Entry to Zalasfir’s house proved no great obstacle, for when they hoisted Ivkarha aloft to the window, they found it unbarred and unguarded. A simple shove saw it swing open and she tumbled in, rolling to her feet in a plain room, and one that was empty, bar a few shadowed piles in the corner.

As Kato and Aedmorn followed her aloft, she crept forward towards the mounds, testing them with her sword. She was greeted with what appeared a nest, a place of rags and leaves and bark, woven together. A few broken shards of shell could be seen in the nests, as well as shed snake skin, either from a giant one or from a number of smaller ones.

“A breeding chamber,” she hissed, looking around at the other nests in the room, a handful of them. They may have supplied the pit below, yet the possibility remained that they had not, and there were still on the loose.

Aedmorn picked up one of the shed snake skins, holding it in the starlight they came in through the window. “A serpent of some size,” he stated. “I do not know the type for it is not a native of this region. It must be of a kind that they brought with them from out of the east, and few of those are not most venomous in nature. We had best keep our eyes open, lest they have some in the building.”

The exit from the room was from a single doorway, though it contained no door. A curtain hung from it from a railing. Kato eased it aside to peer out, into a hallway that was shrouded in near total darkness, all but for a faint light coming from down one end of it. They entered the hallway an crept down towards the light, each step made with great care least they stumble upon anything in the dark, to disturb it and make a sudden noise.

The light emanate from beneath a door, a proper one and not a mere curtain, the light being soft and warm, as if from a candle. Kato grasped the handle and slowly turned it, pushing the door open.

More light flooded out through the opening; their eyes, so used to the dark, were near overwhelmed by it. They blinked hard as they adjusted to the intensity of the light. Gradually their vision improved and the interior of the room became clear to them.

Numerous candles were set up around the room, on tables and benches of polish wood, but simply made. There were no windows in the room, so no light escaped to the outside. In the middle of the room was a table, and between it an them was a chair on which a man sat, wearing long robes of a deep iridescent green that shimmered in the light, hints of blue and yellow showing as it moved. His head was shaven and he stared intently at some item on the table before him that they could not see.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Pray, enter,” he said, not deigning to turn around to face them, evidence that all their efforts at subterfuge had failed. They looked one to the other, uncertain, before Kato chuckled softly and, with a shrug if his broad shoulders, entered the room. Ivkarha and Aedmorn, seeing no other options, trailed in after him.

When all were inside, the seated man rose from his seat and turned toward them. It was hard to judge his age, for he existed in a state somewhere between young and old, his eyes dark and deep set, face narrow and clean shaven. Taller than all, he looked down at them, no expression showing, neither surprise nor interest. From all descriptions they had heard tell of, this was the sage known as Zalasfir.

“You have come for this, I presume,” he stated in a voice surprisingly soft and gentle, stepping aside so that they could see the table behind him. There sat a rather large crystal, uneven in shape, and milky rather than clear.

Kato looked at it, then back to Ivkarha and Aedmorn. “That is the bauble you seek? I expect more from your description of it.”

“Appearances can deceive, my dear Kato,” Zalasfir stated. “The Soul of Angfaelad, the Eternal Heart, the Centre of Creation, it goes by many names, and yet it true nature is disguised by outward appearance. Few would give it the time of day if they did not know of what it was capable.”

“It would appear that you do,” Aedmor noted.

“Ah, Aedmor, the cruaith. Much I have heard said of you, of your knowledge and skills. You could have made a fine sage if you had so desired, but that is not to be. Yes, I know all there is of it.”

“Then you must know of the limitations upon its use.”

“That it requires a devout soul of true faith?” For the first time Zalasfir showed any hints of emotion as a cold smile broke across his face. “But of course. You think that because I am a sage that I lack faith? How little you know. I am more than I appear.” He looked to Kato and slowly shook his head. “I am surprised to see you here. These others, not so much. You had but a simple task, to remove five men, no questions and to remain ignorant, but now you know more than you were meant.”

Ivkhara hissed, her face showing outrage. “You betrayed us?” Her dark eyes flashed with anger.

Kato looked from Zalasfir to Ivkhara and Aedmorn, and back again, moving away from all with slow backwards steps, sword coming up, held at the ready before him. He looked uncertain as to what action to take, whether to flee or fight. “I never lied to you,” he promised. “I did not know for what reason I was hired to slay those men, not at the time.”

“You lead us here, to him!”

“Of course I did,” Kato responded. “You promise me half share, remember.”

Zalasfir suddenly laughed. “Your greed shall be your undoing, Kato. If you had done as requested, then you would have lived. All who knew of the Soul had to be removed so that it was not traced back to me. But you could not leave well enough alone.” He rested a hand upon the Soul of Angfaelad and a pale glow flickered in the depths of it. “Now behold what true faith is capable of.”