The Third Eye Initiative (27 page)

Yet despite the destruction of the Union, they succeeded in one thing and one thing only. That was the end of the Dwarven Arms Fair. Never again would the stout folk come to herald the spring. The cost of merchandise and life was too much for the bearded folk to accept, and they announced the discontinuation of the annual festival with heavy hearts. The loss of the great fair reinforced a feeling of hopelessness that many people in
The City had always felt.

History would call it The Bombing of the Dwarven Arms fair. The end of an age old
tradition and the end of The Purity Union.

The City had lost yet another ray of light to the overwhelming shadow that the people themselves had cast on the city.

Life is a cycle of love gained and love lost. For most people the pain never goes away, but we find love in others. We eventually accept that loss and move on.

The problem with Tsaeris was that this cycle never existed for him. He never had a family whom he loved. He had lived alone for so long that love was never a factor. There was nobody around him to love.

We underestimate the power of that cycle of loss and gain. From childhood to adulthood, we are trained to accept loss by the people who care for us. But Tsaeris was already a man before he let himself actually feel for another person. There was no reference, and nobody to guide him on how to cope.

When I was old enough to ask questions and really wonder about the nature of people, I was always curious about how it had happened. What had caused a man to become like him? How could one be so cold and so ruthless?

In my search for answers, I asked those closest to him. Those who had known him longer than I. They told me that it was a gradual development. It happened so slowly that nobody was really aware that it was happening at all until it was too late.

Looking back, however, they all agreed on one point. That it had all began on the night of The Bombing of the Dwarven Arms Fair. The night that Cyra had died.

--
Excerpt from “The Sydarin Chronicles” by James Sydarin

Tsaeris sat in the alley, his back t
o the wall as night settled on The City. His breath clouded before his eye in the cold autumn air. Some of the denizens of the night had lit a fire deeper in the alley in an attempt to keep warm, and Tsaeris could see them silhouetted against the orange flames. One of them called out that Tsaeris was welcome to join them at the fire, but he ignored them. They didn’t speak to him again.

At twenty years old, Tsaeris looked more like a man in his thirties. His face was lined and a dark bag under his eye was a permanent feature upon his once youthful face. Dark stubble splashed across his cheeks, above his upper lip and down his chin to his neck. When he had reached an age where we was capable of growing facial hair, Tsaeris was surprised to discover that it was not white, but closer to the darker hair color of the other Sydarin men.
             

Tsaeris took a long pull f
rom a flask he kept in his coat. The liquor had a warming effect on him. It was a potent dwarven whiskey, and it burned the whole way down. The dwarves called it ‘Camp Fire” as it was made for an occasional gulp to keep the chill away, and not for steady drinking. Rightly so, as those who braved more than a single gulp every hour or so found their mouths numb and their stomachs burning. Blorick had introduced Tsaeris to the drink. He had not seen the dwarf in years, since Blorick had left to pursue a career as a sell sword. Tsaeris liked to think that his speech to the dwarf years before had inspired him to move on with his life, and to stop wasting away in a mug of ale. Tsaeris replaced the flask inside his coat.

Tsaeris had graduated from novice to agent two years before, and Initiative work took up most of his time.
The work was still mysterious to Tsaeris, and he still didn’t fully understand the purpose. At this point in his career, he wasn’t entirely convinced anyone, other than perhaps Elias, truly knew what it was all about. He had a sense of it, of course. All the agents did. The purpose, as it was taught to him by the more experienced agents, was balance and control. Corruption could not be destroyed, but the Initiative believed it could be controlled, and The City kept in balance. Tsaeris knew that the real purpose was more complicated than that, but he was content with what he knew.

Tsaeris
had learned that there were three levels to The Third Eye Initiative. Lowest were The Informants, who made up the bulk of the network, and were paid to listen and share information. Most informants didn’t know about each other, or who they worked for. They were just tavern keepers, homeless people, servants and more, all in it for the coin.

Second were T
he Operatives. They were trained by The Third Eye Initiative, though nowhere near as intensively as the agents, and the operatives were the spies and infiltrators. They would gather intelligence for The Initiative, less general and more specific than the intelligence gathered through the network of informants, and were considered a part of the order.

Third and most important were The Agents. The Agents were the sword of The Third Eye
Initiative. When an imbalance was detected by the informants or operatives, it was The Agents who corrected it, usually through violence. The Agents also served as the bruisers of The Initiative, and were used to extort and threaten business’ and crime lords.

