Chapter 2

The thief rumor and the shadow creature

I let out a groan as I became conscious. "Spirit! Spirit, are you ok?!" Gleana’s high pitch voice ringing through my ears.

"Spirit, can you hear us?" asked Jackson’s voice, filled with worry.

"Wh..where am I?" I asked barely above a whisper.

"You’re on the sofa in the den. We found you collapsed by the door."

"How long was I out?" I opened my eyes and noticed they were both standing over me.

"We’re not sure when you collapsed, but you were out some time after we found you." answered Jackson his voice still filled with much worry.

"What happened?" Gleana asked, her green eyes filled with tears.

"Long story." I said, straining to sit up.

"Spirit, Tell us!" Jackson commanded.

I let out a small sigh as I tried to think where to start. "I got into a fight with the Shadow Men."

"What?! Why?!" Jackson asked, shocked, "Spirit, why did you get into a fight with them?"

"Does it matter?"

"They are dangerous!"

I let out a small sigh of relief as I checked my palm. The burn was almost gone, except for a pale red outline of the dagger. "They’re not that dangerous. Just another power hungry group."

"Spirit..." Jackson just stared at me, concern still shown in his eyes.

"I could’ve handled it better then I did." I said, more to myself.

"Least you’re ok. Spirit, we were really worried." Gleana said, her voice not as squeaky as before.

"I have gotten my a*s almost kicked before guys." I said as I finally stood up and stretched my arms above my head.

"Yeah, but still..." Gleana began but strayed off as she stared off.

"So what did you guys claim from the market?" I asked looking toward Jackson and Gleana.

"Oh, we gotta lot of cool stuff!" Gleana squealed happily, as she skipped into the kitchen.

"Oh, boy..." I murmured, afraid of what they bought. I headed into the kitchen behind Jackson. Gleana pulled out her bag and placed it on table.

"Before you ask, we didn’t spend all the money." Jackson reassured giving me a nervous look.

"How much?" I asked giving him a stern look.

"Only 95gp!" Gleana answered.

"Is that what you spent or what we have left?" I asked, arms crossed.

"Uh...what we spent." said Jackson, taking a step back, cautious of my reaction.

I just closed my eyes for a brief second and took a short breath. "So what did you buy?" I finally asked, hoping they got something we need.

"We got some great stuff! Take a look at these!" Gleana happily searched through her bag and pulled out an item.

"It’s a dagger..." I said examining it.

"Not just any dagger, a dagger-"

"That’s special in it’s cool way." I cut her off, finishing her sentence.

"Well...Yeah!" she handed me another dagger.

Both daggers were ordinary steel daggers. I examined them both carefully, but still I couldn’t find anything special about them. "What else you got?" I asked handing back the daggers.

After placing the daggers back into her bag, she pulled out a small pouch. She gave me a wide smile before opening it. She pulled out a sparkling golden, chained necklace and handed it to me.

"How much did this cost?" I asked staring at the beautiful golden necklace. The pendent was a golden cross with a small ruby embedded in the middle and smaller diamonds on the sides.

"We got it on a great price! Only 90gp! It would have cost us 200gp but it was on sale!" she squealed.

"You spent our money on a necklace?" I asked sadly.

"We got money left." she replied, putting her hands on her hips.

"Only 5gp and Jackson’s 15."

"Oh, yeah! I forgot about that!" Jackson commented, searching his pockets.

"So like usual, you bought no food." I took a last glance at the necklace before handing it back.

"We have food, don’t we?" Jackson asked, uncertain.

"Worry, worry, worry! That’s all you guys ever do! Have some fun and get stuff!" Gleana cut in, as she packed her stuff up and headed upstairs to her room.

"Tomorrow I’ll go out." Jackson spoke, taking a seat at the table.

"Do you know why I say the things I say?" I asked, sitting across from him staring out the window.

"I know why."

"Then why the hell you waste our money before buying food?" I asked, now staring at him.

"Look, she wanted something nice and for once we had the money to buy it! So don’t go fussin’ at us! This ain’t just your hideout!" he yelled defensively as he got up and stormed out. The door slammed shut behind him.

"What the hell?" I exclaimed, confused to what just happened. "Did I just miss something?" I let out a sigh as I lay my head down on the table. "I’m just trying to help us survive. Is that so bad?" I asked myself. I closed my eyes briefly before being startled by the door slamming again.

I quickly got to my feet as Jackson slammed back in. His fists was clenched in anger and his face shown signs of fear.

