City Of Thieves
Chapter 14: City of Thieves
More than two hundred and fifty thousand people live in the sprawling, underground city of Makhun.
Sadie stared in awe. Thousands of people filled a sprawling, underground complex of wide streets and winding tunnels. The city was composed of several levels connected by large cases of vertical stairs. Most of the buildings had been carved from right out of the underground rock, resulting in sharp geometric shapes. Glistening torches on every building and around every corner created a blanket of dancing lights across the vast underground space.
It was cold underground, causing Sadie to shiver. She clutched her cloak tightly against her chest, hood up as they wandered the city of thieves.
“Stay close,” Executioner whispered. “We’ve come to a dangerous place.”
Like them, most people in the city wore hooded cloaks and seemed to be in a hurry. It made Sadie feel a bit better about traveling alongside Executioner, whose size, and, subsequently, the size of her sword, made the Arash Shara stick out like a sore thumb.
There were merchant stands every few blocks selling wares the likes of which Sadie had never seen before: strange smelling foods, jewels of unusual color, magical elixirs. In some corners, boys and girls younger than her sister propositioned men the age of her father, leading them away into dim establishments owned by a different kind of criminal. In other corners men sold one another as easily as one sold cattle.
“I thought slavery was illegal,” Sadie murmured, half to herself.
Executioner looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “Does Makhun seem law abiding to you?”
Sadie didn’t know how to reply to that, so she kept her mouth shut.
“This is a wicked place,” Executioner told her. “Here, the only god you will find is the Eternal Destroyer.”
“What are we doing down here?” Sadie asked.
“Finding you passage back to Tel Kellah.”
“What?!” Sadie exclaimed, loudly enough that some passerby turned to look at them. “No!”
“Keep your voice down!” Executioner hissed. “We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves here.”
Sadie looked Executioner up and down, frowning. “Right. Because you’re so inconspicuous.”
They passed into a more secluded section of the marketplace. The stalls here were fewer and farther apart, and the vendors seemed to be of a different sort. Rather than shouting to attract attention, they sat patiently, some engaged in quiet conversations with customers, others absorbed in their craft. The goods for sale were less flashy and more practical, ranging from simple garments and handcrafted tools to medicinal herbs and unadorned pottery.
The torchlight was softer here, the flames shielded by delicate colored glass that threw a gentle glow over the stone walls. The sharp geometry of the buildings gave way to more rounded shapes, with archways leading to shadowed courtyards where water trickled from modest fountains.
“You can’t send me home,” Sadie insisted. “I need to be part of this mission.”
“Why?”
Sadie opened her mouth to reply, but couldn’t find the words. What was she going to say? Oh, a dream told me to stay with you! It sounded ridiculous even in her head.
“I can’t complete this mission if I have to protect you,” Executioner told her. “And your family is going to need you more than ever now.”
“But...” She trailed off.
What Executioner was saying made too much sense, more sense than Sadie staying with her over a dream, at least. She had already listened to one dream, and her actions had gotten her father killed. How could she possibly justify listening to another one? And yet, there was a nagging feeling that she just couldn’t shake, something whispering in her mind that the dream had been more than that.
As they rounded the corner, a pleasant, savory aroma began to tickle Sadie’s nose, some sort of grilled meat and spices. Sadie turned to find a nondescript, wooden stand behind which a balding woman boiled a large pot of verdant stew. The stew glistened with spices and a slight layer of fat. She could smell lime, coriander, and parsley, as well as the musty scent of lamb. There could be no doubt about what the old woman was cooking: ghormeh sabzi. Her stomach growled. Executioner stopped and turned to look at her. Sadie’s cheeks reddened.
Executioner approached the stand. “One, please.” She paid the balding woman, then handed Sadie a wooden spoon and a bowl filled with stew. “Eat.”
“Th-thanks,” Sadie murmured. Cautiously, she lifted a spoonful to her mouth. “Whoa!” A complex assortment of flavors assaulted her tongue: fragrant turmeric and saffron combining with the subtle nuttiness of kidney beans and sour tang of lime to create a subtle, earthy flavor. The flavor profile was further accentuated by the rich, juicy lamb, meat so tender it melted in her mouth. “It’s so good!”
“Do you eat this often?” Executioner asked as they resumed walking.
“Mmm!” Sadie exclaimed, her mouth filled with stew. She blushed, then swallowed. “Mom makes it all the time. It’s dad’s favor-” She paused. “Was dad’s favorite,” Sadie corrected herself. She shoved another spoonful into her mouth to avoid having to speak further.
