"You feel it too huh?" Marcus asked Sif as they made their way down the street.
Sif had been growling in her throat, looking around trying to find something. Marcus felt something as well, eyes staring at them, following them. He decided to go down an alleyway, he was hoping it was the people he'd been waiting for. He wanted to finally know who had tried to kill him. Marcus and Sif waited in the dark narrow alley for whoever was following them, they didn't have to wait long.
Soon, five men in brand new armor came walking down the alleyway. With a familiar face leading the way. Marcus was disappointed, he didn't think it would be that easy to draw out his would be assassins, but was hopeful. He walked out in front of the group with his warhammer in hand.
"You might as well hand over that creature. I'm sure it's not worth dying over now is it?" The leader of the group said with that fake smile still plastered on his face.
Marcus wondered if he ever stopped smiling. He didn't know the man, but could tell he had a screw loose.
"I'll just give you one chance, one only. Just leave and I'll forget about your bad manners." Marcus said with a flat face. He didn't care that this man's daddy was high up on the food chain. If he had the balls to make trouble for him, he'd teach him a lesson.
"Ha, did you hear that? This man here wants to die! Do you even know who I am? I'm Shaun Reflick, son of Nicholas Reflick!" He said this as if Marcus would tremble in fear. He had an even wider smile, a deranged look in his eyes.
Marcus was a little taken aback. He'd seen many arrogant people at the club, throwing their family names around like it actually mattered. Maybe it mattered more in this world, but not to Marcus, he didn't care at all.
"Do you even know who I am?" Marcus asked in an even, calm voice.
"Of course not, why would I care who you are?" Nicholas said, his smile fading away from his face for the first time.
"Good." Was the only thing Marcus said before taking action.
He dashed forward swinging his warhammer at Nicholas's knees, he didn't swing full strength, if he did his legs would disappear. With a sickening crack accompanied by a scream, Nicholas lost the ability to walk. Sif was hanging on tightly to Marcus's large frame, he was moving so quickly she had to struggle to stay on.
Marcus took Nicholas's sword from its holster and went for the first member of the entourage. Marcus managed to stab the sword into the first man's heart, he was dead before he hit the ground. By this time, the other three had drawn their swords. Shaky hands wielding new steel that glimmered in the sunlight. One man struck at Marcus, his unpracticed swing left him wide open, even for an amature like Marcus.
Marcus sidestepped the overhead swing, striking a blow himself. He struck the man's arms with the sword, amputating them at the elbows. The man fell to the ground, armless. He tried to catch himself, but without any arms and just stumps, failed to and hit his face on the hard ground. Blood was squirting out of his stumps with each beat of his heart, until it slowly stopped, marking his death.
The last two men took a few steps back, they were just guards that were assigned to protect Nicholas. They actually had hardly seen combat and didn't know how to react to the current situation. They were hired by his father just to protect him during his missions. He couldn't stop his son from being a mercenary, but he could keep him safe, at least he thought he could.
They didn't even like the young man, but were about to die because of him. They threw their swords to the ground in an attempt to run away. Marcus couldn't allow any witnesses to survive. He knew that if anyone found out who had killed the young noble there would be hell to pay. Marcus quickly ran forward, it only took him an instant to be right on top of them.
He stabbed them in the back, puncturing their hearts, just as he did the first one he killed. The two corpses fell to the ground with a thud, blood slowly flowing out of them staining the stones red. Marcus had crippled the young noble and killed his four guards in less than ten seconds.
Marcus walked back over to Nicholas, he was currently trying to crawl to the end of the alleyway, presumably to get some help. Both of his legs had been shattered by Marcus's warhammer, they were bent at funny angles. He was breathing heavily and sweat was dripping down his face. His eyes wide and face pale, he started to speak.
"Please…. Please. I didn't mean anything by it. Just let me live and nothing will come of this. My father…"
Marcus cut off his speech by driving one of the guard's swords into his neck. Nicholas's eyes got even wider as he tried to gasp for air. All there was a gurgling noise as blood filled his throat and his lungs, soon, he was dead as well.
