Liridia

Chapter 2: The battle of wood and metal

Liridia
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With the first breath of fresh air as I open the creaky window slowly calms me.

The smell of grass, the canopy of trees and the garden beneath me. I climb down the wall quickly and jump the last few meters and land on the balls of my feet like a cat.

Looking around for the guards that are about to come to the edge of the building and walk to where I'm standing that should be coming in four... three... and I jump into the bush, dragging my satchel behind me, making little more than a rustle of noise.

The heavily clad guards cross paths and continue walking, looking in my general direction and turning the corner, now's my chance. I swiftly creep out of the bush and dive into the safety of the bushes and thicket.

As I turn around I see the glint of emeralds in the bush, staring at me with an almost mocking sparkle 'Ha ha, nice one. You left me behind, you damn fool.' All other thoughts race out of my mind and my number one priority is now that good for nothing hunk of wood.

I open the now untrusty leather satchel and pull out the dart shooter, a simple, small and hollow bamboo pole with three darts in a heavily reinforced case made by a blacksmith who owed me a favour after I killed the man who murdered his wife and child.

You see, I don't need money as payment, just favours, of which it could be anything. And the kills have to have meaning, like a disgusting man I killed not very long ago raped and abused my friend's wife, so he made a deal with me that for me to kill him, he owed me a favour, but I insisted upon that he would owe a favour, but not a hefty one.

I pull out the dart tipped with the poison the Tawabi people gave me as a gift for helping them in the Ogre wars and load the shooter, taking extra care while doing it as quickly as I can. I hold the pipe to my lips and aim just above the passing guards head as he is some distance away with his shiny armour gleaming like a target above his wide head.

I inhale through my nose to fill my lungs and unleash a mighty breath, the dart shoots out of the pipe, making a high pitched whistling noise as it sails its way towards the target.

It slips through the tiny gap in his helmet for him to see and it embeds itself into his eyeball, he screams and tries to pull it out, but only succeeds in pushing it further into his eye socket with his irrational movements.

He cries for help and the guards that heard his pleas come around the corner, five of them rush towards him, now unconscious on the ground, writhing with blood spurting out of his eye. I refill the shooter and let loose, the darts finding their way to the targets assigned, the guard who had a stocky build and the guard that noticed me first from this terrible vantage point.

I sprint for the box, the gems glinting in the light of the sun, but my course is diverted to the guard who is charging towards me, his brown eyes flashing through the slit in his armour. I match my pace to his and push off the ground, my knife flying for the vulnerable part in between his eyes.

The hilt of the knife is now stuck in his helmet, but he was knocked out from the blow to his head, and I have no weapons. I pick up the unconscious guard and hoist him up, his armour making him a deadweight and I use him as a meat shield, swords slashing into his armour instead of mine. They close around me, swords swinging and taunting me with steps towards me but quickly back away again.

I throw my meat shield at the tall, lanky guard and grab the box in my hand using it as a weapon, slamming it into the hardest part of his head, he goes limp. I spin and ready myself, my senses ready to pounce and claw the sneers off of their faces.