Chapter 5: Sicarius

As I stepped out of the tavern I was instantly soaked from the cold winter rain. I had expected it to be letting up by now, but it was still going strong. Looking up at the sky I noticed that the clouds stretched as far as I could see; the weather wouldn’t stop soon. I walked through the main street that lead to the palace, Christian close behind me. The freezing rain slowly converted into snow and instantly began sticking to the ground. I sighed, this snow will make my plans a lot more difficult. I feared that the guards would began to lock up the castle if the snow didn’t stop.

I turned to Christian, “The attacks will have been stopped by now. They said that would take till noon to recall the hit, so I figured we could pass the time with a nice drink. Not that you got anything, but my tea was great!”

“Of course it was just to pass the time. It’s not like that guy in there was a contact of yours or anything.” He looked at me skeptically.

I didn’t look back at him, “Who? Toby? No way! He’s too much of a klutz to be an assassin. I figured you would have been able to tell at least that much.” We sat in silence for a moment as the snow fell around us. I turned to him, “Since the assassins are no longer after the princess, does that mean that our contract is terminated?”

He looked at the castle wall in front of us, then to me. “As of this moment we have no proof that your contract has been fulfilled. After all, it’s only been hour. I’d like you to come back to the castle until we have direct confirmation that the eldest princess is safe.”

In a swift motion I unsheathed my blade and held it behind me so he couldn’t see it. “I’m sorry, Christian.” I said as I casually walked past him. I moved the blade so it stayed out of his sight as his eyes followed me. “But I’m afraid I can’t do that.” In a flash, I held the blade to his neck, the cold steel was touching his skin.

Christian froze, “What are you planning to do?” His voice was calm and even. A trick learned in the first year of assassin training, calm down the attacker.

I smiled, “Do you really think such a stupid trick will work on me? I’m far to experience for a simple change of tone to affect my decisions.” I took the blade away from his neck, “Now get back to the palace.” I said as I put the blade away and kicked him to the ground, “And I swear, if you tell anyone about this, I will end you.”

As I walked away Christian responded, “I never thought I could be terrified of an assassin, especially not with my background. But you specifically,” he stared at the ground, “it’s all in your eyes. Even to me, they are terrifying. Tell me…” his voice trailed off into the snow, I could no longer here what he was saying, “…is that what the red crystal means?”

 

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I mulled around outside after reaching the castle wall and seeing that my fear had been correct, they had closed up the castle gates so no one could get in. I looked at the wall that surrounded the building. The thirty foot barricade was covered with slush and ice from the snow and freezing temperatures. I immediately picked out the perfect hand holds that allowed me to scale the wall without complications. The only problem would be that I didn’t know how many guards were patrolling the wall, or if Christian had warned them about my treachery. But I didn’t have time to worry about those now. I judged the distance and speed I would need in order for me to reach my first hand hold. I took a few steps back, then ran at the wall.

I grabbed the first stone without complications. Then moved onto the next one using the momentum I still had from the jump. I moved quickly from stone to stone, climbing the wall like I had scaled it many times before. I was a little above half way up when I jumped for a hold not realizing it was covered in solid ice. My hand slid off the stone and I just barely caught myself on the stone next to it. I was hanging off the wall with only one hand gripping a slush covered rock. My heart began to race as I desperately searched for a foot hold. I had no luck and realized I was going to have to make my own.

I took off my belt and used it to secure my hand to the stone I was clinging to. With no fear that I would slip off, I grabbed my blade and rotated my body ninety degrees. I gently placed my foot on a hold that was just barely in my reach. Afterward I leaned down and used my blade to cut a stone out of the wall. Once the mortar became loose I pulled out the stone so I would be able to stand on it. I then filled the gaps up with ice and snow so the stone wouldn’t fall as soon as I stepped on it. I slid my foot off of the stone I had rested it on and slid it across the wall till I felt it on the hold I had made. Without putting any pressure on my foot I sheathed my blade and put the belt back on. Almost dropping it with my partially frozen hands.

