Second part of the Slavers arc, going deeper into the darker sides of Arch. Enjoy.

Blood and gutters II

Craywin's world was a blurry mass of jittering images, screams and smoke. Laying on his stomach and tasting blood in his mouth, he closed his eyes, hoping that the ringing in his ears will go away. Spitting out blood, he pulled himself up with a pained grunt, noticing that his sword-arm wrist was rather painful. Some detached, mostly calm part of his mind told him it was sprained, or maybe broken.

But then another explosion shook the solid floor from under his feet again, throwing him down on the wobbling planks of the pier on which he stood. Feeling more blood fill his mouth from where he had bit his tongue, he spat, managing to get himself up on his knees.

He distinctly remembered coming there with Ashen, sneaking in from the top while she remained outside, ready to provide a distraction or backup if needed. What he found inside were dead guards on the upper floors, every one killed with one strike, most of them taken by surprise.

Now half of the place was burning by the looks of it. Craywin reached for his sword, the ringing in his ears finally gone. Then he noticed the broken body of one of the prisoners by him. The girl was maybe fifteen, her once bright blue hair now dyed crimson, sticking to her face, her left arm twisted and broken. Empty blue eyes stared ahead, devoid of life. The girl he had promised to return alive to her parents.

In midst of all the madness, he took a moment to close her eyes. There were several more bodies nearby, scorched and just as broken, each a gruesome sight to behold. I am sorry. I didn't save you...

He looked about, blinking as his eyes adjusted.What has..?

Then he remembered. Someone already beat him to the man responsible for the small slave ring.

An assassin and an elementalist, employed by someone whose name he did not hear, took care of the slavers. The assassin was short, lean man, with short cut black hair and dark brown eyes that could be easily mistaken to be black. He wore light leather armour, over which he wore some sort of cloak, good for hiding, which reminded Cray of the attire his old mentor wore. On the other hand, the elementalist was a huge bald man, all muscle and tattoos, wielding a bladed staff.

When Craywin got up, he realized that he was thrown out of the warehouse, back on the open pier. He could hear growling of a charr from the inside, as well as the mad laughter of a man. When his eyes fell on the assassin, who was waiting few feet away from him, he remembered those last few missing pieces.

The assassin's name was Li. Craywin heard that much when the elementalist killed the last of the slavers. When asked what to do with the caged prisoners, Li told the huge man that he had no need for them, whereupon the elementalist moved his staff in front of the first cage. Craywin got down on the bottom level fast enough, flinging his dagger at the brute, but it was for nothing, because the man didn't even register the blade that sunk into his shoulder.

From below the warehouse, several ice shards, each size of a horse or bigger, struck up. The girls in the first cage were skewered and torn, blood spraying everywhere, dying the ice crimson.

Then Ashen brought down a part of the ceiling on top of them, falling down on top of the elementalist with a vicious war cry. Wood splintering all around them from the magic being thrown about, Craywin rushed at Li, who drew his own blade, an elegant, slightly curved one sided blade.

But before they could fight properly, Li's partner used a spell on a magnitude Craywin has seldom seen. The entirety of the warehouse exploded, spraying burning wood far around, into the bay and among other warehouses, taking any remaining prisoners along with those fighting inside. He found himself taken off his feet by the blast.

Ah... so that's what had happened... Craywin stood up, feeling the pain. He faced the assassin.

"You survived." it was a polite remark, no viciousness or smugness in it.

"I am hard to kill." Craywin replied, gripping the handle of his sword in tranquil fury, ignorant of the raging pain in his wrist.

I messed up again...

Li opened his mouth to say something, but Cray had none of it. Rushing straight at him, he flicked a second dagger at the man, who deflected it with ease. Still, he closed in enough to fight.

Why is it that I never seem to...

His first strike, a slash from the right side, missed by a small margin, merely drawing blood from the assassin, who managed to step back on time. Cray parried a thrust, kicking out at the man, but was avoided. Li then narrowly ducked under another slash, kicking the legs under Cray, who fell with a pained grunt, hitting his head on the hard wood.

I can never save everyone, no matter how hard I try, can I, Carys?

Craywin rolled out of Li's reach, coming up just in time to block a vicious overhead slash. Even then, he got a kick in the mouth for his trouble, which gave the assassin an opportunity to disarm him when he tried to clumsily parry another slash, his wrist not responding properly. His dagger skittered off the dock into the water below.

Still, he managed to dodge the following slash, getting only a cut across his face instead of losing half of his head. There was a flash of intense pain and he found himself cornered, his face alight with agony. That curved blade came about and he had no way of dodging it in time, not as tired and banged up as he was.

Gah... looks like my luck has finally run out.

Then there was a crackling blast of light, the smell of ozone following it and the assassin was blown off the pier with a surprised and quite startled gasp, much to Craywin's amazement. Someone's strong paw gripped him by the arm, yanking him on his feet.

Ashen looked as bad as he, parts of her fur burnt and a nasty gash across her right forearm. She gave him a stern look, letting go of his arm once she realized that he still had it in him to stand.

"Did..." he managed to say "... did anyone survive?"

"No, nobody survived, human. They prepared that blast beforehand." she replied, ignoring his downcast eyes. "Follow me, we need to go before the guards grab us."

"My name is Craywin. Not human." he told her as they run between the warehouses, avoiding the stream of oncoming guards. Running in a straight line was rather difficult and concentration consuming.

She paused, looking over her shoulder at him. Craywin looked her in the one working eye, stern in the gloom of the night. For a few moments, he questioned her motives, curiosity getting the best of him, but then she turned her back on him and continued on.

"Fine. Keep up then, Craywin."