Chapter Four

‘Sweat, blood, and tears were asked of the man chosen by the Nine Wardens. Once given, they were a warden below. Once given, they were never the same.’ 

Parian was where most of the blacksmiths, metalworkers, and engineers lived and congregated. In Parian, mostly everything was constructed from some type of metal, making it known as the metal district. As such, it was beautiful during the sunset. Colorful light gleamed off from every direction in purple, orange, and pink hues. The entire district beamed like a large lighthouse.  

“So, from this window, we can watch Creft enter and exit the stage. Sadly, we will have to listen to his back-patting speech. Right after Creft exits the stage, we will descend on him using the set-up pulley from the window. From there, it is a quick slash across the throat and then back up the pulley and across the city, back to base. If something goes wrong, don’t even bother returning to base¾Rawn will have both of our heads.”  

Maddog put the finishing touches on the pulley system he had attached to the window. Long metal cables, probably made in Parian, would attach the men to the pulley system and pull them back up when the job was done.  

Maddog had picked an old political building as their station. In the past, it housed election rallies and political events but fell out of favor after the Bright Tower was built. The Bright Tower was a five-hundred-foot tower made from brass and steel. When the sun reached its zenith, it reflected off the brass and through small steel cutouts that cast different patterns onto the cobblestones below.  

There was nothing left inside Maddog’s chosen abandoned building but dust and cobwebs. Caid suspected that even the spiders moved out after the downfall, for which he was thankful. 

Caid stopped scrutinizing the building, looking out the window toward the crowd. Maddog had busted out the dirty glass pane to make room for the pulley, so Caid had an unobstructed view of the growing audience below. The district of Parian may have been beautiful, but its people had no sense of adventure. Most of the citizens would rather have been toiling away than doing just about anything else.  

Today, however, it looked like everyone had at least stopped long enough to hear the speech.  

“How many people do you think are down there?” Caid asked, figuring that if he had to sit up here for hours with Maddog, he may as well make conversation.  

“Don’t know, don’t really care,” Maddog replied.  

Caid glanced over his shoulder. Maddog sat with his back against a stabilizing pillar, not interested in what happened down below. Instead, he focused on polishing his dagger with a small cloth.  

Caid shrugged, turning back toward the growing crowd. Caid was surprised at the crowd size; apparently the mention of Overseer Krossis had brought people from all over the city. While Parian was usually quiet and reserved, their allies were more brazen.   

Caid tried to count the envoys among the crowd. He figured most of Parian’s envoys would be present for such an event. Several uniformed men mingled with the crowd. A dozen guards stood in front of the stage, equipped with one-shots. One ball from those shooters and a fully-grown man would be dead in a matter of seconds. Their downfall was that they lacked accuracy, and sometimes they refused to fire at all. Most of the envoy guards still carried their swords on their hip. More comforting to have a sure-fire weapon.  

There were only a few essential people sitting in chairs on the stage. Caid tried to recall their names, but most of them escaped him. Some, he recalled as judges of the Parian court, others were high-ranking members of the Parian council, but most were people he would have no reason to know.  

It took another thirty minutes before a small, plainly dressed man came out onto the stage and stood in front of the microphone.  

The crowd¾which was now very sizeable¾lowered its volume to a dull roar.  

With a tap on the microphone, the man tested the sound. Its echo reached Caid and Maddog.  

“It is starting,” Caid said, not expecting Maddog to care or get up. Maddog did his best impression of stoicism.  

“Good, that means soon it will be over.”  

Caid could tell something went on inside Maddog’s head. Maybe he was grieved in a different way. Caid was still angry that this second mission could ruin the Wardens. Maybe Maddog was mad but unable to show it. Caid doubted that was the circumstance, but he could not wrap his head around the alternative.  

The small man hit the microphone a second time, seemingly for no reason at all, as the device clearly worked.  

“Thank you all for gathering here in Parian today. Thank you, as well, for keeping things civil while you waited. It is now time to hear what you all came for.” The crowd applauded, and the man waited for quiet. “Thank you, Creft appreciates all of you. Do not forget to get out and vote during the primaries in the fall, Creft needs all of your loyal support.” The crowd clapped again. The man joined them for a moment.  

“And now, let us hear from the man himself. I am pleased to bring forth Parian’s own, Seer Creft.” 

With that, the ovation rose from a small roar to a building-shaking thunder. At twenty-three, Creft was the youngest seer in Patar history. In his short life, he had already become the world’s best crafter. At the young age of thirteen, he had a hand in the first mixing of steel, making the buildings in Parian grow seemingly overnight. Today, he was one of the most loved seers in the city.  

The cheering continued as a sandy haired, lean man came out onto the stage. Creaton, the Head Envoy of Parian, followed closely behind. Creaton stopped about halfway across the stage, planting his feet and placing his arms behind his back in an optimal position to draw his sword.  

Caid felt his heart skip a beat upon seeing the head envoy.  

Creft continued forward with the spring of youth but stopped long enough to shake the hand of the man who had introduced him. Creft took out a tie and pulled his hair back from his face before stepping near the microphone.  

Caid could remember Creft’s features keenly, even without being able to see them from where he sat. Creft sported an angular, chiseled jawline, deep blue eyes with a hint of green, and not a mark upon his complexion. He would put a coin on it that Creft flashed his pearly white teeth. He would make all the women swoon, but they would be disappointed.  

Creft finished pulling his hair back into a bun which signified his power.  

