Feathers Adrift

Chapter 5: Assassins

A/N: If you have any ideas on how I can improve this story, please don't hesitate to say in the comments.

Alavidā!

fancycle

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~Lain~

Lain felt so bad for Tiadrin. All she wanted was a fresh start, but the assassins instead forced her into killing a being. However, if she wanted a job and a life at Silvergrove, it was the only way.

They returned to Ethari's workshop to see that Runaan was already there.

"I'm sorry this has to happen. My father is a difficult person at times." he explained.

"I understand. I just don't know if I'm ready. The mission is tonight. We're going to a human's library to collect information on dark magic, of all things and I'm ju-ust..."

"Afriad. I know. But we'll pull through."

It reminded Lain that a few years ago, he was forced to do the same, at an age no one would recommend. He knew Laveer's ways well. It was, at the end, victory or death. It was harrowing.

Together, they picked out a set of blades for Tiadrin and joined the group of assassins. Laveer waved for them to hurry, as they mounted on some moon striders.

"You better not be a disappointment, girl." he lashed.

Tiadrin clenched her fists but kept her mouth shut reluctantly. She clearly didn't want a fight with him.

After a long two days of travelling, they reached the library. Runaan peeked at it from behind the bushes.

"It's heavily guarded with swordsmen. We must proceed cautiously." he said.

"Now this is where you come in girl. Go and finish them off for us." Laveer said.

Tiadrin trembled next to Lain, but did as she was told. Lain watched closely as she swiftly twirled with her blades and finished them. She leapt from tree to tree until she reached their hiding spot.

"Well done girl." one of the assassins from behind said.

One by one, they leapt off the trees and pounced at the door.

Lain picked up the guard's keys from the limp body on the floor and unlocked the library. It was past midnight, so the library was empty.

Sintor tossed sacks at them and signalled for them to pick up as many books as they could. But then, the sun tingled at the edge of the horizon.

"The sun! They will be here soon. We must hide." Sintor hissed. She unraveled her blades. 

"I have an idea." came a voice from the other side. It was Tiadrin.

"We can hide in the boxes. They will carry them to the kingdom, which is near the border. From there, we can make our escape."

"Good plan." Runaan said.

We scrambled and shoved ourselves into the loading boxes. As suspected, a soldier came to load us into a cart.

Many hours passed and Lain was starting to think it wasn't heading to the kingdom. But then, the cart dropped and he overheard some chatter.

"The new king will be crowned in a matter of days. He needs as much support as possible." one voice said.

"Yes." the other said.

As if on cue, Runaan leapt out of the box with Sintor and attacked the soldiers. Tiadrin, Laveer and he came out after.

"We must go. Now!" Laveer seethed.

The moon striders came to our whistle and we took off, back to Xadia.

"That was too close. We were almost caught." Lain said.

"Do we still have any books?" Laveer asked. 

Tiadrin carefully pulled out a good handful of books from her satchel, followed by the others who opened up their pockets. Lain himself had tucked a whole sack under his arm. Their happiness was short lived, however, as some of the books began to fade away.

"Some of them are fakes!" Laveer pounded angrily. "I should've known a dark mage would've done this. What a fool I am."

No one dared to say anything after that. As soon as they reached Silvergrove, they pieced the remaining few books they collected and discussed about the new king.

"The kingdom of Katolis has been known as the most powerful of the five: the original line of dark mages runs through and their troops and land size especially next to the border gives them advantage." Tiadrin pointed out.

"Agreed. However, it may be our time to strike. The new king is vulnerable to attacks he cannot handle. He may have an advisor, but in the end it is he that makes the decision." Sintor said.

"Are you suggesting we go on a war rampage to an inexperienced king, not knowing his capabilities, his motives or his actions?" Tiadrin argued. Runaan nodded to agreement with Tiadrin, and Lain did the same.

"It is not wise to strike now. We need more information." Lain reasoned.

"Then will we wait like glowtoads in a river? Never." Laveer said.

"They have not yet attacked. We only need to act for defence, and that has always been the way of the elves." Runaan said.

"And why would we wait for their attack!"

"We should gather intelligence first!"

"No attacks!"

"We must act now!"

"STOP!" Tiadrin yelled in frustration. Surprisingly, everyone silenced and turned to her.

"What will we achieve from attacking? If we attack, who knows how many dark mages will storm into Xadia and try to assassinate the king of the dragons! All because we make one mistake. We have already stormed into their library. We need more information before we step into something we are not ready for." she said.

"Father, maybe we should listen to her." Runaan said.

The elves nodded in unison, even Laveer. From there, plans were made to ensure we had a time of attack. We aligned assassins for a second mission to the castle, and soon it was taking an act.