Archives: Failed Storyline
Chapter 1: Sevrina’s Apprentice
It was a seedy bar and quite dark, even in the morning. The windows probably hadn’t been washed since the tavern’s opening however many years ago. Sevrina recalled being here once before, probably around twenty years before. The place hadn’t been much different back then. It was in the slums of the city of Adan, a crossroad between Alania, Kanon and Valis. This was the cheapest bar in town that only the lowest of low came to. Few came for the booze. It was full of thieves and criminals, as well as one very skilled assassin. The only reason people came here was often for devious plans, the very reason Sevrina was here. Word came to her of someone needing an assassin, so here she was, waiting in the shadows for her employer.
Haesel was beginning to come into the building, only one thing went wrong with that; there was a man by the name of Rytern who had been following her all this time. Haesel threatened him about this not to long ago down the road. Rytern had no intentions of respecting her, just for being a female. Rytern brought up an unnecessary comment, “Aww, little girl gonna cry ’cause she’s scared?” Haesel turned around, though she stayed in the doorway; her hand kept the door open, until she slid her foot in front of it.
She removed her hand, swiftly reaching behind her vertebrae, trying not to be a bit obvious; she slowly pulled her dagger from beside her dress, she slowly pulled it behind her back, “Is that all you can say? My gosh, guys are so rude to women!” she hastily put the dagger to the side of his neck, “Now, if I were to ‘accidentally’ do this, it would kill you, right?” she said in a smart-alecky tone.
Rytern now changed his mood from tough to scared; he began to slowly stutter, “Y-Yes.”
Haesel slowly put some pressure on the dagger, “That wouldn’t be very nice, now would it?” her mood didn’t seem to change much.
Rytern seemed to be paralyzed in a standing position, he was obviously chickened out now, “N-No, it wouldn’t,” he replied, slowly.
Haesel quickly cut his neck around to the other side, “Good. You’ll never have a chance to do it again.” She slowly put the bloody dagger back in its scabbard, seeming to not notice the blood at all.
Rytern’s dead body slowly fell backwards onto the ground, blood emerging from the wound. Haesel returned her hand on the door as she began to turn around, she walked in almost like nothing had just happened right there. She glanced around the area and spotted an empty seat in the building; she walked over and sat down.
Sevrina’s attention was drawn to the opening door as it let in the bright light of day. It wasn’t the man she was waiting for, but the pair she saw in the doorway definitely caught her attention. Mainly the girl. She was obviously young, a teenager, and quite beautiful. Not one you’d expect to see in a place like this. Her male companion apparently was not someone she wanted to be with. Sevrina’s sensitive elven ears caught nearly every word of their conversation. And what surprised her even more, the girl slit his throat and left his body, without a second thought for him. My, aren’t we a dangerous little thing? Sevrina thought and a smirk touched her lips. She couldn’t let someone like that slip through her fingers, the girl had potential.
Of course, this attracted attention from some of the other patrons. Some watched the girl in shock and amazement, others just went about their business. She was one of them.
Sevrina caught the arm of the barmaid, who was a fierce woman in her own right. Tess was the only server working here, and she wasn’t attractive by most standards, she was scrawny, bony with a large nose that had been obviously broken before. A hairy wort grew on her jutting chin and her thin mouse-brown hair was in a sloppy bun. Despite all that, she was still treated as a piece of meat by some of the men and was known for sleeping with whoever would give her the time of day. She was also known for her bad temper.
Tess turned to glare at Sevrina and yanked her arm free. “What’dya want darkie?” she spat, her voice a rasping croak.
“Invite that girl to my table, would you?” Sevrina requested, her melodic elven voice a sharp contrast to Tess’s. Tess raised a brow, clearly asking, ‘What’s in it for me?’ Sevrina flicked a silver coin at Tess, which the wench snatched with surprising reflexes, then made her way to where Haesel sat.
“Hey princess,” Tess rasped. “Ye got a friend o’er there who wants te talk to ye.” She thumbed back toward Sevrina’s shadowed corner, then moved on with her rounds with a cough.
Haesel glanced up to the woman named Tess, “Alright, thank ya,” she said in a slight southern tone. She glanced over to the dark corner, obviously not seeing anything or anybody through the shadows. She slowly got up from her sitting position and crept casually towards the shadow; she could see a bit clearer now that she was closer. She paused and looked around once more, “Somebody over in this area wanted to see me?” she announced loudly. Haesel waited for a reply, her position gradually changing each second.
