The drama had moved to the Seear's Hall. This majestic Hall, situated at the west edge of the Palace, included offices of central importance encompassing a hall for meetings of high-end officials of the Eye. Therefore, it was a restricted area accessible by authorized personnel only after the approval of the Seear himself.
"What's going on, Hugo?" Renekom asked, stopping in the middle of the Hall.
The doors closed shut behind them, the Justice Council, Hugo, and Renekom and his personal council were now alone.
"Sir, I need him," the Zaatsu replied. "We can use a man of his calibre."
"Enough with that nonsense!" The Seear was clearly agitated. His voice echoed across the hall. "He is too dangerous! Recent times have shown us quite clearly how leniency has backfired! The Eye has paid dearly for such mistakes."
The Seear was referring to a former member of the Eye – Ambris Ferrer. He was allowed into the ranks of the Eye by Renekom's predecessor, Master Delun Yang. After training extensively with many senior masters, he eventually betrayed the Eye and became a rogue warlock, eventually launching a full-scale assault on the very people who once gave him a life.
"Ambris killed my mentor, Master Delun Yang, and many others because he was shown mercy by our people," Renekom continued. "Your seniors brought him in and Master Yang accepted him. I will not make that mistake!"
"With all due respect, sir," Hugo said, staring down at his shoes. "The Basilisk fiasco, so to speak, was the result of some frivolous adventures of our seniors, yours more so than mine. Ambris dealt a massive blow to the Eye because he was always five steps ahead of us because he had people on the inside."
"You will speak with caution here, Baylis!" the Seear asserted. His jaw tightened and posture stiffened, eyes narrowing as he straightened slightly. His voice dropped, but the edge in it sharpened. "This is my Hall." He took a step forward, closing the distance without breaking eye contact. "And I will not stand for anyone disrespecting my mentors."
The war between Ambris Ferrer and the Eye had devastating effects. The rogue warrior commanded the infamous Serpents of God movement. It was a vast Cult-cum-organization of bandits, wizards, and Ki fighters completely separate from any known Cult or group. It included ex-members of the Eye and the Order, and many stowaways from Cults around the world.
They went up in arms against the Eye, fought Cults to acquire their land, and infiltrated plebeian areas to cause damage and acquire resources.
But the group only came to light after Ambris became its leader. Before him, its leader and mastermind was the powerful enchantress named Orianthi Webb. Infiltrating the Eye disguised as a Cultist refugee during the Cult Wars period, she seduced her way to the top and ended up marrying the then Seear, the oblivious Master Delun Yang.
Unbeknownst to the good leader, she mentored Ambris and moulded him into the perfect leader that her organization needed.
"Master Yang died defending lives that Ambris threatened!" Renekom added and Hugo did not reply any further.
"Renekom," called Master Norma, gaining the Seear's attention. "I think I agree with the boy here."
Renekom turned around to face his good friend. "Seriously?" he said, with eyes wide open.
"Ambris was a thieving miscreant taken in at a young age. No one suspected anything of him. Then, as Hugo mentioned, he received help from some not-so-loyal members within our ranks. This is different. We have our guard up against this man. We know what he is capable of, and we will keep tabs on him accordingly."
The Seear dropped his head. "Et tu, Hedish?" he said. "But I won't change my stance."
Hedish Norma looked at the captain of the Zeta Squad and asked, "Hugo! What do you plan on doing, son?"
Hugo waited, looked around and shook his head. Eventually, looking at the Mystic, he said, "In my opinion we are reacting a bit over the top in this situation."
Renekom looked at his friend with one eyebrow raised. His lips bent down in a frown as he stared and never blinked.
"Go on," said Hedish.
"I believe our altercation with Ambris has made us a bit too careful." Hugo clasped his hands behind his back and looked down. "This man can't even get out of the ropes put on his wrists let alone pull off a stunt to escape."
He looked at Hedish and said, "He is no Ambris. And if we see to it with enough conviction then we can very well use him any way we see fit. We can wring information from him, we can use his connections in the underground circuit to find more enemies of the Eye, and we can use his knowledge of the black markets to infiltrate it effectively once more."
"So, you intend to keep the ropes on?" asked Fiona Bennett, the 37-year-old Mystic and highly revered member of both the Parliament and the justice council. "And will he stay in prison?"
"Yes." Hugo nodded. "I intend to keep him in ropes and probably will keep him in prison too. But…" Hugo looked around once more. Everyone waited in silence. "If the need arises, I may want to take him out on a trip or two."
Many masters and council members leaned back very quickly. "That changes the whole discussion entirely!" Hedish quickly said.
"And what need might that be, Hugo?" Fiona asked.
