Chapter I - For whom the bell tolls

She climbed up the last couple of feet, pulled herself onto the steeple and hunched against one of the wooden pillars with her arms draped over her knees. "You’re getting out of practice girl!" She mumbled as she panted for breath and steadied her self on the narrow wall of the steeple. She looked around and her gaze met with the metal surface of the copper bell hanging beside her, a dull green discolouring hiding it's once illustrious shine. "Thank goodness you are out of service" she thought. "If you went off while I was up here... man that would be a head-ache". Having regained her composure, she folded her legs under her and checked her watch "Always be early so you don't get caught off guard..." rang her masters words in her head "...settle down before the mark arrives so you can calm your nerves and steady your aim". "Quarter past nine, the mark should appear at around nine thirty. That leaves me with 15 min's to spare..."

She brushed a lock of her auburn hair out of her face and reached behind her, drawing the leather pouch from her back pack. She carefully placed it on her slim perch and unrolled it. Not even a hint of metal glinted in the moon light, as all her equipment had been carefully coated with a layer of matt-black lacquer and after each contract, she would meticulously asses the surface to ensure no scratches had exposed the metal which could cause light glinting off it to give away her position. She effortlessly snapped the main pieces together... the hollow stock with counter weighting, the main rifle body and the barrel. Lastly, she carefully aligned the scope and snapped it into place, checking its alignment and making fine adjustments. She double checked the breach and barrel to ensure it was clean and clear of any debris. After that, she leaned back against the pillar with the barrel against her fore-head and let her one leg dangle down the side of the steeple. "This is not a race..." her master’s voice rang "...if you planned properly and arrived ahead of time, you should have plenty of time on your hands. Do not rush death, lest he decides to take you instead. ".

With her nerves calmed once again and her heart-beat slowed, she cracked open the breach one more time. Carefully she pulled the velvet bag from her chest belt and lined up it's opening with that of the breach, making sure to keep its contents concealed at all times. "Do not presume that because you have not been seen, that you are not being watched..." her masters voice cautioned "...take every precaution, no matter how frivolous it may seem at the time.”  Inside the bag, the cartridge glowed from its blue liquid contents. It could not be helped, as the light emitted from the liquid is what powered the rifle and the light had to be able to reach the mirror's and crystals on the inside of the breach, which amplified the dim light into a lethal glowing orb, capable of punching straight through a man's skull.

She straddled the corner of the steeple, with her right foot on the side wall and left on the front and stabilised the rifle against her shoulder. Peering through the digital scope, she could see every detail of the silver knocker on the door of the great hall. Every line, every hair, every aspect of the lion-head was as crisp and clear as if though she was looking at it in broad daylight standing right in front of it. At that instant, the great doors swung open and four armed guards moved out across the courtyard and positioned them selves at the four corners, the moon glinting off of their visors. Unlatching the safety, she steadied her self and waited for the mark to appear. As she waited, the rain started coming down. One of the guards looked up and stared straight at her position but she didn't waver "If you have no reason to think your self discovered ..." the voice echoed "... do not attempt to hide your self, for that would surely alert the unwary of your presence. If you had been noticed, it would have been too late to do anything about it to begin with.”

The guard shouldered his rifle and reached out his hand, catching the rain drops. "Humph, just what we need." "Yeah!" echoed a voice from across the courtyard. "Dusty here could sure do with a shower Phee yew!” The third guard dropped his barrel to the ground and shouted back, waving his fist in the air "Hey! What did you jus...?” "Quite!" roared the commander. "What do you guys think this is? A pick nick, ruined by some bad weather?!” The three guards snapped to attention and held their weapons across their chests. The commander thumbed his comlink with his right hand ... "Transport, shield is in place, proceed to pickup". "Roger that, transport en-route" came the reply. "It's bad enough that you two are always at each others throughts, now you start pulling your crap while on duty! And it ain't funny Dorian!" The commander glared at the snickering gaurd next to him, whom promptly snapped to, his heart pounding in his throught "Gees" he thought, "Old Thorin ain't a happy puppy this eve, I should have just kept my mouth shut…".