Sevrina leaned forward, exposing her face in little light the tavern had. She was a beautiful dark elf, far more beautiful than most. Her ruby red eyes were piercing and very striking in face of otherwise cool tones; silver hair and skin that was a cold shade of bronze. “Please, have a seat,” Sevrina gestured to the chair across from her.
Haesel slowly sat down across from the woman, her eyes met the woman’s, “Need anything, Miss?” she said in a hurry; she was obviously in a hurry to get something done. She examined the woman slowly, trying to get a hint or something as to why she wanted her to come over here. She focused her eyes back on the woman’s face, still wondering the unknown.
“Darling, you are a beautiful girl,” Sevrina said, sitting back and sipping whatever drink she had as if there was all the time in the world. “Someone once told me ‘true danger is often hidden by beauty.’ You and I are certainly examples of it. Tell me, what do you do for a living?”
“Uhh, alright,” Haesel said, a bit confused, “I don’t really do anything for a living, I usually steal valuable things and trade it in for money, why?” Haesel switched her sitting position, she seemed to be a bit uncomfortable with this whole conversation, as she was only talking to a stranger.
Sevrina nodded, satisfied with her answer. “How would you like a career?” she asked. “One that you could live very luxuriously from.” This girl had definitely intrigued her, so far she seemed to remind Sevrina of herself at such a young age. Sevrina wasn’t sure if she was ready to take on an apprentice. She certainly didn’t want to finish the girl’s training the way her mentor had. Sevrina was barely three hundred, she had many more centuries of life to go. This girl could live her entire life and die thrice over since Sevrina had been living. Sevrina would give her the skills she needed, then once she was ready, leave her to fend for herself. If the girl ever amassed enough skill to kill her, then she was worth it, even if her brief human life would only be fleeting.
Haesel took a minute to think of an answer, “Hmm, doesn’t sound to bad, yet. What does this career include?” she asked questionably. Haesel had a feeling that this little career could cause some trouble, seeing as the woman seemed like a killer from her attire. Haesel wasn’t one for being scared about something though, she was quite a brave one actually. She slightly brushed her blond ringlets behind her ears, though they weren’t bothering her very much. Haesel changed her position once again, she was a bit tired of sitting in one place this long.
“You don’t have a problem killing people, do you?” Sevrina asked with a smirk. She could only assume the girl was rather nonchalant about it, seeing how she dealt with the man at the door.
Haesel chuckled slightly, “So the career is an assassin, not bad. Oh, to answer your question, no, I don’t have a problem killing people. Death is such an unfortunate thing for most people.” She grinned lightly.
Sevrina chuckled, a musical sound. “Ah...you remind me of myself when I was younger,” she said. “My name is Sevrina.” She usually would have given one of numerous aliases, but she felt like being a little more candid with this girl, in case things did work out.
“Very Interesting. It’s nice to meet you, Sevrina. My name is Haesel,” she said a bit mischievously. “So, what brings you to ask a young girl like me to do a career like being an assassin?” she was slightly intrigued by this whole thing.
“Well, the way you took care of that man at the door impressed me. You killed him without even batting an eye,” Sevrina replied. “Now, I’m curious, what of your parents?”
“Oh, him? He wasn’t much of a threat to me at all, I was hoping to do something like that long ago.” Haesel’s emotion seemed to be a bit confused at the last question. “Uhh, what did you just say, ma’am?”
“Your parents dear, where are they?” Sevrina clarified. Perhaps she was a runaway, maybe an orphan, but there was no doubt in Sevrina’s mind that Haesel’s parents didn’t play a part in her life at the moment.
“Ah, my parents. Well, lets just say they’re no longer a part of my life,” Haesel replied. She hid a sly grin on her face as she remembered what she’d done years ago.
“Oh? Is that so,” Sevrina replied, studying Haesel’s face for a moment. The grin she wore was a cruel one, again reminding Sevrina of herself. “I killed my father. I have a feeling your parents aren’t around because of you. Am I right?”
“Yep. They got on my nerves and ticked me off severely. So, they got what they deserved,” Haesel replied half-heartedly. She kept the grin on her face as she didn’t believe her parents should still be alive, she was thankful that they were actually gone for life.
Sevrina smirked and nodded. So much like herself. “Lovely,” Sevrina replied. “I’m currently waiting for a job. Once I’m hired, you may accompany if you wish and I’ll train you as an assassin. This is something you should expect to take years training in. It took me only ten years, I had my skills as a dark elf and a ranger when I began.”
Haesel gave a slight nod, “Ah, I’m sure I’d accompany you, I don’t have anything real important to do in the next few years of my life. Right now I have a few skills with thievery, I’m not sure how that’ll help out seeing as I’ve never really done much of any kind of an assassination job.”