A brief silence settled between them as Sadie continued to eat, broken only by laughter from other nearby food stalls and the distant hum of a street performer’s lute.
Executioner glanced over at Sadie. Her usually steely eyes softened slightly. “Your father was an exceptional man.” She hesitated a moment before continuing. “And a good friend.”
A lump formed in Sadie’s throat. “Do you think there’s any chance he made it out? I mean, he was strong, wasn’t he? He was a Paladin!”
Executioner didn’t reply, so Sadie just kept eating. When she had finished her bowl, she tossed it into a corner bin labeled, “Reusables: Toss wood, metal, and stone trash here!” She’d seen its like in Tel Kellah, but it was rare. By contrast, in Makhun there seemed to be bins like that at least on every other corner. Strange, Sadie thought, that a place called the city of thieves would be better about recycling than the capital of the Golden Empire.
The two women turned into an alley, arriving before a one story hut not dissimilar from any of the other buildings. Ghoulish orange candlelight emanated through its foggy windows and cracks in an old, dilapidated door.
Executioner knocked loudly on the door. There was a scuffling sound inside, then after a few moments the door opened a crack. Within the doorway, Sadie caught sight of a pair of glowing, yellow eyes.
“Yesss?” a silky voice hissed. The yellow eyes widened upon seeing them. “H-Honored one! We were not expecting you.”
Executioner raised an eyebrow, nodding toward the door.
“Of course, of course, come in!” the silky voice exclaimed.
The door opened to reveal a gnarled, pruny creature with cracked, graying skin. He had ratty strands of greasy, gray hair that looked like worms, and was missing several teeth. As he ushered them in, Sadie noticed that he walked hunched over, and had a large hump.
Executioner looked around the room. The interior was larger than Sadie had expected. The walls and floor were made from moss-covered stone, and led from a spacious foyer to a floor shaped to dip, like a giant’s bowl. On the other side of the room, stairs led up to an amphitheater with three vine-encrusted columns supporting the roof. The chamber was a mess of used candles and looseleaf papers covered in diagrams and notes.
“Massster!” the yellow-eyed man hissed. “You have visssitorsss.”
The room’s other occupant turned from where he’d been hunched over a boiling cauldron heated from beneath by green flames. He stood up straight and grinned as he saw them.
“Executioner!” their host exclaimed.
Executioner’s jaw tightened. “Zurvad. Where is Saeed?”
“Hasn’t been here in quite some time. Found himself a new position at Alcaraz Hall. Hm, quite some time since I last saw you, as well. How long has it been, Executioner?”
“Four years and change.”
Zurvad strode forward, arms outstretched as if to seize Executioner in a hug. The Arash Shara took a step back, giving their host pause.
“Not the hugging type, I remember now,” Zurvad said.
He was slim and lanky, dressed in a silk, purple robe with gold weavings etched into it. As he moved, his sleeves revealed intricate glyphs tattooed into his skin.
“You’re a magus!” Sadie realized.
Their host smiled, revealing rows of yellowed teeth. “I was a magus. The fools who train at Ibrahim have no vision! No creativity.” Executioner’s scowl deepened at Zurvad’s words.
The magus turned fully toward Sadie, who gasped as she saw his face. Zurvad might have been a good looking man once. Now, half of his face was burned, one of his eyes missing a lid. That eye had three irises, each a different color, and rolled around in his head. Here and there on the burnt side of his face, bits of osteal white bone peaked out.
He chuckled at Sadie’s reaction. “Ah, yes, this...” he said, gingerly touching wrinkled black fingers to his cheek. “The price of breaking a magus’s oaths.”
Sadie didn’t miss the gold ring on his finger, ruby-studded and wrapped around by yet more glyphs. It looked expensive. Expensive, and magical.
“We did not come to hear your thesis statement, Zurvad,” Executioner intoned.
Zurvad cackled wickedly. “Always to the point, aren’t you, Executioner? Tell me, did you get that name before or after you killed Stormwall?”
Stormwall? Sadie thought. It was the same name Ali Reza had used when taunting her father.
“Aaafterward! She ended the entire war, Masster!” the silky-voiced man exclaimed. “Ssssssuch raw, potent talent!”
Zurvad whirled on his manservant, a look of fury exploding onto his face. “Did I give you permission to interrupt us, Payam?!”
