Chapter 9: The Commoner District (Part 2)

  The rattling of chains echoed through the alley. The humans froze, the blood draining from their faces. They turned to run, but two figures stood in the way. They wore black cloaks and their faces were shrouded by solid steel masks with no eye sockets. Their hands, covered in dull grey gauntlets, held a long metal chain that dangled on the floor.

  “I-I t-told you,” Lily whispered in fear.

  Dan pushed Lily away and ran past the cloaked figures. The metal chain whipped by, smashing into the back of his head. His neck cracked at the force of the blow. Dan fell to the ground, blood pooling around his head. Lily screamed in terror.

  The other boy tackled one of the cloaked men to the ground.

  Stryg carefully watched from the dark corner of the alley. These new predators were clearly higher up in the food chain.

  The remaining boy punched the masked man, who made no effort to block. Instead, its hands reached out and grabbed the boy's face. The boy shouted as the metal gauntlets squeezed down into his eye sockets.

  The other cloaked figure flicked his chain across Lily’s hip. An audible crack of bone resounded as she fell to the floor screaming. The masked man slowly turned to the end of the alley. But Stryg had seen enough, he had already climbed to the top of the house and darted away. His perfect night vision aided him as he jumped from one roof tile to another.

  Once he couldn’t hear the cries of Lily anymore he stopped and laid flat on a rooftop. He sucked in deep breaths of air and tried to catch his breath. His body felt heavy and rigid as stone. He wasn’t sure he could get up from here. Honestly, he was surprised he had lasted as long as he had. His stamina was normally never this extensive, then again he normally wasn’t running for his life either. He stared at his arms, they were finally cooling down a bit.

  Stryg heard the rattle of chains in the distance once again. He ducked his head and dragged his body forward until he could barely peer past the roof’s edge. To his dismay he saw dozens of cloaked figures patrolling the empty streets. They each moved in pairs, skulking through the neighborhood for more prey.

  Stryg backed away and waited without making a sound. He hoped they’d leave soon... They didn’t.

  The evening air was frigid. Stryg’s scrapes stung, but his weariness was greater and he fell asleep partway through the night. He woke up before dawn, as usual. The masked men left as the sun began to rise. Stryg wasn’t sure where they went.

  In the morning light people began to leave their houses and mill about the streets once more. They all seemed so busy, filled with purpose. Stryg wondered if they were hunters. He hadn’t noticed any fauna since he had arrived though. Perhaps they were hiding, but there were no trees either.

  Everything was so strange here. Even the few goblins he had spotted seemed strange, which was ridiculous coming from him. Still, Stryg didn’t know any other way to describe it. The goblins he saw were sweeping the streets or doing other menial jobs for others.

  Stryg expected humans to work such jobs and some did. It seemed odd for goblins to do the same. Goblins were a proud warrior species, they weren’t supposed to serve others. Stryg would have thought they were some kind of slaves, but they had no collar. They must be weak, the betas of their tribes, he judged.

  His eyes caught a comfortingly familiar sight, however. A pair of goblins were beating up on a human in an alleyway.

  They must be hunters going in for a kill, he guessed.

  Stryg’s stomach grumbled, he had barely eaten anything in the past few days. He really wasn’t a fan of the taste of human flesh, but at this point he could go for anything.

  Stryg climbed down from the roof. He almost slipped and fell as pain shot through his sore legs. He hadn’t had enough rest. All the more reason why his next course of action was clear.

  Stryg made his way to the goblin pair in the alleyway.

  “Ahem,” Stryg cleared his throat.

  He stood a respectable few feet behind the goblins. He didn’t want them to think he was going to try to steal their food.

  The goblins stopped kicking the human and reared their yellow eyes towards him.

  “What do you want?” One of the goblins asked.

  Stryg straightened his back and spoke as firm as his tired voice could muster, “I am Stryg of Blood Fang! And I wish to join your tribe, temporarily. I am skilled in the way of the spear and hand-to-hand combat. I believe I would prove an excellent hunter in your ranks.”

  Stryg actually did know how to use the spear. Of course he wasn’t technically excellent hunter material, but he had to embellish. He needed to join their tribe to survive. At least long enough to prepare for the long journey home.

  The goblins stared at him, they wrinkled their brow and tilted their heads.

  “Um, I’m also good at reading and writing …” Stryg’s voice grew quieter as he spoke, ending in an almost inaudible whisper.

  “I think he wants to join our gang, Jax,” said one of the goblins.

  Gang? Is that what they called tribes here?

  “Uh, yes! I would like to join your gang,” Stryg adjusted his vocabulary quickly. He was getting good at this.

  Jax glanced at his friend, “What do you think, Leroy? He looks a bit off to me.”

  Leroy raised his hands, “Hey, you’re the boss. But please, whatever you decide, can we be quick? I don’t want the guards to catch us with this guy.”

  Leroy kicked the human on the floor. The man twitched. Stryg was surprised he was still alive.

  Jax rubbed his chin in thought, “I’ve never seen a blue one of us, huh… Alright, you can join us, but first you’re gonna have to prove yourself.”

  “Of course,” Stryg nodded eagerly.

  An initiation challenge was always expected when joining a new tribe. You had to prove your strength, after all.

  Stryg may have failed his first night challenge, but this was different. This wasn’t to impress a girl or to prove his honor, this was survival. If he didn’t manage to win here, he’d never get into their tribe. He would probably end up starving to death quickly.

  Stryg took a deep breath, rolled his neck, and wiggled his shoulders.

  “It is my honor to fight the chieftain himself. I will do my best,” Stryg bared his teeth.

  “Wait. What?” Jax took a step back.

  Stryg rushed him and swung his fist in a right hook. Jax’s eyes widened as he barely managed to duck, but Stryg was prepared. He slammed his knee into Jax’s waiting face. This chieftain was slower than Stryg had expected.

  “Ah, fuck! Fuck!” Jax tumbled to the floor as he held his face, blood dribbling from between his hands.

  “Jax! Are you okay!” Leroy grabbed him by the shoulder.

  “The motherfucker broke my nose! Shit, it hurts!”

  “You piece of shit, I’ll kill you!” Leroy turned to Stryg and pulled out a knife.

  “Huh? Eh, eh?” Stryg didn’t understand. All he knew was that he really was running away too much.