I expected to return to the hunt today, but Ruhamah told me instead that I would be getting a new assignment. I was surprised by this, and more surprised when I reported to Orison to find him waiting with Simmah, the Reader. I greeted them both courteously, but I’m afraid I was a bit nervous as Simmah lifted his hand and fixed the Inner Eye on me.
“I’m quite used to it, you know,” he said without preamble. He closed his fingers around the Eye and smiled at me. “Many of my brothers and sisters are unnerved by my vision. In much the same way, the Lower Eye can discomfort me.” He glanced at Orison’s forehead, setting his hand on Orison’s shoulder as he did so to ease any offense caused. “Well met at last, Asa’el.”
“At last?” I repeated.
“Yes, I have known for some time that you and I would meet, brother, although I wish for your sake that it was not so.” His smile was gone now, and he looked at me with grave concern. “The future hangs heavy over your head.”
I wanted to ask more about this, but I knew that he would only tell me what was necessary for me to know. Instead I looked to Orison. “Ruhamah told me that you had an assignment for me, Orison?”
“Yes, a new charge we would like you to take on,” Orison told me. “Joanna Lambeth. We have reason to believe that she has been made a target for Violences. With any luck, however, you will only have to watch for a short time before she is made safe again.”
“How can you be sure of that?” I asked.
“We are sure of nothing,” Orison answered, smiling wryly, “but that she is endangered at all is unexpected. After all, she is only two years old.”
“Two?” I repeated, horrified. “How could Violences turn against a child?”
“Very easily, I’m sorry to say. Children suffer violence every day—there are Guardians who devote all of their time to protecting children, and yet still some slip through the cracks. Evil loves an easy target,” Orison added with a level of bitterness I have rarely heard from him. He shook his head and continued, “But Joanna’s case is special. She is well-loved and protected by a family who has the means to do so.”
“Then why would a Violence target her?” I asked. “Is that not too much of a risk for them?”
“Our enemies do not always work blind,” Simmah said. He looked down at his hands. “The gifts given by our Father are not taken away, even when those who hold them fall into darkness. This is why they are given rarely and never lightly. Still, the Enemy does have a precious few of my sisters and brothers who have turned their Sight to his purposes. The knowledge that we use to protect those most worthy of protection puts those same people in danger. Joanna has a bright future, and the Enemy knows it and wants to keep her from reaching it.”
“It’s our hope,” Orison said, “and our experience, that once they know that she is protected even now, they will not spend such a special effort against her again.”
“I hope you are right,” I said. “Of course I would be glad to defend her, but shouldn’t this be a job for a Cherub?”
“Yes,” Orison answered, “but there are none to spare just now. The hunt continues and we need every weapon we have in the fight.”
“Which,” Simmah said, “may well be why they are choosing to take the risk.”
It was both humbling and affirming to realize that they came to me because there was no one else. Humbling because I know Orison would not have chosen me, given the choice, but also affirming, because he also would not have asked this of me if he didn’t believe I could do it.
“Then what can you tell me?” I asked Simmah.
“Only that we believe the attack will come within the week. There will not be more than one Violence, but be mindful that the Enemy too is capable of choosing his warriors wisely. It will be a subtle creature, so you must keep your senses sharp.”
“And whatever assistance we can give you, we gladly will,” Orison answered. “If you have need, call on any of us and we will come to you, hunt or no hunt.”
“Thank you, but I will do my best to make certain that does not happen,” I said with as much confidence as I could muster. “You will do your work, and I will do mine.”
Orison clapped me on the shoulder, and Simmah smiled at me. As I went on my way, though, I looked back and found his hand raised again, the Inner Eye watching me, though perhaps not the me that exists now. I wonder what he sees for me, and whether that is part of why I was chosen for this task?
It does not matter, not now. I have my task, and I will do it. I will not let Orison’s faith in me be in vain.