SIX YEARS LATER

  Running for his life, gasping for breath, in the city’s late afternoon sun. Tanner dives into the first alleyway with an exit. Wet puddles and debris met with his running feet. The impact of thrown weapons can be heard on the surrounding walls. Tanner takes a rolling dive to the muddy ground, attempting to dodge. He rolls forward through the muck and back onto his feet. His hopes for a simple mixture of rainwater and dirt go unanswered. Cursing to himself about the smell, he continues his dash through the alley. Tanner ducks around the corner and takes a quick stop to look behind him for pursuit. The sound of the gang pounding up the other street echoes after him. Panicked, and keeping close to the buildings, Tanner leaves the alley, attempting to stay unseen. The alley opening he seeks beckons. Tanner ducks in, making his way along the quickly narrowing walls to the dead end before he climbs. Stopping at the third-story windowsill. Thinking everything is undisturbed, he reaches over and pulls himself on to it, sliding into the shadows as far as he can, to stay concealed. The feel of his pulse throbs in his temples, Tanner forces himself to relax and slow his breathing. To avoid detection by his pursuers, he remains still and silent. A few minutes later, Tanner hears the gang leader Claw yelling directions to his minions.

  Two gang members, Flex and Chunky, stop at the alley entrance, waiting for their eyes to adjust to the darker area. “He’s not in here it’s a dead end,” Flex says.

  “Maybe so but the little shit’s smart he maybe hiding thinking we won’t search because it’s a dead end. I don’t want Claw on my ass, do you?” Chunky asked.

  “No, I like living so far.”

  “Damn right, This little shit is going to join us or die.” Chunky stops when the alley narrows. “I can’t fit, you’re going the rest of the way in.”

  “What if he’s in there?”

  Chunky looks at the slimmer young man and tells him. “He’s only twelve, You are bigger and older. Beat the crap out of him and drag him out, numb nuts.”

  “You do know he beat Stomper right? That boy still ain’t walk’n right.”

  Chunky grabs Flex by his greasy hair and lifts him to his tiptoes, punching Flex twice in the face, then letting him go. Chunky wipes his hands on Flex’s shirt, then tells him. “You can join Stomper begging on his street corner or look inside. You got it?”

  Flex squeezes by the fat boy. “Hey kid we just want to talk, we won’t hurt you.” Flex said. “Much.” He mutters under his breath. The boy named Flex walks to the back wall. Flex misses the trail Tanner left while climbing, turning back to look at his partner, “Not here.”

  Chunky begins walking out. Flex rushes to catch up to the bigger boy, afraid of the dark.

  The Fourth Street Fists leave the area, and Tanner relaxes the tension in his shoulders, snickering to himself over the street gang’s name. He opts to stay hidden here for an additional hour. Several minutes later, a very tall, thin man appears at the alley’s entrance, leaning against the corner. The man waits several minutes, then straightens and says to the group of men walking down the street carrying a struggling girl. “You’re late.”

  “Sorry My Lord we found some fresh meat.”

  The man known as ‘My Lord’ pulls the girl to the alley entrance. “Well let’s see what you got.”

  “No, please, no.” The sobbing girl begs.

  The boss raises his hand and lifts the girl’s hair away from her face, snarling at the rest of his men. “Which of you idiots cut her face?” One man steps forward.

  “I did boss it was an accident I was holding the knife to her throat and she started struggling,”

  “You cost me money.” Three swift stabs into the man’s chest, a smooth step behind and to the side while the boss slices into the man’s neck in a practiced motion. The lord examines his men for challengers after the man’s murder. “I will end every one of you and have your replacements working within five minutes. Drag this mistake back there.” Pointing to the back of the alley. Two men drag the body into the alley, then throw it. The limp body catches in the narrow space, and hangs suspended upside down two feet above the ground. Blood dripping down to the street. A horrified Tanner tries to slip further into the corner of the windowsill.

  The boss turns to the girl, “Too bad about your face you’re almost worthless now.” Hand on the terrified girl’s neck, he holds her with one hand against the alley wall. Then cuts her clothes off. The cruel man curses and mutters he wants to kill that idiot twice while looking at her exposed body. The struggling girl screams. The man holding her tightens his fist on her throat and punches her in the stomach.

