A Heart of Ice and Shadows

Chapter 1 ~ A New Mission (Part 1)

Love will kill you. It will bind you. Others are nothing but pawns, and you, the chess master. Do not love.

Her father's mantra beat frantically in her head as she raced down a hallway. It had been pounded into her head ever since her kidnappers had been captured and she had been returned to her true father. 

"She went that way!"

Dawn grinned broadly when she heard the voice, erasing all thoughts of her father from her mind for the time being. Now that they'd seen her, things were about to get a bit more challenging.

Sadly, the stomping of marching soldiers in their combat boots allowed her to detect them every time they came near. Dawn didn't let this tamper her excitement, however. A small challenge was better than no challenge at all, if you asked her.

"Any sign of the assassin?"

"No, sir."

"Then keep looking!"

Voices echoed down the hall, bouncing off of the rainbow-coloured coral walls with ease.  Dawn crept forwards until she reached a fork in the path. One path led to the soldiers, while the other led outside, from the sound,of things.

Escape...or have some fun? Dawn weighed her options in her mind for a moment, before starting off towards the voices. Fun it is.

Two people stood in the hall, a middle-aged man with slightly greying hair and a young boy of what appeared to be seventeen. Dawn herself was only thirteen, but trained to the point that she could take on a full squadron of soldiers alone, so she knew not to underestimate him.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Scram!" The older man shot his companion a glare and pointed rigidly in Dawn's direction.

For a moment, she'd thought she'd been seen, but the wooden side table she was hiding behind proved to be a good enough hiding spot.

The boy, not knowing she was there, hurried down the hall towards her. Smiling cruelly, Dawn readied a pair of switch blades. Wait for it...

"Captain!"

The boy halted and spun around, still out of her reach. Dawn's eyes narrowed. She'd been that close, and then an intruding messenger had utterly ruined it.

"Captain!" the messenger exclaimed again, breathing heavily. "Squadron six has returned, and they have excellent news!"

"What is it?" the Captain asked sharply.

"A Tempest rebel has been taken captive! Lord Harue wants your help interrogating him!"

"If you haven't noticed, we are currently hunting a dangerous assassin that just killed Ambassador Kaie," the Captain snapped.

"Lord Harue has every single squadron save six out searching. I am sure you can be spared for a while."

As much as the Captain obviously didn't like the plan, he and his comrad still followed the messenger away from Dawn.

"I was so close," she muttered once they were out of earshot. "So close."

Growling under her breath, the assassin made her way to the exit, keeping a lookout for possible victims. Seeing none, she sighed and continued out of the building.

The building Dawn had been in was located on a beach, and the wet sand she now crossed shifted beneath her feet. Several times, she almost fell into small wavepools that remained invisible until you were practically inside of them.

"Who would want to live here?" she grumped, even though she knew the answer. Dawn supposed that the Aquas, spending seventy-five percent of their time underwater, had gotten a bit addled over time.

"If I could breathe underwater, I would stay there," she said to herself. "Not come into lands, where other Sects could attack me."

By then, Dawn had left the beach and the Aqua palace, which glowed a whiteish-pink in the low light, far behind. She was now on Spellbinder and Tinkerer territory, in the middle of a pine forest.

Even though every tree and bush looked the same, Dawn still walked confidently. Evidently, she has a purpose for being there, and she knew the way to wherever she needed to go.

After a few minutes of nothing but the wet squelching sound of Dawn's black combat boots in the mud and the quiet rustling of leaves far overhead, a new sound approached. It sounded like three adult-sized people, two of which seemed to be carrying heavy loads.

It is like they're not even trying to be stealthy, Dawn thought, before snapping to attention as the people entered her line of sight.

"Hello, Daughter," the lead man said. Dane having heard that voice for almost her entire life, recognized it immediately, even though the man before her looked nothing like her father.

He had a messy black beard and deep brown eyes, and his skin was extremely tanned. He wore a black and red striped shirt that clashed horribly with his yellow pants, causing Dawn to cringe slightly. This was by far his best disguise, if you asked her.

"Hello, Father," she replied, eyeing Jupiter carefully.

The two men flanking Tempest's leader both dropped heavy packs onto the ground before fading into the trees, most likely to watch for danger.

"Mission report?" Jupiter asked.

"Ambassador Kaie is dead."

"No...extra victims?"

"Sadly, no."

"That's a shame," Jupiter sighed, shaking his head slowly. "Well I am sure your next mission will have enough blood to sate even you, my little Shade."

Dawn smiled coldly at the mention of the name given to her by her victims. Shade has a nice ring to it, she thought, but Dawn is much more meaningful.

"What will I be doing?" she inquired.

"Ah, ah, ah." Jupiter smiled almost playfully. "I simply cannot make it that easy for you."

"What are my clues, then?" Dawn asked. Her father did the same thing for every new mission she was assigned. He gave her a few clues and let her figure out the rest herself.

"Clue number one," Jupiter announced grandly. "Is this: Never seen, always felt, within giant trees, take him out."

Dawn didn't even hesitate a second. "The answer is the Kingdom of the Vanishers. As an extra bonus, I also now know that my target is male."

"Good, good. Clue number two is this: My first is in unseen, but not in stealthy, my second is in combined but not in thing, and my third is in water but not in river."

"Hmmm...the answer is new. But what does that mean?" Dawn shot a glance at Jupiter, who smiled down at her, saying nothing.

She thought back to the riddle. In combine but not in thing. Those words continuously rung in her head.

"Wait...my target is another Mixling? A...Vanisher and Aqua one?" Dawn's eyes widened. "You mean there are other out there?"