Chapter Three - Crimson Rain

by **Timna** Sat Nov 05, 2011 2:31 pm

I am in complete shock and turmoil. I am walking back, the harbor’s shrill cry whining with what I had done. My limbs feel like rocks and the feeling of guilt washes over me like the ocean’s waves; my mind stares blankly back at me. Comprehension is beyond me, and I am not sure why exactly I did what I did, but as far as awareness goes it is still sinking into my mind.

I feel shattered like a mirror, trying to pick the shards of myself up but only managing to draw more blood which lands upon the rest with a constant tip-tapping sound.

I hadn’t even washed the crimson rain off my hands.

~*~

Like any other day, it’s the guards, Zalerin or the sun forcing me awake from a dreamscape I would have loved to stay in. Dreams are forgiving in nature most of the time and it’s a world I would not have any issues with living in but unfortunately, this day, I was to be rudely awakened by a guard’s heavy steps which slammed harshly against the cobblestones of which upon I lay. In a moment’s time I had already taken a hold of the very little things I carried on me and gotten up when I heard the expected stop nearby. The alley I usually chose to sleep in was rat-infested and a common place for drifters: it was very early, so that was exactly what they sought for. The plausible pickpockets and thieves of the streets were, after all, mainly drifters.

I stood dead still behind a few abandoned crates, hoping the dying and grimy lampposts didn’t set too much light upon my figure. Then again, the best way to avoid detection is to stay still even when you think you’ve been spotted. For some reason the likelihood of them bypassing your existence increases to insane degrees.
“Hey! You there!” the guardsman yelled. I gave no response and I did not move. The man takes the amount of steps needed out of the alleyway once he realizes – he thinks – there is no drifters today and I can finally take a breath of relief, dashing out the opposite exit of the area with quick and silent steps, barely amplified regardless of the night’s stillness.

I dashed off as quickly as I could from the area at all, ending up at the Dwarven District. I didn’t go inside, staying by the canals and hugging the rugged blanket of mine to my chest, I strolled towards the heart of the City – a place I utterly despised – the Cathedral of Light. I felt that this would be a slow day due to my unexpected and harsh awakening, which ruins my normal routine and stepping stones due to the traders and merchants not being in a rush at such an early hour. Anyway, it didn’t really matter, done was done and I reckoned it’d be quite a slow and silent day.

I stepped through the vacant square, the sun not high enough to illuminate every corner. I didn’t feel anything except the murderous cold which together with the duskiness invited sleep again, but I fought my fatigue and stumbled towards the opposite exit. Once I reached the canals once more, my eyes shifted to the right to look at the harbor’s entrance. My steps took me there, but I turned to the right to enter the path towards the cemetery. I used to wander there a lot because guards did not question you: look through the many symbols and pictograms upon the tombstones, of which I could not understand. The written word had no meaning to me, even though I could copy their shape well enough.

~*~

The sun rises far above the horizon and begins to settle. It had indeed been a slow and quite silent day, which rendered me completely restless and with spare energy. I was wandering the same way that I had in the beginning of the day, stepping from the path leading to the cemetery towards the harbor. That’s when I saw the man carrying the name Lynx and I stepped forward as I was beckoned.

The conversation shared was very quick. I was asked if I wanted to take on a mission for quite a lot of coin. I agreed, seeing as the day had been slow, and was instructed to get a package from a man waiting for me at one of the harbor docks. I nodded and looked over my shoulder all the time in constant paranoia, but every time I was met with the silent yell of the wind. I wished I had my blanket around me, asleep in the alley already but I did not want to give this opportunity up either. So I pulled myself together and walked towards the docks rapidly.

The many stairs and slopes it took to come to the actual harbor was nothing but a nuisance. My limbs were frozen to the core and the ocean, how magnificent it may have been, was not helping in the least. I began to look for the person on the first dock where boats that go to the Elves’ lands go, and struck lucky: a man stood alone by the edge of the water with a bundle beneath his arm. That must’ve been the man, so I stepped up in order to speak to him.
“Hey. Looking for someone?” was my first question when I approached the figure, cloaked by the dusk’s growing obscurity. He turned to look at me and spoke.
“That I am. You the person?” he responded in a tone which told me he was merely a messenger. “It’s a hundred gold pieces.” This was news. I wasn’t told there would be a payment, but neither could I go back and speak to Lynx again, not without what I looked for. I don’t know what came over my mind at this moment: it could have been panic, confusion or merely the lack of thought.
“I see… I was not told of a payment, but I’ll go talk to the boss.” Was my thoughtless response and I did not wait for his reaction before walking off. I looked over my shoulder to see him turn back to watching the rest of the docks and the wild waves before him.

Once I noticed the man did no longer care and was at ease, I drew my somewhat rusty dagger and prowled around to end up at his back. The water was hiding the nonprofessional footsteps of mine, but would also turn out to be the only witness to my deed. As I snuck up behind the man, I stood on my toes and put my arm around his neck to keep him still for the split second that was needed. I drew the rusty knife across the skin that protected his jugular. I never expected it to be so easy to kill a person; I had always reckoned that there’d be a big fight of which I would likely lose.

It took a moment before I pushed him into the water which broke with the weight of his dying self. It didn’t matter. I ran until I had to stop, the air punched out of me by the wind and by shock. It didn’t matter.

It didn’t matter because my hands were stained red.