“I’m not buying anything and won’t sell anything for you!” Truth barked reflexively in Jeongo. He didn’t know why, but the short, beardy man with intense eyes gave off the scamr vibe he most vividly associated with his mother.
The scamr looked at him and started slowly shaking his head.
“Speaking in tongues. It’s already so progressed. I can only do my best. Yes, I can only do my best. Young man, do not despair, for God is great, and he hears the call of his children. Young man, do not be afraid, for your pain will soon end.”
Truth pulled himself together enough to say in Re’inyo, “I will not buy anything from you!”
The young man recoiled as though struck. Truth thought that if he struck the beardy madman, there wouldn’t be enough left to flinch. A plan he would seriously consider if this conversation went on much longer.
“Young man, you misunderstand! Young man, you wound ! I wish to save your life. I have many talismans and magical gems to suppress demons and drive them away. Many of the hidden nas of God are known to . Young man, I… am an exorcist!”
“Yes, I will have the sa as him.” Truth pointed at the al the man in front of him had ordered. It was a bowl of stew so deeply red it was almost black, with a blindingly white boiled egg barely breaking the surface. And based on the sll alone, Truth was prepared to jump the counter and raid the kitchen for the entire pot. It had been a trying morning, and by GOD, he would celebrate his breakthrough with sothing tasty.
“Ah, the demon has spared you this much grace. Young man, well done. That is virtually the national dish of Siphios. It tastes even better than it slls. Young man, I tell you that while dorowot is delicious, so too is standing shriven of all demons before the chariot of God.”
“Excuse , do you know this man? I am worried he is dangerous.” He asked the cashier. “Are his parents nearby?” Of course, if nobody knew him, then Truth could always find a convenient dumpster in which to dispose of his problems.
“Him? He’s not dangerous! He teaches religious law at the school near here.”
Truth looked at the cashier, wondering if he misunderstood sothing.
“He’s a lawyer?”
“Young man, you wound again! I am no re secular advocate. I teach and reveal the True word of God and how to abide by his laws. Young man, just how far has this demon misled you? Ah! Pity, pity.”
“Your dorowot.” It ca with a big piece of the sour, spongy bread he rembered from the village he raided.
“Thank you.” Truth reached into his pocket and pulled out so money. “How much is it?”
“Sir. This is Siphios. We don’t accept shillings here.”
“Ah. Right.” Truth thought quickly. Dine and dash? No, this is stew. He couldn’t run with it. Violence? No, he was trying to move away from that. New life, new strategies for life. He could only throw himself on God’s grace. “My friend here will cover it.” Truth casually threw his arm around the bearded man.
The bearded man looked startled but then nodded. “Yes. I will feed you, young man, and you will sit and speak with . I have many questions for you. Young man, we must first arm ourselves with wisdom if we are to free you.”
They sat at a little table so small their knees almost touched. Truth got stuck into the stew. Watching the other diners, he saw that the correct way to eat was to tear off so spongy bread and use it to pick up mouthfuls of the stew. He tried it and about died. The flavors. Oh, Prager, the flavors. Garlic, ginger, chilies, and lemon, the at was chicken, and there was so spice blend that was just unreal. Then the heat ca in, and WHOO BOY! This was diner food? What the hell had he grown up eating?!
“Looks like you like it. Young man, you mustn't think this is the real deal dorowot. After you are freed, you will have many opportunities to try sothing better. Let us begin again. Young man, I am Justinian rkovah, a scholar and teacher of the Law. Who might you be?
Truth started to say “Truth dici,” out of force of habit but had the belated good sense to rember why that would be a bad idea. Oddly, the hotels hadn’t blinked when he put his na down as Tommy Wells. Which, ok, foreign nas and all that, but still.
“Tommy Wells. Talisman maintenance technician.” Truth got after the stew. How was it getting better with every bite? The sour bread helped offset the richness of the stew and llow the heat. The path of the foodie was justice! The path of the foodie was the light!
This got him an odd look from the alleged scholar. “Young man, you look like a model and move like a soldier. I don’t think you picked that up fixing streetlights.”
“I might have done!” Truth grinned. He hadn’t seen any dumpsters nearby. Did they not have dumpsters in Siphios? Surely the trash had to be stored sowhere, and with all the wild animals around, they must have sothing. This was a very good stew, and he was grateful. He would find sothing with comfortable trash.
“You might have done. Young man, do you know how you ca to be possessed?”
“Going to have to ask you to stop calling “young man.” When you get right down to it, I think our ages are about the sa.”
“You don’t look fifty.”
Truth nearly choked on his stew. The beardy weirdo with his tiny decorative hat looked twenty-five. Truth had a sudden sinking feeling. He tried to reach out with his magic, to get a feeling for the interloper’s cultivation.
It… was a lot more than his. A lot more. Holy shit. What level was he? Six? Maybe even Seven? He should be running a governnt departnt or sothing, not ambushing strangers in a diner!
“My apologies, Teacher rkovah. I didn’t realize your status.” He stood and made a polite bow.
“Ah! None of that, none of that! It’s not done here. Sit, sit, eat your stew. Everyone is looking at us. Ah, I will never hear the end of this now.”
“Sorry. I don’t know the customs here.”
“They are not so bad. DEMON, boy!” Teacher rkovah hissed. “How co there is a demon in you?”
“Em, about that. Do you an Thrush, my imp?” He held up the necklace, where Thrush was wisely laying low.
