Chapter 109: Katur

Book 3, Chapter 8 - Katur

The city of Katur was a sight to behold. Its sheer size was many times that of villages surrounding Izzet Oasis combined. Vi'An gripped his father's arm and swallowed what little moisture was inside of his mouth. The encasing hollowness of the Umbral World suddenly felt a lot more welcoming than a city the size of Katur, where getting lost seemed an all too easy a task.

Vi'An's botched assassination had forced Lacerta to move out of the Izzet region. He'd hitched a ride with a trade caravan going to Katur. Vi'An and his father had no option but to follow. Lacerta provided them with shelter. Something Shadow Walkers sought, but rarely ever had.

Vi'An shifted, glancing back down the way they'd come, tugging Vi'Din's sleeve. There was nothing but an empty stretch of golden dunes shaped like a painting of sea waves. He wanted to go back but behind him, a desert threatened to swallow him, while before him, Katur's sea of people and structures towered over him. The city was surrounded by a ten foot wall made of hardened sand. At its center was a great palace with a gold domed ceiling. Right behind it, a pyramid eclipsed its surroundings. The pyramid housed deceased members of the Katur's royalty, its entrance marked by the Great Obelisk wherein the cty's laws are clearly stated.

Katur was one of four city states within the Illeyan alliance. Each city represented its own kingdom. The Izzet Oasis was the smallest of the four, but its leaders were amongst the wealthiest. The Oasis' spring water was an expensive commodity said to possess strange healing properties. It was an additive in the creation of many medicines.

The trade caravan stopped at the gates of the Katur. Armed men came out from nearby guardhouses and inspected the goods. The guards were dressed in long white tunics with a layer of armor on top. They wore pointed helmets and held spears in one hand, and at their waist was a shamshir. Vi'An never understood the purpose of having a sword curve at its tip. It reduced the range of a thrust. His father carried two twin blades of black iron at his back. Both long and thin. They were the same weapons he trained with.

Despite travelling through shadows of people and objects, Vi'An felt compressed. He had never seen so many people in one place. The streets were crowded. There were hundreds of men in long garbs and turbans whilst the women wore outfits that covered them from neck down, married women among them wearing near translucent face veils as well.

“Pa…” Vi'An complained, still tugging his father's sleeve.

“Crowded streets don't hinder us Shieda, Vi'An,” said Vi'Din. “Rather, it normally means there are more shadows, giving us more mobility. We live solitary lives. It is unsettling for me as well to be amongst these people. But remember. We aren't really amongst them. Keep to yourself and no harm will come about.”

Vi'An nodded, observing as many details as he could while he and his father followed Lacerta. There were no shepherds herding their flocks or children playing around. The air was heavy with the scent of spices and meats. The same air that flowed in the material world, flowed in the Umbra as well. There were many street stalls serving foods that were being made on the spot. Vi'An's stomach growled. He thought he heard Vi'Din's stomach do the same.

Lacerta purchased three skewers of kebabs from a nearby stall. He stepped into a dark and empty alley and dropped two of the skewers. Vi'Din poked an arm out into the material world and caught them, dragging the food into the Umbra. Vi'An salivated at the sight and smell as he was handed one. He bit in, hot and salted juice embracing his tongue. It was the perfect blend of fat and meat put together, seasoned with a variety of spices that prickled the back of his throat with each swallowed bite. He craved more and had a sudden urge steal. But he knew better than to do something that foolish. Still, he stared out the alley into the passing crowds, eyeing the stall with the kebabs.

Lacerta continued walking down the alley, pausing to inspect certain markings on the sand brick walls of houses. He pulled out a sheet from his coat, inspecting similar markings within them.

Vi'An tilted his head. The object had something written on it but was much thinner than sheepskin. “Pa, is that paper?”

Vi'Din smiled. One of the few times Vi'An could glean any emotion from his father. Humans could express different emotions through facial expressions. Shieda had no faces save for mouths. “Yes. That is paper. Stacked to a hundred pages and bound together, it becomes a book.”

Vi'An found himself smiling in turn, infected with his father's glee. He watched as Lacerta scowled and squinted at the markings before nodding and carrying on down the alley, swinging a bundle of his belongings to hang over one shoulder. Something about the narrow pass made Vi'An uneasy. A strange feeling that gave rise to goosebumps. Odd as it was, he preferred the crowded streets over this particular alleyway. The skies above were clear, yet it seemed that no light touched the path at all. There were occasionally men in battered dark garb sitting cross legged with their backs to the wall. They cupped their hands before Lacerta. The rust haired man ignored their plight, muttering something about beggars.

The amount of people loitering in the alley increased the deeper Lacerta continued. Some sat about doing nothing while others smoked from long pipes. Few played around with marked stones and talismans. Not all of them pleaded for spare fortune, but all of them were wrapped in dark and dusty rags of sorts.

Lacerta eventually stopped before a sand house with a shabby wooden door. “This will be our new abode for the time,” the man whispered just loud enough for the Shadow Walkers to hear.

