I had just finished the task when my sense's picked up that I would soon be having some unexpected company. I calculated that there were about five of them coming up the walkway. That would give me maybe two minutes before they tried the door and figured out something was amiss. If I had wanted to I could have escaped out the bedroom window but I decided not to. I wanted to see who was visiting this dwelling at such a late hour. I quickly stepped back into the shadows and concealed myself as best I could.
They didn't bother to knock, as the door was violently shoved open. The five men stopped soon after entering the threshold. Three of them turned around and began to retch at the sight in front of them. I suppose there was a time when I too would have lost my stomach but that time had long past. Besides it was I that had done the deed.
You see my task that night was to assassinate one Mareik Destin. He was an overseer of King Kusac and one sick bastard. I know one shouldn't speak ill of the dead but Mareik was a tyrant and there is no denying it. Besides I never worried about the dead haunting me, I do a good enough job without their help. Mareik had killed countless people in his lifetime. I know you may be wondering just whom I am to judge since I have done the same. Perhaps you are right but then it was not me who judged him but the people he had hurt. They demanded justice and I gave it to them.
Mareik not only taxed the people heavily, skimming off what he collect and gave to Kusac but also killed those who could not meet his demands. He put people to death if they could not pay what he demanded. Once when a man was a few coppers short of the expected payment, Mareik killed the man's son saying the child's blood would make up the difference. I listened to the villagers weeping and wailing for all they had lost and suffered until I could stand it no more. There would be someone to take Mareik's place if he died and undoubtedly that person would also be cruel. Still I could not let Mareik continue to torment the people......my people any longer.
It was easy enough to slip into Mareik's house. He had been to dinner at the King's castle that night and by the time he got home he was quite drunk. I waited in the shadows till he sent his guards away for the night. For some reason he decided to continue drinking that night instead of heading for bed. He sat in his living room drinking from a newly opened bottle of ale. I let him consume one glass before I made my move. His senses were so dulled by his drinking he never heard or saw me move.
I suppose it would have been humane to get the deed over with quickly but I wanted my pound of flesh and blood. Mareik had caused so much pain in his lifetime that I refused to give him an easy death. This may not be a choice that you agree with but it wasn't yours to make. It was mine and I made it. I have no regrets about what I did that night save that I hadn't done it long ago.
The first thing I did was knock Mareik out. I then proceeded to tie him up in a chair. I waited a few moments before throwing water in his face to help bring him around. I had put a gag in him mouth so he could not speak. It was not hard to decipher from his guttural sounds that he wanted to know who I was and what I was doing.
There was no facial expression on my face as I answered him,"My name is Larissa and I have come to kill you."
He tried struggling around but the rope was strong and he could not break it. I slowly set some tools on the table, among them a knife. His eyes widened as he finally realized I had planned for him a painful and torturous death. Without a word I took my knife and cut of the ring finger on his left hand. Blood squirted out of the wound but I paid it no mind as I continued the torture.
When I was finished I had broken three of his ribs and dislocated his right shoulder. His right hand was smashed beyond repair and his left one was missing two fingers. His eyes were gouged out and his nose was missing. The only other mark on him was on his chest where I had carved an L above his heart. When he finally kicked the bucket it was from the blood loss which took quite awhile. It was as I was collecting my tools that I heard the intruders approaching.
I stepped out of the shadows while three of them continued to loose their dinner. The two that had a better constitution immediately drew their weapons and pointed them at me. I studied their clothes and came to the conclusion that they were not soldiers or guards working for Kusac. Their clothing style and colors reminded me of something I had tried to forget for a long time.
I held my hands in front of me palm up to show I meant to harm,"I do not wish to kill any of you. Let me pass and no one will die."
Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned killing or death because I noticed them tense up and had a feeling that if I sneezed they would attack.
The one to my very left took a step forward,"Did you do this?"
I couldn't help but think this man was somewhat dense since it was quite obvious that I was the culprit. I tried hard to keep the sneer of my face but I didn't succeed. I glanced at the body of Mareik and then back at the man who asked the question,"Yes."
I watched in fascination as his face paled and his grip tightened on his sword,"You are coming with us. Dragon will wish to....talk to you."
I heard not a sound for a few minutes as the blood rushed to my ears and I wondered if the Dragon he spoke of was Simon. I wasn't sure I was ready to see Simon again but the only way out of this was to kill these men and leave. For now I couldn't do that. If these really were Simon's men I could not kill them yet again. I had heard rumors that someone was building up another resistance movement against the throne. I had hoped that it was Simon taking up the fight once again but I never confirmed it. I was not ready to deal with the past yet but it seems my past was about to catch up to me whether I was ready or not.
With a resigned sigh I let them take my weapons from me and tie me up. As the blindfold descended over my eyes I had a sudden sense of deja vu. It was but a year ago when Simon had done the very same thing upon first meeting me. They put me up on a horse and began to lead it down the road. I had to wonder what they were doing with an extra horse but figured it was none of my business.
It had been a long night and the methodical gait of the horse soon had me falling asleep. Not the wisest action but I knew they wouldn't kill me until they had taken me to Dragon and had some answers on who I was and what I had done. Besides that I had my ring on and it would have let me know if I was in danger.
