Okay, I'm just going to start by saying that I'm not a very good person. I've stolen a lot, I've manipulated people into doing what I want, and I'm partially responsible for the deaths of two of my closest friends. I used to be part of a cult. I'll try to defend myself as little as possible, but I will say that crime is all I know.
That's how I was raised.
The Serpentine Order was not the ideal place to be brought up in. I knew that, everyone did. It was a group of criminals. A group of assassins, thieves, kleptomaniacs, and substance peddlers. The group of crooks were headquartered in Kestramore, the capital of the Thu-Svarian Empire. Smaller, hidden bases were scattered all over the empire. Wherever the Masked Emperor's influence was, the Order wasn't far behind.
To keep the 'peace' in the Empire, the Order's head, Zydrathas, had formed a pact with the Emperor. The two men met secretly one night and struck a deal. They agreed that half of the Order's profits would go directly to the Emperor himself. In return, the Order could continue to operate without facing any legal repercussions.
The Order wasn't solely dedicated to the Emperor, though. Their primary recruitment utilized a minor religion: one which honored the five Emerald Planemasters. It was similar to the one which most of Thu-Svaria believed in, but the gods had different names and were responsible for different concepts.
I couldn't just abandon Zyd. He had taken me in when I was an infant after my mother died and my father gave me away. Leaving the Order was like leaving your family.
Enough explaining, though. Let's get to the interesting part. The part where my story truly starts. The part before I discovered that the Emerald Planemasters demanded insane rituals from their devout followers. The part before I completely stopped believing in them and left both the Order and the church. The part before meeting the girl of my dreams nearly fucked me over. The part before my friends and I accidentally screwed over the entire world. The part before…
Well, you'll see. I've given enough spoilers.
No more delays. Let's get started.
✵✵✵
This whole mess started when I was doing a job for the Order. And I was in a rather… Tight position.
Also, I guarantee that it's not what you're thinking. This isn't that kind of story.
Night swept like a blanket over the city of Kestramore, the gorgeous capital city of Thu-Svaria. The only visible light came from the tavern across the street and the tiny crescent moon that shone in the night sky. I was hiding in a house that did not belong to me, squeezed between my loot and death.
Well, I don't mean death itself. I mean someone that would have immediately killed me, had I been discovered. I didn't know his name. I didn't want to know his name. I just knew that he was some rich prick living in the Imperial district.
My job was to steal his greatsword, a historical, religious artifact of great value. It supposedly had a powerful enchantment placed upon it. Then, I had to replace the sword with an unenchanted replica. Zyd had told me that the blade was housed in a glass box in his armory and that the lock was extremely hard to break open. At first, I thought it would be a very difficult job. I thought that until I broke into his house and actually saw the man.
He was around my age, clearly no older than twenty. A mop of long, straight, mousy-brown hair sat atop his head above his nearly pitch-black eyes. For someone who owned such a powerful weapon, he looked like he would barely be able to hold the damn thing above his head.
And he was batshit insane.
He just kept pacing around the armory, blathering to himself about some nonsense that I could barely make out. I overheard a few words, like blood, dust, and altar. Sometimes, he paused and just stood there, staring at the wall as if he had just seen a ghost.
It was absurd.
When he finally left, he locked the door behind him from the inside. Perhaps he knew that someone had been sent after him to steal his sword and so he didn't want anyone to get in. What he didn't know, however, was that the man who was sent after him was sitting in between a shelf and the wall in his armory. I heard the man talking to a woman with a gruff voice, footsteps, and the sound of the door closing.
He and the woman had both left the house.
This was too easy.
I quickly climbed out of my hiding place and pulled three lockpicks and my dagger out of my pocket. I easily picked the lock and took the sword off of its pedestal.
The blade itself was wrapped in a cloth of the same obsidian hue. I admired the gorgeous dark sheen of the few visible parts of the blade. The pommel was shaped like another blade, so I dared not touch it. It was a deep ruby red, reminiscent of the color of blood.
I looked at the carvings engraved in the hilt. I recognized the largest rune. It was a symbol of one of the Planemasters. For some reason, I was having a hard time putting my finger on which one it was. I decided to just ask Zyd about it when I got back to the Order.
But why was it there?
