Day/Night 2

Perkins

Perkins contained his shock very well. All thanks to Emm who had warned them about belongings left in the Tusk. Nonetheless, his muscles strained and his grip on his sword became unbearable. Years of fighting had conditioned his body so the responses to the threats were instinctive and immediate. But the man at the staircase baffled his reasoning. Being a healer added another layer to his character, he’d learned to never throw a suggestion out of hand. What his brain was suggesting right now he couldn’t accept though.

Just couldn’t.

The man tipped a wide-brimmed hat, curved at edges, calling them lads. That brat was barely in his twenties. Perkins could be twice his age and perhaps he was.

“Blood of my mother,” the blonde bandit smiled a wicked smile. “What kind of idiot are you?”

In response, the man tucked his shoulder-long hair behind his ear. In the fluorescent light its color was indeterminable and bright. But that wasn’t where the true strangeness resided in the appearance of this man. He wore a long coat … in the middle of a hot jungle.

Defying his own mind, Perkins asked.

“Are you with them?”

“Yes.”

It didn’t ease Perkins’s nerves. The man’s answer was too noncommittal and careless to be taken seriously. Siddy glanced at Perkins with a sly grin. It was meant to show confidence. But both bandits knew well that Siddy found himself in a corner.

“Why did they send you here?” Perkins played dumb. This man had nothing to do with the group Perkins was supposed to meet here.

The man shrugged.

That alone turned Perkins’s blood to ice. This was not an ordinary person. Unlike Siddy, he didn’t seem to pretend.

“What’s your name?” Perkins’s question sounded soft. I am rambling, he realized. Like after the visit to the inn. There the innkeeper must’ve added something to the drink that made me talk. Ammila bark most likely. Here. Here it’s fear. Being honest with himself didn’t do much good. Some part of his brain figured out it must be because of how close to leaving Butcher he was. This simply couldn’t end this way.

Siddy snorted, a poor attempt at marshaling his composure, then attacked. The interior of the tower left barely enough space to swing a short sword. Perkins held his breath as the blade dropped on the man’s chest…

He slapped the blade away with a startling casualness. Forest gods, am I seeing it right? Perkins edged his sword up. He didn’t move though. After Siddy lost his balance, the man grabbed Siddy’s wrist and made him drop the sword. It looked effortless.

A yell came from Perkins’s side. The girl mustered the strength and came kicking. The bandit ignored her. She was less than a fly to him, though at this particular moment he developed an inclination to cut her down. Her annoying behavior started to irritate him.

Siddy hissed, catching his wrist, which had been squeezed by the stranger a second earlier. The man gently pushed Siddy out of his way and started toward Perkins. Nothing in the man’s manners made sense. His face looked young and gentle, his mimicry showed a person who was enjoying himself.

How could this be?

He reached Perkins, towering over him. The man was somewhere between six and seven feet tall. This unnatural height. No. It can’t be.

“Put it down before you harm yourself.” His voice didn’t hold malice or threat. What kind of person spoke like this to bandits who wanted to kill him?

To emphasize his point, the man put his finger on the tip of the sword and guided it down. Perkins was paralyzed by fear. He didn’t even feel shame. Not yet. The girl’s head snapped toward the man.

“They kidnapped me! If you’ll take me back, my mother is going to pay you handsomely. We’re rich.” She kicked Perkins the last time and after the man nodded to her, she retreated to the wall. Siddy dropped on the floor at the same time. They were overwhelmed.

“Bandits, you say. Well, I expected to find bandits here, though not you two.”

This struck too close to Perkins’s plan. Who was this man?

“You’re a bounty hunter?”

“I am not,” the man tsked. “Call me a beast hunter.”

“You can find one outside,” Perkins said slyly, though he’d never been good at this kind of verbal maneuvering.

The beast hunter waved his comment away.

“It’s not the kind of beasts I hunt.” He grinned maniacally, making Perkins’s hair to stand on end. “Anyway, you mentioned them, so I presume you know a thing or two about the band I chase.”

“A band you chase?”

“Pantheras.”

This made Siddy perk up. The beast hunter stood with his back to the younger bandits. It could work … but Siddy didn’t reach for the weapon. He stood up, grinning. A cruel gleam appeared in his eyes.

“You betrayed Butcher for Pantheras?” He meant to say it with derision and mockery but his voice changed. Pantheras bandits were a new growing power in this region and they badly wanted Soto. They also needed healers.

“You’re one of them?” the beast hunter asked as he put a hand on Perkins’s shoulder. It was disrespectful and degrading. But this man, he was not a commoner.

“No.”

“Kill him and my boss, Butcher, will pay you for a hassle,” Siddy said with a smirk.

“I don’t kill people.”

“Then I’ll kill him.”

