Shadow at the temple – Chapter 5

The exit move turned out to be fairly uneventful. Eyren and Malkiz maneuvered their departure from the office quietly and briskly, retreating from express entrance which the warrior had employed when she infiltrated it and then parted ways temporarily. Eyren clustered with Minhai shortly thereafter and spoke to her for a spell, prior to heading towards an alley which she and Malkiz had picked for their arranged meetup. On the way, Eyren can’t prevent her thoughts from mulling over how this would’ve elapsed if this sneaker had not been encompassed in the equation. Had Eyren been forced to wound or even slay two likely innocent workers? That wouldn’t have been a great outline for the guardswoman to hear, but nor would Eyren be happy regarding her failure to deliver when she maybe should have. Perhaps it’s best not to get obsessed over what could have been, when it hasn’t.

Once she at last hits the alleyway and scans the darkened corner of the district, lit up by nothing besides the faint moonlight above, the first aspect she notes is that Malkiz is assuredly holding within, but that this person has peeled off their hood, exposing more of their form. A lengthy streak of hair, tied into a low ponytail at the moment, slips down from their head and it’s just as pale blonde as the tail which pokes out form the back below. Not only that, but above sits a pair of feline ears, ones which Eyren could mark as jaguar-like. When Malkiz rotates their slim and slick body, Eyren distinguishes a light beard stubble as well around the lower half of the face, making Eyren premise this is a guy. Then again, his facial features are fairly soft and pretty, borderline feminine. His nose is pretty narrow too, albeit lips somewhat thicker, and there’s a piercing by the left side of his nose. Lastly, his left arm appears rather stiff, just like before.

Whilst Eyren is merely locked in a static position over by the entrance of the trail, Malkiz appears to somehow suss this out, which Eyren remarks once his ears jiggle slightly. Diverting to her, he flashes a charming smile and gestures with his right hand.
“Do not be shy, shadi. Please, join me.”

Blowing a puff of air from her nose, Eyren shrugs and inches nearer.
“…wasn’t trying to be. Just…didn’t expect to see you whatsoever.”

With his tail flickering playfully, Malkiz plants a hand on one hip and tilts a touch sidewards.
“Oh? You assumed I wouldn’t come?”

“Something along those lines.”

“Aww”, he emits and pouts coyly. “Was I that rude in your point of view?”

Eyren blinks her eyes, with the feline emerald-green ones studying her both curiously and teasingly, driving her to sigh.
“…I didn’t phrase it quite like that, did I?”

“That was the implication, was it not?”

“There wasn’t an implication in any way! I just…wasn’t sure, that’s it.”

“And if I’m offended regardless, should I strut out of here in a huff?”

Albeit he states this and continues to show a moping movement of his face, it’s clear based on the aspect in his vision as well as the merry wriggling of his tail that he’s delighting in this.
“…do you enjoy messing with people you just met or what?”, she mutters.

Not being able to hold it any further, Malkiz snickers mildly, ending up as a fairly precious sound; not to mention that his feline ears perk quite satisfyingly.
“Apologies, shadi, but I do. Merely when they’re fairly cute, though.”

So, he was flirting with her, after all. Good to mentally jot down.
“Tsk…”

Settling down a touch, Malkiz gestures for her to move nearer, which she does.
“Shall we initiate this by exchanging knowledge, then?”

“Sure, I could do that. Depending what it regards, of course.”

“Well, as for me personally, I would simply like to hear what it is you are up to in this quarter of the city. In exchange, I will divulge how it is that I deciphered your identity.”

“Hmm, okay. That’s…a sort of special way to phrase it. You’d seek the details on my maneuvers here, but you won’t tell me of your actual mission, then?”

“Oh, no no, that’s not quite right, mrabang”, he says, and Eyren will grant that she actually doesn’t know that term. It is in some Ngoyamen tongue, though, that’s certain. “I will clear up additional specifics of my visit to Dezasha, but later on. When we don’t risk being overheard.”

Eyren shrugs in acceptance.
“Alright, then. Suppose that’s an okay deal, so long as we don’t bother to swindle one another.”

“If I was dabbling with such an endeavor, we wouldn’t be standing here, shadi.”

“…right. Anyway, I’ve been intersecting with one of the guards in the city, who hired me for a particular job.”

“Oh yes, that guard. I did witness you conversing with her.”

Eyren arches a brow.
“Wait, when?”

“Well, I had an ally spy on you.”

“…huh? Spy on me specifically?”

“Merely a short patch, and it wasn’t my intention per se. My ‘spy’ signaled that he was fascinated by you.”

“Uh, okay. Have to admit I never saw him myself…”

“Oh, you did, but may not have conflated him with this level of motive.”

Turning on his heel, Malkiz peers up at a roof, snaps the fingers on his right hand and exclaims something in his native language. By the edge of that roof, Eyren discerns how a minor head peeks out and stares down at them. It doesn’t take long until she registers that it’s the dome of a bird, namely a raven. Croaking, it tilts its head left and right, until flapping its wings and floating down to land on Malkiz’s outstretched arm, much akin to a tame pet.
“…shit!”, Eyren blurts out. “That’s…that’s the raven I saw when I arrived!”

