Don't own The Night Angel Trilogy or any of its characters...
Origin of Shadows
Chapter One
Durzo was running across the rooftops. He had just finished his first contract and the guards were after him. He didn't know what to do. He glanced around, looking for a way to lose the guards. There was a ladder to his left and to the right a sheer drop into the river 30 feet below. He choose the river. He knew that they wouldn't follow him. He took a sudden right and leaped into the river.
When the water hit him it felt like he hit solid stone. It didn't help that the water was icy cold either. He swam up trying to reach to the surface to reach the air. He couldn't breath. But he couldn't move. He looked down and tried to see why he couldn't move. Attached to his leg, where he kept his hidden blades, was seaweed. It had wrapped around him and held him there under the water. He reached for his knife on his belt, the one used to kill his target, and tried to cut the damn seaweed off him. He was running out of air. He knew that if he didn't get loose soon he was going to die.
As he tried to hack at the seaweed the water resistance was thwarting him. He was getting furious and terrified. Finally, he got one of them loose. He decided to swim down to get the rest. As he dove deeper, convinced that he was diving to his death, he prayed that some greater being that may exist, would give him some help. Reaching the bottom he grabbed one of his jagged knives, knowing it would cut the seaweed better than everything else he had, and began hacking at it again. But to no avail. The seaweed, it seemed to him, was determined to make this his final resting place.
But he was also determined to get out of this icy water. What the hell am I going to do? he thought. He was out of oxygen and was starting to light-headed. He didn't give up with trying to cut the seaweed though. He knew it was pointless. He was going to die here. He gave up.
He put his dagger back in its sheath and just floated there. He was thinking back to all the best times in his short life. There wasn't much to remember though. He was only thirteen years old. One of the best times in his life was when he was accepted into the assassins guild. He also remembered Vonda, who he met only a year ago, but he thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world. He only talked to her when she was with her older sister because that's the only time he ever saw her. He didn't know her sisters name but he didn't care enough to learn it. If only he was going to live after tonight. He wanted to tell Vonda how he really felt, even if she didn't feel the same way.
He was starting to lose conscious. He blacked out. The last thing he remembered was imagining him and Vonda getting married.
He awoke and saw the sky moving above him. Instinctively, he reached for a dagger. He found they were gone. He heard footsteps approaching and pretended to still be out of it. As the steps got closer he could hear two people talking.
"We should sell him. Bet we could get good money from a pervert or something. He seems like something one of them fag boys would like." said one voice.
"Whatever. I just want him gone. I don't trust him being here. No 13 year old should ever have that many knives." said the other.
As the voices reached him he felt hands grab his arms. As the other grabbed his feet he felt his savior in his sleeve. A hidden blade that even he had forgotten about was still at his arm. He nonchalantly slid it out and stuck it right into the man holding his arms stomach. Leaning forward he reached up to the other man's neck and jammed the knife in his throat. He immediately went back to the other and repeated the motions. Both were silenced in less than five seconds. They didn't even have the chance to notice he'd moved. He looked around him. Taking in the look of the boat. It looked like a fisherman's boat. What scared him wasn't the possibility of more men. He had no clue where he was. The passing scenery wasn't remotely triggering his memory. Or whatever was left of his memory. He tried to remember what had happened, how he would of ended up here, but nothing came. He couldn't even remember his name. Why did he have that knife. Why did he know how to use it.
Trying to remember something, anything, he did remember this face. It was the face of a beautiful young girl. But who was it. He wished he knew. Anger was beginning to set in. How the hell was he able to kill those guys? He didn't even think, he just did it. He was scaring himself. He couldn't think about it now though. He had to get off of this boat.
Looking left and right, he looked for the best way off. He didn't want to run into any crew. He could easily jump off but where the hell would he go. All he saw was water. He heard someone to the left. He ran to the right, into a corner with the most shadows.