Original Submissions by Staggerlee
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Never look up.
Added on Sep 29, 2008In the shadows of the rinth a desperate young man is offered a once in a life time opportunity.
Catori knelt at the edge of the roof, hunched over himself like a vulture as he stared down into the alley below. He knew that he couldn't be seen from down there, the buildings around him were too high, the sky too dark to allow a silhouette.
Tired and edgy he took a slow breath of air, held it, and released it. It smelled of rot and filth, but that was nothing new. He didn't like where he was, the sounds of the bar beneath his feet were disconcerting, there were too many people around.
The kid's thoughts were bitter, tired, uncomfortable. “The things I do for a fucking coin or two.” He narrowed his eyes and he leaned closer to the crumbling edge of the roof as a figure moved by in the street below in one of the signature dark, shit-stained cloaks that were worn like a uniform in the rinth. “There's no accounting for fashion. Wish I could see a damn face, wish I knew exactly who I was even meeting.”
Caught unawares, his stomach lurched at the sudden grating noise behind him - something scraping against stone. Catori didn't move, he fought down the fear and tried to ignore the sudden dampness in his armpits, the way the rough fabric of his shirt was suddenly sticking to his skin. He held his breath, waiting for another noise, and his hand dropped slowly into his cloak, reaching for the broken chunk of obsidian he used as a weapon.
“Good boy. Now don't look up, I don't believe I need to tell you what happens if you see my face.” The voice was calm and smooth, with none of the coarse alley talk he'd expected. Catori didn't move. His hand was shaking on the chunk of stone in his pocket, but he wasn't going to let go of it. “Awh fuck. He talks like a southie, but I know he ain't. I know better than to even wonder who he is, what he is, knowing who he's gotta represent.”
“Catori. Elvish for 'spirit'. Tragic, I might not have realized you were a breed otherwise – I'm sure it does you no service.”
There was no wave of stubbornness or pride within him, but his eyes screwed shut for a second and his lips twitched as he winced. “Fuck. Is he shitting me? That can't be... I've been going around telling everyone? I'm never using that name again. Never.”
“Speak. Do you still want this job? This is your final opportunity to walk away.”
“Yesh.”
“Good.”
There was a rustle behind him, the soft sound of cloth - his ears were sharp or he would never have heard it over the clank of glasses and loud voices from the room below. Catori licked his cracked lips and waited, there was a cramp building in his thigh but he was afraid to even move his feet, afraid to shift his stance.
“When you leave this place, there is a turn to your left. After some footsteps it will take you to a dead end, a blind alley. There is an old door there, hidden in the gloom and rubble. It will take you further. Do you know of it?”
Catori felt a brief swell of pride, a chance to show what he knew of the alleys, what he'd learned in his meagre years. “Yesh I do. Goesh out to da long road, da leash to da orphanage.” Behind him there was silence followed by a long, patient intake of breath and finally a voice again. “A yes or no will suffice.”
His stomach lurched again, and the word came out slow and thick. “Yesh.”
“Good. Beyond that door, there is another intersection, and another wall. This with a crack, it leads out of the alleys and into the city proper. Do you know of that as well?”
“Yesh.” He tried to swallow, but it stuck in his throat. He wanted water, but knew better than to think he could get any. Not until the job was done.
“Fuck I need this. I really need this. And maybe more work after this. Regular food, maybe a way out of this slum some day.”
“Good. Do as I say, and you will not regret taking this job. Not at all.”
There was a thump as something hit the rooftop beside him, knocking against his boot. Catori flinched but didn't look down, his hand tightened around the chunk of obsidian in his pocket until his knuckles whitened beneath the filth coating them.
“Look down. Take it. That is yours, for the job and to keep when you've finished.”
Catori took up the crude sheath, drew free the bone blade enough to see the sharpness of its edge, ran calloused fingers over the taut leather wrapping the hilt. “This must be worth at least a dozen loaves of bread. This on top of the coin he promised me... I'm going to be rich.” His stomach was tight, and he still couldn't breath properly.
“Good. You'll go to that spot now, and you'll wait. Before the day is out a dwarf will pass through, armed with an ivory mace and wearing clothes too rich for these alleys. You'll bring me his body.”
“Yesh.” Catori stared down at the dagger in his hands, concentrated on breathing and waited.
Some minutes later he was still waiting. It took him nearly the span of an hour to steal the first look over his shoulder and see that his new employer was gone, the roof barren except for broken ceramic, mold and crumbling stone. Slowly and shakily he climbed to his feet, wiped the sweat from his palms and stowed his weapon within the folds of his cloak.
It didn't take long to follow the route he'd been given and the young halfbreed barely noticed where has going as he hurried through the darkness, his mind caught on the promise of coins and food. Catori was lucky that time, the alleys were empty and his carelessness was forgiven – on another day he may have been robbed, killed or worse. The place for his ambush was easy to find and from beneath the tall, crumbling wall he could hear the boots of guards, the laughing of a child and the shouting of two men in argument.
Catori pulled the hood of his cloak lower over his pale features and looked around, considering his options. “Dwarves are strong. I need to strike first, if he sees me I'm dead. But he'll be crawling through a hole in a wall, it should be easy enough to catch him before he's prepared.”
A pile of garbage and feces provided him refuge for a few moments, but he was nervous, jittery, and before long he'd moved again. Catori's second hiding place was a nook in the wall where half the stones had been knocked out, it was an easy enough climb and stood perhaps a meter above the crack his target would be climbing through. Nestled in his cramped hiding spot, Catori licked his cracked lips and imagined the dwarf crawling through beneath his feet, unsuspecting, weapon far from reach. “Easy money.”
His legs cramped and he itched to move again, but Catori forced himself to wait, to be patient. He knew that patience could save you as easily as curiosity could kill you in the alleys. “Easy money.”
Some time later his ears perked. From the other side of the wall there was a sound, a shuffling and grating as whatever covered the crack was moved. “It's him. He's here.” Catori's heart was pounding, his hands shaking. Reaching into his cloak he drew out the dagger, slipped it free from the sheath, stared at the blade, marvelled at how straight and true it was in his hand.
Almost lovingly he reached down to caress the blade, raised it to his thumb and tested the edge against his skin. The blade pierced the ball of his thumb without resistance and left a long ruby trail in its wake. Catori winced and shook his hand then drew a breath and held it, waiting for the his target to move through the hole. The shuffling was getting louder.
The cut didn't hurt, he was used to far worse pain, but he felt the burning begin in his hand just as the head of the dwarf appeared through the hole. High above the unsuspecting target, the would be assassin stuck his thumb into his mouth and chewed at it with crooked teeth, but kept the dagger raised in his free hand. The burning was spreading through his body and he could feel his face flushing, his breath quickening, but he forced himself to concentrate, to remain silent. Catori held his breath and did not make a sound as he waited.
On the ground below the dwarf passed by without incident, vanishing into the darkness of the alley. He did not hear a sound, never knew what was lurking above him, what threat he'd passed beneath. Within the day rats found the body of the half elven child hunched in an alcove on a decaying wall of brick and mortar, a bone dagger clutched in a hand tightened by rigor mortis.Catori knelt at
the edge of the roof, hunched over himself like a vulture as he stared
down into the alley below. He knew that he couldn't be seen from down
there, the buildings around him were too high, the sky too dark to
allow a silhouette.
Tired and edgy he took a slow breath...
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