Moknay grinned as if he could read the young man's thoughts. 'I don't kill people for fun,' he explained. 'I kill only those who deserve to be killed… like those thugs out in front of the tavern. Consider what I do a form of… pest control.'
Only who decides who the pests are? Logan asked himself. Abruptly, he felt the darker portion of his mind swirl into life and taunt him with the fact that he himself had killed… more than once.
The Murderer's left eyebrow shot up in question. 'What have you got there?' he wondered, eyeing the bags cradled in Logan's arm.
Logan gave the bags a hasty glance. 'Oh, uh, nothing much. Just some provisions, that's all.'
'You like food that much?' Moknay quipped. 'You're holding it like it contains all of Mediyan's treasures.'
Logan forced a chuckle, shaking his head and shrugging at the same time.
The Murderer stepped closer, piercing Logan with his steely grey eyes. 'You can tell me what you have,' he said, handing back Logan's dagger as if in a gesture of peace. 'It could be five thousand pieces of silver, and I wouldn't kill you for it. I'm an exterminator, remember? Not a 'looney.' '
Are you? Logan mused.
A pang of guilt jolted the young man out of his thoughts. This was Moknay, he told himself. A friend. He tried to save you from that wizard and almost got himself killed; he gave you that dagger as a gift; and he saved your life from those thugs and the Reakmor. He may have been called Moknay the Murderer in Eadarus, but it was, after all, just a name.
Logan frowned. Yeah, like Jack the Ripper.
Muttering to himself, Logan opened one bag and withdrew the tin of powder. Moknay flipped open the lid and sniffed at the dark blue grains.
'Phew!' he exclaimed, screwing up his face. 'That reeks!'
Logan took back the tin. 'It also glows,' he reported.
Moknay smirked as Logan extracted the money-pouch; however, when he peered inside the small bag, his smirk turned downward. 'Huh? Ten? You're hiding ten gold pieces from me? Holy Agellic! That's not even enough to buy a good sword!'
'I don't want a sword!' Logan snapped. 'I've got a sword! I need the gold for food and maybe a change of clothes! These things seem to be a dead giveaway!'
Moknay shrugged indifferently and tossed the gold back to Logan. The young man caught the bag in the air, realizing the Murderer had taken the remaining bags to contain nothing but food. He didn't need to know about the jewel… but, if he found out about it on his own, he could get awfully mad… maybe even go looney.
'One more thing,' Logan told the Murderer. He freed the glittering jewel.
Moknay sprang back in fright, his grey cape fluttering about him. 'Where did you get that?' he shouted.
'From this bag.'
'Whose bag is that? Whose horse is this?' Moknay rapidly questioned.
Nervousness took root at the barrage of questions. 'I don't know!' Logan shouted back. 'Why should it matter? It's just a jewel.'
'That's not a jewel, that is the Jewel!' Moknay declared. 'You've made a terrible mistake! That Jewel should not be in anyone's hands but a wizard's!'
Logan peered at the gem in his hands, expecting it to suddenly blow up in his face. 'Huh? What are you talking about?'
'That thing is the Jewel of Equilibrant,' Moknay explained, 'and it supposedly has something to do with the Wheel itself! You should have never had left your Santa Monica, my friend.'
'I didn't want to leave!' Logan barked. 'Thromar was taking me to find some Smythe spellcaster to get me back.'
Moknay nodded in approval. 'You must find him now; you must bring him the Jewel-if you didn't steal it from him in the first place. The powers in the Jewel must be controlled.'
Logan started to replace the Jewel when a fearful thought lodged in his mind like a bullet. 'Oh, my God,' he breathed. 'That Reakthi spellcaster is after me, and, if he catches me, he catches this Jewel as well. If it has as much power as you say…'
Moknay was still nodding gravely. 'The only thing we can do is go back to Eadarus.'
'Go back?' Logan blinked. 'And walk into the Guards?'
'We need Thromar,' the Murderer stated. 'I have no idea where the Smythe hides-Thromar does. And besides, if we're going to be realistic, you and I would not survive long with the Jewel in our possession and Groathit dogging our heels.'
The Murderer turned to face the black forest and brought two fingers to his lips. A shrill whistle rent the night, and a grey horse with a black mane and tail thundered free of the gloom. Logan hurriedly untethered his own horse and scrambled into the saddle, glancing down at the saddlebags as he did. Just what I needed- complications!
Spewing up dirt, Moknay's grey horse bolted off. Logan jerked on the reins and turned his horse to trail the Murderer. All the while a familiar voice was playing in Logan's head: Have you no fear of dreams? Only now, Logan knew, it was no longer a dream.
The sun had been up for a half an hour when Eadarus finally came into sight over the treetops. The morning mist had already dissolved as the two horses galloped down the path, making their way toward the protective wall of the town. Through the early morning hours, a third rumble of hooves sounded, and Logan and Moknay threw one another expectant glances.
'Someone's coming,' the Murderer whispered, motioning Logan to pull in behind him.
As the pair readied themselves to confront any Guardsmen, the third rider came into view. With an arrogant snort, Smeea tossed back her head, flinging her red mane behind her. Thromar's reddish brown hair whipped in the wind as he brought his horse to a stop, his black eyes wide beneath his bushy eyebrows. Moknay let out a sharp chuckle as he eyed the fighter, shaking his head in disbelief.
'Well, well, well,' he said with a smirk, 'look who has seen fit to honor us with his presence.'
Thromar opened his mouth in astonishment. 'Moknay?' he queried. 'What brings you out of Eadarus, Murderer?'
The lithe man continued smirking. 'Have you been battling Reakthi so long that their chestplates have blinded you? Look behind me, oaf.'
Thromar jerked his head back in surprise. 'Friend-Logan!' he roared. 'So this is where you ran off to!' The huge fighter gave Moknay a glance. 'If I had known you were going to make friends with the lowest, murderous, most treacherous man in all Denzil I would have never have left your side!'
'What?' Moknay replied, indignant. 'Have I no good points?'
'Those are your good points,' Thromar responded, laughing good-naturedly. He gave the road behind him an anxious glance. 'I would suggest you turn around and follow me; Eadarus is swarming with Guardsmen. It seems a fight broke out in one of the taverns and two Reakthi were involved. And Mediyan's buffoons actually thought I had started it! Indeed!'
'We know what happened,' Moknay interrupted. 'We were the cause. The Reakthi came looking for Logan, and I attempted to foil their plan by starting a brawl. We made a hasty retreat; still, I don't see why the Guards are suddenly so interested in Eadarus and Reakthi? Hmmm. Oh, well, anyway, during our escape, we've stumbled upon the Jewel of Equilibrant. We were coming back for your help.'
'My help?' Thromar boomed. 'I'm not a bleeding spell-caster! Maybe friend-Logan can do something. Have you seen him take out his eye yet, Moknay?'
'Logan is the one who found the Jewel,' the Murderer retorted, 'and, no, I have not seen him take out his eye. But what you don't seem to understand, Thromar the Thick-headed, is that Groathit was one of the Reakthi in Eadarus. He and Vaugen seem to have an interest in our strangely dressed friend, and, now that Logan's stumbled upon the Jewel, if they capture him, they also receive the most powerful item in the entire multiverse as an extra gift!'
'By Brolark!' Thromar blurted. 'I see what you mean! Well, no sense in waiting around; Mediyan's dungheads should be catching up with us any moment now. We'll just get off the roadway and travel at a slower pace until our mounts are rested. No sense in tiring ourselves out being chased by Guardsmen!'
