Nightmarenny
2012-01-13, 06:32 AM
This is a sort of Western meets old world magic story I'm working on. It's in very early draft from and any critique, assuming its constructive, is welcome. I hope you enjoy.
Chapter One Exodus
Giullian's was a pub near the center of the city. It was built with a strong brightly colored wood and bricks. It sat at the crossing of two roads and its large double doors hung open invitingly. Its windows shone with Candles that gave the large interior and its denizens a healthy glow as they talked, laughed, and drank. There would be no gambling or roudy behavior. Not so close to Lurren's Tower. Indeed, it was a quite nice place to rest and congrigate. That it was also very close to the Hunters residence in the Tower making it the perfect meeting place for them.
Alexia straitened her black duster. Taking her hat off and brushing the blonde hair that had gotten free of her ponytail out of her face she gazed up at her Masters Tower. It was not the only tall black tower in the city, far from it, but it was the tallest. Set in the City's center it cast a grand shadow over the entire region. It was said from the observation room in the top floor Master Lurren could see everything across the world, through time, even into a man heart. A shiver shot through her spine. Feeling explosed she crossed through the pub's doorway. From the cold darkness to the safety of the light
It took only a moment to spot her compatriots. All wearing matching black dusters with an elaborate Golden outline of a scorpeon and wide-brimed hats. "four, and I make five" she thought releaved. Five was unusual but not altogether unheard of. What kind of mission would the Master need five Hunters for? She could not allow mercy to get in the way again. This time she could not hide it. She had fasted several day after her last mission, ,meditated for hours on the 3rd law of Lurren's Hunters "We preform his will, his will is justice" but she still fealt uneasy. The others sat at a table in the emptiest part of the pub near the back. She recodnized three of the Hunters. The other, a thin dark haired boy, must have been new. His face betrayed the eager anxiaty of the first outing.
Wayne sat at the head of the table. A long beak of a nose dominated the man's face. Much of which was covers with dirty red hair mated benieth his hat. He frowned his usual disatisified frown. His eyes were cold and disinterested. Indeed, Wayne only ever seemed alive when men screamed. Beside him sat Jim. To Alexia's surprise he did not bare the boyish smile he saved only for her. Instead he faked it. A pale imitation of real emotion. Lurren's Hunters could not marry or have children but their relationship was as close as the rules allowed. Bea, a dark skinned woman of significant heighth, seemed in good spirits as she prodded the boy with questions.
"Alexia join us" Wayne spoke like a Snake trying to spit up. He waved off a waitress who had begun to move towards their table "We won't be staying much longer" he said He grabbed a knife from the table and lightly hite it against his glass. The glass produced a high pitched note with each hit. A door to the backrooms opened and the room was suddenly filled with the sound of footsteps and heaving. The whitenoise of the Tavern goers ceased. Thano, another hunter, stepped into the room dragging someone by the Collar. Six Hunter! There was only one reason to bring six hunters together.
Wayne set a folded peice of paper on the table and asked "What is the first Law of Lurren's Hunters, Alexia?"
"To betray Lurren is the worst any man can do. Any who do so should be put to death" she answered eyes closed and shaking
"Ten days ago you recieved an assignment correct?" He did not wait for an answer instead picking up the letter and reading aloud "The Stilson family has made themsleves enemies of the state. They are to be eliminated" he looked up from the paper and continued "to the last man" She cursed the man. He spoke with such passivity. He might of been discussing the latest trade schedules for all the interest he showed. You would never know he held her life in his hands.
She had been ready to follow that order. She had taken the lives of three people that day. The boys mother, father and and older brother. She had gone looking for the last and returned to the family's bodies to find the child sitting over them. Sobbing quitely. He had looked up with those eyes, Terrified beyond words. He stared at her without hope. She drew her gun, pulled back the hammer but could not pull the trigger. She had never been asked to kill a child before. How could a child be guilty of teason?
She hadn't meant to betray her master but in the end she had just stared at the boys quite hopeless eyes. She told him to leave and never come back.