Then he leaned forward. “Good evening.” He waited for the applause to reach its highest level. If nothing else, Creft fed off the reactions he got. “It is good to see everyone. Good for more than one reason. The first reason is that seeing you means I am not dead from last night’s attack.” An ovation resounded in agreement. 

Caid glanced back over his shoulder at Maddog, who still had not moved. For a moment he thought he saw something move along the back wall of the room, but when he did not see it again, he turned back toward the crowd.  

“Reason number two is that your being here means you still care enough about Maralay to see it thrive. To see it be the best it can be. To see it reach its highest potential. You are the reason I still stand here today­¾after a death threat¾and still fight to keep this city clean of coal!” The clapping continued as Creft raised his voice.  

“I want you all to continue that fight with me. I will continue the fight for you all. I will let no one scare me away. They can try to put a dagger to my back, or they can come at me face to face. Either way, I will not concede. I will not fall over without a fight!” 

The crowd got behind him with every word; at least most of the crowd. Caid picked out some stragglers who were probably from coal districts.  

“We will save the city of Maralay from the use of dirty energy. This is not just about Parian. This is about the entire city that we live in. This is about the entire world that we live on. Without it, we have nothing else. The scholars have told us before if we continue to use the black emissions we will die from lack of sunshine. I don’t know about you all, but I quite like not being dead.” The crowd chuckled along with Creft. “Don’t worry about that, though, because we will come out ahead. We will figure out a way through the black cloud they continue to burn. We will continue to work for you, and today, we add a very vital cog to that wheel.”  

Creft stopped talking for a moment, looking toward the stairs. Creaton took two large steps back, then resumed his stance. Caid watched with the crowd in anticipation. Overseer Krossis would ascend the stage soon.  

“Ladies, gentlemen, children, I present to you the most important part of our fight today, Overseer Krossis!” 

The ovation for Creft had been loud, but the ovation for the overseer was loud enough to hurt Caid’s ears over four hundred feet above. Even Maddog glanced up for a brief second.  

Overseer Krossis was nothing like Seer Creft. Krossis was in his late seventies with dark gray hair and a medium length gray beard. Krossis also wore robes that made it hard to pinpoint anything about the shape of his body, but even at his advanced age, he walked with a certain confidence.  

Seer Creft stepped away from the microphone to shake the hand of the overseer. The crowd wailed and clapped with full enthusiasm. Pictures of this interaction would line the evening papers. Creft leaned back over the microphone for a moment.  

“Before I stop boring you and let you hear from the man you really all came to hear, I want to thank him for all his support over the years. Without him, I would not have the opportunity to stand here today on this stage. I would not have the ability to continue working on new ways to light and heat the city. The technology I am working on¾alongside the bills I have been able to propose¾have all been in part due to Overseer Krossis and his support. So, before he addresses us all today, let us give him another round of applause.”  

The gathered crowd obliged the request.  

“Wish they would shut up and get on with it. It’s like they are just patting themselves on the back repeatedly,” Maddog said.  

“Politicians like to keep their constituents hyped up,” Caid replied.  

It was the honest to Nine Wardens truth. If the voters started getting bored, then you lost votes. These conferences were just as much about exaggerating their achievements, as they were for any certain message to be declared.  

After another handshake, the crowd fell to silence. The overseer waved before stepping to the podium. Seer Creft moved to the side, sitting down in a previously placed wooden chair.  

“Good evening, good people of Maralay, thank you all for taking time out of your busy day to attend this conference. It is with a sad heart that I address you tonight. Under the circumstances of the past day, it is not our finest hour. It saddens me to think our fellow citizens still believe that killing a problem is more beneficial than working through differences together. As I have said, many times before, the Wardens below are a nuisance to the city. The people have used them for too long to control problems that need to be solved at the table of discussion. I do not know with certainty the Wardens played a part in the attempt last night, but it is the principal of opportunity and not the certainty of the deed. Both should make us shudder to think about. Both should be eradicated and put to bed as a nuance of a dark past. It is time for a change!” 

The crowd clapped, showing their approval. The overseer had been a very popular man over the past year. He had said, “Wardens on earth are not our judges. The only Wardens we should aspire to entertain are those who will judge us after this life.”  

Caid felt nothing for the speech. He and every other warden already knew of the overseer’s hate for them. It would take more than one man’s propaganda to dismantle such a tradition as killing your enemies. The Wardens had been around for almost three centuries. They had entrenched themselves in society.  

“Changes don’t end with the Wardens. These changes continue and pile up on one another. We must change the way we see the world as a whole. That includes moving forward with our resources. It includes protecting the resources and living places we already have. Scholars have presented evidence that without a change in the way we live, there will be no more living. We can already see the effects of our judgment in the quality of the air we breathe. We must think of our future, which means not living in the past. I will continue to work closely with the likes of Seer Creft and other seers across Maralay, hopefully coming to a resolution we can all agree on. A resolution that does not include bloodshed or physical confrontation. I believe we can achieve this by working together and coming to a fair solution for all those parties involved.” 

The overseer stepped back from the microphone as Seer Creft stood. The audience’s emphatic standing ovation made the building vibrate. 

“Glad they could stop congratulating themselves on nothing,” Maddog said, standing. “Now it’s time for the real show to begin.”  

Caid moved away from the window, allowing Maddog to clasp onto the wheel. Maddog turned and handed a clip to Caid. Without another word, Maddog threw himself backward into the open air.