The Art of the Discerning Eye

She came out in awe. The circular, spacious study was lined with floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with ancient scrolls and artifacts.

A fire crackled in a massive white hearth, casting a warm, gentle light on rich, dark wood and red carpets.

In the center, Demidicus sat in a chair and swirled a goblet of what looked like blood-red wine. Dutifully, Helartha, the white haired and violet eyed, dark skinned elf stood beside him.

They both looked up as Anna appeared. “Welcome,” Demidicus said with an elegant smile.

Anna’s eyes swept the room, unimpressed by the opulence. “Now what is this?” she asked, her voice flat.

“Welcome to… the headquarters, I suppose,” Helartha said, her voice still laced with a nervous respect. “It’s actually Lord Demidicus’s private residence, but we often rest and strategize here.”

“And Yarte?”

“In his own domain, of course,” Demidicus answered, taking a slow sip. “Liches don’t require such… creature comforts. But he instructed us to prepare everything you demanded.” He gestured with his goblet towards a massive, arched doorway.

“Your first request… a library full of knowledge. I believe mine fits that description.” He then nodded to Helartha. “And your second…”

“The list of potential operatives, yes,” Helartha said, her voice regaining some confidence. “We thought you would prefer a more… formal selection process. Right this way.”

She guided Anna through the archway and into a library that made the temple's library looked like a kid's bookcase.

It was three stories high, with shelves crammed with millions of books bound in exotic, weird leathers and spiral staircases.

In the very middle of the huge room was a huge desk that was carved from a single piece of petrified wood. 

It was piled neatly with dozens of thick, detailed dossiers.

Anna approached the desk and touched the files. She let out a slow, amused laugh.

“I feel like I’m searching for an employee.”

“We thought you would appreciate this more than having a pile of thugs thrown at your feet,” Demidicus said, having followed them in.

“I presumed you would prefer to curate your team with a more… discerning eye.”

Anna looked from the files to Demidicus, a spark of mutual, intellectual respect passing between them. He understood her. “Thank you,” she said, the words genuine.

She sat in the large, throne-like chair behind the desk. She picked up the first dossier, her orange eyes scanning the two powerful, dangerous beings who were now, for all intents and purposes, her HR department.

“Let’s begin then.”

Her hand was very fast, flipping through pages detailing the lives, skills, and psychoses of the deadliest beings in Yarte’s employ.

“Skip,” she muttered, tossing a file onto a rapidly growing discard pile. “Redundant skills. Skip. Too emotional. Skip. Questionable loyalty. Skip, skip, skip.”

In less than ten minutes, the pile of several dozen dossiers had been reduced to just four. She tapped them into a neat stack, her decision made. The entire process was completed so fast.

Helartha, who had spent hours carefully compiling and vetting those files, stared in complete disbelief. “My lady… are you sure?” she stammered. “You barely looked at them… You want… these four?!”

Anna gave a simple, decisive nod, her part in the process apparently over. She stood up and began to wander into the towering aisles of the library, running a finger along the ancient leather spines, leaving Helartha and Demidicus with her chosen team.

Completely bewildered, Helartha picked up the four files, she spread them out on the desk, summarizing them for Demidicus, though mostly for herself.

“I… I don’t understand,” she whispered. “First, the Lazy Witch. A theoretical genius, yes, but a well-known deserter, motivated only by a desire to avoid effort. She abandoned her Coven. She’s unreliable.”

“Then, her dog familiar, Nathan, a laboratory experiment. A traumatized, amoral living weapon who is loyal only to the witch who saved him. He’s a rabid dog on a leash.”

“Third, Siren of the Eternal Sea... An alien entity with no known allegiance, no purpose, and a set of values completely incomprehensible to us. A powerhouse, but a complete loose cannon.”

“And finally, Tiger kin, the only one who seems stable, but he’s an oathbreaker. He abandoned his sacred duty to his king. Honorable, perhaps, but his loyalty is conditional.”

She looked up at Demidicus, her face a mask of utter confusion. “Captain… This collection has no synergy. They are all lone wolves, exiles, and anomalies. Why in the world would she choose them?!”