Wayne drew his revolver and aimed at her stomach. When a Hunter commits treason he or she is executed publically by five of his fellows. Nobody knows why more then one is nessissary. The Hunter to be executed never fought back. Not that anyone could remember. Some had fell to their knees and begged for forgiveness but most simply stood there and died. She could not. They would execute the boy also. They would both die and their deaths would be pointless. She didn't want to die. What other choices did she have?
As Wayne pulled pack on the hammer she drew. She didn't know why. She couldn't really shoot them but it would bye her a little time. Wayne started his eyes wide with shock. "The Hunters are your Family never fight or threaten another, save fullfilling an order of execution" he risited "Will you betray both of our most sacred laws? Put down the gun and die well Alexia"
"Alex" said Jim "don't make this harder then it has to be. Just let go" he said putting his hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off.
Looking around the room she was releaved to see that no one else had drawn their weapon. They were stunned. Could she really shoot him? She had to diside quickly. Wayne smiled, and she knew she was in trouble. "you will not shoot me. I will give you one more chance to die properly"
The sound of the boys chocking echoed through the speechless room. All eyes were on her. She took a deep breath and held her stance. Wayne's smile grew broader "Thano" he wispered "kill the boy"
"NO!" she screamed
Thano grabbed for his revolver and put it against the boys head but before he could pull the trigger Alexia slammed her shoulder into him. He grunted and all three fell to the ground. She pulled herself up enough to see the boys face. He was safe. She could get them out of this.
The sound a gun makes is loud. Almost incoprensible in its thundering helter Skelter. A single gunshot seems to crack time and space in two. For a moment everything is silent. As if all
the sound in the world had been been used up. Everything changed. One moment there had been this boy young, alive and in danger. Action needed to be taken. The next moment the boy was no more. A slab of flesh lay where he once was and now there was nothing to be done.
It rested in the same position he had been. On his stamach with arms in postion to pick himself up. The look of releif he had was frozen on his face. She was going to die just like him. Wayne stood about five feet away in a slopped posture his gun smoking. He smiled. She had always hated his smile. What they did was nesissary but to enjoy it so much seemed obsene and now that the smile was meant for her she realized it was much worse. How could Lurren allow a man like Wayne to serve him? Lurren was perfect. “His will is justice” but this wasn't justice was it? What had the boy done to derserve death? His parents had been dissenters. That was the answer she'd been given but it wasn't good enough. What of her execution? Wayne enjoyed it. He did not kill her because it was right but only because it would bring him pleasure. If she deserved death he should not be the arbiter of that.
“going to shoot me again, hm?” he mocked as she held her gun up. “but I'm still hurting from the last time you didn't shoot me” Wayne lurched back as the bullet made contact with his stamach. He fell backwards into the table knocking it over. Drinks came splashing down and glass shattered. Alexia was well and truly in it now. She had done the unthinkable. There was only one crime worse then attempted murder against another hunter and she was about to do that too.
She ran out through door Thano came through. There would be a backdoor she could get out from. The other three had finally woken from their stupor and drew their guns. Two gunshots rang out around her just as she passed the doorway into the storage room. She colided with the backdoor turning the door knob and bursting through. She closed the door behind her and took in her suroundings. A rancid smell overcame her as she glanced at the dark filthy alleyway. The right side would take her back to the front of the pub so she went left. She got about half way out of the alley before the door opened behind her. She drew both Revolvers and fired two shots from each. Thano lay motionless on the ground. A hand protruded from the doorway and fired blindly missing her. She kept running and reaching the alleys end turned right.
From behind her she heard a bang and felt a great pain in her left arm. She dropped the gun in that arm and faught back tears. Turning around she aimed and emptied the cylinder but heared no gunfire from her enemy. She wiped the tears from her eyes and saw clearly the person she had just shot. It was the new boy. He had hesitated when she faced him. It had been only a moment but that had been enough. She ran.
She zigzaged all through the city only stopping when she felt sure they had lost her. Panting in another alleyway she looked up at the sun. They would expect her to head north and steal a horse from a stable. From there she could escape the city and run to another town but she knew there was only one place that could offer sanctuary from Lurrens eye. Her personal horse rested in a ranch at the southeast. Impracticle a stop if your destinination was north but she would head instead to the desert in the south.
