Dirk was only the man’s nickname; he had long since forgotten his real one. Now, in his middle-age, he preferred the nickname. It had taken him years to build a reputation upon it. Renowned for wielding two long, thin bladed knives, called dirks, his name was often on the lips of the bleeding and the dying.copyright protection410PENANAZ36bjDZIxM
These steady breaths, which now skirted Dirk’s left ear, sounded no more labored than his own. This was unsettling when Dirk considered that the stranger had just made short work of their best brawler, as well as, a fairly decent short swordsman. Not to mention, relieving him of his choice weapons and turning them on him before he had a chance to react. copyright protection410PENANAv10lowZbbT
Dirk’s captor was still as measured and relaxed as could be. Yet, the edges of Dirk’s lips curled upward like small, brutal fishhooks to form an ugly grin. He was imagining the look the on the stranger’s face once he realized with whom he had just fucked. copyright protection410PENANAS130IbGbnb
“If you return my blades and give up willingly,” Dirk managed to choke out, peppering his dark beard with the foamy spittle of ale, “I will see to it that you are laid in a marked grave.” copyright protection410PENANAy79Jf8sdWY
The stranger said nothing, at first.copyright protection410PENANAzwG8W5c0nF
Dirk struggled feebly against the strangers grasp. As he did so, his captor had finished counting the number of clansmen that were traversing the second floor. He now anticipated only five assailants.copyright protection410PENANADwThPBOfo5
The corners of Dirk’s eyes squinted in a disbelieving look.copyright protection410PENANAsVgosiYmYd
“What would you know about us? We are mercenaries of these hill-” copyright protection410PENANAh5hLtJJg9Z
“Oh, you call yourselves mercenaries now?” The voice asked with a spike of condescension, ignoring Dirk’s attempt to call the man’s bluff. “I would have found incestuous mountain goats to be more accurate.”copyright protection410PENANAUxEsvuRAHO
This enraged Dirk even further and he readjusted his grip on the strangers arm coiled tight around his neck, trying unsuccessfully to struggle free. He began to grit his teeth and grunt in protest. “Once I get my hands on you I will pull your arm off and feed it to our hounds while you watch, you son of a bitch.”copyright protection410PENANArsq3p4v2y0
With a whirl of the man’s leather coat, two shiny knives flickered in the light as they flew out and whistled over Dirk’s head. Before he could track them to their target, a thread of arterial blood splayed out over the wood tabletops. The spearman’s limp body followed close behind, crumbling lifelessly the floor. copyright protection410PENANAgEe1AKgTCp
Dirk rolled over onto his hands and knees, and then sprung forward, lunging for the dropped spear. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the faintest glint of steel within another flurry of flying leather. The only sound made in that breathless moment was the unmistakable clack of a pistol hammer locking back.copyright protection410PENANAdsU6GysTyk
A pistol? Dirk thought, in what he well knew would be his final moments. Dirk had not even seen a pistol since he was a child. Why would this vagrant, a stray in these badlands, have a pistol? copyright protection410PENANAd7adJnX3m8
Then again, he thought, maybe the firefight would do well by announcing his arrival in the valley. Maybe the stories of what he had done would reach deeper into the lawless recesses of the Grethlyn Mountains, than the reports of his pistol themselves. Those kinds of rumors were likely to carry his message further than the bodies of the clansmen, which he had thrown over the backs of their horses and fired a shot, sending them galloping for the hills from which they came.copyright protection410PENANAIPN96QQmtW
Once Atropos had buttoned up his deep navy blue vest, which was not much bluer than his black boots and pants, he fished out a circular locket from the belly pocket of his vest. He thumbed a silver latch and flicked it open. Accounting for the difference in time zones, he estimated the time, clasped the watch shut, and slid it back into the vest. He was right on schedule. copyright protection410PENANAdgvoSjvNtP
Dust and grit of the trail spat out from beneath spinning tires. As Atropos rode off, dust clouds trailed behind, rising up from the road like souls of the dead rising from their graves.copyright protection410PENANAWIHeB9qINT
The porous, volcanic rock that carpeted the bleak landscape crumbled under his boots. What few trees there were looked like driftwood propped vertically in the rocky soil. copyright protection410PENANAoqEqw1p5vG