“N-no, Masssster. Apologiesssss.”
“Away with you! Find some corner to skulk in while we go about our business.”
“At onccceeee, Masssster!”
The former magus’s manservant scuttled off, disappearing behind one of the columns at the end of the room. Zurvad scowled at him as he left. “Such a wretched thing. If you ask me, we should kill hunchbacks at birth. It would be a mercy.” Their host turned to Executioner again. “Bah, enough of my rambling! What can I do for such an old friend?” The way he said it caused spikes of ice to jut through Sadie’s spine.
“I need to send this one to Tel Kellah,” Executioner said, nodding in Sadie’s direction.
“Hm, and I suppose you want protection for her?” Zurvad guessed.
“Do you still employ the Day Knight?”
Their host shook his head. “Unfortunately, the Day Knight was bound to Saeed, and went to Alcaraz Hall with him when he left.”
“I see.”
“I have other demons that are capable of crossing the sand,” Zurvad offered. “Perhaps a pair of taurals? They aren’t as powerful as a djinn, but they are loyal creatures. Will you need a mount?”
“I’ve already purchased the girl a camel.” Executioner replied. “How many taurals can you summon?”
“With the ka I have available now? Twelve. However it would cost you an arm and a leg. I don’t usually deplete myself to such a degree. For you, Arash Shara, I am willing to make an exception.”
“I can pay your price,” Executioner reassured their host.
“Excellent,” Zurvad said, a wicked grin stretching to the corners of his face.
“I also need your help tracking someone.”
Zurvad perked up. “Oh? Who might that be?”
The Arash Shara folded her arms, adopting a pensive expression. She turned to Sadie. “Wait outside.”
“What?!” Sadie exclaimed. “Why?” Executioner stared at her, unblinking. “Fine,” she grumbled. “I’ll wait outside, then.”
“Payam!” Zurvad snapped. “Show the young woman out, will you?”
“It’s okay, I know where the door is,” Sadie muttered. She made her way to the door and exited into the alley.
Outside, the air was cooler, the alley dimly lit by the scattered torches of the marketplace beyond. Sadie leaned against the wall. She could feel a weight settling over her, a fear that she was about to go back to her regular life. Somehow she couldn’t bear the thought of going back now. Not after what had happened. How could she ever face her mother or here brothers? How could she face Aria?
The alley was quiet, but Sadie could still hear the distant clamor of the market. The scents of spices and roasting meat teased her senses. Her stomach rumbled.
“Didn’t I just eat?” she mumbled to herself.
Her thoughts drifted back to the wooden stall and the bald woman cooking ghormeh sabzi. Sadie looked back at the door, her frustration with Executioner still fresh. She was being treated like a child, dismissed and sent away.
“You know what? Screw her.”
She pushed away from the wall and made her way toward the marketplace. The noise and smells grew stronger as she neared. She was halfway there when she recalled what Executioner had told her earlier. We’ve come to a dangerous place. Sadie stopped short. Maybe I shouldn’t be going off so recklessly like that, she thought to herself. That recklessness was what had cost Hashem his Munafasa duel with Ali Reza. If Sadie hadn’t been there, then...
She shook her head, trying to dis-spell the awful thoughts beginning to weigh her down. She didn’t have much luck. Maybe she should just head back and wait. Executioner had a point. She was weak. The Arash Shara didn’t need her help finding Ariana. Sadie’s family, however, did need her, now more than ever. She had a responsibility to them. She was the oldest, and it was time to start acting like it.
Sadie whirled around, mentally steeling herself to go back, and came face to face with a man in the alley, nearly crashing into him. At the last second she arrested her momentum, nearly falling over.
“Watch it there, girlie!” the man exclaimed.
He was dressed in a simple shirt and trousers, plus a cloak with the hood down. He had a greasy beard and wild hair, an unkempt look to him. A knife was sheathed at his belt.
“S-Sorry!” Sadie exclaimed nervously.
The greasy-bearded man looked her up and down. He grinned at her, revealing dirty teeth, one of which was gold. “You lost, girlie?”
“My older sister is nearby,” Sadie quickly lied, wary of the stranger.
“Oh? It’s awful dangerous, wandering these streets alone. How about I take you to her?”
“I’m okay, thanks,” Sadie said hurriedly, stepping to the side to walk past the man.
He took a step to the side alongside her, blocking Sadie’s path. His grin widened. “Come on, now. Don’t be shy. Name’s Kuth.”
