Guardians of Evil

by C. R. Daems

  Emmund thrust his chin towards Zeph’s room. Once the door was closed behind them, he said, “Zeph, I’ve arranged for you to work as a blacksmith’s helper while we’re here. It will be a good cover if you need one. Liada can help you look a little more Sporish.”

  Liada laughed. By now, she looked and acted Sporish. Watching people at the market and learning to imitate them had been fun. She stroked the thin skirt that Sporish women preferred. She’d gotten used to their customs and mannerisms, too. She had tried to get Zeph to change his clothes with only minor success.

  “Liada, I couldn’t arrange anything for you, but I don’t think we will be here long enough for it to matter. We just need to find out what Roward and Sechael are up to. Roward will stay at the Roganista Temple. Sechael is staying with a man named Mareld, who is a member of the Supreme Council. He lives near Hi-ring—”

  “Hi-ring?” Liada asked.

  “Yes, the city is composed of three rings; Hi-ring the outer ring, Low-ring the inner ring, and In-ring which circles the market district. All streets originate at In-ring. Anyway, see what you can find out.”

  “Where’s the Temple?” Liada asked. She’d stay away from the temple if she could.

  “The intersection of Protector Street and Hi-ring.”

  * * * *

  “Kaim, I plan to go to the market to find some new clothes for Zeph and check out the people. Would you mind watching Sechael and Mareld?”

  “I will be their private storm.”

  A breeze fanned her hair.

  “Tali?”

  “He’s gone,” Tali said and giggled.

  “Then let’s be off to the market,” Liada said with a smile. The Inn was located on Low-ring and Stone, which made it an easy walk.

  The Breeze Point market looked similar to Osshaft’s, but the people were less formal and their clothing thinner. Liada wandered in and out of stalls looking for Zeph’s new clothes, watching people, and looking for the best place to get a deal. There were more people from Gorlack than she’d ever seen before. With the lighter and shorter shirts, their tatts were exposed and easy to recognize.

  Liada rummaged through on a pile of pants, looking for some that would fit Zeph. They all seemed a little too small. He’d acquired a blacksmith’s muscles, that was for sure.

  Then she felt Tali soar away. She looked up to see the Honorable Roward next to the stall. Seconds later the Quag with him belched a blast of fire, and the canvas roof caught fire. Liada dashed out looking around desperately for Tali.

  Vendors screamed as the flames rolled over stalls on both sides. The Quag launched into the air after some unseen object. Liada knew exactly what—Tali. Again, the Quag spit a stream of fire. Flames flew high into the air as people screamed. A woman next to her grabbed up a baby and hugged it close.

  Panic followed. Shoppers and vendors ran in every direction. A boy tripped over his own feet and fell face down in the dirt. A mother screamed as a man shoved her toddler out of way as he ran past.

  “Stop,” Roward shouted.

  Liada looked back to see him headed for her. She took off running, weaving in and out of the burning stalls hoping to lose him in the choking smoke and chaos. When she looked over her shoulder, he was gaining on her and she plowed right into a man who stepped in front of her.

  Roward grabbed her arm and slapped her several times across the face. She stomped on his foot and twisted loose. Freed, she dashed for a stall that had been trampled in the panic. She jumped a table lying on its side and hopped over squished melons and vegetables scattered over the floor. As she ran out the back between two empty booths, she heard a bang followed by a loud thud. When she ventured a look behind her, the priest was sprawled on the floor, covered in food. Liada ran into the crowd.

  Peering through heads and shoulders, she searched for any sight of the Quag. It must have flown off. The fires were burning out already. The flimsy canvas and thin boards had gone up in a flash, but smoke still filled the air. People stood staring at the devastation around them.

  “Did you see where it went?” she asked an older woman, who pointed off to her left. Three men were cursing at the priest and a woman shouting at him that they were doing more harm than good. Liada slipped behind an undamaged stall filled with iron pots of all sizes, to catch her breath and stay out of sight. A thick cloud of smoke hung over the market, and in the middle, a black pit of destruction.

