Chapter 10.

  On the fifth endless day on the road, Terrol came
galloping back from his post out at front. ‘Here they
come!’
  ‘Here who come?’ Ksid questioned.
  ‘A small group of cult members.’
  ‘How can you tell.’
  ‘I’m not sure. I can just feel them, I guess. But you
have to believe me, it’s them. This is just something I
know.’
  ‘How many are there?’
  ‘About twelve.’
  ‘Let’s split up then. We’ll try to go around them. We
don’t have to fight if we don’t need to.’ 
  In pairs once again, they broke into all different
directions. The cold mist had thickened somewhat, making
things that little bit more hazardous. 
  Surely enough, Terrol wasn’t lying. The dozen members
were very rowdy and audible. Two men leading the group
were arguing hotly over something.
  ‘I say we turn back.’ the lean man on the left, said.
  ‘You weren’t appointed the only leader in this group.’
the bearded man opposite him countered. ‘I say we keep on
going until we find them.’
  ‘But the High Priests won’t know.’
  ‘Maybe not, but Lady Vebia will. We were told to search
for five men and two women and to exterminate them on 
sight. If we miss them, and if they cause any more 
trouble, we’ll all be headless in a heart beat.
  ‘That’s what I mean. If we go to Anitram instead, the 
others back in Etib won’t be able to catch us.’
  ‘Like I said before, Vebia will.’ 
  Then, the earth shuddered beneath them. Enigma looked 
over his shoulder towards the group. They were not 
visible, but there was a lot of shouting involved. 
  Above the senseless quarrelling came a new voice. ‘Who 
was the one who disgraced my name?’ It shouted in a 
feminine voice.
  ‘I’m sorry Lady Vebia.’ the second leader pleaded.
  ‘Your pleas are but useless now, friend. You have 
insulted me greatly. The price that you shall pay, is 
your reward of your ignorance!’ The ground shook once 
more. Horses bolted with fright, throwing men to the 
ground. A steamy orange glow appeared in the mist, as the 
earth continued to shake. A penetrating scream howled 
over the squall, then the light was gone. ‘The rest of 
you,’ the ghostly voice went on, ‘keep searching. If you 
find nothing, my rage shall be your guerdon!’ 
With one final tremor, the voice was gone. 
  In fear, the group re - saddled, and galloped off 
towards the north. 
*  *  *
  It took them another few days to finally reach Etib. 
Etib, Ksid explained, was the Axiomancy capital of the 
world. Axiomancy, as Ice explained it, is one type of 
divination. The axe was involved somehow.
  The city was almost sealed shut with trees. They were
some of the most luscious plantations Enigma had ever
seen. The forest around the walls of Etib reached back
quite a way. Full grown trees lined the middle of the
streets inside the city. Children played in it’s branches
joyfully, laughter filling the air. They didn’t seemed to
be phased at all by the snow storm around them. Usually,
a tree would have shed it’s leaves long before the winter
came, but these particular trees still had a full crown -
even blossoms in some cases. 
  There was more activity in the streets of Etib than
there were in the streets of Anitram. Stalls were open
for business, with the occasional horse and cart, slowly
plodding back and forth from market to market. 
  The ruler of the city administered and resided in a
tall building, just inside the central business district
of Etib. It had long been constructed - and re -
constructed. It was made a dull grey stone, reaching up
about four stories. The surrounding structures, however,
were made from wood.
  Two guards stood either side of the gate. They blocked
the way with their spears as Enigma and his friends
attempted to enter. ‘You can’t pass through these gates
without a permit.’ the chubby guard on the right barked.
  ‘A permit?’ Ksid sounded amused.
  ‘That’s right.’ the one on the left said. ‘The mayor’s
orders.’
  ‘But he’s expecting us friend. Gecqual of Anitram has
informed your mayor that we need to speak with him.’
  ‘Sorry. Those are the rules.’
