The Spy

The man was writing in a small book. The room was dark thanks to the drawn curtains, and the mahogany desk looked black in the gloom. This didn’t seem to bother the man, and he dips his quill into the inkwell. There are knocks on the door, two in quick succession, then one. Without stopping, he calls out.

    “Yes? Come in please.” As he says this the shades flutter to the sides, and brilliant light pures into the room, giving color to the space, revealing the wide balding man at the desk, who is the first thing Peseshet sees upon entering. He takes a deep breath.

    “Sir. I woke up in the gate.”

    The man set down his pen and spoke. “I see.” He thinks for a bit. “I have noticed that the people you were with did not return. Come closer, let me see.”

    Peseshet walks over to the desk and places his hands on it, leaning forward he bows his head. The man standing opposite him places both hands on Peseshet’s scalp and closes his eyes.

    “Things are going well. Your group makes it into the Thraben hills. They find the water elemental, after some hours they give up there. Some time later, a few days perhaps, they encounter another group. Hmm, looks like they are conversing, hold on...orcs are with the other group. The orcs charge in. A human, elf actually, fires his bow and hits your fighter. This is quite strange. It looks like the one with the large sword is trying to stop the orcs from attacking, while the mage continually fumbles his spells.” He laughs. “Yes, it does seem these enemies didn’t have a plan. Your death is savage as well, do you want to hear it?”

Peseshet shakes his head. 

“Well it seems like these people are responsible for your death and the deaths of your group. Though I am loathe to change the perimeters of the test, you must change your name again, Peseshet. Make sure to visit the Twister, your appearance needs changing as well. When you come back I’ll brief you on your next mission.”

The older man at the desk nods. He then lets go of Peseshet’s head and waves him off. The curtains draw to a close, bathing the room once again in darkness. 

“Good, now leave my office.”

    Peseshet bows and backs away from the desk and into the hallway. His foot falls making nary a sound on the red carpeting interspersed with images of yellow stars. The door closes, leaving him alone in the quiet hall. 

    Carpet gives way to stone about 50 paces from where he started. The lighting diminishes, the sconces on the walls unlit now. When the man walks onto the stone though, the wall sconces erupt in purple light, bathing the hallway in an eerie glow. The hallway transforms into a circular stair that turns down, the man’s steps echoing off the walls. Eventually, after a minute’s descent, the man enters a damp room, a low thrum emanating from the portal on the opposite end. A large rectangular frame made of onyx stands 15 feet tall, and inside between the onyx swirls a dark interior, which the man steps through. 

    Pipes groan overhead. The smell is horrendous down here, and slime coats every surface. The secrecy of this place means that no one ever comes down here to do plumbing or cleaning, and so the place assaults the man now exiting the portal. Peseshet hated coming down here but pushed the urge to vomit out of his mind and climbed the sticky stairs with a mantra repeating in a tiny whisper. He could stomach this for his master. He tried to avoid the drips that fell from unseen pipes above as he climbed the stairs, and was unsuccessful. 

    Footsteps can be heard from above, echoing sharply. Peseshet continued his slow progress up the stairs. Life was complicated. Dying as often as he did, it was hard for him to give a shit...about anything. His work seemed never ending. He could stop he knew, he certainly had saved up enough money, but he was trapped in a kind of momentum. The source of the footsteps passed him on the journey to the surface he knew would be there waiting for him. The sudden heat on his skin woke him out of his reverie. The light was bright and the brilliance of it, after being underground so long, momentarily stunned him. 

    A huge hulking golem walked the street, towering over the heads of the citizens. Peseshet avoided it, and as well as keeping his head down. Best to avoid everyone.