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Another story I wrote.... it is placed in Morrowind Elderscrolls III
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Water inched its way down dark skin in slow and lazy spirals. Steam filled the night air from the natural hot spring. The assassin laid her head down against the stone that was cool in comparison. Heat didn't bother the woman much; it caused her to relax more than anything. Her thoughts circled in dark patterns, leading her down a path she really didn't want to go down.
With a sigh the dark skinned woman finally dragged herself from the water. Pools formed around her feet as she stepped through the darkened hallways. There was no sound around her. There probably never would be again. The shadows did not impede her vision at all, and so she found her way easily to her bedroom.
It was a large room, with large and outdated furniture to match. There was little in this room that would remind any viewer of its inhabitant. She liked it that way, actually. The thick carpet sank beneath her bare feet as she crossed to the old wardrobe. When she opened it a cloud of fragrance was released. The assassin reached inside and retrieved a soft robe. It slipped over her head and settled around her with the ease of long familiarity.
At last the woman sat down on the stool in front of the mirror. She remembered how it had once been used for magical purposes. No longer, since the old man who had inhabited the place was dead. It was her home now. She had taken up residence in it. There was nothing in the cities that she wanted anymore. There had been…. just scant years ago.
Many pictures stood on this vanity. Not a single item that would belong on such a piece was in site. No brushes, no perfume, nor any of the minerals women used. Just pictures. Pictures of two Dunmer women who looked nearly identical, of a young and richly-dressed imperial man, of a kajiit, and old man, and another imperial man with a lute on his back and a harp in his hands.
Each of these pictures showed some wear, as if they were held quite often. The woman stared at them all as her long red tresses curled lazily in their drying. All of them were gone, in one way or another. Some were dead, some far away, and all of them far from her. Yes… the woman stared, and she remembered.
Only a few years ago, she had returned from her second trip to Oblivion…alone. For a while she killed indiscriminately. Sometimes she slew for money, other times she slew just because the person had committed some imagined crime. Eventually there hadn't been any challenge anymore. She had come here, hoping to find some trace of the family and friends who had disappeared one by one from her life. Instead, she had found a home. It was a place she hadn't left for years, and had no intention of leaving.
Outside, a cold wind began to grow. It tossed the deadened leaves and dust around the old tower in a growing funnel. The thunder growled ominously. The apparent Dunmer looked up at the window. Lightning flashes and her eyes lit up in a flare of crimson red. Slowly, with the disappearance of the light, they returned to burgundy. Gradually her slender hands rose to the brush upon the windowsill. A song came to her throat as she worked the brush through her still damp mane of crimson hair. No one was there to listen, or so she thought, as she raised her voice to the silence.
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Thane swallowed heavily as he looked up the dark stone tower.
"Well…it's a little spooky… nothing to be worried about…" he said quietly to himself. After all, he was fairly certain that his commander wouldn't send him on a job that was too dangerous. Or…so he hoped. His right hand unconsciously gripped the missive he held a little tighter. With his left hand he pushed on the solid oak door.
The wind rushed by violently tussling his short blonde hair and carrying a stream of leaves inside. His face was caught in an expression of surprise, which slowly faded as he narrowed his eyes in trepidation. When nothing came rushing at him out of the darkness his wariness grew stronger. Who would live out here, then not lock their door, and not have any visible form of security? He drew his sword quietly from its sheath. The hiss of metal on metal steadied his nerves a little.
The imperial man, dressed in the garb of a soldier, took a step inside and lifted his shield in preparation. There was a sound, distant and coming from down a hallway. He had to strain his ears to hear, but eventually the sound became clear.
"Shadows, Shadows dance to my will
Cease light and darkness, cause time to be still
Bring back to me, my true heart's desire
Halt in their tracks Misery and Ire. "
The song was dark and darkly sung. A cold finger drew down his spine. I guess that would be the person I'm supposed to take this to…He thought to himself. Resolutely he squared his shoulders and started down the hallway. It wound around a little, actually, quite a bit. Thane noticed that at least sconces had started to appear. Even if they were wrought in the shapes of goblins and forged out of dark iron… and mounted on dark gray stone… in hallway full of shadows….
"Get a hold on yourself Thane!" he stopped in his tracks and ordered himself, "It's just a damned hallway…" he paused as another snatch of song drifted down to him, sounding much closer this time.
"Come to me, come to me
All that will be
Bring me your old, withered and gray
And here for eternity, with me they'll stay."
