The Last Goddess

by C.E. Stalbaum

  Chapter Five

   

  The temple district on the southeast side of Haven was rarely empty regardless of the time of day. For many years the Faceless had enforced an iron curfew upon the city’s inhabitants even in areas of worship, but with the Empress’s new “open arms” policies towards foreigners—especially merchants—that was no longer the case. Now the armored automatons watched silently from street corners or as part of small passing patrols.

  Right now none of them were in sight, and it seemed like Rynne’s quarry was finally ready to make his move. The Edehan monk, Tiel Aranis, had been here for almost an hour now, flitting in and about the crowds and eventually perching at a café just off the main street. A sparkling fountain rested between him and his obvious target; he must have assumed it would somehow make him less conspicuous.

  Rynne smiled at the thought. She followed people on a semi-regular basis, and she had an excellent grasp on the differences between a professional and an amateur. Tiel was so far below even the latter it was impossible not to find it amusing. 

  Still, he was at least smart enough to wait for the temple to close its doors for the evening before trying to break into it. Why he was trying to do that in the first place, however, remained a mystery. He had spent most of yesterday inside the Illyrian Temple’s library two blocks over, but apparently he hadn’t found what he was looking for. He had been not-so-subtly scouting this one, the largest temple to Edeh in Haven, ever since.

  It raised several perplexing questions, not the least of which was why he couldn’t just ask a fellow Edehan priest for help. Perhaps he wasn’t a monk at all, and the entire persona was just a ruse. She doubted that, though, so the question lingered. What could he possibly be looking for, and how did it relate to the Kirshal?

  Rynne scratched at the back of her right hand and subtly lifted the sending stone on her bracelet up near her mouth. “He’s about ready to make his move.”

  No one responded, but they weren’t supposed to—having her wrist suddenly start talking wasn’t a great way to blend in. She was disguised as a shiani—a Tethelian gypsy, more or less, who were common in the city. It afforded her the opportunity to wear long, loose clothing and conceal her face behind a brown veil. It also gave her a good excuse to hang around this particular district, since Tethelians in general were devout followers of all the Six Gods.

  Rynne squinted at the café and watched the young man as he visibly braced himself. He threw a few coins down on the table and headed off in the direction of the temple. She counted to five before detaching herself from the wall and following him.

  The monk paused near the fountain as a patrol of Faceless passed by again, continuing their predictable long, slow lap around the district. He managed to awkwardly busy himself by flipping a few drakes into the water and muttering some mock prayers while the soldiers passed, and then he continued on.

  The temple itself was a massive six-story structure with a wide double door on the eastern side. Rynne assumed he wasn’t so brazen as to try and break in the front door, but she didn’t know what else he would try. Even now that the sun had set, the area around the temple was still well lit, and several dozen people continued to mull about the center fountain. The young man approached it regardless, then abruptly veered away towards an adjacent building.

  Rynne took up a position in the shadows across the street. No one paid her any mind, which was both a testament to her costume and a repudiation of the city’s culture. The poor were so common as to be invisible in Haven, especially in districts like this one where they tended to congregate. But right now it was an advantage, and she watched as Tiel made his way around to the backside of the temple. He vanished into the shadows between the buildings, and Rynne slid forward to catch up with him.

  By the time she finally managed to creep around back with him, the monk was already crouching by the thin metal fence surrounding the temple. It wasn’t anything special, just a bit of an obstacle to keep vagrants out, but it was ten feet tall and beyond the strength of any one, non-Faceless person to break. She couldn’t fathom how he planned to get through it…

  And then his hand brushed against the metal and a spark of magic flickered in his palm. The metal bars glowed briefly before slowly stretching apart. They creaked loudly enough she actually winced, but no one seemed to notice. After about thirty seconds he had bent a man-sized hole in the bars, and he wasted no time in deftly tumbling through.

  Rynne had to admit she was impressed. She had used softening spells on occasion when cooking or sewing, but never with anything as tough as iron. She wondered if he was a full-blown mage or just a krata like herself. Either way, he obviously had a few tricks up his sleeve beyond those of the average monk. 

