Nowhere, Now here, Shadow of the Night Options

[Shadowgale]

This is a story of a girl named Shadow Night.

~~~~~

PART 1,
In which I write an annoying letter

The Effectiveness of Imperial Guards
When you think of Imperial Guards, what image pops into your head? Safety? Reassurance? Peace? No. The Imperial City has problems nowhere else has. Moreover, out of the 326 citizens interviewed, 325 of them have been pickpocketed, robbed, or assaulted (The one person who wasn't pickpocketed, robbed, or assaulted was an Imperial Legion Guard). Well, sure, in theory, the guards are close enough to everywhere, close enough to hear "Pickpocket, pickpocket!"

In reality, it takes several minutes to arrive, with spilled coffee on their armor, and by that time, the thief has already run away. Then the Imperial Guard proceeds to write several short, undetailed reports which go to lots of people who ignore them. Thus is the life of an Imperial guard.

Of course, the Watch Captains are also to blame. Why, only yesterday, I brought a case of a corrupt Imperial Watch Captain to Heiromymus Lex, who ignored it. When I talked to him later, he told me : 'Never blink, never wink, never compromise the law.

Hypocrites, the lot of them.

It was noon, and everyone was standing in front of the Black Horse Courier, besides, of course, me. I looked down at my published essay once again, and giggled. Ooh, they were going to kill me. Or, at least, try. Since I was amazingly fast, good at disguises, and never took the road, I hadn't been caught in my life. Of course, that was partially due to the fact that I hadn't used the same name twice. Actually, I'd used so many, that I wasn't sure if my real name was. Whatever it was, today I was going by Shadow. In fact, I even looked like a shadow; black hair, covered by a black hood, Blacksmiths pants, dark shirt, Leather boots and lots of black eye shadow and blush to cover my fair skin. So, of course, no one would recognise me.

While I was pondering my appearance, a rough voice shouted, "Get her!" I turned around in time to see three Guards running towards me. Time to demonstrate my lack of stick-around, I thought. So, of course, I ran. Ran like the non-existant wind. Or perhaps even faster. I ducked behind some armored arms, and through a door marked City Isle. Perfect

[Shadowgale]

PART 2
In which I meet up with an old friend

I was sprinting down the long and winding bridge, surprised at my luck. I grinned to myself as a snatch of conversation flew past my ears.

"You see the essay that little girl wrote?"

"Yeah. I felt slapped." This was too tempting, so I turned around and entered the guard house.

"It would've been wasted if you hadn't," I said in my trilling soprano. The guards looked at me in surprise, or, rather, looked at where I had just been. For now I was running along the bridge once again. While I ran, I held my hand up to align with the four suns. Three forty-five, I decided after a moments thought. I pulled a compass out of my pocket. Let's see, I told myself. I need to be at Roxley inn at four, and the Inn is due north, and I am facing west, which means... I jumped off the side of the bridge, down thirty feet, hit the solid rock, and continued running without breaking stride. Clumsy I am not.

I ran north for a few minutes, then took all of my items and stowed them in a water-proof bag. Swimming! I thought. The water was warm, perfect for that sort of thing, and there was practically no current at all. I was tempted to just float around for a while, but I had something to do.

Twenty minutes later, I was in sight of the Roxley inn, and in sight of my best friend. I grinned at her.

"Hey, Haunt! You're early!" And so she was.

"Tex!" I quickly put a finger to my lips, an hurried forward.

"I'm Shadow today. Shush."