His eyes were like fogged glass, his mannerisms like clockwork. Their heads moved in unison to the sounds around them, cocking their heads and shuffling their bodies through turns to appear to look towards a voice. They were like figurines in a music box, each limb bending and twisting to the sounds that played around them. Quinn and Kiara looked so fragile in that moment.
Kairi was pleasantly surprised at the sight of Quinn and Kiara, as she had brought up a new found friend from the Underdark whom she had convinced that this demon, Quinn, would be an obstacle for. This vicious drow, Kel’atar, was the perfect specimen of pride and testosterone to throw against Quinn. One so much like the other, she knew they would have to engage each other in a battle for territory, like lions during mating season. This was her chance to rid herself of her pain, not of a broken heart, but the pain she repeatedly suffered every time she saw Quinn with another woman. It was no longer her pain she felt, but theirs, knowing what their future would bring.
Words were exchanged between the two, beating their chests claiming dominance. Kel’atar struck, catching Quinn off guard as he was succumbed to his blindness. The scuffle continued, Quinn moving himself away from Kiara and gaining strength and sight as he did so. The battle was taken down the road as Quinn was trying to regain his composure. Kiara cried out for them to stop, but she couldn’t see that they had already gone out of hearing distance. Kairi took this moment to distract Kiara, as she didn’t want anyone to throw themselves between this battle.
“May I ask, what is wrong with Quinn when he’s around you? His eyes are unseeing, and he looks so….weak.”
Kiara shook her head sorrowfully. “He does this to himself. He says he can’t help it, when he’s around me.” she replied.
“Interesting.” Kairi thought. She wanted to get more information, but Quinn came walking up the path, victorious in unleashing his fury on the Drow, who seemingly had to submit to the demon’s strength. Kairi was disappointed. She thought this would be the end. She turned her back to Kiara and walked hastily past Quinn, to see the state of the drow. Kel’atar was picking himself up, planning to return home. This wasn’t the end for him, he was going to finish what had been started. Kairi told him he had done well, and vowed to assist in any way she could. She even offered her guard, Anlyth, as a decoy to be used by Kel’atar.
Even still, Kairi knew that brute strength was not going to take this demon down. She knew what would…she had come close before. She knew of his weaknesses, and now, knew of one more. Kiara would work, she thought, whether she agreed to or not. But in this instance, Kairi knew that this was something she would have to do herself. She wielded the weapon, a gift from this ‘King of All’ given to her long ago. She knew of his tattoo, his source of whatever it was…life? power? She didn’t quite understand it, but she knew it had a connection to his state of being. And then there was Kiara, who would unknowingly open the doorway to being able to sneak up unnoticed, until it was too late. She knew she had to act quietly, swiftly, and without hesitation. Thus the planning commenced.
It was the next day. She spotted the duo at the square, where they usually performed their fragile dance. Quinn and Kiara, tilting and twisting their heads as they tried to zone into the sounds around them while whispering to each other. The motions made Kairi uncomfortable, as it was reminiscent of a puppet show she had seen when young. She didn’t make herself aware, and headed home, to prepare. Anlyth was beside her, as he always seemed to be, whether she wanted it or not. She removed her shoes, and grabbed the dragonfang dagger she held so dear to her heart. She never had thought she would ever commit murder…that was something she hired out, something she did not want the burden of carrying. And her reputation was of utmost importance. But this had to be done, she thought, if she were ever to be at peace again.
She had trained for this moment for a long time. With Kairi, there was always a backup plan. So she and her guard quietly moved through the streets of Narrowhaven, staying within the shadows as they walked. Luckily the roads remained quiet. Fate was so far on her side. They came to the inn, sneaking around it until the duo at the well was in plain sight, their backs turned to them. Kairi stood and hesitated a moment, reaching into her waistband to pull out her dagger, gripping the comforting handle tightly as she waited. Quinn and Kiara began to discuss something, their voices soft though there was heat within the words. Kairi nodded her head toward the two, signaling Anlyth that they should proceed. The two quietly stepped across the cobbled road, making sure to keep their paces slow and random. They got close enough to be standing directly behind the man in red, the unseeing demon distracted by his love’s words. Kairi extended her arm out from her side as far as she could, dagger in hand pointing toward her. She leveled her arm to match the dagger point up with the tattoo’s “bullseye” she had seen on Quinn’s torso. Then she took one giant step forward, thrusting her arm around Quinn and bending it so that the dagger penetrated. Anlyth gagged Quinn with a cloth at the same time that Quinn had been stuck, muffling his sounds. Kairi stepped aside, leaving the dagger and Quinn’s collapsing frame to her guard to support. As these actions were carried out, Kairi exclaimed “Kiara! You are looking lovely today!” and walked past Anlyth who was dragging Quinn back to then throw him over his shoulder. She faced Kiara now, keeping her attention in front of her as a death was occuring behind her. She saw the confusion on Kiara’s face and whispered, “I guess Quinn didn’t like my guard. They’ve run off to play, hehe.” She nods to Anlyth who’s bent over frame proceeds to carry the corpse slowly around to the back of the inn. “Ah well. Now that my guard’s distracted I will run to the bank and grab my shovel. Another map for a possible treasure, and I can’t risk bringing him along in case he’s a theif in disguise, hehe.”
Kiara smiles feintly, dipping her head in farewell. Kairi goes to the bank and grabs her shovel. “Hehe” she thought “At least some of it was truth.” As she exits the bank she says farewell to Kiara and pretends to depart down the road. Once out of hearing range, she scurries through the grass to the back of the inn. Anlyth laid Quinn’s corpse out on the grass, awaiting Kairi’s next order. She walks over to it, pulls the dagger from Quinn’s wound, and hands Anlyth the shovel. “Bury him six feet deep” she says. “Oh, and after you are done, you’re free.” She turns her back to him and the corpse, dagger held tightly in hand.
The journey home was a blur. She could barely remember walking up her stairs and into the bathroom, but her eyes fixated on her reflection in the mirror. Her face was stern, eyes seeming to tear through her with anger. She held her daggerhand up, blade stained with drying blood. She was a murderer now, soiled to the soul with corruption. Without willing it, her hand raised up, the point of the dagger hovering in front of her eye. She watched the reflection as the dagger pierced her flesh, beginning just under her lower eyelid and running down her cheek, stopping just in line with where her nose ends. The blood on the blade mixed with hers, the slice in her face too thin to bleed out but closing up as beads of red try to fuse the seem together again. Her scar, to remind her of her mistakes, however many this one had caused. She dropped the dagger into the washbasin, and filled it up with water. Then, she turned to go to her bed, and crawled into it still fully clothed, the beaded blood on her cheek staining her bedpillow. She then sleeps, for what seems like weeks.