Tasha hardly even noticed the bantering guards. All of her focus was on the doorway now and nothing could distract... A loud thump echoed through the small steeple. "Sheesh...one heck of a large bird" she thought... "Wait! What the! Wake up silly girl! A large bird?!" She whirled around; aiming her rifle into the shadows but it was jerked away violently, going off in the process. The orb hit the side of the bell, leaving a smouldering spark on the side and causing a deep resonating burst of sound from the old bell. Both the assailant and the wood be assassin clasped their ears in agony as the shockwave blasted through their bodies. The rifle was now lying at the bottom of the steeple tower, but this at least freed her hands to grasp the side post and prevent her from tumbling down the side of the steeple, as she lost her sense of balance. She dangled from the side for a moment, shaking her head in an attempt to clear the noise but as she looked up, she saw the shadowy figure looming above her. A gloved hand grabbed towards her but she had already let go of the support and dropped to the roof below.

"What the!" The guards jumped at the sudden noise coming from the old bell-tower. Thorin glanced up at the tower and grabbed his comlink "Transport! This is shield, abort! Abort! Abort!".”There he is!" shouted Dorian and the guards directed their attention toward the shadow on the roof-top "Shields 3 and 4, pursue! Shield 2, you are with me, secure the area!” With that, the commander shut the heavy oak door just as his principle was attempting to leave the building. They could hear banging and muffled screams of "How dare you! What is going on!" coming from the other side of the heavy, oak doors. "Stay inside Minister!" pleaded Thorin, "We have a situation on our hands". The muffled voice turned from confusion to anger "I demand to know what is happening mercenary!” Thorin just shook his head and propped himself up against the door holding it shut. "Now what sir", the remaining guard asked, frantically searching the skyline. "Now we wait, you du..." his comlink crackled "Shield! This is Transport, what is your situation!" "Situation is under control" reported Thorin. "Shields 3 and 4 are in pursuit, Shield 2 and I are on guard. Principle is secure, I repeat, principle is secure!" ... "Albeit his usual annoying self" he muttered to himself as he strained to keep the lurching door shut. "Roger that Shield, Transport is sitting tight, ready to roll when you need me!”

"Oh s**t! Oooh s**t!  Oooh ...” Tasha swore as she darted across the roof top of the old monastery, her assailant close on her heels.  As she came to the end of the roof top, she assessed the gap and without hesitation bounded to the roof top across the alley and carried on running without missing a step.  "Never take on too many contracts after each other..." stated the voice, now almost mockingly “...fatigue creeps up on you like an assassin in the night.  It dulls your senses and lie in wait until you are at your weakest before it strikes"  "No s**t!  God damn!  If it wasn't for Quinn, I wouldn't be in this mess...blast that brother of mine and his filthy habit.  I should know by now that he wouldn't quit.  I should know by now not to help him!  Blast him!”  She bounded up a wall and jumped over to the other side, swinging her legs over to the side like soldiers do during training.  Landing on her feet with her hands touching the ground to her sides, she pushed off with her right foot against the wall and went darting across the flat surface towards the end of the supermarket's rooftop.

"Gees all...migh..mighty Dorian, wa..wait up would you!" stammered Dusty as he ran wheezing, clutching his chest with his left hand and his weapon in his right. "Dang Dusty!" retorted Dorian "That charlie ain’t gona wait for you to catch your breath you know! We need to hustle or were going to lose him!" and with that he dashed off into the distance. Panting, Dusty came to a halt and placed his hands on his knees. "Oh for...forget it!" he heaved, waving his hand at the armoured mercenary disappearing into the distance. "Shield 3, Shield 3! Dusty! Where the heck are you?!" "Sh.. Shield 3 here Bo... Boss" "Yes you idiot, I know it's you! Where the blazes are you?!" "So.. Sorry Boss, Dorian is in pursuit... lo…lost contact." "Oh for ... ! Look, I don't care if you have to heave your lungs out onto the pavement! You catch up with him NOW!". "Yes sir..."  He lurched forward and started an awkward trot down the street.

Dorian bounded down the pavement as fast as his armour would allow him, searching the roof tops and looking for any sign of the mysterious shadow.  All the while, he had an eerie feeling creeping up his neck, like someone was following, but it couldn't be Dusty, he's too far behind.  He wanted to look back but at the same time, he couldn't afford missing the charlie or criminal, in civilian talk.  Thorin was in a foul enough mood as it is and returning empty handed was not an option.  "Shield 4, Shield 4!" "Shield ... 4 here ... over" he responded through his breathing.  "What is your status Shield 4!" "I have a feeling ... I'm catching up ... sir." no response.  "Ghu...typical.  Give him bad news and he is 'all up in ya grill' like the 'peeps' used to say back in the day.  Give him good news and he clams up tighter than..."  At that moment he saw the figure jumping a gap and grabbing onto a steel construction scaffold.  He slowed down and after checking for late night traffic, darted across the road.

