Chapter 10- Kayseri's Way

Sunlight crowned over Lake Sey’chey, it shimmered through the streets and over the roofs of Sohouta. Another day dawned over the great city on the lake, hard working farm folk tended to their crops of fungus, and ship workers bustled in the canals around the city, moving things to and fro. The news of political squabbling had set the courts of Sohouta on fire, but the average Sohoutan didn’t so much as stop to glance. To them it was just another day, as it had been the day before, and their political leaders’ greatest fears or triumphs had never made much more than an inconvenience. The river still flowed, the grass still grew, the sun still shined.  

Zoll awoke with a dilemma. The Moridian family in the next room over was still without jobs, not through a lack of trying. He had spoken to them briefly after returning from his time in the courthouse, they thanked him for their rooms at the inn which they had stayed at, but apologised that they had been unable to find work in the time that he had been gone. It seemed like there was more to their story then they had told him at that time, but he didn't press them for details. Zoll was quiet about their situation to Kayseri and the others, he knew that they couldn’t afford to pay for the Moridian family’s shelter for their entire time in town, and he knew that even if they could it wouldn’t help the family long term. During the few times he had brought it up to Kayseri while they were at the trial, Kayseri had always given roughly the same answer. “We have made a promise to get these people on their feet in one month, and I intend to carry through with that promise. For it is the way of my code...blahty blaghty blah.” Today was the final day left in that month, and no progress had been made. Zoll didn’t particularly care about the ‘one month’ promise, but rather wanted to help these people and stop them from being a burden on their finances. Often it seemed like he was the only one who cared about their finances. He had considered asking Gane and Yhora to help them with the task, but they had left early, they told him that they were going to the Great Library to finally pick up on their quest. Zoll didn’t feel like holding them up again after so much having got in their way, it seemed like it would be up to him and Kayseri.

 He slithered out from his jar and got dressed, which is to say he put on his cloak. Kayseri had gotten up at the crack of dawn and left their room, as was normal for him. In the five years that they had been traveling together, Kayseri had always gotten up early to meditate for an hour or so. Zoll had never understood it, how different could that be from sleeping in another hour or so? But Zoll had come to accept it as Kayseri’s way, and Kayseri’s way rarely made total sense, but it always seemed to work out in the end. And since Kayseri truly and sincerely believed in it, Zoll accepted it.

 He left their room as well, heading downstairs and out the front door. Kayseri would not meditate in such a public space, he was not a shy or sheepish individual, but his rituals required a peaceful and quiet spot. Searching around the streets and edges of the inn, Zoll eventually stopped when he spotted a moss covered alley that led behind the ratted old inn. Zoll crept through it, moving deeper into the cracks between buildings on this block. What he found was a small nook, hard floor paved with mushrooms like the street, the walls of buildings on all sides with vines and mosses growing out from them, the sky shining down from above with nary a window or balcony in their way, and a single wooden bench, upon which Kayseri was meditating. 

“Do you like it? I found the place this morning, a perfect little spot away from the bustling streets. I suspect a small garden had been here at one point but it seems all but unused now.” Kayseri pointed to some exposed soil along the sides of the walls with smattering of small and weak looking plants. “Assuming it doesn’t rain I wouldn’t mind spending a few nights out here, under the stars. Not to mention how prime of a spot this might be to give Gane a lesson, we wouldn’t want him training indoors or around many others.”

“Yes. It’s quite the spot.”

“How are you holding up old friend? It’s been a while since our jobs have pulled us so long in one direction, or put so many gawking strangers in your way.”

“You know the gawking doesn’t get to me, and frankly I don’t mind these clients.”

“Yes, Gane and Yhora are a rather enjoyable bunch. But what I mainly worry about is how much you plan on entrusting in them, if I’m going to teach Gane in the ways of my Order I would be remiss if I didn’t tell him the fate that they met, and as for Yhora, I doubt we can trust her with much on either of our pasts.”  

“Yhora is more trustworthy than you think. She reminds me of myself when I first met you.” Zoll spoke the truth, but he also stuck up for Yhora remembering how she had confided her feelings in him when they first arrived.

