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56: The Silversmith
For many, time is a troublesome thing. It races much too fast, crawls far too slowly, and ends too quickly, and for Aurelia, it seemed only to get worse as the days swept past. The more men and women she sent out to search for one of those elusive amulets, the less they seemed to find that indicated their existence. But though the search had been largely fruitless thus far, that fact only made the Malha that much more determined to find one, if indeed any existed at all.
She had even consulted with Abaddon himself, and he had said nothing useful, though Aurelia knew that this was not necessarily indicative of what he truly knew about the item in question. Though the ruler of the realm Aurelia considered herself a part of, Abaddon's history of deceit was no secret. But even though he always kept truth just out of reach, he never left them completely without answers. Perhaps that was part of the attraction of the great fallen angel. He had ultimate power and answers to questions so obscure, so hidden, that no one else, other than the cursed Enemy, had them.
The Malha paced back and forth from one end of her ship's bridge to the other as the crew continued their routine duties, although a bit warily. They knew that something was afoot. They were traveling through space that none of them had ever seen before – none except Aurelia herself. The farther they went, the more memories came back to her, memories from her childhood.
Between their warps, familiar stars appeared, ones that Aurelia had seen so many years ago. But when they were in the midst of the stars that once surrounded her home, the fabled world called Guardiana, there was no planet to be seen.*
"It… is not here, Malha." The navigator said wincing as he did so, expecting a blow at any moment for an outcome he could not have controlled.
The Malha started to curse the name of the Enemy, then thought better of it as she remembered the last time she had uttered that Name in vain and instead cursed the name of one of the more annoying imps she had had dealings with in the past. But she did not, as the navigator feared, "reward" him for the failure. Instead Aurelia folded her arms over her chest and glared out into space.
"So you did hide yourself from the world." She hissed, "Rest assured, Guardiana, I will find you and your secrets." Then she turned around and with one angry step after another, walked up to the captain's chair and sat. "Turn around and head for the nearest planet. There is nothing here for us… for now. Perhaps we shall find what we seek elsewhere."
"Yes, Malha." The navigator replied, letting out the breath he had been holding and wiping away the sweat that had beaded on his forehead. "The nearest world is four hundred light-years' distant."
"A short trip then." Aurelia muttered, "Very good. XO!" she addressed the man who had been chosen as second in command, "Inform the crew that we will be arriving at our destination soon and that they are all to prepare to disembark and make a thorough search of the world when we arrive."
The XO bowed, "Yes, Malha." Then he sent out the announcement.
Aurelia sat quietly in the captain's chair, watching the warp lines go by outside the ship and thinking.
"I cannot leave this to them alone," Aurelia gritted her teeth in rage at her situation, "I am the chosen of Diana – of Abaddon himself – surely they will guide me to the evidence I seek." She pondered this for a moment, briefly considering not sending the crew out, but then thought better of it. "Even if I am the one led to the information I need, it will be better to have the rest of them roaming around in case of… trouble." She smirked, "Yes, yes… let them look, it will make my task that much easier."
The ship was quiet through the brief warp, and by the time the nearby planet was floating beneath the ship, every member of the crew who was trained for any form of combat was ready to depart, to scour this world bare to find what the Malha sought, because they all knew that, if they returned empty handed, someone would suffer, and no one wanted to be that someone.
The ship landed in the middle of a desert area, filled with sand, dirt, and the stubbiest tress anyone had ever seen, but to the east there was a small town, its lights just starting to burn brightly in the deepening twilight.
"Go." Aurelia ordered the men and women under her command, "Go and find anything that hints of the existence of that amulet and where it came from. The visage of the Malha Kyren Guardiana was not etched into it by mistake."
"Yes, Malha!" the chorused reply came, and then the troops moved out.
Once the group was out of sight, nearly on the outskirts of the town, Aurelia looked towards the city, a feeling a great urgency beginning to build within her. Just when it felt like she could bear the strain of it no more, she slinked away from the ship, leaving it tightly locked up and in the care of the XO.
She smiled as she ran at a speed well past mortal capabilities, skirting over the terrain with not even a second thought. She carried with her her weapon of choice, a katana, black bladed and razor sharp. It was sheathed for now, until she needed it, which she was certain she would. Words and threats only went so far with some people. Others needed a little… more encouragement.
She almost seemed to race the world's sun as it swept down towards the horizon. Just before it dipped its last ray out of sight, Aurelia entered the town. Not even breathing hard, she darted here and there through several streets, seeing locals milling about, seemingly unconcerned about anything outside their little, insignificant home.
The buildings were made from a substance resembling clay or mortar, and they stood about the height of an average, one-story dwelling on any given world she had seen. The houses had shuttered windows, but no panes, allowing the elements into the houses freely.
Frankly, the place looked primitive at best. She caught sight of well-crafted swords being sold by a street vendor, and even some energy weapons floating around – probably not a very strict weapons control policy here. But in all of her observations, she never saw anything more advanced than basic electricity and some indications of running water – the most basic accommodations.