Demidicus smiled, “You are looking at it like a general, my dear Helartha. You are trying to build a squadron. She is not.” He smirked. “She has a brilliant mind. I’m sure you understand soon enough.”

“She chose individuals who are pathologically incapable of broad political betrayal. Their loyalty is a focused, unbreakable chain to a single concept, not an organization. The witch to her convenience, Nathan to his savior, Siren to a guiding purpose, and the tiger to a worthy master.”

He spread his hands wide. “If she can make herself the sole object of that loyalty, she will have a set of four utterly unbreakable living weapons who will follow her commands without question.”

Helartha stared at the files, her perception of Anna shifting from a powerful vampire to something far more terrifying: a true, inhuman mastermind.

Anna, who had been browsing a nearby shelf of ancient star-charts, turned back towards them, her part in the selection process apparently finished. She looked directly at the vampire noble, her expression shifting from a researcher’s focus to a peer’s directness.

“Demi,” she said, “Do you have a book on the Aetrobia Leaf? I’ve went through everything in this biological section, yet I couldn’t find it.”

For a brief moment, Demidicus's noble poise faltered. The unheard-of familiarity caused a single eyebrow to rise in surprise. Then his face lit up with a slow, amused smirk.

He was intrigued.

“The Aetrobia Leaf?” he copied.

“An esoteric choice. The last treatise on its properties was written before this kingdom was even founded.” He tilted his head, his eyes gleaming with intellectual hunger.

“I do have a copy, of course. But you must indulge me. What grand puzzle do you believe such a rare plant to be the key for?”

Anna met his gaze, her expression unreadable. She knew he wasn't just asking out of curiosity.

“The book on the Ars Series mentioned the leaf in the last known account of Ars Terran,” she explained, her voice a calm statement of fact.

“It’s a loose thread in a fifteen-hundred-year-old mystery. I don’t like loose threads.”

She then added, offering another layer to her reasoning, “Furthermore, its properties are… unique. The ability to absorb and purify both holy and dark magic simultaneously is a strategic anomaly. If a plant with such power exists, it could be a potent alchemical ingredient for a weapon against Yarte’s corruption. Or,” 

she paused. 

“an ingredient the real Saint might be searching for herself. I am merely investigating all variables on the board.”

Demidicus gazed at her, his grin turning into a look of intense, sincere admiration.

He snapped his fingers and chuckled softly. A slim, ancient-looking book bound in green leather slid from its shelf high above, hovered for a second, and then sped down into his waiting hand.

He gave it to Anna with a flourish smile. “A fascinating line of inquiry,” he said, “Do keep me appraised of your findings. This game has just become far more interesting.”

So that’s where he’s hiding it…

Demidicus gave a final, amused nod and swept out of the library, leaving Helartha to attend to their new spymaster.

Anna paid them no mind. She was completely engrossed in the book on the Aetrobia Leaf, her mind absorbing the ancient, esoteric knowledge with a voracious hunger.

She had been reading for what felt like mere minutes when Helartha approached her desk again, her posture formal and a little hesitant.

“My lady Anna,” the shadow-elf said, her voice pulling Anna from her trance. “The four operatives you selected… they have been summoned. They have arrived.”

Anna looked up, genuinely shocked. She had chosen a group of recluses, deserters, and exiles scattered across the continent. “This quickly?”

“Lord Yarte’s influence is… extensive,” Helartha replied simply.

Anna closed the book. The analysis could wait. It was time to inspect her new tools. “Take me to them.”

Helartha led her to a stark, circular audience chamber, empty save for the four figures standing in absolute silence in the center of the room. They were a bizarre and unsettling collection. The witch was leaning against the silent boy, Nathan, looking as if she were seconds away from falling asleep standing up. “Mm… Nathan…” She spoke.

The siren stood with an alien grace, her otherworldly eyes taking in every detail. And the tiger beast kin stood at a perfect, rigid parade rest.

Anna didn’t speak. She walked a slow circle around them, she met the witch bored stare, Nathan’s empty one, siren curious one, and the tiger honor-bound one.

Finally, she stopped and turned back to Helartha.

“Yes,” she said, her voice a crisp, final verdict. “Looking all good.”

She turned to Helartha, “Give me a bit of privacy please.”

Helartha nodded and left the room.