Book One: Fate
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CHAPTER SIX: A Dark Past
Slowly looking out from under the safety of her small child sized bed, Karen looked to the old window at the opposite end of her room. Red light shined in, as the flames rose around the house, burning everything that was in close proximity. Smoke was beginning to seep in through cracks in the window frame. She choked on the dirtied air.
A loud crash sounded from downstairs, followed by an ear piercing scream. The young girl scrambled out from under her bed and ran to the top of the stairs. Down below, she could hear raised voices shouting at each other. Behind, back in the room, there was a smashing sound as the glass in her window shattered inwards, allowing smoke to flow in like a river, completely flooding the upper level of the house. Her mother had told her not to come downstairs no matter what and to stay hidden, but she remembered her father telling her about the bad, dangerous smoke of a fire. Tip toeing forward with soft, gentle steps, Karen crept down the stairs crying for her mother.
She had sat in a corner ever since they had been thrown into the storage area of the Sparda. It looked to Tylor like she had fallen asleep. Sighing angrily, he looked over to Joel who was using a back pack filled with clothes as a seat. He did not want to rest his rear on the mucky floor. They had lit their lamp using the torch already in the room, which had since burned out. With no port holes in the room, there was no way to tell what time of day it was. Time seemed to pass so slowly, but it might already have been evening. He still had not plucked up the courage to demand answers from Karen and was still angry at her, but afraid at the same time. He said nothing.
Looking in her direction he saw that she was moving ferociously in an uneasy slumber. Suddenly, with a gasp, she awoke. Her eyes wide open with a look of fear on them. Looking to her left and right, clearly panicked, she stood up and spun on the spot, as if she was checking the room for something.
Should I ask what’s wrong? No! Not without a voluntary explanation from her.
Scrambling into the middle of the room, Karen dug her hands into her back pack and seemed to be searching for something. Finding her dagger hidden amongst her clothes, she returned to the dark corner, cradling the weapon in her hands. Joel was now watching her too. Tylor prayed the kid would keep his mouth shut and let Karen volunteer some information, but there was no such luck.
“What’s your problem?” he asked in no particularly compassionate way.
“Bad dreams,” was the quick and quiet answer he received.
Karen was almost hunched up into a complete ball. The dagger she grasped was held sideways against her face, the smooth leather of its sheath was rubbing against her skin and it seemed to comfort her. Karen did not seem like the kind of person to be bothered by a nightmare, but then, before a few days ago, Tylor would have said the same thing about himself to. He wanted to know more and to question her about it, but right now she did not deserve comfort. He and Joel deserved an explanation as to why she stole the tickets that she got for them. She seemed afraid and he had never seen her like that, it seemed very out of character for her.
Out of character? Do I even know her well enough to think that…?
“Are you alright?” Tylor asked eventually.
Her head rose to look at him in the eyes. She was shocked that he had asked and in not so much of a sarcastic way that Joel had. He was a kid, so it can not be helped. He was angry too. Saying that everyone had bad dreams every now and then, he inquired what she had dreamt about.
“The night I left home,” she stated.
Joel leaned over to Tylor and mumbled that it did not sound so scary. Tylor told him to try and be a little more considerate. Joel huffed and sat back down onto the back pack he was using as a seat. Reaching round to his side, he retrieved the fairytale book they had found in the cabin (the sailor had thought it belonged to them). Flicking to his place, he turned so the light from the lamp caught the book’s thick paper pages and began to read. Tylor apologized to Joel, but said they needed to try and be a little more caring.
“Nice to her? Thanks to her we are being treated like criminals! That’s it, adventure over,” he shouted. “Thanks a lot, Karen!”
Sighing, he looked over to Karen, who was not looking at them. He could not tell Joel what to think. If being angry at Karen made him feel better, then so be it.
“I’ll take responsibility, explain you didn’t know I stole the tickets, they will let you go…” she mumbled.