Hugo scratched his head. "Not exactly sure, but," he said and paused, looked around and continued, "Let's have him interrogated first. Then we'll know for sure."
The Seear took a deep breath before saying, "Ladies and gentlemen we have to wrap this up quickly." He looked around asking, "All those in favour of Master Baylis's opinions?"
"The Parliament is in favour," said Fiona, with a nod. Renekom quickly looked at Hedish who nodded as well.
Hugo, looking at Adel, asked, "And what of the Justice Council?"
"We are siding with the Seear on this one," the councilman quickly replied.
'Of course, you are,' the Zaatsu thought but remained quiet.
"Alright," Renekom said. "Let's just have a quick vote. All those in favour of the Master Zaatsu, please raise hands…"
"Seems the court is in dispute, Renekom," said Hedish, looking at the crowd. "At a glance it is quite even."
Renekom moved closer to his friend. "We don't have time for this right now," he said in almost a whisper. "Call it as you will."
Mystic Master Hedish Norma looked at Hugo and said, "Master Baylis! Looks like we will have it your way – for now. But there is still room for discussion, which will take place at a later time. Right now, we have an urgent matter to deal with."
"Sir?"
"We have a mission for the Zeta Squad."
Hugo nodded then brought his arms forward and crossed them at his chest.
Hedish looked at Renekom and waited.
The Seear then asked everyone present in the room to leave. Only Renekom, Hedish, Fiona and Hugo were left standing in the Hall when Renekom said, "Another Keeper has been attacked."
"What?!" Hugo exclaimed, wide-eyed. "I thought Vincent was…" He stopped mid-sentence and moved back. "Wait a minute," he added. "If Vincent is here, then who did it this time?"
Vincent was seen using Dark Ki. Reports of coordinated attacks at the Keepers had been coming in for years. Dark Arts Scriptures were kept safe by the Keepers. The Eye had connected the dots to accuse Vincent of orchestrating these attacks.
Renekom nodded. "That is exactly what we want you to find out."
"The attack was powerful, swift, and a bit mysterious," Fiona added.
"How so?" Hugo asked.
"Outposts these days answer to the Parliament. Keepers send distress signals to Outposts if they need help. This particular one was in my vicinity, and I can assure you the Keeper was unable to send out any signals whatsoever before vanishing. We never recovered a body and the Seredums are completely clueless as well."
"But how is that even possible, Fiona? Isn't there a telepathic link between a Keeper and the Seredums?"
"That's the mysterious part. It doesn't add up."
"Hugo, take your team, son," Hedish said. "Take just the core members and investigate thoroughly, but as quietly as possible. We want this mess handled quickly."
Hugo scratched his head and asked, "When did this happen?"
"About 4:30 in the morning, here. There, I think it was 5:30."
"There, where?"
"Dubai."
"Dispatch immediately," Renekom said. "We don't have anything else to share as of yet."
"Very well. I will gather the team right away."
The Seear took an envelope out of his robe and handed it to the Zaatsu. It had the mission orders in it and the location of the Keeper's post. Hugo took out the paper inside and gave it a quick look, but before he could leave, he said, "Doesn't this kind of prove what I was telling you people?"
"What?" Renekom said and looked at the others.
"Vincent was after the Scriptures and was stealing them," the Zaatsu said. "That is what we believed until now. He's here but someone's still out there doing it. Even if he's involved, he's not the only one."
"Could be…"
"There is far more to this mess than what meets the eye. Something is going down and we are lagging behind. That White Bolt could be our ticket to the front row. He could lead us to figuring it out. He could provide us with the insight we need."
Renekom looked at Hedish who leaned ahead and asked, "What are you getting at, Hugo?"
"I want to tag him along… if you people will let me…"
"Give me one good, solid reason?"
"What more do you need? Even if he doesn't know anything about this, he will be able to give me insights into the issue. We think he has been doing this same stuff for a while now. If I have a lead that vanishes out there, I may be able to get him to cough up a few links in the undergrounds and the black markets to help us out."
"And what makes you think he will comply?"
"I am not asking him, sir. I will make him do it. And if he resists, well… I have a couple of young and restless guys on my team who would like nothing more than to whack him silly."
Hedish and Fiona looked at the Seear rubbing his eyes.
Renekom exhaled slowly. "I don't have time for this." His jaw tightened as he looked away for a brief moment. "…Damn it."
He looked back at Hugo. "Take him. I want results, Hugo. The Eye will not tolerate miscreants, that has been my motto from the start, and you know it. We trust you, son. Just don't do anything to hurt that trust."
The Zaatsu nodded. "I won't, sir," he said, quietly.
"Now hurry up and go!"
Thereafter, the captain of the Zeta Squad left to gather his team.