by Eric Vall
Predation: Activated
Skill: Silk, webbing.
The assassin flung out his arm, and another dagger dropped into his palm, but before he could use it, I lifted my hand and summoned my new web ability. A tingling sensation raced down my arm, and a moment later, a wad of silk webbing shot from my fingertips and pinned his hand to his leg.
“What the--?” He looked down at his arm in surprise.
I took advantage of his distraction, grabbed the man by his arm, quickly flipped him over my shoulder, and threw him to the ground with a thud. The air left the assassin’s lungs with a grunt, and I used his arm to drag him to the wall closest to us. Then, before he could think to burn the webbing away, I used my stone ability to secure him against the wall with rocky shackles.
“Spider-Man style, motherfucker!” I snorted as I threw a few more webs out to make sure he was secured. “Now, be a good little assassin and wait right here.”
The assassin bared his teeth and struggled, but he wasn’t going anywhere.
So, I left the room to retrieve Miraya from the floor. I quickly picked her up and examined her for damage before I stored her away in my storage space. Then I returned to my room and stood in front of the assassin.
The man glared and spat blood at my face, but he wasn’t pulling at the stone bands around his wrists anymore.
“Talk,” I demanded as I nonchalantly wiped the blood from my cheek. “Tell me something I like, and I might make your death a lot less painful.”
“I don’t answer to you,” he replied simply.
“No, but you will answer my questions,” I warned. “What is the sect planning? They sent assassins after me, obviously they have a plan that they don’t want me to interfere with.”
“You don’t have to be our enemy, dragon of Hatra,” the man changed the subject easily as he started to struggle against his bonds again. “You could join us, and power, incredible power, could be yours. Anything you desire would be given to you: gold, jewels, silks, women. All of this and more.”
“I’m not in the business of slaughtering children, but thanks,” I replied with a sinister glare. “I will never join the sect. You’re nothing but murderers.”
“There are sacrifices to be made in the name of peace,” the assassin scoffed. “Rahma is in chaos, and only the Green Glass Sect can offer peace. The false king only brings destruction and weakness. Our leader will restore Rahma to what it once was: a country of order and peace. He will rule Rahma with an iron fist, and no longer will the country be bound by a man who thinks himself equal to the gods. Yes, many innocent lives have been lost, but casualties are a part of war, dragon. Do not tell me you are so naive to think you could win the war without losing any lives.”
“King Rodion is a good man and a great king,” I argued with a scowl. “He wants to seal the rift and stop the demons from destroying this world. How is that a bad thing?”
The assassin rolled his eyes. “The false king is afraid of power. He is weak and childish. He only cares to protect his sweet daughter. Love has blinded him to his country, and for that he must die.”
“He won’t be the one who dies tonight,” I reminded him. “That would be you.”
“Perhaps not on this night, but his death draws near.”
My eyes narrowed at the threat, but I elected to change the subject. I already knew the sect planned to assassinate the king, and I needed new information.
“They wouldn’t just send one assassin to kill multiple targets inside the city,” I pointed out. “How many were sent here?”
“As many as we needed,” he replied.
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. “I need a number.”
“I cannot give you one,” the assassin sneered.
I glared at him and realized he wouldn’t be of any use to me. He had a strong spirit, and I didn’t have the time to play games.
“Fine. I guess I’ll have to find out myself. Rot in hell, traitor of Rahma.”
Before the man could say another word, I pulled Miraya from my storage space and stabbed the man through the ribcage. Blood gushed along the silver steel blade, and the assassin’s green eyes bulged out of his head. Then he gurgled as he choked on his blood, the light left his eyes, and I could no longer sense life from him.
Good fucking riddance.
“Evan?” a voice suddenly called.
I turned my head toward my door, which was still open, and I could hear Julia and Ruslan as they ran down the hall. A moment later, they bolted inside my room, and they were both dressed in their night clothes.
Julia immediately looked to me, and her eyes darted to where my shirt was torn and bloodied in the spots where the assassin’s daggers had managed to pierce me.
“Oh my gods!” My mother jumped back as she saw the dead assassin trapped against the wall.
“What happened?” Ruslan demanded with an intense expression. “I woke up from all the noise, but this was not what I had expected.”
“It was the Green Glass Sect,” I explained, and a growl rumbled deep in my chest. “They used the tunnels to sneak inside the city, but I have no idea how long they’ve been here or how many there are.”
“By the gods,” Ruslan muttered, and he ran a hand down his face with a sigh. “Assassins. Can’t we ever catch a break?”
I pointed to the dead assassin against the wall, and then I withdrew my stone shackles so his corpse slumped to the floor. “That one was meant to kill me, but obviously, he failed.”
“Are you okay?” Julia frantically fanned herself as she looked over my bloodied shirt again. “Do you need anything?”
I waved off her concern. “I’m fine, it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.”
Suddenly, I heard more footsteps from within the temporary palace, so I jumped to my feet, but I quickly identified Laika and Nike as they hurried to my room.
“Lord Evan?” I heard Laika ask quietly as they walked through the main hall.
“Make sure Alyona is safe and come to my room,” I called out.
