I could not sleep knowing that come daybreak I would be hanged. Instead, I laid there on the scratchy straw bed and stared up at the ceiling for hours. I replayed everything. My first memories, my highest moments of joy and trenches of sadness, and as much as I could, I tried to recall all of my adventures. As horrible and calamitous as this one has been, I am still grateful to have done it. I reckoned with myself that it is much better to go out like this instead of dying a slow death, alone in that cabin in the middle of the wilderness. I have had many regrets in my life, but choosing to embark on this adventure has not been one of them. Even though I hated Alexander, and make no doubt about that, for he had stolen everything from me and betrayed me as harshly as one could, there was still something inside of me that was appreciative of him helping me find what I had lost. I guessed none of that mattered come morning though. Dead is dead and soon I would join the Maiden amongst the stars, or so I thought.
He was not as quiet as he must have thought he was. It was only myself and a guard who sat beside a lantern in the cellar when we heard the clattering and thud above the Villa’s prison door. I thought nothing of it at first, but when the guard drew his sword and slowly walked up the stairs, my ears pricked up. There was a short exchange of words, the brief sound of metal clashing, and the tumbling of something, or rather someone, down the stairs. As I turned toward my cell’s door, trying to get a view of what was happening, the door stood open. There before me was Alexander. He was breathing heavily, sword still drawn and covered with blood. The sweat from his brow glowed from the light of the torch.
“Come on,” he said quickly. “We won’t have much time. Isabel will be at the docks soon with the ship and someone is bound to see this mess. I want to be as far away as possible from here when they do.”
“What do you think you’re doing?” I scowled. “What kind of game are you playing with me this time?”
“I’m not playing any games, not this time,” he said sternly. “I promise.”
I didn’t believe the bastard, but I could not miss this opportunity. It was as if the Maiden herself looked down upon my pitiful plight and intervened. So, seeing no other choice, I followed him out of the cell after grabbing the sword from the guard he slew.
This is it, I thought to myself. This is the only chance you will get. If you don’t slay Ascianus tonight, you will never do so.
It was a steamy night and the breeze carried to me the smell of the sea. I made my way to the door on the other side of the courtyard that led inside the Villa.
“Where the fuck are you going, Dagomar?” Alexander whispered tersely. “We have to get out of here before more guards come. Isabel is waiting for us!”
“Then go,” I replied, my voice as cold as it could be. “You paid your debt, now leave me to my revenge.”
“You’re absolutely mad! If you go in there you will get caught, and for what, all so you can get revenge on a walking corpse? That bloody bastard won’t last more than a month!”
“And what do you care!” I snapped back. “You’ve done your job. You collected my bounty and now you have freed me. You have absolved yourself of your guilt. You owe me nothing, so what interest do you have left in me?”
His expression softened and I could tell my words hurt him. “Dag,” he said. “I’m not leaving here without you.”
I spat and turned around, hurrying to the door. I didn’t look back, but I knew Alexander was right behind me. I took comfort in that.
We found ourselves in a large room. It was modest, with only a large, simple, wooden table, but the large hearth and giant pennant, embroidered with a bull’s head, hanging overhead gave the room a grand appearance. On either side of the room was a door. Alexander pointed to the one on the right.
“That way,” he said. “The servants came from the kitchen via the left one when we feasted earlier in the afternoon.”
We hurriedly dashed there, dreading the thought of anyone walking in and as we crashed through the door, we found ourselves in an office. At the desk, with his face buried in a book, was Ascianus’ other son, Leonidas. He was startled, his eyes widening with fear.
“So, this is what we get for feeding and sheltering a mercenary,” he said. His voice was shaky. “I should have expected that this was a possibility. I have never met a bounty hunter ill-fitted to carry out his duties as you.” He reached for a sword that was mounted above the desk. “It was my father’s,” he said, his fingers tracing over the steel. He stepped towards us and raised his sword. “I am not much of a fighter, but I will do what I can.”
There was no contest. With a quick flourish, Alexander knocked the sword away from his hands. The boy panicked and looked upon us helplessly. He pleaded for mercy but was only met with Alexander’s blade running through his chest and with a low groan, one of the sons of Ascianus crumpled to the ground.