Thane couldn't repress another shudder. He had to admit, the song was damned creepy. After setting his booted feet to walking again he replaced his sword in it's sheath and grabbed one of the torches from the wall. When held high above his head it illuminated the end of the hallway. He grinned in relief. One more second in that creepy hallway and he probably would have been turning back around and going home to tell his captain that he couldn't do it.
The image of what his captain's expression would have been spurred him faster to the arched doorway. Strangely, there was no door. He shrugged this off and hurried through it. What he found on the other side stopped him in his tracks.
The floor was some sort of highly polished black stone, and it reflected like hundreds of tiny mirrors darkened images of everything about it. The walls were high and sported columns of the same dark gray stone as the walls. Along the rounded walls of the room larger versions of the sconces from the hallway were mounted. Their light reflected eerily off the reflective floor. To one side of the large room stood a grand clock that seemed to actually have been built into the wall itself. The hands of the clock weren't moving. He decided that it was probably broken, or who ever lived here simply hadn't wound it in ages.
Then he heard the song again,
"Ashes and Ashes
Ages and days
Time still passes
With it's withering ways"
This time it was loud enough that he could discern which direction it came from. When he turned his head in the direction of the melody he was confronted by two large stone gargoyles poised as if they were watching him. Thane swallowed heavily again. The gargoyles were standing guard on either side of a staircase that wound upward. The soldier shuddered and walked up to one of the gargoyles.
"Well… you're an… attractive fellow, aren't you?" he asked his nervous joke out loud. He poked a long stone fang with his gauntleted hand. The end was sharp as any dagger. The mouth was as big as his fist too… He quickly drew his hand away and turned to the stairs. Shadows flickered strangely as he took his first step unto the plush crimson carpet that adorned the stairs. His hand slid easily upon the polished black oak barrister. The sounds of his footsteps were muffled in the carpet, enabling him to hear the next part of the song as he neared the crest the stairs.
"Ravens will sing
Death won't stop laughing
All will hear his cruel scythe's ring
For none are safe from time's passing"
It was coming from a little further up. A quick glance around revealed that there were no stairs in this part of the room. He sighed deeply. A gargoyle grinned obscenely at him from it's position against the wall. The imperial made a face at it and turned to the large pair of dark oak doors.
"Someone needs a new decorator…" he mumbled to himself. Stoically he took a step forward and immediately stopped. The echoed clanking of his armor, his sword on his armor, and his boots on the floor made enough noise in the room to convince anyone that an army was approaching. No one came rushing to kill him though, so he reluctantly started forward again, wincing with every clank.
He pushed open the doors and walked into a room filled with rows upon rows of bookcases. Each one was filled to the brink with books, and stood nearly floor to ceiling. To his relief, the floor was lined with carpet here. His footsteps were once again muffled in the thick crimson carpet from the stairs. As he passed the shelves, he noticed that they were at least two arms-breath wide each, and filled with dusty old books.
Two empty fireplaces stood in the middle of the room. Tables and couches stood in lonely vigil before them. It looked as if there hadn't been a fire in them in a long, long time. There were doors interspaced periodically along the long room. He ignored these in favor of the next flight of stairs. These were exactly like the first, save for little black statutes that stood in alcoves in the walls. The feeling of many little eyes staring at him encouraged him to take the steps two at a time, till he reached the top, only slightly out of breath.
Here four doors lined the walls. He moved into the middle of the room until he at last heard the last stanza of the song from a single of the smaller dark doors.
"Gone from me, Gone from me
All I once loved
Taken by time and treachery
So shadows, shadows, dance when called
Bring me sweet darkness so still may I be."
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = End Chap. 1 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
The last tones of the song fell from her lips. Her eyes remained half closed in memory. She remembered when she had been together with her sister, and Dhanku, and Chris. Then when she had been with Vergrim and Ayden in turn. There was some emotion… something she remembered that remained just out of reach. The more she remembered, the closer she got to catching that long forgotten emotion. It was there, just out of reach, just a few more moments and… the creak of the door interrupted her train of thought. The concentration was shattered and the emotion far from her grasp yet again.
Another emotion rose to take the hazy one. She turned with a wordless snarl on her lips, heedless of the fresh tears upon her cheeks. The hand around the brush tightened into a white-knuckled fist. The nail-like claws of her other hand dug into her palm far enough to draw blood.
