Fayde: The Marauders of Vesper

Chapter 4: An Orc's Tale

So... here it is! the supposed to be two part special before the "plan" is put to action. Yes, more backstory with a twist. Most of the chapter, Toralf to Orc tells his tale. How did an orc reach the continent of Men? find out!

Theo

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Memories— hours drifted as Toralf and Damian reminisced on the days that had gone by. The Orc spoke of a tale— A tale of two bounty hunters named Light and Darkness. For they are the root of what the Goodfellows are now today.

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   It was five years ago, two figures hooded and masked started to stir the town with rumors and news. They were called Light and Darkness— for one had a mask of white and one of black. At first, they were dismissed as a couple of crazy folk just trying to catch attention. Still, with all the judgment the townspeople bestowed upon them, they did not cease their activities.

   Stopping thieves and Beating up troublemakers in the city— that was where they started. By the time the guards hear the news of a commotion, Light and Darkness are already at the scene. By the time the guards arrive, the hooligans were now tied up and unconscious— ready to be sent to jail.

   In time, people started to appreciate their works. With it, criminals started to think twice before making a foul action. Light and Darkness became recognized as the invisible hands of justice that served to protect Dusktown. By day, no one knows their identities. With the common people, they lived their lives. Ordinary jobs, ordinary tasks and ordinary friends— unknown and hiding in plain sight, they were. But by night, they take up their mantles and deliver the help and justice the guards sometimes lack.

   Not long after, the two’s actions became more serious. Taking up the role as bounty hunters, they hunted the most wanted men hiding at the pits and corners of Dusktown. The guards were shocked when men and women wanted by the law were tied and gagged at the jail’s front door. Name by name, the list of criminals faded from the wanted list. More and more were locked up behind iron bars.

   There was something odd, however. Each criminal they turned in had a wound. A wound on the forehead and it seemed like a symbol. It was unclear at first but after the wound heals, it takes on a shape of an eight-sided star being encircled by a crescent moon. It became their symbol— a mark of their capture and a mark of a criminal. To bear the star and moon means that you have wronged Dusktown and paid the price.

   With every capture, a black sack appeared by the mayor’s door. Embedded on it was the same symbol of star and moon. The mayor once reached into the sack and found a small piece of paper. On it, a message was written:

“Another bears the mark.

The star of sinners covered by the swift moon of justice.

We ask nothing but the glimmer of gold from the bounty we humbly ask.

For light and Darkness, no evil surpassed.”

 

   The message was clear— they asked to be paid for their services. Thinking it was all fair and just, the mayor obliged. After all, they were doing his town a favor. With the mayor’s instructions, his men filled the sack with gold— gold enough for the bounty they have earned. Before dusk, the sack would appear on the mayor’s door. The night would pass and news of the capture would reach the mayor’s ears. He would then put the money the two deserved as a reward inside the sack and leave it be. By dawn the sack of gold was gone.