MysidiaDrakkenbane

Zek was always eerie at night. Between the creatures calling their evening song and the scorched trees littering the star dappled night sky, the land carried its own presence; looming and foreboding to anyone who would bravely walk through.

Val’eth sat cowered around a roaring campfire. He placed his hands close to the flames hoping to warm his deepest fears inside. It did little to comfort him. He remembered his slave telling him stories of animals being afraid of fire, but he wasn’t entirely sure if she was speaking the truth. If she didn’t, he made a note of having her thrashed later.

A wolf howled in the distance…or was it a coyote yipping? Val’eth didn’t know a rat from a possum and he wasn’t about to find out which animal decided to scare his attention. He snorted his disgust and turned back to the fire. Scowling, he grabbed his large stick he kept at his side and began to stir the embers underneath the fire.

With each passing moment, the frustration began to seep out of Val’eth’s pores along with the stench of fear. He looked down at some misshapen shape on a stick of an animal he trapped hours before. It was badly burnt and it smelled even worse. He picked it up to consider consuming it and eventually tossed it aside, disgusted with himself.

He looked down and noticed the few soot marks that dotted his lavish robes he wore. He cursed under his breath trying to wipe the spots out, cursing his “guest” for being so late.

Finally, he heard a female laughing not too far from where he was sitting. He looked up sharply as the laughter startled him. His red eyes tried to fixate on the space in front of him, but he couldn’t make out anything. Was it…a…ghost?

A few seconds drew by. He began to recognize the laughter. He scowled once again and turned his attention back to his robe.

“You’re late, Akahsha. How long have you been sitting there?”, Val’eth grumbled.

“Long enough to realize how pathetic you really are.”, Akahsha said as her image began to shimmer into view.

Val’eth shot her a dangerous look. He quickly tempered it when he realized that she had the upper hand for the moment.

“Why did you bring me here?”, Val’eth spat.

“To talk.”, Akahsha said and picked up the burned piece of meat Val’eth cooked. She nibbled on it and shrugged. “Not bad.”

“You’re disgusting.”, Val’eth mentioned. “What is it you wanted to talk about?”

“The bounty. The price has just gone up.”, Akahsha said turning her silver eyes towards Val’eth.

“Pardon me for stating the obvious, Kahsha, but your target still lives. Don’t you think it hubris of you to start raising rates just now?”, Val’eth snickered.

“That was before I realized her Catta Thaeja still lives.”, Akahsha said accusingly.

“Well, naturally. Tunare, despite Her weaknesses, wouldn’t overlook a minor detail like that. She is a goddess after all.”, Val’eth said matter-of-factly.

“You had said she is without her Catta Thaeja.”, Akahsha said, her voice rising.

Val’eth motioned with his hands to tell her to keep her voice down. He looked around for a moment to make sure no one heard them except the random cricket or [expletive haxx0red by Raijinn] mouse in the grass.

“And he is not. If you had asked me if he still lived, I would have given you a different answer.”, Val’eth said smug.

“And I would have quoted you a different price.”, Akahsha said sitting back. Val’eth’s face dropped. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear.

“How much?”, he asked finally.

Akahsha thought it over for a moment and folded her arms arrogantly. “Triple.”, came her reply.

“That’s outrageous! Not even the head of the Assassin Guild is paid that much!”, Val’eth exclaimed.

“I doubt the Assassin’s Guild leader had to deal with a situation this…delicate. The danger goes up, so does the price. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out, Val’eth.”, she said.

Val’eth toiled it over in his mind. He was at a loss. If he didn’t agree to it, he would have to find an assassin as good as Akahsha and crazy enough to agree to the job. The only reason Akahsha agreed to it to begin with was for her own personal dilemma. If she wasn’t personally invested, she never would have even thought about it.

“Yes… this does put you in a predicament, doesn’t it?”, Akahsha said and chuckled smugly as she began to chew on a blade of grass.

Val’eth growled and waved his hand. “Ugh. Fine! Your results better be flawless, Akahsha. You are too expensive to accept anything less.”

“Despite my current namesake situation, my surname does hold some meaning within the assassin circle. Mysidia was wise to hire my mother as her personal spy. Simply put, we are flawless.”, Akahsha said and shimmered into the darkness.

