Awptheyn led us to a building near the other end of Lowland Crescent, a two-story mass of stone with a clean exterior and as unreadable a sign on the front as anything else in the area. Before allowing us to enter, he instructed us to wait outside so that he could inform the employees inside not to do anything improper, then slipped through the door. I considered that he might be trying to escape from us, but I heard his muffled voice behind the door loudly enough that I knew he hadn’t gone very far inside.
“So we’re going to kill him once we’re in there, right?” Vaozey whispered.
“Maybe,” I replied quietly. “Let’s see if we can get the medallion and documents from him without resorting to that first.”
“Seytoydh npoyt…” Vaozey muttered as Awptheyn started laughing from inside the building.
“Try not to provoke him immediately,” I advised. “However, if it looks like he won’t give us the medallion and papers and you see an opportunity, don’t hesitate. He’s a Rehvite, so it’s entirely possible he knows how to fight with magic alone. Surprising him is the best way to guarantee a kill, if it becomes necessary.”
“Got it,” Vaozey muttered, and a moment later the door opened again and Awptheyn beckoned us inside.
----------------------------------------
The interior of the building was a museum of some kind, judging by its contents. Tall rectangular crystal glass cases, each containing different objects, were laid out in rows along the walls and across the middle of the floor. Many contained bones or remains of animals, including one that held a human-like skull with some distinctly nonhuman features. Others contained remains of weapons, stone tablets, or carefully suspended scrolls and parchment with presumably ancient writings on them. A mercenary of some kind geared in cloth armor glared at me from the back corner of the room, as if to warn me not to touch anything.
Awptheyn led us to a door on the back wall that opened into an office, allowing us to enter before him, then shut the door and locked it behind us. Like in the previous room, there were artifacts scattered around, most on shelves along the walls and some not yet contained in glass cases. Awptheyn slipped behind the desk, slumping back in the only chair, then sighed loudly.
“Name your price,” he said, sounding resigned. I hadn’t actually thought far enough ahead to come up with an amount, so I was momentarily without a response.
“You have some interesting things in this building,” Vaozey commented, giving me time to think. She looked around the office, prompting me to do so as well, and as I was thinking of what currency amount to ask for in order for an exchange of the medallion to be preferable, my eyes stuck on one of the artifacts. The body of the object was a boxy piece of rusted iron, but there was also a piece of crystal glass inside, thick and deliberately curved to bend light, along with a small candle.
“Let’s not do either of us the disservice of pretending you have interest in the artifacts I am charged with storing, miss,” Awptheyn said. “I have brought you here because speaking to you in private is preferable to having you attempt to blackmail me in public. Now, what must I give you to make settle this peaceably?”
“She had a family-” Vaozey began.
“She did not,” Awptheyn corrected, and my stomach sank. “One of the reasons Ihyao was my favorite was her lack of attachments to anyone but myself. Her parents died, and she had no siblings. She certainly desired a family, but due to her circumstances she could not create one.” Vaozey shut her mouth, swallowing her words as she attempted to follow my order of “not provoking” Awptheyn.
“What is that?” I asked, pointing to the iron device to distract from the conversation. Awptheyn and Vaozey both looked at me, then followed my finger to the object in question. To my surprise, Awptheyn got up and retrieved the device, placing it on the left side desk before sitting down again. Then he retrieved a flat piece of wood from the floor beside him and set it up vertically on the right side.
“Normally, I wouldn’t indulge anyone who is not a believer in Rehv,” Awptheyn said. “However, this particular piece is a miracle, and Rehv does wish that all be allowed the chance to believe. Observe.” With a flex of magic, he lit a small flame inside the device, casting light through the metal and glass which formed a pattern on the wood. A projector, I thought, I wouldn’t have thought that by the design, very inefficient.
“That’s Rehvite script,” Vaozey said, trying not to sound disgusted.
“It is a Holy Inscription, yes,” Awptheyn agreed, looking at the illuminated letters. He watched them for a while, flickering from the uneven luminosity of the fire, lost in thought.
“What does it say?” I asked, voicing the obvious question.
“‘I created an immaculate world, and it remained in that state for eons,’” Awptheyn quoted. Absentmindedly I tried to count the number of words and compare them to the Holy Inscription, and found that the Uwrish rendering of the text would have had two fewer words. So it’s not Uwrish, I thought, Or, at least, it might be some alternate dialect.
