Xilanada - The Four Fold Dissonance/Part 1

The 23rd Day of Resplendent Wood, 766 in the Year of Our Empress.

Tecek was not an evil man. Just a necessary one.

It wasn't that the great city of Nexus was an evil place either, just a necessary one. That included the city's commerce, a trade in not only silks and wood but in drugs and slaves. Those were not evil either, just necessary, for if Nexus did not trade in these services, someone else would.

The problem was there were always those who did not see it. Revolutionaries, rebels, malcontents, mischief makers, they were of all kinds. From the serious to the casual, from the loudmouthed to the quiet carrying weapons.

And sometimes, just sometimes, enough of them got serious enough to rally and do something about it.

Those were the times Tecek did not enjoy his job. And yet it was a necessary one. His mercenary company was contracted to provide peacekeeping duties and when the Council of Entities told him to enter the Nexus District of Nexus, then he and his men did their duty and earned their retainer. It was a small price to winter in Nexus and earn a handsome coin doing a job that rarely required much work.

Today, his men would earn that coin.

Tecek marched at the front of the column of men, broken down into units and squads behind him. Each man wore lamellar armor, good enough to stop any knife and most swords that the insurrectionists would be carrying. Each was issued a buckler and short sword, given the often close-quarter fighting required in a city. Each was ready to do his duty.

The sun was setting in the horizon. It seemed a good omen. His men were going to end the rise of the Cricket and Rainbow Movement. Perhaps that meant that the day of the Movement was over.

He preferred not to think about the possibility that it meant the time of his own mercenary company was over, either generally or just for himself.

The intelligence the Council of Entities had given them indicated that a massive demonstration would be commenced where it counted most; in the Nexus District itself, where the Guild was headquartered and the Big and Little Market were found, as well as a host of other activities for the rich. This would be a difficult situation to negotiate, but the Council wanted the matter dealt with by his men, so clearly they were not concerned this time if violence broke out.

The Council of Entities and the Emissary who represented them had the powers to see every member of the Movement die in horrifying ways, if they wished to use them. This time, they did not. So they must want an example, something public and visible.

Tecek was a reasonably intelligent man, or so he thought of himself. Tonight would probably come to blood, and that blood would be spilt in the streets of the rich and powerful. And likely it would remind all those who watched, or perhaps even got caught up in it, that there were people who would fight to free slaves and stop the drug trade, and ruin their business in doing so. They would also be reminded that Nexus protected its own.

Tecek took a deep sigh as his men reached the Nexus District and began moving into position. This promised to be an ugly battle. The enemy was not an organized, disciplined army but rather a mob of fanatics willing to spend their lives in their cause. That made the fight both easier and harder. His newest soldiers would no doubt be bloodied quite a bit by it, but then they would learn and remember the difference. And his company would be the stronger for it.

Onyx Tooth was a good man. He did what was necessary.

It wasn't easy doing the right thing. It hadn't been easy in the West, when he had grown up an orphan, thanks to the Lintha Family. He had grown up hating the oppression and enslavement of others. And when he had been old enough, he had picked up a knife and killed his first pirate.

That passion hadn't ended upon that first death. Neither upon the 10th, nor the 100th.

It was only when he grew old enough that the rough life at sea was no longer appealing that he had come to Nexus. It hadn't been his idea. There were plenty of islands to settle on out in the West. But his beloved wife, Iae, had wanted a new life, a fresh start, and a place where his reputation was unknown.

So they had come and settled here, with all the wealth he had made in a long career fighting pirates for one country or another. And for a time it had been kind. The debauchery and cruelty endemic to life in Nexus rubbed at him, but there was always Iae to soothe away the pain.

Until she had died last year.

Onyx Tooth wished he could say that he could find his peace in retirement, but the truth was he longed for action, especially now that his beloved wife no longer needed caring for. He could spend his blood any way he chose now. And spend it he would.

Today.

The Cricket and the Rainbow Movement hadn't been his idea. No, it had been thrust upon him when the idealistic dreamers among the rich and poor of Nexus had realized his experience in conducting battle, real battle. He could have said no...but he hadn't been able to think of a single good reason to. They would most likely die, sooner or later, but that was hardly a reason to quit.

Onyx Tooth nodded to those around him, all tensely waiting for his signal. They were good men and women, more idealistic than skillful but with the grit to see the job done. He'd made sure no one lacking the stomach for this was in his crowd. This had to work. They looked at him with hopeful eyes and he gave him a terse smile and a final nod.

At seeing it, each bolted away, sprinting through the crowded streets to the many guerilla groups lying in wait all over Nexus District, here at the heart of Nexus. In minutes, the whole of the Market would be brought to its knees by his men and women. Likely there would be resistance from the mercenaries. After all, the Council of Entities could not possibly permit this kind of disruption without action.

But the statement would be made.

He would see to it that not too much damage was caused. After all, he knew better. It was all fine and well to strike back against the corrupt powers of the world, but Onyx Tooth knew the best way to stop slavery and drugs wasn't to try destroying them. It was to make them so unprofitable that the market for it would die off.

This attack would frighten those involved in the industry of both, as well as those who used their services. They would free as many slaves as they could, destroy as many drugs as they could, and fade away before too much trouble came their way. They would be hunted, and many of them would die.

But the statement would be made. And he intended to make sure it was loud enough that the Guild itself reconsidered its policies. Or that Nexus at least would think twice about allowing slaves to be brought in even for a few days.

Onyx Tooth smiled at the smooth silvery sword in his hands. The stunning weapon, named the Moon's Silver River as it was made of some kind of unknown silver, had always saved him in every battle, kept him alive in every conflict. It almost seemed to fight with a will of its own, fluid and adaptive to every surprising situation.

Today, he would push the Silver River to the limit. Today, he could die. Today, he was truly living.