“I’ve really got to get going,” Sadie insisted, backing up. He followed after her.
“Hey now,” Kuth said. “I don’t bite. Much.” He cackled wickedly.
“I... uh, my sister and I are looking for the nearest inn. If you could point me there I’ll just be going on my-”
She bumped into someone behind her. Sadie squeaked and turned around, seeing another two men looming over her, a bald man and a man with a pompadour. They also looked greasy and unkempt.
“Whoa, not so fast, there,” Kuth said. Another man suddenly stood next to him, this one extremely large, nearly two meters tall. “Why don’t you spend a bit of time with us, first, huh, missy?”
“I-I think I’m good, thanks.”
“Don’t be like that. Come have a bit of fun. We’re famous, you know. Ain’t you heard of the Beige Bandits?”
“Bandits?!” she repeated. Her mind leaped back to the scene in the desert clearing: Hashem facing Ali Reza, lines of bandits watching them. Sadie’s fists clenched at her sides. She began to feel lightheaded, her heart racing. She’d had just about enough of bloody bandits. “Why don’t you fuck off?!” Sadie snapped. “I’m not interested in whatever you’re selling!”
“Oh?” Kuth purred. “But I’m not sellin’ anything. Not yet, anyways.”
Sadie spat in his face. “I said fuck off!” She didn’t know what was coming over her, but she just didn’t feel like backing down.
“Ohh, got some fire in you,” Kuth said, wiping the spit away with a dirty sleeve. “I like that.” He grabbed at her.
“What the fuck, get away from me!” Sadie dodged backwards, but gasped as the bald man seized her shoulders from behind. “Let go of me!”
Sadie squealed and ripped free of his grasp, her cloak coming free in his hands. Sadie stumbled and fell to the ground as she got free. Her father’s eye fell out of her pocket, rolling across the ground.
Kuth bent down and picked it up. “Ohh, now what’s this?”
“N-No!” Sadie gasped. “Give it back!”
“Look at that craftsmanship, boys!” Kuth declared, holding the eye up for all of them to see. “Looks right expensive, this does. And it feels solid. This isn’t any ordinary glass, is it? I’ll bet it fetches a right good price.”
“Give it back!” Sadie repeated, scrambling to her feet. She lunged at Kuth, but he shoved her back to the ground, knocking the wind from her. “Ugh!”
Kuth pocketed the eye.
“Think she’s got other valuables?” the man with the pompadour asked.
“Oh, I bet,” the bald man replied. “Look at those clothes! Bet she’s merchant caste, this one. Bet those clothes’ll fetch a decent price, too. At least a couple of silvers each.”
“Drams?!” the tall man exclaimed.
“Honorables, you blasted idiot!”
“Shut up, both of you!” Kuth interjected. “Help me with the girl!”
The men all grinned, closing in on Sadie from all sides.
“G-Get away from me!” she warned.
Kuth seized her by the wrists and pulled her off the ground.
“Let go of me!” Sadie exclaimed. “No! Stop!”
The man with the pompadour unfastened Sadie’s belt while Kuth and the bald man held her arms and legs. The belt slipped from her pants, and the man with the pompadour tossed it to the side. He began rummaging around in her pockets. She tried to struggle, but they held her wrists and ankles firm. She opened her mouth to scream, but the tall man wrapped a hand around her mouth. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She had never been so frightened in her entire life, not even when confronting Tel Kellah’s city guards. This was different. There were no safety nets here.
Sadie’s struggles forced Kuth to adjust his position to keep holding her. As he did, his arm came into range of her face. Sadie squirmed free of the tall man’s hand and bit down hard on Kuth’s forearm. Kuth screamed and released Sadie’s arm. Somehow she tore the other free and tried to struggle away, but to no avail. The bandits easily grabbed hold of her again.
“Bitch!” Kuth exclaimed. “Put her on the ground!”
The men pinned Sadie on the ground, flat on her stomach. In the garish glare of torchlight Sadie could see the men’s faces in egregious detail, all grinning maliciously at her with their dirty teeth. She could smell the alcohol on them, the filth. It made Sadie nauseous. Tears pooled in her eyes. The sand felt grainy on her skin, irritating.
“What do you want us to do with her, boss?” one of the men asked.
“Take her clothes and anything else you find that might be worth something, then kill her.”
The man with the pompadour grinned. He withdrew a curved knife, glinting in the torchlight. Sadie’s eyes widened as she caught sight of the knife, so much like the ones Ali Reza had used against her father. Was she going to die like he had?
