Kalendra: Hunt for the Nocturnus

Chapter 1: Dark Dealings

(Viewpoint: Annie)

        My business is a wretched one, but the pay is good and the stream of jobs is always flowing. I always fulfill my contracts, and I always leave the room in awe or lying in a lake of blood. My current contract involves one of the city's aristocracy, Jackson Blackmoor. The funny part is, his brother, Andrew Blackmoor, sent the order in for the assassination. The city, Shiva, is run under a long chain of interconnected families who control the government, treasury, and the military, but none of that matters to me. My only focus is to kill my target and get my pay.

          I entered through the sewers of the manor. I jumped from the edge of the murky waters of the manor's moat up to the top of the wall. Even if they weren't expecting me, the manor is armed to the teeth. Guards in heavy armor, barbed wire and pikes on most of the walls, and each family member with at least three personal escort guards. I have never been caught by any guard. I am only seen by those I want to see me. My skills come with a price. I was made a vampire by my now deceased father nearly 4 years ago. The Black Hand assassins took me in at that point, and have kept a steady stream of jobs coming in since then. And were there are jobs, there are prey.

         I looked to my right and saw three guards approaching from the far side of the wall. With one leap I was able to make it across the wall and into the open courtyard. With eyes like a cat, there is nothing I can't see coming, even in the pitch black of the courtyard. I darted towards the first floor door which led to the kitchen. The cook and his assistants were out for the night, so I had nothing to worry about. With my dagger drawn I vaulted across the lamplight of the kitchen to the far stairs. I walked up the stairs, hugging the wall. I could hear a guard walking towards the top of the stairs. I stood behind the wall, waiting for him to approach. I grabbed him by the collar of his breastplate, driving my dagger in to his chest with one hand and covering his mouth with the other. I dropped him to the ground. I continued forward down a long hallway draped in torchlight. Four doors were connected to the hallway. 

         Each door led to the room of one of the Blackmoor family members. My target was right behind the far right door. But before I could enter, I began to hear a low hum. The hum grew louder and louder until it turned into the screams of what seemed like hundreds of people. The room grew dark, all the torches extinguished by an unseen force. My entire body shook and trembled as the entire building shook violently. Loosely hung family paintings and mirrors began to fall off the walls and shatter on the ground. I threw open the door to Jackson Blackmoor's room and saw him standing over a summoning circle trying to close it as hundreds of spirits sprung force from it. The purple light from the circle bathed the room with a dark magenta hue. He finally clapped his hands together as the remainder of the spirits were pulled back into the circle as it closed. The room was a wreck from the shaking, but it must have been that way before. Books strewn across the floor, cutlery and dishware littering the tables and armchairs, and apothecarial writings nailed to the walls. I drew my daggers and began to sprint towards him.

         As I lunged at him he turned his head ever so slightly, muttered a short sentence, and disappeared into a pile of dust. He reappeared behind me and began to cackle,

"You imbecile. I am the most powerful necromancer in all of Shiva, and you think you can kill me with a pair of daggers and your vampire abilities? You are sadly mistaken."

        He raised a staff made of a dark wood with a black gem affixed to the top to his side with the gem about two feet above his head. He muttered an incantation, and we both suddenly appeared in the main courtyard. He, however, had a dark purple aether sword in his right hand. He then pointed the staff skyward. It released a dark pulse of energy that instantaneously killed all of the guards in the courtyard. He charged at me with his sword raised. I blocked the first strike with my daggers and vaulted backwards in defense. He lunged at almost inhuman speed at me again. His sword was met with another block. I lunged towards him with my daggers raised. He smiled. He must have been waiting for a response from me because he was able to disarm me with a single spell.

          Before he was able to deliver a killing blow, a bright light appeared above us that was far brighter than the sun. A large ethereal being wearing a dark blue suit of knight's armor and holding a broadsword with a curving blade and a measuring scale hanging from the guard. Both of us stood in awe of the being as he spoke in a low and strange voice,

"Stop fighting. You both have proven yourselves worthy of joining The Order of Balance. I am the Avatar of Balance, of course. You will both be required to head to the Temple of Clairvoyance in the town center of this city. Try not to kill each other either. Also, all ties to any family names or guilds will be broken by this pact, but if you do not accept your life is forfeit to my sword. Now go before the night ends."