Secrets & Treasons

Sixth Movement: The Pact | Absynz

Already the curtain was lifted and a frail figure entered the restored room, as if nothing had happened a few moments before. It was a woman, whose age one could not have guessed. She was neither ugly nor beautiful, like those women who are too busy living to find the time to look at themselves in the mirror from time to time. And yet she had presence. Something indefinable that made it impossible for her to remain totally invisible in the crowd, despite her thin dark fabric attire that cleverly hid her body and allowed her to carry out her job as a shadowy killer. With a little care, she would have been the most sublime of creatures, no doubt about it. Her dark hair was methodically wrapped in a headband, two long swords still in their scabbards were hidden behind her back. She was on the lookout.

Like Markus earlier, she could feel the eyes of the Eternals on her, scrutinizing her with interest. She could still feel the strong heat and the horrible smell of death in the room. She knew immediately that the previous mercenary had failed. Before coming to try her luck, she had heard many rumors that no one had come out triumphant, she had found it hard to believe. She had heard this kind of gossip in the underbelly of the city, but she had come to understand that it was true, especially when she had seen with her own eyes the traffic of dead bodies intensifying around the different cemeteries of the city.  She would do anything not to end up like that. She had an innate gift for survival, she who had had to fight all her life, she would not let herself be killed so easily. She wanted the Gift of the Eternals with all her might.

And the light disappeared from the room. She closed her eyes. She remembered exactly where she stood in the middle of the room and knew she could move around without the light. It had been a long time since she had been afraid of the dark. She had to tame it to do her job. Then, as it had been for Markus, a muffled sound was heard.

In the observation room, Langlord had stood up and pressed himself against the transparent wall to try to get a better look at what was going on. Were the Eternals doing the lava trick again? Why such a repetition?

But he was wrong...

The rustling intensified, and she felt the vibrations travel up the floor along her legs. Her body became a sounding board for the vibration, as if it had become a musical instrument. The beating of her heart became faster. A hand on her chest, she focused to slow it down. Indistinctly, she felt a form of panic that she could not name. It was then that her boots sank into the ground which had become soft. It was no longer a solid pavement of dark stone, but a kind of soft earth, as if mixed with sand. And a hole appeared, towards the center of the room, dragging her towards it as it formed. In a few moments the hole had sunk at least three good nuasils. It continued to sink, taking her deeper and deeper with it, like those insect holes made by lazy predators to catch their prey. She immediately understood the danger and struggled with all her strength to get back to the surface. She clung desperately because nothing was stable, everything around her was just sand with some rocks, but the rocks that seemed solid, crumbled at the slightest touch. It was less than a quarter of a ray that she was fighting against the nature of the ground, and, in spite of her strict physical training, she was swimming, her muscles were on fire and her heart was beating wildly. For a brief moment, she lost hope of exhaustion, and stopped her effort. She slid helplessly down and ended up at the very bottom, in the center of what had become an earthen pit. A faint light rose from the ceiling, which seemed much farther away than she had imagined. The hole she was in was huge! She turned around carefully to take the measure of the situation in which she was. It was critical. All the walls around them were so unstable that in a fraction of a second, they could fall on her. She shivered in spite of herself.

Then a soft, harmonious voice called out:

Human woman who, without hesitation, faces our judgment,