Merit, Part One

by T.S. Luikart Merit found the corpse that was destined to change his life forever just before first light, staked out in a cave. It had been carefully concealed beneath a stone facade that most would’ve walked past without a second thought. Many would’ve called the discovery mere chance, but those folk wouldn’t have been ones who ever knew Cleave Merit. He’d roused early that day, sensing the unease in the court’s booming whoops. His range-cat Ripper had already been