  The moaning girl gasps for air. “No. No. No. No.”

  Tanner hides his face in his arm, blocking the horrific sight, wishing he could block his ears from the sounds. The men take turns beating and raping the now silent girl. Teeth biting into his arm to stifle his sobs, Tanner becomes furious as the abuse persists. The sounds of the attack drumming into his head. Fists clenching, eye shut tight, thoughts of the gangs chasing him and now this.

  Other sights rush through his mind. The drunk, Old Jerry, giving his coppers away to the orphan kids. Matty, the meat pie vendor, giving her unsold wares away to the street kids, at day’s end. Nothing left of them but traces of blood. The gangs taking money from those unable to buy food. The streets are unsafe, the out-of-control gangs, the disappearances. These thoughts whirl in Tanner’s mind, steeling his resolve by the second. He vows to himself. Somehow, he will make things better.

  The men finish and throw the unconscious girl on an old tarp, wrapping her up like a pile of refuse. One man takes the bundled girl, slinging her over one shoulder, blood stains oozing through the tarp, and heads off. The men receive payment, then depart.

  He climbs down from his ledge as quickly as possible. From the alley, he quickly checks the street. A few blocks up the street, Tanner spots his quarry and falls in behind, following at a distance of several yards. The stench of decaying fish and seaweed intensify while Tanner pursues the kidnapper. With a distinct rhythm, the man taps on a warehouse door in a seedy dock area before delivering a powerful blow. A man steps out, looks around, asking. “What?”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “Merchandise from the lord.” The kidnapper said.

  “In the back.”

  Tanner keeps his distance and listens to the two men. The man carrying the girl on his back nods and goes towards an alley next to the warehouse. Near a doorway, Tanner waits for the man to leave, pretending to be a homeless child. Tanner notices the man return to the street. Eyes narrowed, feigning sleep, Tanner watches the man cross the street, heading straight toward him. Becoming more panicked with every step the man makes to him. Uncertain, Tanner freezes in place. The man stops and watches Tanner for a few seconds, rubbing his chin, the light from the nearby building illuminates the man and the hand he is rubbing across his face, spotting the tattoo of a hawk on the man's wrist, Tanner’s blood freezes in his veins. The Kid Hawk’s hand reaches into a pocket and draws out a few coppers, tossing the coins at Tanner.

  “Get out out of here boy this is Kid Hawk territory what are you stupid?”

  Tanner jumps up screaming and runs away from the now laughing man. Bending to collect the copper coins he tossed at Tanner, “Idiot boy left the coins behind, ungrateful snot rag. You can’t even help someone out these days.” Muttering to himself about the poor state of the world, he moves on.

  Tanner flings himself into a doorway out of the Kid Hawks sight, checking behind him Tanner sees the man vanishing into the darkness. He takes a few deep breaths to regain his composure. Tanner heads back up the street towards the warehouse alley, keeping an eye out for any observers. Tanner slips into the dark space, pausing for his eyes to adjust somewhat, he looks around for a door he can open. Unable to find an unlocked door, Tanner spots a small open window above the back entrance door, jumping a few times to reach the lower sill. Tanner grabs hold and pulls himself up, squeezing through the window, falling to the floor with a thump. He stills, listening for footsteps. Tanner waits, listening, the smell of unwashed bodies wafts from the steps leading down further along the narrow hallway, after a few more minutes of listening. Tanner moves farther into the building. The slight breeze moving towards him also brings the redolent smell of the harbor, the unwashed body odor getting stronger. Tanner pauses at the head of the stairs down to the next level, listening he hears only the sound of quiet sobs and water lapping. Tanner finds a large room with a small docking space open to the harbor, covered from outside view by a large sliding door. Along one wall he sees fifteen occupied cages. Not finding the girl from the alley, he opens doors and finds several young girls and boys chained in several rooms. Tanner finds the girl from the alley, bound and gagged, unconscious. Unable to wake her, Tanner searches the other rooms for keys. He finds an office with a desk and several log books, along with receipts and other accounting papers. A quick read of the details, and Tanner realizes he needs help to rescue them. Tanner gathers all the paperwork into a large sack and leaves the building.

