Free Death and Honor: Book 2 of 2 by James Wisher Page B

friend. They need someone to hate, someone to be the focus of their training.”
    “You want to give their training purpose?”
    Xander stopped and turned to face Kraven. “I embarrassed them today. They’ll all train harder so they can return the favor. By the time any of them are skilled enough to threaten me I plan to be long gone.”
    “Gone where?”
    Xander looked away, remembering. “Home.”
    “What’s at home?”
    “Nothing.” Xander looked into Kraven’s eyes again. “Somewhere nearby is the person that killed my family. I will find them and when I’m done they’ll beg me to burn them alive.”
    “How will you find whoever did it?” Kraven resumed walking and turned down the stairs.
    Xander shrugged. “Someone knows. A little gold or a lot of fear will bring me the information I need.”
    A look of more than casual interest flittered across Kraven’s face but it vanished so fast Xander figured he imagined it. “Is that all you think it will take?”
    Xander shrugged again. “If something else is required I’ll find it. Whoever killed my family will suffer for it. I haven’t lived through the last six months for nothing. However long and wherever the search takes me I will find who’s responsible.”
    They reached the dining hall and Kraven said, “There’s nothing else for you to do today. Go home if you want, but return by midday tomorrow. If I have nothing else to do I’ll spar with you.”
    Xander smiled. “You’d be an improvement over today’s opponents.”
    Kraven offered a mocking bow. “Till tomorrow then.”
    Xander went into the hall and Kraven walked back toward the front of the building. Xander founded Kaylin talking with the same young man as before. He walked over to their table and waited for her to notice him. When she looked his way he said, “I’m heading home. Do you want to walk back with me?”
    “No, I’ll stay a little longer. Hey, how’d your first job go?”
    “It was simple enough. I was there and back in under an hour.”
    “Simple.” Xander looked beside him and found Nico standing there. He hadn’t heard the boy arrive. That was the second time someone snuck up on him today. “You shouldn’t be so modest.” Nico explained in excruciating detail what happened.
    “Did you need to kill the guard?” Kaylin asked.
    “It was the safest way to deal with him and it put the necessary fear in the merchant. He paid and I doubt he’ll hire another guard, thus sparing me the need to kill someone else. See you at home."
    Xander left the guild hall and quick stepped back to the inn. When he got to their room he found it empty, Sophia must have gone back to work. That suited Xander as he wanted sleep more than conversation.
----
    T he next three weeks passed in a blur for Xander. With what the guild paid him he no longer worried about their day to day survival and he even splurged on a new set of cloths in gray and black to match his mask. With that burden of mere survival gone Xander turned his concentration to training. Kraven made an excellent sparring partner; his skill surpassed even what Xander expected. Since his first day the other enforcers wouldn’t even look at him. He didn’t care as sparring with them would be a waste of time.
    Xander looked up from the mat where Kraven had deposited him for the fourth time that morning. “Why haven’t I gotten any work?”
    Kraven wiped sweat from his brow with a towel then tossed it into a corner. “Word of your efforts with the perfume merchant has spread. No small thanks go to Nico who couldn’t keep his mouth shut to save his life. The other enforcers use your name as a threat. Whenever someone is reluctant to pay they tell them they’ll meet The Mask if they don’t hand over the money.”
    Xander sat up and laughed. “The Mask, that’s the best they could come up with?”
    Kraven shrugged. “It is your most notable feature, aside from your voice. How many other people do you suppose run around