“I’m sorry,” I whispered to the dead woman at the back of the alley.

  I didn’t dare approach her; it wasn’t safe. If anyone saw me standing over a dead body, well I wouldn’t let that happen… again. I turned away from her balling my hands into fists, I had failed to save her, worse I had let her murderer get away from me. I needed a weapon of some kind, something to defend myself and kill the man in burgundy if I ever saw him again. His face flashed behind my eyes, and I stared at it, forcing myself to remember the face of her killer. He would be my first hunt. Gone were the thoughts of living a quiet life alone. The people of this town needed me, even if they didn’t know it yet. I would save them from the killers hiding amongst them, just as I had back on Earth. Only this time I wouldn’t get caught.

  First though I needed to find a weapon. I had seen a few men carrying swords on their hips as they strutted around town, so I knew those could be found. I just had no idea where in the vast town to find a shop that sold them. For the next hour I wandered passing several shops but not finding the one I wanted. Finally I spotted a man in a blue coat with silver buttons and a badge on his chest, this was what I assumed was another police officer, and cautiously approached him.

  After being arrested by police and spending 2 years in prison on death row, I was a bit wary of police officers. I actively had to remind myself that I hadn’t done anything to break the law. So there was no reason the police officer should suspect me of anything. “Excuse me officer,” I said, in my most polite tone. The officer turned on me rolling his eyes, clearly already annoyed at being bothered.

  “Can I help you citizen,” the officer said in a bored tone.

  “I was hoping you could direct me towards a weapon shop, I’m a bit lost.”

  “So some sort of out of towner?” the officer sneered, narrowing his eyes at me in distaste. I awkwardly cleared my throat and put on my best smile, “Just doing a bit of traveling. Got a bit turned around is all.” The officer looked me up and down, taking in my appearance.

  “You look like a foreigner,” the officer sneered.

  That was rude, I mean he was right but still rude. The officer let out a long-suffering sigh, as if speaking to me was the most taxing thing he had ever done, “Fine. You’ll want Vernon’s Armory, it's the closest shop, probably get you the best price as well, given your limited means.” I tried not to react to the obvious slight, from what I had seen my clothes looked just as fine as the rest of the towns. The officer continued, “It’s about 2 blocks that way,” he pointed off to what I assumed was the west, “Sign out front, you can’t miss it.”

  “Thank you, sir,” I said, trying to sound as polite as possible, even though I was gritting my teeth. The officer waved me away without a second thought, turning his back on me. I turned on my heel and walked away from the rude officer as quickly as I could. “God the people in this town suck,” I thought bitterly. Why did everyone have to be so rude?

  I followed the rough directions the officer had given me and soon found myself standing outside a shop. It had large open windows, a red door, and a sign hanging above it with a crossed sword and anvil that read Vernon’s Armory. I stepped inside; a small bell rang as I opened the door. A few feet inside was a glass countertop filled with an assortment of knives of various sizes. Hanging from the walls were swords, axes, a couple of warhammers and a few other weapons I couldn’t name.

  I caught sight of a man who might have once been muscular but was now leaning more on the rotund side. The man was leaned back in a comfy looking chair, his feet propped on a small stool snoring lightly. I instantly felt my temper rise a few degrees. “Did no one in this town have any respect for their job?” I thought vehemently.

  I briefly entertained the idea of waking the man, just to annoy him but decided against it a second later when a construct stepped through a door leading to some other part of the shop. The construct had the same rectangular eyes as every other construct I had seen thus far. It locked eyes on me and in a pleasant robotic voice said, “Greetings, please let me know if I can be of assistance.”

  I gave the sleeping man one last glance before turning to the construct. I wasn’t sure if I would ever get used to speaking with a robot, but I pushed that aside for now. “I am looking for a sword and perhaps a couple of knives,” I said loud and clear, hoping my voice may stir the sleeping man, but he didn’t budge. It took a couple seconds for the construct to respond, “Very good, sir. For a gentleman like yourself might I suggest a gentlemen’s rapier. No gentleman should be without one.” The construct placed a long slender blade on the counter. It had a cross guard and an ornate basket hilt. I gingerly lifted the weapon, surprised at how light it was. Even more surprising was the window of text that appeared hovering just over the rapier.

