Dark Humanity

by Gwynn White

  Soron nodded, and followed Marin out; he would return another time.

  The second pub was much nicer. It was farther away from the docks and catered more to the locals of Venecia instead of the sailors and visitors. As they ate, Marin explained his plan to learn more about the men who had abused Mariah. “I don’t know much about them, but Ramon will. Give me a day, I will talk to Ramon and find out as much about the men as I can, then you can plan a way to bring justice to them.

  Soron nodded, “Alright, I will wait.” Now that he had set his mind to the task, he would take as long as necessary to deliver some justice for poor Mariah.

  After the meal, Marin went to find Ramon while Soron headed back to the inn, he wanted to check on Mariah.

  Chapter Seven

  “Declan Larson, Cale Pearce, and Owen Gordon,” Ramon said. “Those are the ringleaders of the group. There are ten to twelve of them, but those three are the main leaders. All come from powerful families with strong ties to the Council. The others follow the lead of those three. Rape, torture, theft, and murder, the list of their sins is long.” Ramon paused and looked at Marin and Soron carefully before continuing. “If you are serious about this, I can arrange it so that you stumble upon an ‘attack’ tomorrow night. It won’t be completely honest, but the men there will all be part of the group.”

  “I’m no saint, Ramon, I would gladly take a knife and meet each of them in an alley, but I promised Marin here to make sure I didn’t get my head chopped off for outright murder. Do what you have to, I will do my part,” said Soron. If the law didn’t care about stopping these men, then he didn’t care about the law.

  Ramon nodded, “Meet me tomorrow at the Wandering Donkey around nine o’clock. Bring a couple of your pieces of jewelry.”

  The Wandering Donkey was a rambunctious bar along the waterfront. The pub was known for its excellent food and brought in a diverse crowd.

  Soron spotted Ramon right away, he was talking to a short, older gentleman. Soron went over to them.

  “Soron, I would like you to meet Jarret Case, he is a dealer of antiquities and jewelry.”

  “Hello, nice to meet you,” said Soron.

  “Soron, I have heard so much about your artwork. I am pleased to meet you,” said Jarret.

  Ramon pulled the men towards the back of the pub, “Come, I have reserved a private room so that we can discuss business in a quieter setting.” Ramon then led them to a medium-sized room with a table and three chairs set up for them. “The cook here does an excellent baked trout, I would recommend trying that.”

  As they sat down at the table a server came into the room, bringing a bottle of wine and three glasses. The server explained their menu options for the evening. “Tonight, it’s rib roast with vegetables, baked trout or steak and lobster.”

  Soron wasn’t here for food, but to keep up appearances he thought aloud over the menu. “The trout sounds good, but I have never had lobster. I’ll try that.”

  After Ramon and Jarret ordered the trout, the server left the room, leaving the men alone.

  “Soron, why don’t you show Jarret what you brought, then after dinner we can haggle over price. I warned Jarret that my lady friends will want me to bid on the pieces, but I promised Jarret an opportunity to see your work.”

  Soron nodded and took out the jewelry he had brought. The first piece was a woman’s necklace; the design was one of Soron’s Hexin pieces. The white steel was crafted into the shape of a butterfly with three small emeralds in the body of the creature. The second piece was a small, intricately-carved black steel dagger. The small weapon had a combination of the black steel and white woven together in the handle.

  Jarret examined the pieces, while Soron and Ramon drank their wine and discussed Marin’s love life. Ramon had a few, suitable women in mind and wanted Soron to help him convince the bachelor to at least meet the women. Soron knew Marin was worried about his father’s plans and would agree to meet them.

  Jarret returned the dagger and necklace to Soron, “I must say I thought Ramon was exaggerating when he described the quality of your craftsmanship. I didn’t know steel could be turned into such delicate designs, and the colors of the steel, so fascinating.”

  Suddenly a scream broke out from an adjacent room. “Help!”