Smiling slyly, Malkiz eyes her once more.
“Astute observation. Indeed he is. This is Karsift, my partner in crime.”

Bobbing his head in an amusing and practically jiving style, Eyren glares at the bird none too pleased.
“He’s been monitoring me?”

“Mhm.”

“…how come he constantly appears so smug about it?”

Giggling softly, Malkiz shakes his head.
“I’m sure you’re exaggerating. But he is clever, isn’t he?” Lifting his arm, he lets Karsift set down on his left shoulder, ahead of fetching something from a pocket, which to Eyren resembles dried insects. Tilting his head to examine and identify the treat, the raven eagerly commences gobbling them up.

“Too clever almost…”

“He’s shrewd beyond what you may realize as well. I have conditioned him a smidgen, but in general, his behavior is on account of his guile. He likes shiny things that he can snatch from people such as untold corvids do, and provided I bestow him with an example, he can fulfill simple instructions. If they aren’t food, he will happily leave them for me, in exchange for a reward. Should he spot someone peculiar or intriguing, he will let me know.”

Eyren arches her brow.
“And I’m the ‘peculiar’ one, I take it?”

“Hehe, I’m undecided on whether that is a fair portrayal, but he did see you and your raptor landing in Dezasha lately. At first, I was bemused by this attraction towards you, since neither of you appeared as anyone of note. I suspected his diversion was merely a result of wishing to play with the raptor and left it at that, but this pivoted once he directed me at how you were consulting someone outside the guards’ tavern.”

“Wow, he watched all of that? He really is mindful, then, I have to agree. Kinda like Razz…”

“Razz is your raptor?”

“She is, yeah. “

“Heh, some beasts are terribly sharp-witted, aren’t they? Especially avians. In any case, what do the defenders of Dezasha care to solicit from a Herdbrand expert, then?”

“Well, I’d have a mind to hear where you learnt of my name to begin with, but if you’re this interested, I can reveal that a woman called Minhai among them is one of my contacts. She sometimes provides me with odd jobs or opportunities when they arise. For this individual warehouse we just bailed from, she hired me to scout it for if I could sense potential Herdbrand presences, like I advised you earlier.”

“That is it? No peripheral motives?”

“None that I’ve picked up on, but I’m not one of theirs. Ergo, if they really keep some ulterior justification for snooping in there, they haven’t articulated this to me.”

“Hmm. I see.”

Malkiz’s tail sluggishly wags from side to side in a contemplative fashion, an air which is matched by his expression.
“Did you anticipate differently?”, asks Eyren.

“I wouldn’t go that far, but…I suppose it is reliant on one’s perspective. Permit me to relay two objects of interest to you: first, the two of us are in possession of a…mutual acquaintance.”

“Are we?”

“His name is Osvij.”

Once this designation is vocalized, the clarity of their circumstances dawns on her, for she has by no means qualified the episode in Kambaresa to blur in her psyche.
“Then, you’re with…?” Malkiz dips his head in admission. “…huh.”

“When you attested who you were, I believed without delay that I may yield to your judgment, in no small part considering how you attended him in extricating the person in that city.”

The caper she went through in Kambaresa with Nivra in particular was a hugely memorable one, and this is precisely the reason she’d be a fan of crossing that woman’s path a second time in the future. Whether that’s doable, she can’t answer.
“Yeah, I…I recall.”

“Secondly, I pulled into Dezasha to inquire into a set religious commotion which has been transpiring here. More than that, I cannot relay publicly, but I speculate our pair of activities are interconnected.”

“Why is that?”

“In all likelihood, the guard force intends to tie this matter of the warehouse to the express tangle I’m addressing too, which they likely were not willing to tell you.”

“Well…I wouldn’t bet against that. Although my source in there is generally a decent person, we’re not exactly great friends. It’s not impossible that she wasn’t planning on briefing me on every hassle they’re polishing off with this.”

“So, you are clear-eyed enough to realize that? I’m pleased. And furthermore, I have a proposition you might be receptive to – providing you remain in Dezasha and notify the defense force that you continue to be on hand, you could bolster me in my endeavor to boot. In return, I will underwrite your execution for my dealings, so that you are recompensed for both. How does that sound?”

Cashing in for two jobs in one? That sounds like half a dream in Eyren’s mind, and seldom a privilege she’s ever been bestowed with. She can’t conjure up the anterior occasion where that genuinely did take place, and she’s not inclined to permit a golden ticket like that slip away.
“Eeh, well…I respected Osvij, I will concede to that fact. He was an honest man, more than me on occasion…
If you’re his ally, I’m okay to play ball. Still, I would prefer to comprehend what it is I’d be going along with.”

“That is fine and I can certainly acquiesce to your request. I vote that we assemble once more tomorrow evening by the Lunentian Inn. It lies in the western sector of town.”

“Lunentian? Yeah, I’m familiar with it. Then again, if I recall correctly, that’s a kind of…upper class joint?”

Smiling somewhat cryptically, Malkiz smiles and wheels around, waving casually as he passes from the alley and out to an abutting road.
“I hope to see you there, shadi Eyren.”