Wren
Ch. 11
Rich arrived in Sherwood Park about half an hour later, panting for breath after running halfway across the city. He quickly found a bench in a relatively secluded part of the Park, where he could see the tree where Brandon would leave the message. How could he betray me like this? Why? Why did I trust him? I told him about my sword in confidence, how could he use that knowledge against me? Once I kill him, maybe I should just break the sword, end it once and for all. Rich stopped himself there. He hadn’t contemplated suicide in two weeks, and it had been a couple months since he had a concrete plan, and he wasn’t going to let himself break his streak. He leaned back in his seat, stretching his legs forward, closed his eyes, and just listened to the world around him. He heard people moving around the park, birds chirping in the trees, and then a sudden rush of air. He felt a blade on his throat. Rich opened his eyes but knew better than to move. He’d seen what happens to people in situations like this if they move too suddenly.
“You shouldn’t have picked such a secluded spot.”
Rich vaguely recognized the voice, he didn’t know who it belonged to, but he knew it wasn’t Brandon. It was a woman’s voice “And you shouldn’t have come here so soon. You couldn’t have taken out the target yet, I just saw you at the bench where I left my last message.”
“Why are you doing this? Why have me kill them instead of killing them yourself? It would be easy with that sword.” Rich began to weigh his options. He could try to get the sword away from her.
“Does it matter? You do it, or you die. And if you don’t stop cheating, you die. And if it makes you feel any better, they’re not really people.”
“If I’m to be killing things, and if I’m to be blackmailed, I’d like to know why.” If he was quick, and if her reaction was slow, he could wrench the sword away from her before she could start channeling magic through it. But those were some very big, very dangerous ifs.
“And I’d like to keep that to myself. Maybe once this is all over, I’ll let you know. Once I’m done with you.”
“Why did that man melt when I killed him?” All she’d have to do is start the magic, if she could do that, she’d be so fast that he’d be powerless to stop her.
“Is that what happens? That’s so interesting! I’ve never seen it before, so I wouldn’t have known. I’m sure your friend Brandon would, though.”
Now was Rich’s chance. He jerked his hands up to grasp the sword, but only met thin air. She was now in front of him, about a dozen feet, facing away. And he recognized her, as the woman who had bumped into him the previous day. She sheathed the sword.
“I would tell you that another stunt like that will end in your death, but we won’t be having another encounter. This was your only warning. If I meet with you in person again—” She looked over her shoulder at him, and he got his first good look at her. Five and a half feet, red hair and brown eyes, this was the girl from The Ox, “—it’ll be to kill you.”
As she began to walk away, her hair started to turn blonde, grew shorter, and she grew about an inch and a half taller. She grabbed the hilt of the sword, still in its sheath, and departed so quickly it seemed like she simply vanished.
“I think I owe Brandon an apology.”