My chamber is small. There is just enough space for a hanging cot, which is mounted perpendicular to the door. The walls play host to my armaments. A single window opposite the door signals the start and end of the day. None of us require more than this. What we are given is plenty.
Slowly, my neighbors stir. I hear them through the stone walls.
I have been awake for many hours, preparing. The previous night, a mission presented itself. I was the only one for it, they said. Naturally, I was curious. I am to make haste for the Crystal Empire at first light.
I look to my window. The horizon is stained crimson. It washes slowly upward to engulf the darkness in sunlight.
The icy tundra flashes before me. My transport is a massive beast, a snow dog roughly the size of a train car. They are hostile when wild, but this one I have trained carefully. The code says to abandon attachment to the lives of others, for it clouds our judgement, but I felt it only appropriate that I name this creature.
The name I chose was Mitrah.
We press on further. The stark climate seems endless, but I know we cannot be far. Mitrah and I have been to the Crystal Empire many times before.
We reach a bereft formation of rocks, jutting up from the snow. I pat the side of Mitrah's neck, and she begins to climb, jumping from one ledge to the next with astounding dexterity disproportionate to her size. We soon reach the top, and Mitrah lifts her head as high as she can. I climb atop and look at our surroundings.
There, just on the horizon, I spot the Crystal Empire. We can't be any more than five or six bêru from the outer wall. I expect we will arrive in three hours if we make haste.
Mitrah leaps swiftly from her perch and lands with a dull thud on the snowy ground below.
We march on further still, the snowstorm gaining strength the closer we get to the Crystal Empire. Mitrah seems to withstand the wind but I can feel, pressing my hoof to her side, that her breathing grows heavy. The storm is far worse than any previous time we had ventured to the capital city.
I feel quite sorry for bringing her into this. Had I known the storm would be so terrible I'd have taken the train. But I wanted to be discrete. My attire, on a train, would have stood out like a broken wing.
As carefully as I can, I take out a bag of powder and a flask of water. I sprinkle the slightest bit of powder into the flask, close the top, and shake it until the heat radiating from it nearly burns my hooves. Moving across Mitrah's massive abdomen I press the flask to different areas. The heart cavity, across the belly. Up and down the forelegs, then the haunches. Over her ears. The water in the flask soon chills again, but I know it has helped for the moment. It should be enough to get us to the capital in one piece.
We arrive at the outer wall. The guards wave us through, and we pass through the translucent barrier that holds back the storm. I guide Mitrah to a wooden shelter, where she lays down softly and dozes off to sleep.
"Oy," yells a guard, approaching me, "you can't leave your snow dog there unless you tie it up."
"She won't be any trouble."
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but it's the law."
"No," I say calmly. I look him over, inspecting his uniform. The dark, tempered steel of his bodyplate and helm are standard Empire garb for soldiers, but he has a look in his eyes, dark green sort of shimmer.
He is one of Sombra's.
I approach him slowly, put my hoof to is neck, and whisper in his ear.
"I am the law."
The sound ringing metal encompasses us, and before he can comprehend what has happened, he collapses. The vicinity bears no observers, so with haste I pick up the lifeless body and toss it into a pile of hay. With any luck, we'll be long gone before he is discovered.
I return to the shelter where Mitrah lays.
"You'll be safe here while I do my work," I murmur, patting the side of her head. She leans in affectionately. "You did well, and you've earned a good long rest."
I give her one last calming stroke before closing the door to the shelter. Everything is squared away. Now all that remains is to complete my task. My first stop is the bureau, near the heart of the town.
