Evening. Han was waiting in the port for his contact to arrive, as he specified in the letter that they would meet where they failed to do so last time. In the distance, a lute player was singing and begging for money.

"There's one of you everywhere, huh?", Han muttered to himself. "Fucking freeloaders"

In the distance, the horn of the ship that he was to board until midnight heralded its arrival. On a small island on the horizon line, a lighthouse kept spinning its pair of lights, alternating between two beams and a blinding flash.

Han reached under his cloak, checking that the book he stole from Astos was still there. The cold feel of the gold cover on his fingertips reassured him that at least one thing came out of his risky trip. His friend was supposed to deliver him something that would take care of his Astrid problem forever. That was worth venturing into big towns and sailing on metal containers with hundreds of people. The book was mere consolation.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps fading in behind him, so his hand, still under the cloak, gently lowered from the book to the dagger.

"Hey, handsome!", a woman's voice suddenly broke the serene silence.

Han turned around and saw a young blonde dressed in a corset dress, her breasts pumped up like two melons, and her smile, outlined by crimson lipstick, big and wide. Han's hand slowly went down.

"I'm... not in the mood, honey. Try someone else"

"No one else around, is it?", she kept pushing, slowly placing her hands on his shoulders and pressing her chest against his back. "You're gonna let me go back alone to my inn room when I could be walking by your arm?". Her hands reached down to his chest. "You're so, so cruel!"

Han sighed, then cracked a smile.

"I'm broke" was his last line of defense, and sadly for him, the truth.

"That's a strange name", the girl said. "I'll tell you mine in my room"

Ten minutes later, Han found himself in a small and cozy, candlelit inn room, unzipping the girl's corset from the back. The room's window was open, wind blowing through the white silk drapes. The zipper reached the end and split the corset's back in two, revealing the milky white skin underneath, bathed in pale orange light. Han slipped his hands underneath, up to the girl's shoulders, and removed the corset completely, letting it fall to the floor.

"You got fine hands", she said softly, almost in a whisper. "I take it you don't work with your hands, huh?"

Han leaned in close to her ear.

"You'll see that I do", he whispered, making the girl giggle.

His hands reached to her breasts, prompting a moan from the girl. Han's thumb stopped by the right nipple, grazing a scar. His hands stopped moving, save for the thumb, rubbing the fingertip over the scar tissue, over and over.

"Old mistake", the girl said.

"That's ok", Han replied, gently biting on her earlobe. "I like a girl with scars"

"Really?", a voice suddenly said from behind, making Han and the girl yell.

Han turned around while the girl yelled and rose up her arms, her breast jiggling like jelly. In front of them was Astrid, right arm locked by a splint made with two wood pieces and cloth, left arm holding a sword to Han's face.

"You...", Han said, shocked.

Astrid nodded toward the door and the girl quickly left the room, leaving the two alone. Han slowly backed away while Astrid kept their distance constant. He ended up with this back against the open window, the fluttering drapes framing him. He gulped, afraid.

"You look pale, Han", Astrid said, placing the tip of the sword under his chin and using it to lift his head up. "Are you not eating well? All this running and fucking, you gotta keep a healthy diet or it won't do!"

"Just do it and get over with!", he bitterly said, lowering his gaze to her broken arm. "What, you fell down from a tree?"

"Ain't that cute? Look how we worry about each other! Even though you've been distant lately"

"Not for a lack of trying-ow!"

The sword tip forced his head up to the maximum point, lightly piercing the skin and allowing a thin stream of blood to run down the blade. He sighed.

"You asked her to lure me here?"

"I figured I would intimidate you, considering the eye patch and the sword and knives and all of that". She lowered the sword, looking disappointed. "Oh, is that it? You've always been smart, Han. I'm hurt! I wanted to see you try, to make it fun for me"

"Smart, huh?". He rubbed his hand under the chin, looking at the bloody fingers. "Nah, honey, you got it all wrong! It was always luck"

As he said that, his legs turned to mush and he let his weight carry him through the open second-story window, falling backward in front of Astrid. She rushed to the window frame and looked down, but only saw a settling cloud of dust on the ground. Astrid groaned in frustration and slashed the drapes with her sword, then sheathed it, leaped out through the window, and landed on the ground as well, ready to begin her pursuit.

Her vision tunneled on the trail of blood drops running down the dusty streets. She ran so fast, a trail of dust raised behind her, in pursuit like a rabid wolf. At the same time, Han hid in a side alley behind a bunch of crates, trying his hardest to slow down his heavy breathing. His heart was pounding, the pulse he felt in his tingling fingertips, his temples, even his eardrums. Cold sweat ran down his back. Stop breathing so heavily, idiot! he thought, his mouth getting dry. Unable to see anything, as it was already dark, doubly so in the alley, he relied on sound alone. The feeling of now knowing when death was coming was torture; death itself he did not fear, for it was the relief.

His trembling hand touched underneath his chin once more; still bleeding. He noticed the trail of blood leading back to him. Suddenly, he moved his head, thinking he heard something. Not good. He was about to get killed unless he lost his trail. Scrapping some dirt from the ground, he rubbed it on his chin, then took his dagger and made a new cut on his palm.

"Can't outrun me, Han", she teased him, her voice booming throughout the street. "I have the fury of my own momentum"

Astrid finally reached the alley crates and saw that the trail continued down the alley. She smirked. She followed the trail of blood leading underneath a wooden door, scoffed, then kept going down the alley. While the trail of blood ended there, deep footprints lead to the end of the alley, where it dead-ended with a fence and a few crates. A boot was peeking from the edge of a crate.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Astrid slowly, silently drew her sword, then plunged it straight through the crate, expecting a yell from the other side. Instead... she heard nothing. Going around, she only found a pair of boots. Astrid clicked her tongue, then sheathed her sword.