  You have found: Gentlemen’s Rapier

  Weapon type: Rapier (fast attack speed)

  Quality: Good

  Damage: 2-6

  I quickly read over the window filing away the information to process it later. I gave the rapier a couple of gentle test swings before placing it back on the counter. “It’s a lovely blade,” I said genuinely impressed, “How much?” Again the construct took a second to answer and I was sure I heard a furious whirring coming from the construct’s head. “That will be 50 silver marks please,” The construct held out a hand clearly awaiting payment. I cleared my throat, “I think I’d like to see a couple of your knives as well, if you don’t mind?”

  Again the construct stood silent for a few seconds before responding, “Very good, sir,” it lowered its hand before reaching into the counter pulling free two knives. One was about 12 inches long with a cross guard that curved up and away from the hand, the other was just as long but it had a much slender edge to it. I reached down and picked up both knives, my fingers tingling as I did. God, it had been so long since I had held a knife. Two windows appeared over the knives.

  You have found: Parrying Dagger

  Weapon Type: Dagger

  Quality: Good

  Damage: 1-4

  You have found: Stiletto Dagger

  Weapon Type: Dagger

  Quality: Good

  Damage: 2-4

  While both daggers would be good for doing a bit of quick damage at short range, the stiletto looked like it would be especially good as a piercing weapon. I placed the daggers back on the counter and looked up at the construct. “How much for all three?” Again I heard the furious whirring of gears as the construct seemed to be thinking, “For the rapier, and two daggers that will be 75 Silver marks.” I couldn’t pull the coin from my pouch fast enough. I gleefully handed over the silver. The construct took the coin tucking it away before making its way around the counter to the right-hand wall. There it retrieved a belt and three sheathes. Before I realized what was happening, the construct wrapped the belt around my waist positioning the rapier sheath to my left side and the dagger sheaths to my right.

  It fiddled with the positioning for a few more seconds before it seemed satisfied. It then took a step back almost as if admiring its handiwork. I reached over and gingerly picked up my new weapons, sliding them into the sheaths at my sides. I was used to carrying around a small knife or two, but the rapier felt right hanging from my hip. I had no formal sword training of course, so I didn’t have a clue as to how affectively I could wield it, if I ever got into a fight. When it came to that, I could always rely on my daggers.

  “Thank you for your patronage,” the construct said as it returned to its position behind the counter. I turned towards it, “Any idea where I could find a cartographer?” This time the construct was silent for several seconds longer before stating, “My deepest apologies, your inquiry was not recognized, please restate your request.”

  “Never mind,” I said flatly. I was talking to a mindless machine after all. It seemed to be fully programmed with all the knowledge it needed to do its job, but beyond that I doubted it knew anything else. “Thank you for your patronage,” the construct repeated flatly. With that I turned and left the shop. I glanced up and down the street for any signs resembling a map maker but didn’t immediately see anything.

  For the next several hours I wandered the town. Pausing occasionally to rest my legs and simply relax. At some point, I wandered away from the shops and marketplace and found myself in a noticeably residential part of town. The houses lining the streets all stood two or three stories tall. Elegant Victorian style manors with at least an acre or more of yard. Each of the yards was meticulously cared for, the hedges trimmed perfectly, and the lawns mowed in even straight lines. I had to assume that constructs were responsible for the beauty of the yards. With everything I had seen of the town so far, I couldn’t imagine a human straining themselves to make that much effort.

  Eventually I found my way back to the marketplace I had originally arrived in, by now the sun was beginning to set. I had long since given up finding a map maker and contented myself with simply enjoying the fresh air. I took a table outside at a restaurant positioning myself to have the best view of the setting sun. It felt like a lifetime since I had last gotten to see a sunset and I wanted to soak it in. The sky was full of wispy clouds that did little to block the sunlight. As the sun descended the clouds erupted into purples and oranges making the sky look as if it was on fire. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

  Which is why I was irritated a moment later when the sound of two people having a heated argument cut through the sereneness of the sunset. I glared over at them. One was a short mousy looking woman with long brown hair braided down her back and she was screaming at a rotund bearded man not too much taller than her. He was wearing a simple brown suit and from the way he was blinking and swaying on the spot, he was clearly drunk.

  I rolled my eyes at them and tried to go back to enjoying my sunset. A resounding slap echoed across the street and I glanced back over to see the woman storming off while the bearded man leaned against a wall holding his cheek. Served him right for going out and getting completely drunk. I never cared for alcohol, I couldn’t get past the taste, plus I hated the idea of losing control of my faculties. There was far too much risk involved in that. I looked away from the bearded man just as the sound of retching hit my ears.

