by Noah Layton
‘Holy shit,’ I muttered to myself, relaxing my grip on my sword a little.
The bald guy’s friends didn’t try it this time. They pulled him to his feet as he continued to clutch desperately at his face and moan in pain, then quickly led him out and into the night.
The figure waited until the bar door swung shut and spun the knives on his fingers expertly, sliding them into their sheaths.
I didn’t know whether to relax my grip on my sword further or tighten it. I glanced over my shoulder at Mavis.
‘Probably should have told you that she could have handled things on her own,’ Mavis smiled, setting a steaming rack of washed glasses down on the counter and swinging a towel over her shoulder. ‘Isn’t that right, Cassandra?’
‘I would not deny it,’ the figure said.
‘Wait,’ I said slowly, looking back to the figure. ‘Who’s Cassandra?’
‘Just another one of my guests,’ Mavis said. ‘I don’t know why I attract you violent types to my rooms. Suppose everybody’s got a violent streak in them…’
She trailed off, but my attention was focused on the mysterious stranger. He straightened his belt and his cloak, dug his hands into the scarf wrapped around the bottom half of his face and pulled it down over his chin.
His face remained shrouded in shadow until he pulled down the hood of his cloak, revealing that he wasn’t a he at all.
I met eyes with a tall, beautiful woman in her mid-twenties, sporting startling green eyes and full lips that smirked devilishly at me. Luscious auburn hair fell over her shoulders, and from the top of her head two over-sized fox ears stretched out, relieved to be out of the confines of her hood.
And then there was the tail flicking out from the top of her waistline, briefly showing itself as it waved back and forth behind her back.
‘I would be Cassandra,’ she smirked, waving a hand sarcastically at me. ‘And you would be…?’
6 – Cassandra
‘I’m Drake. Drake Masterson.’
‘Sharp moves, Drake Masterson. You want a drink?’
‘Always.’
Mavis locked up for the night and bid us goodnight.
‘Drink whatever you want,’ she said, heading up the stairs to her quarters. ‘Just leave the gold on the counter. And make sure it’s right, or I’ll crossbow both of your asses.’
She disappeared upstairs, and a moment later the sound of a door closing confirmed that I and the foxgirl were alone. I took a seat at the bar while Cassandra stood by the seat next to me.
Prior to the fight she had been so covered by her heavy cloak that I couldn’t tell this beautiful woman was even female, never mind stunningly pretty.
Things took another turn when she pulled off her cloak and swept it from her body in a flourish, laying it down on the counter.
She was wearing shin-high brown boots, a ripped pair of pants that only stretched to the top of her thighs, her perfect posture not only accentuating her round behind but also her slender, exposed navel and large, round breasts kept covered by nothing but an unbuttoned white blouse, either side tied together in a loose knot.
‘I’ve been hiding under that cloak all night,’ she moaned, stretching her arms over her head and accentuating her curves even more.
I couldn’t resist drinking in the sight of her incredible body. She made a move and skirted behind the counter.
‘Why the cloak if it’s so uncomfortable?’ I asked.
‘I like my privacy,’ she said, standing before me like a barmaid and winking at me. Her knotted blouse exposed her tight cleavage as she leaned against the counter.
Right, I thought, trying not to stare at her chest.
‘What do you feel like?’ She asked.
‘Roborus,’ I said, nodding over her shoulder. ‘That half-bottle up there.’
‘Cheap tastes, Mr Masterson.’
‘How it tastes doesn’t matter,’ I replied, ‘especially at this time of night.’
‘Interesting philosophy.’ The foxgirl turned and went onto her toes, leaning over the bar and pushing her ass up into the air as she reached for the bottle.
She swiftly turned, bottle in hand, and fetched up two glasses from beneath the counter. She had an expert hand, pouring us both a single serving, then a second, then a third-
‘Woah, woah,’ I said. ‘I’ve had enough for this time of night.’
