Through The Fractured Lens

Lucian

3 years later

"Come on, hurry up!" I shouted through the foggy mess of the morning.

After what felt like eternity, Draven jumped out of the fog, obvious bruises covering his entire body, head to toe.

"Turn those burners on boy, let's move!" Draven exclaimed.

As I couldn't quite understand what he meant with his strange sense of urgency, I figured it out just a moment later, as a horde of bandits came rushing out, enraged beyond belief—bolting towards us at mach 10.

"You don't have to tell me twice," I replied to Draven, as we began sprinting down the stream, attempting to find any place to hide.

In the chaos of the moment, you could hear the bandits faint muttering in the distance.

"—us back!"

"You'll both pay for this!"

"We stole it first!"

As they spoke, it reminded me to check on the items. I swung over my backpack just a little to get a glance on the inside, ensuring all the items were safe.

Multiple artifacts glistened at the faint ray of sun beaming into the backpack. Relieved that nothing happened, I slung the backpack over my shoulders again, before shifting my focus forward.

We sprinted through the dense, lush lands of the forest, swinging our bodies over different boulders and fallen trees, still attempting to seek any cover we could find to escape the onslaught behind us.

"Hope you aren't tired yet boy," Draven shouted, voice turning out quite muffled over the sound of all the footsteps.

"Just hope that hangover isn't hitting you too hard you old drunk," I snapped back.

"You wish," Draven replied.

As we continued downstream, the occasional bandit would stagger from the group, allowing us to the pick them off.

We took many bandits down as we tried our best to escape, however there still appeared to be more than two dozen close on our asses.

"Over there," Draven shouted, pointing at a slight opening where rocks were covering a snapped tree perfectly, providing a natural cover area and a great way to hide from these bandits. Would it work though?

'Don't really have much of a choice here I suppose,' I told myself.

"You still got those smoke bombs, boy?" Draven asked, with a worried expression covering his face, clearly not confident in his own plan, which worried me just slightly.

"Yeah, and I think I know exactly what you plan on doing," I snapped back.

I slung my backpack back around again, this time checking one of the side pockets, pulling out 4 condensed balls of grey tinted spirit energy.

As Draven gave the signal, I spun around to face the bandits, as I threw out all 4 spirit balls towards them, at an angle to hit the ground perfectly in front of them.

The cascade eruption from the smoke balls in unison provided excellent noise coverage as Draven and I bolted for the hiding place up ahead, combined with the smokescreen allowing us with a perfect vision coverage for the time we needed.

Ducking under cover, we quickly positioned ourselves just right to cover our shadows. As the smoke faded, we could hear the footsteps of the bandits get louder.

As they reached our spot, they stopped, looking around as they chatted amongst themselves.

"This way!"

"No, they had to have just gone upstream!"

These random jabs of misdirection are exactly what we needed, as nearly each and every one of them wanted to go a different direction.

Finally, after a few minutes that felt hard to swallow, they ended up leaving, continuing downstream, after a lot of bicker amongst them.

Waiting until the sound of their footsteps were completely gone from my eardrums, I signaled Draven that it was clear, as we both slid out under the cover, getting back up on our feet and continuing our journey.

"Should probably ask for a bonus with all the trouble this one brought us," Draven mentioned.

"Definitely, although, I am starving. Let's eat first," I added.

"Unfortunately your hunger can wait, I want my money," Draven began, letting off a mischievous smirk before turning away.

"That alcohol money running a bit thin, huh?" I asked as his face lit up red.

"Yes it is, thank you for asking. And I don't regret a single purchase!" Draven stated proudly.

"Anyways, let's get moving," I finished.

We began walking away downstream again, heading towards one of the other cities eastern to Vorrak to deliver the artifacts to the client.

Draven found that retrieving stolen artifacts and merchandise for rich families around Vorrakhan would be a great way to not only train, but also earn money. Although, it's quite obvious I don't get a fair share.

However, what I've learned triumphs the little extra money.

***

We arrive in Velmora, a city that strays not too far away from Vorrak, which many consider the 'capital' of the continent, even if it doesn't have an official one.

Velmora is home to a lot of the more noble families in Vorrakhan, as the city has a historically strategic placement geographically. Placed just off of the main trade route, Velmora has easy access not only into Vorrak, but to most of the other major cities, since majority of them tend to lay on the eastern side of the continent.

This made Velmora one of the most important trade routes in modern day.

As we approached the next manor, our 3rd shipment in the last week, we were greeted by one of their maids, gesturing for us to follow them in.

Entering the manor, the elegant and luxurious decor surprises me less every time I see it. 'Some people have too much money for their own good,' I thought to myself.

Wasting no time at all, our client began rushing down the stairs. He wore plain socks with a loose robe, clearly just out of the shower, not having enough time to clean himself up or throw on something sensible it seems.

"Ah yes, you are here, of course," the man began speaking.

As the man drew close, I slung around the backpack once more, this time fully unbuttoning the top latch, revealing all the artifacts in their full glory, as their shine radiates off of the man's face.

The man wore a smile with pride, as he attempted to grab hold of one of the artifacts.

Quickly, I snatched the bag away just before he could.

"Hey, what gives? These are mine after all," the man retorted.

I met his gaze. "Payment."

"Ah, right! How silly of me," he replied.

The man snapped his fingers, and 3 maids came rushing one, one holding a clean leather case, presenting it to Draven.

Golden light attacked my eyes as the freshly polished gold coins proudly stained my vision.

Draven began to drool slightly, before practically yanking the leather case out of the maid's hands, inspecting it closely before shutting the case.

Once he was sure it was all ready, Draven gave me a nod, and I pulled around the backpack, before dumping out all of the contents from the main pouch onto the table next to me.

The man wasted no time rushing through all of it, checking each one individually. It was clear he didn't trust us enough to be confident in us returning every single item, probably thinking we were gonna smuggle one of them for ourselves.

I couldn't blame him, however. Lot of risky people in this business, but we just came here for our money in the end.

The man calmed down before looking back at us.

"It all seems to be in place, I appreciate your delivery, I very much do."

"We thank you for providing us with work," Draven replied, giving him a slight bow, attempting to show a bit of respect. While I didn't care much with the formalities, I followed suit, not wanting to accidentally burn any bridges with potential future work.

Finally, as everything was settled, Draven began walking towards the exit, and I followed closely in his wake.

As we exited the manor and onto the side of the street, heading to downtown, I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in the work we've done these past few years.

While time is still nothing but a blur to me, I've come to appreciate these past years just a little more.

Every day is agonizing, waking up and being forced to remember... everything.

However, by each passing day, it all gets a little better.

While it's still hard, I was glad I met Draven. While I didn't look at him for anything more than a simple, drunk alcoholic journeying with me in my younger years, I tried to value his company just a little extra.

After all, how much longer would I even have in this life in the end?