I'll take away your grief.

The first time the door opened, Miraye noticed Tic’s body tense in panic. It was a natural reaction since they were on the run. The dark grays of the stranger’s clothes with his cloak that made her uneasy. A familiar feeling crept in the pit of her stomach as the figure walked by and set their self on a stool at the bar. She watched, sipping her liquid, with a dull bore since there was nothing else to look at. Besides Tic, that is. He had agreed with the plan and things were running smoothly even though it was just a small step in the process. She never took her watch off the cloaked one. It interested her as to what he had ordered and moved his fingers about.

Her examination was interrupted when the door swung open yet again. She could sense Tic’s hair on the back of his neck spring up. Slowly her eyes lapsed over to the entrance. One heavy foot step confirmed every thing as the man eyed her table. Miraye moved her head back in place, watching her ‘coffee’ go into her parted lips while the Guardian marched to their table. Tic’s eyes were full of anxiety but he remained quiet when they were approached.

The Guardian slammed down a heavy fist down on the wooden table which rattled it and the floor in response. Tic jumped slightly in his seat to this while Miraye continued dosing down her drink. This caught the bartender and the figure’s attention and their heads were both directed at the trio. ‘All eyes on us’, she thought to herself and she crossed her legs with a calm ease. ‘As always. This isn’t the first time, of course.’

It had caught her attention that the Guardian was leaning in towards Miraye. Her eyes lazily looked back up at him and she started to slowly envelop the last of the liquor and the bitter buds. Finally finishing its contents, she signaled the tender for another and set down her goblet. “Is there anything wrong, officer?” she asked with no interest at all. It was bad acting for the most part but she didn’t feel like getting up and running out of the door, dragging Tic by the wrist behind her. She cracked a fake smile at the man and straightened herd dress as to erase all the wrinkles and dried mud and blood.

He leaned in closer that she could smell the odor that was emitting from what he called a mouth. “Don’t play dumb, wench,” he hissed with a low growl. “I know who you are. I know you kidnapped the boy. And you’re supposed to be dead. So by the order of the shrike Larkin, I plan to return the brat to his majesty and be rewarded. As for you, I’ll drag you by the hair and rape you up your pretty little virgin cunt until all of my seed comes out of every orifice of that small fragile body and I’ll send you back to hell where you belong!”

“I don’t think you’re permitted to do any of what you’ve just said,” Miraye remarked, coolly. “But, I may not be that dead girl you’ve once seen. That boy may not be the same child that the shrike joyfully violated either. And just to put the record straight, you aren’t the first to neither fuck nor rape me. So if I were you, I’d go out that door and insert that twig you call a cock into the nearest cockroach you can find before I send something else up your substitute pussy.”

He only glowered at her and leaned in closer. “Smart bitch, aren’t we? Well I’ll guarantee the most pain you’ve ever experienced in your life just because of those slick words of yours!”

The bar tender set down Miraye’s seventh order down, giving her an uneasy glance as if he were trying to tell her to shut up. She saw this of course, nodded and began drinking her ‘coffee’ once again. “I’ve had more painful,” she muttered into the burning liquid. “Far more than you can imagine.”

The Guardian recognized that she was only trying to get into his nerves and stall both time and life. His patience left him and his arm shot out and grabbed both Miraye and Tic by their arms in one large hand and pulled them to their feet. His grip was rough and strong and it hurt Miraye’s wrist. She was still loss of much needed blood and the force was making her whole arm bruise a sick purple deep inside the long white sleeve of her gown. Her arm tingled in pressure and ached from it. Squirming wouldn’t go any good because it might make her whole arm fail while it lost all functions to move. Instead, she slid her fingers on the back of Tic’s hand and rubbed it as a way of trust and comfort. ‘He’s not to worry,’ she thought as though she transmitted her apprehensions to him. ‘I even told you, remember?’

The ‘man of the law’ was fumbling with his other hand through his pockets trying to find some chains, handcuffs or a rope. It was a long process for him since his pockets were buckled and snapped into place. Tic was slowly relaxing now and she stopped running her thin fingers on his hand. She looked back at the figure and the bartender who were watching the whole affair as if it were some entertainment. ‘Help Us’ she mouthed and directed the next words towards the bartender. ‘I Still Need to Pay for the Service.’

But the Guardian grunted and turned to his prisoners. “It seems I have no tying mechanism. No matter. I’ll bring you to the shrike either hand.” He laughed at his own pun and nodded to the others in the tavern and they looked away to mind their own business. Their feet dragged along the floor and they were back out into the moonlight as soon as the Guardian carried them out of the threshold. Miraye’s eyes burned as she squinted from the bright light of the new day. There were people out and about in the streets now who happened to be all looking at the spectacle before them. She threw them dirty looks for staring and some looked away in immediate response. But they were all throwing each other looks and whispering into each other’s ears. People were nosey in general. She disliked that.