Marcus picked up his hammer and made sure that there wasn't any blood on him. After making sure no one was around, he quickly and quietly left the alleyway. He'd used their own swords just to throw off any investigation. He didn't think that there were any witnesses, the alley was dark and out of the way. He didn't mean to be so violent with them, he just had a feeling that if he didn't deal with them right away only more trouble would follow him. He couldn't have a noble going around making trouble.
"You ok Sif? Sorry for all that, they kind of brought it upon themselves." Marcus said, petting Sif's head that was on top of his.
She gave a mix between a growl and a coo, Marcus took it as her agreeing with his statement. Marcus viewed it as self defense really. They had cornered him in an alleyway, what else could he have done, but he knew that the guards wouldn't see it that way. He did have to worry about if anyone found out, but he thought the risk was worth it.
Marcus was back in the crowded streets, no one seemed to have noticed what had happened not too far from there. He figured that he had an hour or so until someone discovered the bodies. Most people would not travel down alleyways, they were known to be dangerous, especially at night. He stopped at a few stores on the way over to Clair's, making sure to show his face. He wanted to have somewhat of an alibi, just in case.
Finally making it to Clair's apothecary, Marcus walked through the door. It was about five o'clock in the evening, so her store was still open for another hour. The little bell above the door gave a jingle, alerting everyone that someone had entered. There were two other people in the store as well, standing at the counter. Clair was behind the counter wrapping up a package and handing it over to them. She glanced over to the door and saw Marcus standing there. She gave him a warm smile while she took the money from the two patrons.
Marcus waited patiently for her to finish, standing off to the side. Sif was looking around like always, taking in the new smells she was experiencing. She was still tightly coiled around him, it was as if she was afraid to be anyplace else. Clair walked over to where Marcus was standing, she had on a white dress with her apron over it. The white dress made her red hair stand out even more, accentuating her beauty.
"It's about time you made it back. I was starting to get worried."
"No need to worry about me, I'm a big boy. Plus I brought gifts! Although they're a little worse for wear." Marcus said as he took out a handful of the blue glowing flowers.
They were a little wilted, with some missing the petals. They had been in his pockets and had been roughed up a little bit. Clair stared at them with wide eyes, slowly reaching out to take a few. She closely inspected the flowers, even smelling them, taking in deep breaths.
"Where in the world did you find these? I don't know which is more shocking, your new friend or these flowers!" Clair was very excited to see the flowers, her face was stuck in a shocked expression.
"I found them the same place I found Sif, in some ruins I was exploring. They really stood out, so I grabbed a few, I thought you might like to have them" Marcus said, shrugging his shoulders. He wasn't sure why the flowers made her so excited, they must be quite special.
"You've just made my whole year. These are spirit flowers, they're the rarest herb you can come across. They're only found in areas with an abundance of magic power. You usually only find them deep in the wilderness, near natural ley lines."
"Really, well I know where a whole bunch is growing, although they'll probably be taken here pretty soon."
"That's really too bad, these alone are probably worth fifty fold coins." Clair said, still clutching the flowers.
"That much! If I'd known that I would have cleared the whole place out!" Marcus was amazed, he would have never guessed they'd be worth that much. Just the amount he brought with him was half his reward for clearing out a whole nest of mountain serpents. Life was really unfair.
"Yup, just one petal can double the effects of a potion, at least double it. They really are amazing. But I really can't let you give all of these to me, it's just too much." Clari said as she ran back behind the counter.
"Really, You've saved my life and done so much for me. Don't worry about it, just take them." He tried telling her as she rummaged behind the counter. Clair acted like she didn't hear him.
"Here, take this." Clair handed Marcus a pouch. The pouch was heavy, and it jingled when moved around.
"It's twenty-five gold, with the potions I've given you in the past we can just say we're even ok. Those flowers are worth more than you can imagine, not just the monetary amount, the quality of all my potions will go up exponentially."
"Don't give me that look, I insist."
"Alright, alright. I'll take the money." Marcus knew how to pick his battles.
"Now, what about your friend there?" Clair asked, directing her attention to the magical beast wrapped around Marcus.
"This is Sif, Sif, This is Clair." Marcus did the introductions.
