Chapter 3: Rainwater

Following: Bynze Pildrol

Time: 28:33, 29 of Early Fall, 2338 AF

Place: Kifrora, Üsbad, The Ten Domains

This time of year, the City of Dreams was particularly lovely. Not merely with nature and beauty, but also with possibilities. Businessmen were offered once-in-a-lifetime bargains, the homeless were given jobs, and Bynze was about to meet the person who would transform his life.

Yotune and Dyke, the two blood moons, shed gloomy red beams onto the futuristic city. Citizens wandered up and down the vast streets, with light music and talk emanating from Kifrora's numerous bars, hangout spaces, and parks. Since the morning, the weather had been a light drizzle. In the distance, police sirens could be heard. Most likely, a fight had broken out in a pub, or perhaps a full-fledged gang war had begun. The city wasn't flawless, but it was far superior to the majority.

Bynze Pildrol sat on the roof of a skyscraper on the outskirts of town, with a panoramic view of nearly the entire city. He noticed the town hall across from the park, the destitute finding shelter beneath a nearby bridge, and wealthy parents purchasing the latest fad for their children. He sighed before standing up and returning to his tent. Nobody ever came up here, so he opted to stay here a few months ago while he dealt with the objectives his boss had assigned him.

He pulled out the list of names. There were nine names in total, and eight were crossed out. He was finishing this today. He would retire after this. He could start over, hide from his past. Meet a nice girl, have some kids, grow old...

Who was he kidding? Bynze was already old. He was fifty-three and was still doing the same old thing for the same old guy. He might as well live the rest of his life alone in the woods rather than retire. His boss would find him anyway, he always did. He would get punished if he ran, he knew that. Bynze took off his right glove. A big ugly scar wrapped almost all the way around his ash colored skin. A gift straight from his boss. He fiddled with his pointy ears while looking at the mark, a bad habit he had acquired as a nervous child.

He drank from his waterskin, tasting each mineral as it passed through his body. What was he doing with his life? Killing for a conceited human? He wiped a tear from his cheek. This was his existence. As a dark elf, he was perfect. A heinous, murderous disaster. He swore at the Divined. He cursed his mother, who was a human. Most importantly, he hated his father. He drew a small dagger from the tent's floor and carved a small tally on his left forearm, like he did every time he started a new profession. It brought the dark elves excellent luck. and because he never failed a job, the tallies also meant every time he killed.

He exited the tent while putting on his glove once again. Bynze fingered the dagger hooked to his belt. He had to use it for the other eight jobs, in order to keep silent. But because this was his last job, and he'd be leaving the city tomorrow, he could do this how he liked. He grabbed the dagger off his belt and dropped it onto the streets of the city below. He heard the half-dozen runestones clattering together as he swayed over the edge of the roof. He looked down at his feet. Black runes glowed on the surface of his boots, saving him from any injuries a long fall might have given him. The fact that runes were black nearly killed him every time he looked at them. Black was the magical signature of neutral evils. This meant that there was no saving him, he was evil, something he never wanted to be.

But there was a job to do.

He took out a runestone from the bag attached to his belt, and hit himself square in the chest. The stone shattered like an eggshell, but the rune remained, floating in midair for a second, before he spoke a single word.

"North," Bynze said quietly.

On his command, the floating rune applied itself to his chest. He suddenly felt his gravity shift, and his feet left the ground. He tumbled through the air for a second, but he had done this before, so he quickly steadied himself and put his legs out in front of him, so if he hit something, he would land on his feet, and his magical boots would save him. leading him in the direction of the center of the city. He felt the wind pushing against his leather cloak and dark hair. He spotted his target's skyscraper approaching rapidly, so he readied himself for a sudden landing. He felt his boots hit the dark glass of the skyscraper, and he felt an energy flow through his body, saving him from pain, and saving the glass from shattering.

Bynze stayed in his landing pose for a second, out of breath. He had one hand on the glass of the building, and the other in the air. Bynze stood up again, disoriented for a moment, he hadn't done this in months, but he also felt a rush of excitement, and started towards the top of the skyscraper. He could apply another rune to change gravity towards the sky, but he didn't want to accidentally miss the office and drift out into space, so he just ran for it. As he ran, he pulled up his black scarf, covering his nose and mouth. Because he was running towards the clouds, raindrops fell onto his face and clothes, and one even fell in his eye, before he placed his hand in front of his face to prevent it from happening again.

