...
In Mors, it does not matter how loud you scream, nobody will be around to hear you.
If you are taken in the night with no one around to see, you will be lost forever.
For Albrecht, this was ideal, he did not want anybody to know what he knew. He did not want anybody to do what he did either. Collecting bodies for his cartel was risky enough business as it was. The money in it was too good, he'd kill his competition if he knew it was out there. Business was slow being a one man show - he didn't have eyes everywhere because he didn't want to put line the pockets of cheap crooks who'd crack easily under pressure. Or be greedy. Albrecht paid well if the job was done right, if it wasn't, well --
.. his last business partner found out the hard way when he tried to make a little money for himself on the side.
One scout was all he needed, stationed high in the disguised lookouts which one could spy both the popular and less-traveled passages to either get to Sand City (or around it, even). He had chosen very carefully this time, someone seasoned with the work but new to the area. Someone with little or no moral, too. Someone who was virtually nameless to society. Someone who might actually even enjoy the work. Scouting lost souls in the sand required keen eyes, nose, ears, and taste - it took a psycho to determine what kind of horse was host to the wind that would blow the scout's way.
It took a sick, sick man to know just what kind of a victim he'd have by tasting the air he breathed in around him. And Albrecht had been doing it alone for too long.
Most travelers made it successfully through the desert never knowing the type of dangers that might await them in the dark. Most of them would never know how they were being sized up against Albrecht's supply list. His clients were picky about their requests and Albrecht always strived to deliver the perfect package to them. Finding bodies was one thing, preparing them for the market was another. He wasn't sure which part he enjoyed more, the hunting or the conditioning. Maybe it was both?
Tonight he and one other set out to travel deep into no-man's land, some of the harshest terrain in Mors where there wasn't food or water for miles. They did not speak to one another in any sort of casual way - most likely this cloaked figure beside Albrecht was primarily interested in the payout for delivery of whatever the dark horse wanted. Mors opened up to a vast spans of rolling blue land (it was the dead of night, not a grain of sand stirred for miles and miles outward) -- and they were not alone. But Albrecht already knew that, for he had spotted this fool out in the sand hours ago and was simply waiting for nightfall. This one matched the criteria.
Albrecht paused in the sand, his breath besilvering the intimate space between he and the narrow black maw which listened intently.
"You are certain that this was an appaloosa, grey and white, black and white hair," it wasn't a question it was more a confirmation that his hired hand was competent with the orders he had been given.
No facial markings, snowflake pattern, clean legs. I spotted her two days ago in the canyon, doesn't look like anyone knows her - just another Jane Doe. The contract replied. Albrecht purred with delight, his molten gold eyes tracing over the list as they checked it one more time.
"Take the dust, dose her quickly. We'll drag her out once she's down. There is a lot of money in this so be careful. My client will not pay for damaged goods." Albrecht then checked the rolled up tarp he had strapped onto his shoulders, they would have to haul their quarry back to the Compound like a pair of farm horses pulling a till. Things like this were the only times that Albrecht had any burning urge to work - when the payout was too good to be true.
The two conspiring snakes in the sand parted, then. Albrecht left and the contract right. The tall black creature hoisted himself into the air on two impressively large and silent wings. The jingle of his jewelry around his neck grew faint as he took to the air and disappeared up into the clouds rolling in for the night.
ALBRECHT
this is what you came for. this is what you get