The beast hunter shook his head, his hand still on Perkins’s shoulder, his eyes on the girl. He didn’t see Siddy. The younger bandit lunged for his sword. The beast hunter didn’t react even when Siddy held the sword in his hand. Perkins’s companion for some reason didn’t attack. Eventually, the weapon fell with a loud clank on the floor.

“Why aren’t you do something?” the girl asked.

The beast hunter’s soft glare found Perkins again. A thought was brewing in the stranger’s mind but he couldn’t find words to let go of it or so Perkins believed. Finally, the beast hunter took off his hat.

“I am sorry, lads. I wish I could play a bit more with you. These swords look like a lot of fun but I ate something nasty on my way here and must ask you to leave.”

Both bandits froze. This had to be a sour joke. Going into the night? The beast hunter let go of Perkins and eyed Siddy. The healer squeezed the pommel and cut at the level of the beast hunter’s throat. The blade found no resistance as it moved through the air. The beast hunter leaned back only enough to let the sword pass. Perkins reached for a knife. He was thrown out of balance but it didn’t matter. He just needed to be close to stick the knife in the stranger’s guts. Once again, Perkins was too slow. The beast hunter twisted his body allowing Perkins’s lunge to go forward unperturbed.

Siddy came then. He used his left hand to attack. It turned miserable. Both men ended up on the floor, though their knives were still in their hands. They still had a chance.

“Lads, if you behave nicely from now on, I’ll let you take your weapons with you,” the beast hunter said as he tucked his tousled hair behind his ear. His manners didn’t change.

“What difference does it make with an amakor prowling outside? It’s a murder.”

The stranger shook his head then he put his hand to his stomach.

“You should go now.”

Siddy barred his teeth but his facade was cracking. Fighting a Royalblood was fruitless. They couldn’t win. But still, going into the night? Who does that? The truth was, bandits had done many times worse. Actually, letting your enemy go into the night was an act of mercy. A gesture and a word, Perkins had forgotten many years ago when he’d joined Butcher’s gang.

“Fine,” Siddy snapped and reached for the bags with coins and food.

The beast hunter grunted.

“This stays here,” he said, pressing one hand to this stomach. Shouldn’t we strike now? Is there a way to kill a Royalblood? There was one thing Perkins knew of but such a substance was beyond his reach.

“What about me?” the girl asked.

“You seem harmless so you can stay. Now, you two, go before I kick you out into that scary hole.”

This had an effect on Siddy. He snatched his hands away from the bags, and daggers flashed in his eyes. Perkins waited until Siddy left the room, then asked.

“What should I tell Pantheras when I meet them?”

“I don’t know. Tell them whatever.”

Perkins turned to go. When another thought struck him.

“I’m a healer. I can help you.”

“I appreciate it, bandit. But this thing.” He pointed at his stomach. “I brought it on myself. I’ll be fine.”

We’ll see about it. Perkins hurried after Siddy who was already outside the Tusk’s entrance. The darkness of the night and loud voices of predators clutched at his heart. I can’t die now. I’m too close.

Tzin-ake

“Aren’t you going to close the trap?” Tzin-ake asked.

The weirdo looked up at her as if he noticed her for the first time. Tzin-ake had never seen such pale skin. And his clothes, they were outlandish. What if he’s worse than the bandits? A dangerous thought found its way into Tzin-ake’s mind. She didn’t like this man. Something about his behavior was off. The ease he bested two bandits ... oh, is he a Royalblood? Must be. This didn’t make her trust him, but what good she was for a mighty Royalblood? What exactly?

“So … you can close it from inside?” he mused. “Clever.”

“If you knew that beforehand, we wouldn’t get inside, would we?”

“I guess, I’ll better close it then.”

He moved deftly, his mysterious ailments strangely absent. When he returned, Tzin-ake asked him about it.

“Oh, that.” He waved his hand, then dropped on the floor, leaning against the wall and moving his funny hat over his face. “It’s a tried way to make people leave quicker. Anything related to bowels will make folks happy to go.”

She couldn’t imagine the bandits to be happy to leave the building during the night with something as deadly as an amakor outside. Her information about the Silent Falls had mostly come from the guards and her brother. It was a pile of crap. Things that meant to be here… Pipil-Tak and his band will be kicking himself when I tell them that I was inside the tower. She smiled, not completely relaxed. Who would be? But she had no choice but to appear harmless.

“Do you think they’ll survive?” Tzin-ake asked.

The man stirred.

“Who?”

“Bandits.”

He whistled softly, not moving the hat from his face.

“If I let them stay, they’d cut our throats, girl. Now. Let me sleep.”

“You remind me of my friend.”

The stranger didn’t respond.

“His name is Giliad.”

The only response that came from the man was a quiet snore.