It is a twenty minute ride to my destination. During the ride, I watch the houses shift from the large villas and mansions of High Ward, to stone townhouses of the Merchants' Circle, and finally to the dilapidated single story shacks of a run down and dangerous section of town called the Flats. Situated in the low-lands near the river, it always smells of sewage and it is prone to flooding during the Spring thaw. Perpetually wet, generally noxious, and home to roving gangs of thugs and street urchins, it is not a part of town I come to unless I have a good reason.
"This is it, I think," the driver says as the carriage comes to a stop. "This is Hellsbrooke Row and I think that is number nine."
"That's it," I say as I hop out of the carriage, scanning the mud drenched street and eyeing my destination with suspicion. The rusted number nine sign is barely visible through the bramble of dead vines and muck that covers the cracked facade. I don't know what I was expecting the building to look like, but a beat up ugly house that looked like it should be condemned certainly wasn't it. As Ravenstorm's best assassin, most of my clients are filthy rich and terribly powerful. I am used to the lifestyle of noble families and merchant leaders. But this was an unusual invitation that had drawn my full attention. Delivered directly to my window by a fey hawk as black as night, encased in an ebony scroll case marked with a sigil I did not recognize, written in blood ink on hellsbane parchment that had been outlawed in Ravenstorm years ago, I could not ignore this particular summons.
I approach the door, which despite the horrendous condition of the rest of the building, appears remarkably sturdy and lacquered with a fresh, deep burgundy coat of paint. Strangely, I realized that I had not even noticed the elegant door until I was close to it. I hesitate momentarily before knocking. Quickly, the door opens. I'm surprised, to say the least, at what I behold. A devil-kin, tall and graceful, with skin of a greyish purple hue. She's strikingly beautiful with high cheekbones and dark black eyes. I estimate she is perhaps ten years older than me, but it is difficult for me to tell as this is the first devil-kin I have ever met.
"Hello Anidaya," she says with a warm smile that somehow appears wicked on her face. She beckons for me to enter. Again, I hesitate for a moment, then I walk inside. My vision flickers momentarily and I blink as I take in my surroundings. The interior is not at all what I expected. Not only is it ten times larger than the outside of the building, but it is also lavish, with multiple large, red leather sofas with brightly decorated pillows. There is a blazing fire within an enormous basalt stone hearth behind the sofas and in the large room beyond I see a dining table that could easily fit twenty people. It is strewn with papers and boxes, there is a liquor cabinet that could stock two taverns for well over a week..
"Anidaya, my name is Imnirith." I nod looking around the room. She walks over to the table and I follow her. I quickly examine each of the boxes, the majority of which look like expensive packages, the store labels varying from jewelry to cosmetics to shoes. One of the boxes is open, and what is inside catches my eyes and might make this whole meeting worth it. A whip! The name Bloodbringer came to me when I found my first whip. I had used whips while training but they weren't provided to me for jobs. This one is beautiful with a ruby in the handle and intricate gold wire running the length of the black braided leather coil..
Imnirith seems to notice my gaze. "You like it don't you?" Imnirith asks. I nod slightly. I turn away from the whip to ask her what's on my mind.
"What is the job you have for me?" I look into her black eyes. Her dark hair is loose and her horns are draped with gold chains and jewels.
"I want you to get rid of someone for me. That is your specialty as I understand it. The Bloodbringer is what they call the famous devil-kin assassin that terrorizes this human city, correct?" she stares at me, unblinking.
"Yes. That is the name I have earned." I say, returning her stare, despite my rattled nerves.
"Well, Bloodbringer, there is a human and he has gotten on my nerves. They do that quite a lot, don't you agree?" I nod, slightly confused by her comments.
"I have never met another devil-kin" I blurt out and she chuckles. She walks over to me and cups my chin with her long slender fingers ending in nails that could probably gut a man.
"Of course you haven't. After your mother died, those humans..."
Did she just say "mother?" Did she know my mother?
"...raised you as one of them, and aside from me, there are no other children of Asmodeus in the area that could have raised you." How does she know this, I have never met this woman in my life and yet she knows more about me than I might even know about myself.
"How do you know this about me? Who are you? What do you know about my mother" I say, but it seems Imnirith has decided to ignore me,
She walks to the table and picks up a piece of paper. She hands it to me and it reads
TYROVAR KOL
LORD OF RAVENSTORM
REWARD
ASMODEUS' WHIP
200 GOLD PIECES
I chuckle, the note helping to bring me to my senses.. "Some human, eh? You want me to kill the Lord of Ravenstorm? If I am caught, not only will I assuredly be executed but, on the small chance that I get away with it, the majority of my customers are noblemen or friends of the Lord. My reputation would be destroyed! Not to mention only two hundred gold pieces? No way!"
She turns to me and smiles, her fangs shimmering with the gold that coats them.
"What if I promised to tell you what happened to your Mother?"
YOU ARE READING
The Bloodbringer
FantasyAnidaya, the most respected, feared, and admired assassin in the entire world, receives a difficult assignment that takes her on an adventure she could never imagine The cover art does not belong to me. I found it on google.
