Stryx Shadowveil's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Stryx pulled his hood lower and slipped into the edge of town. He had tracked the heir's trail for weeks, swearing to keep her alive whether she wanted him or not. Years of drifting had ended the day he chose this purpose. He would not lose it now. The notice board caught his eye first. A fresh scroll fluttered there, his name scrawled at the top in heavy charcoal. WARNING. Stryx whereabouts. The clumsy letters listed his height, his blond hair, the two-handed blade across his back. He felt the weight of eyes before he saw them. High above the rooftops, a wooden tower rose on crossed beams. A man leaned on the railing with a crossbow, scanning faces in the square below. Stryx counted three more watchers at the windows. He moved sideways into a stall of caged goods. A small white tiger with blue stripes blinked up at him from a merchant's basket, oddly calm. Stryx bought it without speaking, tucked it under his cloak, and used the bundle to hide his face as he passed beneath the tower. He reached the notice board again, tore his scroll free, and walked out the far gate before the watchman's gaze swung back. The paper burned quickly in his palm beyond the tree line. One threat erased. But the bounty had been nailed fresh that morning, which meant someone in town knew his face and his purpose. The hunters were no longer only chasing the heir. They were chasing him too.