Time for revenge IV: Confrontation at last

by **Brandon Blackwing** on June 13th, 2014, 3:05 pm

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The 1st of Summer 514AV

While all of Lhavit watched the color change of the Watchstones, the Kelvic named Brandon Of The Black Wings had stalked into the Misty Peaks, in search for no one else than a swindler named Dimitri. The map he had found in the swindler’s house had shown him the exact location the conman had run off to. Suspicious of the map, Brandon was, since he did not trust the map was left behind by accident. So, while walking towards the place that had been marked on the map, the thief was as attentive to his environment as he could ever be. Caution was required here, after all, chances were he was walking right into a trap.

Trap or no, it was his only chance to find the swindler. The other option being having to chase him to wherever Dimitri would flee to. If he had not already… it had been more than twenty days since he had burned down the conman’s house, and at that time the man had been gone for a couple of days already, fled or gone into ’hiding’. Any sane man would silence threats to their existence, be it by killing them in their sleep or by luring them into a trap, which –so the bat feared- was happening right now.

However, it wasn’t certain that the swindler actually was about trap the bat, maybe he had just been sloppy? The very instant it crossed his mind, the though was dismissed right away, it could simply not be true. One such as Dimitri, and various others of his profession could not afford to be sloppy, so it had to be a trap. In fact it could not be anything else than a trap, though he knew this, Brandon pressed onwards, a shade in the black night, for he had decided not to run. It wasn’t like the thief had done nothing these past twenty days, no, he had pondered and mused about the purpose of the map, weighed the odds of it being a trap against those of it being a coincidence. He had mulled over what Dimitri wanted to achieve with luring the bat out. Not that the bat had had much of a choice, burning down the house had been quite a bad move seeing as it had forced him to lay low for a while. Some of the residents of the alley where Dimitri lived had noticed a suspicious figure running away. The Shinya had investigated and had been able to put together a sketch of a man resembling the thief and had patrolled relentlessly, hoping to catch him.

During the twenty day period of actually using his brain to find a solution for the dilemma he was about to face. Eventually though, as one might suspect, the thief’s lust for revenge had emerged from the battle with reason and had persuaded the bat to go search for the conman.

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It did take quite a hike to get to the place, the area the bat had used a couple of times as training field, characterized by the giant boulder that stood near a small canyon. Well, actually the field was some kind of plateau, a terrace of sorts and the canyon was more the side of a mountain. A very steep side of a mountain, but probably not too dangerous to slide down from… though it would tear his clothes to tatters … and it was a long way down too… maybe not the best idea.
On the side facing the celestial city, the plateau was bordered by bush and trees, the same kind environment that could be seen along the Trail of Waterfalls. An ideal place to remain unseen, a great place for the bat to sneak up from.

Hard to find was not what one could call Dimitri’s campsite, the bright shine of a bonfire was easy enough to spot, even when surrounded by trees that blocked most of Leth’s light. When he reached the edge of the bush, Brandon scanned the area for the swindler, spotting him with ease as he sat by the fire, his back facing the woods. What was he, some kind of idiot? No one ever sat with their back to the place where danger was sure to come crawling out off, unless they were confident enough that they would notice it before it was too late. This made the bat quite nervous, everything the conman had done, every action he had taken had left him wondering whether he was a fool or trying to lure him closer. This situation was just too suspicious to be not a trap, come on, this was the perfect opportunity for Brandon to sneak up on the guy and knock him out, take back what was his and run like the wind.

Trap or no, that sounded like a waterproof plan, and without giving it further thought the bat stalked closer. With slow movements, and crouched like a predator stalking its prey, the thief approached, one step at a time, slowly, silently. The process itself was nerve wrecking, there was no telling if the swindler would look around, there was no place to hide as this was an open area. However, having been staring in the bright light of the fire, it would be possible that the swindler wouldn’t see the dark figure of the bat in the poor lighting and the wind blew towards the bat, so his scent would not betray him either. The crackling noise the flames produced and the song of crickets were the only things audible, the bat’s step light and inaudible to the human ear, the skill Brandon was perhaps the most proud off. His own augmented hearing capabilities had rendered him able to move quietly when sneaking and his usual steps where light too. Sound would not betray him. At last, when the back of the man by the fire was only half an arm’s length away, the bat unsheathed one of his daggers, reaching under the cloak that covered him and even more slowly than his movements just now he bared the blade and clenched it in his fist.

