Myrr: Reincarnated Timemage Assassin

Chapter 38: The Meaning Of Rainstopper

Perideen Darkblade makes sure to walk at a pace I can keep up with. Though I'm doubtless, slowing him down, he says nothing, since it's obvious I'm doing my best. Fortunately, I'm still growing. Compared to my six-year-old self on Earth, I'm definitely significantly taller. Hopefully, the trend continues. Though I wonder why I keep growing? Just better genes? Or maybe the magic? Or the training? Whatever, as long as I can properly hug Glacia and feel like a man the next time I see her, who cares?

"Myrr, tell me, what is the Secthead like these days?" Perideen asks. Unlike Mephis, he seems to be more-chatty. Though, he isn't a Blood-lock that is hated by the world, so that's to be expected perhaps. However, he isn't as talkative as Mark. Still, considering the way Romy acts when she puts on her raccoon mask, I always got the impression that her Sect was something very serious. It's a bit unexpected to have a casual conversation with him. "Is she doing well?"

"She was...until Mark got recalled for the Holy War..." My dark voice gives him pause. He shakes his head as if empathizing with Romy.

"Ahh yes, the Secthead did mention something like that in her letter. To think, after all these years, it's the very man which took her away, that brings her back into the fold. How...unfortunate..." He sighs. "But I am curious, was she happy? Do you think she made the right choice, choosing to leave it all behind? It's not too late for her to come back, you know. The position of Secthead is for life. Until she dies, the Eastern Raingoddess will always belong to us."

"Romy belongs to no one but Mark and me!" I say with more force than intended. Perideen looks over his shoulder with shock, but quickly smiles. His small, angular face is a bit mischievous as he puts up his hands-

"Of course, Acolyte! Of course. That's not what I meant. All I am saying, is that should she wish to...come back to her old life...and all the comforts that entails, she will always be most welcome to do so. You all would of course also be safe inside the Rainstopper Sect. It could be quite beneficial for everyone." Perideen winks at me with his good eye before turning back around and walking into the setting sun. "Holy Wars, irritating kings who don't know when they should leave well enough alone, even those pesky gods which wrap people up in their stories, none of them will be able to touch you in the Sect Headquarters. Think about it. The Secthead's beloved would be quite safe there."

"Hmph!" I grunt in response. Let's see whether you're all talk then. "Okay, then if Romy were to return today, and order you to start a Holy War against the Kingdom of Gaisha, how would you feel about that?"

"We would wipe Gaisha off the map within the week. If the Secthead deemed it necessary, we would then salt their lands and burn any book with their name until history no longer wishes to remember their existence. Up to the ninth clan, we will do what the Rainstopper Sect does best." Perideen Darkblade does not hesitate. I imagine he does not even blink, though I cannot see his face from behind him.

"What the Rainstopper Sect does best?" I don't really believe him at first. However, gradually, as I consider what he just said, and all the little clues which Romy has left behind, a chill creeps over my heart. Romy...what exactly did you escape from?

"Killing, Myrr. The Rainstopper Sect is one of the greatest assassin clans in the East. The name of Romy Rainstopper, the Eastern Raingoddess, still strikes fear into many a king's hearts at night. Didn't the Secthead ever tell you?" The matter-of-fact way, Perideen says it, confirms that he is not lying, though I do not want to believe it. Assassin? So that's why you never talk about it...I'm sorry, Romy. Whatever you went through...I hope Mark's stupid honor doesn't force you to relive it.

"She never said anything. I guess she didn't want me to know." I reply blithely and Perideen falls silent. For a while, we walk without speaking. As the sun sets, he disappears and returns in a flash with firewood. Laying it out, he starts to whip out a set of flint and tinder, but I just quietly chant an incantation,