As I peered out the window next to the glass display case, I thanked the Planemasters for the sheer luck I was gifted. The sword was black and could blend into the dark, the city was quiet, and for some reason, the Imperial district had no patrols monitoring it. The heist couldn't have had better timing.
I took the unenchanted replica from my old hiding spot, placing it in the exact position that the real sword was. It didn't have the same iridescent sheen as the enchanted weapon, but it was still impressive.
I shut the display case, hearing the lock click shut as I closed it. I breathed a sigh of relief as I opened the window and tumbled out of it. I started to make my way back to the residential district to tell Zyd the good news.
✵✵✵
The temple that the Order called home was tucked away in the corner of the city, near the front of the gates in the residential district. The building was like something out of a storybook, constructed from grayish-red bricks, with spires tall enough to poke the clouds.
The stained glass windows on the sides of the building each told of the Emerald Planemasters and their rise to glory in the land of Evergen after dueling the five false gods and reclaiming their thrones. They prophesied how the five Planemasters would one day return to the mortal realm and save us all from damnation.
I pushed open the huge, castle-like doors of the temple. Every inch of the walls was covered in religious imagery. Worshipers flooded the pews, praying to all five of them, but mostly to Tarran, the first of the five to become a Planemaster.
The massive basement was the criminal part of the Order's real headquarters. It was a strange place that almost no one knew about except the members of the Order. It was full of dust and cobwebs and probably hadn't been cleaned for years before the Order moved in. Even though it was filthy and, you know, full of criminals, something about the place was full of character.
Zydrathas, or Zyd, as I usually called him, was an odd man. Don't get me wrong, he had done a good job of raising me for those twenty years. But the way he acted about certain things was just… strange.
His appearance would intimidate anyone else who wasn't in the Order. He shaved his graying black hair down to less than an inch. You could practically see the skin of his scalp beneath the stubble. His hooded amber eyes almost looked red at times. The scar running across his left cheek always looked at me funny. The eagle-like nose on his face was sharp and angular. His skin had been slightly touched by the sun, leaving it a medium-tan color.
He always wore a suit of black, studded, leather armor and always carried around a thick, black book with a large green eye in the center of the front cover. I had never seen him without the book, not even once.
A lot of people actually thought that Zyd was my biological father. I never knew why. The only physical attribute we shared was our raven hair.
But I was thinner than him. I was paler than him. My eyes were darker than his. And obviously, I was much younger than him.
But I think that goes without saying since he was like a father figure to me.
Zyd stood in a corner, far away from everyone else. He was talking to a woman of the Order. When he saw me, he motioned at me to run over to him.
"Ah, there he is. You're dismissed," he said after I ran up to him. He crossed one wrist over the other and pressed his thumbs together, making a symbol that slightly resembled a butterfly or a bird or something of that ilk.
The Order referred to it as the Dragonfly, even though it did not look like a dragonfly at all. However, every member of the Order wore a badge shaped like a dragonfly on all their clothing, to prevent being detained by guards for any sort of crime.
"Theron,"
I repeated the hand motion, saying, "Zyd,"
"Do you have the greatsword?"
I sighed as I unsheathed the greatsword, holding it out for him to take. I was used to his unwillingness to exchange pleasantries, but it still hurt a little bit. "Here,"
"Very good, very good," He took the greatsword from me, admiring it just as I had. "So I assume that it wasn't that hard of a job for you, then?"
"Oh, not at all," I told him.
I deliberately left out the part about the man having the mental stability of an asylum patient.
"Theron, do you even know the significance of this blade?" Zyd asked me, looking directly into my eyes.
"No, sir,"
He looked somewhat disappointed after hearing my answer. "This sword belonged to Lady Dasi of Edylia,"
My eyes widened. "Like… Dasi the Emerald Planemaster? Matron of war?"
He nodded.
I raised my eyebrows. "So that's why her runic marking is on the hilt,"
"When she and the other Planemasters ascended to the realm of Evergen, her sword was left behind in their hometown of Edylia. When the city crumbled, her blade was lost. Well, until about thirty years ago, when that lunatic's father led an expedition to the Edylian ruins. It was one of the only recovered artifacts from the city," He pressed his palms together. "I know there's more out there," he muttered.