“That’s your miracle?” Vaozey scoffed. “A few words made with shadows on a piece of wood?”
“No,” Awptheyn said, blowing out the flame and putting the plank of wood back on the floor, then putting the device back on its shelf and sitting down again. “No, the fact that the piece I showed you predates the revelation by a minimum of three entire centuries is supposed to convince you.” He let the words hang, as though they were supposed to have some kind of impact.
“It doesn’t,” Vaozey replied curtly. From the way she tensed her jaw once she finished speaking, I could tell she was trying to be polite.
“You simply don’t care, but perhaps your companion might, since he appears less disgusted with us than you are,” Awptheyn said, turning to me. “Our religion is a new one, founded not long ago after a prophet revealed it to our people through miracles. That piece you saw, the npeyzhahtmay, was found not more than ten years ago in a cave in northern Kownohk. The cave in question was used as a tomb during the early colonization, and the npeyzhahtmay was found far deeper inside than any of the entombed bodies were. This means it is a minimum of two hundred and eighty-three years older than the founding of our religion, perhaps far older.”
“And it contains a line of scripture from your holy book,” I finished for him.
“Exactly,” Awptheyn smiled. For a moment, I saw a flash of emotion in his eyes, and his smile faltered.
“However, it isn’t a very long line,” I continued. “It’s entirely possible that the line was simply duplicated in your text by chance.” It’s also possible the artifact is a fake, I wanted to add, but I kept my thought to myself.
“Written in the Holy Inscription?” Awptheyn laughed. “In a manner that itself is a miracle? You do not even know how that device was made, and neither do we. The letters have been inscribed in a point in the center of the glass somehow, all without marking the outside. Even if it was manipulated while molten, it should be impossible to do such a thing. It is evidence of a miracle of our god that predates the creation of our religion. It is a knife in the back of those who would deny us legitimacy.”
“And you’re telling us this why?” Vaozey asked. “Seems like both of us might know a lot of people who would want to get their hands on that ‘miracle’ of yours and make it disappear. Not that we have any intent to do so, but you should realize that what you just did is idiotic.”
“You can destroy it if you wish,” Awptheyn offered. “Even if you were to succeed, there are dozens more pieces like this scattered about in different cities. Every artifact in this building is proof of Rehv’s power and influence.” That’s a lie, I knew from Awptheyn’s body language, he screwed up, he’s nervous but he’s hiding it. That thing really is important. Maybe not as much as he was saying, but it’s important.
“There’s no need for that,” I assured him.
“Let us return to the topic at hand,” Awptheyn suggested. “What will it take to appease whoever sent you here to harass me? I presume it is not money, or else I would have heard a number by now.”
“We need your medallion,” I said, and I heard Vaozey tense up beside me.
“Whatever are you referring to?” Awptheyn asked.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“You know what I’m referring to,” I replied. “The identifier device you carry around to prove your status. We also need the paperwork that goes with it.” Vaozey’s hand began moving to her club, but she didn’t make any aggressive moves. Awptheyn, meanwhile, looked more curious than offended.
“That is quite the request,” he quipped. “You do know it is useless to you, right? No detested can operate the device, and without knowledge of Holy Inscription and the Book of Rehv you will have no chance of producing a valid combination.”
“We’re well aware,” I said. “As you surmised, someone else wants it and demanded that we get it for them. Neither of us has any interest in using the identifier ourselves, nor do we really care about the scheme that goes along with it. We just need it so we can get our payment and leave Towrkah.” Vaozey seemed shocked by my honesty, but Awptheyn looked pleased.
“And what if I were to deny you?” he asked. “You would simply try to steal it from me later, wouldn’t you?” No, I’d kill you, I wanted to answer.
“Most likely,” I admitted. “As I said, we don’t have any goal besides getting it to the client.”
“And if I were to report it missing?” Awptheyn suggested. “You’ve been spotted with me today, so if I were to report the medallion as having been stolen, it could easily lead back to your employer.”
“As long as we can leave before he’s apprehended, it doesn’t concern either of us,” I replied.
