Brazen

Chapter 1 Elf, Save the Man!

Chapter 1 Elf, save the man 

Karros stood firmly on top of a stone and wood house, glaring the city of Naginia. The chimneys' smoke bellowed in the chilly night and the people's pipes bellowed even more. Strangers, gangsters, and travelers roamed the stony streets with their cloaks wrapped tightly and their hood pulled fully just like Karros. No family dared to wander at night. The goons that were out now would use this time to steal and murder and then use the dark as a cover. Of course even if they were caught the witness would be too frightened to turn the goon in.

 Karros of course did not fear anyone. They feared him. He wore the hood so they would pick on him. Then he would give them several cracked bones and countless bruises. He stared at one man in particular. A man named Theol Turns. He was working for an Orc named Grok, the same Orc Karros was hired to kill. Theol pushed through the crowd with authority. They knew what messing with Theol meant: dealing with Grok.

He dropped into a crouch and slowly followed his path, jumping rooftop to rooftop. Karros’s footsteps were that of an elf’s and so was his precision in each of his jumps. He never exerted more energy than he needed to, he always used the exact amount.

 The cloak behind him flowed like a misty flag made of shadow, flapping at times. No one payed attention to the noise, they thought it was a crow soaring through the starry sky. Karros halted and glared once more at Theol who had also stopped. Theol had apparently started talking to some thugs who were quite muscular.

Karros strained his ears to listen but he heard something more important. The sound of an arrow being nocked ready to launch. Karros pushed backwards with his feet awkwardly and fell back as an arrow whizzed past his face. The assailant was a stocky fellow who had a brown hood on. Karros scowled under his hood. Then he realized Theol and the thug had found out they were being spied on because of the thunk sound the arrow made on a nearby house.

 Theol yelled some command to the thug and the stocky one and the thug both nocked arrows. The stocky one must've been hired to kill the person hired to kill Grok, but how did he know Karros was the one who was hired to kill the orc. Maybe he was seen on the rooftop being suspicious and following Theol.

 Theol was nowhere to be seen and Karros was a target about to be nailed by steel arrowheads. He drew his sword and sprinted away into the south. He could hear the stocky man behind him like a predator about to pounce. The only things that saved him was his unpredictability and the ups and downs of the roofs which made it almost impossible for him to get shot. He leaped to one house to another, this time losing all stealth he had maintained before.

 Arrows whistled over his head and near his body. Soon he would get tired and make a mistake. Then he would not kill Grok and get his money. Suddenly he realized Theol must've alerted some more thugs because he could hear them shout "after him" or "shoot the maggot!"

 He was about to leap again but this time an arrow nicked his left shoulder and he lost his concentration and jumped in an awkward way and his chest hit the wooden roof. The air was violently knocked out of him and he ended up losing his grip on the roof and his sword which clattered away. He dropped to the ground and landed harshly on his chest and belly and the air that was seldom there was blasted out again and the pain that lingered doubled.

 He looked up and saw feet hurtling his way. A kick to the stomach sent more agony gushing through his body. Tears were forced out of his eyes. Another kick, more pain. Then he was lifted from the ground onto his feet. A few shots to his face then finally the stocky man drew his knife and walked towards him with a wicked smile on his plump face. Karros’s nose and mouth bled like a leak in a tankard of blood.