“Slade.” My eyes saw nothing but his handsome face and welcoming smile. “Pleasure to meet you…”
It took a moment for his unspoken inquiry to finally register, and I unthinkingly answered with my full name.
“Ashíel Dae.”
What a fucking idiot.
I absolutely hated being associated with the Goddess, but having a second name was a trait I shared only with my half-siblings and the bare handful of Deathless still left wandering the world. I wasn’t sure the Goddess or even the Deathless were known here, but if they were, I’d just given away the fact that I was related to one or the other. I could only hope that both were still unknown in Runía, but even so, I’d let slip something unusual about myself, making me stand out when what I needed most was to blend in. I could feel my heart pounding inside my chest as I braced myself for Slade’s response to my bumbling introduction.
“Ashíeldae,” he thankfully misheard me. “That’s an unusual name, both exotic and beautiful, just like you.”
My insides seemed to melt just a little at his comment, and even though I recognized Slade’s blatant flattery, I didn’t give a shit. I’d finally met a man who wanted me for who I was, not only for the connections I might provide his family. The fact that he was willing to offer me sweet-sounding compliments was simply a pleasant bonus.
We talked for a while, and Slade’s hands gradually began to wander a bit, but since he wasn’t letting them go anywhere too, um… intimate, I pretended not to notice. Honestly, I was enjoying all the attention he was showering me with, so when he suggested we step outside for some ‘fresh air,’ I didn’t hesitate to take him up on the offer.
It wasn’t that I wanted things to go too far, of course—I’d only just met him that night after all. If he’d tried to get me upstairs to his room, I would have probably had the good sense to refuse. I thought we’d only go out to the street in search of a little privacy to share a kiss or two, and in my distracted state, I didn’t notice that he led me out the back door until it was too late. I realized the terrible mistake I’d made the instant I saw the two men waiting for us, or rather, it was me they’d been waiting for.
“Just play along, sweetie,” Slade’s grin turned decidedly threatening as he blocked the door, and his companions closed in on me. “Things’ll be over soon enough if you cooperate.”
Oh, there wasn’t going to be any fucking ‘cooperation,’ asshole.
I may have badly misjudged the situation, but I wasn’t a complete idiot. The Goddess’ tales had taught me to never go anywhere unarmed, and although I’d allowed Slade’s hands to roam around a little, he’d had no interest in groping at my lower back. If he had, he might have noticed the pair of daggers I kept hidden there beneath my cloak; weapons I drew as I prepared to defend myself against their assault.
“Back the fuck off, and you can walk away,” I offered them an escape. Despite brandishing my blades, I knew that three-to-one odds with the wall of a vacant alley at my back wasn’t an ideal situation.
“Bitch, you have no idea how much trouble you just bought yourself.” One of Slade’s ‘friends’ drew his own dagger, a wicked-looking weapon with a forward-leaning recurve to its blade, reminding me very much of a Kukri—whatever that was.
Slade and the other bastard seemed completely confident in their friend’s ability to defeat me, leaning back against the alley wall and jeering at me for their own amusement as they watched him close the distance between us. My chances were bad enough as it was, so I didn’t bother trying to convince them of their grave error. Instead, I focused on the piece of shit in front of me, and when he was close enough, I sprang into action.
As he’d advanced on me, I let the blades waver in my trembling hands, lulling him into a false sense of superiority that I immediately shattered. His eyes widened in shock when I lunged forward, and his desperate attempt to parry my first strike barely managed to turn my blade aside. But that feeble blow had only been meant to mask my real intentions, and while the asshole pushed my dagger away, I struck the side of his head with a vicious Hilt Bash. It was such a basic skill that I was truly surprised he’d fallen for it, but as his body went limp, I capitalized on his incapacitation by dragging the edge of my dagger across his throat.
Slade and his one remaining ‘associate’ were in an utter state of shock at seeing their friend’s body crumple to the ground. Flinging the blood from my blade with a quick twirl, I couldn’t resist throwing his words back in his face.
“Don’t worry, Slade,” I couldn’t help but grin as I offered his doubtlessly false name. “Things’ll be over soon enough if you cooperate.”
If the faint traces of moonlight glinting off the sharp edges of the blade in his hand weren’t enough, the outrage in Slade’s eyes told me he didn’t like my sarcastic comment very much.
I’d increased my odds to be sure, but two against one still didn’t add up in my favor. Gingerly stepping around the corpse on the ground, I maneuvered into a better position as my enemies closed in on me once more.
Slade took an awkward thrust at me, obviously seeking to put a quick end to the fight, but he wasn’t quite half as good a fighter as he was a con-man, and my contempt for him only increased as I easily slipped out of the way of his clumsy attack. I made him pay the price for his poor form, slamming my boot into the side of his knee with a sickening crunch. Slade’s pitiful wailing was like music to my ears, however, and I left him clutching helplessly at his ruined joint as I focused all my attention on the lone remaining would-be rapist. After seeing what I’d done to the others, I thought he might have fled rather than face me, but I was blocking the alley’s only exit, and he had no choice but to try and go through me to earn his freedom.
