Disposable Hero Ch. 01 Pt. 05

I said accusingly, "What the fuck? This is your doing isn't it?" I accused the priestess without any proof what so ever.

Dirzune knew this was something and said, "You know what this symbol is?" She turned to my patient and said, "Zilvra, did it feel different when his hand came closer?"

I didn't know what to say, do I tell her that is my family crest? How did she know that it was? If she didn't then how did it get there?

I was snapped out of my thought when I heard, "I didn't feel anything it just got brighter."

The priestess said certain that he knew and wanting to confirm their conection, "Henri, you do know what that symbol is, don't you?"

I had to stall or distract her and offered, "It's not that, I have this mark on my left pectoral and she has a mark on her left breast. Could it be that our bodies are reacting to the different blood?"

The priestess looked disappointed she knew he was lying and said, "I have never put our blood into a human or human blood into us, so I can't say no. I wonder what would happen if you were to touch each others marks."

I saw Zilvra begrudgingly reach for my tattoo as it began to glow brighter. As she touched it I felt a sharp pain, like you get with a migraine, it passed and I felt a throb in my head like my blood was pounding in my skull. I raised my hand on instinct and as I brought it closer to Zilvra's tattoo I saw her nipple harden making me wonder if this felt good to her. Just then I knew she felt something when my hand got closer, was it because she was touching mine or was it something else, my mind told me to hide this fact from the priestess and so I moved my arm so that it was interfering with the priestesses view. I touched her tat and saw her eyes start to change from a light red that would be closer to red than pink, they started to glow blue a dark blue like my tat was, and she closed her eyes to hide them as a wave rushed past me.

I saw a myriad of images of Zilvra at different points in her life, I saw the abuse she had endured as a child, I saw her getting even with Shyntaunlin, I had a name for my tormentor at last, saw how she was ostracized because she could not do magic like they could. I saw her training she was as a soldier would and she had the soul for it, with just enough underhandedness to keep her sisters at bay.

I looked at the priestess and saw she was studying us, now I know how mice feel in a lab.

She asked with a smirk certain that we had some kind of a connection, "So, what did you feel?"

I replied going for crass, "The soft breast of a 186 year old, I must say very good for a 186." As I smiled like pervert and pulled my hand away.

I saw the eyes of Zilvra look at me as they flashed that red glow that came when they got angry. The smirk on Dirzune told me she knew I was lying, but what did she really know? What was all of that anyhow? What was happening to me and was the same thing happening to Zilvra? I knew who the woman was in this room and I could tell the difference between them. She had never told me her name, but Zilvra knew it, does that mean I read her mind? Can she read mine? Why is this happening to me? Did she know that the tattoo on her chest was my family crest? Would she tell Dirzune?

Dirzune seemed satisfied with what had happened and left it at that, I guess she felt she had time to piece this together. As she led me back I could see the wheels working and debated striking up a conversation, but I didn't like playing this game not understanding the rules, I needed to study them and learn I couldn't just react. When I got back to my cell Dirzune was being very nice to me, if had to compare her to all the others I had met she was by far the kindest this didn't sit well with me I understood how a mouse felt when it had been caught by a cat and toyed with just before it died. My thoughts were interrupted as I walked past a door not far from my cell and felt a tingling in my chest right were that mark was, I saw Dirzune wince in pain as she passed that door, something in there doesn't agree with her.

Dirzune left the Hla'ath estate she rode back to the cloister with a plan developing in her mind and hopping she was wrong about the future as her discomfort of Henri being down here ket growing. When she arrived at the cloister she had a rider go off to the tower and bring the headmaster and archmage Rikton to her, she gave a note to the rider to give to Rikton, it asked him to bring the book she had seen yesterday about the Mountain Dwarves with. Next she had an archivist dig through all of their records about renewal legends.

Finally she called for Micarylafay Hla'ath the second daughter of the matron of house Hla'ath. Her plan was simple, she would have Micarylafay would spy on Zilvra and her house, while she looked up the facts about renewal and compared them to what was in the book the Rikton had, even if it meant letting him peek at such documents, she knew if played right he would find what she needed and she would get a little nudge to use Henri's word as a brief smile crossed her face at the thought.

When Micarylafay entered she took her to a warded room free of listening spells, they could almost taste the abyssal taint of the spells that were in this room.

She said in her normally cold tone, "Micarylafay, I have called you here to perform part of your sworn duty to Lloth."

