Chapter Five

‘The Wardens below were tasked with making sure the world grew and prospered. With their skills they were to keep peace.’ 

Caid hesitated at the windowsill from which Maddog had just launched himself as if he were a bird with wings. Caid always took a few extra seconds before leaving the relative safety of solid footing. He thought with years of experience, he would get over his initial fear of heights, but it was a chore every time to push himself over the hump.  

After a few deep breaths, to steel himself, he rolled awkwardly out of the window. The first twenty feet were more of a free fall before the cable caught. With a slight jerk, he slowed almost to a complete stop. Hanging precariously above the ground he planted his feet against the side of the building and walked backward. 

Caid glanced over his shoulder, seeing Maddog rappelling down the side of the building, allowing him to move much faster. Caid took a deep breath, pushing off. It would do no good to let Maddog be the only one on the ground when the time came.  

Caid continued his descent, but even using this method, Maddog hit the ground a good minute before him. Once Caid reached the ground and unbuckled his harness, he took a moment to get his bearings and realized he stood at the base of the building all alone. Maddog had disappeared yet again.  

Caid looked around silently. They had descended to where the crowd and stage were blocked by the surrounding buildings. It was a known pathway of the seers as they exited their conferences. Caid was completely alone, just a mere three hundred feet away from a roaring crowd.  

He stepped along the path, keeping alert to his surroundings. Maddog was nowhere in sight. Caid checked behind trash bins and random junk piles, but Maddog was a ghost.  

“Where the hell did you go?” Caid sighed, throwing his arms into the air.  

This was the second time in as many missions Maddog vanished from where he should be. What was Maddog thinking?  

Having scoped the alley and finding nothing, Caid turned back to their original planned ambush site. 

Something was off, but Caid didn’t know what that something was.  

In his foggy thoughts, Caid almost missed hearing boots tipped with metal, clacking off the rock of the alleyway. He froze. Someone was behind him. He had been too distracted. Maddog’s disappearing act, along with Geth’s premature death, had his mind in too many places, while the one place it should have been was with him in this alley.  

“What do I owe the pleasure of seeing the Wardens so frequently?”  

Caid could tell who the voice belonged to without seeing his face. He had heard the voice before; it seemed a long time ago, but certainly not long enough.  

“Brothers returning to check on old friends, I guess,” Caid replied, turning to face Creaton.  

Creaton chuckled. He wore the same attire as the night before¾leather and weapons¾which was what all head envoys wore throughout the city. Creaton put his hand on his sword but did not draw it.  

“I moved on,” Creaton replied, “and I was hoping you all would as well.”  

Creaton had cold icy-blue eyes, accompanied by an unblinking stare. It would have been unnerving had Caid not witnessed it a million times before.  

“It isn’t everyday someone takes training from the Wardens, abandons us, and then walks into the government,” Caid said. “As a matter-of-fact, I do believe you were the first.”  

Creaton laughed again, but his body didn’t ease. Caid was aware of Creaton’s ability to kill a man with the flick of his wrist, so Caid moved slowly as he circled.  

“Oh, the things that Caid does not know,” Creaton said with a smirk.  

Caid couldn’t imagine what Creaton meant. There was no benefit to having a verbal sparring match in this alley, though. He had already made the mistake of letting Creaton get the drop on him. He made the mistake of trusting Maddog to have his back again. He would do his best not to make a third mistake.  

“Creft isn’t coming down this alley, huh?”  

Creaton shook his head. “I am afraid you will not be seeing Seer Creft today, or any day again.”  

Caid felt his heart flutter. There was no more question about it, something was going on. Were Maddog and Rawn behind it? Two bungled attempts, when previously, there had never been a single botched mission. Creaton may know something that Caid didn’t, but Caid would have to get out of this alleyway to find out.  

With a quick slip of his hand, Caid pulled out his throwing knife from his belt buckle. In a mere second, it flew toward Creaton’s head. Reacting instantly, Creaton dropped to the ground, preventing the knife from finding its mark between his eyes. 

Before Caid could cover the ground between them, Creaton drew his sword, poised for the dance. Caid’s sword came away from his hip; his plan was to end the fight before it truly began.  