Then the need for torpidity was over and what had to be used now was speed and swiftness. As fast as he could, the bat wrapped one arm around the swindler’s neck, his elbow right under his chin, forcing the baring of the man’s throat and while the other hand placed the blade against it. The bat’s eyes sparked in triumph, he was a fool after all!

x

credit goes to Euthisa

by **Brandon Blackwing** on June 14th, 2014, 10:48 pm

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“Ah, you’re here,” the conman spoke, no sign of unease, nervousness or surprise in his voice, whether his face told a different story, the bat could not determine.
“You knew I would come?” the bat uttered in surprise, his voice a soft whisper of disbelief.
“Of course. Though you did arrive a great deal later than I had expected, I had thought you would have come to confront me … say… twenty days ago? Did something come up? Trouble with the Shinya perhaps? ”
“So this was a trap? You knew all along?”
“What? Is that surprising? It’s not like you are the best sneak in Lhavit, you know. On the contrary, you are an amateur! Of course I knew you were on to me.”
“You knew it was me?”
“I just said so, did I not? If you gather information about someone you shouldn’t be so obvious about it. The day after you came to pick up your daggers, Neslir mentioned someone asking for someone looking just like me. There’s no way I could not have known.” Instead of Brandon, the swindler sounded as if he was the one in control of the situation, confident and calm, while the bat gritted his teeth in anger.
“ And the Shooting Star Inn….”
“Ah, that? That was to lure you out, I had a general idea of who had inquired about me, though I could not be sure, so I set up a little scene, acted nervous and before I knew someone was trying to replace my shadow. I must say you were pretty good at that, though not good enough. Just a bit good I suppose.”

Brandon’s hands were shaking, cold sweat ran down his spine and fear held his heart hostage. This cannot be true! This cannot be! Am I so…. Incompetent? Is this what I look like to all of Lhavit? A fool who tries to be sneaky but fail miserably? Am I being laughed at behind my back? NO, no, no, no, no! This is a bad dream, it must be!

If it was, then how come he had not yet awoken, how come he had dreamt he had fallen asleep and awoken time and time again? No, this was not a dream, this was the one and only cruel reality, the one where nothing was redo-able where everything was real. Brandon’s hands were trembling, his skin was sweaty and his mind panicked; he had been fooled by Dimitri from the very beginning. What was that? Being fooled? Hadn’t the guy mentioned he had been acting that day when Brandon had followed him? Could he be acting now too, was he trying to trick the bat right here, right now? Oh, that would not work, the thief was the one with the dagger, the one in control of the situation, Dimitri was the one in trouble. Sending the Kelvic’s mind in turmoil, confusing him with his mocking talks was his attempt to free himself. A smug grin spread over Bran’s face.

“So, you expected me to come more early?” the thief questioned, feeling confident again “Well, something did indeed come up, trouble with the Shinya was the result of that, which explains my tardiness. Sorry to tell you pal, but I kind of burned down your house, you don’t mind right? ”

“You did what? Oh Gods, he won’t be happy with that…” murmured Dimitri “But it does not really matter anyway. I take it you wanted to prove something with that? That you are not an idiot or something? ”
“Shut it, I am the one asking the questions here! I am the one who’s threatening you! I am the one holding the blade by your throat! ”
“Correct. However, you are not doing it right.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said: you are doing it wrong. You are the one threatening me, you say? Ha! Then why am I not impressed? ” the swindler mocked, his attitude exactly the same as before, though more aggressive. “You are not threatening me at all, my dear Brandon, you are merely holding a blade near my throat.”
No reply.

Dimitri sighed and opened his mouth to speak once more. “You do not seem to understand, let me demonstrate it to you.” As soon as he had spoken the words, he forced his throat slightly towards the blade, fearless, and applied more pressure on the bat’s arm with his chin. “See, you are afraid to use your weapon, you are afraid to hurt me. Even as I move, insult you or mock, you never increased the pressure on my neck with that fancy steel of yours. You know why,? It’s because you are afraid, because you are a coward!”