I looked for the next hold up and adjusted my weight so I would only use my hold for a split second. I measured the distance and force needed, then pushed off of the foot and hand hold at the same time. I reached the stone and quickly looked down to see the brick I had used for my foot fall out of the wall. I looked out across the town and saw it covered in a thin blanket of snow, but thick flakes were beginning to fall. The wind also began to pick up, making the wall much harder to climb. I finished the last nine feet quickly and pulled myself up onto the top of the wall.

I was surprised to only see one guard on duty at the section of the wall I was on. I attacked him before he had any idea what was going on. I ran at him and used the momentum the ice was giving me to jump up and grab his head. I then used the change in direction his body had given me to snap his neck and land exactly where I had been standing a moment before.

I looked at the castle for a window that I would be able to jump to. It didn’t take me long to find a window, the problem was that the fence was about twenty feet from any of the palaces exterior walls. I cautiously took a few steps back, being wary of the snow covered ice I was standing on. I also realized that I could no longer feel anything past my elbow, which was going to make this interesting. I took a deep breath, then jumped.

I just barely managed to grip the small windowsill on the outside of the shutters. I quickly found a foot hold to stabilize myself. I let go of the ledge with one hand and reach around for my blade. I carefully slid the edge into the crack between the shutters and undid the hinge that held them shut on the inside. I put my knife way then slipped through the open window into the heat of the castle. I stood still for a moment letting the heat engulf my body and melt off all the snow. My hands began to hurt like they were being prodded with thousands of tiny needles every time I moved them.

I looked around the area and gathered I was in one of the great halls. Up above me there were rafters to keep the roof supported. I quickly analyzed the wall, then climbed up into the beams. I figured that the throne room would be somewhere ahead of me, so I gingerly weaved my way through the roof beams. I swiftly made it to the doors of the throne room, I looked down and assumed that they would be locked. So I squeezed my way through the small hole near the rafters that allowed for air flow.

This throne room was just like any other, although smaller and cozier than you would have expected. But it had plenty of defense to keep anyone inside protected. There was a large table in the center that was surrounded by thirteen regular chairs. The throne was the fourteenth chair at the opposite end of the room from me.

It sat at the end of the table in front of the biggest window in the room, showing that the person who sat there had ultimate authority. I was surprised to see that the room only had two guards and the king in it. Unfortunately for me, one of the guards was Christian. However, from the looks of things, Christian hadn’t told the king about my betrayal. I steadied my heart to a normal rhythm then jumped down from the beams.

I landed in the center of the table, I drew my dagger and immediately used my magic to take the guards by surprise.

“Land of a thousand blades.” I said as magic raced through my body. I ran my hand across the blade pouring the magic into it. It began to duplicate rapidly until there were a thousand of them hanging suspended in the air. I motioned the act of throwing a blade and the knives replicated my actions. All of them flew forward at the same time.

The first guard was hit by several of the blades and collapsed. But Christian managed to grab a shield and protect both himself and the king. Christian then took the shield off of his arm and threw it onto the ground. He picked up one of my blades and it disintegrated in his hand, leaving nothing but black dust.

“I thought you were going to leave us alone.” Christian said with his usual gruff voice.

“I only ever agreed to play nice with you while I was dealing with your assassin problem, and that has been taken care of. But I never agreed to leave you alone.”

The king entered into the conversation with false concern, “You’ve dealt with the problem, but do you at least know why they were after my niece?” He was still hiding behind Christian.

“Yes.” I said with a hint of amusement in my voice. Both the king and Christian stared at me for a moment.

“Mind telling us?” Christian asked, his hand shifted to the shaft of his sword.

“Not at all.” I smiled, “They were after her because I ordered them after her.”

Both Christian and the king looked dumbfounded, “Why the hell would you do that. Doesn’t the community want the princess to take the throne?” Christian asked angrily.

“Oh please, at that time I wasn’t even working with the community. You really think I care what their objectives are, because I don’t. But, let me ask you this, do you know why I was captured by you in the first place?”

“You were trying to assassinate my brother.” The king said, coming out from behind Christian.

“Wrong, I didn’t even get close to assassinating the king that day. The correct answer is that I wanted you to capture me in order to get closer to my true objective.”

“What’s your true objective?” Christian asked, following quickly with “And how would you achieve it?”