Around the corner was a flight of stairs that we climbed. We crept through the dark corridor and saw no indication of any people or rooms until we spotted a large double-crested door inlaid with a gold and scarlet accent. It stood out drastically from the other doors so we figured that must have been the Baron’s room. Wary of any guards that might have been patrolling this area, we slipped into the Baron’s room as quickly and as quietly as we could.
The soft glow of the moonlight shining through the open balcony and the handful of candles that were faintly lit illuminated the dark room. It smelled fragrant, like honeydew and citrus. From the corner of the room, we could hear the pained wheezing of Ascianus. He laid alone in an ornate, canopied bed, seeming to struggle for every breath only to release it in a long painful moan. As we crept forward, I felt an overwhelming rush of both anticipation and pity. I have dreamt for years in that dark, depressing cabin of finally killing the man who took everything away from me. It was impossible to forget him and at times, I thought of nothing else but him. I thought of a million different ways to kill the man before me, I would not be able to forget him even if I wanted to. Each time a new bounty hunter came to collect the reward of my head, I was reminded of the injustice he incurred on me. For so long there was nothing more I wanted out of life than to end his existence. So, as I stood above him and gazed down on his pitiful twilight of life, why did I hesitate to strike?
“We tried everything,” a soft voice said from the other side of the room. As if emerging from the shadows, Ascianus’ wife, Kassandra, appeared. Her face glowed in the moonlight and her expression was gentle. Her black hair blended into the shadows. She wore only a nightgown which nearly touched the ground. Alexander had flinched upon hearing her voice and immediately moved to raise his sword, but I stopped him. She looked helpless, and something told me she wasn’t going to call the guards. “There is nothing more that we can do for him but ensure he is comfortable when he finally joins the Maiden.”
I struggled to find my voice. “Never did I expect such a formidable enemy of mine to be reduced to this. What happened to him?” I asked.
Without trying to hide her pain, she looked at me and shrugged before taking a seat on the bed beside her husband. Her love and gentleness towards him was obvious. “Only the Maiden knows. He was fine one minute and then he was not. It started a little over a year ago, first with a cough and then complaining of headaches. He quickly grew worse. He grew frail and weak, started losing his hair, and then developed seizures. No amount of medicine, leeches, or bloodletting seemed to have work. Long have I thought about ending his misery so he will not be denied his rightful spot above, but I don’t know, there was always a part deep within me that thought he could pull through, but now I am not so sure. The doctors have recommended the merciful action. Long have they decided to leave his fate up to the Maiden above.” She paused, tracing her finger gently across her chest. “It would be a miracle if he were to survive for another month.”
We stood there in silence, and I was surprised to find myself pitying the wife of my rival. Surely, she suffered more than anyone else as she watched the man she loved slowly die before her eyes.
“He never said a word about you, you know,” She said. “All of these years and he rarely spoke your name. Sometimes Dolos or Leonidas would ask to hear the story and he would tell it dutifully, but he never relished in recanting it. Because he never caught you, he always felt like an imposter, undeserving of the riches and rewards he received for stopping you and bringing back the Consul’s wife’s body. At night he would wake up sweating and shouting your name. You haunted him for all of those years.”
“It seems I was not alone then,” I replied.
She sat there, studying me for a minute before looking upon me in pity. “It seems not,” she agreed. “I find myself pitying the both of you. Bitter rivals until the very end, and all because of an incident that occurred years ago.” As gently as she did in the courtyard, she bent down and kissed her husband one last time.
“I suppose it is time,” she continued. “It seems that there is no escape for my dear Ascianus. Before you do it, though, will you entertain me by answering one last question?”
“Aye, my lady.”
“All of those years of obsession and fixation, was it worth it?”
“I don’t know,” I replied. And I truly didn’t.
She looked at me with pitying eyes and a knowing smile. “I suppose it is too early to tell.” She let silence drift through the room. “Do what you originally set out to do, Dagomar Dernbut. You will find no protest from me.”
