by Ian Gregoire
Kayden stepped in, walking slowly towards the door opposite. It was obviously the entrance to the governor’s office, where she would find Baranzev Kazdaranian awaiting his fate. Though she hoped to catch him unawares, the fact that he had set a ward outside the office meant he was preparing for his last stand. Casting out her senses, she felt his presence in the office beyond the door, and pinpointed his location. Kazdaranian wasn’t in close proximity to the door, so she wouldn’t need to worry about him lying in wait to stick a blade between her ribs when she entered the room. She pulled the hood of her cloak over head and invoked Naymutandushay. The air around her rippled like water as she became intangible, then she ambled forward, passing through the oak door in front of her.
Inside the governor’s plush office, Kayden’s eyes immediately locked on to the imposing man stood behind a mahogany desk and high-backed chair, peering out of the window that dominated the wall directly opposite. He had his back to her, and showed no signs of being aware of her entry into the room. It was safe to assume he was engrossed in events taking place on the ground below.
“As you can see,” said Kayden, “it’s over.”
The man spun around, startled. But it wasn’t the rattled look on his face that struck Kayden. To her surprise, Kazdaranian exuded an air of nobility that was at odds with her perception of him as a callous leader of worthless scumbags. This person of middling years, toned physique, and handsome, bearded face looked every bit the decorated war hero. He was even wearing his military uniform. Kayden was at a loss to understand how or why such a man would turn on his own people in the manner he had.
“So, the town is truly free?” he said. “I can’t believe it.”
The relief in Kazdaranian’s voice confused Kayden. She frowned. A man whose reign of tyranny had just been brought to an end should be having an entirely different reaction.
He began to step around the mahogany desk. “Did you kill—?”
Thrusting out a hand, Kayden cut him off in mid-sentence, invoking Yuksaydan to seize hold of him. The ‘unseen hand’ pinned his arms to his side, forced him down onto his knees, and squeezed his throat. “If you make another sudden move,” she snapped, “or I sense an attack… I will kill you.” She advanced into the office, veering to her left so Kazdaranian’s kneeling form was in full view and not obstructed by the desk.
“Please,” croaked Kazdaranian. “I’m not the enemy. You’ve got the wrong man.”
Kayden halted in front of her subdued captive, ready to end his life if forced to do so. “Do you take me for a fool?” she asked. “I know who are you: Baranzev Kazdaranian. Or are you going to try to deny it?”
“No. I am…” Kazdaranian’s face was turning purple so Kayden eased the invisible grip around his neck, allowing him to breathe unrestricted. “Thank you,” he gasped, taking in a lungful of air. “Now you have to believe me. I’m not responsible for any of this, I’m just a scapegoat. A pawn for Baldassian to hide behind.”
The assertion caused Kayden to narrow her eyes at him, studying his countenance. He was unquestionably one of the most earnest looking men she had ever encountered. She wanted to believe he was being truthful, but everything she had been taught about the ways of the Saharbashi made plain that they were a people capable of great deception.
Without warning, she was hit by the sense of impending death and destruction. Her eyes widened in alarm. The imminent burst of Zarantar Najist that would end her life was outside the room.
Acting on instinct, she invoked Inkansaylar, inducing a barrier sphere around herself and Kazdaranian that sliced the nearby mahogany desk in two as part of it was caught within the radius of the impenetrable translucent bubble. Kazdaranian opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say a word the ceiling was suddenly obliterated, while simultaneously the four walls of the office imploded. The resultant rubble was inexplicably drawn to Kayden’s barrier sphere as though magnetised, crashing into the translucent bubble on all sides. The masonry and debris piled up until the protective sphere was completely entombed, and the rubble began to compact tightly, trying to crush the Zarantar-induced bubble like a walnut. The inside of the barrier sphere had become pitch black, all light blocked out by the rubble of the destroyed office.
