Psychic

16. The Piper

From the window of the bar where she was sitting with Debra, Rai saw the city guard who left the guard captain's office approach a guard just outside the columns of the temple. They spoke for a minute and when they were done, the guard who had been standing by the temple turned to the portico and announced something that made everyone around them abandoned whatever they were doing. Everyone around them scattered instantly into every nearby door. People from the street poured into the bar suddenly. It was now so crowded, no one had room to move except the bartender. In less than a minute, the streets were so silent, only the sound of trash moving on the street could be heard.

The guard captain stepped outside and was joined by his nearby guards. Kiyo could not hear specifics from inside the office but he could hear them whispering amongst themselves. He heard the guard captain's voice as he spoke to his guards, "no one is to engage Hephaestus. He'll just kill you and carry on. Your sacrifice wouldn't benefit anyone. Just... let him finish and go."

Kiyo made assumptions based on the sounds he could hear when the patter of horse hooves and wooden wheels approached the office. He ushered Marlene under the desk then joined her, smashing their bodies together uncomfortably. He could see her about to voice her discomfort and pressed a finger to her lips and shook his head with wide eyes. The sounds of wheels and horseshoes on the cobblestones stopped and they both froze.

"Morning, General," the guard captain said in a very soft meek voice. "Umm, what can I do for you today?"

"You like your head on your shoulders or should I shove it up your ass for you? You know what? Maybe this time you can help me. I want a certain... hmm, there's this girl who works in the bank. The, uhh- which one was it?"

"The one from Dalcaia," another man's voice answered.

"Yeah, yeah, that one. She has big hair that's in tight ringlets of curls. Now, captain, how about you tell me where I can find what I'm looking for?"

"General, I wouldn't know where to look. This city is huge and you know I can't just hand over my civilians."

"This is my city. These are my people and I can do what I want with them. They live at my discretion."

Kiyo scooted out from under the desk, now believing that no one was coming inside. He gestured to Marlene to follow him. They crawled over to a window where they peeked up from the bottom. Outside, they saw three men sitting on top of their horses. Kiyo quickly shrunk back to the floor quickly so he would not be seen and Marlene copied him.

"Morrisuke's Generals," Kiyo said softly. "All three of them."

"How do you know?"

"The seals. The Head General is the one with the Emperor's seal in gold. A regular General has it in silver."

"Which one is Head General?"

"The one doing all the talking. He's the one the guard captain told us about. Randy Hephaestus."

"You know him?"

"I had to work with him a few times when he was just a General."

"So... what do we do?" Marlene asked him. "Or what are you going to do?"

"Wait."

Randy was tall and stood with a gait that was both graceful and imposing even in his gladiator styled armor. He was robust, with broad shoulders and a small waist. His dark hair was shaved close to his head and his intense stare gave him an image suited to the military.

The other two Generals dismounted their horses when Randy waved his hand. "Let's check out that building and that one," Randy commanded the Generals. "Whoever brings me the best options gets to take from my pile." Each one entered one of the buildings Randy had directed them to.