  ‘Excuse me.’ Enigma butted in. ‘I’m one of the mayor’s
personal friends. We haven’t seen each other for a long
while now, and if he finds out that we were in town, and
that he missed us because of you two ignorant guards, I
think he might be just a tad upset, don’t you? We’ve had
a long few weeks, we’re not in the mood, so do yourself a
favour and let us in.’
  The two stubborn guards looked at each other
hesitantly.
  ‘Let’s go friends.’ Ksid pressured. ‘We’ll go find in
shelter for the night and we’ll leave in the morning.
We’ll send the mayor our regards.’ 
  They turned they horses, as if to leave. 
  ‘Wait.’ the bearded man said. ‘I’ll get him for you.
Just wait here.’ He gave his long spear to his partner
and scurried off across the courtyard, into the building.
  ‘Quick thinking.’ Ksid complimented Enigma quietly
through clenched teeth. 
  Enigma inclined his head.
  The guard returned, accompanied by a man with silver 
hair. 
  He was wrapped up tightly with fur, and seemed to 
be having a lot of trouble walking. ‘Introducing, Lord
Jalaf, Mayor of Etib.’ the guard called out.
  ‘Hello friends.’ Jalaf greeted in a muffled voice. ‘Are
you the group Gecqual spoke of?’
  ‘We are.’
  ‘Your Ksid I presume.’
  Ksid nodded.
  ‘Come inside. It’s cold out here. My people shall look
after your horses. Did you have any trouble with these
guards?’
  The guards pleaded Ksid, with desperate eyes. 
  ‘Not at all.’ Ksid lied. ‘They were very co -
operative.’
  The inside was made of wood, unlike its exterior. The
grain of the wood swirled beautifully with endless lines
and marks.  
  They were lead to a heated room on the top floor. It
was warmed by three fireplaces, each burning hotter than
the next. It was a nice change from the freezing climates
they had endure over the past weeks. Their bodies
shivered with the sudden change of temperature. 
  Instead of the odd table and chairs, the seating
arrangements were made simply up of expensive pillows and
carpets from the four corners of the world, providing
better comfort than usual. 
  ‘Pull up a cushion, my friends.’ Jalaf smiled. He 
unwrapped himself of the furs and skins, then dropped 
down onto a large, maroon cushion, bigger than the rest. 
‘As far as I can tell and understand, we have a bit of a 
problem.’
  ‘Indeed.’ Ksid complied. ‘From the evidence that was 
gathered in Anitram, we are lead to believe that someone
likes to cause trouble. A person, or a group of people
have been spreading untruthful rumours around to the
slaves and homeless, that a new God, Jab - Kral, God of
Freedom, has risen to free them of their oppression. They
believe that they will be freed from beneath the hand of
power. No action has been taken as of yet, but
something’s bound to happen soon.’
  ‘Just in Anitram?’ Jalaf asked.
  ‘For starters.’ Ksid replied. ‘It started in Anitram,
and we think it’s beginning to spread further south.’
  ‘Namely, Etib?’
  ‘Yes.’
  ‘And what’s being done to prevent this?’
  ‘The slaves and homeless will be given more privileges.
Once they gain the trust of the nobles, they won’t have
any need for this new God at all. They won’t have any
reason to back lash on the upper class.’
  ‘To be quite honest, I haven’t heard anything about
this Jab - Kral person at all.’
  ‘You have spies out, don’t you?’
  ‘Yes.’
  ‘Well then, get them to focus on this new god, Jab -
Kral, and his preacher who goes by the name of Uilin, and
I guarantee, you’ll hear about it within the week.’
  ‘Uilin?’
  ‘As far as we can tell, this Uilin character’s causing
all this trouble. Our investigations pointed us in the
direction of your fair city. We think he’s roaming your
streets. We’d like permission to search for this trouble
maker.’
  ‘How do plan to go about it?’
  ‘We’d like to borrow some of your spies. Once we can
uncover Uilin’s location, we may be able to apprehend
him.
  ‘Sounds fair.’ Jalaf admitted. ‘I’ll get some men on it
right away. But for now, how about lunch?’ 
