Blood Blade
Chapter 1
The old wise woman opened the shop at the usual time this morning. The wood and glass counters were sparkling clean and brimming with all sorts of cures and enhancements. They had spent the night before preparing for the huge crowds that usually came on market days. While the old woman cooked up potions and powders Lhassa had been scrubbing and reorganizing the cabinets that displayed their wares.
Two things were different about this market day though. No one had shown up right at opening. Usually there were one or two people waiting for the doors to unlock and the advice and help to flow. The other one Mirksa, the wise woman seemed different, as if something were terribly wrong. For as long as Lhassa had known the woman she never had an ache or even the hint of a sniffle. Today the wise woman was hunched over the counter staring out the open windows, her white brows sagged with pain.
For as far as Lhassa could see out the same window Mirksa was looking out nothing was amiss. Potential customers peered in through the store’s front from time to time perhaps too nervous to seek the help they needed. The sky seemed calm, only one or two clouds drifted by. However, she still couldn’t help but feel something was wrong.
“ is something bothering you, wise one?” Lhassa finally worked up the courage to ask, leaning over the pristine counter.
Mirksa shivered as if an icy hand rested itself upon her neck. The wise woman shook out her long, leaf green, skirts and returned her focus to the window for a few more seconds. Her expression took on a more wistfull appearance making her look younger than her numerous years.
Lhassa was about to pick up a broom and sweep when the wise woman stopped her with a gesture. “ There are times my girl, that we are not certain in a great many things. In this however, I am certain… a darkness approaches.”
Lhassa had a mind to ask what exactly Mirksa was talking about when a customer came in. Dressed all in a dusty brown, features hidden within the darkness of a hooded cloak, they sauntered in. Something inside Lhassa’s stomach turned, but she kept a calm façade as the stranger approached Mirksa. His boots thudded upon their clean floorboards.
The wise woman didn’t so much as grin, but bared her teeth to the stranger. Her stance became less relaxed and her arms came to cross over her chest in a defensive pose. The stranger in turn stood as tall as the small room would allow. He turned his head towards the door and it began to close without aid it seemed. A Chill crept up Lhassa’s spine.
“ it’s been a long time, Mirksa.” The softness of the stranger’s voice began to melt the tension in the room.
Instantly Mirksa’s face lit up in a smile. Instantly she became less like the wise old woman lhassa had come to know her as and more like a happy parent glad to see their offspring come to visit. Lhassa knew that Mirksa had had no children and instantly became more interested in the stranger. He was much taller than the wise woman and had a heavy build unlike MIrksa’s small twig like form. Whatever he was to her Lhassa suspected he was not related, at least not closely.
“ Yes it has, Cam-“ Mirksa began
“no,” the stranger held up his hand. “None is to know I was here. I doubt your assistant would talk, but one can’t be too sure. I’ve seen mothers sell out their own when certain pressures are applied.”
He looked at her then. The breath caught in her throat at the blueness of his gaze hidden within the hood. It was almost as if his eyes were not just reflecting the little light that touched them, but glowing of their own accord. Inside her chest her heart thundered in alarm. It was then she decided to make her way outside to sweep like she had planned, giving the two their privacy. With broom in hand she headed for the door, but when she turned the worn brass knob it would not budge. She turned to look at the stranger and Mirksa. Both of them seemed to stare at each other communicating in something other than words.
“she stays.” Mirksa’s raspy voice ordered.
The stranger’s hands went to his hood, pulling it down around his shoulders. His midnight hair slid down from being gathered in the hood to fall well past his shoulders and close to his knees. No man Lhassa had ever met before had hair that long. A few spellcasters might have had hair to their shoulders, only because they never took the time to get it cut at proper intervals, too busy discovering the abilities the gods had granted them to notice. Noticing her perusal of his long hair the man tied it back with a piece of black string.
Lhassa’s hand went to her own hair. It wasn’t that she was self- conscious, just aware that she looked a little odd herself. Her hair once was a beautiful chestnut and fell down to her hips. That was before the fire had ravaged her parent’s farm taking not only her family but forever changing her appearance. Now her hair was white as snow and fell just to her shoulders.
Her stomach turned at the thought of that dreaded night when everything changed. The ghost smell of smoke filled her nostrils once again. She could almost see the flames flickering on the edge of her vision. The screams of her family echoed in the dark recesses of her hearing.
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