Rage of the Diamond's Eye (The Guildsmen Series Book 1)

by Becker, Shawn

  Sarah giggled, pulling him the along the way by the arm.

  Behind them, Sarah’s uncle watched from the mouth of a darkened alley.

  ***

  Tair looked up at the wooden sign with the faded picture of a yellow orb over a golden field as Myst pounded her fist upon the small, yet sturdy door of the Golden Harvest Tavern.

  “Forget it, Myst,” Tair scolded. “They’re not open.”

  “We have come to three taverns so far and all are closed,” Myst said with a jerk of her cape. “At this rate we will never find this thief.”

  “Not all thieves spend their quality time in taverns,” Tair said, adjusting the leather belt she wore at her waist. “Maybe we should start checking the inns?”

  “The guard we asked said there was one near the Lord’s house, what was it called?”

  “Fhaalvak Inn,” Tair smiled.

  “How original,” Myst sneered. “Let’s start there.”

  The two women continued their trek through the river town, skirting past anxious foot soldiers and gawking townsfolk. There was a sense of urgency in the air as if the people of Fhaalvak knew their time was running out. Myst and Tair certainly felt it as they knew the truth of the matter: the Zynnashans would reach the lake at any time.

  Exiting a smaller lane lined with tall, tiered balconies, the pair came upon an open market square. The shops here were of sturdier build and the street was a mix of earth and gravel; finer than the dirt paths taken near the river entrance. A number of shops were closed, but a few were open, catering to the higher-class of Fhaalvak. A large gathering of well-to-do townsfolk were clustered near the opening of a glass shop. Mostly made of women, the group whispered fervently about what was transpiring around town. They gasped as each one told a more outlandish tale, grasping their silk shawls or waving lace covered fans in front of their delicately painted faces.

  Tair suddenly grabbed Myst by her cloak and pulled her to a stop. The red headed woman looked at her friend irritably, demanding to know what she was doing with just a stern look.

  “Is that one of those Magi people?” she pointed past the women to a still morning-shadowed street where a lone figure dressed in white approached.

  Myst stared hard at the figure. He was dressed in a multi-layered robe of varying shades of white, his hands hidden in its huge sleeves. His hair was long, the color of molten sunlight. He walked with halting steps, pausing every so often to pull his hands apart to expose a short, wooden-looking rod. He would shake the rod vigorously, inspect it, and then continue on his way.

  Myst had seen one of his kind before when she was younger. Her father had entertained a Magi of the Diamond Order during a particularly brutal winter storm and had given him shelter. He was dressed much the same way this one was.

  “Yes,” Myst agreed. “And he seems to be looking for something.”

  “A Diamond Magi looking for a diamond?”

  “It seems so,” said Myst, her voice a low growl. “If anyone were able to track the diamond, he can.”

  Tair gripped her friend by the shoulders so that she was facing her. “And what happens when he finds it? Are we just going to take it from a Magi?”

  Myst shook her head as she watched the robed figure turn southward, down a wide street. “No,” she said. “When he finds it, I will distract him and you will nab it.”

  “Of course,” Tair complied. “You do the fighting, I’ll do the nabbing. What about our large friend who is following us?”

  Myst turned her head to the empty street behind them. Though no one approached, she knew the large Guildsman named Dorn was hiding behind the corner. “Let him follow,” she finally answered. “If he gets in the way, then we shall deal with him, as well.”

  Tair jerked her head back, her eyebrows shooting up to her hairline. “Well, aren’t we just full of confidence? You must be full of it if you think we can handle a Magi and an ice barbarian in one fight.”

  “I don’t care. All that matters is getting that diamond and letting that lion Zyn Beast know I have it.”

  Tair nodded. “Ah, so we’re to fight a Magi, ice barbarian, and a lion Zyn Beast…they shouldn’t pose a problem.” She smiled as she said it, trying to keep the situation light, but the look in Myst’s eyes told a different story.

  She was in this for blood.