Brandon shuddered at the realization of the truth in the swindler’s words, he had indeed not pressed the blade into the flesh of the man, merely holding it. But a coward? His mind denied it, yelling that he was lying, that it was a trick but somewhere deep down, Brandon realized he was indeed afraid. But not a coward. Maybe he wasn’t pressing the blade into the swindler’s throat hard enough, however, that was something he could fix.

“Now it is too late.” the conman warned just before he gave the Kelvic a backwards headbutt in the face.

x

credit goes to Euthisa

by **Brandon Blackwing** on June 15th, 2014, 7:06 pm

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Surprise was more prominent than pain at the moment of the collision of the two criminals’ heads, but it was more than enough to free the swindler from the thief’s grip. Brandon staggered backwards, having sacrificed the advantage over his enemy in order to cover his face in cupped hands. Coincidentally he had let go of his dagger as well, but no matter, there were five more where the first one came from. Angered quite a bit by the sore throbbing of his nose and forehead –the former was bleeding also- the bat let out a furious growl and bared his teeth, clenched together –a bestial expression is what would be the best suited description.

His narrowed eyes were fixed on the source of the bleeding and pain, the conman Dimitri –who was rubbing the back of his head and muttered something. Brandon did not wait for any sign the other man was ready for what was to come, both of the criminals were used to play dirty, which they did in fights as well. Without a warning the thief grabbed the hilt of one of his daggers, hidden under his cloak, and stormed towards the swindler, his growling swelling into a ferocious battle-cry. Said cry might have been what alarmed his opponent, though it was not very likely the conman had let his guard down even once.

A wild swing of the arm that held the weapon was executed as soon as the Kelvic thought the swindler was in reach, though Dimitri merely took a step back, evading the deadly steel with ease. That action only fueled the bat’s rage, the fire in his blood burned brighter and hotter, a combination of multiple slashed of the blade the result, though again the conman danced away, not troubled by the weapon and his opponent’s rage at all. Then, when Brandon tried to penetrate the stomach of his foe, the swindling blacksmith stepped to the side, grabbed the arm and his free hand came down to deliver a sharp chop on the inside of the bat’s elbow. The fingers that curled around the hilt of the dagger loosened and the weapon clattered onto the rock floor.

A new growl tore itself out of Bran’s throat, and the thief aimed a blow at his foe’s face, which missed due to the swindler letting go of the captured arm and dodging to the right, avoiding being hit just barely. Brandon was already moving in for another attack, taking one step into Dimitri’s direction and launching his fist forwards, adding extra momentum to his punch, making it faster and the blow harder. The conman managed to dodge yet again, but the bat reacted by using the momentum of his punch to kick the Dimitri hard in the side. The man flinched as the bat redrew his leg, readying for another one, which hit the mark as well. The third one failed, however, as Dimitri bended his knees and blocked the kick with his upper arm. Brandon could not retract his leg fast enough to stabilize his body in order to defend himself from Dimitri’s counterattack, namely a sweep kick aimed for the one leg that supported the bat’s body.

Unable to defend, the bat was sent to meet with the earth, though he had been able to coil his torso to the side he was falling, hands sticking out to catch his falling body, gracefully leading it into a roll. As soon as his forward motion had stopped, the bat got to his feet with no effort, yet he was still too slow. As he had noticed that day he had tailed the swindler, Dimitri was a practiced fighter, and an expert it seemed. As the bat was busy turning around to face the opponent once more, the foe had already closed the gap between the two of them, a fist rocketing through the air, landing in the thief’s stomach, forcing the bat to bend over in pain. The other hand of the conman was already racing towards its target as Brandon coughed, knuckles hitting one of his temples hard. Pain shot through Bran’s head as his eyes rolled upwards in their sockets and all went black.