  Tiel made his way up to the actual building and glanced up towards a window on the second story. It was dark inside, so he probably assumed it was reasonably safe to climb up there. The question, again, was how in Edeh’s name he planned on doing that.

  Just as she pondered that question, the monk’s body lifted from the ground. It was a slow and wobbly ascent, not unlike a puppet being pulled up by its master, but thirty seconds later he reached the window and gently pushed it open.

  Rynne shook her head in amazement. Gravity manipulation spells were completely beyond her, unfortunately. She had fully expected to be able to follow him wherever he went or whatever caper he tried to pull, but now… Well, her own weaving abilities weren’t up to the task of levitation, and she was fresh out of grappling hooks to toss in through the window. She could just wait, of course; he hadn’t closed the fence behind him, which presumably meant he intended to exit the same way. It would be easy to sit here in the shadows and confront him once he had nabbed whatever it was he was looking for.

  It was almost assuredly what Rook would have done. Years of soldiering and then leading a cloak-and-dagger organization had taught him to be cautious. Van would have done the same. 

  Fortunately, neither of them was here to spoil the fun. She was a passable climber, and it was the only available option if she wanted to keep up—and she very much did. 

  Just as Tiel disappeared inside the building, Rynne hustled forward and slid through the gap in the fence. She did a last-second visual sweep to make sure no one had noticed them back here, and when that was all clear she extended her fingers towards the wall. She reached out to the Fane, letting its energy tingle through her…

  It was an old trick a former suitor had taught her long ago. Her fingernails hardened into fine points like sharpened bone, and her grip doubled in strength. On a rough brick surface like the exterior of this temple, it was more than sufficient to hoist herself off the ground and begin a measured ascent. Perhaps a minute later, she had made it to the lip of the window and could peer inside.

  The room’s only illumination came from a thin sliver of light beneath the cracked door on the opposite wall, but it was enough for a cursory inspection of the area. It seemed like a small, unused living quarters with nothing particularly noteworthy inside. Given the opened door, it wasn’t hard to guess that Tiel had already slipped further inside. Rynne pulled herself up the rest of the way and flipped into the room as quietly as she could.

  It belatedly occurred to her that she could easily be the one who got caught here, and she reassuringly brushed against the hilt of her slender sword. She had no intention of hurting anyone, let alone some random Edehan clergy, but it was still comforting to know she could defend herself in a pinch. Even the many folds of her shiani garment weren’t enough to disguise her repeating crossbow, of course, but she did have a small hand-held one inside a holster on her right hip. Its range was limited and it wasn’t particularly powerful, but right now she was glad it was there just in case.

  Releasing her climbing spell, Rynne tiptoed across the room and cracked open the door to look around. The temple’s second floor was mostly personal rooms for the priests who lived here, and no one seemed to be meandering aro
und the nicely carpeted corridors at the moment. She caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye and saw Tiel duck inside a room with a metal door—probably an archive, by the looks of it. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open.

  And immediately pulled it closed when another door down the hallway abruptly opened. She held her breath as the muffled conversation of the priests gradually trailed off, then counted an additional thirty seconds before peering out again. This time it was empty, and she quickly darted over to the metal door.

   Judging by the script hanging above the doorframe, her archive guess was spot-on. This was likely where they kept all the temple records and anything else of historical value that wasn’t actively being used. It made sense: Tiel probably assumed they had more information on the Kirshal. It was exactly why she was here in the first place, and it seemed like as good a time as any to confront him and get this over with.

  Drawing in another deep breath, Rynne placed a hand on her sword and twirled inside the room—

  And was instantly yanked forward when a hand clasped around her wrist and wrenched her sword from her grip. She tried to flip about and recover, but the moment she got to her feet a leg kicked the back of her knee and swept her to the floor. She hit the ground hard, the wind leaving her lungs, and someone pounced on top of her.

  In two seconds flat, she had been completely immobilized. Now the monk stared down at her in the dim lighting as his forearm pressed dangerously against her neck. With a mere twitch of his arm he could crush her throat. She was completely at his mercy.

  Suddenly, following him up here didn’t seem like such a good idea after all…