Long, angular shafts of moonlight spilled through the dirty window of the cheap squat that Diamantus called home. The velen’s sleeping form was outlined in shades of blue and silver that highlighted her scales and cast strange shadows over her muscled body. She slept quietly and peacefully. As she slept, a quick shadow darted across her window, pausing briefly to look inside. Everything fell silent again but a few minutes later, the soft sounds of lockpicks working began at her door.
At the best of times, Diamantus was not a heavy sleeper, so the soft clicking noises brought her to consciousness. With practiced ease, she reached under her bed and slid her cutlass from its hiding place there. She was clad only in a simple pair of underwear and an undershirt that clung to the heavy musculature of her upper body. Standing in one silken movement, she sequestered herself in a pool of shadow at the foot of her bed, obscured from the doorway.
As the door opened slowly, she saw a tall spurii male outlined by the blue light of the moon, he was as thin as a razor and just as deadly looking. She also saw the long, thin dagger in his hand and then the elaborate facial tattoo of two dark wings that swept down from his temples to his cheeks on both sides of his face. Instantly she knew who and what he was. In spite of herself, she felt a tightening in her chest.
Rumors of the existence of a guild of deadly, committed assassins called Ravens had long circulated the streets of Terminus and Diamantus was facing one of them now. He looked about quizzically as he took another careful step into the room and all at once his dagger whipped around as he leapt at the velen, almost as if he’d been able to see right through the shadows to spot her. He’d moved so quickly that the practiced warrior had barely had time to get her blade up to parry his slashing strike.
He was so fast. It was all that Diamantus could do to block his whipping strikes. He lashed out at her with a savage kick and she dodged it but he was already back in a stance before she had time to take him off balance. This was a fighter of a different calibre than the velen was used to facing. Lately most of her enemies had consisted of thugs without an ounce of finesse or skill. This man was something altogether different.
The velen had an advantage in size and strength. She drove a punishing blow of her cutlass towards the man and he danced out of the way but he had limited room to move. Another ferocious slash pushed him backwards again and he lightly sprang over a chair that was in his way. Diamantus cleared it with a shattering blow. Now, in spite of everything, he sliced inwards and nearly cut the velen. She was betting that his nasty dagger was poisoned on top of everything else. If he hit her with it, she was probably going to die painfully and quickly.
Now he was backed into a corner of her tiny apartment and she had to act. The huge cutlass had all of her speed and weight behind the blade and she drove in towards him. She had calculated the stroke well and the massive weapon smashed into his shoulder and drove halfway down into his chest before he could make another strike. He made a horrible choking gurgle as she withdrew the blade and a dark gout of blood poured onto her floor. He toppled forward and crumpled into a bleeding heap, dying if not already dead.
The sight and smell of violent death had long ago stopped bothering the velen. She was numb from the shock of the situation but her trained abilities clicked into action. She could try to analyze what was going on later, now she had to move.
Swiftly Diamantus pulled her trousers on and threw a shirt over them, she wiped her blade on her bedclothes and strapped the weapon’s sheath on. It was imperative that she was out of there as quickly as possible since it was said that Ravens never worked without another few colleagues somewhere nearby. Someone would raise the alarm eventually and she also didn’t need any pesky police arresting her on the spot as they were likely to do if they saw the carnage in her apartment.
Out on the street, she stuck to the shadows and moved carefully, but as she’d anticipated her attacker hadn’t been alone. A whistling volley of darts rained down on her from a rooftop and she dodged down an alleyway to stop them from reaching her. Now she was running hard, weaving and ducking through the maze of alleys that made up this part of town. She knew the Ravens would be running like liquid death behind her. She had to lead them somewhere that she had an advantage, somewhere that she had allies.
She’d grown up on these streets and she knew them better than the killers, so she could move with more ease. Of course, they were probably faster than she was and definitely more lethal. As if to prove the point, a blur of motion to her left attracted her attention and one of the other Ravens launched himself out of the darkness at her. She reacted without thought, her fist balling up and slamming itself into his nose with all of the momentum her running body held. There was a sickening crunch, a welter of blood on her knuckles and he fell but she was sprinting onward without even looking back. There was one more assassin somewhere out there in the darkness coming for her.
