To A Thief - Chapter 6: Walk of Shadows

The darkness takes a brief hold of the small child, only until new allies join the fray. This next moment sets the way stone for Stiff's path..

Stiff continued to run towards the beastmen, intent on nothing more than to shed their blood. He felt nothing like himself, but at the same time, felt as if he were still in full control. The whites of his eyes remained a pitch black; looking like small dark vortexes with his brown irises in the center.


What's happening to me..?

This anger..

This darkness..

This.. emptiness.


Just then, he felt a hand on his shoulder. From within this darkness, it almost felt like the comforting hand of Sister Eri on his shoulder. The one that always made him feel better no matter what. It was as if she herself had just now reached out to him in spirit.

As his eyes winced back to their normal appearance, he realized it wasn't Sister Eri's hand that was on his shoulder, but another person who had stopped him in his tracks.

"That'll do my friend! Nothing personal, your pretty brave and all.. but now it's my turn." The young man- somewhere in his early twenties- spoke as he removed his hand from Stiff's shoulder and reached into the holster of his belt.

He pulled out not one, but two decorative daggers with blackened gem-socketed blades that he held in each hand. He wore a black and grayish somewhat green harness that had white flame-like engravings where they would shape into burning dragon heads over the shoulder pads; his leggings and boots bearing similar design and color. The long, white cape attached to the shoulders of his harness cascaded down his back, having flown up into the air when he jumped in the way. He was tall and slender, though quite toned and topped with a head of black hair, well-groomed and slicked back onto his scalp. He bore a handsome and devilish smirk on his face as he spun both daggers in his fingers. Above his left brow and spanning down just under his left cheekbone was a black tattoo that resembled the engravings on his armor. 


"Try not to blink, or you'll miss out... that, or end up with empty pockets!" He called out with a wink, dashing into the shadows with such speed it was almost hard to catch.

Heads turned from side to side as one by one, the beastmen in the room fell to clean and swift strikes; the only indication of the young man being the sudden blur along with a burst of air that would sway the curtains of the room as well as the sister's robes. The howls of the felling beastmen began to fill the room, causing the ones outside of the doorway to change their focus.

Once the inside of the room was cleared of enemies, the young man stopped in the center and continued to spin his daggers in a similar stance to the one he was in just before he started dashing about, making it seem as if he had hardly moved. The smirk on his face lightened a bit as he stood straight, facing the countless beastmen pushing through once more into the room.

"Playtime's over, my ugly friends. Your belongings just won't cut it, this night.. I'll just have to collect my pay in your blood!" He exclaimed.

The sisters ran to the children, huddling them close in safety and comfort. "Don't be afraid, children. The adventurers have come to save us..!" They soothed, feeling relief wash over them as well.

"Altana guide your soul's path, Sister Eri.." One of the sister's prayed for the brave fallen sister, having brought her body over to the back of the room where they all now huddled to give room to the adventurers that had finally arrived, or at least the one who was in here now.

Stiff stood motionless, behind the man with the dual daggers who made short work of the beastmen. He was all but broken by the death of Sister Eri, but he watched this man bring justice against the monsters that had taken everything away from him. The way he took the enemy out was so clean and perfect that it almost seemed like art. The beastmen had no chance of even laying one finger on him.


The way this man fought was just like in the stories I had read of adventurers fighting against beastmen. It was exactly as I pictured myself to be one day. It was truly amazing seeing it first hand, as if scenes from a book were unfolding before my very eyes..


The young man's smirk faded upon hearing the sister's words. "Altana, huh? The only goddess I believe in.. is Lady Luck." He retorted, stopping the daggers in his hands and dashing towards all the incoming beastmen.

"My dagger's edges dance so easily against beastman flesh.." He cackled, slashing at the enemy with such swift speed and fancy movements that made it seem as if he were dancing under the rain of blood that fell from their flesh and his daggers.

Not one drop of blood landed on his armor. It was only a matter of seconds before the howl of the beastmen died down and only the crickets and small animals of the night could be heard singing into the air.


