Owin #21 — No one harms Gwen

Owin kept to the side streets and avoided places where there was a strong possibility someone who knew him might be present.  He never considered himself to be well-known and he had managed to keep a low profile for several years.  At least until he had been forced to approach Mark for a loan so Elsin and Gwen could keep their home.  That little event has cost me so much, he thought with regret he knew he should not feel.

Putting aside the frustration of the past, Owin turned down one of the last streets before he would be back to Gwen.  He did not like leaving her by herself, but for now, he could not take her with him.  While she could defend herself fairly well, he had never taught her his breaking and entering skills.  Something I had hoped to never be forced to show her.  He sighed, I don’t think it can be avoided now.

He moved passed a man siting against the wall of an old factory.  With his mind wondering, Owin had not noticed the material around the man’s hand, arm, and leg until the man growled at him.

Stopping, Owin turned back to face the bulky man who snarled another mumbled comment while putting pressure on obvious wounds.  The only words Owin had understood was ‘damn bitch’.  Knowing with certainty he saw the remains of Gwen’s blanket, Owin pulled his sword.  “Where’d you get that?” The tone of Owin voice caused the man to look closer at who he had been cursing.

“Get out of my sight,” the larger man snapped.  However, he did not immediately rise.

Not waiting for the man to move, Owin placed his sword against the larger man’s chest, the blade turned so it could slide between his ribs.  “You don’t want to make me angry.  Where did you find that blanket?”

The larger man held out his hands, one wrapped in a bloody strip of Gwen’s blanket.  “I just found it in a room.  Some guy was clubbed over the head and it looked like there was a struggle.  I just took what was on the ground.”

Owin looked into the man’s eyes.  He could see fear and pain behind the cold orbs.  “And I guess you must have tripped to get so many cuts.”

The man seemed about to respond, but instead he tried to knock the sword away.  Owin reacted faster, turning his blade, he slashed upward, gouging a grove into the man’s shoulder.

The man howled in pain and tried to rise to his feet, but his right leg lacked strength and Owin put his sword back against the man’s chest.  “What’d you do to Gwen?”

The man’s jaw clenched, but after Owin added some pressure to the sword tip, the man leaned back.  “The bitch ran off.  I don’t know where she went.  You can’t kill me for that.  I tried to help her, but there were two other men.  I got one of them with a club while the other one cut me up.  The second guy, a man named Vik, chased after her.”

Owin shook his head.  He did not believe a word this man said.  With no remorse, he pushed his sword home, cutting deep into the man’s heart.  When the man stopped struggling, he pulled his blade free, wiped off the blood, and quickly checked the man for anything else that belonged to Gwen.  Finding several of her things, he scooped them up and slid his sword back into its scabbard.  Damn them, if Gwen’s hurt…  He had no answer to what he would do if Gwen was hurt; the man was dead and in truth, he knew any anger should be directed at himself.

Continue to next episode.