As far as information gathering went, the Whistling Pig was a veritable goldmine. A few gold coins were enough to loosen more than a few tongues in the tavern and had been well worth the cost.

Now Kalo had the information he needed to make his next move.

According to the revelers in the tavern, there have been rumors for months that there were brewing in The Citadel, forces that no one could yet name or discern the purpose of. Some spoke of the fires that had descended, as though from heaven, that decimated their homes and villages and of their flights for freedom in the middle of the night.

There were those who had lost more than their homes; families had been torn apart by the night raids. Wither or not their loved ones were still amongst the living; they did not know, like his home, there had been nothing left behind but the ghosts of the life they once lived.

Kalo, during his wanderings, had seen for himself that the land that had once been lush and prosperous had become a collection of nomads. Men, women and children, bound to a life tossed too close together like a petals in the wind; waiting for the next upset to drive them further away from home.

 But none of this came as a surprise to him.

 He had seen it, lived it.

It hadn’t been until Lily introduced him to the table of older men who had occupied the further corner of the bar top. Men, who looked as though they had lived through the ages and seen more than their fair share of wars, religion and regimes come to pass.  At the center of the men was Theodel, the clear leader among them. Kalo could see how they differed to him during the conversation, how they a came to a unified silence when Theodel spoke.

“These events are a part of much greater struggle that we should not concern ourselves with. It will all come to pass one way or another.” He stretched a weathered hand to pass over his hairless pate. “It has for many a year- as it will continue to do for many more an age.”

“What is this struggle you speak of?”

“A struggle for supremacy and the power to rule over all, it is a struggle as old as time.”

“Are we under attack then? Should we take up arms and defend ourselves?”  Kalo asked.

“Defend ourselves? Have you no sense?” The old man sitting beside Theodel threw in quickly. Theodel head snapped towards the man sitting beside him, his sudden movement, and assumedly fierce expression silenced his words and surprised Kalo, who wouldn’t have bet that the old man still had it in him to move that quickly.

Theodel turned away from his meek neighbor and slowly returned his gaze to Kalo.

“Young man, there are no defenses against the powers that fight in these lands.” His cloudy eyes passed slowly over the length of Kalo’s body.  “I can tell that you are a soldier, one of The Guard I would guess. I can see it in the way that you carry yourself. You have seen enough war and bloodshed, do not take on this battle.”

“I think you have me mistaken Theodel. I have no intention to look for a new battle to fight, it is only the curiosity of a visitor to this area-- only conversation I assure you.” Kalo flashed a quick smile at the men. Theodel’s eyes bore into his trying to discern the validity of his words.

Silence stretched between the group.

Kalo had forgotten Lily’s presence at his side, the sudden cushioning of her soft bosom against his elbow as she leaned, using her hold on his elbow as an pivot, into the consort of men.

“But what of the priest in the square today?” Lily’s sudden question broke Theodel’s gaze from Kalo, his eyes lingered on the woman’s bust; enhanced as it was squished up against Kalo’s arm and displayed by her low cut top.

 Seeing his interest diverted, Lily smiled coyly slinked in between the group to Theodel’s side pressing up against him. “You must know why they took the priest, Theodel. Nothing happens in this town without your knowing.” This statement she delivered while her hand danced slowly over his bald head. Kalo watched as an unmistakable deep color flooded the old man’s face and traveled down his neck. Kalo knew that Lily had the older man right where she wanted to him. Theodel had fallen prey to her seduction and his suspicions of Kalo where, at least for the moment, sidelined.

With Lily’s help and some purposefully vague comments from Kalo; Theodel unknowingly, divulged that the soldiers had taken the priest to their stronghold just outside of town. 

Kalo made a note to himself to toss a few more coins the woman’s way, she had earned it. Kalo was not ready to answer the old man’s questions about his curiosity. Kalo didn’t have the answers to explain the niggling at the back of his mind that was driving him deeper into this situation and the amethyst eyes he hadn’t been able to forget.

