She sat with her back towards me when I stepped into her office. Although I couldn't see her eyes, I knew that their gaze swept across the landscape outside the window. Everyone at one time or another has marveled at the beautiful red and orange colors of a sunset. The city was facing her feet and billowed in the red-orange light from the sunset. Soon the darkness of night should sweeping wave in over the city and cover it like a blanket with its comforting darkness.
She spun a half turn in her chair so she faced me. Her dark eyes met my eyes and gave me a heavy glance. I remembered clearly the time when her eyes had been pale brown and sparkled with joy. It was in the old days, before the Order was created and before we all split up into different territories. You see, once upon a time we have all been linked together. We lived in peace side by side and were dependent on each other for our society to function. But those days are just a distant dream for people who are tired of reality.
She handed me a red folder and signaled to me to leave the room. I was not slow to obey orders and turned quickly on my heel and hurried out of the room. I walked with determined steps into my cubicle in the other side of the building. Sitting on my desk sat Christopher happily and dangling his legs. He greeted as cheerfully as usual me and I nodded in response. It was strange that after all the things he has went through; he can still wake up in the morning with a big smile on his lips and keep it up all day.
"What's that?" He nodded toward the red folder that I carelessly threw on my keyboard and he snatched it up. "A new case from Katie." I did not sound too excited about it because I had just come back from another case and was still exhausted. "What is it about?" Christopher's curious question reminded me of a small child sitting on Christmas morning and pinching on packets and is almost beside him with curiosity about what he will get.
"I do not know, I just got it." Without waiting for my permission Christopher opened the folder and began to read out loud my next quest for me and everyone nearby who happened to feel the urge to listen. Normally, I would have been annoyed that he began to read without asking me first, but there was something about his eyes that made me relaxed and didn't want me to make a big deal out of it.
"The Empire of the Deeds was noted for its advanced pharmacology. It was later destroyed by a religious cult because of the people's extreme interest in forbidden things. During this era became the Empire of the Deeds very popular with cunning and insidious sorcerers who only wanted to scam other people on their values. In an effort to create credible fake copies of three mythical amulets managed a magician named Kleg Swinstool, to create the Amulets of Love, Doom, and Sorcery.
There are reports that a man have claimed to possess the amulets and are willing to sell them to anyone with the right amount of money. The man has a room at The Immortal Snake's Tavern, in Territory 264. "
Christopher looked happily up at me and said with a comforting smile, "Cheer up, Territory 264 is not that bad, it's actually quite nice. It could have been a lot worse." I gave him a half-hearted smile and he laughed at my pathetic attempt to smile. "Does it say anything about what amulets can be used for?" I raised my eyebrows and sat down in my office chair.
"Of course not." Christopher smiled politely but the frustration against the lack of information could clearly be seen on his smile. I wasn't surprised. Katie had a thing for wanting us to find out everything on our own hand. "Ask Flynn if he knows anything about it."
Flynn was one of the most intelligent beings I have ever met, but I still remember the days when everywhere he went he created chaos. Christopher jumped down from my desk and accompanied me to Flynn's library. In the beginning, it had been called the Library of the Order, but Flynn showed such passionate love against the library that the Order decided to rename it in his honor.
Flynn popped up behind a couple of bookshelves and broke into a big smile. "Christopher, you need to visit more often." He gave Christopher a stern look and shook his hand excitedly. He then turned to me and said, "What can I do for you, my dear?" I smiled at him and put a friendly hand on his shoulder. He had always kept his distance with me and I suspected that he was a little afraid of me. "You don't happen to have anything about the Amulets of Love, Doom and Sorcery, don't you?"
"Actually I do. Give me a minute." He hurried away, and believe me; it took less than a minute before he was back with an old dusty book. He handed it to me and I blew the dust off and read the title. Practice Invocation. I leafed through the book carefully and realized to my relief that the book was quite clear due to the well-done illustrations.
We thanked Flynn and headed back to my cubicle. While I was reading the book I found pieces of paper with notes, in a recognizable, but foreign language, commenting critically on related elements in the book .The bookmark's marking pages seemed to have no similar or related information.
But if one is to believe the book was the amulets extremely dangerous in the wrong hands. But that I could work out on my own. When was the last time you had to go on a quest to retrieve something harmless? According to the book had the amulet of Love, the power to destroy all forms of love. But at the same time the amulet had the power to make someone incurably in love with another.
The power of love in a single man's hand. That statement isn't particularly true since there are many magic items that control love. Most of them are well-hidden and forgotten, but some are still out there and on the move. Like this amulet, for example. The Amulet of Doom wasn't any better. The power to extinct existence itself. The last, the Amulet of Sorcery, gave the person who used it right the force equivalent one God.
And those Amulets where in my hands to find. If I failed, it could be the end of the universe as we know it. Although I'm not sure what would happen if the Amulet of Doom was used. Would we all just disappear into nothing? I could feel the headache creep into my head when I analyzed the matter. The question I wouldn't find the answer to before it was too late to do anything about it.
Christopher interrupted my thoughts by moaning out loud. I looked questioningly up at him with raised eyebrows. "I'm bored." I shook my head at his whining. "Go and play with Neil." I smiled when I thought of Neil. He was a hopeless case. He was suspended for unprofessional behavior for the fifth time in a year. If I knew him right, and I would say that I do, he was probably fucking some costume elf in the broom closet.
When Christopher came back with Neil, it proved itself that I had right. He had been fucking some guy in the broom closet. What a lucky guess. He kissed my forehead and sat down on my desk where Christopher had been sitting before. Christopher jumped up on his lap and smiled down at me. They gave each other a sympathetic glance between them, and already then I realized that they had something foolish planned.
They directed their attention to me and gave me the most helpless puppy eyes I've ever seen. My heart melted immediately and I had to force myself not to laugh at them. Both Christopher and Neil were better than this. "I expected Christopher to try something like this, but you Neil, I'm disappointed at you." I wasn't even a little disappointed at him. I was glad that he was doing something healthier than getting an STI from a guy he just met.
"I know you love me." He laughed playfully and winked at me. Christopher smiled too and I got up on my feet just to give them both two big kisses. Neil looked really thoughtful for a short moment and then stated; "I'm hungry." I patted him on the shoulder and said: "Let's grab a bite then." Neil and Christopher jumped down from my desk and I realized I probably should put a plant or similar there to save my desk from breaking every time they jumped up and down.
We sat and ate the homemade lasagna they gave us today in peace, when Neil said with a pleading look, "You need to save us from this place, it's like a prison. Please. We're begging you." Christopher nodded in agreement. "I'll think about it." They immediately started protesting, but I closed my ears for their whining. Neil was on suspension and Christopher… Well, Christopher is Christopher. I wasn't entirely sure that bringing them out to the wild was such a good idea. But I owed it to them since they would do the same for me. And then it struck me, the perfect idea. They both stopped chattering and looked with patient on me to stop smiling like a goof and tell them what was on my mind.
"Boys, I have a plan."