  “Hold her,” Roward screamed as he came running out of the charred stalls. He was a mess of food bits, stains, and dirt. Liada gripped her shaking hands into fists. The brute had sent his Quag after Tali, had probably killed her. She grabbed up one of the pots in the stall.

  “Murderer,” she screamed and flung the pot in his direction.

  The pot hit him in the chest and he staggered back a step. Before Liada could turn and run, a melon hit Roward in the head and then a plate hit him in the arm. He looked around, gaping in disbelief.

  “I’m your protector! I’m a Senior Priest.”

  A woman screeched, “Some protector!” The woman dashed forward and slammed an iron pan into his belly.

  “That’s for my daughter. You and your thugs snatched her off the streets. She did nothing.” She hit him again, this time in the head.

  “And, my cousin.” A man punched him in the face. Blood spurted from his nose. Then a woman with a large pot slammed it into the back of his head. He sank to the ground like a stone in water. The crowd moved in, kicking and screaming. Liada couldn’t see him for the crowd.

  The citizens of Breeze Point must be taking out years of frustration and abuse, she thought.

  The crowd quickly backed away as a small cloud of fire passed over them. A woman’s hair was burnt and smoking. A couple of men desperately slapped at their burning shirts. The Quag landed near the priest and hopped onto his chest. After a quick poke at him with its snout, it turned its head from side to side. Smoke drifted from its mouth and its eyes looked like red burning embers.

  Before its gaze reached her, she picked up a pot at her feet and flung it at the Quag. The pot hit it. The stunned creature staggered. A man who looked like a vendor dashed up to the creature.

  “You creature from hell!” His arms were blistered and his shirt burnt. He lifted a small chair over his head and smashed it down on the Quag. The Quag went over onto its side. He hit it again. And again. When it no longer moved, others moved towards it. Everyone was cheering and jumping up and down, shouting.

  “Monster, murderer, die…”

  The market went wild. Liada wended through the cheering crowd in shock. She had helped kill a priest and his Quag. The Quag deserved it. What made the Quag do evil things? The priest, resentment at the First Ones, or were they like the priest—zealots? And if the priests were zealots, should they be killed? But her life had been at stake. Zeph’s. The First Ones. Even their parents were in danger. She chewed her lip. Maybe even Emmund’s life.

  The priest would have imprisoned her and forced her to tell what she knew about the First Ones and probably killed her afterwards. Maybe she had begun to understand Emmund.

  Would I have killed the priest or the Quag if no one had been there?

  Her whole body trembled, and she felt like throwing up. If she had been arrested by the priest, her life would have been over: never to see home or her parents, never to see the First Ones again. Torture. Probably execution.

  Had Tali survived the encounter with the Quag? Tears ran down her cheeks. Tali had stayed invisible so it wasn’t obvious what the Quag was chasing; however, that meant Tali couldn’t fight back—First Ones had to be visible to use their considerable powers. It made the Quag look like it had gone crazy.

  Please let Tali be alive, she prayed.

  Back at the Inn, Liada was still shaking when Zeph returned. He lost his smile the minute he saw her.

  “What’s happened?”

  “Roward found Tali and me at the market. It was a nightmare. The Quag chased Tali. It burned a lot of st
alls and killed several people. There was a riot and Roward and his Quag were attacked by the crowd. I’m pretty sure they’re dead.” Liada put her head in her hands.

  Zeph knelt beside her and put an arm around her shoulder. “You didn’t kill the priest, did you?”

  “I was involved.” Liada proceeded to tell Zeph everything that had happened, between tears, as she relived the incident.

  “That’s horrible. But it was the best way for things to work out. Now he won’t hunt us.”

  “Only if Tali escaped,” Liada whispered.

  “You’re burned.” She looked at the burned spots on her arm. She hadn’t even noticed them before but now they started to hurt.

  Zeph ran off to the innkeeper to get some salve. After applying it, he tore up a shirt for strips of cloth and wrapped her arms. Afterward they sat in silence, each engrossed in their own thoughts. She was glad Zeph had come along. He reminded her of home and that she wasn’t alone.