  They dinned in the same room, as it was the warmest
room in the entire building. A boiling hot soup had been
prepared earlier. It was tasty with many spices - mainly
pepper. 
  A fur covered man enter quietly. He whispered something
to the mayor, then walked out again. 
  ‘Well it didn’t take long. It seems as if your
assumptions are correct.’ he informed. ‘Some of my men
were lucky enough to overhear a conversation regarding
this Uilin person you seek. A meeting has been planned in
an old abandoned house at about five hours past sun down.
I believe you will find him there.’
  ‘Do you know the location of this place?’ Ksid was
anxious.
  ‘It’s right next to the eastern gate of the city.’
  ‘Five hours past sun down, you said?’
  ‘Five hours past sun down.’
  ‘Positive?’
  ‘Positive.’
  ‘Good. I’ll take Enigma along with me, then. Keep your
men searching for clues. We’ll wait until the sun goes
down before we do anything.’
*  *  *  
  It seemed to take days. They all waited anxiously for
the time to pass.
  ‘Tell us about the Enemy, and how they came about.’
Enigma suggested as they sat lazily in front of the
fires. 
  The others quickly mumbled their agreement.
  ‘The Enemy.’ Ksid though aloud. ‘What can we say about
the Enemy? Ah yes.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Upon the
first round of physical quarrels between the Thanatos
followers and the Serenity followers, the world had
divided in half, taking sides. As the people separated,
so did the lands, forming two great continents known as
Neekkent, and Korutiania. The cult would seek the land of
Neekkent to re - group their forces and to devise and
revise plans of attack. 
  ‘After many generations of the same continuous routine, 
over and over again, a quarter of each general group soon
became tiresome, and participated no longer in the silly
war games that had, for many years, ruled their lives.
Out of these people, a small minority formed the third
major group, made up of Korutianians and Neekkentians,
rebelling and protesting against the general destruction.
  ‘In return for their efforts, the two attacking 
continents, in the midst of fighting, took any chance 
they had to eradicate the world of this third party. The 
third group was only one quarter of the total population, 
and was liable to receive a flogging now and then. They
just could not protect themselves against the odds. Thus,
each group had two possible enemies. 
  ‘Once the fighting had ceased, the troublesome memory
of the war lived on, especially amongst this third group.
They had received the most amount of punishment and
ridicule. Each following descendant in this group was
educated with this fact orally.
  ‘Soon, a whole new generation was born. After each
generation, the legend was exaggerated, three fold. The
slight push came to shove, then, the next thing
Korutiania and Neekkent knew, they had a common enemy to
deal with. But they were ignored.
  ‘This enraged them much. They believed they were looked
upon as outcasts. Soon, anybody who wasn’t with them, was
against them. Anybody who got in their way, was punished,
Revolution or not. That’s how they got their name - the
Enemy, because they opposed everything, and everyone.
  ‘Even now, do they still remain the Enemy. Each member
is trained as a soldier, working mainly in the slave
industry. Enigma and Sly should be familiar with this.
  ‘Every group needs a leader, and because they follow no 
particular God, they substitute in a human mortal. They 
would vote after every life time, who gets to be the 
ruler of the Enemy. The title given is “Master”. Just 
recently, the master had taken up residence in a place 
called the Sanctuary, but, with the help of our friend 
Enigma, the Sanctuary is no more than dust. He really put 
a hole in the slaving industry. But even now do they toil 
to rebuild what is now not. The Enemy are not dead yet,
but they are, for the moment, one less group that we have
to worry about.’
  They all murmured Enigma their congratulations on a job
well done. He simply smiled in return. 
*  *  *  
  The sun had sunk over the horizon. Everybody was to
stay behind except for Enigma and Ksid, who were playing
the role of spies for the night. It would have been
harder to keep the stealth they wanted with seven people. 
  One of the kingdom’s real spies lead them through the
blizzard, to the house explained. It had double stories 
with injured features. 
  The roof was snow covered, as were the rest of the 
houses around it, standing shoulder to shoulder with the
wall of the city, and another run down house much like
itself. The gate was already closed and un - guarded.
  Ksid had brought with him rope, and several cutting
tools. The tops of the gates were decorated with large.
spear like metal spikes. ‘See if you can hook this rope
over one of those protrusions up there.’ Ksid commanded
his younger counterpart, tying a slip knot in the rope.
Like a lasso, Enigma spun it above his head, then let it
go, sending it spiralling into the mist. His first shot
was precise, nailing their target right on the head. He
tugged it tight, and handed it back to Ksid. 
  ‘No, you go first.’ Ksid offered. ‘If there’s trouble
below, I can hold them off better than you can.’ 
  Hand over hand, Enigma pulled himself higher and
higher, eventually reaching the top of the gate with out
any troubles. At the top of the gate, he began making his
way horizontally towards the stone wall. Ksid quickly
followed, re - gathering the rope when finished. 
  The white canopy of the surrounding forest was level
with the top of the barrier. Enigma felt that he could
just walk onto the snowy plain, a majestic feeling that
overwhelmed him. 
  They manoeuvred themselves across the wall a little
way. Caution was needed when leaping onto the arched roof
of the particular house. It was old and could easily
collapse from under them. 
  The distance between the eaves and the wall was a full
strides distance away. Ksid had no trouble. He was light
footed, looking to have done work like this before.
Enigma, on the other hand, was the more clumsier of the
two. Mis - judging the distance, he pranced the leap, and
fell slightly short of the mark. He gripped onto the
gutter, ripping it from it’s place.
  ‘Quietly.’ Ksid hissed, grabbing the boy’s hand. He
heaved him back onto the roof.
  ‘Sorry.’ Enigma apologised. ‘I’ve never done this
before.’
  ‘You don’t say. We have to be as quiet as possible. 
They could already be inside.’ They shifted from the edge 
of the roof to a more safer spot. ‘We’ll enter through 
here. If what Jalaf has said was true, their should be an 
attic below us. We’ll make a hole in the roof.’
  The roof was tiled, but the mortar that held it in 
place had lost it’s strength over the years. They ripped
up several layers, then dove in head first, making very
little noise.
  As Jalaf proclaimed, there was an attic below the roof
of the house. It was damp and dusty. Wooden beams ran
from one side to the other. Except for the scurry of
rats, it was empty.
  ‘Now’s a good time for you to get in a bit of
practice.’ Ksid told Enigma in a scarce voice. 
  ‘Practice. Practice what?’ Enigma whispered back.
  ‘Just place your palms onto the roof.’
  Enigma did as he was told.
  ‘Now, with all your heart tell it to seal.’
  Enigma thought deep down, focusing on his heart, at the
same time, focussing on the open roof. ‘Seal.’ Enigma
commanded. But nothing happened. ‘It didn’t work.’
  ‘Try it again.’
  ‘Seal.’ he said again. 
  ‘Forget it.’ Ksid gave up. ‘We’ll start on something
smaller when we finish up here.’
  ‘Dam thing.’ Enigma said to himself. ‘Why wouldn’t it
seal?’ He imagined what should have happened. Suddenly,
he felt a slight tingle, just behind his eyes. He watched
as the roof began to heal itself, tile after tile. 
  ‘What happened?’ Ksid whispered. ‘Did you do that?’
  ‘I thought you did.’
  ‘Trust me, I didn’t have anything to do with it. 
Everything was in motion before I could lift a finger.’   
  ‘Well I don’t see how it could be me.’
  ‘Why not? What was the last thing you were thinking
of?’
  Enigma thought back a little. ‘I was imaging what was
supposed to happen.’
  ‘That’s it?’
  Enigma nodded.
  ‘Extraordinary. This is something we’ll have to pursue
a little later. For now, we have a meeting to attend to.’
  Quietly, they dug tiny holes into the ceiling. A few
more holes wouldn’t be noticed, plus it would surely help
with their eavesdropping. 