There was a man…and imperial man, standing in her door. Flashes of another man flew through her mind. Her eyes opened wide, the snarl dropped off of her face for just a brief second. That was all it took for her to realize that these were not the same men. This one actually held very little resemblance to the other. Her lips drew back again, revealing tiny fangs in an expression of dire rage. Long and pointed ears snapped back into a menacing position.
"What do you want?!" she snarled, raising one hand as her long unbound hair flared around her face in a parody of a mane. Thane took a step back in startled fright. For several moments the silence stretched, unbroken save for Cinnamon's growling-breaths.
"I…. Bring you a missive from Caius Cosades…." He said finally, raising the missive that was still firmly clutched in his gauntleted hand. The strange woman's face underwent yet another startling transformation. From sheer and unadulterated loathing it changed to an narrow-eyed mien of speculation.
"Caius?" she asked, tilting her head to the side questioningly. The fire caused her eyes to gleam weirdly in their half closed state. A slim crimson eyebrow arched upward.
"Yes…" he replied, uneasily stepping forward and holding out the letter for her to take. She accepted it with out comment as to it's slightly rumpled state. He waited for her to grab a letter opener to cut the seal, but there appeared to be no need as she simply slid a claw under the wax and popped it open with out difficulty.
Thane gulped and turned his attention elsewhere. He noticed that on the vanity there were a series of miniature portraits. They seemed very old and sort of worn. He wondered privately why she would keep worn portraits when she lived in such obvious luxury.
Meanwhile, Cin read,
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Cinnamon,
~
It has been quite some time Cinnamon. I hope this letter finds you in good health. I cannot expect much of your state of mind, I fear, given your… entertainment a few years ago. Never the less, I send this letter with a reminder of the friendship I once held with your sister, and another close friend of yours.
This is a matter of the gravest circumstances I fear. If I thought there was any other way I would not have taken this chance in disturbing your self imposed exile. There have been a series of crimes in Balmora since you left. I have not returned there myself, but I handle all the reports from the area. It seems that there is some person of dark mind who is killing citizens of your old home. He seems to take victims with no mind what so ever, not even the motive of racism seems to affect this man. He kills at random and with out even the discretion you had in victims. Right now he tends toward anyone he can find alone of the streets at night, save the guard.
I ask, Cinnamon, that you return home once more and relieve the people who once harbored you of this fiend. The people there have forgiven you your crime, knowing that even in your darkest moment you never harmed one who did not truly deserve the end they received.
The young man I sent with this missive is Lt. Thane. If you agree to help us, in memory of what once was, he will brief you on what we know thus far. He will also help you in anyway you should need assistance, and otherwise provide aid. On top of this, he will be your partner for the duration of this case. I wish you luck, and hope you will make the right choice.
Yours,
Caius Cosades
~
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Cinnamon looked up with a strange smile on her lips. Thane cleared his throat nervously as he recognized her expression as a vaguely predatory one. She grinned wider.
"So, someone has dared step foot in my old hunting grounds? And they're terrorizing my people? Well then, I'll just have to show him what happens when you play where you shouldn't." She tossed her head back and laughed.
"You're coming then? That's wonderful news!" Thane exclaimed, feeling much, if not totally, relieved. Cinnamon whirled to her wardrobe in a flurry of the long robe. She flung the doors open and surveyed the clothes there in.
"Well, ah, we've made certain that the suspect is male. Or rather, we're mostly certain from the relative size of the footprints found, and what the priests divined over the crime scene. Um, he's of medium to heavy build, and probably has dark hair. We think he is currently living in Balmora." He started, then stammered to a stop as she tossed various pieces of armor onto her bed, then turned and began to pull the robe off one shoulder, "Ah…miss?" he questioned.
"I'm changing. I can't very well go hunting dressed as I am. If that bothers you, go outside or turn around or something." She informed him matter-of-factly. He promptly turned around and walked out of the room with his back staunchly straight. From behind him he heard her say,
"Now, is that all?" He blinked at her question for a moment, then realized she was talking about the clues thus discovered.
"Oh! No…ah, he doesn't seem to like any type of victim over another. Uhmm.. Oh! And his attacks tend to be rather messy, and very bloody. Sometimes he likes to … ah… draw…with…well…" he trailed off, hoping she got the message. Apparently she did, for she asked him to continue.
"We haven't figured out exactly what it is he's drawing. They mostly look like weird writing. He's got to have some means of keeping his victims quiet, 'cause there is never much noise. Oh, and most of his victims appear to have been ambushed in the street and then dragged in doors. He must have some skill with picking locks, because he's been able to break into various locations." He finished just as a dark hand dropped on his shoulder, causing him to jump suddenly.
