The Hammer - Cor Series Book I

Chapter 49

A door at the front of the line of guards opened and the red cloaks marched out. Corvan brought up the rear as the troop spread out along the wall behind the priests, leaving him standing outside the door, directly beneath the toe of the statue's boot. Each of the guards ahead of him carried a long pike with a double barbed metal tip. Corvan's was only a lumien light pole with two flaps of leather attached to the end. The man standing next to him gestured for Corvan to close the door, showing him that he had the key on a cord around his neck. Corvan did as he was told and stood at attention with the rest of the guard. He could only hope the cloak worked as well with a full stadium of people and the keen eyes of the Chief Watcher.

"The palace guard is here to protect you," the Chief Watcher announced. "If the priests are part of this conspiracy, they may try to break over the wall and harm you. As we have seen with Tarran, what begins as lies and deceit will eventually turn to murder."

The black curtains behind the lizard parted, and the leader of the Rakash slipped in behind the Chief Watcher. The sightless face stooped low to whisper in the lizard's ear. The lizard nodded and the bony creature slipped away.

The Chief Watcher left his control pillars and advanced to the front of the stage.

"People of the Cor, in the past it has always been the self-proclaimed Cor-Vans who have been the source of the problems that have plagued Kadir. Whether among the rebels or our own priests, these charlatans have led good people to destruction. Now, even our own High Priest and his family have succumbed to the wiles of one of these masters of deception." The lizard pointed down that the pier. "As you just heard Tarran shout, he was not the Cor-Van, there was someone else. Yesss, and we have finally caught the one he referred to—the priest, Jorad."

Corvan could hear the excitement as the Chief Watcher's pronounce lisp briefly returned. The curtain at the back parted, and the four Rakash appeared with Jorad between them. A gag was stuffed in his mouth, and he was bound with a long blue krypin rope. The rope was forked at the end, and the separate strands spiraled down each of his legs. The Rakash leader moved in behind the priest, manipulating the krypin to force Jorad to walk forward like a puppet on its strings.

As the Rakash guided Jorad to the front lip of the platform, the Chief Watcher pointed at the priest. "This deceiver was using Tarran to take control of the palace through his army of priests." His dark eyes turned toward the lower stands full of green robes. "So, we will first test the priests in this conspiracy. If they are guilty, then Jorad also stands judged."

The lizard lifted his arms. "Answer us, gods of the water. Expose the liars and eliminate the lies so we might worship in truth." Stepping back the Chief Watcher dropped its arms back onto the pillars. A surging waterspout momentarily obscured the pier, then thundered back into the rapidly rising water.

As the swirling currents overflowed the edged of the karst, a few people in the crowd stood and chanted, "Death to traitors. Death to the priests!"

The crowd did not join them. They were intently watching the priests, the guards, and the swirling water, but Corvan's eyes went to the Chief Watcher. The lizard was pulling on his pillars with hooked claws and looking anxiously at the narrow window cut into the left boot of the statue. Inside that window Corvan caught a glimpse of the man floundering about the control room, frantically tugging on levers. The Chief Watcher's pillars shifted about of their own accord and the lizard struggled to keep his balance between them.

The Chief Watcher pulled back hard and finally regained control. The water overflowed into the priest's section of seats, and they all scrambled higher to the dividing wall. From between the pillars the Chief Watcher looked on with the same bloodthirsty anticipation Corvan had seen when he devoured the lumien heart from the mother plant.