The Lost Book of Chaos: How to Divide the World (The Secret Wars of Angels 1) (7 page)

“What do you need?” Arcana said.

“Perhaps if I can borrow that sword,” Judas gestured to Varak’s blade. “I hope Varak won't mind.”

But Varak wasn't moving.

“Do it,” Arcana said.

It took only a short a while and it was far from perfect, because a sword did not have the same weight and momentum for cutting wood effectively. But it would have to do. Once the makeshift stretcher was done, they rolled Varak gently on top. Even that process of lifting Varak had them out of air from exertion. But with the stretcher, they were able to move at an easier pace.

“Good work,” Arcana announced.

Judas refused Arcana’s help and pulled the makeshift stretcher on his own. She needed to conserve her strength because, in case they got into trouble, she was the only one who could defend them from any threats. Arcana seemed too tired even to argue back. Rather than help him pull the stretcher, Arcana focused on erasing the tracks they left behind. That would help too.

It took most of the day and the journey was kept in silence, to conserve their energy.

In the afternoon, Arcana spoke, "We are close to another village. This may be a good place to refill our waterskins, a decent meal would be nice, and a roof to sleep under." She gave him a silver coin.

“Where to?” Judas asked.

Arcana pointed East. Judas didn't ask how she knew, as there was no village in sight.

Judas headed alone so he could scout ahead. In less than one godstride, he saw the village. It was actually more than a village, as he neared, he saw more and more houses, and bigger buildings in the center. He entered an inn with the sign of a woman carrying a large jar of water on her shoulders, and some of the water flowed down to her feet. In the distance, there were more houses, but Judas saw no point in proceeding farther as it was getting dark.

Inside, he noticed several soldiers gathered around a table, laughing while drinking ale. He hoped no one would notice him here. He calmed himself and headed directly to the innkeeper.

On the way, however, Judas jumped in surprise, recognizing a lean man, with long brown hair tied to his back. He wore fancy white clothes, with a dark golden cape, that befitted a noble. A sword with ornate handle hung on his side.

Should Judas continue? The familiar man was busy trying to charm one of the ladies, so the man may not have noticed.

It was a man named Gnaeus.

Judas thought about going back, as it was a good idea to avoid anyone who knew him from before, though Gnaeus seemed mostly neutral towards him, last time he met the man. But Judas also considered that time was running out for Varak. As he was weighing his options, Gnaeus turned and spotted him.

Judas froze.

But Gnaeus's eyes seemed to only pass him for a brief moment, and was back to courting the girl.

Maybe Gnaeus had not recognized him. After all, it was only for a few days that he had stayed with the noble.

Judas cursed. He had already wasted a lot of time. He went ahead to talk to the innkeeper. He would have to deal with any other problems later, if that meant he could keep Arcana and Varak safe.

As he reached the innkeeper, someone tapped him from behind.

Judas turned. Had Gnaeus recognized him after all?

To his dismay, it was one of the soldiers.

“I haven't seen you around here before,” the soldier said, “where are you from?” The soldier and his companions all wore black plate armor. Judas did not recognize that style of armor, though it was similar to Roman Soldier Armors, but it looked more intimdating.

There were two other soldiers behind him, who were snickering.

“I...” Judas began, unsure where to begin.

“Why,” another voice called, “it’s been a long time my friend.” The newcomer put a hand on the shoulder of Judas.

The soldier turned to the newcomer, and looked the man up and down.

“And who are you?” the soldier challenged.

Gnaeus took a small step backward and gave a flourish.

“Gnaeus Lucius Articola,” Gnaeus said, “at your service. This man here is my friend Jay. Is there any problem?”

The soldier just grunted. One of the other two soldier's behind him whispered something in the first soldier's ears, and a brief look of surprise washed over his face. After that, the soldier appeared to lose interest and moved on to find other prey.

With the soldier gone, Judas turned to thank Gnaeus, but even as he did, Gnaeus was already moving towards his own table, with the woman he was courting earlier.

