Photophobia
Chapter 1: An encounter
Before that night…
'Lovely sun we have today…'
There was a good reason why the priestess kept the comment to herself. She was in Morroc. No one here thought that the sun would ever be lovely. It was always too hot and too bright. The sun did nothing but make it easy for otherwise easy pickings to notice the constant thievery around them. It made people sweat until they stank to the point that people they were hiding from could sniff them out. It robbed them of energy until they became too sluggish to run. To the citizens of Morroc, the sun was an accursed, orange ball of fire that did all it could to make life miserable…
"Water."
Kerari sat by the bar and looked around her. She did not bother to see if the barkeep had heard her. Normally, water would be free in bars but this was Morroc. Nothing was ever free…
"That will be ten zenny, Miss Priestess…"
Kerari took the glass and handed over a small pile of small change. After fishing out the small, black-winged insects that floated in the water, she took as small sip and set it back down. She did not mind that the glass was cracked or that it was permanently stained by what appeared to be old blood. In the desert heat, the lukewarm water ran down her throat like the sweetest wine…
"I hope you don't mind my noticing, Miss Priestess, but that looks like a nasty scar under your eye patch…"
Kerari smiled slightly. They always noticed her eye patch and they always asked about it. The politeness was also customary. In response, she shrugged her shoulders…
"It is, isn't it?"
The barkeep, a thin, weedy man who was missing several of his yellow and broken teeth, leaned closer. Kerari's nose wrinkled reflexively. The man smelled of dried sweat and sour wine…
"Where'd you get it? I thought priests never get scars 'cause they always heal themselves."
The priestess touched her eye patch and looked at the barkeep.
"Healing can't save ruined organs. The eye was lost to any priest. I decided to keep the scar as a reminder of my carelessness as an acolyte."
The barkeep raised an eyebrow, much to Kerari's annoyance. The gesture did nothing to improve his physical appearance.
"Carelessness? Get into a fight with your swordsman?"
Kerari shook her head. The barkeep was referring to the old Church practice of pairing new acolytes with equally new swordsmen to increase their chances of surviving.
"I was already past that stage. I got it from field work…"
The barkeep frowned at this.
"Did some soldier skeleton do it to you then?"
Kerari's single eye narrowed as she recalled the incident…
"No. I had jumped to avoid a khalitzburg's swing when I realized that it had two swords…"
The barkeep's eyes widened.
"You took on a khalitzburg when you were still an acolyte?"
Kerari nodded and looked around. She was getting bored with this small talk. It was time she returned to the business at hand. The barkeep spoke again. This time there was an edge of suspicion in his voice.
"You're not drinking your water…"
The priestess's gloved, left hand suddenly shot forward, grabbing the barkeep by the wrist. The man cried out and fell to his knees quickly as she increased her grip.
"That's because you drugged it you desert-dung heap. Is that how you serve outsiders here?"
The barkeep groaned and shook his head.
"I-It was a spur of the moment thing! H-honest!"
Kerari frowned and twisted the wrist.
"You were too confident for it to be a spur of the moment thing! You were waiting for me, were you?"
The priestess twisted the wrist some more until she could feel the bone crack. The weedy barkeep howled in pain.
"Yes! Yes! I was waiting for you! Please let go of my wrist!"
Kerari stared hard at the barkeep with her lone eye. The weedy man shuddered as he looked at the single, hazel eye. The iris looked so fierce that it seemed almost yellow with malice.
"Why? Did someone pay you to drug me?"
The barkeep nodded.
"I-I can't say his name, l-lady! He'd have me killed if I did! Please let me go!"
The priestess's left hand gripped the wrist even tighter. More cracks caused the barkeep to scream. Suddenly a voice rose above the annoying wail of pain. Kerari let go of the wrist and focused on the voice's source.
"You can twist that barkeep like you would wring a wet towel, priestess, he won't yield a drop. He really doesn't know anything else."
Kerari's single eye narrowed as she looked at the swordsman who spoke. The black and purple armband he wore marked him as a member of the most influential guild in Morroc, NightKnife. The silver trimming on the armband showed that he was not only a member but a high-ranking one.
"I've heard stories that in the center of the web of assassins and rogues that is NightKnife stands a swordsman and a thief for guild leaders. You must be one of them although I'm surprised. You're quite young…"
The swordsman took a sip from the glass of Morroc wine he was drinking. The assassins and rogues in the bar gave him a wide berth. He had wavy, dark brown hair that fell softly down his neck; a few strands fell lazily over his forehead. Some delicate features on face made him look almost boyish and gentle. It was his eyes that spoke of a different side of him. Those sharp, green orbs stared at her not with the arrogance of someone who believed himself superior, or even the leering gaze of some perverted swordsmen. He was appraising her carefully and deliberately, his eyes did not flicker from their stare as he coldly calculated what she was capable of in various situations he had likely prepared.
