The sun shined brightly over Hestis as the chirping of birds decorated the ambience. The gentle breeze carried songs of worker bees as they gathered resources tirelessly, from the blooming crowns of the highest of trees. There on the gray city walls layed a man, whose consciousness was clearly roaming the realms of dream. Inside of his mouth, his teeth were gripping some kind of grass, fidgeting, as his hands were holding the back of his head like pillows would. Despite his torn-up clothes and his barely-shaved beard, this man truely seemed happy, as he was holding a smile up, even in his sleep. How could he not in a weather like this? Anything else would have been time wasted.
Though when a bee landed calmly over his nose, a quick sneeze caused him to jolt awake, after which he sighed and tied his hair in a ponytail. It took him a while to examine his surroundings, for right in front of him was a woman in shiny plate armour, who kicked his leg lightly. Underneath the armour was a sheet of red linen, and on her neck hanged a necklace with the crest of the capital watch - a round silver medal, on which stood a horse on it's hind legs to the left and a hawk, facing the right side. The woman's face was clean of any error, yet the frown she had brought was a clear sign of unhappiness with the sleeper's actions. Her shoulder-lenght hair bounced as she stomped on the man's trousers once again.
"OW, OW, OKAY, STOP THIS" The man said as he leaped up to his feet and stepped back.
"You are nobody to address me without etiquette, lawbreaker. You should know better that the city walls are no place for a lowly citizen with no military grade and a good reason. Clearly, making them your bed for a noon's nap is not a respectable reason, so I plan to take justice into my own hands and... " She clearly talked a lot, maybe even spat a bit too much too. After reaching back, she pulled out a shiny sword from the sheath on her waist and aimed it at him, to which he responded with raising his arms. "... And put a fine on you. My name is Cassa Brightwood, specialist member of the capital watch. State your name and occupation. You will be fined one hundred and fourty terries for your misbehavior". She awaited an answer.
"Adlem." The man said, awkwardly. "Adlem Pinch, I lack an occupation currently-"
"A slacker! A slob! At this age? You are a grown man! I hope you are paying your slacker debt!" She interrupted. Clearly she still hadn't realized that Adlem was a resident of the slums. They did not pay debts there, they had practically nothing to pay for, as their homes were at the edge of the city walls where no roads ever passed and no forreign merchants or capital workers ever stopped in order to improve the place. As for Adlem, not many people knew their second name in the slums, so they mostly used the name of their parents. Not that any archivist cared to doccument it. His name was in fact not Pinch. It was Finch. Or so his mother said once.
"Adlem Pinch, you are under arrest until your identity has been confirmed, this is an order given by me through the power of the law!"
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
"I'll keep that in mind!" Adlem said as his patience had run out. The man pulled out an egg from his pocket and shattered it at the specialist's breastplates, causing a cloud of white powder to errupt in her face's viscinity. As a response, she swung her sword, but Adlem was clearly no longer in visible range as he could be seen running over the edge of the castle wall, his torn brown jacket being blown back by the wind.
A loud whistle resonated loudly enough to bother every passing citizen's ears. It was the patrol whistle. Whenever a patrol came across suspicious activity, they would blow the whistle, thus alerting the rest of the guards, so they can join, in this case, the chase. Adlem leaped from Brick to brick, until eventually he reached a tree that was high enough for him to transition to. It's crown consisted of hanging branches, much like the tears of a heartbroken young maiden - a weeping willow. Guards quickly caught up, waiting for him at the ground below, some trying to aim their crossbows at him, but before that could work, Adlem leaped to a nearby house's roof. He had to keep running. While this place was safe for now, he couldn't afford to stay there any longer. He quickly bolted towards another roof, but it seemed to be steeper as the brick tiles slid down with his foot, causing him to fall over to the ground, falling over a guard that was chasing him and pushing him down, but did not cushion the fall one bit. That would leave a bruise. Thankfully, that had taken the guard by surprise as Adlem quickly rushed away from him. He kept on running for a while, zigzagging around buildings, until eventually he made his way into a little tavern. It had an odd name, that begged interest, like all taverns! It was something like "The maiden's lips". On the outside there was an old rotting sign of wood with badly drawn juicy pink lips and some roses, but on the inside, the rooms were fresh and refined, with plenty of room for travelers from all over to sit and exchange gossips. It was the hub of all important information from all over the world. Today though, it seemed busy, as some drunk bunch that wasn't made of locals, partied and even wrestled on the floor.
When sitting on one of the chairs, after almost stepping on a fainted forreigner's hand, Adlem ordered a big cup of ale. He did pay for it. Bartenders were among the few occupations he respected. "How's the town today, chief" He asked.
"It's busy today, aye. Apparently some merceneries from the Southern Lands brought the king some hatchling. They all came here to feast. They bring good coin." The bartender explained, while brushing his cups. His head was shaved and a tattoo, depicting a sea serpent complimented his forhead and wrapped around his neck and all the way into his shirt on his back. The man rarely made eye contact with Adlem as he shook his fat hairy moustache and directed all his attentions to his cups.
"Hatchling? A chicken?" Adlem asked, confused. "A Dragon!" Said the Bartender. "A black one at that, aye! The blood of these costs a fortune. They will probably raise it for protection though. These things are as strong as hurricanes." He explained as a slight smile appeared on Adlem's face. Surely he was plotting something. This wasn't the first time he would have broken into the kingdom. He would do it again and take this hatchling's blood! "How expensive? The blood." He asked, trying to contain himself.
"It's literal gold! You can buy your own bar and put me to shame with just a mug of it!" Adlem wasn't hearing any more than that. He had heard enough. He waited for the noise outside to clear out as he drank his cup. The night after, he was surely breaking in the castle and taking a vial!
Or so he planned.