Chapter 5

Surmas had sent Sqweky up to the surface the next morning to get a few last personal things and sell whatever he could carry to several different pawnshops. Sqweky was more pensive than usual though. Some of the things Surmas had told him seemed outrageous. But Surmas was never one who lied, was he? Even if he were, he would have to be insane to try and pass such stuff off as real. Was it real? It didn't seem like it, but... How could such beings exist? Chaos and Order being powers that drive the universe? Sqweky had only ever thought of them as words, words that signified if something was messy or not. Sqweky felt disoriented, he almost let one certain pawnshop owner give him half the going rate. That one had one finger less before he coughed up the money. He should probably change businesses. It was unlike Sqweky to be so temperamental, but for some reason Sqweky felt the need to vent.

Why, though? The thought came to Sqweky. Why would Surmas tell him all of this now, after all this time. Sqweky would be the first to admit that Surmas didn't tell him everything, but that was Surmas. So why was he telling him now? It seemed to come back to that, no matter what venue of thought he traveled.

Sqweky stopped, and looked up after realizing that he was been walking without paying attention to where he had been going. And he now noticed that he was deep inside Hammer territory. Hammers were bad anywhere, but here, within a few blocks from their largest cathedral, anyone who had even had bad thoughts lived in fear. No one messed with the Hammers, not for any reason. And there were plenty of them around.

*Whew* that was close. Right after he had got done congratulating himself, two Hammers saw him, and apparently felt it their duty to stop him and ask his business.

"Halt, where goest, thou?"

"And what be thy business?"

Sqweky decided to answer in the order the questions were asked. "Home, ran errands."

"What errands ran thou, boy?"

"And where doth thy home lay?"

Having both of them question him at once was already annoying, but Sqweky wanted no trouble. None whatsoever. "Grandfather needed bread, lives other side of town."

"But, where doth thine own house be?"

"Dayport." That was far enough away that they probably wouldn't want to escort him home. Apparently they didn't, and let him off with some sort of a 'be on thy way' or some such. Why did the Hammers need to get off on such a power trip? Wasn't it enough that they were the most powerful sect in the city? Well, Surmas would be wondering what was taking so long.

Surmas had come to a decision, it was a hard decision, but it was most likely the right thing to do. He wasn't exactly sure how to do it, but he guessed that he would just accomplish it as it came. He would start when Sqweky got home. 'Sqweky,' what an unusual name; Surmas couldn't imagine why he would ever choose it for himself. Although Surmas knew it was his own fault for not teaching Sqweky well enough to spell it correctly. Sqweky tried to hide it from him, but Surmas knew that Sqweky had reverted to illiteracy. True that there were plenty of illiterates, most especially among the criminal types, but Sqweky was supposed to be different. He was to be independent of anyone when Surmas finally was gone. And if the keepers were truly telling the truth, Sqweky might not have much longer with him. Curse the Keepers! Why couldn't they just let him be?

Surmas didn't fall for most of the Keeper 'prophecy nonsense. Of course, he could only argue to a point, as some of it did have an uncanny ability for accuracy. But, still, a 'Chosen One' who would restore balance? Unlikely. And even if it were to come true, it wouldn't happen for quite a long time. While the Hammers did hold considerable power, it would be decades, at least, before their power was sufficient enough to be leveled. In fact, some people said that the Hammers were losing power. A few closely kept secrets that were heard by the wrong ears, not Keeper ears either, had leaked that enrolment had gone down significantly for the Hammers. And if a secret like that can leak out, the Hammers were defiantly slipping.

Surmas had just decided where to start, when he heard the bar being removed, letting someone enter.

As he opened the door, Sqweky recognized the face that Surmas was using. It was a pensive face that he used whenever he had come to a decision. Sqweky could never tell, though, if he would like it or not. Lending from the majority of past experiences, though, Sqweky felt confident that he wouldn't. Without waiting for Surmas to tell him to, Sqweky sat down opposite Surmas and waited. It was almost a full minute before Surmas spoke.

"Lad," Oh, boy, Sqweky thought, this is serious. "I've taught you well, but I haven't taught you everything. I have many skills and small 'tricks' that help me. If I teach them to you, I have no doubt in my mind that you will become the greatest thief in the city. No one could stop you. Do you understand me?"

Sqweky was so astounded, that for the first time in his life, he didn't think. "Yes. Why?"

Surmas sighed before continuing. "Because, events may soon play out in such a way that you may not have the chance to learn them." Sqweky was so astounded, he just couldn't think strait. Why?

"I'm not exactly sure myself." Surmas answered. Sqweky hadn't realized that he had said that out loud.

"I see that this troubles you. I don't know if it will be any consolation, but I feel no better. Now please, have some tea that I made. And then I will tell you more. Whether that is good news or not is for you to decide."

Surmas only looked at Sqweky as they sipped their tea. Much was going to change within a few months, whether or not it was as the keepers said it would. Surmas decided that despite the fact it was obvious that Sqweky was now much calmer, he would wait a bit before telling him that he had decided to take up Randolph's offer of continued jobs. Hopefully, the contract would not be too binding.