“Don’t...” Sadie whispered, sobbing.
A shadow fell over the alley, blotting out the torchlight.
“What the?!” the man with the pompadour demanded, stopping what he was doing.
The men turned. A large, silhouetted figure took shape in the alley exit.
“Who are you?!” another of Kuth’s goons exclaimed.
Executioner stepped into the light, striding confidently toward Sadie and the men. She stopped, her eyes settling first on Kuth, and then on the man with the pompadour. She looked down at Sadie, then back toward the man again. Executioner’s eyes narrowed.
“Destroyer!” Kuth swore. “And what exactly are you supposed to be?!”
“E-Executioner!” Sadie exclaimed, relief washing over her.
“Executioner?” Kuth repeated. “The Executioner? Arash Shara?”
The tall man whistled.
“I’ll be damned,” the bald man said. “Biggest woman I’ve ever seen.”
“What’s an Arash Shara doing all the way out here, I wonder?” Kuth mused.
Executioner ignored their taunts. “Let the girl go,” she ordered softly.
There was no malice to her voice, nor even any aggression. She was cold, detached. Yet in her eyes there was a deep glare, like looking at a cobra before it struck. Sadie didn’t think she had ever seen such fury in Executioner before. The men all laughed. The man with the pompadour began trying to pull up Sadie’s shirt. Sadie cried out, struggling to resist him.
“Let her go, or what?” Kuth asked.
In response, Executioner drew her blade, slowly sliding out the massive buster sword.
Kuth sneered, bearing yellow, infested teeth. “Not too smart, are you, Arash Shara?” he mocked.
He licked his lips, drawing his knife and spinning it in his hand. “Close quarters like this, that giant sword’s useless. You might as well be fighting us barehanded.”
Executioner cocked her head to one side quizzically, then she slammed her sword into the ground tip first, so that it stuck up toward the sky. She started cracking her knuckles one at a time.
Kuth’s grin widened. “Feisty. I like it. But it’s four on one, girlie. Be smart.”
“I like those odds.”
The men hesitated, taken aback by the comment.
Kuth laughed. “What are you all so scared of? It’s just one bloody woman.” He turned to the tall man. “You scared, Ervin? She’s even bigger than you, eh?”
The tall man grinned, stepping forward. “Sure is. Seems fun. Can’t say I’ve ever killed an Arash Shara before.” He spun a blade in each hand. “Come on, big woman. Let’s you and me-”
Sadie’s hearing gave out abruptly, replaced all of a sudden by a dull ringing. At the same moment, pink mist began to spread throughout the alley. Something splattered against Sadie’s face, then dripped down. She reached up to touch it and pulled her hand away, stunned as she uncovered sticky, scarlet liquid on her fingers. The heavy scent of iron made her light-headed. Ramin, she thought. That’s blood.
“E...Executioner?” Sadie murmured, unable to hear her own voice but for the vibrations in her throat.
Where Ervin had been standing previously, a headless body toppled to the ground. Blood started to pool from the neck. Executioner towered over the body, deep red drops oozing from the tips of her fingers. There was no head in sight. Sadie hadn’t even seen Executioner move, yet the woman had moved with such speed that she’d literally broken the sound barrier. Where the Arash Shara had stood previously, now only a deep crater remained. The man with the pompadour froze.
Sadie’s hearing began to return in time to hear one of the men exclaim, “What the fuck?!”
“Hey...” one of the other men said. “I... I can barely hear. What’s going on?”
“Get her!” Kuth shouted.
The bald man came up on Executioner first, brandishing his knife. The Arash Shara didn’t even move. The bald man plunged his knife toward Executioner’s face. It slammed into her forehead, but couldn’t pierce her skin. Instead the blade shattered right down to the hilt, leaving Executioner unharmed.
“Destroyer...” the bald man whispered, taking a step back. “What are you...?”
Executioner took hold of the man’s face.
“P-Please...” he murmured.
She stroked his cheek as tenderly as a mother with her newborn, cupping his chin. Then she crushed and pulled off the entire lower half of his jaw in a spray of blood and fragments of bone and teeth. Sanguine bile dribbled from a face torn as easily as a papyrus scroll. Sadie could see the man’s throat pulse as he uttered a startling squeal. Executioner beheaded the man with a swift flick of her fingertips across his neck.
