Death's Door

"You will see in ten seconds." Nur whispered. Before either Sariu or Aida could question him on what he meant, a sound of a blade traveling at high speed through the air could be heard, like a play of the blades of gra.s.s on the melody of the wind.

A form of a small man appeared out of nowhere, with the knife intending to stab Nur in the back.

Before anyone could react, the thief dashed at them so quickly that he was sure he would strike his target. To his surprise however, his target just took a step to the right, avoiding the blade of the knife altogether.

When the thief was about to turn, Nur proceeded to deliver a kick on thief"s neck, making him drop his knife and end up on the ground in the process.

"Oh, pipsqueak, good to see you again." Nur said with a smile.

"Mr. Finnerman, is he an a.s.sa.s.sin?" Sariu nervously asked.

"Kind of? He is one of the lamer ones." Nur said with a shrug.

"Do you know him?" asked Aida with a frown on her face.

"I will explain later." Nur now turned towards the thief.

"Well, I am glad I got to see you again so soon, little ratty, how have you been? If I remember correctly I slammed you on the ground pretty hard…Glad to see you are still in one piece, he he."

"What do you want!?" The thief screamed out in rage.

"Cutting right to the chase, I like that. I suppose you are after this?" Nur shook the coin pouch with silver coins inside of it. "Well, today is your lucky day, ratty, because I would like to hire you."

"Hire me? What nonsense is this? I am a member of the Three Apples Guild, I have connections in this city! Why would I do anything for you if I can take it from you?"

"Provided how your so called leader chickened out the moment I killed his invisible a.s.sa.s.sin tell me that with enough time and preparation, I could easily kill all of the guild members there, after all, if they are all like you, they stab hard, but fight? They fight worse than any knight. You being on the ground is a proof of that. As for why you should help, well…" Nur winked at Aida and Sariu.

Aida manifested a flame in her hand while Sariu"s eyes were glowing with creepy light. The thief shivered a little. He knew he got himself into a tough spot.

"Unlike me, my companions are combat types, one can pulverize you, the other can cook you on the spot. So in the unlikely event that you refuse my offer, well, you will be toast. Quite literally."

Now it was time for persuasion. Nur had to make sure the thief was on his side, at least until he fulfills his role in Nur"s plan.

"As a member of the guild, you have to pay a certain percentage of your earnings to your guild, do you not? About thirty percent I believe?"

"That is exactly right. How do you…"

"Doesn"t matter. The point is, if you get your guild involved, in the best case scenario, you will get only a fraction of the profit. But if you do as I say, then…" Nur shook the pouch with coins in it. "This all can be yours."

"How do I know you will not sell me out?"

"If I wanted to do that, I would have shouted for the knights patrolling the area to come, or better yet, revealed the location of the infamous guild to be the well-known Apple Shack, catch my drift?"

"I see." The thief muttered. "What do you wish for me to do."

"Oh! So you finally accept my offer?"

"Only if you keep it a secret and pay me accordingly."

"Splendid. Then, I would like you to find me a detailed map of the kingdom. It has to include the exit route from this city. Steal it if you have to and then bring it to me. Here…" he handed the thief three silver coins. "A prior payment. You will get the rest when you get the job done. You will meet me at midnight at town square. Understood?"

Thief nodded. And with a jump he hopped across the buildings, now bent on finishing his task.

"Nur, I am completely confused, what exactly is going on?"

"Why do you need a map, Mr. Finnerman?"

"To exit the city of course. I am not familiar with this place, and going in blindly will get us all killed. Even with a disguise, if they recognize either of you, the knights patrolling the area will attack us. And while we are inside the city, we cannot fly out of here on Aida"s back, we will be shot down, and there are archers and ballistae practically everywhere. We can only hope to fly away when we reach a less populated area."

"What do you mean, fly away? On Aida"s back?" Sariu looked at me, obviously confused.

"Oh right, I forgot to tell you, Aida is a dragon."

"WHAT!!!?" Sariu now ended moving away from Aida, hiding behind Nur"s back.

"I can"t believe it took you so long to find out." Aida muttered.

"B-b-but I thought… with Mr. Finnerman being a demon, I thought you were of some kind of demi-human species that has wings…But a dragon…." She was trembling all over.

"No worry, she will not eat us. I hope." Nur said the last part almost silently. As someone who was eaten by dragon in one loop, he could never be truly sure when he will meet the interior of dragon"s stomach again.

"Grr…"Aida growled a little, and then asked. "Back there, inside the building, I sensed the a.s.sa.s.sins, but couldn"t see them, how did you know where they were? Better yet, how do you know that thief?"

"With the a.s.sa.s.sins…it was pure dumb luck." Nur proceeded to lie while making sure to not look Aida in the eyes. "As for the thief, I have known him for a while…as far as I am concerned."

"He didn"t seem like he knew you."

"Most likely because the last time I saw him I gave him a concussion." Nur muttered, before walking forward. "Come along, we have some time till midnight, and I am getting hungry." He jingled the purse. He had some money for food now as well.

"Do you understand how he thinks?" Sariu asked Aida, while watching Nur march forward with deliberately exaggerated hops.

"I wish I did." Aida admitted. Although he was just a tiny living being compared to a gigantic dragon, she couldn"t help but feel fascinated by this fellow. That was one of the reasons she was following him, that and the fact that she owed him her life. Red dragons are not the types that leave debts unpaid.