Wylan's stomach rose to his throat as he saw Azmet and six men marching down the corridor towards him.
"I think we have a spy or a thief," Wylan heard Azmet say. "I know someone opened the door to the library I was in. I checked my office, but did not see anyone there. Be cautious. It may be a magical thief."
Wylan knew the guards would do a room-by-room search and that he would not be able to hide from them this time. Looking behind him at the long corridor and the next intersection in the far distance, Wylan turned and ran. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He knew his life depended upon his speed and he gave up any thoughts he had about silence. Wylan heard the shouts behind as someone must have heard his running. Within seconds, his pursuers turned the corner and their shouting was very clear. They had seen Wylan and were splitting up to catch him.
Wylan reached the intersection and sped around the corner, bumping into one of Azmet's men and sending him sprawling. Wylan careened into the wall of the corridor as he bounced off the man he had bowled over. He pushed himself off the wall with his free hand and continued running, the Sword of Heavens securely in his other hand. Wylan began to feel the exertion as he raced along the corridor. His legs became numb as one foot pounded before the next. His mouth opened wide as his lungs screamed for air and he felt the strain in his hand from clutching the Sword of Heavens tightly, lest it fall and ruin his chances of escape.
Wylan saw the main chamber of the temple before him and he noticed that the worshippers were starting to stare at him. By the time he entered the main chamber, all of the worshippers were on their feet and pointing at him. Wylan charged into their midst and most of the worshippers dove out of his way. Shouts rang across the chamber from the direction of where the other corridor entered the chamber, and Wylan turned his head to look. Three of the men that had been with Azmet were entering the chamber and shouting at the worshippers to stop the thief. Suddenly, the worshippers were no longer diving out of Wylan's way, but were rather trying to grab him. Wylan brought his free hand up and started shoving people away as they sought to lay hands on him.
Wylan's lungs felt as if they would burst, and he nearly tripped as he leaped over a worshipper who had thrown his body in front of Wylan. Without a glance behind him to see how close his pursuers were, Wylan charged through the doors of the temple and into the street. He turned towards the park as his legs continued to pump mechanically. He reached the end of the block near the park and sped around the corner as he glanced back to see men pouring out of the temple and giving chase. He turned his head too late to see the old man standing in the road before him. They collided, both men falling to the ground and the Sword of Heavens sliding across the street to hit the wheel of the wagon parked there.
The old man was surprisingly spry as he leaped to his feet and grabbed the Sword of Heavens. Wylan picked his exhausted body off the ground and scowled at the old man as he ran towards him to retrieve the old sword. The old man opened the flap of his wagon and threw the Sword of Heavens inside.
"That is mine," protested Wylan with a raspy voice.
"Then follow it into the wagon," retorted the old man. "I doubt the sword is yours, but I do not believe it belongs to the men chasing you either. Get inside and cover yourself up."
Wylan could hear the shouts of his pursuers and did not have time to think of his actions. He dove into the wagon as the old man held the flap open. He realized that quick movements would make the wagon rock so he slowly crawled as far into the wagon as he could and looked for something to cover himself as he heard Azmet's men round the corner and stop. He heard the men discussing where Wylan might have gotten to, and then they started asking the old man which way Wylan had gone.
"I do not waste my time watching the young people of today," snarled the old man. "Perhaps he went up that alley over there. You will have a better chance of finding him by looking for him than you will by standing here talking to me."
"Perhaps we should search your wagon old man," quipped one of the pursuers.
"Perhaps you should wait until I have my goods properly displayed on a tarp like the rest of the citizens of Cleb," retorted the old man.
"We are wasting time with this fool," growled another pursuer. "He wouldn't give us the right season if he knew it. Let's split up. The thief could not have gotten far."
"They do not seem like friendly people," the old man said softly to the wagon after the men had left. "You have either great courage for stealing from them, or you are more fool than anyone deserves to be. Which is it?"
