Chapter 1: Brena and Andrew

Brena still had one job to do upon arrival in Fairham’s Cove and she didn’t want to waste any time completing it. With Andrew as her bodyguard, and escort, she was directed to the Brotherhood of Assassins headquarters by the Daymaster of the Thieves Guild. Before she entered, she asked one of the men standing guard, “Will I come out the same day I go in this time?” This building was much newer than some of the other buildings on the surrounding streets. It was made of red bricks and stone slabs rather than the prevalent all-wood and stone construction she could see all around her. She noticed the mortar between the bricks was a dull grey that seemed to hold like a strong glue. That was something new to her. The building had five floors that were visible from the street, but more could have been dug in below ground. Knowing the Brotherhood, this building might cover half the city below ground. The door was an old-style in design though. It was made from heavy, thick wood planks bound by brass and iron straps. The hinges were something different as well, maybe steel from the dull grey color.

The guard’s face lit up with a smile as he answered, “It is only the Temple in Terin’s Crossing that has that problem miss. Go on in, you are expected by the Mistress.” With a glance at Andrew, he continued, “She is expecting the both of you.” He pulled the door open with a grunt, then stepped to the side so they could pass. Andrew looked at the door and grinned. It was two feet thick and moved very slowly. “Now that is some door,” he said to the guard who just smiled wider and nodded in agreement. Inside, the air was dark and smelled thick from candles and incense burning in small braziers scattered around the chamber. They had only taken a few steps inside when the door slowly closed behind them with a solid thump, the locking bolts closing loudly. Andrew stared straight ahead, not jumping at the sound. Brena did startle a bit though. They waited and a figure emerged from a door to the left of the entrance. At first glance, she seemed old, her hair was long and thin. It had the look of old spider webs in the shadows. As she came closer though, she seemed to grow younger. Her hair remained the same though, but she was not old.

Brena pulled out the message cylinder and held it out to the woman. “That can wait, dear,” she said waiving it away. “We have much to discuss young lady.” She turned and motioned for them to follow. Andrew fought to keep a straight face and followed close behind the two women. Brena was getting worried she had failed in completing the mission somehow. She just wanted to turn this tube in and be finished with this part of her journey. They followed the woman back to the door she had come through to a well-appointed office. She motioned for them to have a seat in the well-padded chairs across from the desk that dominated the center of the room. The room was paneled with a light-colored wood and the light was warm and bright. The floor had a thick piled rug of a material Brena didn’t recognize right away. On the wall behind the desk, a two-foot-high statue of the Lady stood on a small platform. Under it, on each side of the feet of the Judge of Souls, other icons sat. One was a circle with a woman with six arms spread around it. It had a feeling so old it hurt to look at it. Another was a worn metal cross. They could tell that at one time something had been attached to the cross, but time had worn and broken it away. Other items in the shapes of stars and moons decorated the wall. One of the items as he studied it briefly caused Bloodrend to wake and say something very unpleasant that Andrew didn’t catch. He would ask the sword later he thought. It was a being made of red and green fire in what looked like a foot long, two-inch diameter, glass cylinder. The ends were capped in a black material Andrew couldn’t identify at the time. It was not dead either. Andrew could see what appeared to be green eyes looking back out at him. It seemed almost annoyed with him for some reason. Bloodrend issued a faint curse that had him wondering if this could be a threat. ‘What is it Bloodrend?’ Andrew thought to his weapon.

‘You don’t want to know,’ was the reply. ‘Just stay clear of it for your own safety.’

“Now Brena,” said the woman, “I am the High Priestess, Vanda. Be at ease child, we have much to discuss today, and much more later as your training progresses.” She held out her hand to Brena for the message cylinder she had carried for so long. Brena handed it over, feeling a sudden touch of reluctance. She felt as if she was losing a purpose in her life. Vanda lifted a short metal rod from a container of writing quills and pushed it into one end. The cap popped open on the other end, so she was able to open the container with a simple twist. “I heard you ask about leaving the same day you entered.” She smiled, “That, fortunately, is limited to the Terin’s Crossing Temple.” She pulled a rolled parchment from the cylinder and opened it enough to read the header. She smiled and set it aside for later review. “In case you are wondering, and I know you both are, that was just a quarterly financial report for the Eastern Kingdom. Thank you for delivering it in the timely manner you did. Most times it doesn’t arrive until two quarters have passed.”