Tasha saw the scaffolding coming up long before she had reached the end of the rooftop and had already made the calculations before leaping across the alley.  Grabbing onto a pipe, she used her momentum to swing her feet onto the opposite side, reached to the pipe above her and wriggled her way up the maze of piping and planks before climbing up onto the roof of the half completed building.  On landing, she bent down on one knee and while panting, surveyed her surroundings.  There was no sign of her assailant and she was oblivious of the straggling mercenary hurtling down on her at street level.  "Damn!  Damn, damn, damn!  Now I've lost half my kit as well! The rifle was expensive enough on its own, but that cartridge is irreplaceable."  She waited for the voice to chime in with more taunts but it had apparently run out of words of wisdom, or did she maybe miss a lesson...  Just then, she heard a loud "clang" and a muffled "S**t!" and a moment after, an agitated "Oh crap!".  She spun around, ready to defend her self against an attack, but not against what she was about to see...  Below her, was a mercenary, clinging to the edge of the roof.  He had attempted to climb the scaffolding but knocked his helmet over his face when he bumped his head on a pipe over head.  Blinded by his malfunctioning kit, he had lost his footing on the wet pipes and dropped his rifle while trying to get the helm off his head.  To add insult to injury, he was now hung-up on a piece of wiring that had gotten stuck on the back of his armour.  Tasha couldn't help her self and giggled like a school girl.  She knelt down and stared him in the face.  She ran her fingers through his army-cut blonde hair and he agitatedly shook his head.  "Stop or I'll...!" "And you'll what?" she asked, still giggling "You have dropped your primary and you can't reach your side-arm.  What are you going to do?  Make me laugh my self to death?".  Dorian scowled and shifted his hands on the edge of the roof.  "I must say, I'm impressed merc...  Still too slow though" she said tauntingly.  "I would love to chat, but you know...things to do...people to kill."  With that, she blew him a kiss and stood up, twisting herself around as she did so but just as she was about to swagger away, she froze.  In front of her, a shadowy figure loomed.  The figure was hunched on one knee with one hand on the ground and the other on the opposing knee.  He sat there with his head bowed down, waiting for her to make the first move.

With the rain pelting down, her mind raced for an escape route.  She could bound off the side of the building closest to her, but that would be the most obvious move and the mysterious assailant would be expecting it.  She could always turn around and try going back the way she came but chances were good that the mercenary would grab on to her and trip her.  Time seemed to slow down as she weighed up her options.  As she made her choice, time seemed to suddenly warp back to normal speed and she launched her self towards the figure.  The dark figure raised its head and for an instant, she could swear she recognised its face.  The shadow launched itself toward her but she had relied on that.  As he closed in, she leapt, extending her foot and hitting it squarely in the chest.  The figure slammed into the ground, skidded across the rooftop and landed in a cloud of cement as he crashed through a palette.  She had won a brief gap but at a cost.  It had felt like she had kicked a brick wall and her ankle was stinging with pain.  She couldn't afford to sit around though and she bounded to the edge of the roof but tripped...

"Shield 4, what is your status...  Shield 4, report!  I need you guys back here so we can get the client out of here!"  "This is shield 3 ... um ... "  "Well...  speak up man!"  "It's going to take us some time to get back to you...we have a bit of a..."  "This is getting ridiculous gentlemen.  I can't wait for you any longer!  I will see you back at H.Q.".  Dusty stood at the bottom of the scaffolding, with his one fist in his side and scratching the back of his head with the other.  "Dorian?  What in the name of ...  How the hell did you get hung up like that?"  "Don't just stand there you big oaf!"  Dorian groaned  "Just get me the heck down!".  Just then, his hands slipped and he swung around on the cable, like a puppet on a string.  Dusty bit back the laughter and stepped towards the scaffolding.  "What the!" he picked up his right foot and stared at the steaming blue liquid, seeping from the broken cartridge in Dorian's rifle and running down the pavement.  "Man, is Jones gona have your hide for breakfast or what!" "Oh would you just get on with it already!" yelled Dorian, throwing his gauntlet at Dusty.  "Ok, ok!  No need to get violent!", he hollered back, dodging the flying kit as he tried to work out the best route to his hung-up comrade.