“What? No. I an the one trying to be invisible in your spell apertures. Which are weirdly empty except for the first, but we all have our struggles.”
“Oh. You are the very first person to spot that, including trained dical professionals specifically looking for spiritual parasites. I’m genuinely impressed.” Truth said. He was, too. If anyone knew how the System worked outside Starbrite, no hint of it had ever reached him.
“How did it get in there? It’s incredible. I barely spotted it, and I can be considered an expert in the field.”
“Not… trying to be difficult here,” Truth said, valuing his life. “But this really, REALLY isn’t a diner conversation. Do you have a place where we can talk privately?”
This seed to throw the exorcist. “You… want to go with to a less public place. To discuss your possession.”
“Yes. Odd as it sounds, it wants to be out of as much as I want to be free of it.”
“Huh. Well. You can co to my office, I suppose.” Truth ate every last bit of his stew, leaving the bowl almost sparkling. They drove to the school, Teacher rkovah riding behind Truth on the iron horse.
“Alright, Mr. Wells. You seem like a man with a story. How much of it do you want to tell ?” The office was tiny and cramd with books. Truth spotted four different alphabets on the spines. What, exactly, was a Level Six scholar doing in this nothing place?
“I could say the sa to you!” Truth blurted, then recovered himself. “This touches on so things that, if I told you about them, literal kill squads would co hunt you down. No disrespect to your level, but my forr employers can field entire armies, all of whom have the very best magical technology and spells. So… understand that I will be vague on so details.”
Truth had expected eye rolls from that, but rkovah just nodded like it was to be expected.
“Basically, for my job, I was… given? A spirit of intellect-” Teacher rkovah snorted at that one, “to assist in learning and casting spells. I was… fired? From my job? And lost access to almost all my spells. The spirit was supposed to leave my body at the sa ti but, for so reason, hasn’t been able to. So I am traveling around, looking to learn so new spells and grow as a mage.” Truth shrugged.
“Ok. Ok, I can see how that might go. So you are looking for work?”
“Actually, yes, now that I think about it. Though, no offense, I don’t think I would want to live in this city.”
“None taken. I’m here as a favor to a friend and am reconsidering the friendship more every day.” Teacher rkovah looked salty. “Does the demon still want out of you?”
“It is very particular about identifying as a ‘spirit of intellect.’ And yes.”
So fucking much.
“Very yes.” Truth confird.
“Hookay.” The teacher stared up at the ceiling for a minute. “So here’s the thing. I don’t know why it can’t get out of you. Your body is refined to an astonishing level for your age and cultivation, but nothing that should impede a demon.”
Spirit of intellect, shitbird!
“You want to gather spells. I’m guessing the spirit can learn many spells, make improvents, and customize them for you?”
Truth’s eyes went wide. He hadn’t said any of that but-
“Demons that identify as “spirits of intellect” have a pattern. Mages have been using them for exactly that purpose since forever. Sotis it works great, other tis not so much. It’s not hard to guess.” Teacher rkovah shrugged. “I’m going to perform a divination. Don’t get weird.”
“Eh?” Truth looked blank.
The bearded scholar rapped his knuckles against the cheap wood of his desk. A collection of colored pebbles and stones rolled out of a black velvet sack. The light in the room dimd. Even the brilliant, blinding sunlight coming through the window faded to a twilight gloom.
The pebbles began floating above the desk, spinning in orbits and moving in patterns he couldn’t decipher. So rose and fell, but most spun around an empty center in grand circles. A center that grew brighter as the light in the room faded. A sun was born, barely the size of a fist. And within the sun-
A lion’s head, roaring, prideful, long of mane. Sneering eyes and vicious teeth. A predator, a king! And beneath that shaggy mane, a serpent’s body. Endlessly coiling. Scales like a snake or dragon, one large enough to eat the stars and not notice. Towering over everything. The greatest, most mighty, all of creation must crawl as ants as worms as less than the mud and dung of their being beneath the supre and allmigggeeerrearrrayyyyyyy-
*CLAP* Truth snapped awake, looking over at Teacher rkovah. Who was giving Truth a curious look.
“So here’s the thing, “Mr. Wells.” I’m an exorcist. I have to travel around Siphios dealing with bad situations. Sotis I’m in a town for a few weeks, sotis a few hours. Sotis my very good friend will ask to substitute teach at their scammy school for morons on the border of a country I wouldn’t visit on a bet.” He coughed and looked away. Then resud. “But hey, if the divination says “eat at this diner today, it’s going to be important,” you do it, right?”
Truth nodded. The man was Level Six. Or Seven. Truth was prepared to agree with almost any opinion he might have.
“So, it seems you were telling the truth about knowing talisman repair, but you are actually a bodyguard? Well. How about this- I cover your living expenses, pay a small salary, and tutor you on magic. In exchange, you travel with and be my bodyguard.”
“Your bodyguard? Why would you need a bodyguard?”
“I wondered the sa thing, but the stars were clear. I suppose I am more of a spiritual warrior than a literal one.”
Truth couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a catch sowhere, but he was damned if he could see it.
“No contracts. I can walk away whenever.”
“Likewise.” Teacher rkovah nodded.
Truth felt this was all going very fast. Then shrugged. He had nothing of real worth, nowhere to go, and nothing to do except get stronger. This was paid work. “I’m in.”
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