by Brian Keller
That night, Master Brais sent Rukle away to return after the regularly scheduled class. Cooper had hoped that he’d still be going outside tonight, but he supposed Master Brais didn’t want to try and watch both of them at once. Master Brais directed Cooper to complete three circuits around the High Course while Kolrem continued working on the Low Course using his newly acquired speed. Kolrem had affinities for both Air and Earth. It was common for different people to Manifest different Talents, or abilities, associated with an element. An affinity for air usually conferred the ability to move at increased speed. Cooper had never heard of anyone, even historically, having a sufficient affinity to allow flight, but he had heard of people making themselves so buoyant as to be nearly unsinkable. It was also rare for anyone to display an outward Talent with Air, “outward” meaning to be able to use Air to affect something other than themselves. He’d heard of mages in the university having sufficient ability to control Air that they could push things or blow a stack of papers off a table. Cooper wasn’t sure how practical a Talent like that might be, but he supposed it sounded remarkable enough. Kolrem’s Air Talent was more common, it allowed him to move at increased speed. In theory that sounded amazing all by itself, but that didn’t mean that his mind processed the information and made adjustments any faster. It’s easy enough to walk across a balance beam, and with enough practice, run across it as well. All of a sudden, Kolrem could now move at almost double speed. This required time and practice in order to make those adjustments mentally.
Cooper went quickly enough around his first circuit to satisfy Master Brais but he concentrated as much on stealth and balance as he did on speed. The second and third circuits he put more effort into increasing his speed while still making no sound. A couple of obstacles presented a problem since they were suspended beams. These required more care to be placed on timing, so speed had to be tempered. At the end of his third circuit around the High Course he descended and began working around the perimeter of the Low Course. Oddly enough, most of the Low Course obstacles had safety netting below them, conversely the High Course had only a couple obstacles that had netting anywhere near them.
On the Low Course, Cooper had begun to incorporate little flourishes to his movements. These were intended to allow him to quickly stop or change directions if needed. A few Low Course obstacles still posed a challenge, but Cooper had practiced on them enough that he only needed to slow himself slightly to ensure solid foot placement and then he was past them and moving on.
Chapter 2
Garoth had been given the childhood nickname “Slim” many years ago, and it stayed with him even now, though as the years had passed, he’d definitely filled out. He had dark, wavy hair that he kept clipped to a medium length, brown eyes under a slightly pronounced brow, a vaguely sharp nose and the beginnings of a moustache and goatee. He’d been a Guild member for twelve years and six years ago, on the day he’d become an Adept, his day of Naming, he’d chosen to contract under the name Slim, partially as a joke since the nickname had followed him anyway. This meant that to everyone in the Guild, his name was still Garoth; but to everyone outside, his name was Slim. He had Manifested a powerful Fire affinity and weakly for Earth. Fire granted him speed, and he almost never felt cold. If he really concentrated he could sometimes grasp someone and give them a little burn. His Earth affinity granted him a little increase in strength but he had to be able to hold his focus, and his skin was a little tougher. Not as much as tanned leather, certainly, but it was enough to protect him from most abrasions and he never got blisters.
