Chapter 8: Being Hunted

The next day was one the city would remember. The King marched into his court with the Captain of the guard and several of his knights. He arrested his brother Jacob and tried him right then. Before the hour was up the prince was hanging from the Curtain wall. The nobles were all shocked and stunned that the King would have his own brother executed.

The assassins guild was just as shocked when the city guards began arresting them on sight. Their guild house was burned to the ground. I went back to wearing the clothes of a stable boy and even though we had a lot more people than normal come to the Inn they did not really realize who I was.

As the week slowly passed, things began to slow down. I began hearing things about the thieves guild. They were offering to merge with the remaining members of the assassins guild. The whispers also said they were going to do something about the Guard and possible the King.

The next day everyone was talking. There had been a break in at the City Guard headquarters. Five guards were dead and three more were injured. The Guards treasure, its entire budget was stolen. They were furious and wanted revenge. If the location of the thieves guild had been known they would have burned it down with everyone inside.

I had decided it was time to check out the thieves guild and perhaps tomorrow night relieve them of the burden of their treasure. I slipped into the shadows like normal and made sure I was away from the Inn before I started looking for a thief I knew. When I found him it was in a small grog shop. I went to the back and waited in the shadows. There were a few people that made their way past me in the alley but finally after almost two hours Norris came out.

I stayed in the shadows as I drifted after him. It was not long before he stopped and looked around. He was outside a large abandoned manor. He finally slipped through the back gate and I nodded. This was their Guild house. I began moving away and after only a few feet knew someone was following. By the time I reached the corner I knew it was an assassin.

I kept going as if I had not noticed. Halfway down the next street I walked across the street into a narrow alley. I was almost to the next street when the assassin began to close quickly. Just before I reached the street he made his move. I side stepped the knife from my left thigh sheath coming out and slicing across. I watched the body fall and his dagger tumble out into the street.

I turned and walked back to the other end of the alley and headed down the street. It was not long before I knew there were more following me. This time I knew it was a thief, I even knew her. She was a dried out old woman with a heart of flint. I turned a corner and stepped into a darkened shop doorway. It was only moments before she appeared and peeked around the corner.

When she did not see me, she cursed and ran past me down the street. I slipped out and back around the corner and started across the street. At the next alley I turned and headed into the darker shadows. I knew right away that I was not alone in the alley. I stopped and relaxed, listening to the night around me. After a few minutes he moved, drifting closer.

I shifted, pulling both knifes and reversing one. He came with a rush and a yell. I caught his blade on one knife as I turned, stabbing through his neck with the other. I waited as his body tumbled to the ground and began twitching. I knelt and cleaned my knife before heading towards the other end of the alley. I crossed the street and went into the alley on that side.

Halfway down the alley I turned right in a smaller slip through. I reached the street as a dark figure spun out of the shadows to one side. He was stabbing for my chest as I twisted and my hand came up. I grabbed his wrist, bending and twisting, the dagger followed the hand and I shoved. As it went into his throat and up into his brain another came at me.

I spun to the side, shoving the body towards the new attacker. This was a dance I knew well. The knife on my left thigh slid into my hand and followed the body, passing over it as my attacker tossed it aside. He was not in time to block the knife as it went through his eye and into his brain. I yanked my knife out and looked around as the only thing that could be heard was the jerking of the two bodies.

I knelt and wiped the knife clean before putting it away and moving down the street. A minute later I ducked into a dark service way and made my way to the other street. I hesitated and then crossed into the darker shadows on the other side. I stayed in the shadows as I began to move slowly down a dark alley. I could almost feel the night, alive with enemies chasing me.

I turned onto a darkened street and tried to head towards the Inn. I took a few steps and then three men moved out of the darkened doorways. They were like the last two, thieves, not assassins. Both knives came out as I moved away from the wall and out into the street. The first lunged and I cut across his wrist and then his throat. I used the motion to turn and meet another lunging dagger with a block. My other knife slid over the top of his arm to cut across his throat as I stepped closer shifting around behind him.

The last man had rushed in and was now trying to push the falling body aside. One knife stabbed through his forearm and twisted. As he turned and screamed, I stepped into him. My other knife went in under his arm and sliced back and forth before I pulled it out and let the dying man fall. I knelt and wiped my knives clean before heading towards the end of the street.