The Hunter

...you were pleased with your role of prey... Weren't you...? [...] You were always [...] weak minded sheep. Nothing else [...] '' -Yreth'On, DW, Final Dec.

Bells rung on the port of Aramore -- the only city of the Inner Lands to accept human cargo from the Islands (Outer Land cargo was frowned upon in many other cities, but was accepted nonetheless, with a few exceptions), which effectively made it a thriving hub of commerce.

Out of the many things that arrived to the Inner Lands from the Islands, Aramore was the only city where mercenaries, pit fighters and other dislikeable individuals could safely disembark, which gave the town a headstart on the others when Islanders came to send their goods to certain places, which made Aramore one of the most important cities of the northern Inner Lands, as none was able to match its commercial growth once it permitted human cargo from the Islands. From there, gladiators from the Northern -- and even the Southern, Western and Eastern -- Islands poured into Aramore's port, bringing the construction of fighting pits and arenas, for the greatest entertainment of the noble and wealthy. Trade with the Islands had never been so flourishing, as Aramore showing more tolerance towards them brought more goods to be shipped to that peculiar city, where guards oft happened to be taken by a sudden access of blindness when looking towards wealthy merchants rolling illicit merchandises from their ships into the city.

It also allowed released prisoners to be brought into the Inner Lands -- and all because of the treaties Aramore signed with the Islands and its other Outer Land trade partners, they silently accepted released now ex-prisoners to be set free into their port. After the many troubles the lands of Ethryal, the known world, had been through, this was a more than acceptable situation for what had, until recently, been a devastated field of death and battle. 

Mostly, what happened is that the prisoners went on a crime spree, got caught, and were executed due to the strict legislature of the counties neighboring Aramore. 

Such a ship had been docked for several hours, the captain of the vessel discussing terms with the dockmaster, and most likely slipping bribes under the table. In the ship's hold, uncomfortably set for the most part, waited ten people. Among them, a woman, nearly squeezed against a man of average height, with light brown hair, and lazy green eyes, wearing only a light shirt and black silken pants, a silver scimitar at his hip, calmly observing the eight other ex-prisoners -- all men -- waiting anxiously to be released. Most of them had been sentenced to die a mere few weeks from when they were released, and all were thankful for it, despite the fact that they would all be set out in a world frowning upon their very existence, with nothing to sustain them.

None of them seemed worried -- they would most likely turn back to crime -- and get captured. For those who wouldn't, what awaited them was either the life of a beggar, or, for the lucky ones, a life at sea.

Elyas, for his part, was not worried. Jalya had been asking a few questions about what -they- (implying she intended to stick with him for a while) would be doing once set on land, which Elyas answered with a lazy grin, as he usually did, and said it wasn't sure the captain wouldn't just turn around and have them all killed once they would set foot -- therefore, making plans was useless until they were sure they would even live to start putting them in action. Which he then followed by a ''We will see... aye, we'll see.''

Which annoyed Jalya, who still decided to not push the issue any further. Elyas' apparent complete confidence did not seem to affect the woman, who still worried about being reduced to the state of a beggar once on land. Of course, Elyas had no such worries. He was... Calm. He observed the behaviors of the others, who all seemed... anxious, to say the least.

After so long being captive, they would be greeted as free men. They could do as they wished with their lives.

...Of course, that is what they all must have thought. The wiser ones would know that most of them would die within the first month -- a guard would get angry and drag one of them off to kill him, one would die in a bar fight, another would be beaten to death by beggars and thugs to get his clothes... So many ways to die out there ; every odd there was, was stacked against them.

Elyas presented no anxiety, nervosity, or doubts about the future. He would start by getting off the ship, then would live life one day at a time, grabbing opportunities. Until he reached a state higher than that of a newly freed, now poor, prisoner, a state in which he could create opportunities, rather than wait for them to come, he would take what would come and make do with it.

He had done so well enough for the last few years -- he even won a silver scimitar against the captain by gambling. The man proved to be a good drinking companion, a few days after their liberation. Of course, his interests would always go before the very lives of anyone on his ship -- so was the way of the civilised man -- but he hadn't been unpleasant towards Elyas and Jalya while they had been on his ship.