Even the rain couldn't dampen his spirits.  The new car smell filled his senses as he tapped the steering wheel to the beat of the music.  "Man, finally!  I have waited my whole life for this moment and nothing is gona...What the!"  He slammed on the brakes as a dark figure hit his bonnet, bounced off it and lay motionless in the middle of the road.  The radio had automatically turned off at the point of impact and all that could be heard was the sound of the wipers sweeping across the windshield.  He threw open the car door and started walking towards the figure. When he had gotten half way, he suddenly heard a loud crash and the 'door-ajar' alert being replaced by the wailing of the car-alarm.  He spun around and grabbed his head as he saw the damage.  "My car!  My brand new car!".  He slowly stumbled toward his stricken car and stared in disbelief.  The front wind-shield was smashed in, there was a nasty dent on the hood where the mysterious figure had hit and the roof was all bent in.  What the heck!  "The pedestrian!" his mind screamed and he turned around...but the road was empty.  His car keys fell out of his hand as he started shivering and dropped to his knees with his hands over his face.

She hit the car hard.  For a moment, that seemed to last an eternity, she was gasping for air.  Her lungs burned and her sight wavered.  Stars swam across her field of vision and blurry sounds whaled all around her.  Finally she caught a deep breath and stumbled to her feet.  Not knowing which way is which, she stumbled forward.  She knew she had to get away but she couldn't recall what she was running from...only that she HAD to get away.  She stumbled into a dark alley, leaning against the cold wet bricks when she suddenly felt a steel like grip around her throught, lifting her off of the ground.  "Never ... ... for you will surely ... "  the words of her mentor, drifted in and out of her consciousness and then...nothing...

"Put her down you big oaf!"  "She dead!"  "No, she is not dead, she just passed out, now put her down!"  "She not dead?"  "Ugh..." The man sighed, putting his palm to his forehead.  "Yes, she is not dead, she is just sleeping, now put her down before you choke her to death..."  "Oh…ok...".  The shadowy figure lowered Tasha onto the ground as the man approached and inspected her.  "My but you are a slippery one.  You even gave Gyorn here a run for his money.  Oh well, let’s get you out of the cold".  Tasha groaned and feebly slapped towards the man's face.  "Now now, no need for that young lady.  Gyorn, pick her up but this time be care...full...ayayay!, never mind".  The man shook his head as his dim-witted companion picked up Tasha and flung her over his huge muscular shoulder.  As the two started walking down the dark alley the man berated his partner in an almost parental nature.  "Next time Gyorn, please try to avoid drawing attention by crashing onto vehicles or anything else for that matter..."  "Uh…not seen…"  came the reply.  "Yes Gyorn, I know no one saw but someone could have..."  "Not seen!"  The burly figure reiterated.  "AARGH!"  The man stopped and when his companion had passed, he threw a child-like tantrum, jumping up and down on the spot as if to squash some imaginary insect.  "Why me!"  He whispered as he stared up to the heavens, combed back his hair, composed himself and carried on walking in an over-exaggerated swagger.

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

Warning, contains strong language.

How does one determine when to start a new chapter? Would it be when the topic changes?

Reviews

[L.I. Black]

To answer your question: It's best to end a chapter after a good amount has happened, but at a point which will leave the reader craving more. The cliff hanger - as it's more often called.
Also, it's best to type out numbers. Rather than 'Shield 3' go with 'Shield Three', it helps the story flow better and reader can take it in more quickly.

Other than that you've got a very good story going on here. You give the reader an amazing amount of action and enough information to keep them coming back. A few edits here and there and you'd be good to go. You've certainly got the potential, all you need is the right advise and practice.

[rmhans]

This is definitely an interesting plot line! I enjoyed reading it. My only suggestions would be to split up and specify your dialogue more so the reader can recognize who is speaking and to whom they are speaking to.
I already love the character of Tasha...a Bad-A assassin but with a spunky side. Made me laugh when she was taunting the mercenary!

[Gangling]

Thanks for the review and advice A.I. Black :) It is really appreciated ;)