Enlightened Empire

By the time the corridor was about to split in front of Naoka and Elder Saqartu, the head guard who opposed them had long moved behind the other guards. While the ghost warrior had been busy trying to keep the situation under control, the guard had gotten into position to do the same. Yet so far, he hadn't acted on his impulses.

While Naoka had pushed back the guards, he could already see the unwillingness in the head guard's face. Yet there was nothing the ghost could do to improve his odds. Thus, he simply had to continue forward in hopes that the guard would remain sane and restrain himself until they got away. All this time, the guard's nerves had still held. Now however, when he was forced to make a final choice on whether to let them go or not, his choice was an emotional one, one which drove Naoka into a corner once again.

"Stop!" the head guard shouted. At the same time, his axe crashed into the ground, and produced bright sparks in the gloomy corridor.

Suddenly, the retreat of the remaining four guards was cut off. Boxed in between the two sides, they now had to make a decision as well: Either defy their superior to protect the elder, or fulfill their duties and stop the prisoner's escape, possibly at the risk of an elder's life. Yet since Naoka couldn't act, in fear of provoking them, there was only voice left which could sway the guards.

"Any man who does not follow the orders of the Divines will have committed heresy, and will be executed on the spot!" the head guard growled through gritted teeth to confirm his determination, maybe to himself more than to the other guards. Even so, the others finally paused in their retreat. After he had intimidated his fellow guards, their leader turned towards Naoka, and said in a stern voice: "You will release the elder, and you will surrender your weapon, or you will not leave this place alive."

The bellowing voice was well-trained, used to giving orders. As a result, the remaining guards had listened straight away. Though of course, Naoka could never do the same and accept the guard's command. After all, the falsely kidnapped elder was the only advantage he had. If he let him go, he would be overwhelmed in seconds, no matter his strength.

"Let me through, or the old man is done for!" he thus tried again. Maybe the head guard was simply bluffing, and trying to intimidate him. Maybe if he remained tough, these warriors would still bow to his threats.

Yet the head guard just hesitated for a second, before he stiffened his jaw and said: "Try it then. See what happens to you once you spill a single drop of the elder's blood."

Bastard! We were so close!

How could this idiot not care about the elder's life at all? Did he really think that the head priest could protect him if he caused an elder's death? Whatever this idiot really thought, his bravado was a big problem for Naoka and Elder Saqartu. After all, time was not on their side.

Whatever problem Lady Inti and her ghosts had caused outside the Ziggurat to lure away the warriors, the situation would calm down eventually. After all, the ghosts didn't have the strength to truly organize a storm on the seat of the Elder Council, or they would have done so long ago. Not only that, the bribed warriors would not look away forever either, not if they valued their positions and their lives. By then, all the guards of the Ziggurat would return to their posts all throughout the building. At that point, Naoka would be right back where he had feared to end up had he escaped on his own: Completely trapped, lost, and surrounded on all sides, with no way out.

Worst case, I'll just have to take my life. That way, at least the elder will be able to protect himself.

If worst came to worse, what else could he do? Now that his warrior identity had been revealed, he would no longer enjoy a relaxing imprisonment like before. Rather, he would be tortured day and night to extract information from him. Who had sent him, what were his goals, and how was Elder Saqartu involved? Under the torture, Naoka couldn't guarantee that he would never speak. Not to mention, whoever would hold him prisoner by then could just make up stories based on things he'd never confessed.

And no matter whether he spoke or not, Elder Saqartu was likely to be implicated if today's matter was investigated in detail. For starters, Naoka was quite certain that the elder had never been ordered to look after the Ziggurat's prisoners. However, if Naoka was dead, no one could torture him, and there would most likely never be an investigation. Since the culprit was already dead, there was no need to risk offending an elder and cause more unrest within the Council. If nothing else, at least he could protect his fellow ghosts, as well as his savior.

Just as Naoka prepared himself mentally to make the worst decision, to at least protect the elder's cover, just as the guards got ready to move against the prisoner and his hostage, a third, unexpected party entered the scene out of nowhere.

"What is going on here!?" a voice, both craggly and booming, appeared first and filled the corridor, before a diminutive figure followed from within the darkness. The figure win question as alone, bent and gray, with a large wooden staff which served to prop up his fragile stature. Despite the man's age and his spindly frame, his bearing was still proud, and both his stature and his precious robes exuded the natural authority of a man of power.

"Elder Ichilia!" the head guard shouted, and identified the new arrival in the process. His voice broke from shock, clearly taken aback at the sudden appearance of Medala's former grand elder.

"Shall this elder repeat his command, servant!?" the old man boomed again when the guards didn't answer his question immediately. However, the head guard caught on quickly.