Kayseri seemed unconvinced. “I’m not so concerned about myself, I worry about you mainly. I’m reminded of our time in Quelpanion, working for the Vilerenders. We gave them over a year of loyal service and dedication, but all of them aside from Finlaw and myself turned on you when they found the truth about your past doings.” 

“I remember the Vilerenders. Gane and Yhora are not nearly the zealots that they were.” 

“Well regardless we’ve got to be careful about you in these big cities, thank grace the Roni aren’t Orderbound, but the Orderbound aren’t the only ones who lash out when faced with something they don’t understand.”

“Kay, I’m not concerned about this city. I came to find you because we have a promise to keep.”

“Please old friend, I hope you know me better than that. I’m not some ignorant coward who would walk away from a commitment. I by no means intend to abandon Gane and Yhora.”

So close, yet so far. Zoll couldn’t help but slightly chuckle at his friend’s inaccuracy. “A promise to the Moridians.”

“Which was?” Kayseri left his position of Monk-like meditation into a forward leaning slump.

“Which was to have helped them find jobs, by the end of the day.”

Kayseri introspected for a moment, he looked up wordlessly and stared at the eroded mushroomy walls around him. To a stranger, he would have almost looked anxious, regretful or nervous, perhaps reevaluating his priorities or wondering if what he had done was right. But Zoll was no stranger, and he knew that this was not Kayseri’s way. Kayseri’s way was to climb waterfalls, to stand in the way of stampedes, and to throw down his sword while fighting bears who had none. Kayseri stood up, flashed a confident smile across his face, pointed his finger to the sky, and in a voice that Gane and Yhora might have heard from across town he declared.

“One day? One day you tell me!? It takes one day to protect a carriage from wolves , It takes one day to slay a dragon, it takes one day to storm the castle of an evil troll and throw his jewels to the masses. The only thing that has ever stood between anyone and the journey to their dreams is one day, and we have been called upon to do it? One day for Kayseri and Zoll to help the innocent!?  How many days have we spent doing that exact thing? How many days have we lived in this world? If either of us could answer the latter question with complete accuracy, then I would have my answer to the former! If I were not so eager to help those people as soon as possible, then I would spend the first half of this day napping. For One Day is far too much time! Come my Amorphous Ally! Let us push the ornately decorated gallion of the Moridian family's future to sea!”  

Zoll stood there contently. He didn’t show it on his face, but they both knew that he loved it when Kayseri drew rousing speeches like that out of his heart. Zoll admired Kayseri’s passion in the way one admires a past life. An intangible feeling that can never fully place itself. 

Random Roni passersby had begun to peak in on the monologue as it had transpired, there were now half a score’s worth of people squeezed into the tight space, and more still lined up along the entryway to get a glimpse at the mighty noise that they were hearing from the streets. Kayseri turned to Zoll after noticing them and gave a tongue in cheek smile.
“It seems I’ve ruined our little hiding spot.”

“Yes.”

They pushed their way through the dispersing crowd and went back upstairs to find the Moridian family. Knocking on their door, Itrar responded, looking disheveled. He let them in and sat them down on the bed, rubbing his forehead and sipping on a cloudy glass of water. He sat down across from them, his graying hair was knotted and greasy, he looked like he hadn’t shaved in several days. He let out a labored sigh, looking up at them.

“Thank you again for your help.” As he spoke he checked his pocket watch, seeming preoccupied with it.

“That’s an impressive watch you’ve got my friend.” Kayseri remarked. 

“Yes, it was a gift from my father. It’s Niern made, but he gave it to me in the old country. It’s a bygone relic of when people actually traded with Inmoridia.” His wife Quella sat down by his side and put her hand on his shoulder. “It’s an antique, and we’re thinking of selling it.” She said. 

“You need not!” Kayseri began. “For we are here to do all in our power to make sure that you acquire the jobs that you need to survive within twenty four hours! So let us begin, what are your skills and where you like to start?”

Quella and Itrar looked confused. “The next twenty four hours?”

“In accordance with the promise I made to you before our arrival at the city.”

“That’s not a big deal. We don’t care if you do it within a month or not. We just really need some help getting on our feet and we feel terrible for living off of your-”

“Nonsense. I’ve never broken a promise before and I don’t intend to start now. Now let’s be off. There’s no sense in letting time go to waste.”