I placed the tip of my sword against Ascianus’ throat. He just laid there, wheezing painfully with every breath. Even if he was aware of his imminent death, I’m not sure if he would have even objected to it. Slowly, I pressed the tip into his neck, driving it deeper and deeper as he let out one long, pained groan. And just like that, Ascianus was no more. He had died exactly as I hoped, by my hands. When I found the experience to be over, I was shocked to find that I took no relief in it.
“It’s done,” said Alexander. “Let us leave them, quietly and quickly, before anyone discovers-“
Before Alexander could finish his sentence, Dolos, armored and his sword drawn, crashed through the doors with a contingent of guards.
“Mother,” he said frantically. “It’s Dagomar, he’s escaped along with that bastard mercenary. They’ve killed-“ His voice trailed off as he looked upon the scene before him. He glanced between the blood-soaked sheets and myself, sword in hand. His face hardened and he flared with rage.
“Mother,” he said calmly. “Come away from them immediately. Get behind me.” Kassandra did as she was told. Before she passed him, however, she placed a hand on Dolos’ shoulder and kissed his cheek. “Make your father proud, my son.” She said, her voice carrying with such dignity and authority like the matriarch she was.
“I shall,” he replied. He stepped toward us, his sword drawn and ready to strike. He traced every step of ours as Alexander and I slowly positioned ourselves out from the corner of the room to in front of the balcony.
“I have no quarrel with you, Dolos, son of Ascianus,” I said, my voice stern and steady. “Let us leave in peace and I swear you shall never hear from us again.”
Dolos spat on the ground. “You are a menace, Dagomar Dernbut. You and your mercenary friend. How can I let you leave in peace when you have killed not only my father but my brother as well?”
The news of Leonidas visibly pained Kassandra. “What are you talking about Dolos?” She asked desperately. “Where is Leonidas? Is he alright?”
“This villain slaughtered him in cold blood only mere minutes before coming to your chamber, mother. The guards found his body in the study.”
Kassandra released a long, desperate wail as she collapsed to her knees and began sobbing. “My boy,” she sobbed. “My baby boy.”
“Take my mother away from here,” Dolos commanded to a guard. “This is no place for her.”
She screamed hysterically in grief as the guards helped her to her feet. “Kill him!” She commanded. “Kill him, Dolos! Do your duty to our family and rid the world of this foul monster!” I could still hear her wailing with grief as she was taken through the halls.
“Don’t worry Mother, I shall,” Dolos whispered. A single tear ran down his eye.
They crept towards us slowly; Dolos looked upon us as a lion would a gazelle. It was four to two and there was no hope of taking them all on in a fight. The situation was very grim, but as we backed away from them, the Maiden seemed to look down on Alexander favorably, for he had an idea to grab one of the candles close by, one that burning rapidly with a long flame, and toss it onto the bed. The bed caught fire immediately and quickly grew into a bright flame due to the straw stuffed into the mattress.
One of the guards, however, used that opportunity while Alexander was briefly distracted to lunge at him. Alexander was able to deflect the blow only at the last second and before we knew it the other three were on us, attacking us savagely. We parried frantically, deflecting what seemed to be warriors possessed. All the while the fire on the bed grew rapidly to the point it scorched the walls and ceiling. It quickly spread until the whole room was ablaze and our vision was blurred by the smoke. It was near impossible to breathe in the inferno and there was no possibility of getting past the four warriors attacking us like men possessed.
“Dag!” Alexander shouted over the roar of the flames. “The balcony! It is our only way out!”
“I’m right behind you, boy!” I shouted back.
We let them push us back towards the balcony ledge. I parried another stab and with a roar, I slashed one across the cheek and kicked Dolos backward before crashing into another guard, sending him flying into the one dueling Alexander. Taking the half-second window of opportunity we had, we turned and leaped from the balcony, crashing into the ground hard. My breath flew from my chest and it took me a second to recover, but Alexander quickly helped me to my feet as we made a mad dash out of the villa complex.