“C’mon, big boy,” I taunted the pig. “Show me what you’ve got.”
I swear he was about to piss his fucking pants, but I gave him full credit for at least trying to put up a fight.
He surged forward, taking me only slightly by surprise. Honestly, I’d kind of been half-expecting him to lash out, just like any cornered animal might do. His attack wasn’t much more skillfully executed than Slade’s, though, and I avoided his blade easily before returning the blow.
With the idiot completely out of position, I slammed my dagger into his lower back, right where his left kidney should be. The jolt of the devastating injury froze him in his tracks, and I ripped my blade sideways through his body, feeling the keen edge skitter across his ribcage as the weapon worked its way free. His blood flowed in buckets as he fell to the ground, and I paid him no mind as I slowly walked towards where Slade still lay wailing in agony.
Thinking about what he’d planned to do to me, the deception he’d wrought, and how easily he’d manipulated me, made my fucking blood boil. In a fit of utter rage, I wound up and kicked him in the crotch as hard as I could. The satisfying feel of something bursting with the impact served to release a portion of my anger, but even the sight of him curled up in a… ball didn’t wash it all away.
“This wasn’t your first time, was it?” I leaned in a bit closer even though his condition assured me that I wouldn’t receive an answer.
I was correct about that; the only reply I got from Slade was a torrent of vomit as he rolled around in agony. There really wasn’t any need for him to respond—I knew the sort of monster I was dealing with.
The myths about the Goddess had served to not only warn me about men like Slade but also fill me with an utter sense of contempt for their very existence. I may have missed some telling clues about his intentions, but I knew exactly what sort of fate he deserved. Without any feelings of regret or hesitation, I drew my blade across his neck, letting his life drain out onto the alley’s filthy ground and ending his suffering much too soon.
For a moment, I glanced from one body to the next, numbly taking in the scene of the slaughter I’d committed. Although each of the bastards had more than earned the brutal demise I’d granted them, the enormity and… finality of the judgm
ent I’d rendered suddenly came crashing down on me. As my mind cleared and my senses slowly returned to me, the stench of death flooded the alleyway—a sickening combination of blood, vomit, and emptied bowels that filled its narrow confines.
The foul odors barely masked the lingering reek of the evil actions that had been planned for me there. I hadn’t had the time to consider any of it in the rush of combat, but in a moment of clarity, it suddenly became all too apparent. My sense of utter outrage returned in an instant when I recognized the horrid truth behind what had nearly happened in that ghastly place, and even though I was disgusted by the act, I slung Slade’s corpse over my shoulder before kicking open the inn’s back door, hefting his body back into the large common room.
Every single face turned towards me when I entered, and the barmaid who’d been serving us that night gasped in horror at the sight of us. I stormed over to where she was clearing a few glasses and unloaded his bloody form on the table, scattering the cups and mugs across the floor.
“You fucking knew!” I screamed in the woman’s face. “You knew what they were going to try to do to me, you worthless… bitch!”
There’d been a different word I wanted to describe her with, but even in my fury, I couldn’t quite let myself utter that particular slur.
I’d noticed the smarmy expression on her face as she’d served us our drinks that night, a gesture I had taken as some sort of petty jealousy and quickly dismissed from my mind. But we’d also passed by her on our way towards the back door, and she’d flashed Slade a knowing grin at the time; one I’d also foolishly ignored, only realizing the significance of her expressions when it was too late. Her clear complicity in his despicable actions wasn’t the only thing that had stoked the fires of my rage, however. The fight in the alleyway hadn’t exactly been a quiet affair, yet not a single soul had ventured outside to investigate the disturbance.
It was obvious that every bastard in the entire fucking inn had played some role in the attack that had been perpetrated on me, either directly or through their own inaction. The level of evil required for such uniform disregard brought my rage to a fever pitch; the fury within me was so powerful that I could barely see straight. My vision even grew so distorted that the room seemed to be tinged with an eerie glow.
“You want some blood?” I grabbed hold of a clump of hair at the back of the cowering woman’s head. “Here’s some fucking blood for you!”
Yanking the barmaid forcefully towards me, I slammed her face into Slade’s chest, rubbing it back and forth across the crimson-soaked remains of his shirt. She cried out in horror as I painted her skin red, but only when I thought she was sufficiently covered with Slade’s thick blood did I finally toss her aside.
“I should kill every last one of you pieces of shit.” My rage turned icy cold as I scanned the faces of the near dozen patrons, meeting each pair of eyes in turn, only to have them look away from me in a mixture of fear and shame.
“Lucky for you, I’ve already had enough slaughter for one night,” I spat, probably letting them off far too easily. “But if I ever come back this way again, none of you will be safe.”
Leaving the common area behind, I stomped upstairs to my room, not to spend another night in that Gods-forsaken place, but only to retrieve my gear and get as far away as I possibly could. Despite the dangers of the wilds at night, I much preferred the forest’s denizens to the disgusting ‘people’ that called that vile little town their home. That wasn’t the only reason for my hasty departure—I also knew that if I remained there much longer, my temper might drive me to slit quite a few more throats.
