No Love for the City Guard (Open)

[Kamrynn Sleightyr]

Spring 28, 510 AV

Kamrynn ran down the crowded streets of Stormhold's market district at a dead sprint, his breath fired in dry, ragged gasps. The rest of his Wing, who were stouter, sturdier knights than he, were falling hopelessly behind. Kamrynn was on his own.

His mark was a drug dealer; a tiny piece of a much bigger problem -but the information he knew could be a big step towards solving that problem. The man was slippery and would have given Kamrynn a run for his money in a fair foot race -the poor knight was weighted down with armor.

Up ahead, was the gate leaving the market region and the next move was obvious. "The gate!" Kamrynn called. "Shut the gate!"

The knight at the gate blinked once, hesitated a moment to size up the situation, then nodded and threw the release mechanism. The shrieking of gears filled the air as the portcullis slammed shut, but the criminal would not be deterred.

He dove under the portcullis, and the wooden spikes speared the ground right behind him. The criminal smiled, looked back over his shoulder at the knight on the other side of the gate then continued his flight. Kamrynn cursed, but would not be so easily deterred.

There was no time for the gate, so he plotted a different path. He vaulted up a parked wagon, jumped to a shed then onto a roof where he could hop the low dividing wall. He did so with a flourish, adding a somersault as he cleared the stone barrier.

What good was acrobatics if you didn't use it to show off? Below him, the rest of the knights shook their heads in disbelief, then sped forward to work the gate.

Kamrynn hit the ground hard and rolled to absorb some of the impact. His armor dug into his back painfully, but he was back on his feet without injury. His prey was rounding a corner at a diminished speed, thinking he had given the knight the slip.

The chase ended shortly after in a non descript bar, Kamrynn burst in only moments after the fugitive -and immediately regretted it.

Seven men stood waiting for him, the bar must have been owned by the same organization that ran the recent drug deals, the staff seemed more than happy to silence the one knight in attendance.

Kamrynn swallowed hard and drew his sword and shield, scanning the sparsely populated bar desperately for a friendly face.

The men rushed him.