"What exactly is it you want from me, again?" Os kept his distance from the three new outsiders.

  After their encounter with Tryn, Os decided it was best to listen to the two men with daggers on their hips and a woman with a broad sword. Whether they were out for blood for fun or not, Os didn't want to find out the hard way. Of course, they did let Tryn go - but not after stripping him down naked and rolling him in horse shit. Os could only watch, somewhat in horror, as his dealer would no longer be his dealer after that.

  "I really don't like rich kids," said the younger of the two men dressed in black. "Hope he goes home crying to his mummy." He was the one that had Tryn by the throat and stripped him and then rolled him. There was something of a scornful look on his face when Tryn fled.

  "That's enough," said the woman. "We didn't come here for shits and giggles."

  Os couldn't help but smirk, not letting the irony of the word 'shits' go unnoticed. The younger man saw his smile and chuckled. The older man hadn't said anything besides tossing Os the bag of coins if that counted as saying anything.

  "As my friend said before," replied the woman, "we're looking for new recruits. We're a - we a ragtag assassin guild. We're looking to build."

  "? Assassinating what?" Os knew that assassins existed, they always have. But they were either caught, killed, or caught and then boiled in oil.

  The younger man rolled his eyes. "Farm animals. We assassinate fucking farm animals."

  Os scoffed, then asked, "Why me? I'm no assassin."

  The woman turned to the older man, who had a serious look on his face the entire time. "Look at that Drav, you're mute and this kid is deaf. You'll be buddy-buddy in no time."

  She turned back to Os. "Let's get out of the street. Know a place we can go?"

  Os led them to the outskirts of town, which wasn't that far of a walk, to his home. It hadn't changed much since his father left, besides becoming messier by the day. The front door opened up straight into the kitchen, where a fireplace and a table sat. His counters were dirty and full of bowls and rotting fruit and vegetables. Os mostly got his food from waiting at the bar until some lousy drunk got up to piss or pass out, and then he would steal their food if they had any. His diet mostly consisted of cabbage, some unknown beef, potatoes, carrots, and beer. He had pretty much forgotten the taste of water and wine.

  The house was small - everything was connected. In the middle was the fireplace and table, to the left was a bed and a chest to store clothes, to the right was a counter to prepare meals. By the counter was a stairwell that went into the basement. This was the area where Os' father stored food from his crops. During the height of their addiction, Os and Hyndel sold the stock to get ahold of more Greay.

  "Cozy," said the younger man. The older man, Drav, struck the fireplace's flint and iron pieces. As the four made themselves comfortable - The woman and younger man sat at the table, and Drav warmed himself by the fire. Os sat on his bed, opposite the table. He knew that there was a sword under the bed, and he would use it if they tried anything funny.

  The sword was from his grandfather - his mother's father. Os' grandfather was a knight, serving under King Phich during the Trade Wars. The King and his knights went to war with the Miunt Kingdom for the expansion of their territories and the favor of natives. The Mount King wanted to conquer the natives, take over their lands, and have total worldly control over the spices that they produced.

  For a few years, King Phich treated the natives with kindness, supplying them with food, medicine, and even a few boats. After it came to light that the natives were selling spices to other kingdoms from under the King’s nose and using the boats to establish separate trades, King Phich had the natives slaughtered. A colony was started in these lands, and eventually evolved into the Purple City, expanding the Heill Kingdom.

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  "What's your name?" the woman asked. "My name is Ena, this here," pointing a thumb at the younger man, "is Rwo, and the big guy is Drav."

  Rwo nodded, and Drav just stared him down. Now that the fire was roaring, Os could make out their features clearly. Ena's hair was black and curly, almost like a lion's mane. Her brown face was covered with burn scars, or more accurately, half of her face was one scar. The top of her cheeks to her neck, and Os guessed, to the tip of her toes was one giant burn mark. Os winced.

  The older man was built like a tree trunk. If an ox could transform into a person, this is what they would look like. His white hair was cut at the nape of his neck - it was long, but it didn't hang off his skull. His eyes reflected a pain that only Os had seen once - in his father, when his mother died. Os wondered who Drav had lost to make him have that in his eyes.

  Rwo looked as if he was plucked straight out of a knight's armor. His scruffy black hair and beard couldn't hide the chiseled jaw and muscly features. When Thevs wasn't so run down, sometimes knights would venture into the Black Hoof after an expedition - Os could spot them from a mile away. Tall, buff, and held an air of arrogance that could kick the smell off a pig. Rwo checked all these boxes, however, the air of arrogance wasn't too strong. On the side of his face, barely visible by the locks of hair falling in front, was the branding of King Jept, Phelch's successor. It was the mark of a traitor.

  "Oseric," Os tried to take a deep breath, trying to relax. He started to sweat, but it wasn't from the fireplace. His withdraws were hitting him as he hadn't had his hit of Greay since the Black Out took it. "But people call me Os."

  "Os, I'll make it really simple for you," Rwo said as he swatted flies from his face from the nearby fruit. "You can join our band, or Black Out and die here in this hovel." He reached inside his cloak, and pulled out a giant vile of Greay. It was speckled, too, like the sun reflecting water. It was a fresh batch, and it would hit harder than anything Os had ever done.

  Os' eyes grew wide. Ena scoffed, and muttered, "Maybe this was a mistake."

  "It's no mistake," said Rwo. "We both saw him moving in the bar. He's light on his feet, and sneaky. And what's the qualifications for being an assassin?"

  Ena rolled her eyes, and Drav just nodded as if what Rwo said was nothing but fact.

  "You're forgetting that he's also got to kill," Ena said. "Have you ever killed before?"

  Os shook his head, thinking about the man in the store. That was the only time he had ever came close.

  "If we told you that the people you would be killing, are the Knights of the Purple Crown?"

  Os looked at Ena like she had grown another head. As for what she just said, she might have well as. The Knights of the Purple Crown were the highest-ranked knights of the Heill KIngdom. They were untouchable in battle and were only replaced when they died of old age. In total, there were always ten knights at a time. The knights represented the noble status of the Purple City: righteousness, authority, and power.

  "Then we kill the King."

  Os laughed out loud, for what felt like the first time in a long time.

  "W-what? You must all have a death wish."

  "So does our tyrant King," said Rwo. "If we die, we die martyrs. People will understand that the King isn't all liked and powerful and protected as people think he is. People will start to question, and a revolution might start."

  "That's one outcome," said Ena. "The other outcome is that we accomplish our mission, kill the King and overthrow the Heill Kingdom. My family was the natives that ruled this land until King Jept took over and slaughtered everyone I ever loved."

  "I was a knight," Rwo said. Os thought. "Under King Jept. I questioned the existence of God and was labeled a traitor. I broke the code of Chivalry."

  Os looked at Drav, and he opened his mouth. His half-missing tongue and no-teeth mouth was enough said to Os.

  "He spoke out against the King and church," Ena said for Drav.

  "What do you want to do? Die for a cause," Rwo shook the vile of Greay. "Or do because of this? You countrymen have abandoned you in this run-down town, even your father. They left you, with the only cause being more money. Your drug addiction can ruin you, just as wealth ruined them."

  Rwo was right. Anger swelled up inside him. He jumped up from the bed, grabbed the vile, and threw it in the fireplace. The vile exploded, and a green dust filled the small house. All occupants had to evacuate, as the dust filled their lungs and got them all high.

  Os felt free, for the first time in his life. Either that or it was the drugs. Rwo laughed, "You idiot!"

  Ena sighed and reached into her cloak to grab a flask. "Everybody hunker down somewhere, this'll pass in a few hours. Then, on the way to Constre."