Sif looked at Clair and cooed at her. Clair was a little taken aback, not only were most magical beasts not like Marcus's, they were often just dumb animals. Clair could see that Sif was no ordinary animal, she was intelligent, and seemed to understand what Marcus was saying just by the way she behaved. Still, Clair smiled at Sif and gave her a nod.
"I found her at the bottom of the ruins I was exploring. She hatched out of an egg while I was trapped down there for a few day."
"You were trapped?! What happened?"
"That's a long story, ha. Mostly due to my dumb descisions. But while I was down there she hatched and we got out together."
"Ok, but I've never seen or heard of a magical beast like her before. Not with the wings and head shaped like that."
"Oh, yeah, I'm pretty sure she's a dragon of some kind." Marcus added this tid-bit of information very naturally, like you found a dragon every day of the week.
"..........." Clair was standing there with her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide.
"You ok Clair?" Marcus nudged her.
"You said a dragon right, I didn't hear wrong did I?"
"Yeah, I said a dragon. Her mom's skeleton was around her egg. I'd say it was about one-hundred feet long. I don't know what else to classify that as other than a dragon."
"Ha, yeah, I'd say you're probably right. Haaha." Clair seemed to still be in a daze, she was mumbling to herself, it was hard for Marcus to hear her.
"Do you need some water or something? You're acting a little strange."
"I'm fine, just processing everything." Clair said, sitting down on the edge of the counter.
"You can't tell anyone about her you know right? Everyone will be out to get their hands on a baby dragon."
"Don't worry, I know that. I won't go around just yelling out about Sif. As far as anyone is concerned, she's just a unique magical beast. I already have her registered to my name, so there shouldn't be any issues. And by the time she's big enough that people start asking questions, it won't matter by then." Marcus said, reassuring Clair with his hand on her shoulder.
"And why would you tell me about her. The more people that know, the more danger you and her will both be in."
"Well, I trust you Clair. I don't see a need to lie to you about it, I don't think you'll go turn her in for money, will you?"
"Of course I won't. It really means a lot to me that you trust me this much." Clair said with a smile, her eyes looking up into Marcus's.
"So Sif and I are going to be together for awhile, you don't mind do you?"
"Nope, not at all. Ha, it'll make life a little more exciting. Are you going to spend the night tonight Marcus?"
"If you don't mind, If you do it's no problem for me to go get an inn."
"Oh no, It's no problem. I've actually missed you, so this is good."
"You've missed my handsome face have you? I do have to admit that I am hard to live without!" Marcus said as he was pulling his beard.
Before Clair could say anything, Sif gave a loud snort and bopped Marcus on the head with her chin. This set Marcus off on a fit of laughter, Clair followed shortly after. It took them a minute to calm down, wiping tears from their faces.
"It looks like Sif knows better than to put up with you. I like her more already!" Clair said, still giggling.
"Just go ahead and head upstairs, I still have about an hour until I close. I'll be up afterwards. I have some spare blankets that we can lay out for Sif."
"Thanks again Clair, you're always taking care of me."
"Someone has to don't they." Clair said before leaning in and giving Marcus a kiss on the lips.
After a long, passionate kiss, they separated. Marcus looked down at Clair and smiled a warm, loving smile. He didn't love Clair, but he did have feelings for her. Love was a strongemotion, so you had to make sure that was what you were feeling for someone before you said anything.
"I was hoping to look for someplace to call my own. Can you help me with that tomorrow?"
"Haaaa, yeah, that's not a problem. You sure know how to ruin a moment don't you?" She said, punching Marcus in the shoulder.
"Ha, yeah I do. Sorry about that."
"It's ok, go on, head upstairs. We'll talk more when I get up there, ok?"
"Come one Sif. Let's get you settled down."
Marcus and Sif went upstairs, heavy footsteps landing on each step. Clair watched them both as they disappeared up the steps. She had a lot to do now that she had the spirit flowers. She had to revise her recipes and go to the forest for more herbs that she would need. She could make many new kinds of potions with these along with increasing the potency of her existing ones. Clair let out a sigh, she had a feeling that she would get a lot busier from now on.