“There he is! Come on Brothers; let us teach this heretic a lesson!”
Ian and Jakob turned around. Fifty meters down the road, between themselves and the Bifröst stood three Cawdor gangers. Jakob had nothing but a knife on him. Ian was not much better off with just his las-pistol on his hip having left his hot-shot lasgun, with the rest of his travel kit, in the medical bay.
Among the three Cawdor Ian could make out a shotgun in the hands of one of them, while the other two had auto-pistols in hand. Ian drew his laspistol and stepped in between Jakob and the approaching zealots. He snapped off a shot hoping to cause them to hesitate more than anything else, all the while he was pushing Jakob to a narrow alleyway. If there wasn’t a way out on the other end, at least the Cawdor would have to approach single file.
They were in luck, the alley was wide enough for the two walk in a staggered line. That is if the ground hadn’t been strewn with large chunks of debris. As it was they had to walk single file down the length with plenty of cover and it opened up onto a parallel street.
As Ian neared the far end of the alley from where they entered he let loose several shots down the lane back the way they had come to keep his pursuers honest. As he was distracted looking and shooting to the rear he ran headlong into the back of Jakob, this knocked both of them sprawling to the alley floor.
“What in blazes…!”
“Ssh,” Jakob hushed Ian and pointed towards the opening to their front. “There’s one of them up ahead, waiting just around the corner.”
“How could you possibly…?”
“SSSH!” Jakob said, this time placing his hand over the ganger’s mouth. It was then that Ian noticed that Jakob’s eyes had a tint of blue glowing from them. He just nodded his head.
Jakob closed his eyes as he got slowly to his feet. Ian noticed that Jakob’s eyelids were not containing the blue light as it began to get brighter. Jakob began to cup his hands together, like he was playing with a small ball. It reminded Ian of “Bomb Toss”, a game he and his friends played as kids. It was supposed to be like throwing grenades into buckets, but only with rocks or balls.
Jakob cocked his right hand back, and then let loose, just like he was tossing a real grenade. A half meter out a small yellow orb appeared out of nowhere and flew along the arc towards the end of the alley. When it impacted the ground just beyond the edge of the alley it flared up like a miniature sun. There was at least one cry of pain from around the corner. If it weren’t for the photo-visor Ian always wore he was sure it would have blinded him.
“Come on! We have to make our break for it.” Jakob said as pulled Ian to his feet and then bolted for the street.
“How did you… What was that?!?” Ian cried as he jumped to his feet and followed. When he reached the street he looked to his right and there was a single Cawdor ganger on his knees with both palms rubbing his eyes, a shotgun lay on the ground next to him. That would have been a nasty surprise to be sure.
“How did you…?”
“I don’t know,” was all that Jakob would say on the matter.
The two continued to run as straight as they could to the Enforcer Precinct House. When they got within one hundred meters of the gate the shouting from their Cawdor pursuers picked up again. This time however a quick burst from a heavy bolter within a turret adjacent to an armored gate silenced them and sent the zealots scurrying for cover.
When they got to the gate a shuttered slot at eye level slid open.
“Speak your business citizen,” came an unemotional voice from within.
“I want to join the Enforcers,” Jakob replied. Ian just stood there with his las pistol in hand looking back the way they had come.
Silence greeted them. Jakob was just about to speak up again when they heard heavy locks disengaging. When that was done a door shaped portico within the left half of the heavy gate swung outward and then up on heavy hydraulic pistons. Three men clad in black carapace armor swarmed out into the street. The first was armed with a flamer, the pilot light at the end of the nozzle hissed loudly as he ran past them and set up on their left. The second Enforcer followed out the door wielded a sleek combat shotgun, which he cocked as he moved past and to their right. The third one had three blue chevrons painted on the right chest plate, and left shoulder pad of his armor. On his right hip he wore a standard issue Bolt Pistol and on his left hung a tethered power maul.
As the Sergeant stepped forward he thrust his left hand forward, “weapons!” Was all the helmeted man said. Ian hesitated for a moment and before he could think about it any further the Sergeant swept his armored leg from left to right, knocking both of Ian’s feet out from under him. Ian starred into the blackness of the dome above as he somersaulted and landed heavily on his back. This knocked the wind out of him. Before he could recover his breath or his wits, the Sergeant snatched the las pistol out of his hand. Turning to look back at Jakob he said, “So, you want to join Lord Helmawr’s Enforcers, eh?”