x

credit goes to Euthisa

by **Brandon Blackwing** on June 16th, 2014, 12:33 pm

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A terrible headache awaited the bat when he regained consciousness, though he could not tell how much time had passed. The sky still looked the same, the fire still burned –even though he was seated near the pleasant warmth the flames spread in this cold night, there were a couple of things he did not like. First of all, his hands were tied together behind his back, rope holding them shackled pretty well, only a small end of rope between the two hands, allowing for a bit of space between them. Secondly, his daggers were gone, the familiar weight on his shoulders was not there and neither were his vest, bandolier and shirt. The third issue was a sharp edge of the boulder he was sitting against that poked into his back and he couldn’t really move his body away. Uncomfortable. And lastly, his head felt like it was about to burst, which was not very nice either. A groan was uttered and the bat wished he could rub the sore spots on his skull, though it proved a bit impossible with tied hands.

“Ah, you are awake. Took you long enough to recover.”
The speaker did not receive a reply, except for annoyed growls as Brandon attempted to jerk the rope in half, but failed each time.
“Don’t bother trying to get loose, that’s quality rope, won’t snap so easily.”
“Dimitri, bastard! Cut me loose! NOW!”
“What?” the conman laughed, “Do you really believe I will just do as you say?”
“Untie me, NOW DAMNIT!”
“Or what? You seem to forget your place, Brandon,” said Dimitri as he casually stood up from his spot by the fire and slowly strolled towards the bat, kneeling down in front of him, so their eyes were on the same level.
“For you are my prisoner, your fate depends on my mercy.”
A blub of saliva splattering open on the swindler’s nose was the response, which made Dimitri fall backwards, landing on his bum. As soon as the surprise had faded away, however, the conman got back to his feet within ticks, grabbing the bat’s throat and lifting him partially in the air, dragging the bat halfway upright.
“Don’t you dare mock me!”
Brandon responded with a headbutt, he may have been able to use his feet, though he needed them to support his body, he had a feeling that if he didn’t his neck would snap or something. Dimitri roared in rage as his nose became a source of blood dripping out, throwing the causer of the harm back against the boulder. Slamming into a rock wasn’t exactly pleasant, and neither was landing on rocky underground, both Bran’s bum and back sent waves of pain through his body, while Dimitri tried to stop the blood flow coming out of his nose.

“Damn you! You will pay for this insolence!” the false blacksmith threatened before regaining his composure and continuing “Anyways, now I am reminded of why I chose to tie you up. Foolish of me to give in to your taunts.” The swindler walked back to the spot he had been sitting in a chime ago and reinstalled himself there, warming his body by the orange flames. For a while none of the two men present said a word, the silence embracing them, both of them enveloped by their own thoughts.

Brandon was busy trying to find a way to free himself, and used his legs to move his body away from the uncomfortable edge of the boulder sticking in his back. Wait, that edge… could he not use it to his benefit? Could he reach it with his bound arms? Yes, great! Slowly he shuffled a bit forward and tensed the rope, scraping it over the edge of the rock. Shyke that made quite a bit of noise, could Dimitri hear it? That wasn’t very likely, though the bat decided it was necessary to divert his attention somewhat, and buy some time.

“Say … couldn’t you have fled when you found out about me? I mean why go through all the trouble of acting, confusing me, leaving clues and all? It does not make sense.”
“Maybe it does not to you.” was the response and it seemed that the plan to keep Dimitri distracted was a huge failure, the silence forced Brandon to cease the scraping, which wasn’t so bad actually. His arms were getting tired already.
“I am just fed up with having to move each and every time I am discovered. I may be good with disguises, but it is also exhausting to play a role days without end.” the swindler sounded tired indeed. “Running is not an option, so the only way to get rid of problems is to … rid myself of them. You are the first since I made that decision … though there had been one case that was unintentional… That old geezer was not supposed to die…” he muttered.

x

credit goes to Euthisa

by **Brandon Blackwing** on June 17th, 2014, 8:03 pm

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What is he talking about? Brandon wondered in slight surprise, his mind working as hard as it could, going through libraries, storages and warehouses of memories, unlocked the deepest vaults of his brain in order to find out what, or rather who in Mizahar the conman was muttering about. Somehow, he seems sad, his voice … is that contempt? Regret? Guilt? And his posture, slumped as if the weight of the world suddenly has been placed on his shoulders… The boulder that had been supporting his body proved to be quite suitable to press one’s head against in thought, enabling Brandon to stare at the night sky with scattered all over his view, Leth’s one eye staring down on them.