*

Light pierced through four thin silts in Syndell's jacket. Not a lot of blood managed to soak through the fabric. She held the coat in front of a gas street lamp, one of the few in Saladin. Looking over her shoulder at her back, she saw her white shirt slashed in the very same places, only the shirt soaked quite a lot of blood. She sighed.

"Should've gone for something red...", she muttered to herself.

"Yep. That would hide the blood good", Han suddenly said, walking toward her, barefoot and roughed up, hand bandaged.

"Seems like you had a long night"

"Yeah, and it will only get longer. I have someone on my tail actually"

"I know. I ran into her"

Han seemed shocked.

"You ran into Astrid and lived? That's something. But I never thought she'd hurt someone that doesn't have a price to his name"

"I gave you up so she let me live", she said, putting the jacket back on. "No hard feelings"

"Well... Understandable, I would've done the same. But we still need to get away from her, and I don't see any way to get some crown from these hand-eating bozos"

"What about that book you stole?", Syndell asked.

"The church book? These idiots won't buy it for its real value, and if I sell it for the price of two ferry tickets, they'll know it's a scam"

Syndell sighed, looking at her ring and wondering if she should ditch Han and find her own way to the capital.

"Unless...", he continued.

"Unless what?"

"There's a way to trick one of those port men knuckleheads, but I'll need your help on this"

"What do you need?"

"You'll have to play a part in a little confidence trick. I'll have one part to play too, but first I'll need to find a black robe first. And some shoes"

"I'll find you a robe and some shoes. You wait here and stay hidden"

"Alright. I'm a size 10"

"You don't get to be picky, boy. You either curl your toes or stuff some paper if they don't fit"

"Whatever, just go..."

Half an hour later, and forty-five minutes away from the ferry's departure, Syndell was pacing back and forth around the dock, waiting for a dock worker to show up. Sure enough, a chubby, short man with a big smile showed up in overalls and started to load crated on the ferry. Syndell smiled.

"You'll do, you roly-poly sonovabitch"

She discretely placed the book on top of a crates stack, then approached the man, all smiles and bubbly.

"Excuse me, is this the way to board the ferry?"

"No, ma'am", he replied. "This right here is the cargo loading. You'll need to take the metal stairs on the side for the passengers' entrance"

"I see! Thank you!"

"No problem"

She turned around and pretend to trip, bumping into the stack of crates and making the book fall to their feet. The dock worker immediately left his crates to help Syndell.

"Ma'am, are you alright?"

"Ugh, I think so... That really hurt". She let the man help her up, then glanced down at the book. "My goodness, what's this?"

"Must've fallen from one of the crates", the man said.

"Looks important, like one of them holy books or something"

"Yeah. I'll take it to my boss, he has the manifest, he'll know where it belongs"

At that moment, Han rushed toward them, dressed in a black robe. His footsteps sounded weird, on account of the rubber shoes that Syndell found for him. Out of breath, he rested for a second, hands on knees, panting, head hung down, then raised one finger to stop the dock worker.

"Don't... don't go anywhere!", he said, catching his breath. "That right there is the holy book from the church in Astos, missing for one month and desperately needed back"

"Who are you?", Syndell asked, very dramatically.

"I'm father Marduk"

"Father Marduk?", she continued. "That sounds fake as hell". Han clenched her teeth and gave her a stern look. "I mean... you're clearly not from these here parts, father"

"No, indeed. I have been sent from Naraka, yes, straight from the capital, to retrieve the holy book!". Han straightened his back and brushed off his robe. "You two are in luck. There is a reward for that book: fifty crown"

"Fifty crown?", the worker asked, amazed.

"That's right. You two happened to find it, you get twenty-five each"

"Goodness, twenty-five? That's a lot of money!", Syndell hammed it up.

"You deserve it! The loss of this book would have been monumental. We suspect it was intended to be smuggled using this ferry"

"So, do we get the money?", Syndell asked, skipping a few lines in the script that she thought unnecessary, a fact that almost caught Han off guard.

"Err... no, I have church stuff to do, and I don't have the holy funds on me, unfortunately. You'll have to keep the book until tomorrow, and I will return for it and bring your reward". He then turned around and started running away, visibly struggling to walk with the footwear he had. "Gods be with you!"

The two remained there, watching Han run away. The dock worker's attention turned to the book, the gold, etched cover reflecting his face in both the Sun and the Moon.

"Oh, but I got to board the ferry tonight!", Syndell said, getting into the end game. "I can't afford to miss it, even for twenty-five crown". She was about to bring out the big guns. "Funeral in the family". The dock worker looked genuinely sad upon hearing that. "Tell you what... you give me ten crown right now and you can keep the rest of my share, too"

"Oh, no, I couldn't--"

"It's the will of the Gods", Syndell cut him off, placing her hand on his shoulder and looking down into his eyes.

"Well... the will of the Gods, I guess"

Ten minutes later, Syndell met with Han, who was sitting on a fence, barefoot and without the robe, rubbing the sores on his feet.

"Curl your toes my ass", he complained as he saw Syndell approaching. "You bought the tickets?". She held them up. "And the difference?"

"I figured I'll buy you some shoes"

"I'll buy boots first thing in the capital. I wouldn't trust you with the rope around my neck"

A loud horn announced that the ferry was ready for departure.