Brena froze, stunned, eyes going wide with sudden anger to find out that all she had carried was a bit of trivial paperwork. She started to speak, stopped herself because she knew to complain would make her look weak in this woman’s eyes. Brena waited and was glad she had as Vanda smiled and nodded. “I see you have learned when not to speak, very good child.” She dropped the rolled sheets into a tube on the side of the desk and they vanished with the sound of wind hissing in tree branches. She looked at Andrew, “I see the collection of ancient icons has your interest. Every one of them, other than the lady, and maybe even she predates the fall. The oldest legends tell a story of how the People of Gardallen arrived here, and little else. These icons are for Gods that no longer exist.

“How can a God stop existing,” asked Andrew at the pause in Vanda’s statement.

She looked him in the eyes, speaking in a tone that made him shiver, “When the followers lose faith, when they stop worshiping the Gods, they lose power, fade and eventually disappear. The Lady, The Judge of Souls has claimed she never met any of these old gods, so whatever fate befell them happened so long ago even the myths have been lost to time.” She turned back to Brena, “Now you girl, you are going to get an education that will last you a lifetime. After the Mid-winter party has ended, you will be taken into the Thieves guild and begin learning the real work they perform, and how to run it all. After you have proven capable there, you will be delivered into my hands to learn what the Brotherhood’s real purpose is, and assassinations are but one tiny part of our duties.” She turned back to Andrew, “You boy had better work on getting into shape in the limited time you have. Basic Training for the Kings Royal Forces is a bitch and a half this time of year. Now both of you go and enjoy the time you have left together, because once school begins, well, I am sure you get the picture.” They stood to leave when she said one more thing, “Take precautions girl, babies will end your career before it even begins. Now off with you.” She waved a hand for them to leave. As they approached, the big door slowly opened, allowing an acolyte to escort them out to the front entrance.

He escorted them out of the building with the door slamming shut as soon as they hit the steps. Andrew spoke first, “Well, I think that went rather well, don’t you?” The look he got in return would kill if a dagger had been in her glare. She stalked off muttering, “Who is she to tell me to avoid getting with child, I am damn near the limit of my dose of Tanis already.”

Andrew caught up with her and heard this last, “Stop taking it then,” he said.

“And what am I supposed to do then?” She stopped and faced him, ready to argue in the middle of the street. Andrew pulled her to the side out of the way of the foot and horse cart traffic. She began again, “And how am I to avoid getting pregnant then, Mister Markenin?” she said huffily.

“Simple really, we don’t have any sex, at least not in the way that will get you pregnant.” He said this, knowing her feelings on the matter, ready to block any coming blows. None came right away this time.

She seemed to sag a bit, then looked around for a place to sit so they could talk. A nearby cafe had a table open so they walked over and seated themselves. A waiter asked what they wanted to order. Andrew ordered wine and handed the silver coin over for the both of them. When the waiter left to get the wine, Brena looked at Andrew and just seemed ready to cry, “I am not thrilled with the other ways, you know that.”

“I know Brena, but I can’t allow you to risk having a baby that will destroy your future. We all have too much work ahead of us to look forwards to, to risk losing it all for a few moments of pleasure.” Andrew waited while she tried to remain calm.

When she finally spoke, it was almost a plea, “Will I still be able to sleep with you at least?”

Andrew smiled, “I think that would be permissible. We just have to take care and prepare for what is coming.” He sipped the wine and paused to look at the glass, it was surprisingly good. “I dread to think of what sort of schools Ledger and Aston will be attending.”

“What school could Ledger attend for his power. Only his mother could teach him anything, and she claims he has already surpassed her skills.” Brena thought about Aston next, “As for Aston, I think he is in for a shock in the wilds. The Ranger forest guards would be the best for him I think.”

