Private Tales Face Towards the Sun

[Alistair Krixus]

They had been traveling for nearly a week on the trail of a spy for the rogue Archon Gilram. The spy had slipped up in Vel Anir after attempting to flip a Vigilite plant. Once the identity was confirmed, it was sent to the Archon hunting squad created by Dreadlord Zana. It was finally the opportunity that Alistair Krixus had been looking for to prove himself within the squad. Then it had to go get ruined by being partnered up with the last person he wanted to work with.

A small part of him had believed Zana had made this decision to torture the both of them, but as Alistair had time to think on the trip, the reason was far more obvious. The squad had been created to hunt rogue archons, there was no place for bickering on such a team. If Alistair and Henk could not work together out here chasing a spy, then they would be outright liabilities during the real dangers.

"Vel Hetren is up ahead, it will be out last chance to catch this guy before he slips away into the Savannah." Speaking quickly to his compatriot.

He did not even glance at his fellow Dreadlord. In fact, he had tried to say as few words as possible because any extended conversation usually just led to awkward silence or outright arguments. Alistair could at least recognize that he played a big part in that as he had still not forgiven Henk for leaving. He wondered if that was a little hypocritical seeing as he had forgiven and let Edric escape weeks ago. However, at least he had the decency to stay gone, this somehow felt worse.

They had long passed the comfortable forests and trees located closer to Vel Anir, as by now the flat and barren plains of the savannah were becoming more dominate. There was no shade or cover in sight, nowhere for reprieve and nowhere to hide.

The sun was particularly unbearable that day as it blistered down onto the lands below, but Alistair barely noticed it. One of the bright spots of being blind was that he did not really have to care about the glare anymore.

"Strange that he is heading east. I didn't think Gilram had anyone located within the plains."

He was speaking his own thoughts out loud, only realizing that he had opened himself up to conversation.

Henk

 

[Henk]

Henk could handle the sun. It was his lifeblood, it fueled the magic that had become his only constant companion in the last half year. Even as the heat baked his skin, a thin sheen of sweat coating the back of his neck and the shaved parts of his head, Henk simply took it within him, allowed himself to soak in the uncomfortable warmth of the arid plains that surrounded he and his partner on their approach to Vel Hetren.

It was the tension between he and the man he traveled with that was far more unbearable.

"If I've learned anything about him, it's that there's few places he doesn't have eyes in." He replies, eyes narrowed and hands on the reins as he lounged back in the seat of the small wagon they'd appropriated for their task. "That this one is so desperate to elude us suggests he knows more that Gilram doesn't wish us to be privy to."

This was the first time he'd spent any considerable amount of time with Alistair Krixus since the spiteful round they'd had in training. A friendly bout it was anything but: Krixus still harbored ill will towards Henk for his temporary abandonment of the Republic. He couldn't blame Alistair for that; The choice he'd made to run was one that haunted him every night, both for the shame it had brought him and the friendships it had severed.

If Alistair wished to loathe him, Henk would not stop him.

Henk had stopped wishing for forgiveness at this point. With the isolation of his friends and family shunning him he'd thrown himself entirely into his training and duty. All that the scar-faced man had left was his want to silence the man responsible for the schism of his class in the first place.

Were this a step towards that end, he would endure every ounce of tension necessary.

"Do we have any intelligence on the target?" Henk closed one eye, looking over at Alistair with his remaining one as they rolled nearer into town. "I don't suppose he gave our Vigilite friend his detailed biography before he fled, but it'd be nice to know who I'm... Who we're dealing with."

There was to qualm to be had in working with Krixus, but Henk did not expect him to jump to his defense in a fight, and at the moment he just wished to be do away with this absconder so he could return to his solitude. There, at least, the only one who loathed him was himself


Alistair Krixus

 

[Alistair Krixus]

True, Gilram's networks were vast, but this was supposed to be one of those few places. If it was true he did have people out here, then the counterintelligence network set up out here was not aware or prepared to handle the matter. Or and even worse thoughts clouded his mind, the network may be corrupted and hiding Gilram.

"From our records, they never got as high as third-level Dreadlord. Worked as a currier and sabotage specialist. His specialty has something to do with manipulating friction."

The man had been rather unremarkable which was partially why the Vigilite had not rooted him out sooner. Gilram's members tended to lean towards higher achievers who had more to gain from his elitist rhetoric, but such ideas could find purchase with anyone.

"There are a few contacts in the city that we can ask questions on if there has been anything strange in the past few days."

It would be a good opportunity for Alistair to check on the infrastructure of the Vel Hetren network. Either they would be able to help them, or they may need to be purged. Either way, Alistair was knocking out two birds with one stone.

"If we can help it, the population should never be aware this was a problem." Letting the pointed reminder hang in the air.

Henk

 

[Henk]

Henk couldn't help but smile at Alistair's little bulletin that he tacked onto the end. The man bit his tongue, but he was implored to suggest that the Republic had done about as good of a job keeping the conflicts as of late secret as they had sniffing out their target before it was too late.

"Even a third-level Dreadlord is something we don't want running rouge in a busy town." Henk shifted uncomfortably, having come to realize how arbitrary the level-system could be, especially when it came to late bloomers. "You're right, Vel Hetren is deep territory for one of Gilram's. He'll expect pursuit, and know we're coming."

Being not nearly so tapped into the Republic's dealings as Alistair was, Henk knew little of the counterintelligence program, and what it entailed. While he'd been allowed to go on missions, any career progression beyond killer-for-hire was more or less out of the question for him, due to his previous actions.

So much for that Proctor job he'd been eyeing before Graduation.

"We should divide our tasks." Time was of the essence, and Alistair was more learned on certain things than he was. "You can meet our contacts, see if anybody in the network has an inkling of our friend's whereabouts. I'll sweep the city, see if I spot anything unusual and herd away the curious."

Alistair Krixus

 

[Alistair Krixus]

At least they could both agree that this needed to be handled. It was why they had been sent, but even without that, letting this spy run around out here on the border could not end well for Vel Anir. Places like this had enough trouble dealing with the foreign powers much less internal conflict.

"Let him know we are coming. We just have to be fast about it at this point."

Henk was right that their target would be aware of them. The time for slow caution was over, as it would only lead to the spy slipping through their fingers. This needed to be done quickly.

Alistair was hesitant to accept Henk's plan to divide up the work in such a way, if primarily just because he did not trust Henk without keeping an eye on him. However, Alistair quickly reminded himself that such childish reservations would only lead to failure.

"Agreed, but let's not make contact unless the both of us are there. Otherwise, the target may manage to slip through our fingers."

Henk