Judas sighed in relief. Gnaeus had recognized him after all. Jay? Hah! That man could tell any lie with a straight face. The good thing about Gnaeus was, he probably wouldn’t turn Judas in for the bounty. The father of Gnaeus was rich, but even that was an understatement.

Judas had an idea. Perhaps...

Judas approached Gnaeus. “Gnaeus Articola,” Judas said, “how have you been? I didn’t expect to see you here.” Gnaeus and the woman he was talking with stopped talking.

“This is my friend Jay,” Gnaeus explained to the woman.

“How brave of you Gnaeus,” the woman answered. She wore a red dress, and wore her hair long. She was beautiful, in a haughty way. “To protect a...” the woman looked Judas up and down, “friend from the other soldiers.”

“Just passing by,” Gnaeus said, “my father ordered me to come along and gain some honor for the family.” Gnaeus grinned and tilted his head towards the other soldiers at his back. “Me and my men will be resting here. The other soldiers who tried to give you some trouble, they're another group under another captain. You should expect no trouble from them now.”

Judas nodded in thanks.

Gnaeus waved a hand, as if dismissing Judas.

Gnaeus turned to start talking to the woman again, but when Judas did not leave, Gnaeus paused and turned to him.

“Yes?” Gnaeus asked.

“I could use some help,” Judas said, deciding he had to take a risk. It didn’t look like he would be getting a room easily, seeing as there were a lot of soldiers around and the inn was quite full. But could he fully trust Gnaeus? Or maybe Gnaeus had no idea that there was a bounty on his head?

He had to try. Time was running out for Varak.

“I need a place to stay,” Judas said, “for me and two of my friends.” Gnaeus could pull some strings and help them. Plus, being in the company of soldiers meant that they would be safer from the likes of the jinn.

Gnaeus shrugged smugly. “What did you do? You know, people are looking for you.” So Gnaeus
had
heard.

“It’s all a misunderstanding,” Judas explained, “I'm innocent.”

“I know you are,” Gnaeus smiled.

“So?” Judas said. “Will you help me?”

Gnaeus looked around. “I’m not really in a position to help right now,” Gnaeus said. “If anyone sees me helping a 'criminal', no offense, even if a falsely accused one, it could put me in deep trouble.”

Judas felt dismayed.

“And,” Gnaeus continued, “you know my father, he would kill me if I soil his name. I’m already taking a risk talking to you here and helping you out with those soldiers. The best thing you can do is to disappear and not get in touch with me again. It's a danger to both you and me.”

Judas nodded, then left the two.

Judas sighed, that was the thing about Gnaeus. While Judas could probably trust that Gnaeus wouldn't turn him in, Gnaeus wasn't too willing to go too far out of his way and risk his neck for Judas. Judas gave one last look at Gnaeus, who had already lost interest in him and was talking with the lady.

Judas headed towards the innkeeper. “I'm looking for a room,” Judas said, “large enough for three, I will need food and water as well.”

“I'm sorry, but we're all full here,” the innkeeper said. The innkeeper was bald and fat. The man tilted his head towards the soldiers. “They booked more than half of the inn tonight, and probably the only other inn in town. You’d have to go deeper into the city, a few godstrides deeper, but I doubt there’ll be any room there either.”

Judas had no time for this, but he kept himself calm.

“Then I'll have a mug of ale please,” Judas said, “before I go back out looking for another room,” Judas said. The innkeeper eyed the silver coin, and looked him up and down.

“Is this village expecting any trouble?” Judas said. “There seems to be a lot of soldiers for a village this size.” What Judas really wanted to know was, would this village be safe if Arcana and Varak stayed here, or would it put them in more danger?

“Oh no, no, not at all,” The innkeeper replied, taking the silver coin. “They're just passing by for the night, headed down south to help quell the unrest.” The innkeeper moved closer to whisper. “And these are not ordinary soldiers, they're the Emperor's Praetorians!”