  27

  Tienn stood upon the rampart of the east gate, surveying the defenses the knights had prepared. The gate was barricaded and a dozen archers stood at the ready, their bows slung over their shoulders. Below him, squads of foot soldiers were preparing to fan out within the town to herd those near the gate to the southern edge of Fhaalvak, leaving their homes and businesses in the protection of the knights. Runners stood near the various wells dotted around the town armed only with buckets to help extinguish the fires that would surely come. Sprinkled within the crowd below were a few locals who were talented with a sword. Captain Longvaale had well over two hundred men at his command and he seemed quite confident in his ability to protect Fhaalvak from any threat.

  Tienn, however, was not so sure. His memories of fighting alongside the gorilla Zynnashans at the battle of Theenia brought back vivid images of their tenacious ferocity. The Zynnashans were a usually docile race, uninterested in becoming involved in the affairs of men, but when provoked, they were a force to be feared. Tienn knew that the east gate would not hold; not against the fire magic their Magi would wield. The only hope the knights held was in their numbers. From what Myst had described, the Zynnashans had only a dozen warrior wolves and four Fire Magi. It was indeed a formidable force, but he sincerely doubted they would defeat the entire garrison.

  Tienn skipped down the narrow wooden steps of the rampart to the ground below as Captain Longvaale came up to inspect his men. The Draaken glided through the rows to reach Ayce, but was suddenly blocked by Cassius.

  “I must speak with you,” he said. His tone did not inspire refusal. “Where is Dorn?”

  “He is doing some reconnaissance for us and I believe you have said all that needs to be said,” Tienn returned coldly.

  “I must know if Sajiix arrived with you,” he continued as though Tienn had said nothing.

  “I told you we have not seen him in three days.”

  Cassius searched Tienn’s white eyes for a moment. “But you believe he’s here, don’t you?” It wasn’t a question and Tienn’s facial expression spoke volumes.

  Tienn raised a defiant chin. “I hope he is here. He is our best hope in finding the Purestone.”

  “If he finds the diamond, he will die.”

  Tienn pointed a finger at the former knight. “Are you willing to let it come to that? Has your jealousy and hatred of the man driven you to such extremes?”

  Cassius shook his head in frustration. “I don’t want him dead. The House of Diathanos does.”

  Tienn’s face switched from an angered righteousness to horrified confusion. “What?”

  “Chancellor Tevic sent me here to murder Sajiix.”

  Tienn’s eyes hardened. “Well, why not? You tried to do so at the Guild!”

  “Yes,” Cassius sighed regretfully. “I lost control there for a moment.”

  “Lost control?” Tienn raised his voice, causing many guards around him to look in alarm – including Ayce.

  “Tienn, listen to me! We don’t have much time. If Sajiix is here, I have to find him.”

  “To kill him,” Tienn accused.

  “No, to protect him.”

  Tienn stared at Cassius, his mouth agape. Something was surely amiss, but Cassius’s voice presented him thoughts of the past. This was not the cold and angry tone of a man betrayed. It was the passion of a man pleading to do right. It sounded like the Cassius Tienn had always known.

  Seeing the baffled look upon the Draaken’s face, Cassius continued to explain, “Chancellor Tevic sent Protector D’ghelle here with the singular purpose of obtaining the Eye of Diathanos. This mission has been in preparation for days. When Sajii
x was discovered in Kaalé with the knowledge that the diamond was in Kaalmoore, Tevic had him captured and held until D’ghelle had a good head start to find the Zynnashan’s trail.

  “When you and the others aided Sajiix in escaping, he grew worried that Sajiix would find the diamond before it reached D’ghelle’s hands. So, he dispatched me here to make sure the deal between the diamond thief and D’ghelle went unhindered – and hinted that murdering Sajiix would benefit the House and all concerned.”

  Ayce appeared next to Tienn, his usually jovial face replaced with a mask of disbelief and shock. His lycanthropic gift allowed him to hear the conversation – one he felt he needed to be a part of. “But, I thought you were working for the church. For the past few months, you’ve been quoting scripture from the Luminous, having meetings with Chancellor Tevic, and spurning everything dealing with the Knights of Kaalé.”

