"Liberta..." Hyre flicked through the pages of the old yellowing parchment. Blotches of mysterious mahogany liquid still marred the sides of his index finger .He carefully folded the parchment and tucked it away in his coat pocket

  His eyes scanned his sultry surroundings. Not far away was a dim lamp atop a wooden mantlepiece, a brazier burned beneath it. These were the sole lightings in this dark lodging. Not that Hyre disapproved of it though, infact he was quite at peace this way. What dealings could creatures of the dark possibly have with light.

  The darker the better. Darkness was his camouflage, his refuge, his muse. All traces of illumination had long been extinguished from his life. They disappeared the moment his mortal eyes saw light for the first time. Ironically those years he spent, shrouded in darkness–as a child, were the most radiant years in his recollection.

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  His infinitesimal one bedroom motel room oversaw the busiest street of Mayville. From his seat by a forlorn window–the only one in the building, he had access to the movements of all his underlings, useless as they were.

  Hyre's blindness had caused his other senses to be sharpened beyond perfection. Although now that sight was three parts restored, his abilities only fell short of detecting shifts in convection currents. He felt a light tremor on the flooring, and the sound of the doorknob being twisted, next someone soundlessly entered .

  'Did you catch him?' Hyre inquired of the newcomer.

  From within the darkness a hoarse voice spoke 'Answering to m'lord, Azrael has been caught'.

  With his partly impared vision, Hyre could only make out a blurry silhouettes kneeling on one knee some three paces from his chair.

  'and what did he have to say' Hyre drawled, his voice low and as if in complaisance with the ambience.

  'He wouldn't speak a word, sir. Tried to take his own life by bitting into his tongue' the kneeling man replied.

  'Oh? So did you stop him'

  'But ofcourse sir, he has been sedated and is currently waiting your judgement'

  Hyre got up from his seat, Draping his beige coat he ordered 'take me to him'.