The Negotiation

In the silence of the night, a boy was running towards an old and worn-down building. He stepped in a dark alleyway at the side of the building, slowed his pace and looked around. He stumbled upon a wooden door and knocked. The slit of the door opened spilling light to the outside and a pair of eyes gazed at the knocker. Immediately, the slit was closed. The door opened and a large man casted a shadow enveloping him. The man stared at him expecting to receive something. He handed a piece cylindrical wood with leather belt wound around it. The man handed over five pieces of copper coins and the boy scurried away. The man closed the door and looked around. Several men loitered around the room stared at him and saw what he is carrying. The inside of the room looked well-built in contrast to the outside. He went up the second floor and knocked at a door close to the stairs. Inside, a man with a long, black hair and a fierce gaze is sitting on a chair with a table in front of him.

         "Boss Aeron, a message came." the man said and placed the wooden cylinder on the table. Then excused himself out of the room.

Aeron unraveled the leather and read the message. He smirked. It reported that assassins will be dispatched to take his head and the kingdom's army will storm the Thirteenth District to disperse his gathered forces at the break of dawn. He saw this as futile for the kingdom was too late. His forces are all armed and ready to attack the kingdom tonight. The servants of each mansion have already been swapped and ready to execute the ministers and the nobles. They are only waiting for his command. His head suddenly ached and he clutched his hands in his head with his teeth clenched. His breathing became short and fast. Bits and pieces of old memories came flooding in.

A figure threw a blade at Aeron's face. He managed to slip out of his chair and dodge. He grinned like a child given with a gift. The assassins have already arrived. Another figure grappled him and he tried to unravel the hold, choking the air out of his lungs. He saw a blade about to strike his torso and with burst of strength, grabbed the attacker’s wrist halting the blade with its tip barely touching his body. At a moment’s notice, he took a blade from his waist and plunged it on the figure's side of the throat. The first figure threw a smoke bomb. Aeron clenched to his blade with his eyes roaming about in the smoke and his other arm covering his nose. He listens carefully to sounds of footsteps and his stance ready for an attack. He tries to sense his attacker. But he sensed nothing. He relaxed his guard and thought the figure had escaped. He sensed blades thrown from behind followed by a lunge. He parried the blades and dodged the lunge. With the blade in his hand, threw it on the remaining figure's head. The blade struck the figure’s head and the figure fell. He realized that none of his men rushed to his room during the commotion and concluded that they are already dead. He sensed something and immediately turned towards the door. Another figure appeared. A tall man wearing a black hood with sunset eyes peering from it.

         "Arioch, Captain of the Penal Battalion! How nice to finally meet you! Your lackeys are dead. You can get out of here now." He told the figure with an accommodating smiling.

         "Those are not mine. I have come to talk." Arioch responded. He raised his arms and turned all round. Inferred that he has no weapons on him.

         Aeron doubted Arioch’s act. "Oh! This is a first time," Aeron answered in a jeering manner. "Come to bargain?"

         "Stop this and join me." Arioch replied.

         "And what? Be a pet of the kingdom's lapdog?" Aeron retorted. "Are you out of your mind?"

         "Your uprising will be crushed. It will only result in a blood bath and you will be executed on the spot. Even if you can destroy this kingdom, there will only be a power struggle from other kingdoms and you will still be eliminated." Arioch answered.

         "I don't give a fuck." Aeron replied. "These people are sick and tired of these corrupted nobles. They have suffered under their unjust treatment. They just want to have a shot at those at the top even at the cost of their life. I am just helping them." Aeron laughed boisterously almost suffocating. "You know.... these nobles.... spout words.... of strength and honor......but their luxurious lifestyle....... their power and position.... corrupted them all...... turned them to snakes .... despite their power and cunning...... their fighting prowess.... their smarts for elaborate strategies...... they resort to ......ass-kissing and backstabbing....... such irony!!!!!" Aeron said while heaving then he laughed again. He laughed so hard that tears began to form on his eyes and finally he calmed down. "Even if I face death, I will topple this kingdom!"

         "Looks like I have to beat some sense into you." Arioch getting into a fighting stance.

         "Ooh! This is going to be fun!" Aeron smiled. A devilish smile. His headache had finally subsided. With a blade in each hand, he poised to strike and charged at Arioch.

Aeron’s fighting style is formidable. Unconventional yet precise. Striking at blind spots accompanied by few feints. Flowing like water and striking fast like a snake. At the start of the engagement, Aeron has the upper hand. His opponent was having a hard time dodging his flurry of attacks. Managing only to block his wrist. Albeit unarmed, the fighting prowess of his opponent is still formidable.

As the fight drags on, his opponent has matched him toe to toe. He struck at an open blind spot but his opponent caught him and receives a fatal blow on the face. Like a puzzle, his fighting pattern has been cracked. Arioch has been reading his movements. After the blow, a thought entered his mind: he must escape. He eyed the window behind his opponent and lunged towards the window. However, his foot was caught by the heel. He grasped at the windowsill with both hands, resisting his opponent. But his strength was not enough and his grip slipped. He was flung and slammed on the opposite wall. He recovered his stance and continued the fight. He tried to change his tactics but his opponent can already predict how he thinks. He made several attempts to escape but failed.

After being beaten half to death, Aeron was on all fours. His face swollen and battered. His body trembling from exhaustion. Wounds and bruises cover his whole body with his blood dripping on the wooden floor. The whole room was wrecked.

         Arioch whispered in his ear. "I will give you an offer you can't refuse."

         "Fuck your offer!" Aeron responded coughing up blood.

         "I also don't like hypocrites and pretenders. They say things they do not mean and the worst of all, I can read it on their faces. All the high and mighty of this kingdom just disgusts me." Arioch explained.

         "Oh please, spare me the bullshit!" Aeron said in a sarcastic tone.

         Arioch stared at him eye to eye. "These are the people that made you into who you are. A maddened raging beast. You want them to pay for what they have done to you. You want revenge. Your nightmares, you want to end it. I will give you a purpose worthy of your skills. Join me and we will rid of this corrupted ruling class and I will give you a life you won't regret."

         Aeron smiled. "That......might be interesting. I will call off the attack."