The night grew old. The silent study was still but Patzau Mellen Minoc sat at his desk unable to sleep. The bells had stopped only an hour prior and the city descended into an eerie silence. On the far side of the room, a pair of spirits glimmered with an ephemeral shine under the soft candle light. One glowed with a flaming orange hue while its partner echoed the shape and colour of the waxy white candle. Patzau Minoc sat alone, lost in his own thoughts and fixated on the two spirits as they danced together across the room. It had been a long time since he last sat still long enough to have spirits appear before him. He hadn’t noticed when it had happened, but now he sat transfixed on their strange beauty. A light knock sounded on the door and the two spirits vanished. Only the flickering light of the candle remained. He blinked.

The knock sounded again, harder this time and Mellen spoke up. “Come in” he said.

Kuta entered the room. She wore her white robes. Her dark hair matched her dark eyes and the dark room. But even in the dim light, Mellen could recognize her weariness. Weariness, he realized, that matched his own. Spirits, its late, he thought to himself, stretching. An ache lingered in his back. Stretching seemed only to invigorate its presence. The young Aginjigaade closed the door behind her with a soft click and turned to face him.

“I need you to come with me” Kuta said. Mellen furrowed his brow, surprised by her words.

“I’ve been locked in this office for the past several hours,” Patzau Minoc said, “and you can’t even do me the courtesy of telling me what’s happened?”

“I’ll tell you on the way” Kuta said with conviction.

Who is this girl whose come and replaced my Aginjigaade? Mellen thought to himself, perplexed. “You’ve never once ordered me to do much of anything, Kuta.” Mellen said, “What has happened?”

“And since I have never before done so” Kuta said with a conviction she hoped was enough, “I expect you to understand that the need is great. Grab what you need. I’ll explain on the way.”

Patzau Minoc lifted himself from his chair and followed Kuta out of the room. To his surprise, several soldiers waited and fell in toe behind them as they made their way down the stairs into the guild lobby. Crossing the marble floors, they exited into the street where another company of soldiers and messengers lingered with antsy dispositions.

A soldier approached immediately to intercept them. “Patzau, we haven’t been given leave to send you home. Its still not safe. Please return inside.”

“No” Kuta said, intercepting the soldier, a captain by the sword on his hip and the colours of his uniform. “The Patzau is needed elsewhere. If he is in need of protection, assign a squad to guard us.”

The captain turned to face Patzau Minoc. The guild master gave him no indication as to how to proceed. The soldier glanced back and forth, unsure whose orders to follow. Unable or unwilling to fight over which orders trumped which, he acquiesced. “Fine. Where is it you wish to go?”

Mellen looked to Kuta for the answer. “We’re going to Mudtown” Kuta answered. Both the captain and Patzau Minoc stood, dumbfounded by her answer.

“I… I am not sure I can permit that right now” the captain said.

“And I am sure that you can” Kuta jabbed back. “Assign your soldiers. We leave at once.”

The captain looked to Patzau Minoc for support. Minoc seemed just as confused as he did. “Um, yes ma’am” the soldier acquiesced.

Their detail walked briskly through the dark city streets. Two dozen soldiers led the escort. Patzau Minoc noticed that the soldiers were on edge; extra vigilant in the dark cobbled streets. They carried spears and swords in hand, not in sheaths. None carried the ghata used for patrol work. War weapons. Who is dead?

“Talk” Patzau Minoc hissed.

“There was an attempt on Patzau Yohati’s life” Kuta said. “The city has gone into lockdown.”

“Bloody hell” Patzau Minoc said. He huffed uncomfortably from their quick pace. He was a walker, not a running man. “Why are we going to Mudtown?” he asked through ragged breaths.

“To deescalate.” Kuta said. “Yohati’s bent on a war path. He’s taken control of the soldiers and is trying to push an attack into Mudtown in retaliation.”

“Why are we trying to stop him?” Mellen asked.

“What?” Kuta asked, incredulous.

“Why are we doing this?” he repeated. “You and me?”

“Spirits, for a man I consider to be exceptionally smart, that is an incredibly stupid question.” Kuta spat. Anger flashed across Mellen’s face.

