The Demons of Rome

III - In Search of the Dark

It was the next morning and Iatus was once again sat on the street corner. This time, however he eyed everyone that passed suspiciously, trying to sense anyone that might have been exposed to magic. However, it wasn't going well. Not a single person had any trace of mana on them. It was quite depressing really. Roman legionaries weren't really good at intrigue, he had found foiling their plots fairly easy, but this was something else entirely. Iatus sensed something more was going on and it unnerved him. With his power he had grown accustomed to a certain sense of control, and he didn't like the idea of that being upset.

So, if I was going to orchestrate a series of killings in order to obtain more power, where would I hide?

The answer, of course, was in a little house somewhere off the main roads, where you could blend in and just go about daily life, completely normal to even the most carefully trained eye.

In Rome there was a legion of temples to disreputable gods he could try, perhaps they had decided to perform some dark ritual, but in this part of the world they only believed in one God, and as far as Iatus could tell, his followers weren't into dark rituals.

He cursed and stood up, yet again it was time for work.

Why did Max have to give me a job? He could have just made me an aide, someone with influence but no other responsibilities. How he expects me to police this entire city and do a full day's work is beyond even me.

Iatus skulked off towards the city centre and the palace.

He walked into the administrative section to see his co-workers already hard at work.

As he came in Lysias looked up, fear in his eyes.

"Oh, Iatus, Oberon's out looking for you, and he doesn't seem happy..." he said quietly.

Great...

Iatus sat down at his desk and pulled a report off the top of his pile; he had to stand up to reach it. He scanned it and put it in the 'for military' pile and took the next one. This process continued for ten minutes or so before Oberon came bustling into the office.

"Iatus, when did you get here? What give you the right to shirk your duty whenever you like? Well? You left those legionaries out there with no answers! Without even telling them you were leaving. I should have you arrested for wasting their time! If you weren't already going I would fire you on the spot! Now, come here, and bring a death certificate, we've got things to do."

Bemused Iatus went to a chest at the back of the room and grabbed a piece of paper out of it. Oberon led them out of the palace and into the city centre. They followed the roads down into the mason's street, about halfway along they came to a small, unassuming building with a member of the town guard outside.

The guard recognised Oberon and stood aside. They headed round the back into the work area. It was littered with bits of broken stone, a horse was grazing on the small amount of grass present and a man was lying face down on the ground.

"Name's Luvus, Umen Luvus. Mason. Died sometime last night. Come on, quickly, get to work! Death certificate!"

Iatus, however, wasn't listening, he was crouched down by the body, examining it. This man was killed by magic, he could smell it on him. The man was deathly pale. Iatus shuffled round, looking at any area of exposed skin. He pulled back the man's collar a bit and there, imperceptible to anyone without magic, was the same circle that was scratched on the goat.

That's quite a quick escalation. You'd think they would have killed a few more goats before trying to move up in the world...

"IATUS! Form! Now!" Oberon shouted and Iatus scrambled to obey.