Yes, Tsaeris enjoyed his work with as an agent.
He also made quite a bit of gold. Despite that, he lived in the basement of Elias’ house instead of buying his own. Elias had offered him the room, probably because he felt guilty, and Tsaeris had accepted. Elias never came down to his part of the house, and he rarely entered Elias’. They were private men, and the arrangement worked out fine for both of them.

Tsaeris spent quite a bit of time experimenting with explosive devices and deadly chemicals. He found that engineering suited him well, and kept him busy when he wasn’t working on a mission. He still wore the coat Cyra had given him years ago, and had altered it by adding secret pockets and pouches containing a variety of small explosives and poisons. Despite a few daggers hidden on various parts of his body, they were the only weapons he carried. He had never had a knack for using a sword, and had long since discarded it in favor of his self-made weapons and his daggers.

His unorthodox approach to weaponry and fighting had saved his life many times over. Enemies always expected to face a traditional weapon, such as a sword or axe. They never expected to have a vial of acid splashed into their eyes, or an explosion ripping apart their legs. He even coated his daggers in a deadly substance before every mission. The tiniest nick of the flesh was enough to kill pretty much anyone.

Tsaeris stood up and headed to the street, looking up to determine the position of the moon in the sky. It was time. He walked down the street at a brisk pace, wanting to reach his destination as quickly as possible. He made sure to leave with plenty of extra time, but he was anxious to get started.

It always amazed him how empty the streets were at night. The City, Market district in particular, had so many citizens that sometimes it was all you could do to make your way down a street. When the sun came up and people headed to their various jobs the crowds become two long serpents crawling in opposite directions, everyone moving in unison. Night was so different. The street was empty of all but the sordid folk, and was dangerous to everyone. There were two kinds of people on the streets at night, the dangerous and the stupid. The stupid did not often see the sun rise.

The alleys offered some refuge for the homeless if they stayed in groups, as most of them did. Street kids would either sleep in these small homeless communities, or find themselves a hole to sleep in. Those holes were often abandoned buildings. Tsaeris had preferred sleeping indoors when he had been a street kid. The groups of homeless people could be dangerous as well for a young boy or girl. Almost everything was.

After a half hour, Tsaeris reached his destination, the Port. Several ships, large and medium sized were anchored in the harbor. Large landings were built out over the water with buildings resting on top. The port was huge, as it had to accommodate all sea traffic that came to The City; and there was a lot. Taverns and inns lined the port, as well as merchant stalls. From his vantage point on the upper walkway Tsaeris could see movement on the decks of several of the ships. He made his way to one of the taverns. A sign was hanging above the door identifying the tavern as ‘The Sailors Haven’. Tsaeris knew that there were at least two other taverns at the port with the same unoriginal name.

Tsaeris pushed through the door. The tavern was packed with sailors and probably pirates, all drinking and yelling and gambling noisily. Sailors spent so little time on land that they didn’t waste much of it sleeping. From the smell of the place, Tsaeris guessed they didn’t waste much of it bathing either.

He walked to the bar and ordered a glass of whiskey. He sipped it, and made a face. The owner must have decided that the clientele would be too drunk to notice at this point, and had switched to the watered down booze. Tsaeris wasn’t sure if it was the water or the glass, but the drink tasted almost dirty. Not a particularly picky drinker, Tsaeris drank it anyway and ordered a second round.

He stood at the bar waiting. He was hungry, but if the drink was of any indication, he decided not to risk the food. He was on his third round of watered down whiskey when a man approached him. The man wore a dirty red coat, and a hat that looked so much like a typical pirate hat that Tsaeris thought he must have purchased it in a costume shop. Adding to his
cliché appearance was a black leather eye patch, and a gold tooth. Tsaeris wondered silently where the man kept his parrot.

“
What’s yer name?” the sailor asked.

“
Byron,” Tsaeris replied.

“
Ah, bout time ye showed up. I’m Captain Halbert,” the man introduced, reaching out a hand. Tsaeris shook it. It was sticky.

“
Ah, Captain. Glad to meet you,” Tsaeris replied, wiping his hand on his coat.

“
Aye. Come have a seat with me and me first mate. Talk some business.” Halbert walked away without waiting for a response. Tsaeris followed.

