The Last Refuge Page 10

  “You charged me with the protection of Morah,” insisted Elhan. “I bring them for your examination and the council’s justice. If you wish to hand-pick the people I bring in, then I suggest you grab a weapon and come along.”

  “Don’t tempt me.” said Agabus turning to Dodie with a glare. “And I thought that is why you were sent with him, Master Dodie? You were to monitor events and keep things under control.”

  “I’ve been with Elhan for two years now and have never found any issue with him in action or judgment,” said Dodie as he moved Isha gently on a nearby couch. “Certainly I’ve wondered about his methods, particularly with the Malakim, but I support his decision to bring these two before you.”

  “You do, do you?” Agabus retorted. “Are you mad?”

  “That’s enough,” Nathan interrupted. “What did you do to her?”

  “How noble. Rescuing the fair maiden and whisking her away, eh, and you think this will help you how?” asked Agabus.

  “Going anywhere away from you is an improvement. Now hand me my cloth and I’ll go,” Nathan said with finality.

  “You don’t know what this is do you?” sneered the old master. “And you also don’t comprehend where you are. Leaving this city right now would mean certain death for you both.”

  “Master Dodie, what’s he yammering about?” asked Nathan, turning his attention to the Tractmaster.

  “He’s right,” said Dodie as he put a dazed Isha on a nearby rug. “You have signs of the ancient races.”

  “Are you talking about my ear? This happened in an accident,” said Nathan.

  “That was no accident. Perhaps your parents left the Mag Mel people in a rush and didn’t get to finish, or maybe the Crystal Queen didn’t allow them to finish the process for some reason. Either way, it wasn’t by accident,” said Agabus.

  “That can’t be right,” demanded Nathan.

  If what they were saying was correct, then Delgado had been lying to him for years and he just couldn’t accept that.

  “Young man, do you know what this is?” Agabus held up the star-cloth with a curious expectation.

  “I’m leaving,” said Nathan as he snatched the cloth from the eldar and marched toward the door.

  “Elhan,” said Agabus with a nod.

  The Warden returned the nod and grabbed Nathan from behind holding him fast. Nathan struggled like a panicked child, falling to the floor as he pulled to get free. Elhan finally had to put his knee in Nathan’s back to keep the youth from struggling.

  The eldar as bent down and he pushed the cloth to Nathan’s face. “This is an ancient symbol used by both mancers and tomewrights. How did you come by it?”

  “Go kiss a horse’s…”

  “Well, that settles it,” Agabus interrupted. “He’s certainly got the Eldritch’s temper.”

  Elhan held Nathan pinned to the floor, yet even in that position, he noticed a faint silvery glow coming from the cloth.

  “Eldar,” Elhan said, holding out the star-cloth to get the old man’s attention.

  Agabus looked intently at the piece of fabric before taking it in his hands. He turned it over several times, noticing that the glow weakened the further it was from Nathan.

  “Warden,” Agabus urged softly. “Release him.”

  Elhan removed his knee from Nathan’s back and helped him to a sitting position. The young man took the cloth from Agabus and spread it on the floor in front of him. Even covered with grim, sweat and dirt, the symbol on the cloth gave a soft smolder.

  “This is all very confusing,” said Dodie shaking his head.

  “No,” whispered Agabus. “We’re finally getting somewhere. What do you see boy?”

  “The cloth has never done this before,” said Nathan as he sat up and took the cloth in his hands.

  “What do you see?”

  “The points on this star are glowing,” responded Nathan.

  “How many?”

  “One…two perhaps,” said Nathan.

  “There’s nothing there,” said Dodie.

  “Master Dodie, with all due respect, be quiet for a moment,” spat Agabus. “Young man, take the cloth and turn it.”

  Nathan takes the cloth, rotating it clockwise on the floor.

  “There’s no change. The glowing points stay in the same direction,” Nathan explains.

  “Well, now we know,” said Agabus with disgust as he pushed himself upright and sat down in his chair.

  “Know what?” Elhan exclaimed.