The night was dark and the cold wind biting. With significantly lighter pockets and a racing mind, Kalo stepped out of The Whistling Pig and onto the deserted street and made his way to the side of the building, not looking forward to running into any other patrons who might be entering the tavern.

Kalo lit a cherillo, bringing it to his lips and took a deep draw it allowing the smoke deep into his lung and releasing it back out of his lips along with the tension he felt in his body. With each pull of the cherillo Kalo’s mind quieted and sorted through all that he had learned from the prostitute and the old men in the bar.

The priest was his next step and his direction. Kalo knew that in order to get the answers he felt; he needed he would have to speak to the priest.

You have come.

The voice rang through his mind startling him out of his cool and cherillo induced calm and once again his mind was inundated with the image of the dark haired woman in the dark room. Kalo’s breath seized in his throat as the eyes pierced through the darkness meeting his, as though she was aware of his presence despite the lack of light in the room. She averted her gaze from Kalo and reached her hand out towards an object hovering above her head that Kalo hadn’t noticed in the prior visions of the woman.

Kalo tried to focus his mind on the object, knowing that the visions would not last long and he felt as though the woman was trying to convey some sort of message to him through these visions. Within the small floating mirrors that made up the object’s floating mass, a pair of pale blue eyes frame by dark brows emerged. The eyes in the mirrors vanished as the floating mirrors turned and where replaced by the image of a wooded area sunshine peeked through the canopy giving the area a golden glow and a small stone cottage built within the base of a grand tree. Suddenly, the mirrors went dark.

The woman in the room vanished.

A different scene of two women; the dark haired one from previously and another with hair as pale as the moon, this one previously unseen, kneeling before a hooded figure appeared. The silver light of the moon filtered over the small party through the space where there had once been a roof and illuminated the bare boned skeleton of the majestic structure that had once stood. No breeze blew through the massive stone columns that lined, the once grand hall, on both sides.

Kalo strained his senses trying to take in what clues he could from the unfamiliar surroundings. There were no sounds coming from the nature that surrounded them.

No animals moving around.

No sounds of human life reached the ruins.

            It was as though the world had taken in a deep breath, as Kalo did to see what was about to take place here.    

 The hooded figure gesticulated widely with its arms, his movements both harsh and exacting, as though admonishing the women kneeling before him. Kalo could not be sure, as the hooded man’s mouth moved soundlessly in the scene that played before him. 

 Suddenly the figure extended his arm towards the women. The women’s eyes fixed on his hand. The fair haired woman’s gaze especially fixed on him. In his outstretched withered hand before the women and within it Kalo could see a small dark stone. A shocking and sudden tingle moved along Kalo’s spine, starting at his lower back before defusing over his scalp, at the sight of the object. But it was the heavy, deep and dark oppression that settled in his chest that stole his very breathe and shrouded his mind once again in darkness.    

It was the heat of the cherillo on his fingertips as it burned out and the sleek body tangling in between his legs that greeted his return the alley beside The Whistling Pig. Throwing aside what was left of his cherillo, Kalo sucked on his burned fingertips and cursed softly.

Maow, the feline’s cry broke out into the quiet alley; diverting Kalo’s focus from his burning fingers to Lycia pacing at his feet.

“I thought I had left you at the inn.” Kalo asked the feline, reaching into his pocket for another cherillo. “Where is the boy?”

Maow. Lycia cried in response turning her head towards the rear of the tavern. Shuffling footsteps making their way towards Kalo and the feline could be heard.

Kit didn’t know when exactly he had fallen asleep in the small alcove behind the tavern, where he and Lycia had been spying on Kalo. It hadn’t been until he had fallen off of the wooden crate, which he had set on end under the sill to perch on when his feet had become sore as he peered into the tavern, and into some suspiciously foul smelling sludge that coated the ground in the alcove.

“Disgusting.” Kit spoke aloud into the alcove as he wiped the grime from the side of his head.

