Of Sinners & Saints

RAZIEL (EDITED)

Raziel, felt up beat, which was unusual for him, but he would not allow Abel to see this side nor would he celebrate too prematurely he was after all too shrewd. The Enlighted had to remain coy, for now. He had safeguard Abel out of the port city, that is Letterdam. Raziel was imprudent and was willing to go toe to toe with the Assassin should the opportunity arise but it did not materialise. Now he knew for sure, the enemy knew where Abel was.

They were now at the summit of the Mountaintop, a south western district in Letterdam. Ironically, the Mountaintop was just a steep hill it was still a struggle to walk up from its base to its summit, especially if you were a tad bit over weight like young Abel was. He was not obese, but he could certainly trim back on the excess fat. Raziel knew there would be a lot of travelling to come and many nights they might have to go without food. He opted to pick and choose what Abel should know. Right now, all Abel had to know was this, he was in danger.

"Come along," Raziel called out now already over the brow of the hill and blending into the darkness. They were heading out of Letterdam and going south. Raziel had long passed the last bit of light that came from a streetlamp. Now they walked along the remnants of a pavement. Vechiles were still flooding in and out of the city which never slept.

Abel huffed and puffed and jogged for a second just to keep up. "I'm coming," Abel answered in-between breaths. "Where exactly are we going again? And why do we have to walk? Can we not take a cab or something? I have Kroaling and lots of it. Even if we thumbed it would do?" Raziel listened to him whine, Abel's incessant winging went in one ear and out the other. "I am no good over long distances, man," Abel continuously complained.

"I doubt you are any good over short distances," Raziel quietly quipped with a slither of a smile crossing his face.

"What was that?" Abel asked. He feigned deafness. Again, he huffed and puffed.

"Oh. . . nothing," Raziel answered. "Think nothing of it."

"You think you are the only who has made fat jokes? Hmm? I have heard them all before, Raziel, take your pick - prick."

Again, Raziel found himself smiling he admired the boy's gumption. He will need that stout resilience on the road ahead for what is to come. There was a fighter in the boy that Raziel highly venerated he had seen it before. He was Abel's protector, but he could not interfere with his life, not unless it was truly under threat, like it was this dreary Spring night. Raziel always shadowed Abel one might call it stalking from the rooftops, but he always went unseen. He saw Abel once, from a distance. He stood up for a kid, a couple of years his junior, so naturally the kid was smaller than Abel. Abel confronted several bullies and beat them all eventually.

In Letterdam you had to fight to survive. If your will was not strong and if you were a walk over, you would end up dead in the gutter in the blink of an eye. Raziel knew it, he had lived in this city for the past twenty-five years, no less. For the last fifteen he had been Abel's shadow, not that Abel ever noticed him. Raziel rarely let Abel out of his sight.

"I dont say it to offend you Abe," he eventually answered on a positive note. He was not so malicious. Raziel respected Abel for he was content with himself. "If you think I am harsh," he began, "wait until you meet my brother Dummah. He is worst if you ask me. Dummah looks for a reaction you see. Whilst we are on the topic, you must shed a pound or two, you must be fit for what is to come. Believe it!"

"Yeah, yeah," Abel answered without a care. "And what is to come exactly? Hmm? Some Assassin you say comes after me for reasons unknown. You beg me to come with you, which I have done. And you mock me for being a little over weight."

"A little?" Raziel uttered in disbelief struggling to stifle a chuckle.

"I am fit I'd have you know," Abel snapped at his snide comment. "I just like my food is all."