Silver Wolfs

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

                I lounged atop a roof in the 6th Ward, basking in the sunlight and enjoying the time I owned to myself until I was called upon for the gig I had as a Cudgel for a local crime lord at the sixth afternoon bell. My battered brown leather armor strapped on, as always, with my trinkets and good luck charms rattling at every motion, marking me as Wolf, the infamous mercenary and sometimes Wraith.

I marveled at how empty the Rampant was, and how simple it would be to break into one of the shops below me and steal everything of value. If I did I’d only have the once chance since the security would become harsher in the entire Rampant after such a crime. I remember walking past an amazing jewelry story several blocks away whose jeweler was commonly ridiculed as the gods granted him the ability to craft masterpieces, but never made him look like one.

                I contemplated which illegal action I might perform today was interrupted by a boy sprinting down the high road, followed by near six angry men with steel drawn. The boy running stopped a moment and threw a hurried look at his surroundings before running down the alley running parallel with the house I was on. The men pursuing him followed down the alley.

“This should prove entertaining,” he thought, crawling to the edge of the house’s roof to continue my overlook.

The light from the sun illuminated what was unfolding below him. The men chasing him stopped after entering the alley, because he stood halfway down it with his own sword drawn, a bastard sword. “Ha, he’ll get bagged for sure.” At least I myself would hopefully enjoy the boy’s death. I felt no guilt or sadness at his impending death, and my lack of effort to save him. My father always said, “Don’t get involved in other peoples affairs.” Well, my father might have told him that if I had known him, and it seemed like an accurate guess my father would have said it. Not that I would help the boy even if I had a sense of moral right and wrong, the men chasing after him were all Silvers and out of my caliber.

The alley was too narrow for all the men, counting at seven now, to move any more than two side-to-side with room to swing their weapons. The lad waited for them to come to him, sword pointing at them. A man in the back began snarling orders, making him the ringleader. The first two to enter the alley took tentative steps forward as they tried to find the room to easily stand side by side before reaching boy, who waited patiently for them to arrive.

One of the two charged him after closing most of the distance, swinging down at the boy in the confined space. It didn’t seem to bother the lad at all. Flattening himself against the wall, he dodged the blow so it connected with the ground in ringing steel and countered. He kicked the blade itself to throw the Silver’s balance and thrust his own sword into his foot. I heard it connect with the ground before the pained scream of the Silver roared. The Silver was just as surprised as I at this turn, but thankfully without the added pain.

The boy didn’t hesitate to remove the sword from the man’s foot, blood on its edge, and shove him away. With one of his feet incapacitated the man toppled hard onto the cobblestone. His partner apparently had more common sense and took small wary steps to the boy, not wanting to end up as his companion on the ground clenching his foot to stall the bleeding. The man in the back ordered two more to follow help the one down there already and went farther down the alley himself.

The boy wasn’t going to wait for the other men to join the one standing and rushed to meet him, jumping over the Silver whose foot he stabbed and crashed  into the standing Silver. The Silver didn’t fall as the other had, but he did wobble from the impact. The boy on the other hand fell completely on his ass, apparently he misjudged his own weight and strength as compared to the older and larger soldier. He was still on his back when the soldier raised his sword to plunge it into him.