Writetober Day 19 (Loop)

Day 19

Loop

“Something’s not right.”  Darus clutched the dagger in his hand, his eyes scanned the battlefield before him.

“Of course something is wrong.  Our king has laid siege to the most fortified city in the lands, and you and I are supposed to sneak in and kill their king.”

“You forgot we have to make it back out, Gregor.”  Darus paused as he thought of the conversation, it felt familiar.

“Ah yes, once we cover your fancy dagger with his blood, we need to then make it out.  Why did we agree to this?”  Gregor grimaced at the weight of his words.

“We didn’t.”  Darus stepped down from the rock that he was perched on.  He turned his focus from the blood that was being spilt on the desert sand below them.  His eyes set on the massive sandstone walls that surrounded the city of Argriba.

Their trip toward the wall was in silence, they didn’t have to try hard to keep quiet under the enormous battle that raged around them.  Darus’s mind lingered on the strangeness that he felt, his feet seemed to step into places they had already been.  There were no previous footprints, but his body moved in a familiar path.

“Deja vu.”  The words left his mouth before he could hold them back.

“What are you on about?”  Gregor was drenched in sweat, though his body was barely tired.

“Nothing, I just feel like we have done this.”  Darus paused as he took in the sheer size of the wall they had made it to.

“The heat is getting to you, get some water before we start the climb.”  Gregor had his waterskin to his lips already. 

The two began their climb.  To a common person, the height and lack of equipment would deter anyone, but Darus and Gregor were anything but that.  Their fingers and toes found grooves and divots that normal eyes wouldn’t have seen.  Their muscles were iron as they carried their bodies toward the sky as they climbed.

“Your left hand.”  Darus let the words go as they came to him.

“What?”  Gregor reached with his hand and gripped a ledge that broke beneath his weight.  The confusion of Darus’s words prevented him from relying on the ledge completely.

The two stared at one another.

“I told you something is off.”  Darus had the conversation before.

“Let’s just finish this.”  Gregor pressed on as they neared the top of the wall.  “We can talk after.”

The assassins made their way onto the battlements that wrapped around the wall.  Darus wasn’t surprised to see no guards.  With the massive height of the walls, no one was going to be scaling them, no one sane at least.

Darus motioned toward a wooden door that they assumed led into the workings of the fortified city.

“Wait.”  Darus clenched his partner’s shoulder as a memory flooded over him.  The image of blood stained hands gripped him as he watched the life drain from Gregor’s eyes.

“What is it?”  Gregor’s words were accompanied by the wooden door swinging open.

They acted quickly, the two men eviscerated the unsuspecting guard before he could make a sound.

“Did you hear him coming?”  Gregor wiped the blood from his blade.

“No…I, I don’t know.”  Darus thought about their trip, and how everything felt as if he’d done it before.  “Let’s just go.”

“So this is where their king hides while his men die.”  Gregor’s words were soft as they entered a lavish hall of gold and stone.

The two had traveled undetected through the city, their outfits assisted in most of the encounters they faced.  As skilled assassins knew, most of the work was blending in, not killing.

“How many times must we do this?”  The voice boomed across the walls of the chamber they entered.  

“Show yourself and die like a man!”  Gregor let his annoyance boil to the surface.

Darus focused on his surroundings, his eyes searched for hidden areas or points of ambush.

“You have come to die yet again…and again.  By this point I’d thought you’d learn.”

“Gregor wait, this feels-”  Darus’s words were cut as an arrow ripped into his leg.  The pain lanced through his body and forced him to the stone floor.

“Darus!”  Gregor dove to his friend, but Darus knew what was going to happen.

He stared at Gregor as two arrows pierced the air and drove into his chest.  Blood bubbled from the assassins mouth as Darus waited for the third arrow to meet his friends face.

“I have seen this before.  What…what is this.”  Darus searched the room around as his leg splattered ruby liquid across the white stone.

“You have seen this, because you have experienced it, several times before.”  The king emerged from behind his throne chair.

Darus’s eyes locked onto the dagger that he held, it was a twin to his own dagger.  “Where did you get that?”

“Our paths can never cross.  I do not know why or how, but I do know that you need to remember this conversation.”  The king slowly approached Darus.

“Who are you, why-”  Darus ended his question, he felt that he wasn’t going to get an answer, he knew the king didn’t know either.

“Our stories are not meant to meet yet, remember this conversation unlike the many times before…remember.”  The king plunged the ornate dagger into Darus’s heart.

“Something’s not right.”  Darus clutched the dagger in his hand, his eyes scanned the battlefield before him.

“Of course something is wrong.  Our king has laid siege to the most fortified city in the lands, and you and I are supposed to sneak in and kill their king.”

“You forgot we have to make it back out, Gregor.”  Darus paused as he thought of the conversation, it felt familiar.

Thank you for taking the time to read my latest post!  If you are enjoying my work and want to see more, I would suggest joining my Patreon.  All of my patrons have access to everything I create, including first eyes on all of my novel work.  (Even before my editor!)

Once again, I thank you for taking time out of your day to read what I create!