Along with the sounds of rain pouring down on Kifrora, Bynze heard a faint jazz band playing a tune in a nearby building. Bynze closed his eyes while running, and focused on the pitter patter of raindrops falling on the world below him, calming his mind.

By now, he was almost at the top. He looked down at the glass of the skyscraper. It was tinted, keeping outside eyes from discovering the deeds people do on the inside. Bynze knew no one was there except for his target and his guards. He had been scoping out this place for weeks.

As he neared the top of the tower, Bynze slowed his pace to a walk before turning around and taking in the scene.

He saw each little raindrop travel from the heavens to earth, each making its mark on the world. He heard the faint cries of laughter from children and grown-ups alike. He saw neon signs reflecting their light off the damp cement, making it seem like the world itself was glowing with delight, with colors of red, pink, and light blue. He felt a warmth in his heart, showing him the world wasn't all evil.

He turned back around and walked towards the very top of the building, where a glass wall remained. This one was different from the others, as it wasn't tinted. It was designed to give anyone who occupied the space a free view of the entire city.

Bynze took out a small sheet of paper while crouching over the edge of the glass. On the sheet of paper was a picture of his target. Victor Richardson, the leader of the infamous gang, The Cobalt Angels. The gang owned the entire skyscraper, renting it to an insurance agency to cover their tracks of illegal activity. The top of the building was solely owned by Victor, and was where the Cobalt Angels housed their Stormwax, a highly illegal drug that causes the user to hallucinate. You can tell when someone is on Stormwax when they have dilated and shaky pupils, but Victor, at least in the photo, didn't have those traits. It wasn't unusual for drug lords to not use their own supply, because they know how bad that stuff is.

Bynze wasn't ordered to kill Victor because he was involved in illegal activity; it was because he was competing against Bynze's boss in the Stormwax business.

Victor was a human male, with curly brown hair and a strong chin. He looked about twenty-four. Apparently, Victor had inherited the business from his now deceased father. Bynze knew for a fact he'd be in his office tonight, on account of some spies on the inside, feeding him info. Bynze walked slowly to the middle of the window while keeping his eyes on a silhouette of Victor, sitting at his desk, his back turned to the window. In front of Victor was a walkway leading to an elevator, with two bodyguards facing the elevator.

The office was nicely decorated. The table in front of him was made of a wood not recognizable to Bynze, but seemed fancy. There were potted plants in corners of the room and on either side of the lift. A big, golden chandelier hung several feet above Victor's head, highlighting his curly brown hair.

Shit! Bynze thought to himself. The drug lord had somehow known he was coming. He would have to do this the hard way.

He pulled out his last five runes from his bag, two Change Gravity, one Change Immunity, one Rid Gravity, and one Empower. He stared at each of them for a moment, before constructing a plan.

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About an hour later, Bynze returned to his position, having everything set up. He had gone to the ground floor and placed his Rid Gravity and Empower runes in the lift, then hit the top floor button. In order to reach the top before the lift got there, he had to change his gravity to shift towards the sky in order to reach the top in time, before changing his gravity back north. He stood on the glass, waiting for the lift to arrive and distract the guards.

The guards were two beefy guys, each wielding a big metal bat. They had on black tuxedos, as if they had just had a wonderful night in Hinas, the City of Wagers. It was obvious they thought Bynze was going to arrive in the lift, but he was smarter than that.

Bynze suddenly heard a muffled *ding* through the glass, signaling that the lift had arrived. The two guards, who were already facing the doors, readied their spears, shifting their legs into a strong horse stance. As the doors slid open, Bynze could sense the confusion on the two guards' faces. There, in the lift, were two dormant runestones, each emitting a faint black glow, indicating they'd been activated.

The guards nodded to each other, and one stepped back while the other approached the runestones slowly, kneeling down to take a look at them.

Bynze stared intensely at the runes, and as the guard was about to touch them, Bynze mentally activated both spells.

The two runes, Rid Gravity and Empower, burst, and a large pool of dark energy emits from the now broken stones. The guards lose their balance from the sudden event, and topple. But rather than falling, they float there. The gravity has been temporarily erased for the two guards, who had been within a ten-foot radius of the runes when they were activated thanks to the Empower rune enhancing the function of the Rid Gravity rune, which would normally just apply the effect to a specific target.

