Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Hunger

Nero gripped his stomach as it grumbled in pain. He took stock of the two dead squirrels tied on the stripped branch that his companion was carrying, “Brim won’t be satisfied with dese two rodents. Can’t ye find bigger game, Lorken?”

Lorken, a scraggly man, stirred the small campfire with his sword in frustration, “Oi told yer, ain’t no critters in dese woods. Dem haunted. No animal gonna go anywhere near dese woods. We be wastin’ our time!”

“Brim is gonna be losin’ his patience with us. Yer don’ wanna see ‘em when he’s lost his top. He’ll skin us and feed us to the gang ‘imself.” Nero whined with wide, fearful, eyes.

“Ya tink I don’ know dat, Nero.” He stood up and paced back and forth in an abysmal mood. Flustered and down to his last nerve, his own hunger and the stress of finding little food was driving him over the edge, “Jus’ need to find some fat…” He began to stare at the husky bearded Nero, “Plump…game. Somethin’ dat will feed all of us…dat won’ put up much of a fight…”

Nero began to grow nervous as Lorken stared at him with his beady eyes, “Lork, buddy, ya lookin’ a bit stir crazy. Mayhaps we search the woods a bit more. Maybe a boar or deer will wander our way.”

A shaking in the bush snapped Lorken back to reality. He drew his sword and dagger and turned towards the noise. To his surprise four elven boys stumbled into their encampment, their faces covered in scratches from passing through the brush and thicket. Their clothes were ragged and covered in muck, and a long chain interconnected shackles around their ankles.

Nero grinned at Lorken. A gift from the gods had landed in their laps. The boys fell to their knees, breathing heavily.

One of them looked up with pleading eyes, “Please, Sirs, we need help.”

Lorken swayed to the escapees, twirling his dagger, “Luck be fallen ya dis day, young’un. Oi be Lorken, dis here be my associate, Nero. We’d be ‘appy to help your predicament.”

Myler gleefully smiled, “Oh thank the All-Father! You hear that, guys? We’re saved.”

“Can you help get this chain off us?” Geven asked, tugging at the bond.

“Aye, we can. Oh, but our tools be with our compatriots back at our main camp.” Lorken said, stifling a wicked grin.

The four boys looked at each other and hesitantly agreed.

Elucard spoke up, “Can you lead us there? We would greatly appreciate any help you can give us.”

Nero and Lorken smiled and bowed.

***

The rain had simmered down by the time the group reached the thieves’ encampment. A large bonfire illuminated the area where three more men sat around on logs. They stared at the boys with deep hunger in their eyes. A short, stout man with a great, wide-brimmed buckled hat welcomed the Ravenshore boys’ guides. Lorken whispered in the man’s ear. Elucard was able to make out the man’s name as “Brim.”

Brim nodded keenly at the four boys, “Lorken tells me you need our assistance.” Immediately after speaking, he beckoned the other thieves to join him as they surrounded the boys.

Brim spoke much more eloquently than Lorken and Nero, an aspect that comforted Elucard and his companions.

“Can you lead us back to Ravenshore?” asked Elucard. Hopefulness heightened in his voice. Things seemed to be going his way.

Brim flashed a toothy smile. His teeth were well taken care of and were an ivory white, “Aye, something can be arranged, provided we eat first.”

“Oh, boy! I’m starving!” Myler said as he leaped with joy.

“What’s on the menu?” Geven asked, looking around for any sort of kettle or pans.

Lorken brought his dagger under Geven’s chin, “Actually, you are!”

The elves scrambled in shock as they tripped over themselves, getting their legs tangled in the long chain. The men grabbed the children, who struggled helplessly in their grips as Brim moved closer, baring his sword.

“Hold them still, I’ll begin the carving.”

Elucard gritted his teeth in fear, now fully realizing the dire straits he and the others were in, as he tried in vain to tear himself away from Nero's grip on the collar of his tunic.

“That's it boy, make this easy for – Arrrgh!” Nero threw Elucard away as he trembled, holding his hand in the moonlight. Light glinted off a small dagger driven deep in his hand.

A calm voice echoed around the camp, “Leave the boys, it is not their time to leave the threshold of this world.”

Lorken unsheathed his cutlass and quickly swiveled his head, searching for the source of the voice. The rest of the men drew their knives and hatchets.

Brim sneered, spinning around and calling out, “Who are you? Show yourself!”

The voice continued, ignoring the question, “You have acted against my clan. The only outcome for you all is death.”

Brim shot an enraged glance at Lorken, “Clan? What clan?”

Lorken trembled, stuttering, “I-I don’ know, boss.”

Brim swerved his head back to the blackness of the shadowy woods, “These boys belong to us, who else claims them?”

Nero, shivering in his boots, shouted at his partner, “Lork, we've upset the spirits!” Nero fell to his knees, dropping his sword. Sobbing, he pleaded with the mysterious voice, “Please Master Spirit, we ain't meant no harm! We weren't gonna eat dem elf boys!”

Brim snatched Nero by the ear as he yanked him back up to his feet, “Get a grip of yourself, this isn’t some specter!”

Elucard's eyes were elven, much more adaptable to the night then the human bandits. His mouth slowly opened in awe as he saw a shadowy figure drop silently between two of the thieves. Pulling out a large sword from its back, a flash of steel cleaved through the misty air as it lopped the head off of one of the men. Blood sprayed from the severed neck of the now headless bandit as he tipped over and slammed on the forest floor.

Brim furiously shouted for his men to pay attention to the assailant in the center of their view. The figure wasted no time dispatching another thief as he thrust his blade within his gut.

