“You are pathetic,” Tellish said.
“You wanted to fight me again?” Pieter asked. “Even though we have done this twice now?”
“The first time, you sucker-punched me. The second, you escaped before facing the True Justice.”
“I didn’t kill those people,” Pieter shouted back.
“We have a witness who says otherwise,” Tellish said.
Pieter narrowed his eyes and moved forward when prodded by Jax, who had taken up a position behind him. Jax was a good Hunter, a bit to suave for his own good with the ladies, Pieter thought. He was disappointed that they had all come at him like this instead of trying to speak to him and bring him in peacefully.
“But then,” Makka said, leaning in. “Would you have come willingly?”
“Get out of my head, Makka.” Pieter realized she was right. That if any of them had approached him, he would have tried to run or fight.
“Glad we are on the same page,” Jax said from behind him.
Pieter felt his stomach lurch when he realized where they were going. “You are putting me on trial now? I have something I need to do. I need to speak to the Master of Novices. I have a new student—”
“He is already being taken care of,” Tellish said, turning his head and smirking.
“What do you mean?”
“He will be taken care of,” Makka said. “You have my word on that.”
Pieter didn’t know why, but something told him that he couldn’t trust any of the Emissaries that surrounded him. He had thought it was nerves at first, thinking that he was nervous and edgy. Yet, that wasn’t it. Something weighed on him; there was something wrong with the people that surrounded him. He reached out, not to the shield, but to Makka. A very light touch of her mind. Something dark was there. He pulled away before he was detected. He thought he saw a sidelong glance from her, yet it could have been a trick of the light. Her hood was up and her dark brown eyes were hooded. She did give him a small smile before they all entered the massive doors of the council chamber.
“You could have a chance. If you allow yourself the Test, they could go easier on you.”
Pieter shuddered at the thought of the Test. He had survived it once, as it was how the Emissaries gained their full rank. To take it again was to invite the Rift back into Pieter and that wasn’t something he wished for. “I will not take the Test again.”
“Very well,” Samuel said. He looked at the others that surrounded him and held the shield in place. “We should go in one of the side doors of the council. We will cause a scene. And, besides, Duke Harkness is giving his testimony as we speak.”
The group started to move around to a different part of the Embassy.
Pieter felt the weight of the manacles on him drag down his hands. He scowled at Tellish and Samuel. “Why are you doing this?”
“You killed a room full of dignitaries, heads of major and minor families, and you ask that question?” Samuel said, a full scowl on his face.
“I did nothing of the kind. I couldn’t have done it,” Pieter said. “I wasn’t—”
“Why?” Tellish asked. “Why couldn’t you have done this?”
“I was in the village, fighting for my life.”
“Oh, what, these ‘men with black blood?’” Samuel asked with a smirk.
“Yes. And, there was something about them. Something was inside their bodies. It is some kind of parasite or something.” Pieter didn’t want to tell Samuel about the slug creatures. He wanted to wait until he was speaking to the Council.
“You would say anything to save your own skin, wouldn’t you?” Tellish said.
Pieter looked at his one-time friend. Even with the manacles blocking the Void from him, he smelled the sweat and saw the red rim of Tellish’s eyes.
“You are losing yourself to the Rift, old friend,” Pieter said.
“Oh really? Why should I care what someone who is already in the Rift says about me?” Tellish gave Pieter a hard smile, one that gave Pieter pause.
“I am not a Rifter. I have been framed.”
“Who would frame a Void Emissary?” Samuel asked. “Who could frame a Void Emissary? Make it appear like an Emissary did the blood handiwork?” Samuel asked.
Pieter looked at his one-time mentor. I don’t understand. Why is he pushing this? Pieter wondered. He took a deep breath. Calm yourself. Let everything be fed into the fire. He went through the exercise, though at the last moment, Tellish struck Pieter in the gut with the pommel of his iron-reinforced blade.
“None of that, Rifter. We want to see the Rift consume you before you are severed.”
Samuel gave Tellish a hard look. Pieter felt a cold lance of ice shoot down his spine.
“No, Samuel! Tellish, you can’t do this,” Pieter said a hard lump in his throat. “I demand to speak to the Council.”
“Denied.”
“Trial by combat,” Pieter said. It wasn’t something the Embassy spoke about, but he had the right as an Emissary.
The small group stopped. Samuel looked at the other Cerberi.
Makka stepped forward, “He has that right, Healer Samuel.”
Samuel looked at Makka. “As if any of us want him to use that sword again,” he said, looking at the sword in Makka’s hand. “Denied.”
“I’m allowed a trial,” Pieter shouted.
“Healer Samuel. He is correct,” Makka said.
“Cerberi Makka, do you want to join this Rifter?”
Makka looked at Pieter for a moment, then down at the ground. “No, Healer.”
“Then, you will be silent. As a Rifter, you aren’t allowed a trial. You are heading straight to your just punishment.”
Pieter felt real and true fear creep its way down his spine. No, they aren’t talking about that.
“Where do you think we have been leading you?” Tellish said with a small laugh. The other Cerberi and Hunters stopped at a doorway. Before Pieter was a set of steps down. He swallowed.
The Hunter Gherd looked at Samuel, “We will take the burden, Healer.”
“Not this time,” Samuel said. “Tellish and I have a personal stake in this, Hunter Gherd.”
“This is highly unusual. At least let me come with—”
“No,” Samuel said. “My Cerberi is with me and you have his weapon. There is no way he can harm us. We will be well.”
Gherd and the other Hunters walked by and spit on Pieter’s boots. Makka walked by, looking at Pieter for a moment. “I am sorry Pieter. You use to be one of my best friends.”
Pieter watched as she turned her head and dabbed away a tear. He opened his mouth to say something, when Tellish cuffed him in the back of the head. “Shut it, trash.” Then, Pieter was dragged down the steps.
Pieter looked around. He cursed himself. Wallowing in self-pity had blinded him to his surroundings. Saheed would be furious with him. They were in one of the lower levels of the Embassy, the dark walls having barely seen a cleaning service in years. The bulbs of the witchlight cast pale wan light that didn't completely beat back the darkness of the hallway.
Pieter knew of this place. He had brought someone here once, along with his mentor, Saheed. The bound and gagged Rifter had to be half-dragged, half-carried through the dark halls. Every fifty paces, Pieter remembered seeing the rune of Thalos, which explained why he felt his own head feel as if it were stuffed with batting. The hallway was long on purpose, to give the Rifter time to reflect on his crimes. He had heard the walls had history murals on them. The Long Night. The Destruction of Ganymede. The Battle of the Gate. All of them started by Rifters who were brought down here to be severed from the Void. He felt the ability to draw upon the Void leaving him, the runes helping to leech away his powers for a short time. Before he could summon the Void again, he would never feel it.
“This is madness,” Pieter whispered.
“This is the only way,” Samuel said. Tellish grabbed Pieter by the crook of his arm and started to drag him down the corridor to the sma
ll inner chamber. The door was open, and light, much brighter than the wan light outside, showed their destination.
Pieter cast his eyes about, trying to concoct a plan that would get him out of here, each one discarded faster than the last. Damn it. I have lost before I have even begun.
Giving up so soon, apprentice?
Pieter bit his tongue to keep from reacting. “Saheed?” he asked in his head. “Where are you?”
“Where I always am, three steps ahead of you,” Saheed whispered back in Pieter’s mind.
Samuel and Tellish stopped. Pieter looked up to see his mentor, Saheed Falharad, step out of the severing chamber. “I see you have brought the prisoner.”
“A shame it is you that has to do this,” Samuel said shaking his thick white locks.
