Shadow of the Avatar

Chapter 7 -- The Unexpected Companion

When I was around nine, I climbed the Corwin perimeter wall. I don't remember why, probably just being a kid, and just the fact that I could. Standing on one of the merlons around thirty paces above the ocean I was leaning into the wind. I scared one of the guards so bad he almost wet himself...

--Wren

Wren closed the temple doors behind her with a click. She stood on the marble steps and looked up at the afternoon sun shining bright in a sky dappled with dark clouds. A swirling ocean breeze brought the odors of salt, dried kelp, and cook smoke. The smells coupled with Jharon's warning made her stomach churn. The clerics were usually right. What if the priest leading the Dagger guild was an avatar; a mortal hosting the energies of a god? The touch of the priest had burned like fire and being near him caused pain. Is that what a god's power felt like? The thought made her chest tighten. How did mortals fight an Avatar?

She turned her mind to the task at hand. Find Desiray. It was the mistress' guild and her responsibility to get rid of him, even if he was an avatar. Wren had accepted the lesser task of tracking her down and getting the white-haired lady back to Corwin city.

Sanctum Street was a hive of bustling people slogging through the mud created last night. Carts creaked by, splashing through ankle deep puddles. Street priests sermonized on corners to small gatherings of poor people who could not afford the donations required in the precincts.

Wren searched for Dagger thieves, knowing some would be waiting. With a moment's search, she found two. They stood behind a stationary cart peering across the street at her. One was tall, the other short.

She hopped off the steps and jogged along the statue-studded front of the temple to Ishtar. Columns carved into the aspects of the goddess of love and war thrust weapons and held out embracing arms overhead. The two men tripped over themselves in their haste to get after her.

A voice called to her from behind. "Wren! Wait!"

She glanced to the two thieves who were looking for an opening in the constant stream of carts and people moving down both sides of the busy lane. Jharon, stood on the temple steps in his city clothes, hair tied back and waving a walking staff.

"Come on!" Wren called to him. "Hurry!" She checked the thieves. They knew she'd seen them. One man was tall and reedy, his hooked features and knock-kneed gait made him look like scarecrow. The smaller man was paunchy, his flat head and massive shoulders all bunched together. His hairy arms and blocky hands looked like they belonged on a man two sizes larger.

He has no neck. He probably uproots trees for a living in the off season. Hurry, Jharon, get here.

She couldn't afford a fight during the day. No telling how many Dagger thieves might be within hearing. The best Dagger guilders were likely recuperating from a night spent in the storm. These were probably neophytes. Dark guild policy often ruled that greens were expendable. If she fought now, there'd be corpses everywhere. She bloodied her hands enough on the night of the raid. She took more lives in the first moments of that battle than she had in her entire life. The memory of it sickened her.

The taller of the two thieves darted between some carts causing the horses to rear and paw the air. Winnies, angry shouts, and curses shot down the lane.

"I'm coming with you," Jharon said sliding to a stop.

"We can't talk here," she told him pointing at the ruckus in the street. "This way. Run."

She grabbed Jharon's arm and plunged down the street. This district consisted mostly of the huge temple complexes with shops and homes jammed into the between places. Walls were stone and rarely less than two stories high. These were the best conditions for her, but not when she had a beefy tag-along like Jharon.