The Orb of Wrath

Mithir and Erion left early. They had taken a quick breakfast at the bar of the inn and had paid the bill. After they had gathered their meager belongings they had gone to the East Gate of the city. There were stables there where they could recover their horses, upon payment of the prescribed fee. The horses were well fed and looked reasonably good. This was certainly a very well-organized and reliable city. Although it could surely prosper faster if it had a good Commander, instead of a corrupt one.

  After taking the horses, they headed south. They decided it would be best to stay overnight in Talmyra, as they had to go through there anyway. Also, as usual, they were heading to a city bank to enter the “acquired” goods; at least those that didn't attract attention. They always did it in a different city from which they acted. Erion posed as merchant and with a false identity, created securities accounts in all the major banks in Bor. A trader was always traveling between cities and it was a lucrative profession. So it was one of the most suitable ways to accumulate assets without arousing suspicion.

  One of Erion's hobbies was to invest. For some reason, he was great at it. He had reached the point where some bank officers asked him for advice on certain issues, as the betting options used to work well for him. He generally got higher yields than the average, but never anything disproportionate.

  Erion knew how to make big money in a short amount of time, but he had to perform espionage and traffic business secrets. The reason he had never practiced this option wasn't because it was illegal, but mainly because economic success that was too sudden would draw too much attention. Adequate risk control was one of the keys to a long and successful career.

  In his scheme it was essential to stay out of the spotlight of the authorities and for this, he took many precautions. He did the same thing with Mithir's investments, who fully trusted his judgment in this matter, in the same way that he trusted Mithir for any matter concerning magic.

  If they hurried up, they could reach Talmyra at nightfall; then find a good inn, spend the night and the next morning, enter the newly acquired goods in the bank, and get an early start to their final destination. But before that they had another task to accomplish. Once they were a couple of leagues away from the city, they turned off the road to go into the undergrowth. After riding less than a quarter of a league, they found an opening that seemed a suitable place. They left their horses and conveniently tied them up.

  Mithir stood in the middle of the plain and told Erion what he should do, handing him the amulet in the shape of a dove that he had gotten the day before. Erion hung it around his neck. Mithir then stepped away and showed his friend the gesture he had to do.

  Erion was concentrated and rubbed the talisman, muttering a few words. Then a blue light began to shine around him. Moments later, Erion became a dove. The transformation happened in seconds. He was a fine specimen of a common gray dove. Soon, the bird took flight and headed north. After waiting about a minute, Mithir saw the dove returning by the same route and after an acrobatic descent, perched in the same place from where it had left.

  Then, after standing still for a moment, Erion regained his usual form. He appeared in a heap on the floor. His clothes were wrinkled but everything seemed to be intact. He rose while shaking his pants and looked at Mithir.

  “It was amazing!” Erion cried.

  “I'd like to try it sometime,” Mithir said with gestures.

  “Sure! Thank you for teaching me how to use it.”

  “You're welcome, brother.”

  “I would need to know what the conditions of use are in more detail: how many times a day, for how long it can be used or what happens when the time has run out.”

  “I can help you find out everything in detail. From what I saw when I identified it and from what I've seen now, I'd say you can use it daily for an hour or so. Probably when the time is consumed, you will feel a great urgency to perch in the first place you can find and once there, the effect of the spell will end. But to be sure, I have to do several tests with the amulet, or take it to a Magic Master for a detailed identification,” explained Mithir.

  “Thanks. This is useful to me for the moment.”

  “Sure. It's best if we get underway. We still have a long way to go.”

  While horseback riding again and rebooting the march, Erion was thinking about the possibilities that his new toy would give. He could use it to easily enter the most impregnable fortress. But on the other hand, if he could only use it once a day, it would serve to enter or exit but not both. Moreover, after his transformation, his gear, including his backpack, disappeared with him and reappeared after the reverse transformation. This would serve to transport the loot easily. Come to think of it, it might be more useful to use it to escape than to enter. This, obviously, also depended on the place. There are places where it is very hard to enter, but relatively easy to get out and vice versa. In short, it was not clear what the best strategy would be, but he realized that it was important to understand in detail what the limits of the use of the amulet were. In any case this was going to be, probably, the most useful object he had, considering his profession. He felt happy.

  Mithir rode beside him with a look of satisfaction. His “brother” was one of the least selfish people he had met, and was especially generous with him. He thought it was important and fair to get something of similar value to the magician. Mithir used to be interested in anything that would allow him to increase his knowledge, skill or mastery over magic. These objects were hard to get, or extremely expensive if you tried to buy them. But Erion would find a way to get something suitable for Mithir.

  They rode tirelessly throughout the day. They stopped just for a few minutes, a couple of times, so the horses could drink water in a stream, and eat some bread with raisins very quickly. They reached Talmyra shortly after nightfall. It was almost seven o'clock.

  “Maybe I still have time to get to the bank to make arrangements before they close,” Erion thought aloud.

  “Good idea. Hurry. See you later,” Mithir said with gestures.

