N13 Croc Tooth Extract
So finally getting around to posting up something. This is the introduction to a one of the main characters.
Context: Bren, the main character, has left his hometown after it was attacked by the Nightmare 13. He is the only one to escape unharmed. He decides to go after the Nightmare 13 in the hopes he can redeem himself for failing to do anything when they attacked. He arrives at the mainland and joins up with Saskia, a Mystic, and Monty, a con-man. They are having lunch when this happens. (Polly is a waitress)
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Saskia was about to argue, when a commotion interrupted their meal as the men from the centre table got up and started to leave, one of them knocking over a chair as he did so. Polly came running out after them.
“Sirs!” she called. “You haven’t paid your bill.”
They turned sharply and glared at her.
“So?” asked one of them, a cigarette burning between his lips.
Polly stopped and the whole restaurant stopped with her. All the laughter and chatter vanished and was replaced with an eerie quiet. Even passers-by in the street had stopped.
Bren heard someone whisper, “Those guys are Nightmares. She should have just let them go…”
“Well, umm, you had quite an expensive meal and you drank a lot of beer and it needs to be paid for and…” Polly explained hurriedly, backing away.
The cigarette man grabbed her wrist and she shrieked.
“We don’t want to pay, what do you say to that?”
“I, I…” Polly tried to wriggle free.
The man pushed her to the floor.
“How are you going to make me pay if I don’t want to, huh?” he prodded Polly with his foot.
Bren saw Monty’s hand clench into a fist when a female voice near to Bren’s table spoke suddenly.
“Just shut up and pay!”
Bren and everyone else turned to look. A woman in a hooded black cloak, her face partially obscured, was sat at a table right next to Bren’s. He hadn’t noticed her at all when they had sat down. Had she been there the whole time?
“Stay out of this. It doesn’t concern you.” the man spat.
“It concerns me since you have now ruined my afternoon tea.” The woman stood up. Slowly she moved towards the men, gliding between the tables like a ghost. Bren felt a strange sense of unease as she moved past, yet he couldn’t look away. Her cloak seemed heavy and old, it was very dirty and worn and the bottom was shredded.
As she approached, Cigarette Man didn’t move but his friends took a few steps back.
Polly whimpered as the woman stood beside her.
“How much do they owe?” she asked, looking down.
“Ninety…ninety seven punds.”
“Let’s call it an even one hundred for your trouble.” The woman cracked her knuckles. Even from where he was sat, Bren could see her fingerless gloves and some black marks on the back of her fingers. A low mummer began move through the people sat at the tables and a crowd had gathered behind the men.
“I’ll give you a chance to pay now and leave quietly,” the woman offered.
“And if we don’t?” Cigarette man flicked away his cigarette and drew a large blade from behind his back. The gathered masses gasped and seemed to collectively step back slightly.
“Then I shall take it from you.” The woman replied.
The man held out the blade. “Let’s see you try.”
“Very well.”
Bren felt he ought to help. He moved to get up, when he felt Monty’s hand on his shoulder.
“Stay here. This looks dangerous.”
“We should help,” Bren said.
“I think this woman has it covered.”
Reluctantly Bren sat back down. Time seemed to slow, and it was like he could hear not only his heartbeat, but those of everyone around him. Captivated he watched as the woman lunged forward, unarmed.
He flinched at the sound of metal on metal.
CLANG!
Seemingly from nowhere, the woman had produced a black sword that seemed to pulse with some kind of strange magic energy.
Cigarette man swung his sword, caught off guard by the mysterious blade the woman now wielded. The woman ducked under his attack and ran around him towards the other two men. She held the sword back and thrust out her other hand.
Another black blade appeared.
She swiped the blade across one man’s throat. Seconds later his hands went up to the cut as he tried to stop the bleeding. Before he fell to the ground spluttering, the other man was only able to stare in horror as the woman hit him and the blade disappeared into his chest. He coughed out blood and began to loll backwards. The woman yanked out the blade, turning just in time to deflect the cigarette man’s blow.
Cigarette man grunted as the woman kicked him with the sole of her boot square in his stomach, knocking him back. A second kick to his arm, the sound of bone snapping and the mans cries echoed. His blade clattered to the ground.
He collapsed to his knees, clutching his broken arm with his other hand.
"Please,” he begged. “I’m sorry. Don’t kill me. Have mercy.”
“It’s too late for mercy,” the woman said, running him through with her sword.
The crowd gasped.
Blood gurgled from Cigarette man’s mouth.
The woman put her foot on the man’s chest and pulled her sword out. Cigarette man fell to the floor. The woman wiped the blood from her sword on his corpse and then put it back under her cloak. She then knelt down beside him and took the purse of money from his belt. She did the same with the other two men.
Turning to Polly, who had gotten to her feet, the woman handed all three purses over.
“This should cover their bill and mine, plus some extra for the disturbance.”
The woman then turned and strode through the crowd, which parted for her. Halfway down the street she turned right into a side alley, disappearing from sight.