“How about this Robin and Aco? What schools would be able to teach them anything?” asked Andrew. He was at a loss now, the thoughts of what training he was in for made his spine grow cold.

“Well for Robin, voice and instrumental training. She has not improved from the time I saw her a few years ago. Aco though, the Monks out this way are some of the best hand-to-hand combat artists known.” She finished her glass and stood, “Let’s get back to our current home, and that is what it is for now, and prepare to party.”

They walked back, hand in hand, both knowing that a new future was opening to them.

Robin and Aco

Robin looked at the elevator and marveled at it. ‘No more climbing the stairs every day.’ The bell rang and the doors slid open. Several people stepped out smiling. She heard one say, “It is about time he got this fixed.” Robin smiled and stepped into the box-shaped room. The boy at the control lever asked, “What floor miss?”

“Fifteen, and it’s not as if you didn’t already know that Jamis,” said Robin.

“All part of the job Miss, have to ask.” He set the lever and the elevator started moving up. She timed it and figured about a minute to reach her floor. She heard a small bell ring, “Someone on ten needs a lift, please step away from the door Miss.” She did, he tipped his hat at her, the doors closed, and he was gone. Robin went to her and Aco’s Room, the door was locked so she figured Aco was out. After she let herself in with her room key, she dropped her heavy, cold weather cloak on a boot stool and walked into the main sitting room. She wasn’t expecting to see Aco nude and bent over backward with her head even with her knees. These exercises were usually reserved for the morning workout.

Aco grunted when she saw Robin come in, “Good, you’re here. I need some help.” She pushed her arms back and between her legs, “Pull my arms back and up and through, I am having problems with the flexibility of my back and hips.” Robin took Aco’s hands and began gently pulling her arms back and up. When Robin had them pulled as far as the muscles and joints seemed willing to go, she stopped and held them in place.

Robin held her and Aco groaned, “I must be getting old Robin.” She bent her knees, sinking down six inches and Robin made ready to pull up when the time came. Aco pushed up as hard as she could while bent completely back and over, her arms and shoulders passing between her legs. Her feet left the floor and Robin pulled Aco’s arms up and away, making Aco’s body pull around in the air in a flip. Her feet came down and she landed nearly upright, but her left hip buckled, causing her to fall to the side, landing on her arm. She hit the floor hard, letting out a faint cry as the pain of the impact kicked in.

She just lay there for a minute then slowly rolled herself over and staggered to her feet. Robin knew it was lingering effects from Terin’s Crossing. Even though she had been healed by the forces involved, she had never fully recovered, and some moves were becoming harder for her at an accelerating rate, like the one she had just tried. Aco went and climbed into a hot shower and let the heat soak into the pain-filled joints.

“Will you be up to performing tonight Aco?” Robin asked. She was worried about her friend’s condition. She had been getting worse since the winter had arrived.

Aco settled into the tub and let the heat sink in further. “I am sure I can do the basic show. I am going to avoid a few of the harder bends tonight.” She watched Robin standing in the door, “Well, are you going to strip and join me in here are you just going to stare at me all day?” Robin smiled and went back to the sitting room and stripped her cold weather clothing off, leaving it in a pile by the door to pick up later.

She lowered herself into the hot water and sighed, it did feel good. Aco pulled Robin to her side and held on to her tightly. It was when Robin felt the shaking that she realized that her lover was crying. She pulled back and looked at Aco and asked, “What’s wrong Aco? Is this hurting you that much? The stretching I mean?”

Aco sniffed back more tears and swallowed, “That? No, no. I was expecting this to start happening sooner or later after the damage I took that night, despite the healing.” She kissed Robin then went on, “I don’t know what it is, I can’t get his face out of my mind.”

Robin pulled back and looked into Aco’s eyes in surprise, “Who’s face,” she asked?

“Aston,” Aco said quietly. Her eyes had taken on a dreamy look to them as she envisioned him in her mind. “I’ve never felt like this about a man before Robin,” she whispered, “I’m scared.”

