MALADIED

4. The Dawn of the Assassination II

Sil and I stopped at a church, a few walks away from the growing crowd at the heart of the capital. There was enough moonlight to keep us aware of our surroundings and dark enough to conceal our presence. Sil hadn't changed from her dress, but a black cloak covered her whole figure, and a hood was pulled over her face, identical to mine.

The church before us was old; old enough to be called a ruin. Its walls were barely standing, rid of its architecture and what was left were stacks of carved stone bricks. A rotten door separated the outside world from the inside. The courtyard was a mess — foliage was scattered about, you could barely see the paved floor, an abandoned fountain sat in the middle of the courtyard overgrown with moss and fungi, and its water was murky and infested with mosquito larvae. The courtyard perimeter was lined with overgrown bushes that looked like monsters in the dark; that was where Sil had hidden her rifle.

"Oh, my dear, Lesley!" Sil chirped as she rummaged through the bushes at the corner of the courtyard. She dusted off dirt off the rifle's barrel, and continued, "We must do one more job tonight!"

I side-eyed Sil who was fixated on her weapon, her eyes were stripping every part of the rifle, like it was a person, and she was stripping off their clothes.

'Just another lunatic,' I thought with great aversion.

A hand chopped me behind my neck sharply. I jolted, almost losing consciousness. "What the fuck was that for?!" I exclaimed, my hands rubbing the pain on my neck. "I could've died, you wretch!"

"I just had a feeling you were judging me," she said. "Especially with that piercing side-eye you gave me, maybe you ought to take her bullets, huh?"

I immediately retaliated, and proclaimed, "Right, alright, I'm sorry!"

Sil managed out a laugh, and in that moment, everything felt at ease. Earlier on, Sil was agitated. She kept shifting her weight from one leg to the other. She had to go and assassinate a king for crying out loud, so I guessed her composure changed to fit the bill.

"Ithwill has requested your presence," Sil spoke amid the silence of the night. "You're lucky your involvement is not with the Liberators but with the Maladied." She sighed heavily, "I wish it was easy to be a leader. And advice to you, please don't be a leader; you'd make a horrible one."

"You got that right, I'm smart enough to not blindly trust people," I mentioned, as my head tilted upwards, looking at the towering spire of the old church.

"Right, time to clock in," Sil mentioned nonchalantly as she swung her rifle by its strap on her shoulder. "See ya' later, Latem. Who knows I might raise my bounty tonight, haha."

Sil's words felt empty, her laugh didn't carry any genuineness either. I knew deep down she didn't know why the Liberators were tasked with such a grave responsibility. She had been suppressing her doubts about our master's plans. I watched as Sil turned her back against me and inched towards the church gates reluctantly.

Somewhere in me, there was looming fear. A fear that I might not be able to argue or bicker with her anymore. Although she was a nuisance, she was, with no doubt, a great and powerful woman, out to seek more heads to hunt. And most of all, to seek more chaos in the name of Malady. If the last remaining moments of her were me getting hand-chopped by the neck, then I'd never forgive myself — I needed to get back at her at least once!

Eventually, I called out, "Sil! I'll be waiting for you, and you better raise that bounty! Thirty million zins! Then, I'll turn you in and become filthy rich off of you!"

She turned around, and a snarky smile danced on her face before she erupted into a laugh. She said, "Hundred million zins! And then I'll retire! Forget about becoming rich, I'll never be turned in by the likes of you!" Sil flashed her golden eyes, the Mark of Malady in her eyes glinted under the shadow of her hood.