After what seemed alike to an eternity, the captain -- a man named Devyn Farod -- came in the hold, eyeing most of the prisoners with contempt, but nevertheless showing them on the way out. Fresh air filled their lungs as they walked ashore, unto the docks.

Each went his way -- most went towards the taverns, and one man -- one who had caused his fair share of trouble while on the ship -- was taken by two guards in armor, and dragged away as he yelled out that he was freed lawfully, with the old, grizzled captain had a corner smile, walking back on his ship, even waving goodbye to Elyas. As a last thought, the captain even wondered what could have made a man as gentle and likeable as Elyas get put in jail, to quickly shrug it off as one of the many injustices of the political world. Waving back at the captain -- ever the gentleman -- Elyas escorted Jalya to an inn so they could rest, using some of the money Elyas gained, gambling with the ship's crew.

Indeed, Elyas had gotten quite a bit of coin from the crew and the captain himself -- quite the vein of luck, truly, as he had started by betting what he did not have. And by winning what the crew did have. No one at the bar asked any questions. He paid for a tankard of mead, and a cup of fine wine, as he and Jalya duelled with deadly looks. 

Despite this, as soon as they sat, a burly man with a brown, gross beard pushed him out of his chair, spilling his tankard on the ground.

''...Such money, wasted...'' Deplored Elyas, as he was brusquely interrupted by the man.

''Hey, you twat. 's my place y'r sittin' at. I'd sugges' movin'.''

For a long, few seconds, everyone in the bar looked at him, then a few looked away, then more. Two guards at the bar kept watching, merely sipping from tankards of mead as they watched the beginnings of a fight unfold.

As for Jalya, she backed off a bit, up to the wall, to avoid any and all contact with the man -- but a bit too late, as the bigger man took a hold of her clothes, and dragged her to himself. ''I'll be takin' y'r w***e 's well.'' he said as he grinned, showing all his yellow and missing teeth. Elyas crossed his arms, shaking his head with all the confidence of a man who's just about to stomp on a bug. He shrugged, rolled his shoulders, then spoke up to the man, his tone every bit as insolent as he could make it. ''Mate, you spill my tankard and take a hold of this fine lady -- who just so happens to... not, be a w***e. That's... quite the rude person you are.''

Elyas shook his head, taking a step forth, waiting a response from the man -- which came soon enough in the form of a growl, as the man angrily grabbed Jalya's breast in the middle of Elyas' sentence, and rumbled ''So wha'? Wha're y' gonn' do, eh? Pinch me? Get th' f**k ou' mate, better for ya.'', and he punctuated his sentence with a mischievous grin.

A few seconds passed, and Elyas shook his head, sighed, and spat at the man's feet.

The brute looked down in disbelief for a few moments, then let out a loud growl, tossed Jalya to the side, who was caught by a man who had been close to the bar -- a well dressed fellow, probably bearing some importance -- and, rage in his beady eyes, charged at Elyas, who, positioning himself in front of a table as the man threw Jalya to the side, sidestepped the man's onslaught, letting the thug's less-than-wise combat technique lead him straight into a wooden table, crashign straight into it and leading the wood object to explode after falling, the bartender too scared of the brute (who probably had a reputation around these parts) to speak out against the fight, even as the larger fellow grabbed a chair and attempted to break it over Elyas' head -- who simply sidestepped it again, letting the bigger guy stumble forward, to kick him in the rear before he regained his footing.

The hairy, smelly and mostly unclean man fell to the ground, the chair falling out of his hands in the process and everyone staring at the huge, muscled, murderous cutthroat fall to the ground, and then looking at Elyas, who simply grinned, as if he was a pit fighter who kept humiliating his opponent, and simply waiting for the crowd to cheer him on to kill him.