Robin sat back and thought for a minute, she reached out with both hands and cupped her lover’s face in them, “Aco my love, we knew this was coming one day. The so-called goddess showed it to you, you just didn’t have the who, when, or where. Now? You do.” She leaned down and tenderly kissed Aco’s lips, “We will always have each other Aco, always. In time you might even have children by him, how does that sound?”

Aco lifted herself from the tub and limped into the dryer. She came out a few minutes later, wind-blown, and dry. “Come to bed and I will show you what thinking about having his children does to me.” Robin stood and entered the dryer, coming out with her hair blown in all directions as it was every-time she used the dryer. Aco grabbed her hands and dragged her to bed. By the time they finished with each other, they both needed another shower to get ready for the show that evening. Robin was feeling rather limp after Aco had finished with her. ‘If thinking of having his kids does this to her with me, what will she do to him? He will die happy at least,’ Robin thought dreamily. She had her own issues she had not mentioned. Though Ledger was still a bit young, she felt drawn to him in the same manner.

Aco decided to change her outfit for tonight’s show. Rather than the gold, she pulled on the tight deep red, and black skinsuit. She pulled the black hood on, making sure the spikes were set straight and facing away from her head this time. She paused when she picked up the Dragon mask. ‘I have to get over the fear I feel when I put this thing on,’ she thought. She saw that Robin was watching, ready to act in case her other side decided to try and take over again.

Aco set the mask in place, setting the lock hooks to hold it in place. She waited, but nothing happened, no voices, no attempts to override her self-control, nothing. “This is weird, Robin. It’s like she isn’t even there right now.”

“Let’s hope it stays that way for tonight at least,” Robin said.

They left their room and summoned the elevator to their floor by pulling a small lever on the right side of the door frame. They heard a sliding sound from the shaft behind the door as the floating box arrived. The doors opened and they entered the chamber. It was eight feet by eight feet, and nine high on the inside. It was well lit by several bright glowing rods placed around the edges of the ceiling and floor. At this hour, another boy, Randle was manning the controls of the elevator. “Going down ladies?”

“Ground floor Randle,” said Aco. She had removed the mask to keep from frightening everybody until the show.

“Very good ma’am. I have two pickups on the way if you don’t mind,” he said formally. He was going to stop for the others whether they minded or not.

They picked up five on the tenth floor, two men and three women, all elegantly dressed for an evening out. On the eighth floor, it was a bell boy heading back down after delivering luggage to a room. He said, “I wish there were a way to install another of these just for staff to pick up and deliver stuff. It is great that this one is working again, but it is crowded so often when I take up bags and such.” The other passengers nodded in agreement but said nothing. Everybody rode in silence the rest of the way to the ground floor.

Aco went to the backroom behind the dining room to wait for the time to start her performance. Robin joined her a few minutes later and began tuning her Lute for the show. It had felt a little off since the discovery of the key and paper in it. She had investigated the chamber and didn’t see anything out of place in it. She had even slipped a light stone into it once to get a clear look inside, but she had not found anything amiss. The pocket the key had been in had closed after she had removed it. Maybe it was the removal of the key that was the problem, it changed the harmonics of the chamber somehow. It was something she would have to investigate later, tonight she had a show to run. Robin glanced at Aco, seeing she was staring at the dragon mask. This would be the first time she had worn it while performing since their arrival. She just hoped Claw would behave herself.

On stage, Robin began a simple tune and introduced Aco to the audience. Robin normally tried to ignore the people watching, but something about tonight just felt off, like her Lute. She glanced around and spotted Gareth with the newcomers at their regular table again. Off to one side, a very large man, in fine leather armor was watching the show, but more often he was looking at the table. Further around, four figures in black robes of some sort stood quietly, staring intently at Aco. Down towards the front, a good-looking man was watching her exclusively, his ear cocked at her, listening to her closely. ‘What the hell is going on here tonight,’ she wondered. Another table had some of the Forest Guard. That group avoided the city like the plague. She even picked out the Nightmaster for the thieves. ‘Somebody for each of us, except Ledger. Why am I getting a sick feeling about this?’ Aco continued her performance, ignoring the world around her. Aco would lookout for a second, then looked away quickly. Every time she saw Aston Grey, she felt herself become more aroused. She was certain it was all her own feelings and desires afflicting her, not his power influencing her.