  All three men rushed out to find out what was going on. Soron led the way, carrying the small dagger.

  The door to the room was blocked by a large man, “Nothing to see here, gentleman, move along.”

  Ramon insisted “We heard a scream.”

  The man shook his head, “I don’t care what you heard, I said move along.”

  Soron waited no longer, driving his fist into the man’s head. The thug hit the floor with a thump. Soron lunged forward putting his shoulder into the door. The light wooden frame broke and the door swung open.

  A woman was on the floor, dress torn, with a bleeding lip. She was surrounded by six men. The men seemed shocked by the intrusion. Several pulled out daggers while others reached for nearby swords. Several of the men were half dressed.

  “Leave now or suffer the consequences,” said one of the men. “This has nothing to do with you.” The man walked towards the door pointing a sword at Soron.

  Soron didn’t reply, he simply walked forward and pushed the man’s sword aside with the dagger before grabbing him and thrusting it into his heart. The move was so quick that the man hadn’t even realized Soron intended to attack him. As Soron withdrew his dagger from the man, the rest started to attack, five men against one.

  The fight wasn’t fair. Not even close. Soron moved like a demon, twisting and turning his way through the men, carving and jabbing with the small dagger. With his free hand, he smashed the men that got too close, sending them reeling. Before long, all five men had joined their fallen companion on the floor.

  Soron put the dagger away and went to see to the girl, making sure she was okay. While Soron was attending to the injured woman, the pub owner and several patrons rushed into the room.

  The pub owner demanded to know what had happened.

  “We were in the next room waiting for our dinner when we heard a scream. We came to investigate and the man outside the door told us to go away. Soron knocked him out and broke the door down. We came in and saw the woman being assaulted. The men then attacked Soron, you can see for yourself what happened next,” spoke Ramon.

  One of the patrons looked at the bodies on the floor, “That is Cale Pearce, and that one is Owen Gordon. You will hang for this, friend.”

  Another voice rang out, “And the other one is Zac Case, my son. I also witnessed the men attacking this woman. If anyone hangs for this, it will only be because one of these men isn’t completely dead yet.” Jarret Case looked at the dead body of his son with disdain and sadness.

  The pub owner mumbled, “Well, I suppose no point calling the constables after all.” He then took the girl to the kitchen to get cleaned up while Soron, Ramon, and Jarret left. Soron would have to wait for another day to try lobster.

  Chapter Eight

  “There are still more of them,” said Soron. The statement almost could be a question, but the emphatic way that Soron said it left no doubt that despite tonight’s bloodletting, he intended to see his mission through to its bloody end.

  Ramon nodded, “Declan Larson and his small band of thugs still remain. I will not be able to contrive anything to speed up the process this time, I am afraid. You will have to keep an eye on them, wait for them to make a mistake. Tomorrow, go down to the docks; I have arranged for you to meet a pair of thieves. Do not be fooled by their appearances, they are talented at what they do. The pair will follow Declan and report back to you. It would be impossible for someone your size to be stealthy enough to go unnoticed all the time. Use the thieves to track Declan and his men. When the time is right, and you catch them in an act that justifies action, do what needs to be done. Be warned, Declan’s family is powerful and vindictive, if they find out that you had
anything to do with their son being harmed you would have a powerful enemy.”

  Soron nodded, he was used to having powerful enemies. He would not back off. He would see Declan Larson and his slimy friends punished. “Thank you, Ramon, I don’t know what you did to arrange tonight, but I believe it was just.”

  Ramon nodded, “Let’s just say many good people have been waiting for an opportunity to bring justice to that group of men, including Jarret Case. It is a sad day when a father must consort against his son, but when the child chooses the way of evil … Your involvement as an outsider to Venecia is what allowed justice to happen. No one, myself included, could be the hand that killed the nobles. You are different. You are an outsider. The politics of the families doesn’t apply to you. You were able to do what was needed. No one will say it aloud, but many are grateful you killed them.”

