Take out the mark, retrieve the scroll, and avoid getting killed by his protection detail of Black Guard mercenaries. That was the job. Simple enough, or so the Assassin Without a Name thought, until he finds himself smack in the middle of three org...
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I was ready for more priests, but that wasn't what she meant. She had her head turned, listening, and I heard it now, too. Shouts, coming from the direction of the compound's gate, and steel ringing on steel. The Black Guard had arrived. Good. We could use the chaos they were bringing with them to cover our escape.
No one greeted us on the next floor. Doors were closed, and the stairs wound around and around as they led us down to the next level. Still, there were no further Jakaree obstacles to overcome. Another floor of nothing and I got the feeling that most of the priests were in the place of worship, watching their machine do its thing.
We finally saw another priest posted at the tower's exit. He proved a slight distraction for me as Liz slid past and went to the door. Before the priest's body had hit the ground, she gave me the all-clear, and out we went.
It had been quiet when we'd come in. No longer. Jakaree streamed from the roofless building, disappearing into the dark as they ran to stop the Black Guard invaders. In the distance, but drawing closer, we heard the sounds of battle. We made ourselves small, hiding amidst the tower's trees as we watched the flow of priests leaving the place of worship diminish to a trickle. I had the utmost confidence in the Black Guard and their ability to win the day, or night as the case may be, and so I didn't think it a good idea for us to stick around any longer than necessary and risk them finding us.
I turned to Liz to point toward our escape route, but she wasn't there. Not next to me or even close, but slinking toward the Jakaree holy place.
Part of me wasn't surprised. I no longer had any doubt that she knew something. I considered grabbing her and, if necessary, dragging her back over the compound wall. As I followed in her footsteps, that's what I half intended to do. But she was already too close to the Jakaree building. A commotion would only alert any priests remaining inside to our presence. I reached her before she did anything stupid, squeezing her arm to get her attention while I motioned back the way we'd come. She shook my hand loose in response and, drawing one of her knives, padded along the exterior wall toward the building's entrance.
I shook my head. This was why Liz and I never worked out. Not because we disagreed about things from time to time, though we did often enough, but because she always knew something that I didn't. It had been aggravating then, and it was aggravating now. More aggravating, actually, because we were right in the thick of it, with an easy way out, and here she was, dragging me in deeper. I wasn't going to leave her, though, which I think she knew. I shook my head again. She was taking advantage of my chivalry, plain and simple.
I let Liz lead, since she seemed to have some idea what we were walking into. The sounds of battle from across the compound were very close now. It seemed a strange show of force on the Black Guard's part just to retrieve a single scroll, but then nothing had seemed normal this night. No more time for idle thought as Liz slipped inside. I was right behind her, long knives ready.
My attention was immediately drawn to the machine and the ebon sun at its center. It had four legs supporting a circular base, the surface of which was ringed with vertical prongs that surrounded and seemed to contain the dark circle of energy. The sphere was not smooth, but a crackling ball, shifting and shimmering while three distinct metallic bands spun around it on as many different axes. Neither the sun nor the bands had any physical connection to one another, but the machine shook and vibrated all the same. It remained in place only because someone had bolted each leg to the floor.