"How do you know all this?" I asked.
Zyd glared at me, stepping closer to me. "I am the leader of this church for a reason. I see, hear, and know things that others do not, will not, and cannot. Do you understand?"
I shivered as I saw his amber eyes almost flicker. "Yes. I'm sorry for asking." I put my head down.
Leave it to Zyd to use effective scare tactics.
Zyd sniffed, putting his hands on his hips. "It's quite alright. It's natural for people your age to have questions about things,"
I sighed with relief. Zyd was not known to be the most forgiving person ever, so I was beyond relieved that he was in a good mood that night.
He immediately changed the subject. "By the way, I have another task for you, Theron. One that involves someone with your level of reliability and dexterity,"
"Really?" I asked, trying my best to contain my excitement. I failed, of course. A slight smile played along the corners of my lips.
"Yes," Zyd began to explain. "The Serpentine Order is… not as influential as I would like it to be. Our newest recruits are mostly just townspeople who want to get away with shoplifting. Cute, but our real missions are far beyond petty theft. We need people that are willing to do what you and I do. For the sake of the Planemasters,"
"Clearly, you have something in mind," I put my hands on my hips.
"I do," Zyd crossed his arms and began slowly pacing in a circle as he explained, "There is an assassin who is known throughout the empire of Thu-Svaria for his formidable talents in the art of stealth, trickery, and sabotage. No one knows his identity, he just goes by the name 'The Slitter.' I believe that the Planemasters would love to have someone like that as part of our church,"
"So–" I started.
"I want you to recruit The Slitter into the Order,"
"That's all?" I asked.
"That's all."
"There has to be a catch,"
Zyd chuckled. "Oh, there's always a catch. LIFE is a catch!" He stopped laughing, then told me, "The Slitter may try to kill you. You can fight back all you want, but if you kill him, the mission will not be considered successful, and I may have to remove you from the ranks of the Order… or worse,"
My jaw dropped. If I failed this mission, I would be kicked out of the Order or killed? How important was the Slitter, anyway?
"I–" I stammered. "I understand,"
He handed me a rolled-up map and a sheet of paper with an illustration of an ominous-looking mask. As I unrolled the map, he said, "That is his mask. Keep an eye out for it. The Slitter was last seen in the city of Svatyna. Send proof that you're on the Slitter's trail as you progress,"
My eyes widened as I saw where Svatyna was on the map Zyd gave me. "Wait, I'm supposed to go halfway across Thu-Svaria by myself?" I asked.
Zyd glared at me. "Is that a problem, Theron?"
"No, not at all," I quickly defended myself. "The Empire isn't that big, anyway."
That was a lie. A huge lie. The empire of Thu-Svaria covered almost the entire continent, leaving only a little space for elven and dwarven kingdoms.
"Good. Pack your bags and get whatever supplies you need. Svatyna is a twenty-day walk from here, and that's being generous. However, I'd suggest taking a hot air balloon or carriage, which only takes about one day," Zyd sniffed. "There's agents all throughout the city, most of which have connections here in Kestramore."
"How much time do I have?"
Zyd raised his eyebrows. "One month. Thirty days,"
I nodded as a sign of understanding. As I turned to leave, he stopped me.
"Let me down, and you will regret it. Do you understand?"
I gulped. "I understand,"
"Perfect. I will see you as soon as you have good news for me,"
✵✵✵
Later that night, I found myself yet again in the Royal Repose, one of Kestramore's many taverns. The dwarven and elven staff chattered beneath the music a group of elven bards was playing. The tavern was less crowded than usual. Typically, you could barely hear your own voice amongst the idle chatter.
But I didn't mind the quiet. I needed a little time to myself.
I was already on my fifth bottle of rosewater mead and my vision was starting to get a little foggy. I took another sip of the sickly sweet drink and slammed the bottle down on the table. To my surprise, it didn't break, but a few drops spilled out of the bottle and onto the table.
Drinking on an empty stomach was not a good idea. I felt my stomach churning and I even heard it growl at me like some sort of angry beast.