Kit pushed off of the ground, regaining his feet beneath him. Brushing off what he could of the dirt from his clothes, Kit looked up to the window’s sill expecting to see Lycia’s furred body and laughing eyes and was surprised to find it empty.

Where has she gone?

Kit quickly turned about in the alcove searching for the feline and yet unable to spot neither hide nor hair of the animal. He rushed to the window and pressed his face against the pane searching the interior of the tavern for Kalo.

Why isn’t he sitting at the bar? Kit thought to himself staring at the seat Kalo had previously occupied.

 Had he missed the moment they had been waiting for and the feline abandoned her sleeping companion? Kit could not help but believe that he had been left behind.  The young boy tried to stave off the panic he had begun to feel.

 He tried to quiet his mind and slow his breathing.

How long had I been asleep?

Which way could they have gone?

The distant sound of a muttered curse broke into the boy’s thoughts, plunging him back into the desperate moment. Coming to a decision, Kit started, slowly out of the alcove and into the alley that ran along the length of the tavern calling out to Lycia, in low whispers.

They were at an impasse; the feline and Kalo.

There in the deserted alley, with the mist settling around them and the sounds of tavern floating out to them. The feline continued to stare at Kalo, its amethyst eyes unwavering in their gaze and as he had come to expect there were no answers to be found in their depths.

 What Kalo wanted- was answers.

 Answers to what? Why are you inserting himself into the troubles of this town? What did this all matter, wasn’t his purpose to find Camisa?  His doubts whispered to him in the night forestalling him, from what, he wasn’t sure but they did bring up a few good points.

All Kalo knew was that he would find no rest until he was able to quiet the niggling voice-damned curiosity- at the very back of in his mind that told him that he must press forward. That he had to see this through.

But to what end?

Kalo pushed the less than useful questions into the background of his mind and focused instead on the sounds of distress coming from further down the alley.

 The sound of crates crashing to the floor was followed by tangle of skinny pale limbs scrambling through the chaos now strewn across the alley. Kalo knew the owner of the limbs even before hearing the hushed curse slip from the figure. Kalo and Lycia threw an exasperated look at one another before making their way towards the young boy.

“I am sure I told you to remain at the inn.” Kalo called out.

At the sound of Kalo’s voice, Kit quickly regained his footing after being somewhat sprawled on the floor, and threw some of the crates along the wall of the tavern and took refuge behind the quickly erected pile of crates and trash.

“No use in hiding. I already know it is you.” His tone mocking, as he lazily propped his frame along the wall and lit another cherillo. “The feline gave you away first.”

Kit remained, with his breathe held, as he was hoping beyond hope that he could just vanish into the brick and mortar.  

Losing patience with the young boy, Lycia pawed her way over the trash and through the few crates still left strewn in the alley and settled herself at Kit’s feet and meowed.

“This is all, your fault” Kit harshly whispered at the feline. To which the only response he received was a quirky tilt of her head and a slow blink of her large up-tilted eyes.

So much for their secret mission to tail Kalo nighttime adventures Kit thought to himself with a huff of defeat. He so hated proving Kalo right about him being too young to tag along, and so Kit resolved within himself that it would be childish to remain in hiding.

Before Kit could himself move out of his make shift hiding spot, he was hauled up by the scruff of his shirt and plopped back onto his feet on the right side of the crate tower and the mess he had created.

Feeling miffed, and admittedly slightly shocked, by being manhandled Kit shrugged away from the hand holding him.

“Hey! Careful with the clothes!” he spoke straightening out his shirt and brushing the grime further into the fabric. “They were expensive”

“I can see that.” Kalo could barely hide the amusement in his voice as he spoke to the boy and it only increased when Kit threw a scowl his way at the sound of it. Clearing his throat softly Kalo continued, “Why aren’t you at the inn where I left you?”

“You already asked me that.”

“I did. This time I am expecting an answer.”

Kit fixed his gaze on the ground, avoiding Kalo’s gaze, and began to shuffle his feet on the ground.

