Guardians of Evil

by C. R. Daems

  “Do you think you’re being funny?” The man on the right leaned forward in a threatening manner.

  “No, sir. I believe everything I said to be truthful. Ask Emmund.”

  “You have been very successful in collecting information we couldn’t. Isn’t that true, Liada?” the man on the left asked. Liada began to see what Aliy had referred to earlier. The good member was trying to be reasonable and the bad member demanding and trying to intimidate her. She wondered if spies were naturally devious or whether they learned it as part of their training.

  “No, sir. My friends collected the information. I just told Emmund what they had found.”

  “Well then you will continue to do that for us,” the man on the right said.

  “My friends are not your agents and have no interest in helping you.”

  “They will help you and you work for us.”

  “They will help me, but not if it helps you.” She was a little scared but still couldn’t help a small smile. Perhaps she wasn’t so bad at this game.

  “Why won’t they help us?” asked the man on the left again. The man in the center still hadn’t said a word.

  “Because they don’t trust you. Why should they help you if in the end it hurts them?”

  “You may be young, agent Liada, but you have played the game well. Say what you have to say,” the man in the middle said. Liada couldn’t see his face, but she thought he was smiling.

  “When the threat to Gorlack from the Priests of Roganista no longer exists, does that end your involvement?”

  “Yes, our purpose is the protect Gorlack.”

  “I’m a citizen of Ostono, not Gorlack, and I have helped you. You could, therefore, consider me an agent of Ostono’s Security. If I continue helping you, shouldn’t you be willing to help Ostono?”

  The room was silent.

  “By help us you mean with the help of the First Ones. How do we know the First Ones exist and are willing to do your bidding?” the man on the right said.

  “They are my friends, and work for me of their own free will.”

  “How do we know that?”

  Liada had seen the priest’s version of the First Ones and wondered what these men envisioned.

  “I’ve seen the Roganista version of history. What’s your version?”

  The man in the center answered the question. “Way back in time, humans and the First Ones were friendly. The humans began a war which the First Ones joined, taking sides with their friends. Eventually the humans made a truce, but the First Ones continued to fight each other. While they fought, we discovered the Quag. It’s not clear if the Quag are the reason why First Ones are no longer among us. Whatever the case, the Roganista want control of the empires.”

  “You’re more correct than the Roganista. There are three distinct types of First Ones. When the humans started fighting, each type sided with a group of humans. When you stopped fighting, they continued to fight each other. When they finally stopped fighting, each retired to the empire it had sided with. The First Ones realize their mistake in joining the human’s fight and in fighting each other. They’ve retreated to the unpopulated parts of the empires. They are committed to peace. The Quag hate the First Ones and are dedicated to killing them.”

  “Three types, and we have one type in Gorlack?” the man on the left asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Won’t they help us?”

  “Why should they? What will you do to help them?”

  “You seem to have conditions. I want to hear what they are,” the man in the middle said.

  “That you will help the other two empires and that you help the First Ones be recognized and given space of their own. Hunting and killing them has to stop.”

  “In other words, you want us committed to overthrowing the Roganista in all three empires and ensuring the First Ones are recognized. If we do, the First Ones will help…you and us to overthrow the Roganista.”

  “Yes.”

  The man in the center held up a hand. “There’s another consideration. If the priests retain their power in any empire, it will give them a base for another attempt.” He stared at her for a moment and his dark eyes glittered behind his mask. At last he said, “We must have proof. But if you can prove what you say, we will swear the oath you ask.”

  After he finished, he glanced at the other two men who nodded agreement. Liada heard the sing-song talk.

  “Have them remove their masks,” Aliy said.

  “One condition. Each of the First Ones will be revealed one at a time. Afterward, one of you will remove your mask.”

  “Why?”

  “Because they are exposing themselves and want to know who is making the oath. The risk can’t be all on their side.”

  The man in the middle looked at the others before he eventually nodded. “Agreed. It obviously doesn’t matter. We assume you and the First Ones could in time determine who we are.”

  “Tali,” Liada said and put her hand out. As she did, Tali became visible. The little sprite stood in her palm, glowing softly. Tali turned slowly so that they could see her better. Liada could hear the sharp intakes of breath.

  “Tali is a Sprite from Ostono.”

  The man on the left stood and took off his mask to show his smooth face and dark hair. He bowed.

  “Welcome, Tali.”

  “Kaim.”

  Tali disappeared and Kaim appeared. He rotated in the air. As he turned around, his leaf-like wings fluttered softly in the air. Two of the men actually stood and leaned forward for a better look.

  “Kaim is a Seadragon and lives in Sporish.”

  “Welcome, Kaim.”

  The man on the right stood and removed his mask. He was remarkably…unremarkable—with brown hair and ordinary face. Liada was sure she would immediately forget what he looked like and thought about what an advantage that would be for a spy.

  “Aliy,” Kaim disappeared and Aliy appeared, giving the men some time to examine her.

  “Aliy is a Firebird that resides in Gorlack.”

  The center man, gray-haired with a hawk-nose, removed his mask and bowed.

  “Welcome, Aliy.”

