Killing Never Lasts Forever

Chapter One

I prowl along the dark alleyways of the city of Kalla, my ice-cold blue eyes searching for my prey. Then I spot her. Kimonea, a girl who had been imprisoned for theft. She escaped, and she was my newest quarry. I knew who Kimonea was, and she was sloppy. She was poor at covering her tracks, at least for someone like me, and her fighting style could seriously use some work. If only she had turned to Areth as I did. I thought, sighing. She could have been a good asset. Now she'll be killed. Waste of a good fighter. I knew I couldn't fight the nobles, though. That would be even more of a waste of time and resources, not to mention the punishment I would receive from Areth. Not worth it. I swept my fingers along the dust-covered floor, smelling the remnants on my fingers. I could detect a hint of rose, which was the perfume she wore. I advanced carefully, then heard a brief footstep to my right before she jumped me. I rolled out of the way, then sprang up. Her dirty blonde hair whipped around her face as she assumed a fighting stance. Another mistake. I thought. Never keep your hair down unless it's super short. One missed strike because your hair is in your face could be deadly. Kimonea attacked and we fought bare-fisted. My specialty. I ducked her frantic punches and kicks and locked her in a secure chokehold.

"That... purse... wasn't even... that valuable," Kimonea choked.

"That's not why I'm here," I whispered back, and then I stabbed her in the heart with my dagger. She slumped to the ground as blood began pouring out of her onto the ground. At least this alley was one of the places where water was sealed out. It was just disgusting when blood contaminated the water. I cleaned up the blood using materials in my utility belt and carried her across the city, staying out of the main streets. I ducked underneath a line of caution tape and walked across the clear diamond shield that kept Noelani's water from falling out into space. The shield was important; without it, the water sprites will fall. No one was allowed to walk on it.

Not that I cared about that.

I reached a crack in the shield, where only a thin temporary forcefield was separating us from space. I turned it off, and ignoring for the millionth time the rush of wind that threatened to pull me over the edge, I tossed Kimonea's body off into space and turned the forcefield back on. I walked off without looking back.

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"Good, good, good," Areth said, scrolling through my report. "No trace left, as usual. Just the job I would expect from my top assassin."

"Of course, Master," I said, my low voice resonating throughout the stone chamber. "What are the statistics right now? How many people are left?"

"We have a year and a half before the water lilies reproduce," she replied, checking another scroll. "We still have a long way to go, though. We must have the double speed for productivity if this is going to work, because if the water lilies reproduce again... that's just another few million sprites to kill."

"Here's your next mission," Areth added, and handed me another scroll. I scanned it.

"Calea, princess of the House of Lizette," I said. "Interesting. Well, should be easy."

"That's not all," Areth warned. "It's a long-term infiltration. You'll be posing as Calea's lady-in-waiting, and learning everything you can about the life of the nobles. Report to me weekly, and when I, and only I, deem that you have enough information, you'll kill her and exit. Understand?"

"Easily," I replied.

"All the information you'll need is in there. Go now. Every second we lose—"

"Is another life that could have been ended to save Noelani," I finished. "I know, Master." I bowed once more and walked out of the chamber, my footsteps echoing on the stone.

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Areth and her assassins all believe one thing: that Noelani's population has grown too big, and a quarter of the water faeries have to be killed off to help Noelani become stable again. We all knew the shield was weakening. We all knew that whatever initiatives Queen Morwen was taking wouldn't work. We were the only ones who could see reality the way it was. See, the more sprites there were on Noelani, the more water that would be needed to keep us alive, and the more work the shield would have to do. As the shield weakens, water begins leaking out, until, well... nothing good happens.

I shouldn't be caring about this. I was born a human, one of the ones that happen every 51 years. If I had just stayed a human, none of this would have happened. But, the water sprites insisted on surgically implanting gills, so... now I need water to live.

Here's the thing, though. I don't need that much water. I very painfully altered the gills when I was young, so that I could mostly breathe on land, but would need a good swim about once a day. It's worth it. Every time I step on land, I'm thankful that I don't have to deal with that giant burning pain that would have occurred if I hadn't altered the gills.

As I half-walked, and half-swam through the streets of Kalla on my way to the palace, I altered my appearance slowly, so that no one would notice. By the time I was halfway there, though, I had changed my black hair to blonde, and my icy blue eyes to a dark brown. I made my face paler using an injection and crafted a new alias. Avillele Mewende, a young Maeran cast out of her foster family to survive on her own. Easy enough.

I was born a human, birthed out of a water lily, the worst thing that could happen. The Cleone sprites gave me gills, but since I was a human, no Pallas family, the clan that I was born to, wanted to take me in, so they left me on the streets to die. I survived, though. I learned how to defend myself and eventually, when I was 8, stumbled upon Areth's lair. And even though the Pallas' didn't like me, the Cleones were kind, and, as I found out, so were most of the sprites. I liked them enough to want to save them, so I trained to become an assassin. I always thought the irony to be funny. To protect the water sprites, we had to kill them.

I made it to the palace and walked casually up to the guard.

"Name?" he asked.

"Avillele Mewende," I replied, ready to start my new life.