The Herald of Death

Chapter 2

Chapter Two :

            I was returning from an invitation at Lady Darylynn’s estate, where I encountered the charming Lady Radiant of Estersea. She was a guest in the palace and came with her escort. It was a sign of our alliance with Estersea –not that it would last very long- King Zain makes his decisions on a whim. We could very well be at war with them tomorrow. In the mean time Lady Radiant had to be treated with the utmost respect, moreover she entertained most of the nobility with her stories of travel. Ladies rarely leave court, let alone their country, which is what, made her a source of interest. Naturally they included me in these conversations since they knew I had traveled a little. Alright, so I’d been to all twelve kingdoms under various guises but the ladies didn’t know that.

            I was getting restless. I hadn’t killed or been on a mission since the maid I killed a week ago. She had seen the Herald around the house and noticed the blood on my dress, she asked to many questions so she was disposed of. It worked nicely since the people she boasted to of seeing the Herald of Death assumed that he had taken care of her. It boosted my reputation, now people believe the Herald is all-knowing and they’re even more terrified of me. They fear every shadow and have stopped leaving their house after nightfall. As much as I enjoy the people’s fear, they haven’t given me much to play with recently. They’ve grown too careful, if this keeps up I’ll have to break into a house and kill them all to satiate my bloodlust.

            Rather unfortunately, a sealed envelope awaited me on my bed with the details for a new mission. I guess I wouldn’t be killing a family after all. Nonetheless this mission was not one I would enjoy very much..

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           I ducked to avoid the blow which would have decapitated me otherwise and quickly thrust a dagger into the soldier’s throat. A cursory glance at my surroundings told me where he was and how he was faring. Seeing that he was faring well  I rapidly turned around to face my new opponent.

This had been going on for hours and much as I love the blood and gore that goes with war this mission was NOT one I enjoyed.War is so messy. In a battle like this one you can’t take the time to see your opponent suffer, to see the fear and relish in the killing. The wonderful silence that follows associated with death. A battle ground is noisy, full of cries and the clashing of armor, there’s no time for the poetry of pain.

“Mylo, glad to see you’re still alive !”

“Same to you Captain ! And I’m certainly glad to still be alive.” I answered in my best imitation of a gruff voice.

“Well don’t die on me, I still haven’t had the time to thank you properly for saving my life! Besides, who else will I have to compete with if you die?” He answered as jokingly as one can in the midst of battle. This was the other reason for which I hated this mission.

I didn’t mind killing. I love killing. But protecting is NOT something I do. Yet here I am protecting the Captain of Estersea’s army. It took long hours of arguing with Zain to get me here and I had to find another excuse for my absence from the palace.

 In the end I told Sarah to keep it secret but that I was running off to see my beau for a while. Now if she’s loyal she’ll make up an excuse for my absence and if she’s not then I’ll still have an alibi even if the whole capital knows about my tryst with a mysterious man.

So now I’m posing as Mylo, a common soldier who was enrolled in Estersea’s army for the war they were raging against their neighboring country of Eulion. My mission is to kill Eulion’s General if he hasn’t already died. At the same time I’m supposed to be protecting Dryden, Captain of Estersea’s army. To be honest he was a good fighter and hardly needed protecting –thank god. I just had to get rid of a troublesome archer. Dryden isn’t a bad person, he thinks we’re friends –well he thinks he’s friends with Mylo- and he certainly is an interesting person to talk to. I still wouldn’t bat an eyelash if the order to kill him came in but for the moment I appreciate his company. The other soldiers are dull and vulgar, he offers some form of entertainment when we’re not fighting.