RavenGuard

Part 2

        The early morning light barely lit the dim alley as I ran, occasionally stumbling over a loose stone or rut in the road. 

        'Can't be late today, Cana.' I thought, racing along at a breakneck pace. I slowed as I neared the corner, taking a moment to catch my breath and check around for the client. Sure enough, there he was, standing just outside the door to the pub. When I was certain I was calm and controlled, I walked up to him and leaned against the wall. 

        "It's about time you showed up." He said with a grunt. He was taller than I was by a full head. Anyone could tell he wasn't from around here, with his brushed back hair and freshly cleaned shirt. His cold blue eyes looked at everyone with disgust. 

        "Calm it ya Fancy. I get here when I get here." I said confidently, adjusting my cap by the brim. Nobody likes a girly telling them what's up, so I had to hide my hair when on the job. "What's got a Stiff like you down in the gutter anyway?" 

        "Do you have the information or not you little rat?" He turned hsi icy gaze in my direction.

        "Coin first, then you get what ya came here for." I replied, holing out my palm. 

       "No, you give me my information first, then you get paid." He refused to even turn his head down towards me, instead peering down the bridge of his nose. 

        " Well I guess I'd better get along to my, ah, paying customers. If you need anything else, you know where to find me." I turned to leave, but his hand gripped my arm like an iron trap. I turned and held out my palm like before. He dropped four copper marks into my grasp. I glared at him, waving my fingers. With a grunt, he let go of my arm and pulled out four more, and another four when I repeated my finger waggling gesture. Satisfied, I tucked my total of twelve coppers into my pocket and grinned. 

        "Apparently," I began, lowering my voice. "There's a duke or somethin' comin' to the fort. Should be here tomorrow. Word is, he's got a wizard with 'em." I said, streching my arms. 

        "What would a wizard be doing at the fort?" The man asked, almost to himself. 

        "How should I know?" I retorted. "Anyways, all the guards are in a huff about it, sayin' there's some kind 'a demon in there he's got to kill." I turned to walk again, but he trapped my arm. 

        "You have to tell me more." He said quietly, a worried expression crossing his face. "I didn't come all the way down in the pits for this." 

        "Hey, that's all I got. Better luck next time." I grinned and jogged off to my next client of the day. Twelve coppers was pretty good pay. 

        'Stiffs don't know the value of their own coin." I thought to myself, turning into the nearest alley and running into something hard. 

        I fell backwards, hitting my right shoulder on the corner wall with a cry. I felt my cap fall off, my whispy white hair falling loose with it. The air had been knocked out of me, and for a few panicked moments, I couldn't breathe. When I finally did draw in a lungfull of stinking Rivertown air, it came back out accompanied by a high pitched wail. The jerking motion had shoved the bone out of its socket, I realized. I sat up to find an older man kneeling in front of me. 

        The man was dressed quite strangely, with a long regal blue robe and a matching brimmed hat. His face was beginning to wrinkle at the edges, indicative of his age. Thick, round spectacles sat low on his nose as he leaned down to me. 

        "Oh, miss. I hate to have caused you pain, even by accident." His deep voice was thick with kindness and concern, traits often not seen in these parts. He motioned to my shoulder, which I was cradling with the other arm. "Allow me to help you, miss." 

        I stared at him for a few seconds before nodding. He took my arm in his long fingers and gently pressed into in, moving his hands upwards. When his prodding reached the back of my shoulder, I let out another cry. He nodded, his greying eyebrows knotting together in thought. 

        "Hmm..." He placed his hands on either side of the shoulder joint, being very gentle. "There will be a sharp pain, but it will only last a moment." He said calmly. He waited for my deep breath and a nod before he proceeded. 

        He wasn't lying. The stabbing pain pierced my shoulder for an instant, before ebbing away, leaving only a throbbing soreness. I motioned to move it, but he shook his head. The man closed his eyes and breathed very deeply, his palms floating fractions of an inch from my skin. 

        "Stay very still miss. This will ease your pain." He said. I just sat there, in a bit of a daze. His hands began to glow with a soft, white light, eminating from a ring on his right hand. My body welcomed the sudden warmth, my muscles relaxing. I was mesmerized as the glow faded. I opened my mouth to ask the man what he had done, but I found myself alone in the alley, as if nothing had happened at all.