Finally, a distant memory floated into his consciousness: the corpse of a man lied before him, a pool of crimson staining the floor around the body. Hands –his hands- rolled the shell of a man on its back, only to find dead eyes staring at him. One side of the wrinkled face was dyed in the same crimson as the floor around the corpse, a gaping wound left by a short blade used for stabbing. The clothes he wore were void of valuables, no coin pouch could be found either…… Arthur.

Could it be? Was this guy the one responsible for that as well? How long had Dimitri been fooling him, how long exactly had he been in the city? When had he realized Brandon was a thief? It appeared the conman had been one step ahead of the bat the whole time, or was this all but a coincidence? “When did that happen? Is it possible that it was back in Fall? Did you take his life with a dagger or something like that?” Brandon questioned with narrowed eyes, scrapping the ropes that tied his hands against the rock while he spoke.

“How do you know about that…? No I told no one about that incident, at last, not anyone that- Wait a chime! I had to take a hasty exit because someone had started climbing the stairs, one of the treads creaked when weight was put on it…. You are kidding me right? It was you? Ha! Fate most certainly works in mysterious ways, this might all have been part of one of Lhex’s many plans, one especially formed for you and me –only the two of us, one that finally works in my favor as well.” Brandon heard the conman snicker briefly, continuing with a certain frustration in his voice. “It should too, he’s caused me enough sadness, grieving and regrets. This last bit of happiness is my reward? Ha, I must say it took me enough pain and suffering to get here, somehow I had expected my prize would be more … grand. Though this is no doubt what I really wanted,” It wasn’t really possible to tell whether the swindler was talking to the bat or to thin air. “I thank you, oh Lord of Fate, for this generous reward you have given me! ” Thin air it was- a honest phrase of gratitude followed by a title and final bit that sounded suspiciously sarcastic, but not entirely… was the man serious or not?

Silence cloaked the duo of criminals again, the one by the rock stopped his attempt to escape, while the one by the fire stared into the flames, grinning and chuckling audible to all around. Well, the bat thought wryly at least there’s one of us content with this situation.

Many more chimes passed, and neither of the two did anything to break the quiet, no words were spoken, and none of them moved a muscle and –even though his current situation was not one he liked- Brandon found himself enjoying it, the ever sounding ruckus of the city never took a break, for long that is, unlike normal cities with normal sleeping schedules. He liked Lhavit a lot though. The air was always cool, even in Summer, due to the height of the mountains it was built on, the architecture was breathtaking and so were the skyglass structures that could be found throughout the celestial city… Stunning …. He’d hate to leave it behind when he decided to continue his journey….

The pondering of both individuals went on for a whole while longer, until suddenly, without turning around to face his prisoner, Dimitri interrupted the musing and corrupted the silence with his voice, judging from the tone, still wondering about the idea. “Say, why don’t I tell you what happened that day?”
“I don’t follow,”the bat stated in response, only then remembering to get back to work on his escape while the man spoke.
“What happened before you came in and found the body of that old man I mean.”
“Go ahead, ” replied the thief, eager to learn about it and interested in what Dimitri would have to say.

x

credit goes to Euthisa

by **Brandon Blackwing** on June 18th, 2014, 8:44 pm

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The conman nodded and seemed to think for a while, probably not quite knowing where to start, but settled with clearing his throat first. Then, after another few ticks –which seemed to last for chimes- he started his tale. He did not look at the person he was talking to, instead keeping his gaze fixed on the flames. Brandon could only guess his expression, highlighted by a play of light and shadow created by the flickering flames. Why exactly he wanted to tell the bat the events of that fateful day, Brandon did not know, perhaps he expected the thief to tell his part of the story later? It was possible, after all, he was a swindler, all things he had done were to benefit himself.

