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Description

*warnings in tags*
~Updated 1-9-2021~

Ihtaki stayed late with friends, and by the time he had gotten home, all traces of sunlight had disappeared and the new moon left a blindingly dark hole in the sky. With alcohol still in his system, he had struggled to open the already unlocked door.
    Inside was still. Ahlil, his wife, had already gone to bed and as usual, the place was a mess, but he'd deal with his wife’s thoughtlessness later. For now, however, he would make tea and...
    Thoughts trailed as he saw glowing light at the end of the hallway. Did she really leave a fire going this late at night? Damn that woman.
    Sighing, he stumbled down the hallway and into the empty lit room. It was a small fire, most of the logs had burned through. Although, a freshly placed long branch sat on top with an unburnt end poking out of the fireplace. As he turned to get something to douse the flame, a small slip of paper caught his eye. Curiosity piqued. He brought it to his face, and in turn, was brought immediately to sobriety. The content was simple: the slashed symbol of Amahri, the God of Justice. But what it meant-
    No.
    Not the False Amahri.
    But why? What did he do? That traitor went after murderers, corrupt noblemen, and the like! He wasn't anything any of those, he was a simple architect, he-
    A footstep and the clink of metal softly sounded from behind him, halting his thoughts. Ihtaki didn't turn around. He delayed the inevitable and eyed the only source of light, the fire. The barely-burnt branch still sitting atop. Maybe it could work. He snatched the part that stuck out from the fireplace and with his new weapon, finally faced the intruder. The False Amahri cocked his head curiously at the gesture before giggling. Then he spoke.
    "Now, is that any way to greet your God, Ihtaki?" His voice was eerily cheerful as if they were meant to comfort.
    Ihtaki struggled to find any confidence. "You are no Amahri, blasphemer."
    The intruder was unfazed, and after a pause, replied sweetly "no I'm not, fortunately." He turned and examined the tip of his blade, the tone of his voice sharpening. "Unlike Amahri, I truly deliver justice."
   “You don’t know shit about justice!”
     With that, Ihtaki swung the flaming branch at the false God, who casually raised his arm so it struck his gauntlets. Sparks flew and small burning embers exploded everywhere. In the mess of these sparks, the intruder grabbed the base of the flaming branch's handle with the free hand, forced it out of Ihtaki’s, and threw it onto the stone floor. Panic now set in. The attack didn't even faze this man. Before he could think of anything else, Ihtaki was kicked to the hard floor.
    “Do you not know why I’m here, then?” the intruder asked.
    Ignoring the man, Ihtaki called for help. His closest neighbors were too far to hear, but Ahlil had to have heard the noise, the old cow wasn't that oblivious to everything. She would have gone to get a guard by now and they'd be here any second, right? Of course. He just had to distract him until they came.
The false Amahri stomped a foot on Ihtaki’s chest.
    “Don’t ignore me. Answer your God,” his voice still held an eerily cheery demeanor.
    "Whoever paid you is a liar” Ihtaki’s voice quivered trying to find his confidence “I am but an architect! I’ve made enemies, as we all have, but nothing warranting your ‘justice’ "
    The false Amahri leaned forward
   “Oh, is that so?”
“You- you’re just doing this for the money, I know it! Whatever that man paid, I can pay twice as much! Ten times even!”
    He was cut off by the false Amahri's driving his steel-toed boot further into Ihtaki’s chest. It was far too much weight for the drunk man to throw off.
    "Nothing you can pay will atone for your sins," he responded jovially, drawing what was once a ritual knife down to Ihtaki's throat.
    Praying that Ahlil would hurry the hell up he now pleaded, " No please! I-I have a wife! We’re going to start a family! She needs me! Please!"
    At that, the murderer actually paused... then laughed.
    "HA! Your WIFE?" he mocked. Now Ihtaki faltered.
    "Oh, no. Oh, Ihtaki," the smile under the killer's mask fell after those words, and his eyes narrowed with pure hatred, "who do you think paid me for this?"
    Realization dawned on Ihtaki, and he went fully numb. When the false God spoke again, the merry façade of his voice dropped and was replaced by the voice of someone else, someone cold and unforgiving.
    "I don't take kindly to abusers, Ihtaki."


    Echaro stood up after making sure the man was dead. In the distance, he heard the clanking of metal. Guards were making their way to the home. He ensured that Ahlil went for them, only too late to actually save Ihtaki. It'd be suspicious if she didn't, after all, and he didn't want her to suffer any more than she already had by her late husband’s hands. He wiped the knife off onto his blood-soaked cape. After sheathing the knife back into it’s holster, he made his way out through the window and ran.

Hey! I did a redraw!! And I also edited the story itself, but mostly it's a redraw!!!

I remember loving the lighting of the original so much, but I had such a problem with the background because it was just a big ol' empty room. I still don't like it, actually! Which is why I focused on it much more for this one! And I enjoy it SO much more!!! I lessened the space between Ihtaki and Echaro to make it more claustrophobic, and I also gave it more contrast in terms of the lighting! While I still enjoy the original's lighting, you have to really squint to see what's going on (just look at that thumbnail below, what is even happening?) There's a few other tweaks I made and honestly I really enjoy how it turned out~

But let me know what you think! Any feedback is welcome!

As always, hope you All enjoy!