Captain Halbert sat down at a table beside a man who looked like he had been in a fight with a grizzly bear and lost. His bald face and head were scarred, and he was missing his left ear. He grinned at Tsaeris, and all
the teeth in his mouth were either missing or broken.

“
This is me mate, Cornock,” Halbert said. “Cornock, this is Byron.”

“
Bout time ye showed up!” Cornock said, spittle spraying from the large gaps in his teeth with each word. He wondered if all sailors greeted people that way.

“
Well, you know. Better late than never,” Tsaeris replied.

“
Aye. Let’s get down to business,” Captain Halbert said. “As ye know, our Navigator got himself kilt this morning. Found him dead in the water.”

“
That’s unfortunate,” Tsaeris replied. The dead Navigator had been named Lester. A nick of a poisoned knife and a push off the dock had been enough to take care of that little problem. Official cause of death had been drowning.

“
See the thing is, we need to leave tonight while it’s dark. Most navigators ain't willing to travel out of port at night. But we’re in a rush, and can’t wait around fer the inspectors to get around to clearing our ship in the morning,” Halbert said.

“
More than that, we ain't want no inspection,” Cornock added.

“
Curse yer face, Cornock. Was going fer the subtle approach,” Halbert said angrily.

“
It doesn’t matter. I’m not stupid. And yes, I’ll navigate at night. It’ll cost you extra, though,” Tsaeris said.

“
We’ll give ye three hundred gold extra if yer willing to navigate tonight,” Halbert offered.

“
Five hundred. Sailing out of port at night is very illegal, after all,” Tsaeris countered.

“
Five hundred? Fer that kind of money we might as well wait until we get to Synar and hire a navigator there. It’s not like ye navigators do any real work.”

“
Ah, but the Navigator’s Guild doesn’t take kindly to ships sailing without a licensed Navigator. In fact, you sail into Synar without a navigator you’re going to find yourself in jail.”

“
Maybe Cornock here pretends he’s a Navigator,” Halbert said.

“
Come on, Halbert. Is that the best you can do? We both know that they don’t take your word for it. They want to see paper work,” Tsaeris smiled.

“
Maybe I find him some fake paper work,” Halbert wasn’t backing down.

“
And sail into Synar without a first mate? That’s even more illegal than not having a navigator.” Tsaeris took a sip of his whiskey, as Halbert and Cornock glared at him. “Gentlemen. You have a choice here. You can either pay what I ask, or you can find a new navigator and sail out in the morning after your inspection.”

“
Fine,” Halbert said after a long pause, his voice angry. “You win. Five hundred, ye bloody thief. Let me see yer papers.”

“
When do we leave?” Tsaeris asked, handing Halbert his expertly forged Navigator’s license. Halbert examined the paper for a moment, and then handed it back to Tsaeris.

“
We leave now, ye bandit.”

***

The deck of the ship was silent as the crew prepared it to cast off. They didn’t want to alert anyone of their nightly departure. They were so quiet and so efficient at it, that Tsaeris was sure that this was not the first time they left port under the cover of night.

Before long the ship was drifting out into the
harbor. Tsaeris felt unsteady on his feet, having never been on a ship before. It took the ship almost an hour to leave the harbor behind, and the lights of the city were barely visible in the distance. Once it had left the harbor, the ship turned north, staying close to the coast. Most ships would follow the coast all the way to Synar.

The Captain and Cornock immediately retired to their cabins as
soon as the ship had started up coast, their long day of drinking finally catching up to them. Tsaeris decided that he would start his work now, as he didn’t want to get too far away from the city. It was just after midnight. If he worked quickly, he could still make it home by dawn.

There were four crewmen on deck, and a man at the helm. The sail was raised, but was all but limp as there wasn’t much of a breeze. The ship was moving very slowly. Tsaeris nodded to the crewmen,
and then made his way to the rooms below deck. The ship creaked and swayed, and it made Tsaeris slightly nauseous. He made his way to the crew’s quarters first. Six men lay sleeping in uncomfortable looking hammocks. Tsaeris released a vial from his coat and silently removed the cork stopper.

He quietly approached the first man in the room and, using his thumb to control the dose, poured a single drop from the vial into the
man’s ear. One by one, he went to each crewman. If the man lay on his back, a single drop from a different vial on his lips was enough to get the job done. The poisons were painless, and the sounds of heavy breathing faded away one by one.