I thought about having my ring checked after I was woken up having been shoved off the horse. I tried my best to fall without hurting myself but it is hard to do when your arms are tied behind your back. Luckily I suffered only a few bruises and a split lip. I heard quite a bit of shouting and then suddenly someone lifted my blindfold and cut the ropes from my writs. I blinked a few times letting my eyes adjust to the setting. Apparently the sun had come up while I napped. I rubbed my wrists for a few seconds helping the blood to start circulating again.
A somewhat large crowd turned out to gawk at me. I contemplated barking at them just to see what would happen. Unfortunately the crowd began to part just as I opened my mouth to utter a growl. I watched as the man in charge began to approach me. There was no doubt in my mind that it was Simon. He stopped his approach when he finally got a good look at me. His body went rigid and I knew he was remembering the last time he had seen me, at the battle of Tailen.
His green eyes locked onto my own violet ones and I prepared myself to see his revulsion and contempt. Instead I found only compassion and love as he ran to me and picked me up into a bear hug. For a few seconds I didn't know what to do but then I found myself returning the hug.
When the hug finally ended he turned to his men and shouted,"There will be a feast tonight.....my niece has returned."
He didn't give me a chance to talk as he quickly showed me around his new lair. I didn't pay much attention to the tour but it seemed to be pretty much like his old one, only difference was there was about double the amount of men at this one. He finally took me to his tent to talk.
I decided to dispense with the preliminary questions,"About Mareik...I.."
He didn't let me finish my sentence,"It doesn't matter. I am sure you had your reasons. I had planned to ransom Mareik to Kusac for some supplies and money but I can figure something out later."
I sighed in relief but that only dealt with one touchy subject. There was still the question of what happened at Tailen. I gathered up enough courage to bring up what had happened but Simon stopped me.
"Larissa I am glad you are alive. What have you been up to?" he asked with a gleam in his eye. Don't ask me how I knew but I did. He did not want to talk about Tailen anymore than I did. If I didn't bring it up neither would he. This left me with another problem though, what should I tell him of the past year? So much had happened and I didn't know what I should and shouldn't say. I had changed so much and a lot of that change had come at a price.
Simon's face and the interior of the tent began to slip from my view as memories surfaced and I relived the past year...
Every new beginning comes from something ending. For most people the new beginnings are happy or exciting as they are meant to be but sometimes the new beginnings are nightmares from which it seems we will never escape. It was the ending of my humanity and the beginning of a life with out conscience that I wish to tell.After leaving Simon in the hands of the people of Tailen I spent a year in hell. People have many aspects that compose who they are and even the nicest person always has a sinister side. Generally speaking we choose which aspects we emphasize and which we diminish. On the battlefield of Tailen I let my demon side have control and it took almost a year before my humanity surfaced.
I began to hunt down groups of Kusac's soldiers or hired men. I played games of cat and mouse with them. In the dead of the night I would walk among them and choose which would die. That unfortunate man would be killed in different violent and painful ways. The next day his body would be found and the men would live in fear that they would be next, many of them were right. I am not sure exactly how long I did this, perhaps it was six months. All I know is I lived in solitude during this time. I kept myself clean enough; after all it wouldn't do if they could smell me coming. I even hunted my own food and cleaned my weapons.
I can only recall flashes of that time period, like snapshots in a photo album. I know I killed over 200 men for I remember images of the killings and the men's faces as the died. I also recall many a time washing blood out of both my clothes and off my weapons. Even theses memories do not fill in all the gaps but the stories I later heard in villages would.
When did I finally realize just what I was doing? That moment I can recall quite vividly. I was standing over a dead body with a knife in my hand. The boy, for that is what he was, couldn't have been more than maybe 16 if that. He used to live in my village; he even had a crush on me. Tannim used to leave flowers on my doorstep when I was 12 and even carved little wooden figurines for me. I hadn't seen him since I left to find Simon a little less then a year ago. By the uniform it would seem Tannim had become an officer in Kusac's army. I could even guess at the reason, food to feed his family. It wasn't as if there were many jobs and being in Kusac's army meant plenty of food and protection for your family.
Tannim was only doing what he could to survive and for that I killed him. The knife I held carried his blood and his throat was slit by me. True when I killed him I didn't know it was Tannim but I doubt that fact would comfort his mother. I had once dreamed of saving the people of the land from Kusac and his tyranny and instead here I was killing them.
It was as if a mirror was held in front of my face and I saw that I had become what I most hated. When this happened, my demon was quieted and pushed down by my humanity. I began to weep for all the lives I took, for the mothers who had lost their sons by my hands. I dug a grave and buried Tannim, for once the soldiers did not find a dead body in their mist.
Like all demons I could quiet mine for only stretches at a time but not destroy it. Hence I tried to come up with a way to appease both the demon and my conscience. I began to only kill those men in Kusac's employ that I felt had no redeeming qualities, men that only took from the people but gave nothing but pain in return. Mostly that group consisted of the overseers, or the tax collectors of my home world.
I began to assassinate these people leaving behind an L carved somewhere in their body. Not a nice gesture but then I wanted Kusac to know that I was still alive and would one day becoming for him. As word got around about these killings the people began to call me the Executioner. It was during one of these killing that Simon's men happened upon me.