Blood and Shadows

by Dayne Edmondson

  Boris lay on the floor of the Five Daggers inn, located in the coastal city of Mara Damare, blood leaking from a wound in his right thigh caused by a throwing knife, though he had rigged a makeshift tourniquet to stem the tide of blood to nothing more than a trickle. All around him lay a scene of carnage. The smell of death, which included blood, fecal matter and urine was dominated by the smell of burning flesh and hung like a pall in the air as he looked around. He had been lucky to only receive this wound and fall to the floor. Many others had not been so lucky.

  At Boris’ side lay the corpse of Veronica, a result of a failed assassination attempt. Poor woman, she had made the mistake of attempting to attack the veiled assassin (Bridgette, Boris corrected himself, for he had heard the Shadow Watch Guard say her name in the melee) during her fight with Dawyn. Veronica had seen the opportunity to strike and, never one to turn down an opportunity, moved forward to strike at Bridgette from behind. However, she had not anticipated that Bridgette’s opponent would shove Bridgette out of the way at remarkable speed and slam his sword blade first into Veronica’s abdomen. Who would have thought that Bridgette’s opponent would protect her? Though Boris had not been able to see her, he imagined the surprised look that must have been on her face. Boris had run up to her as she collapsed to the floor and dragged her back to where he had been lying, and then he proceeded to collapse beside her.

  Boris had cradled Veronica in his arms as she bled out. He had kissed her on the lips and told her everything was going to be all right. The lies were hard to speak, but when speaking to a dying person the truth was often inappropriate. Veronica had whispered the words “I love you” to Boris, the one time he ever heard them from her, before falling limp in his arms, her lovely brown eyes staring at nothing. Veronica Storm was gone.

  After the battle in the inn ended, Boris had lain very still as the combatants left. He had seen Bridgette flee after having words with Dawyn, while the man and his three companions left in a hurry – chasing someone. Likely they were after Bridgette and Lord Garik.

  Lying on the floor, Boris had been given time to think and reflect back on his past. He had left his home because he could not protect his family, but now he couldn't even protect himself. Boris decided it was time to go home. He gathered some broken bits of wood from some smashed chairs and created a splint for his leg. After securing the splint to his leg with scraps of clothing from the cloak of a nearby corpse, Boris gathered coin pouches from some of the dead. They had no use for the coin where they were now, but Boris did.

  A few short minutes later Boris limped out of the Five Daggers inn. He was unsurprised to see no city watch had arrived yet, for he knew Lord Garik had paid off the city watch in exchange for their “ignorance” of what was transpiring in that inn, but he knew if he remained long enough some would come and take him captive. It was best to beat a hasty retreat. As he limped down the main road toward the docks, he shed the assassin’s cloak that had identified him as one of Garik’s men and dropped all but one of his knives to the paving stones. He would have no need of the blades any longer.

  Chapter 26: Memories