  “He’s a Seer,” said the eldar.

  “This Eldritch mongrel?” questioned Elhan.

  “Master Dodie, do you remember your tome-lore training?” replied Agabus.

  “Yes, but is this due to prediction or prophesy?” asked Dodie.

  “Neither, of course. It amazes me how quick we are to assign practical things a mystical purpose, when it may simply be a matter of practical necessity. If Elyon believes we need a Seer he sends one. And evidently, he has,” said Agabus. “This both good and bad for us. Good, because a Seer can be an enormous help. Bad, because that means there is a terrible need for one and that can only mean epic evils are upon us.”

  “According to the Histoluminary, he’ll be the third seer,” said Dodie.

  “Seer?” questioned Nathan.

  “They are sometimes called prophets or some such nonsense as that. But the reality is much simpler than that,” said the eldar. “A seer is simply someone who is chosen by Elyon to represent him for a purpose.”

  “So far, he’s shown an amazing ability to be a pain in my backside,” said Elhan.

  “Make no mistake, a seer can do amazing things, but only at a cost and there are limits.” Agabus warned. “Has the Eternal Elyon spoken to you, boy?”

  “How should I know?” Nathan blurted.

  “Lying doesn’t become a servant of Elyon,” said the eldar.

  Nathan took offense to this and jumped to his feet, glaring at the old tomewright with resentment before seating himself at the table. He knew what the old man said was true and that more than anything cut him to the core.

  “So the old stories as true, a seer does wield awesome power,” said Dodie.

  “Not exactly Master Dodie, the seer has no power at all. It’s Elyon’s power. The seer is only the conduit as water through a channel. If the water source departs, or the channel becomes unfit, the water stops flowing,” Agabus instructed.

  The room fell suddenly still as Isha sat up and gathered her cloak about her. She trembled from her ordeal and yet spoke with a calm resolve.

  “Are you feeling better now?” asked Agabus.

  Isha nodded, but kept rubbing her tingling limbs.

  “This lunatic tried to kill you?” said Nathan with shock.

  “No. But if he hadn’t tricked me, I would have never volunteered for what he did,” she said.

  “As you can tell, ‘cleansing’ is very dangerous,” said Agabus.

  Nathan still looked at Isha with confusion.

  “A ‘cleansing’ burns away hate and rage that is left behind after a demon departs its host,” said Agabus. “This makes it hard for the demon to track its old host for execution.”

  “Nathan, I’m sorry I haven’t been totally honest with you,” said Isha.

  “That was a demon I saw when we first fought?” said Nathan.

  “Yes.”

  “And it was coming to kill you?”

  “It would have killed us both,” said Isha.

  “Why me?”

  “Seers are chosen by a god to represent their interests and wield power. When we fought, you cast my demon out,” said Isha.

  Nathan recalled the moment in his mind, but found it hard to wrap his brain around events.

  “Why me?” he asked.

  “Why not you?” said Agabus.

  Outside, the night spread itself like a slow moving blanket, hiding the area in twilight.

  “I don’t know. You act like I have the blasted answers and I don’t
. I can’t explain anything that’s happened to me and everyone I knew is gone or dead,” Nathan said. “Do you hear me? Dead!”

  Nathan’s nerves finally unraveled sending him into a rage. He jumped to his feet and threw the star-cloth to the floor, bolting from the room like a prison escapee into the dark city streets.

  “Keep away from me,” Nathan yelled as his voice trailed into darkness.

  Ten

  “The Lock-stitch…”

  “Guards! Find that fool and bring him back,” said Agabus. “And put some chains on him while you’re at it.”

  “I’ll go. He’s my responsibility,” said Elhan.

  “Yes, he’s protected by the city charter as well, but at what cost? If report of him gets to Mano, he’ll burn this refuge to the ground,” said Agabus. “Or did you forget what happened to Kiriath?”

  “Of course not,” Elhan said gravely.

  “Luckily, his traits aren’t that noticeable unless someone examines him closely…” said Dodie.

  “Let me go, too,” asked Isha.