An illumination orb appeared in Kayden’s outstretched hand in response to her invocation of Sinjaydan. The pale blue glow cast within the confines of the barrier sphere permitted her to see the devastation that had almost killed her. She was completely buried beneath rubble, and the only evidence of the former existence of the office she’d entered just minutes ago was the circular patch of carpet visible through the bottom of her translucent bubble. Sending the orb floating above her head, Kayden looked down at Kazdaranian, still on his knees in front of her, and the angered expression on his face served as confirmation of what she now suspected.
“It was Governor Baldassian the whole time,” she exclaimed. “He’s the Saharbashi.”
“Yes,” said Kazdaranian, still immobilised by the ‘unseen hand’.
Kayden pursed her lips, thinking. Finally, she ceased her invocation of Yuksaydan, releasing Kazdaranian from the invisible grip holding him down. “The people of this province believe that you removed the governor from his position in order to establish your own oppressive rule,” she said. “How is that possible? Even the bandits terrorising the population in your name seem to believe that you are leading them.”
Slowly, Kazdaranian rose to his feet, glancing nervously at the rubble that would crush him like an insect if the translucent bubble disappeared. “Baldassian uses me to give orders to the criminals recruited into the ranks of my so-called followers,” he said. “It’s one of the reasons he keeps me alive.”
“And you just do what that snivelling weasel tells you to do?” Kayden couldn’t keep the disdain from her voice.
“When he gives me an order, I have no choice but to obey,” Kazdaranian retorted, looking shame-faced. “If I resist carrying out an instruction, the collar he placed around my neck starts to glow red, and the most excruciating pain you can imagine courses through my body.”
For the first time, Kayden noticed the strange circular band around Kazdaranian’s neck. It was dark and metallic. She moved closer to him to get a better look at it, and determine what it was. Circling slowly around him, Kayden was at a loss as to what she was looking at.
“There’s no clasp. It looks completely seamless,” she observed. “How did Baldassian put it on you?”
“I have no idea. But he called it a compliance collar, and as I said, it’s why I have to do whatever he wants.”
Taking a backward step, Kayden chewed her bottom lip in concentration. Her knowledge of Zarantar Najist was almost non-existent. On campus, learning the art of the Saharbashi was expressly forbidden, since it was an offence that carried the death penalty throughout the Nine Kingdoms. What little she did know about the ways of the Saharbashi came from her master, but Fay had never mentioned anything about compliance collars.
Kayden decided to discuss another matter with Kazdaranian while she continued to ponder how to remove the collar from around his neck. “Help me to understand something,” she began. “What exactly is Baldassian’s ultimate objective? His actions make no sense to me. The Saharbashi are known to crave power, but as a royally appointed provincial governor of the realm, Baldassian already had authority over this province, so why the ruse about being deposed by you while secretly retaining the reins of power?”
“I wish I knew,” conceded Kazdaranian. “There were times when I felt like this was his way of exacting revenge against the government—to usurp a piece of the kingdom from the authority of the queen.” Explaining his reasoning, he added, “Baldassian is a northerner, and it was always apparent from the start that he resented being appointed as a governor here in the south. He was previously the Anzarmenian ambassador to Sirathania for five years, so this position could be viewed as a demotion.”
“If this was simply a case of
wanting to establish a fiefdom of his own at the queen’s expense, why go to so much trouble to prevent anyone knowing that he’s behind it all?” said Kayden. “What does Baldassian have to gain from oppressing the population? Why conscript an army of bandits to extort tribute from the people every fortnight in your name? Why abduct women and girls to be used as sex slaves?”
“I don’t know,” blurted Kazdaranian, sounding tetchy. “Why don’t you get us out of here, so you can apprehend him and ask?”
It probably was a good idea to get them out of their predicament while there was still time to pursue and capture Baldassian, thought Kayden. First she had to remove the compliance collar from Kazdaranian’s neck; she had no way of knowing what kind of influence it might have on the wearer. Her ruminations had led her to conclude that the object was a manifestation of Zarantar Najist, ergo she should be able to neutralise it with her invocation of Yuksaydan.
