Chapter 3 - The Rays of Dawn.

Ak'ash watched as the covered figure entered into the basement of the modest house.
"Hmm", this was not what he expected of the figure.
"What could he have promised to you? What does he have that you would walk into his lair so easily?" Ak'ash knelt down and prepared to meditate on the rooftop, when some movement in a window, opposite that just entered by the figure, caught his eye. He was caught by surprise at this, a potential third player in this little game piqued his interest. Ak'ash made his way up slowly, pulling his robe tighter around his waist, feeling for the two small daggers kept at his side as he did, he had no love for them, they were merely the tools of his trade, a precaution against whatever the sands might sweep across his path. Ak'ash kept his eyes on the window while making his way as close as possible along the roof tops. He drew level with the roof and saw that it was covered with a thin layer of small pebbles, placed specifically to alert those inside of any movement above. This caused Ak'ash to stop and think through his situation. He had achieved what was required, he seen where his quarry ended up, now he was supposed to report back, after all the sun would be up in a few hours, and that meant that he would be required for other duties.
"I can't leave like this though" thought Ak'ash, knowing that if he did he would be sent back here tomorrow night to investigate, and by then it could be too late. Ak'ash saw that although the roof was covered in pebbles, the one next to it was clear.
"Almost too easy" though Ak'ash, which immediately raised his suspicion, "but my hand is forced", and with that he leapt to the open roof. Landing heavily Ak'ash went straight into a roll, too soften the jolt in his legs. As soon as he was on his feet he was examining the pebbles. He could see that there was a trapdoor to the house below, which explained the heightened security measure on the rest of the roof. Ak'ash paused for a moment then swung himself off the edge of the roof.
His feet hit the side of the building with a light tap, and immediately he was moving, hand past hand along the roof towards the open window. He turned the corner so his back was now facing the building he had seen his target enter moments before. He inched closer to the window and prepared himself for what was about to happen, he knew that swinging in from the window would draw the attraction from anyone inside, however it would also give Ak'ash the element of surprise, which he knew he could use to his advantage. Ak'ash kicked off and to the side allowing himself to enter the room and immediately roll out of the light coming in through the window, however he quickly realised he had made a mistake. He looked up to see a torch being thrown up the steps, time seemed to slow to a crawl as the light from the torch revealed to Ak'ash that he had seconds to live. The room was full of jugs of oil, and he could see it glistening off the floor as well, he knew without feeling it, yet, that he was also covered in the flammable liquid. As the torch came down Ak'ash got to his feet as quickly as possible and turned to run, however because of the slick oil covering his feet and the floor below them he slid back over. The torch landed and the fire spread out with terrifying speed. Ak'ash braced his feet against the nearest jug and pushed off, with this effort he was able to complete a roll and approach the window. The jug he had propelled himself off titled backwards then crashed down to the floor, on its way down it knocked over another, dumping liters of oil onto the ever expanding fire. Ak'ash got to the window and pulled himself to his feet, even in this situation he still remembered his training though and he knew that if heleapt to the ground he would be seen by the crowd that would soon emerge, half asleep from their houses. Ak'ash pulled off his gloves andleapt for the roof, just as the jugs contents reached the flame, sending a fireball through the window, lighting the entire alley. Ak'ash struggled to find a footing on the side of the wall, then realised that he wouldn't be able too. He pulled himself up and onto the roof moments before the first face appeared at a neighbouring window. Ak'ash began pulling off as much of his outfit as possible, unwrapping the hood from his face and peeling off the arms of his robe, he raised himself to a crouching position and knew that he could not be seen, so he made his way silently to the trapdoor, which was now billowing smoke, as well as the occasional flame from between its boards. He took one dagger out and jammed it into the burning wood, with this he opened the door and threw the unneeded parts of his uniform in there. He stayed low and made his way across several more roofs until it was safe to climb down onto the roof of a nearby market stall. Tired and concerned following the nights activities Ak'ash turned from the glow and noise behind him and made his way again into the darkness of the night.

Captain Kneering awoke and saw a vaguely familiar face before him.
"Where am I? Who are you?" he said, repeating aloud the thoughts running through his head.
