The Spirit of Wrath

Chapter Fourteen: Infiltration

Once he had slipped away from Garacel's armies, Sahshir wandered Zigilus. It was a strange city with twisting passages. Whenever you scale to the top of something, there always seemed to be something looming over you. There were also many statues of nubile women on street corners. And very few statues of men, which seemed odd, given the degradation of the place. It irritated Sahshir more than he'd have expected. Here, he was in the domain of lust itself. The least they could do was practice equality in their decadence.

The eyes of these statues seemed to gaze down on him, and his mind fell into a haze of sorts. The red runes filled his thoughts with images of a seven-tailed woman, and he had to avert his eyes. He found his hands shaking beneath them and his heart beating painfully.

Steadying his breathing, Sahshir calmed himself. Closing his eyes, he thought of tea with Kushina and training at home. Finally, the pain became manageable, and he moved onward.

There was something strange about all this, though, he reflected as he walked among the people. And then it dawned on him. All of them were beautiful. Everyone within Zigilus would have been sought after wherever they went. Yet it was an unearthly beauty. It disturbed rather than soothed. They also wore very little in the way of clothing. What they did wear seemed more designed to draw attention to their bodies than hide them.

It was distracting. Why did one need such beauty?

What disturbed him further was that he could not reach Kushina. The spell in her necklace prevented him from doing so. Kashina had always been more rational between the two of them. So what did he do now? On a guess, he'd have to think things through more. Sahshir preferred to avoid feeling things through. He chose to act impulsively. It took more work to predict and took less work.

"The Blade of Chaos is surely within Dinis now," he said. "Or perhaps Garacel was killed in the crash? No, too much to hope for. The city is under siege now. The legions of Dinis will attack soon.

"That will keep the enemy occupied. But if they break through, it could wreck everything. What to do?"

He remembered what he had learned about the Blade of Chaos in his youth. It was attracted to chaos. If he spread enough discord, it would call out to him. But then, that would undermine the defense of this city.

And what could he do? Kill people? Draw his sword and start slashing every random person around him. Because they were Zigildrazians? What part had they even played in the theft of the sword, and Garacel had not done more than take it.

He had not killed indiscriminately.

They were already scared, scurrying around the city into their homes. Only a few remained outside by this point. It would be evil to prey on them. And when chaos and wickedness mixed, the latter came out stronger.

He slipped into an alley and lurked in the shadows as two guards emerged. One was young, and the other was very old. But both were handsome, with fair features. It's the older one had a more refined look to him.

"Why would the Empire move against Zigilus, Rakan?" asked the younger. "Her Radiance put the Emperor's ancestors in place."

"I used to live back in the Dinis heartlands, near the capital of Narsuf," said Rakan. "Days used to be when we practiced the rites of Zigildrazia in a huge temple. But that was twenty years ago. Then, the Emperor drove us out of the temple and into the countryside. So, set it up to serve Safara, one of Baltoth's children.

"I heard from my grandson that he and his fellows had to go into hiding. Couldn't practice their rights in public anymore. And the Emperor's men were looking for them and hanging anyone they caught.