  “I understand there was an incident at the market. A priest and his Quag were killed. You don’t happen to know anything about it?”

  Liada and Zeph were jerked out of their reverie by Emmund’s voice. They hadn’t heard him open the door. He pointed to Liada’s arm before continuing. “The talk was that the priest’s Quag went crazy and that the priest was running around threatening young women.”

  “I was there,” Liada said. “He was chasing me and the Quag was chasing Tali. Some people died, and maybe Tali, because we were there.”

  Emmund crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall, frowning at her. “Those burns. How bad are they?”

  She shrugged. They didn’t matter as long as she wasn’t sure if Tali escaped.

  After a few minutes, he said, “Without Tali you won’t be able to keep an eye on Sechael. And I wonder how this affects Roward’s purpose in coming here. If Tali’s dead we may never know.” Emmund shook his head and left.

  Thanks for your concern, Liada steamed inside.

  “You didn’t mention Kaim,” Zeph said. It was more a question than a statement.

  “I must have forgotten.” Liada managed a smile.

  Late that night, Kaim returned. Liada wished she could hug the little creature. She needed the comfort that would have given her.

  “Where’s Tali?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. Roward’s Quag chased her, but since Tali was invisible I couldn’t see what happened.”

  Kaim brushed her cheek with a wing. “We shall hope Tali escaped. I watched Mareld’s house all morning. About noon, a young priest came to the house, and Sechael left with him. I followed them but couldn’t get too close to the temple. While I waited, several priests returned with a dead priest. Then they returned to Mareld’s house. I went in to observe. Like Osshaft, people came with gold, a list prepared, and they left. However, the priest stayed. Sechael told the young priest to return to the temple with the gold and have Samdyn send a priest to Osshaft to inform Hadonn to hold up the plan until he returned. He sent several acolytes to the market to discover what really happened. Sechael told Mareld that the incident at the market had been a disaster, and that he needed to find out the details before he could decide what to do. He had planned to go to the Gorlack two days from now but had changed his mind.

  Mareld asked about the Roganista acolytes. Sechael told him the Roganista had many secrets that would be revealed to him when it was all over. He said that the Roganista had been planning this action for a century. It is a plan to seize complete power.

  He said when the incident at the market was resolved, he would meet with the high priests in Gorlack and Ostono and that everything depended upon a certain sequence of events. It must be carefully orchestrated or it would fail and the empires’ ruling houses would punish the Priests. The events today were a foretaste of what would happen if they failed.

  “The Roganista Priests will either become the supreme law of the empires or they will be destroyed. He said the Quag alone can not save them.”

  “We have to tell Emmund,” Zeph said.

  I haven’t told him about Kaim.

  She nibbled on her lip. “Let’s wait to see if Tali comes back.” She sat, staring at her hands in her lap, trying to put the pieces together. “Sechael must be more than he seems if he can order around high priests.”

  “Is it smart to keep Emmund in the dark?”

  “My parents are wise. Your parents are wise. I’m just a young woman. I’m not expected to be wise.” All she could do was trust her instincts and hope a little of her parents’ wisdom had rubbed off on her. “How much can we trust Emmund? To tell the truth, I want to trust him.”

  Zeph twitched a little smile. “I noticed.”

  She felt her face color. “It’s just all so hard.”

  “I’ll go along with you, but…I hope we’re doing the right thing.”

  “Me too.” Liada paused, her mind racing. “Kaim, what do you know of tats? I want to look like I’m from Gorlack.”

  “Liada, you can’t. Whatever you’re planning, it doesn’t sound safe,” Zeph said, grabbing her unburned arm.

  Kaim made a humming sound with his rapidly moving wings. “I know some, but I can get someone who knows much more. You will need a black dye that will penetrate the skin’s surface. I will be back by morning.”

  * * * *

  The next morning Kaim woke Liada.

  “This is Aliyahbasiradjamilakahlidaafra, the wise one.” Kaim said.

