Tale of The Broken Sword

Chapter Seventeen : Unexpected Act

15th July, AD 1656

City Of Jyona, Aurelia

Later that day...

It was already dark and Everent couldn’t see anything from a distance. The typical night fog has settled it and he would use it to his advantage. Scaling down the rooftops, he worked his way towards the compound where his target could’ve been. But in the midst of all those, he thought deeply about the Grand Passage. It has been a long time since it emerged from the skies and the Aurelian Sky Monitoring Department usually announces it to the public.

There had been rumours that those who enter into the Grand Passage often never came back. True enough, some of the pioneering travellers, daredevils who will risk their lives to enter and explore the mysteries of the raging clouds often went missing after that. Including even some who were forced to enter into it for a mission, like his brother.

Everent remembered little about the Grand Passage. But he once remembered that he had gone into the Grand Passage before but what comes after that was trapped deep into his mind, locked away from himself. Those fragments of memory proved too little for him to remember his about past in the Grand Passage.

Running down from the rooftops and brought himself down into the corridor, Everent kept his head low and his eyes alert for any movements. If he was caught trespassing in a restricted area, he would be punished like those of thieves and robbers: prison or eve death by firing squad. That made Everent shudders with fear. He would make sure that his endeavours would proceed without any distractions or disturbances.

Everent too remembered what Krom had said to him before he left the bar:

“Whatever you do, don’t get yourself caught. There will be serious consequences for that.”

“I won’t” Everent muttered silently. He didn’t realise that he had said that, but nevertheless, words of comfort could come in handy whenever he’s in a desperate situation. Breaking through the wooden windows of the adjacent building next to the compound, he noticed a guard stood by in the corridors overlooking the entire compound. Everent approached him from behind and gave the poor guard a slit on the throat. Blood smeared everywhere and the guard dropped dead on the floor. Everent was used to it; he had seen many deaths and tortures of their enemies. The screams of those who died during tortures had hardened his mental strength.

Dragging the guard’s body into the shadows, he moved on to the next area. Going down into the lower levels of the building using the stairs, he ran across the hallway and into the door leading to the alley. He gave it a little push and the door cracked open. Everent slipped into the alley and quickly closed the door. The alley was infused with soft light glowing from the flickering street lamps.

But the sergeant saw another guard who stood at the alley. Fearing that he might give out Everent’s cover upon noticing him, Everent had no choice but to kill that man too.

Within a heartbeat, he rushed to the man and knocked him down. But the guard recovered quickly and trying to reach for his pistol in his holster belt. By the time he had taken it out, Everent kicked it away and tried to stab the guard with his knife. He was too slow and the guard kicked his leg, making Everent fall backwards and losing his knife.

Feeling woozy, he staggered away from the guard trying to escape from him but the guard caught up to him nevertheless. With a knife on his hand, the guard lunged towards the sergeant. Despite himself, Everent closed his eyes, ready to accept death. But nothing happened except for a sound of a body falling onto the ground.

He opened his eyes and saw the body of the guard lay still on the ground, with a small knife stuck to his back. Staring at the guard in disbelief, he wondered who it might have been helping him. Suddenly, a figure dropped to the ground from the rooftops and it approached Everent in a silent but a quick manner.

After a few steps, the figure reveals itself and the sergeant was delighted to see the familiar face of the man who has helped him.

“Heimman!” Everent said happily.

“If I hadn’t come sooner, you would be dead.” Heimman sighed.

“But why are you here?” Everent asked.

“Well,” Heimman pulled out the knife from the body of the guard. “Krom told me that you’re on an assassination mission. So he’d asked me to help along too.”

“That old man...” Everent cursed.

“Hey, if it wouldn’t for the old man, you would be dead by now.” Heimman frowned. “And I’ve missed the men’s invitation for a bar party. So you owe me big time.”

“Yeah, I owe you a lot.” Everent snorted. “Thanks anyway.”

“No problem.” Heimman smiled. “So let’s get with this mission already, The sooner we can finish this, the faster I can get to bed.”

“Right,” Everent sighed.

Everent took the lower grounds while Heimman scaled up the rooftops, both aiding each other in dealing with guards regardless of their positions. Working their way towards the inner compound, Everent finally arrived at the room where the target was holed up in. Heimman caught up with him moments later. With the both of them acquiring the element of surprise, they readied themselves for the next encounter.

Silently counting up to three, the both of them barged into the room and made quick work of the guards in the room. Thankfully, there were only four guards and they seem to be amateurs, unlike Heimman and Everent who were veterans who’ve killed many soldiers before them. But the trader took the opportunity to escape from the room using the backdoors.

“He’s running away!” Heimman shouted. “Come on, let’s go!”

“I’ll be there,” Everent was busy disarming the guard before him. “You go first!”

Heimman ran across the empty streets, peering across the pillars and windows for the trader. Then he saw a black figure desperately searching for another way out. Approaching the figure silently, Heimman was about to pounce onto the trader. But a dog barked at the soldier, and the trader freaked out.

“Fuck,” Heimman cursed at himself. “Damn dog.”

Heimman was beginning to lose his stamina and his pace began to fell short. The view of the trader seemed to be diminishing little by little as he ran. But then, as the trader ran around the corner, a person extended his arm and knocked the trader onto the ground.

Heimman squinted his eyes and it was Everent, approaching the trader with a knife on his hand. He expected the sergeant would be slaughtering the poor trader mercilessly but it happened otherwise. A long conversation ensued and there was a deep paused between them.

Heimman approached the both of them and Everent punched the trader until he was unconscious. Everent reached out and held the trader’s ornamental amulet hung around his neck, and then gave it a sharp yank. The chain around the trader’s neck snapped.

“Why?” Heimman asked.

“This man doesn’t deserve to be dead. Gahard’s a lying piece of shit. This guy doesn’t do anything like that man had said.” Everent replied.

“Right,” Heimman snorted “And the amulet?”

“Proof that I’ve ‘killed’ him”

Heimman nodded in silence and shifted his view to the trader lying against the wall.

“He must have been grateful that you didn’t kill him.”

“Yeah,” Everent smiled. “Lucky him.”

“So, the mission’s over, yes?” Heimman stretched himself.

“Yeah, we’re going home.”

Everent knew that Gahard won’t be fooled easily. But Everent doesn’t really care anymore of the Grand Passage. He knew time would come for him to explore it once more and the relation it has with his brother’s death would come to light. But for now, he was tired and he would only do the rest for tomorrow.