"Elder, this vile criminal has taken Elder Saqartu hostage," he quickly explained while pointing at Naoka with his axe. "Clearly, he is a spy sent by a foreign power, here to kill the elders of the Council and to throw the empire into chaos. We need to apprehend him at all cost, lest he continues with his murder spree after his escape!"

How did you deduce all of that without talking to me? You can even read the future, how impressive.

Clearly, this guard was just making up any random stories he could think of, all to get the newly arrived elder on his side and force a quick decision. Maybe he had expected that Elder Ichilia would love to harm Elder Saqartu, who was part of a different faction, but the old man wasn't heaving any of it, much to both the guard's and Naoka's surprise.

"At all cost you say? At the expense of an elder's life, no less?" the old man simply asked, and narrowed his eyes like a predator staring at prey.

"The Pachayawna has ordered-" the guard tried his old trick again, but this time his reliance on the head priest worked out even worse than it had earlier. Before he could even finish showing off, Elder Ichilia interrupted his excuses.

"This is the Moonlight Ziggurat, this is Arguna! Here, the Elder Council is the highest form of order! It is not the turn of some lowly priest to move the Moonlight Guards as he pleases!"

Again, Elder Ichilia shouted to reinforce his natural authority. This time, however, he had clearly overstretched his stamina, as he fell into a short coughing fit. Yet when one of the guards wanted to step up to support the old man by his arm, Elder Ichilia had already recovered. He waved away the guard, before he once again turned towards their leader.

"Know this, guardsman: If your actions cause harm to an elder of the Council, your very life would not be enough as a penance. Should a guard dare stand against the elders, his entire family shall be eradicated, and no priest in this world would have the power to protect them." Rather than shout and embarrass himself again, the elder now growled in a low voice that sounded like gravel and sand.

For a few seconds, the stubborn head guard just stood there, once again facing off against an elder of the empire. However, his position was now even worse than before. If Elder Saqartu had died alone, without any witnesses present, he could still make up some story about the the reckless prisoner who had killed the elder despite the guard's best efforts to stop him. However, he couldn't just kill two elders and hope that anyone would still believe his lies. Not to mention, they were elders from two opposing factions. Once they unified in revenge, the entire Council would stand against him. No matter where his loyalties lay, no matter how much faith he had in the Pachayanwa's protection, surely he would understand that stubbornness here would just cause his senseless death.

Thus, as Naoka had predicted, the head guard held his stare only for a few seconds, before even he finally had to give in and lower his head towards the elder. Less than a second later, he turned towards his subordinates.

"Make way, move to the side and let them through! Don't harm them at any price!" he shouted while shoving his fellow guards out of the way in a fit of anger.

Meanwhile, all the other guards moved to the sides of the corridor, as they visibly took breaths of relief. They didn't even complain about the head guard's rough handling. Most likely, they were just glad that they no longer had to get involved in this mess.

Even so, for Naoka, the tense situation persisted. How could he guarantee that none of the guards would decide to play hero at the last moment and cause a mess? Slowly, with Elder Saqartu still his fake hostage, he stepped through the guard of honor formed by the honorable guards, his body always twisted to face the nearest man. Especially the head guard glared at him with deep malice, and never let go of his weapon. Yet despite Naoka's tense nerves, no one acted until he reached Elder Saqartu on the other side.

At last, he could breathe again. Luckily, the old man Ichilia had shown up on time. Even more lucky was that the elder had prioritized his power struggle with the Pachayawna over his conflicts with the elders of Sachay.

If Ichilia hadn't shown up and insisted on the primacy of the elder council over the priesthood, Naoka would have never made it out of here alive. Although the old man had done it for his own selfish reasons, the ghost was still thankful. Now, he owed a life debt to two elders, something he would never be able to repay. In fact, he didn't expect to ever speak with Elder Ichilia in his life.

Yet as he walked past the old man, a face filled with age spots closed in on them. In shock, Naoka stood still again, and just watched the ancient lord's glacial movements. What was this old man planning again? After all, House Ichilia was still King Corco's enemy at the end of the day. Whatever it was, Naoka once again wouldn't dare harm an elder, whatever he was trying to do.

He's my savior anyways. It's not too bad if he wants to cash in his debt right away, he thought, and accepted his fate. In the end, he was only worried for Elder Saqartu's safety.

However, the old man just calmly walked next to Naoka, as if nothing existed: Not Naoka's concerns, not the tense guards in the background, not the axe in the ghost's hand, or the hostage at the end of it.

"Never forget, you owe House Ichilia a debt," the elder finally whispered. Before Naoka could even process the old man's words, he had already walked past them, to stand between them and the guards and cover their retreat.

Thus, the ghost and the elder could continue on their way unopposed, though they left with a few additional questions left to ponder. Until they left the Ziggurat through a hidden side entrance some time later, they didn't meet another soul.