The Assassin Of Lore

VI

His hand clutched the back of my neck and pushed me onto my knees. Holding the wound on my stomach, I winced, scrunching up my face. The wound still ached, stinging whenever I moved, despite the bandaging that now held it together. 

The stranger took a step back, releasing his grip on my neck. My sight was blurred, and I could barely see a thing - I wasn't sure if that was due to the dim lighting in the room, or if I was soon to faint from the lack of blood in my body. The smell of iron flowed into my nose in small whisps; I could taste it on the tip of my tongue. Although I was pretty sure that it came from the bandages around my stomach, it could have come from the weapons that the stranger behind me was holding, or maybe there was another source of blood in the room altogether.

"This is her?" a voice asked. It wasn't the white-haired stranger's voice - but instead, this voice was older, less articulate, yet somehow much more threatening. I didn't dare to glance up to look at the threatening man.

There was no reply, so I could only assume that the white-haired stranger had nodded instead of speaking.

"Aurour Daliah," There was a shuffling sound, followed by slow footsteps onto the grimy stone floor below me. I kept my focus on the floor, but through my blurred vision, I managed to make out the shape of two leather shoes in front of me. Before my mind could register this change in the environment, the threatening man grabbed a hold of my chin, digging his claws in. "Artemis really did do a good job of you, didn't he?" 

'Artemis?' I asked myself. I didn't dare to take my eyes off of the threatening man in front of me as he inspected me, brushing my hair from my neck and my face to check for any seriously life threatening wounds. 

"Nothing too significant," he said, and then glanced down at my stomach. "Except perhaps for that. It should clear up soon, I hope. Artemis really got you good." He released his grip on my chin, and stood instead. "Stand up, girl."

This time, I looked up towards his face. I suddenly realised who he was - and my stomach turned. Mitchell Harmon, guildmaster of The Bloodbrands, and the man I had just attempted to assassinate, stared down at me.  "Yes, you. Stand up."

I tried to stand up, the muscles of my stomach groaning as I forced myself onto my feet again. Almost falling over, I tried to steady myself, trying to clutch on to anything - anyone - but to no avail. The room spun with each breath I took in. I couldn't see anything, hear anything, touch anything - where was I?

"Aurour Daliah of The Fellenhoods, am I correct?"

I didn't reply. I was too focused on trying to balance myself - the guildmaster felt as if he were a hundred miles away.

"I'll take your silence to mean as a yes, then. Do feel free to sit on one of the chairs. You look as if you might throw up." There was a silent moment, as I didn't reply or move, before he spoke again. "Did she even speak to you, Artemis?" Although he spoke to the man behind me, whose name I now knew was Artemis, I could tell that his question was directed at me.

"Only briefly," the man with the white hair, who looked too young for his hair to be so pure, replied instead. "I spoke of her face when she realised that it was a straw version of you in the bed, let's see," he recalled the conversation. "She threatened me, I taunted her, we fought."

"She's got a bit of a mouth on her, hey?" he smirked.

"If I recall correctly, she threatened to gut me."

Mitchell Harmon laughed. Did he find my threats empty and petty? No. Maybe at that point of time, they seemed like hopeless, empty threats - but in the long run - I would gut him like a fish. Suddenly, all laughter and noise in the room stopped. My vision somehow seemed less blurred now. I was sat in a room with a stone-tiled floor and horrible, crimson wallpaper. I could see that behind me, there was a row of wooden stools. Despite the two men watching me like I was their next meal, I stalked over to the back of the room and picked one up. Placing it in front of the guildmaster, I climbed up onto it and sat, waiting, ready to hear what he was going to tell me.