“Well that’s not the real problem.” Itrar admitted. “We’ve found some people that would have been willing to give us employment, but there’s a certain group that’s been watching us closely, and intimating anyone who we attempt to find employment with.”

“What can you tell us about this group?” Zoll asked.

“They all wear similar hoods, they’ve tried to offer us shelter several times, but there is something off about them, somethin-”

“IT’S BECAUSE THEY’RE SNAKES!” The Moridian boy Paro yelled, turning away from the window and looking towards Zoll and Kayseri.  

 “They’re thieves and killers. Just like a thousand other groups we’ve met on the road.” The boy, in his middle teenage years, spoke solemnly. His mother apologised for him.

“I’m so sorry! You have to understand the last few weeks have been tough on him.” 

“Yeah. And not to drain the river, but I don’t think these bounty hunters are gonna be able to help.” The Boy continued.

Kayseri kept his composure. He didn’t like being called a bounty hunter, but this child was clearly distressed, and his family needed assistance. 

“We will certainly try. Come, let us search the docks again, if these hooded ones attempt anything, we shall put a stop to it.”

Quella put her hands together. “You shouldn’t risk another run in with the law, we wouldn’t want to be responsible for you getting into trouble again.”

“Madame, I am a Knight of Savac, getting into trouble in the name of justice is my job.”

And so they were off, heading down the morning streets of Sohouta, Zoll hung back with the two elder Moridians. Kayseri and the boy Paro walked ahead of them and led the way to the docks. The Streets were alive with the movement people going about their normal routine.

Zoll listened in on the discussion that the two elder Moridians had. They seemed weary of heading back, clearly whoever had been harassing them had left an impression. It complicated things, they would not be able to leave the family in a city that was unsafe for them, if any real good was to be done they would have to get rid of this group for good, or at least leave a bigger impression than they had. 

“What do you think about it?” Quella asked him.

“I’m sorry?” Zoll had lost himself in thought.

“About selling the pocket watch.”

“You won’t need to if we find you jobs.”

“Yes but we shouldn’t count on finding them any time soon, your friend is very enthusiastic but we have to be realistic about this.”

“It’s your choice.”

Itrar seemed hung up on it. “I agree with my wife...but this watch holds a lot of sentimental value to me. My grandfather gave it to me, a final relic of the old Moridia before the rains changed. I’m worried that the bitter-sweet memories have enchanted it.”

“Why is that?”

“Whenever I think of the days when the rains stopped falling, when the rivers died up, even so much as touching the nobs can cause a cloudy sky. Do you remember the night we met on the road? I had been reminded of when I fled Inmoridia as a child that day, as we fled the town we were residing at. I think those emotions have been tied to this pocket watch, and I think it caused the thunderstorm that night.” 

“It’s something we should be concerned about. You should be careful with that thing.” Quella said as she leaned up to her husband and put an arm around him, he clutched the pocket watch in his hand. 

“I don’t want an enchanted object like this, I don’t want anyone to have something like this. It’s objects like this that caused the Shifting of Rains, and ruined our homeland.”

“I understand. We’ll be sure that you don’t need to sell it.” 

“Are you sure?” Quella questioned. “Your friend seems awfully motivated, but what he talks about is ridiculous, I figured he was just trying to raise Paro’s spirits.”

Zoll looked closely at them, being sure not to falter as he spoke. “I won’t try to convince you to see it as he does. But he truly believes that he can help you. So I do too.”

Itrar and Quella seemed unconvinced, appreciative nonetheless, but they didn’t buy Kayseri’s foolish hopefulness. Zoll was quiet again, he had spoken his mind and returned to his thoughts. 

Up in front, Kayseri walked with a stride, admiring the pretty and cloudless sky. Paro was next to him, head down looking at the street. 

“There’s not much to see down there son.”

“Not much to see in this town…”

“Nonsense, the sun on your face, and new sights in your eyes is almost all that you need to enter the right state of mind.”

“So what? A state of mind is gunna help protect us from these hooded creeps at the dock?” 

“Well it couldn’t hurt.”

“You just don’t get it. You must be new to bounty hunting.” The boy scoffed.