"Perhaps both," sighed Wylan. "Is it safe to come out?"
"Not hardly," replied the old man. "My name is Boris Khatama. Who do I have the pleasure of hiding?"
"My name is Wylan," the thief answered as he found the Sword of Heavens where it landed and dragged it close to him.
"Why did you steal the sword?" asked Boris. "I know it is valuable, but you cannot spend gold if you are dead. Perhaps it is best if I buy it off you."
"The sword is not for sale," scowled Wylan. "At least not to you."
"Not very grateful are you," chuckled the merchant.
"I am grateful, old man," replied Wylan. "It is just that you do not have what I want for the sword."
"Boris," the merchant said sternly. "You may call me Boris or Master Khatama. Do I call you child?"
"I am sorry Boris," Wylan apologized. "I am grateful for your help and do not mean to be angry with you."
"Do you think my gold is not a good as the prophet's?" questioned Boris.
"It is not gold that I seek for the sword," answered Wylan. "Two of my friends have been captured by Azmet. I seek to use the sword to free them."
"Then once again I have to wonder how much a fool you might be," frowned Boris. "Azmet will never free your friends for the sword. He will negotiate until he has both your friends and the sword. I suspect he will have you as well."
"Even though he preaches a weird religion," posed Wylan, "he is still a man of religion. Is he not? How could he not honor his word?"
"Azmet is not concerned about religion," retorted Boris. "He cares about power. Religion is only the tool he uses to achieve his power."
"But Abuud spoke to him in the desert," offered Wylan. "Why would a god choose a prophet and give him the sacred statue if he was going to be a false prophet?"
"Azmet no more spoke to Abuud than you did," chuckled Boris. "The statue is as much a fraud as Azmet himself. I have seen the true sacred statue of Abuud. It resides on the Island of Storms off the Horn of Lanoir."
Chapter 10
Ruse of Truth
"So everything about Azmet is fake?" questioned Wylan from inside the wagon.
"Not everything," cautioned Boris. "The people he kills remain dead. Do not underestimate that man. He is evil and his followers are capable of great destruction. I want you to remain in the wagon for a while. I have to take a walk, but I will be back soon. Then I will get you out of the city."
"I do not want to leave my horse," worried Wylan. "I cannot travel well without it."
"Then we shall gather your horse on the way," declared Boris. "Stay hidden and try not to rock the wagon."
Boris turned and entered the nearby alley. Unseen by either Boris or Wylan, Niki moved out of her hiding spot near the wagon. She walked casually up the street leading to the temple. There was something about the old merchant that she did not like, but listening to him had given Niki an idea about getting the diamond. Niki walked up the steps and into the temple. The worshippers were spread throughout the room, but it was not overly packed, and Niki was able to get fairly near the statue. She gazed up at the diamond eye far above her and wondered how she would be able to reach it and how much effort it would take to pry it out.
***
Niki looked around the vast hall for the Prophet Azmet, but she did not see him anywhere. Also missing were Azmet's henchmen. Niki walked around the room looking for something that she would be able to stand on when the time came
to steal the diamond. Unfortunately there was nothing that would raise her high enough to reach it. Niki decided to look further down one of the corridors running off of the worship chamber. There were no guards to stop Niki from entering the forbidden area of the temple.>
***
"I can't stand this any more," Tedi screamed.
"Try to stay calm," advised Arik. "The purpose of these types of cells is to drive you to the point of telling them whatever they want to know."
"Stay calm?" shouted Tedi. "You want me to stay calm while these slimy things are burrowing under my skin? The rats biting are one thing, but I do not want these worms, or snakes, or whatever they are, inside my body. And they hurt like you would not believe when you pull them out while they are burrowing."
"Do you think they are attacking just you?" queried Arik. "My body itches all over just thinking about what is in this cell that we cannot see. My rat bites are bleeding and I bet I have as many of those burrowers as you do. I shudder to think of what will happen if I miss one and it gets inside my body."