  The magician left for The Green Dragon, his usual inn in that place. Erion quickened his pace, heading for the Lake Bank: the only bank in the city. They had some investments there for about three years, and maintained a close relationship with one of the deputy directors, named Zastur. As usual, in the bank they were convinced that Erion was a generous and kind-hearted merchant, who liked to devote part of his profits to help for the education and health of children in need. In addition, the young man was a good customer and, as he appeared only once every few weeks, didn't demand a lot of work. Erion always deposited and never withdrew money; in other words, the perfect client.

  Erion reached the gate of the bank at ten to seven. He tied the horse, took one of the saddlebags and went into the building after greeting the sheriff of the door. He went straight to Zastur's desk. He was alone, without customers, and was starting to collect his papers.

  “Welcome. I didn't know you were in the city,” Zastur greeted, standing up to greet him warmly and with genuine joy.

  The two men exchanged a brief routine conversation, where they told each other how they had been.

  “What can I do for a beloved customer?” Zastur asked.

  Erion pulled out a bag with money and began to explain what he wanted to do.

  “I'm here to make a deposit. As usual, use a third of the money to make a donation to the Hospice of the city,” Erion asked.

  In this place they gave meals to those who needed them, but most of the work was to take care of a hundred children living there as permanent residents. A cleric of the Order of Light visited the hospice during weekday mornings and provided basic education to the children.

  “Deposit the remaining money in my investment account, please,” he added.

  Mallash was the false identity he used to make all the deposits during their travels. That account carried out various investments in certain businesses, according to preset criteria that Erion had established.
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  “I want to make a small change in the investment criteria,” he added.

  Erion asked to reduce the investments in saline by half, and increase investment in textile manufacturing, with the amount of the difference. Erion was always watching the developments in all sectors. His travels and his intelligence gave him a view of the evolution that things could have; although he could be wrong, he was usually right. Zastur was used to always making adjustments, as Erion took advantage of every visit to make any requests.

  Finally, the young man pulled out another bag with valuables from his saddlebag. After getting loot, he always carefully inspected the goods obtained and classified them into two groups. In the first, always scarce, he placed the goods that were untraceable or impossible to identify; for example, a gold bar, a gem in the rough, silver cutlery without any design or inscription, etc. In the second group, he put everything else. If in doubt, he put the object in the second sack. Erion put the first bag on the table, while leaving the second in the knapsack and spoke.

  “As per usual, some customers paid in kind, so I would need you to assess these objects, and add the funds to my account,” Erion said.

  “And, as usual, I understand you've already made your own assessment,” Zastur replied.

  “Exactly. I would say 128 gold coins is a fair valuation,” Erion explained.

  Zastur picked up the bag and took it to another branch of the bank. He returned a little later and explained that, as in previous occasions, the bank would conduct the assessment and report back. Meanwhile, immediately they would enter an amount equivalent to three quarters of the assessment that Erion carried out. Their assessments were always extremely tight. And as Zastur knew, and was a trusted client, he got the favorable treatment applying a priori estimate of the customer. When a few days later the bank completed their review, the amount would be adjusted accordingly in the customer's account. The difference of a quarter that was missing was the commission of the bank for managing material assets. It was a little high, compared to what Erion could get if he traded the value of the goods, but this was a very convenient solution as it allowed him to minimize the work he had to perform as well as the goods that he had to physically accumulate.

  The two men parted warmly and Erion picked up his knapsack and left the bank. The hours of operation were over and as he went out the door, an official closed it. They had been waiting for him to finalize the negotiations. Erion felt lucky because, otherwise, he would have had to wait until the opening hours at nine in the morning, when the number of people in the windows was greater. Now they could leave at dawn, or even before, and reach their final destination on time and without major hassles.

  As he rode to The Green Dragon, he observed the streets and the people who were crossing his path closely. Talmyra was a large city and like all large cities of Central Bor County, had more than twenty thousand inhabitants. On a couple of occasions he had to slightly change the trajectory of his horse to avoid big carts painted in blue. They were of the Glass Company. They transported different objects such as bottles, ornaments or mirrors. These carts always moved very slowly and eventually hindered the flow of the streets.

  After a while, he came to a large square. In it were many stands that dealt with all kinds of vegetables and grain. Many carts came and went through one of the streets that connected it to one of the city gates. Farmers from the area came to sell their products there. Wholesalers bought the goods, loaded it in their cars and sent it to other cities of the County for sale. Only a small part of the products were sold in the same city.

  He decided to deviate slightly to ride along Lake Avenue. It was a very pleasant ride that stretched across the eastern fringe of the city, outside the walls. Although the fall was already gone and it had been quite cold during the previous weeks, the temperature today was reasonable enough to walk. The avenue bordered the Emerald Lake, the main water source of the city. At the lakeside there were a couple of sawmills and a shipyard, where boats and other small vessels were built. The boats of Emerald Lake were very famous for their excellent quality and were used in lakes and rivers throughout the center of the kingdom of Bor area.

  Finally he reached the inn and, after leaving his horse in the stable, went into the building.

  CHAPTER 7: THIRST FOR EVIL