Kayseri looked down, taking in the boy’s perspective. He had clearly led a harsh life, and insisted falsely referring to him as a mercenary, simply because he was helping them enforce mercenary justice. Kayseri raised his head up again and resumed his speaking. 

“I never said it was easy. Why don’t I tell you about how I obtained this way of life.”

“Whatever.” The boy still refused to look up. 

“I was raised in a monastery with the other Knights of Savac. They were my family, we learned and studied and trained together for all of our lives. We learned the Code of Justice, and fought for those who could not fight for themselves. But my monastery was attacked, reduced to rubble by very bad people. I am the last of the Knights of Savac. I have lived through tragedy as well, and I would never tell you that you are wrong for feeling the way you do. But pessimism is not an inherently wiser position than optimism. In fact, If you come to accept it, optimism has far better perks.”

Paro looked up at him, stern but no longer angry. He didn’t say anything, and that was alright. The boy had a lot to think about, and so did Kayseri, because they had just arrived at the docks. A long strip of wooden walkways grew like roots out from the city and out into the canal that surrounded Sohouta, ships came in from Lake Sey’chey in long lines, dropping their cargo off to be loaded into warehouses that lined the perimeter of the city, other boxes were loaded on the ships and they were sent off again at the end of the day, it was long hard work that went on the docks of Sohouta. It was honest work as well, laborers were second only to farmers in terms of numbers in Sohouta. Due to the seasonal nature of the work, finding employment on the docks wasn’t too difficult at the right time of year.

They would have to find the shipwright to discuss giving the Moridians employment. Zoll approached Kayseri, pulling him aside by a large warehouse. 

“We should split up.”

“I take the family to meet the shipwright, you go looking for these hooded figures?”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

“Capital idea.”

They walked back to the Moridian family, who followed Kayseri towards the head of the docks, Zoll hung back and watched from afar. By the head of the docks there was a large building that leaned over the river, small boats were hitched up to posts beside it, barrels stuffed with fish, crab, and lakeweeds sat half opened along the way to the door. Many Roni men and women sat in clusters on benches around the outside of the building, they sat patiently and passed the time with casual conversation to one another. Kayseri marched past them, up the steps and gave three hard knocks on the door with the bottom of his fist. A gruff and massive Roni man opened the door, his antlers curled thickly into sharp blades off of his head, he was dressed like a sailor and stared down at Kayseri.

“Yur lookin for employmen'”

“No sir, not myself, I happen to be a Savac Knight, an agent of justice, an arbiter of truth. I come to you on a mission, you see I made a promise to the three fine Moridians that you see behind me, a promise to help them find employment in this city by the end of the month, seeing as how it is the final day of the month, you might be able to see my dilemma. I ask only that you set them up with what they need and give them employment in your docks. T’would be the moral, just, practical, and moral thing to do in your position.”

The dock man looked at Kayseri for a second, and then leaned around him and looked at Itrar.

“Tell yur mercenary what I tolds ya last time. I ain’t messin with those cultists.” He then turned his head down to look at Kayseri again, and tapped his finger to a sign beside the door. “And you, there’s a line. If this job falls through, I sugges’ you wait yur turn here.”

Quella ran up and put her hand on Kayseri’s shoulder, trying to pull him away from the dock man’s face.

“Thank you very much, we’ll be sure to wait our turn, our friend here is just trying to help us.” She tugged again on Kayseri, but he held stalwart. Kayseri looked up at this dock man’s face. 

“I would suggest that you apologize for calling me a mercenary, I believe I was very clear about what I am.”

“Yeah, you were real clear. Savior Knight of justice and all that, you merc types are all the same.”

Kayseri clenched his fists, moving his hand towards the hilt of his sword. The Savac Code was very clear about disrespect, about how grave of a misdeed it was to act with no regard for others. He then turned back and looked at Quella, Itrar, and Paro. They looked pleadingly towards him, Kayseri took a deep breath and let the tension out of his face. The Savac Code was also very clear on selfishness, compromising this family’s future over his ego was not moral. He would not have been helping anything by lashing out, and besides, this oaf’s disrespect will continue to plague him in ways that were far worse than any duel of honor could. Kayseri stepped back and walked to a bench with the Moridians while the dock man let out a low chuckle. 