Chapter One Exodus
Giullian's was a pub near the center of the city. It was built with a strong brightly colored wood and bricks. It sat at the crossing of two roads and its large double doors hung open invitingly. Its windows shone with Candles that gave the large interior and its denizens a healthy glow as they talked, laughed, and drank. There would be no gambling or roudy behavior. Not so close to Lurren's Tower. Indeed, it was a quite nice place to rest and congrigate. That it was also very close to the Hunters residence in the Tower making it the perfect meeting place for them.
Alexia straitened her black duster. Taking her hat off and brushing the blonde hair that had gotten free of her ponytail out of her face she gazed up at her Masters Tower. It was not the only tall black tower in the city, far from it, but it was the tallest. Set in the City's center it cast a grand shadow over the entire region. It was said from the observation room in the top floor Master Lurren could see everything across the world, through time, even into a man heart. A shiver shot through her spine. Feeling explosed she crossed through the pub's doorway. From the cold darkness to the safety of the light
It took only a moment to spot her compatriots. All wearing matching black dusters with an elaborate Golden outline of a scorpeon and wide-brimed hats. "four, and I make five" she thought releaved. Five was unusual but not altogether unheard of. What kind of mission would the Master need five Hunters for? She could not allow mercy to get in the way again. This time she could not hide it. She had fasted several day after her last mission, ,meditated for hours on the 3rd law of Lurren's Hunters "We preform his will, his will is justice" but she still fealt uneasy. The others sat at a table in the emptiest part of the pub near the back. She recodnized three of the Hunters. The other, a thin dark haired boy, must have been new. His face betrayed the eager anxiaty of the first outing.
Wayne sat at the head of the table. A long beak of a nose dominated the man's face. Much of which was covers with dirty red hair mated benieth his hat. He frowned his usual disatisified frown. His eyes were cold and disinterested. Indeed, Wayne only ever seemed alive when men screamed. Beside him sat Jim. To Alexia's surprise he did not bare the boyish smile he saved only for her. Instead he faked it. A pale imitation of real emotion. Lurren's Hunters could not marry or have children but their relationship was as close as the rules allowed. Bea, a dark skinned woman of significant heighth, seemed in good spirits as she prodded the boy with questions.
"Alexia join us" Wayne spoke like a Snake trying to spit up. He waved off a waitress who had begun to move towards their table "We won't be staying much longer" he said He grabbed a knife from the table and lightly hite it against his glass. The glass produced a high pitched note with each hit. A door to the backrooms opened and the room was suddenly filled with the sound of footsteps and heaving. The whitenoise of the Tavern goers ceased. Thano, another hunter, stepped into the room dragging someone by the Collar. Six Hunter! There was only one reason to bring six hunters together.
Wayne set a folded peice of paper on the table and asked "What is the first Law of Lurren's Hunters, Alexia?"
"To betray Lurren is the worst any man can do. Any who do so should be put to death" she answered eyes closed and shaking
"Ten days ago you recieved an assignment correct?" He did not wait for an answer instead picking up the letter and reading aloud "The Stilson family has made themsleves enemies of the state. They are to be eliminated" he looked up from the paper and continued "to the last man" She cursed the man. He spoke with such passivity. He might of been discussing the latest trade schedules for all the interest he showed. You would never know he held her life in his hands.
She had been ready to follow that order. She had taken the lives of three people that day. The boys mother, father and and older brother. She had gone looking for the last and returned to the family's bodies to find the child sitting over them. Sobbing quitely. He had looked up with those eyes, Terrified beyond words. He stared at her without hope. She drew her gun, pulled back the hammer but could not pull the trigger. She had never been asked to kill a child before. How could a child be guilty of teason?
She hadn't meant to betray her master but in the end she had just stared at the boys quite hopeless eyes. She told him to leave and never come back.
