Free Gathering of the Chosen by Timothy L. Cerepaka

the
world, Braim thought with a yawn. He scratched his stomach,
which was exposed due to the fact that he had shed his robes prior
to falling on the bed. Or maybe the gods told them to be quiet
so we could get some rest. Not sure if the gods are really that
thoughtful, though.
    In any case, Braim decided that he would
go to sleep. Not that that would be easy; even though he was very
tired at the moment, Braim had found it difficult to sleep thanks
to the sense of dread and darkness that always seemed to be hiding
just outside of his reach. Still, Braim needed as much sleep as any
living being, so he closed his eyes and prepared to doze off by
counting baba ragas before he heard something scratch against the
floor.
    It wasn't a particularly loud sound. It
didn't sound like it was coming from the streets outside, however.
It sounded, in fact, like it was coming from the closet itself.
    Maybe it was just my imagination, Braim thought. Yeah, that's probably it. I mean, there's nothing
in there, right? After all, I didn't put anything in there and no
one has been inside this room since I left it earlier today, except
maybe the innkeeper Mishak.
    Despite all of that, Braim knew that he
had indeed heard a sound in there. That meant that there was indeed
something in that closet. What— Or who, Braim thought—was in
there, he didn't know. He hoped that it was some kind of mouse,
something not very big or threatening, although he had no idea
whether World's End even had any mice on it.
    Of course it does, Braim thought. There are mice everywhere. Even North Academy has the occasional
infestation, and that place is at the very north of the Great
Berg.
    Because Braim doubted he could sleep
without knowing what was in his closet, he decided to stop fighting
fate. He sat up and stretched his limbs, then grabbed his wand off
the table next to his bed and stood up. He put his robes back on
quickly, then slowly advanced toward his closet.
    Not a single sound came from the closet.
Even Braim was quiet as he tip-toed across the room. He didn't want
whoever or whatever was in there to hear him approaching. Again, he
doubted that it was anything that could pose an actual threat to
his life, but in case it was, he was determined to get the drop on
it.
    Braim now stood in front of the door. He
laid one hand on the doorknob, but didn't twist it at first. He
just listened as hard as he could, hoping to discover its identity
by listening to any noise it made.
    But no matter how hard Braim listened, he
heard nothing else except for the sounds of the city outside his
room. He almost believed that there was nothing in his closet at
all, but decided he'd rather be safe than sorry.
    Bracing himself for whatever was going to
happen, Braim pulled open the door and thrust his wand inside.
    The closet was empty. Aside from the metal
pole that he could hang clothes across, there was nothing at all
inside the closet. There wasn't even a mouse. He saw nothing in
there that could have made even the slightest sound.
    Braim sighed in relief. Thank the gods.
It must have been my imagination at work again.
    Then Braim heard that sound again, that
slight scuffling against the wooden floor, and without thinking he
jumped to the side. Just in the nick of time, because as soon as he
jumped out of the way, a knife flew through the air and struck the
inside of the closet.
    Startled, Braim turned to see a long, thin
sword coming his way. He raised his wand, summoning a magical
barrier that blocked the sword, but his shield cracked under the
pressure from the mysterious assassin's blade anyway.
    As for the sword's user, it was a strange,
humanoid being wearing a mask that resembled the face of a baba
raga, though the tusks were smaller than the tusks of actual baba
ragas. The figure was bulkier than Braim, but he found it hard to
describe its appearance because much of its body was cloaked in
shadow.
    Whatever it was, Braim was not going to
let it kill him. He increased the