Nend Ardhon Chronicles - Complete

Chapter 34 – Isi Holl’s infiltration mission

Nayima slowly closed her open mouth and asked, “But… where did you hear about these Skills? And how did you get them? Because I never met anyone that could do something like this!”

“There are some rare books speaking about this, and I also know there are a few powerful Explorers that can use these Skills, and some even weirder. My father had a very impressive set of Skills that not many Water-Dragons have.”

Nayima noticed the sad look on Byia’s face that she quickly tried to disguise by staring at the wall again and placing a few more details on the image. Nayima bit her lower lip and asked, “You miss him very much, don’t you? I often see you in School fooling around with Guyi and your Rodhocetus, and I keep forgetting we are the same age, and if it were me who lost my father, I would feel miserable every day. How do you go through your days sad like that?”

“I… have a lot of trouble, not crying all day long. When my father disappeared, I was sad for several weeks, and my mother got worried because I even stopped eating. She was no better, but I guess my brother was the one who was in a worse state than both of us. I had to pull myself together to help them cope with the sadness. You would never understand because you spend all your strength trying to call all the attention upon yourself, while I just want to live one day at a time to become stronger. We have different aims, Nayima, and we will never understand each other. Now, go join the others; you are distracting me from my training.”

Nayima turned to the door, but before leaving, she asked without facing Byia, “We will never become friends, right? Not that I am trying to be your friend or anything…”

“With an attitude like yours, not in a million Tides. You are always so full of yourself, Nayima, and you look down on other people without a reason whatsoever. Live your life like you want but stay out of my way. I don’t need someone like you near me.”

Nayima left, leaving Byia alone with the image on the wall. Upon entering the other room again, Nayima sat on an empty chair in silence.

While Guyi and the others were playing and Byia was practicing, Isi Holl was with her two powerful Explorers at the left side of the Shield Dome that was surrounding the manor of Taldeb Fagoyuth.

She signaled for them to hide in the shadows and pointed one glowing claw to the soil, a few centimeters from the Shield. A hole appeared that went down for three meters and went up inside the Dome. The hole enlarged, and Isi Holl went in, emerging on the other side and hiding behind a tall plant. She closed both ends of the tunnel with a thin layer of vines that she made to grow quickly and took a few deep breaths while looking at the soil. Slowly, her body became indistinguishable from the sandy soil, and she swam close to the bottom, straight to the manor.

After searching around the manor, Isi Holl found a half-closed window that she carefully opened and entered the empty guest room. She quickly leaned against a wall, and her body immediately camouflaged itself, making her look like a part of the closet full of books behind her. As she moved along the wall, her body kept changing, making her invisible to anyone who looked straight at her.

She slowly opened the door and tried to sense movements in the water inside the manor. She frowned and mumbled in a very low voice, “Two on the right lower level, and two more on the left. I hear voices… Yes, I hear his name. This way…”

Skillfully, Isi used the shadows and the furniture to camouflage her presence and slowly opened the door to Taldeb’s office. She swam inside very slowly and crouched behind a large table, listening while her body looked as if it were part of the carpet on the floor.

She slowly raised her head and stared at the screen, where a figure was talking with Taldeb and his assistant, with his body distorted by the powerful light on his back. “It seems we have a situation that will probably delay our plans to damage the Calla family’s reputation for a while. One of my competitors was informed of my interest in that family and sent an assassin to the young Byia Calla, probably to blame my organization. Byia escaped, and her mother and brother are at the Clinic where Teera Calla works. They are healing a bunch of citizens who were hurt when that assassin was escaping from Byia’s dangerous Rodhocetus, making them gather even more fame and recognition. The Peacekeepers were informed of what happened to Byia and joined forces with every Explorer in this City, trying to find that assassin. Only a couple of hours have passed since the attack, and my losses are already astronomical. It seems my competitor is also having problems with that joined task force, so it’s better if you keep writing your speeches and wait for a while longer before sending any message to the Reporters. I was also informed that Byia cleared up all the rumors about your niece, and Nayima Fiet is at this moment with Byia in the Calla household. If they become friends, it will be even more difficult to use their animosity on our behalf!”

Taldeb frowned. “Even an assassination attempt favors that annoying family... Why can’t they all just die? How much time will this delay your plan to clear my name? Because election day is approaching!”

“You don’t need to remind me of that! Do your part and leave the rest to me and my associates. One of my spies told me that Byia’s house has an impenetrable and very powerful Shield Dome, and it seems Isi Holl went inside to talk to her granddaughter. Things will become even worse now that we have attracted Isi’s attention.”

The screen turned to a normal wall again, and Taldeb sighed, “Damn it... They even have a Shield Dome around that small house of theirs. How could they afford such expensive protection?”

Taldeb’s assistant spoke, making Isi Holl wonder why he was still near that corrupt former Mayor. “I know that Sergge Calla invented a small Device that could make a Shield Dome many years ago. Probably that house is protected by one of those Devices?”

“You are probably right… Well, it would be better if I continued writing because there is nothing more for me to do. Where is that weird escort that keeps me in check inside my own house?”

