Member-only story
The Assassin’s Sacrifice: 4
(This story was originally published in Plasma Frequency Magazine, Issue 11.)
Part 1 is here.
Part 2 is here.
Part 3 is here.
The approaching figure crossed into the moonlight. It was no dog, rather a nude, emaciated man skittering over the ground on four spindly, spider-like limbs. Heider’s lips curled back in disgust. He had never before seen one of the waithawa, those people that had sold their very bodies and minds into service to the Red Sultan. They were even more repulsive than he had heard.
The waithawa crept deeper into the courtyard, just out of the boy’s range of vision. It dropped lower and bellied over the ground, skirting the edge of the fountain to close in on its prey.
Heider drew his kukri and moved to climb down the face of the building.
“Do not move,” Adta said. “This is the last time I will warn you.”
Heider gripped the handle of his weapon until the gilded edges bit into his hand. Before joining the Order, he had been a lone man fighting a private war, relying on the payments of rich merchants that were little better than the men they paid him to hunt. With the Order of Szuth, he might have a positive impact on the world. But at what price?
