BETA READ
Date: 9th October 3852 A.C.E.
Myst woke to an eerie silence. He could no longer hear the hum of voices coming from downstairs like he had been able to at the end of the night. He took some time to get ready, filling up on some of the leftover food he had grabbed on the way up to his room. Once ready, Myst threw on his cloak and headed into the hallway.
Something seemed out of place as he made his way to the stairs. The doors to the other rooms were wide open. Letting curiosity get the better of him, Myst poked his head into a couple of the rooms. It seemed like everyone had left in a hurry.
Making his way down the stairs, Myst saw the reason for everyone else’s quick departure. The entire alehouse had been turned into a warzone. Chairs and tables were scattered in piles. Bodies were lying on the floor. A few of the bartenders and servers were tidying up what they could. Myst recognised the group of tailed Shifters near one of the piles. From his count, only one had made it out of the alehouse. A giant bear caught Myst’s eye next. The towering man who had been in the fight the night before had transformed fully into a bear and his body was now lying under a pile of tables. Even he wasn’t a match for whoever caused this, thought Myst.
Al spotted Myst from where he was cleaning up behind the bar, “Myst! I’m surprised to see you up and kicking. Over here!”
Navigating between piles of destroyed furniture, Myst asked Al, “What happened here last night?”
“Do you seriously not know?”
“No. I slept through the night and only woke up a little while ago.”
“How did you sleep through all that? We were attacked by Shadow a few hours after—”
“By Shadow? He was here last night?”
“He most certainly was. Appeared out of nowhere and started attacking everyone in sight. Most people fled, but the ones that tried to fight never stood a chance. I have never seen the kind of power he used. Or even heard of it.”
“Was he here for something?”
“I believe he’s working with those scoundrels that have been hijacking my shipments. They’re trying to scare me into giving up my territory.” Al kicked over an empty barrel that he’d bumped into while tidying behind the bar. “Are you still up for going down to the docks for me?”
“If there’s a chance Shadow will also be there, then even more reason for me to go. What time do you need me there?”
“You best head there now. Go with Luca. He’ll get you guys there and set up with some weapons.” Al called to Luca at the other end of the alehouse, “Oi, Luca, get over here! I need you to take Myst with you to the docks.”
“Yes, sir!” Luca called back with a soft voice. “I’ll get us there as quick as I can.”
“You aren’t coming along?” Myst asked Al.
“Have you seen this place? I need to get it back up and running as soon as possible. I’m sure you two will be able to handle it,” replied Al. “Now get going. I want to make sure you two are there before the shipment arrives.”
“Okay, I’ll see you afterwards.”
At the docks, Luca took Myst over to a storage area and opened the door to one of the buildings. Walking inside, Myst could see hundreds of weapons laid out on benches and hung on the walls of the room.
“Take your pick,” said Luca, grabbing a hammer from one of the benches. “Do you have a preference?”
“I haven’t,” replied Myst, scouring the walls. He spotted a pair of axes near the back of the room. “Although, I am used to the feel of an axe, back from when I was home.”
“That’s good, best to go for what’s familiar.”
Myst grabbed the axes off the wall and weighed up how they felt in his hands. “Are they really necessary though?”
“I hope not. This is my first-time sitting guard. Al told me I’d be doing it earlier this morning since the usual guys were killed in the attack last night. He did say that the weapons are more for show than anything else though.”
“I guess that’s reassuring,” said Myst placing a hand on his chest, trying steady his heart rate.
“We best get out there now, we won’t intimidate anyone from in here.”
They set themselves up by some crates that gave a clear view of the street leading to the docks. Myst asked, “Were you there last night when Shadow attacked?”
“I was,” replied Luca. “Although I’m ashamed to say that I wasn’t much help.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I let fear get the best of me and ended up hiding in the storage room,” Luca said. His sapphire eyes concentrated on a stone by his feet.
“From what I saw, there wasn’t much anyone could have done to stop it. Best that you stayed alive than add to the pile of bodies.”
“I guess you’re right. I just wish I had been braver instead of looking like a coward in front of Al though.”
“Doesn’t being here now count for something? I’m sure Al wouldn’t send you here unless he trusted you.”
They continued to chat away throughout the morning. Luca told Myst how he had started working for Al to support his family and bring in some extra money to help put food on the table. He had only turned eighteen a couple of months ago, but his family was desperate and had convinced Al to take him under his wing.
It was around noon when the shipment for the alehouse arrived and there was still no sign of anyone coming to cause trouble. While the shipment was being unloaded, Myst’s mind drifted to the thought of finally getting a chance to come face to face with Shadow after tracking him for so long. He couldn’t believe that he had been so close the night before only to sleep through the entire thing. He could have put an end to it all if he had stayed awake for a few more hours.
The scraping of metal along cobble snapped Myst out of his thought. “Did you hear that, Luca?”
“I did. Sounds like they turned up. We best look alive now.”
Myst picked up the axes that he had rested against the side of the crate he was sitting on. As he readied himself, a gang of six people rounded the corner. Four of them held weapons, made up of hammers and crowbars. A man and a woman walked behind, towering over the other four. Both the man and the woman looked like their skin resembled the colour of a tiger. As they closed in, both grew long fangs and their entire bodies slowly transformed into the form of tigers. The tigress started to circle to the left of the approaching gang, while the tiger circled to their right.