"Its OK, Captain Kneering Sir. I am Private Rane I found you near the city gates, you were almost dead, so I brought you here to the gate house field hospital, the nurse has just been trying to get some of the bruising down, and patch up some of the larger cuts. I can go and..". By now Captain Kneering had heard enough. He knew that he was not where he should be, he needed to get to the palace and he needed to do it quickly.
"You simpering fool, get out of my way I'm leaving" Kneering said as he rose cautiously to his feet. Pushing past the Private he retrieved his belongings from the bottom of the cot.
"Has anyone gone through these?" Kneering asked, moving in towards Rane, until their faces were barely an inch away.
"No, no sir no one. Thats why I've stayed here I knew that it was important too you",
"I see, well then. I owe you an apology. Come you will follow me to the Palace immediately. Once there I will have no further need of you, we are to leave at once" Kneering ordered.
"But, I have duties on the gate, the captain of the gate..."
"Would not dare question me, so who do you think you are?" Kneering said, again looming over the terrified private.
Private Denik'Rane followed the Captain through the city streets always moving, as directly as possible towards the palace. The sun was just beginning to appear as they neared the castle, and PrivateRane observed that the Captain had slowed, and had begun to favour his right side, no doubt still in a considerable amount of pain from whatever had delivered such a brutal attack. Several times the private considered suggesting a rest, for the Captains sake, however he knew that this man would not be stopped again until he had completed his mission, and right now that meant getting to the Palace.
As they approached the Palace Captain Kneering stopped and turned to face the private.
"Private Rane, do not think that I am ungrateful for the assistance you showed me last night. You recognised the importance of my mission from only our brief exchange and ensured that the items I had were kept secure, for this you have done a service to not only me, but to our great city. You will be rewardedDenik'Rane. For now, go home and rest, I will call on you soon".
"But the captain will expect me back at the gate tonight" Rane replied, afraid of the anger that might be unleased for such insolense.
"Rane, my brother, you misunderstand me, you no longer work for the Republican Guard, from answer to me. Your captain will not come for you, In time he will forget you had ever worked there. Now go. Get some rest, I assure you, when I call for you, rest will be a distant, comforting memory." And with that the Captain turned and walked straight to the mighty Palace gates, waited till they opened and slipped inside. For a moment PrivateRane stood there wondering if it was true or not, then deciding that even if it wasn't he could not be punished any further he turned and headed home, stopping once for meal on his way.

Captain Kneering made his way directly towards the Palaces dining room. He was sure that the Sultan would be taking his breakfast at this time, which meant he would not be alone. This fact almost caused Kneering to reconsider, part of him wanted to rest, make himself more presentable to the Sultan and wait until he was alone before delivering this information too him. No, Kneering thought, even if it means exposing the situation to those around him, the Sultan must be told immediately.
As he approached the door to the dining room Kneering could see two guards moving towards him, leaving only four at the door.
"Ah Kneering, looks like you bit off more than you could chew" said one that Kneering had met before, safe in the knowledge that in his obviously weakened state Kneering could not fight back.
"Maybe now the Sultan will see that he trusts you a little too much, and that his Palace guards are more worthy of his attention and praise", added another guard.
Kneering opened his mouth, as if to respond to the two jibes, but instead launched his palm at the throat of the first guard. The guard immediately grabbed his throat as he struggled to breath through his crushed windpipe. The second began too pull his weapon, but Kneering jammed a finger into each of his eyes, before throwing him into his gasping comrade. By now the other guard at the gate had their weapons drawn but were unsure of what to do next. Kneering put both his hands up to try and placate the guards,
"Please, I must see the Sultan".
"Its OK Captain", said Captain Tycho, walking up the corridor behind him, his second in command at his heels.
"I saw the whole thing, I was loathe to leave these two alone. They should never have been assigned to such an important post, but they were friends of the Prince and I put them here as a personal favour to him". He turned to his right, the direction of his second in command,
"Have these two taken down to the garden, they can go back to sentry duty around the Palace fountain".
"Actually" Kneering interjected, " I had to take a guard from the Captain of the Gate, send one of these men down to explain to him that he is too replace PrivateDenik'Rane".
"The Prince won't be happy about you sending away one of his friends" Captain Tycho cautioned,
"After my meeting with the Royal Family it will be the least of his worries, I assure you" Kneering said, sadness and anger both showing through in his voice.
