perfidious
[per-fid-ee-uh s]
1.
deliberately faithless; treacherous; deceitful:
a perfidious lover.
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Avus made sure nobody was watching. He had to be absolutely sure. If anyone saw him, his Master would be
displeased, and he would be punished.
The bright red crystal that was his target floated just above its
resting place. Avus slowly approached
the stone.
“Avus,
what are you doing here?”
Avus
froze. He should have known someone
would be there. The crystal would have
detection runes around it. But why did
it have to be him? This was the worst
possible situation.
“Master,
what brings you here?” Avus asked.
He
turned away from the crystal to face his master.
“Answer
me Aus.” The old man asked, crossing his arms.
“I was
just about to begin a cleansing ritual around the crystal, master.”
The old
wizard’s expression softened. “I
see. Just remember to keep away from the
Core Stone.”
“Of
course, master. I am always careful when
cleaning this area.”
It was
true, of course. Avus had been the
tower’s cleaner for nearly ten years, and he had always done his job well. His Master would be disappointed if he did
anything less. After all, who other than
the master would pay attention to a man whose only magical skill lay with
cleaning rituals?
“Good.”
The master said. “Carry on then.”
“Master? You will stay here then?”
“Yes,
Avus. I have things I need to do with
the Stone. Don’t worry, they won’t
interfere with your work.”
“Is
there something wrong with the Stone, master?”
“Not
wrong, no. But I do fear there is a
traitor among us.”
“Who
would dare oppose you, master?”
“I’m
not sure. But whoever it is will surly
come for the Stone, and I plan to ensure he never leaves this room with it.”
That
could be a problem. The master was
skilled. Far more skilled than
Avus. Should the old wizard complete his
ritual, then Avus would never be able to fulfill his task. His Master might even consider it an act of treachery,
something that would ensure the plan failed.
No, that could not happen.
Avus
acted. He began his cleaning
ritual. Only the target was not the
room, it was the master. Most would
consider cleaning a low class thing.
After all, all it did was remove dust and dirt from the target. But Avus had learned something over the
years. The human body had many things
happening inside of it. More than most
people were aware of. And a well-aimed
cleaning ritual could disrupt some of those things. Important things. The ritual alone would not harm a person, but
when deprived of certain substances, the body would simply stop working.
The master
clutched his stomach as his insides desperately attempted to right
themselves. Avus took the chance to grab
the glowing crystal.
“A-Avus…you
traitor.” The master said. His voice was
hoarse and wet. Things were going awry
in his body and even his vast knowledge and power could not find a way to right
the wrongs.
“I am
no traitor.” Avus said. “I cannot betray
a master whom I do not serve. I am
something of a trickster though. That I
admit to. Goodbye, head wizard. It has been interesting being here.”
Avus
tucked the crystal under his baggy clothes.
Clothes he had chosen precisely for their ability to hide things. He started to leave the room, but was stopped
by the increasingly weak words of the master.
“You…you
won’t escape. You’ll be found and hung
for your crimes.”
“Oh no,
no I won’t. After all, nobody pays
attention to the cleaners.”
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It's true, you know. Think about it. When was the last time you thought about the cleaning crew? Well, unless they do something wrong. Then they're obvious. But yeah, while they're doing their job well, they may as well be invisible.
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