It was said so unemotionally that it worried Tylor. She did not seem to care what would happen to her in Cattra. It could be something as extreme as execution or imprisonment. She had not told them what the punishment would be for the crime, but it surely would not be lenient. The lack of caring in her voice was not normal, she seemed different from before. Whatever she had dreamt had put her in a very depressed and solemn mood. She looked worried and scared and did not care what they said to or about her. There was no small smile or proud silent figure, just a girl hiding in the corner, like a scared child. Tylor took small steps across the room toward her. She made no attempt to stop him but did not look at him either. Sitting down next to her he looked at her. She was staring at her dagger, caressing the handle.
“I have bad dreams too sometimes, but they are just dreams,” he said, trying to comfort her.
“You don’t understand,” she replied.
It was true; he did not. Who was at fault for that? Getting angry at her would solve nothing, but it was a chance to find out more about her. Maybe it was a little selfish, but her barriers were down at that moment. She was more open, but distant at the same time. It was a chance to find out more about who Karen Warren really was. Like why the memory of her leaving home frightened her so much.
“You are right. Neither of us understands. You have to tell us why, and then we will,” Tylor said, and placed a hand on one of her shoulders.
The direct question caused no real reaction, but the implications of what he was asking did. Karen became uneasy, perhaps realizing how little she had told them about herself. Maybe she did care about that after all. Her body shivered as he lifted his gentle hand from her shoulder.
“I…do not like talking about it,” she mumbled, “The memories bring back such horrible feelings…”
“Karen I did not mean to…” Tylor began.
“…I was so young, it was ten years ago yet I can still smell the thick smoke…I can feel it choking me…” she said, starting her tale.
He breathed a sigh of relief, inwardly. She was finally offering information about herself, her past, without either of them directly asking specific things. It was a chance to learn more and what frightened her so much. Resting his back against the sturdy wooden pillar behind him, Tylor relaxed, and waited for Karen to carry on her tale. Joel had silently placed his book to one side and put it down onto the dusty floor at his side. His attention was now on Karen too.
Fire was the first thing she remembered seeing. Flickers of bright embers twinkled outside her bedroom window, landing on the wooden frame and beginning to burn its way in. The colors had amazed her at first, and the dancing motions of the flames. Too young and ignorant of the real danger, the swirling flames mesmerized her as she sat watching them.
She had turned eight not long before the fire in Noctern. It had been a splendid birthday party downstairs with all her friends sitting round their large oak table. Her mother had provided a lovely, soft sea blue, dress for the occasion. It was her new favorite. Andros, her best friend, had bought her a magnificent blue bow to match the dress. Not to mention all the delicious food that had been prepared, there was something for every color under the rainbow.
The memories of that party were comforting her as she lay watching the flames perform their dance from under her tiny bed. With strict instructions not to venture downstairs, where her parents were, she was getting worried. The flames seemed to want to get in with the smoke and the room was beginning to get foggy.
Her throat hurt, she remembered that vividly. The smoke was polluting her lungs and coughing had started to hurt. Fear was setting in. She felt dizzy and ill, much worse than the time she got the flu from Andros. Placing an ear to the wooden strip floor, she tried to hear her parents below. They were talking loudly with someone whose voice she did not recognize. It could have been one of the Noctern knights. Suddenly, an ear piercing scream emitted from the ground floor. Startled, she scrambled out from under the bed and towards her bedroom door, screeching to a stop at the top of the stairs. Switching to a tip-toe, she slowly crept down the stair case.
There, at the base of the stairs, was her mother. She lay face up, one hand spread out above her head, the other on her chest placed over a large bloody wound. Beginning to cry, Karen’s tip toe steps turned to a furious run as she descended the last few steps. Her mother’s eyes opened wide with fear as she saw her young daughter above her.
“Mummy, what’s wrong? Did you hurt yourself?” Karen cried.