The sound of metal against metal clanged through the alley. Creaton and Caid refrained from playing silly games. Swords were not so much about tactics as they were about finding a way to kill your opponent.  

 “Put down your sword and, out of love, I will kill you quickly,” Creaton said between clashes.  

Caid believed him. Creaton wouldn’t prolong his death, but he had no intention of dying.  

“I offer you the same deal,” Caid replied.  

Creaton laughed. “I have always enjoyed your company, Caid. I will miss knowing you exist somewhere in this world of ours.”  

Caid ducked under a right hand swipe. Creaton dropped his sword hand low, bringing up his free hand, but Caid was ready. He slid to his knees in front of Creaton, trying his own underhanded tactic, but Creaton quickly sidestepped, only catching Caid’s fist in his thigh instead of his groin.  

“Couldn’t resist trying to touch it one last time, could you?” Creaton laughed.  

Caid rolled without a word, regaining his feet. He already felt the tugging on his lungs.  

Creaton swung his sword in an overhead swipe. Caid blocked the attempt, using his other hand for leverage against the wall behind him, he drove his booted foot, into Creaton’s knee. Creaton grunted stumbling back. Caid lunged forward and to the left, slamming his pommel into Creaton’s temple. Creaton gave another lazy grunt, falling to one knee. Caid stood over him, ready to deliver the blow that would be the end of Parian’s Head Envoy, but Creaton stuck up his hand in a plea.  

“Listen to what I have to say,” Creaton said.  

Caid’s sword stopped a hair from its target, though he felt little empathy for Creaton. He had never stilled his sword for a begging man.  

“What could you possible say to make this better?”  

On a normal day, Caid would have finished his work. Today something tickled his thoughts.  

“No last words,” Creaton started, still holding up his hand. Caid watched the sword for any flicker of movement. He knew better than to let his guard down, even if he did something foolish in not finishing his foe. “I told you there was something more going on here. Where do you think your friend is, Caid? What was his name? Maddog, I believe it was.”  

Creaton dropped his hand, looking straight into Caid’s eyes.  

“The Wardens are no longer allies, Caid; they no longer care about your old ways. You are a hindrance to a new path, and that is why you will die; maybe not by my sword, but by someone’s. Maybe even someone you used to call brother. I am sure good olé ‘Still-Heart’ Geth never saw it coming either.” Creaton went silent as Caid drove his knuckles into his jaw, a cracking sound echoed around them. Creaton fell over backward there was no longer any emotion on his face. 

 “Touched a nerve, didn’t I?” Creaton said, wiping the blood from his lip. “Caid, you’re not a dumb man. You had to have known that the Envoy did not guess the mission two times in a row. There was no way we could have foiled the Wardens twice. Once? Maybe with some luck on our side and the word of a very kind overseer. Twice? Even you couldn’t think you had become that unlucky.” Creaton pushed himself back toward the wall. The man was clearly stalling for something.  

Caid knew he should have finished the fight minutes ago, but this was not the Creaton he knew, and that held him back.  

Caid could have blamed his stalling hand on his love for Creaton once, but not anymore. It was something else¾he wanted the answers Creaton had, but he was too shocked to think of questions to ask. Instead, he just stood there seething and breathing heavier than he should have after such a short fight.  

Creaton propped himself up against the wall. Caid tried to reconcile the Creaton in front of him with the Creaton he knew. Creaton’s eyes were darting across the alleyway.  

Caid moved forward ready to end this charade. Creaton’s stories were probably all fabricated. Why would the Wardens foil their own plans? What benefit would there be to losing two of their own members? Rawn’s ego wouldn’t want to be the first head warden to lose men. How bad would it look on him to allow this on his watch? 

Caid seethed at Maddog, but even Maddog had more compassion than to kill another member of his own family. A thought flashed across Caid’s troubled mind, would Maddog? Would that sick smirk really feel anything for his family? Caid would think about this later. Right now, Creaton was waiting for backup, that backup would leave Caid dead.   

“Don’t kill me!” Creaton yelled, pulling his hands back up over his face, a futile act once the sword bit into them.  