Jakob looked from his disarmed companion on the ground back to the Enforcer Sergeant and nodded.
“Yes sir, I definitely do.”
“Very well, you two come with me.”
Before Ian could catch his breath to say that he wasn’t there to join up, the shotgun Enforcer scooped him up and half dragged, half threw him through the doorway behind the Sergeant and Jakob.
It took Ian a good ten meters to get his feet back under him, and even then he was practically running to keep pace with the Enforcers. The five meter wide hallway was immaculate. The floor and walls were seamlessly poured ferrocrette, every five meters hung dim lumination assemblies that cast the light only downward, leaving the area above in shadow. Heavy footsteps of the Enforcers echoed loudly off the walls as they walked. Thirty meters down the hallway ended at another massive armored gate, on the right stood an open portico similar to that at the entrance way. As the last of the five men entered the room the armored door slid shut behind him.
“Sit,” the Sergeant said firmly, apparently for Jakob and Ian since neither of the other two Enforcers moved to take a seat.
In the center of the room was a plain 2 meter by 5 meter metal table. Around the table were ten metal chairs. Both the table, and the chairs, were bolted to the floor. Jakob and Ian sat next to each other along one of the sides.
“I’m not…” Ian tried to protest.
“Silence. You will speak only when spoken too citizen.”
“But I…”
“I said silence, unless you wish to be silenced.”
Ian snapped his mouth shut and glanced quickly at the other officers. Neither had moved other than a slightly perceptible tightening and loosening of their facial and neck muscles.
“I need to know what business those Cawdor would have with you, and why in your flight from them you suddenly decided that you wished to join Lord Helmawr’s Enforcers.” The Sergeant turned his gaze from Ian to Jakob.
Jakob glanced at Ian, unsure if that was a question or a statement.
“Speak!”
The Sergeant raised his voice for the first time and it startled both Van Saar men.
“Um…,” Jakob said as he cleared his throat. “I don’t have any business with them. They just decided that I was a heretic because I wouldn’t join up with them. I was already on my way here Enfor… I mean Si… um, Sergeant.” Jakob managed to sit still despite the fact his racing heart threatened to break free from his chest at any moment.
“And you?” The Sergeant said turning his attention back to Ian.
Ian nervously shifted in his seat. “As I was trying to say earlier, I am not here to join up. Jakob here is a friend of mine, and I was trying to talk him out of it. I think he should join up with me and my gang instead.”
The Enforcer with the Shotgun snorted. When he did so, the Sergeant turned his head to look at him over his shoulder, the Enforcer composed himself and was silent once more. Turning his back forward the Sergeant leaned in, “then your business here is concluded.” He stepped back and motioned towards the door that they had entered through.
Ian stood and turned to Jakob, “It was good knowing you Jakob. Take care of yourself.”
Jakob stood and the two reached out and gripped each other’s forearm firmly.
“You too Ian.”
With that Ian left the room followed by the shotgun Enforcer. When Ian reached the front gate the Enforcer handed him his las pistol and the armored door swung up and away. With a nod of thanks Ian stepped through to the street beyond. Without a word from the Enforcer the door swung down and shut. Ian could hear the heavy bolt locks sliding into place.
Looking down the causeway back towards the Bifröst there were no signs of the Cawdor who had chased them. Ian glanced up at the small fortress poised at the edge of the bridge that led to the Under Hive, its cold hard walls giving no indication that it cared he was even there, and then turned to head back to his home.
When Ian was out of range of the armored heavy bolters of the Enforcer’s Precinct House a lone Cawdor stepped from the shadows causing him to whip his pistol from its holster.
“If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead already Van Saar. Just know this, best purge yourself from the taint of the one you left behind lest the judgment of the almighty Emperor befall you.”
And with that the Cawdor ganger turned and walked away leaving Ian to his thoughts.
“I am going to have a devil of a time explaining this to Dyrke…”
-=-=-=0=-=-=-
Jakob sat on the end of the bunk he had been assigned after he had informed the Enforcer Sergeant that he had wanted to enlist in Lord Helmawr’s police force. Since then he had been their guest, a neglected guest, but a guest nonetheless. The only one who had spoken to him during his stay thus far had been the Sergeant. He had introduced himself as Cornelius.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” the Sergeant had asked him the morning after Ian had left. Jakob had answered that he was, but at the time he had some doubt. As time when on his resolve had become much more resolute. All that had awaited him back home was a father who never intimated he was good enough and siblings who had ostracized him. No, he was sure that he did indeed want to become an Enforcer.