Original Drawing:

Description

*warnings in tags*
~Updated 1-9-2021~

Ihtaki stayed late with friends, and by the time he had gotten home, all traces of sunlight had disappeared and the new moon left a blindingly dark hole in the sky. With alcohol still in his system, he had struggled to open the already unlocked door.
    Inside was still. Ahlil, his wife, had already gone to bed and as usual, the place was a mess, but he'd deal with his wife’s thoughtlessness later. For now, however, he would make tea and...
    Thoughts trailed as he saw glowing light at the end of the hallway. Did she really leave a fire going this late at night? Damn that woman.
    Sighing, he stumbled down the hallway and into the empty lit room. It was a small fire, most of the logs had burned through. Although, a freshly placed long branch sat on top with an unburnt end poking out of the fireplace. As he turned to get something to douse the flame, a small slip of paper caught his eye. Curiosity piqued. He brought it to his face, and in turn, was brought immediately to sobriety. The content was simple: the slashed symbol of Amahri, the God of Justice. But what it meant-
    No.
    Not the False Amahri.
    But why? What did he do? That traitor went after murderers, corrupt noblemen, and the like! He wasn't anything any of those, he was a simple architect, he-
    A footstep and the clink of metal softly sounded from behind him, halting his thoughts. Ihtaki didn't turn around. He delayed the inevitable and eyed the only source of light, the fire. The barely-burnt branch still sitting atop. Maybe it could work. He snatched the part that stuck out from the fireplace and with his new weapon, finally faced the intruder. The False Amahri cocked his head curiously at the gesture before giggling. Then he spoke.
    "Now, is that any way to greet your God, Ihtaki?" His voice was eerily cheerful as if they were meant to comfort.
    Ihtaki struggled to find any confidence. "You are no Amahri, blasphemer."
    The intruder was unfazed, and after a pause, replied sweetly "no I'm not, fortunately." He turned and examined the tip of his blade, the tone of his voice sharpening. "Unlike Amahri, I truly deliver justice."
   “You don’t know shit about justice!”
     With that, Ihtaki swung the flaming branch at the false God, who casually raised his arm so it struck his gauntlets. Sparks flew and small burning embers exploded everywhere. In the mess of these sparks, the intruder grabbed the base of the flaming branch's handle with the free hand, forced it out of Ihtaki’s, and threw it onto the stone floor. Panic now set in. The attack didn't even faze this man. Before he could think of anything else, Ihtaki was kicked to the hard floor.
    “Do you not know why I’m here, then?” the intruder asked.
    Ignoring the man, Ihtaki called for help. His closest neighbors were too far to hear, but Ahlil had to have heard the noise, the old cow wasn't that oblivious to everything. She would have gone to get a guard by now and they'd be here any second, right? Of course. He just had to distract him until they came.
The false Amahri stomped a foot on Ihtaki’s chest.
    “Don’t ignore me. Answer your God,” his voice still held an eerily cheery demeanor.
    "Whoever paid you is a liar” Ihtaki’s voice quivered trying to find his confidence “I am but an architect! I’ve made enemies, as we all have, but nothing warranting your ‘justice’ "
    The false Amahri leaned forward
   “Oh, is that so?”
“You- you’re just doing this for the money, I know it! Whatever that man paid, I can pay twice as much! Ten times even!”
    He was cut off by the false Amahri's driving his steel-toed boot further into Ihtaki’s chest. It was far too much weight for the drunk man to throw off.
    "Nothing you can pay will atone for your sins," he responded jovially, drawing what was once a ritual knife down to Ihtaki's throat.
    Praying that Ahlil would hurry the hell up he now pleaded, " No please! I-I have a wife! We’re going to start a family! She needs me! Please!"
    At that, the murderer actually paused... then laughed.
    "HA! Your WIFE?" he mocked. Now Ihtaki faltered.
    "Oh, no. Oh, Ihtaki," the smile under the killer's mask fell after those words, and his eyes narrowed with pure hatred, "who do you think paid me for this?"
    Realization dawned on Ihtaki, and he went fully numb. When the false God spoke again, the merry façade of his voice dropped and was replaced by the voice of someone else, someone cold and unforgiving.
    "I don't take kindly to abusers, Ihtaki."


    Echaro stood up after making sure the man was dead. In the distance, he heard the clanking of metal. Guards were making their way to the home. He ensured that Ahlil went for them, only too late to actually save Ihtaki. It'd be suspicious if she didn't, after all, and he didn't want her to suffer any more than she already had by her late husband’s hands. He wiped the knife off onto his blood-soaked cape. After sheathing the knife back into it’s holster, he made his way out through the window and ran.

Hey! I did a redraw!! And I also edited the story itself, but mostly it's a redraw!!!

I remember loving the lighting of the original so much, but I had such a problem with the background because it was just a big ol' empty room. I still don't like it, actually! Which is why I focused on it much more for this one! And I enjoy it SO much more!!! I lessened the space between Ihtaki and Echaro to make it more claustrophobic, and I also gave it more contrast in terms of the lighting! While I still enjoy the original's lighting, you have to really squint to see what's going on (just look at that thumbnail below, what is even happening?) There's a few other tweaks I made and honestly I really enjoy how it turned out~

But let me know what you think! Any feedback is welcome!

As always, hope you All enjoy!

Original Drawing: