Grim Views

Thievery

Xoscyl - January 26, 2006

Xoscyl awoke in the Stonetalon inn, the sun still hiding far
behind the mountains. Like every other night she spent in her
hometown, since the incident long ago, she was unable to stay
asleep. The dreams that crowded her head were more like living
nightmares. The scene of her family’s demise played again and
again, and no matter what she tried to do, the out come was
always the same. The dwarf King’s mighty axe cleaved into her
father and her mother, and her clan’s bodies littered the earth.

A cool breeze swept through the inn and she turned her attention
towards it, trying to push back the memories of her childhood if
for just a moment. The night air beckoned her to the outside,
away from her hammock. Unable to sleep, slipping on her boots and
waking her lion companion Latagu, Xoscyl ventured out into the
night.

The crisp air nipped at her turned up nose. Mist fell from the
trees above and slightly dampened her shoulder pads. Latagu
stiffed the earth road before them, searching for something of
interest. The two walked to the lake that sat towards the back of
the town, Latagu arriving first to lap at the water. Xoscyl
leaned down and cupped the cool liquid in her hands and washed
her face. Her skin glimmered in the light of the moon; water
running down her face and trailing down her neck, wetting the
leather armor she wore. She sat there a moment, staring at her
reflection in the lake, examining her silver hair, and placing
the stray locks back into the band on the back of her head.

As she sat admiring herself, she heard Latagu take a long sniff
at the air, and sensed another’s presence in the area. Trying to
act coolly and unaware, she looked out of the corner of her eye,
in the direction of the suspected stranger. Standing at the back
passageway to the town stood a short hooded figure, but just for
a moment. As Xoscyl turned her head to fix her silvery glare upon
the figure, the Shadow dashed into the passageway, out of view. A
grin spread across the Orc beauty’s face as she jumped up and
dashed towards her target, Latagu following at her heels. “Bad
choice Dwarf, running only prolongs the inevitable.” She thought
to herself, reaching for her gun.

Xoscyl slowed as she reached the passage, careful not to make too
much noise. Poking her head around the corner, just enough to
check for the figure, she motioned the lion to move ahead to
search the area. The white furred cat slipped into the passage
and approached the turn up ahead. He sniffed the air and peered
around the curve, then ventured onward. As the animal cleared the
turn, Xoscyl came about and entered the passage as well. Stepping
carefully with a bit of speed, she approached the turn herself.
Listening for a moment she sensed something unsettling. Gripping
her gun, she turned the corner, taking aim. She blinked.

As she turned the corner she did not see her animal companion.
She did not see the figure or any guards for that matter. Keeping
her weapon level, ready to fire at anything that my pop out at
her, she looked for tracks. She saw the prints of a dwarf and the
prints of her lion, but they both stopped half way down this
section of the passage, as if they just disappeared into thin
air.

“Latagu… Latagu?” she whispered, stepping forward to where the
tracks stopped. She peered ahead of her, searching for any sign
of movement. She took a step forward, passed the prints on the
ground, and as she did so, she heard footsteps behind her. She
wheeled around, trigger finger ready, and saw a guard turn the
corner. After the initial scare, she sighed in a bit of relief,
but that relief faded quickly when she saw the look of fear on
the guard’s face. The new occupant of the passageway had his eyes
fixed on something behind Xoscyl.

Xoscyl’s world stood still for a moment. She could see the guard
reaching for his weapon. She wanted to turn around to see what it
was that lurked behind her. But before she could command her body
to move, her world went black.

Xoscyl awoke on the floor of the passage. The sun was breaking
over the mountain ridge. Reacting to her last thoughts, she
turned instinctively to look behind her, deeper into the passage.
Guards now replaced whatever was there before, with bloodied
weapons and armor. The group walked towards her, they seemed to
have been in recent battle.

She looked over herself, checking to make sure she was not
dangerously injured. “The guards must have come after I passed
out.” She thought, reasoning with herself why she was not killed.
She brought herself to her feet and brushed off her clothes. As
she ran her hands over her hips she realized something was
missing, her rope she crafted from dwarves hair. She gasped in
shock and ran past the guards that returned to the town. She ran
out into the Charred Vale, where she found the body of her animal
friend. She knelt down and touched the beast, a sad sigh escaping
her lips. But before she could rise to revive the animal, she
noticed something in his mouth. Taking the piece in hand, she
realized it was a torn bit of cloth with the insignia of the
Twilight’s Hammer on it. She turned her gaze towards the space
around her, searching the land.

“I will take back what’s mine.” She said to herself as she
brought Latagu back to life. “These foolish acts will lead to
more death.”