a boy with such a normal life cope with the responsibilities and dark work of a Third Eye Initiative agent? He would find out in three years when Aedrus began his novice stage, he supposed. Maybe he could help the boy when it came to that point.
“He’ll be alright, Tsaeris. You’ll see,” Jarod said, trying to reassure Tsaeris.
“Well, surprise, surprise. Look who finally decided to come back to the safe house.” The voice belonged to a female, and was coming from behind Tsaeris.
Before he could turn around the owner of the voice walked past him and sat opposite him at the table, beside Jarod. She had three tankards of ale with her and gave one to Tsaeris and Jarod respectively.
“Hello Raina.” Tsaeris smiled at the sight of the woman. She had light brown hair and was only a few years older than Tsaeris. She was trim and fit, and pretty.
Raina had been a recruit with Jarod and Tsaeris. The two had hit it off instantly, and he had always looked forward to spending time with her. Though he enjoyed being around her, his feeling towards her were in no way sexual. It’s not that she wasn’t attractive. She was. Tsaeris just found that his friendship with her was such that it repelled those kinds of feelings, and he liked it that way.
“Been too long, Tsaeris. I never see you down here,” Raina said.
“I’m a city man, Raina. I prefer to have no more than a door between myself and the outside.”
“You could still come and visit once in a while,” Raina chided.
“Why not come to The Tarnished Tankard up? I’m there most of the time when I’m not working.”
“Maybe I will. I haven’t seen you since you became a novice. You could at least come and say hi when you’re at the safe house. How was I supposed to know where you hang out up top?”
“Two things. This is my first time back to the safe house since I became a novice. And where the hell else would I hang out up top?”
“Fair enough,” Raina said.
“So what do you think about this Purity Union stuff, Raina?” Jarod asked.
“It’s bad news,” Raina said, turning to Jarod. “Every night there are attacks on non-humans. Last night a dwarf was found dead in an alley. They even shaved his beard off as a sign of disrespect.”
“That seems dangerous,” Tsaeris said. “Attacking elves is one thing. There aren’t many here in The City yet. But pissing off the dwarves...that could bite them in the ass.”
“No kidding. A lot of these attacks are Union sympathizers. Racists who get so worked up by Union propaganda that they go out and do these terrible things. The Purity Union gets away clean because the people doing the actual killings aren’t officially affiliated with them.”
“This doesn’t make any sense,” Tsaeris said thoughtfully.
“What do you mean?” Jarod asked.
“The Purity Union has been around for a while, yet they never facilitated violence like this. Why now?”
“The alliance with the elves,” Jarod replied.
“It’s not enough. That doesn’t explain this. Sure, they hate this alliance. But they’re not really gaining anything by these random bouts of violence. The Elves had to have known that something like this would happen. That there would be some adjustment time.” Tsaeris knew he was onto something, but he wasn’t sure what it was.
“Then why the assassination attempt on Ambassador Bel?” Raina asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe that was a real attempt. That would have stopped the alliance cold.” Tsaeris stopped for a moment to think, and then continued. “If stopping the alliance had been that important to them, why only send one assassin? It makes no sense.”
“What are you trying to say, Tsaeris?” Raina asked.
“I don’t know. They failed to stop the alliance. They have gained nothing at all. Dormic wants power. He wants to be on the Council. He can get that without doing any of this. We know the Council is for sale, a bit of gold and he gets in. This seems so risky.”
Tsaeris didn’t know what any of it meant, though he felt like he was on the cusp of understanding. He sighed and shook his head. Maybe he was just over analyzing.
“Well, whatever it is I’m sure Elias will figure it out at some point,” Raina offered.
“Yeah, he probably already knows what it’s all about. Speaking of which, I better go back street side and check in with him. If he’s looking for me, I doubt he’ll check down here. Thanks for the drink, Raina. You two take it easy.”
Tsaeris walked away from the table, deep in thought as he made his way through the safe house proper and up to the streets to find Elias.
***
Elias had had enough of this. First the attack on Tsaeris, then all the dead non-humans. They had even gone as far as attacking the boy and father who had saved Tsaeris’ life. It was time to end this.
Elias had killed some of the high ranking members, hoping that these attacks would generate fear among the Union. It had not. In the end, Elias realized that there was only one course of action that could effectively end this threat. Dormic had to die. With him gone, there would be no risk of the Purity Union having a seat on the council. He doubted that the Union would push things any further if they found out their leader was dead.
Elias stood on a rooftop overlooking the Purity Union compound grounds. Four other agents were with him. He wore a long sword at his hip, and a hard leather chest piece. He left his cloak behind. It would only get in the way, and the night was not too cold.
