Heart's tale

Chapter 5 part 2

"Well, perfect, perfect, I couldn't have wished for two more brave young men."

Blop even straightened at these words, jingling his gun belt against his cuirass, and nearly opened his mouth to say something, as Sept threw up his finger:

"Ah, ah, ah, I'm the only one talking now."

He stepped closer and looked into Ruchi's eyes, who was staring unblinking in front of him, and then into Blop's blue circles and laughed.

"No, really. You might as well be in a museum," laughed the cleric, and even clapped his hands a few times. They contained a pendant with a small heart shard and a bullet sticking out of it. Sept, smiling, looked now at the pendant, now at the guards.

"Of course, I could execute you right here or, for example, tomorrow in the square for the attempted murder of the cleric... But I have a more interesting fate for you."

Ruchi swallowed, and Blop breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.

"I've been getting reports of strange activity in the Mist Quarter. In the Town Hall area in particular," Sept began thoughtfully, pacing around the guards. "One day, flares, the next day, blare of engines. I can't send my own men there, but I think you, brave guards, are the right sort of men for the job."

Sept stopped in front of them and continued:

"Either you find out what's going on there and come back to me, or you don't come back at all. Both are fine with me," he concluded, "Do I make myself clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!" Ruchi boomed, and Blop muttered something to himself in tune with his exclamation.

"Good for you," Sept smiled and clicked on the fat man's badge stamped on his armor. "I have your numbers memorized. And believe me, I have an excellent memory. You don't have to report to your superiors. If you come back, you'll get official papers from me. Now, be gone."

Ruchi saluted, grabbed Blop under the arm, and dragged him toward the police boat. After pushing his companion into it, he sat at the wheel and engaged the mechanism that pulled the chain, which, in turn, pulled the boat toward a wide ladder that ascended the wall.

"Ruchi! Oh, my dear moons! Ruchi," Blop grunted merrily. "What luck, my friend! We've been given a real mission! We came in handy!"

Ruchi looked at him with that very look of contempt and a drop of sympathy that the tall guard did so masterfully that he should have been performing in the colosseum:

"You're an idiot, Blop. Truly an idiot."

"But why, Ruchi, why? We could not wish it better. We get out of this heat, we don't get executed, some big shot gives us an errand – it's so great, buddy!"

"Some?" Ruchi seemed surprised. "Do you even know who it was?"

"Um. No," Blop hummed.

"Ha. Well, as I said, an idiot. It's the Drill!" the tall guard rolled his eyes as he nodded his head toward the pier.

"The Drill?" Blop asked.

"Cleric the Drill Sept, the head of, I guess, the security police or secret or some special department of the Cult."

"Now, Ruchi, what difference does it make, you don't even know for sure," laughed Blop.

"Such a difference that he'd better execute us, you fool," said Ruchi angrily, and, breathing heavily, banged his rifle butt on the bottom of the boat. Blop tilted his head at Ruchi's feet in surprise:

"Oh, look, we've got a crack."

The tall guard pushed the fat man aside quickly and saw that the boat was indeed leaking. He looked back toward the wall; it was still a decent distance from the shore. The boat was filling up fast and soon began to sag on the chain.