  Soron felt tired, all this talk of killing and politics was draining.” I am headed to my room, I need some sleep. Tomorrow I shall head to the docks to meet your thieves. What shall I look for?”

  “Don’t worry, they will find you,” replied Ramon as he bid his northern friend goodnight.

  When morning came, Soron went downstairs for breakfast. Again, Howard was serving, but he seemed in brighter spirits this morning. Not his normal, cheerful self, but certainly an improvement of the previous time they spoke. “Good morning, Howard, how is Mariah today?” asked Soron.

  Howard gave Soron a smile, he then left the room. Howard returned with two large plates of breakfast. “I had these made especially for you.” Howard put the large plates of food in front of Soron. As he did this, he whispered into Soron’s ear. “She is better, and thank you for what you have done. Mariah and I both sleep better knowing those bastards will not harm another girl.” Howard stood up, patted Soron on the shoulder and returned to the other inn customers.

  Soron looked down at the plate, a large portion of ham and eggs, along with fresh fruit, toast and sausages was certainly not on the normal menu. Soron appreciated Howard’s way of saying thank you.

  After eating the large breakfast, Soron headed down towards the docks. He was curious to meet the thieves. He had little experience with such things and wondered what they would look like.

  When he arrived at the docks, Soron had no idea what to do, he had no clue what the thieves looked like or when they were supposed to be there. He took up a seat on the side of one of the wharves and gazed out on the vast expanse of water. The ocean waters were calm, the water like glass. The ships in port sat as if frozen in time.

  Soron was interrupted from his gazing when two small hands tugged on his tunic. Soron turned and looked into the eyes of a child. The young boy smiled brightly at Soron, the boy’s clothes were tattered and torn, barely better than rags. His skin was dirty, but his eyes were big and bright.

  “Come on, big man, we go now,” said the boy as he pulled on Soron’s tunic.

  Soron smiled, and shook his head. “Sorry, little one, I am meeting someone and have to stay here.”

  “Yes, yes. You are to meet me and my brother. Now let’s go find my brother, he is already watching the bad man,” replied the small child.

  Soron looked carefully at the child; surely this was not one of the thieves that Ramon wanted him to meet? But Ramon had said to ignore their appearance, Soron was doubtful but followed anyway. As they walked away from the docks, the boy quickly looked around to make sure no ears were in hearing range. “Declan is having breakfast with his father, but my brother heard him mention that he was meeting up with his friends later today. The father seemed not to care, but said ‘don’t get caught.’ I think the bad man is up to something,” said the boy.

  Soron was surprised, the young boy was indeed the thief he was sent to meet. When he thought about it more, it started to make sense. Orphans often became thieves or beggars in cities; a young boy, like the one leading him up the street now, could go anywhere and follow anyone without being noticed. The poor boys of the street were so common no one would expect it.

  The boy stopped at the end of the street, “Wait here, I will go find out what is happening.”

  Soron watched as the boy disappeared around the corner. He leaned against the corner of the building, trying not to look like a man waiting for a thief.

  A few minutes passed before the boy returned. “We are in luck, boss. The father is gone and one of Declan’s cronies just returned to tell him that the girl is going for a ride outside of the city. Declan told him to gather the men and head out, he would catch up to them shortly. My brother is following the crony and we will follow Declan. Just stay a ways back and follow me.”

  Soron did not know who the girl in question was, but he was already worried for her safety. He looked at the young boy and said, “Lead the way.”

  The boy, with Soron following him, made his way through the city, following Declan. When they got to the edge of the city, Soron could see Declan walking at a fast pace headed north towards the nearby forest. As they followed, a boy dropped out of a nearby tree and joined them.

  “Yikes, you are a big one,” said the second boy as he took an appraising look at Soron. “Do you want us to follow them into the forest?”