“Hmmm… where to start? Ah, yes, that might be a good begin of this…” Dimitri’s voice trailed off, giving in to the silence once more. Again, he cleared his throat and then he really started telling the tale Brandon had been wanting to hear –and been waiting on so he could get back to the task at hand, literally. “ It began a few days before the sixteenth of Fall –the memories are carved into my mind, all the details, my thoughts, the environment, all of it.

Back then I hadn’t yet been stationed in the smith shop, but I was selling stuff at the Azure. Worthless trash, as you might guess, an ointment to keep one’s limbs supple, even when time had worn down the joints of them. Of course the price for such miraculous product was high, though I made them believe it was a bargain. You know how it works. Well, at a given time an old guy steps towards my stall, seems interested. He wanted to know the details of it, how the ointment had been crafted, how it had gained those medicinal capabilities,… everything. I told him I had bought it from someone else and that I didn’t know, but I assured him it worked. We discussed a bit and he ended up buying quite a lot of the stuff –I asked ten kina for one box, the ointment could only be bought per box, he bought five. And they weren’t even large boxes! About the size of my hand-palm, of course, for a panacea that’s cheap, hadn’t they been filled with lard instead.” The conman shook his head at the thought, whether he was smiling while recalling or something else, Brandon could not determine.

“A few days later though, when I was casually walking about the city, my wares all sold out, he was there, before my very eyes, demanding a refund. I played dumb obviously, most people don’t remember my face anyway, and pretended I was someone else entirely. He didn’t buy it, getting all excited and red in the face, almost yelling that if he didn’t get a refund he’d deliver those boxes to the Shinya, with his testimony. I still insisted to be the wrong guy, telling him I didn’t care about whatever ointment he was talking about. However, I was worried. If the Shinya would investigate they would surely find out the truth –believe it or not, they’re good at that- and I’d have to move to another city once again. Not to mention having to experience his wrath… ”

“Huh, I never noticed the old geezer buy boxes of lard, and I shadowed him for days without end.”
“Truly? Then you could not have missed that. When did you tail him, by day or by night?”
“Day, why?”
“Imbecile! Lhavit has a different sleeping schedule than other places, remember? When Syna’s gone to rest, the city doesn’t. Night is still as busy as the day. What are you, the king of the morons?” Needless to say Brandon was too offended to answer that rhetorical question.

“Anyways, my stall stood only by night, and the time that oldtimer appeared was by night also. ” An arm was raised to scratch the bowl-like hair on Dimitri’s head, and a sigh was puffed out of his lungs as the itch had been vanquished. “So I was worried, and went over to his place –his address had been given to me by my contacts- and strangely enough, after having opened the door and remarked with the necessary sarcasm ‘Who have we here, the vendor who believes to be someone else!’ ,he allowed me to enter his house. Once inside, he got to the point immediately, asking me what I wanted. I asked if he had been bluffing about the Shinya and all. He claimed not to have been. He said that the ointment had already been sent to a storage room the day before, from where it would be send to the Shinya headquarters the day after. When I asked about the testimony, he became more aggressive, and refused to tell me.

After some prodding with questions and such though, I managed to learn that he’d go to the Shinya the day after as well, and that he had written it down on a piece of paper, which he had hidden somewhere, in case something happened to him. He refused to tell me where, but he did tell a runner would stop by to pick it up the day after and would deliver it to the Shinya. Apparently he had given them instructions and the keys of both the front door as that of the hiding place, the latter was to be delivered to the Shinya as well. It was then that I noticed the small chest on one of his bookshelves.”

Chest? Oi, he didn’t mean …. A guilty expression spread across the bat’s face as he realized what he’d done. If that chest had been holding that paper, he had actually thrown a spanner in the works, ruined the old man’s plans unintentionally. He cursed internally, if he hadn’t he wouldn’t have been here in this situation! Curses!

“I wanted to stop him, but he was determined, he wouldn’t bend. I even offered him a refund, offered him twice the amount he’d lost, but he wasn’t interested, he simply walked upstairs to his bedroom, while I followed, still making offers he turned down without second thought. I tried threatening him, and when that didn’t help I decided I had to scare him off.” The false blacksmith went silent again, staring in the flames as if it was there, as if he could see the scenes unfold, projected on the flames.