“Come on, time to see if you have what it takes.”
Broken from his reverie Jakob acknowledged the Sergeant and quickly followed him out into the hall.
“Am I leaving for training now?” Jakob asked.
The Enforcer Sergeant spoke over his shoulder as he led him down the hallway. “Not yet. We have to see if there are any ghosts in your closet. We want to know if you are hiding anything, or if there is anything we need to know about first.”
“What do you mean?” Jakob began to get nervous. When the Sergeant didn’t reply Jakob’s heart began to pound harder in his chest.
The two walked on in silence through several more hallways until they came back to the same room Jakob had first met Sergeant Cornelius and the other Enforcers. The Sergeant stood to the side of the doorway and motioned for Jakob to enter. As Jakob neared the door the hair on the back of his neck stood on end, he hesitated half a second and then stepped through the doorway. As Jakob he did, a man dressed in the traditional issue black clothing of the Enforcers, minus the armor, with a black cowl and a two meter long black staff adorned with Lord Helmawr’s heraldry, stood and greet him.
“Mr. Vaultier? A pleasure I am sure.”
Jakob stopped and looked back at the Enforcer Sergeant who was already closing the heavy door behind him, leaving Jakob alone with the man.
“Please, have a seat.”
Jakob hesitated.
“Come now, I am not here to harm you. This is just an informal interview. Lord Helmawr is rather… selective of the men who enter his police force. There is no room for those with impure hearts or minds in the service to the Spire.”
Jakob felt the tingling sensation begin to well up within him; he closed his eyes taut in an attempt to keep any changes there a secret from the man. When the sensation subsided Jakob looked back up to see an intrigued expression on the man’s face.
The man then closed his own eyes and began uttering something in a language that Jakob was unfamiliar with. The man’s began to glow purple as he raised the staff in his left hand, and when he reopened his eyes Jakob felt a warm sensation wash over him from the soles of his feet to the very roots of his hair on the top of his head. He was powerless to resist it, and he didn’t try. Jakob could tell that his mind was being completely inspected. He knew that his secret wasn’t going to remain a secret for much longer.
The man then closed his own eyes and began uttering something in a language that Jakob was unfamiliar with. The man’s began to glow purple as he raised the staff in his left hand, and when he reopened his eyes Jakob felt a warm sensation wash over him from the soles of his feet to the very roots of his hair on the top of his head. He was powerless to resist it, and he didn’t try. Jakob could tell that his mind was being completely inspected. He knew that his secret wasn’t going to remain a secret for much longer.
As the sensation faded the man opened his eyes. For several long minutes he appraised Jakob, his eyes moving back and forth, up and down, trying to discern something.
“Mr. Vaultier, when you first walked in, I would have said that you had the aura of an unsanctioned Psyker, which if I had been able to confirm, your life would have been forfeit here and now. But as it stands, we can continue our little chat.”
Jakob was unsure of what to say. While he knew there had been a chance he would be found out, he had not considered it would be so soon. What intrigued him more was why it was still a secret now.
Jakob was unsure of what to say. While he knew there had been a chance he would be found out, he had not considered it would be so soon. What intrigued him more was why it was still a secret now.
Jakob wanted more than anything to avert his eyes from the penetrating gaze of the Enforcer Psyker, but he forced himself to keep them locked on the purple irises of his interrogator.
For several hours, long past Jakob had been able to keep track, the interview continued. The pair sparred back and forth. The hooded Enforcer would dance around the subject of why he was joining the Enforcers, the possibility of Jakob being truly tainted by the warp, his family, even his questionable hygiene. Jakob was wearing down and just as he was about to give in and confess the whole deal about fleeing the long reach of his father and his possessing the powers of the Warp his interrogator stood up, a warm smile upon his face. It was then that Jakob noticed the tingling sensation permeating across his entire body, even through his brain, and it was fading. He felt utterly exhausted.
“Congratulations Mr. Vaultier. You have passed the first test and you are on your way to a glorious life spent in the service of Lord Helmawr.”
As the man began to leave the room he turned and said, “Remember, no one is above suspicion”, and with that he left the room, leaving Jakob to try and gather the strength to stand up.