The adventurers that had been battling the orcs outside finally made their way into the little orphanage, making their way over to the sisters and briefing on the current situation. Some removed the many corpses inside the orphanage and others re-lit the torches along the walls, bringing light once again to this dark night.

Stiff had never seen people garbed in armors and weapons such as theirs. Every adventurer that walked in through the door; man and woman, were fascinating to look at. Their armor seemingly glowed in the light of the burning torches, bringing in with them the light of hope. With such power and abilities, it was almost hard to believe these were all mere people of the five races. It was obvious these adventurers were skilled beyond the years of simple swordsmen or mages.


But the painful fact remained:

Sister Eri was dead.. and all he could do was watch.

Stiff's eyes began to sting as he looked to the side dreadfully at Sister Eri who was now in eternal slumber, face as warming and gentle as always even in death. Wiping his tears away, he decided to approach the man standing in front of him who had now sheathed his dual daggers in the crossed holster of his belt after having cleaned them of blood.

"You..! Teach me to be an adventurer! Teach me to fight like you.." Stiff pleaded the young man as he tugged at his arm, making his dire request.

The man rose a brow without turning around. He slightly cocked his head to the side and looked at the little brave kid from earlier with the corner of his eyes.

"Eh..?" He listened, wondering why a young boy would make such a request. All the other children seemed to have little to no care in the world, wanting nothing but play time and toys.

"I couldn't protect Sister Eri.. I'm just a kid.. but it's all my fault. They've stripped my life of everything that matters to me: My parents, and now Sister Eri! Those damn beastmen.. I want to kill them all!" Stiff growled, clutching the hilt of the young man's decorative daggers tightly. It felt firm and comfortable in his hand, obviously having been designed for such a worthy adventurer.

The man turned to look at the fallen sister at the back of the room briefly before looking back at the boy.

"I see.. so she was a friend of yours." He muttered, feeling somewhat responsible as an adventurer having been tasked with this mission. "Listen, kid.. I'm sorry about your friend.. but revenge won't get ya anywhere. To be an adventurer, you need to have the heart for it.. and you say you wanna fight like me? Well, to traverse the walk of shadows into becoming a thief, you need to be born a thief. Ya understand? Probably won't make sense to you, but then again.." He said, turning around and bringing a hand to his own chin in thought as he recalled the boys words about the woman and his parents.

Before the this so-called thief could say anything else, Stiff immediately replied, "It makes perfect sense to me!" He insisted, going over to his small wardrobe on the left side of the room and opening it.


It was still intact despite the beastmen's raid. It was one of the few wardrobes left that wasn't used to barricade the door. Reaching inside, he pulled out his wooden toy blade, bringing it to his forehead and closing his eyes as he thought back on the image of Eri handing him the blade with that warm smile of hers. Making his way back to the man, Stiff handed him the wooden blade and looked up at him with a stern, pleading look.

The thief would just raise a brow as he watched this boy curiously, wondering what he was up to but feeling inclined to pay attention. Taking the blade from the boy's little hand, he looked down at it confused, at first. "A toy sword? No.. a dagger." The man muttered, examining the makeshift craftsmanship of this wooden dagger that had seen much use judging by its chipped edges. "Did you make this..?" He asked in a bit of surprise.

Stiff nodded and brought a hand to the back of his neck as he thought  back to the day he had made it. "Yes.. well, I designed it on a sheet of paper but Sister Eri crafted it for me. I've been training with it since then.." He replied quietly, looking back up at the man's face as he studied the wooden dagger.

After staring at it for a moment, the man finally closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh. He didn't know what it was, but something about this kid reminded him a lot of himself; enough to make him feel that setting this child on the same path as his was necessary. The markings of a thief were all there, after all. Opening his eyes, he looked down at the boy and knelt down in front of him, reaching back into his satchel and pulling out an old and simple bronze dagger. It wasn't entirely worn out, but it had seen much use in the past as it had several tiny curves along its edge.

