Shadow's hunt- Part one
#1 of Shadow's hunt
Yet another different story from the others I have submitted. Just trying different things every now and then. I hope you enjoy it. Comments are appreciated, as always.
A pair of bright emerald eyes peeked over the edge of the hill. They scanned the caravan below with the trained eye of a warrior. 'Four wagons, just as the reptoid had said.' The warrior thought to himself, then he spied the group of people walking along behind the last wagon. His slit-pupil eyes narrowed when he saw the chains that bound them to the wagon. Shadow growled ferally to himself, his hand creeping to the hilt of his runed Katana, called Seigi. He shook his head a little, releasing the blade. 'We will have Justice soon enough my friend.' He looked again at the slave caravan, his sharp feline eyes picking out details, and there, among the slaves, he recognized her, despite not having seen her for fifteen years.
Shadow ducked back down behind the hill and rushed off along the slope. Reaching a patch of loose scree, he leapt forward, sliding easily down the rocks, disturbing twin streaks of stone, sending them sliding in a cascade down to the bottom of the hill. Leaping from the slope, he caught a tree branch and swung up into the tree, his rune bladed wakizashi short sword Yuuki, meaning courage, slapping against his hip in a familiar manner. Running swiftly through the tree tops, he neither disturbed any leaf nor touched the forest floor as he rushed towards the road ahead of the caravan. Reaching the edge of the forest road, he leapt across it, landing silently in a tiger tree. The tree bark's orange and black striping would conceal him well.
Taking off the dark cloak and samurai uniform he wore, he laid them on the ground behind the tree. Then, standing against the tree trunk, halfway up the tree, he remained motionless, his swords tucked into his black belt. He had no fear of discovery, for his body was covered in fur the exact same colors as the tiger tree. Making sure that the caravan was out of sight still, he leapt higher into the tree, wrapping his long tail around the trunk, steadying his balance. He returned to motionlessness just as the advance riders of the caravan rounded the bend of the road.
The group of five riders rode along the road carefully, long spears clutched in green scaled hands. Shadow waited patiently as they rode past on the large armored horses. He knew that he could take them if he had too, but then the rest of the caravan would be on him, and even he could not beat that many. 'But I might be able to free the slaves in the confusion.' He thought, and his hand twitched, wanting so badly to draw his swords and cut them to pieces. 'No. Not now. Justice will be given in time.' Shadow had known the consequences of taking up a rune blade when he had found Seigi, but he had been willing to accept that. He was unique, because he had taken up the burden of two rune swords, an unheard of event before now. The spirits of Justice and Courage, bound within the runeswords he carried spoke to him at all times, making it difficult to concentrate sometimes, and very hard to control the urges that the spirits brought. Shadow needed to mete out justice now, and he had eternal, unlimited courage even when others would be paralyzed by fear.
The outriders passed his position and his eyes narrowed upon seeing their tattoos. Hatred started to well up inside, but, Seigi's voice overroad it. He had not felt hatred or anger since he had taken up the rune blade, as they were not part of justice. That clan was some of the most notorious slavers in the world, and they had attacked Shadow's village for more merchandise. Justice would be done, even if he had to slay every member of their clan. It wasn't more than a minute before Shadow heard the sound of wagons creaking in the road. The first wagon came into view on the road escorted by more of the armored riders. Far more than he could handle. The first wagon looked to be the home of the slave master, but Shadow couldn't see inside.
The second and third wagons had large cages mounted on the back, filled with slaves of various ages and races. The last wagon was laden with supplies, and had eighteen chained slaves trudging along behind it. As Shadow watched, one of the riders lashed one of them with a whip, eliciting a scream from the woman. Wincing, Shadow almost gave away his position, but he swiftly composed himself. He had faced down insane odds without flinching, he had slain hundreds of enemies in single combat, and he had seen more horrible things than anyone could be expected to face, yet he still could not stand wanton cruelty.