Ian and Jakob turned around. Fifty meters down the road, between themselves and the Bifröst stood three Cawdor gangers. Jakob had nothing but a knife on him. Ian was not much better off with just his las-pistol on his hip having left his hot-shot lasgun, with the rest of his travel kit, in the medical bay.
Among the three Cawdor Ian could make out a shotgun in the hands of one of them, while the other two had auto-pistols in hand. Ian drew his laspistol and stepped in between Jakob and the approaching zealots. He snapped off a shot hoping to cause them to hesitate more than anything else, all the while he was pushing Jakob to a narrow alleyway. If there wasn’t a way out on the other end, at least the Cawdor would have to approach single file.
They were in luck, the alley was wide enough for the two walk in a staggered line. That is if the ground hadn’t been strewn with large chunks of debris. As it was they had to walk single file down the length with plenty of cover and it opened up onto a parallel street.
As Ian neared the far end of the alley from where they entered he let loose several shots down the lane back the way they had come to keep his pursuers honest. As he was distracted looking and shooting to the rear he ran headlong into the back of Jakob, this knocked both of them sprawling to the alley floor.
“What in blazes…!”
“Ssh,” Jakob hushed Ian and pointed towards the opening to their front. “There’s one of them up ahead, waiting just around the corner.”
“How could you possibly…?”
“SSSH!” Jakob said, this time placing his hand over the ganger’s mouth. It was then that Ian noticed that Jakob’s eyes had a tint of blue glowing from them. He just nodded his head.
Jakob closed his eyes as he got slowly to his feet. Ian noticed that Jakob’s eyelids were not containing the blue light as it began to get brighter. Jakob began to cup his hands together, like he was playing with a small ball. It reminded Ian of “Bomb Toss”, a game he and his friends played as kids. It was supposed to be like throwing grenades into buckets, but only with rocks or balls.
Jakob cocked his right hand back, and then let loose, just like he was tossing a real grenade. A half meter out a small yellow orb appeared out of nowhere and flew along the arc towards the end of the alley. When it impacted the ground just beyond the edge of the alley it flared up like a miniature sun. There was at least one cry of pain from around the corner. If it weren’t for the photo-visor Ian always wore he was sure it would have blinded him.
“Come on! We have to make our break for it.” Jakob said as pulled Ian to his feet and then bolted for the street.
“How did you… What was that?!?” Ian cried as he jumped to his feet and followed. When he reached the street he looked to his right and there was a single Cawdor ganger on his knees with both palms rubbing his eyes, a shotgun lay on the ground next to him. That would have been a nasty surprise to be sure.
“How did you…?”
“I don’t know,” was all that Jakob would say on the matter.
The two continued to run as straight as they could to the Enforcer Precinct House. When they got within one hundred meters of the gate the shouting from their Cawdor pursuers picked up again. This time however a quick burst from a heavy bolter within a turret adjacent to an armored gate silenced them and sent the zealots scurrying for cover.
When they got to the gate a shuttered slot at eye level slid open.
“Speak your business citizen,” came an unemotional voice from within.
“I want to join the Enforcers,” Jakob replied. Ian just stood there with his las pistol in hand looking back the way they had come.
Silence greeted them. Jakob was just about to speak up again when they heard heavy locks disengaging. When that was done a door shaped portico within the left half of the heavy gate swung outward and then up on heavy hydraulic pistons. Three men clad in black carapace armor swarmed out into the street. The first was armed with a flamer, the pilot light at the end of the nozzle hissed loudly as he ran past them and set up on their left. The second Enforcer followed out the door wielded a sleek combat shotgun, which he cocked as he moved past and to their right. The third one had three blue chevrons painted on the right chest plate, and left shoulder pad of his armor. On his right hip he wore a standard issue Bolt Pistol and on his left hung a tethered power maul.
As the Sergeant stepped forward he thrust his left hand forward, “weapons!” Was all the helmeted man said. Ian hesitated for a moment and before he could think about it any further the Sergeant swept his armored leg from left to right, knocking both of Ian’s feet out from under him. Ian starred into the blackness of the dome above as he somersaulted and landed heavily on his back. This knocked the wind out of him. Before he could recover his breath or his wits, the Sergeant snatched the las pistol out of his hand. Turning to look back at Jakob he said, “So, you want to join Lord Helmawr’s Enforcers, eh?”
