Soul Catcher Read Online Free

soldier passed him, and Aleco sighed in relief—maybe this would be easier than he thought.
    “Halt,” the soldier commanded. Aleco stopped. “Guard,” he said, “what are you doing with that prisoner?”
    Aleco’s mind raced as he frantically searched for a response. His hand crept to Stella, his beloved blade. “This prisoner is dead,” Aleco explained. “I am disposing the body according to standard protocol before it begins to stink up the place—more than it has already.” The watchman was silent for a moment, and Aleco held his breath.
    “As you were.” The soldier dismissed him and continued his ascent up the stairway.
    Aleco exhaled, and continued his descent. He silently ridiculed the idiot, knowing the guard would be executed the following morning for believing such a fallacy—they had no protocols for dumping the dead.
    With every step towards the exit, Aleco glowed with more pride; the rescue had been so easy. His moment of confidence was shattered by the unwelcome sound of the woman moaning.
    “So much for that,” he said.
    Her feminine cry caught the attention of the nearby guardsmen, who had overheard Aleco’s previous conversation with the other guard, and realized Aleco’s true intent.
    “That prisoner is not dead,” he cried as he pointed at Aleco. “He’s stealing a prisoner!” The man rang the alarm bell on the stairway. “He’s stealing a prisoner!”
    Aleco grabbed a loose stone from the stairwell and threw it at the guard, hitting him directly in the head. “Oh, shut it, will you?”
    Aleco sprinted to the bottom of the stone staircase with the guardsmen close behind. He could hear the woman’s moans become louder. She came into consciousness long enough to realize she was being carried. Aleco reached the bottom of the staircase, grabbed the lighted torch from the wall, and tossed it behind him. It smacked directly into the face of the closest approaching guardsmen, who screamed in distress as his clothes caught fire. The other guardsmen assisted their burning comrade by rolling his body across the ground. Neglected, Aleco slipped out of the entrance and dashed behind the closest building.
    The city was awakened by the shouts of the angry guardsmen and the ringing of the Morkarh Tower Bells. Other guards, already looking for the criminal who murdered two of their own, heard their cries and joined in the hunt for Aleco, realizing it was the same man. Groups scattered throughout the city in search of the culprit. Aleco could hear their shouts.
    “It’s him again,” a guardsman yelled. “Tri-blade murdered the guards and now he is stealing a prisoner.”
    “He can’t escape this time,” a guardsman replied. “Every soldier is combing the streets for him. Death will be his only escape.”
    “No,” the solider said. “The Steward wants him alive. He wants to meet the man who is responsible for causing so much havoc in his realm.”
    Aleco ran toward the Steward’s secret gate, sticking to the walls and blending in with the shadows as he maneuvered through the alleyways. He encountered a group of soldiers as they prowled down the street, searching the darkness for the Tri-blade murderer, a nickname Aleco was amused by. They were referring to his signature dagger, the three-bladed throwing knife he manufactured himself. The weight and center of balance of the unique steel ensured the blade always hit its mark. Aleco hid the unconscious woman behind a stack of crates, and withdrew his sword from his scabbard. He would have to make this quiet.
    As the guards proceeded down the deserted walkway, Aleco leaned against the wall, out of their line of sight. When they were within reach, Aleco flung his short blade into the throat of the nearest guard, his signature tactic, and killed him. Then, the blood bath began. Before the guards realized they were under attack, Aleco snapped the neck of the next soldier and decapitated another with his blade. There was only one man left.