Now she was moving towards one of her safe houses, even as her final pursuer closed the gap with her. She could almost picture him moving with animal speed and lethal precision only steps behind her even though she could hear or see nothing that indicated it. The building she wanted was looming as her legs burned and her lungs ached. She was in good shape but she knew that the Ravens were even fitter than she was. Just as the door was in sight, there was a soft whooshing noise and she was falling. Her stunned brain took a moment to realize that she’d been lassoed by a rope around her ankles, somehow thrown by the assassin. Now as she lay bruised, winded and dazed he loomed over her with his dagger ready to strike the final blow. All she had time to do was sigh.
There was a quiet noise and then his head exploded, his face suddenly split open and his skull ruined, fragments of blood, bone and brain matter falling on her as his lifeless body toppled over. Abruptly two enlil women and two spurii men appeared from out of the shadows on the rooftops around the safe house. Relief flooded her as she realized that one of her posted guards had been alert enough to shoot the man with an explosive-tipped crossbow bolt. Two of the guards seized the man’s body and began dragging it swiftly towards the safe house while the other two untangled Diamantus’ feet from the rope, helping her up and hustling her through the heavy metal door of the building.
As she slumped in a chair drinking from a cup of herbal tea, a doctor attending to her minor wounds, Diamantus reflected on the near miss she’d experienced. It was almost certainly TorBru’s doing and that worried her. They’d been able to track her down and hire the best assassins in the business to try and eliminate her. Clearly she posed more of a threat to their plans than she’d previously realized. They also had the reach and ability to find her in Terminus which was no mean feat. She had left a man’s body in her apartment which meant the forces of “law and order” would be seeking her as well. Luckily she’d used an alias and left no distinguishing objects or papers behind but she wasn’t exactly someone who could go unnoticed.
The velen knew that she’d have to go to ground. Her network would keep her concealed and informed, but she hated the feeling of being hunted. It was time to try and turn the tables again although at the moment she wasn’t sure how to do so. At the moment, all she could do was ruminate on the fact that she was alive and lucky to be in that state, given the events of the last frenzied minutes.
[Word Count: 1450]
At the best of times, Diamantus was not a heavy sleeper, so the soft clicking noises brought her to consciousness. With practiced ease, she reached under her bed and slid her cutlass from its hiding place there. She was clad only in a simple pair of underwear and an undershirt that clung to the heavy musculature of her upper body. Standing in one silken movement, she sequestered herself in a pool of shadow at the foot of her bed, obscured from the doorway.
As the door opened slowly, she saw a tall spurii male outlined by the blue light of the moon, he was as thin as a razor and just as deadly looking. She also saw the long, thin dagger in his hand and then the elaborate facial tattoo of two dark wings that swept down from his temples to his cheeks on both sides of his face. Instantly she knew who and what he was. In spite of herself, she felt a tightening in her chest.
Rumors of the existence of a guild of deadly, committed assassins called Ravens had long circulated the streets of Terminus and Diamantus was facing one of them now. He looked about quizzically as he took another careful step into the room and all at once his dagger whipped around as he leapt at the velen, almost as if he’d been able to see right through the shadows to spot her. He’d moved so quickly that the practiced warrior had barely had time to get her blade up to parry his slashing strike.
He was so fast. It was all that Diamantus could do to block his whipping strikes. He lashed out at her with a savage kick and she dodged it but he was already back in a stance before she had time to take him off balance. This was a fighter of a different calibre than the velen was used to facing. Lately most of her enemies had consisted of thugs without an ounce of finesse or skill. This man was something altogether different.
The velen had an advantage in size and strength. She drove a punishing blow of her cutlass towards the man and he danced out of the way but he had limited room to move. Another ferocious slash pushed him backwards again and he lightly sprang over a chair that was in his way. Diamantus cleared it with a shattering blow. Now, in spite of everything, he sliced inwards and nearly cut the velen. She was betting that his nasty dagger was poisoned on top of everything else. If he hit her with it, she was probably going to die painfully and quickly.