Jakob looked from his disarmed companion on the ground back to the Enforcer Sergeant and nodded.
“Yes sir, I definitely do.”
“Very well, you two come with me.”
Before Ian could catch his breath to say that he wasn’t there to join up, the shotgun Enforcer scooped him up and half dragged, half threw him through the doorway behind the Sergeant and Jakob.
It took Ian a good ten meters to get his feet back under him, and even then he was practically running to keep pace with the Enforcers. The five meter wide hallway was immaculate. The floor and walls were seamlessly poured ferrocrette, every five meters hung dim lumination assemblies that cast the light only downward, leaving the area above in shadow. Heavy footsteps of the Enforcers echoed loudly off the walls as they walked. Thirty meters down the hallway ended at another massive armored gate, on the right stood an open portico similar to that at the entrance way. As the last of the five men entered the room the armored door slid shut behind him.
“Sit,” the Sergeant said firmly, apparently for Jakob and Ian since neither of the other two Enforcers moved to take a seat.
In the center of the room was a plain 2 meter by 5 meter metal table. Around the table were ten metal chairs. Both the table, and the chairs, were bolted to the floor. Jakob and Ian sat next to each other along one of the sides.
“I’m not…” Ian tried to protest.
“Silence. You will speak only when spoken too citizen.”
“But I…”
“I said silence, unless you wish to be silenced.”
Ian snapped his mouth shut and glanced quickly at the other officers. Neither had moved other than a slightly perceptible tightening and loosening of their facial and neck muscles.
“I need to know what business those Cawdor would have with you, and why in your flight from them you suddenly decided that you wished to join Lord Helmawr’s Enforcers.” The Sergeant turned his gaze from Ian to Jakob.
Jakob glanced at Ian, unsure if that was a question or a statement.
“Speak!”
The Sergeant raised his voice for the first time and it startled both Van Saar men.
“Um…,” Jakob said as he cleared his throat. “I don’t have any business with them. They just decided that I was a heretic because I wouldn’t join up with them. I was already on my way here Enfor… I mean Si… um, Sergeant.” Jakob managed to sit still despite the fact his racing heart threatened to break free from his chest at any moment.
“And you?” The Sergeant said turning his attention back to Ian.
Ian nervously shifted in his seat. “As I was trying to say earlier, I am not here to join up. Jakob here is a friend of mine, and I was trying to talk him out of it. I think he should join up with me and my gang instead.”
The Enforcer with the Shotgun snorted. When he did so, the Sergeant turned his head to look at him over his shoulder, the Enforcer composed himself and was silent once more. Turning his back forward the Sergeant leaned in, “then your business here is concluded.” He stepped back and motioned towards the door that they had entered through.
Ian stood and turned to Jakob, “It was good knowing you Jakob. Take care of yourself.”
Jakob stood and the two reached out and gripped each other’s forearm firmly.
“You too Ian.”
With that Ian left the room followed by the shotgun Enforcer. When Ian reached the front gate the Enforcer handed him his las pistol and the armored door swung up and away. With a nod of thanks Ian stepped through to the street beyond. Without a word from the Enforcer the door swung down and shut. Ian could hear the heavy bolt locks sliding into place.
Looking down the causeway back towards the Bifröst there were no signs of the Cawdor who had chased them. Ian glanced up at the small fortress poised at the edge of the bridge that led to the Under Hive, its cold hard walls giving no indication that it cared he was even there, and then turned to head back to his home.
When Ian was out of range of the armored heavy bolters of the Enforcer’s Precinct House a lone Cawdor stepped from the shadows causing him to whip his pistol from its holster.
“If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead already Van Saar. Just know this, best purge yourself from the taint of the one you left behind lest the judgment of the almighty Emperor befall you.”
And with that the Cawdor ganger turned and walked away leaving Ian to his thoughts.
“I am going to have a devil of a time explaining this to Dyrke…”
-=-=-=0=-=-=-
Jakob sat on the end of the bunk he had been assigned after he had informed the Enforcer Sergeant that he had wanted to enlist in Lord Helmawr’s police force. Since then he had been their guest, a neglected guest, but a guest nonetheless. The only one who had spoken to him during his stay thus far had been the Sergeant. He had introduced himself as Cornelius.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” the Sergeant had asked him the morning after Ian had left. Jakob had answered that he was, but at the time he had some doubt. As time when on his resolve had become much more resolute. All that had awaited him back home was a father who never intimated he was good enough and siblings who had ostracized him. No, he was sure that he did indeed want to become an Enforcer.
