Soul Music - Crunch

Albert stepped out into the dawn and, after some fumbling, produced his box. He opened it and glanced at his lifetimer, then snapped the lid shut.

'All right,' he said. 'What next?'

SQUEAK!

'What?'

And someone hit him across the head. It wasn't a killing stroke. Timo Laziman of the Thieves' Guild knew what happened to thieves who killed people. The Assassins' Guild came and talked briefly to them - in fact, all they said was, 'Goodbye.'

All he'd wanted to do was knock the old man out so that he could rifle his pockets. He'd not expected the sound as the body hit the ground. It was like the tinkle of broken glass, but with unpleasant overtones that carried on echoing in Timo's ears long after they should have stopped.

***

Soul Music - p211