They reached the Guardian’s large horse. It was obvious to Miraye they were going to be dragged even on horse. Dragged on horse meant dragged along the horrible ground while the rocks and sharp objects scratched into their dermises and the dirt thrown into their eyes. She wasn’t a masochist, and of course, she didn’t like the idea. But on the other hand, she was a sadist. Devoured the sight of blood before her and relished the pain she was bestowing. One of Seryale’s many gifts he had passed down to her a few years ago.

Miraye looked over and the Guardian drew out a leather buckle strap with hand cuffs that he was planning to hasten them to. It just hung at the back piece of the saddle and extended to the ground. Not only were they going to be dragged but kicked repeatedly by the horses’ hoofs as well. Once again, not to her fancy. Her thoughts were staggering some what but snapped back in place when she noticed his grip on Tic and her had loosened. He was trying to set Tic’s wrists into the cuffs but was having difficulty maneuvering with only one hand while the other was occupied. The pain left her arm but tingled as the blood rushed back into her veins. This was just enough to get through.

As one of his fingers plucked loose to unleash the SINK boy, Miraye had her plans ready. Once Tic’s arm slipped free, she made a loud startling shriek that made the Guardian jump and his grip loosened even more. “Bad reflex, officer!” she yelled and ran her legs up his ribs and kicked him in the jaw with a disgusting crack. She had put all of her force into the blow and blood was streaming from the Guardian’s mouth. By then, he tried to close his grip back into place but Miraye absconded free and wrapped her arms around Tic’s abdomen and yanked him from him as well. With that, he landed on his feet and she roughly took his arm and led him down the street while the pedestrians watched them go off with no intentions of interfering. But as soon as they tried to look at the Guardian, they hurtled themselves into the walls as Larkin’s man stampeded down with his horse, galloping madly.

There were endless twists and turns through the village. It was a blessing from the gods they hadn’t received a dead end just yet. They ran through markets, climbed over barrels, splashed through puddles and shoved people out of the way. And all the while, the Guardian roared down close behind. It wasn’t a fair game. They only had their legs while he had animals to do his works. His eyes were deaf mad with rage and the horse was foaming at the mouth with the brittle gagging and scratching its tongue. But they couldn’t see this for they were too busy trying to escape from him.

While the colors flashed by as a horrid blur on a canvas, Miraye spotted a narrow alley way. This would definitely loose him and she was sure of it. The two were now in the slumps of the village full of shady characters and drunken homeless with an aura of evil spirits all around. If this was how it was going to end, what better of place? No one would suspect them for there was always a fresh murder when a new corpse would be found in these streets. The buildings were dark and mangy and the air was filled with scents of dust, heavy perfume and mold. No one cared as they ran by. It was unusual to them for all they cared.

They turned sharply and Tic almost ran into the wall as she swerved into the narrow path, her nails digging into his skin. She could hear the galloping stop but didn’t dare look back. The familiar stomp of boots and the dangle of chains made sure that the Guardian now was on his own pair of legs, still intent on catching them. Miraye’s legs were aching now but she couldn’t stop now. Larkin wasn’t going to get them again!

But fortune turned its face and its sibling grinned mischievously down upon Miraye and Tic. It was clear before the lilac and the almond eyes that before them was a black cemented stone dead end. No light reached into the alley and it was only filled with the darkness and the blind objects in its corners. No matter. She kept running, she kept dragging Tic behind while the Guardian followed.

And then, they couldn’t see. Miraye turned around and pushed Tic behind her. She shrouded her pants and felt her way up the boy’s arm and read his face with her fingers before setting her palm on his oxygen needing mouth. She forced to breathe through her nostrils and all the scents in the alley way were distinguished. It smelt of decay. And it was perfect. Her nostrils stung with each deep inhale and exhale she tried to settle down. Tic followed her lead and the alley became dead silent. She concentrated and drowned in to her feelings.

The Guardian was stumbling through, noisy and unaware.

He blinked even though there was only black velvet to see. His neck arched and revolved around his shoulders as he tried to cop a sound. But he was panting too loudly and it was disrupting his concentration. He tasted the evil in here and he began to fear. He couldn’t leave without them, though. He just couldn’t.

And then there was a whisper and a blinding aqua light hurtled directly at him. For a brief second he saw the corpses around him and the girl holding back the boy with her palm outstretched before he was hit.

A loud agonizing scream echoed and the pain consumed him before his skin rotted away and the rats flooded through his orifices.

---

The tavern door swung open with a loud bang.

The bartender dropped a mug in surprise and the glass shattered into sparkling shards, the rainbow illuminating each of its surfaces. His jaw dropped slightly at the site before him.

“We’re looking for a job,” Miraye wheezed, leaning on Tic who helped her stand while she clutched her side. They smelt highly atrocious.

“No questions. Just hire us on the spot.”