"Awww… did I scare you?" Cinnamon asked as she leaned over his shoulder to favor him with a dark grin, her tone was not at all apologetic. He gulped, noting that her fangs were but a space or two from his ear.
"Shall we go now?" she asked him in an overly sweet tone. He nodded stiffly, turning to go toward the door. Her hand on his shoulder stopped him, then pulled him back. He looked back at her in puzzlement, to see a devilish grin on her face. To his horror she dragged him toward the window and threw it open.
"Ah, ma'am, I-I don't think this is a g-good-" he stuttered, only to be cut off as she dragged him onto the balcony and locked the window shut, turning toward him with a devious expression.
"M-ma'am…" he put his hands out and backed away from her slowly. She laughed and unfurled enormous crimson wings. Then she crouched, keeping her wings spread so that the rest of her was hidden in shadows, save for her glowing red eyes, dark crimson hair, and exposed, grinning, white fangs. The assassin cackled again and launched forward like a cat of prey before Thane even had a chance to react.
Cinnamon threw him from the balcony, twisting him in mid-air, then catching him around the waist as her wings caught the first updraft and pulled them both up with an audible snap. Thane was screaming, and she had the feeling that he would be all the way to Balmora.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = End Chap. 2 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
People gathered curiously around, whispering to one another as they stared at the strange sight before them. A woman Dunmer woman with wings was leaning against the wall. There was an air of impatience around her. Her companion was bent over a bush, heaving up what he had broken his fast with. Finally he stood up with a wobbly air. His companion jumped forward from her position.
"Are you done now?" she questioned impatiently. The young man looked at her incredulously but nodded.
"Good, let's go!" she ordered, grabbing his arm and dragging him off. Thane protested heavily, replying,
"You don't even know where we are going!" His reply stopped Cinnamon long enough to reply to look at him with an amused expression.
"Oh yes I do. Probably better than you do. I can smell the blood from here." She grinned as he turned a little green. Then she once again turned and started dragging him toward the back half of the city. She wound her way through the side streets and ally with ease, reaching the bridges in half the time it would have taken Thane. On their way across the bridges she paused to place a hand in the middle of a passing guard's back and shove.
The resounding splash and curses from below caused her to laugh delightedly. Thane looked back over his shoulder and continued to protest, but louder now. She arched an eyebrow at him and pointedly ignored his comments.
Finally she came to a stop. Thane had hopes that she finally was done. A strong breeze picked up from the west, and Thane was struck with the smell of recently shed blood…lots of it. The young soldier coughed and drew his upper arm over his face. Cinnamon headed forward, completely unaffected by the scent until one of the soldiers milling about the scene stepped before her and said,
"Sorry, this area is off limits citizen." His sentence was barely finished when Cin drew herself completely upright and stared at him.
"Say again?" she asked. Thane could hear the dangerous edge rolling off of that simple question, but evidently his fellow soldier couldn't, for he repeated,
"This area is off limits to all citizens…." He trailed off as Cin suddenly bared her fangs and became mere spaces from his face. Those sharp teeth hovered dangerously near his nose as she glared.
"And who's going to stop me? You?" She laughed and suddenly shoved him hard enough to send him stumbling back, "Do you want to try? Or would you like to step out of the way like a good little boy, and let me do what I was called here to do?" The assassin asked rhetorically as she shoved him further out of the way. She then strode boldly into the home and surveyed the scene. Thane hurried after her, pausing to apologize and explain to the soldier.
The man was understandable unnerved when he was told who the woman had been and decided that it was a good time to go back to the towers and take a break. Thane understood completely. When he walked into the room Cin was crouched in one of the few clean spots, gazing around thoughtfully. He felt his stomach turn uneasily as she bent closer to the ground and took a deep sniff of bloody boards. The body lay barely paces away from her, sprawled in an awful position that was in no way natural. The woman seemed unaffected… or uncaring.
"Hmm. Dunmer. Male." She said out loud. Thane blinked and looked at the victim, an Altmer woman. He was going to correct her, but she continued on, oblivious to him and every other person in the room.
"Certainly likes to play with his food…" she murmured. Just when Thane thought it couldn't get any worse, she reached into a tiny pouch on her waist and pulled out a tiny piece of scrib jerky and drew it to her lips. Thane choked as she placed it in her mouth and began to chew thoughtfully.
