Guardians Book 1,Ch 9: Interrogation

Read All of Book 1: Here

This wasn’t the scariest moment in Fenix Sater’s life. That had to be when his sister walked in to see him dripping blood on his sacrificial orb. That scream will haunt his nightmares forever, along with the horrors of the events that followed. However, a close second to that moment was this one now, sitting in chains on a low wooden table in a dark stone room, with the Red and Green Guardians in front of him.

“Magi Fenix,” The Red one said, “I do hope that you’re being treated properly here.”

The man looked down. The wound from the Blue Guardian’s wolf had been bandaged up in the carriage that brought him to the prison he was staying in. After a week, he would be put under house arrest and sentenced to a Taulaga Recovery Program. His sister had offered to take care of him while in the program, and guards would be stationed in his home to prevent further use of the magic.

“I am, Guardian,” Fenix said. He wasn’t lying. He had been given proper quarters, three full meals a day, visitation rights with his sister and his defender, who was making sure no court tried to banish him beyond the Great Barrier, and access to a man who helped him when he was suffering sacrifice withdrawals.

“Good,” the Red Guardian said, “I request that you tell the head guards or me if there are any problems with your stay here. Now, I’ve come to ask you a few questions. Could you do that for me?”

Fenix nodded, of course, anything.

Bao’s prisoner was not as cooperative as Fremont’s. She pulled against the chains holding her down, looking wild and furious that she was in the presence of two Guardians.

“Where is the green Camandon” She yelled, Esmun’s eyes widened, and Bao covered his mouth.

“Maho Canion, that language will not be tolerated in this discussion.” Bao said through his hand, “Guardian Warinot is assisting Guardian Fremont in another location. We are here to talk about your repeated usage of Taulaga artifacts and sacrificial ceremonies.”

“I told the guards; I won’t apologize for using a stronger magic than Failoga.” The woman said.

“And as much as I want to argue that point, I’m not asking you for an apology, there’s one question that I need you to answer for me,” Bao responded, “where did you get the materials for your sacrifices, where did the artifacts come from?”

Fremont watched the prisoner sigh as he took in the question.

“Please forgive me, Guardians, it was quite a long time ago, and the sacrifices cloud your memory as well as your judgment.” He said.

“Of course, Magi Fenix, take all the time you need. Why don’t we run through what you can remember about the day you acquired the orb, perhaps to jog your memory?” Warinot responded. The man nodded and then thought.

“I was buying a present for my sister’s birthday, it was 2, no, 3 years ago, nearing the second year after our parents passed. So, I needed to make it special. I remember…Um, I remember going to a larger city, near a port, to pick up a beautiful golden chain.”

“Good, did your sister like the gift she was given?” Fremont asked.

“Oh yes, she still wears it today. I saw it last week when she came to visit me.” Fenix responded.

“that’s wonderful, now do you happen to remember the cities name?” Fremont asked.

“Oh, dear.” Fenix muttered, scrunching his eyes closed, I think it’s… uh….”

“It’s Elaganheart,” the woman muttered, Esmun’s empty truth elixir bottle in front of her, “Elaganheart Harbor, I hope the person who sells stuff there kills you.”

“Thank you, Magi Fenix.” Fremont said, “and do you remember the name of the man who sold it?”

“He went by Legion,” Fenix responded, “there was a second guy, always in the shadows, never got a good look at him, though. Legion wore a hood and a mask, covered nearly all of his skin, black with red highlights.”

“Thank you, Magi. Anything else?” Warinot asked.

“Well, one more thing…” He responded.

“…He had the scariest yellow eyes, and the only skin you could see under his coverings was grey.” The woman said.

Esmun nodded and wrote it down.

“Thank you, Maho,” Bao said, “I hope the rest of your stay here is well.”

“I hope you all become Idemoni food.” The prisoner said. Guards came in, and she was dragged away. Shouting one last threat and warning.

“Legion isn’t an idiot. He can and will destroy you!”

When the four Guardians met up again, they had very similar stories to tell.

“So, we spoke to as many Taulaga users as we could, and the general consensus is, Legion of Elaganheart Harbor seems to be the source of most of these artifacts,” Fremont said.

The other Guardians nodded.

“we’ll let Xinar know and spread the name to the other prisons’ guards to check if it matches with their Taulaga users’ sources. Who knows… if we’re lucky, this could be the source of the uptick.

“Are we not going to talk about the eyes?” Warinot asked, “scary yellow eyes and grey skin were consistent across all the people we interviewed. That doesn’t sound…human.”

“It could be all manners of things.” Bao responded, “there are several Taulaga Sacrifices that alter the subject’s physical appearance. It could be any of those for any amount of time that changes eyes or skin colors.”

“Or it’s a non-human idemoni.” Esmun offered, Bao laughed.

“There are no intelligent non-human idemoni.” He said the others nodded.

“That we know of.” Esmun tossed in.

“People are staring at us. We may want to continue this conversation as we move back to The Temple.” Fremont stated.

All the Guardians looked around, catching the townspeople quickly returning to their duties with a renewed vigor.

“You think any of them heard us?” Warinot muttered.

“We were being quiet, and they were staying a good distance away. It’s unlikely.” Esmun responded.

“I hope they didn’t,” Bao said, “if someone overheard us and warned the dude, Creator Xinar would kill us, then Mphu Lonix would revive us to kill us again.”

The Guardians nodded and hurried away. Esmun looked back at the townspeople, who were watching them leave. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a shadowy figure in a dark alleyway, but when the Blue Guardian blinked, it had melted into the shadows.

It’s been a long, long day.

Chapter 10: Here