Night Shade

My Target

My target was supposed to be the High Magistrate, Vic Tormela, perhaps the toughest magistrate that we have ever had in the Middle District. Nearly all of his judgments have put people in a prison of some form or another. Now, if you are one of my jailors reading this and you are wondering why I am here since I did not kill the High Magistrate than be patient and I will try to explain it slowly so that you will be able to understand it.

The High Magistrate is a very public figure and is heavily guarded while he is traveling from temporary court house to temporary court house. It was going to be a very difficult assignment especially considering that he is one of those targets who are, I would think, constantly assuming that they are a target anyway.

I hate to give away some of the trades’ secrets but in situations like this… After a full day of considering my options I decided that the best way to proceed would be to get as close to the Magistrate as I could. It took me an hour to find out where he was holding court the next day and it took me another two hours to get there. I had dressed in my travel clothes, leather pants and boots, light half-coat over a white, loose, blouse, because it never hurts to keep men distracted. My short sword and long dagger were at my left hip. I left my hair free, which is very rare for me but I have been told that it could make or break my disguise, so I went with the long look. The true perfection to my get-up was the guild badge that I wore on the shoulder of my cloak that signified that I belonged to the guild of protectors and bodyguards. A badge that you earn after years of training, that I got by sticking my long dagger into someone and taking it off of her cloak.

When I reached my destination I was a little surprised to find five carriages belonging to the constables were waiting outside the building that was being use as a temporary court house. One or two I had expected, but five was unusual. I was just coming to the decision to wait another day when the door burst open at the court house and even at fifty feet away or so I could feel the tingle of magic.

I moved forward, not sure what to expect, that is when I spotted what I presumed to be the backup or the reinforcements for whomever was inside the building. There were three of them, all armed and armored, watching and waiting, hidden by the carriages. They watched the doorway that had shattered a moment before intently and none of them saw me as I approached.

Over at the court house a small group of men were fighting the constables and backing out of the building while they were fighting. One of the men in front of me turned to scan the area around him and through a little magic device of my own I was able to ensure that his eyes passed over me without even realizing that I was there.

The signal must have been given or the timing must have hit its mark because the man at the front of the three yelled “Let’s go!” and they began to move forward quickly. I was close enough at that point that as they began to move forward I was able to render the last man unconscious with a hard blow to his head before he could take his second step forward. His falling on the heels of the person in front of him caused that man to pause in his advance enough to glance back. It took him a full step to realize what he was seeing and by that time I was over the first man and standing almost on top of him. I swung my arm and elbow into his chest. His feet, which were still trying to move forward, went out in front of him and he fell. I hoped that the shock of the attack and him hitting the ground so suddenly would be enough to knock the wind out of him.

The lead man had made it around the side of the carriage and was moving to help the others. I ran after him, and only very briefly did I wonder why I was helping the constables.

I did not reach the lead man until he was practically up to the others who were still fighting a retreating battle. He had not turned to check on the others that had been with him until he was only a few steps away and when he did; all he saw was me…and my fist.