The Just - Charade of the Teshtaars

The street was busy, buzzing with sound of vehicles struggling to get past this narrow market lane. Fisherwomen hurling abuses at each other for selling their stock to one god sent lady, or very close to one, she looked like she came willingly for some seafood which would translate into money for one lucky fisherwoman and alchemically transform to marks on her son's cheeks when a third of a drunken giant also known as the father beats him. Beggars on both sides of the street were programmed to be epileptic and well versed at uttering coin showering verses. I wondered if this was a prayer, if it was, it was shallow and answered very quickly. Few starry eyed men were lured into a chamber damp from the pipes leaking on exteriors of a place full of women eerily offering a mating call. I wondered if these lust filled men would take those women for partners, like animals do. Then a madam collected money from some men who exited that chamber. Further close and it looked as the street spat people, they seemed to emerge from nowhere and disappeared by the trickling sand. It was an ocean of faces, some covered, some ugly, some disheveled, some joyous, some lustful, some shouting. I wondered what caused this affair. Was it a course of nature? Was this how we were meant to function as a species? I put my hood back on my head; felt my dagger, firm in its holster and walked right into the street.
         Three weeks had passed and I was devoid of any leads I could get to find Asmi. Khadir declared that she held the key to all information we needed and she is to be delivered alive. I had scarce belief of his words, the indebtedness of my own life had led me until here. I was rescued by Khadir as a juvenile from a pack of marauders who would kill for anything of value. Khadir was swift in his execution, had he been a few seconds late, I would have been a thing of the past. My reclaimed life delivered me straight to the vermin filled streets of Pley, but then again, I was left with to lose this one life. Growing up as a son born of ministers for parents, I had the wants of a prince. I was lavishing my way up to adulthood and living a life full of sybaritic pleasures, I hardly worried. Wealth implied power until I saw my parents exterminate by two cryptic looking men in front of me. My parents didn't lose their life for wealth. I was avowed to run away before they perished. If there was hell, this would be it. I couldn't discern the events of that moment.

As much as I hate to admit it, I had a ruinous purpose, avenging my parents. I just didn't know where to start. I spent the next few days getting ready for my new life, one that would get me answers I yearned for. Before I knew, I found myself being trained into assassination by a clan who called themselves The Just. Khadir was the man holding the helms and keeping them together. An assemblage of people with pasts darker than the night seas, a present that endlessly scarred their souls and a future full of fearful uncertainties. Here I was, my wealth mattered naught. I had to learn their ways for getting closer to answers I needed. The initiation was painful, my right hand was branded with seal of The Just, which looked like a lion sleeping in a fetal position on a pile of skulls. A seal as grand as the folk it represented, the ones who pass judgment. And now, I was a part of them too. I liked it, for a Judge, emotions are easy to read when not cornered, they are honest. A lie will bring one death by the hands of The Just, honesty might at times save, and at times death would look like a gift. All we Judges carry this burden and with time, it only gets heavier.

Seven years had passed and today I found myself marching along the notorious Menza Street in the city of Pley. People were brushing against me boldly, as a prudent acceptance of me as a part of a moving puzzle they all strived to fit in. I almost felt bad for their oblivion, or I did for my own. I knew nothing. I savored this feeling, it gave me a chance to rattle the order and discover. But here, I felt I was nearing a dead end. I settled to disengage and pursue the said probe the next day. While striding back I saw a stout man thrash a child brutally. The child cried incessantly and to that, my dagger shone from the evening light on the stout man's neck as if smirking, foreknowing. I wondered if it was alive, or it gleamed with my own emotions, which I hide very well. I asked him calmly, "Where would you like your head to be Mr. Runt Sir? On your body? Or on the floor for this child to kick and get even with the kind treatment you are offering him. Trust me Mr. Runt Sir, you wouldn't feel a thing". "Please let me go", "That's what this child has been saying on and on". As I sensed I was drawing attention, I paid for the supplies the child stole, slapped him and set him free and the runt too. "I have a lot of eyes and ears and if this behavior continues, you will lose your head", I threatened the runt and advanced on my path. As I was shifting ahead, I felt a pair of eyes gawk at me, I recollected that face and started to chase the brat. His face was burnt below his nose, he looked like a mud doll badly put together. I could sense fear in his eyes, I wanted to know why?