  I glanced back and grimaced, the man had gone a handful of steps before pausing to violently vomit at the mouth of an alley. I was about to look away when I felt a familiar tingle down the back of my neck. I instantly locked eyes on a shadowy figure stalking out of the alley. My heart began thundering in my chest as my eyes widened in shock. There standing half in and half out of the shadows of the alley was the man in the burgundy coat. I stared at his face matching it to the picture in my mind. It was a perfect match.

  I was on my feet before I even realized. The burgundy man was beckoning the bearded man to follow him, and the idiot was staggering after him. In seconds they both disappeared into the shadows of the alley. I jumped the short fence surrounding the restaurant’s outdoor seating area. My eyes locked on the alley. My dark side snarled at me, “Stop him, kill him.” I was across the street in two heartbeats, slamming my back against the wall right next to the alley’s mouth.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Slowly, carefully I leaned over peering into the darkness. I could just make out the two men maybe a dozen feet away. The bearded man was leaning against the wall looking like he might be sick again. While the burgundy man had his back to me, his focus was entirely on his prey. I saw him reaching slowly for a knife hidden beneath his coat. I had seconds to act before the bearded man died.

  Gleefully I pulled free both daggers, dropped low and rushed the burgundy man. I saw burgundy man pause, no doubt hearing my footsteps, but it was too late. I plunged my stiletto dagger to the hilt in the man’s back right between his ribs. There was a cry of pain, that was music to my ears before the man spun lashing out at me with his own dagger. I barely managed to dodge back, the dagger cutting through my jacket but missing my skin. He reacted so quickly I didn’t have a chance to pull the stiletto free and was forced to leave it in the man's back.

  He snarled at me and lashed out again, this time scoring a slash against my left bicep. I winced in pain and noticed a red health bar appear in the left corner of my vision showing I had just lost 6 health out of my total of 25. The burgundy man swung at me again and I barely managed to parry his strike. He leapt back before lowering his dagger and charging me again. I tried to dodge out of the way, but the man suddenly blurred, his movements coming impossibly fast. His dagger sunk into my left side barely missing a kidney shot. He twisted the dagger and ripped it free causing me to lose another 8 points of health, worse I now had a flashing bleeding icon.

  You are bleeding, you will lose 1 health every 5 seconds until the bleeding has stopped. Apply a bandage or get magical healing to stop the bleeding.

  Not good at all, I was down 14 health and bleeding. I needed to end this fight somehow. The burgundy man raised his dagger preparing for the final blow. I lashed out with a fist catching the man in the balls, an underhanded tactic, but effective. He screamed in pain clasping one hand over his crotch and dropping to his knees. I stood up and wrenched my stiletto dagger free from his back, there was another soft cry of pain and a spray of blood. He looked up at me, his face contorted in rage, I drove both daggers into his neck carving it open. He dropped his dagger as his hand shot to his throat desperate to stop the bleeding, though it was useless.

  I dropped to a knee, my eyes locked on his as I gleefully watched the life drain from his eyes. He tried to speak but only a wet gurgle escaped before he collapsed to the ground in a pool of his own blood. The bliss of a kill filled me, and I could hear my dark side purring in contentment. It had been so long since I had felt this way. It felt right, I felt whole again, as if part of me had been missing for so long and I had just now found it. I might have stayed standing stupidly in blissful contentment longer, but pain flashed through my body as I felt a little more of my health draining away. I was down to 10 health and was still bleeding. I quickly tore off some of the burgundy coat wrapping it tightly around my waist hoping that would be enough to stop the bleeding. The icon in my vision faded away but I noticed a couple more at the bottom of my vision. I ignored them for now since they didn’t seem urgent. A soft whimper met my ears.

  I turned to see the bearded man lying on the ground, his eyes were wide like those of a deer caught in headlights. He had seen the real me, for just a moment so I didn’t blame him. I wiped my daggers off on what remained of the burgundy coat before sheathing them and turning to face the bearded man. I tried to put on my best smile and asked, “Are you alright?”

  “P-P-Please don’t kill me,” the bearded man whimpered.

  “Why would I save your life only to kill you?” I asked, taking a couple steps toward him. He seemed puzzled by that and looked from the dead man to me then back to the dead man before locking eyes on me once more, “Then y-you saved me,” he stuttered. I tried not to look annoyed at him and offered him my right hand to help him to his feet. “I saw you were in trouble and jumped in to help, that’s all.”

  “You must have been sent by the gods my friend,” he chuckled nervously, before taking my hand, “Thank you so much.” I had to stifle a laugh, technically I had been sent by a god, though I doubted any humans worshipped Carificux. Instead I merely shrugged, “Just happened to be in the right place at the right time is all.”

