Kai trained for most of the next day. The exercises kept his mind focused on the present, rather than wandering into the past, to places he did not wish to return to.
A soft thud echoed throughout the room as his knife struck a target, hitting the bullseye. Kai had always loved the small blades. They were easy to conceal, deadly and could kill a man from 60 meters away. He'd had his blades forged years ago by the best smith in Northshore. The price had been high, but the knives had not let him down yet.
He drew one from his belt, taking a moment to admire their fine craftsmanship. A black leather grip and metal guard led to a sleek, dark blade. The steel seemed to swim before his eyes in waves of folded metal. Flicking his wrist, Kai sent the knife flying. It glanced harmlessly off the pommel of his previous knife, falling to the ground.
He had only trained with his knives for a few years, but had mastered them quickly. Before that, Kai had loved archery, practicing with a bow and arrow whenever he could. It had been the first weapon that he had truly mastered.
Kai sighed, retrieving his knives and pulling on his black cloak. The day was warm, but he felt vulnerable without it. Beneath the dark wool he wore a black linen tunic, tucked into his trousers. The inky material seemed to meld with his hair; a few shades darker than his brown eyes. Once he might have taken time to dress; make himself look somewhat less intimidating. But he would be leaving soon; it did not matter what the people of Northshore thought of him now.
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The sun shone down on Kai, glancing off of pockets of water that still riddled the streets from the night before. Northshore was as bustling as ever. Horse-drawn carriages made their way down the streets, cold eyed noblemen peering at the less fortunate from carriage windows. The usual city clamor filled the air; horse hooves clopping against stone, vendors promoting their goods and water dripping from rain gutters. Commoners and nobles alike walked hurriedly through the streets toward their various destinations, casting weary glances at their surroundings. Despite living at Northshore for his entire life, nearing 17 years, Kai found no comfort in the city, and cast those same glances. It was a dangerous place, and all of its inhabitants knew it. Kai likely had nothing to worry about on a busy street in the daytime. In other parts of the city, however, true monsters had made their lairs.
The Den, a place that Kai had visited years ago, when he was truly desperate for jobs, was home to the worst of them. A place where gold was exchanged as men drew each other's blood.
Kai was headed for the Den. The cobbled streets turned into little more than piles of rubble as he made his way toward the shore. Kai heard it before he saw it; shouts as fisherman lugged crates of goods from ship to shore, gulls squawking from above, children running and screaming along the pier. And amid it all, the soft lapping of water on wood and stone, the misty smell of a salty breeze.
Kai would not be going there today; not yet. Turning a corner, he walked down a dark alley, making his way to the staircase at its end. Memories flooded in as he stepped down the roughly cut stone. He had come here hundreds of times, back when he had lived on the streets, not knowing when his next meal might come. Half of the people in the Den were murderers, so it was natural that many of them wanted someone dead. Kai had walked down these same steps many times before, often with a bloody bag in hand. Although it was hidden in an alley of the slums, Kai was convinced that Lord Hewe knew of the Den. It was hard to miss, with shady figures exiting and entering the place day and night. It seemed that the lord believed that if he did nothing to stop the lowlifes of the Den, they would not send an assassin for his throat some night. Perhaps he was right.
Kai shook away his thoughts as he neared the bottom of the stairs. The Den was quite deep underground, and for good reason. It would be easily betrayed by the shouts and screams coming from within.
"Who are you, and what's your business here?" two large, muscled men stood before large stone double doors, wielding daggers.
"The Shadow. I've come to talk to a friend," Kai said. There was little point attempting to hide his identity in a place full of men whom he had killed for. The guard's faces paled and they pushed open the stone doors.
The Den consisted of a series of massive chambers, the first of which smelled like ale and sweat. Smaller rooms lined the larger chamber's walls, all carved from stone.
"Thank you," Kai said, pushing past the two men as he thrust his hands into his coat pockets. The room was packed. To his left, a bartender poured ale for dozens of drunken men, who laughed and shouted as they drank. Rows of stalls lined the first chamber's wallspace, selling an abundance of illegal goods.
The next room was larger, and far louder. In the center of the chamber, a large circle had been indented a couple of meters into the ground. It was just as it had been before, Kai remembered. Spectators stood around the circle, making bets and laughing. Tables and chairs lined one side of the room; Kai headed there.
He stopped, turning for a moment toward the pit. It had been years since he had been down there, but he remembered it as vividly as if it had happened yesterday. Shouting, dust, blood, and adrenaline like he had never felt before. Kai had enjoyed fighting in the pit—the death there did not seem nearly as wrong as his work outside the Den. It had not taken long for the fighters of the Den to fear him. His reputation had stemmed largely from this place, where his fame had grown in a small, round indentation in the ground. In the moment, he almost wished to return to the pit; wished to feel fire in his veins as he fought for his life. But no, he was here for other reasons.
Spying two figures in a shadowed corner of the room, Kai pushed past the pit, edging toward them. They were arguing. One was lean and looked to be young, wearing all black. Kai instantly recognized him; he had known the man for a large part of his life. The other man was larger, with a bald white head that shone with perspiration. He weld several blades at his side, along with a longsword strapped across his muscled back. Kai scoffed. The man seemed to be sweating from anger, rather than fear. His mistake.
"...being kind," the bald man was whispering, not quietly. "I could kill you now for what your men did. Instead I demand only 150 gold pieces."