‘Come on, live a little.’
‘I just crushed a guy’s windpipe,’ I said, snatching the glass away before she could pour another. ‘I’d say I’ve done plenty of living tonight.’
‘That was a sharp move, I must admit,’ she replied, holding up her glass and knocking it to mine. ‘Cheers.’
I took a sip of the fiery liquid.
‘Thanks.’
‘Where would a person learn moves like that?’ she asked, eyeing me suspiciously with a smirk.
‘Here and there,’ I replied cryptically. ‘What’s more, how do you learn to obliterate a guy’s face with a glass?’
‘Moving quickly is in my blood. What can I say? Anyway, don’t turn this around. I’m the one asking the questions right now.’
‘Why’s that?’
‘Because I’m behind the bar, which means I’m playing the part of bartender. Tell me your troubles. Unleash your woes on me. Nice to meet you, by the way.’
We shook hands over the counter. Despite the obvious skill she possessed as a fighter, her hands were smooth and gentle to the touch.
‘So what do you want to ask me?’ I continued.
‘I saw you break up that fight last night. I was sat in my usual spot, you just didn’t notice. You’ve got some skills. What’s your story?’
‘My story? You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.’
‘As long as I can’t poke holes in it, I think I’d believe it. Shoot.’
‘I belonged to a guild in the Bronze District. I went on a job with a pair of new recruits a few days ago and they tried to execute me at the orders of the leader of my guild. I managed to escape, and now I’m out for blood.’
I decided to leave out the exact nature of the guild that I had been a part of. She didn’t need to know my profession just yet.
Cassandra stared back at me, her mouth falling open a little.
‘I… Wow. Okay. So you’re seeking revenge on these guys?’
‘Not exactly just that. I’m in the process of starting up my own guild. Figure I could achieve a lot more if I was running things. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s why my boss tried to have me killed in the first place. I was outshining his mediocrity a little too much.’
‘Be careful.’
‘I think I’m pretty well-hidden here.’
‘No, I mean be careful when you go to bed tonight. You might not be able to get your gigantic fucking head through the door.’
‘Wo-o-w,’ I laughed as Cassandra grinned, ‘This is coming from you with those fox-ears? Be careful not to snag them on them rusty nail in the doorframe.
Cassandra scoffed in mock-offence.
‘Don’t mock my ears,’ she said with a pout. ‘They’re very sensitive to criticism.’
‘I’m sure,’ I replied, taking another drink. ‘All right, time’s up. What about you? What’s a foxgirl doing staying in a guest room for so long that the landlady knows her by name?’
‘Mavis knows you by name, too.’
‘Because I’m a man that should be dead. She could read me the second I came in.’
‘A likely story, Drake,’ the foxgirl mused, tapping her chin. She took another sip of whisky. ‘I’m from a village in the outer regions. A nice place, but life was slow and repetitive. I couldn’t stand it out there, never mind get on with it.
‘So I came to this place, Spire City, the sprawling metropolis, the land of opportunity, bla, bla, bla… I moved into some quarters with my gold savings, got a job assisting the High Council with law enforcement. Administrative duties in the archives. Realised pretty quickly that most of the ci
ty is about as happy to indulge in simple pleasures as my old village was.’
‘What simple pleasures are you talking about?’
‘Booze, opium, courtesans… I thought that I’d left my village for a more exciting life, but it turns out I was just swapping one set of distractions for another.’
‘What do you mean by distractions?’
‘People… They just distract themselves from better things. They numb their brains and don’t go after anything better than their station. I don’t want that.’
‘Hmm…’ I pondered, narrowing my eyes. ‘You know, for somebody who just accused me of being big-headed you’re sounding like you’re on a pretty high horse yourself there.’
‘I’m not!’ She scoffed in embarrassment, giving a shrug so sharp that her breasts bounced up and down heavily. ‘I just… Want more out of my life. I left my village with better hopes, I left my job with the government to move to the guest rooms here, and now I just work odd-jobs to stay afloat.
