Knightegel: Born of Conflict

Chapter 9: Conspiracy

On the eastern plains of Hilithany, Sorez took form as though painted by the wind. He hunched over, breathing more evenly now than before. Calm set in when he stood up. Confident he was now, in ways he had not been in years. Looking at the cities, he closed his eyes and listened for a while. Hearing no threat as boisterous as what he envisioned earlier, he opened his eyes again and said to himself, "Not yet. But very soon." Sorez reached for his pocket watch and checked the time. While observing, he faded out again.

He appeared on the streets of Molotok, putting his watch back in its place, just a few blocks from his shop. Sorez observed an unusually crowded setting, ever the stranger as people passed him left and right, on foot, on horse, by carriage or by wagon, alone, with family, with cargo or with cattle, and he felt more removed from them now than he had in a long time.

Standing still, he listened. The noises of the bustling city fell quiet in his ears, in exchange for that of busy minds concerned with routine practices, duties, and hobbies. Sound and imagery moved about him like schools of fish flowing with alternating currents. As Sorez took his first steps, casually striding deeper into thought with each foot forward, the hoard of imaginations went dark, into morbid territory, like a dead forest of black against a red sky. And like dry, darkened leaves suddenly blowing in a rush of wind at Sorez's feet, with an eerie rumble did hate stir, and suddenly all the ways the people desired to hurt the Simertans flooded his mind. It broke him, bringing back a lesser series of the stinging and burning he was accustomed to. It all ended abruptly, bringing Sorez out of the mindscape to realize that no one was aware of him at all. And as everyone went on about their business, Sorez thought, "They go on with their lives as though they are innocent. They have no real concept of the world beyond their own." As he came to his shop, his senses quickened yet again, and he snapped his head round to passersby, identifying several unnamed individuals all appearing as unimportant as everyone else around them, and yet, Sorez knew who they were. His eyes glowed just a little and receded before he opened the door.

Inside the shop, Sergian was working as usual. He had tongs in his gloved hands, turning away to grab a thick block of layered steel pieces melded together. He sat the block down on the anvil when he saw Sorez come in.

"Master Kavenov," he said, "You look a bit rough. Have you heard about what happened today in Dannesburg?"

"About the Simertan extremists?" said Sorez taking off his outer attire.

"Yes, that's it...How are you doing?"

"Not my best, or so I'd like to think...Sergian can you give me about two hours? I need some time to myself."

"Of course," said Sergian, "you need anything else?"

"No," said Sorez, "I just need to settle my thoughts. I need to recover, from today."

"Alright," said Sergian, "I'll see you in about two hours. Take longer if you must."

"Thank you," said Sorez.

Sorez walked straight down the back hallway to a door on the right, close to the iron room at the hall's end. He opened it and looked inside. Though it was not the iron room, it was very much like it. The little bit of light shed from the hall, revealed naught but a large sofa chair in the center of the wall, across from Sorez, and a small round stand to its left. Looking at the chair, Sorez very mildly shook his head, as if he didn't want to do what he was doing.

In that instant, he realized that the sounds of the city were still irritating him, demanding his attention. He reached over to the wall on his left, turning a small round knob. Blue-violet flames emerged from a large rectangular tub in the center of the room, burning on salt and sulphate crystals. The flames rose to about a foot from the crystals, just below the rim of the tub, and were reflected by the walls and ceiling as if on glass. The dimensions of the room followed the shape of the tub with a twelve-foot width and a fifteen-foot length.