||Bairon Wykes||
"I hope you all have enjoyed the evening thus far..." Alexander breaks the sea of murmurs between the nobles, steering all the attention towards him and his partner.
The man's outline was traced by the moonlight, a sliver of a radiating line contouring his edges. His golden eyes were ornamented with an enigmatic presence.
Unwavering, mysterious, yet radiating a charismatic aura that you can't help but try to strike up a conversation with him.
Moments ago, maids began to pour into the ballroom, fetching a handful of his "esteemed guests" into what appears as a little private lounging area. The place was ornamented with a hint of rusticity. The laminated redwood stood proud as various heads of animals were hung up. The carpet was a carcass of a Silver Coat Bear laid flat on its stomach. Its lustrous fur glowing as the moonlight pierced through the black French doors. It was soft, my heels feeling like they were walking on a cloud with every step I took before sinking into the embrace of the sofa leather seat that stood idly on the edge of the room.
The unmistakable smell of cedar lingers in the air. It was probably the firewood used as its orange embers crackled as it ate more and more of the fuel. If anything, it felt more of a trophy room. Made obvious with the pair of crossbows mounted, forming an "X" shape as they were displayed on the left end.
"I didn't expect the celebration to be as grand as this, to be honest," My father was the first to compliment, his head subtly nodding as after he takes a sip of wine from his glass, "I mean no offense of course."
However, I paid no mind after that. Their words became slurred as if I was drunk, muddier than water in a puddle. My senses were concentrated as I was focused on one man and one man only.
Not the merchants
Nor the nobles
A single servant who stood idly on the corner.
He felt odd, like a sore thumb sticking out. Between the well-kept auburn hair and stylized crimson garment was a stern gaze, aimed solely at the bottle before him, kept in a bucket on a parked tray. His poise was straight, his hands tucked on his pockets. His lips seemed to jitter with such subtlety that only a careful observation can spot it.
Can't he just be nervous?
What reason do I have to act?
Why would I even accuse him?
A flurry of questions enters my mind as the weight of the situation drops on my shoulders. I felt a sense of unease that I so desperately kept to myself. I can hear every tick. My eyes notice every small motion. My stomach felt sick, like it had been pronged and spun around together with my guts.
One wrong move, and every person in this room ends up dead.
'What kind of twisted game have I gotten myself into.' I scorned, crossing my arms and legs, my clicking tongue muted under the blanket of the laughs and conversations. A bead of sweat channels down my cheek as drips past my jaw. My heart keeps pounding against my chest and before I knew it, my left leg began to frantically tap its heels, my right perched on the knee.
If only Kaspian were here... that damned airhead.
||Varay Aurae||
An odd foul smell crept through the already thick air. It made me repulse. It was sharp. It reeked like the sulfur used by alchemists, a hint of metal stinging my nostrils.
Were they produced by whatever weapons hailed down on us?
I shook my head violently, my mind installed yanked from dwelling as I processed how we're gonna get out of this situation.
'No time to think', I steeled myself as I heeded for mana to coalesce on my call.
Still nothing... it was like trying to move a mountain with bare hands.
"Diane, when I say go... dismantle the dome." I turn my head and exhale my orders, my mind rambling about how risky my plan was. Suicidal, even. But it's not like we have a choice. We're dead either way if we don't act now.
Even with my head turned, I can sense her nodding as she readies herself for my call. Grey braces as well, lowering his body as he grips the cane that he holds. There was no hesitation, no sense of questioning. There's wasn't a second to spare and she knew that, yet one miscalculation can send us further this shit storm.
"Like that one time?"
I nod once.
"Hold it for me." My hand stretches out towards Grey, offering the scabbard of his blade which he grasped tightly with his right. The earth trembles as a series of small stone marbles manifest in the air, ready to go as they became agitated with mana
"...now." My dry lips usher out, causing the construct of rocks to crumble as they get fashioned into powder. A plume of brown smoke rising from the air and enshroud us three. My index twitches and a flurry of small stone projectiles races in all directions, darting across every and piercing through the cloud, creating small circular openings at their wake.
"Tsk." The mysterious assassin grumbles out as some of the marbles hits his comrades. A couple of holes punctured them, some bruise their skins. I wasn't out for blood anyways, I just needed them disabled.
They were still disoriented from the abrupt barrage, perfect. My legs lowered as they cocked backward. My back stiffens at a angle, my face straight, eyebrows furrowed as if they were its resting place.
A chill runs down my spine as my heartbeat keeps pumping out blood-filled adrenaline throughout my body. My index can't help but twitch ever so slightly as I prepare to launch myself. My ears could pick up how the rock crunches, the faint grunts and cries of the men Diane hit, how my shoes slid on the marbled tiles as I twisted and braced them for the attack.
The earthen shroud brushes past my skin, its coarse touch caressing my face as it laid suspended in the wind. Each inhale I took came with a mixture of the very thing that concealed us three, each cough choked on my throat as I can't afford to lose my focus.