Wayne drew his revolver and aimed at her stomach. When a Hunter commits treason he or she is executed publically by five of his fellows. Nobody knows why more then one is nessissary. The Hunter to be executed never fought back. Not that anyone could remember. Some had fell to their knees and begged for forgiveness but most simply stood there and died. She could not. They would execute the boy also. They would both die and their deaths would be pointless. She didn't want to die. What other choices did she have?
As Wayne pulled pack on the hammer she drew. She didn't know why. She couldn't really shoot them but it would bye her a little time. Wayne started his eyes wide with shock. "The Hunters are your Family never fight or threaten another, save fullfilling an order of execution" he risited "Will you betray both of our most sacred laws? Put down the gun and die well Alexia"
"Alex" said Jim "don't make this harder then it has to be. Just let go" he said putting his hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off.
Looking around the room she was releaved to see that no one else had drawn their weapon. They were stunned. Could she really shoot him? She had to diside quickly. Wayne smiled, and she knew she was in trouble. "you will not shoot me. I will give you one more chance to die properly"
The sound of the boys chocking echoed through the speechless room. All eyes were on her. She took a deep breath and held her stance. Wayne's smile grew broader "Thano" he wispered "kill the boy"
"NO!" she screamed
Thano grabbed for his revolver and put it against the boys head but before he could pull the trigger Alexia slammed her shoulder into him. He grunted and all three fell to the ground. She pulled herself up enough to see the boys face. He was safe. She could get them out of this.
The sound a gun makes is loud. Almost incoprensible in its thundering helter Skelter. A single gunshot seems to crack time and space in two. For a moment everything is silent. As if all
the sound in the world had been been used up. Everything changed. One moment there had been this boy young, alive and in danger. Action needed to be taken. The next moment the boy was no more. A slab of flesh lay where he once was and now there was nothing to be done.
It rested in the same position he had been. On his stamach with arms in postion to pick himself up. The look of releif he had was frozen on his face. She was going to die just like him. Wayne stood about five feet away in a slopped posture his gun smoking. He smiled. She had always hated his smile. What they did was nesissary but to enjoy it so much seemed obsene and now that the smile was meant for her she realized it was much worse. How could Lurren allow a man like Wayne to serve him? Lurren was perfect. “His will is justice” but this wasn't justice was it? What had the boy done to derserve death? His parents had been dissenters. That was the answer she'd been given but it wasn't good enough. What of her execution? Wayne enjoyed it. He did not kill her because it was right but only because it would bring him pleasure. If she deserved death he should not be the arbiter of that.
“going to shoot me again, hm?” he mocked as she held her gun up. “but I'm still hurting from the last time you didn't shoot me” Wayne lurched back as the bullet made contact with his stamach. He fell backwards into the table knocking it over. Drinks came splashing down and glass shattered. Alexia was well and truly in it now. She had done the unthinkable. There was only one crime worse then attempted murder against another hunter and she was about to do that too.
She ran out through door Thano came through. There would be a backdoor she could get out from. The other three had finally woken from their stupor and drew their guns. Two gunshots rang out around her just as she passed the doorway into the storage room. She colided with the backdoor turning the door knob and bursting through. She closed the door behind her and took in her suroundings. A rancid smell overcame her as she glanced at the dark filthy alleyway. The right side would take her back to the front of the pub so she went left. She got about half way out of the alley before the door opened behind her. She drew both Revolvers and fired two shots from each. Thano lay motionless on the ground. A hand protruded from the doorway and fired blindly missing her. She kept running and reaching the alleys end turned right.
From behind her she heard a bang and felt a great pain in her left arm. She dropped the gun in that arm and faught back tears. Turning around she aimed and emptied the cylinder but heared no gunfire from her enemy. She wiped the tears from her eyes and saw clearly the person she had just shot. It was the new boy. He had hesitated when she faced him. It had been only a moment but that had been enough. She ran.
She zigzaged all through the city only stopping when she felt sure they had lost her. Panting in another alleyway she looked up at the sun. They would expect her to head north and steal a horse from a stable. From there she could escape the city and run to another town but she knew there was only one place that could offer sanctuary from Lurrens eye. Her personal horse rested in a ranch at the southeast. Impracticle a stop if your destinination was north but she would head instead to the desert in the south.