“Npoyt would probably deserve it,” Vaozey muttered. Awptheyn looked at us with a curious smile, then reached into his robes and removed a medallion that looked just like the one I had seen in Owsahlk, but cleaner and undamaged. What is he doing? I wondered, This isn’t motivated by fear for his life, he doesn’t even realize he’s in danger. Why would he show us that he has it?
“You are an interesting pair,” he said, still holding the medallion out of our reach. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you two were helping me. Giving me this information would allow me to capture someone plotting a grave crime against our organization, and that would increase my standing significantly.” Now I get it, I thought, my lips curling into a small smile. He’s not actually loyal to the Rehvites as an organization, even if he believes in their religion. What he really wants is their power, so he sees no problem with helping us to increase his influence.
“Our intention is merely to leave Towrkah,” I replied evenly. “We would prefer to do that without having to risk our lives. What happens after we leave is of no consequence to either of us, we would merely ask that you delay any reports or action against our employer by a day or two in return for this information.” Awptheyn laughed again, then put the medallion down on his desk.
“The documents,” I reminded him.
“Ah yes,” he chuckled, pulling out some papers from his robes and placing them beside the medallion. “I suppose Rehv does work through serendipity, and this is certainly an example,” he mused. “There is no escaping his will, those who try are foiled every time, so I must submit.”
“Rather, those who try to resist are the ones who serve most zealously,” I corrected. The sound of knuckles cracking came from one of Vaozey’s hands, but I didn’t look over to see if she was glaring at me. “I remember being read the parable of the mite once. I believe the point was that abject resistance and loyal service are essentially the same due to their predictability.” Awptheyn rubbed his chin, then hummed something, apparently amused with the response.
“I never thought the day would come that I would be educated on scripture by someone like you,” Awptheyn laughed, rubbing his forehead. “Indeed, you are correct. I believe we can come to an agreement that is beneficial to both of us. Before that, however, I would like to speak to your companion in private. If you would wait outside, I will have her back to you in a few minutes, and we can proceed with negotiations.”
I looked at Vaozey, who had been quiet for a while, and saw her staring back at me. Neither of us could say anything to each other, but she knew what I wanted to ask and tried to respond non-verbally. Gesturing with a twitch of her head, she told me to leave, and I raised an eyebrow in response. Don’t kill him, I wanted to remind her, but she just gestured to the door a few more times until I gave in.
“Alright,” I said to Awptheyn. “I’ll be outside, call for me when you’re finished talking.” With that, I left the office and walked back out into the main room, meeting the mercenary’s eyes before turning to the exhibits. If that projector he showed me is legitimate and not a fake of some kind, it does actually lend a lot of credence to the idea that their religion was around for several centuries, I thought to myself. Perhaps that is how they got to be so powerful despite being a relatively new group. Gathering power for many centuries in secret, then going public. It’s not dissimilar to what the AI and warbreed did on Earth, just over a longer period of time.
I couldn’t read any of the labels on the glass cases since they were all in Holy Inscription, but as I took a closer look at some of the items I noticed a number of interesting anomalies that weren’t immediately apparent. Two of the stone plates had square glyph-like shapes carved into them that almost resembled simple circuit diagrams, except the symbols for the components were unintelligible. There was also a plate of metal, nearly six centimeters thick, that appeared to have been shot through with a bullet. That could have been done with magic, actually, I considered, maybe if I could read the label I’d know what happened to it.
“Don’t touch anythin’,” the mercenary reminded me.
“Can you read this?” I asked, gesturing to the label on the case with the metal plate in it.
“Shut your mouth jhaoyeyl, you’re lucky to even be here,” the mercenary snarled back, and before I could even think about what I was doing my sword was in my right hand and a throwing knife was in my left. “Testy, are we?” the mercenary taunted, drawing his own sword, a rapier-like needle of metal. “I thought you wanted to get out of this city?”
“Does Awptheyn know who I am?” I asked as I was charging up an electric shock. Is this a trap? I panicked.
“Awptheyn is the one who told me,” the mercenary replied. “He’d like you gone too because nobody in this city wants the destruction that would result from you comin’ to blows with us here. You’ll never survive your trip to Awrehrezha anyway, whether you die here or there makes no difference in the end.”
“I thought you people wanted me alive,” I said. He doesn’t look like he’s going to attack, I noted.