She scoffed at the silly men and women who walked or ran through the streets, oblivious to her and those in her service. If these simpletons hadn't advanced beyond this by now, surely they weren't very bright.
She stayed in the shadows for some time, watching, waiting. One thing that intrigued her was the color of the people's skin. It was a pale color, very close to her own and with variations that ranged from quite dark to almost pasty white. These were clearly people whose origins were close to the inhabitants of Guardiana, or, at the very least, close to the Iscandari people, though their tongue was very near to the language of Guardiana, but with some understandable differences.
She was just about to sneak out of her hiding place and find a new one when a commotion began not too far down the street.
A young woman was running away from two burly men who chased her relentlessly down the main thoroughfare, straight towards the place where Aurelia was concealed. The woman screamed as one of the men leapt toward her, trying to pin her to the ground.
Her clothes were ragged, her hair unwashed and her face and hands were filthy, but she dodged the tackle and kept running, looking back every couple of seconds to see where her pursuers were.
She came to within twenty feet of Aurelia's hiding place before the second man caught her and threw her to the ground.
The woman screamed again, the sound piercing the air and ringing in Aurelia's ears. The Malha narrowed her eyes in annoyance at the urchin's shrill voice and thought to herself, "Hurry up and shut the little tramp up!"
The man clamped a hand over the girl's mouth and grunted something to her that made the girl shake in fear. Aurelia couldn't quite make out what he had said, but understood that it probably involved some threat of bodily harm if she didn't shut up.
Even though the girl didn't scream again, she kept on fighting the giant who was now trying to tie her up. Finally he was sick of the girl's struggling and yelled at her.
The words were almost understandable to Aurelia, so close were they to her first language, and she got the sense of the meaning, something like, "If you don't keep still I'll sell you to the miners!"
Aurelia let a smile spread over her face. Perhaps these backwater yokels weren't as behind the times as she had thought. A slave trade was an excellent step in their development as a civilization. Abaddon enjoyed such things, and so they also pleased Aurelia. What better way to dominate the mortal spirit than to take away everything from them, subject them to torture, or other demeaning forms of punishment so inhuman that they lost a sense of who they were? She very nearly laughed aloud as she watched the master haul away his property, now securely tied up and silent. The other man who had been pursuing the girl walked in front of the master – perhaps a son or other relative with a vested interest in the business – or the girl for that matter.
"Well, I didn't expect such a fine display of entertainment from this town," she thought, quite pleased now. Then suddenly, she saw the barest glint of something silver – a chain? – hanging out of the man's back pocket and jangling ever so softly as he walked. But what intrigued her even more was the oval-shaped outline of something attached to that chain, "Perhaps they will be of help after all."
The Malha slipped away into the shadows of the street and followed the slaver quietly, never drawing attention to herself. If she could get close enough to the man without the girl or the other man noticing her, perhaps she could acquire the chain, and whatever was attached to it, without the master's knowledge, or perhaps she could come up with a more fun way to take the thing.
The streets were dark now, except for the light of the stars, a tiny moon, and a few street lamps, some electric and others running on some sort of oil. There were plenty of sizeable shadows to hide in as the merchants hadn't bothered to section themselves off into one portion of the town. There were booths everywhere; some even appeared to house merchants who had traveled from other portions of the planet to trade here before going on their way to their next stop.
Ah well, as long as none of the merchants decided to go out for an evening stroll, Aurelia didn't really care as long as she got what she wanted. She felt for her katana, gripped the hilt for an instant, then let it go again, merely reassuring herself that it was there for her to use when the time came.
She followed the three in silence for a long time as they wove through the narrowing streets, coming near the heart of the town. The houses became grander, more modern and showing signs of better technology than the outer buildings. Soon they would reach the man's dwelling, Aurelia was sure of it. She had to move before he entered his home.
A few houses later, the man who led the way began to walk faster, looking steadfastly at one house in particular.
"Now!"
Aurelia called on the power of the spirits under Diana's control and bid one of them to cause the slave master to behold a sight that stopped him in his tracks. The Malha secured a translator to her skull, just behind the base of her ear and was able to pick up every word this time.
"What's the matter, Ulric?" the other man asked when the master stopped walking.
"It's – it's nothing," the master shook his head and rubbed at his eyes with one hand, while still holding the girl over his shoulder with the other. When the apparition didn't go away, he growled, "Here, take the girl back to her pen. I'll be along shortly."
He passed the girl off to the other man who took her without protest, "Don't stay out too late, you know how unhappy that woman of yours gets when you're not back in time to eat her monstrous cooking."
"Yes, yes I know. Just go on." Ulric shooed the other man away.
When the second man had disappeared with the girl, Ulric began cursing at the apparition, "Get out; leave me alone you foul spirit. I've done nothing to hinder you. I fully support your control. Why do you haunt me with the sight of you?"
Aurelia smirked again then stepped out of the shadows and came up behind Ulric. "Perhaps it is because… I wish it to stay."
