Angel Assassins - Book 1 Lineage & Lies

Chapter 8 - Reboaz

Javen entered the clearing; he had come in a full circle. Pian and Drago had gone. The sun had almost gone down and he was beginning to feel cold despite his thick robes. He was so used to being underground in the citadel, warm. He wasn't used to all this running around, outdoors.

'This thing isn't working' he mumbled in annoyance.

He pulled the small pendant out again and placed it on the palm of his hand. It didn't move. He huddled under a nearby tree and pulled his hood back. He ran his hands through his black hair and contemplated what to do next.

'If I call the Razok, then no doubt Reboaz will come with them' He said to himself.

Javen didn't trust Reboaz. He was a major demon, that until recently had never been associated with the House of Razok. Despite Javen's investigations, there seemed to be no one left alive who might have been able to account for him, before his sudden appearance and rising to chief vizier to Razok himself. Javen knew there was something going on, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it or find anyone who would talk about it. 

The question also remained, why had the Master brought him into this? Javen allowed the questions to linger in his mind, hoping an answer might present itself. Unfortunately for Javen, they only posed more questions. He replaced his hood.

'Whatever his involvement, it will not stop me from completing my advancement' he said to himself.

He was just about to take one last look around the clearing, when he heard the two men who had been following him. It was dark now and although he could see perfectly well in the dark, he didn't think that they had the same gift. 

He waited until they were in sight, he thought about killing them now. He had warned Gabriel that they wouldn't be back, but he was enjoying toying with them. He headed off north. The two men followed him.

In the middle of the clearing by a rotten tree stump and branches in various states of decay, a head popped up from a hole that from all but one angle was invisible to the naked eye, unless you knew what you were looking for. 

Pian slid back down the rough entrance and made her way back to where Drago was slumped. She pressed the back of her hand against his forehead. He was burning up. She pressed her finger on his neck to check for a pulse. She recoiled, her finger covered in a sticky substance. She rubbed her fingers together, and then smelt the substance. It was blood. 

She felt for a pulse again. It was there but very weak. Drago stirred slightly. She moved him with ease, her strength many times that of a human being. She laid him on his side and tried to locate the wound. 

She took a small sphere out from beneath her robes. Speaking a few words over it, it hovered off her hand and lit the cave with a white light. Her hand touched the back of Drago's neck, he flinched slightly. 

There was a gaping wound he had sustained on their escape from the camp. It had tried to clot, but was still oozing blood. Pian stood and removed her pack. She opened a side pouch and pulled out a small green vial of liquid. She removed the stopper and a sweet aroma filled the air.

 Gently she moving Drago onto his chest, then ripped a length of material from the hem of her robe and knelt beside him. She laid the material on his back and placed the vial's stopper on the stone floor. With one hand she held him down, with the other she allowed a couple of drops of the liquid to drip from the vial onto his open wound. 

Drago cried out in pain, his body convulsing, eventually he passed out. The liquid began to work on the muscle ends and skin, knitting them back together. Within a few minutes there was a tiny line left on the neck, where there had once been a gaping wound.