“Zihzehshehsk does,” the mercenary growled, “but it’s not about what they want, is it? It’s about what Rehv commands, and how we can fulfill it. Rehv commands that you die, and by sending you on your way, we kill you with no risk to ourselves. You’ll even go along with it and thank us for it, if that isn’t divine will I don’t know what is.”
I was about to respond when I was interrupted by the sound of crashing from the office, which was quickly followed by a man screaming in agony. Damn it Vaozey, I swore silently as I threw my charged knife at the mercenary, who was smart enough to dodge out of the way instead of trying to block it. Bouncing off the display cases like he weighed nothing, the man shot across the room at lightning speed, stabbing at my heart. Even if I had my gambeson, the sheer force behind the attack and the shape of the weapon would have rendered it useless, and since I wasn’t confident in making my organs resist electricity I too was forced to dodge to the left.
As I crashed through one of the glass cases, the mercenary didn’t miss a beat and swung for my neck. However, I had predicted his attack and was already prepared to grab it with force magic, allowing me to stop the blade just a centimeter from my skin and freeze it in place. A few errant bolts of electricity arced out, but they weren’t enough to stop my follow-up attack. I too had my ways to invalidate a gambeson, and with an explosive release of force magic, I drove my sword upward through the mercenary’s stomach then lifted him off his feet with one arm.
“Not bad,” he choked, spilling blood from his mouth and spattering my face. I moved to grab him and fry his brain, but then felt my arm going numb, and realized I had forgotten to insulate my hand. Just in time, I released the grip of my sword and jumped back, letting my opponent fall to his knees. Another throwing knife appeared in my left hand, and I began charging it immediately, but it wasn’t fast enough for me to slip in an attack before the mercenary was back on his feet, charging at me with two swords.
Of course he’s as ambidextrous as I am, I thought with a growl of annoyance as I ducked a chop from my own weapon, looking for a good opening to launch my shock attack with the throwing knife. Since the mercenary probably knew I was trying to use electricity against him, I had to throw it in such a way that he had no choice but to block the hit or otherwise be touched, which was surprisingly hard when I was all but unable to put distance between myself and him or approach to use it in close quarters. Using a mental motion that felt very awkward, I threw out a bright flash with my right hand, but the mercenary somehow knew it was coming and turned his head to avoid it.
“The light of Vowzeysay,” he announced. “Do you really think that trick is gonna work after you’ve used it in so many-” The throwing knife impacting his head halted him mid-sentence. Though the throw went lower than I intended, striking him in the jaw instead of the skull, the amount of electricity that discharged through his body caused every muscle to contract at once, throwing the mercenary to the floor.
“Worked well enough I’d say,” I growled, grabbing onto his forehead and cooking the inside of his skull as fast as I could. He tried to shock me, but couldn’t muster enough energy before whatever part of his brain was responsible for magic stopped functioning. Once I retrieved my sword, I cut his head off for good measure, then collected the two throwing knives before heading to the office door. The screaming inside had stopped at some point during my fight, but nobody had exited the room, so I charged my sword before entering.
Vaozey, dripping with gore, stood panting in the middle of the room over a destroyed desk and the remains of Awptheyn, gripping a bent and battered club. Somehow the documents and medallion had been thrown into the corner of the room and escaped the worst of the fighting, but nearly everything in the room had at least one or two drops of blood on it. What little of Awptheyn’s face was still intact looked melted, as though it had been pressed against a glowing-hot plate of metal.
“Seytoydh nayraym tawtzeytay,” Vaozey huffed, looking back at me. “He was-”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said, “Get the medallion and let’s go, now. This was always a possible outcome, we can discuss what happened later.” I collected the documents with my left hand to avoid getting more blood on them, and Vaozey walked to the medallion in a daze, stuffing it into one of her pockets. “No, give it to me,” I said, holding out my hand. Again, it took Vaozey a moment to respond, but soon a now-blood-soaked Rehvite medallion was placed into my grasp. After wiping it on my shirt, I put it into the pocket with my throwing knives and turned to leave.
“One minute,” Vaozey grunted, prompting me to stop and turn around. I watched as she walked to the shelf with the projector, placed the artifact on the ground, then smashed it until it was unrecognizable. “Okay,” she sighed, “now let’s go.”