"All we would have to do is fall asleep in here," complained Tedi. "We would probably never wake up. We would end up just like the rotten corpses that are stinking up this place."
"Probably," nodded Arik in the dark, "but I fear that we would wake up. I am sure these burrowers would probably eat us from the inside out. I do not want to imagine what that would feel like."
The conversation was interrupted by the sound of the bolt on the hatch being removed. Arik and Tedi listened with dread as footsteps echoed in the dank corridor outside the cell door. The footsteps stopped outside their cell door.
"I require one of the prisoners," demanded the cruel voice. "Which one you choose is up to you. I will take the other one after I have sufficiently made the first one scream for death."
Tedi trembled as he listened to the guards outside the door laugh. The cruel voice cut them off quickly however.
"You think my talents are humorous," growled the cruel voice. "I promise you that neither of you big brave men could hold the contents of your stomach if I made you watch me work. Never laugh in my presence again. I detest humor."
Tedi pulled his dagger and held it before him. The light from the torturer's torch flickered through the small window in the metal door, and Arik noticed Tedi's stance. He reached over and gently pushed Tedi's dagger hand away from his friend's neck.
"That is not an answer to the problem," warned Arik. "Never seek to end your own life. There is always hope to be had and cherished."
"Well they will not get close enough to us to use it on them," protested Tedi. "The dagger is of little use for anything other than ending our own lives."
The metal door swung open grudgingly, and one of the guards held a torch into the room.
"Stand up both of you," ordered the guard. "You on my right, leave your dagger for your friend, and come out of the cell slowly. You have a visitor."
Tedi was on the guard's right, but Arik dropped his dagger and stepped forward.
"No matter to me," snarled the guard. "If neither of you can tell left from right then I won't tell. Come on get out here."
Arik walked to the door of the cell and halted. He looked at the huge bulk of a man that had to be the torturer. The man was bald and he had a scar running down the entire length of the left side of his face. His left ear appeared to have been cut off and his eyes were set deep into his face.
"I have an offer for the Prophet Azmet," Arik stated to the torturer.
"You will have more than one offer for him before I get done with you, lad," snarled the torturer.
"Actually, I will be of little use to Azmet after you get through with me," Arik stated defiantly. "We can offer Azmet the city of Tagaret on a silver platter. That is what Azmet desires."
"If you can do that then you can offer him two cities after I make you suffer a bit," retorted the bald-headed giant.
"Are you willing to stake your life on that?" questioned Arik. "I am offering Azmet exactly what he wants. After you torture us, he will never get Tagaret. That I can guarantee you. Worse for you, Azmet will know that he failed because of his torturer. I can imagine that his treatment of you will be far worse than what you do to me."
"Give me the other one," the torturer snarled to the guards.
"You are not listening," growled Arik. "It does not matter which one of us you torture. If either of is mutilated, Tagaret will never fall to Azmet. You obviously do not know the Prophecy of Alcea very well. We are the twins the prophecy speaks of. Whatever befalls us befalls the city of Tagaret. When one of us pricks a finger, scores of people in Tagaret die. By the time you finish torturing just one of us, there will be no city of Tagaret to welcome the Prophet Azmet. Your actions will have destroyed what he seeks."
"Rubbish," growled the torturer. "I know of no such prophecy."
"Yes," Arik shook his head, "and you being such a learned man as you are, I would never have guessed that your education skipped over the Prophecy of Alcea. The point is that we are offering what the Prophet Azmet wants, and we offer it without hesitation. It is your skin that will be peeled. If you are set to continue with your own destruction then lead me away. I am sure these guards are loyal enough to Azmet and will report this conversation."
"Perhaps you should check with the Prophet of Abuud before making this decision," one of the guards said to Achmed, the torturer. "I do not plan to be punished along with you for your mistake. If you demand the prisoner then I must report immediately to Azmet what I have heard."