“Thank you.” Itrar said as they sat down. 

“No, Thank you. I would have been doing myself a disservice if I wasn't humbled every once in a while.”

Some of the other folks who had seen the exchange approached Kayseri and the Moridians. They sat down around him and laughed a bit to each other.
“Ya clearly don’t know how things go down here. I respect your audacity though.” A gruff Roni man said as he looked over Kayseri.  “It doesn't matter how hard you ask lately. The Clans are tightening their belts.”

“But we spoke with the shipwright earlier this month, he told us he had a place for us.” Quella interjected.

“When the Clan leaders start going after each other, they only hire from within. The Shipwright is an Ealmeni, we’re Torpecs, so we’ve just got to wait it out. Maybe they’ll run out of Ealmeni to hire and we can pick up some jobs.”

Itrar seemed alarmed by this. “But we’re not Roni, we have no Clan affiliations.”

“That’s tough luck. Sometimes we've just gotta wait until our Clan leaders can give up their grudges.”

“This is ridiculous!” Kayseri shouted. “A miscarriage of justice in the name of petty squabbling. You should fight in the name of your cause!” 

“That’ll only turn into another grudge between the Clans, I appreciate the thought Noble Knight, but there are some problems that the world will always have.”

Kayseri sighed and leaned back on his bench. He looked to Paro, the boy looked gloomy again. This was unacceptable, he would not let disagreements of some Clan leaders soil this boy’s view of the future. 

He sat there with the Moridians and the other dock workers for several hours, they waited in line, which barely moved. In the meantime Zoll crept down the streets, he had spotted a suspicious looking figure stalking around the dock and followed him. The man slipped in between two buildings and entered a back door. Zoll followed slowly, removing his cloak and tossing it behind a barrel on the street corner. Zoll slipped away from the eyes of those on the streets as well, morphing down and taking a shape similar to a snake. He slithered under the door and inside a dark warehouse. 

Despite it being midday, very little light leaked into the cool air inside the building, Zoll slipped behind a crate and watched as the suspicious man from outside met with another strange looking man.
“Are you a listener?” He asked. 

“I too hear the Tone.”

After their little exchange they approached closer to one another. They dropped their hoods and spoke face to face.

“There are many gathered at the dock, they are weary, prime for induction.”
“Very good. Soon this whole city will hear the Tone.”

Zoll was underwhelmed, he was expecting something a little more serious than Tone Cultists. He had faced plenty of these types when he ran with the Vilerenders, there were several variants of the cult but they were all basically the same. Crazy people who thought that they could hear a tiny droning noise, and that it was the voice of some god. They find isolated individuals and lure them away from society to become zealous thralls of the cult. Zoll knew better than to strike at them now, he would need to trail them to their base of operations, and he would likely need Kayseri’s help if past numbers were anything to go by. 

The Cultists began to finish up their ritual goodbyes and were about to leave, when they both heard a creek of metal from some scaffolding above them. They looked for a second but spotted nothing, they waited another moment out of fear of being listened in on. From his spot, Zoll could see who had made the noise. He was not the only one stalking these cultists, on the second floor scaffolding there was a man in metal armor, a cape, a mask over his face and two swords on his hips. He couldn’t have this armored man giving away his position, and from how it seemed, this man could be helpful for taking them down. Zoll wrapped his body around a pipe and clung his way up through the gated floor. He took human shape as he approached, so as not to alarm the masked man, and put out his hands as he whispered. 

“Be careful. You should not provoke them now.”

The Masked man jumped upon seeing him, and slashed at the metal floor, screeching and sparking it. The Cultists dashed out of the warehouse immediately. This was exactly what he feared. 

“Please. I am not with the Tone Cultists. If we pursue we can catch them.” Zoll meshed through the bottom of the grated floor and fell to the bottom floor of the warehouse, landing with a slap and taking shape again. “Follow me if you want to take them down.”

“FOUL MAGIC!! You are one of them!” 

