NOVEL NEXT XLVIII. A Coward's Requiem
Cabdan: W-wait, please...!
Cowering in fear, Cabdan seemed to be finally face to face with death. The confident businessman façade gave way to an embarrassing grimace, with tears and snot running down his distorted face.
Rel: Look at you now, Cabdan. A grown man reduced to such a shameful state... You know death better than so many, seen it more times than most would ever see during their lifetime... Yet that seems to have made no difference. You're just as scared as all of those who died at your mercy were.
Tyssa held onto her blade tightly, as she approached him.
Tyssa: I wish I could say this would be quick and painless...
She menacingly points the sword at him, his wet eyes staring down its sharp tip.
Tyssa: ... It won't. First, I'm going to slice up your leg tendons. Then, I'll cut each of your fingers one by one, until the mob catches up to us. When they arrive, who knows what they'll have in store for you. Whatever it may be, you can be sure that you won't be escaping it... Not this time.
Rel looked at Tyssa with a blank stare, taken aback by the cruelty in her words.
Rel: Tyssa...
As she grabbed one of Cabdan's legs, the man screams, desperately reaching for something in his dirty shirt's front pocket. Seeing this, Tyssa lets go of his leg, instinctively anticipating some sort of hidden weapon.
Cabdan: Don't kill me... I beg of you...
From his pocket, a small wrapped cloth was revealed. It seemed to be cushioning a small, cylindrical bottle. As he pulls the cloth away, he sighs in deep relief at the sight of the undamaged glass vessel, containing a translucent blue liquid within.
Cabdan: Faya -- she is still alive, isn't she? I have heard rumors...
Rel and Tyssa's eyes widen as they stare at the glass bottle in his shaking hand.
Cabdan: Help me escape, and this is yours... The antidote for her poison.
They froze. Behind them, a group of citizens had regained their composure, and were already on their way to seek revenge using their very hands.
Cabdan: Quickly, before they get here...!
Rel stretches out his right hand.
Rel: The bottle, first.
Cabdan shakes his head, clutching it with both hands.
Cabdan: No...! It stays with me until I am safely away. Afterward, I'll have it sent to a safe, hidden location. I'll make sure this bottle reaches you, you have my word!
Tyssa looked behind her shoulder, gauging how rapidly the crowd approached them. As she faces forward once more, her eyes lock onto Rel's. They exchanged a knowing glance. Rel nodded.
Rel: ... I'll handle them.
Tyssa takes a deep breath. As Rel turns around and heads toward the oncoming mob, she stays behind to assist Cabdan.
Tyssa: Come...
Cabdan quickly stows the bottle back in his pocket with one hand, as he grabs Tyssa's hand with the other. His concerned look was slowly shifting -- it seemed like he would make it out of there alive, after all.
Cabdan: Thank you dear Tyssa, thank you...!
As she pulls him up, Tyssa thrusts the sword's tip straight into his right eye socket. Cabdan screams in agony as he feels it pop, taking half his sight with it.
Tyssa: Just who do you take us for...?
She retracts the weapon, as Cabdan falls face-first into the ground. The bottle shoots out of his pocket, shattering as it hits the hard floor. Tyssa quickly slices a piece of cloth from her shirt and uses it to grab the largest unbroken piece she could find, which still housed some liquid inside. Cabdan clutched onto his empty eye socket, as blood poured out of it.
Cabdan: HOW CAN YOU DO THIS?! Y-YOU'RE AN ANIMAL! YOU'RE-
Before he could finish, Tyssa lunges at him with the broken bottle piece in hand. Anticipating her intentions, Cabdan does his best to keep his mouth shut, using both his hands to cover it... But that didn't stop her. She shoved the broken bottle into his empty eye socket, causing an overwhelming amount of pain to shoot through Cabdan's body. As the liquid inside travelled down his tear duct, through the back of his nose, and down his throat, Cabdan falls to the ground, his body twisting in pure torment.
Tyssa: I'm your worst nightmare, Cabdan.
Cabdan's entire face flared up in a vivid shade of red, as he began choking. His neck was quickly becoming swollen and purple, leading him to use his hands to claw at his throat in a last ditch effort to get some relief.
Tyssa: I know you better than anyone... You would never let us win. Whatever small victory we thought we had, it always turned into defeat in the long run. After all, that is how you treated the people in these slums... Isn't it? You always had to be the winner.
She grabs his fallen top hat from the ground, holding it up to the sun.
Tyssa: You're too proud. Far too proud... But I read you like an open book. Giving us Faya's antidote on a silver platter...? Unlikely. What's far more likely is that you offered us even more poison, instead.
Cabdan slowly lost control of his body, as the unrelenting poison attacked his nervous system.
Tyssa: In the end, you got bested by a little girl. The very same one you sought to take advantage of, deepen your pockets with... How does it feel?
She knelt down beside him, placing the top hat down on the ground next to his head. His red, helpless eyes stared at her.
Tyssa: I guess you couldn't answer even if you wanted to. I'll tell you how it feels from my perspective...
Tyssa stabs the top hat through its roof, pinning it onto the ground. She whispered in his ear.
Tyssa: Pretty. Fucking. Good.
Using the sword for support, Tyssa stands back up. Rel kept the people busy, but as soon as they saw Cabdan hit the ground, they just couldn't wait any longer. As Tyssa walked towards Rel in one direction, with a wide smile and tears streaming down her face, the vengeful mass rushed to Cabdan's dying body in the other, with the hope of unloading some of the pain they had endured over the years under his rule.
Jargen: It's... Done. It's finally over...
Jargen and Punjo were farther behind, witnessing the entire spectacle. During battle, they had managed to knock unconscious and capture one of Cabdan's men. With his employer's death, they hoped to interrogate him in the hopes of finding any useful information that could help the newly-freed people of the slums.
Rel: Come on, let's get you some much needed rest...
Rel walked Tyssa back inside the orphanage. That day, the entirety of the slums commemorated the first of many days in freedom. At night, people gathered in the orphanage, where food and drinks were shared between all. Though Cabdan's death did not mean the end of all their problems, the day was not for worrying about the future, but for celebrating the present. Rel, Jargen and Punjo had taken it upon themselves to bury Anya's body in the orphanage's garden, where she had found her place. As they drank beside each other, they hoped that one day, Virno would stand by their side once more, and that they could rebuild and grow their home together...