Looking over towards the main lounge area, Karen saw her father and another man she did not know. Her father held a sword in his hand and had blood dripping from a fresh cut on his upper shoulder. The other man stood silent, gripping a long black bladed sword with a dark hilt. Her fathers gaze turned to his wife and teary eyes quickly turned to eyes filled with terror as he noticed his only daughter standing before him, looking on at them both. The silent man looked at her, the gaze scared her. It was so empty. Karen turned back to her mother and asked what was going on. The silent Man leapt forwards towards them both, but her father jumped into him, throwing them both into some furniture, which collapsed under their combined weight. Using her free hand, Karen’s mother shook her.
“Karen… please get away from here. Run, Karen, please…run. Do not let that man catch you, run…”
Karen’s mother reached to her side and detached a dagger from her belt. Placing it in the small hands of her frightened daughter, she repeated her command; run.
Standing up, Karen darted for the door and pulled it open with both hands on the handle as fast as she could. Running out into the smoke filled streets, everything became a daze. She remembered colors appearing from all directions, losing all sense of direction, almost getting caught in fires, but then eventually finding her way to the collapsed city gates and running out into the night.
“I sat on a nearby hill watching the city burn. I don’t remember much after that. Eventually I was taken in by a traveling group of bandits and it was them who taught me to be a thief,” Karen stated, abruptly ending her story.
The boys sat in silence, amazed at her story. Her story had created so many questions; why did that happen to her parents and who was that man?
She told me before that she knew what it was like to lose a parent, Tylor thought, but that she was too young to remember it. I guess she can remember bits of it, but it’s no wonder she wants to forget, I would too. Poor Karen…
Curiosity was getting the better of Tylor; he had to know more. There was part of him that did not believe her. She was a thief so why not a liar too? He had no way to be sure and was not sure if he trusted her enough to believe the story outright. It could just come down to a case of not knowing enough about the history of the main land. Casting his mind back, he did remember Karen mentioning a revolution in a city called Noctern, no doubt the same one she claimed to come from.
“Karen, why did it happen? Who would do such a thing?” Tylor asked, nervously.
She had returned to her dormant like state, head hung low and legs scrunched up, the memories had to have been too distressing. He regretted asking to hear the story. Making her even worse had not been his intention; it was to find out more about someone who had kept their feelings hidden. It seemed very selfish now.
There, so he knows partly why now, but should I finish the story? Karen thought. There can only be one reason for the recurrence of this dream. She is warning me, warning me that he is close. They don’t trust me now… I have to convince them or we’ll all die in Cattra. Could he be…?
Looking slowly up, Karen examined the room. It was damp and dank. Aside from the lamp light there was barely any light. The room was horrible. Rotted wood littered the walls and the floor heavy with possibly year’s worth of dirt. The storage grates filling the rest of the room did not look like freshly packed stock, it was more likely supplies for the ship; back ups that were never used. Stored and forgotten.
They had one more night before the boat would arrive in Cattra. Attempting to escape once the ship had docked would be too risky. Although they would probably not be dealt with until all the other passengers and stock had been unloaded, they would have to get through the dock district of Cattra and that would be dangerous. Thieves who go on the run are dealt with in an amazingly brutal manner despite the normally civilized nature of Atra’s law enforcement.
The arrival at Cattra would not happen until possibly early afternoon tomorrow, which meant they had to be off the ship, or at least out of the cell, before that. The Sparda came with an abundance of life rafts strapped to the sides of the mighty ship with a pulley crane system. If they could get out and get to one of those before port was in sight they could row the rest of the way and avoid the authorities in the Cattra’s dock district altogether. Before the escape route problem, and even before the problem of getting out of the room, Karen had a large task before her. Tylor and Joel had to be convinced to do it, and that would be no easy job now that they believed she was a liar and a con artist.
Maybe she could use that to her advantage. The story of how her parents died was true and she felt pain in remembering it. Her feelings and the story had seemed to humble Tylor and calm Joel’s anger towards her. Now all she had to do was convince them that something bad would happen if they are handed over to the knights of Cattra. That meant she would have to stretch the truth.
Lie. I mean lie.
If they found out, which they no doubt would some day, would they hate her even more? Playing on emotion and telling tall tales was all she could think of to get them out of trouble. If he truly was on the ship they had to get off of it as soon as possible. If she knew of his presence then he knew of hers. Chances are he was waiting for her now, under orders not to make a scene this close to war, but that chance could not be taken.