Nike probably couldn’t hear me, but Laika’s enhanced ears should have been able to pick it up. I got my confirmation when I heard their steps quickly ascend the stairs and enter Alyona’s room. A moment later, the princess’s footsteps joined with Nike and Laika before they made their way down. Laika entered the room first, with her sword drawn. Alyona was next, and Nike followed, but his back was toward us as he turned his head from side to side to keep an eye out for danger.
“I could smell blood when we got to the palace,” Laika told us as she looked around the room. “What happened here?”
“The Green Glass Sect sent an assassin to kill me.”
Alyona gasped, covered her mouth with her hands, and glanced at the assassin’s corpse.
“Are you alright?” she asked as she turned back to me. “How did they get past the guards?”
“The tunnels,” I answered, “but I have no idea when they got here. They could have been here for weeks, and we would have never known.”
Laika’s gray eyes narrowed in anger. “Do you think more are here?”
“If there are, we need to find them now,” I replied with a scowl. “They are here for a reason, I can’t imagine they’d send multiple assassins just for me. The sect would have more faith in their members than that. So, we need to figure out who their targets could be. There were three bags in the tunnels, which means there are at least three assassins here. One was for me, obviously, but we need to find the other two targets.”
“Alyona is a possibility, as is Lord Nikolaus,” Julia said with a tight expression. “Both are important figures for Rahma. The assassins could be after them.”
“I don’t know,” I disagreed as my mind spun. “If they wanted Alyona, they would have targeted her first. I don’t think this is about overthrowing the monarch. It’s revenge. Olivier is furious I’ve gotten in his way. That’s why he was after me.”
I stopped as a thought occurred to me. Maybe … the
Green Glass Sect wanted to ensure their secrets were kept safe.
“He’s not after Alyona and Nike,” I realized as I stood, and my eyes widened. “He’s after anyone who could spoil his master plan. They’re here for the prisoners.”
The group was frozen in stunned silence as they realized I was right, but Laika was the first to snap out of it.
“We need to get to the airship,” the wolf Demi-Human said, and her knuckles blanched as she gripped her sword tightly.
“Nike, stay with my family and the princess,” I ordered, but it came out more like a snarl. “Keep them safe in case anyone comes for them.”
“Of course,” Nike assured me. “I’ll make sure no one touches them.”
I nodded, and together Laika and I took off through the door and out from the temporary palace.
I quickly outpaced Laika, but not by much. The wolf Demi-Human was fast.
We reached the airship in record time and tore through the stairways and halls as Laika led the way toward the cells.
“Wait.” I stopped dead on a staircase when we passed the floor where Aleksey’s cell was located.
“What is it?” Laika demanded, and her eyes darted around in search of danger.
“Aleksey,” I said, “he isn’t with the others. If the assassins have been here for a while, they could know he’s alive. He could be a target, too.”
Laika nodded as she tossed me a set of keys. “Go to Aleksey. I’ll check on the other prisoners.”
“Grab some of the guild members,” I told her before she could run off, “I don’t want you to go alone.”
Laika smiled, pressed a hand to her gorget, and was silent for a moment.
“I’ll have allies with me,” she assured me. “You should be careful, too.”
“I always am,” I replied with a grin.
She shook her head with a small smile. “Lord Evan--”
I grabbed her arm and pulled her toward me before she could finish that sentence. The wolf stumbled slightly against the stairs, but I steadied her before I kissed her deeply. Then I felt her lips curl into a smile against my mouth.
“We need to go,” she said as she pulled away. “We shouldn’t waste any time.”
“I know.” I pressed another kiss to her lips. “Be safe.”
Laika chuckled, turned back up the stairs, and continued on while I turned toward Aleksey’s cell.
When I arrived, the guards who should have been in the hall were gone. I looked around for any sign of them, but saw nothing, so I grabbed Miraya from storage and silently slipped toward his door. The hall seemed strangely silent, and as I approached the door, I noticed a streak of red along the dark mahogany walls.
Blood.
My pulse spiked with adrenaline as I pushed the wooden door open and looked around. At the gate to Aleksey’s barred cell stood another assassin. They were dressed in black clothes and fingerless black gloves, and they held two thin metal picks in their hands as they worked on the lock of the cell.
I quickly and silently slipped inside the room, but the assassin froze and dropped their hands from the lock, with the two metal picks still inside the mechanism.
“I see one of us has failed our mission,” a feminine voice rang out. “If you are indeed the Lord of the city, that is. No matter.”
Faster than the blink of an eye, the female assassin whirled around, lunged across the space between us, and whipped out the sword on her hip in one smooth movement.
I easily blocked her attack with Miraya, though, but the swords sparked as they collided, and I stepped back in surprise at her strength.
Her eyes narrowed in rage, and then she let out a scream and attacked once more.
I swiftly dodged or parried each of her blows, and I could feel her anger grow with each missed attack.
“You’re faster than I expected,” she panted heavily as she jumped back and circled me, “I’m surprised.”
“Your friend was surprised too, right before I ended his life.”
“Enough.” She pulled out a second blade from her storage space and held out both swords toward me. “Let’s end this.”
