A Pain in the Neck

[Alain the Carnedge]

Alain sprinted through the alley, leaping over the few beggars, and probably pickpockets, in his path with relative ease. Landing on his feet at the nearby turn, he followed the guard's instructions and moved to take a right, but a gloved hand outstretched from the left, grabbing his wrist and pulling him away before he could take another step.

The figure was surprisingly strong, dragging him through the streets with one hand without any visible strain. Though the red glow in the corner of their eye made them stop to turn around, greeted by the crimson sword at their throat and the sadistic smile of their "attacker". "I'd really rather not be interrupted while on a job, so talk fast and, oh hell, I'm in a good mood so I might even let you live." Alain spoke with a tone of mild annoyance instead of anger, but the figure, now evidently a woman now that he could see their face, stepped back out of terror anyway. The woman had black hair and steel armor that wouldn't look out of place on a medieval knight, if only it didn't have dirt and mud all over it, as did both her face and hair. She was also carrying what looked like the crushed remains of a helmet in her other hand, which also lacked gauntlets. "P-please, hear me out." The woman said, sounding more like a dying puppy than a knight.

Alain sighed after a quick analysis of her "danger level", and while he didn't have any special power to do so, she didn't appear to be a threat to him so Sresveltr disappeared as he put his hands in his pockets. "Make it quick." The knight hastily did a formal bow and introduced themselves like they were a new student at a new school. "My name is Maria. You're the new mercenary around here, correct? I last did that job with a couple of friends, until we got a request from some villagers outside Darkshire, asking us to save them from the Tarrasque, that building-sized monstrosity that's been ravaging the nearby towns." Alain shrugged and leaned on the nearby wall, tossing the stolen crossbow up and down. "Oh yeah, that thing. It hates buildings and that's all I've gathered about it...oh, but do go on." Maria sighed and continued to tell her life's story, apparently unfazed at being interrupted. "Well, me and a few of my friends went to go kill it. I like to think we were good at our jobs, but...it annihilated us. We didn't even injure it before it wiped most of us out, and the survivors of my team was so demoralized after that that they quit their mercenary work. So, now everyone's dead and I can't take on that...monstrosity to avenge them. Could you, perhaps, do it in my stead? I'll pay you everything I have in return for avenging my comrades...What do you say, hm?" I had planned to kill it for giggles anyway, so this is great. "Alright, can do. But I'm only doing it after I take out this Manticore, I accepted that job first and I'll take care of yours when I see the Tarrawhatever again." He bursted off before she could respond, running and skidding to a halt into the area which was soon to be his battleground. The bright light of the sword's summoning briefly illuminated the area, the red, metallic looking blade suddenly turning into blood that simply dropped to the ground, coating it in the fresh life-fluid that used to be a weapon. There was but a minute of silence before there was the distinct sound of a Manticore's roaring, and he raised the stolen crossbow in anticipation for his foe. This is about to get good.