  With the finer details out of the way, they had two
hours to spare. Ksid mindlessly pondered Enigma’s powers.
They weren’t normal. Usually, the power would come from
the heart. When commanding their power with this vital
organ, they would usually feel a little tingle within the
chest area. In Enigma’s case, the sensation was in the
head. It just didn’t make any sense.
  ‘Tell a story.’ Enigma insisted.
  ‘You like stories, don’t you.’ Ksid accused in a
pleasant way.
  ‘It seems to pass the time, plus I’m bored.’
  ‘Well, I’ll tell you about the history of magic. Maybe
that might be able to help us with our little problem.’    
  ‘What little problem?’
  ‘The problem of where exactly your powers originate
from. I’ll have to give it a lot more though. Anyway,
magic.’ He cleared his throat. ‘In ancient times when
Lord Serenity walked the earth, the people were very
primitive, and were knowledgeable only in barbarianism. 
  ‘They were frustrated to find that things they wanted
to do were un - achievable with their lack of wisdom.     
  ‘One day, the worlds most smartest man - of that era,
was looking after his baby brother.’ 
  ‘How old was he?’
  ‘Is it really that important?’ Ksid questioned. He 
shook his head in disgust. ‘His brother was playing in a
tree. The young boy slipped and fell from the very top of
the crown, smashing his spine into splinters.
  ‘The eldest feared for his little brother. The injured
victim lay lifeless on the ground in an unconscious
agony. His parents would punish him if they found out he
had failed to look after his kin. 
  Primitive punishment of that time, was always death.
There was no torture, and there were no second chances.
He placed his hand on his brother’s chest, feeling for a
beat. To his dismay, there was none. With tears in his
eyes, he commanded him to heal. He knew that his wishes
were futile.
  ‘Anyway, he commanded him to heal. His heart soared at
that point. He wanted it to happen badly. With every
ounce of his heart in his words, he felt an unusual
response by his breast. His young brother stirred, and
awoke.
  ‘The older of the two shrieked back in horror. Thinking
his demands were in vain, he was shocked to find his
pleas answered. At the thrust of a word, his brother
awoke. This was just the beginning of it all.
  ‘Still compelled by this incident, he was curious to
know what he had actually done. After several
experiments, he had learnt the art of what we call magic
- named after his father. 
  ‘His every day life was much easier now. He was able to
do things that he usually found impossible. He could help
more around the cave and do more than one thing at a
time.
  ‘Once his younger brother had matured, he was taught
these special secrets. Then he taught his children, and
his children taught their children, and so on.
Eventually, the family branched out so far apart that
this magic that was once kept in the family, was now free
for the public to learn. 
  ‘This art had many strengths. Soon, it was divided up
into three particular ranks; magician, wizard, and
sorcerer, in that order. But do you know how I know
this?’
  ‘I know. You were that person who discovered it.’
  Ksid frowned ‘What? No. Lord Serenity taught me this
during my training. What made you think that I was the
person to discover magic?’
  ‘That’s usually what happens when some one asks, “Do
you know how I know this” - or something similar.’
  ‘Not in this case.’
  ‘What rank are you?’
  ‘In laymen’s terms, I’d be classed as Sorcerer.’
  ‘Laymen’s terms?’
  ‘Yes. Laymen’s terms. In actual fact, I’m above
sorcerer. 
  ‘Above sorcerer?’
  ‘Isn’t that what I just said? Serenity told me of some 
other rank above sorcerer, but it’s been long forgotten.’
  ‘By mankind?’
  ‘No, by me.’ Ksid replied. ‘I first heard the word eons
ago, and I can’t for the life of me, remember what it
was. I know how good I am and have never in the past,
needed to explain it. Actually, I don’t think anyone
human - other than myself - has ever reached the next
secret rank. But I think with a little spit and polish,
we can get you up there. The way you do it is
astonishing. But, I’m sure I’ve seen your style somewhere
else before. I just can’t put my finger on it.’
