The Flames of Deception - A Horizon of Storms: Book 1 (37 page)

The
eerie shadows of the four men danced about the room. They could not
have been more different in appearance from each other. The first
was in his middling years, his coarse, auburn hair pulled back
tight and fastened with a silky black ribbon. A pony - tail spilled
out over his back. In the right light he could even have been
classed as handsome, but in the spectral, flickering candlelight
his beauty was distorted and disfigured and a scar that ran along
his cheek signalled that he was anything but tame. He wore a high
collared coat of navy blue and gold, with delicate lace that
spilled out from a white shirt underneath. He clasped his hands
together and scrutinised the others through his deep, grey
eyes.

The
second man opposite was old and bony. Glazed, inset blue eyes
weighed his counterparts through their misty, milky film. His thin
beard and wispy grey hair gave him an eccentric appearance, but the
look on his face was more murderous than mad. Around his neck he
wore a thick gold chain and a chunky pendant in the shape of a
raven hung from its length, its wings stretched out in flight. Two
emeralds for eyes caught the candlelight and winked menacingly. He
clutched at a thick black fur cloak around him, buttoned at the
neck with a thick, gaudy brooch of a gothic design.

The
third man, to the right of the second, was young in comparison, but
still older than the first. Thin, greased moustaches hung down from
his upper lip and dangled freely below his chin, from which a
small, trimmed beard spiked outwards. His clothes were markedly
different to the others. He wore bright colours: a deep blue robe
tied a yellow sash that cut across his skinny midriff. His
straight, slicked back hair, greying at his temples, was tucked
behind his ears, and he raised a thin, plucked eyebrow at the
others as they argued with each other. He was slim, with long
fingers and a tall neck, and he sat regally in his rickety chair,
observing the show in front of him.

Across from him sat the final man: a tall figure, towering
above even the third, who himself was decidedly tall even sitting
down. What marked the fourth man apart were his eyes. They were
brown - red and his irises were thin slits, shaped like those of a
snake. He too had a pony - tail like the first, though shorter and
more stylized than that of the other man. The clothes he wore were
like those of a western merchant: a brown and green waistcoat worn
atop a plain cotton shirt, criss-crossed with a lace tie at its
top. His face was jagged as if he had been clumsily carved from a
piece of coarse stone and like the other, he wore scars across his
face: one along his cheek, another across his nose, stretching up
to his brow. It was he who hammered his huge fists against the
table, ceasing the argument that was continuing on between
them.

“
Enough!
” he demanded in a deep, booming voice. “We are
achieving nothing sitting here arguing again!”

“
Perhaps you should have issued such an ultimatum
earlier,” the first, and youngest contested dryly. “It would have
saved us much of the evening. I could be sitting back in a comfy
chair, drinking brandy in the company of good women right now, if
you made these two shut up sooner!” He examined his fingernails as
he slumped in the chair, a thick- soled boot resting on the edge of
the table as he pushed himself backward so the chair pivoted on two
legs. “I had
two
young beauties waiting for me tonight: a young livery maid
with slender, tanned calves, brilliant bosom, a loose tongue and
even
looser
morals and a prostitute with the
dirtiest
laugh you've ever heard. Instead,
here I am sitting here listening to the same old bickering!
Hundreds
of bloody
years
of
bloody
bickering!”

The
red - eyed man pushed back his own chair and stood, leaning forward
across the table. His overbearing posture brought a disgruntled
look from the oldest man and an uncomfortable shifting of position
from the one with the long moustaches.

“
I don’t care
what
evening entertainment you had planned for yourself
Kala. Sometimes I think you forget exactly what it is you are
still
doing
here! You’ve grown too comfortable in your hedonistic
lifestyle.”

“
I
had to fill the years doing something Rajinal,” the man named Kala
scoffed. “Unlike you I chose to enjoy my isolation from
society.”

“
Well now is the time to remember that your duty is
to our master, not some
whore
who wishes to bleed you dry of every penny you
have left in your possession! As for
you
two,” he began, staring at the others angrily.
“The matter of sovereignty over the lands of Triska isn’t something
we will have
any
decision on. We have become side - tracked by your
selfish
greed at a crucial
point. We need to rethink our immediate plans in the light of this
new turn of events.”

“
Our
plans?” The oldest sneered, his voice crackling.
“As I
recall
these plans are not
ours
to claim. We could
never
be so visionary as to imagine such
possibilities! Not even in our
youth
did we even comprehend such an
idea!”

“
Oh let him
be
old man,” the youngest directed. “It was a term of phrase.
A slip of the tongue.
Besides
, when have
you
ever been so humble? Rotten old fig,” he
whispered, and then smiled at the withered man, who clicked his
tongue at him.

“
A ‘slip of the tongue’-” the old man accentuated,
“-could mean the difference between victory and defeat! That is the
delicacy of the events we have now set in motion. We are on a
precipice! So long we have laid low and waited and
now,
at the eleventh
hour the gods seek to take back control of this
game!"