“Good questions. I had it set up so that if I didn’t come back within a certain amount of time, in this case one hundred days, a free-lance assassin I know would start targeting the princess, but it was clear that the hired assassins were not allowed to kill her. I knew after a while the king, who ever that may be, would have to stop it.

“But why would the king hire an outside assassin to get rid of a problem if you have one locked up in the basement? It was only a matter of time till you came to ask for my help. It was then my job to call off the assassins pursuing the princess. After that it was only going to be too easy to finally finish the mission I had been given a year ago.”

“W-What was your mission from a year ago?” Christian stammered.

I smiled, “I was hired to kill Sir. Richard Transif, King of Erendain.”

“But, my lord Transif was not king until recently.” Christian sputtered.

“Indeed.” I said, “I was hired by King Ferris to kill his brother after he over threw the original king, make sense?” The King and Christian shook their heads.

 I sighed. “You see, Ferris knew about your coup the whole time. He planned a failsafe for his oldest daughter to become the ruler of this land.” I was staring directly at the king.

Christian didn’t think I noticed him move to my blind spot, but I shifted slightly so that I could keep an eye on him. “It was really quite genius. But only someone like me had all the connections to pull it off without fail. Also, Ferris was an old family friends, so I was obligated to do as he asked.”

I began to build up the dark magic in my body so that I could fulfill my contract without leaving any evidence. After all, that was my style. The moment Christian thought I had forgotten about him he charged me. I did a back flip over him and landed safely behind him. I followed up by pulling out my blade and using sheer force to slam it through his armour into his spine. He collapsed, and it was just me and the king.

I released half of my magic into the room making it so that I was the only one who could move. The king stood with a terrified look on his face as I strolled towards him.

“Perdere” As I said the words a magic circle began to form in my hand. I condensed it into the size of a small coin, then placed it on the king’s forehead. I watched as the circle was absorbed into his skin, then I leaned down and took out another dagger from my boot. I placed the knife on the table in front of him. I snapped and he was able to move again. I sat down on the table and waited for him to compose himself.

“Each person I’m hire to kill I give two options.” I paused as he looked around the room for someone to help him. “Either you can kill yourself with the blade I have placed in front of you. Or I can use that circle to utterly annihilate you. As I’m sure you probably gathered, that spell is called Perdere. Directly translated it mean destroy. I can assure you that if you chose not to kill yourself, there will be absolutely nothing left of you once that spell is completed.”

The king looked at the blade at the table and grabbed it without thinking twice. Now that he held his fate in his hand I saw the pigment draining from his face. His pupils narrowed and sweat began to form on his forehead. He held out the blade and gripped it with both hands, pointing it towards his stomach. He glanced at me quickly with one last plea in his eyes, my emotions remained unchanged. Then with a swift movement he slammed the blade down into his abdomen.

He fell to the ground and dropped the blade, wondering why it hadn’t pierced his skin, wondering why nothing had happened.

I began to laugh. “Look at you. Down on your knees in front of an assassin.” I picked up the blade and pushed it into my leg, showing him how it retracted into the handle of the knife. “This is a retractable blade. I was hired to kill you. Not make you kill yourself.” With terror in his eyes, I snapped my fingers and watched as he was devoured by the black dust, until he was nothing but a pile of black ash.

“Monster.” I heard Christin sputter from where I had left him on the ground. Unable to move his lower body because I had severed his spinal cord above the waist.

“I know I am. But what does that make you?” I leaned down and pick up a handful of the ashes that remained from the king’s body. I walked over to the window behind the throne and opened it, then tossed out the ashes. I held up my blade so that Christian could see it. “To answer your question, a red crystal stands for the assassins known as Records Keepers. You would probably know them as Cursers.”

I watched his eyes become even more terrified of me than he already was. Being a former assassin he would know the stories of the Cursers. He would have heard of the brutal and horrifying ways we had been known to carry out our contracts. And he would also have known about our inhuman knack for obtaining and retaining all information of the world. To him, we knew everything. I smiled and turned to jump out the window.

“Why leave me?” He muttered

“I don’t think there is anything else I could possible take away from you. You were fully prepared to give your life for his majesty. But, by taking your legs, I have taken the life you once knew. Being forced to live in this existence is the worst thing I could possibly do to you. I’ll just leave it at that. Oh, also, I said I wouldn’t kill you as long as you didn’t tell the king I turned against you. From his reaction, I’m pretty sure you didn’t tell him. Therefore, I can’t kill you.” I gave him one last smile, slipped up onto the ledge of the window and dropped out of the castle.