As a child, he’d grown up in the Waterfront District. His mother had died while giving birth to his little sister. She was only two years younger than him, so he could only recall brief flashes of his mother; more like vague impressions than actual memories. His father was a drunkard who sometimes got hired on by local fishermen, but it seemed that as soon as he had two coins to rub together, he’d walk to the nearest tavern. Garoth didn’t even know how he’d survived the few years after his mother died but he could remember that around age four he was doing what he could to bring food home for himself and his sister. By age six he’d been taken into a House and he’d brought his sister with him. As far as he knew, his father never even realized when they’d gone. In the House, he had to earn coin enough for both he and his sister until his she was old enough to contribute. The fact that they both survived as long as they had still amazed him. By the time his sister was eight, she was being ‘hired out’, as the House Father called it. One night his sister didn’t come back to the House and Garoth demanded to know where she was. After a prolonged outburst which ended in a quick beating, Garoth was told that he shouldn’t expect her to return. ‘Sometimes these things happen’, is what he was told. The House Father did not survive the night. The next day, Garoth found himself swept up and had a bag pulled over his head. He remembered being carried around, being placed in a cart, then carried again and tossed onto the floor. The next memory he had was hearing Master Worthan’s voice and the bag being pulled from his head. Master Worthan asked him a series of questions, his background, how the House Father had come to have his throat slit, and so on. At that point Garoth didn’t care whether he lived or not, so it was simple to answer all the questions honestly. Six years later, he’d not only learned to read and write, he could pick locks, mix poisons, understood human anatomy, and could move without making a perceptible sound. For the last six years, the Guild sent him out to do the very acts that had brought him into the Guild with a bag over his head… killing. He was now twenty-two years old. He was sometimes haunted by memories of his little sister, but otherwise he’d never remembered being happier.
Miss Camilla had asked him to help her find some answers for a situation the Guild Council had asked her to solve. A House Father had been killed by poisoning. Garoth had asked around and learned that it hadn’t been a Contracted action, no Assassin or Killer in the Guild had taken his life. The House Father had been killed with talgrit root that had been blended with some kind of plant extract to enhance absorption. He knew that talgrit root is highly effective if ingested, but had never considered that it could be administered any other way. This killer had found a way to get an impressive amount to be absorbed into a wound. The wound looked like it was caused by an arrow or crossbow bolt, which was retrieved by the killer after death. Miss Camilla had been working on this problem for a while and she asked him to help provide her with an “Assassin’s perspective” on the problem. She revealed that she’d been talking to a young student named Cooper about it, and that he’d brought up some interesting points. She had admitted that she was stumped. She had come up with some possible theories, but couldn’t determine the sense of it.
Garoth was in her classroom, sitting beside her at her work table. It was well after dinner time and they’d been discussing the matter for over an hour. He tried to picture the entire thing as a diagram. There were so many factors to consider. They had come up with a few theories but nothing matched what little understanding they had of how it was being done. The answers to why were even more elusive. After Camilla had filled him in on all the facts that came readily to mind, she pushed a small sheaf of papers towards him, “These are my notes. You should understand most of it as long as you paid attention in class all those years ago.” She said that last with a wink. Garoth replied, “I remember how I’d likely never have passed Apothecary class without you as a study partner. You helped me make sense of all that. Look at us now.”
He read through her notes. Most of the material was information they’d already talked about but there were technical aspects of the substance testing in her notes that they hadn’t discussed. As he read, he was processing the information, trying to fit what he was reading into his own planning framework. Why this poison? Why this victim? How was the poison delivered? Just coating an arrow with it wouldn’t result in the quantities the tests showed were there. As he was pondering, Camilla spoke again. “I don’t want to i
nfluence or derail your thought process but Cooper had brought up some interesting points that I left out of my notes. Want to hear them?” He felt compelled to ask, “Who is this Cooper?” She tilted her head slightly and replied, “He’s one of my students. He’s been in the Guild about a year but he’s already halfway through my class. He’s eleven years old or so but it looks like he’s already on track to be an Assassin. I say that only because Master Worthan has already laid out his curriculum, and the boy is excelling in every class from what I am hearing. He also tested out against Skran in less than ten seconds.” Garoth was astounded, “He’s eleven years old?! Then he can’t have Manifested… How’d he beat Skran so quickly?!” Camilla shrugged, “I haven’t asked for specifics, but I did ask Skran if it was true and he admitted it. He also said the kid is ‘going to be deadly’. Skran doesn’t say things like that idly.” Garoth didn’t have to think any more about it, “Ok. What were the kid’s thoughts?” Camilla smiled, “He was the one that put me on track that the ‘other substance’ was an extract that increased absorption. He also expressed interest on where the victim’s House was located. He was bothered by some of the same questions that I’ve already brought up. This being a very