Hold up! Are you new to the site? If so, I would recommend starting with the prologue of Mane of Black which can be found here: The Last Night of Autumn. It will be a lot more enjoyable for you if you read it in order!
17 Spring, Cycle 455 // Lyersville, North of Nighthaven
There was something irresistibly charming about the small town of Lyersville that always brought Eliana back. Perhaps it was the endearing filthiness of the streets and walls, or the way the folk there always saw the bright side of things even though the days always seemed so dim and dreary, especially in early spring when the clouds and mist and rain never seemed to let in the light.
It could also be that it was the home of her most frequent employer, Master Herbert Pendleton, whom she happened to be paying a visit to collect the bounty for her most recent job. The raven had been the one to wake her up in the morning, pecking at her cheek as it clutched a stick of charcoal and small slip of parchment bearing the Mercenary’s Icon, a snake in the shape of a circle eating its own tail. It was a symbol meant as communication between a sellsword and their employer, confirming whether or not the assignment was successful; a successful response would be to draw a fully open snake’s eye in the middle of the circle, composed only of simple lines, and a negative response a half-open eye, symbolizing failure. Today, Eliana’s response was the former. She looked forward to having her full payment, enough to spend every evening for a fortnight at Hank’s Tankard if she so wished, which didn’t sound so bad, if she thought about it. If nothing else, tonight would be a celebration for her success.
The shadowed alleys and putrid, piss-covered passages of the town was her route to Pendleton’s office. Eliana was sure the raven must have already arrived since she’d sent it off in the morning, and that Pendleton was now just waiting for her to come receive her payment.
Finally she arrived at his office – a decrepit building that could have once been a beauty, and could have stayed that way had anyone cared enough to tend to it, but anyone who might have cared had long since passed. Now, ivy crept up the deteriorating stone walls and the windowpanes, yellowed from age, hung lopsided from their frames. Pendleton probably thought he was a proper gentleman taking up his office in such a place, but considering he was truly no more gentleman-like than most anyone else in the village and fancied himself wealthier than he really was, it made sense that the building looked like it was about to collapse.
Eliana slipped through the front door; her attempt at being inconspicuous failed as it creaked open and shut again. The building had 2 floors; the first floor was strictly used for business, and the second held Pendleton’s living quarters.
His office was just to the left of the foyer. The door was left ajar, so by force of habit Eliana peeked in before opening it fully. Joseph, Pendleton’s stoic assistant and body guard, was standing quietly in the corner behind Pendleton’s desk, and Pendleton himself was scribbling away on a piece of parchment, muttering as his aged face twisted with his usual sour expression.
Eliana entered the room and walked up to his desk. Pendleton glanced up from his parchment and paused his furious penning.
“You, Syris girl?” he spat, furrowing his brow and slamming his quill down on the desk. “What the hell do you want?”
Eliana’s eyes squinted in confusion. Had the raven not yet arrived? She’d sent it hours ago, it should have had plenty of time to get there. She glanced quickly around the room, but saw no raven, and at closer inspection of his desk, saw no pieces of parchment bearing the Mercenary’s Icon.
“I sent my raven this morning,” she said loudly, keeping her eye on Joseph, who was slowly advancing away from the corner. “I’m here to get my money.”
Pendleton’s face grimaced even more as he shakily stood up. “Do you take me for a fool, Syris?” he growled, “I have received no raven from you! You think you can just come back here and get free money from me?”
“I sent a raven. I’m not lying,” she replied with more force behind her tone.
“Are you calling me the liar, whelp?” He raised his hand and began to swing it towards her face, but in a flash she caught his wrist before it could make contact with her skin. She twisted it around, forcing him to let out a painful groan.
“I don’t appreciate being called names. We made a deal, I want my full payment for completing the assignment!” She demanded.
How could this have happened? Had the raven gone astray somewhere along the path? Had someone intercepted it? If so, what reason would they have had? Either way, she still wanted her damn money.
“How dare you touch me, you insolent girl!” He wailed, tugging his hand away. “Joseph, get her the hell out of here!”
Joseph appeared behind her in the blink of an eye, forcing both of her arms behind her back.
“No! Give me my money, you scum!” she screeched, thrashing back and forth in Joseph’s grip, trying to swing at him, but his hold on her was too strong. He shoved her out of Pendleton’s door through the foyer. With great force, he kicked the door leading to the street open and tossed her out.
She landed hard on the cobblestones, her head hitting the ground. She tried to sit up, but her head was spinning and her ears were ringing. Joseph was standing outside the door, watching her with the same stoic expression as before. Then, he began to walk towards her. She scrambled backwards as fast as her aching body could muster until her back hit a wall, but instead of grabbing her, he just stopped and stared into the dark alleyway next to her. She heard words coming out of his mouth, but her hearing was too fuzzy to make them out perfectly.
“…her…definitely valuable…deadly…poison…”
After a moment, he began walking back towards the office and disappeared inside, closing the door behind him. Finally, Eliana’s vision began to sharpen and her hearing got less fuzzy, but her head was still pounding. She leaned against the wall, wincing at the pain in her skull. What was happening? Was Pendleton just scamming his way out of having to pay her for the job? Or had the raven really, truly, not arrived? All she knew was she wouldn’t be spending the night at Hank’s like she’d so dearly hoped she would.
She stuck her hand in the pouch she kept on her belt and her fingers brushed against the piece of parchment she was looking for, a wrinkled, torn and yellow scrap that was weathered from being read so many times. She pulled it out and unfolded it. The words written on it gave her a strange feeling of comfort:
“Eliana, this is my final lesson. I have taught you everything I can, at least all that you need to know. The best way to learn is by doing. I know you will survive. Maybe someday you will need to find me again. If that day ever comes, you have what you need. Remember, trust will get you killed.
Zeno”
“You win again,” Eliana muttered to herself, sighing and crumpling the paper back into the pouch. Using the wall as support, she slowly rose to her feet. “Looks like I’ll be scavenging for a while…again.”
“That won’t be necessary, Eliana.”
Before she could turn to find the source of the voice, her head was struck and her world went black.
Mane of Black is my first on-going fantasy story. It features Eliana, a bastard born to two people of different royal houses, Goldmane and Nightmane, in the land of Antovia. Because of this, was wanted by neither and was forced to live on the streets until she was taken under the wing of Zeno Syris, a mysterious wandering alchemist. Through him she learned potion-making and the art of survival until he left her on her own. Her story continues.
The art in the featured image for this post is done by Eru17 on DeviantArt, who was gracious enough to give me permission to use on my site. Please help support their art by at least checking out their DeviantArt profile and seeing their other gorgeous pieces of work!