Sunny’s Mercenary

Book Excerpt

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Ralland was unexpectedly small for all the stories and descriptions she had heard about it. A few houses resided here and there with a few shops and buildings around them, but for the most part, the city was made up of a singular street market.

A long road wound through the city from one side to the other. It connected all of the buildings and allowed travelers to pass straight through the town without needing to stop or navigate through the city. All along this road were market stalls selling all sorts of wares, everything from pottery to swords.

Most people seem to have traveled to sell their wares here, and with all the business that was happening around her, there was little doubt these travelers found their sought successes.

Wolf was just strong enough to walk now which made it easier for the two of them to move. Sunny no longer had to carry him on her back, but she still had to keep him from falling over as he took one step at a time with great caution.

As they worked their way down Ralland’s main road, people occasionally stared at the two of them. Most people who came here came for fortune and goods, not healing. Wounded people didn’t come to a market, yet here they were.

Turning around a corner, Sunny found herself at the threshold of the cathedral’s courtyard and the cathedral itself therein. The courtyard was lined with a low stone wall no taller than a meter high. It was well crafted with dark gray limestones plastered together to create a strong and fashionable fence-like wall. The courtyard’s entrance was marked with two large stone pillars made of limestones cut into squares that reached two and a half meters in height. Two small stone sculptors sat on the top of each pillar.

The cathedral itself sat just a few meters back from the gate and was made of the same gray limestone craftsmanship that the walls were made from. The building was extraordinarily tall with a steeple that jutted out of the top of the main section of the building. The steeple had an open section at the top of it where a bell was meant to hang, but no bell was to be found. All along the side of the building sat great stained-glass windows bearing beautiful artwork.

The cathedral stuck out of the city like a sore thumb, though despite its exceptional nature, no one in town even came near the building. The courtyard was empty, and even the loud market town seemed quieter here in the courtyard.

Sunny helped Wolf up the four small steps onto the cathedral’s landing where she sat Wolf down next to the large doors. As Wolf leaned back against the outside wall of the church, Sunny walked up to the two-meter-tall double doors that acted as the cathedral’s entrance.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Sunny knocked on the door three times. Each knock rang out a low boom that echoed through the internals of the church and throughout the courtyard. As she knocked, the market around her went silent.

Turning around, Sunny saw many of the townsfolk in the market staring back at her, many of their faces full of curiosity or concern.

But, as Sunny stared back at the townsfolk, the sounds of gears turning and locks unlocking drew Sunny’s attention back to the large double doors in front of her.

Soon, the left door creaked open in a slow dramatic movement. As the door opened, it revealed a person standing within.

It was a woman, or at least she looked like a woman. Her skin was a light gray as if her olive skin had lost its saturation within the confines of the cathedral’s walls. She had three eyes. The first two were stitched closed with thick black strands of thread, and her third eye was placed in the center of her forehead. This eye had no iris or pupil like other eyes. This eye was a singular spot of green glowing energy on the white of the eye. Her retinal veins were emboldened and very visible, reflecting that of a bloodshot eye.

Whatever hair she had on her head was hidden under a tall arrowhead-shaped hat with a high visibility netting style veil that draped over her face. The dress she wore were thick black robes knitted by expert hands. They were bulky and shrouded the woman’s figure in a blanket of vague blackness.

This gray woman stood just inside the threshold of the church. She stared back at Sunny expectantly, waiting for Sunny to speak.

“Ma’am, we are looking for a healer. My friend is hurt badly. Can you help us, please?”

The gray woman turned to look at Wolf sitting on the steps of the church, slowly bleeding out. Without a word, she backed up and motioned them inside.

Her face bore no empathy upon it, though her actions seemed out of kindness, the woman herself seemed to have no comprehension of the word. As Sunny helped Wolf into the church, the gray woman simply watched them, offering no hand in aid.

Once they had crossed the threshold and stepped into the chapel, the doors behind them shut. The loud kuchunk of the door crashing closed echoed through the chapel.

The gray woman passed them on, walking down the center aisle of the chapel and stopping near the front. Here, she turned back to Sunny and Wolf and spoke.

“You may take any seat here in the chapel, but you may go no farther. My sisters will come shortly to collect your friend and take him where he can be healed.”

The woman’s voice was cold and rigid. Each consonant she hit struck the listener’s ear like a dagger. Her paralanguage implied animosity, but her words and actions contradicted this. She was truly an enigma.

After thanking her, Sunny set Wolf down on one of the benches to let him rest and wait for the gray woman’s sisters to show up. While they waited, Sunny found it odd that the gray woman had not called her sisters and yet waited for them expectantly. She found it even more odd that the gray woman refused to accept Sunny’s gratitude.

“We do not do this out of the kindness of our hearts. We will expect payment in return.”

Sunny was surprised but not too taken aback by this. She had suspected help would not come as easy as simply asking for it. She was prepared to do what it took to pay, but the gray woman would have that neither.

“We do not ask for such carnal things as money,” the woman had said.

Sunny searched for clarification with the strange woman, but by then, her sisters had arrived.

There were four of them, each with gray skin much like the woman with the three eyes. These four sisters all looked the same, bar a few varying facial features. They each wore black robes, which seemed the typical attire of the church, and a U-shaped hat atop their heads. They also wore pure white blindfolds over their eyes.

Despite every piece of evidence pointing to a lack of sight, the women seemed to have no issue seeing anything they wished to see. They moved through the chapel with ease, looking from Sunny to Wolf as if the blindfold did not exist.

Without a word between the gray woman and her sisters, the four women walked straight over to Wolf, laid him out on a stretcher made of thick wooden poles and stretched leather, and carried Wolf off.

Sunny made to follow after him, but the gray woman stopped her, then pointed to one of the pews.

“Sit. Wait.”

The gray woman stood there, waiting for Sunny to move, her cold gaze demanding Sunny follow her orders. Sunny contemplated the outcomes that may arise from rejecting her commands. Eventually, she decided it would be better to play along, at least for now.
Sunny turned back to the pews and took a seat. As she did, the gray woman left the chapel through one of the side doors. The sound of the closing door echoed through the empty chapel like a period, ending the transaction.
And here, Sunny waited…

And so ends our book excerpt. Please feel free to revisit this page as much as you like as you go about creating your art.