Tales of the Misfit
Chapter 2: The Courier
The day had begun with the usual hustle of the Imperial city, a fine mighty city mind you. Damn nice with it's tall grand buildings and walls, and not to forget the white gold tower where our great Emperor once lived. (Sadly, he recently passed away, murdered by cowardly assassins). At such, It was indeed a mighty fine day for me, the Black Horse Courier. I will not say my name, as you have no need to know this poor bastard's name. But, even in misery, I still find happiness. For I am living in poverty yet couldn't be happier.
Of course, I am a Black Horse Courier worker, a real courier of the glorious company. I distribute copies among the fine folk living in this beauty of a city. They deserve to know the days' events, and for free! Well, I proudly call myself a Courier, bringing the light of the Black Horse newspaper to the dark corners which tend to manifest themselves in such majestic cities.
Well the day was going idly by, and I had just about a few papers left to distribute on the Waterfront district before I would return to the press for more when I noticed this tall, dark figure coming up the path leading to the lighthouse. His pitch dark armor seemed to produce and aura of horror around him, and the thought of being around him made one shiver and perhaps think of running. He had a sort of belt, black with a couple of red stains surrounding what seemed to be a rotting head. He carried this giant blade of which type I had never seen before.
But the first thing I had noticed about him was that he had no paper in his hand! He hadn't heard the days' news! Well, as my job as a Courier, I would not let an innocent citizen of the Empire go without his fair share of the news! I cleared my throat and shouted as he neared ''Get your free copy of the Black Horse Courier!''
I was sure he would stop and ask for one, but, to my surprise and shock, he didn't even slow down; didn't even turn at my direction. Instead, he walked steadily toward that crowded pirate ship that had anchored on our beautiful harbor. I couldn't believe that he was the first person to ignore me completely, well I would not have it!
I began to shadow him, making sure he didn't notice me. He stopped in front of the pirates, who were threatening him like they done so to me the other day. I turned around for a quick glance behind me to see if there were any guards close by. There were a few, then I heard the clash of swords. When I turned around, two out of the three pirates were decapitated on the floor, blood oozing out and down the edges of the ground from the stumps where their heads used to be. I heard the footsteps of feet behind me, but my eyes were glued to the scene. The dark figure grabbed the last pirate by the throat , squeezing out his air for a few seconds before he cleanly sliced his head off. Blood flew up from the gap like a fountain.
The guards arrived at the scene, the glorious protectors of our city. They stopped the dark figure, interrogated him, and then walked away. One of them came my way and said '' Finally someone came and cleaned up all of those damn filthy pirates.''
After the guards had moved out, I slowly approached the scene. The dark figure had stepped into the captain's cabin, Divines know why. I went around the gruesome sight and tried to see into the cabin's window. It was hard to see through it though since salt had collected about and upon the window frame, however, I could hear struggling coming from the inside of the cabin. The grunts then turned into shouts, and the shouts quickly became bloodcurdling screams of pure agony of which I will never forget. Suddenly, blood splattered across the window, forcing me to stumble back. A big mistake. I tripped among the headless bodies, falling into the dark pool of blood. I quickly got up and stared down onto my clothes. They were drenched in blood...so much blood...
The figure emerged from the cabin, and he stared at me, at my bloody clothes, at my pale face. I could see he had another head on his belt, It's blood dripping into the ship's floor, staining the planks a crimson red. The face on that head could only be described as a look of sheer terror.
He stopped looking at me and walked back the way he had come, the new head tied to his belt leaving a path of blood upon the beautiful Imperial path.
I stared at the scene, the bodies of the pirates, the blood spread everywhere, even on me. Everything was horrible, but most horrible of all was that...He hadn't accepted a free copy of the Black Horse Courier from me...
I then realized that in the Empire, evil people existed...