  Frantic, Tanner runs to the Guard Captain’s house, in the darkness banging on the door as hard as he can. Panicked, not getting a response, he snags a loose cobblestone and breaks a window just when the door is flung open. A very large, furious man steps out from the doorway, “I will beat you bloody and throw you under the gods damned jail. You better pray what ever you are about means the city is under attack or empire shaking.” The much bigger man picks Tanner up by the shirtfront and looks him in the eye. Tanner, having a terrible night, glares back at the Captain, meeting him eye to eye, and screams in his face.

  “I saw a group of men beat and gang rape a girl and then take her to a warehouse on the docks, where I found a bunch of people stuck in cages and chained up in the basement.”

  Shocked, the guard captain stills and blinks at Tanner. “Sorry kid thought you were screwing around, tell me every thing from the beginning.”

  Tanner begins his story while the captain’s wife cleans up the mess. The captain’s wife, hearing Tanner’s account of the rape, makes tea for the distraught young man. When Tanner gets to the part of his story about finding the office, he slides the sack over to the Guard Captain. “I grabbed everything and ran straight here.”

  The Captain’s face fills with rage while he looks at the loose papers and log books. Stopping, he places all the stolen evidence back into the sack and stands. The guard captain looks at Tanner, “Let’s go, time to wake the City Lord. You’re going to have to go over all of this one more time. Me and my big mouth,” looking at Tanner, he says, “The city is under attack and it is empire shaking, Come on let’s go wake up a few more and ruin their night too.” With a glance at his wife, “Dear I hate to…”

  “I’m on my way to wake Lieutenant Moorefield.”

  “Thanks,” kissing her hard. “This is going to be a bloody one.”

  Tanner and Captain Smith walk to the City lord's manor. Tanner, in dirty, torn clothing, stands beside the captain in his nightshirt and boots. “You’ve done well Tanner. Once we inform the city lord, your part in this business is done. You Understand?”

  “Yes sir, what about the girl?”

  “My wife is waking Lieutenant Moorefield. He will organize the response teams while we talk to his lordship.” Captain Smith said.

  Outside the City Lord’s manor, the Guard Captain halts, then announces, “Official city business, wake his Lordship, and sound the alarm.”

  The young man on watch looks at the two, “Go home and sleep what ever this is off and come back in the morning.”

  Tanner opens his mouth to retort. The guard captain places a calming hand on Tanner’s shoulder. With a nod of agreement to Tanner’s outrage, the Captain leans back and gives a solid kick to the manor’s gate. With a loud clang of metal on metal, the gate springs open, slamming into the unfortunate young man with poor judgment. The captain moves to the alarm bell with confidence, and rings the bell until what looks like the entire manor guard is present. The lead manor guard stands in front of the pajama clad man and comes to attention. One hand on the bell to silence it. “We have an emergency, wake his lordship and prepare every single person for deployment in fifteen minutes. Send someone to fetch my armor.” The captain pauses at the front door. With a glance at Tanner, “Come along Tanner, time for you to meet the City Lord.”

  The Lord reads the evidence while Tanner repeats his adventure. The City Lord reacts similarly to the guard captain. Tanner watches the city lord place the information aside and walk to his desk. He writes several letters, Lady Zephyr reading over the accounting log books hisses, “This is treason. We can not risk a trial. We need them all dead. If the nobility are arrested, they can wiggle out of the charges and avoid consequences. Then we will have an even bigger mess. Ensure all wounds are on the front. They will most likely fight to the death, but we need to make sure.”

  “This is a swamp we do not want to wade. I am sending runners to the temple, the church can arrest the nobles, with the church’s view on slavery. This will be an official purge, surviving the arrest is rare, and escaping slavery charges from the church are almost impossible. Captain Smith, we will remove the gangs and Kid Hawks. I only want the higher placed people alive for information. Keep your men safe from harm. I would rather have dead criminals than dead city guard.”

  With a salute to the city lord, “Yes sir.” The captain replies

  “Tanner let’s get you a bunk, as of sunset last evening you were on the payroll as a junior guardsman.” City Lord Franklin Zephyr says to him with a tight smile.

  “I didn’t know there was a such thing, sir,”

  The Lord Zerphyr nods his head and declares, “There is now. Well done, Tanner.”