Suddenly something heavy plowed into Caid knocking him down, his head bouncing off the cobbles of the alleyway. He could feel the warmth of blood seeping from his forehead, and with the help of the daliwin he reached up stopping it. 

Before he could react further, the black-booted foot of the unknown assailant kicked him in the ribs and he let out an involuntary grunt, his hand instinctively moving to the pain in his side. Caid had never been in this position before; at least not in a real fight.  

Caid rolled to his side, wildly scanning the ground for the sword he dropped. He heard the whiz of the attacker’s blade before he saw the blur. The sword brushed over his head by the width of a finger, just missing his nose.  

Caid rolled to his right, scanning the alley again for his lost sword to no avail. Without his sword, this fight would warrant something else.  

Caid resolved to use the daliwin, but when he looked up, shock sent shivers through his spine. Maddog looked down at him. The man almost looked bored, as if attempting to kill his own family was nothing to him at all; no more than a morning’s stroll through a park in the arts district.  

“What is this?”  

“It is an extermination of a pest, a cleansing of the plague that has festered inside the wounds of the Wardens for far too long. You should have died last night, but for some reason, Creaton felt sorry for you. He let you live and walk away from that carriage. That meant we were forced to finish the job today and yet he failed again, but I will not.” Maddog stepped forward toward Caid.  

Maddog knew the power of the daliwin, which would make it harder to use as an advantage, but it was all Caid had. 

Caid calmed himself, breathing deeply and letting it out through his nose. He looked behind Maddog, watching Creaton getting back to his feet.  

If Caid used the daliwin on Maddog, he would be too tired afterward to fight Creaton. 

“Why?” Caid asked Maddog while looking directly into Creaton’s eyes.  

Maddog chuckled. “So, uninventive aren’t you, Caid. Always ready to do things the old way. Never willing to branch out and explore. Well, you won’t have to worry about that too much longer. This alleyway will be your grave. May the Nine Wardens judge you well in the afterlife.” 

With that, Maddog jumped forward, thrusting his sword at Caid’s chest. Caid rolled to his left, swiping Maddog’s leg with an open palm, but the man was unmovable by such a tactic. Caid glanced over his shoulder to see if Creaton was close, but surprisingly, the man stood stark still.  

“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be,” Maddog said.  

Caid scrambled back and jumped to his feet. Caid had other options without a sword. The daliwin held other secrets that would be useful, but they would leave him tired; maybe too tired. He could beat Maddog even without a sword, but where did that leave him? 

Caid had to make a hard choice he could stay and win with a bit of luck, or he could get away and learn what had happened to the Wardens.  

Caid pulled a can down between him and Maddog and took off for the alley opening. It wasn’t his favorite choice, but he hadn’t expected a fight. He pushed over obstacles behind him.  

Caid had an advantage in speed. The same size making Maddog so strong, also made him slow.  

Rounding the alley bend, he ran into the crowd of people filing away from Creft’s speech. Weaving through them, Caid took a quick turn down a side alley as beads of sweat stung his eyes.  

Without forethought, he took another turn, only to find himself at a dead end. With his heart pounding, he looked behind him and saw no one, but he heard footsteps running toward him. Maddog? Creaton? Both?  

Gasping for air and searching for an escape, Caid realized he was cornered. He would have to fight for his life through the disadvantage of exhaustion. 

 Caid clenched his fist and prepared himself. 

His eyes sharply focused down the alley; he was tensed and ready to confront his foe or foes. However instead of seeing Maddog or Creaton, the head of a young girl popped out, seemingly from the wall. 

His hands lowered. 

“Who are you running from?”  

Caid was dumbstruck, still trying to understand where the girl had come from.  

“You’re a warden, aren’t you? Can tell by the necklace.” The girl pointed to Caid’s medallion hanging from a chain around his neck. Caid tucked it away, continuing to gape at the girl. “Need somewhere to hide?”  

Getting help was never part of warden training. It felt foreign to Caid, even more so coming from a young girl. 

But Caid heard the footsteps clearer now. Maddog and Creaton would not let him live with what he knew. He raced to the doorway he hadn’t even noticed. 

 “Come on in,” the girl said, stepping out of the way and shutting the door with the press of a button.