Hoofs beat furiously at the earth as two men, riding bareback and grasping at their horses mane, blasted passed the crowd. Atropos strode passed, disregarding the beady eyes that had taken notice of him and were now tracking him as he walked. He approached a man who sat in a high-backed, faded red leather chair a few dozen yards uphill from the spectacle. The frail man was slouched in the chair, draping one leg over the right armrest, kicking idly at the air.copyright protection410PENANAt6ATq4luo3
“The man is punctual, though,” he said to the man standing next to his chair, as if speaking to a sidebar, “predictalecopyright protection410PENANA4LrlDKs5Uz
“Crain, is it?” Atropos asked the man who still slouched in the chair with his hands laid palm down on his chest, his fingers interlocked.copyright protection410PENANAcNtP80Et0I
Atropos did not believe in omens, but, he thought to himself, if the ugly avian presence was any sort of sign, it would certainly not be a good one.copyright protection410PENANAjoFk02yY5K
“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Crain asked as he watched Atropos with derisive curiosity. He spoke as though the birds were his own and he was comforted by their presence.copyright protection410PENANAFGtNouAxqT
The two men then locked into intense eye contact. Crain rolled his tongue in his mouth and squinted, as though working on something behind his pale gray eyes.copyright protection410PENANA7EYELTIPAC
“I am, yes.” copyright protection410PENANAWKK9aOgjkH
“Ok, and? What would your railroad want of my fine town?” copyright protection410PENANAeYqe9hYNHK
Atropos said in a stern voice. He had not come to this man to play games. copyright protection410PENANAUH6WCqA57S
Atropos had not come to ask Crain for permission to play in his backyard, he was there to tell him that is exactly what he was going to do and to stay out of his way.copyright protection410PENANAZyL5SQsF2b
“I trust that I have your cooperation, Magistrate,” Atropos looked back over one shoulder, and then the other, “and of your, fine town.” The crowd that had been preoccupied with the horse race now milled about behind him. Again, they were like hyenas, held at bay as a lion devoured its kill, waiting for their chance at the scraps.copyright protection410PENANAIFC7Q4uZeB
“I hear you killed your mother, young Atropos.” Crain called after him.copyright protection410PENANAsoB78fGeG0
“Ah, yes,” he continued, pleased with himself for clearly reopening the stranger’s old wounds, “she died giving birth to you – never even got to see the bastard boy who killed her.”copyright protection410PENANAiTe7ngUz08
“That’s how you got your name, is it not?” Crain asked. Shadows from the buzzards overhead slid over the Magistrate and up the leather back of his chair.copyright protection410PENANATmR0QE9zzq
“Atropos!” Crain declared as he hopped to his feet. Long, lanky limbs and tight black clothing made him look just as spider like as his own disposition.copyright protection410PENANALc95exJQOI
Atropos felt his jaw clench subconsciously and his forehead grow warm. Fury and shame collided within him and fought for control. The warmth from his forehead began to run through his veins. He felt it rush into his arm and down to the tips of his fingers on his right hand.copyright protection410PENANASDDy9EjMcE
“Now, what kind of a mayor would I be,” Crain pressed on, unaware of the escalating, cosmic event taking place, “if I let a man run around my town like some sort of assassin?”copyright protection410PENANATM8CkTUDEW
Without warning, leather flew, a pistol was drawn, and a gunshot cracked. Atropos clocked movement to his left. One sleight of hand and Atropos had drawn his other pistol, pulled the hammer, and had a man from the crowd dead to rights before he even got a grip on a throwing knife at his hip. The man immediately eased his hand off the hilt.copyright protection410PENANA1qZdLvaR9F
“Well, now,” Crain shouted from behind his lazily clapping hands as he walked down toward Atropos, “I’ll be a son of - wait, that’s not right – you’ll be a son of a, former bitch. Where did you get that firearm, son?”copyright protection410PENANArqXZpbe7Bb
Crain continued toward Atropos, holding his arms out and his palms up. He walked with a grace that could have passed for a religious entity expecting to ascend back to the heavens.copyright protection410PENANALLJn1eA0V2
Atropos whipped his leather coat aside and then, slowly holstered his pistols. He kept the coat pinned back on one side to free up the pistol grip that bobbed at his hip.copyright protection410PENANAi9zMg9GXa1
Another pistol blast echoed through the stifling air. This time, the lead zipped by so close to Crain’s head that he could feel his eardrum swell from the sudden change in air pressure. Crain did not heed this warning shot. In fact, he hardly blinked. This took Atropos slightly off-guard.copyright protection410PENANAenOb4iHYnw
After another moment, he slowed to a stop and just stood, watching Atropos begin to put distance between them. Before long, the stranger was little more than a dot fading into the liquid of a heat mirage.copyright protection410PENANA6AMYlWdPlu