My chase led me to an abandoned graveyard, he limped on a stone and fell. I caught him by his collar and hit hard on the back of his head with my dagger's pommel. It was best to take him to Khadir, I concluded. He would make sure we squeeze out some intel about the Teshtaars. I was fortunate I could get hold of this brat in the wretched city, he was known to have ties with the Teshtaars. I lugged him and started hiking towards the main street. An explosion deafened me for a moment, my ears started buzzing, the smell of the explosives left a stinging sensation, and my head was getting heavy. All of a sudden I felt my insides jolt, I felt a kick, hard in my stomach. I gasped for breath and didn't sense what hit me. I saw a giant silhouette while I fell on the ground with my right shoulder and my head on that brat's body. I heard a gunshot fired very close to me, I didn't grasp what took effect before I saw some smoke and blood escape the temple of that brat who just had been slayed. I was filled with fury. Who were these men? Why did they kill him? What this has to do with me? I pulled out my dagger and dashed towards the killer, he had long hair, tied back to his head. He was smiling all the while dodging my attacks. "Men of The Just, don't you think you're too young to be one kid?" he said sheepishly.

Before I could retort, I was surrounded my five men who started showering punches at me. I kept fending them off. I inferred their strategy, they were creating a deviation for the killer to escape. I saw him recede in the woods while I was fighting his henchmen. I could read their moves, they were not trained assassins, I wondered what reasons they had for doing this, I was tempted to pass judgment but I was outnumbered. I had lost the sight of the man who killed the brat I had kidnapped. I had to get back alive and notify Khadir about these events. I was left with no choice, I had to execute the henchmen for their unwarranted interference. I read all their moves and created a deadlock. I was able to kill two of them in a flash. The rest got weary, they became organized and their actions were noticeably balanced. We started sparring again and they triumphed in heaving me down numerous times. The fight looked ceaseless, I was exhausted. I had to think of something to end this fight quickly.

Abruptly the tallest man shrieked some blood from his chest, his partners were in a state of shock. A silhouette appeared towards the left of the tall man and a blade pierced the other man's stomach who was standing in the way. No sooner did the third one jump to trample the killer, a blade cut right through his neck and he spewed blood over the white cape of the killer. I saw the killer turn over me, she unsheathed both her blades from the dead to take a strike at me, I saw her jump in the air and my dagger's pommel hit her right wrist. She had crossed her arms and was about to slice me using both her blades, I studied her deep brown irises, a deer would get jealous, her slender body had the curves that would make a full moon shy and her hair were darker than a weathered mafic, and a scar on the right side of her face that looked just like the crescent blades she wielded. "Identify yourself", she exclaimed in a voice calmer than her curious blades. I believed it was time, an assassin of her stature deserved the right to my identity. "You are standing in front of Judge Karn, Guardian of Truth, Seeker of Peace and a man of The Just". "I can't stand murderers who kill in the name of Justice without a fair trial and calling obsessive executions an act of peace, today, you are the felon, the judgment is upon you". "Speak for yourself woman, what you just did was no distinct, and cry your name woman? I need to know who I am about to atone with Justice". "Goddaughter to emperor Vaalab of Fenvis, the ultimate Scimitar, Asmi. I am the one will to take your head to my lord".

I tend to hide my emotions very well, but I think she saw right through them. My search had ended. "Welcome my love, I've looked for you at moon and back". The clank of her blades and my dagger filled the air, only to be muted by thunder that brought down tears from up above.

To be continued...