Now he was backed into a corner of her tiny apartment and she had to act. The huge cutlass had all of her speed and weight behind the blade and she drove in towards him. She had calculated the stroke well and the massive weapon smashed into his shoulder and drove halfway down into his chest before he could make another strike. He made a horrible choking gurgle as she withdrew the blade and a dark gout of blood poured onto her floor. He toppled forward and crumpled into a bleeding heap, dying if not already dead.
The sight and smell of violent death had long ago stopped bothering the velen. She was numb from the shock of the situation but her trained abilities clicked into action. She could try to analyze what was going on later, now she had to move.
Swiftly Diamantus pulled her trousers on and threw a shirt over them, she wiped her blade on her bedclothes and strapped the weapon’s sheath on. It was imperative that she was out of there as quickly as possible since it was said that Ravens never worked without another few colleagues somewhere nearby. Someone would raise the alarm eventually and she also didn’t need any pesky police arresting her on the spot as they were likely to do if they saw the carnage in her apartment.
Out on the street, she stuck to the shadows and moved carefully, but as she’d anticipated her attacker hadn’t been alone. A whistling volley of darts rained down on her from a rooftop and she dodged down an alleyway to stop them from reaching her. Now she was running hard, weaving and ducking through the maze of alleys that made up this part of town. She knew the Ravens would be running like liquid death behind her. She had to lead them somewhere that she had an advantage, somewhere that she had allies.
She’d grown up on these streets and she knew them better than the killers, so she could move with more ease. Of course, they were probably faster than she was and definitely more lethal. As if to prove the point, a blur of motion to her left attracted her attention and one of the other Ravens launched himself out of the darkness at her. She reacted without thought, her fist balling up and slamming itself into his nose with all of the momentum her running body held. There was a sickening crunch, a welter of blood on her knuckles and he fell but she was sprinting onward without even looking back. There was one more assassin somewhere out there in the darkness coming for her.
Now she was moving towards one of her safe houses, even as her final pursuer closed the gap with her. She could almost picture him moving with animal speed and lethal precision only steps behind her even though she could hear or see nothing that indicated it. The building she wanted was looming as her legs burned and her lungs ached. She was in good shape but she knew that the Ravens were even fitter than she was. Just as the door was in sight, there was a soft whooshing noise and she was falling. Her stunned brain took a moment to realize that she’d been lassoed by a rope around her ankles, somehow thrown by the assassin. Now as she lay bruised, winded and dazed he loomed over her with his dagger ready to strike the final blow. All she had time to do was sigh.
There was a quiet noise and then his head exploded, his face suddenly split open and his skull ruined, fragments of blood, bone and brain matter falling on her as his lifeless body toppled over. Abruptly two enlil women and two spurii men appeared from out of the shadows on the rooftops around the safe house. Relief flooded her as she realized that one of her posted guards had been alert enough to shoot the man with an explosive-tipped crossbow bolt. Two of the guards seized the man’s body and began dragging it swiftly towards the safe house while the other two untangled Diamantus’ feet from the rope, helping her up and hustling her through the heavy metal door of the building.
As she slumped in a chair drinking from a cup of herbal tea, a doctor attending to her minor wounds, Diamantus reflected on the near miss she’d experienced. It was almost certainly TorBru’s doing and that worried her. They’d been able to track her down and hire the best assassins in the business to try and eliminate her. Clearly she posed more of a threat to their plans than she’d previously realized. They also had the reach and ability to find her in Terminus which was no mean feat. She had left a man’s body in her apartment which meant the forces of “law and order” would be seeking her as well. Luckily she’d used an alias and left no distinguishing objects or papers behind but she wasn’t exactly someone who could go unnoticed.
The velen knew that she’d have to go to ground. Her network would keep her concealed and informed, but she hated the feeling of being hunted. It was time to try and turn the tables again although at the moment she wasn’t sure how to do so. At the moment, all she could do was ruminate on the fact that she was alive and lucky to be in that state, given the events of the last frenzied minutes.
[Word Count: 1450]