As the last of the caravan walked out of sight along the road ahead, Shadow whispered quietly to himself.
"Justice will be done, whether they know the form it would take or not. And I doubt they will live to know just how terrible justice can be..."
* * *
The bordello's doors opened before Shadow, bringing the smells of incense, narcotic akal berries, and other, less legal forms of chemical pleasure to his nose. Walking inside the room before him, his eyes adjusted to the poor yellow light quicker than a normal tiger. He took in the sights of the room swiftly and located the owner of the establishment. He was a human, slovenly fat and dressed in flowing robes of yellow and purple, colors that were meant to show that he was well off financially, but Shadow easily noticed that, while his clothes were clean, his eyes were watery, and had a funny glint to them. The glint represented an addiction to akal smoke, a much more potent, and much more illegal form of akal.
Women and men, both human and non human of all races sat around dressed in very little. They were there to entice visitors to carnal pleasures of all sorts, but a quick sniff indicated to him that there were more rooms off the main hall that contained stores of illicit substances by the score being enjoyed by patrons of the house; others were no doubt enjoying more "employees" of the house further away from the entry way. Then, the human owner looked up and saw him. Shadow wore a dark cloak that covered everything, and the owner no doubt did not know who or what he was. He walked up with his best selling smile on his face.
"Welcome stranger, to the House of Infinite Pleasures. No matter what you are looking for, you will find it here." He said spreading his arms wide.
"I am sure I will." Shadow answered, lifting his head and sweeping back the black hood.
"Shadowwalker..." the man gasped, bowing low as he recognized the warrior. "I am honored that you would choose to visit my little establishment. How may we serve you, honored one?"
"I would speak with you in private." Shadow said, walking forward and the corpulent human nodded, still bowing to Shadow, but he beckoned towards a secluded alcove.
"Now then, how may we best serve you, my lord?" He asked, still bowing low, a hard task because of his large belly.
"I understand that you have recently acquired some new employees." Shadow said, putting his hood back up. "I would like to have some...private time with one of them."
"Of course." The owner said, remaining bowed, but preparing to clap his hands and call an assistant in. "We have a group we hired only two weeks ago, everyone of them would be willing to serve such a famous individual as yourself. Tell me, were you looking for a male or female?"
"No." Shadow said, shaking his head. "The group I was speaking of, you acquired only this morning."
"But, my lord." He began, looking shocked. "They have not been trained and there is no telling how they will react to..."
"You asked how you could best serve me and I have told you." Shadow stated, cutting off the man, and realization dawned in his eyes.
"I see now my lord. You aren't looking for a professional." He said, smiling deviously. That really wasn't what Shadow wanted, but he would never allow him to be alone with the one he wanted if Shadow had told him the truth. "You want an untrained, wild experience. You seek the ultimate thrill of the unknown. I believe that can be arranged. This way please."
He gestured and walked out the room and into a back area of the house. When the pair got to the back room, the man took a key from a pocket and unlocked a heavy door. Leading the way through into a dark passage, he guided Shadow to the training center. There, he was met by a man who carried a heavy stick like a club. The owner spoke quietly to the man and the behemoth nodded before moving off. A line of nude slaves still bound with chained manacles shambled out behind the keeper and he shouted for them to stand up straight in line. Shadow looked over the whole line without emotion, but his heart skipped a beat, seeing the indignity being heaped on them. He turned around and looked at the owner once more.
"This one will do just fine." Shadow said, pointing to the vixen in the middle of the line. The owner bowed and called to two guards who forcefully hauled her along out of line, dragging her with feet and arms bound together away into the bordello itself. The owner guided Shadow back into the well lit areas of the building. He led the way to a thick wooden door in the back of the bordello. He took an ornate key from his belt and spoke.