I was sorely mistaken if I thought this night would be anything but calamitous. The bells from the town’s temple rung desperately along with a marvelous chorus of terror that cried out desperately into the night. A heavy blanket of smoke smothered the town as fires raged dangerously out of control. Citizens of the town of Bracchano ran frantically through the streets as they tried to evade the marauders that plagued them. Through the smoke, I recognized a young man with a grotesque face, bruised and swollen through a savage beating and a moon tattoo under his left eye, as he chased a fair woman through the street and into an alley. In that moment I whispered a blessing for Isabel; her attack on this town could have possibly saved our lives.
Even though Bracchano was being plundered, Dolos and his guards continued to pursue us. I imagined that rage coursed through every fiber of Dolos’ being and allowed the feeling to consume him until there was nothing left in the world, caring not whether his town was under attack as long as he plunged his sword through me. The smoke burned my eyes and choked me with each wheezing breath as Alexander and I ran through the streets of the burning town. The fire had spread quickly across the dry thatched roofs and soon all but few buildings were ablaze. We inadvertently found ourselves in front of the dock and before us was Isabel and the Bosun fending off a party of five who were trying to board the Black Hand. The bosun slashed into a villager, cutting him from shoulder to hip, before deflecting a thrust from a pitchfork. Isabel was like a viper. She dodged repeated spear thrusts from three of her attackers before stabbing one in the throat with her short sword and cutting through the spear from another with her long sword. We crashed into the flank of the group of attackers and, seeing extra reinforcements, the three townsfolk took off running.
“It took you bloody long enough!” Isabel roared to us over the sounds of chaos. “I figured something was wrong and decided to improvise.”
“And what a master improviser you are,” Alexander joked. “Without it, I’m not sure there would be an escape.”
“Dag, always good to see you,” Isabel said, giving me a nod.
“Aye, this time I can truthfully say the same,” I replied. “But might I suggest we shove aside the formalities, until we are finished with our company!”
Dolos had managed to rally a handful of additional guards and villagers to his side and the four of us found ourselves outnumbered three to one. With our backs to the dock, we fought ferociously, deflecting blows and returning them with deadly precision. Alexander parried a blow and immediately returned one, sending his attacker reeling; with a feint, he pierced another straight through the heart; and with a spin, he hamstrung another before decapitating the poor soul. Dolos hacked at me violently, forcing me to the defense. His attacks were quick and powerful and I found it a chore just to parry. He was relentless and I didn’t know how much longer I could last against him. I lunged at him and he blocked it effortlessly. I lunged again and he blocked it. A wicked smile was strewn across his face. He was playing with me, just as a cat will do with its prey. He slashed at me again and I managed to parry but as I moved to strike against him, he struck my sword so hard it fell from my hand. With a forceful kick, he knocked me onto my back.
“This is the Dagomar I have heard stories about?” He mocked. “I’m severely disappointed. No wonder my father never spoke of you. He must have been ashamed you escaped his grasp. Today, however, you shall not escape. You will die at the hands of the son of Ascianus.”
His sword cut through the air as he brought it down upon me. I flinched. I heard the sound of sword cutting through flesh, but I felt nothing. When I opened my eyes, I saw Dolos standing motionless, staring at the ground where both his hand and sword were; blood splattered from his stump that was extended towards me. I looked to my left and there stood Alexander, his arms outstretched and his sword bloody. He too stared at Dolos’ lopped off hand. After a brief moment, the two men looked at each other, Dolos in disbelief and Alexander in incredulity. Neither of them said a word. Then, with a roar, Alexander raised his sword and brought it down onto Dolos, cleaving his shoulder in the process. Slowly, and with a low moan, Dolos collapsed to his knees before crumpling to the ground.
Alexander, Isabel, the Bosun, and I looked upon the carnage of our work. We had killed almost a dozen men between the four of us. Their bodies bloodied the wooden dock before trickling into the water. The temple bell had stopped ringing, but screams of agony still echoed through the night, even if diminished. Fires continued to rage, illuminating the usually dark night sky a bright orange. Before us laid a town destroyed, and the Baron of Bracchano, along with his sons, was no more. It was over. I had my revenge.