Page 15 of Dragon's Desire

He gently opened it and slipped inside. Then he could hear the conversation much more clearly.

"Why would you work with a witch hunter?" the blonde asked.

"I didn't have a choice. I was assigned with him. Trust me, I would not have chosen him. But they partnered me with him because whatever Legermain is doing is serious."

"Yes, I understand that."

Kiercy waited for the matron to continue, but she said nothing.

"Is there a reason you're so reluctant to talk about him?"

She regarded Kiercy for a moment and then said, "His separation from us was less than amicable. He's going down a dark path. Though I hadn't realized how far he'd gone. I didn't think he'd succeed. Now that he has, there's not much I can do."

"Why? What did he succeed at?"

"He found the Totem of Babel."

"The what?"

"I've already said too much."

Peter was done with this.

He stood up and said, "It's bad news."

"What are you doing here?" the tall guy said, but the fight had gone out of his voice. He still looked like he was thrown by Peter's outburst. Guys will say all sorts of things. They might even beat the shit out of you, or try at least. But they don't want to test you if they say something like he did and see the anger in a man's eyes.

Peter was pretty sure the lady up front was going to lose her job. But that didn't matter, and he just ignored the question.

"The Totem of Babel is allegedly a piece of the Tower of Babel from the book of Genesis. Supposedly before that, humans all spoke one unified language. Then they got arrogant and attempted to build a tower high enough to reach the heavens. God decided to scatter the people of the world and make them speak different languages."

The matron's eyes narrowed at him, but he continued.

"It's never actually mentioned in the Bible, but a lot of people say God also knocked the tower down. But this piece, if it is a piece of the actual tower, is said to have absorbed a bit of whatever it was that God did. Now, it breaks down language. Essentially, you can strike someone with aphasia. They think they're speaking whatever language they speak, but it comes out a mishmash of languages. Some people think it's the original language or just bits of every language."

Peter took a step forward. "Now, I don't know if it's an actual piece of a tower that may or may not have existed. But it certainly has that effect. If he has it, there's a lot of damage he could do. People already have enough trouble communicating when they're speaking the same language. Imagine what happens when everyone is speaking gibberish."

He looked at the matron dead in the eye and said, "You could have warned us that was what he was after."

"Warn you? Witch hunters? Or the organization that hires them?" She didn't seem impressed or even phased by his words. "Would you have believed us if we had?"

Peter didn't have an answer for that. The Totem was thought to be a myth. It might have been treated with the same seriousness if you called and said you saw someone murdered by the Easter Bunny. But he certainly wasn't going to admit that to a witch.

He nodded his head towards the door he had just come through. "Let's go, Kiercy. We've got work to do if we are going to stop this before things get out of hand."

She bowed her head respectfully to the matron whose eyes held nothing but scorn.

"Witchling, I'd advise you to find a way to separate yourself from that man. He can only lead you to ruin," the matron said. "It's a stain on your soul to walk alongside someone whose family has killed so many of us."

"Maybe she wouldn't have had to if y'all could police your own," Peter said and walked out the door.

11

KIERCY

Kiercy followed him out. He nodded his head to the woman behind the counter and said, "Nothing today, miss. Thank you."

Kiercy thought it was almost kind until she saw him wink at her. Did he ever stop? Even after everything, he was still flirting with some random woman. She took a half stumbled step when she recognized the flash of jealousy in her.

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