Chapter Two: Blade between the Ribs

Better Run Lodrick.

"A man should not strive to eliminate his complexes but to get into accord with them, for they are legitimately what directs his conduct in the world."
        -Sigmund Freud


           Then sun was already below the horizon by the time Reks had arrived at the tavern. Darkness had fell unsuspectingly as the people of the town had passed most of the day away with food and drink. As Reks entered the tavern, he was deafened by a wave of noise from the conversations going on. A good fifty people were seated in the room. Perfect area for a thief. Nobody would even realize that money had been stolen, considering that half of the patrons were drunk from mead intake. Gritting his teeth, he gently shoved drunk people out of his way as he moved toward the bar. He waited until a maid passed by him. Tapping her, he said "I'm looking for someone with this description." Reks produced the piece of parchment from a loop on his belt. The barmaid looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "He's over their," she said, pointing toward a man in the corner of the room. Nodding to the barmaid, he put the parchment back into the loop, and made his way toward the man.
         The patron in the corner was casually talking to three woman. As Reks drew closer, he heard a bit of the conversation. "....and after that, the bloody werewolf fell on my knife. Big he was. But he was no match for the mighty Lodrick." The woman around him giggled, completely absorbed in the words he was saying to them. Reks rolled his eyes, then walked up to the table. He placed one hand lightly on his hip, looking down at the man before him. Lodrick looked up at him. "Oi! Your blocking my light you bloody hobjockey!!" He shouted.

Reks shook his head. "Are you Lodrick, 'adventurer' extraordinaire?"

The man became tense, as Reks had put emphasis on that one word. In these times, adventurer usually was just a synonym for thief. "And What if I am?" He said slowly.

Reks laughed a bit. "Then your in a bit of trouble my friend."

Lodrick gazed at him as if he was a scarred animal. Reks looked around the room. Everyone was too busy to notice their conversation, so he continued. "Now, we can do this the easy way, or we can-" Reks cut short as he turned back to Lodrick's seat. The thief was already gone. As he looked to his right, he noticed the man pushing his way out of the tavern. Reks shook his head, muttering to himself. "The idiots always run....." He said as he began to run toward the front door.
          As he exited, Lodrick turned a corner. The warrior gunned it. He wasn't about to lose his prey.  He caught up to Lodrick, right on his tail. The thief made a hard left, jumping on a box, and grabbing onto the side of a pipe jutting out from a building. He quickly pulled himself up, then jumped from the pipe to the roof. Reks imitated him, taking a second longer to jump to the roof. Lodrick was already on the next building. Reks took one deep breath, the rushed after. The warrior flew after the thief. His greaves pounded loudly on the wooden and stone roofs, causing people to look up from the street. As they approached the last set of buildings, the thief jumped down between two buildings, grabbed a rope, and swung down to the floor. Reks continued on the roof, following the thief as he tried to escape through the narrow alleys between each building.
          After a couple more minutes of running, Lodrick turned and looked behind him. Their was no sign of Reks anywhere. He grinned and shouted "Yea, that's right! No one can catch the great Lodrick. No one, you hear-" A gasp escaped Lodrick's mouth. He reached down, grabbing his chest. Red hot blood spilled out from a vertical wound in between his pecs. As he looked down, his vision began to blur. But he could still make out the shape of a blade protruding from his chest.

          "You brag a little too much, Lodrick....." The usual abrupt tone Reks's took when killing his marks was gone. In its stead was a barely audible tone, like that of a small child who didn't want to tell an adult something that would get them in trouble. Lodrick shuddered, then went slack on the blade of Reks's longsword. The deed was done, but Reks need proof. As he gently pushed the body off of his sword, he noticed a very elaborate purple locket around it's neck. He grabbed it before the body hit the floor. With one last look at Lodrick's body, he departed, a look of sadness on his face.

Author's Note

Ahhh, the killer with a conscious. My favorite Character besides the one you'll see in the next chapter

Reviews

[Darruesh Eetraydes]

I throughly enjoyed that chapter. Reks is like a ninja :)

[karmic]

Nice detail. I was able to image alot of this story because of your description. Also very nice character work. A few mistakes, but again who doen't make those. Good job