Exploit guilt and lie for the greater good… Considering the alternative I have no choice…
It was beginning to get slightly unnerving that Karen had been staring at him. Coughing and looking away, Tylor looked at the bland bolt hinged door. The futile hope that at any moment it would swing open with the captain entering and explaining it had all been a big mistake was now a distant memory. He smirked at his own idiocy.
“You asked who that man was…” Karen said, out of the blue.
Turning his attention away from the door, he met her gaze once more. Nodding slowly, she explained that she had decided to tell them. Joel’s attention was once again on Karen as well as she began to explain who the man was that killed her parents.
That Man, the one whom murdered her parents and tried to attack her, was apparently hired to do the job by an organization. This organization ran a syndicate throughout Noctern, cloak and dagger kind of thing. Noctern was in the middle of something similar to a civil war. Liberated from Atra’s rule, it was now left with no leader or governing body. Two factions wishing to take control of the city clashed which eventually led to war between them. With Noctern technically being liberated from Atra it meant that there was no obligation for them to use their armies to protect the citizens. Instead, it was left to unfold.
One faction, the smaller of the two, was a group of Dau (which Tylor assumed was the name of a group or clan) that had come down from the mountains in the north, which most thought were impassable. It was unknown where they hailed from originally, but they sought to have a city of their own. Before war broke out, they attempted to form a peace treaty with the council made up of citizens. Peace talks fell apart when two people demanded rule.
The second faction grew from within Noctern’s own people. It was a syndicate of murderers, law breakers and the filth of all the peasants which, before Noctern’s liberation, was being dealt with by the knights of Atra. Now that the protection was gone, they could openly grow and cause as much damage as they liked.
At the peace talks they intruded and murdered the city council and delegates of the Dau mountain people. In a manner of speaking, that was when war was declared. The mountain people stayed at the base of the northern hill range, mounting attacks on the syndicate within Noctern’s walls. Bloody fights would break out everywhere; in the streets, in private dwellings, and in bars. There was no where that was safe. The innocent people of Noctern had no where else to go, so they had to deal with it and just stay out of the faction’s way.
Until one day.
Tylor and Joel were listening in close attentiveness to each word emitting from Karen’s mouth. To Joel, it was as if she was reading straight from his fairy tale book and he was completely amazed. To Tylor, he was shocked at the conditions she was forced to live in as a child and at the apparent ignorance of the Atra army, if they truly did refuse to help because they had ‘liberated’ themselves. They were used to such a close community, everyone helping each other so that they could be as happy and productive as possible but the world around them was so different. If nothing else, Karen’s story certainly showed how alienated their islands people were from the rest of the world. Was that the ‘darkness’ that she spoke of?
Continuing her tale, the boys listened.
The syndicate decided to leech money from the rest of the people, forcing them to pay rent to live in certain areas. Karen’s father refused to pay this money to live in his own home and that made the syndicate angry.
One night, her father was called away. She remembered it well, despite her age. She remembered the look on her mother’s face most of all, as it was filled with dread. Her father returned later that night unharmed, but very distressed. The syndicate demanded money and when her father refused they effectively put a price on his head. Within city walls, the syndicate ruled. They had taken a more laid back approach to dealing with people. Rather than bloody their own hands they turned people on one another, offering rewards to those who murdered people who defied them. It was sick, twisted, and it worked.
Desperation did things to people. They were out of options. Being on the wrong side of that faction meant you were as good as dead and not just you, all your family and friends. If you did what they asked you did not only get on their good side but got some money for the trouble. With them being the larger, and most likely to win the civil war, it seemed the best choice.
Lots of people left Noctern and headed to the capital city to beg for help, or just to start a new life. Karen later heard that the King of Atra offered one group the assistance of his armies to retake Noctern, but only if it reinstated itself as a county under their jurisdiction. They agreed, but that meant a leader of Noctern would need to sign a treaty as proof and there was no one like that left alive.
