Resigned To Fate

“Do you suppose he would come today?” One guard asked the other softly.

“I do hope he doesn’t show up.” The other replied, his eyes darting left and right as he spoke.
“Things would get ugly – “ He paused as he thought he heard something, and when he reassured himself that it was just a passing wind, he added, “and messy.”

“Ugly for him, I hope.” The first whispered, obviously not certain of that statement. Standing right outside their client’s door, he could see them, but they could not see him. “For him.” He reiterated in self-comfort, though their vulnerability unnerved him.

A knock on the door from the inside broke the dreadful silence that was beginning to unnerve the two guards. The second guard looked left and right cautiously before turning to face the door, and whispered to the person inside, “Everything’s fine, sir. There’s not a soul around here, except for the two – “

His words were brought to a painful halt as something exploded into the left side of his face, and he smashed into the ground, quite dead from the impact. The second guard turned in sheer fright, his nightmares materializing right before him.

With the aid of the light shining from the porch of the house, the guard saw the assailant. Drenched in a dark red hooded cloak, the ends of the crimson fabric swirled gently at his feet as he retracted his left hand back to his side. Despite the swift and impossibly powerful impact, the cloak hardly moved. The assassin took a slow menacing step, but stopped as the guard’s sword flashed out in his hand.

Fear gripped the guard, but he was determined to live this night. He knew that his client behind the door was the only thing this avenger wanted, and that his life would depend on his decision to fight or yield. But yielding certainly did not rest well on his pride, and besides, he calculated, that he was fully armored and armed, while the avenger was unarmed and unprotected. Despite all those rumors and stories of their combat finesse, a small naieve fraction of his mind shrugged them off as exaggerated stories of envy. Then something made him want to change his mind, but it was too late. The red cloak shifted slightly, and the guard saw that a cloud of white mist encircling the avenger’s right hand.

It wasn’t any other avenger that he faced. It was he, Samuel Eldruin.

Eldruin backed away from the light, shifting slowly into the shadows. He had come for Gringo, and he had no interest or desire to engage or harm anyone else.

However, the guard thought otherwise. Determined to stop the avenger before he could disappear from his sight, he raised his sword and charged after the reddish fabric that was disappearing into the threatening shadows. Eldruin sighed in exasperation. Seems like I can’t avoid this one, he figured.

“Eldruin, fear my blade!” The guard roared, swinging his blade in a tremendous arc into the shadows where the avenger had been, but the blade hit nothing. Cautious, the guard leapt back from the shadows, readying his shield. The avenger followed in close, pressing in on the guard’s false sense of security.

Instinctively, the guard brought up his shield before him in defense, and a crushing blow shattered his footing. The guard landed heavily on one knee, his steel shield trembling from the impact. Almost a split moment later, a gauntleted hand grasped the shield at the top and yanked it downwards, revealing a crimson nightmare. The flash of red was upon him in a moment as the avenger drew back his right hand, the white mist trailing in line.

The guard knew what would ensue, and quickly angled his blade, thrusting it towards the avenger’s midsection in a vicious counter strike. The avenger’s next few moments connected so smoothly that made the guard wish he had believed in those rumors and not underestimate his foe. As the avenger’s right hand pivoted to its maximum, he grabbed tightly on the end of the white trail, and a gleaming white saber materialized from the mist in a split second. He jerked his right shoulder towards the guard, thrusting the deadly saber Dawnsender towards the guard’s face. Using the momentum of the shoulder swing, Eldruin shifted to the right, dodging the guard’s wicked tip by inches.

With Dawnsender’s tip charging towards his unprotected face, the guard released his grip on the shield and jumped back in a desperate attempt at retreat, his reflexes and finesse saving his life.

The guard landed heavily on his feet, his heart pounding and adrenaline pumping hard through his vein. Eyeing the cloaked avenger recover slowly, he felt his sweat rimming his brow, and the warm sensation of his blood flowing from his cheek. Realizing he had been hit, the guard didn’t have sufficient time to consider his next move, for Eldruin came charging in again with terrifying speed.

Leaping to the side, the guard reached for his shield and raised it in defense, drawing back his sword arm, ready to impale the avenger when the opportunity came.

It never did.

The guard felt a sharp pain on his shield arm as Dawnsender slammed squarely on the steel shield. Driven back a step, he thrust the sword before his shield, more from instinct than design, for he could not see anything from behind his massive shield. The sword hit only air, and a flash of red came from over the shield again. Heaving with all his might, the guard lifted his shield, along with the avenger in an overhead arc.

Eldruin borrowed the momentum of the rising shield, and leapt over the guard to his back. Spinning in mid air, he grabbed the back collar of the guard’s cuirass and jerked it towards him, choking the guard. The guard coughed from the momentary shock and sudden pain from his throat, and tried to spin around on his attacker, but it was too late.

He jerked in fright and pain, passing out as the white saber drove itself home from above into his chest. The dusty ground rushed up to meet him, but he had passed out long before he fell.

Eldruin rose to his feet slowly, steadying his breath. Looking at Dawnsender lodged at the side of the guard’s chest, near his deltoid, he sighed again. Gingerly, he reached to draw the blade out of the lifeless body, grimacing as he heard the sick sound of metal sliding against flesh. The guard groaned in agony and moved a little, still far from dead. The saber had not hit a critical spot, and would not claim his life this night if he did not get up.

His quarry had escaped, Eldruin knew. Certainly, he would not have waited to watch if his guards could win, as the result would be evident – the avenger would win, and continue the chase. But to an avenger like Eldruin, it didn’t matter where or when his quarry chose to flee, for even a twenty-day-old trail would seem as fresh and traceable as any. In the corner of his eye, the first guard that had been felled earlier stirred from his unconsciousness.

Eldruin approached the dazed guard softly, Dawnsender leading the way. Its deadly tip came to rest on the guard’s throat, freezing him with fear.

“What, and how many other forms of protection has Gringo employed for his protection?” Eldruin’s questioned softly, his eyes deeply locked upon the guard’s own. The guard just sat there, visibly shaken from the ordeal, and Eldruin decided he had to play it up a notch. Releasing Dawnsender, the white saber broke into its gaseous form, and Eldruin brought his hand nearer to the guard’s exposed throat. Gripping onto the mist again, Dawnsender reformed, a gleaming dagger this time, smaller but no less threatening than the saber. “ Do not make me repeat myself,” Eldruin spat, his orange glowing eyes promising nothing short of pain.

The guard had enough sense to comprehend the avenger’s words this time round, and he struggling to string an answer.

“Grin…Gringo’s not revealed anythin’…I…know nothin’…” He felt the cold edge of Dawnsender press harder against his neck, obviously disappointed at the answer, and struggled to recall any other information. “But…I did receive…talk…that he…he had… assassins…waiting…in the Laropt…”

The cold merciless edge of Dawnsender left the guard’s throat, and he nearly collapsed in relief. Eldruin remained where he was, though, and whispered coldly, “I’ll trust your words, but know that if I find out that you’ve led me on a wrong lead, you will cross me again. And when that day comes, I will not be so merciful.”

Eldruin rose, releasing Dawnsender back to a cloudy mist. Behind him, the terrified guard scrambled away from the scene, not even bothering to pick up his equipment. With such fragile courage, Eldruin knew that his loyalties did not run deep enough to put his life on the line.

Looking up at the starless sky, the avenger sighed. The corruption, the sheer ugliness of humanity saddened him each day. The scene today was ever so common as any other case – the people who had sinned chose not to repent or ask for forgiveness, instead, they chose to run, to flee from reality, from justice. 

But divine retribution would eventually catch up, with death not far behind.

In this world, he played both roles.