MOHP up, or The Wounded Man's Gold, pt 19(ish)

Previously: after a brief, brutal battle with giants, Mira and her companions flee into the forest and find an abandoned structure that provides some protection from the storm that is raging around them. As Seymuhr and Broo Fang Tane drift off to sleep—exhausted by their efforts in the fight—Esmiralda finally has a chance to take stock of her situation and get a few answers...


Merrick paused, and I suspected it was more for theatrics than any nervousness or concern over the conversation. He knew what he wanted to say, he knew he wanted me to hear it and he knew he wanted me to wait for it.

I was intrigued. There was enough substance to his previous words to make me wonder what the next would be. And, of course, if it revealed him to be a raving lunatic, I'd be better served knowing that before I shut my eyes and attempted to rest.

"First, about my companions. We are all given tasks in this world, whether you believe it was by your own choice, the guidance of your parents or scholars or in response to a need or whether you believe this thing, this purpose was granted to you by a higher power--one of the gods," he said. "I believe that you are also given the tools to accomplish this task. Your life is defined by when you discover your task—your destiny, to use a poet's word—and when you identify the tools you will need.

"Tools is a horrendous word, I know. But a hunter may find the perfect bow, a warrior a strong swords. Most often, it is not such an obvious thing. My task is greater than that, so my tools must be. I could not accomplish what I have set out to do without stout companions at my side to defend me from and to help me purge the evil in this land and, I know believe, I could not accomplish it without someone to tell the tale."

"I see." I looked at the opening to the shelter. The rain had stopped and the forest looked inviting. "And what do you think is your task?"

"I don't think it; I know it. I am a member of a special group and, if I've performed my duties as well as I think I have and in the manner to which I was sworn, you are about to be the second person who knows it."

A tingle formed at the base of my spine. Merrick's posture had changed. His back straightened, his voice took on a quiet authority, abandoning the nervous whisper he used to approach me. He paused again, and this time I believed it was to ensure that Tane and Seymuhr were indeed sleeping.

"I am a member of the Ministry of Human Preservation."

"No!" I shouted before I could stop myself, then clamped a hand over my mouth. The MOHPs were barely more than a legend; none had ever proved their existence.

"Indeed," he said, with another look over his shoulder. My exclamation had not woken our comrades. "You are surprised?"

"On a number of fronts," I answered when I could trust my tongue. So many questions raced in my mind I could not decide which to ask first.

"That is good, in a way." He settled back, completely relaxed now. He closed his eyes and ran a hand down his face to the end of his beard. "The secrecy in which we operate serves two purposes: it eases the minds of the good people in the land and allows those who seek to do evil—human or otherwise—to become overconfident and lazy. Easy to find and easy—or easier, at least—to stop. But make no mistake, Esmiralda, that the need for the Ministry is great, and times are dire indeed. Most people just don't know it. They go about their daily lives as best they can, not even thinking about the minor misfortunes or tribulations that come their way. They don't understand that each of those things, every tiny slight, is a rift in the benevolent power of the world. We become accustomed to the little evils so the large ones do not seem as frightening—and the goodness in the land evaporates not like a fire doused with water but like a sea shore eaten away by the tide.

"We look at the land like a garden. There are always weeds to pull. Sometimes you can snap off the stem—as we just did with the Hustyn—and make things better for a time. Our goal is to seek the roots of these pockets of evil so that we can rid the land of them once and for all."

I propped myself on my elbow. "But there is always the sea and always the shore. Always thistles among the flowers."

He grunted. "Indeed. So we must be as vigilant as we are secretive, and one who is as observant as you would make a worthy addition to our number."

"A useful tool?"

"More than that, I think. I sense more in you. Do you sense it in yourself?" His gazed pierced me through the gloom.

I didn't answer, because I once again worried that I could not trust my tongue. My heart was leaping in my chest, my mouth dry, my mind whirling with possibilities. I sensed, more than saw, the satisfied smile that spread across his broad, shaggy face.

"Then I ask you again this night: will you join me?"

There could be only one answer and we both knew what it was.