Bureaucracy was more important to King Nega than saving innocent people lives. The people in power were the ones the king would talk to. In other words; they would talk to the syndicate. They refused Atra’s help and denied accusations against them, saying it was done by those siding with the attacking faction of “dangerous Dau invaders”. They had ways to tell if they were lying or to check what was going on, but they just did not care.
One night, the mountain people made one last effort to take Noctern back from the murderers, resulting in a bloody war in all areas of Noctern. No holds were barred and everyone a viable target. Fires were started and buildings were burned to the ground. Noctern was on its last legs, so the people had no choice but to flee. Karen’s mother had told her to hide in her room until they prepared as much as they could before escaping, but then someone had come to the door. It was someone collecting the bounty on her fathers head. Even at a time like that, they still wanted the money. The man murdered her father and mother, but she got away.
After that, she met up with the group that later taught her to be a thief and to that day did not know who really won the war of Noctern, as neither of the two factions seemed to be in power. The last thing that she had heard was that her old friend Andros had become mayor of a newly formed council. And still, to that very day, the man continued to chase her.
Tylor was even more shocked. It was sickening. He did not think it was possible for his view of the world to change so drastically in such short time, but it had. The world was a dark place, just as Karen had warned, or at least it had been in the past. Most unsettling was the last thing Karen had told them about; the fact that she was still being chased by her parent’s killer. Asking why he continued to chase her, she sighed slowly.
“I don’t know… but I keep running and have been all these years. He found me again when I was fourteen, murdered the bandits that found me and cared for me, then continued stalking me again. It’s like he wants me to be constantly sad right up till the point he catches me…”
She trailed off again, returning to her crouching ball like position. She traced along the dagger sheath with a single finger, before rubbing it against her face again with eyes shut hard. Tylor could say nothing, nothing which would have meaning, or was appropriate. Joel cursed under his breath, shaking his head in dismay.
“Listen to me, I’ve told you this because I think that man is on board this ship. If he finds us or we get handed over to the knights in Cattra, he will kill me,” Karen stated.
Tylor’s eyes opened wide. His jaw opened, but he was speechless. The tone of her voice was no longer emotionless, it was showing fear. She did not remove her line of sight from the dagger as she said it. It was not fair for her to live in such fear and it was not fair that her life was so full of misery. Why did he miss judge her so? Turning to Joel, he scooped his facial expression for what he was feeling. The kid was shocked, naturally. He must have believed her too, but would he be willing to agree to help her escape?
“Karen…” Tylor said, slowly. “Do you have an idea about how to get out of here before we are handed over to the knights?”
“….Well…” Karen said, raising her head and standing up.
Joel laid his head back slowly, gently touching the wooden strut behind him. His back pressed flat against it. It was cold. Sighing deeply, he stretched. It had to be quite late now. Tylor lay in a similar position in the corner nearest him. His body was slumped into the corner keeping, him upright. Karen laid spread out on the horrible floor using her bag as a pillow and thin sheet for a cover. So far she had slept an uneasy sleep, twisting and turning with a look of pain on her face often. They gave her the covers partly out of manners and sympathy too.
How can they sleep on this? It’s horrible! It’s worse than Tylor’s floor! Joel moaned to himself.
He stood up and rubbed his back and head. He could feel the dust fall from him that had collected when he touched the wood. It was a disgusting room filled with God knows what kinds of germs and bugs. They needed their sleep though, if what was discussed was really going to happen tomorrow morning.
The plan that Karen had formulated involved getting to a life raft before the Sparda reached port and landing on a beach away from Cattra port. It seemed reasonable, but left them with the predicament of how to get out of the locked room they now found themselves in.
“Leave that to me,” Karen had said.
He paced a few slow quiet steps towards Karen. What had she meant by that exactly? She turned again in her sleep, now facing him. She mumbled something he did not quite hear and seemed to be distressed at something. He noticed her body involuntarily shiver. Kneeling down next to her, he slowly placed his hand on the sheet around her and pulled it back up over her shoulders, fully covering her body. She mumbled again as her body twisted so her back faced him and in the process, ruffling and pulling the sheet back down.