''So... as I might sugges---'' Elyas started, a large grin on his face, as the visibly (and audibly) drunk thug yelled out ''Shut y'r F****N' MOUTH!'', putting emphasis on the two last words, before throwing himself with all his weight at Elyas, who jumped to the side, running off to the bar, and stealthily grabbing a knife from behind the counter and hiding it in his sleeve, waiting for the heavy-handed brute to looked back at him and charge once more, once again stepping to the side to avoid the charge, and instead waiting for the drunken, dazed and already not too intelligent mass of muscles to get back to pinning him down. This time, Elyas let him do, letting Jalya watch calmly, as a few of the people who rarely came (or who were there for the first time) watched in horror as the bigger man pinned his grinning adversary to the wall, starting to angrily crush his throat...

Although it lasted only a few moments, as Elyas drew the knife he took from behind the counter, while everyone watched the brute with blood injected eyes get back to himself, and dexterously jammed the pointy object in the side of the man's head.

A few moments passed, as the pressure on the hands around Elyas' throat released, and the raging man's eyes opened up in pure surprise, and he fell to his knees, his head banging against the wall as he did, and fell to the side, the knife planted into the side of his head, only half of the handle able to be seen. Elyas massaged his throat, smiling slightly, and looked down to the presumably dead brutish, drunken thug.

Jalya came to him, no horror, surprise or worry in her eyes, despite the words coming out of her mouth in a mere whisper showing her concern : ''Elyas... are you fine?''

It took a few moments of Elyas laying his hands on his knees, taking back his breath and massaging his throat, to answer.

''...Aye, I'll be fine. Man had some strength in him, though... Have to give him that, at least.''

Jalya eyed the 'corpse' then her companion. ''Are you certain he's dead?''

Elyas also eyed the man's body, then shook his head ''If he isn't, he's sleepin' for a long time. He'll most likely be looted, then thrown in the canals to drown if he isn't dead. Either ways, he won't be causing trouble, so..'', but he was cut off, as the two guards -- the only ones watching them anymore, as everyone who didn't get out was looking away, to avoid being caught up in this -- finished their tankards, and started walking towards them.

Elyas straightened his back, opened his mouth, but was interrupted nonetheless by four men in dark, leather armors, with falchions at their hips, and three knives -- two throwing knives, and a curved one -- into their belts, walked in the bar, the guards eyeing each other, then Elyas, then the body, and apparently decided it wasn't worth staying, as they waited a minute or so for the armored men to walk in, to then eagerly -- and visibly so -- walk out of the establishment, leaving Elyas and Jalya without any punishment whatsoever. Looking at the rather large body, then generally towards everyone in the bar (Elyas and Jalya had walked back to the bar to command another tankard of mead, slipping a few coins for the bartender's silence, Elyas himself eyeing his scimitar with insistance, to make the poor man's decision easier). The man at the front, who had an ornated shoulderpad, shook his head, and, seeing that nobody spoke, gestured towards the body for two of his men to pick it up. ''Toss it in the water, no questions asked.'', and then whispered as he inched closer to the bar, as Elyas heard ''I ain't wasting time looking for who killed this a*****e... b*****d had it coming.'', as he asked the bartender to give him a tankard of wine -- slipping absolutely no coins, as the two of his men dragged the heavy body outside, and the last of his own men leaned back to the wall, near the door, observing the inn in general. Asking no questions, and giving no protestation, the owner of the bar gave him his wine, looking a bit out of the shock of a sudden bar fight, and seeming a bit fearful of the armored man. Seeing as how every client reacted, Elyas deduced the bartender must have been new to the job -- a more experienced man would not have been fazed by a sudden murder. Such occurences were common, where Elyas came from, and so he did assume the bartender was, indeed, new at the job, and made his best efforts to not look towards the leader of the armed group, who seemed to scare guards away from causing mischief.

He whispered to Jalya, so the man did not hear him ''We're going. Now.''

Looking at him suspiciously, but following his lead nonetheless, Jalya followed Elyas, who walked out drunkenly, brusquely starting to grope Jalya, as if she was a woman he bought for pleasure. The 'guard' at the door looked at him for a few moments, and apparently debated that following a drunk wasn't worth it, and so let Elyas go. 