*Swoosh*
I pounce forward, my body only leaving a blurry afterimage from where I stood. The blade unsheathes itself from hiding as it follows who wields its grip. A silver glimmer flashes through its tip as I point it forward, risking exposing our position with an attack that creates a salient towards what seemed like their leader.
One step.
Two steps.
Three steps.
Four.
"Got you!" My words growl through gritted teeth as I felt the edge pierce his skin. In a display of speed, his body retreats, creating a small gap between us as his left hand races to yank my left. His dagger steers clear at the blade pointed towards him.
'Not so fast' a sharp objects shoots races past me, as if on cue, appearing when he least expected it. The projectile propelled through, driving a hole on his liver before the both of us could even blink. The sound of a stone missile shrieking past my left waist reverberates in my ears, it wasn't as loud or as sharp as Bairon's thunder, however the mere note that it left resonated, ignoring the block of flesh that was in its way moments ago. My mind flashes a brief memory of my sparring session with my mentor, although I didn't have the luxury to even command my lips to form a smirk.
A sense of triumph envelopes me, my mind asking only one question:
.
.
.
Is it over?
A question answered the moment my eyes shift to focus on where it pierced through. Instead of a flow of crimson, there only flowed a mysterious ooze of black soot from the outlines of the hole on his left torso. His face bore indifference, an undercurrent of discontent deeply seeded in his eyes as he bares his fangs out like a rabid dog, teeth grit, bloodlust burning like a conflagration.
Shit.
I steel myself, the muscles I relaxed tensing up again as I retract my right hand to brace any for any counters. Heeding my body's call, I reclined my back, the humming of his dagger swinging past where my neck was if I didn't react.
"How—"
No time to speak.
My fingers jerk the handle of my blade, turning the hilt towards my assailant and letting the cold blade rest along the length of my arm. I drove the blunt edge towards his left flank as his grip reaches my left hand.
Again.
I cocked my hand backwards and struck, feeling his ribs shatter as his grip around my other hand loosened.
One more.
His dagger tries to swing back and come for another pass, only to be stopped by my arm that he so desperately gripped a while ago.
"DIANE!" My voice cries out in a piercing shriek, thick with desperation as I closed my eyes. Every ounce of my breath exhaled as I felt my chest compress. I shift my body to his left, my side feeling the wind blow past me yet again. The sound of blood spluttering made a chill ran down my spine. The red blade drops to the floor, along with the strength he imposed. His body thuds lifelessly, bouncing once before lying dead. Completely.
A stake made of hardened earth rests on his chest.
His eyes, devoid of color.
His skin, turning pale.
Crimson finally seeps out of his left.
A sense of clarity, its tranquil taste entering my skin. The heavy air finally subsiding. Sharp exhales forcing their way out of my lungs as my body gasps for air.
Wait, the others...
I pull myself down yet again, my head swiveling to see where his companions were.
None.
Not a single one.
It was if they were a mirage, his puppets.
There was only the presence of Diane and Grey. My knees instantly buckle as my strength seemed to subside along with my arms which felt sore, the burning sensation of my wound still etched, but numbed.
Finally, its over.
A sentiment shared by the three of us as my heart's rapid pace begins to die down. My shoulders rise and fall as I take in the air, still thick with the reeking stench of blood, dust and stress. However, amidst the repose, the triumph was a lingering thought. A sickening realization creeps up my mind, making my gut wretch and shrivel, causing me to forcibly swallow air through my dry throat.
I killed a person.
||Sevren Denoir||
"It's over."
I affirmed, my hands drenched with blood that poured down my fingertips. Lacerations and cuts fill my arms and neck as I sighed in relief. Beathan stood idly, a dagger tightly gripped fastened in his hands as it quivered. The sounds of battle died down, the dead speaking its silence as the smell of blood and wine begins to placate in the cellar.
"D-did we kill them all?" His quivering voice asks. He looked at me like a prey to its predator, his skin was as pale as snow. I could hear his heart drumming against his chest, his irregular breathing laced with terror and pleas to end this night. My steps echoed throughout dark cobblestone floors of the place, tapping gleefully along with my quiet chuckling. They were the only noise that filled the eerie muteness.
"Nonsense, Lord Beathan..." My voice hums in a low tone, striking confusion into him, "I killed them..." My right hand raises itself, fingers pointed on my temples. A stifled scoff finds its way out of my mouth followed by the crunching of my skull as my digits pierce through. The pain I felt was apparently my skull getting drilled... any movement afterwards was only felt by my hand, not by my brain.
I learn something everyday under his command.
"Interesting..." I mutter my final words before collapsing to the floor. My senses quickly dull, everything became a blur as the inescapable embrace of death reaches out its icy hands towards me. There was nothing left I could do, it's a miracle that I could still ramble about it.
Memories of my family flash in quick successions. The warmth of home... its calling me.
But I have yet to arrive home.