"This is a private chamber that I keep for distinguished guests who wish more privacy than the other rooms provide. I hope that it will serve your purposes." He said and then unlocked the chamber. Shadow looked inside and saw that the chamber was very opulent and that the vixen stood in the center with the guards beside her. Shadow could tell from the way her right eye was swollen shut that she had resisted at some point and that the guards had punished her.
"This will do fine." Shadow said and the owner bowed. The guards roughly shoved the vixen over to the bed and looped the chain over a hook there, locking it in place. Then they left her there, her arms chained above her head and her legs spread. It pained Shadow to see what they had done to her, but he refrained from showing it. Any weakness now could be disastrous. The owner bowed once more and spoke quietly.
"If there is anything else you require, don't hesitate to ring." He said and shut the door behind him as he left. Shadow turned back towards the bound woman and swept his hood back once more. Despite the drying blood discoloring the white fur under her lip and the fact that her eye was swollen shut, she was just as beautiful as she had been all those years ago. But her beauty was obscured a moment later by a venomous snarl and she growled as Shadow walked over to where she lay. Her legs had been bound to the bedside tightly, but she threw herself at him anyway in anger.
"You sick freak," she spat, trying to attack him once more, "Do what you will, but I will never submit. I would rather die than comply with you."
"Now, now," Shadow said, reaching into his belt and removing a pair of thin picks that were easily concealed in the palm of the hand. "You don't even know what I want yet."
"What the hell are you doing?" She asked incredulously as he began to pick the lock on one of her legs.
"Setting you free." Shadow replied and continued working on the lock until it clicked and opened. He immediately began work on the other leg. "Now please, be quiet."
"Why are you helping me?" she asked quietly and Shadow finished with the second lock, moving on to the lock on the manacles.
"I am helping you because of an oath made a long time ago, Jen." He said, unlocking her manacles and stepping back from the bed.
As she rubbed at her wrists, she looked up at him in amazement, for that was her name. "How do I know I can trust you?"
Shadow closed his eyes and turned back to her. "Because of one word that I know and have not revealed to anyone in my life. Your secret name, the name you have revealed to only one other." With that, Shadow leaned in close to her and spoke in a whisper that was barely audible. "Moonrider." She looked at him with shock and Shadow continued. "Do you trust me now?" She nodded and he helped her to her feet.
When she was standing, Shadow draped his black cloak around her shoulders and put a finger to his lips. Nodding, he tugged the bell cord that hung from the ceiling. A bell tone rang through the air and the warrior waited patiently for the owner to bow his way into the room. When he saw the vixen standing there with Shadow's cloak around her, he started to say something, but before he could, Shadow put a hand on Seigi's hilt. He drew his sword and sliced the owner's head from his shoulders in one motion. Flicking the blade to the side and down, he flicked the blood off into a scarlet crescent on the floor. "Justice has been done." He said and returned the blade to its scabbard.
Removing the belt of keys from the dead man, Shadow led the way out of the room. He walked swiftly along the corridor to the heavy door. Not bothering to unlock it, he broke the lock with a powerful kick. The door exploded inward and Shadow charged down the corridor. The jailor, hearing the ruckus, rushed forward, but he got no farther than seeing Shadow before his blade sliced through the man's throat. Rushing into the room that held the cells of the slaves that had yet to accept the training to be the brothel's employees, Shadow handed the keys to Jen.
"Get them out while I handle the guards." He ordered and she nodded. Shadow heard the sound of the bordello's guards roaring down the corridors towards where he waited. Seigi and Yuuki flew from their scabbards into Shadow's hands and he waited.
The guards attacked him with all their ferocity, but none could fight the power of a warrior trained as he had, with two rune swords in hand. As he fought the guards, he could hear the sounds of chains hitting stone and the sound of slaves fleeing deeper into the building. After the last guard died by his blade, he sheathed the swords at his side and dashed through the back area. He found forty men and women of all races waiting in fear by the back door of the facility. They parted and Shadow wound up before kicking the door. It splintered and he led the way out and into the back streets...
Again, comment if you would. I appreciate it.