Chapter 2 Part 1: Innocent Spying Of a Drunk

"Richie, today you're drinking more than usually. Did your wife kick you out of house again? Haha." Said bartender and crowd started laughing.

"Maybe for you it's funny, but for me its hell. I got hit with a flying frying pan, now my butt hurts." Richie said with tears in his eyes.

"That's because you're always drunk. Here, take another beer. On the house."

"Thanks, but I need to take a piss."

It was warm summer’s night. Pub is located in docks in Avemptha. It was rundown and dirty place, but it was cheap and so was always filled with sailors and fishermen.

Richie went to find a good place when he heard voices coming from nearby alley.

He went closer and hid behind some barrels, thinking some of his pub buddies were up to something. But instead he sees two shadows of men talking in rather young voices. Richie thought of standing up, but their conversation stopped him.

"Only thing I want is disorder. Utter chaos. Panic. I want everyone to shake in fear, to doubt everyone and everything, so that despair is the only thing left for them to feel. And you'll help me." It is said in deep menacing voice, that Richie's blood froze in fear.

"Haha, sounds like a fun plan. Okay, I'll help you, why not. I got nothing better to do anyways. Want some cookies?" Somehow Richie was more afraid of this person, who was laughing while saying this.

'The other guy sounds like bad news, but this one is total psycho.'

Richie tried to leave as quickly and quietly he could, but one of the shadows was behind him and put his arms on Richie's shoulders.

"Why are you leaving so soon? Let's sing. One mouse is caught by a cat, by a cat. One leg cut, two legs cut, how many legs left, legs left? None none. Mouse was screaming, screaming. How long mouse can scream without a head, without a head? Huh? Why aren't you singing? So, how long?"

Richie pissed his pants.

"You're nasty, you know. If you don't know the answer, how about you start screaming and I'll cut your head to find out? Mmm?"

Then out of nowhere mysterious man pulled out his sword and cut Richie's head off, before Richie understood what is happening. His head fell down and rolled down to be stopped by a barrel 7 meters from where his body fell, covered in blood.

"Because of sh*t like that, I don't even know why I'm even talking to you." Other man in black said, while coming closer to look at the dead body.

"Because life without me would be sooo boring. Want those cookies?"

“No. And your singing is awful.”

And like that they left, not seen by anyone else.

"Hey, Richie, what's taking you so long? Where are you? I have big news for you, you'll be a fath… Sh*t."

Part 2: Assassin's stolen kill

At dawn, one man was moving through the streets of Avemptha, one of the largest and filthiest cities of Napertha. He is dressed in black, assassin by the name of Leond von Lerosi in search for his next victim. He is one of the best in his trade, but it could soon change as more and more talented people joined ranks of assassins.

Avemptha was popular for large amount of slaves, mostly human. Leond couldn’t understand the point of slavery, but there was nothing he could do even if he wanted to change that.

'Stupid organization, making me do this lousy job. I've killed kings and queens, but no, now I need to dirty my hands with some lousy merchant just because he's an ass. Every merchant is an ass, it was since the first merchant and it'll be so for the last. And the pay is lousy.'

Assassin sighed as he reached his victim’s house in trading region.

The house was simple with a shop in the first floor.  He quickly climbed and stood on the ledge of a third floor, where he was told is the merchant's bedroom.

'It's most likely a front to live in this ordinary house, otherwise a big shot wouldn't order his murder.'

When he quietly got in, he moved out of bedroom because merchant wasn't there and moved to second floor. In a living room was fat man in simple green merchant clothes hitting female slave. Girl was very beautiful with short blond hair and red eyes, in simple grey dress reaching her knees.

"You, trash, how you dare to define me. I'll hit you till you turn blue. If I tell you to sleep with 10 guys, you will do it. And you will satisfy their every perverse fantasy.  YOU HEAR ME!" Merchant hit her again and went towards cupboard.

'He clearly deserves death. You will be my most satisfied kill, merchant.'

Leond took his blade to go for a kill, but didn't move. Slave girl stood up and ran towards merchant and bit his neck. Blood was everywhere. Merchant with his last strength hit the girl, but she bit him once again and she got his major artery this time. Second later merchant's now dead body hit the ground.

"Haha, your blood is as nasty as you are. Let's see if you have a heart." Now laughing, girl opens cupboard, takes out a knife and starts to cut merchant’s chest open.

Assassin saw that and immediately left.

'I thought I have seen everything until today. I'll never get out of my head sight of a beautiful girl covered in blood laughing while cutting open man's body. I guess time has come when slaves will stand upon dead bodies of their abusers.'

Assassin left the city not seen by anyone.

Part 3: Survival

In the morning after breakfast consisting of vegetable stew poorly made, the journey through the forest resumed.