"What are you doing?!" he asked in horror. She paused and looked at him as if she had just realized he was there.
"Oh… I'm eating. I think better on a full stomach." She responded, then turned back to task at hand, "He didn't have to have much skill to break in here. Just a little bit of talent could get you into one of these buildings." She lifted her nose to the air and sniffed again.
"He used some sort of drug to render his victim unconscious. She never felt a thing…" she murmured. Suddenly she laughed and grinned darkly. Thane made a wary questioning noise in his throat.
"I've got his scent." She smiled, "Now I only have to meet him, and then I can catch him." She grinned at Thane, who smiled back nervously. He really didn't like the way she grinned. It made him feel uneasy.
"Shall we go? He wont be out till sundown, and I have places I want to go." She stood and motioned at him. Thane suddenly had the sinking feeling that he had gotten far deeper into this than he had ever wanted to go. Still, her back was retreating from him already, and her braid mimicked the swinging pendulum of time.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = End Chap. 3 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Thane stood just behind the dark skinned, crimson haired woman. She stood with her hands on her waist while gazing up at the empty abode. When at last she moved forward, she slid into the movement like water. Her approach to the door was silent. A breeze picked up the gold, amber, and brown leaves that decorated the ground before the building. They swirled around her in a lazy cycle as she walked.
Cinnamon surveyed the building as she approached it. The wind drew more faded leaves before the once home, half obscuring it behind a curtain composed of the colors of time. To her own ears the place was too quiet. She remembered well the small sounds that belonged to this place when he who owned it had still lived inside. The door was locked, but a few expert flicks of a lock-pick fixed that. A gentle shove with the tips of her dark fingers sent the door sliding open easily.
It was dark inside. She knew that no one had stepped foot inside this place since she and it's owner had left nearly three years ago. The owner was gone, but she had long since insured that no one would dare take residence until she passed on. Her hand caressed the top of a table and disturbed the dust that had settled there. The polished wood gleamed richly in the exposed swath. The young woman turned away from the room and started up the hushed stairs.
The door to this room was ajar slightly. Ashes still lay in the fireplace, a cup still lay on the beside table. Silently she crossed the room and sat down on the side of the bed. Gradually she lay herself down into the depression in the shape of the body that had lay there before. As she stared at the ceiling she wondered how long it would be before the hollow disappeared or changed to fit her own form. The thought brought tears to her eyes.
"Ma'am?" Thane questioned from the door. Cinnamon looked so…small curled up as she was in the large bed. She stirred a little and looked up at him. Her eyes reflected strangely in the dimmed light. For a moment he almost thought her eyes were blue.
"Yes?" she asked. Her voice was muted. It almost sounded muffled by the shadows.
"It's sundown." He told her. She sat up and looked at him for a while, then she said,
"Alright… here's the plan."
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Thane stared grumpily into his drink. Some plan. Stupid woman… Caius was soooo sure she was gonna help. Turned out her plan was to sleep. And the nerve of that lady! Telling him he could take the day off, as if she had the right too! Still… it was nice to sit here and enjoy a drink. It was even nicer to have all his armor off.
He glanced up at the windows. It was growing rather late.
"Well… I'll be off now. See ya later guys." He said, tossing some gold onto the bar and heading out. The breeze was lifting up pretty well. Seemed that there was lots of breeze lately. Then again, it got this way every autumn. The streets were pretty well deserted. No surprise, given what had been going on lately. He sighed heavily, ducking his head down against the heavy leaves.
The soldier turned down an old short cut to his home. The ally was a little dark, and sometimes smelled to high heaven, but it cut his time home down considerably. He couldn't stop thinking about the case. One of the priests had just told him about how some of the victims had been kept alive for hours, almost a full day, before finally being killed. He sighed heavily.
Just then there was a crunch behind him. He looked up and whirled around. His heart began to race. The sound of his pulse started to pound in his ears. After looking quickly all over the alley nodded once.
"Just hearing things… must be nerves." He said to himself. He turned back toward the alley. One step, then another, and then suddenly something dropped out of the air and landed before him with the sound of shattering glass. Thane never got a chance to wonder what it was before the fumes reached him. By the time he even realized something was wrong, he was already falling.
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Cinnamon watched silently from above. She grinned to herself as the criminal stalked the Imperial soldier. He walked right into her trap. Of course, he knew this one was a soldier. That's why he had chosen this one. No one would be watching out for the kind of victim he didn't usually take. Oh… but he hadn't planned on her knowledge. He didn't include the possibility of another hunter.