It only took me a few moments to gather up my things, but when I passed through the common room on my way outside, the place had completely emptied out. Only the barmaid sat sobbing on the floor, her cheeks still tinted with the macabre patterns of blush I’d placed on them.
I paid her no mind as I went outside, part of me wondering if the patrons would be waiting to ambush me as I walked out onto the street. Honestly, I kind of hoped they’d try. Although I’d been unwilling to initiate another round of combat, had they forced my hand, I would have gladly slain many, many more of them.
It was with a distinctly mixed set of emotions that I found those streets completely empty, and I wandered out of town in the eerie silence, with no other option but to resume my journey northwards once again.
7
I traveled through the wilderness for several days, never daring to stop for even just one night in any of the other small towns I came across. After the bitter experience I’d had, I finally learned my lesson—I couldn’t trust anyone at all.
Yet I didn’t allow that harsh reality prevent me from finding out as much as I could. I took advantage of the opportunity each of those villages provided to listen in on the conversations around me while enjoying a meal or two in the comfort of their inns. Whispered words about the Lords and Ladies who ruled those lands dominated many of those discussions, and I learned a great deal from the scattered pieces I was able to patch together.
Although it happened most frequently in the towns located next to one of the large fortified castles, the more remote villages were only somewhat safe from being ‘culled’ as many called it—the occasions when one of their overlords paid a visit to choose some victim that had the misfortune of catching their fancy. Nor did the Nér-vrogan seem to feel any need to be reserved in their actions, frequently hauling away several individuals at a time on their excursions. The… liberties they took with their subjects seemed to be so outrageous that I wondered why anyone still resided within the Nér-vrogan Realms, an issue that was soon clarified for me as well.
The Nér-vrogan outposts didn’t just provide for their own protection; the Sentinels also patrolled the surrounding lands, keeping them clear of the various dangers that might threaten the people—at least threats other than their own masters. The wilds beyond those borders were treacherous, filled with all manner of beasts, bandits, and monsters. The only chance of escape was to flee to the so-called ‘Free Lands,’ but that journey required a long trek through the untamed regions; a perilous task that few were equipped or even willing to undertake. Under those dire circumstances, I could appreciate why many had chosen the relative safety that the Nér-vrogan Lords offered. The price for that safety was quite steep, however, requiring them to submit to the various whims of their benefactors… whatever those might be. For my part, I hoped that avoiding the Lords’ castles, keeping to the forest, and spending as little time as possible in town would prevent me from becoming the subject of one of the Lords’ attentions; there was absolutely no chance that I’d allow myself to become one of their… playthings.
After spending one too many times sleeping on the cold ground, I decided it was worth taking the risk to sleep in a warm bed for at least one night. I’d traveled a fair way from the last castle I’d seen in the distance and desperately needed a good bit of rest, so I rolled the dice, paid for a room, and found a seat at a darkened corner table.
The waitress was quite friendly, and I found myself drawn to her genuine smile when she served me my food. Her flaming red hair and crystal-blue eyes were striking, yet I noticed that not a single patron treated her with anything but the utmost respect. That was most unusual; even in the best of taverns, a woman as attractive as her would often receive a bit of unwanted attention. I did detect a few furtive glances cast in my direction, but as a stranger to this small town, they didn’t strike me as anything out of the ordinary. Although I kept my guard up, I took the display of courtesy as a sign that this village was nothing like the one where I’d met Slade.
My intuition seemed to be proven correct as the evening wore on. Although the drinks flowed freely—excessively in some cases—the mood never turned sour. If anything, the people seemed to only grow friendlier as time went by. I actually relaxed a bit and enjoyed the pleasant atmosphere of the patrons’ song and dance for a time, eventually deciding to stay for just one more night. With the
road in front of me promising to be both hostile and uncertain, I didn’t know when I might happen upon a safe haven like this again.
“Will you be having another, Sentinel?” The barmaid asked with a quick glance at my empty mug.
“Thank you, Kyrah, but no,” I replied, using the name she’d given me when I’d inquired earlier. “And I’m no Sentinel, just a traveler passing through.”
“Bandit, you mean.” She cast a knowing look at the blades still sheathed across my back. “I’m no fool, Ashíel; none of us are. The weapons you carry are forbidden. Only a Sentinel or an outlaw would bear them so openly.”
Oh, shit. I’d fucked up, again.
In all my eavesdropping, I’d failed to discover that little nugget of information. Obviously, the Nér-vrogan didn’t simply rely on their sheep submitting blindly to their authority; they ensured it by keeping the population almost completely unarmed. I’d noticed only a few weapons as I traveled the land, barely a handful of hunting bows and a scattering of daggers during the entire time I’d been here. The lack of arms hadn’t registered as anything significant to me at the time—another oversight I’d just paid dearly for. Despite my misstep, I still wanted to spend some time there, but mending the bridge I’d likely burnt required me to take a leap of faith—not exactly something I was eager to do.
“I’m not from here, Kyrah,” I confessed, feeling my heart begin to race inside my chest as I opened myself up to her. “Honestly, I know very little about this place; I’m just trying to stay alive.”
Second Skin: Wayward: A litRPG Adventure (Second Skin Book 7) Page 5
