One Morning Before Mourning [Aurelio]
Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2021 1:21 am

24th Day of Ash, Year 121
"What is there for me in this wintry barren; this decaying place?" Anna-Anora would say, extending her hands and availing herself towards the prow of that battleship, lips parted and prepared to sing, dress flowing freely in the wind, and--
"Ugh," he groaned, rolling his eyes. "Stupid-fuckin'-flowery-bullshit-writers, goddamn." Emrik huffed, closing the book. It was titled: Ashlands On The Prairie by Jane T. Moore, some Gelerian noblewoman on an opium drip; popular with all of the higher-classmen, though not particularly the Kathar's cup of tea. He preferred Ruin: III by Gregory Hosswick. That was a good one. The combat scenes were gratuitous, but realistic. Written by a man who knew war, either by his own blade or through research in the field.
Before any contract, Emrik would do just this. Sitting upright in his bedroll, his supplies and rations gathered around him, he would read. A story of love, a story of war. A story of life. He liked to think of his contracts as members of complex stories, his blade their swan song. This target he was hunting now... a story indeed. A man named Lucien Hawthorne, former Imperial. Soldier, spy, renegade -- just like himself. Emrik believed he knew why they had put him on this contract. It was to remind him that if he were to go rogue, he would have a similar fate in store. He was one of the best, but there was always an assassin better than him.
He hummed a song. The same one he always used to calm his mind; just a melody, a shanty of sorts from his time in the barracks. It was about freedom from life; as if implying a goodness to their deeds, in murder and war alike. They freed men from magic, from sin, from imperfections. From the entropy of their world.
Rising from the cushions, the man quickly slipped on one of his simple pairs of clothing, shirt first, then pants, drawing and lacing up his boots. He didn't need a weapon; just a pocket filled with some rations -- just in case. He'd leave the rest of his stuff - his camp - here, considering how remote it was.
After a long trek, the man made his way to the road. He wasn't far from the Warrens. He would just need to get in there, call upon his Pact Weapons, slay Lucien, and then portal out. It wouldn't be that hard. He knew the old Kathar's capabilities; Emrik was stronger, younger, sharper. The other man had faced blunt-trauma to the head long ago, and hadn't been the man that he was. Perhaps before, he would have had something to fear, but... not now.
He kept his gaze sharp. There were no enemies. No one at his fourth, fifth, sixth...
Just solitude. Standing out on the open road, the Ashen sun glaring down at him. It was still warm; the skies were still clear, only a small diffusion of drifting clouds. It was a beautiful day to die, for a story to end. Lucien Hawthorne would, perhaps in the afterlife if not now, indeed be proud.