Patzau Minoc grabbed her by the arm and she spun, facing him. The soldiers came to a halt, some fixated on their unexpected stop, others fixated on the shadows they now feared. He stared at her, angry with her tone and she looked back at him, furious at his apathy. Mellen bit his tongue and swallowed that anger. She’s upset, Mellen realized. It was plain across her face. She’s scared and angry. And because I am opposing her, it is being redirected at me. But it is not for me.

“You are being unfair to me, Kuta.” Mellen said sternly between panted breaths. “I do not know the details of what has happened—of what is happening. You do. I need you to tell me what you know for me to make informed decisions. I trust your intentions, but clearly there is a risk being taken. For spirit’s sake, there’s fear in these men’s eyes. Like they’ve seen a ghost.”

“Innocent people are being slaughtered” Kuta shouted. Tears began to well in her eyes. “There are so many damned reasons, Mellen. Mudtown is burning! The city will suffer for it. Yohati controls an army that shouldn’t answer to him and he’s marching them on innocents! On regular people who didn’t do anything. Its fucking wrong! If he crosses this line, the course will be irreversible. Punishing the people outside the walls for this heinous act voices what they’ve always feared; that by living outside the city’s walls they are not seen as true Casoyans. As equals. That they will always be outsiders. That Casoyan justice is weak and corruptible by individuals who hold power. That they are enemies in the eyes of the Patzau.”

Mellen let go of her white robes as she cried. He looked at her and for the first time in their year working together, she looked like the child she still was. She was barely older than his own daughter. And where are her parents? He wondered. In Mudtown, he surmised. Or elsewhere outside the city’s walls. In Yohati’s crosshairs, that much is certain. He reached out and wrapped her in his arms. She was tiny compared to him. At first she jerked away but then some part of her gave up and she wept in his arms in the middle of the dark street. The soldiers waited awkwardly, pretending not to pay attention. She was a little girl, crying in the street, but she was also an Aginjigaade capable of killing them all as far as they were concerned. The odd contrast of someone of her rank and stature crying like a child unnevered them. Hell, it unnerves me a little.

She broke away from him, and he let her. She wiper her eyes with her sleeves “Let’s move then” Patzau Minoc said. “You can tell me more as we go.” She was right, of course. Blood begets blood.

They hurried across the city but despite the haste, they arrived far too late. By the time they reached the Lake Gate, Mudtown was already ablaze. Black smoke pillared skyward under the early glow of dawn. As they approached the gate, Kuta and Patzau Minoc were led toward Patzau Ashill who coordinated the mess that had become a small military campaign.

“Patzau Minoc” Patzau Ashill said with genuine surprise. “What are you doing here?”

He looked at Kuta. She stared only out over Mudtown. “Was this your doing?” He asked.

“Was what my doing?” She asked, accusatory.

“This” he said, gesturing towards the wooden hovels that burned before them.

“I’m cleaning up the mess” she said, simply. “Now is not the time to find out why or how it happened. Now’s the time to fix it. If you’re not here to help me fix this, I would like you to leave.”

“Tell me, did you order this or Yohati?” Mellen pressed.

“Now is not the time” she replied.

“Did Yohati do this?” Mellen repeated sternly. He punctuated each word.

Patzau Ashill let out a hard sigh, “Yes.”

“Spirits have mercy on us” Mellen said. He let out a sigh that matched hers. “I never knew the old man had this in him.”

Kuta spoke, but remained fixed on the burning village, “The lure of evil can be found in both the wickedest of intentions and the noblest.”

Patzau Minoc stared down at her, his little assistant. His young Aginjigaade. How does one so young come upon such wisdom? He turned back to Patzau Ashill again. “As you understand it now, what has happened since the first bell tolled and now?” Mellen asked.

“Too many things to count, Mellen.”

“Such as?”

“I don’t have time for this right now” she said as several officers lined up to share their reports.

“I can help you, but you won’t let me. We’re fighting the same fight” Mellen argued.

She rubbed her eyes with her gloved hands. “Spirits, Mellen, you make it fucking difficult–”

“Fine, I’ll let you be, Yanata” Mellen growled. “Where’s Elvi? I’ll talk to somebody actually willing to help.”

“She’s fighting the fires” Yanata snapped. “Don’t go down there.”

“Or what?” Mellen challenged.