  Soron shook his head. In the forest he would have no problems tracking the men without being seen. “No, you have done your jobs well. Wait here, if the men return, keep an eye on them. Find me at the Dew Drop Inn later if I am not still following them.” Soron took a couple gold coins out and handed them over to the youths.

  The second boy bit the coin, appraising it to make sure it was real. Satisfied that the coin was indeed gold, the boy smiled, “You know we already been paid for this job?”

  Soron smiled, “That’s okay, I am rewarding you for a job well done. Stay here and keep an eye out. I have more coins.”

  The first boy shook his head. “No more coins, we know why we are following these jackasses. Mariah is a sweet lady, I would have done the job for free… not that gold doesn’t add a certain value to doing a good deed.” The boy winked and made his coin disappear. Both boys scattered off, leaving Soron to his task.

  Chapter Nine

  Velaina was walking her horse through the forest when she came upon a small meadow filled with wildflowers. She stopped, dismounted, and was gathering flowers when a small group of men entered the meadow.

  Velaina greeted the men with confidence, being a smart woman, she noted the high-quality clothing of the men, and the way they were following a deer path through the forest. Nobles out on a hunt she quickly surmised. The men, after seeing her, were probably being courteous. It was a short-lived hope. While the men were dressed like nobles, Velaina had warning signs going off in her head. She wanted to step back and create some distance between herself and the approaching men but couldn’t see a way of doing so without appearing rude. So far, the men were acting nice and were friendly as they talked to her about the forest and any signs of deer she may have noticed. One of them, a shifty-eyed, scarecrow-looking fellow, smiled and commented about the fine form of her horse. His eyes, however, were not fixed on the horse. She grew nervous. When he asked where her companions were, she recognized danger and her fear showed in her eyes. She had read his emotions changing and they were ugly.

  While she spoke, one of the men came to look at her horse. Suddenly the man was right beside her with his hands firmly around her horse’s reins. The shifty-eyed man who had smiled while talking to her was now smirking. A rather sinister tone to his voice had Velaina preparing to jerk away and flee. ”Relax, princess, you are not going anywhere.”

  Velaina was getting ready to make a run into the forest when a voice responded from behind her, “Why would she be going anywhere? It’s a beautiful day and there still many flowers to be picked.”

  Velaina had never seen four faces turn so white and fearful so fast before; the man behind her terrified these men. They began backing away, the one who had been holding on to the reins hastily let go to rejoin his companions as they c
ontinued to back away from her.

  The sinister-sounding one now took a contrite and fearful tone as he mumbled, “You’re absolutely right. But picking flowers won’t catch us that deer, so we will be leaving now.” The men almost tripped over each other as they turned and ran off into the forest.

  Velaina watched with amazement as the men ran off, finally she turned to see who had inspired such fear. Velaina was looking at an incredibly tall and strong-looking stranger with long dark hair and a clean-shaven face.

  Besides his great size, Velaina could only wonder what terrified the men so much, the big man did not appear to have a weapon on him. “They sure ran off fast, you must be one, dangerous man to scare them so.”

  The giant man smiled, “Maybe to scoundrels like them, a lady such as yourself has nothing to fear from me. Those spineless, little cretins are sons of noblemen who flaunt the law as if they are above it. There used to be ten of them in their little group of rapist bastards."

  Velaina was shocked to hear that she had so narrowly avoided a dreadful outcome, but she kept her cool. This tall, dark stranger made her feel safe. She smiled, “Used to be ten?” she replied.

  The big man shrugged his shoulders, “Things happen.”

  She couldn’t imagine what things he had done, but it explained the fear the men had shown at his appearance. She suspected his arrival was no more a coincidence than the deer hunters accidently finding her in the meadow. This big man had been stalking her stalkers. Before she could even thank him, he gave her a brief farewell telling her she would have no more problems on her journey today and disappeared back into the forest. She regretted that he had not given her his name. He was foreign. He was intriguing. And she suspected he was the sort she had been warned to stay away from.