I narrowed my eyes and watched her carefully, and her feet danced around the floor. She was angry, but she was still a trained assassin. She knew how to fight and how to kill, so I couldn’t lose focus now that she seemed to be ready to finish our duel.
We circled each other like prowling wolves before she attacked with both swords, and I blocked each blow as fast as I could. Yeah, she was a lot stronger than I would have thought, but I was still stronger.
The next time I blocked one of her attacks, I pushed back on the blades to throw her off balance before I spun around her. Then I stood behind her back and slammed the hilt of my sword between her shoulder blades.
The assassin cried out in pain and stumbled forward. Then she dropped one of her swords as she caught herself on the arm of the chair we used for Aleksey’s interrogations. She regained her balance, and her eyes darted down to her dropped sword, but before she could move, I summoned my flames and sent them to surround the sword.
“Ah!” She pulled her hand back with a hiss as my flames burned her fingers. Then she looked up and glared at me as her sword turned bright red from the flames.
She didn’t have fire magic at least.
“Sorry, just thought I’d make this a little more even,” I taunted as I twirled Miraya in my hand.
The assassin bared her teeth, reached into her black clothes, and withdrew one of the smoke bombs the male assassin had used on me.
Like hell I’d let that happen again.
She moved to throw the ball, but before it could leave her fingers, I shot a web toward her hand and trapped the smoke bomb in her fist. A look of panic appeared over the assassin’s face, and she quickly closed her eyes before the bomb exploded in her hand.
“Argh!” she screamed in pain as the explosion sent thousands of shards of glass into her hand, and on top of that, some of the fine dust still floated up into the air and got into her eyes.
I smirked as the assassin was defeated by her own weapon. She yelled in fury as she furiously rubbed her eyes, but that only irritated them more.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” I told her as she was blinded. “I have given my word to protect Hatra, and I will kill anyone I deem a threat.”
I walked to her once the dust particles had settled and tore her sword from her uninjured hand. She tried to step back but tripped into the chair behind her, and I shot more webs to trap her arms to the chair.
Damn, this new web power was totally awesome.
“But I won’t kill you,” I told her, “not today at least. I can use you. You have information I need.”
“I won’t tell you a single thing,” she spat, but her voice broke as bloody tears streamed down from her clenched eyes.
“Try anything, and I’ll burn your eyes from your head,” I warned as I pulled off her mask.
Her hair was long and blonde and pulled back into a braid, and her eyes were red and irritated from the dust. She would have been pretty, but her alliance with the Green Glass Sect prevented me from seeing her as anything other than a monster.
“Where is your tattoo?” I asked.
She didn’t answer.
“Don’t make me look for it,” I warned, but all she did was glare at me as slightly bloody, pink tinged tears dripped down her face.
I began to pull at the black shirt she wore before she clenched her jaw and wiggled her trapped hands.
“My right hand,” she replied.
I used my flames to burn away the webs from her injured right hand, but I made sure to leave the webbing attached to her forearm so she couldn’t break away. Then I pulled off one of her black gloves to expose the tattoo on the back of her hand.
“Thanks,” I grinned, “that wasn’t so hard, was it?”
She glared at me, and I could see the hatred burn in her eyes.
Still, I grabbed her right hand and pulled
it toward me. The limb itself was a mess of blood, sinew, and glass. I could tell the smoke bomb had really done a number on her, since I saw shards of glass embedded in her flesh nearly to the bone. I ignored her small cry of pain, though, placed the tip of Miraya along the colorful ink on her pale skin, and focused my healing magic. Then I searched my mind for Miraya, and she didn’t disappoint.
This again? she complained in my head. I thought we only had to do that the one time.
“I know, sorry. But this time needs to be different. Do you think we could make it less traumatic? We need her conscious. We have some questions for her.”
The assassin gave me a strange look as I seemed to talk to myself.
“Great, I was defeated by a crazy person,” she mumbled under her breath.
I chose to ignore her and focused on Miraya, and the spirit sword spoke to me again.
I don’t think the coma was brought on by us. I think it was the sect’s doing. They knew we had Aleksey and tried to kill him. We prevented his death, so the curse on the tattoo backfired and put him under the sleeping curse instead. It was already in place before we burned the tattoo. As long as the sect doesn’t suspect we have her, we should be able to burn it off with no problem.
“Fine, so we burn it off like before.”
I focused back on our healing magic and closed my eyes. Then I could feel the familiar warmth from Miraya as our powers fused together to burn the tattoo off the assassin’s skin.
I heard a pained scream and grabbed the assassin’s shoulder so I could keep the tip of the sword steady while she tried to pull away. The whole ordeal only lasted for a few seconds, and once it was quiet again, I opened my eyes and finally moved the sword away from her skin.
You’re welcome.
“You’re the best Miraya, thank you,” I told the spirit. Then I glanced down at the assassin, released her shoulder, and grabbed her right hand again.
Her skin was cleared of any tattoo, and a nasty scar sat in its place. The rest of the hand was still mangled, though, since I wanted her to suffer for trying to kill me.
“What did you do to me?” she asked, and her voice was broken by sobs of pain.