The Assassin's Redemption

Chapter 4

"Spiral Staircase" Picture found in Pintrest, by It Insight Us at Tumblr

The bells chimed noon from a nearby cathedral as the young man entered into an abandoned building. It was once owned by a baron with wealthy ties to the town but many years ago he had mysteriously died in the middle of the night. Having no aires, his manor was abandoned by the staff and was left to sit unoccupied. 

As the massive wooden door closed behind him, all of the daylight was sucked out and he was left in a dark, dim lobby.

His eyes scanned the surroundings. The entire place had cobwebs in the corners and dust collecting on decorations, along with other various items.  A massive staircase stood in front of him and two large Gothic archways of hallway lead to the different rooms of the house. He walked to the small door to his left. It was the servant's door entryway. 

He pulled on the round metal door handle. Dank, musty, odour assalted his nasal passage way. His eyes adjusted into the blackness to see  an overwhelming amount of stairs, that he could not see the end to. Closing the door behind him, he swiftly descended the stone steps. After a few minutes,  a light shone at the bottom. Another door stood before him, only it had a small sliding window craved in it.

This door had new hinges and wood, and it looked out of place on the ancient stone. A large painted symbol of a viper and two blades criss-crossed underneath confirmed to him that he was in the right place. He knocked and immediately a figure came to the door. 

"Password." came the gruff, bored tone. He could see he wore a turban. 

"A wolf is noticed and the fox is cautious" he replied in Arabic. 

"Permission granted."

He stepped inside and the guard stood by. The guard's grey mask hung low on his face and rudimentary armour encompassed his large frame. He closed the door behind him.

The young man turned to the hallway to his right. His leather boots walked along new carpet. Torches lined the hallway, illuminating shadows along the wall. On his left, he saw the door-less entryway he was looking for. 

The room opened into a spacious area. Four large metal candle stands stood at the corner of each wall. Several candle lamps flanked the left and right walls, giving the room a semi-lit glow. Some weapons with shields lined part of the back wall behind him.

An extravagant chair sat in the centre of the wall in front of him on a raised daisies. A red Persian carpet adorned the floor of the daisies. Above, a large banner with the same symbol on the door he entered in hung above. 

Five people that were wearing similar clothes like the guard, were standing in a semi circle. They, however, only wore daggers at their side and a coloured sash on their shoulder to hip indicated their rank in their underground community. They were in a serious discussion.

He approached this group, "Greetings great council, I was summoned?"

An Arabic women with greying black hair at the temples in the group whirled around, a smile broke out on her face, "Swift-Metal, so you have come." she greeted.

Swift-Metal clasped his hands together and slightly bowed to her. "Greetings Lady Layla. Do you know what this is all about?"

"Always on high alert when you were in my classes, weren't you?" she said, motherly tussling his light brown hair, breaking Swift-Metal out of his uneasy feeling. Raising on her tiptoes, he gave her a quick embrace. 

"Layla must you coddle the boy like that? He must look presentable when our leader comes." boomed a dwarf-van council member, his blue eyes under his peppered black bread showed a scowl.