“On the contrary, many thieving skills are quite handy as an assassin,” Sevrina replied. “Many assassins begin as thieves. I relied on thievery for a short period before my mentor found me. Skills such as agility, speed, and slight of hand are quite handy. As well as lock picking, some times you have to sneak into your target’s home or business.”
Sevrina waved Tess over and the bony old maid shuffled to their table. “Get me a glass of red wine in a clean glass, and what ever my companion wants,” Sevrina ordered, placing several gold coins on the table. Tess’s eyes lit with greed and she quickly scooped up the coins.
“What e’er ye say darkie,” Tess replied and glanced at Haesel for her request.
Haesel looked up to the familiar woman and cleared her throat quickly, before she gave her request, “A glass of water, please.” She looked over to Sevrina, “Well, that’s good to know. I have a few skills that I got from it. So, that’ll help with it, I guess.”
Haesel adjusted her sitting position, “So, how long have you been an assassin?” she asked questionably. She put her hand in front of her mouth, a small yawn emitted, “Sorry, I’m just a bit tired from the ‘adventure’ today,” she muttered.
“And make sure it’s clean!” Sevrina ordered Tess before the maid was out of hearing range. Sevrina paused for a moment, thinking on Haesel’s question. “Around two hundred years,” she casually replied.
“Wow, that’s a long time. Lots of experience builds up in that category, right?” Haesel said confidently. Haesel quickly brought up a topic on the maid, “Who is that lady, besides being a maid-like figure, I mean.”
“Tess? Well, she’s the cheapest whore in town, and she has basically become the manager and coordinator of this disgusting place. The actual owner is probably passed out drunk, as always,” Sevrina replied. It didn’t take much longer for Tess to come back out of the kitchen with a cup of water and a goblet of wine. She laid them out on the table and Sevrina inspected them by sight and smell. They seemed clean to her. Sevrina wasn’t very worried about poison, the sickness that resulted from dirty water could be bad enough.
“I hope it’s to yer likin’ darkie, I got it from me boss’s private stash,” Tess replied.
“Good girl,” Sevrina said and waved Tess away.
“Oh, that’s her name. I’m sure she loves her duties, this isn’t the best area to be at sometimes, is it? Do you think that the water is safe enough to drink? I mean seeing as I’ve heard that the water isn’t too safe around here.” Haesel began to slowly investigate the glass, to try and make sure of anything suspicious. She slowly pulled her hands down and clasped them in her lap.
“It seems fine to me,” Sevrina said, though her first sip of her wine was experimental. It tasted good enough, the goblet seemed clean. In the gloom of the room, Sevrina’s sharp elven eyes could clearly make out the details of the goblet. A little gold went a long way. “If my employer doesn’t come soon, I’ll be moving on. I don’t like to be kept waiting,” she told Haesel. “Until then, we can continue our conversation. Where are you from originally? Is Adan your hometown?”
“No, it’s not. I originally came from Raiden, I’ve just wandered into Adan for a job.” Haesel gently picked up the glass of water on the table, though she examined it once more before she took a little sip of the liquid, “Well, so far the water tastes fine.” She was obviously saying random things to past time, as she had been doing so far. Haesel slowly set the cup of water back down on the table, “Where do you come from, ma’am?”
“Marmo, of course,” Sevrina replied. “Raiden can almost be as rough as Salbad, but Salbad is far worse. Or at least, was, before Kardis was sealed and the Marmo people left. I’m sure Kardis is responsible for who I am.”
“Ah, very interesting,” she said after she took another small sip of her water, “So, why did you leave? I’m sorry to butt into your personal business, ma’am,” Haesel blurted out vastly, obviously not thinking about what she just said.
Sevrina smiled into her wine, instead of her usual smirk. “Well, in my early years, I made some enemies in Dark Town’s Shadow Guild, so I found it best to leave. Besides, it was a good idea to expand my horizons by going to Lodoss. These days, I travel where ever the job calls.”
“Oh. You must’ve been a major trouble-maker, right?” Haesel babbled inattentively, “I’m sorry for shouting out these stupid questions, I just haven’t met anybody with an interesting background, I guess.” She was trying to make up for all of her foolish questions.
Sevrina chuckled, “That I was. I was one of those dark elf children afflicted with Kardis’ malevolence, I suppose.” Sevrina glanced toward the door of the inn when someone else entered, however he was just more street trash, not her employer. She took a sip of her wine, then glanced into the cup to see how much was left. If he didn’t come, she leave after her glass was finished, then possibly deal with him for making her wait for nothing. “If my employer doesn’t arrive, we’ll leave once we finish our drinks,” she told Haesel.