The Masked man leapt down from the second floor. Crashing down on the ground and charging towards him. Zoll bobbed and weaved around his slashes. He shrunk down and pushed between the Masked man’s legs, retaking a human form he ran out of the warehouse to try and keep from totally losing the cultists’ trails. As he burst outside into the street again, he could no longer see them. He heard the masked man charging after him, Zoll sunk behind a barrel, shrinking down to the shape of a small blob to avoid detection. The Masked man burst out the doors of the warehouse and looked around for him, he charged off down the street, clearly still in a rage. People moved out of his way and stared in awe of this metal covered man. Zoll decided to cut his losses and regroup with Kayseri and the others, he had figured out who they were after, it was just a matter of handling them now. 

 Back at the docks, little had changed, the group wasn’t any smaller and employment seemed no closer. Kayseri had been trying and failing to keep spirits up, the boy Paro went back to sulking, “It’s no different than the last time we tried.” he said. Kayseri felt infuriatingly powerless. He had joked earlier that day about only needing half the day, but he didn’t intend to actually waste half of his time sitting in a line doing nothing. He was thankful when he saw Zoll returning. 

“Tell me you brought good news. We’ve been unable to make any progress here.”

“I’ve got some good and some bad.”

“Tell me both at the same time.”

“The people we’re looking for are Tone Cultists and I lost track of them.”

“How hard can it be to track a Tone Cultist!? Just look for writhing hands and follow the sounds of maniacal laughter.”

“I would have been able to. But someone got in my way.”

“Guards?”

“No.”

“Then who?”
“I’m not sure.”

Zoll turned to Quella and Itrar. 

“Have either of you seen a masked man dressed in metal armor? He was stalking the hooded ones you spoke of.”

“No we haven’t.”

“We can find out more about this mysterious masked man later. For now we should focus on our task at hand.” Kayseri interjected. 

“How refreshingly responsible of you.” Zoll joked. 

“I will not be made into a promise breaker by this city and its shipwrights.” He looked at Zoll, who nodded in agreement, but then he looked at the boy Paro. More importantly he would not let the boy down, if he could not fix the city tonight the least he could do was keep his promise to this boy and his family.

“So do we have a plan?” Quella asked.

“I do.” Kayseri answered. “But I will need all of your trust in me if it is to succeed.”

The Moridians seemed hesitant again. Kayseri took a deep breath, closing his eyes. His expression looked almost introspective, like he was having second thoughts about his commitments, but Zoll knew better. 

“Dear friends, I am a Savac Knight,” Kayseri boomed. “I have walked this world for seven years since the fall of my Order, carrying the last book of my Code, and living by it every day. If I were to EVER break a promise I made to my comrades-in-arms on their final day, I would have let the reeds grow over me! When I tell you now that I PROMISE to deliver you unto a stable life in this city, I carry the ghosts of all who have ever lived by the Savac Code on my back! With the people of this dock as my witness, I SWEAR that I would rather topple over dead of exhaustion then abandon you in your hour of need! For this is the Way of the Savac Order!” 

The other Roni workers that waited around had all looked up at him, they watched as he again marched up to the door of the shipwright’s office, this time he did not need to knock, the shipwright had been listening, he opened the door and let Kayseri inside. Zoll and the Moridians quickly rushed to follow inside. Inside the musky wooden walled office, Kayseri refused to sit down, still full of righteous euphoria. Kayseri spoke first.

“You mentioned the cultists earlier, I ask only that you give these three employment, and in exchange we will wipe that cult off the face of this city.”

The shipwright smirked to himself and thought it over, he put his feet up on his desk and leaned back.
“I’ll take yer deal noble knight, but I want one more thing in exchange.”

“Name it.”

“I want you to kiss the bottom of my boot noble knight.” The shipwright smiled a yellow grin at Kayseri, this man clearly thought that he was doing this for his own self image.

Kayseri glanced at the boy Paro, then gave a sickened frown to this oaf, then pulled the muddy work boot off of his foot and over the desk. He marched outside and stood on the steps in front of the crowd of Torpec workers. 

“This is for Justice!” Kayseri planted a long kiss on the bottom of the vile boot. Ripping his face away and wiping it off. The crowd erupted into hollars and laughter. Kayseri glanced back at the shipwright and his companions, the boy was smiling, the shipwright was shocked, and Zoll gave his usual look of satisfaction. Kayseri smirked back at the shipwright and tossed the boot over his shoulder and into the canal. “We’ll be off now!” The exited through the crowd, while the shipwright closed his door and sulked back into his office. 

