“Very good,” Jericho said. “I have need of his special skills. See to his provisions and bear him away in the morning.”
“My lord…this man has pledged his soul by covenant,” Kane said hesitantly.
The face in the flame looked toward the man cowering on the ground opposite Kane. Jericho laughed at the man. “The deed is done already-he fell when your blood stained the contract,” Jericho said. “But know this also. A disease, already present in your body, will take your life within a fortnight.” The demon laughed again, and the flames resumed their normal state and color as he left Kane and his astonished client to their mischief. Meanwhile, Jericho journeyed invisible into the forest beyond Magog looking for his assassin.
Mordecai stood blindfolded in a bamboo thicket deep within the forest near the village of Magog. Within the priestly sash at his waist hung a wooden scabbard anchored by a silver ring. Bright stripes of white paint marked ten bamboo stalks around him intermingled with unmarked chutes.
Mordecai grasped the rather plain looking wooden hilt of his sword and separated it-an oval, silver cross guard being the only item distinguishing blade from scabbard. He whipped the blade out, tagging first one then another of the white marks on the bamboo.
Mordecai made several elegant flourishes and severed five more stalks with white marks. He slashed at a plain chute of bamboo, but stopped the blade short of impact. With a quick backward somersault, the priest landed between the remaining three bearing white paint, severing each at their mark.
The entire attack had been so precise and quick that the first chutes only began to fall when he had finished cutting the tenth. Mordecai replaced his blade and removed the cloth wrap he had been using as a blindfold. He dabbed the sweat from his brow and tossed the wad of cloth over his shoulder.
Quick as a flash, Mordecai drew the blade again, stabbing it through the cloth as it fell. Two fingers caught the blade in flight, holding it there. Jericho looked out from behind the cloth hanging on the blade point. “I see you are healing nicely, Mordecai,” he said.
“I knew it was you,” Mordecai said as he yanked the sword back from the demon’s grip, replacing it in his scabbard.
“Even better that you could feel my presence before seeing my form,” Jericho said. “That kind of skill will prove very useful when you kill the Deliverer.”
Mordecai lifted his shirt from the ground and began to put it on. “So, you’ve found him?”
“He has been spotted in Millertown.”
“Beneath the Thornhills, eh? Guess that means I was right about them going to the Temple.”
“Apparently,” Jericho admitted.
“What now?”
“Now you infiltrate the Temple and rid me of God’s Deliverer.”
“Easier said than done” Mordecai said.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning there is only one way to enter the temple-at least for a priest-but no way for a demon or an assassin.”
Jericho began to pace among the bamboo, his form sometimes passing through the stalks like a ghost, deep in thought. Mordecai watched him in his peripheral vision as he continued to dress, getting ready to walk back to the village. Jericho stopped, epiphany lighting up his face. “A diversion, perhaps?”
Mordecai instantly took up his line of thought. “Yes, to lure the angels from their posts.”
“If they are distracted, then a lone assassin might just be able to enter the Temple. You will have at least a three-week head start before Mordred orders his patrols into the region. His messenger knows about the priest in Millertown, but they have been delayed for the time being.”
“I’ll need longer than that,” Mordecai said. “If you want this done right, then let me do it my way. Besides, the journey from here to the Thornhill Mountains is over a month easily. I’m not so well endowed with power as your kind.”
Jericho scowled at the priest. “I want this matter handled quickly, before the prophecy can come to pass.”
“Like I said, I’ll need more time to get there, and this must be handled delicately. I’ve never failed you before, Jericho. I’ll have to get the boy away from the others.”
“And you boast of your skills?” Jericho said sarcastically.
“You’re not the one who’d be facing three hundred warrior-priests if I’m discovered,” Mordecai rebutted. “The boy must be drawn away from the others. Then, I will deal with him. You just give me what I need to get to Millertown, and I’ll call for you when I’m ready for the diversion. Leave the rest to me.”
Jericho stood and began to dissipate. “Train well, Mordecai. I won’t accept failure in this matter. You had better be as good as you claim.”
“Oh, I will be.”
SERVANTS OF SHADDAI
The path from the garden passed through a dense area of tall trees, so much that they seemed to become a wall on either side. The branches hung low overhead, criss-crossing, sewing up the area above them into a tunnel that obscured most of the sunlight. The path was a mixture of pea gravel and cobblestones, becoming pure stone as it reached the end of the tree tunnel.
Beyond, the path fell onto a large stone terrace chiseled from the very rock of the mountainside. A network of staircases and stone terraces proceeded all the way up, down, and around a massive cylindrical gorge in the mountain. A courtyard spread out across the ground, dividing into areas of stone, grass, sand, and dirt.
The walls of the gorge rose up around them nearly a thousand feet with the staircase network following it all the way up. It was a beautiful sight, but even more interesting to Ethan were the hundreds of warrior-priests training in the courtyard below them.
“I never imagined it would be like this,” Levi said as he tried to search the upper levels of the gorge. “This must be right inside of the mountain.”
“It certainly is, though I can’t tell you which mountain it is,” Gideon said. “But rest assured this place is not visible from above or from anywhere in the mountains a man may venture. You might also notice the sunlight is diffuse down here?”
“Yes,” Ethan noticed. “What’s the reason for that?”
“Clouds covering the mountains,” said Gideon. “And they always cover this place. Come on, let’s go down to the courtyard and let you see where you’ll soon begin training as a priest of Shaddai.”
Ethan smiled, falling in behind Gideon as they walked across the terrace to the stairs leading down. Another stairway ascended, following the rock wall, leveling out in different places where people entered and exited through carved stone archways, promising untold mysteries beyond.
They descended three levels to get to the very bottom and the courtyard beyond. Ethan sensed every eye upon them, though no one was obvious about it. When Gideon led them onto the first practice field, where ten priests were sword fighting, the first of many people came to welcome them. Rather, they welcomed Gideon, and he introduced the priests to his friends.
Everyone appeared friendly and not the least bit threatened by the presence of outsiders. Ethan supposed there was no reason they should be. After all, the warrior-priests of Shaddai were some of the most dangerous men in the world, and everyone knew it. Who could possibly threaten them here?
The priests varied in age from quite old to many who were younger than Ethan. They were paired older to younger, masters to pupils, training in the ways of The Order. Younger combinations fought and trained with wooden Bokkens while the more experienced students sparred against their mentors with battle ready, steel weapons.
As Ethan shook hands with many of the young men, he could not take his eyes off those conducting their training exercises around the courtyard. There were sword fights and hand-to-hand sparring. Still, in other areas, a single pupil faced down up to ten attackers at once. And in one instance, Ethan noticed the mentor was