Sighing, I meandered over to the bar and asked, "Hey, can I get a bowl of… or plate of…"
"Bread?" asked a dwarf serving girl. Her dark blue eyes were huge and surrounded by tiny freckles that dotted almost her entire face. Her poofy, dirty-blonde curls were tied back in a low ponytail. She was more or less built like a barrel, but weren't all dwarves?
"Sure. Anything, as long as it's edible," I slurred, adding, "And bring me an ale!"
She winked at me, saying, "I'll have that right out for you,"
I sighed as I hunched over the bar, rubbing my eyes. For the love of the Planemasters, why did Zyd pick me to go halfway across Thu-Svaria just to find some… guy?
"The Slitter cannot be that fucking important," I grumbled quietly, downing the rest of the mead.
Hopefully, that dwarf girl would be out with my bread and ale soon. I was desperate for something stronger than fermented rose petals and honey.
I heard the sounds of heavy boots walking along the tavern's wooden floor. The sound drew closer and closer to me by the second.
"Did you mention the Slitter?" someone asked.
I sighed, turned around, and looked at the woman who spoke. The pair of cold, blue eyes in her head stared directly into my soul. Her stick-straight, platinum-blonde hair was cut just below her jawline and her bangs touched her thin, sharp eyebrows. I noticed that she had a small mole on her left cheek and a scar cutting through her right eyebrow. If one thing was certain, she had an intimidating appearance.
"Answer me," she commanded, her voice growing harsher still.
It was then that I recognized her. Lejsa Hrafnsdóttir, the commander of Kestramore's city guard. I ran into her sometimes when I was accidentally caught doing missions for the Order– a rare occurrence, I'll have you know.
Because of Zyd's association with the Emperor, she legally couldn't arrest me or even detain me, if she wanted to keep her position.
"I dunno," I slurred. "I'm just… rambling," I laughed.
"Oh, sod off. You can't be that drunk," She crossed her arms, raising her eyebrows.
I, in fact, was not that drunk. I just wanted her to leave me alone.
She squinted, looking at the dragonfly badge on my shirt. "Wait a minute. You're part of that thieves' guild, aren't you?"
"The Serpentine Order, actually," I corrected her.
"Right. That," She rolled her eyes.
"And I did not mention the Slitter," I lied. "I said I would slit her throat,"
"Oh? Who is she? One of those tavern whores you probably see in your pastime?" Lejsa furrowed her brow. The look on her face told me that she could just tell I was lying.
Before I could come up with a false explanation, the door was nearly kicked down by a group of Imperial guards. Not the regular guards that patrolled Kestramore, but the Emperor's guards. They all wore steel helmets that covered their entire face. The insignia of the Empire was engraved on the fronts of their shields.
What were they doing here?
The bards stopped playing their lutes and completely froze in their place. They looked at each other, confused. So did the servers. But the dwarf girl who had taken my order looked like she had seen a ghost.
One of them stepped forward and unrolled a scroll, reading the message aloud to the entire tavern.
"By order of His Excellency, the Masked Emperor of Thu-Svaria, we are required by law to search every tavern in Kestramore for the traitor dwarf Sasha van de Steen. The Emperor tells us that she works at one of these taverns,"
I glanced back to the bar. The serving girl who had taken my order appeared to shake in her tiny boots. Her face was flushed and she was breathing extremely heavily. Just based on her body language, I could immediately tell that she was Sasha.
There had to be something I could say to get them to leave.
I whispered to Lejsa. "Do you know anyone in the Imperial Guard?"
"I'm not helping you. Figure it out on your own," Lejsa seethed, moving to her original table. I sighed. Guards were no help. I had to think of my own lie to tell them so they'd leave the tavern. Then, it came to me. The perfect idea.
"Excuse me, good sir," I put on a fake, snobby voice.
"State your business."
"I am the manager of the Royal Repose, and I find it alarming that you barged into the tavern without even getting a couple of drinks!" I threw my arms up in disbelief.
Surprisingly, none of the other servers said anything. They didn't even bat an eye at me pretending to be the manager.
"We aren't here for drinks," he snapped. "If you're the manager of the tavern, then you of all people should know if a Sasha van de Steen works at this establishment,"
I calmly walked to the back of the bar, trying not to stumble over my own drunken feet. I scanned over the shelves until I found a book with the title Employee List and Records. I opened the book and flipped through the pages. Hopefully, Sasha was smart enough to use a pseudonym or something. Unfortunately, I spotted her name on the page, clear as day. Even I could read it, and I could barely see clearly. I pursed my lips, quickly thinking of an excuse.
