All It Ever Did Was Rain

The rain was falling, Glift was not surprised. The rain was always falling. Sometimes he thought it was amusing that this was the capital city of the Sun Empire, ruled by the Emperor of the Sun, and all it ever did was rain.

It was summer now, so – at least – the rain was warm, but this early in the morning the sky was dark, not the dull grey – or sometimes if you were lucky - the light grey of daytime. It was even darker here, down in the warren of tunnels, alleyways and twisting passages which merged the Old Kingdom's origin castle with the Emperor’s palace and the town, the city that had grown up around it.

Glift knew his way, knew where he was going, or at least he thought he did. This was the danger, though, of venturing into unfamiliar parts of the Warrens. The geography, even what could with a certain amount of optimism be called the architecture, could change from one year to the next as those who inhabited the area changed the shapes of the walls and structures.

There was no planning, no organisation and very little in the way of rule of law the further one travelled from the - relatively – civilised areas around the palace. But Glift had his sword, and he knew how to use it and he could still walk the stealthy walk of the assassin he used to be.

Even so, when he turned the corner, the gang was there waiting. Glift's hand tightened around the pommel of his sword and his feet took up a defensive stance as his eyes searched the gang and picked out its leader.

'My, my, what do we have here?' The big one in the centre said as all faces turned to him. 'Are you lost, rich man?'

The gang all drew swords and knives – five of them – and spread out as wide as the passageway allowed all creeping towards Glift as the rain poured down.