‘But I’d much rather be working random jobs than working in an office in the middle of the city, working for a bunch of people who think they’re doing something useful to clean up this place when they’re really just making it look like they’re doing something and patting themselves on the back in the process…’
Cassandra downed her whisky without a quiver and clunked her glass down loudly on the counter.
‘Sorry,’ she said, shaking her head and grinning. ‘I don’t know why I’m piling my woes on you.’
It was right then that I had a realisation. Looking at this beautiful, flirtatious foxgirl across the bar, I saw something that nobody else did.
‘I’m going to ask you something,’ I said, ruffling the back of my hair. I didn’t often get nervous, but this was a question that people didn’t often ask. ‘Don’t be offended.’
‘I’ve seen a lot of things since moving to Spire City,’ Cassandra replied. ‘I don’t know how much more offended I can get in this life.’
‘I don’t doubt that’s the truth,’ I laughed. ‘Have you ever killed anybody before?’
Cassandra frowned and thought for a moment.
‘One or two, actually.’
‘Really? When?’
‘Back at my old village. Bandits attacked on more than one occasion and tried to take our livestock and our crop stores. I made short work of a couple of them. That’s why I have these.’ She pulled the twin blades from the holsters at her waist and held them before me to examine. ‘The first thing I did when I moved to the city, even before I got a job, was to visit a weaponsmith and buy them.’
‘That’s a damn good story,’ I admitted, taking another sip of whisky. ‘Tell me, how would you feel about killing criminals and getting rich while you’re doing it?’
Cassandra froze up and stared back at me. Her fox-ears stood on end, then twitched momentarily.
‘What kind of guild did you say you were in again?’ She said slowly, taking a step back from the bar.
‘I didn’t. The bounty-hunting kind.’
She took a deep breath and eyed me suspiciously, suddenly on the defensive.
‘Now I see why you’re lying low. I wouldn’t want to be on the hunting-end of a crew of bounty hunters that wanted me dead.’
‘Like I said, my squad weren’t the smartest or the best. They went after small fish. I’m starting my own guild, and I want to go after the big guys. It’s dangerous, but the gold’s worth it.’
Cassandra thought for a moment.
‘How much gold are we talking?’
I reached into the folds of my jacket, and Cassandra immediately moved for one of her daggers.
‘Calm yourself,’ I said, pulling a folded piece of parchment from my pocket and holding it up. ‘Although it’s nice to see your reactions are consistently sharp.’
‘Sorry,’ she shrugged. ‘Force of habit.’
I unfolded the paper and set it down on the counter, displaying the wanted poster for the Jones Bandits.
‘There are four of these guys, and they’re worth 200 gold pieces a head. Bring all four of them back and they’re worth 1000. I’m thinking that me and you team up, find these guys, kill them and split the reward.’
Cassandra took up the paper carefully. I watched her sharp eyes as they scanned across the page several times, reading it back.
‘I’ve heard about you people,’ she finally said. ‘Who hasn’t? Half the people I’ve met say you’re the only really law there is in this city.’
‘What do the other half say?’
‘That you’re murderers for hire.’
‘Those would be mercenaries,’ I replied. ‘I only go after wanted criminals. We make a real difference. We just so happen to get paid for it, too. I’m not going to sway your judgement, but the offer’s there on the table if you want it.’
Cassandra glanced between me and the poster, leaning against the back of the bar and crossing her arms beneath her round breasts, pushing them up so tightly behind her knotted blouse that I thought it might break open.
‘Make a real difference,’ she repeated, nodding. ‘I like the sound of that. I’m in, Drake Masterson.’
The foxgirl leaned across the bar and shook hands with me again.
‘We’ll head out the day after tomorrow,’ I said.
‘Why not tomorrow?’
‘I’ve got a shift,’ I said, downing the last of my whisky. ‘Even if we’re going out and earning some serious coin, I’ve still got to pay my dues.’