  Cassius’s eyes bore a sadness neither expected. “My friends, I am so sorry. Since this past summer, I have been working with Commander Greeve and King Jalled on a secret quest to discover how strong Chancellor Tevic’s aspirations are and how far he would go to obtain his goals for the church. To do so, I had to pretend to spurn the knights and debase anything to do with the Magi. I had to use the Guild as a way of bartering trust with Tevic.”

  “But…but King Jalled is a stout follower of Diathanos…isn’t he?” Ayce looked from Tienn to Cassius for confirmation.

  “He is, but not as a fanatic,” Cassius answered. “His son, however…”

  Tienn waved his hands before him to hush anything more being said. “This still does not explain why you attacked Sajiix and have said nothing to us about this even during times we were alone. By Ethaea’s garden, we just found out the Purestone was stolen!”

  “Tevic placed a spy within our initiates. And, until today, I had no clue as to who it might have been.”

  “Until today,” Ayce repeated with a dumbfounded look.

  Tienn’s head snapped up to gaze into Cassius’s eyes, “Surely you do not believe…?

  “He has been with us during every engagement, every training exercise, and every trip concerning Guild business,” enlightened Cassius.

  Ayce whirled to face Tienn and placed a meaty finger in front of the Draaken’s face. “You see? You just had to have a Thaarakan in the Guild, didn’t you? ‘Oh, he’s different’, you said! ‘We can show the world that not all the northern people are greedy barbarians’, you said!”

  Tienn disregarded the mercenary, still intent on Cassius. “So, this fight you had with Sajiix was staged?”

  “Not entirely,” Cassius admitted. “I exaggerated my feelings. Tevic was watching us closely to make sure we didn’t initiate any Magi. I had to make him believe I hated them all. And when Sajiix arrived, I knew he would be monitored even closer than anyone else before.”

  Tienn nodded, coming to terms with the scope of the story. “In essence, you have been lying to us for months.”

  “You are missing the bigger picture, Tienn,” Cassius admonished. “Tevic wants the Eye of Diathanos for himself and he is willing to kill Magi for it. It’s possible that he may even be responsible for its theft, but we have no proof of that.

  “If the Magi get word that Tevic is attacking their own for the sake of procuring this artifact…”

  “…they will declare war on House Diathanos,” Tienn finished breathlessly.

  “I wanted to tell you this before you left Kaalé, but I wasn’t certain on the identity of the spy. Only when I arrived and saw Dorn with you did I know for sure,” Cassius told them.

  “I find it hard to fathom that you could not find a time to tell us of this during the past few months,” Tienn held up his hands to halt any words of explanation from Cassius. “But that is not our main concern now. Tevic believes the diamond to be here and has sent his squad to retrieve it. A group of Magi are also here. I find this too much of a coincidence. The gem must be here somewhere.”

  Ayce suddenly jumped as though someone had pinched him from behind. “Hold on!” he said urgently. “If Dorn is a spy working for Tevic, then he’s looking for the diamond, too, right?”

  “It is entirely possible,” Cassius said, rubbing the back of his neck.

  Ayce looked at Tienn as the Draaken quickly realized where he was going with this line of questioning. “Those two girls that were with us at the garrison…we think they may know the location of the diamond.”

  “And we sent Dorn to follow them,” Ayce finished.

  Cassius’s black eyebrows furrowed. “He’s not exactly built for stealth.”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “Very well,” Tienn said with an exasperated breath. “We all agree that Dorn is wrong for secretive action. The question now is what are we to do and are you with us once more?”

  Cassius placed a gloved hand upon his friend’s shoulder. “I am with you; as I was before, as I always will be.”

  Tienn inwardly felt a great weight lift from his soul in hearing these words. Since the events at the High Temple of Diathanos, he had felt a writhing queasiness over the possibility of losing Cassius to the church. Cassius was their leader and Tienn had no reluctance in allowing this to continue. He never had the nature for such responsibility. He was always too concerned on how he was leading instead of if he even should be.

  “Ayce, you should track those girls in case they actually do know where the diamond is. We cannot let Dorn give it to D’ghelle,” Cassius decided. “Tienn, I want you to track down where the Magi are and see if Sajiix is with them. I will go to the temple of Diathanos and see what D’ghelle knows.