  The eldest of the three stood up. “ N yn auho. As the head of all Gorlack security, you have my oath on it.”

  Afterward, Liada did her best to answer their questions. An hour later, they were satisfied and the questions stopped.

  “The priests have changed their plans. Originally, they were to strike first in Sporish, then Gorlack, and finally in Ostono. Their new plan starts in Sporish, then moves to Ostono, and lastly Gorlack. If you hadn’t been willing to help the other empires, Gorlack would probably have been unable to stop the priests after Ostono and Sporish fell.”

  Chapter 13

  Gorlack: Hawks Point

  Over the next few days, Liada and Zeph fell into a comfortable routine: Getting up early for work, eating an evening meal together, and returning to the room to talk. The First Ones alternated watching Sechael. He seemed to be waiting for something, but they couldn’t discover what. He spent a lot of time at the Temple, which made watching him harder. The second night, a man arrived and visited after dark, dressed in old worn clothing. The next night another man came. Each wore baggy clothes, and hats shaded their faces and hair so it was hard for the First Ones to tell what they looked like. The next night the first man came back again. Kaim left a member of its circle to keep watch while he followed the man. Afterward, a First One was assigned to watch him.

  Liada felt naked and sad without a First One on her shoulder, although each returned every day to update her, leaving a member of its circle on watch. On the fourth morning, Aliy returned before Liada was ready for work.

  “The man I was watching went out last night. He visited several houses where he handed the man who answered a stick with symbols. I could only make out a couple of the symbols. I didn’t recognize most of them. Maybe if I drew the ones I managed to see, Emmund or one of the Security members c
ould,” Aliy said. The feel of its feathers felt comforting. She hadn’t realized before how much she had come to love the little creatures, and how much they had become a part of her life. While she sat reflecting on her feeling towards the First Ones, Tali returned.

  “The man I’ve been watching hasn’t left his house, but he did have two visitors. They were big men in their prime. They didn’t stay long. I decided to follow them since the man I’ve been watching didn’t seem to be going anywhere. When they split up, I chose one. He seemed to be looking for something, stopping at Inns, workshops, and vendor’s shops. The two met again later and entered an old house on Red Street near the West Harbor. While I watched, they didn’t come out,” Tali said while sitting on Liada’s shoulder—her favorite place.

  That morning in the kitchen, Liada was preparing one of the fish dishes that Mistress Lurne in Breeze Point had shown her. It felt good to be cooking on her own, although Herad did come over occasionally to look over her shoulder. She felt like telling him she could cook, but reminded herself that he was a master cook. Besides, he seemed more interested in what she was doing than watching to see if she needed help. After she finished, Herad came over and sliced off a piece.

  “Very good, Jatia. I have never seen fish cooked like that. Mistress Lurne is an innovative cook.”

  “Yes, Master Herad.”

  How about me. I cooked it?

  Then she smiled, realizing she’d mentioned she’d learned it from Lurne. Herad was probably shocked to find a recipe that was as good as one of his.

  When she left work, she decided to go to the markets. She’d been too busy to indulge herself with her favorite pastime. Right now, she had nothing that needed doing and deserved a little fun. She smiled as she hurried to her room and changed into her best Gorlack clothes, a sleeveless tunic and skirt, ensuring her new tatt was conspicuously visible.

  A few minutes walking took her to the West Market. It looked typical of the markets she knew. Hundreds of tents and wooden stalls filled the square. The difference was that everyone had tatts, which they went to great pains to expose. She began her tour by wandering around and listening to the shoppers and vendors negotiating. Bargaining in Ostono and Sporish was significantly different from Gorlack. In Ostono it was who could tell the most convincing and saddest story. Of course knowing the vendor’s selling strategies helped. Some didn’t negotiate, others did.

  Here in Gorlack the key seemed to be how interested the shopper was in what he was shopping for. The vendor tried to tell how much you needed the article or how badly you wanted it. The shopper on the other hand tried to act disinterested in what he intended to buy. In Ostono and Sporish pretending you weren’t interested by walking away but returning later helped drive down the price. Being the first buyer of the day also helped as it was considered good luck to sell to the first customer. Here in Gorlack, both strategies tended to raise the price as it showed the buyer’s strong interest.

  After watching for a couple of hours, she thought it was time to test her theory. She decided she could use a few more Gorlack-style clothes and picked three vendors. Eventually she settled on the vendor she thought the most promising. He seemed to make up his mind too quickly on what the customer wanted. Although probably correct most of the time, it was a weakness. The other two vendors were women who seemed to be very astute at judging their customers.

  So she wandered into the stall and began looking at tunics. She knew the vendor was watching her. She picked up some of different colors and then one that had embroidery around the neck, holding it up against herself for effect. She liked the embroidered one but shrugged and put it back down. When she saw a similar one, she smiled slightly and held it up. Before too long the merchant came over.

  “Well, wise one, have you decided what you want?” he said. The comment was obviously made because of her tatt. She smiled, not at the remark. Based on her tatt and his remark, she guessed he thought she was new to shopping and conceited.

  “I need a new tunic. That one is nice and I look good in it.” She had to turn back to the tunic so he wouldn’t see her smile. She loved bargaining. “How much, sir?”

