The 76th of Summer, 513 AV
The commotion came early in the evening just as shops were closing down and the street vendors were packing away their wares. The heat was upon Riverfall, so only a few had stuck it out and kept open towards this time of evening. Shadows should have fallen and cooled the streets with breezes that started flowing from the sea to the land. But they had not. Instead the hot Cyphrus plains still carried the scent of the Sea of Grass out across the city and further still, out to the actual Suvan Sea.
It was just dreadfully hot.
Which was why the Akalak boy that crashed into her front display window was a shock. No children had been playing out on the streets for hours. He frantically clawed at the glass, leaving bloody fingerprints in his attempt to run through it. Quick hands caught him, dragged him backwards, but not before he shoved something - wedging it - into the space where the glass fitted down into the stone. It was clearly visible from the inside due to the glass, but hidden from the outside due to the stone. The second figured dragged him off the window and slapped him hard. It was another boy, human this time, and smaller than the Akalak child. A third boy appeared, human like the second, and anyone witnessing the act could see that there was something utterly dangerous about the two boys facing down the first one.
The pair of humans toyed with the Akalak boy much like a set of lions would toy with a gazelle they knew was doomed and would soon be in their dinner. Predators sometimes acted like that, as if the taste of flesh was sweeter when infused with the fear all things experienced just before a violent death. One human didn't seem to move, but a dagger appeared in his hands anyhow. And before any witnesses could take a second breath, his other hand was armed. The Akalak boy took a step back, but he was still held firm by the first youth that had yanked him off the glass of The Red Diamond's door.
The boys, who could be no older than eight to perhaps ten years old, spun the Akalak child around, and without another word the one that held him by his shoulders suddenly had a garotte around his neck. The first boy, the one with the knives, began carving at the child, a sliced open arm there, a slashed cheek a moment later... the youths showed no mercy.
The Akalak boy was going to die. The child with the knives spit out violently "Where is it? Where's The Fire Talon?" The Akalak boy made to shake his head, but he was drawn up short by the second boy, who held him by the neck with a garrotte wire. The Akalak's boys fingers were wrapped around the wire, but there was no use. The second human had the advantage and could at any moment end the Akalak's life. The first human boy slashed again. Blood was oozing down the Akalak boy's body now, staining his white shirt red.
"TELL US." The first boy said, his voice raised and forceful, but not exactly shouting. The two half grown killers were eerily calm. More cuts came and the Akalak boy screamed. The latest one opened his chest up from almost neck to naval. No one was around. No one saw what was going on except for the person in The Red Diamond. It was just too hot, too late, and it was the perfect time for murder in broad daylight.
The Akalak boy swayed. He had no chance, however, to speak despite the other boys questions. The Garrotte cut off his breath and immobilized him. "Tivak, you will tell us or you will die." The boys said, almost in unison. The unequal fight continued. It was obvious the human boys were better trained by far than the Akalak youth. They were well muscled and moved with discipline. It was happening fast... too fast... and the boy caught by the other two was fading fast. The boy holding him was strong, trained, and the first boy torturing him was obviously just as skilled.
The boy with the daggers paused, quickly, and began searching the Akalak boy. Whatever he wanted wasn't to be found. And without an ounce of emotion, the humans met each others eyes, shook their heads, and slit the throat of the Akalak boy. They dumped the body, immediately, and took off at a controlled run down the street, back it seemed the way the boys had initially come.
The last thing they said was... "It has to be around here somewhere."
The item, shoved into Rosela's glass window, caught the dying daylight and splayed out its power across her display. Had the boys looked backwards, they would have known its location. But they did not. They moved off down the street, ducking into an alley. The Fire Talon lay wedged, between glass and stone, beneath bloody fingerprints on her display window.
Fire Talon :
