The Druid Guardian

Chapter 9: Tying Up Loose Ends

-Third Person of Criminals-

Both crooks that worked for Marcus bolted as soon as they were free from Terra's vines.

After encountering not only Terra, the Druid Guardian but also Crimson Rogue, The Red Serpent, it was clear that this job wasn't worth it.

Once they were far enough away from Terra and Rogue, they stopped to catch their breaths. Both of them lifted their hooded cloaks.

One of the crooks had Tar black hair and was in his thirties. The other crook had amber brown hair and was in his twenties.

The crook with the Tar hair had a muscular build, while his partner was skinny. The skinny crook may not have a perfect build like his partner, but that didn't mean he wasn't useful.

Although the amber-haired crook wasn't powerful, he didn't have to rely on his muscles, but his mind. Unfortunately, this didn't stop him from feeling cowardly.

"What the hell do we do now?!" One of the crooks asked.

"How am I suppose to know?! I say we get out of this city and start a new life." The crook answered.

"But what about the boss, Eddy?"

"To hell with the boss! I'm more afraid of Terra and Rogue! Both their reputations spread fear into the hearts of all criminals. They're more known than our supposed boss." The crook named Eddy specified.

"But the boss said that he had something special for Terra. So, we can take care of Terra."

"What's gotten into you? You were all for abandoning this job, but now you want to take it?"

Seeing his partners change his mind about the job surprised him. Especially when they just escaped the holds of both Terra and Crimson Rogue.

"Look, man, this job will get us paid. Like you said before, we need the money."

"What's going on? There's no way that you would go through this job after what just happened."

Eddy wasn't convinced about his partner still in it for the money. This guy was hiding something.

Eddy's partner didn't say anything for a few seconds. He looked nervous.

"The hell's going on, Simon? You better not be hiding anything from me."

Eddy had known Simon for almost three years. During those three years, they worked on jobs together.

They were mostly mercenary jobs or heists, but both crooks trusted each other. The fact that Simon was hiding something from Eddy means it's grave.

"Simo-Oof!"

Out of nowhere, Simon thrust his fist into Eddy's stomach. The impact was enough to make Eddy fall over.

With what remaining energy Eddy had left, he looked up at Simon. His face asked: Why?

Simon just stared at Eddy for a couple of seconds. He then crouched down, so he could properly look at Eddy.

"Apologies, Ed, but I can't have you bailing out on me. If you escaped, who knows what could happen with the information you know. You understand, right?"

Eddy didn't have a clue what Simon was talking about. The pain in his stomach prevented him from speaking.

That punch must've knocked the wind out of Eddy. All he could do was stare in pain.

"Since you have information that needs to be kept secret, I must take action."

Simon then pulled out a dagger. It was the one that Rogue tossed at them.

Eddy knew where this was going and tried to run away. Unfortunately, it was pointless because the pain in his gut was too severe.

How strong was Simon? That thought crossed Eddy's mind.

Since Eddy couldn't escape, Simon drew closer to him.

"It's unfortunate, Edward. I thought you would be a valuable pawn for Master, but I see that's not the case."

Simon was speaking more nonsense. Eddy didn't know what Simon was saying.

Who was this Master? Why did Simon call him a pawn?

Eddy couldn't help but ask these questions through his head. Unfortunately, he'll never get the answers to them.

Simon then grabbed Eddy and stabbed him in the chest. Eddy could feel a tremendous amount of pain from the blade.

Unlike the pain in his gut, Eddy felt a burning sensation where the dagger struck him. Suddenly, blood started to cough out of Eddy's mouth.

He was practically choking on it. It was getting harder to breathe with each intake of oxygen.

His sight was getting fuzzy to where he could barely see anything. It was like he was drunk out of his mind, but the pain in his chest told him he was dying.

That burning in his chest was unbearable. With what remaining strength he had, he tried to get Simon off him.

When Eddy grabbed Simon's hand that had the dagger, he attempted to pull the blade out. Unfortunately, Edward didn't have enough strength to pull of his goal.

Simon then pulled out the dagger from Eddy's chest. The red liquid started gushing out of Eddy's chest where the blade was.

Eddy was losing alot of blood and fast. He didn't know what to do.

Eddy's eyes began to black out on him. With all his remaining will and strength, he looked up at Simon, the one that stabbed him.

"G-g-go . . . To . . . H-hell."

After saying this, Eddy collapsed on the ground. The blood began to pour out his Eddy as his body laid on the ground lifeless.

"After all the things I've done, Edward, it's to be expected that I'm going to hell. You'll just be going there first."

After exchanging words, Simon dumped Eddy's body and walked back to where his boss was.

Out of nowhere, a shadowed figure appeared in front of Simon.

"So, he didn't go on with the mission?" The shadowed figure asked.

The figure was referring to Eddy.

"Unfortunately, yes. It seems recent events shifted Edward's mind."

"What recent events?" The figure asked with confusion.

"Earlier, Edward and I encountered Terra, The Guardian of the Forest."

The shadow figure didn't say anything. Simon then continued with his briefing.

"Not only that, but it seems Crimson Rogue was also involved."

"This is most troublesome." The shadow figured said.

"Quite so. Please inform Marcus of this immediately."

"Understood."

The shadow figured then rushed off into the street and disappeared.

Simon then continued his walk back to where his boss, Marcus, was.

"Such a pity. It's a disappointment that we had to lose such a valuable potential pawn. Master isn't going to be happy, will he?"

Asking himself this, Simon pondered about how his Master will react.

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading this chapter and I hope you'll read more of them. Please comment on the chapter to tell me what you think and vote on it if you think it deserves it.

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See Ya!