The Assassin and the Murderer

Chapter 9

Merek's hideout was an old shack in the middle of the woods. The group decided that their best option was to ambush the place while it was still dark, and stay as quiet as they possibly could before they started slaughtering the guards. The problem was, however, that Althalos' assassins were scattered around the whole premises, and they would not be easy to simply sneak past.

"Okay, I'm going to jump from that tree branch into that window." Laurel whispered, indicating the thick tree nearby. "I need you guys to follow right behind me, and be ready to fight."

The others nodded and Laurel swiftly scaled the tree and leapt into the window, followed by Sam, then Denzel, then their father.

"Letha, maybe you should stay here." Gabriel said, putting a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"Don't be stupid, Gabe. I'm going in. I'm only showing a little, and I'm as nimble as ever. I'm going in wether you want me to or not." She said, climbing the tree with a little more difficulty than Laurel.

Gabriel sighed, and climbed up after her.

The room they found themselves in was vacant except for the single dead body of a guard that didn't even have the chance to warn anyone before he was taken down by Laurel.

Sam and Denzel's dad cocked his head in the direction he wanted them to go, and the group followed him. That was when all hell broke loose.

Guards and assassins alike came in from all directions and began slicing and jabbing everywhere they could. Many found themselves dead at the hands of Laurel and her friends. The blood continued to spill until a gravelly voice halted the bloodshed.

"Stop the slaughter or the Watteau boy dies."

The guards and assassins stepped back, and the remainder of the group turned to see a man with long grey hair and a beard standing next to a man who had Sam in a tight grip only an assassin could achieve. A knife was to his throat.

"Aldis, you piece of shit." Laurel seethed. "I assume this is the infamous Merek? What happened, did Althalos get tired of babysitting you and ship you off to work for this scumbag?"

"I never did like you, Laurel. Get off your high horse before I slit his throat in spite of you." The man threatening Sam spat.

"I don't want to kill any of them." Merek said. "It's you Althalos wants, Laurel. If you give yourself up, I'll let them all go free."

"Let one go now as insurance. And give me a fair fight. That's all I ask." Laurel said, narrowing her eyes.

"No!" Oletha screamed. "Laurel, don't!"

"Fine then. Francis, Ulric, please escort the girl out. I'm not in the business of putting mothers in the crossfire." Merek said.

The two guards grabbed Oletha and dragged her outside.

"Laurel, no! You have to make it out alive! Don't do this!" She screamed, struggling against the men.

"Oletha, go." Laurel said forcefully.

She then turned to Merek, and nodded.

"Fair then." She said, and the crowd backed up to give them room, making a circle along the walls.

The two opponents circled each other for a minute, and then at the same time, dove for each other. It was a blur of fists and knives and blood, and no one could tell who was punching and who was stabbing or who's blood was who's or who would make it out alive.

Until there was silence.

And that is when everyone saw the bloodied, mess of a corpse lay beneath the equally as bloody victor.

~

Spencer didn't like this new life, not at all. It took all of his self restraint to not just slaughter Maven and all the filthy clients in that damn Keep. But he had to keep his end of the deal if he wanted to see Laurel again. Laurel and Linden were the only things keeping him tethered there.

It was true that he cared about both of them deeply. Both were his closest friends. His lovers, as well. But no matter how safe, how easy it felt to just slaughter all of these corrupt, terrible people and run away with Linden, he knew that she wasn't the one he would always run to. Or, it seemed, run from.

That was stupid of him. If not for his relentless pride, he would have stayed. But he left. He left Sam and Denzel. He left Gabriel and Oletha. He left Laurel. He left his only true love, Laurel. So he would stay, because he would see her again. There was nothing that could stop him from that.

There were only two women before Laurel that he had ever considered lovers. The first felt like ages ago. When he was seventeen, right around the time that Laurel started to avoid him, he began to believe that she had somehow figured out his feelings for her. He knew her well, and knew that she didn't like to talk her feelings out. She liked to bottle things up in her head. It never occurred to him that she could have been avoiding him due to her own feelings. But it was soon after that had happened, and he had his heart broken that Althalos sent him on a job in the South. Far away from Laurel. That was where he met Ryelin. She was one of the southern assassins, and was working the job with him. He spent that whole summer with her, and returned to Erilan to realize that his heart ached for Laurel even more than it had before. He had been young and stupid to think that Ryelin would have fixed his love for Laurel, and spent the next year trying to move on. Of course, he never truly moved on. But when he was nearly eighteen, he started a relationship with a woman named Kamriel. Laurel would probably never know about Ryelin, but he and Kamriel had a pretty lasting relationship, and Laurel definitely knew about her. Of course, she must have been heartbroken at the time, but she didn't distance herself from him any more or any less than she already had. But Kamriel had been killed in a fire after they had been together a year.

Then, there was Laurel. And then there was Linden.

But still, after all this time, it was always Laurel.

~

"No!"

Gabriel ran to his sister as Merek made his escape. His guards and the assassins were quick to follow, leaving him to mourn over the bloodied body.

"Laurel, don't you dare be dead right now!" Gabriel cried. "No!"

Everyone was long gone now. All except Aldis, the assassin who still held Sam at knifepoint. He decided to give them a warning before he fled.

"Don't follow us. It'll just get you all killed as well."

He then lowered his knife from Sam's throat.

Sam visibly relaxed, clearly relieved that his life wasn't being threatened anymore. He sighed, and smiled at Denzel, about to say something, but then Aldis turned unexpectedly, jamming the knife right into his back.

"No! Sammy!" Denzel screamed.

Their father ran after Aldis, but Denzel ran right to Sam, and caught him before he fell to the ground.

"You're gonna be alright, okay? Okay?" Denzel said. "You're going to be... No... No, Sam. Sam!"

It was then that he realized it was futile, and held his brother close to him and cried.

They carried two bodies out of the shack that day.