“Unrest?” Judas pretended he was interested.

“They're being sent down to keep trouble from spreading after the death of one of the leaders of the Jews,” the innkeeper said. “Caused quite a disturbance, see. Now quite a few of them are very angry, but it’s mostly Jews against Jews. People who believe differently. It’s quite a big deal to them, for some reason, because the man was supposed to be their Savior. Now, since he died, it doesn't sound like he’s any savior, not to me anyway.” The innkeeper chuckled.

The innkeeper handed out Judas's change, but Judas nudged the coins an inch towards the innkeeper. “It's for you,” Judas said. “you can keep the change, because this is the best ale I've had since... I can't even recall since when.” The innkeeper brightened at the flattery and the offer.

“You know,” the innkeeper said, “This Savior supposedly died. But there are still those who refuse to believe the man died even after seeing what had been done to him. Heard it was horrible. Three days of torture... Can you imagine that? Not that I care, I just listen to news to keep myself well informed.”

Judas nodded. “Information is everything.”

“Yes, yes, you understand,” the innkeeper smiled.

“Another please,” Judas was extremely thirsty, and the ale felt good as it went down his throat. Judas gave another silver coin for the next mug of ale. The innkeeper's eyes widened. Arcana only gave him one silver coin to work with, she should have given him more. Oh well, Judas sighed.

Then the innkeeper leaned closer and spoke in a hushed tone. “But just between you and me, there have been rumors that there's more to the Praetorians being here. Some of those Praetorians may not be ordinary Praetorians, they may be part of the legendary Black Guard.”

“What's that?” Judas asked, curious,

“The Emperor's Black Guards,” the innkeeper began, “the best of the best, the Praetorian of Praetorians.”

“But that doesn't make sense,” Judas said. “Why send the best of the best to deal with a small civilian unrest?”

“Exactly,” the innkeeper said. “Do you want to know what I really think is going on?”

“Tell me.”

“I believe that the civilian unrest is just an excuse,” the innkeeper said, “and what they're really hunting for are demons. I have heard rumors of a fearsome horned demon that can destroy an entire city at will. The demon has been sighted performing strange things, hiding in the guise of a man, living among us. Some of my sources say, they saw a man, who looked as any man would, except that he had two large horns on his head. Then the demon kills everything in its way, and there’s even rumours of the dead coming back to life. Why, it can cause the bravest of men to piss in their pants, if you ask me.”

Judas nodded for the innkeeper to continue.

“That's why the Black Guard exists in the first place,” the innkeeper said, “to hunt down demons and witches and their ilk. Servants of the dark. See, there is none other than Apollo who is the mighty one of the sun, and all others bathe in his light. But these demons and witches, they worship darkness.”

“And they believe this Savior of the Jews is another demon,” the innkeeper continued, “Why, with all the strange things he did... And it’s even rumored that this man came back to life!”

“Oh, our Emperor, bless his name,” the innkeeper said, “is a real hero and the real savior of humanity. He who protects us from the darkness of the night.”

Judas nodded, raising his mug of ale. “To the Emperor.”

“To the Emperor,” the innkeeper echoed.

“Hey listen,” Judas said, “you said the soldiers will be gone by tomorrow, do you think we can have one of your rooms by then?” Judas said.

“We'd like to stay for a couple of days,” Judas lied. “Maybe three.”

They probably weren't going to stay that long, but the promise of guaranteed money might sweeten the deal.

“Yes, I can definitely arrange that for you,” the innkeeper smiled.

“In the meantime, I'm not sure where me and my friends can stay for the night,” Judas said. “If you happen to know of any place we can stay, it doesn't have to be anything fancy, you know. Even a small room would do. Even one that's not used by guests. We're not very picky, you know, just need a roof on our heads and some walls around us, we’re weary from days of travel.” Then Judas pretended to hesitate before adding, "I could add in an extra silver coin if you could help me with that." Judas slid forward another silver coin.