“Damn it, even when you are asleep you’re difficult,” Joel cursed under his breath.
Again pulling the covers up to keep Karen warm, he left it at that. She was tossing and turning too much for it to remain there long. Next to her, on the side closest to him, he noticed her dagger in its sheath. Stretching over, he grasped the hilt firmly in one hand and tugged the old, dirty green colored, leather sheath from the dagger. Pulling slowly, the brilliant shining silver blade revealed itself. Waving it about for a few seconds the light caught from the lamp in the corner seemed to reflect directly of its surface, like a mirror, creating a silhouette on the ground.
The hilt was strange. The handle was basic and had some sort of leather wrapped up and down it to form a basic grip. The top of the hilt was just basic metal, but had a small red crystal stuck in its center. The finish had been made to shine, also. The base of the hilt was fashioned like an elongated rhombus which had a red crystal in its center as well.
Another loud groan from Karen made Joel jump. Quickly replacing the blade and putting it down back next to Karen, he scampered back into the side of the room he shared with Tylor. Watching her for a few seconds cautiously, he sighed with relief. She did not seem to have been woken from her slumber. Sighing again, Joel hit his back pack a few times, trying to make it as pillow like as possible before resting down slowly onto the floor. He gritted his teeth as he did it, feeling the dirt collect and rub off his clothes in the process. He shivered.
Tylor awoke, startled, as a loud cracking sound pierced the silence in the room. Examining the room, he looked to the sturdy door, which now sat lop sided hanging off its top metal hinge and was split down the middle. Karen stood just outside the doorway looking left and right with her back pack in hand.
“I misjudged what time it was, we must go now!” she announced, before disappearing to the right of the doorway.
Joel slowly stood up, stretching and yawning. Confused, he looked to the door, and then to Tylor who was scrambling to get their things together. Placing the old satchel onto his shoulder, he threw the other backpack to Joel and told him to run.
As they ran out of the dirty, clammy, room Tylor stopped and looked at the top broken hinge to the door. The bolts securing the top end to the wall of the ship had not been severed they had been split in two directly down the center. Not knowing how Karen could have possibly got them out with her bare hands made him very confused, but it was not the time to think about it. She was a thief after all and no doubt had some special tools concealed from them. Taking one last look at the oddly angled door, he ran right, following after Karen and Joel.
Down the thin corner were a few thick steps leading to a small wooden door. Opening it slowly, a bleak gray overcast sky greeted them. It was good to feel the strong breeze once again, it was refreshing and soothing compared to the clammy air that was in their cell despite its ferociousness. Looking left, right, and above them, Karen took small steps out into the deck of the Sparda. The deck was void of people, it was not the kind of weather to go walking in and being so close to Cattra meant they would need to have all their belongings ready.
Beckoning them to follow her to the edge of the ship, Karen peered round the side to look at the sea before them. In the distance the dim glow of warning lights from Cattra could be seen. A fog horn sounded out loudly from it, confirming to the crew the distance from port. Looking left again, Karen began untying a rope bound round a large metal cylinder. Tylor following the path of the rope saw it was holding the pulley of a life boat in place over the side of the deck, so it could not descend. The boat was not very large, but would be adequate for three bodies. On board these were two large rowing polls for manual motion.
Ordering Joel to get into the boat, he threw his backpack into it. His young friend complied and hopped over the edge into it. Taking a quick look over the side, to see the dull sea water below, made him swallow hard. Karen then directed Tylor to a rope tied in a similar way to the one she was undoing and commanded him to do the same. Without a word, he began to untie it. Once both ends had been undone the ropes loosened and the life boat shook a little, but did not descend. Showing Joel two ropes next to each other that dangled from the support pulley into the boat, Karen explained that they had to be yanked to make the boat lower. Nodding, Joel grasped the ropes and told them to get on.
“So here, at last, my lost kitten is found,” a dark booming voice said, from behind the trio.