elaborate way to eliminate someone that was fairly unimportant. Cooper had the notion that this might be someone that wanted mostly to test the effects of this poison, and the House Father might’ve been on purpose, or might have just been convenient. He mentioned the fact that if you wanted to kill someone with a poison, why use this poison in this way? And how do you make sure you get enough of this poison into the victim? How do you even know what effect it will have? Why use poison at all, when a much more straightforward method would do? He mentioned that the main reason he could think of for using poison was if he felt he was too weak to attack directly, but he was sure there would be other reasons. That’s when he advised me to consult an Assassin. The boy’s clever enough to know his limitations and not too proud to admit it. Sound like anyone you know?” This last question was accompanied by yet another wink. Garoth grinned, “I might even like to meet this boy. He sounds interesting. But that will have to wait. I’ve just been informed that I have an ‘assignment’ waiting for me. I’ll give this some thought, but my main focus for the next few days will be making preparations for this next job. I haven’t seen any of the details yet, but it sounds like it may be a challenge. As for your problem here, I’ll put together a list of questions and theories. Should I assume that we’ve not had a chance to test how this poison acts?” Camilla shook her head, “We don’t have enough of it to test it that way. We only have what little bit I was able to get from the wound site.” Garoth asked, “Do you know enough about it to try making some of your own?” She replied, “Maybe, but I’d only be guessing at the concentrations. Without knowing how much was absorbed, there’s no way to know whether what was left at the wound site was really a representative sample.” He nodded, “True. Alright then. I’ll think on this and should have something legible for you tomorrow.”
Camilla looked at him with arched eyebrows and a faint smile, “’Something’, I believe. ‘Legible’? I’ll have to see to believe.” He grinned and gave her a nod as he turned and left her classroom.
‘Camilla has always been a good friend’, he thought. It felt good to be able to help her with a problem. It felt almost as good as knowing she’d come to him for help. It was usually him asking her for help. She was a genius at crafting custom poisons. She only needed to know what he needed the poison to do, and usually within a day or two she had it ready. “All that knowledge, and beauty too”, he thought. He wondered how things might have been different under different circumstances. She seemed to genuinely care for him too. They might have become lovers or even a wedded couple instead of just good friends.
He walked to the front office and told the scribe on duty that he was there to pick up an assignment. He displayed his token and the scribe hurried to comply. He quickly returned with two rolls of parchment and a loose sheet of paper. On the paper was a single sentence, “Consult Master Vorni, if needed.” Master Vorni was the ‘unofficial Master’ of Assassins. Truly, the only Master over the Assassins was the Guild Master. Each Assassin actually answered only to him, or her. Master Vorni often filled the role of proxy on matters that didn’t require the Guild Master’s attention. Even then, Master Vorni shouldn’t be the one to provide consultation for assignments; not unless he was the person that had been approached for taking the contract. Interesting.
He took the parchment rolls back to his room, broke the seal, and unrolled them. He felt a brief rush of adrenaline. “The target is Baron Demetrius!?”, he exclaimed to the empty room. The Baron was a popular and busy man. He was so popular, in fact, that he had spurned all advances by the Guild to convince him to adjust his position on certain matters. He was a ranking member of the City Council as well as a member of the Planning Commission. On any contract, it was always good to know who had hired him but that information was not provided on the parchment. He would need to contact Master Vorni, after all. All the other details were provided; the contract was for the killing to take place ‘by hand’ within the next fourteen days, at the Baron’s home, with few or no witnesses. ‘No witnesses’ were preferred, but if there were witnesses they were to be left unharmed. The Baron was the only mark. Garoth knew this meant that he’d be forgiven if guards or soldiers were killed in order to secure his escape, but that family members were ‘protected’. The phrase ‘by hand’ meant that it was to be done directly, by blade or bludgeon. It could be assumed that a poisoned blade would be permitted, but unless his upcoming research revealed that the Baron was an unsung Blademaster or had Manifested sufficient Earth talent to become impervious to blades, poison shouldn’t be required. He was relieved to read that there was no requirement to pose the body or try to ‘make some kind of statement’. He hated those. If someone wanted to make some kind of statement then they should just do their own killing. He’d need to spend a few days researching the Baron’s background and patterns, as well as studying the Baron’s house and grounds. Someone as wealthy and influential as the Baron would surely be well protected. He could afford very competent guards. He might even have blood ties to the royal family, in which case he’d also likely have some soldiers on his grounds as well. This could present some added complications. Killing someone with royal blood brought an undue amount of pressure onto the Guild and often required the Assassin to take up some contracts in faraway places for a while. He rolled up the parchment, re-tied it, tucked it under his arm and went off in search of Master Vorni. With any luck, the man may already have some of the materials he’d need in order to start his planning. If fortune favored him, Master Vorni was already asleep. He didn’t mind waking him, and Master Vorni was more likely to be straightforward and forthcoming if he were drowsy.