Elias made a series of hand gestures to the agents, and silent as wraiths, Elias led them from the roof into the streets. The moon was obscured by clouds this night, and the shadows were long and dark. It was late enough that the streets were empty. Moving from shadow to shadow, Elias and his agents approached the compound.
Elias signaled for one agent to follow him, and for the rest to wait. Their bodies pressed tightly to the wall, they slowly made their way toward the front gate. Elias was able to make out the forms of two guards, who talking quietly amongst themselves.
Moments later, Elias and the agent dragged the two dead bodies of the guards into the shadows. Their throats had been cut. They regrouped with the others. The wall was ten feet high and made of stone. To most people it would seem a sheer impossible climb, but these were Third Eye Initiative agents. To them the wall might as well have been a staircase.
Once inside the grounds, Elias and his agents split up to silence any guards patrolling the yard. Elias saw the torch light of one, and skillfully made his way behind the walking guard. In two quick motions, Elias grabbed his head from behind and cut his throat with a dagger. The guard walke
d no more.
It didn’t take long for Elias and his agents to clean the yard and front door of guards. They rendezvoused at the rear of the mansion below the window to Dormic’s bed room. There was no light coming from inside the window. Dormic was either asleep, or not yet in his chambers. Either way, they would kill him in his sleep, or wait from him to return.
Carefully and silently, Elias and his agents began to climb the rear of the mansion, using the window sills as hand and footholds. Elias was the first to Dormic’s window. The window was tall and wide, almost like two glass doors stretching upwards from floor to ceiling. He pushed lightly. It was locked.
Elias removed a small, thin hook from his belt pouch, and slid it through the small gap where the two tall glass windows met. Within a few short seconds, Elias had the hook around the latch and with one quick tug the lock came undone. Elias slowly pushed the large windows open, and then entered the room.
The four agents were right behind him, and the last one in closed and latched the windows. Elias scanned the room. The room was dark, but Elias’ trained eyes were able to pick out a few details. A large bed sat against the wall to his right. Other tall dark forms must have been dressers and closets. The floor beneath him felt soft and carpeted.
On silent feet, Elias moved to the bed. It was empty. He moved back to the agents and through a series of gestures, ordered them to take up hidden positions in the room and await Dormic’s return. There was no time, however, as the door to the room opened. The room flooded with light from torches in the hall outside. Elias and his agents moved quickly to the walls of the room. It was Dormic.
Elias was sure they must have been spotted, but the light from the large candle in his hand must have impaired Dormic’s night vision, as he hadn’t reacted to them. Elias was relieved. The candlelight washed the room in a dull orange light, but wasn’t bright enough to dispel the shadows from the walls and corners. The agents made good use of those shadows.
Dormic was dressed in an expensive looking red silk robe. He placed the candle on the table beside his bed, and pulled the thick white blanket back. Dormic lifted the pillow as if to fluff it, but Elias caught the glint of silver. Before he could register what that meant, Dormic spun around quickly and cast two knives into the shadows. Elias heard a couple of painful grunts and the bodies of two agents fell to the floor.
Elias drew his sword, and exited the shadows. The other two agents were closer to Dormic than he, and attacked him with swords drawn. Dormic produced a short sword from beneath his robes and with two quick motions cut the agents down. They never had a chance. It had happened so quickly, and now Elias was alone. Dormic spun to face him.
“You fool! What the hell do you think you’re doing!?” Dormic asked angrily.
“It’s over, Dormic. Tonight, you die,” Elias said, as he approached the man with his sword at the ready.
“This is a mistake. You forced my hand, and now your friends are dead. Must you die as well?” Dormic said
“We’ll see,” Elias said coldly, then lunged at Dormic.
Elias swung his sword horizontally from the left, and then in a quick skillful motion reversed the direction. Dormic parried the attack easily, and kicked Elias hard in the stomach. The blow knocked the wind out of him, and he feel to his knees. It was all he could do to bring his sword up to deflect a killing blow leveled at his head. Elias knocked the blade away, and then rolled to his left and onto his feet in one smooth motion.
“You’re not going to kill me, friend. You should accept that, and just leave.”
Elias came at him again, more carefully this time. He had obviously underestimated Dormic. He knew that he faced an experienced swordsman now. He stabbed out several times with his long sword, trying to feel Dormic out. Dormic easily blocked each attack, never taking the offensive.
Elias moved as if to throw another quick stab, then stepped forward quickly slashing hard at Dormic’s neck. Dormic ducked swiftly, and punched out his the hilt of his sword. The blow landed square on Elias’ nose, breaking it. Blood poured down over his mouth and chin.
Elias leaped backwards narrowly avoiding Dormic’s sword, but he was dizzy from the blow to his nose and the quick motion of the dodge made Elias stumble into the wall. Before he could react, Dormic’s sword pieced his right shoulder. Elias’ own blade fell from numb fingers as Dormic roughly yanked his sword free of his flesh.