Haesel gave a slight nod, “Gotcha. Most employers can be ignorant liars, not that you are, I mean... never mind.” Obviously she was out of things to talk about, “So, uhm, how come you didn’t just meet the employer here, instead of waiting, I mean.” She kept real quiet after that last sentence.
“He agreed to meet here,” she replied, then took a final sip of her wine. “Well. Time to leave,” Sevrina said, then gracefully rose from her seat. She flicked a couple coins onto the table for Tess, then headed toward the door, expecting Haesel to tag along.
“Oh,” Haesel said quietly. She scurried to her feet as she saw Sevrina leaving the building, ending up behind her, “So, where are we off to?” she asked, as if they were long-time buddies, even though she hardly even knew Sevrina.
“Out of town,” Sevrina replied. She spared a glance for the corpse still laying near the door. It seemed to have cleared the street, most people didn’t want to be associated with a dead body just laying in the open. They likely would rely on a city official to get rid of it. “How would you like to test your skills tonight, hmm?”
Haesel gave a slight shrug, “Uh, sure, why not?” she said slowly, she paused shortly after that before saying something else, “What would this ‘test’ include?” she asked questionably. She had a weird feeling about this whole thing, it didn’t seem to bother with her emotions.
“Dealing with the nobleman who stood me up this morning,” Sevrina replied. “First of all, I want to train you a bit. I have a camp in the woods outside town.” With a swirl of her shadowy cloak, Sevrina lead the way out of town swiftly.
* * *
Around a half a mile out of town, Sevrina turned into the woods along the road and led Haesel down a twisting deer trail through the trees. They reached a clearing where there was a small, cold fire pit. Grazing nearby was a dark krisoon mare who raised her head to see who was entering the clearing. Once she recognized Sevrina, she returned her attention to the lush spring grass. “This is where I’ve been staying, we can work on your training here.”
Haesel gave a small nod, “Alright.” She glanced around the clearing, slowly, “Well, this area sure seems ‘cozy’, you don’t happen to have any crazy neighbors, do you?” she asked with a playful tone. She was a bit uncomfortable with the fact that she might take that ‘joke’ the wrong way. She focused her attention back on Sevrina, “So, what kind of training are you going to start me out with?” she asked her in an exciting tone, but it was also a questionable one. Haesel was obviously excited about the whole training thing.
“Hm....first of all, let’s see what you know,” Sevrina said. The dark elf unclasped her cloak and tossed it aside, then dropped her sword belt which had her rapier, whip and pair of what looked like leather boxes on either side. She wasn’t completely disarmed, there were dagger hilts poking out of the top of her thigh high boots. Sevrina drew one and twirled it in her hand. It was a long curved blade that was so well kept, it looked like it had never been used. Of course, that was just the beauty of elven steel.
“Now, draw your dagger, and come at me,” Sevrina instructed. To start, she would only block Haesel’s strikes. She was hoping to not only get an idea of the girl’s skills, but also her ingenuity and determination.
Haesel gave a small nod, “Alright,” she said under her breath, with confidence. She quickly pulled her hand under her dress, reaching up to her thigh she pulled the dagger out of the scabbard. She slowly pulled it out, the blade still had blood on it, from the use before now. She twirled the hilt of the dagger around her finger, then held it. It wasn’t much of weapon, but it would work, hopefully. Haesel began to step towards Sevrina, each step seemed to be faster than the last one, she was finally running towards Sevrina when she attempted to strike at her with the small dagger. Sevrina stepped aside, then behind Haesel, in case she decided to strike from the side as she ran past. There was little Sevrina could tell just yet, at this point, running at her was the most obvious way to attack. For now, she’d just see the girl’s tenacity.
Haesel quickly halted, she skidded on the ground quite a bit. She turned around sluggishly, looking directly towards Sevrina. Haesel began to walk towards her, slowly, “I guess I better try again, right?” she with a slight mischievous tone. She attacked once again, this time she wouldn’t run, she’d walk with a quickened pace instead. She would then attack Sevrina once again.
Sevrina nodded, “Of course,” she smirked, picking up on the intonation of Haesel’s voice. The girl walked toward her casually. Sevrina knew she was planning a surprise attack, it was quit obviously mainly for the fact it was a sparing match, but Sevrina still gave Haesel a few points for. Haesel’s face wasn’t completely unreadable either, nor was her voice. Sevrina walked toward Haesel just as casually.
—-End—-