“That was a mistake,” he uttered quietly, unmistakable sadness lacing his words. “The old man grabbed a dagger he’d hidden in a drawer, and stormed at me, convinced I was going to kill him if he’d let me. I didn’t want to hurt him, so instead of disarming him right away, we struggled for a while. Then, when I pushed him away, he stumbled forwards and fell … on the blade he clenched in his hand.” Another pause, a sigh and something that felt as a cloud of emotion descended from the heavens, invisible in the darkness, but there.

“I was nailed to the floor, but when the shock had passed, I felt nothing, nothing at all. I didn’t care about him, I realized I didn’t care about anyone but myself. That was the day I realized what I had become –a cold hearted monster. ” His voice had been void of tone, void of emotion. The bat didn’t know whether to pity or to hate the man anymore. “ I took the dagger with me, evidence that was to be hidden, and I took everything that had any value he had on him with me, I searched for a spare key. I couldn’t find it, so I turned him back on his belly and wanted to go downstairs to take the chest with me, that way I had one thing less to worry about. However, it was then I heard the stairs screeching and I chose to run. The window was unlocked in no time and before I had carefully reflected on my actions I was running away from the scenes already. I guess I was panicking… ” Silence.

“I hid at home for days, fearing the sound of footsteps near my house, fearing the arrival of the Shinya…. In the end they never came though…. Maybe they couldn’t find enough leads, or maybe they didn’t take it seriously. But they never showed up, I guess that was just a stroke of good luck. Or fate perhaps.”

Fate, the Kelvic thought with a steely determination and vigorous belief, It was definitely fate.

x

credit goes to Euthisa

by **Brandon Blackwing** on June 19th, 2014, 6:22 pm

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As Dimitri succumbed to the silence once again, Brandon decided it was time to do something reckless, something that would return his freedom to him. However, something in his mind kept him from doing it just yet, it might not be the only option he had right now. He agreed with himself to list the disadvantaged as well as the advantage and possible outcomes of this stunt, try to gauge the odds of survival and escape of it. Whether his recklessness would get him killed or not, he did not know, but what was sure was that it could very well be the most foolish thing he could do in his vulnerable situation.

So, what could he do to get out of this mess was not much, in fact his options were rather limited, since he had not really a method of removing the ropes that bound him other than using the rock behind him as a means to destroy his shackles. It took longer than he had expected though, quality rope it was indeed, and having to cease his actions every time the silence descended upon the area again only prolonged the time he’d be kept prisoner. What he was about to do was to continue scraping his shackles against the rock, in hopes his captor wouldn’t notice, but if he did…

If he did, the bat was toast. What had the swindler said again? ‘I am just so tired of having to move every time I am discovered’ and ‘the solution is to rid myself of those that threaten my safety in the city’? Something like that, which obviously wasn’t really favorable –whether he did or did not escape, he would be executed anyway. If his efforts did not escape Dimitri’s attention, he might just shorten his already brief lifespan, or be positioned somewhere else, in a place he could not do as he pleased, a place where every one of his motions would be seen.

On the up side, however, if he managed to avoid detection, he might very well disappear without a trace before the conman would ever notice. The fire made his shadow appear behind him, so Dimitri couldn’t use it as a means to keep an eye on his in secret, and the conman didn’t stare this way either, if he was silent enough he could sneak away and make a run for it. He would have to leave his vest, shirt, bandolier and daggers behind though. And the key to his house. Good thing he’d left his larceny utilities and money at home, but still… the daggers had cost him too much to be cast away, besides the false blacksmith would chase him as long as the bat stayed within the confines of the crystal city… so he’d be the one having to move… flee…

The other choice was to assault the conman, a surprise attack might give him a small advantage, though once the man would recover, the bat would be overpowered again, Dimitri had shown to be more skilled than Brandon was, though he could argue that he had been startled himself… Maybe if he did his utmost best..? However, he should focus on taking him down swiftly, with one strike if possible. How had Dimitri managed to do that to the Kelvic again? A knock on the temple it seemed, Bran could still feel it throb slightly, though if he failed….

