[Open by request.]
The sun was fading fast and the night was drawing in. But it seemed like every second lasted forever, the harder his feet pounded the soft forest undergrowth. His throat was raw and ragged and felt like he was going to pass out at any moment. With darkness chasing him, he only knew it was a matter of time before the shadow would close in.
He didn't know what it was, but it moved as swift as the wind, like it bounced from tree to tree, a black shape that clung to each structure, jumping off from the left, then landing to the right of him in a zigzagging nature. At times it seemed incredibly close, so much that he could feel breath splaying on the back of his neck, and others, he saw that it was a hundred yards away.
But there it was! Salvation at last!
He stumbled through the trees, tripping over a root, but quickly finding his feet underneath him again. "Help me!" he cried out. "Help me please!"
The sun was falling behind the treeline, the sky a burnt orange color that cast stark contrasts in the growing gloom. The sky rumbled, the belly of heaven roiling in dull rage, and the clouds began to spill forth rain.
His cries fell on deaf ears and he felt something hard knock into his back. Before him stood the stranger that was hounding him. He was bewildered, staring up, wide-eyed. It was just a man, an ordinary man. Not the shade with menacing eyes he thought he saw form the corner of his vision. There was no look of reprieve from the pale man.
"Please! Please! I didn't mean it! It was just there!"
"You should know better than to take things that don't belong to you," he replied. "Pray to the gods for mercy, because you'll find none from me."
The blade was raised eye, one of a twin set of stocky broadswords with a twisting hilt, rose up from the stranger's hand, and as the light continued to fade, and the rain came down, his form darkened, turning into a blackened shadow. They held the handle of the blade and without a second thought swung the blade downward in a savage arc. The metal met to flesh, cutting through it like butter, and red splattered the ground, the man opened from belly to throat. There was a brief yelp, a gurgle and soon a hand fell limply to the ground, and in it was clutched a gemstone amulet.
Rain water collected on the ridges, and the emerald encrusted within it was dabbled here and there with water. The color shifted and swirled and Bhalasar moved over the man's lifeless body. Perhaps he hadn't meant to take it, but that wasn't his fare. It was taken and now it must be returned. His mistress would likely be quite unhappy that it managed to be stolen in the first place.
He reached down to pick it up, his hand pausing suddenly at the sound of a voice nearby. He could've snatched it if it had not been for their quick feet and he spotted them not more than a house away. Bhalasar growled inwardly and quickly vanished when the stranger came closer into view.
He watched them as he clung to the side of a building, the last rays of the sun gone, and the rain pelting down harder now.