Saheed gave a solemn nod. The rangy man wore white robes with a red stole stitched into the trim that marked him as the Master of Hunters. His eyes bore into Pieter’s. The one good eye a deep rich brown, like his weather-beaten face. His other eye a milky yellowish white that bisected a cut along his face. Pieter felt fear only when Saheed had turned that eye to him in anger. The anger was there, and he felt himself try to shrink back. Tellish and Samuel stopped that.
“A pity, yet when there is a Rifter, a Hunter is usually the best one to do the job.”
“But, he is your—”
“He was my apprentice,” Saheed said in a cold voice that stopped even Samuel and Tellish. The tall, rangy man stabbed a finger towards Samuel. “The moment he gave into his own Rift, was the moment he stopped being my apprentice, and the moment he became another piece of Rifter garbage that needs to be severed.”
“I meant no offense,” Samuel said. He looked at Tellish, who was pushing Pieter towards Saheed.
“I will take him,” Saheed said.
“Are you sure, Master Saheed?” Tellish asked. “He is—”
Saheed whirled on Tellish. Even though the Cerberus was three inches taller than Saheed, Saheed squared his shoulders. “I am Master of the Hunters? Do you doubt my own ability?”
Pieter, though he couldn’t summon the Void to himself, could still feel pings of its energy. Saheed had taken it in, and Tellish and Samuel grabbed hold of the Void as a reflex. The two stared at Saheed, who stared back with his own good eye. He heard Tellish swallow and pushed Pieter towards the Hunter leader.
“No doubt at all, Master Saheed,” Samuel said.
Pieter heard the emphasis on the title. There is something more to this, he thought. He then cursed himself for thinking that. He was moments from losing the ability to draw upon the Void, and he was still trying to be a good little Hunter and spy for Saheed.
Tellish and Samuel left the doorway, leaving Saheed, who pushed Pieter into the inner chamber.
“Do you remember this chamber, apprentice?”
“Of course, Master. It is the place where we sever those with the ability to—”
“Yes, yes, thank you,” Saheed said. He then touched the manacles on Pieter’s wrist, which clattered to the ground. “I meant the other reason for the chamber.”
Pieter looked at Saheed with shock. “Master?”
“Do you think I would be severing my own apprentice?”
Pieter stared at Saheed’s form, dumbstruck. “I don't understand. How—”
“Boy, you are a bright one, yet sometimes, you barely have the illumination of a dying ember. I know you couldn’t have been the one to kill those men.”
“How do you know?”
“The Seer witnessed it.”
“The Seer? Can’t we—”
“You wouldn’t have heard the news. She was found dead before she could be used to set you free.” Saheed sat down heavily in a chair, motioning Pieter to the other.
“What? Who?” Pieter didn’t sit, he paced back and forth.
“The Seer and her one Cerberi was killed this morning. Sometime during the night, they had their throats slit.” Saheed held his hand in on hand, rubbing at his good eye.
“Who could sneak up on a Cerberi?”
“They claim it was another of mine, that my house is out of order…”
Saheed took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh. He then pointed to the small table that Pieter hadn’t seen when he first came in. On it was a dark blue cloak and cream-colored coat.
“And what of my—”
“Your sword, right here,” Makka said, appearing from the door that lead to the other room of the severing chambers. She set Pieter’s sword down and rubbed her shoulder. “It truly didn’t like me.”
“Why are you giving me these?” Pieter asked. He raised his hand and the blade leapt to his hand. He felt the purr in his head and smiled. “I missed you as well.” He looked at Makka, “It has some trust issues, like its master.”
Makka gave him a weak smile.
“Makka, you need to disappear. If the Cerberi find out one of mine is—”
Pieter looked at Saheed. “Makka is a Hunter? I was there at her Raising. She was chosen by the Cerberi.”
Saheed smiled. “A small bit of theater, my boy. Makka has always been a Hunter. I have spies in all of the orders.”
“Master, I am sorry I failed.”
“You have not failed. Not yet. Say your goodbyes, and I will lead you to hopeful safety.
Pieter took Makka’s hand. “Thank you. I knew you believed me.”