‘Then you’d better get to bed. You’ve got a long day tomorrow, security-boy.’
‘That I have,’ I nodded.
We set a little coin down in exchange for the whisky that we had drank and headed upstairs. Cassandra pulled to a stop outside of her room – the one right next to mine.
‘So, uhh…’ She smiled. ‘Goodnight. It was a pleasure to meet you, Drake Masterson. Think I’ll feel a little safer knowing there’s a bounty hunter sleeping in the room next to mine.’
‘After seeing what you’re capable of I really don’t think you need any help.’
‘Still…’
She shot me a look up and down as she turned the key in the lock, slinking inside and closing the door behind her before I even had a chance to say goodnight myself.
I turned the key in my own lock and moved inside, locking it behind me and breathing deeply.
She had floored me; she was the first woman I had met in a while who had kept me on my toes.
I decided to wash myself off a little, my arms scuffed a little from the commotion over the last six hours. I turned the faucet on again and stripped off my clothes in the bedroom.
As I waited for my bath to run, I heard a high, graceful sound over the rushing water. I returned to my bedroom and heard the singing once again.
It had been Cassandra all along, the unbelievably sexy foxgirl who was staying in the room right next to mine.
And in a few days’ time we would be out hunting together.
7 – The Jones Bandits
I didn’t see Cassandra during my next shift, but the night ended quickly all the same. After passing out on my bed and waking up the next morning, I checked my wound again. It wasn’t too bad; it was healing up fast, assuming I didn’t make too many sharp movements.
Sharp movements might have been a problem considering I was going out to kill a group of bandits. I would have to be careful.
At sundown I prepped myself and equipped my weapons, checking myself up and down in the mirror in my room; boots and dark pants, overshirt, fitted jacket with a hood attached to the neckline, and my sword and dagger equipped in the sheaths at my belt.
I pushed my hair out of my face with my fingers, then ran them through my growing facial hair. I had never liked growing my hair any longer than was necessary. It only served to act as a distraction, and I just knew the moment that it got in my way was the moment a blade would come flying at my head.
For now it was a product of my situation.
I headed out of my room and locked my door, then moved to Cassandra’s and tapped my knuckles against it.
The foxgirl opened the door a moment later.
‘Hey, Drake Masterson.’
‘Evening. You ready?’
‘Very.’ She was wearing clothes much more, uhh, appropriate, shall we say, donning a pair of boots, leather pants and a baggy overshirt that still couldn’t help but accentuate her large chest.
Her weapons of choice, the twin daggers, were still equipped at her waist.
One big part of me would have been fine with her wearing exactly what she was wearing a few nights ago, but this was much more suited for fighting.
‘Does this feel like a date to you?’ She asked confidently.
‘Not in the slightest,’ I lied.
‘Oh,’ she said sarcastically. ‘I suppose a girl can only get so lucky. I’m fucking with you, by the way.’
All I could do was laugh in response, because I had no clue which words coming out of her mouth were the truth. She was playful and flirtatious and impossible to read.
That was just another thing I liked about her as she set off down the corridor ahead of me, moving her round, firm behind back and forth with a little too much enthusiasm for it to be natural.
But with the swift nature with which she had hurried behind the door of her room last night, I couldn’t tell whether she thought about me like that.
What a tease. Probably for the best though. Mixing work and pleasure was hardly ever a good idea.
But damn, was she hot.
We headed down to the bar together, moving past the drinkers and into the street. There were about half the usual number, probably normal for a weeknight, but still reasonably busy.
‘So where do we start?’ Cassandra asked as we turned left out of the tavern and moved through the streets.
‘These guys were last seen in this very district,’ I said, memorising their faces from the poster in my hand. ‘Somewhere called the Night Market. They don’t look too smart, so I’m guessing they won’t have moved from there. You know where it is?’
‘I do. Don’t you have a map?’
