A little explination on the Links of the Week this time around. If the song in the first link sounds familiar click the second link to find out where it originated from.
Warning: Today's story is a little darker then usual and is slightly graphic.
I like Knives Written by: E.E. Nick Edited by: Amelius
"You know the knife is a very personal thing." Knives said absently, casually stroking the blade in his hands like it was a devoted pet. "In some cultures it was believed that when you made one you had to put a piece of your soul into it to give it power and the only way you could get it back was to catch someone else's soul in the blade. Do you want to guess how you did that?"
Velgan shook his head no and said something garbled through his gag.
"I guess that is why a knife doesn't work against the undead, no soul to take." Knives said.
Knives haunched down so he could look Velgan in the eyes. With two flicks he cut loose the gag leaving two crimson cuts on Velgan. Velgan worked his jaw a bit but said nothing.
"Velgan, you're a vampire and you eat children to survive. Though really, murder is murder isn't? I never got why it is so much worse to kill children, but it is. And people, you see, only value things they can't own based on how much they can empathize with it. We empathize with things we feel are like us of course, and so the reason we value things we empathize with is because we tend to create the illusion that if you're like us, we'll treat you right." Knives explained.
Knives carefully wiped clean his blade on what was left of the gag.
"Right now though no one likes you. No one empathizes with you." Knives said lowering his voice to a whisper. "In fact people want bad things to happen to you."
Knives moved around a little while he talked but he never took his eyes off Velgan.
"Sooooo, are you going to answer my questions?" Knives asked.
Velgan narrowed his eyes calling Knives' bluff. "No."
Knives suddenly moved close and stabbed Velgan in the base of his throat just above the rib cage. Velgan didn't gag as a normal person would, being a vampire he didn't need to breath but he did wheeze. He tried to exhale to scream but being that he now had a hole in his throat he didn't quite manage to scream. Velgan's eyes however screamed, and they screamed loudly. Knives slashed open Velgan neck slitting this throat sawing a bit with his knife till he got through. Knives grabbed Velgan's head by the chin and lifted his head a bit like a pezz dispenser tearing his neck further. He then moved around behind Velgan and grabbed him by his hair and pulled the chair he was tied to onto the floor and pulled up on his neck. Knives reached through Velgan's kneck which spasmed, resisting the intrusion with wet noises, and it poured out blood and clamped onto Knives arm. Knives quickly pulled out a mangaled mass of Velgan's guts out through his neck. Knives then stabbed it into his spine removing Velgan's head from his body with the neck and organs mostly intact.
Knives said. "That took a lot of practice to get that right."
Velgan's mouth worked madly but he wasn't able to do more then that.
Knives began to talk cheerfully while he worked. "Now we have a headless corpse to present the public with and yet your head is still very much alive."
Knives collected Velgan's lungs they had been quite mangled by Knive's violent removal but each one began to slowly regenerate once Knives attached them to Velgan's kneck. With practiced ease Knives attached Velgan's heart to his head.
"For some reason you need this." Knives explained. "You'll have trouble talking for a bit, you should learn to get by. Ace! Drugan!"
Knives briefly inspected his handiwork as Ace the pixie and Drugan the really big goon came into the room.
"Holy geeze boss! Was that really neccessary?" Ace exclaimed.
"Meh. I didn't want to waste a lot of time." Knives said. "Besides Vampires are worth a lot on the open market."
"Still boss, yeeeeck!" Ace said.
"Alright take the corpse away Drugan and show the people. Put a sign on it or something so people are sure its Velgan and then bring in the last prisoner." Knives directed Drugan and then added to Ace. "Ace clean me up and get my a fresh knife."
Ace worked some magic over Knives cleaning away vampire gore and leaving his clothing clean and fresh with just a hint of fairy dust smell. Ace then dragged the knife away and came back with a long kriss blade which she had given Knives as a gift. Like all his weapons it was thin and light, able to be thrown or fought with equally well, though the blades were prone to damage and not well suited to blocking. She hoped he noticed but if he did Knives gave no indication he simply inspected the knife momentarily and nodding his approval, slipped it into one of the many sheaths he always carried. Ace didn't know how Knives did it but in spite of the normal tinkling sound Knives made like a wind chime of blades, Knives could move totally silently at will. Ace had often wondered if this was some sort of enchantment or if Knives simply adjusted his armory when he wanted people to know he was about.
