By Amarad Nightsbane
The glass of the shed window shattered, spraying forth a hail of shards that caught the light of the noon-day sun in a stunning
rainbow. Standing within was only one man, a dirty, bloodied man worn by years of slavery.
Upon the floor layed two bodies, one was already dead, evident of the leather whip strangled tightly around it's neck. The other
still drew a deep, gasping breath every few moments, but might as well be dead also. He looked down at them, a solemn gaze
filling his face. He kneeled down to the old man, who was barely holding on to conciousness.
"Yer revenge is done, me friend, now Rumis calls to ya. It is yer time ta go see em."
The old man drew one last gapsing breath then trailed off to an empty silence. He released the lifeless husk with a thud, and
slowly trudged toward the other carcass. The shed was cramped, making it hard to pull it out from underneath the collapsed
shelf. "Time ta see yer family town rat, an honor ya never gave me." He hoisted the body with one arm by the cup of it's cuirass
and marched out of the small garden shed. He looked back at the broken window. The townie had knocked over a large
watering decanter during the struggle right before he went out, it had fallen over and smashed the window....
"Now fer the part I'm gonna hate.", he sighed. He was only enough to see the breaking of the oak roots three times, which'd
make him about 18 by townie years. And yet, he had killed this man with his own whip, a man that he was questioning if he
really deserved to die.....
He stopped on the back porch of the villa and dropped the body. The attendant rushed to see what the thud was, and gasped
in horror at his discovery. "Get tha women a' da house lackey", the killer spat at the servant. "Miss Lio'rouk! Miss Lio'rouk! It's
your husband, Reflinus, come quickly!", he shrieked as he ran from the area. He could only snarl at the man's cowardice. A
moment later the garden doors opened and from them stepped a radiant woman in a white cotten robe, she was followed
closesly by a small girl, who clung to her robe with a look of absolute horror on her face. The killer almost cried, almost.
"What the hell did you do you filthy monster!", she cried out,"What did you do to him!" He snarled, "I put em in his place, I just
thought ya deserved ta see em one last time 'fore I gave em 'is burial." The tears were running down her face now, as well as
the little girl's, who would whisper to her mother every few moments then begin crying again. Her mother would whisper back
in a tone he could not make out. Between sobs she gasped, "You...monster.... how dare you..... he didn't deserve this!" He
roared, "Like hell! Tell dat ta tha man he beat ta death in the shed today! Tell that ta da young boy who dropped dead in tha
field next ta me a few days ago! If they were 'ere look dem in the eye n' tell them he didn't deserve it."
That was sufficient to quiet her, but she still sobbed loudly as she looked at the corpse of her husband. "What are you going to
do with us?", she managed. "Nothin", he replied,"You've done nothin ta me." He picked up the body, turned, a tear nearly
running from his eye, and walked off to the fire pit. She was powerless to stop him. If he could kill Reflinus, he could kill her
just as easily. She could only comfort thier daughter and watch in solemn sadness as the body lit ablaze. Within a small span of
time the body had completely burned away. The man stayed there and watched the entire time, appearantly praying. She could
swear she heard him say, "May yer townie god 'ave mercy on ya n' yer family." She could cry out for help, but she didn't only in
fear that he would hurt her daughter.
But, to her surprise, he walked up to her and bowed, then walked off across the fields. He was free now, free from the
whippings that shredded his back, free from the burning sun and harsh filth of slavery. She would survive. He was free, simply
free.......
And his name was Amarad.