Categories > Original > Fantasy > The Price
This is a standalone piece that isn't for the lighthearted. What price would you pay for freedom and eternal life? What would you destroy? What horror would you commit? When would it become so easy that you'd hardly call it a price to be paid? Would you lose everything you are and should be just to live a little longer in your illusion of freedom? Would you care if you did? Enjoy, or throw up depending on what kind of person you are.
The cold of the roof tile seeped in through the leather of her boots despite the thickness. Her thin cloak hung around her frame, obscuring her from the eyes of the archers watching the roofs in the rich district. Her teeth sank into the apple that would be her dinner for the night if she didn't manage to pilfer something from the house while she did what she came for. She thought of cursing the cold but in truth she found the enchantments of silence and concealment on her clothing much more useful in the life she led.
She slipped down the tiles with ease and climbed down to the window she knew was occupied by the heir to the merchant's empire. The cold steel of her blade slid against her skin as she slipped it from its sheath. The latch within the room that held the window closed flung itself from its hook. Although she could not have seen what had occurred in the room, she used one of her legs to gently push the window open into the room and with the grace of a shadow landed silently upon the wooden floorboards of the boy's room.
The woman perched herself on the headboard looking down on the boy, waiting for her second sight to return. A glowing thread appeared before her eyes, turned into a chord, and with a swift motion she cut it. The blade hummed with the energy it stole as the soul of the boy spiraled away from the earthly plane to be lost or reborn.
The sound, she knew would wake those that would sense her crime and seek to prevent her existence from continuing. Out the window, as fleet as a shadow and just as ephemeral, she fled. Where before she had felt cold, now she felt warm from the power the blade had enabled her to get. Out of the district and past the gates she fled unseen. In the house the merchant slept, his new wife with child next to him, and in all the houses save one people went about their rest. In the morning, the heir would be found dead and in the town over her pay would wait. The new wife would rejoice at her victory and none would be the wiser.
However, on the dock a woman slept waiting for the boat to come that would take her to a distant shore. With a start she woke, held her head, and her soul screamed at the foul deed that had been done. She would have to remain in this town. She needed to set right what'd been wronged.
The cold of the roof tile seeped in through the leather of her boots despite the thickness. Her thin cloak hung around her frame, obscuring her from the eyes of the archers watching the roofs in the rich district. Her teeth sank into the apple that would be her dinner for the night if she didn't manage to pilfer something from the house while she did what she came for. She thought of cursing the cold but in truth she found the enchantments of silence and concealment on her clothing much more useful in the life she led.
She slipped down the tiles with ease and climbed down to the window she knew was occupied by the heir to the merchant's empire. The cold steel of her blade slid against her skin as she slipped it from its sheath. The latch within the room that held the window closed flung itself from its hook. Although she could not have seen what had occurred in the room, she used one of her legs to gently push the window open into the room and with the grace of a shadow landed silently upon the wooden floorboards of the boy's room.
The woman perched herself on the headboard looking down on the boy, waiting for her second sight to return. A glowing thread appeared before her eyes, turned into a chord, and with a swift motion she cut it. The blade hummed with the energy it stole as the soul of the boy spiraled away from the earthly plane to be lost or reborn.
The sound, she knew would wake those that would sense her crime and seek to prevent her existence from continuing. Out the window, as fleet as a shadow and just as ephemeral, she fled. Where before she had felt cold, now she felt warm from the power the blade had enabled her to get. Out of the district and past the gates she fled unseen. In the house the merchant slept, his new wife with child next to him, and in all the houses save one people went about their rest. In the morning, the heir would be found dead and in the town over her pay would wait. The new wife would rejoice at her victory and none would be the wiser.
However, on the dock a woman slept waiting for the boat to come that would take her to a distant shore. With a start she woke, held her head, and her soul screamed at the foul deed that had been done. She would have to remain in this town. She needed to set right what'd been wronged.
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