“Hold still,” she said, cautiously placing both hands about a foot on either side of Kazdaranian’s neck. “Hopefully, removing the collar won’t kill you.”
“Wait!”
Ignoring Kazdaranian’s wide-eyed plea, Kayden invoked Yuksaydan, just as she would if neutralising the Zarantar strike of an adversary. Without warning, the compliance collar burst in a splatter of blood, startling her. In a panic, Kazdaranian clutched his neck, wailing that he was bleeding. Kayden grabbed him by the wrists and pulled his hands away from his throat. “Calm down. I don’t think it’s your blood,” she said. There was no wound as far as she could see. “I think the collar was made of blood.” Which made sense now that she thought about it. The use of blood was an integral aspect of Zarantar Najist.
Once Kazdaranian was convinced he had suffered no injury, he calmed down enough for Kayden to release her hold on his wrists. “Thank you… uh,” he began in earnest. “I’m sorry, I don’t know your name. But I owe you my life and my freedom. Tell me what I can do to help you get out of here and catch the governor.”
“Don’t concern yourself about that, I have the situation well in hand.” It wasn’t entirely true; she still hadn’t decided on the best way to extricate them from beneath the pile up of rubble. “First I’m going to get you out of the building and persuade the resistance fighters outside that you are just as much a victim as anyone else. Once they understand who the real enemy is, I’ll come back inside to take care of Baldassian.”
“We don’t have time for that,” insisted Kazdaranian. “That treasonous snake is escaping as we speak.”
“The building is surrounded on all sides. The moment he sets foot outside and the people see that he was still in residence the whole time, despite supposedly having been deposed by you, they aren’t just going to let him leave the scene without explanation.”
“There is an escape tunnel beneath the mansion that leads to an exit point beyond Mirazan Square,” Kazdaranian explained. “It doesn’t matter how many people you have surrounding the compound, no one will see him.”
Oh drat! thought Kayden, regretting the time she’d wasted talking to Kazdaranian. She immediately abandoned the notion of employing Yuksaydan to push the barrier sphere upward through the rubble until it emerged on top of all the debris. If she was to intercept Baldassian in time, she needed to go down, not up.
“All right, I’m going after the governor,” she announced, “and you’re coming with me.” She caused a breach in the barrier sphere to open up beneath their feet, exposing the carpeted floor of the office. “Hold on to me,” she ordered, slipping an arm around his waist. “We’re getting out of here.” Looking confused, Kazdaranian awkwardly wrapped both arms around her. She thrust a hand downward, invoking Yuksaydan to unleash an invisible blast at the floor, causing it to cave in. A startled gasp came from Kazdaranian as they fell through the gaping hole in the floor into the room below.
Invoking Makfayshulat, Kayden slowed down their descent until they gently alighted on the floor. “You can let go of me now,” she said, and Kazdaranian duly complied, relinquishing his hold around her waist. She glanced quickly around at their new surroundings. The room they had dropped into appeared to be a study. Its walls were lined with bookshelves, replete with tomes, and the rest of the room was furnished with a desk and high-backed chair, a sofa and matching quartet of upholstered armchairs, a grandfather clock, and a drinks trolley. Peering up at the hole in the ceiling, Kayden saw the pale blue glow of the illumination orb left behind in the rubble entombed barrier sphere in the office above.
“Stand back,” she advised Kazdaranian, while taking a few steps backward herself. She neutralised her prior invocations, extinguishing the illumination orb, and bringing down the barrier sphere. There was a rumble as the piled-up debris collapsed to fill the space where Kayden’s translucent, impenetrable bubble had been. For several seconds, pieces of detritus and dust poured through the hole in the ceiling. When it stopped, Kayden wasted little time instructing Kazdaranian to lead her to the escape tunnel that was supposedly beneath the governor’s residence.