They walked along the docks for a while, noticing more of these men in dark leather armors -- some of them even ordering guards away -- and Elyas did not stop his drunken act until they were in a smaller street, where few to no people passed.

He leaned back against the wall, and sighed with relief, Jalya eyeing him suspiciously. ''...So, I would want to know what your whole acting and groping was for. My belief is that I have a right to know, unless you wish for me to go now.''

Elyas looked at her for a few moments that soon started seeming like an eternity, and sighed, as if he finally decided, after a long debate, to talk. ''In the past, I had a few... misunderstandings, with those people. Mercenaries, if you don't know who they --'' Elyas' speech was cut short. ''Of course I know who they are...! I'm not that badly misinformed...''

Elyas threw his hands up slightly, shaking his head to avoid an argument ''Well then, you do know who they are. I had a few problems with one of their officers, and... they're not exactly forgiving. I should... er, should have known they'd be in Aramore...'' Elyas stopped to swallow and take a breath ''...And I never was one for being hunted, you understand, eh? I always preferred being the hunter. So... I think Aramore isn't a good spot, right now. Heading out might be for the best.''

Jalya leaned back against the wall as well, always watching to the sides to make sure no one was listening, and she nodded. ''I... understand. I don't think we should stay -- at least for long. There are, however, some people I would like to meet here.''

Elyas eyed her for several seconds, before speaking up ''So you're... from here, then? Or from the Inner Lands in general?''

Jalya waited, closed her eyes, opened them up to look at Elyas,  then started speaking once more ''You could say that, yes. I... know some people, who could help us. If you are willing to stay a bit longer, and take a few risks, of course.'' She offered him a teasing smile, which Elyas returned.

''...Eh, what would life be without a few risks, right?''

Author's Note

After a long time spent taking care of people and recovering from sickness, here's a slightly longer chapter. As always, any and all reviews are appreciated, so long as they are constructive. Feedback, grammar halts, etc. are all welcome and not frowned upon at all! (Though I'll ask at least -some- [mercy]....

....Please?)

As a little side not, at the beginning of each chapter, there is a little quote under the title of the chapter. Those quotes are from characters that have lived, earlier in the lore of the little 'world' I have made. Impressions? Are these nice additions? Should I stop adding them?

Cheers, mateys!

Low Lights

Reviews

[Heather N]

I enjoy your quotes, they give the reader (myself) something to ponder as they begin and continue to read your work. I think this is a great addition to your stories, and many works incorporate this sort of setup.

Overall I really enjoyed this chapter, I love Elyas he is my favorite type of character, so I can't to read more about him.

Lots of background in politics and geography in this chapter, making it a heavier chapter which every story needs a good setup in place and politics so no worries there. It makes for lots of good villains and heroes and the anti-heroes.

Overall I feel the intro to this chapter may need some editing, unlike your other work I feel that the flow is disjointed. But this didn't take away from my interest or enjoyment of the work. There was a lot of information that was presented and explained so to be fair this chapter is unlike the others simply because of the density.

I found that the parts of the chapter where you didn't have to explain background or politics had your magical touch back into them, they flowed and read like a stronger piece. (maybe instead of the author telling the reader all the background info have in it character dialogue? Or rearrange the flow of your chapter explaining things as they appear? This is your work so it is up to you. These are only suggestions.

Either way here are some little things that I was thinking you could do to help with the flow (like always take them or leave it not a worry):

The () in the first sentence may be unnecessary if you rearrange the wording. State the the actions of this port are unheard of and because of the it draws the attention of undesirable folk or ill natured folk.

For the gladiator bit instead of listing North etc you could write that it draws gladiators from all four corners of the region or globe depending on how wide and far traveled these gladiators are.

7th paragraph, "He had done so well enough..." I think you changed your thought and forgot to omit a word from the sentence. No big just thought you should know.

Otherwise great job, I can't wait to see what the trills and risks that Jalya may lead Elyas into! Keep up the great work!