Rufus

Old timber floorboards flexed and groaned as Rufus moved between the bookcases. The little shop had provided a welcome distraction while he waited for night to fall and his work to begin. Now, the long shadows stretching across the floor told him it was time to move on. But first, one last shelf of books required his careful consideration.

Across the room, a diminutive man with round spectacles and a large curling moustache wrung his hands behind his desk. He watched Rufus with growing unease - like a deer spotting movement in the brush. This was not, he reflected bitterly, the type of customer he had intended for this establishment. His was a shop for the civilized and refined of the city. Not… whatever this was. A mountain of muscle, beard, and wild fur who had somehow learned to read.

“Aye, there ya have it!” Rufus exclaimed, startling the shopkeeper. The large man drew a single leather volume from a top shelf and read the cover out-loud. “A Study of Spirits - by Okina Atama. I’ve been looking for this one.” The floorboards doubled their protest as Rufus quickly crossed the room to plop the book atop two already on the smaller man’s desk.

Glancing at the pile of books, the shopkeeper took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, looked up at Rufus and boldly declared:

“That will be three gold crowns, sir.”

Rufus returned the shopkeeper’s stare, impressed how he managed to look down his nose even while craning his head back to look Rufus in the eye. Without breaking the stare, Rufus scraped three coins loudly across the desk.

The shopkeeper’s eyes flitted down to the coins and back, then grew wide. Three gold crowns! How could this barbarian…? Skeptical, he picked up each coin, weighing and inspecting them. Rufus hummed to himself as he carefully packed the books into his canvas bag. The shopkeeper cleared his throat, satisfied with his evaluation, and looked again toward the giant of a man.

“Well, everything seems in proper order. I bid thee a good day.” He smiled politely, but his eyes screamed, please leave. Rufus smiled and chuckled to himself as he turned to exit the shop.

Outside, the sky had become a beautiful array of orange, red, and purple. City folk hurried through the square, eager to reach home before darkness fell. A metal latch clicked shut behind Rufus, and he smiled. Glancing back at the sign for Harod’s Provisions for the Elevated Mind, he made a mental note to visit again. But now he had work to do.

Rumours passing through the inn recently had spoken of creatures forged of shadow roaming the streets at night, terrorizing the residents of the cobblestone city. From the descriptions, Amos theorized these creatures were shades. Rufus was here to confirm his theory.

The last light of the sun dropped behind the city walls and the crowds thinned as residents hurried to latch doors and shutter windows. The bustling city became a ghost town. Not a lone straggler remained on the streets. Not even lamp lighters or patrolling guards. Rufus was not familiar with city life, but it seemed eerily dark and quiet. Maybe there was something to these rumours.

Fortunately, the moon and stars came out bright, casting the city in a pale glow. Rufus chose a narrow unmarked alley and headed down it. His goal tonight was to watch and observe, not to engage. Though he had brought his sword, just in case. The long blade bore a simple fire-stone enchantment, a gift from a good friend, which caused it to glow dimly like low firelight. Besides serving as a light source, it helped ward off the effects of dread and potentially even Ghost-Touch. Or so the artificer said, at least. Rufus had yet to test it for himself.

Rufus’ wandering brought him to a connecting alley lined by two high walls of solid cobblestone, unbroken by windows or doors. Lamps on metal rods stuck out of the wall at even intervals but none had been lit. Rufus cracked the seal on his scabbard with his thumb, exposing enough blade to cast the alley in a warm orange glow as he walked.

A woman’s scream split the silence and echoed down the alley. Rufus froze. The reflections off the empty walls had caused the sound to come from every direction at once. He needed another clue. So he waited, listening. Even the night birds and insects were silent now.

A loose stone clattered on the road behind Rufus, and he spun to see… nothing. Feeling uneasy, he turned back, and a dark figure now stood in his path. Swathed in black cloth with a hood obscuring their face in a void. The shadows warped and danced around them as if looking at a reflection in dark water. It was, in fact, a shade.

In perfect silence, the hooded figure drew a long curved sword, unsheathing it slowly, making a show of it. A chill ran down Rufus’ spine, and the hairs on his skin stood upright as if an icy wind had struck his back. Gripping his sword, Rufus turned and drew it in one smooth motion, narrowly deflecting the blade of a second shade that had come up behind him. The shade struck again, and Rufus parried high, bracing his blade with his off-hand. He forced the sword upward, creating an opening to kick the shade hard in the stomach. The creature sprawled backwards across the cobblestones. Its loose sword skittered away, clattering against a wall before vanishing into vapour.

Rufus turned to the first shade and dodged back to avoid a strike. The shade had over-committed to the swing. Rufus pressed the opening. Rushing in, he drove his sword deep into the shade’s chest. They fell limp, and he shoved the body off his blade to crumple into a heap of black fabric. Fiery pain ripped down Rufus’s back. He spun, and another dagger glanced off his sword. The second shade had come back like a hurricane, putting Rufus on the defensive. He walked back from the shade’s assault as each time he parried one dagger the other would tear at his furs, cutting at his arms and chest. He couldn’t get a strike in.