After hours of cart pulling, Rari is replaced with a middle-aged man. Soon afterwards, 10 beasts attacked their group. Beasts looked like a mix between a wolf and sheep. Body, eyes and mouth of a wolf and tail, wool, horns of a sheep.

They attacked them most likely because their group was the easiest target and the last group.

Wolfsheeps sudden attack caught the knights of guard, leaping from the bushes straight towards closest people to them biting their necks. In a matter of seconds 8 slaves and 2 knights lost their lives.

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Finally, other knights noticed and started attacking wolfsheeps with swords, but creatures were too agile and fast. In next few seconds 2 more knights met their end, as well as 6 slaves, who were used as meat shield by knights.

One of the knights started whistling and others dropped their weapons and started mumbling. While they were mumbling magic balls started appearing before them like in an underground battle.

Rari was running towards cart as other slaves, hoping it'll save them from beasts by hiding in it, underneath it or by taking a weapon from the cart.

He saw how one of the wolfsheep dangerously close to him and instantly killing one little girl with its claws.

Rari started running even faster, adrenaline given him power, however wolfsheep was faster and jumped on him, burying its claws deep in his chest and stomach, making him fall down with wolfsheep on top of him.

Intense pain filled his entire body like never before and he screamed out of pain and shock to the body.

Wolfsheep moved its head towards Rari's neck, but before that Rari moved his arms to stop it with the last of his strength and started hitting beast in the head. That only aggravated it and slashed Rari's chest right before one of the knights hit the wolfsheep with magic, making the beast fly away few meters.

Rari was badly bleeding and the pain was too much making him unconscious.

~~~*****~~~

Because of the pain, Rari woke up, but he couldn't move at all. He moved his head to look around.

All around were dead bodies of slaves, knights and wolfsheep.

Not too far away he saw a group of 13 slaves and 20 knights.  Apparently, the whistling was a way to call for help.

In front of knights kneels badly injured young slave woman. One of the knights said 'Mulapos mirsto' and kicked her right in the head. She fell down to never move again.

All the slaves were crying and hugging each other. None of them injured.

Rari understood that there's no way he'll get help from them. If he'll let them know he's alive, they will just kill him. They have no need for weak or injured slaves.

'I better die here from my wounds then get killed by them. At least that way I'll spend my last moments free from them.'

Closed his eyes while trying not to move a muscle, but soon sleep overtook him.

~~~*****~~~

At night he woke up surprised that he's still alive. He was all alone.

He was in too much pain to move, but he still tried. He crawled towards nearest dead knight. He wanted to bandage his wounds. He slowly removed knight’s armor and clothes. With the help of the knife he found, he cut knights tunic and made bandages.

He removed his clothes covering his upper body and started applying poorly made bandages. Process was slow with lots of pain involved.

After successfully applying bandages, he moved to another knight and took his tunic and wore it. Once he done that, he fell asleep once again.

~~~*****~~~

Rari woke up early in the morning, feeling much worse than before. Even though he knew he'll die very soon without any medical attention and bandages will only slow down the process, but he still had the will to live.

Crawling to one dead body to another looking for anything that would be of some kind use to him, like food and medicine.

Through his searches, he found a bag and put there some bread and container with water, small bag filled with coins of metal with numbers and animals on them, which most likely is their form of money, knife, some clothes, paper and small bottles with liquid in various colours. He didn't know what that liquid was and he didn't want to try it, in case it was a poison.

In the middle of his hunt of valuables, he heard voices far away from direction knights and slaves went.

'Damn! They are coming back. I need to run. I'll not be captured or killed by them.'

Going back towards underground was too risky, especially on road where they could see him miles away and there's no way he wants to return there.

So, Rari took his bag and run into forest.

He run as fast as his legs and injuries let him, which wasn't very fast. Occasionally he would stop and listen closely for any movement and if voices were getting closer.

After two hours, exhaustion made it difficult to move, let alone walk, so he hid behind nearest brushes and took a break.

30 minutes later, he was up and started walking deeper into forest. He heard voices far away, but voices weren't far enough, as he would have liked.

'If knights were on the road, I most likely wouldn't be able to hear them as I am long way from the road.'

Thinking that, Rari moved faster.

'I really hope I'm just paranoid.'

Several times he fell and only because of his willpower he was able to stand up and continue.

Sometime later his willpower left him and he fall. His bandages were all bloody and for a while he left a blood trail behind. Pain so intense, that it made him numb.

'I guess this is the end. I’m so tired, don’t care about anything anymore. I just want to sleep.'

Rari closed his eyes as strength left him.

"I guess this is the end. I'll finally be able to apologize to you… granny."

As a single tear escaped from Rari's eye, his heart stopped beating.

~~~***End of Chapter 2***~~~

Previous: Chapter 1

Diakazia