  “Are you insane?” said the eldar.

  “I highly advise against it. The guards and I will be enough,” said Elhan. “You’re sure to be noticed.”

  “Formorian’s are natural trackers and it’s nighttime. In the day, I’d say we are equal, but at night I’m faster than the Warden,” said Isha pointing to Elhan.

  Elhan didn’t like the brutal assessment of his skills but he couldn’t fight the fact that Isha was right. He reluctantly nodded in agreement.

  “Very well, these are strange days indeed when I must rely on a Venger for help,” said Agabus. The eldar quickly scribbled something on a small piece of paper, passing it to Isha with a stern look. “If the guards discover you there will be nothing I can do to save you. While Nathan is protected under the laws of the refuge, she is not. If you are seen, go to the location written on this paper and you will be safe long enough to make an escape from the city. May Elyon guide you.”

  “He will need to do more than that,” Isha quipped as she bolted into the night.

  Nathan ran until his quivering legs gave way beneath him, dropping him to the stone-paved street on his hands and knees. He’d no idea where he was and didn’t care. As he ran, the shops and homes passed him on either side with flickers of light peering at him through cracks and crannies like mournful eyes following his misery. But now, he pushed himself to his feet and scanned the area around him. Stars flickered in the night sky through breaks in the treetops over-head as the glow of a crescent-moon glittered off the road before him. Oddly, he felt comforted by the nighttime and his eyes quickly grew accustom to its dimness. On his left, the waters of the second lake lapped against the pines lining the shore. He could see the end of the second lake and the path that separated it from the third lake but something stopped him cold. Behind a tree near the road knelt a small man as though hiding, yet Nathan saw him plain as day.

  “You there, what are you doing,” said Nathan in a plain tone. The small man fell back away from the tree, stumbling in terror as though struck.

  “You can see me?” he said in panic.

  “Of course, I’m not blind,” Nathan retorted.

  Agilely jumping to his feet, the man took flight, sprinting down the path between the lakes with amazing speed. Nathan gave chase and too his surprise began to gain on his target. Abruptly, the young man’s foot struck something in the path, sending him sliding headfirst to the ground. He quickly sat up to scan the area, but instead of his quarry, Nathan found the rapidly chilling body of a guard laying face up in the shallows of the second lake. The moonlight revealed the guard still wore full gear and stared blanking at the sky as he rested in the cold grip of death.

  “Help,” shouted Nathan into the night. “I need help over here.”

  Suddenly, a hand clamped across his face and a subtle sensation of a noose glided over his head and across his throat. Before he could turn, a cord snapped taunt around his neck, digging deep into the flesh and cutting off any possibility of him calling out. He tried face his attacker but the killer moved nimbly behind him, keeping visage out of sight and body out of reach. Nathan fell to the ground clawing at his throat and desperately trying to remove the cord. In the distance, the small man watched the event unfold with a sad expression of pity only to disappear into the woods, leaving the young man to his fate. Stars whirled around his vision as the tingling in his face and fingers began to fad. Just as he stopped struggling, the cord around his neck relaxed. Someone began blowing air into his burning lungs. Fists pounded his chest, trying to get air back into him until he finally began coughing and taking in great gulps of air. As Nathan’s vision cleared, he looked up to find the face of Captain Onel staring down at him.

  “That was close,” said Onel. “A guard is dead… and almost you as well.”

  “Did you catch them?” rasped Nathan, rubbing his throat.

  “No, they ran off as I approached and a good thing too, a moment longer and you’d be like poor Yad here,” said Onel pointing at the dead guard. “What are you doing out here anyway and where is the Warden?”

  Suddenly, Nathan heard Isha’s voice calling for him.

  “Over here,” he croaked, still rubbing his throat.

  Isha pulled her cloak firmly around her and approached them, trying hard to keep her distance and look natural at the same time. Moonlight flooded the area casting shadows in all directions so Isha used this to her advantage but hated herself for not arriving sooner.

  “What are you doing out this time of night?” asked Onel. “You don’t have free range of the city without the Warden.”

