Chapter 8

Dark Tunnels

Doran walked down a long hallway, carful not to step in the muddy river of water that covered the center of the ground. The lack of windows made him nervous, and the echo of every drop of water made him jump. The lantern he held in his hands barley illuminated the dingy tunnel in front of him, resulting in him stepping in multiple unpleasant substances. The sounds of little feet, moving all about him, let him know that he was not the only creature down there.

He came across a fork in the road and paused, one path stretched right, the other left, and both reeked of urine and feces. He bent his knees and inspected the walls around both entrances, looking for the sign. He found the little black bird painted on the tunnel wall to his right. He inspected it for a moment, brushing the long black hair out of his eyes, stood up, and turned left.

Doran thought of himself as a rock. Through a steady, practiced, self control, he had gotten people to believe that he had no joy, or fear, or any emotion, earning him the name "The Statue" amongst those who knew his profession. He had even began to believe the rumors himself, until he met the council. Now he knew that everyone has at least one emotion, fear.

The tunnels had his nerves on edge. Every turn and shadow seemed to set his heart beating fast. More than once, he had drawn his bow and turned around, ready to loose and arrow, only to find a lizard mouse staring up at him with blank eyes. After what felt like hours of trudging through sludge and feces, he came across his destination.

The door in front of him stood in contrast with it's surroundings. The tunnels were dark, dreary and grey. This door, however, was bright red and gold, except for it's knob, which seemed to be a polished glass that reflected his image. His bright blue eyes stared back at him with a hollow look. He walked up to the door and knocked three times, then two times, then once. Someone on the other side replied with two quick knocks, and Doran gave two more.

The door swung open, and a tall, thin, pale-faced man with two long, slender swords strapped to his back, stepped out. Doran put down his lantern, and his bow and arrows, and raised both arms. The pale-faced man frisked him, finding a knife hidden in his boot. Doran simply shrugged at the pale-faced man, "forgot I had it." He said in an emotionless voice. The man didn't reply, but picked up Doran's affects and made a motion for him to enter the door in front of him, which he obliged.

Upon the door closing behind him, the stench of the tunnels vanished, and was almost immediately replaced with the scent of roses and lavender. The room he entered was as large as a theater, and held none of the offensive sights and smells of its surrounding tunnels. The theme of red and gold extended from floor to ceiling, all mixed with an assortment of intricate engravings. Servants walked too and fro delivering food and wine to the group of three men, who sat at a large semi-circular table.

"Ahh Statue," Said the man in the middle of the three, "Glad you could make it. Come, sit." His voice was energetic, and gave no inkling of mal-intent. A servant brought out a chair, and seated it at the table, across from the three men. Doran did as he was bid, knowing that it was a command, not a request. "We gave you a task, did we not?" said the man again. He was large, with no visible hair anywhere on his body. His eyes were intense, and his gaze made Doran uncomfortable. The two others to his left and right were indistinguishable from one another, from their red robes, to their narrow cheekbones. Doran knew from experience that they were lackeys, and that only one man on their council held the power. He spoke directly to him.

"Yes sir." His voice was emotionless, but even The Statue felt the effects of the bald man's eyes. "And I have failed. Her teammate jumped in front of my arrow. Forgive me sir."

"I was under the impression that you never missed." The bald man said incredulously. "In fact, according to you reputation, you never have. Surely this isn't the first time someone tired to sacrifice themselves, to stop one of your arrows. What made this special?"

Doran thought about his answer carefully. In truth, he didn't know how he had missed. He had seen the boy push The Avatar out of the way, he had used his gift to adjust the arrows path to compensate, yet, it didn't find it's mark. "The master Airbender must have interfered," he lied, "it caught me off guard."

"Why is it that you did not fire a second arrow?" demanded the lackey on the right.

"Chief Beifong, the master Airbender, and The Avatar had seen me. They would have captured me if I had stayed." Doran listed off in his monotone voice, "I thought it might serve your interests better if I were to finish my work another night, rather than be caught and stopped."

This answer seemed to annoy the lackeys, as they both spoke up, "How dare you presume to know what the interests of this council are," said the one to the right.

"We would have been much happier if you and your partner would have completed the task and perished. Now we must be delayed, our plans are stalled because of YOU. " finished the other one.

"You know what happens to those who fail us." continued the first, "We needed you to succeed in order to continue. The weapon will soon be-" the man in the middle slammed his had down on the table, cutting off the man, before he said too much.

The second man motioned to the pale-faced man, "Faust, Show The Statue to our lovelies." He turned back to Doran, "Maybe then, you will see what it means to fail us."

Doran felt panic grip his chest, he started to weigh the odds of being able to overtake the pale-faced man named Faust. He knew that by reputation he didn't stand a chance, but even death was preferred over what he had been sentenced to.

"Councilman Granis, Councilman Gryves," said the bald man, waving Faust away with his hand, "surely this man speaks the truth. If he had stayed, they would have captured him. If they had captured him they would have questioned him." The two other men looked upset, but said nothing. Doran wanted to feel relief, but knew that he wouldn't until he was safely back above ground. "And we don't want that, do we?" Doran shook his head, " Though, out of curiosity, what would you have said if they had captured you?"

Doran's answer was quick and honest, "Nothing, sir. To betray the council is a highest offence."

"Indeed it is." He waved a servant over to pour him more wine, "We are an order of secrecy. Our power lies in the fact that, to everyone else, we are invisible." He took a long drink, making Doran sit in silence. "But are we invisible, Doran Long?"

Doran froze. No one knew his real name. It was a secret that he had buried a long time ago. Less then 5 people in the world had ever known it, and he had personally silenced 3 of them. His shock almost made him forget to answer, "No sir." He managed to spurt out, his inflection changing almost imperceptibly.

"Goood, and since we are not truly invisible, we must act it, or we are lost. Tell me, how does one act invisible."

"I don't know sir."

"With fear." The bald man motioned to another servant, who brought Doran a folder, printed on it's cover was the black bird stamp. Doran opened it, and clenched his teeth. Inside, were pictures of a young girl, no older than sixteen. She was dressed in rags and was chained to a table, her face was covered with cuts and bruises and the latest Republic City Daily was resting on her stomach. "Don't forget why you're here for us Doran." The bald man's voice had turned sour, revealing the anger in his voice, "You said, you have failed. You could not be more right." He took a large bite of meat from his plate and pointed it at Doran with his fork, "If you were smart, and I believe you are, then I wouldn't fail us again." His eyes were dark and intense on Doran, "Or next time, she'll wish we were as merciful as we were today."

Doran put his hands under the table so that the council wouldn't see him clench his fists. "I wont fail you again…" he manage to say, barley able to control his voice through his anger.

"I'm sorry I didn't quite catch that. Can you say it one more time?"

"I wont fail you again… sir"

"Much better. That will be all Doran, we will send you instructions for your next task. Your are dismissed." Doran got up and left the room. "Oh Doran… Leave the folder please." Though his demeanor was statuesque, inside his mind, Doran was screaming.

When he left the red door, Faust wordlessly gave back his weapons. He slung his bow over his shoulder, and began to traverse the maze of tunnels beneath Republic City. He made it five minutes, before what he saw in the folder overwhelmed him. 'The Statue' leaned against a wall, closed his eyes, and broke down. His body was racked with sobs.