{"sf1_id":816166,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Black Death Excerpt","author":"Cole Stryker","words":1621,"posted_at":"2015-02-06T00:59:00.000Z","tags":["Assassin","Dark","Death","Destruction","Evil","Fantasy","Fox","Medieval","Mercenary","Revenge","Tragedy","betrayal","thriller"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/816166-black-death-excerpt","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/816166","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=816166\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"So this was a little thing I did to get me into the mood of writing and I liked it so much that I started to make an outline and this will probably become a novel once I finish the other one. This is mid-way through the novel, and the mercenary framed for the murder of his brother is lamenting in an inn. Enjoy and, as always, have a great day/night =)\nAlso, if you want me to do a request of yours I am more than willing, just drop me a PM or email ([email protected]\n/* \u003c![CDATA[ */!function(){try{var t=\"currentScript\"in document?document.currentScript:function(){for(var t=document.getElementsByTagName(\"script\"),e=t.length;e--;)if(t[e].getAttribute(\"data-cfhash\"))return t[e]}();if(t\u0026\u0026t.previousSibling){var e,r,n,i,c=t.previousSibling,a=c.getAttribute(\"data-cfemail\");if(a){for(e=\"\",r=parseInt(a.substr(0,2),16),n=2;a.length-n;n+=2)i=parseInt(a.substr(n,2),16)^r,e+=String.fromCharCode(i);e=document.createTextNode(e),c.parentNode.replaceChild(e,c)}t.parentNode.removeChild(t);}}catch(u){}}()/* ]]\u003e */) and I will see what I can do =P","content":"               The fox sat\non the edge of the pale blue bed with a small dark journal as black as his fur.\nNames of people, dozens of names, were written in the journal. He surveyed the\nname at the top of the list, encircled in red ink. His mind wearily searched backwards\nin time to find something, anything, which would give him a clue as to who the\nperson was. But he could not focus. The noise of the midnight drunks echoed\nthroughout the ancient house. Its dark oak walls creaked with dread as someone\nlet out a hearty laugh. The shadows on the floor from the lantern danced to the\nmelody of the voices below.               Throughout\nall the noise, there was a light knocking at the door that led to the hall. The\nfox perked his ears and stood straight, but all he could hear was the people\ndownstairs. He was probably hearing things again. He focused again on the name,\nthat name that was etched into his mind. Every time he thought of the name, the\npast forced its way into his mind. He would try and quell the unending battle\nof his conscience with rationalizations of, it\nwasn't your fault to you had no other\nchoice. Though he knew he had had another way out. There is always another\nway out. But all those lives taken. All those innocents hurt. He had a choice,\nbut he chose the cowards way out. The fox peered over to the lantern on the\ndresser beside the bed. The fire. That unending flame. The screams. The\ntorment. The-               A light\nknock sounded at the door again. This time he gracefully got up and to the door\nin four long steps, making no sound. He placed one large black ear on the solid\nwood. He could hear no one, except for the people. There was no one outside. He\nslowly opened the door to an empty, dark hallway. Portraits of different\nspecies lined the walls coupled with landscapes of different lands. Five doors\ndown, the hallway cut to the right and the fox thought he saw a fleeing shadow.\nWithout hesitating, he pursued the shadow, only armed with a dagger hidden in\nhis leather belt. He got to the end of the hallway and again, he saw the shadow\ndisappear down yet another hallway. After the third hallway, the figure\nlingered, challenging him to follow. And he did. Down twisting passages to the\npoint where he did not know where he was. He had lost the figure, and even if\nit was right in front of him, he would never be able to see. The darkness in\nthis part of the house was deafening. Only a couple times had he ever\nexperienced true darkness like this, and that was in the catacombs with Nardo.\nBut even though he had been surrounded by dead bodies for hours on end, this\nblackness was much more eerie. The fox wandered dizzily for a few yards,\nbumping into tables a couple of times, before emerging into a good sized\nmahogany painted room.               The room was\nilluminated by a large fireplace that cast shadows onto the portraits. The\nwalls were decorated with paintings and portraits of wolves, wearing warrior's\narmor and monarch's robes. There were large windows that ran from the floor to\nthe ceiling, a large column separating them. He could hear the rain hit the\nwindows with a ping sound, but he had not heard rain before he came in.               Something\nwhispered next to him. He looked down and a little wolf pup was staring up at\nhim. He looked dirty, like he had been out on the street for weeks. The fox had\nto wrinkle his nose at the smell of him. The fox was about to ask where the pup\ncame from, but the wolf looked past him and upwards. He turned and followed the\nwolf's gaze.      As soon as he saw it, he\nforgot the wolf was even in the room. It was a painting of a village. Young\nfoxes were running around wooden homes in a small clearing of a pine forest.