The interior was not much larger than their previous home. Vi'An felt no disappointment. Rather, he was unsettled by the numerous shadowed faces occupying the passage so close to their homes.

“You two can come out now. No one will disturb us,” Lacerta said, closing the front door. Larger structures stood on either side of this new abode. Sunlight hardly pricked through the small open windows. An ideal location for Shieda.

Vi'An came out of the shadows, much more content now that the door was closed. He scurried about within the house, inspecting its corners and strange furnishing objects.

“Of course our stay here isn't free,” Lacerta continued. “There's a task to be done, Vi'Din. Or should I say Viper? I'll be permitted to stay here if you complete this task. No blood, if you please. Or any evidence of physical assault. Word of the incident near the Oasis has spread quickly. Make it look natural with one of your toxins. I'll give you the details when the sun goes down.”

Vi'Din crossed his arms. “The target is not a child, or someone entirely innocent, I presume.”

The lines within Lacerta's face deepened, but for only a split second. “Rest assured. It's in line with your meager morals.”

Vi'Din nodded slowly. “Vi'An, go sleep. We've journeyed long through daylight hours. I'll renew your lessons starting tomorrow night.”

He did as he was told. There were three beds in one corner of the house. Vi'An took the one with the most plump looking mattress. He expected his father to come and sleep as well but Vi'Din stood before Lacerta with his arms crossed. Vi'An sensed an argument brewing.

“Is there something you have to say, Viper?”

“I'd appreciate if you didn't call me that. It is an old title that I've left behind long ago.”

“Yet you still carry around the desert's most lethal poisons.”

“It is necessary for us hidden blades to be prepared for any situation. Trivial matters aside, is there a reason our gate is guarded by so many… vagabonds?”

“Hmm?”

“Don't play the fool, Lacerta. I know you're well versed in ancient history. The markings on your paper and the walls seemed eerily like Chronary runes if memory serves right.”

“Chronary, hmm? When was it I last read that word in a text? Well, perhaps they are. Perhaps they aren't,” Lacerta shrugged. “We use them as symbols of communication. Whatever morals you cling to doesn't change the fact that we live within the dark ends of society. Such methods are used to avoid giving away information to spies implemented by the local guards.”

“Lacerta! There is no reason for your communication symbols to so closely resemble the Language of Sacrifice!” Vi'Din's fists were clenched. The tight black of his garments showed the outlines of his well-toned body.

“Never figured a Shadow Walker to be the superstitious type. Chronary hasn't existed for thousands of years. Even then, I doubt there was much merit to it. So long a time often sees history muddled with story. Thousands of years is enough for exaggerations to accrue, each teller adding his own spin or embellishing a certain point. Only a fool believes in such things.” Lacerta crossed his arms, eyes narrowing. “Didn't take you for a fool, Viper.”

“I told you not to call me that. Say what you will. Our Spoken History has not changed for those thousands of years. We pass down the past through words, but some things as Chronary we are taught with our eyes. If I suspect even a hint of malice from those vagabonds, I will slaughter them!” Vi'Din claimed, raising his tone. The rasp within his voice made the threat seem all the more convincing.

Vi'An shivered. Pa never loses patience like that. Never declares intent for violence like that . It was because of him, Vi'An realized. Since the incident at Izzet, his father had been on edge, worrying always for Vi'An's security more than anything else.

“Malicious?” Lacerta raised an eyebrow. He turned away and took a seat on one of the cushioned furniture pieces. “That is hypocritical, Vi'Din. For such words to come from the mouth of a contract killer. An assassin for hire. As I said, we're residents of the underworld. I hold no prejudice in my eyes against any. Though trained stereotypes will often slip out during arguments.

“The Shieda are just another race of people with powers related to shadows. You see the dangers of lies now, don't you, Vi'Din? These lies you accept for truth. Your race has been marginalized and shunned by society as darkspawn. Such is human nature. It is because of these lies that your son cannot play with other children. Because of these lies that he is forced to hide himself. Because of these lies that I decided to make use of your convenient powers and force the child to kill. I'm no saint. But I'm no Heartless either. I'm just a man earning a living through despised means like yourselves.”

“That doesn't change anything,” Vi'Din said, voice still raised. “Regardless of who we are and what we do, our environment shapes us. We lived in an open and respectable compound in Izzet. With you posing as a foreign scholar. But now, we're living in this enclosed space, surrounded by… Darkspawn ?”

“Get some rest, Vi'Din,” Lacerta sighed. “If what concerns you is your son's education, that responsibility is solely yours to bear. I need to go meet with our client for tonight.”

“Meet a client? Did you not always have a middleman to do that?”

“We're in a large city now. There's no need for me to pose as a scholar any longer. I have no secrets to keep here. I'll return by sunset.”

Lacerta left after having said that. Vi'Din grumbled and took the bed nearest to Vi'An. He pretended to be asleep. Even with a masked face, his father could often tell when he was really sleeping or not. Though he seemed too preoccupied with other thoughts to care for the moment. Vi'An eventually did fall asleep.