  “One silver. That’s cheap, Miss.”

  She almost laughed. He certainly didn’t mind cheating. She gave him her best smile. This was worth maybe six coppers and he wanted a silver, ten coppers. The one she really wanted was worth about four coppers.

  “I wish I could afford that but I can’t.” She took another loving look at the tunic before dropping it.

  “You look like a good girl, maybe I could give it to you for nine coppers.”

  “I guess I’ll have to find something cheaper. It’s so nice,” Liada said. She picked up another tunic and another, throwing each back on the pile. She picked up the one she really wanted and wrinkled her face in disgust before throwing it back on the pile. “Something for five coppers like these or maybe I should just forget it. Maybe another stall will have something cheaper.”

  “Those are worth more than five coppers, but you’re a nice girl. Pick one of those and I’ll let you have it for five coppers.” Liada knew most of those, except the one she’d made the face at, were worth about four coppers. The one she liked, five maybe six. She spent a few minutes considering each except for the one she wanted.

  “Are you sure, sir? That’s very generous of you.”

  “Yes, I’m sure.”

  Liada reached into her pocket and took out exactly five coppers, which she had prepared ahead of time and gave it to him. He took the five coppers and smiled. “Take the one you want.” Liada began to reach for one of the two she’d been looking at the most, probably worth three coppers, and picked up the one she’d wanted all along.

  “I hate it, but my mother will like it. Thank you, sir.” She turned and strolled out. She crossed over towards the other clothing stall across the lane. A woman vendor was standing there laughing. Liada assumed she’d been watching, although she couldn’t have heard them negotiating.

  “You were wandering around here earlier,” the woman said, “and decided he was the best mark, which he is if you know his weakness. How much?” Liada knew she was referring to the tunic. She guessed the woman had been smiling at the vendor’s face or his reaction, since she couldn’t know what she paid.

  “Five coppers.” The woman took the tunic, felt the material and examined the cut and embroidery while laughing.

  “You’ve earned that tatt,” she said, still smiling. “Look around, if you see something I’ll make you a fair price. This story is going to be worth several rounds of drinks.” Liada did wander around looking at skirts and found one she liked. The woman was busy with someone else. Liada held it up. She held up five fingers. Liada knew it might even be worth six or seven coppers, so she counted out the five coppers.

  “Thank you, mistress. One silver was a fair price,” she said while holding up the article for the customer to see. The woman smiled. Liada was helping her set up her customer. Liada was pleased as she strolled back to the Inn. She had gotten two bargains and made a friend. She would have to try the East Market when she had time.

  * * * *

  When Emmund arrived that night, she and Zeph were chatting about old times when they were very young.

  “Remember the time you threw a bucket of dirty water on me,” Liada asked and laughed at the thought.

  “Yes, and the next day you threw a bucket of manure on me,” Zeph said. “I should have known then what kind of a woman you’d turn out to be.”

  “Emmund, how nice of you to drop in. Have a drink.” Liada and Zeph had each taken a berry drink up to the room after dinner, and she had taken an extra one for Emmund.

  “To what do I owe this gift? Have you spiked it with something?”

  “No, we were just about to when you showed up.”

  He threw back his head and laughed. Liada looked at Zeph. Emmund could laugh! Suddenly, she had to laugh, too, and Zeph joined in.

  Still smiling, Emmund asked, �
�Anything new?”

  “No. Something’s up. I can feel it. But all the players are quiet. Sechael spends a lot of time at the temple, but the First Ones can’t watch him there. He hasn’t said anything to Mareld. The two men haven’t done anything unusual. Those two men who come at night seem to be searching for something or someone, but they don’t say much and usually search separately,” Liada said and shrugged.

  “You’re right. Everything’s too quiet. Sechael has a schedule to keep yet he isn’t making any plans to leave,” Emmund said. He closed his eyes and sat silent for several minutes. “It seems the two men searching are our best lead. See if one of your friends can find out something. Thanks for the drink.” He upended the cup and left.

  “I don’t like it,” Zeph said.

  “Me either. But I don’t like anything the priests do.”

  * * * *

  Liada managed to make it through the day with no disasters. Herad had her working on sugar decorations when he found she had some experience. She produced several simple butterflies with colored spots on the wings. Herad made beautiful sugar decorations but hadn’t used colored sugar and looked impressed even if he didn’t say so.

  When she returned to the room to wash up for dinner with Zeph, Tali was there waiting.

  “Liada, the two men who have been searching Hawks Point abducted someone off the streets and took him to the temple. From what they said, it sounds as though they knew who they were searching for and what he looked like.”

  “Who?”

  “They mentioned the name, Brom.”

  Aliy returned while Tali and Liada were discussing the abduction.

  “Liada, Sechael claims the priests captured a member of Gorlack’s underground security team. They are interrogating him at the Temple. Sechael said he was very stubborn, but the priests and the Quag would soon break him.”

  Emmund and Kaim arrived at the same time. Liada waved him to silence as Kaim reported what he’d seen.

  “A young priest delivered a bag of gold to the man who hired the two thugs who have been searching Gorlack.”