"Tell you what, kid.. let's make a trade. I'll give you this dagger in exchange for yours. Think of it as your first step into the walk of shadows. As a thief, sometimes it is necessary to lose something, in order to gain something more. The loss of your parents and your friend will not have been in vain. Remember this, and all will be well. Put your soul into this dagger, and then you will begin your adventure in the shadows.. as a thief. Like me." He spoke, holding the bronze dagger out with that devilish smirk of his back on his face.

The thief suddenly pulled the dagger back, reaching back onto his holster. "Ah, that's right.." He said, pulling out one of his daggers and carving a small stripe onto the very bottom of the bronze blade, near the hilt. "Where I come from, this dagger is pretty ancient, but to this day it has been used to cut a path for those wishing to become disciples of the night, including myself.. now it belongs to you. The carving I just made marks the next wielder of this blade. Lose this dagger, and you will have lost your life."

He dropped the bronze dagger's hilt into Stiff's little hand, whom sat there with a decided look in his eyes. The man then stood up and gave his seemingly trademarked smirk. "Once you become worthy of calling yourself a thief, I'm sure we'll meet again. When that time comes, I'll train you to fight just like me. Until then, you'll need all the experience you can get. Now, get going.. I have work to do."

Stiff looked up at the man's brown eyes, never really having seen such humble eyes before despite the man's attitude and his profession. But he nodded in turn to the man's words, having now something to call a purpose in his life once again. From here on out, his goal would be to become the adventurer that Sister Eri wanted him to be. With that goal set in mind, he placed his new dagger under his belt and stood up to make his way to her, awaiting her proper sending.

"Hey, kid." The thief called out as he made his way out the door with his adventuring companions, not turning around this time. The nightly breeze coming in from the doorway blew past him, causing his white cape to flow up into the air while he walked out. "What's your name?"

Stiff didn't turn around either. He simply answered,


"My name is Stiff."


It's been so long since then.

Yet I remember it as if it were yesterday, and even now I re-live it. I almost lost hold of that promise within myself. I can't give up now, there's no way I can do that. I have to keep my promise to Sister Eri and become strong enough to receive training from my would be mentor. 

I can't stop now!


Stiff hadn't realized that he now floated once again in darkness. Only rather than sinking this time, he was ascending back upwards at high speeds. He could feel his head pulling back a bit because of how fast he was moving upward.

Upon reaching the end of the black abyss and back up into the light, he felt himself rise out as if he were being thrown out of a water's surface and back into the air. At that moment, his eyes shot open. He was back in the forest of Ronfaure, lying on top of some broken pieces of wood from the orcish wall.

"Stiff!" Moku called out as he had been doing so when Stiff was thrown into the wall.

"I'm not going down.. that easily..!" Stiff gasped as he recovered himself from the ground and caught his breath.

He looked up with a glare at the orc that had swung at him and clutched his dagger readily, gritting his teeth. "My turn..!"

He ran at the orc that now charged towards him as well. Just as it swung its heavy club at him once again, he ducked swiftly, able to feel the force of the wind from the massive club just over his head. Soon after, Stiff spun his body around hard enough to get some momentum and slashed his dagger with all his might at the orc's throat, cutting into it. It was a clean strike.

Moku blinked for a moment at Stiff's sudden come back but felt a smile cut across his face. "Looks like he came through after all... I was sure he was a goner. Stubborn guy."

The orc dropped its club to the floor and threw its arms wildly at its throat as it began to choke on its own blood, hardly able to howl. It wasn't long before it dropped dead on the ground with a heavy thud.

Spinning his dagger in his hand, Stiff turned to the few other orcs who now had their attention on the group and smirked.

"Play time's over!"

_______________________________________________________________________________
Stiff is once again driven by his burning heart!

With new-found motivation, what kind of progress lies for the two thieves who are to conquer Ghelsba Outpost?

Find out next time on Chapter 7: Merciless Training

Author's Note

Comments and Reviews MUCH appreciated! :)