  ‘You know, for an ancient wisdom like your self, your
memory isn’t all that good.’ Enigma smiled.
  From then on, each minute continued on like hours.
Enigma became restless, finding it hard to keep still.
  ‘Quiet.’ Ksid chided, cocking his head towards the
ceiling below. ‘They’re here.’ 
  Enigma froze. 
  On silent feet, Ksid followed the group from room to
room, peering down the tiny holes he had created every so
often. 
  Despite the fact that light was scarce, his face went 
visibly pale. With a curse, he quickly got up from his 
knees, viciously grabbing Enigma by the arm. They plunged 
into a tight dark corner of the attic.
  ‘What’s the matter?’ Enigma kept his voice to a 
minimum.
  Without a word, Ksid pointed to the middle of the 
ceiling. It collapsed inward, the orange glow of a lamp 
replacing it. 
  The group marched up the stairs that led into the attic 
in single file. They were being led by a hooded figure 
with a dark navy cape. They seemed to be coming across 
these hooded characters a lot. All up, six people 
entered, with only the single lamp to light their way. 
That was adequate for the two spies. Any more light, they 
would have surely been discovered.
  They each wore the same thing beneath the cape: a dark 
red jacket, with a brown leather belt, brown trousers and 
ankle high snake skin shoes.
  ‘Be seated men.’ the leader hissed commands. Ksid 
quietly swore. 
  An aroma of ale and bear and smoke flooded the room. 
They moaned and groaned as they fell to their seats on 
the awkward wooden beams. 
  Then, one by one, they announced their names and gave
different passwords, identifying themselves - all except
the leader and one other. Enigma recognised one voice
from somewhere in the past, but couldn’t match a face
with it, as the shadows were working against them.
  ‘What is this urgency that you spoke of.’ one person 
questioned.
  ‘It has something to do with our plans, Butcher.’ the 
leader replied, ‘and also of the introduction of another
fellow member.’
  The others mumbled their annoyance.
  ‘I’d like you all to welcome Cejar. Her alias is
Vulture. From now on, shall you all call her by that
name.’ 
  This new member was also hooded. She inclined her head
to the muttered greetings. 
  ‘Let us recap, for the benefit of our guest.’ It wasn’t
an offer. ‘The knowledge of Lord Thanatos’s plan of
escape from his confinement was implanted in your head as
a child. So I don’t have to go over it again. 
  ‘We have been commanded to help our Lord in his plans. 
For centuries, we have toiled to convert all non - 
believer’s to our faith. We have been condemned and out 
cast in the process. But now we have sought a new 
conquest in attempts to prevail in our task set. Starting 
in Anitram, we have set our plan in motion. Our focuses 
are on the slaves and the poor. It is said and has been 
proven, that the slaves and poor out number the other 
human beings on this earth by two to one. By creating a 
new God, we have increased the confidence level of the 
social exiled. The God’s false promises even now, burn an 
intense fire and rage in them that cannot be 
extinguished. Also, we have corrupted those in the 
military who despise their leaders, into training these 
people in arms. Another couple of months, we’ll be ready 
to force the world to their knees by the sword.’
  ‘But what will make them force people to worship our 
own God instead of their’s?’ Vulture interrupted. Vulture
sat taller than the rest of the group. She was quite
muscular and well nourished.
  ‘Fear not. We have already covered that flaw. At a 
given time, we shall coax these people into believing 
that their petty God has formed an elegance with Lord 
Thanatos. Our cult members shall be able to merge with 
our new forces in the other major cities. Our second 
force should be un - aware of the fact that it takes 
years to become greatly experienced in combat. Once they 
realise that they are no match for the military, our cult 
shall reinforce theirs, and shall surely over come our 
enemies. Then, with a little help, they shall believe 
that Lord Thanatos has arrived to save them. We shall 
spread further rumours that their beloved God has 
abandoned them, and that Lord Thanatos is the only one 
that cares. Then, shall Lord Thanatos be able to work the 
minds of the new believer’s.