“Come on, time to see if you have what it takes.”
Broken from his reverie Jakob acknowledged the Sergeant and quickly followed him out into the hall.
“Am I leaving for training now?” Jakob asked.
The Enforcer Sergeant spoke over his shoulder as he led him down the hallway. “Not yet. We have to see if there are any ghosts in your closet. We want to know if you are hiding anything, or if there is anything we need to know about first.”
“What do you mean?” Jakob began to get nervous. When the Sergeant didn’t reply Jakob’s heart began to pound harder in his chest.
The two walked on in silence through several more hallways until they came back to the same room Jakob had first met Sergeant Cornelius and the other Enforcers. The Sergeant stood to the side of the doorway and motioned for Jakob to enter. As Jakob neared the door the hair on the back of his neck stood on end, he hesitated half a second and then stepped through the doorway. As Jakob he did, a man dressed in the traditional issue black clothing of the Enforcers, minus the armor, with a black cowl and a two meter long black staff adorned with Lord Helmawr’s heraldry, stood and greet him.
“Mr. Vaultier? A pleasure I am sure.”
Jakob stopped and looked back at the Enforcer Sergeant who was already closing the heavy door behind him, leaving Jakob alone with the man.
“Please, have a seat.”
Jakob hesitated.
“Come now, I am not here to harm you. This is just an informal interview. Lord Helmawr is rather… selective of the men who enter his police force. There is no room for those with impure hearts or minds in the service to the Spire.”
Jakob felt the tingling sensation begin to well up within him; he closed his eyes taut in an attempt to keep any changes there a secret from the man. When the sensation subsided Jakob looked back up to see an intrigued expression on the man’s face.
The man then closed his own eyes and began uttering something in a language that Jakob was unfamiliar with. The man’s began to glow purple as he raised the staff in his left hand, and when he reopened his eyes Jakob felt a warm sensation wash over him from the soles of his feet to the very roots of his hair on the top of his head. He was powerless to resist it, and he didn’t try. Jakob could tell that his mind was being completely inspected. He knew that his secret wasn’t going to remain a secret for much longer.
The man then closed his own eyes and began uttering something in a language that Jakob was unfamiliar with. The man’s began to glow purple as he raised the staff in his left hand, and when he reopened his eyes Jakob felt a warm sensation wash over him from the soles of his feet to the very roots of his hair on the top of his head. He was powerless to resist it, and he didn’t try. Jakob could tell that his mind was being completely inspected. He knew that his secret wasn’t going to remain a secret for much longer.
As the sensation faded the man opened his eyes. For several long minutes he appraised Jakob, his eyes moving back and forth, up and down, trying to discern something.
“Mr. Vaultier, when you first walked in, I would have said that you had the aura of an unsanctioned Psyker, which if I had been able to confirm, your life would have been forfeit here and now. But as it stands, we can continue our little chat.”
Jakob was unsure of what to say. While he knew there had been a chance he would be found out, he had not considered it would be so soon. What intrigued him more was why it was still a secret now.
Jakob was unsure of what to say. While he knew there had been a chance he would be found out, he had not considered it would be so soon. What intrigued him more was why it was still a secret now.
Jakob wanted more than anything to avert his eyes from the penetrating gaze of the Enforcer Psyker, but he forced himself to keep them locked on the purple irises of his interrogator.
For several hours, long past Jakob had been able to keep track, the interview continued. The pair sparred back and forth. The hooded Enforcer would dance around the subject of why he was joining the Enforcers, the possibility of Jakob being truly tainted by the warp, his family, even his questionable hygiene. Jakob was wearing down and just as he was about to give in and confess the whole deal about fleeing the long reach of his father and his possessing the powers of the Warp his interrogator stood up, a warm smile upon his face. It was then that Jakob noticed the tingling sensation permeating across his entire body, even through his brain, and it was fading. He felt utterly exhausted.
“Congratulations Mr. Vaultier. You have passed the first test and you are on your way to a glorious life spent in the service of Lord Helmawr.”
As the man began to leave the room he turned and said, “Remember, no one is above suspicion”, and with that he left the room, leaving Jakob to try and gather the strength to stand up.