After they were a short ways back into the city streets, Kayseri got to explaining the next part of his plan. He looked concernedly up to the sky, daylight was beginning to run low. He needed them to act as bait to draw cultists in, they were going to accept the cult’s proposal and be taken to their base. Kayseri handed them a small bottle, they were going to smuggle Zoll in with them to keep them safe. Kayseri would wait on the rooftops and trail them to the Tone Cult’s base. Quella and Itrar accepted, on condition that Paro stay somewhere safe. The boy protested, but ultimately agreed to stay up on the roofs, out of sight. 

Kayseri took him on top of a mushroomy roof, they waited there together for around an hour. The boy still seemed tense, understandably, but there was hope in his eyes. Kayseri knew that they wouldn’t fail now.

Quella and Itrar made their way down the streets, with the bottle hidden in Quella’s pocket. They acted inconspicuous, and eventually after the sun went down, Kayseri spotted a hooded figure trailing behind them. 

“Over there.” He whispered to Paro. “Is that one of the ones you saw?”

“Looks like it. Are my parents going to be ok?”

“Of course they are. They have Zoll with them, and they have us up here.”

Down on the street, the hooded man approached Itrar. He moved into their line of sight and got their attention. As they turned to him, two more like him appeared from the shadows behind them and began to flank around. 

“You folks lost?” The hooded man asked.

“A little bit, yes.” Quella responded, gripping the bottle.

“Seems like things are still slow at the docks huh. If you folks need somewhere to stay we can give you room and board for free.” 

“We…” Quella looked to Itrar. “We could do that.”

The hooded man seemed a little surprised, but not suspicious and led them down the streets, not acknowledging that his disciples were following them. Kayseri got up and began following them along the rooftops, Paro immediately began to follow him.
“I appreciate your enthusiasm.” Kayseri said as he stopped the boy. “But your family wants you to be safe.”

“But I want to help.”

“You will have that chance. But not tonight.” 

Kayseri ran off across the rooftops. He leapt over the small gaps between the roofs as the sun began to finish setting. The roofs began to glow their brilliant blue, tinting the night for him. 

The Hooded men led Quella and Itrar across the border to the Torpec district, and into a large rickety building. The doors were shut tight behind them, and one of the hooded men peeled off to guard it from the outside. Kayseri stopped, reeled back, and charged across the roof before leaping over the street and catching onto the outside window sill. He held desperately to the thin sill, jamming his feet into the barky wall to try and support his weight. He lunged up and grabbed at the window, trying to throw it open, but couldn't get a good grip on it. Kayseri looked down, he was two stories up from a paved street, he was going to have to find some way in this window.

Inside the building, Quella and Itrar were led to the middle of a dark empty room, surrounding them were rows of Tone Cultists, humming in a low drone. They could see a balcony wrapped around the upper part of the building, looking down from the balcony were several Roni men, all armed and rough looking. Quella and Itrar grabbed each other's hands tightly, in her other hand she held the bottle. They jumped as they stepped into a pool of water in the center of the room, it went up halfway to their knees.

One man pulled off his hood and walked forward, stepping into the pool as well, he was missing an eye, but had violet eye tattooed over where it should be. 

“I am Essero the Listener, I commune with the great Tone which permeates all of our lives. Welcome to our convent. Please don’t mind the holy water, it is tradition for new members of our family.” he approached Quella and Itrar with outstretched arms, kissing their hands as he shook them. “From what we’ve seen, this city has abandoned you. Don’t fret, we have long been the ones to take in outsiders.” Three cultists came carrying chairs and set them down in the water. They returned to their positions on the perimeter as Essero sat, he beckoned for Quella and Itrar to sit as well, which they did.  

“W-what does this group have to offer to us.” Itrar asked, he trembled and looked around for Kayseri, he had tighter to his wife’s hand. He hoped to stall long enough for this plan to be done with.