“
Could we
please
get back to the
point
,” the third grumbled. “I am
sick
of metaphors and endless
prattle
from this one! I
managed to slip away this evening, my first opportunity for over a
week. Yet here we are wasting it with petty banter. I was
only
voicing my concerns
about what happens
after
we succeed."

"
If
we succeed," the oldest grumbled again.

"Maevik, one more word like that from you and I
will rip out that voice box from your brittle old throat and feed
it back to you!" the burly man barked. The old man fell silent, his
mouth twisted in distaste. "
Now,
are we all ready to get on?" The rest muttered
agreement. He folded his thick, hairy arms and shifted restlessly
on his chair, tapping his big, booted foot on the floor. He was a
giant of a man.

“
Where
had
we gotten to?” the youngest asked. The fourth took
the floor again.

“
We were discussing Taico Grimm. You were telling
us of his progress, Maevik? Or rather his
lack
of it. You had just informed us that his
assassination attempt on the princess had
failed.”

“
Yes. The wizard has reached her. Just as it was
foreseen, I
hasten
to add. He overpowered Grimm, despite the power I had
imbued in him. In the struggle that ensued, Grimm got his
head
cut
off.”

Kala scoffed. “Our investment in him is
truly
paying off! What
a
waste
of time that was. We should have let him
rot
.”

“
Grimm
may
still prove useful,” the burly man retorted,
holding up a hand. “Please Maevik, continue.”

“
The other two men depicted by him are
also
with the
princess.”

“
The
knight from Rina and the ansuwan?” Kala asked. Maevik
nodded.

“
Of
all the possibilities Grimm described, they were always amongst the
four who overcame our plans. Their presence is a result of the
gods’ interference and a threat to us,” Maevik said.

“
This is bad news,” the third said. “I feel it in my
bones.”

“
Nonsense Silar. Everything is still going to
plan!” said Rajinal. “They haven’t achieved
anything
yet.”

“
I don’t recall
any
of these recent events in any of our planning!”
Silar spat. “A single seeing stone has sent our plans spiralling
out of control! Now the girl is on her way to Crystal Ember to stop
the dragon from being released. A girl who should not even
be
possible!
”

“
Her presence is
why
we still need Grimm,” Maevik advised. “His
knowledge
is
still useful to us while she is alive.”

“
But Grimm’s very presence has
altered
those events he has foreseen.
How can we be sure of
anything?
” Silar asked.

“
We can’t,” said the burly man named Rajinal. “But
he
knows
her. And his presence here may be the one thing the
gods
didn’t
predict. We’ve taken their tool and moulded him into our
own.”

“
Perhaps. But Grimm is not as important as the
dragon. The return
hinges
on Sikaris being released. If there is no distraction, no
threat to draw the eyes of Triska-”

“
The dragon
will
be freed!” Maevik snapped. “I have sent more spawn
after the girl.”

“
I feel
so
much better,” Kala mocked. “The Helspawn and Grimm you sent
to take care of it before have worked so well so far! Bravo!” He
clapped his hands slowly, derisively.

“
As I
recall
,” Maevik growled, his half dead eyes regarding
the younger man icily, “Using Taico Grimm was your idea in
the
first
place?”

“
We
all
agreed we needed him!” Kala muttered back at
him.

The
room grew darker suddenly as the candle in front of them snuffed
out. Rajinal rose and picked up the holder from a pool of spilt
wax, speaking to the others as he went to change the
candle.

“
Is there any indication that the
full
extent of our plans
have been uncovered by anyone else?” he asked.

“
No,” Maevik growled. “There are no signs of any other
movement towards the south. It seems the seeing stone have not
compromised our efforts completely. Fortunately Mahalia is not
astute enough to have drawn the right conclusions from the
premonitions they intercepted.”

“
They have been astute enough to make an attempt
on
my
life!” Kala
exclaimed. “Two weeks ago one of their kind found me,
amongst
all
the people in
all
the places in Triska! You underestimate them too
much Maevik. They known about us, at least, which is only one step
away from their learning the full truth. Their net is closing in on
us.”

“
Wizards are tricky creatures. We all know how much they’ve
scuppered more than one of our plans to bring dysfunction to Triska
over the last few centuries,” Rajinal added. “But we have always
remained one step ahead of them.”

“
We must remain in hiding as much as we can until
the time is right,” Maevik advised. “We can use Taico Grimm to
scupper their plans. Remember that Grimm is not just useful to us
for his foresight. We need a vessel for the return. We have sought
after one for
so
long, and none has been as ripe a candidate as
him.”

“
He
is practically an empty shell,” Rajinal nodded. “One we have been
able to have considerable influence over.”

“
You’re
welcome
,” Silar said, steepling his
fingers.

Maevik turned to Kala. “Grimm is going to come to you. I
thought it best as my ability to provide more borrowed power is
clearly not enough. I suggest you make his abilities more
permanent. Give him enough firepower to stop the wizard and kill
the princess. That will tip the scales in our favour. Then we can
deal with Mahalia separately. As long as we remain hidden they
cannot stop us.”