The cold ocean breeze blew through the upper deck of the ferry while the sea below looked like a mix of black and dark blue shapes. The sound, though, was loud and clear, the clearest thing around. Han stood there, arms leaning on the railing, feet bare, the left scratching the right calf. Footsteps announced Syndell's arrival. She leaned on the railing next to him.

"Can't sleep?", he asked.

"I don't do much sleeping", she replied, both looking far into the distance.

"Yeah, me neither. I toss and turn when I do". A beat. "That's why I like it here. It's like sleep, but you get to stay in charge"

Syndell looked at the ring on her finger.

"I met a lot of people in my lifetime", she said. "So many died. Some came and went. It's like your life is a yarn string, stretching far out into the distance, and other people are other strings too, and you intersect with some of them, but only once"

"Well, some strings could intertwine, right?"

Syndell chuckled.

"When you're a kid, the people around you, they feel like all the people you'll ever know, right?", she continued. "Seems so silly, looking back"

"You're quite the philosopher, you always bring up shit like that"

"Yeah... Too much time on your hands and you start talking like that. You seem to keep busy, though"

"Hell yeah. I bounce around so often, I don't get to talk like you"

They both laugh.

"It's not just Astrid that keeps me moving, though", he continued. "I've been like this all my life. Never able to settle in one place. It's like... my blood starts boiling if I stand still if people start knowing me by name, waving in the street when they see me"

"Or flipping you off"

"Or flipping me off"

"Yeah, I've met your kind a lot"

Han looked at Syndell, seeing her in profile.

"Really? Here I was, thinking I'm special"

"There's like seven types of people, Han. I'm sure you noticed too. You start to notice, people on the street, in families, at work, all seem like the same kind, only different faces. Like meeting the same people, over and over"

"Yeah, you're right... You do have a lot of free time". A beat. "My old man, he might be an exception. I've never met his kind again. He was no good"

"I seem to remember you quoting him a couple of days ago"

"You can quote anyone, you know?"

An awkward silence fell upon them.

"I cut his throat one night after he beat me up within an inch of my life", he continued, resting his chin on his arms. "I knew that I could never be free while he drew breath, no matter where I was. I also knew that I could never be an honest folk, even if I wanted to... When I close my eyes, all I see is his face... Eyes open like a dead fish, a halo of blood around his head, resting on the floor"

Silence again.

"What was he?", Syndell asked.

"By day, a singer. Hell, he taught me the lute and the songs too, just to make more money. At night, a drunk. Spending all our hard-earned cash"

"You know any song?"

Han took a deep breath in, then spat overboard into the sea.

"What a hit...", Syndell said.

"I know all them songs. Just can't sing them without throwing up"

Syndell yawned, stretched her arms over her head, then turned around and walked away. Han remained alone, watching the ripples in the sea and the ribbon of foam outlining the ferry below.

*

The next day, on the horizon, appeared from the mist the wall-encircled, pentagon-shaped capital city of Naraka. Three of the pentagon's sides were facing the seaside, the bastions on each corner having a tower where a Sentinel outpost was installed.

The ferry's course leading to Naraka was blocked by a chain, a maritime patrol awaiting to verify the ferry before lowering the chain. As they approached past the chain, the few orange roofs that peeked over the wall disappeared completely, concealed by the towering structure. Half awake and still on the upper deck, Han looked at the wall side that became so large he had to turn his head to see it end to end. Syndell soon joined him, along with a few early bird passengers. She was carrying two mugs of coffee in her hands.

"You spent the whole night up here, huh?", she said.

"Paid for the ticket. Couldn't miss a chance to not travel in the cargo area". He nodded toward the wall. "Only two sides connect to the land, and they still encircled it all"

"I have some Sentinel friends here, from back in the day"

"Really?", Han asked, surprised.

"What, you thought I was a loner like you?"

"I got friends here, too", he replied, taking one of the coffee mugs from Syndell. "The bounty hunter guild. They're really eager to see me again, I bet"

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

A loud horn suddenly blasted on the upper deck, making everyone flinch and groan. The two ports were the only sections of the city outside the walls, and the ferry soon docked next to way bigger transport ships of its kind. On the other side, a cargo port, way larger, handled the inbound and outbound traffic, exporting the various high-quality goods produced within the walls, and importing raw materials and resources unavailable otherwise.

Han and Syndell unbarked, then headed for the sixty feet tall metal gate guarding one of the entrances to the city. All the people that unbarked from the ferry gathered in a crowd in front of the gate, shepherded by a few guards. Discretely, Han used his last money left and bribed one of the guards to not have him and Syndell register themselves in the ledger before entering. A guard blew a whistle and the gate started raising after a loud thud and a shake of the ground underneath everyone's feet. As it rose more and more, light started to pour into the tunnel within the wall that made the transition between the outside world and Naraka. The other end of the tunnel was, naturally, sealed by a similar gate. When the second gate raised, the crowd dispersed, except for Han and Syndell. Han turned toward her, smiled, then extended his hand. Syndell extended hers and they shook hands.

"A deal's a deal", she said. "We killed some time, Han. Hope I'll see you again!"

"Likewise! Don't do anything I would do"

They split up and disappeared into the crowded streets of Naraka's periphery. Tall buildings with limestone facades and big signs advertising various shops lined up to the left and right of Han, who instantly raised the hood of his cloak when he spotted a Sentinel from the corner of his eye. The Sentinels, world-renowned Naraka militia, were commanding respect by the way of their uniform: crimson red overcoat and pants, thick leather waist belt holding a dagger and a sword, knee-high leather boots, silver aguilette, and epaulets.