"My name is Makaelthos Solcry, priestess. I am not a guild leader, just a high-ranking servant. I already know what you're here for…"
The priestess raised an eyebrow and let go of the barkeep's wrist.
"So I play directly into your guild's web…tell me what you want and be quick with it. I have heads to crack…"
The swordsman signaled behind him. At once, the tavern cleared of people. No one even dared to speak against be forced out. Even the barkeep had to leave…
"You're Priestess Kerari Phanaea, an inquisitor sent by the Church to investigate on Priest Marlos's activities. Prior to that, you've been sent to investigate over fifty corrupt priests and priestesses. You killed every single one of them and their associates. An overall total of fifty priests and two hundred acolytes are dead by your hands. Or should I say, hand?"
The priestess looked at her gloved left hand and clenched it.
"I never killed a single priest in my life. I killed criminals and fools. Devil-worshipping heretics in priestly robes, whores who peddle their white-robed bodies for petty cash and the right to wear the robes of a priestess, thieves, rapists, molesters…never a single priest or acolyte."
The swordsman shrugged his shoulders.
"That's not important. What matters is that you're likely to add Marlos to that list and it's in NightKnife's best interest to see him dead."
Kerari allowed herself to smile slightly.
"It looks like Marlos has associated himself with the wrong kind of people. Will you provide proof that he is corrupt?"
Makaelthos nodded.
"More than that, I've arranged for that proof to arrive by your window sill this very night. Few assassins are willing to take his jobs since he's on my guild's black list. I've had all his other options taken care off save for one. He will be your proof."
The priestess clenched and unclenched her left hand.
"And what do you stand to gain by this, Makaelthos Solcry?"
The swordsman sipped his wine again.
"NightKnife gets rid of another parasite in its territory, kills its remaining competition and shifts all the blame on the Church. When the pronteran government looks for someone to imprison for the murder of at least twenty assassins; with you in the picture, NightKnife can point to them as people Marlos hired to kill you."
Kerari's eye narrowed.
"What if I denied it?"
Makaelthos smiled slightly in amusement.
"Then you'd be lying, Marlos would have hired them to kill you if we didn't kill them first and if that happened then you would kill them anyway. We're merely speeding up the process…"
Kerari's eyebrows furrowed. She had to admit that she was impressed. Few swordsmen, or perhaps none at all, could ever plan something this in depth. It was no wonder that this Makaelthos Solcry was so feared.
"So you're using me and the Church? Why do you spare this lone assassin then?"
The swordsman's smile did not vanish.
"I think that word applies to both our sides, priestess. As for that assassin, he once commented that he enjoyed killing priestesses. My mistress would think it's amusing to see what happens to him."
Kerari stood up. She had all the information she needed…
"Thank you for speeding my job up then, Makaelthos Solcry."
The swordsman prepared to leave as well…
"NightKnife has many eyes in Morroc, priestess. Do your part and our business would be completed without hitch."
The priestess tilted her head and observed the swordsman.
"I like your way of thinking. The Church could use someone like you. Have you ever considered the path of a crusader, Makaelthos Solcry?"
The swordsman snorted and walked away.
"That would be the day I become friends with some hot-headed drunkard of a knight…Good day, priestess…"
Kerari grinned and exited the bar.
"I'll put in a good word for you then…"
Kerari headed for a nearby inn. NightKnife's involvement seemed to simplify and complicate her mission at the same time. She could probably kill Marlos by tonight if she was fast enough but she didn't like doing a thieves' guild's work for it. Perhaps she could find a way to spare the assassin, just to stick a bone down NightKnife's throat…
"As for that swordsman…he'd be her partner by now if he was a regular pronteran swordsman…"
Kerari remembered her last conversation with her student before leaving…
"Did you meet your new partner?"
Kerari raised an eyebrow as her lone student looked worriedly at the swordswoman who was walking towards the barracks.
"I have, she seems so reckless, priestess, and I think I will have a hard time keeping her alive…"
The priestess shrugged her shoulders and readied her things. With her single student's partnership, there was no need for her to lecture anymore. She had just been assigned on another mission by the Church. Besides, Silmeia Cafilence was an excellent student. Among a class of forty acolytes, she was the only one left after Kerari's "lessons". The Church officials considered it a lesson that Kerari actually approved of a fledgling acolyte…
"That means she will be perfect practice to you healing speed. Good luck, Silmeia. Perhaps we'll meet again…"
The acolyte nodded and smiled.
"Thank you for everything, Priestess Kerari…"
Kerari cleared her head of memories. Makaelthos Solcry would be a less reckless partner for Silmeia but he'd also be less practice as he's too good. Besides, his being here was likely a boon for a mission.
'So he's going to arrive by my window tonight, eh?"
Kerari clenched her left hand again in anticipation. Anyone who enjoyed killing priests deserved a little extra from her…