Victor stood up in a confused panic. For a drug lord, he wasn't all that smart. Bynze quickly applied his last rune to himself, emitting a faint, dark glow on his chest. Bynze punched the glass as hard as he could, fighting against his instincts. As his fist shattered the tinted glass, the two guards and Victor turned their heads at the sudden sound. The punch didn't cause Bynze any harm, on account of his thick skin, which had adapted to the constant tests and punishments he had to go through as an assassin in training.

Victor quickly let out a small yelp at the sight of this and scrambled to get away, but Bynze was still falling north, and was able to knock the drug lord off his feet before he even made it halfway to the elevator. As Bynze fell towards the two guards, who were still floating freely, he kicked one of them towards the western wall, before landing beside the lift. The other guard noticed this and readied his bat, despite still drifting in the air. Because of the guard's inexperience in a no-gravity zone, Bynze was able to grab the bat from him and toss it aside.

Bynze's Change Gravity rune wouldn't fade for another couple of minutes, so he had to keep Victor from escaping. Or better yet, kill him as he was now. Both guards were helpless at the moment, one being weaponless and turned upside down (both figuratively and literally), and the other floating out of the western window, which was open, towards the clouds above Kifrora.

Victor was now standing up again, and was staring at Bynze. The drug lord was wearing a white tuxedo, with a little red handkerchief popping out of his breast pocket. Victor seemed a bit malnourished, his skin was pale, and his eyes had a certain look that Bynze could sense, even while thirty feet away.

The young man puffed out his chest and started pacing very slowly around the room, before starting to laugh. His laugh was nothing like what Bynze had heard before. His laugh showed a hint of insanity, but had a tone that screamed; I am done with all this bullshit.

"Don't think for a second that you outsmarted me," Victor finally said. His voice, while still a bit high pitched, was more raspy than the average adult.

"Why not?" Bynze replied. "I broke into your office without as much as a scratch, pretty sure I outsmarted you,"

"If I wanted you dead, you'd be six feet in the ground right now," Bynze let out a chuckle when hearing the skinny kid say this.

"I'm sure, but your name's on my list, and I've never failed a job. So, if you wanted to offer me a job or some bullshit like that, I'm afraid you should've approached me like a man, and not like a coward, hidden in the shadows, " Bynze, bat still in hand, took out hi dagger and started to engrave a rune into the weapon.

Victor turned his back to Bynze and walked towards the smashed window. The glass lay on the floor around him, reflecting the blood moon light on each shard. A faint breeze came along to ruffle his hair, while his coattails waved in the wind. Victor had his hands behind his back, and was breathing slowly and deeply.

"You gonna miss this world?" Bynze asked him.

"What did it ever do for me?" Victor responded.

Bynze put his knife back on his belt; the rune was ready. He quickly brought the bat over his head and smashed it into his skull. Like all objects with a rune engraved, it broke easily and applied the rune to the assassin.

"Down," he whispered under his breath, and just like that, his gravity had returned to normal. Bynze rolled back into a standing position once he reached the floor. He and Victor were on the same level, and Victor was unarmed.

The assassin ran at Victor as fast as he could, running all the way across the room in about two seconds, and put his elbow around Victor's neck, choking him. The drug lord didn't seem phased, he just stood there, watching the rain clouds drift to cover up the moons once again.

"What do you think it's like?" Victor whispered to him.

"What?"

"Sinarus. What do you think it's like?"

Sinarus was the planet of the Divined, the gods of the Astro System. They allegedly forged Nalore and all of its races and realms.There were fourteen Divined, each mastering one element, and having the ability to use it whenever they wanted, without runes. Unfortunately, Time and Gravity weren't official elements, and didn't have Divined to wield them.

"It's cold, right? It's farther from the sun than we are, so it's snowing all the time," Bynze had been caught off guard by the question.

"I mean, do you think the Divined are at peace? Do you think they're happy? "

"If you had all the power in the world, wouldn't you be happy?"

"No..." He turned to look at him. "I wouldn't," and with that, Victor broke free of Bynze's grasp, and jumped off of the skyscraper, letting the wind take him one last time. There was no scream, no regret, and no last wish. Victor was tired; he didn't have the energy to keep going. The first thing he ever saw was the dual blood moons of Nalore, and now, it was the last thing, too.

Bynze stood there, astonished. He had never had a target do that before.

"Damn," the floating guard finally said, after a couple minutes.

Bynze didn't respond; he just flipped him off.