Spies

     The tall thin priest looked down at her companions image inside the speaking stone. The two of them could only use the speaking stones after very specific and time consuming rites. Rites that could only be performed at specific times of day and when the two moons where in specific phases. The stones themselves were made out of highly polished majical obsidian. They had to not only be large enough, about the size of a Oristani's head, but also had to be absolutely and completely flawless. To say the least flawless stones of that size were very rare so there were only a very limited number of them anywhere in the world. In addition to the rarity of the material, the spell needed to use them was incredibly difficult and time consuming. Like all of the spells the Children used, this one could only be performed under very specific conditions. Conditions that were very rare and could be dangerous to those who performed them.

     The blood red image of her fellow Child of Mrtis was centered in the faintly glowing orb, knowing that she was seen in the same way. The distorted whisper that she heard when her fellow spoke filled her heart with joy. The same sounds however would have filled the ears of Mrtis and his Children's enemies with dread and fear. The very casting of any spell of Mrtis filled the area it was cast in with her power. And when one of the Children spoke within the area of such a spell, the sounds of their words echoed with Her voice. If a non believer came across one of the Children of Mrtis and was within the range of the spell they could be hurt or even killed just by hearing the echo of Mrtis's voice in the voice of his Child.

     The spells that they used were long forgotten by the majority of Ardu majic users. Only a select few even remembered that their Mistress existed. And even fewer would have known the type of majic used by their Mistress's devotees. And to the best of the devotees knowledge only their Mistress actually knew how those spells were done now. That made using the majic of their Mistress a bit safer since that was who taught them the use of it, but it was still dangerous to use. At least those they were working against knew nothing of their existence or what to look for majically to find them. That gave the two a bit of comfort when they used their Mistresses majic. Nonetheless it wasn't something they would have done often even if the spell had allowed it.

     When the tall thin Child of Mrtis had first cast this particular spell she had feared for her life. Like all of the spells that Mrtis taught failure to cast it correctly was fatal. No matter how many times it was cast, you would die if you got even the smallest thing wrong. Like most Children of Mrtis she had also thought that whoever she was communicating with actually sounded in daily life the way they did when speaking to her in the stones. She had long since learned that like the blood red coloring it was just an effect of the spell. It was still disconcerting though and always ran up her spine like cold fingers whenever she heard it. She loved her dark god with all of her heart, but she also feared him Although she had never, not even when she'd first joined, allowed anyone to know that.

     The room that she used in Alkadharam was in was one of the deepest and, as far as anyone else knew, unused rooms in the basement of a nearby business. It was dark and dusty at the best of times and she had worked hard to make sure she was the only one who ever entered this room. Mainly by using majic to make sure no one else remembered the existence of this particular basement. She was in a position of influence in her profession and intended to keep it that way. Which was exactly how she liked it. She was also aware that her fellow Child had secured his room as well as she had, if in a different way. Actually she had no idea what method he had used to make sure his work room was secure but she knew that it was. No one would use the Mistress's majic someplace that others could find out. That was guaranteed to be fatal. Either by those who had discovered you or worse by the hand of the Mistress.

     The only people that knew about her special work room were those who would never speak of it to anyone. Not because she trusted them, she trusted no one. But because they would never live to see anyone to speak to. Not that all of them died, actually the majority of them didn't. But what was left after her work would never be able to speak to anyone again. At least not in any way that others would understand. Take for example the spell she had just cast to use the speaking stone. It required a sacrifice. Not of a life, that was easy to do.  No, it required the sacrifice of a mind and voice. When the spell was done her victim would be voiceless and mindless. Just one more poor unfortunate that wondered the streets until found and brought to a temple. Or more likely, died because they didn't have the intelligence to care for themselves in even the most basic ways.

     The tall devotee actually enjoyed when she found these unfortunates. It gave her a thrill to bring them to one of the many temples around her home city. Everyone thought she was so kind and generous to help her victims when all along she was the cause of their condition. One that was incurable because there was no longer anything to think with. All that was left was the most basic of instincts and some motor skills. So finding and, apparently, helping them was almost as pleasurable as causing the damage in the first place.

     There was a party of people that the tall thin priest needed to inform her compatriot about. The party in question was headed to the Adikha Yunavarasiti and they had to fail. Their Mistress had been  adamant about that fact to her. If the party succeeded their Mistress's plan to return to Ardu and conquer the world would fail. A failure that was unthinkable to the two Children of Mrtis doing the planning.The Tall thin Child of Mrtis informed her compatriot of the parties plans and make-up so that he could destroy them if at all possible. Or at the very least turn them aside from reaching the Adikha Yunavarasiti. While there was one member of the party that she would miss, the tall thin Child considered the loss to be an appropriate sacrifice to her Mistress and God.

      That their Mistress was uncompromising went without saying. She was all powerful in the world of Her Children, even if the rest of the world had forgotten their Mistress's existence and no awareness of her plans. Their Mistress was a terrifying being and fully capable of removing them from existence, at the very least. More terrifying was that the Mistress could keep them alive and in pain for eternity if their mission failed. But if they succeeded they would be the most beloved of their Mistress and help rule over all other nations for eternity. The reward was worth any risk that they took, especially when those risks were taken out of love for their Mistress and god Mrtis. 

     The two Children wished that they could act more openly, but even now they needed to be concerned with discovery. They didn't need to fear discovery because of majic so much as the kind of discovery that spies of all kinds needed to fear. Their Mistress didn't currently control the councils of the mighty in most of the lands. And even the few that She did control, Her hand wasn't known to be the one in charge. So some caution was required to keep themselves and their actions hidden. If they were discovered by their Mistress's enemies as devotees of their Mistress then their punishment would be bad. Nothing near as bad as failing their Mistress, but still nothing to be courted.