In short order, she was brought down to a wine cellar in the basement level of the building. The wall-mounted lanterns revealed an extensive collection of alcoholic beverages. The racks were full of bottled wines and spirits, while several casks of ale, beer, and cider were lined up against one wall. Kazdaranian drew her attention to the west-facing wall, and led her to one of the racks of wine. He grabbed hold of it and pulled. To Kayden’s surprise the rack swung open like a door, revealing the gaping dark entrance of a hidden tunnel.
“This is it,” said Kazdaranian.
Staring into the dark opening, Kayden cast out her senses. She quickly detected the presence of someone about seven hundred yards further along the tunnel, moving steadily away. It had to be Governor Baldassian. Without delay, she invoked Sinjaydan, creating an illumination orb that she sent floating into the tunnel.
“You’re going to have to wait here,” she said, glancing at Kazdaranian.
“Why?”
“Because it’s too dangerous for you to come with me.”
Before Kazdaranian could respond, Kayden invoked Inkansaylar to trap him inside a barrier sphere. He looked simultaneously bewildered and fearful.
“What are you doing?” he asked. “I wasn’t going to argue the point and follow you into the tunnel.”
“This is for your own safety,” Kayden replied. “I’m not worried you’ll follow me. I’m worried about what would happen if the militiamen outside enter the residence before I get back, and find you down here in the cellar. They’d almost certainly hack you to pieces rather than give you an opportunity to tell them the truth about Baldassian.”
“Well what happens to me if you get killed?”
Under normal circumstances, Kayden might have been affronted by the lack of faith that the question conveyed, but she understood Kazdaranian’s concern. She had never faced a Saharbashi adversary before, and there was obviously a possibility that Baldassian would kill her if she pursued him.
“If I die the barrier sphere should persist for many hours after” she said. “Maybe even days. That will give you more than enough time to persuade whoever finds you down here to let you speak to Sister Valeria. She’s one of the Jaymidari who assisted the militia in liberating Sevdanor, and she will listen to you when you inform her about Governor Baldassian.”
She stepped away from the contained man, and entered the tunnel, following in the wake of the illumination orb once she closed the hidden entrance behind her. Setting off at a jog, she moved briskly through the narrow tunnel in pursuit of her quarry, guided by the pale blue glow of her orb.
Rapidly gaining ground on the target, Kayden cast out her senses again, and was surprised that Governor Baldassian—assuming it was him—had stopped moving. He was stationary some two hundred yards further ahead. She slowed down to a walk, pondering whether Baldassian was aware of her nearby presence, and if he was now lying in wait to ambush her. As a Saharbashi, he wouldn’t be able to sense her illuminatio
n orb, but maybe the sound of her footfalls had reached his ears, giving her away. Suddenly, she sensed an imminent Zarantar strike, and when it was unleashed it was immediately followed by the roar of masonry being destroyed. Baldassian was collapsing the tunnel ahead of her, Kayden realised, but she didn’t panic. There was no obstruction he could muster that would prevent her from pursuing him.
She promptly initiated a flat-out sprint when her outstretched senses informed her that Baldassian was on the move once more, considerably faster than before. Moments later a billowing dust cloud forced her to hold her breath and shield her eyes with a hand. When she was clear of the dust, the rubble came into view, but she didn’t slow down. Without bothering to pull the hood of her siphon cloak over her head, Kayden invoked Naymutandushay, and her incorporeal form breezed through the blockage of strewn rubble like an apparition, though her illumination orb didn’t pass through with her.
On the other side she skidded to a halt. She had emerged into a lantern-lit basement, but there was no sign of the runaway governor. She ceased her invocation of Naymutandushay, becoming corporeal again. Looking around the basement it was clear that it was used as a storage room. From what she could gather, Kayden doubted that she was in the basement of a residential building. In stark contrast to the wine cellar at the other end of the escape tunnel, this storage space contained tools and a variety of military supplies. She glanced at a short staircase ahead and to her right, leading up to a wooden door. Casting out her senses, she detected multiple people beyond the door, but she was unable to distinguish Baldassian from the rest.