He was smart, she had to give him that. The drug was quick acting. She watched as he grabbed the young man by the arms and swiftly drew him into the nearby home. Of course she knew it was empty already. The inhabitant was away, visiting family in Vivec. She slipped down out of the shadows, silent as a wraith. While the murder might need a door, she had no such inhibitions.
A window served well enough. It opened easily enough, silently even, with just a little effort on her part. She slipped through the window easily. Down stairs she could hear him rustling around, and the pathetic moaning of the soldier. She slipped down the stairs in a crawl, moving as a spider in the shadows. Cinnamon moved to the shadows and watched through barely open eyes as the Dunmer man arranged the soldier to his liking on the table.
He lifted a knife. It was cruel and crooked, jagged along the edge and hooked on the tip. It gleamed in the firelight. Cinnamon opened her eyes fully. The man jumped when confronted with gleaming red eyes in the darkness. She drifted forward, melting seamlessly from shadow to light. It didn't take him any time at all to recognize a fellow predator.
"Well hello." He said in a surprising charming voice. He gently placed the blade down on the table. He smiled at her, placing both hands upon the table. She looked at him curiously. This was not how she had expected to be greeted.
"Have you come to share my prey? I had indeed wondered how long it would take another to recognize the beauty of my work… though, for such a lovely woman to answer was beyond my wildest dreams." He said. She arched both eyebrows in question as he approached her.
"I had always hoped that there was another like me… a woman, whom I could share my life and my prey with. Now that you have come to me, we shall be together always." The man continued. Cinnamon was shocked by his words, and even more shocked by the emotions on his face. It was if… he truly meant what I said. She didn't move as he approached and placed both hands on her cheeks.
"You are so beautiful… I will always care for you, forever!" he exclaimed. Cin knew then that he was unhinged, dangerously so, but when he looked into her eyes with such emotion… she found herself frozen to the spot. A strange feeling flooded to her chest. Her heart felt like it would burst free of her chest at any moment. Something important hovered at the edge of her memory, and then he said,
"Ah my sweet… I shall love you for the rest of eternity." He whispered. Memories flooded back. Love! She remembered that! It was the feeling she had when she was with her sister and friends. It was the feeling she felt when she had lived safe and contented with Vergrim, and for a brief while with her friend Ayden.
The realization hit her hard enough to send her mentally realing with the waves of memory and emotions. The killer watched in puzzlement as the "Dunmer" woman's eyes changed from the typical angry red to a soft and clear blue. Tears began to well in her eyes as she gazed back at him. His expression changed quite suddenly. While he continued to gaze into her eyes, his hand reached slowly back for the dagger waiting on his belt.
Cinnamon felt the change. It resonated in every fiber of her being. The sweet feeling of being loved was ripped brutally from her as she recognized the change in the man. Rage flooded to the surface. She lashed out violently. Her fist caught him on the side of the head. He yelled and threw out his hands, attempting to protect himself as she flung herself at him.
She saw red, she was oblivious to the screams and howls of pain, the begs for mercy, the pleas of agony. It was only till he lay still that that she stopped. Her lungs burned for precious oxygen. Her chest heaved in the effort to recapture her breath. Gradually she became aware that her face was frozen in a snarl of hatred, and her fist was cocked for another blow.
The man was breathing still, by some miracle. Cinnamon slowly released his collar and stood up. She blinked away the burning sensation in her eyes, but the pain in her chest would not be so easily dismissed. Repeatedly she swallowed. At last she stood and gathered the sheets from a nearby bed.
Methodically she trussed the man. Tied him thoroughly enough that there was no hope for escape. Then she left him gagged and wrapped like a present beside the door and far away from any of his tools. Finally she made her way to the side of the Imperial solider.
In sleep his expression was calm and innocent. He looked very young, slumbering in the way of the untainted. He would be fine. In a few hours the drug would wear off and he would wake, alive and unharmed unlike the previous victims of the man. Of course, he would find the murder awaiting him like a gift. Certainly bringing the man in would get him a good amount of reward… it would be her apology.
Cinnamon slipped away into the night, leaving the pair safe in the home. In the morning there would be quite the commotion. She wouldn't be around to witness it though. Her wings unfurled and she leapt into the night. In the darkness of the new moon, under the cover of the clouds, Cinnamon headed home alone once more.
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 Themascura · Sun Jul 01, 2007 @ 09:37pm · 0 Comments |
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