"You dare to defy me," snarled Achmed. "Perhaps I should take you to my work room."
Both guards stepped back and drew their swords. "We are faithful to the Prophet of Abuud," retorted the guard. "We are prepared to ascend to Paradise at any moment. If that moment comes against you then it will be Abuud's will. You will not get these prisoners until Azmet has been notified of the prophecy the lad speaks of."
"Get back in the cell," ordered the other guard.
Arik nodded and returned to Tedi. The cell door slammed shut and Tedi handed Arik's dagger to him.
"What did that accomplish?" Tedi whispered to Arik.
"It bought us a little time," Arik whispered back. "If Azmet buys into the prophecy then he will have to transport us to Tagaret. At least there will be some chance of being rescued that way."
"As you said before," Tedi smiled weakly, "we should never give up hope. I know you already realize this, but I am glad that you are here with me. I do not understand how you think sometimes, but I want to learn to think just like you."
"There are times that you think more clearly than I do," offered Arik. "Together we make a good team."
***
The guards seized Niki roughly, and she started screaming. One of the guards slapped Niki hard to shut her up, and Niki's head spun from the blow. Her vision clouded over, and stars danced before her eyes. The guards did not seem to care as they dragged her along the corridor. They dragged her to Azmet's office and threw her into the room after they opened the door. Niki's body hit the floor and sprawled before Azmet's desk.
"What is this?" Azmet asked as he looked up from the chair behind his desk.
"Another one entering the forbidden areas," reported one of the guards. "We caught her snooping around in one of the corridors leading off the worship hall."
"She is the wench we threw out before," offered the other guard.
"So she is," snarled Azmet. "Perhaps we should let Achmed have her to play with. Has he gotten anything out of the prisoners yet?"
"I saw him heading for the cells just a few moments ago," answered one of the guards. "I suspect it will be awhile before he reports back."
"Why are you in the forbidden area?" demanded Azmet as he glared at Niki.
"I was looking for you," answered Niki as she rubbed her eyes. "I have information that is valuable to you."
"I am sure you do," scowled Azmet. "What could you possibly know that would interest me?"
"I know much more than you could imagine," answered Niki as she tried to sound confident. She did not like Azmet's arrogance when he had mentioned giving her to one of his men. Suddenly she wondered if she should share any information with him.
"Well you have found me," Azmet stated impatiently. "What great knowledge do you wish to share?"
"I know where the Sword of Heavens is," Niki declared. "And I know where the real statue is too."
Azmet's eyes narrowed as he gazed at the woman on the floor before him. He looked up at the two guards and scowled, "I think I can question this wench without your help. Perhaps you should be doing a better job of patrolling the corridors. I do not want to hear about another person roaming my halls."
Azmet waited while the guards bowed and backed out of the room. When the door closed he turned his attention back to Niki.
"What other statue?" Azmet asked harshly.
"The real statue of Abuud," Niki answered as she picked herself off the floor and sat in one of the plush chairs. "I have spoken to a traveler who has seen the actual statue."
"We have the real statue here," declared Azmet. "Anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool. Abuud himself gave it to me."
"Whatever," sighed Niki. "If you do not wish to know where the real statue is, that is fine with me. I am sure someone would like to know."
"And what makes you think that you will live to tell anyone about it?" sneered Azmet.
"Because soon everyone will know," smiled Niki. "Everyone except you that is. Wylan, Arik, and Tedi are going to retrieve it and bring it here to show everyone. Then your little charade will be over. What will your followers say then?"
"Who are these people?" inquired Azmet.
"Arik and Tedi are the ones you imprisoned," replied Niki. "Wylan is the one who stole the Sword of Heavens. They are all in this together."
"And where is this supposed statue?" demanded Azmet.
"You think I will tell you so you can then kill me?" laughed Niki. "I am not stupid. This information is valuable and I want something in return for it."
Abuud: the One-Eyed God Page 12