  “Looking for him,” she replied with a nod toward Nathan.

  “I could ask you the same question, captain,” croaked Nathan.

  “You have a strange way of showing gratitude young man. I could have you both put in jail for the night if I wanted. You’re guests in my city, remember. Nevertheless, Yad failed to report for night-duty. I was going to his cottage to check on him when I saw you being attacked.” He urged. “Do you know anything about this?”

  “No,” she said flatly as several of Onel’s guards arrived on the scene as well, securing the area.

  An older guard whispered into the captain’s ear for a moment pulling grave looks from Onel toward Nathan.

  “I have leave of the eldar to put chains on you young man. But, given the circumstances, I don’t think that’s going to be necessary. Is it?” asked Onel.

  Nathan didn’t speak but simply shook his head. The captain moved to his fallen guard and cautiously bent down to examine the body. He stopped at a faint area of discoloration on the neck. Turning the head, he quickly found a woven green rope wrapped around the guards neck.

  “The mark is very faint,” said Onel. “This appears to be the work of a Venger of the Green Branch who specialize in strangling, but all the Branches agreed to the Refuge Protection Accord and would never kill within a refuge. We have very few rules, but the ones we DO have are absolute.”

  “This is not the work of a Venger, but made to look like it,” Isha said in a matter-of-fact manner.

  “And you would know, why?” said Onel. “I thought each Branch specialized to it’s own methods.”

  “That’s true, but don’t assume they don’t know each other’s methods simply because they don’t use them,” said Isha. “This was the work of an impostor. A Green Branch member would us a cord with a knot, and that knot pushes on the windpipe so the victim can’t cry out for help. It would leave a distinctive mark.”

  “You seem very familiar with their ways,” said Onel.

  “Call it a hunch,” added Isha.

  Captain Onel eyed Isha with growing suspicion.

  “Thank you, captain. We are returning to the Eldar Hall,” Nathan.

  “Tell him I won’t find all the answers tonight,” said Onel motioning for the guards to remove the body. “But I will have a report for him tomorrow.”

  “Yes, of cour
se,” quipped Nathan as he briskly walked back to the main road.

  Isha joined him but he said little and when they returned to Eldar Hall. Nathan asked to be shown to his room and quickly turned in for the night.

  “What happen? What took so long?” asked Agabus.

  “A guard died and someone almost murdered Nathan as well,” said Isha.

  “Murder? Are you sure?” asked Dodie.

  “Not unless he strangled himself,” replied Isha. “Someone who is skilled in our ways but cares nothing for our rules.”

  “Was he an intended target, or just an unfortunate passerby?” Elhan pointed at Nathan.

  “Hard to say,” she replied.

  She should have been there and she knew it. After giving them the remaining details, they couldn’t make sense of any of it and so voted to pick up the topic in the morning. Isha, Elhan and Dodie were escorted to the guest quarters adjoining the garden pond while Agabus retired to his chambers. It did not take them long to settle down but there would be little rest that night.

  The moon was directly overhead when everyone woke to the sound of yelling. Torches ignited as guards hunted down the source of the turmoil. Isha threw on her clothes and jumped into the hallway to determine the origin of the noise only to find it echoed from Nathan’s room. She threw open the door and burst into his room, he sat upright in bed with his hands clutching at an unseen enemy. Terror gripped every crevice of his face as he sat in the wide-eyed horror of a nightmare. She ran to him and began to shake him awake but a voice from the doorway halted her.

  “Stop,” Agabus shouted.

  She turned a questioning face to him and cried, “He is in pain.”

  “Waking him could kill him,” said the eldar as he motioned. “Come with me for a moment.”

  He noted her concern as she stepped into the hallway outside the room.

  “What do you know about this young man?” Agabus questioned.

  “He’s an idiot, a fool and attracts trouble like flies to a carcass,” she said.

  “You know better than that don’t you. There is something else about him,” he said. She turned her gaze to the floor and had to agree with the old man. There was something she couldn’t place about him.