I landed gently on the white ground. It had stopped snowing and the sun was beginning to peak out from behind the mass of clouds that still rested on the horizon. I looked down the street, which was still pretty much desolate, and saw Toby standing outside of a sweets store, with his bow slung over one shoulder, in his assassins’ garb. I walked up to him.

“That took longer than I expected.” He stated, eyeing me suspiciously. He held out a small brown sack to me. I looked in and saw it filled with different coloured hard candies. I picked up a green one and popped it into my mouth, which twisted from the sourness.

“I had a mishap and almost fell off the wall. Then I guess you would say I had a bit too much fun fulfilling my assignment.” I looked up at him as he grabbed a purple candy from the bag.

“Yeah. I would say you have too much fun scaring people half to death. Or, you know, all the way to death.” He threw the candy into the air and caught it in his mouth. “Have you ever been frightened by anything before?”

“Nope.” I smiled. We both laughed.

Suddenly something grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and began dragging me backwards. I tried not to fall over and grabbed onto Toby’s shirt. The unexpected weight made him collapse to the ground, which resulted in me falling as well. I tried to look at who was dragging me but I couldn’t see because of the way they were holding my shirt. I knew from the grip that struggling wouldn’t help me get free, so I just had to sit around and wait for the person to stop dragging me. I couldn’t risk letting Toby go because he would kill whoever was dragging me. And from the way this was going, it could potentially be an ally.

 

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It only took about five minutes for the person dragging us to get to his destination. Once he let go of me I quickly jumped and took out my blade. Toby rolled to the right and drew his bow, quickly knocking an arrow. I turned to analyze the person who had grabbed me. It only took me a second to recognize the blue clothing and messy blond hair underneath a crooked wizard’s hat. I put my blade away, Toby loosened his draw, but the arrow remained knocked.

“Gildar the hell’s wrong with you!” I yelled at the potions wizards. He smiled at me casually, as if he hadn’t just dragged me and Toby through the city. He looked at me almost blankly.

“I grabbed Magia because I had a question for Grand Wizard and he is his apprentice. He said it would be nice for you to come and meet Xanvan. So while he got all his things together, I went out looking for you.” He trailed off on his last sentence as he noticed, for the first time, that I had someone with me. “Who’s this” he asked.

“This is my friend Toby.” Toby quickly said hi to Gildar, then I continued on my rant. “Next time you want me to go somewhere with you, why don’t you just ask me instead of grabbing me from behind. You could’ve gotten yourself killed.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll keep that in mind.” Gildar said, getting distracted by the bag of candy that Toby still had in his hand. Toby motioned that he could have one and Gildar pulled out the first blue one he saw.

For the first time since Gildar had let go of me I looked around the clearing we were in. It was one that was just on the outskirts of the city and was right by a small traveling rode. Off to the side of the road I saw Gildar’s wagon and sensed Magia’s presence inside. Then I felt something weird, a presence that I had never felt before. It began to interfere with my connection to Magia. There was a loud crack, followed by an explosion of magic energy that sent all of us flying backwards. Gildar was the first to stand up, his hair was even worse now, if that was even possible, and he stared at the small trailer attached to the main wagon.

“Wow” he said as he tilted his hat a bit off center.

“What was that?” Toby asked as he stood up, looking at the same thing Gildar was.

“That’s why I’m going to visit Xanvan.” He said as he led us over to the door of the carriage. “Magia has been studying it for some time now. So why don’t you come in and see the creature I found.” Gildar exclaimed happily.

Author's Note

This chapter is back to the original character. Let me know what you think!

Reviews

[Ria Carol]

Its a really good chapter..it interested me enough to read till the latest chapter...keep writing books like this.. :)

[Zoë]

Awe, thanks you! Unfortunately I havent been working on this much, and I probably wont be working on it again for a while, so it may take a while for the next chapter to be written and posted
But I'm glad you like it :)

[Ria Carol]

No problem..i don't mind waiting...for a good book :)