Page 105 of Dark Shadow of Guilt

Some of the shit here gave Remi a hard-on. Well, until things got too gross even for him.

He stomped outta there, shaking off his urges to get down and dirty. Resuming his search for the hard-to-find Praevus, he curved his bronze wings and landing on solid ground in Violence Village. He packed his feathered goods at his spine. If he gave the Rats an hour’s reprieve from the craziness here, he figured they might be grateful enough to spill their guts.

From the middle of the main street, Remi watched the Scourges run helter-skelter armed with swords, knives, baseball bats, or makeshift weapons. The goal of this Ordeal was for the participants to beat the shit out of each other. A mind game. Or a win-win, as he saw it.

Among the screams and blood, he sought Scourges who might keep up with the rumor mill. He sidestepped a blade-wielding crazy. When the female missed, Remi snapped out his bronze razor-edged wings and slashed her upper arm. She barely winced before she scampered off, looking for an easier victim. Remi ducked as a long sword swiped above his head.

Fuck.

Now he was pissed. Didn’t the Scourges know who he was? Lesson forthcoming. Remi drew both knives from the holsters strapped to his thighs. This place was good practice for an assassin. He joined in the frivolity. A tall, skinny Rat challenged him, a bat gripped in both fists and raised overhead. Anticipating the guy’s swing, Remi sliced the soft flesh on the insides of the guy’s arms. As the Scourge rushed off screaming, the bronze-winged assassin chose another Rat. Before he could slice and dice the guy, though, another attacker pounded Remi’s head with a crowbar.

Lucky hit.

Wiping blood from his eyes, Remi saw he was surrounded. About ten against one. Time to show the assholes what a winged assassin could do. Fisting two knives and flicking out his wings, he took down four Scourges with a simple three-sixty. The remaining attackers worried their lips. But Remi didn’t give them a moment to think about the error of their ways. Lunging forward, he plunged a blade into a chest, stabbed a neck, and used his sharp feather tips to gut another. After doing a backward flip, he ran at the last three. With unfurled wings, he took down a double and finished the final attacker with a knife.

Remi had drawn a crowd. He threw his fists into the air, bouncing around Rocky style. Then just to mix things up, he shouted, “Yippee-ki-yay, motherfuckers. My homage toDie Hard. A great movie if you haven’t seen it yet. Who’s next?”Damn. No takers. He re-sheathed his blades and strolled along the middle of the main street, Scourges sprinting out of his path. This stop was proving to be more fun than he’d expected. A little action to soothe his restlessness.

Cowering in an alley, a Mind Rat caught Remi’s eye. He signaled the assassin to follow him deeper into the passageway.

The Rat’s eyes were white and nearly spinning. Violence Village did that to them, making them delirious as they thrived on delivering and receiving pain. Remi waved a hand in front of the guy’s face. “I need your attention. Focus on something other than burrowing through my brains or joining the fun.”

The spinning halted long enough for the Scourge to concentrate. “I hear you’re looking for info on Praevus.”

“Yep. What do you know of him?”

The Scourge peeked around Remi, trying to keep up on what was happening in the street. “Haven’t seen him for a while. Heard he ran into some good luck.”

“I got that much. What kind?”

“The kind that won’t land him in Violence Village. Lucky fuck.”

“Who could do that for him?” asked Remi.

The guy shrugged, his eyes going for a spin again. “Another Scourge. One with power. One who is out of the punishment game.”

Remi thought that would make the Scourge pretty important. A trustee.

“That’s the rumor.” The Rat sniffed, his nose wrinkling like he had post-nasal drip.

“Got anything else?”

“Saw him flying toward the Razor Mountains once with Serita. Real friendly.”

Remi had stopped his search there when four Scourges had attacked him. Had they meant to divert him?

He supposed he should be a nice guy in trade for the intel. “You wanna ride home?”

The Mind Rat’s spooky white eyes did a funky dance again. “I’ll bide my time here.” He bent to the ground and picked up a metal bar, a smile creeping across his face.

The informant sprinted out of the alley, returning to the main street while Remi took to the air to search the Razor Mountains thoroughly. As he dipped through valleys and wove around peaks, he filtered energy through his hand to flood the dark surface of Angor with light. After hours of searching, he was about to give up.

Just before he veered off, he spotted an isolated cabin, nearly hidden by trees.

Landing in front of it, he kicked in the unlocked door to announce himself. It was empty and tidy even though the furniture was threadbare and sparse. The only litter turned out to be recognizable remnants of Praevus. A head. A decomping torso. No regeneration going on.

Remi raised a hand, fire shooting from his fingertips and incinerated what remained of Praevus, making the Mind Rat ashes on the wood floor. The guy had been extincted at least a few days ago given his state of degeneration.

Fuck.

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