A Rogue and A Royal

The Dead Ruler

Goth ran through the woods, right towards the Northern capital. Ruslan and Bonzo weren't back yet. They often used the sewers to get to their targets, so that's where Goth expected them to be. She stops at a large stone wall. This wall was the border of the Northern capital, and they are the first line of defense. They are impossible to climb up, and even if you manage to do that, the guards will shoot you down before you can even see the other side. Luckily enough, Bonzo made a secret entrance to the sewers a few years back. All that's left to do is to find it. 

She placed her hands on the wall and tried to feel for a button. After a few seconds, a secret trap door opened right next to her feet. She smiles happily, opens the trap door, then leaps down into it. As she did, the trap door closed and camouflaged itself again.

She fell right onto a strangely fluffy mattress inside of a large, labyrinth-like sewer. She stood on the stone ground of the sewers. She looked around. In the center of the sewers was a river full of green, disgusting water. 

On each side of this river, there were two sidewalk-like platforms for people to walk along. On each of these platforms, tents full of lowlives and drug addicts were scattered across, like sprinkles if they were on some disgusting cupcakes. The not-so-sturdy bridges shook slightly, but they were the only safe way across the disease-filled water. A mix of alcohol, smoke, urine, sweat, blood and pure death filled the air. Unless you were used to the smell, you probably would have thrown up your stomach before your feet hit the floor. Goth got used to the scent long ago. She went this way often. 

Goth puts her long, electric blue hair in a bun. 

She draped the hood of her cloak over her head. She walked quickly and feather-like over each bridge and past each lowlife. She kept her head down, hoping that no one recognized her. The lowlives would do anything for some extra coin in their pockets, and if that means killing one of the most wanted and deadly leaders currently in Morana, then so be it. She just wanted to find Bonzo and Ruslan as quickly as possible. She would prefer to do this quickly to lower her chances of being attacked. 

Suddenly, the faint smell of blood started to waft towards her. She stops instantly. She tries to find the source of the scent. 

It might be Bonzo or Ruslan. She sprints towards the source of the scent, hoping that her bloodhound-like nose won't fail her this time. 

Bonzo sat below a sewer grate. Since it was raining, the rain slowly dripped onto him. He was holding a bloody cut along his stomach and held his head down as he cried. Goth runs over to him. She tries to use a spell to heal the wound. Bonzo's cut slowly healed, but he fell into Goth's arms anyway. He was hysterical. He wouldn't stop crying. 

"I-I'm so sorry, my listener. Please have the mercy to forgive Bonzo..." he pleads.

"Why? What happened to you? Where's Ruslan?" Goth asked, trying to hold back her panic. 

"The king... he found Bonzo and Ruslan, then attacked with the guards. He cornered poor Bonzo. He was planning to kill Bonzo. Then, Ruslan leaped behind him to stab him, but the king countered. The rest of the tale tells itself," he answered as he points at the grate above. 

Goth looked at him. "I'll come back for you..." she muttered. Goth leaped out of the sewers and looked around. She was in the middle of the village. There were plenty of closed shops, a tavern, and an inn. The candles in the streetlamps start to flicker.

She looked at the fountain. It was pure crystal white, with some nice clean water. Then blood drips down, tainting the water's purity. It was partially Ruslan. Only his head laid on top of the fountain. The pure water of the fountain slowly turned into a bloody tainted version of itself.