Note: You can change font size, font face, and turn on dark mode by clicking the "A" icon tab in the Story Info Box.
You can temporarily switch back to a Classic Literotica® experience during our ongoing public Beta testing. Please consider leaving feedback on issues you experience or suggest improvements.
Click here
"What is your name, Mistress?" he asked.
"Oh, Master Arthir, it is of no concern. I do not mean any offense, but you know the saying: 'better your name said in the gutter than in the Guild.'"
Arthir smiled. He had heard the saying, and knew she did not mean it for anything other than warding off harm. Most Vashili never came to the attention of the Guild. Those who did usually did so for reasons that were far from good.
"As you wish. Thank you for the apple."
"Thank you for the gold, Master Arthir," she said.
Arthir waved at her, continuing his walk. Two of the Guard, dressed in Vashili blue and thumbing the axes hanging off their belts, saluted him as he passed, and he gave them a nod in return. The swirl of the market crowd grew tighter, and he had to reach forward and tap a man's shoulder to draw him out of the way.
He did not feel the first knife until it was running deep in his ribs, the pain shooting through his chest, making it hard to breathe. He tried to turn, and the movement wrenched the blade inside him, cutting him further. He tried to shout, but another blade took him in the chest, piercing his lung. He looked up into a bearded face hidden under a hood.
Arthir still had a great deal of his strength left, despite his grievous wounds, and he began to weave a spell, the familiar numbness of the magic coursing out of the world and into his body dulling, for a moment, the pain.
A third knife stabbed into him and the pain came flooding back, the spell broken. Arthir dropped his apple, the fruit bouncing along the cobbles. He gripped the wrists of the man who'd just stabbed him, pulling the knife out of his torso. The blade was green, crumbling, and he realized that it was a dragon jade weapon. The exact sort of weapon you'd bring to kill a Sorcerer.
Another hooded man stepped up, grabbing Arthir by the shoulder, ramming his blade into Arthir's stomach. The world was turning duller and duller, and when he looked about, he realized that there were more knives waiting for their turn. Someone, a civilian, appeared to notice that he was bleeding in the street, and the knives in men's hands, and there was a scream.
It was almost a relief when he felt the edge of a knife press against his throat and bite in as it was drawn across his neck.
- COMMENTS
schnertch9 months agoAuthorI guess, to me, this chapter is more the "joggers running through the park at the beginning of Law & Order" or that opening chapter of "A Game of Thrones" where the viewpoint character is slaughtered by a wight. I guess I may have overdeveloped Arthir's motivations, but he's meant more to center what Sorcerers are like and their significance to the reader (and then kick off the plot), rather than be important in and of himself.
As for needing a fluffer--well, he's both very old and also very indulgent in his wants. He's there to try the chef's specialty, of course, but, hey, they also have waffle fries on the menu, and he does like a good waffle fry.
Anonymous9 months agoEven if it’s a bit bizarre to kill off the primary character right away. I know this is an erotic literature site but surely the vast majority of readers who use this website aren’t likely to complain if you don’t have a sex scene in the first chapter.
I did find it really odd that he went to a brothel to have sex with a woman he deemed exotic but he still needed a fluffer beforehand?? The world building came across quite well.
Tess (UK)
schnertch9 months agoAuthorMore of a prologue, really. The next three chapters are all character development for the main characters, so I wanted to have a sex scene up front, rather than waiting until enough people met each other to take their clothes off, but I didn't want to have it be pointless. So, here we are, sex and the novel's inciting incident. RIP Arthir. Apologies if you were growing attached.
Anonymous9 months agoDid you spend the first chapter developing a character, and then kill him off?
