❝ Pain was my fuel, until the fire began bleeding from my veins. ❞
The girl without a name.
The black-haired fiend devoid of fear.
The sharp-tongued scoundrel always ready with a trick up her sleeve.
Thief and street rat Azura knows how to hustle a...
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◢✥◣ PREVIOUSLY... ◥✥◤
Azura met with Vera beyond the school and together they travelled to the Empire. They traversed the tunnels beneath the Empire, Vera having in-depth knowledge of the tunnels of the Old World from the studies of her people, that Vera revealed are no more than ashes. Azura ascended into the Empire, dreading her gruelling task ahead.
༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛
The palace is cold. It's the first thing I notice as I duck through the shadows, finding pockets of darkness to smother myself in. It's the type of cold that creeps into my bones and reminds me that I'm not the only monster lurking within these halls.
The palace has little care for comfort or beauty. It's all sharp angles, black obsidian, and dark corridors with no care to be lit, which suits me just fine. There's not a single crevice of this place that doesn't scream of the blood that was spilt to create it. There are scratches in the stone, discarded chains rusted with age, and dark stains that could be blood.
I'm not the first assassin that has wandered these endless halls, and perhaps I won't be the first to not make it out alive.
I dodge the soldiers and diplomats, sinking into shadows, shallowing my breathing as they pass. But I stop when I catch a snippet of conversation, slipping into an alcove beside a bookcase.
"I'm starting to question Captain Vasio," a soldier says and I can just make out the back of his leather armour.
"Why do you say that?"
"Have you seen him since his mission in Warroll?"
"Can't say I have, but then again, I'd rather not be in the same room as that man."
The other soldier snorts before sighing. "I'm just saying it's weird that he didn't even come out of his tower for the attack on the Order. That's not something you just miss."
"We did."
"Yeah, well," the soldier grumbles. "We're not skilled enough to be sent on a mission like that."
"Speak for yourself."
I slip away from them, having heard enough. The tower, that's where they said the captain will be. But where is that?
My gaze darts to the stone above me. Up. It'll no doubt be up.
I enter a room of papers and books, dust hanging in the air like still ghosts until I disturb them. Moving to the window, I shove it open before sticking my head out, embraced by the scent of wet soil and damp stone.
With my heart lodged in my throat and the night curling around me, I climb from the window and begin to ascend. The stone of the palace is rough and uneven, crumbling in some places, and its age is clear.
