Prologue
Shadows dance. Throats slit. Blood flows like wine. The moon gazes down upon on the chaos. He does not help, he only watches.
“Intruders in the hall!”
“They must be stopped!”
“Intruders in the- ”
Shouts are cut short, echoing into the black. Silence replies. The music of lost souls.
Footsteps down an empty corridor. He sleeps, unknowing, uncaring. The door swings slowly open. Silhouettes creep across the room, ever closer. Yet still he sleeps. Insidious words shared unspoken. Prayers to the deity known only as Death.
He is awake, sweating from a nightmare now forgotten. Eyes wide open now. Bed empty beside him. He stares out into the dusk. His bedroom, which once felt so safe, now feels desolate and filled with malice. Light glint on steel. He cries out, but no one comes. No one will come. The blankets tangle around his legs. He panics. Hands press on his shoulders, pinning him to the pillow. He pleads with the Gods to save his mortal self, but their backs are turned and their ears are long closed to him.
“For the good of the Guild.”
The four assailants speak as one. A quartet of retribution come together. They lift their knives and plunge.
A cold crawls into his flesh. Final breaths. Clinging to life, but the pull of the abyss is too strong. It is too late for him. His lips move, speaking words that no one will ever hear.
Bells toll their mournful hymns. Crows call. The shadows dance away into the night.
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