The sun set over the western edge of the lake. The well-to-do of the town went to their evening affairs, the poor went to the bars or their homes, and the street rats huddled against the wind in alleys and corners. All except one. A child crept through the shadows, the torn rags that were his only clothes stained black with soot from the blacksmith’s forges. He ran with a light gait over the rooftops, hunched over enough to be unnoticeable from below. He stopped on top of one of the larger houses in Esgaroth, carefully reviewing the plan in his head. If he failed in this, he would have no chance of surviving through the winter.
A few years later, and this scene replayed itself. The child, now a young man, crept along the roofline of Esgaroth once more, this time in well-knit clothes dyed dark with proper pigments. Well-armed he was, although this excursion would hardly be approved by his boss. That mattered not though. His boss wouldn’t be alive to find out.
A group of shadows sprinted down the narrow alleys of Esgaroth, followed by shouting guards and baying hounds. The leader of the shadows fled upward to the rooftops which he knew, while the rest scattered through the streets. When they met up again later, one of the shadows would be gone forever.
One last time did the familiar scene repeat itself. The young man was a few years older, his tailoring and equipment much finer, and his wealth much greater. He crouched upon a rooftop far less grand than those he usually visited, but this rooftop was much more familiar to him. A son never forgets the home of his father. He came here to do one deed, yet left after doing another. No body was left in his wake this time, but in his hands was a fine wooden case.
The young man crouched near the front of the boat, dressed far more plainly than he was used to. Behind him lay his old life, everything he ever knew. He couldn’t go back now. Ahead lay uncertainty, and the possibility of a future. The man sighed as he thought of this. He was tired of playing the dangerous game, but it was all that he knew how to do.
