Tyrl jolted awake. Who was Jack he thought. I am Jack, he answered almost immediately. He lay back down as he realized he had had another King Tyrl dream. These dreams had haunted him for as long as he could remember. The waking from them were always difficult and had to convince himself that he was just plain old Jack - A skinny fifteen year old boy who was a guard in the small town of Col Ti’er..
He arrived in Col Ti’er when he was eight with little recollection of his past other than a horrific fire and his repeating, as real as life dreams of being King Tyrl Kevian. I am Jack. I live in a small room above the Black Dragon Inn. The owner is Taylor, a kind, lovely woman who allowed me to live here in exchange for simple chores. He was not a nobleman named King of the realm. He was a guard who had been looked after since he was a boy by another guard, Aric, until Jack was old enough to become a guard himself. He was not a King and assassins didn’t seek to kill him.
“Another of those dreams, eh? I can always tell by that faraway look in your eyes.” Aric said and slapped Jack gently on the cheek. ‘Time to wake my King and take up your duty as a mere guard.” . Aric was a very large man with short, black hair. “Get your arse out of bed and into your gear, boy. You’re with Jasper today.”
Jack flung himself form the bed and donned his leather armor, his dagger and his bow and quiver. “Later, Aric.” Jack said with a wave as he went in search of his fellow guardsmen. He found Jasper in the common room of the Black Drogon Inn.
Jasper greeted him with a wave and a nod. “We are on the east gate today. You ready?”
Jack and Jasper walked side by side through the small town. As he walked, Jack noticed a group of men dressed in heavy armor and dangerous weapons. They looked dangerous and out of place in Col Ti’er. “Who are they?”
“The Hunters,” Jasper stated, avoiding eye contact with the group of men. “Best leave them be. They are a vile lot and I’ll be glad when they have moved on.”
“Hunters? What do they hunt?”
“They aren’t hunters. They are The Hunters. They hunt whatever or whoever they are paid to hunt. They are murderers and cloaked in a mystery of origin and purpose. No one knows much about them.”
His dream came back to him - the fear of the assassin. “They sound like assassins or mercenaries to me.”
“Never you mind, Jack. Stay clear of their lot until they have moved on.” Jasper gently shoved Jack up the road toward their post at the East gate.
The guard shift was uneventful and Jack spent much of the time practicing his archery skills. The remnants of his dream as King had faded by the time Jasper and Jack were returning to the guardhouse.
“I am starved and can’r wait-” Jack stumbled forward as a man collided with him and ran down the street. “Hey! That was Milburn, the butcher. What is his problem?” Jack turned and looked where the man had come from. Voices could be heard from an alleyway. “Come on.”
Jasper protested but Jack ignored him and entered the alley. One of the men Jasper had called The Hunters jabbed a blade into a man, who Jack didn’t recognize. The Hunter smiled as he placed his boot of the man’s chest and shoved the injured man free from the blade. The man collapsed, blood gushing from his wound.
“What’s going on here?” Jack demanded.
A hand gripped his shoulder. Jasper whispered, “Leave it alone, Jack. This is The Hunter’s business. Let’s go.”
Jack watched the life leave the injured man’s eyes as blood pool around his body. Jack tensed and put his hand on his dagger. “You murdered that man.”
Jasper grabbed Jack’s wrist. He gripped it so tightly pain shot up his arm. “Listen, boy. Look around you.”
Jack did as instructed. Five other Hunters were moving up from the other end of the alley toward them, and the one who had gutted the unknown man had turned to face Jack.
Jasper stepped in front of Jack. “We didn’t nothing. Leave us be and we saw nothing. Let’s go Jack. Now!”
Jack stared at the dead eyes. “No,” he whispered.
“Yes, and now!” Jasper shoved and the grabbed and dragged Jack from the alley.
Jack offered little resistance. The sheer number and menacing nature of The Hunters told Jack to follow Jasper. “We are not going to arrest them?”
Jasper grabbed Jack’s shoulders and faced him directly. “These Hunters are bad news. They’ll kill us all and I’m not going to incite that kind of situation. The Hunters will dispose of the body. Stay clear of them, Jack!”
Jack nodded and walked back to the inn, wondering just who these Hunters were and what sort of power they wielded over the town of Col Ti’er.
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