Ledger sat and watched the show, marveling at how flexible Aco is. Something though was different tonight. It took a few minutes before he figured it out, ‘She has a different mask tonight,’ he thought. Ledger studied it, not reaching out to it, afraid he might cause something bad to happen by accident. Yet, he felt something about it, it called to him. Ledger finally started to give in to the urge to feel for it in the weave but forced himself to stop. He leaned over and whispered, “Andrew, there is something strange about the mask she has on, I can sort of feel it in the weave.”

Andrew glanced at the boy, “Try not to power it up right now then, in fact, avoid giving it any power at all until you can ask her about it.” The look on Andrew’s face said it all, no trouble tonight of all nights.

“Yeah, I don’t want anything exploding in here either.” He looked around and noticed the oddity of the audience. “Hey Andrew, have you noticed...”

“Shush,” said Brena. Ledger sat back, keeping his eyes open for other possible threats. Brena had noticed the unusual gathering as well but had decided to ignore them until it was necessary to take notice openly. She did make a mental note about the Nightmaster being in public. That was a major sign that something was not right. She wasn’t the only one to notice the Nightmaster of the Thieves guild, Aco was keeping a close eye on him even as she performed.

Aco found tonight was proving to be harder on her than was normal. She couldn’t perform several of the more intricate moves that she would normally perform. Her joints were hurting her more by the minute. Robin could see Aco was having problems and began the final song of the set early. Aco was relieved at the sudden change in the act. When she finished, both women bowed to the audience and made their way to the table with the rest of the party. Brena could see that Aco was having problems and asked about it.

Aco sighed and answered, “I suffered severe joint damage while in Terin’s Crossing. I was healed, but it was not a complete healing. The colder weather is making it harder for me to bend and flex like I should be able to.”

Now Brena was curious about what could have healed that kind of damage. “How were you healed then? I don’t know of any way to repair joint damage of the sort you say you suffered.”

Robin picked up from there, “Two sources, the first being the mask itself. It had just enough energy with the scale to partially repair the damage. The remainder came from the Brotherhood. I wasn’t there at the time and didn’t see what was done.” She patted Aco on the shoulder, getting a wince of pain in return. “She was doing very well until recently. Her hips and left arm are beginning to really hurt again.”

Now Ledger spoke up, he looked excited, “The mask had power?” he asked excitedly. “Maybe I can recharge it for you, if you want me to try?” He was almost bouncing in the chair. Something new like this always excited him.

Aco spoke, “That might not be a good idea Ledger. It didn’t just try to heal me, it tried to transform me into something different, a dragon of sorts.” Ledger drew his hand back that had started to reach for the mask.

“Aco, you said it partially healed you before. Why couldn’t it finish?” asked Ledger. He was curious about something that could transform somebody. He had been carefully feeling the mask with his sense of the Weave when he suddenly realized what he was detecting. It was the same feeling he had with the old wands and staves from Brena’s Bag of Holding. ‘The mask isn’t that old,’ he thought. ‘And only one spot near the forehead seemed to draw at the power.’ “Aco, may I take a closer look at the mask, please? I promise I won’t do anything to affect it. I need to look at something on it.” Aco paused then reluctantly held it out for him to look at more closely. The inside and outside, just above where the nose would be had a pattern, like a scale. He reached over to touch it, but stopped abruptly, drawing his hand back as something began to make his fingers tingle when he got within a few inches of the mask surface.

“That scale pattern is alive Aco, I can feel what it once belonged to.” He stayed back a few feet and continued to study it. He could feel whatever it used to belong to trying to reach out to him and draw power to itself. “I wish we had an open space that would be safe, I could power it and it could heal you Aco. I am getting a sense it wants to help you, but it can’t in its current state.”