As luck would have it, Master Vorni was not asleep, but he was irritated at being disturbed at such a late hour. As he answered his door and saw Garoth, he did not step aside or make any move to welcome him into his room. Garoth broke the silence immediately, “My apologies, sir. But I couldn’t help wondering why the client’s name does not appear on the contract.” Master Vorni almost growled as he said, “Apparently the client wishes to remain anonymous. Is that all you wanted to know?” Garoth was not so easily put off and took on an innocent tone, “Sir, if the client were to remain that anonymous, how will we ever collect payment once the job’s complete?” Master Vorni sneered, “Oh, how clever! If I tell you, will you leave? Or will you need still more information?” The implications were not lost on Garoth who was thinking, ‘He already knows who the client is, and he doesn’t have to go look it up…? Curious.’. He held himself to simply saying, “Sir, of course I’d welcome any material you have concerning Baron Demetrius, his grounds, his home and his servants. Specifically whether we might already have infiltrators in his residence.” The sneer hadn’t left Master Vorni’s face as he managed a tone dripping with condescension, “Wo
uld you like me to go and kill him for you as well?” Several retorts entered Garoth’s mind, none of them would help his situation, however. He remained silent. Master Vorni did appear to be thinking for a moment, “I do believe we have someone working there. A member of the kitchen staff or some such. Anything else?” Garoth cleared his throat, “Um. The name of the client, sir?” The sneer left Vorni’s face as he realized he hadn’t yet revealed that information, he’d been too busy belittling Garoth, “His second son, Lazlo. The eldest son, Terrance, has some kind of disability so Lazlo has been named heir.” Garoth took in this information, “One last bit, sir. Shall I assume that Lazlo will be more… receptive to our advances?” Master Vorni was already withdrawing into his room, “Of course.” he said as he shut his door.
As Garoth walked to the library he was thinking, ‘That went better than I’d expected.’ Master Vorni had the bitter aura of someone who’d been denied something they thought they deserved, or had gained something only to have it taken away. Garoth thought grimly of his sister, ‘Well, we’ve all experienced losses, haven’t we?’ In the library, he went to look up Baron Jerrod Demetrius in the section marked “Paleros, politics and political figures”. He assumed he’d be visiting other sections as well, but this was the best place to start.
Within a couple hours, Garoth had a decent collection of papers and booklets. He took them to the front table and signed for the documents. There was no one on duty at this hour, and the sign out sheets weren’t designed to ensure someone brought the papers back, everyone always brought them back. The sign out sheet was for anyone else that might be looking for the same material. If they couldn’t find it on the shelves, they could check the list and know where to go next to continue their research. Once he’d returned to his room, he deposited the material in a pile on his table, he took one booklet and started reading. He had studied for an hour or so and had placed a few scraps of ribbon between a few pages and decided it was late enough to stop and sleep a little. He’d had to re-read a few passages a couple times before the information sank in; a sure sign that he needed some rest. He would make better progress in the morning.