"What’s going on?" I asked worried.

"You said you fought the ShadowMen, nothing about fighting Nevando!" he yelled, slamming his fist down on the table.

"What’s your point?" I asked him, stepping a step back.

"He could have killed you! You insane person! He is the head of the ShadowMen! Did you know that?" he yelled, lecturing me.

"Again, what’s your point?"

"Spirit!" he looked at me with worry in his eyes before sitting down. "There’s a guard outside and he’s searching for the culprit who broke in the Mayor’s house." His voice calmed down.

"What the hell does that do with me and Nevando?!"

"I was listening to a few guards talk." he took a breath and let out a sigh before speaking again. "They got a hint from Tiran that you were the culprit’s assistance and that you set it up."

"What the hell does that have to do with Nevando?!" I asked again trying to figure out Jackson’s words.

"Tiran only goes to a guard on orders. Every thief knows talken to a guard is suicide!"

"So why would they talk to a guard if it’s suicide?" I asked stepping over to the window to peek out.

"Were you not listening? I told you! To set you up!"

"So much for being in a dark alley way half died, with no memory." I said with a small laugh.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. Just sarcastic humor."

"What do you mean?" he asked giving me a worried look.

"What were you saying about Tiran again?" I asked him, changing the subject as I stared out the window. I saw nothing out of the ordinary, no guards, no ShadowMen. Jackson began explaining what he heard about Tiran. I drained him out as I focused on a fight that just started between two thieves.

"Spirit, are you even listening to me?" he asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Huh? Yeah, I’m listening." I answered turning around, leaning my back against the wooden counter.

"What did I just say?"

"You were talking about how Tiran’s plan to convince the guards I helped with the break-in at the Mayor’s house."

"No, that was a few minutes ago! I was saying the guards are cracking down on thieves and we should be careful."

"Oh, well we have no worries then."

"Spirit! I mean it, we gotta be extra careful. Defiantly you."

"What does that mean?" I asked giving him a curious look.

"You’re up in the upper alleys pickpocketing Nobles and if you noticed guards are greater in that area." he explained.

"So?"

"Someone could spot you, d****t! Spirit, no offense but you haven’t learned the master thieving skills. So you’re inexperienced."

"This is coming from a guy who got his hand stuck in the pocket of the person he’s pickpocketing." I replied, crossing my arms.

"That was awhile back and I’ve experienced more."

"It was only last week. And two days ago, you got pickpocketed by Gleana." I countered, walking toward the door.

"I let Gleana practice on me! Hey, where you going?" he asked, standing up.

"I’m going back out. Since rumors are spreading more, I wanna hear them." I answered stepping through the door and shutting it behind me before Jackson could respond.

I made my way to Gorion’s Tavern. Sounds surrounded me as I entered the crowded tavern. Fights were breaking out, beer mugs were shattering and yelling were hurting my eardrums. I shut my eyes for a few seconds and tried to make my way to the back of the bar.

I found a empty table and sat down. A serving wench approached me and asked for my order.

"Have you heard any new rumors lately?" I asked her.

"What kind of rumors are you looking for, sweetheart?" she asked, in a deep rich voice.

"Any new info about the break-in at the Mayor’s or any on the ShadowMen."

"Sorry, sweetheart. I don’t know anything about those." she answered, shaking her head.

"Oh, alright then." I said, disappointed.

"But there was a girl here earlier looken for a certain person. Ask David, he spoke with her." she pointed over to the bar, at a man attending the bar.

"Ok, thanks." I said getting up.

"Hope ya find Whatcha need, sweetheart."

I made my way through the crowd towards the bar and took a seat. "Are you David?" I asked the man.

"Who wants to know?" he asked not looking up from his work.

"I was told you talked to an unusual girl who was in here earlier."

"What do you want to know?" he asked finally looking up at me.

"Anything. It doesn’t matter."

"Well, she came in ask’n about stuff. Ask’n what kind of town this is and if there were any interesting things here."

"What was her name?"

"Why the hell would I know?"

"Do you know anything else?" I asked, ignoring his comment.

"She wasn’t from here, I know that."

"Ok, then. Thanks." I said disappointed.

"I do remember her having long claw-like fingernails and long silver hair." He said, as I was getting up.

"Thank you." I said, recognizing the girl from the riot fight. "Have you heard any rumors from the guards? Or any info on the ShadowMen?"

"That’s a lot of questions you got there girl." he said giving me a suspicious look.