I feigned shock as I exclaimed, "Oh, it looks like her name is still in our books! That's odd. She quit two days ago and moved to one of the other taverns. My deputy manager must've forgotten to scribble out her name. Shall I do that now?"
I practically felt the guard's eyes roll under his helmet. "No. It's fine. Clearly, this is the wrong place. Thank you for understanding, and we apologize for the inconvenience." He sighed. "Come on, men. Let's go,"
As the guards cleared out of the tavern, I sat down and sighed exasperatedly. I took another swig of the mead. The bards resumed playing their instruments, and I cracked my knuckles.
Sasha walked up to me with a plate of bread and a bottle of ale. A huge grin was plastered on her face. "Thank you so much. I would love it if you met me in the back of the bar when you're finished with these," She handed the bottle and plate to me.
I raised my eyebrows as I took the food from her. "Um… all right,"
Usually, when serving girls asked me to meet them somewhere away from the main area, it did, in fact, mean that they were looking for a special service. But somehow, I got the feeling that Sasha wasn't interested in that. Which I wasn't complaining about by any means. My mind was far too foggy to even consider it.
From across the tavern, I saw Lejsa glare at me. She walked over to me, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows. "Why did you lie to them? They're just trying to do what's best for Kestramore,"
I rolled my eyes. That may have been true, but I didn't believe in the same things that the Emperor and most nobles did. They wanted a unified human empire where dwarves and elves could only serve us. And believe me, I would love to be rich and have servants. But making entire races pledge their lives to servitude seemed extremely excessive.
"Did you see the look on her face? She was terrified," I retorted, taking a massive drink of ale. "She looked like she had just seen a dead relative walk into the room,"
Lejsa sighed. "I'm too busy to argue with you, and I'm too tired to report this incident to the Imperial Guard. Just…" She put her hand to her eyes and shook her head. "Stay out of trouble,"
As soon as she left, I started devouring the bread in front of me. Even though it was probably stale, it was delicious. I washed the bread down with a giant swig of ale, and it just repeated on and on until there was none left.
✵✵✵
Later that night, Sasha and I met in a small closet-like room at the back of the tavern. By then, I had sobered up enough to have a real conversation without slurring or making any dumb decisions.
The room was so small that there was barely enough room to sit down, but we made it work. By that, I mean that she stayed standing while I sat down. That way, we could see eye-to-eye.
"I hate to ask another favor of you since you saved my life just a little bit ago," Sasha said as she twiddled her thumbs nervously. "But you look like you're resourceful. You look like you could help me again,"
I thought for a minute. Technically, I wasn't supposed to interact with anyone while completing tasks for the Order, but as long as she didn't find out what I was doing, I didn't see a problem. So I agreed.
"Hmm… I'll do it, depending on what it is," I shrugged.
"Can you get me out of Kestramore?" she asked. "At least for a little bit," she added hastily. "I don't think I'm safe here right now. I already talked to the real manager about it a few weeks ago. Today's my last day,"
See, I could've asked her why she wasn't safe in Kestramore. But that was none of my business. If she needed to leave the city, I was an easy ticket out. Nearly all the carriage drivers and hot air balloon operators in the empire were under the command of the Serpentine Order. So naturally, I could get both her and me free transportation across the empire.
Besides, what could the worst-case scenario possibly be? Sasha being some sort of criminal that I was transporting halfway across Thu-Svaria? I was trying to get an infamous assassin to join an order of organized crime. My job really couldn't get more immoral.
"I actually can, depending on how far away from Kestramore you need to be. Just… I'd appreciate it if you stayed in the Empire,"
"Anywhere. Preferably far, though. Maybe Lamia? Or…"
"Svatyna? Does Svatyna work?"
"I mean… I guess,"
"I'm only asking because I have to go there anyway. If it doesn't work, we can figure something else out, too,"
"No, no. Svatyna's fine. That should be far away enough," She sighed. "I appreciate this,"
"Don't mention it," I told her.