  “With any luck, we can find the Purestone before the Zynnashans arrive.”

  ***

  For a while, Tair thought tracking the Diamond Magi without being seen would be difficult. The foot soldiers of Fhaalvak, however, made it quite easy as they began to herd the gossipers and gawkers away from the center of town toward the river gate. Both women just blended with the crowd, all the while keeping their eyes on the white-robed figure that continued to wave and tap the rod in his hand. Tair assumed it was a means of tracing the Purestone to its source, but the Magi seemed a bit put off by it as though it weren’t working properly. Every so often he would shake the rod angrily and retrace his steps until he saw something he felt was correct and moved forward in a different direction. Tair correctly guessed where he was leading them as it was the perfect place to hide something everyone wanted: the warehouse district.

  The pair followed the Magi at a distance as he stepped into the maze-like pathways that wove in and intersected amongst the low buildings. Some were two stories high, while most were of the same construct – low, flat-roofed wooden boxes with one door and no windows.

  The Magi seemed to have more trouble here with his divining rod, tapping it against dark walls of wood and muttering to himself. Both had to fall even further back as they lost the cover of the crowds now gathered around the main boulevard. He seemed oblivious to their presence, however, and continued on until stopping at a warehouse that was a bit larger than those around it. Although it had only one level, it was nearly three times the size of its neighbors. Tair and Myst stayed around a corner, peering every so often at the Magi.

  Tair noticed that he was taking quite an interest in the building, waving the rod around a singular door framed at the center of its longer side. The Magi tapped the door and then smacked the rod in the palm of his hand. The tip then began to emit a white light that grew brighter, illuminating the shadows the morning sun could not reach. The Magi seemed pleased with this reaction and looked around him to get his bearings.

  Tair pulled Myst back quickly, hoping he didn’t see them watching. After a few seconds, Tair crouched low and reached into her black vest, retrieving a small circular mirror. She slowly pointed it around the corner to where the Magi stood, careful not to reflect any sunlight above. She sighed in relief as she watched the Magi walking away toward a wide shaft of sunlight that marke
d the main boulevard. He moved quickly, intent on his direction.

  “I think he found it,” she whispered.

  “Is he still there?” Myst murmured back.

  Tair shook her head. “No, but I think he’s going back to get his friends.”

  Myst turned the corner, walking straight for the warehouse door. Tair had to run to keep up, her eyes darting from one intersection to the other. She reached the entrance and was pleased to see that the door had a simple turn key lock. “Keep watch,” she said, knowing Myst was doing so already.

  She replaced the mirror in her vest pocket and then retrieved a small leather case. Opening it delicately, she produced two lock picking tools and set to work on the door. Her nimble fingers made short work of the lock. Years of doing this sort of thing in Joram’s Bend had given her the skill to do so. While other young girls were playing with dolls or flirting with boys, she was always breaking into her aunt’s cabinets for money and treats. She might not have been popular back home, but she learned an invaluable trade. With a satisfied grin, she replaced her lock picks and stood up, brushing the mud from her knees.

  “That was almost too easy,” she said to Myst. “Let me make sure there aren’t any nasty surprises waiting for us.”

  She heard the crunch of gravel seconds before Myst’s fingers gripped her arm. Tair turned to make it look as though the two were chatting amicably in a darkened passageway. Around the opposite corner from where they stood appeared a local. He was short, stooped, and carried a belly grown from too much ale. He wore simple woven clothes and a stained brown coat. Underneath the coat, Tair could see the white of a dirty apron. The dark haired man sported a black moustache and wore a week’s worth of stubble on his neck and face. He carried no weapon Tair could see and staggered slightly as he turned their way. As he moved closer, she could smell the reek of alcohol surrounding him.

  He seemed genuinely surprised when he saw them and stumbled back so fast that Tair thought he would fall. He mumbled incoherently as he gave the two ladies a short stare and then continued on his way toward the sunshine, swaggering back and forth and using the walls of the warehouses along the narrow pathway to keep him upright.