Stars Of Glory

Ch. 1, Part 1

Enigma Nightshade had finally caught the bandit, Ronald the Ripper. Covered in blood, she cut off his head and put it in the butcher's paper she had brought for that purpose. Wiping herself down, Enigma was glad she hadn't worn her 'dress-to-impress' uniform, as she had absolutely ruined the clothes she had on. At least the money she'd get would more than cover the exorbitant fee it would require to buy a new custom-made outfit. Nightshade hunted in Fearwood Forest often so she knew her way around fairly well.

Enigma went to the nearest big river, and followed it to the nearest town, Lamat. She made her way to the center of town, where she thought she'd find an inn ... Yes! There! Lamat wasn't big enough for a separate inn and tavern, so she made her way to the barkeep, who doubled as the innkeeper.

The barkeep made his way over to her, and Enigma gave him her order and a question.

"A pint of ale, and where's the jeweler's?" She ordered.

"Here it is, and it's at the end of the street, by the mill." He responded, eyeing her bloody attire. The assassin chugged down the ale, slapped down a copper, and was off, rust red cloak swirling around her.

Sadly, the jeweler's was not part of the Garhuln, or Guild, network, so the assassin could get no reward. She left the town, leaving naught but three coppers behind, just another hunter, lost to the winds. She wasn't even halfway to Shamdasd, the closest sizable town, when she found an unsuspecting Guild member, a messenger by the look of him. Enigma saw the marks on his horse, the rich, fancy clothes, and knew he was of the class that forced her to betray them, and killed him, leaving an infinity symbol, drawn in his own blood upon his corpse.

Before she drew her sigil, Nightshade searched his corpse for a map of Guild towns, which were towns that had jewelers who were employed by the Assassin's Guild to provide jobs and drop-off spots for journeymen and masters. Enigma, was a Maestro Pianoforte (Highest rank of masterhood), so she got the best of everything. She found a new map (that had drop-off spots!), and so she closed his satchel, put her old, outdated map in instead, drew the infinity symbol in his blood, and was off.

Three days later, Shamdasd was on the horizon. Shamdasd was a larger town that was on the Guild map the assassin had, with a Premium All marking on it. Premium All meant there were Assassin, Guard, and Espionage jobs. she was a Maestro Pianoforte in all, so she'd get the best of the best of the best jobs that were available.

She entered the town long after dark, when the moon was shining through the roofs. She ran to the tavern, and circled around back to the general store and inn. Yes, the tavern, inn and general store are all owned by the same person, Aries Henelbarden. But Aries was NOT at the counter. Instead, a woman was there.

"Where's Aries? Are you in charge now? Who are you?" Enigma questioned, immediately suspicious.

"I'm Mathilde, Aries's mam. And who are you to be askin'?" she admonished, scowling down at the obnoxious newcomer.

"I'm Deadly E." she responded, using the name she went by when she met Aries, waiting for a reaction

"My son left her a note about you. Well then, here's what he said: 'So, E, you back? That's my mam who's running this while me and Jenny, my wife, travel to Speyer to get papers. Your room hasn't been touched, and old Laermy is still jeweler. Protect my mam, and your fee will be half for the next two months.'

The woman looked up, catching the assasin's flat yellow eyes. "I'd like to say I don't need protecting, but two men are trying to steal from my patrons, and I'll have none of that. I'll show 'em to you in the tavern. Aye?"

"Aye." Enigma agreed. After all, who was she to turn down reduced fare? She had funds, but the longer she could stretch then, the less jobs she'd have to take, and even the gods didn't know the extent of Nightshade's hatred for killing innocents, as her jobs often required.

She ran to the jeweler's, where she got the phrase for Lookout's Point, the nearest drop off spot, and five more assignments she could take. she put the file, hidden, in her bag, and she went back to the Looking Glass, the tavern. Mathilde pointed out the two brutes, she roughed them up, and went on her way. Lookout's Point wasn't that far, so she figured she could make it before sunrise. Nightshade ran, an easy lope across lowlands.

Soon, she got to the cliffs. The cliffs were high, towering peaks, with steep sides and a sheer drop. However halfway down the cliff there was a little nook, the outside surrounded in scrubby grass. The deceptively small nook was actually an entrance to a much larger cave system with hundreds of winding passages that many had gotten lost and died in. They called it Lookout's Point as there were many little holes in the cliffs above it that one can get to by climbing up the tunnels.

The instructions that the jeweler had given her led to a small room with a stone desk. Seated at the desk was an unremarkable little man. He was perfectly average. Average height, average build; everything about him was average. There was nothing different or special about him -- in essence, the perfect spy.

"Ah, Maestro E. Nightshade, Pifor," the man said.

"Yes?" she bantered, every inch the Assassin Queen.

"I assume you're here to collect the bounty for Ronald the Ripper?" he asked.

"Yes." Enigma replied, pulling the head out of the basket. It was in reasonable condition, considering it had been through a week of travel with absolutely no ice. In other words, it smelled. Really bad. It stunk up the entire room. To his credit, he didn't cringe or flinch when she pulled out the head, still frozen in a look of terror, smelling like Gahol himself. He put it in a secret compartment in the floor, handing her the gold as he did so. He turned away, and she knew her audience was over. she followed the paths into the bright sunlight, baking in its warmth.

Climbing to the top of the cliffs, Enigma could see the coastline and the city, the capital. She longed to be there at last, to be in her home, with its own plumbing system, but she knew she had to stop at Armide, a small town not that far down the river, before she could collapse into a luxuriously warm bath. She arrived at Armide as the sun was setting, and quickly found the stables. Armide was one of her frequent haunts in Nors, and so she knew it well. The stables and inn were owned by Georgio, and his brother, Lance, owned the adjoining tavern. Georgio and she were on good terms, as she left her Destrider, Asterion, there when she could not take her. Georgio, for his part, seemed glad that he had such a prestigious horse, from such a famed line, and was glad for the prestige it, in turn, gave him. she slept in her attic room, which she paid him to keep for her for the next twenty months, in case she needed somewhere to lie low. A bit before the sun rose, she swung out of her window to the stable's roof, which she landed upon with a cat's grace. she jumped down to the ground, and sped away, a wraith lost to Nanon's winds.

A while later, Enigma arrived in Speyer, the capital of Nors. she hailed a carriage, and made it to Vesta's Vixens, a brothel not far from where she lived. she paid the driver, and ran to a nearby alley, which she climbed up, and danced along rooftops until she reached her apartment, a modest safehouse lavishly furnished. she leaped onto her roof, then clambered down to the ground level. she could not enter through a window, for her wards would have incinerated me, and she rather like her body the way it was. She opened the door, and collapsed in her bath, moaning as the water relaxed her muscles. She caught herself, shaking off the much-needed sleep the bath brought her. There was work to be done.

Enigma reached for her satchel, and pulled out the files on assignments. Flicking through espionage and assassin duties, she lingered on a guard, entranced. It was in the city, and seemed to be reasonably easy, humane, and - most importantly - high paying. Mara Telna? she mused. Where have I heard that before?

Yay! I finished! :) Don't forget to vote and comment!

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Word Count: 1 500