Essero stared at them with his one good eye, and spoke with a predatory smile on his face. “We can do many things for you, we can give you food, shelter, community, we can even teach you to hear the voice of god. And you’ll need us soon enough, you see, there is a change in the balance of Sohouta coming. And our Jaarekin friends have been generous enough to guarantee us a spot in the new city.” he gestured up to the Roni on the balcony. “And if you’d like a place among our holy ranks we ask that you give us one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Your complete loyalty.” Essero said as he leaned in towards them. He smiled slyly until the noise of window breaking caught his attention. He looked up to the Roni on the balcony, who went to investigate. “Like I was saying, we need assurance that all which you have is ours, and all which we have will be yours.” he looked at Itrar. 

Itar put his hand on his pocket, and felt his pocket watch. 

“I believe you possess something which could be useful to our convent.”

“Wha- No! No one should tamper with the magic that gave this watch its power. This is exactly the kind of power-hungriness that brought my home to where it is!” Itrar roared the man.

The Ink on Essero’s eye tattoo began to crackle and spark, he stood up and approached Itrar. “Well if you’re not going to go willingly…” He moved in to grab Itrar, but was interrupted by a booming voice from the balcony. 

“Tone Cultists! I have fought your likes before!  Let the people of this city be, or face Justice!” Kayseri stood on the railing of the second floor balcony, Essero looked up at him and blasted a beam of violet energy from his tattoo eye. The beam sailed through the air and exploded into the ceiling of the building, Kayseri leapt out of its way, landing on the first floor with a roll and drawing his sword. Quella threw the bottle into the water and Zoll rose out of it. The room was in chaos, Tone cultists running about, some grabbing weapons, others fleeing out the main doors, the ceiling was on fire, blasted apart by Essero’s attack, the Jaarekins on the second floor fled out the windows. 

Kayseri traded blows with a tone cultist, cutting at his robes. He jumped out of the way as a piece of flaming wood came crashing down from the ceiling. Zoll assessed the situation, things had gone south far faster than any of them had anticipated. He ran up to Kayseri, and called out to him. “Kay! Get the Moridians out of here!”

“Oh but the fight has just begun!” Kayseri called back. He looked at Zoll and saw that he was serious. “Alright.” Kayseri grabbed Itrar and Quella, pulling them away from the fight and covering them as they ran for the doors. Zoll was left alone in a room surrounded by fifteen Tone Cultists, with Essero standing in the middle of them, charging another blast from his eye. 

“You’re in trouble now. Just one man against all of us.” Essero scoffed.

“I am no man. I am Zoll.” Zoll looked him in the eye as he sunk down into the water in the center of the room.  Essero looked down into the water, confused, until the water turned indigo and grabbed at his legs, pulling him in. Zoll expanded all around the room. Pulling swords and daggers from the Tone cultists into his amorphous, inhuman form. Zoll twisted into the form of a blob, opening a mouth in the middle of his form, with the blades swirling inside it, resembling a spinning leech mouth. The Cultists began to scream and run as tentacles spit out form his body and wrapped around their legs, pulling them in.

Outside, Kayseri brought Quella and Itrar to a rooftop, sitting them next to Paro. As they all embraced each other, Kayseri looked over to the building, he could hear yells and commotion from inside still. He heard one more blast from Essero, which hit the wall of the building from the inside. Fire began to leak out onto the outside of the building. Kayseri drew his sword again, if it spread he would have to help evacuate everyone around. As he had the thought, he noticed a rain began to come down, he looked over to see the Itrar was holding his pocket watch. 

Back inside the building, Zoll finished. He left the Tone cultists caught in large globs against the walls, cut up but not killed. He returned to human form, and left into the streets. He looked out and saw some of the Jaarekin Roni, fighting with the masked man from before. He thought about intervening, but did not. He returned to his friend and the Moridians. 

“Zoll! Excellent work, I would’ve liked to help more in the fight, but I understand.”

“Yes... Everything is taken care of, even the fire.” he looked to Itrar.

“Indeed! It goes to show you a little about hope, right Paro?”

Paro nodded.

“But we shouldn’t forget the real reason we helped. Itrar, did we make it?” Kayseri asked.

“Make what?” 

“Did we finish before the end of the day?”

Itrar looked at the pocket watch. It read 12:02, he looked at his family who saw it as well, then back to Kayseri. “Just in the knick of time.”

“Then my credibility is maintained! Tomorrow you will be on your feet again.”

“Thank you.” The moridians responded.