Myst looked to Luca for reassurance but saw him pale with an expression that offered anything but. “Did Al tell you there would be this many?” Myst asked.
Luca’s eyes were locked on the gang closing in on them. He managed to stammer out, “N-n-no, he said it’s normally two of them if they even show up. I honestly thought we wouldn’t see anyone today.”
A hammer went whizzing past their faces and then again back towards the gang. Gluing both Myst and Luca’s gaze on the hammer as it flew by. Myst snapped himself out of the locked stare and looked around for the two that had shifted into tigers. They were nowhere to be seen.
Myst saw Luca slowly stepping backwards, his eyes still glued on the main group approaching. Myst asked, “Luca, what do we do?”
Without a word, Luca dropped his hammer and darted off to the left. He made it a few strides before being swept off his feet. Myst only saw a blur before Luca disappeared. In his place was the sound of flesh being ripped apart. The tigress had pounced and was tearing at Luca’s throat.
Worried about the other tiger, Myst spun around. Just in time. He saw the tiger as it was crouched on the roof of a building, getting ready to pounce on him. Myst rolled to the side, barely avoiding the jaws of the tiger as it lunged at him. He looked up and saw that he had rolled within reach of the four men.
Myst got a clear look at them for the first time. All of them had sapphire eyes and faces that had seen plenty of fights already. A man with a scar from his eyebrow to his jaw swung his crowbar at Myst’s face. Myst blocked the swing with one of his axes and tried to uppercut the man with the other. Connecting only with the man’s shirt. But the swing gave Myst just enough time to get back to his feet.
Another blow came from Myst’s left side, this time connecting with his shoulder. He felt the sting of the hammer and his left arm go numb. It knocked him off balance and he stumbled to his right. Regaining his footing, Myst threw the axe in his right hand. It made contact and lodged itself in the chest of the man that had just hit him with the hammer. Knocking him dead on his back.
The three remaining men were stunned. They all had their eyes on the man that was motionless on the ground. Sensing there was a short moment to spare, Myst scanned the area around him again. He saw the tigers had backed off and were now circling from a distance.
Breaking their stun, two of the men lunged at Myst. Both swinging at him at the same time. Myst stepped to his right, managing to avoid one attack, and awkwardly deflecting the other with his remaining axe.
The two men lunged again. Myst was able to block one, but the other landed a blow on Myst’s left shoulder. The numbing pain caused Myst to drop to his knees, losing his grip on the axe. They came at Myst again, this time aiming for a killing blow. He instinctively raised his right arm to try to block the incoming swings.
Myst’s eyes started to glow. The light reflected off the metal of the weapons coming toward him while an emerald smoke formed around his raised arm.
The two blows never connected with Myst, instead, they glanced off the shield that had appeared across his forearm. The men looked at each other, both visibly confused.
The man with the scar on his face, who had been waiting for a time to strike, wasn’t as taken aback by the shield that Myst had conjured. He started wailing his crowbar at Myst’s shield. Swing after swing. Cracking the shield with each blow.
Myst lowered the shield more after each blow of the crossbar, unable to keep his arm raised above his head. One solid blow came which sent a piece of the shield flying across docks. Then another which shattered it into pieces. Myst’s arm dropped to the ground. He gave a final glance up at the man, who was readying his next swing. Accepting there was nothing more he could do, he let his eyes fall heavy.
The air became dense. The sun faded behind a black smog as the docks were plunged into darkness.
Myst waited for the man’s crowbar to make its final blow. Only for nothing to connect. Opening his eyes, he looked up at the man and found that his crowbar has disappeared. Leaving black particles floating in its place. Then he saw the black shape behind the man, dousing him even further into darkness. It was Shadow.
The man caught Myst’s gaze. He spun around and came face to face with Shadow. Although, Shadow’s face was blank. It had no features, not even eyes to give a clue to the power he held. Instead, smoke flowed underneath what looked to be a giant black cloak.
Myst watched as the man tried to throw a punch at Shadow. The punch connected with Shadow’s chest. Instead of knocking Shadow back, the man’s hand was consumed by Shadow. As the man pulled back, Myst saw him stare at his handless arm in disbelief. Shadow took advantage of the man’s shock and plunged a dagger into the man’s gut. The man fell to the ground clutching at his belly with his remaining hand.
The two others tried to attack Shadow from behind. Shadow was too fast for them and effortlessly floated sideways to avoid their attack. Before they were able to regather themselves, Shadow’s cloak grew, encircling the man closest to him. It continued growing until he was surrounded by the smoke of the cloak and hidden from sight.
A few seconds passed as everyone else looked on entranced. The smoke began to dissipate. Agonising screams could be heard from the man as it did. He had collapsed on the ground and was rocking from side to side. Tears streamed down his face. Myst couldn’t see any injuries on the man that would cause such pain. But the screams of the man were harrowing nonetheless, sending shivers down Myst’s spine.
The other man couldn’t keep his composure any longer. He dropped his weapon and fled as fast as he could. Also not wanting to get involved, the tigers followed him.
Shadow hadn’t reappeared after encircling the man, who was still rocking on the ground screaming. The darkness around the docks had also disappeared along with him, allowing Myst to feel the heat of the sun shining down on him.
Myst slowly made his way to his feet. I best get back and let Al know what happened, he thought. Leaving everything behind, he made his way as quickly as he could back to the alehouse. The screams of the collapsed man faded into the distance as he left the docks.
