“Sometimes, honor lies in ruthlessly separating right from wrong.”
“I believe that you’re being too harsh,” Yono said, her voice a gentle murmur.
“Oh, really?” Nydarth asked. “Do you know something about Mahrai that we don’t?”
“I know mortals. I know that the reality they move through isn’t set in stone. It ebbs and flows like the sea as new experiences change them and their way of seeing the world. That means that there is space within them for a change, for the better of the worse.”
“They have to choose to change,” Nydath countered. “I don’t see that in Mahrai. She is as immovable as the earth beneath the Swordslinger’s feet.”
“I can move the earth,” I said with a smile. “It’s called Ground Strike.”
“What Nydarth fails to appreciate,” Yono said, “is the ebb and flow. She’s too set on the way of fire, a pure cleansing heat instead of a flowing, soothing current. But I have seen people like this before. There is a chance that Mahrai fears Saruqin or has some misguided loyalty toward him. That could be forcing her hand against the people of Hyng’ohr City.”
Yono’s words gave me hope, and in the darkness of the night, as I walked past the graveyard where we had buried the fallen initiates, I needed that hope. I needed to believe that any of us could be redeemed for our mistakes.
The road carried me through the Vigorous Zone, out of the desert, and into the ramshackle slums that sprawled between the city walls and the docks. At last, I approached the main gates of Hyng’ohr City. They were firmly shut, but torches burned on the battlements above. As I approached, someone peered down at me.
“Hello there!” I shouted and waved. “Can you please let me in!”
“Why in all the hells would I do that?” the guard responded. “You could be anyone, maybe one of those dissidents and heretics we’ve been warned about.”
“I’m part of the army that was sent to fight them,” I said. “Look, you can see my uniform.”
The guard flung a torch from the battlements. It landed in the road in front of me, scattering sparks and creating a small pool of warm light.
“Step closer,” he said. “Let me see.”
I walked into the light cast by the torch and displayed my Hyng’ohr robes.
“What are you doing here then?” he asked. “Shouldn’t you be besieging the Sunstone Temple?”
“That’s why I’m here. I’ve got news from the front. I need to find someone reliable to take it to Saruqin.”
“News for Saruqin? All right, I’ll open the gates. But you come in quick; I want to get this safely shut again.”
There was a rattle of chains and a rumble of counterweights moving within the wall. One of the gates swung open a couple of feet, and I went through before the gate slammed shut again.
Two guards came running down the stairs to the left of the gate. One looked like the man I’d spoken to a moment before. Two more stepped out of the squat guardhouse at the base of the wall and came to join us. All carried long-bladed spears and wore uniforms that included panels of hardened leather armor.
“What’s the word for Saruqin?” one of the men said. “I’ll take it up to the palace.”
“I spotted him,” the guard off the wall said. “I should take the news.”
I looked at this little band of squabbling soldiers. “Shouldn’t there be more of you here? In case the city’s attacked.”
“Not with half the army out on campaign,” a guard said. “Most of the rest are in bed.”
Another guard sneered at me. “This one says he has news for Saruqin, but I don’t believe him. He talks funny.”
I’d tried my best to mimic the Gonki accent, but it seemed I’d failed.
The same guard prodded me in the chest. “He’s got some strange weapons, too.”
I’d considered stashing them somewhere before getting to the gate, but I didn’t want to be without them if things turned violent. I also didn’t want anyone to stumble upon them and claim the most valuable items I owned.
The group of guards were growing more nervous, and it seemed they were a second away from attacking me. I figured I’d give them a little show before they actually set their weapons on me.
I took off the turban from around my head, and with it the hanging strip of cotton that had cast my face into shadow.
“If the others are sleeping, isn’t it your bedtime yet?” I asked.
They looked at me in confusion, then one of the guards’ eyes widened.
“Isn’t that the Swordslinger?” he asked.
“Quick, raise the alarm!”
One of the guards ran toward the guardhouse, where a brass alarm bell hung from a chain over the door. I channeled Vigor and launched a Magma Burst. The orb of molten earth hit the bell before he could reach it. The metal melted and rained down in thick, glowing drops.
All four drew their weapons. They looked nervously at each other, waiting for someone else to take the initiative.
“Imagine the reward we’ll get for capturing the Swordslinger,” the one off the wall said. “Our advancement on the Straight Path is guaranteed.”
“Yeah.” Another of them grinned and hefted his warhammer. “Let’s cut off his arms. Saruqin won’t be needing those.”
“I want his sword.”
“I get his trident.”
These were men set on the Straight Path, so I had no qualms about taking them down. They’d thrown in their lot with the cultists. They would get what they deserved.
I let the Vigor flow through me again. The guards were tightly clustered to defend each other, so it was easy to catch them all in a single Mud Entrapment. They sank into the mud up to their knees, and their attention immediately left me as they strained to drag themselves free.
I walked up to the edge of the mud in front of the nearest guard. He looked up and raised his club as I brought the Sundered Heart around, but his parry was too slow. I easily brought my blade in underneath
