Guardian's Redemption

Chapter Seven

His green eyes watching from the shadows. He was one with the shadows that had been created from the fading sunlit. The man watching as Highlord Tyrael was entering Lord Sonya's office. There was no doubt that Highlord Tyrael had an immediate attraction to the woman, hell most men did. Tyrael's eyes always lingering on her when he was in the room, though most of the time he did well to hide it. Then again who doesn't dare to gaze upon an aspect of beauty.

Sonya was truly blessed by the angels in beauty but she was also headstrong and a handful if not careful. The woman was always evading every effort the young Highlord had early on, but as time passed her wall was slowly breaking apart and Scar could see it. The Lord had lost many dear individuals to her on the Day of Terror and would probably never truly love again.

Scar slowly shook his head at the old-world motto that suddenly went through his mind. There were just somethings that time could never heal. The man spun on his right heel and walked away, keeping to the shadows that grew with every passing moment. He made his way to his small office on the other end of the barracks. It sat above the quarters with the other squad leaders, though his had a window this a view of the city. There was also another window to view the entire barracks so that he could watch how the soldiers communicated within the barracks, really that window was pointless.

Once inside his office Scar made a quick change of clothing. He opened a loose floor board that was beneath his desk, making sure to check the door often to see if anyone was trying to sneak up on him. Yes he was paranoid but for good reason. He had learned his stealth fom an old friend but Scar had just joined a secret society and under orders from Sonya. A society that was treacherous and dealt within the shadows.

Those ceremonial robes that he was forced to wear was not who he was. There was a large dusty suitcase beneath the floor and he carefully removed it without making any noise. From that suitcase he switched his clothing.

Scar was dressed in all black, as he would before the Day of Terror. The man put on black jeans with a black T-shirt. He buckled on a spike belt and attached a silver chain whip. Next he removed a dusty black trenchcoat and whipped that one, hiding his beloved weapon from sight. Then the final touch, a rough looking black cowboy had that had seen many days. Placing that on his head and lowering it a bit. The man was out the window and into the heart of the fire district.

This is what he loved, being alone and in the night. The man was moving on the rooftops, careful not to leave a trace as he ran. His destination was the slums of the Earth district. It took some time but Scar didn't care.

Scar found his way to a rundown tavern in the corner of the Earth district where he sat in a shadowy corner sipping on ale so strong that in the past world barely anyone would drink it. The Earth district was all about life and promoting the beauty of nature, yet here there was no such thing. This was one of the poorest areas in the Sanctum of Haven and a very easy place to get information.

Often he would do this and not because he was ordered to by Sonya or by the new organization he had just secretly joined, but because he loved the idea of knowing what was going on when others didn't. Information was useful and had saved his life when he had to prove himself to the assassination group calling themselves the Dark Covenant.

That group gave him chills. He was never contacted by one person and never face to face. There would be signs left for him and a message at the end of those clues. Scar had no idea how many people were in the organization but it had to be many for there were stories about them everywhere, even though they were whispers on the people's tongues. Tonight though was for him.

The man leaning back in his chair, back to the wall and feet up on the table in front of him. He was positioned so that no one could get behind him. His eyes watching the crowd and listening to the rough individuals, waiting for something to grab his attention and ignite his curiosity.

People didn't pay attention to him, nor did they care. This was where most of the people entering the city would start out if they did not join one of the districts militaries, penniless and hungry. There were jobs to be filled but those first couple days were testing on a person's mind and body. Crew was pretty low in this holy city, however it still existed. Any crime committed usually meant death. An eye for an eye as the people would state.

Scar absolutely loved information and with nothing else to entertain him, being a snoop was far better than nothing. He had been snooping around the local inns for a few months now, always changing the districts and areas within those districts. The information being let loose when someone was under the influence of alcohol was actually astonishing. There were a few dark secrets about some very high up individuals, a couple Highlord's and Lords, that he kept to himself. You truly never know when that information could be useful.

Then just in the blink of an eye his mind caught a conversation that grabbed his curiosity. Two darker skinned men, mostly from the dirt beyond the city walls, were conversing loudly. Both men rolling back in laughter to reveal missing yellow teeth. One tried to silence the other and get real quiet but had no success.

"That's not what I heard," one of the drunken men stated after they had settled down for a moment. "I heard this damn Hunter fellah went back and blew up a whole damn town, just like the one Joey is from."

"Oh bull...." replied the other in a slur who then took a swig of an empty mug.

"It'z true Johnny," the first drunk said slurring his words to almost gibberish. "I heard at the mill today from Ted. The bazted doesn't use a weapon but hiz mind." Jokes about someone named Ted and the Hunter continued until the drunks tried to get serious. "Let'z get" a hiccup escaping the drunk in the middle of his sentence, "for a moment. My nephewz zaw a heavily guarded zhipment to go into that damn fire diztrict."

Johnny attempted to roll his drunken eyes but it just got weird, "thatzz normal."

"Nah thiz waz like that one we zawz last week over here."

The companion thought momentarily then agreed. "If I didn't know any better zoundz like the Highlordz found zomething."

Both men agreed to keep silent about the matter, looking around to see if anyone was listening. They never looked at the table in the corner where Scar was doing his best to hide his smile. The drunks ended up yelling at a young waitress for another round. An hour later Scar was slipping out of his seat to another open area and continuing to do so until he left. Nothing he had heard later on was of his interest. A possible conspiracy in the holy city. Of course there was, theses are human beings after all.

Scar left the tavern and slipped into an alley, staying to the shadows as he traveled back to the fire district. His thoughts causing him to barely focus on where he was walking. He had not been part of his districts caravan that the two drunks had mentioned nor had he heard anything about it. The man was number three in the entire Fire district military and he hadn't been told. Sonya usually mentioned things like that to him. It was possible that the drunks were just creating a rumor or regurgitating one.

His thoughts began to escalate wondering if the Highlords had actually found something important. All he could do was wonder until he found out what was going on. This gave him a meaning to be here. He smiled beneath that western hat, and a chance to use some of the skills that nobody knew he had. "This could be fun."