Val’eth looked into the flames running through his current thoughts. “You had better hope so, Akahsha. Flawlessness may be with the Olath’Anulo House, but lack of forgiveness is with mine.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Faid led the group down and snaked his way through the trees and underbrush. He thought it wise to stay off the main paths and roads in getting to the Citadel. As soon as the sun had set, they started to make their way out.

With the help of Faid’s smuggling skills, the entire group was dancing among the shadows of the night undetected. Machene wasn’t about to wait for daybreak, like a few of the guards had suggested. He didn’t know how long Mysidia had or what kind of condition she was in. He just had to get to her, and that’s all he knew.

Xerbius and Kryimsson looked around in horror, as the scars of battle rippled along the ground around them. It wasn’t enough that Luclin laid its fiery hand of destruction on the earth beneath them, but bones contorted in grotesque agony along with blood stained armor and weapons added to the living nightmare.

An eerie fog thickly blanketed the frost bitten ground beneath them. Each step was a reminder of how different the land around them truly was. There was nothing familiar about Zek, even though everything deep down inside Xerbius and Kryimsson told them otherwise. Machene seemed indifferent about it, as though he had passed through these lands before.

They had come to the CitadelBridge, and if ever there was evidence of a harsh battle, this bridge seemed to carry the worst of that burden. Only the most seasoned of warriors could stomach the sights in front of them. Kryimsson looked around horrified.

“What in th’ Great Seven Hammers happen’d ‘ere?”, Kryimsson said, the words barely escaping his lips.

“It’s probably best we don’t speak of it, brother. The ghosts here are having a hard enough time trying to rest peacefully on their own.”, Xerbius mentioned somber.

Faid caught a faint wind on his back and he motioned for them to move ahead. He turned around and narrowed his eyes into the area behind him. His light brown eyes tried to find some shadow, some movement to betray his stalker, but his efforts turned up fruitless.

“What is it?”, Machene asked watching Faid.

“I’m not sure.”, Faid said distant. “Let’s keep moving.”

Faid wasn’t convinced and neither was Machene. If the rogue in the group had his guard up, it was wise of them all to put theirs up as well.

The rounded the bend quietly and climbed up the cliff to their left. They all squatted down and looked at the quietly looming Citadel. Kryimsson and Xerbius got out their maps and began to compare what they saw versus what they had on paper.

“There it is. Deathfist Citadel.”, Faid mentioned quietly. It took every bit of strength Machene had, not to bust through the front gates and charge the orcs head on. This needed a more delicate approach.

“It is going to be difficult even going through the back, without a healer.”, Xerbius mentioned.

Just then, Faid quickly snaked his hand out with his shiv firmly gripped. He swung it quickly and deadly towards his left into the open air, without even breaking his concentration on the Citadel or blinking.

Two shadows shimmered into view and Kryimsson and Xerbius stumbled backwards from being startled. The moment Kryimsson saw their two uninvited visitors, a wash of relief spread across his face.

“Austforbeer!”, he exclaimed and embraced his Kerran friend. “An’ ye must be Feja.”

Feja smiled warmly and nodded in response. “Aust has brought me up to speed and has told me a great deal about you, Lord Giddeon.”

“Sheesh, Kryimsson, please. I canna get used ta th’ o’er name.”, Kryimsson said and winced.

The introductions were made and once Machene was announced and introduced, Feja’s eyes grew wide and she humbly fell to her knees. “It is a great honor, my lord. Mysidia has spoken great lengths about you.”

Machene slowly got down on his knees and lifted her face to meet his. “It is I who should be on my knees for you, Feja. You have no idea how much it means to me with what you’ve done.”

Xerbius looked at the group and gave a large grin. He realized there was enough fire power and healing abilities to go and rescue Mysidia. With Feja able to protect and heal, they had a greater chance of succeeding and surviving their infiltration.

Faid, however, was a little preoccupied. He saw a tiny pebble skate its way down the mountain and towards them on the cliff. He knew that movement would be the only thing to cause such a disturbance.

He had hoped that his keen senses telling him of danger was nothing more than Austforbeer and Feja catching up with them. But something further tugged at his instinctual innards. The group started to head down the cliff, still undetected by the orcs that were around them. Faid looked up into the wilderness, hoping to catch whatever it was that caused the pebble to fall.

With a great reluctance, Faid turned and joined his group. Still, he could not shake his inner voice from whispering at him to turn around.

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