The assistant shrugged and said, “Probably watching the News, like he was two hours ago.”

Taldeb nodded and looked at the paper on top of his desk with half a dozen sentences praising his character and goodwill.

Isi slowly followed the assistant out of the office without moving even a small portion of water around her. While the assistant went in the direction of the kitchen to check on the dinner, Isi Holl went to the same guest room from where she came, stopping at a corner to look into a room where a familiar and wanted criminal was smiling at a screen on the wall in front of him, very pleased with all the destruction in the City.

She frowned and evaded the manor, leaving the window from where she entered in the exact position it was. She continued straight to the disguised opening of the hole she used, and after exiting on the other side, she magically closed the hole by making the soil close in, joining the two Explorers from her Guild in the dark alley.

She then smiled at them and spoke, “You will never guess who I just saw in there! Let’s go talk with Toraan Roolyi at the Explorer’s Guild to see if some partners of our dear Atiko Dragg are in this City as well.”

One of Isi Holl’s companions asked, almost spitting in anger, “Atiko Dragg is inside? Why didn’t you kill him immediately, Guild Master?”

“Because I want a bigger fish. I saw a distorted image of someone on a screen, and considering that Atiko is also in that manor, all that led me to believe that the ‘Copoll Conglomerate’ is behind all this. If they infiltrated this City, it’s one more reason to let Atiko guide us to his employers. We completely obliterated the Conglomerate in our City, and I bet it was why they changed their location. While I talk with Toraan, send a message to our Guild. I want them to search every known associate of the Conglomerate to see if we can find a link to the big guys in charge of the Conglomerate in this City.”

The two escorts nodded and followed Isi Holl to the Explorer’s Guild at maximum speed.

When they entered the Guild, there were only a couple of Explorers talking with Toraan Roolyi, but they delivered her a paper and left the Guild, making a slight bow to Isi Holl as they went past her.

Isi sat on an empty seat at Toraan’s table and asked, “What’s the matter? Troubles?”

“No, only another dead end. None of our usual informants knows anything about the identity of the one who tried to kill Byia and caused all those accidents. And if they know, they are keeping their mouths shut, and that’s unusual for some of them. I have a few low-level criminals who depend on my p*****t for information to make a living, and even they aren’t telling a thing.”

Isi Holl signaled a servant to bring a drink for her and spoke, “I saw Atiko Dragg at the manor of your former Mayor, Taldeb Fagoyuth. He was well known in my City for his association with the ‘Copoll Conglomerate’, a group that my Guild dismantled some Tides ago. Or I thought we did because I think they moved to this City and went even deeper underground. That’s probably why your informants are not talking because the Conglomerate is not your average criminal organization. They used to have branches in every major City but each of those branches had to go into hiding and resorted to some businesses disguised as legit to continue their criminal activity because the ‘Copoll Conglomerate’ made an enemy of every Explorer Guild when they tried to kill the President two Tides ago.”

“I remember that; your Guild was in charge of the security of the President at that time, right? A powerful Water Shot that was aimed at him hit you. I heard you were out of commission for several weeks, and you almost died because of that.”

Isi Holl gulped down her drink and shrugged. “That was highly exaggerated. I had a very powerful Shield around me, but that Water Shot was so strong that I was sent flying against the wall behind me. My head was buzzing for weeks, and I could barely hear. After that incident, I gave orders for my Guild to track down every criminal in my City, Obar Àrdair. We cut off every means for the Conglomerate to make a profit, and our actions served as an example to several other Cities. I guess some higher-ups of the ‘Copoll Conglomerate’ escaped and made a base in this City. It’s probably better if you start a cleansing, starting with all the low-level criminals and going up.”

Toraan Roolyi made a slight smile and said, “Better if we use your punishment, right? We cut off the tails of every criminal and tear apart any house or establishment where there are criminal activities? I don’t know if the Peacekeepers would like to see my Guild start a full-out war against the criminals.”

“That’s the better way to mark a criminal, slicing and burning to a crisp their tail so that they can’t search for a Healer to put it in place again. As for the Peacekeepers, I will take care of that. I just need to contact the President and he will order the Peacekeeper Force to join our hunt. It was what they did in the other Cities, and it will not be the first time we join forces with them on a war against crime.”

Toraan took a sip of her drink and asked, “If you are on such good terms with the President, it will help a lot to have the Peacekeepers with us. What about Byia? She is scared?”

“Not really. I guess my son did a pretty good job with her training. That little one was just annoyed by the assassination attempt. She said to me that she easily stopped the daggers that were aimed at her with a Water Wall and even if a dagger went through, she had with her a Shield Device that my son gave her. My little granddaughter is going to be a dreadful Explorer, I am sure of it.”

Toraan Roolyi raised her cup and said, “Then, let’s toast to that! May we be able to turn that little female into a powerful Explorer, worthy of carrying your legacy and helping me protect this City!”

Isi Holl raised her cup as well, with a big smile and a shine of pride in her eyes.