“Of course.” It looked like she wanted to say more to Pieter, yet she simply squeezed his hands. “Don’t die,” she said before she left through the door.
“I’ll do my best,” he said to her, even though she was already gone. He turned back to Saheed, who shook his head. “Maybe I should have been the one to leave?”
“That ship sailed, Master. A long time ago.” He turned to the clothing and started to pick at it. “Why my family’s colors?”
“You need to get out of here, and the only way that s going to happen is if you aren’t dressed as a Void Emissary. Hence I found your family colors and—”
“I am not going back there.”
“Then, what do you plan to do, boy? Plan to take on the entire Embassy? To fight your way through until they acknowledge you are right and they made a mistake?” He raised a white eyebrow. “I taught you better than that.”
Pieter turned away. “This is not what I was trained to do. I was trained—”
“To hunt down rogue Rifters and to be a Emissary for the Void. The Void wills as the Void wills, apprentice. You must follow the will,” Saheed said, standing up and slapping Pieter on the shoulders.
Pieter looked at his master. “What about my apprentice?”
“Like the old days, before the Council and the formation of the Orders.”
“What about his sword? His training? The Test?”
“The Void wills what the Void wills,” Saheed said.
“Teach him myself?”
“It is the only way.”
Pieter nodded, then quickly donned the cloak and coat that Saheed had appropriated for him. “What will you do?” Pieter asked as he threw up the hood of the cloak. It felt strange to be in the old colors of his family, yet he knew there was no other way.
Saheed gave Pieter a wry smile. “I am the Master of the Hunters, their spymaster. I think I can find a way to extract myself from the situation.”
“How am I to escape?”
Saheed gave a small laugh. He pointed to the other room, where Makka had come from. Pieter knew that the room was used for some Rifters who, once severed, begged for a quick and clean death.
“You mean—”
“The sewers, yes,” Saheed said.
“I hate the sewers.”
Saheed snapped his head to one side. “Go,” he said while drawing his own witchwood blade, twin curved kukris.
Pieter bolted for the door, embracing a touch of the Void and feeling that others were coming. Opening the door to the execution room, he found the sluice gate had already been removed. Thank you Makka. He also saw a bo
dy on the table. He didn’t want to look at it, hoping that his master would use that to cover Pieter’s escape.
Hit the incinerator while you’re in there, Saheed said in Pieter’s mind.
As a reflex, Pieter hit the button that would turn the body on the thick slab of metal into ash. He didn’t want to ask where he had found someone to fill in. Instead, he slipped through the gate and replaced it. He didn’t wait for the incinerator to finish. He started to run blindly down one of the sewer tunnels. As training for Saheed, he and the other Hunters were taught down here as well as on the surface. He let his feet start to move down one set of tunnels when he was stopped.
Go to the North sewer gate, your apprentice is there, Saheed said again before closing off his mind to Pieter.
“How did—” He stopped the line of thought. Saheed was the spymaster for the Embassy, there were many things that he could do that Pieter thought were impossible.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Kyp waited in the alley outside of the Embassy. It was strange to see the behemoth of basalt a stone’s throw from where he stood, with its clean streets and swept halls, compared to the alley he was in, reeking of garbage and piss. Tenzen smiled at him and sat waiting on a box that squelched and gave off an odor when the old man shifted.
“How do you know—”
“I am a Seer, boy, I have seen this happen,” Tenzen said. He closed his eyes and held his staff across his lap.
“Then, what is going to happen to Pieter?”
Tenzen sighed and leaned back against the alley wall. “Right now, he is on the way to be severed. However, he will escape before that happens and—”
“Can’t we help him? Can’t you say something, do something?” Kyp asked, wanting to shake Tenzen.
“My time in the Embassy is short-lived. I have seen that as well,” Tenzen said.
“You are taking it rather well,” Kyp said. “I’d fight for every breath I can take.”
“When your life is fated, there is little you can do but follow the will of Void.”
“That is stupid,” Kyp said.
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