“Or I’ll be paying my condolences to Mira and your daughter when I attend your funeral. Worse, I’ll have to contend with suppressing my smugness with regret for not convincing you against your own stubborn stupidity.” Mellen opened his mouth to object. “Stay here” she ordered, not giving him the chance to argue.

“I’ve got things under control. I’ll get you caught up to speed and involved in the cleanup. You’re an arrogant son of a bitch Mellen and I can’t fucking stand you.”

“But?” he quipped.

“But nothing.” Yanata said, almost losing her frown. “How much do you already know?”

“Absolutely nothing” he said, “I arrived back at my guild and the alarm bells sounded. I’m whisked into my office for safety.”

“Sprits.” Yanata said, “Well the short of it is that Yohati and those foreign princes of his were attacked after leaving the auction. Ambushed. By thieves or soldiers. I don’t know. What I do know is that the attackers were gang affiliated. From the mountain tribes” she added, quickly glancing over at Kuta once. The glance didn’t go unnoticed. “I’ve heard a few versions of the story now, but to me it seems like an assassination attempt meant to look like a robbery. Thugs appeared from the alleyways and raided the carts for valuables, killing all in their way.”

“What makes you suspect an assassination?” Mellen asked.

“Multiple tales tell of an archer on the rooftop. Highly skilled. Killed several. Something happened at the auction and those foreigners with Yohati were up in arms about it. Actually, I sent my daughters over to look into it…” Yanata realized she had forgotten that detail until now. She felt guilty for forgetting them again. She added, “I don’t know what came of that yet.”

“I don’t understand. Why is this important?” Mellen asked.

“Whatever caused the stir with those princes kept the lot of them at the Auction House late” she explained. “Yohati got tired of waiting and swapped to the lead cart where the princes were supposed to sit. That archer put two shots right into the seat where Patzau Yohati was supposed to be seated. The older prince died in his place.”

“How do we know it wasn’t just an assassination against the princes?” Kuta asked.

“We don’t. Nor does it matter now” Yanata answered. “Yohati claims he was the intended target. It no longer matters if he was or wasn’t since he’s already acted out in retribution.”

A fat raindrop fell from the sky and exploded on the back of her hand. Kuta looked skyward, feeling her prayers may yet be answered.

“Then how did we get here?” Mellen asked, looking out over the burning town. “To this?”

“The surviving soldiers brought Yohati to safety and then sought reinforcements. Yohati directed them to find and capture the perpetrators. The chase led to Mudtown and Yohati didn’t back down. He swung for the hornet’s nest and ordered all available soldiers to move against the gang dens we’ve been monitoring. As you can guess, all hell broke loose. When I arrived, fires were already spreading. A dozen soldiers are dead. Way more in Mudtown. Tons of arrests. I seized control from Yohati, who had been dictating orders from his estate. I’ve been working to cease hostilities and get the fires out ever since.”

“He can’t get away with this” Mellen spoke in a serious undertone, “this is a severe overreach of power.”

The rain began to fall in earnest. Both Patzau looked up, welcoming the cool early morning rain. An aide of Patzau Ashills appeared with an umbrella. Yanata waved the girl away. Minoc waved her back his way instead. The poor girl flinched under Yanata’s undeserved scowl.

“The man is attacked in the streets and you want him to lose his seat on the council for it?”

“The man seized control of the military and launched an unsanctioned campaign against civilians” Mellen countered. “Don’t play dumb with me and pretend more innocent people will have died this day than guilty ones. We cannot abide by this sort of vigilante justice!”

“It’s not that simple, Mellen”

“Well, it should be” Patzau Minoc said flatly. “If there are no consequences for his actions, they are given legitimacy. And if they are legitimate, then we have given all Patzau to the right to seize control from you when we deem it necessary. And if his right to your powers was lawful, then the damage caused becomes just in the eyes of the eight guilds. If we wish for Casoyans to trust in us, their governors, then these things can not be true. The guilds are supposed to be better than the tyrant kings of old, not just like them.”

Kuta stood in front of the gate. Most of the soldiers apart of Patzau Ashill’s administration team had retreated into the gate’s large archway as the rain began to fall. Dousing the fires would be much easier under the rain. She stayed out open air, letting the rain envelop her. It washed over her, slowly soaking her to her core. And within the rain, she felt the blessings of the spirits. She felt their justice and mercy with every shiver. Never before had smoke been so bitter and rain been so sweet.