“I thought I could be useful to you, you know, in case you got into a scrape or something.” He admitted shyly.

Kalo coughed uncomfortably at the boy’s words and tossed the burning end of his cherillo into the trash behind him before speaking.

“Thanks for that, kid. I am sure you would have been a great help. But now it is time for you to go back to the inn, this is no place for a chi—“

“I am not a child!” The words seemed to have burst from the young boy’s chest.

“Maybe you are right, you are not a child but where I need to go, is no place for you.”

Sensing his weakening resolve, Kit perked up at Kalo’s slight admission to his worthiness and chose to ignore his continued refusal of accompaniment and decided to change tactics.

“I understand your caution Kalo. But if I might ask, where is it that you are going now? Did you not find out what you needed in the tavern?” Kit asked brightly. So brightly in fact that Kalo went immediately on guard and eyed Kit wearily before answering.

“Yes, I received answers to my questions but I find that I have ended up with just as many more questions.” Kalo admitted. “I have a new direction to explore and I mean to do so this very night. I will solve this damned puzzle.” Kalo finished fiercely his frustration with the entire situation getting the best of him, surprising his young companion.

“Where to then?”

“The prison. That is where they are keeping the priest.”

“You mean that fortress looking building on that hill just west of here?”

“Yes that one—Oh no you don’t! You can not go there!”

“Whatever do you mean Kalo?” Kit asked, his eyes wide with innocence brimming from within, visible even in the low light of the alley.

“Get back to the inn Kit!”

Kit was not cowed by Kalo’s fierce words and stood before him meeting his fierce gaze. The young boy had already decided that he needed to prove himself to Kalo, and in doing so satisfy his own budding curiosity, and being left behind again was just not acceptable. Kit acknowledged to himself that it would be foolish to push Kalo too far on this issue.

 He owed Kalo his life.

It hadn’t been so long ago when Kit had been living to die. Like so many others in the city the daily struggle; of finding shelter, food and warmth, had been dire. The long shadows cast by The Citadel’s ornate spires had seemed to wait for the moment to swallow his small existence, a mar on the gleaming façade of the city.

 He had just been waiting for the end.

But Kalo had found him, more accurately caught him, and allowed him to attach his life and purpose to him. Kit knew that there would come a day when Kalo had enough of his youthful curiosity and mischievousness. Kalo wouldn’t want the expense or responsibility of looking after him anymore and would just simply disappear one day from Kit’s sight like his parents had before.

Kit was as sure of that day’s eventuality as he was his own name and he dreaded it, knowing it would one day be before him. So he would take all that he could and try to give back and hope to pay against that debt that each day would grow.

Until that day came he would have to prove himself worthy.

To Kalo.

And to himself.

Kit took in a deep breath and savored the cool night air as it filled his lungs and firmed his resolve as he stepped around Kalo and begun to make his way through the alley and back onto the main road.

“Where do you think you are going?” Kalo called out to the young boy’s retreating back, the feline trailing slightly behind him.  

Without breaking his stride Kit responded. “To the prison, to meet the priest.” He had just taken the turn at the end of the alley towards the right Kit stride long and sure with confidence when Kalo’s voice reached out to him from close behind. “Well then it would be best to head in right direction, which is of course, to the left.”

Kit quickly about faced on the worn heel of the boot he wore to find Kalo and Lycia making their way down the street in the opposite direction.

Kalo’s laughter echoed down the street towards Kit as he ran to catch up with the pair.

“Wait for me!” he cried out as he ran to catch up with them.

“Kalo, that thing you did back there?” Kit asked slightly out of breath as he drew even with the pair. “You know when you lifted me by one hand? Could you do it again?” 

“No.”

“Oh come on Kalo, please?”

“Give it a rest.”

“Please.” The young boy begged.

Somehow, to Kalo at least, the night seemed to stretch longer around the small group and his body heavy with age and weariness. Listening to Kit prattle on about one thing or another he secretly hoped that the priest would be able to satisfy this curiosity.

Come to me.