Touch of Fate

Chapter 115: Deadly Canary

Mattias grimaced as the guard's blood washed over his hand in a crimson flood. Apparently, he hit a major vessel in the man's torso. Why did stabbings always have to be so messy?

The assassin slowly let the dying guard down, hand firmly clamped over the man's mouth until the light left his eyes. This was the third they had to deal with since entering the manor grounds, and things had been going smoothly so far.

"Let's move." The his unit's leader, Grant, hissed, as he swept past, followed by the other three members of the assassination team. Grunting a quick reply, Mattias brought up the rear.

A chill ran down his spine as he entered the garden proper. Something about this situation was setting him on edge. He'd had a bad feeling about this job ever since the disguised noble had shown up at the meet up.

The Jagged Knives, as Mattias's Dark Guild called itself, had never been the most successful, but they held a solid reputation amongst the capital's assassins. They were not the best, nor the worst. So, it had come as a surprise when the client told them their target. A Viscount, who'd come to the city recently, and was staying in a rented manor in the Old City.

The boss normally wouldn't have accepted this kind of high profile mission, but the payout had proved too good to pass up. Since the noble even offered to pay regardless of whether or not they were successful, the boss only had to make a token effort to get paid. Luckily he had just the people in mind.

Due to a couple major screw ups in recent months, Mattias's team had been on the boss's shit list. Naturally, this meant they'd been chosen for the mission.

Mentally cursing his bad luck for the thousandth, Mattias followed after the team as they dashed through the empty garden, flitting from shadow to shadow. The silence of the night their only companion as they moved towards the servant entrance.

A simple door led into the kitchens. According to their contacts, this area of the house would be left unguarded, allowing access to a servant staircase that would take them to the top floor unimpeded. They took a moment to clear the room before moving towards the stairs.

Mattias was starting to get nervous. Things had been far too easy so far. Their target was supposed to be better protected than this. Something was wrong.

The assassin in the lead motioned for them to stop, and gave the hand signal for an unexpected development. Because of his position, Mattias couldn't see what was going on. Grant moved forward investigated the situation, and after some deliberation motioned for them to continue with caution.

As they moved forward as a group, Mattias saw the cause for the point man's concern. A dead servant, judging from the clothes, lay on the stairs. While this was disturbing in and of itself, the manner of the man's death was absolutely horrifying.

Something had torn the servant's torso apart, leaving him little more than a pile of limbs loosely connected by a few remaining scraps of bone and gristle. A look of absolute terror was written across the dead man's face. Whatever he had seen before his death had evidently left its mark.

With a shudder, Mattias moved past the corpse. He didn't know what was going on in this manor, but it was giving him the creeps.

[I really need to find another way to make a living.]

As they got close to their destination, they heard a scream and the sounds of conflict from inside the room. Grant held up a hand, motioned for them to hang back. He approached the door, hand reaching for the knob.

Unfortunately he was not prepared for the mass of snarling fur and teeth which shattered the solid wooden door like kindling. Mattias caught a glimpse of a sleek canine form coated in black fur and a pair of smoldering red eyes, before the terror took hold.

A wave of pure fear seized hold of his mind, and without a second thought, he turned and fled. Pushing himself harder than he ever had before, he sprinted down the stairs. He could hear screams of his teammates mingled with horribly wet crunching noises as they were silenced one by one. A small part of his mind not yet overwhelmed by terror realized that the dead servant they'd passed in the hall had likely run afoul of the monster that was now on his heels.

As he broke out into the garden, he heard the clatter of claws on the kitchen floor behind him. Considering the thing's speed, he wasn't going to make it like this. He squeezed every ounce of performance out of his muscles, in the vain hope he'd make it to the compound's walls. It wasn't clear why he thought he'd be safe there, but it offered the only security he could believe in.

He'd made it about halfway across the garden when disaster struck. An exposed root, that would be off little consequence in normal circumstances, proved fatal. Before he even knew what was happening, Mattias was falling forward. His training took over, and he curled himself into a ball, saving him from further injury, but causing him to tumble across the manicured lawn until he collided with a nearby tree.

Dazedly forcing himself to move, Mattias had only managed to make it to his knees when he heard a deep, rumbling growl.

Looking up he met the gaze of those smoldering orbs of crimson hate. A canine beast the size of a small horse advanced towards him slowly, lips pulled back to reveal pink-stained fangs.

The approach of inevitable death did wonders for his mental state, as his all consuming fear faded to a dull roar in the back of his mind. He fell back against the tree into a sitting position, feeling strangely calm.

[I guess this is it. Shit. If I had known that things would end up this way, I would have accepted that cooper apprenticeship like my dad wanted.]

The beast tensed, preparing to spring. Mattias cringed and instinctively brought his arms in front of his body in a vain attempt to protect himself.

A high-pitched whistle rang out across the garden.

After a few moments, he cracked one eye, and saw that the beast had vanished. He looked around, and not seeing any sign of it, decided he wasn't going to stick around to find out what was going on.

He ran over to the wall, scaled it, and began running back to the Guild's safe house. He'd had enough of this assassin business. If he survived the rest of the night, he was definitely going to quit the Guild.

[I've got enough saved up anyway, maybe I can finally open that tavern I've always been talking about....]

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"It looks like the last one made his escape. Are you sure this is what you want, my lord? Won't this attract attention? Especially since the real expert already got away." Tanya asked from the balcony where she had been watching the assassin's progress.

An elegantly dressed man, who was calmly reading a book from his chair, glanced up at his longtime bodyguard before answering. "I'm counting on it, actually. This way, their employers will take the opportunity to reevaluate their methods. We'll probably have a few days before they try again. Still, I'm surprised that three separate groups tried to assassinate me so quickly after my arrival. Apparently, I'm more popular than I thought."

She glanced over at the pair of men dressed in servant garb. They'd been among the many individuals hired on to care for the manor while her lord stayed there. Evidently she needed to vet all future employees more thoroughly. Combined with the team of assassins that they'd just dealt with, and the expert who managed to get away with a few injuries after failing to slit her lord's throat in his sleep, this made three attempts just this night.

Tanya wasn't sure if she believed her lord's reasoning, but she'd long ago given up trying to understand the vagaries of this sort of thing. She was content to be a blunt instrument in his service. Resting her dominant hand on the hilt of her favorite mace, she turned when she felt Shadow come back in.

A misty cloud of dark smoke appeared at her lord's side before coalescing into a large canine shape. He reached out with his free hand and scratched behind it's ears, causing the beast to lean into the touch as its eyes narrowed in pleasure. Tanya could only watch with disbelief as the Turastian Death Hound acted like an affectionate puppy around her lord. She'd seen it several times before, but it was still a sight to see.

Viscount Wendel set his book down and fixed his gaze on Tanya. "I'll be able to use their hesitation to my advantage. We'll accomplish our mission here, and be on our way back to Gold Spear before they've even decided on a course of action."

"If you are certain, my lord, I won't worry."

He rose from his seat, and stalked with his characteristic long-legged grace towards the shattered door, the monstrous hound trailing behind obediently. "Now, I suggest we seek alternate accommodations."

"Where to?" She asked, falling into step beside him.

"I took the liberty of reserved rooms at the Lion's Gate Inn. We still have a few days until preparations are complete, and the ship is ready to move."

As he stepped into the hallway, the Viscount looked around at the bodies of the dead assassins with a frown. "Once we've arrived, send a letter to Igor. Have him compensate Baroness Huthryn for the damage and the mess." He said dismissively as he swept passed them.