Kai's eyes widened at that, and he scanned the area surrounding the table. He stood a meter away from the table at which the two men sat, hood pulled over his head as he watched the entertainment pit, eavesdropping all the while. 150 gold pieces... A large fortune. One could buy castles or crowns with such an amount. Casting his gaze at the figures seated at the tables surrounding him, Kai's eyes narrowed. Surely enough, a dozen men took small sips of watered-down wine, eyes fixed on their employer's shimmering head.
"I want no trouble, Gib," the younger man said with a sigh. "But I cannot give you 150 pieces. My men acted on their own, out of spite. Let us leave it at that—I would rather not become your enemy." He smiled in a way that spoke otherwise.
Gib bristled, face reddening as he shot to his feet, pulling a dagger from its scabbard. The men seated at the tables beside him instantly rose as well, drawing their own blades.
Other men began to take notice, shouting as they left the ring that had formed around the pit. The smartest among the hundreds in the chamber pushed past the rest and out of the room, away from the ensuing carnage.
The young, lean man wore a slightly distressed expression, taking up his own fighting stance, one small figure against a dozen. He pulled a knife from his belt, toying with the razor sharp blade as he studied his opponents.
"Well, I suppose that this can only be settled with violence," he said with a sigh. Kai stood unmoving, a frown written across his face. His friend seemed to grow more reckless by the day.
Gib laughed, gesturing for his men to attack, daggers raised. With a shout, they rushed forward, kicking past chairs and tables as Gib backed safely behind his henchmen. The first choked as a blade found its way through his throat. A moment later, two more bodies fell atop the first, dead before they hit the ground. The distance between the young man and his opponents was too small, Kai realized. He was winning now, but in a melee at close range—
"Kai!" The man in black shouted as he felled another henchman. "Give me a hand, would you?"
Kai nodded, drawing a dagger as he flanked his friend's pursuers, cutting through bone and flesh. Though he was defending his friend, Kai hated the feeling of his blade cutting limbs apart. These men would never walk the same again. In Northshore, a man who could not walk or use his arms was as good as useless. And to be useless and without money was to be as good as dead.
No more than two minutes later, Kai and the young man stood beside a pile of groaning men. It felt wrong, but these men had meant to hurt his friend. Kai could not forgive them for that. Besides, they had the faces of men who had murdered and stolen many times over. They deserved this fate, Kai told himself.
Gib was currently curled on the ground nursing several small flesh wounds that peppered his large body.
Kai took a deep breath, surveying his surroundings. The chamber was empty, save for a few frightened figures that had hidden beneath tables and chairs.
The young man grinned, swinging back the hood of his cloak. He looked just as he had the moment Kai had first met him, years ago. Saif's face appeared to be no older than 25, and could have been sculpted from marble. The sharp panes of his face were clean-shaven, though it seemed that he had not cut his hair in a decade. It fell beneath his shoulders; a curtain of gold that matched the fire in Saif's bright blue eyes. Kai knew what his hair hid; the long, pointed ears that so few knew Saif possessed. Kai had been fascinated with them since he had discovered their existence.
"I should have known that you saw me," Kai said with a small smile. Though pain and death surrounded him, it was hard not to feel joy at seeing his friend again. It had been weeks since they had last talked. "I also should have known that you'd be more foolish than ever." Kai's eyes darkened slightly. "What do we do with Gib?" He recognized the name. Gib commanded a large section of the slums, as well as an entire chamber in the Den.
Saif waved his hand dismissively. "I'll keep him alive. If I don't keep control of my city, even more chaos will ensue." He smiled. "As fun as that sounds... I would rather not die just yet."
Kai shook his head, gesturing at the pile of wounded men beside him accusingly. "Is that so?"
"I wouldn't have fought the men if you hadn't showed up," Saif responded with a smile. "Let's get out of here," he continued. "Your eyes tell me that you've got something on your mind."
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"I'm leaving Northshore," Kai said softly, gaze fixed on the gentle waves before him. They sat on a quiet edge of the pier, legs hanging over the rough wood. He felt strange saying it, as if his own body knew that it could not be true. Leaving would not just mean saying farewell to his home, it would mean changing himself entirely—for the better, he hoped.
Saif hardly blinked. "But you've only just gotten a new home...you spent so long saving for it. Why leave now? Where will you go?"
"It...it just feels right. I can't stay here any longer. The killing...it's destroying me. I can't take it. I should have left years ago. As to where I am going...Ath.I don't know where in Ath, but... well, I guess I'll figure it out when I arrive. I just have to do it, have to make the choice and leave, as whatever fragment of my soul that isn't blackened has been prompting me to do for so long. I wanted to say goodbye, and..." Kai sighed. He knew what the answer would be, but he had to ask. "I wanted to ask you to come with me. Maybe there's something out there for you."
Saif shook his head. "I've covered every inch of Ath—it's not the place for me."
"That was centuries ago. Everything will have changed by now."
"Perhaps, but..." Saif took a deep breath. "I like it here, in Northshore. It's challenging in a way that Ath could never be. Northshore must be the worst city on this planet. I know you hate killing, but after living for a thousand years, it's the only thing that makes me feel alive."
Kai nodded. He had expected this response. "I understand," he said, though he didn't. He never had truly understood Saif, and guessed that he never would. "I hope to see you again, Saif. Thank you. For everything."
His friend gave a sad smile. "Goodbye, Kai."