The voice emitted from the platform above the main deck, near the ships bridge. Standing with arms folded, was a man in black. Thick gauntlets covered his hands and were bronze in color, but were also coated in red stains throughout the cracks formed by time. Karen backed up to the edge of the boat, almost tripping and falling backwards over the side into the sea. Tylor stood silent, closely watching the man, the man he knew. The eyes confirmed it. They were pure black. At first, he thought it might have been the light playing tricks on him, but no, there was no life in those eyes.
Tai.
Gently, the dark figure slowly leapt off the platform, landing bended knee on the main deck completely unshaken. Taking a few steps forward, Tylor could hear Karen almost whimper in fear. Coming even closer, the man stood directly opposite Tylor. Tilting his head and shrugging, he took a side step and began walking past. Tylor turned and grasped his shoulder commanding him to stop, but before he could finish the sentence the man already had a hand around his neck. Tylor was in pain instantly, the grip was so strong that he could not breathe.
The attacker questioned Karen, “You hide behind children now?”
Gritting his teeth, Tylor brought his two hands up and around his attacker’s wrist. Spinning them both clockwise the attacker’s grip loosened as Tylor’s hands buckled his wrists. In shock, Tai turned his attention back to Tylor, who was now kneeling on the floor. Leaping up he took a strong left punch at the attacker. Startled by the strike, Tai stumbled sideways. Spinning on his left foot with momentum from the punch, Tylor smashed the attackers face again with the heel of his right boot. The man twisted in the air, falling to a heap some distance away close to the door the trio had got onto the deck from. Taking a few slow steps sideways so Tai could see him fully, he readied himself in the fighting stance of his father.
Joel was busy shaking Karen and telling her to do something, but she remained still. She did not even look at Tylor or the attacker, just a blank look forward with wide open eyes.
“Congratulations. Managing to exploit my underestimation of Karen’s new play mate was very foolish of me,” the attacker said, as he stood up laughing to himself. “I respect a warrior who is foolish enough to attack me.”
“I know you!” Tylor shouted, halting the attacker’s advance. “Tai, you…. heartless bastard, you killed my….”
A scream telling him to stop from Karen made Tylor stop mid sentence. However, it seemed whatever Karen was trying to stop him saying was not in time. Tai was laughing again, a deep booming laugh. Tilting his head and looking at Karen, Tai shook his hidden face from left to right slowly. Turning his attention back to Tylor, their eyes met. Nothing was reflected in the eyes of the man. The eyes were pure black, pure evil. He remembered Karen mentioning the story of the iris being God's branding, yet it seemed that Tai had none.
“So, Zan had a son. This makes things a lot more interesting. To think, the foolish old man tried to hide you from me. Tell me, do you hate me for it? I assume you have seen how it happened... she probably showed you it.”
The man knew so much about what was happening to Tylor that it scared him. He knew of the women speaking to him and that he had been shown his fathers death. He had said it so calmly and quietly and was not worried or scared. He seemed so confident of his own ability. And now anger and rage guided Tylor, reasoning was lost the moment he laid eyes on Tai’s blood stained gauntlets.
“Why did you kill my father? What did he do to you?” Tylor asked, struggling to control his anger.
Before answering, Tai took another look at Karen. Because of the mask and black cloth covering most of his face besides the black eyes, he could not tell the kind of look Tai was giving her, but whatever it was, it seemed to scare her more.
“Another ignorant one, your sort is becoming more common these days. Zan taught you nothing I see,” Tai said, with another strong and harsh laugh. “Fate once again deals its favorite card; irony. Things always start to get interesting when the said card is played. The loyal son who blindly follows after his father has the same drive and the same purpose… and the same bewilderment at events that are going on around him.”
The deck below Tai creaked as he took a single step towards him. Tylor was in a rage now and he could no longer suppress it. Illusions of a peaceful compromise were lost. There was no good in this man. There was no reason.
To hell with destiny and fate and to hell with giving Tai a chance to explain, he cursed.
All he wanted to do now was kill Tai.
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