Mica as she liked to be called said, "How may I be of service head priestess."

Dirzune said her voice thick with malice, "I want you to go home and keep a close eye on all of them, but keep a closer eye on Zilvra and the human. You will report everything no matter how small it is to me and only to me. This meeting never happened and should I find out other wise and I will, well I let you worry about that."

Mica replied wanting to make sure she had everything crystal clear, "It will be as you say, but may ask why I am watching them? I know Zilvra has no love for our ways but she walked away from magic, if anything she is the only one in the house that could be called an ally because she doesn't like any of us.

Why is this human so important that I need spy on him? Is he strong enough to last down here? I know when Alak has brought humans down here we had to keep them in a room with a lot of light and keep our ways away from them. They are very fragile and after a short time they start to long for death without doing anything to them, if left down here he would take his own life."

Dirzune replied with a convincing lie, "That is why you must keep an eye on him, I want to know how he is adjusting and how he interacts with your family, as compared to the others."

Mica nodded and walked out of the room followed by Dirzune, as a disciple was leading Rikton into her office, Dirzune was in charge of priestesses who had both divine and arcane magic to use. It was a good post for her, as an inquisitor having access to the arcane helped in her investigations as well as using Shrilara to deal with those who needed to be removed quietly.

The Shrilara were like the Blood Sisters but under the control of the high priestess and as their director Dirzune could do whatever she wanted with them as long as it was kept very quiet, while Blood Sisters were seen in public Shrilara where thought to be spirits called forth by the priestesses to get rid of any who could oppose them.

Dirzune greeted Rikton warmly before leading him to her private chambers and activating many wards to keep prying eyes and ears away.

She asked wanting to confirm what she saw at the Hla'ath house, "Rikton, show me that picture from that Mountain Dwarf book."

He opened it and turned to the picture of the sign of the guardian and pointed to it and an inscription. She looked at it and saw that it was the same mark as on Henri, this made her feel sick if he is some guardian then this needed to be handled carefully. Just as she was about to ask several questions to Rikton she received a message for a message spell.

The archivist had found all her documents and was waiting in her office. She took down the ward on the door and gathered the documents and headed back, resetting the ward.

She saw Rikton looking about her room no doubt checking her wards or setting his own so he could spy on her later, so she signed, *We need to talk! With Lloth as my witness, I want this without games and if I am right we can't afford it and if I am wrong then I will be on the alter waiting to be turned into a Drider and you will either be beside me or dead.*

Rikton had never seen her this way, they both loved to play the game but for her to show this weakness to a male would get her killed sooner or later, whatever it was she was scared and confused. Deep down he knew he loved her, but also knew that such a thing would get them killed. He was clever but still a weak male and signed back, *whatever it is we will face together, what has you of all people scared?*

She was offended at first, but now wasn't the time for that, she opened the book and signed, *I believe he is here. The human in Hla'ath home he bears that mark. I have all of our records on Renewal and I want to know how this will happen, if we chose wrong we will be lost.

You know more about that book and I have our records, I must know if he is indeed this guardian and if he is then who gave him that power.

I can think of no goddesses that would have such power. If Lloth had that power she would have used it by now.*

He thought about it for a moment and as a collector he had in his 600+ years collected information and many things both in the Foreverdark and the surface. A light went off as he signed, *the surface elves say there are two great gods the creator and the destroyer. It is they who created everything. The Great Creator created the world we are on and the Great Destroyer created the heavens and hells, he is the one who created the abyss. If you wanted to know who would have that power it would be them. It also fits with this book the talk about the twin gods of all and a gate that will bring them back to their home.*

Dirzune didn't like that and signed, *Why would they send the guardian to us?

Are they testing us to see what we will do and if fail they will destroy us?

Does that mean that we are to help the human?

Are we chosen to help him open this gate?*

Rikton signed, *It looks like the guardian will have heroes chosen from some of the races if I understand this correctly. I think that means that those who bear his mark are chosen by the goddesses or on the surface they have male gods.*

Dirzune looked at him angrily and signed, *are you saying that Zilvra Hla'ath is a chosen of Lloth? And not one of her priestesses?*

He knew better than to press the issue and said, "This is all theory and nothing more. I would need to do more research to confirm, but this is just a guess right now."

She agreed and they started to research both the renewal and the Mountain Dwarf book further. Dirzune couldn't help but feel like everything was going to be changing rapidly.