  ‘Eventually, we shall cease fighting and induct an
ultimatum to our enemies instead: either worship Lord
Thanatos, or endless torture. Death was considered but
that’s the easy way off. They will see that they are
severely outnumbered, and surrendered to us. 
  ‘Once we have the population of the major cities under
control, we can begin working on the minor towns and
villages as well as farmsteads. Then, shall Lord Thanatos
prevail!’
  ‘I congratulate you on a well thought out plan.’
Vulture complimented. ‘But, I still see at least one
flaw. Nobles, usually are well guarded. How do you
propose, will our second team get anywhere near them when
we give them the signal?’
  ‘Soon, there is a public holiday called Buysell. It’s a
holiday where all the nobles in the world join together
in their home towns, buying and selling slaves. They
auction them in the commercial district in the city.
Everyone shall be there, thus, everyone has already been
rounded up, ready for the taking.’
  ‘This is good. But, you say that every noble shall be
there at one given time - including royalty. This is not
a bad thing, but have you taken any consideration into
abducting those with royal blood to head off possible
patriotism when the time comes to strike with the aligned
forces?’
  ‘That’s a sound idea, Lady Velyaha.’ the man that they
called Assassin, said.
  Velyaha considered it for a little while. ‘It could
help.’ she agreed. ‘Good Vulture. Butcher, get one of
your henchmen to follow this through.’
  ‘One last thing.’ Vulture intruded again. ‘Does our
second know of the appointed time of the riot?’ She
seemed rather smug with herself. 
  ‘This secret shall be revealed two days before the 
festival. Now,’ she went on. ‘two recent problems have 
come up just recently. The first one has to do with the 
cult. Someone is spreading ghastly rumours amongst our 
camps. Everyone knows that the cult isn’t made up of just 
one race. One of our enemy’s is using that against us. 
We’ve caught several spies plotting race against race.
It’s creating a great disorder. They have divided into
small little groups of bickering old men. Any suggestions
of how we could correct this?’
  ‘You could threaten each group with Lord Thanatos’s
wrath.’ The one called Viper, suggested.
  ‘It’s already been tried. It only lasted for a couple
of weeks before they were back at each other’s throats.’
  ‘You could get each of the leaders from these groups
and sacrifice them,’ Vulture implied, ‘ - preferably
something really blood thirsty and painful. They should
collapse without a leader to follow. If this doesn’t
work, just say that they’ll all suffer the same
consequences if it continues.
  ‘An idle threat?’ the hooded Velyaha said with a hint
of amusement in her voice. 
  ‘Exactly.’ She then gave a wicked cackle at her
suggestion. 
  ‘That’s one settled at least. Our next problem is our
enemies. There are a certain group of people that are
tying to thwart our plans. They’re attempting to counter
our plans by giving the slaves and homeless more rights.’ 
  ‘Is it the old man and his thugs?’ Vulture asked.
  ‘Afraid so.’
  ‘What do you mean by more rights?’ Assassin asked.
  ‘For example, letting them work for money, and equal
privileges. If every noble follows the same rules, these
out cast will have no real reason to rebel against them.
I have come up with an idea though. I was thinking we
should - ’
  Suddenly, Velyaha stopped talking, reaching deeply,
inside her cloak, retrieving a circular pulsating object
that would change colour after every few instants. Enigma
recognised the instrument. One had been destroyed back in
the Cathedral. Gazing deeply into it, she gasped, but
calmly regained her composure. 
  ‘What’s the matter?’ Butcher worriedly asked.
  ‘Even now does our enemy listen in upon us.’ she
replied in a quiet but audible voice. 
  Ksid grabbed onto Enigma’s arm an mumbled to himself. 
Enigma saw the darkness around him fade away, shimmering 
like heat waves on a hot summers day. Slowly, the 
shimmering stopped, and Enigma found himself back in the
warm conference room in Jalaf’s mansion. 
  A mug smashed against the floor as Jalaf gaped at them
in horror. 
  ‘It’s us, Jalaf.’ Ksid abashed.
*  *  *