The safe choice might not be the best one either, patience might result in no action at all, seeing as the swindler hadn’t uttered another sound again for chimes. Though if he would speak again and it would last long enough for the ropes to snap, he could escape or confront the man as well. That chance seemed small though. The first option might actually be his best bet-and a gamble it was, one with his life at stake! Annoying was not quite the correct word, but well, it would suffice to describe what the bat found of the situation. However, now that he knew what he could do, his choice was made, recklessness it was!

While adrenaline started flowing through his veins, caused by his sudden nervousness no doubt, the thief got to work, scraping and rubbing, grating and scouring the fibers of the rope, feeling them snap one by one. Though he tried to be as silent as possible, the crackling of the fire aided in concealing the noise –fortunately, the excitement pressured him to work faster, faster and louder. He would be free faster, true, but his freedom would be limited to taking a stroll with Dira, which was not one he wanted to go on strolls with. A balance between patience and productiveness had to be acquired, he could not work too slow, but not too fast either.

Brandon worked hard for chimes, sweat dripping off his face, streaming down his back as his arms became tired and his wrists sore, but he did not stop. Pure determination was what kept him going, the will to survive, as well as his need for revenge. Despite his efforts though, all of a sudden Dimitri stood up and stepped towards his backpack, which stood only a couple of meters away. While he browsed through its contents, in search for something, he spoke again. “Would you like to know why I chose to take your weapons and items away, as well as the clothing you wore on your torso? Frankly, I wanted to humiliate you by making you sit there in your underwear, though as I notice you don’t wear any…. But that is beside the point,” he gave an ample smile as he found what he was looking for and slowly retracted his hand from the bag.

“Did you know I was a beast tamer before all this?”
Brandon shook his head in denial, tendrils of fear creeping up and wrapping themselves around his person, cold sweat pouring from his pores. This is not good, not good at all! the Kelvic screamed inside his head, scraping faster than ever before, he had to break free NOW! The snapping of the fibers somehow had become too slow, it needed to go faster! How much was left? Could he tear it apart with strength alone, had he weakened his bonds enough? He’d have to try, which was exactly what he did, putting as much tension on the rope as he could, desperately trying to free himself.

The former beast tamer had retrieved a whip from the backpack, one he stretched in the typical beast tamer-ish manner, and the bat was terrified. He urged his body to increase the strength applied, ignored the pain it caused his wrists, and dis not mind the way his breathing had become a panting, and his head red due to the effort. Slowly the conman approached, letting his whip crackle a couple of times, as if he was warning the bat for what was to come, it was as if the whip expressed its contentment to be used once more. Brandon decided to use different tactics, giving jerks instead of the application of continuous force, tugging again and again as the conman closed in. Dimitri whipped his the arm with the hand that held the whip back, extended his other arm as if to aim carefully and swung. With thunderous applause the tip of the scourge licked the rock right next to the bat’s face, who was become a statue as a result of fear.

“Hm, I seem to have lost my aim during these years of slack. I won’t miss next time though!”

Once more he readied himself to strike, and Brandon desperately jerked his wrists away from each other, a tick they were held back by the shackles, but it could not hold and snapped, returning the bat’s freedom to him as the arm of the swindler followed the trajectory of a downward arch. With an instinctual dodge –more throwing himself to a side than actually dodging- the bat could avoid the whip to take a bit out of his body, once more serving it a meal of rock instead. As Dimitri slowly pulled his weapon back, Brandon got himself to his feet, trembling like a leaf, his face as pale as it could ever be. Running away suddenly had become much more of a rational choice, but if his greed would allow him was another question. Or his pride.

“So you managed to break the ties that bound you. Do you believe that will change you fate? I can assure you, it will not. There will be no happy end, Brandon, there never is one for the likes of us. Regardless of your actions and futile attempts, your path has led you to a dead end.”

TO BE CONTINUED...

x

credit goes to Euthisa

by **Catastrophe** on July 8th, 2014, 8:36 pm

Brandon Blackwing :

Notes :

Solo Time for revenge IV: Confrontation at last