“I’m not sure it would be safe Ledger. What it did in the brief time it had the first time was enough to scare me, and that takes some doing,” replied Aco. She had a sudden thought, “Come with me Ledger.” She led Ledger to a part of the building he had not had time to discover on his own yet in the short time he had been here. She opened a large wooden door and it exited out into the Hotels large exercise and practice yard. She used it sometimes for the jumping and landing routines. She called for the lights and all the glow stones lit up, making the large square lot daylight bright. Ledger noted in passing all the assorted exercise equipment around the edges. The floor was hard-packed dirt and well scuffed from heavy use. He got another surprise when Aco stripped her clothes off and hung them on a beam that had pegs all along its length.

She walked to the middle of the yard and held the mask up to her face. “Give it a little bit of power Ledger.” He didn’t want to touch it with his hand, he didn’t get any closer to her either. He was entranced by the naked woman standing before him. He didn’t even notice when Robin came up behind him. “Hello. Gardallen to Ledger, wake up.” He was startled, making him tear his eyes away from this remarkable-looking woman.

Now that Ledger had his focus back in order, he closed his eyes and reached around to feel for every item around him that used the weave. He was able to ignore everything his mother had done, then filtered out the dozens of older enchantments he could sense nearby. There was one item though that made him pause. He felt the power and realized this was a surviving artifact from before the fall, it was nearby too, but it felt off to him. This one would warrant further investigation later. Now he narrowed his senses to the mask. He gently reached his link to the weave and touched it. Whatever it was that was the scale tried to snatch at the power. He pulled back and waited for it to settle down. He looked back at Aco with his eyes still closed and was shocked that he could see an outline of something huge standing behind and over her.

“Aco, do you know that you have something very big and nasty looking hanging around behind you?” Ledger was backing away from Aco as it reached out towards him again with one of its giant claws. He faintly heard Aco say, “Robin, get Andrew here with his sword, now, hurry!”

Ledger backed into the wall and couldn’t move any further. He desperately didn’t want that thing to touch him. He was pulling at the quiver he wore all the time, trying to draw out the wand of missiles. He didn’t know if it would work against a ghost monster, but he would find out if it didn’t stop trying to grab at him. Just as he started to pull the wand free, a flash of bright light hit his mind, and he briefly saw a woman in black standing before him, he passed out.

Aco screamed and held her head as another force entered the yard, no, two forces. She spotted Robin as she fell to the ground by the doors, knocked out by the same force that had put Ledger down. She was able to make them out now. It was Her, The Judge of Souls and Bloodrend. The world seemed to freeze, time stopped, and the argument between the powerful beings began.

The dragon roared in rage behind Aco, then settled down and addressed the two beings, “Damn you two, I could have finally been free of this prison, but no, you have to get involved and interfere with my plans,” growled the dragon. “This stupid little mortal is my gateway back to the mortal realm. Now release me!” He roared, rearing back as if to strike at them. The dragon froze, then roared as a sudden pain lanced through its being. Aco was paralyzed now from the power locking her body in place. Her mind was refusing to accept what she was seeing, she felt her sanity was at risk if it continued for much longer. She whimpered a bit, then said, “Never.”

Bloodrend walked over to Aco and checked her over. “Good choice girl, hang in there, this cycle of one of the great stories will be over in a few minutes.” He ran his hands down her spine and touched all the major joints. He looked at the Dragon and said, “You have been eating away at her body, making it harder for her to perform, or even walk at times. That will be quite enough of that. Energy flared and Aco glowed. “Andrew will need to commit a bit of murder and mayhem for me to feed after this. I am tired of dealing with you scaled one.” A burst of silver light flashed out from Bloodrend’s hands and struck the dragon. Energy flowed from the dragon up the beams of light. Bloodrend redirected the silver energy into the ground where it was dispersed into the planet’s crust.

The Dragon wanted to flee but could not move away while Aco held the mask to her face. The Dragon was screaming in agony as its life energy was being sucked away. “Release me Monster,” the Dragon yelled at Bloodrend, “I know what you used to be and why you were imprisoned in that blade.” The Dragon pulled back but could not flee the scale that was part of its former self. “I could arrange for the boy to learn the truth about you.”