A hatchet swung in the night, as the ghostly figure sidestepped and connected with a fierce back kick to a bandit’s jaw, hurling him into another as they both crashed into the campfire. A blood curdling scream erupted from the tragic victims.

Lorken cried out, his face a sickening white with fear, “What are you?!”

The threatening individual slashed expertly across Lorken’s throat. As he fell to his knees, choking on oozing blood, the attacker answered his question, “A Black Rabbit.”

Brim pushed Nero in front of himself, “Nero, my friend, do me a favor and slay him and you’ll forever be my right hand man!”

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Nero, blubbering in tears and snot, slid to grovel at the assassin’s feet, “I beg ye, Master Rabbit. Spare me, I ain’t know dem boys were yer kin. I’m innocc–” His pleas were cut short as the Rabbit snapped his neck.

The assassin approached Brim, staring him down with an emotionless face, “These woods belong to us. These boys belong to us. You…”

Brim dropped his rapier and took out a coin purse. He tossed it to the Black Rabbit’s feet and groveled, “You can have my weapon and my money, leave me be. Let’s just forget this night ever happened.”

Elucard watched as his savior dashed in a shadowed blur and cut down Brim in a single, bloody, motion.

“You belong to Alanna.” the assassin finished.

Geven, Izian, and Myler hugged each other, frozen in fear as their mysterious elven rescuer stepped forward to them. He sunk his long sword into the ground, and went to one knee, rummaging for a cloth from Nero’s bag. Without taking notice of the shivering boys, he wiped the blood off his sword.

Elucard shook his head in astonishment, “You took on six men at once! What are you?”

Legion discarded the rag, “I am that which can not be seen. You must tell stories of my acts to truly believe I exist.”

“A ghost?” Elucard asked, taken aback by the riddle.

“An ideal.”

Elucard looked up at the older elf. He was dressed in black with a deep purple cloak draped over his broad shoulders and a mask that covered everything below his eyes. Staring in wonderment at his rescuer as he sheathed his weapon, he looked away only when the elf noticed him gawking.

The man smirked, “Legion.”

Elucard looked back at him with puzzlement, “Huh?”

“My name is Legion.”

***

The tree line on the outskirts of Lost Dawns was still. The only movement came from the slowly ebbing shadows of the branches caused by the shifting clouds that passed through the white moonlight. There, the two assassins held themselves just within reach of that glow.

Vada was First Blade, a position that was the right hand of High Blade Avalon, third in line to command the clan. A heavy mask hid her scarred but beautiful features. She was human, but her training allowed her senses to be sharp enough to be comfortable with the night. She did not command the same presence as her High Blade did. Although equal in skill, Vada prefered to stand in the wake of Avalon to lend her support and skill from behind the shadows.

Elisa appeared at Vada's side. Unlike her First Blade or other Black Rabbit peers, Elisa Moonshard was a Shadow Elf. A rare breed of elf that bore gray skin and deep purple hair, Shadow Elves hailed from a distant land. While most Black Rabbits were drafted from villages as children, Elisa came to the clan of her own volition to seek the skill to one day bring the clan’s services to the kingdom she left. With exotic beauty and the cunning to match, she was slowly making a name for herself within the Rabbits. If she were to succeed in her mission, her dreams would become a reality.

“Elisa, what have you found out?” Vada spoke in a low, emotionless voice.

“My First Blade, a roaming patrol heads to the north, they won’t trouble us.”

Vada nodded as she spotted a faint glow of a lantern bobbing towards the north.

“A traveler approaches us. He wears rags and a long cloak. Despite his clothing, he wears a nobleman’s signet on his finger. No doubt he is whom we are waiting to speak to.” Elisa continued.

“Well done, Elisa. Is he armed?”

“A dagger hangs from a belt behind his waist.”

The traveler came into sight as he drew closer to the assassins. His clothes were indeed, shoddy, but a gold ring glinted in the moonlight. Vada beckoned him to follow her deeper into the forest until they could be no longer seen from the road.

Vada made a subtle gesture, signaling Elisa to unleash a blade’s edge at the traveler’s neck.

“You dare draw a blade on me? Is this how the Black Rabbits do business?” The traveler’s shrill voice cracked, flabbergasted with his situation.

Vada reached for his dagger and tossed it aside, “You were requested to bring no weapons. The last thing we need is to be double crossed before business begins.”

The man chuckled nervously before the sword’s edge dug deeper into his chin, “What I'm about to pay you for is treason against my king. The least I should be allowed to do is arm myself.”

“Elisa, let him go.” Vada waited for her companion to sheath her blade, and return to her side, “Your signet – It’s not of the eight. We were under the impression that one of the eight tribes would be hiring us.”

The traveler fidgeted with his ring, “I am of a lesser house, but a nobleman all the same. However, you are correct. One of the eight does wish of your services.”

“Which.” Vada had a hint of annoyance in her voice.

“I can not say–”

Elisa began to draw her blade again.

“But, know that I represent that tribe in this transaction. Despite all the secrecy, you shall be greatly compensated.” The nobleman sped up his words before Elisa could act.

“You have our payment ready at the disclosed location?”

“For a payment that size, my employer expects results.” the man said, folding his arms.

Vada turned to Elisa, “Are you sure that you want to do this mission alone? The city is large. There is no shame in asking for help.”

“First Blade, I work best alone. No chance for someone to get captured and spill my secrets. A bigger city just means more places to hide and strike. To rely on just myself, I can do; relying on others will be a hindrance,” Elisa said, bowing to Vada.

“Construction of the city must not be completed. King Jaelyn must suffer for his arrogance!” The nobleman spat

Vada turned and bowed to her customer, “He will.”

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