Shayde's Story Chapter 4
#4 of Shades of Grey
Shayde was in a state of advanced confusion. He didn't know what to do anymore. Why can't things just be a little easier, he wondered to himself. Such a simple job had turned into a very complicated matter.
He had been following the trail of a thief, who had stolen a very valuable artefact from a museum in the city. As a bounty-hunter, Shayde was used to hunting criminals down, but this one seemed small-game to him; a common thief, not worthy of his skills. However, he had taken the job, and had waited for the thief to appear to steal a priceless jewel. The thief, who's alias was The Shadow, had taken the bait, but Shayde was unprepared for the thief's skill with a blade, and had been defeated (albeit through cheap tricks) by The Shadow, who turned out to be a female. He had chased her down, but she had tricked him into killing an innocent bystander. Shayde had found a piece of the thief's cloak, a garment treated with a chemical that made it swim in and out of focus, essentially hiding the wearer in plain sight. Using this scrap, he had tracked her to a small village some distance from the city. Arriving at the village, he had had to beat up a drunken wolf, only to have that same wolf appear again not long after, ready for revenge. He had killed the wolf, but not before being seriously wounded, and had been saved by The Shadow, who, it turns out, was a rather attractive, and angry, husky named Xani. Xani had been wounded fighting the wolf as well, and her injuries were significantly worse than Shayde's.
Shayde looked over at the bed of his dingy room at the inn he was staying at. Xani lay there, bound and unconscious, still in her shifting cloak. Looking at the cloak too long made his head hurt, so he moved over and pulled the cloak open. Under the black material, Xani was wearing the floury outfit she wore before. She was a baker, and he had met her accidentally while following the cloak-scrap, destroying a pile of cakes she was carrying. Shayde could see the after-math of Xani's duel with the wolf: a long, deep gash was oozing blood just above her waist, and a multitude of smaller cuts adorned her chest, blood matting her reddish-coloured. More deep slices were on her arms, where she still was wounded from her previous fight with Shayde, where he had cut into her arms in an attempt to disarm her.
Suddenly, Xani started to stir, finally waking up. Shayde backed away, grabbing his katana and holding it out, ready for anything. He knew Xani was capable of dirty tricks. During their duel, she had pulled his tail, tried to run him through while his back was turned, and had thrown burning black dust in his eyes.
Xani's eyes opened slowly. She looked around, trying to work out where she was. Finally her eyes rested on Shayde, and she gasped slightly.
‘You!' she cried. ‘What have you done to me?'
Shayde took a step forward, still holding the blade out. ‘I haven't done anything to you. Yet.'
Xani looked down at the rope binding her hands together, and tugged at them, to no avail. ‘Where are we?' she asked, looking around the room again.
‘In my room, at an inn.' Shayde replied. ‘You and I need to have a bit of a chat.'
‘Why?' asked Xani. She tried to sit up, and yelped in pain as the long gash on her belly folded in on itself, opening up again a bit, and lowered herself back down.
‘Well, let's see,' Shayde mused sarcastically. ‘You've stolen quite a lot of stuff, including the most valuable find of the century, you cheated in our fight, and you made me kill an innocent bystander!'
‘Hey, that's not fair!' she said. ‘I didn't make you do anything! You did that yourself.'
Shayde growled and pointed his blade at the husky. ‘Don't test me, thief. You're not so badly hurt that I couldn't add a few more cuts to you.'
Xani stared down the blade, a calm expression on her face. ‘You wouldn't do that. You need me intact, so you can claim the bounty on me.' Shayde looked away and growled to himself. She was right. Bounties go down if the target is wounded too much.
‘Listen,' Xani said, breaking his thoughts.' I know you don't like me. I can live with that. But can you at least get me some water? I'm kind of thirsty. And just to prove I'm not all bad, look in the pocket of my cloak. I think you'll like what you see.'
Shayde immediately thought of a trap. But still, he approached the bed. As he got there, he pressed his blade on her neck. ‘Try anything, and it'll be the last thing you ever do,' he threatened, ‘low bounty or not.'
Xani swallowed and nodded. Shayde reached down and found a small pocket on the inside of the cloak. Inside, he felt am irregular, smooth object. Pulling it out, he found it was a lump of pale silver mineral. In the dim light, it seemed to absorb the light and emit it again, giving of a pearly luminescence. Shayde's eyes widened. Even though he'd never seen it before, he knew what it was.
‘This is Primium! Where did you get it?' Primium was the rarest substance on the planet, a mineral so rare and valuable, that even the smallest amount could fetch a king's ransom. The lump he now held could by a continent.
‘You know that jewel I stole?' Xani asked. Shayde nodded, still staring at the fortune he held. ‘Well, all that other stuff was just covering this up. I don't think anyone realised something even more valuable was underneath.'
‘This is the discovery of a lifetime.' Shayde said. Xani nodded. ‘Yeah, I know. Now, how about that water?'
Shayde looked down at her. She was well tied up, and wasn't going anywhere. ‘Fine. I'll get your water. But then, you and I are going back to the city. I know a few people who would like to meet you.'
He stepped away from the bed, sliding the Primium into his pocket, then sheathing his blade. With a final glance at the bound husky, he left the room, shutting the door after him.
As soon as Shayde had left the room, Xani rocked back and flung herself upright, hissing in pain as her wounds split open fully. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she stood up and staggered over to where Shayde had left her staff, propped up against the wall. She pushed the shaft of the weapon with her hip, knocking it over, and then bent down, wincing and more pain flared from her wounds. Using the blade of the staff, she sawed through the rope binding her. Unbreakable though the rope was, it wasn't un-cuttable, and the blade made quick work of the rope.
‘If only all my bonds were so easily severed...' she muttered to herself, fingering the metal collar around her neck, massaging the bruised flesh under it. Now, she had to see what the damage was. Using her staff as a crutch, she staggered over to the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. Pulling off the shifting cloak, she could see the tattered outfit under it.
‘Oh, no. And I really liked that one,' she said, plucking at the useless material. She quickly stripped off and closed her eyes, gathering her courage to look at the reflection. When she did, she moaned in pain.
Slate's daggers had made her into a living roadmap of slices and cuts. Most were shallow, barely nicking the skin, but the cuts on her belly and chest were bad, even by her standards. The bled sluggishly and stung with every movement she made. Her arms were criss-crossed with more cuts, and the bandages hiding her deepest wounds were stained red. Annoyingly, the only thing untouched by the attacks was the collar, still clean and unmarked.
Xani's eyes welled with tears. She had had enough of all this. The pain, the lying, the stealing, and the sleepless nights, it was all too much. She had to get Shayde to go with her. Hopefully, he could end it all. She knew he was her last hope. If he failed, she would die, one way or another.
Shayde entered the room with the jug of water, and immediately saw Xani was gone. He cursed himself for being so stupid, and turned to leave the room again to look for her. Suddenly, he heard a noise from the bathroom. It sounded like...sobbing. He put the water down on the table and stealthily made his way over to the door. He pushed it open, and saw Xani standing, her back to the door, by the mirror, naked but for her fur. Her shoulders were shaking, wracked with sobs, and her face was hidden in her hands. He could see more cuts on her back, as well as many dips in her fur, like parts of the skin underneath had been torn out. There were two places on her back that were void of fur, and the skin under it was black, like frostbite.
Xani looked up slowly, and, noticing Shayde reflected in the mirror, gasped and whirled, covering her chest with one arm, her belly with the other. Her eyes were wet with tears, red-rimmed from crying, and her ears were folded back with agony.
‘Shayde,' she sobbed, barely audible through her tears. ‘I...I need your help.'