  I moved over to the dead man and stared down at him. In all my kills, this was by far my messiest. I was sure some of my blood was mixed with his and who knew if I had left any other DNA behind. Then again I doubted the crime scene investigators here were as good as they were back on Earth. I didn’t feel like taking that chance though and tried lifting the body to dump it further down the alley. When I grabbed the man by his tattered coat, I heard a faint jingle. I felt around his pockets a moment before pulling free a small coin pouch, and a piece of paper.

  The paper turned out to be a yellowed photograph with a man and woman smiling at the camera. I didn’t recognize the woman, but the man looked vaguely familiar. It took me a moment to realize it was the bearded man, he looked younger in the photo a few pounds lighter and beardless. I held up the photo for him to see, “This you?”

  He stared at it for a moment before nodding, “Uh… Y-Yes that’s me and my sister,” he spluttered. It was then I realized there was writing on the back and turned it towards the light to read. One line read: Gerald and Nadine Pritchet ’83. The words written beneath that were written by a different hand and read: Your targets, you know what to do. Next to that line was a small symbol that looked like a crescent moon crossed by a dagger.

  “I think you may have an enemy friend,” I said ominously as I turned the photo over to show Gerald. His eyes went wide and he leaned against the alley wall to steady himself. “W-why would anyone want to kill me?” he asked looking up at me as if I had the answers.

  “Not just you, it looks like they are after your sister as well,” then a terrible thought struck me. I had seen the burgundy man kill a woman earlier, it couldn’t be a coincidence. I hadn’t gotten a look at the woman but the woman in the photo had the same frame.

  “I need to speak with Nadine; I have to warn her,” Gerald spluttered pushing himself off the wall.

  “Do you know where she is?” I asked slowly.

  “Either at home or still at the factory,” Gerald said with a shrug of uncertainty.

  “How far away is that?”

  “A few miles outside of town, her home isn’t far from the factory,” Gerald said gravely. I looked up at the sky, the sun had mostly set by now and I was still in pain, and I could tell Gerald was still drunk. Neither of us was in any shape to go looking in on his sister. Not that it would do any good if she really was the woman in the alley.

  “The assassin is dead; I doubt anyone will go after her tonight. You should return home. You’ll be safer there. You can check on her tomorrow.”

  “Y-yes of course, I don’t feel safe walking home alone. Would you accompany me? I would like to offer you a reward for saving my life after all,” Gerald said slowly.

  “Truth be told, I could use a place to sleep for the night. I’m new in town and a free room sounds better than paying for one,” I said happily.

  “Good,” Gerald beamed, “I shall be more than happy to host you, my friend. Come let us away.”

  I spent another couple minutes tucking the dead body into an empty crate at the end of the alley and smearing the blood into some dirt to hide it better. If I had been back on Earth, I would have been appalled at how sloppy I left the crime scene, but for now it would have to do.

  It took us a good ten minutes or so to make it to Gerald’s house. Not because his house was far away mind you, in fact it was right around the corner. It just took me that long to get Gerald there. Once the burst of adrenaline from his attack wore off the man was practically asleep as I walked him home. I had to shake him now and again to get him to wake long enough to make sure we were on the correct street. Finally we came to a halt outside at a large metal gate on the outskirts of a sprawling manor. If you have ever been to or seen pictures of Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, then you have a rough idea just how big Geralds house was.

  It was four maybe five stories tall, with hundreds of windows that looked out over a sprawling courtyard several acres long that ended at the massive metal gates where we had stopped. I shook Gerald awake telling him to get us inside. His response was to lean against the gate shaking them violently, while yelling for someone to come and let us in. I growled under my breath in frustration and had to stop myself from smacking the drunkard on the back of the head. This was getting us nowhere, and worse a few passersby were starting to stop and stare at us. I looked around for a way to open the gate from this side and saw to my surprise a small black box with a couple of buttons attached to the left column of the gate.

  It looked like an intercom system and I quickly pressed both buttons on it hoping one might open the gate. An odd static started coming out of the speaker and a moment later a voice rang out through the intercom, “Who is it?” the voice called.

