The Blades

Chapter Fifteen

September 31st

Sygnet

Sygnet's ship docked in Dolonde's harbor. As she climbed down the ramp to the docks, a Nyx soldier approached and asked to see her bag. She handed it over, presumably as she had nothing to hide from them. Seemingly, he found nothing and sent her on her way. It was odd. Security was never this tight, especially by the Nyx, who had evidently made themselves at home here. She was exhausted from the long trip. It had been diplomatic, of course, strictly business with the guards, not for the assassins. However, she had requested a few days off of work to spend with the assassins below the city. A dragon flew low overhead, coming to perch on the roof of a house. Its black, soulless eyes gazed at her with curiosity as she passed below.

She picked the entrance into the tunnels in the far corner of the slums, a hole behind a large house, hidden from sight between the wall of the city and that of the house. She jumped down and made her way through the tunnels that she had been forced to memorize years ago.

The door that led to the tunnels near Commons was closed. Unusual, really. It was always kept propped open.

Frowning, she slowly pushed on it and the stench hit her like a brick wall. She doubled over, retching as she leaned against the door for support.

It was then she noticed a bloody boot-print on the floor. It was silver, like Thälor's blood had been the night she arrived. Panic filled her face as her eyes traveled upwards, towards Commons. The bodies of Nyx lay scattered about, many of which bore gruesome injuries. She broke into a run, abandoning her bag by the door. Upon entering Commons, she found more bodies and burn marks against the stone.

Two large pools of blood lay before the fireplace. This blood was red.

It swirled with the blood of a nearby Nyx, creating a morbidly beautiful pattern on the stone. The dining hall and the rooms behind were clear, apart from the pile of dust that was all that remained of Mortie, and a few leaves that were the now-deceased nymphs. The rooms had been thoroughly ransacked, including her own, her dresser had been tipped over and her bedsheets torn to shreds. She turned around and ran towards the Second Commons, passing more Nyx bodies as she went. There was more red blood by the archery target, another spattered along the bookshelves near the entrance below the abandoned house.

Two more in the infirmary, a bright red stain splashed along the beds and another leaving its mark on the cabinets where the healing potions had been kept but were now broken glass on the floor. She found another in the library, where the books had been ripped apart, pages lying in the silver and red stains, and bookshelves lay splintered throughout the room. Burn marks were all over the walls.

The garden was the last place she checked and there, she found the remains of a great battle. The grass was dead and the flowers wilting. The artificial torches on the wall were dimly lit but, in that light, she could see the largest bloodstain yet, right near the opposite side. A bloody streak lead to the pond and stopped on the stone bridge over the center. The crystal-clear water was now a slight shade of pink.

Sygnet couldn't bear to do anything but run away from the smell of death in the room. Tears filled her eyes and it looked as if it took great control not to scream out in anger.

She began to run through the halls, towards the spring where she felt most at peace. She collapsed on the grass by the water, tears streaming down her face and into the dirt, her sobs overtaking her and she vomited in the grass.

Suddenly, the sounds of digging reached her ears and she looked up, sniffing, towards the graveyard. Someone was alive. In her desperation to find the hint of someone, friend or Nyx, she clambered to her feet and sprinted as fast as she could up the stairs.