\nOlder foxes working in the large field next to the village or washing clothes\nin the river that ran through. From here, the village took the shape of a\nbroken heart. And in the middle, near the river breaking the two halves of the\nheart, a black fox sat alone with a small blue jay.  His violet eyes stared down into the river,\nbut the eyes in the river were as red as blood.               \"Stunning.\nIsn't it?\" a low, feminine voice called from behind. The fox turned and a\ngrey female wolf sat in the large leather chair near the fireplace. She had not\nbeen there before. And where did that pup go? \"Valentino DeGellari painted\nit.\"               The name\nsent a chill down his spine. But he would not give the figure any hint of what\nwas going through his head. \"Who are you?\" the fox asked.               \"The\nowner of this house of course,\" she said, getting up from her seat. Her\nlong red dress fell to her ankles which were adorned in diamonds, like her\nears. \"You and your friends have been most welcome here. We do not get\nmany mercenaries here. You are a sight to behold.\"               She was\nslowly walking towards him, and he had to take two steps back. \"I do not\nknow what you are talking about, signora,\"\nthe fox said.               \"Mmm.\nItalian. You are special.\" He\nhad backed up to where his naked fur touched the cool glass of the windows. He\ncould feel the vibrations of the rain on his back. \"Oh, do not be afraid.\nI swear I will not hurt you that badly.\"               She was nose\nto nose with him before pressing herself against him. He did not feel any\nsensation but that unmistakable sense of an impending end to someone's life.\nOne paw brushed the cerements covering his upper chest. She brushed over the\nscar down the center of his chest and lingered there for a few seconds before\ncontinuing downwards. She wrapped her other arm around his waist and looked\ninto his violet eyes. \"I know where you hid the book.\"               Before he\ncould say anything, she had unhooked the dagger from his belt. The wolf tried\nto catch him in his side but the fox was too fast. He grabbed her arm and spun\nher around. He placed the dagger up to her throat and held her there. She\nstruggled and screamed something in a language he did not know.               \"If you\nknow who I am, then you would know not to start something with me, signora.\"               She pulled\naway from him and brandished her own blade, a small kitchen knife. She looked\nat him, her emerald eyes twinkling red in the glow of the fire. She brought the\nknife up, exposing her vitals. She lunged at him but he caught her arm with his\nfree paw. He threw his dagger into her gut and pulled up. He felt the warm\nliquid flow onto his paw and splatter onto his pants. Her knife clattered to\nthe floor and her arm went limp. He looked into her shocked green eyes, his\nexpression professional and serious. She coughed out the words, \"We have\nyour scent, traitor.\"               He spun\naround and flung her onto the glass before kicking her square in the back. He\ndid not know if the crack was her spin or the glass shattering. The glass\nexploded into a firework of white, showering him with sharp snowflakes. She was\ngone in a second, with a thud coming from below. He looked over the ledge and\nlooked down at the broken body bloodied in the rain. Her body, twisted and in\ncontorted, spew blood onto the dust. Blood flowed from her body and formed a\ncrimson flower around her. The rain chilled his heart, but he felt no remorse.\n\"We will see who has who's scent, signora,\"\nhe whispered.               He was still\nstaring down at her when a little voice spoke up behind him. \"Is...is she\ndead?\"               The fox\nturned. The little pup had returned and looked at him with a small twinkle in\nhis eyes. \"You should not be here, piccolo.\nGo back to your family.\"               He looked\nconfused by the word. \"Family?\" he asked. \"My family is...I\ndon't know where they are.\"               \"Well\nyou better go find them,\" the fox said. He walked past the pup and to the\ndoorway.               The pup\ncalled after him. \"What's your name, mister?\" The fox paused. He\nlooked back at the pup who stared back at him. \"Are you the man they call\nthe Black Death?\"               \"You\nshould not listen to children's stories, piccolo.\"               When he\nturned and took a step forward, the pup grabbed onto his stained linen pants.\n\"What is your name, Mister?\"               The fox\nlooked curiously down at the wolf. He had on a little grin and his eyes were\nshining red in the glow of the fireplace. \"My name?\" The wolf nodded\nand the fox sighed. He gave a small bow and said, \"My name is Valentino\nDeGellari.\"               \"Like\nthe guy from the painting.\"               \"Nothing\nlike that man,\" he spat the word\nout.               The wolf\ncocked his head. \"I do not understand.\"               \"Let us\nkeep it that way, piccolo.\" Was\nthe last thing he said before disappearing into the dark. The wolf looked after\nhim but saw nothing. Except for a few seconds when he saw two violet eyes\nglancing back at him before they were sucked back into the darkness.               The wolf\nsmiled. \"Valentino DeGellari. We have your scent.\""}