Assassin's Blade

Part 1

 A scarred man, his face hardened by years of battle, remained crouched in the shadows, waiting. A former mansion on the outskirts of town - this was the address his employer had given him. This was where his target was staying. He gave a low chuckle in his throat as he thought about how surprisingly easy it was to break in to.

The assassin knew his target would have hired somebody to protect him, due to the nature of what he carried, but he was hardly concerned. He had never been bested, especially not by some cocky mercenary hoping to earn a coin.

The door creaked open and a guard slipped through. The scarred man silently cursed his luck. The man was employed by the city, he could tell from the uniform. A city guard killed or missing would attract far more attention than a wandering adventurer or mercanary would.

Of course, a murdered nobleman would attract even more attention, the assassin thought with a grin.

The guard wandered about, searching for a killer he would never see. Assuming all was safe, he motioned for the others to enter.

Two more guards walked in, a nervous man between them. The crouched assassin licked his dry lips, wondering how he could kill three guards and the nobleman without drawing too much attention to himself.

The first guard said something to the group and went through a door off to the right. The assassin recalled that door led to the kitchen. Good, he thought to himself with a grin, he'll be isolated from the fight.

The nobleman and his two guards went into what the assassin knew to be a study. He held his breath as the group passed by him, his trained muscles remaining perfectly still. The nobleman, as if sensing the presence of danger, glanced up and looked around, a look of concern on his face. When he saw the two city guards flanking him, however, he was reassured. After all, who would attack him in the privacy of his own home with city guards standing at the ready?

They left the door open carelessly, and the assassin crept over and peeked into the well-lit room, quickly glancing around. Books and papers were piled all around the room. The nobleman sat at a desk, hurriedly scribbling something down on a piece of paper. One of the guards was positioned at the end of a narrow corridor off to the side of where the fearful nobleman was sitting, facing away from the deadly assassin. The other guard stood at attention beside the man's chair, idly staring off in the intruder's direction.

He ducked back behind the doorway, hoping he was not spotted. After a short while, he dared move away from the doorway and look back into the room. The guard facing him seemed lost in his own world. The other guard occasionally stared over his shoulder at the obviously inexperienced guard, but quickly turned back. As soon as his back was turned, the assassin made a quick dash inside the room and melted into the corner shadows.

The inexperienced guard yelled out when he saw a man's form dart into the room, but his yell ended in a gurgle of blood as a dagger came flying out of the darkness and into his throat. The guard clutched weakly at the dagger that had appeared, and crumpled to the ground without another word. The terrified nobleman screamed, and the guard across the room whipped around, drawing his sword as he turned. He crossed the room in an instant, searching into the shadows for the unseen killer.

The assassin heard the sound of running feet enter the doorway, and he knew the guard from the other room had heard the commotion and come to investigate. Knowing it was only a matter of time before he was trapped, he drew his saber and remaining dagger, preparing to fight his way to his target.

The guard in front of the killer yelled out a warning as he saw the flash of metal, but he was already moving, skirting around the corner of the doorway to come face-first with a confused guard. Before the guard could bring his sword up to block, the assassin stabbed him with his saber, a powerful strike that had the end of the sword extending out behind the impaled man. The guard crumpled over the assassin's sword, and the victor kicked the body off the blade and pivoted around just in time to parry the other guard's downward strike.