The slaver's eyes bulged in alarm and he whirled around to see the source of the voice that had appeared from nowhere. "Who are you?! Where'd you come from?" he demanded.
"Oh," Aurelia purred, circling Ulric slowly. "I do not think that you are the one who will be asking the questions, slave master." She raised an eyebrow at him and the man's expression transformed into one of confusion.
"How do you know me? I've never seen you before." He said, "And why do you speak so strangely?"
Aurelia realized that she had dropped back into her first language, the Guardiana tongue, but was delighted that this man could understand her even after she had gone without practice for so many long years.
"I am not of this world, slave master." She replied, not bothering to hide her glee at having him trapped here in the middle of the street so close to his own home. "There are some things I must… ask you." She let her hand drop casually to the hilt of her sword, "Shall I begin, or would you like to protest some more?"
"No, no, go on and ask," he gritted his teeth and glared at her, "There is nothing here that you would want anyway. We do not get visitors, so there is nothing here that could have been stolen from you, outsider."
Aurelia chuckled, "I would not bet my life on that, silly man." She unsheathed her katana and was pleased to see the slaver's open admiration for such a fine weapon. "Now," she walked around behind Ulric and swatted the pocket containing the silver chain with the flat of her sword, "what have you here?"
The man jumped, not expecting such a strange first move from this very odd, very disturbing woman.
Ulric hesitated and received another swat for his silence. It wasn't enough to truly hurt him, but it stung. "It…is something from my past, from my family, a part of our history. It isn't worth –"
He was cut off by a knee to his gut. The force of it knocked the wind out of him and he fell onto his knees in the dirt, gasping for air.
"Shall I ask again?" the woman stood over him, sword pointed at his forehead as he looked up at her, the street lights seeming to create a blazing halo of angry fire all around her.
"No – no," he rasped, "It is… a silver amulet… It has a woman's face on it… Someone my ancestor's supposedly worshipped." He reached back to his pocket and tugged on the chain, the amulet coming free of his pocket and coming to rest in his hand. Suddenly, he thrust the amulet skyward and began to utter the familiar chant that she had heard for many years, though the man's words were in a different tongue, he nonetheless attempted to summon the power of the Malha Guardiana – the spirit of Diana itself.
Tired of the display, Aurelia swatted the man's hand, this time with the sharp side of the sword. He cried out in pain and dropped the amulet, grasping his bleeding hand with his undamaged one. Aurelia ignored him, picking up the amulet out of the dust and carefully brushing away the dirt. She blew the grains out of the delicate crevices of the face that had been molded onto the amulet.
Ulric's blood dripped into the sand as he tried to staunch the bleeding, all the while staring at the woman who had attacked him. "What do you want…?" he asked.
Aurelia didn't answer as she reverently held the silver piece in her hands and stared at it, noting in triumph that the face on the amulet was not her own, but another's. Then she realized that, though it very closely resembled Kyren Guardiana, the visage was not hers either.
The Malha stared at the amulet then took a deep breath and held it as she turned the piece over. There, on the back was etched the name of the creator of this work, but then she cursed when she realized that she couldn't read it. It wasn't anything like the language of her past, or her present, and it wasn't written in the tongue of this backward place either.
She turned her fiery gaze to the slave master and demanded, "What does it say?!"
The man stared back, wide-eyed with fright as Aurelia jabbed the tip of her blade up close to his eye. "It – it is not in any language that I know," he began, then, seeing the blade coming closer he continued, suddenly beginning to shake with fright, "But my family has passed down the translation for many generations."
"Go on." Aurelia growled when he stopped talking.
"It says, 'Demetrius of Ephesus, Master Silversmith.'" He whispered.
"Thank you." Aurelia smiled, right before impaling the slave master right through his left eye. Her sword glittered, wet with his blood.
He was dead before his body hit the dirt.
Not bothering to get rid of the corpse, Aurelia wiped her sword clean, sheathed it, and flew back through the dark streets, not caring now if anyone saw her. This discovery was even more significant than finding an amulet created by the order of Kyren Guardiana. The face that adorned this amulet was none other than Seda Guardiana, the Malha who had led the followers of Diana to the stars.*
This, Aurelia knew, was no mere trinket to be passed from father to son; this was the first amulet, the one Diana had had created.
Aurelia closed her hand around it as she flew through the night, back to her ship, a triumphant smile on her evil face.
* The planet Guardiana – a reference to the first book, The Guardiana; Guardiana was hidden by the inhabitants of the world after Kyren Guardiana left. They wished to pursue peace, so they hid themselves from the Malha so that she could never find them again.
* Seda Guardiana – a reference to the first book The Guardiana; Seda Guardiana was the Malha who Diana and Abaddon used to ensure that humans left Earth to inhabit the stars. It was an attempt to separate a portion of humanity from the Word of God, but the attempt failed and complete copies of every piece of Adonai's Book were secretly stowed away on the ship.