  “Since you are trying to save the First Ones, I have agreed to help you for as long as you need me. You may call me, Aliy.”

  “May I see you just once, please?” Liada asked. She hoped Aliy would be generous enough to allow it.

  A buzzing filled the air and a bird with a body the size of a large pigeon hovered in front of her. It was white from its head down its back. Its long wing and tail feathers went from white to yellow and were tipped with a brilliant red.

  Liada gasped. “You’re beautiful. Thank you, Aliy.” When Zeph arrived, Aliy had drawn several designs in the sand on the floor using her beak.

  “What are those?” he asked.

  “The first is a design that will go on my cheek. It says my family is from the city. The second is a wrist tatt that gives my alias, Jatia. And the third is an owl design indicating wisdom. I’m going to let you draw them on me with the dye we bought yesterday.”

  “But—”

  “Let’s get started. I’ve got places to go.” Liada smiled, although it made her cheeks ache, and it wasn’t a smiling matter.

  Zeph spent the next two hours attempting to replicate the designs Aliy had drawn on the floor. By the time he finished, he was sweating from concentrating so hard.

  “There. If I say so myself, those look pretty good.”

  “I agree. Aliy, what do you think?” Liada didn’t feel it land, but she did feel the hair-like feathers brush her neck and shoulder.

  “Very good. Any Gorlack could tell they were fakes if they looked close. But from a distance or while walking they will pass.”

  “Aliy is pleased with your work.”

  Zeph looked out the window. “It’s almost time for me to go to work, but I’m not sure I want to go off and leave you. Why the tatts and where are you going?” Zeph eyes narrowed as he waited for her answer.

  “To the market, of course.”

  “After yesterday?”

  “How else can I see the acolytes and learn what they find out?”

  “Darn it, Liada. That’s too dangerous,” Zeph said with almost a growl.

  “I’ll be careful. I promise. And I’ll look more like a native with these tatts. Kaim, would you watch Sechael? I’ll take Aliy to the market with me, if she’s willing.”

  “Yes,” Kaim and Ali replied at the same time, one in each ear.

  Oh, how I miss, Tali.

  Chapter 11

  Sporish: Breeze Point

  The Gorlack’s clothes weren’t too different from Sporish, but they wore them
a little differently. They tended to wear clothes that showed off their tatts. They were proud of them even if most of the Sporish people couldn’t decipher them.

  Most of their shirts were sleeveless or had short sleeves and many had low backs or fronts to show off the markings. Some of the pants and skirts only came to the knee to show the leg markings as well.

  In spite of her confident talk with Zeph that morning, Liada was sweating from nerves as she strolled toward the markets. The horror of yesterday kept flashing through her mind. Not knowing if Tali was alive and being part of the killing of the priest and the Quag made her feel sick to her stomach.

  By the time, she reached the first stall at the market she had a pounding headache. She wanted to reach up and touch Aliy but knew she shouldn’t. As if Aliy read her mind, she felt the thin feathers of its wings and tail brush her neck and shoulder. Aliy’s presence both comforted and terrified her. What if another Senior Priest came to the market? Only knowing that Sechael didn’t want priests at the market today kept her from turning and running back to the Inn. She had to wonder what kind of man could give orders to the priests as Sechael had?

  Only a few people were wandering from stall to stall. No wonder after yesterday’s disaster. Those shoppers were constantly looking around. They probably wouldn’t be here if they didn’t need to be. Shaking her head, she tried to focus on the task of finding the acolytes. How many had been sent and what did they looked like, she wondered—her age, older, younger or more likely a small mixed group, so as not to be conspicuous.

  Liada wandered around, stopping at stalls, picking up clothes to look at, and chatting with vendors. She bought a meat pie and munched it as she browsed.

  “That was terrible yesterday,” she said to the pie vendor.

  “I wouldn’t be here today if I didn’t need the money to support my starving wife and children,” he said. “Of course, if the priests kill me, then they starve anyway.” He gave a fatalistic shrug.

  That was about what most of the vendors said when she talked to them.