"You’re the largest bar in this town, so everyone comes here. So naturally people are going to speak of all kinds of rumors. You gotta know something." I explained defensive.

"No new rumors today, try back later." he said going back to his work, dismissing me.

I stared at him for a couple of seconds before heading out. I let out a sigh as I closed the door behind me."What a jerk." I let out, shaking my head in annoyance.

Making my way home, I noticed something lurking in the shadows between the buildings beside of me. I stopped and stared at the shadows. I stared only for a minute and then began back on my way. "Must been a thief or something" I thought paying it no mind. My power pulsed inside me as I felt a strange aura around me. I glanced quickly around, but saw no one. The streets were getting darker from the setting sun and the buildings cast long shadows my way. I kept on walking, but more cautious. The feeling got stronger as I sensed someone was watching me. I stopped and my right hand slid down, resting on my sword’s tilt, ready to defend myself. I enhanced my senses to hear any movement and sense any presence.

A shadow moved in front of me. I stood my ground watching it. I then realized it was just the wind blowing a tree which made the shadow move. Before I could relax, I sensed something was behind me. I swung around and came face-to-face with a strange shadow figure. It took the form of a man and stood taller than me.

I unsheathed my Twin Fangs as an evil presence wrapped around me. "Wh-what the hell?!" I let out, as the shadow figure quickly shifted towards me. I raised my wave swords to block the fast movement of the shadow. I almost let out a small scream as it went through me. My power pulsed rapidly inside me as the strong, ominous aura strangled my body. Before I had time to react, it vanished.

"Spirit?!" yelled someone coming up to me. I twirled around, nearly attacking the person.

"Spirit! It’s me, Jackson!" he yelled leaping back to evade the swords’ swipe.

"Oh, s**t! Jackson, don’t sneak up on me like that!" I breathed resting my head on my arms, calming myself down.

"Are you ok?" he asked, stepping closer to me.

"Did you see that shadow?" I asked, looking up at him, still alert.

"What shadow? All I saw was you standing with your swords out, armed."

"S**t, what was that thing?" I asked myself out loud, while I sheathed my swords.

"Are you ok?" he asked me again.

"Yeah..I guess." I answered, glancing around. The feeling had vanished with the unknown shadow. I let out a tired sigh as I turned back around to Jackson."Did you come looking for me, or you just headed this way?" I asked, curious.

"Well, no...not at first. I went to confront Tiran." he looked away from me, avoiding my eyes."I’m sorry."

"Sorry for what? Why did you confront Tiran? What happened?" I asked getting worried.

"I didn’t attack him. I couldn’t find him. However I did find more about that rumor I was talking about."

"And?" I urged him to continue.

"I was wrong," he bowed his head in disappointment..

"You were?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him as I crossed my arms, awaiting his response.

"Tiran never went to a guard. They were talking about someone else. But you are on the ShadowMen’s death list! Spirit, you need to be extra careful, I mean it." His voice started to drop as he began to worry.

"Jackson, I’ll be ok. You’re the one who needs to be more careful. I know for a fact they would try to kill you."

"It’s different for me. Don’t compare our situations."

"Yeah, right!" I said sarcastically, laughing. "I’m not making unreasonable deals with them as I know they’re going to rip me off. I don’t wonder into their hideout, surrounded by thugs that want me dead! I am not as trustworthy to a bunch of backstabbing thugs who rather want me dead! I-"

"Ok! Ok, I get it! My work is more dangerous than yours.’ he said interrupting my rant."I know how bad they are and I know about their partnership with me."

"Then why work with them?" I asked, my voice calm now.

"It’s what I do." he answered with a shrug.

"Sure..." I kept my eyes on him, trying to figure him out.

"We better head back, it’s getting late and the guards are cracking down on lingering thieves."

"Yeah, I’m getting tired" I let out a yawn as I began walking back to the hideout with Jackson.

As I slept in my bed, a disturbing nightmare entered my dreams. It was a nightmare similar to when I was only a young child.

I was running through darkness as I tried escaping from some shadow creature. I couldn’t see the thing that was chasing me, only sensed it. I quickly glanced behind me, but I tripped. I fell the ground hard. I tried to get back up, but my boots slipped and I fell back down. I looked up and the shadow creature stood over me. It was grinning evily as it’s eerie, crimson red eyes stared down at me.

Author's Note

This is probally the shortest Chapter so far....Anyway If you see any errors let me know. I read through and edited what I saw but I may have missed something. Enjoy =)