Kneering opened the door and walked into the Royal Dining Room. Although most visitors, even on a repeat visit look around in awe at the splendor of the room, and in particular the table in the center Kneering kept his eyes down. He walked towards the Sultan, moving his eyes up, only meeting the Sultans gaze as he approached his chair.
"What is the meaning of this? This is the Royal Throne Room, it is not to be intruded upon by a simple soldier. What the hell is the meaning of this?" the Prince asked toKneerings left.
Kneering stared over at him masking perfectly the overwhelming contempt and anger he could feel rising.
"A thousand apologies young Prince, I have information that is of unparallelled value, and i needed to share it with your father immediately" Kneering said, bowing to the Prince to hide the look of disdain he was showing at having to explain himself to such an unworthy successor to the throne.
"Please Abby" the Sultan said, using the nickname that he, and he alone, used with the Prince,
"Captain Kneering has obviously been through a lot to talk with us, the least we can do is listen. Bring a chair for the Captain, and some food, and some water" the Sultan said, knowing that one of his many attendants would be willing to answer the call.
"Now please, Captain, tell us. What grave news drives you here with such urgency?" the Sultan inquired.
"As you well know my Liege, for the last several months I have been conducting a check on the far reaches of your kingdom, and those neighbouring us. We have all heard the stories of the great conqueror, who has declared his intention to march over the world, and my mission was to ensure that if needed we and ourAlly's would be able to defend ourselves against what ever assault may be lead against us. After my extensive campaign across the many cities of the sands I was assured at length by your fellow rulers that we would be able to defend ourselves, even against the might of this great leader. However on my last night staying in the City of the Sun God I was awoken, late at night by a figure who had found his way into my room. He gave me a warning, that the great warrior was not our largest threat. Another power was rising, one that would plunge the whole world to darkness, and send our great city sinking into the sand"
At the sound of this last sentence the Prince gagged on his breakfast, and needed a glass of nectar to clear his throat,
"Sorry Captain, please continue" the Prince said.
"This figure told me that he knew of forces that are capable of destroying the civilized world well before this Great scourge arrives. He said that there are members within the ruling courts who have been working for years to try and sway the course of events to lead to our destruction. This news troubled me greatly. I asked the figure if he would be able to tell me more, that I might be able to expose these conspirators not only in our court, but in the court of their God King."
"He assured me that the first night after I left he would meet me where-ever we made camp. I travelled out of sight of the city, but did not do a full days hike, lest he was unable to keep up. Late at night one of thesentry's alerted me that a figure was approaching slowly on a horse. When he got closer I called out but there was no reply. When I could see him I realised that it was too late. He was clearly dead, being propped up by a spear tied to the horse. I ordered my men to prepare for battle, but the sands themselves came alive as the faceless hordes of the God King appeared. They had surprise, but we had the numbers and I truly believed we might be able to win the war, however these were no ordinary men. I had an entire battalion of men with me, and these creatures cut through them like you would cut through that peach", Captain Kneering said, gesturing to the peach the Sultan was currently dissecting. When the last of my men fell I turned and ran, however they pursued for days on end. I know I shrunktheir numbers before they gave up the chase, but these men fought unlike anything I had ever seen."
"This is most distressing" the Sultan said, a look of concern on his face " you believe that the God King ordered his troops to attack you?"
"Not me personally your Highness, there certain points I must convey to you too complete this story."
"First, the figure who was tied to the horse was not the same that approached me that night. This tells me that my mysterious advisor is still alive, and that he had some Ally's in his belief. Second, I do not believe the God King sent those troops after me. He would not have used such methods of concealment, he would have had me killed at first light before leaving his city and had my head put on a pike on his throne. I believe that someone within his court, someone with great authority sent those men, possibly the same dark force my messenger warned me about".
"Very well Captain" the Sultan said "I must consider this. Please come back to my throne room tonight, you too Abbey, and you as well Galzathar" said the Sultan looking at his vizier, who had the look of a man deep in thought.
"If the problem is as drastic as you warned I may need you to assemble the.. No, I am sure it won't come to that. Thank you Captain, I will send someone for you tonight" said the Sultan, gesturing to the door.