Dormic, grinning, slashed out at Elias throat. Elias fell to the floor desperately, and rolled. He rolled hard into the tall window, the impact jarring him. He struggled to his feet.
“Well, this was fun. But it’s time to end this. I do have a long day ahead of me, and need a full night’s sleep. It will be hours before my servants clean up the bloody remains of your friends and yourself.”
“You...think this is over?” Elias asked, his voice coming out in painful rasps.
“It certainly looks that way, doesn’t it?” Dormic sounded quite pleased with himself. He approached Elias slowly, teasingly.
“I have to say. It was nice to finally meet you, Elias.”
Elias’ eyes went wide when Dormic said his name, and Dormic grinned at his reaction. Dormic stepped forward quickly, leveling his sword for a killing blow. Elias reached to his belt, pulled out a small knife and threw it at Dormic. It buried deep into his arm and he cried out in pain.
Mustering what strength he had left, Elias threw himself backwards into the window. He crashed through it in a shower of cutting glass. He felt shards of it pierce his skin. Then he was falling.
Chapter Twenty Two
A Dark Challenge
The shock of impact with the ground sent waves of agony through Elias’ spine. He saw lights dancing before his eyes, and nausea threatened to overwhelm him. He forced his eyes open and the world was spinning. He wondered if he had broken his back.
It was only with a heroic effort that Elias managed to force himself to his feet. He was in pain and even standing hurt, but he was reasonably sure that nothing was broken. He was behind the mansion, with the compound wall only about ten paces away from him. His shoulder was bleeding heavily, and he could barely lift his right arm. There was no way he could climb the wall in his current state.
He heard voices inside the mansion. Dormic was shouting for his men. Apparently Dormic had not trusted the fall to kill Elias. It was dark and heavily shadowed where Elias stood. There’s a good chance that Dormic was unable to see him when he had hit the ground. Now, he had precious little time to escape the compound before Dormic’s men found him. Elias was too injured to put up any serious fight.
Elias decided to circle around the right side of the mansion and make his way to the front gates. He had taken the key off of one of the guards he killed when he had infiltrated the grounds with his agent, so it was only a matter of a hundred yards and he was safe. How hard could that be?
He limped painfully towards the side of the mansion, his every bone aching in protest. This was bad, he was moving too slowly. He gritted his teeth, and tried to quicken his pace. His right leg gave out from beneath him and he fell heavily to a knee. Ignoring the waves of pain, Elias got to his feet once again. He continued his trek, using the wall of the mansion for support.
When Elias finally turned the corner to the side of the mansion, he heard the clink of armor and the sounds of heavy boots stomping on the cobblestone ground. Dormic’s men were entering the yard to look for him. He paused and waited, unsure of what his next move would be. He knew they would be coming to look for him around the mansion soon enough.
He heard the guard shout out, then another. They had found some of the bodies. Time was running out. Elias edged his way along the side of the mansion, keeping his back tight against the building. When he reached the front edge, he was able to take his first look at the open yard between him and the gate. What he saw did not bode well for him.
Guards were spreading out in all directions, with a team of at least four headed towards the mansion where he now hi
d. The four guards broke off into separate directions, with two heading towards the opposite side of the mansion, and the other two heading straight for where he was concealed in the shadow. He was surrounded.
Slowly and silently, he moved back the way he had come, trying to keep out of sight. The shadows did well to hide him now, but they would not conceal him when the guards were right in front of him. He tried to think of a way out of this, and he knew he had only one option. He needed to kill these two guards quickly and silently when they reached him. The task was daunting. He was in rough shape.
Elias crouched low, trying to make himself as small as possible. With any luck, the guards would not notice him until it was too late. He reached into his boot and drew a long, thin dagger. He steadied his breathing. He was reasonably sure that he would be able to kill one of the guards quickly and silently but he doubted that he could manage both in his present state without creating some noise. He pushed the thought from his mind. He had to try, it was his only chance. Resigned to whatever happened, Elias readied himself.
The guards were right in front of him when he stuck. Like a snake uncoiling to snatch up its prey, Elias sprang up and pierced the throat of the first guard. His vocal cords had been cut, and he made no sound as blood poured from the wound. Elias cringed as the second guard let out a surprised yell, and Elias quickly slashed his throat, silencing him. It was too late, however. The yell would have been heard by every guard in the area. Elias’ gamble had failed.
He could hear the feet of the other two guards who had surrounded the mansion coming from behind the house. They would be on him soon. He could also hear the sounds of more guards running towards the mansion.
Then something odd happened. Just when the two guards behind the house should have rounded the side, the footsteps went silent and no guards appeared. Elias frowned, but was unable to come up with any answers. Perhaps they had tripped? He didn’t know, and didn’t really care at the moment.