Drugan came back then with a bird cage filled with three faries. "Last ones. Charges are theft. They claim they have a friend, some gnome named Dess who can vouch for them but she got away."
"Not the most solid of defenses." Knives said walking around the bird cage. "What are their names?"
"James, Cassidy & Ash!" Ace exclaimed.
All three faries in the cage rushed over to get a good look at Ace.
"Hey! Grace!" Ash shouted.
"Your alive!" Cassidy exclaimed.
"You coward! You left me to die!" James shouted.
"Heh! Sorry but you got it wrong. I'm Grace II! You can just call me Ace though, everyone does around here." Ace said.
"Whaaaaaat?" All three faries in the cage said.
"I can't believe it. It make me feel so old." Cassidy exclaimed.
"I can't belive Grace found someone who would put up with her." Ash added.
"Hehe!" Ace chuckled enjoying herself. "Yep after mum ran out on you guys, thanks for looking for her by the way, she ran into some of our cousins. Apparently Jean from a few generations back made it with a dragon and they've been sitting pretty with the king ever since."
"Good for Jean!" Ash said.
"Yea so they totally took Grace and she meets one of the princes and long story short, poof! Grace the next generation. Lucky for me the prince was a lot braver than Grace was 'cause I turned out alright. Heh! I even served in the unselee army for a bit, but it wasn't for me so I went rogue. I guess I got mom's whole "run away when you don't like something" jazz." Ace bragged.
"Geeze! So you're royalty now?" Cassidy asked.
"Yep! 43,403th in line for the thrown when I ditched. Though since I went rogue I probably gave up my royal standing. I do miss some of the perks." Ace said.
"Dang!" James complained. "I was 302,394th in line for the throne even before my wings got ripped off. Way to move up in the world, Ace."
"So how did you get here?" Ace asked.
"It's kind of funny." Cassidy said. "We just finally got the big score!"
"You rescued the gnome?" Ace asked.
"Well sort of. We turned in the monster that was eating people. Well one of them anyway." James said skipping over some the details that James didn't think Knives needed to hear.
"Good for you!" Ace said. "But wait why did you get caught stealing!"
"We were not stealing!" James complained.
"Yea!" Ash said. "They stopped us and searched our stuff and found some stolen goods among our things."
"But whe didn't put them there. But the Sherrif," Cassidy said pointing at Knives. "won't listen to us!"
Ace looked over at Knives. "Is that true."
"Yes." Said Knives as nice as you please.
Suddenly both Knives and Ace had a good laugh at some joke only they got.
"What's so funny!" James yelled.
"Hahahaha! Oh we totally set you up." Ace laughed. "Hehe. Knives put that stuff in your packs when he was searching you."
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?" Cassidy yelled.
"Yep." Ace sad. "We have what you might call an unusual justice system."
"Well personally I think it is all too common but I'm rather cynical." Knives said.
"You'll never get away with this." James said.
"Oh please spare me your pathetic script dialog." Knives said. "Any friend of Ace's is a friend of mine. (They are friends right, it isn't too late to change our minds.)"
"Hmmm well I feel I sort of owe them one since Grace did run out on them." Ace said.
"Hmmm, well in that case I just might have a job for you." Knives said.
"We're not really…" Ash started to say but Cassidy elbowed him, cutting off his protest.
"Well we would be happy to help out a friend of Ace's." James said.
"Ah good. I'm glad to see Ace's intelligence runs in the family." Knives said as he opened their small cage.
"Alright here is what I need you three to do…." Knives started to explain but just at the moment Velgan's lung started working again and his head started screaming.
All four covered their ear and Knives kicked Velgan's head a few times.
"Shut up!" Ace complained at Velgan.
"Alright well you four will have to excuse me a moment." Knives said. "I need to take care this. I don't want to lose my head."
Knives scooped up Velgan's head avoiding his all too sharp teeth and started carry it off.
"Velgan you really should know. Shouting is no way to get ahead." Knives said as he left.
James, Cassidy and Ash all groaned at the awful pun.
"How do you put up with that guy, Ace?" James asked.
"I don't know." Ace said. "I guess I just feel he is headed toward greatness."
The faries all groaned again.
"Please." Ash said. "Do the world a favor and make sure you two don't have kids."
"Children?" Ace said blushing a bit and then added with a wink. "Well lets not get ahead of ourselves."
"I am starting to think we were better off in the cage." James said.
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