  “I’m here with Gerald, returning him home. He’s a bit drunk I’m afraid,” I shouted into the intercom, hoping they could hear me, and I didn’t need to press a button to speak with them. After a few seconds I heard the voice respond, “Wait there I shall fetch the master momentarily.” Then the static faded, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I slumped down leaning my back against the cool stone of the column, my side and arm still ached from the fight and half carrying Gerald had been tiring. I desperately wanted to crawl into a bed and sleep for the next two days. Unfortunately, my health had only refilled about five points since the fight, and I was sure my gut wound would need some proper care, so I didn’t end up with an infection.

  I briefly wondered if Gerald had a doctor on staff, I was about to ask him when he leaned his head against my shoulder snoring softly. I groaned and pushed him off, his head smacked into the metal gate with a soft clang, but he seemed unfazed.

  A couple minutes later, I heard the soft crunch of gravel and turned to see a construct making his way down the gravel path to the gate. The construct was dressed in a full butlers uniform complete with bowtie and coat tails. He placed a key in the lock and swung open the gates. Gerald fell unceremoniously to the ground and spluttered as he awoke spitting out a face full of dirt, “W-w-what’s going on?” Gerald muttered as he sat up wiping dirt from his face.

  “You fell sir,” the butler said flatly, though I was sure I detected an ounce of annoyance in that tone, “Your friend here was kind enough to bring you home, master Gerald. We should get you up to bed sir,” the butler said easily lifting Gerald to his feet as if he weighed nothing at all. Then the butler turned towards me stretching out his closed fist, “For your troubles sir,” he said, and I held out my hand curious what he was handing me. I felt cold metal hit my palm and found 5 gold coins in my hand. The construct turned away and was leading Gerald down the path before Gerald suddenly called a halt.

  “Wait,” Gerald protested, “He’s coming with me. He is my new bodyguard and will be staying with us a while, so put him up in the best room and assign a construct to care for him.”

  “Very good sir,” The construct motioned for me to follow, and I fell in step behind him, hearing the faint creek of the metal gate as it swung shut. I glared at Gerald who was once again half-conscious hanging off the constructs shoulder. I had agreed to follow him home and stay the night, but I certainly hadn’t agreed to be his bodyguard. I was going to have to have a talk with him once he was sober. For now though my only thought was getting up to the house and finding a bed to sleep in.

  We reached the outer doors of the house, a pair of enormous oak doors some 20 feet tall that both swung open as we approached. I thought they had opened on their own until I stepped inside and saw the two constructs manning the doors. The butler gave a few orders to the other constructs, telling them I was to have free roam of the house and to be given a room in the east wing. The butler was about to carry Gerald away, but he called a halt before turning to me.

  “The constructs should take care of you, should you need anything simply ask, Good night uh…uh” Gerald froze mid-sentence and stared at me for several seconds as if struggling to think of something. Finally he said, “Forgive me, I seem to have misplaced your name. What was it again?”

  “Silas, Silas Bordreaux,”

  “Of course, that’s it. Thank you again for your aid tonight. I shudder to think what would have become of me if you hadn’t swooped in and saved me,” Gerald said, giving my hand a far too enthusiastic handshake. “Probably would have ended up dead in an alley, you drunken idiot,” I thought viciously. Gerald was then carried away by his butler and another construct. A third waited patiently for me to follow him. It said nothing but gestured for me to follow him. I did so and in short order we made it to my room and the construct ushered me inside.

  When they said I was getting a room, I had expected a decent sized bedroom and a nice bathroom. What I wasn’t expecting was a whole freaking apartment. I had a massive living room that looked like it could easily fit 20 people in, a full kitchen that might have put a five-star restaurant to shame, a bathroom with a walk-in shower and a hot tub, and a bedroom bigger than my entire apartment back on Earth.

  Never in my entire life had I seen such luxury. I wanted to flop down onto the bed but I was still covered in bits of blood and I needed to tend to my wounds. I headed for the bathroom, stripping out of my clothes and laying them neatly on the hot tub. When I looked myself over in the mirror, I was surprised to see that my gut wound was healing over nicely, as if it had stitched itself back together. The cut on my arm was also healing up just fine, it wasn’t nearly as deep so it looked more like a week old scratch than an hours old injury.

  This world was truly an incredible place if injuries could heal that fast. I spent a few minutes washing the blood from my hands and scrubbing at the dried stains in my clothes. With only one set to my name, I couldn't afford to leave them dirty. I would have to go shopping tomorrow and pick out some new clothes. After I was satisfied that the clothes were clean, I hung them up to dry overnight. Then finally I collapsed into bed practically sinking into the mattress, it was like sleeping on a cloud, I sighed contentedly as exhaustion pulled me into a deep dreamless sleep.