"I heard a councilman ask the mayor if he'll allow outside folk to be buried here too, now that he lets them buy houses at the periphery", he overheard one of them talking to the other Sentinel. "Before the mayor got a chance to respond, another councilman said: 'I'd allow it, on one condition: if I can bury them all at once' "

"Mayor should be more careful with the ones we let in as it is", the other one said. "Just a bunch of dirty ass savages. He keeps acting all friendly to them, this place will turn into a zoo, and it will be his head on a spike"

Han spat on the ground after he passed by them.

"Red cocksuckers", he muttered under his breath.

He finally stopped in front of a bar, the sign above his head reading Three lizards. Han smirked; he needed information, and he knew that the best two ways to get it from people is to either get them drunk or say something stupid and allow them to correct you. In that place, he could do both.

Upon entering, the familiar smell of Otto's bar hit Han, but it was another feeling that hit him at the same time. Seeing a bunch of girls at the counter, all smiling at him and waving, he couldn't help but think about Syndell, about the enigma that she was, and the fact that he couldn't erase her from his mind. Her eyes, her smile, her story, and most of all, the ring on her finger... They all drove him insane. No woman could ever compare until he satisfied his curiosity.

"What will it be?", the big fella behind the counter asked.

"Whatever will get me drunk fastest", Han said, knowing fully well that he had no money left to pay.

The bartender slammed a shot of vodka in front of him. One of the girls picked it up, poured the vodka into her mouth, then locked lips with Han, pouring the vodka from her mouth into his. Han's knees started to soften. He should've known better than to get drunk in Naraka, especially in a bar he never visited before. Yet, he did not care.

"I'll be the girl of your dreams", the girl's voice echoed within Han's ears as the room started spinning in a constant movement.

"Okay, Syndell', he mumbled.

A man quietly sat next to Han at the counter. He signaled to the girls to leave, and so they did. Han didn’t even glance at him.

“You seem familiar”, the man said in a calm, soothing voice.

Han took a deep breath in, leaning on the counter, trying his hardest not to lose his balance, along with the contents of his stomach. The bartender glanced at him, then at the man before turning around, watching them from the reflection in the bottles.

“A lot of people look alike, pal”, Han replied, out of breath.

“I bet I don’t”

Turning his head, Han saw a man wearing a white theatrical mask, half laughing, half crying, along with a black uniform that clearly incorporated elements of body armor.

“Ah, shhhhhhhiii…”, Han began to say before losing consciousness and falling on top of the counter.

*

"Om karala-badanam ghoram mukta-keshim chatur-bhuryam.

kalikam dakshinam dibyam munda-mala bibhushitam

sadya-chinna shira kharga bama-dordha karambujam

abhayam baradan-chaiba dakshina-dardha panikam"

The chant mixed with the voices inside Syndell's head, driving her insane. She stood perched up on the wall, overlooking the thousands of orange shingle rooftops stretching far and wide before her. She pressed her thumbs into her temples and started to rub, trying to turn the voices into white noise.

"All talk, no bite", she mumbled, squeezing her eyes shut. "If any of you mattered, you would be alive now, not just voices in my head"

She sighed.

"That damn chant is getting stronger and stronger. It was a little on the nose when you pretended to be that beggar. And now... you're impersonating a Sentinel? Why don't you just show yourself, Dastan?"

Suddenly, a Sentinel landed out of nowhere, balancing himself on his toes, feet joined, knees fully bent and spread wide apart. The Sentinel was young, with jet-black hair slicked back, a short black beard, and no mustache. His defining element was a black blindfold that he wore over what appeared to be hollow eye sockets.

"Mahakali wants the ring back, Syndell", Dastan said. "You held on to it for hundreds of years, but only bargained for one year"

"You know damn well why I won't give it back", Syndell said in a matter-of-fact way. "If she wants it, she can come get it herself"

"You speak ill of her like that, she might just have"

A beat.

"So that's it? You just follow me around, take a human shape and pester me to give the ring back?", she asked.

"I could hurt you, sure, break every bone in your body, but... what's the point? You would just heal again, and we'd be stuck in this deadlock forever"

"Yeah, it's a pickle"

"I figured I'd just wait it out. Wait for your feeble mind to crumble, as it did before a couple of times until it lied to itself that the insanity was gone. Human mind is not equipped to live this long, and when you'll lose it again, I'll be there to collect"

"Whatever. Go back to your master, dog"

"My master, for the time being, is the mayor of Naraka. You do good and obey the law, or we'll cross paths under different circumstances".

Saying that, Dastan jumped from the wall and started running down the vertical surface, then springboarded onto a nearby building's wall and kept jumping back and forth between buildings until he was no longer visible.

A thunder rumbled, high above Syndell's head. She looked up and saw dark grey storm clouds gathering. A raindrop violently smashed against her forehead, rolling down her skin until it reached her temple. Another drop followed, and another, then a billion more, all at once, like a veil that got dropped instantly over the city. The hissing sound of rain hitting all surfaces, the humid air and the smell, coupled with the feeling of static all around sent a mix of strange feelings through Syndell's body. She took a deep breath in, then slowly exhaled.

"Okay, then...", she said to herself. "Now that I'm here, might as well do what I came here to do"