Kuth and the man with the pompadour both stared in shock.
Executioner turned to them next, and began walking over. Taller than either man, Executioner’s shadow eclipsed them as she approached.
“G-Get her!” Kuth exclaimed.
The man with the pompadour rushed forward with a cry. Executioner plucked him off the ground by the scruff of his shirt as easily as picking a needle off a cactus. She plunged her hand into his chest, then ripped his heart out so quickly that it was still beating when her hand emerged from his body.
The man with the pompadour grabbed at his chest. “So... so c-cold...!” He toppled over, then went limp.
Executioner finally turned toward Kuth. She locked eyes with the man as she crushed his friend’s heart in her fist. The lone bandit turned and seized Sadie. She squealed as he pulled her tight against his body, digging the tip of his knife up against her throat.
“D-Don’t move!” Kuth exclaimed. “Back away or I’ll kill her!”
Sadie cursed herself. She’d been taken hostage again. By another bandit. When was she going to learn? When would she stop being a burden to those around her? She squeezed her eyes shut as if somehow that would banish the terrible bandit and the knife to her neck. What she saw with her eyes closed wasn’t the blackness she wanted to find, however, but that wretched desert clearing.
“Turn off all your enchantments!” Kuth ordered. “Do it now or I’ll slit this little girl’s throat.”
Executioner didn’t move.
Please no... Sadie thought, unsure whom exactly she was begging. Please don’t let me be the reason another person I care about gets killed...
“DO IT!” Kuth bellowed.
If only I was stronger. I’d do anything to be stronger... Anything.
As if in response to her thoughts, a voice spoke within Sadie’s mind. “Anything, you say?”
Suddenly Kuth cried out and released her. She stumbled forward, nearly losing her balance. Sadie turned, eyes widening at what she saw. The glass eye had left the bandit’s pocket and was floating in the air. It seemed to be staring at her. She didn’t know how she could tell, but she could feel it judging her, looking into the most remote corners of her soul. Tiny cracks began working their way across the surface of the sphere, like fissures splintering a world.
Then the eye shattered. Sadie’s scream died in her throat as she found herself blinded by green light, its rays seeping across the alley like tendrils, so brilliant that even Executioner was forced to shield her face. As quickly as it had come, the light began to dim. A silhouette became apparent, hiding in the light. It was curved almost to a crescent, pointed at the end. It’s... It’s a sword! Sadie realized. A sword with emeralds woven into the flat of the blade.
“By the justice of Susa...” Executioner murmured.
Unbidden, the sword flew toward her, tip first. Sadie flinched, instinctively throwing up her hands, but the sword curved in its path at the last second. The hilt slapped against her palm.
“Wh-What?!” she exclaimed.
Sadie tried to release the blade, but against her will her fingers curled around its handle. Her fingertips began to sting with heat. Rays of green light sparked across her hand.
“W-Witch!” Kuth shouted. “You’re a bloody witch!”
The heat in Sadie’s fingertips began to increase, and spread throughout her arm. It was like a million tiny needles penetrating the individual molecules that composed the arm. The feeling was static, scratchy. She gasped from the pain, collapsing to her knees as it overwhelmed her senses. Bolts of emerald lightning crackled forth from the blade. The lightning crashed down on Kuth, who raised his hands and cried out before his body was consumed by the sizzling, emerald glow.
His skin flaked and blackened, melting away almost instantly. Within seconds, all that remained was a charred, blackened skeleton. The lightning dissipated and the glow faded. Kuth’s bones fell away, disjointed from one another, and clattered to the ground. Smoke filled the alley, stinging Sadie’s eyes. The air was filled with the smell of sulfur and burnt flesh, nauseatingly sweet. It took everything Sadie had to keep herself from vomiting. The emerald-studded sword slipped out of her fingers.
She tried to stand, but fell back to her knees. Executioner approached from behind and pulled Sadie up.
“Stand,” the Arash Shara said. “We need to get moving. It isn’t safe here.”
“I...” Sadie stammered. “What was...”
“Not here.”
Sadie hesitated, staring at Executioner’s hand. She sniffled. Even with clogged sinuses the smell of iron dominated the alleyway, so thick that Sadie’s head became light after just a few short breaths. There was blood everywhere, from the puddles leaking on the ground to the smears and splatters across the narrow alley walls.
“You killed them,” she said, looking around at the bodies of the other bandits.
“So did you,” Executioner replied. “Now pick up the sword and let’s go.”
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