Backed against the alley wall, Rufus was desperate to break the assault. Breathing deeply, he willed a conscious barrier within him to break, and Northman blood rage welled up in his chest. His skin became hot, his face flushed, and his vision brightened.

With animal speed, he caught the shade’s wrist in his off-hand and clamped down. Rufus made a beastly roar, and the shade’s attack faltered as it pulled away. His sword arched down like a hammer, and as the shade raised its free dagger to parry, Rufus released it. The free-falling sword bounced loosely off the shade’s dagger and clattered to the ground. Rufus struck through the opening in the shade’s guard, planting his fist in the centre of the void beneath its hood.

Soft tissue compressed beneath his knuckles. The shade let out a cry as its head snapped back; the black hood fell loose, released by some broken binding. Rufus released his hold on the shade’s wrist, and it fell to the cobblestones, flat on its back.

Spotting his glowing blade where it had fallen, Rufus nimbly flicked it up, caught it, and brought it around to point at the shade’s throat. The twisting shadows stilled around the shade, and for the first time he got a clear look at his opponent. Their eyes met, and he paused.

Where he had expected to see some twisted figure of pure evil, he instead found a woman with fierce blue eyes and fiery red hair gleaming in the warm light of his sword. Her bloodied face wore a panicked expression, and her eyes searched his face frantically before settling to meet his gaze. In shocked silence, they both watched each other. This was no shade.

“You’re a human?” Rufus said, more of a statement than a question.

The woman looked surprised by his question, then her expression quickly became calculating, a glimmer of hope flickering to life behind her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, then gasped as an arrow ripped through Rufus’ beard, narrowly missing his throat.

Rufus turned, both hands on his sword. Two shades, or perhaps they were men, walked toward him in the same black hoods, cloaked in a twisting aura of shadows. The one on the left held a black bow with an arrow nocked but held low at their waist. The shade on the right held the same long curved sword the others had, but curiously its face turned to the red-haired woman scrambling to her feet.

“No!” she shouted. “I haven’t failed yet! I’ll kill him!” She stood now, having retrieved one of her daggers.

The bowstring twanged, and an arrow pierced through Rufus’ left forearm. He growled at the pain and began backing away down the alley, sword held as if to parry the next arrow. The archer walked calmly after him. They drew their next arrow slowly, toying with their prey. Behind the archer, the woman had engaged with the other shade. Rufus felt a pang of guilt for leaving her behind. Though he wasn’t sure why he should care about an unknown woman who had tried to kill him. Even so, of the two shades he’d fought already, she was far the superior warrior. Perhaps she would hold her own.

The archer stopped and raised their black bow to take aim at Rufus. Rufus braced for the hit as he continued his back-stepping retreat. Before the arrow loosed, the wall to Rufus' left opened into another alley, and he spun into the cover of the corner. A black arrow whizzed through the empty air where he had just been. Pressed flat as he could to the wall, Rufus waited by the corner, sword raised for a lunging stab. With any luck, the shade would assume Rufus ran and come rushing after him with their guard down. If only he could hear their footsteps, he would know.

The shade rounded the corner at a full run - wide of Rufus’ line of attack. Rufus cursed under his breath and stepped out from the wall to call to the shade. The shade stopped hard and turned toward the shout just as Rufus’ sword plunged into their abdomen. The bow dropped from their limp hand, and blood sputtered out from the void of their black hood. Rufus kicked the shade off his blade, and they fell limply backward. As before, the shimmering shadows stilled when the shade hit the ground.

Crouched over the dead shade, Rufus pulled their hood free. A young man with empty eyes and a flat expression looked up at him. Rufus felt sick to his stomach as he looked down at the boy. Not a shade, but another person. The city was being tormented by their own children. But what compelled them to do it? What kind of spell wrapped them in shadows until their death?

Rufus gently closed the man’s eyes. A sign of respect, but it felt hollow when he’d killed this man in ignorance. This is not what he signed up for. He left the Northlands seeking to be someone better. More than the barbarians his people were expected to be. He was sworn to protect live and hunt monsters, but tonight he felt like the monster. He was done with this. It was time to get out of this city.

A too-familiar chill ran down Rufus’ spine and his hair stood on end. Another shade approached. Done with fighting, Rufus ducked into a narrow alley between two buildings and hurried away, weaving randomly through the maze of the city - seeking to lose his pursuer and become lost himself. Every path looked the same to Rufus; the city disoriented him more than any forest could. After several turns he found himself back in the square with Harod’s Provisions for the Elevated Mind. Exasperated, he stomped across the square and chose another path heading into the opposite side of the city.