As he left the audience chamber Kadin started towards the stairs to the upper levels, his thoughts lingered on the last statement of the meeting – he wondered if there was a deeper meaning behind the warning he received about this necromancer and what more there was too this contract that he had become involved in – if anything. He told himself to focus on one step at a time and first was to find where his target went and then on how to track him. As he got to the second floor he stepped off the stair on to the balcony overlooking the entrance hall below this was also where the red flooring ended he took a left into a hallway that lead further into the building still lost in his own thoughts he didn’t notice the trap trigger at the entrance to the hallway and walked straight into it, the light click it made as the trap went off brought him sharply back into focus – just as he seen a blast of white magic energy fly straight at his chest from a gap in the ceiling, the blast hit with a dull gong, the white light shimmered and disperse over the cloak Kadin was still wearing, the shimmer continued for a few second before dissipating into the folds of the cloak, a non leather trap – but if not for the protection of his cloak it would have hit with a heavy impact and knocked him back several feet and possible down the stairs he had just walked up, it was enough to bring Kadin’s focus back to where he was and the current task at hand – he headed towards Auroras rooms further along the hallway, this section of the building were where the guild teachers lived and as such typically had less traps than elsewhere as students rarely used these hallways, never the less Kadin did spot two other traps along the way, one of these he could simply walk around the other there was no way around so he applied his power through strategy with this one too, trusting the enchantments on his cloak to absorb any excess energy.

“What!?” came a somewhat aggravated reply as he knocked on Auroras door, a few seconds later the door swung open and her original look of annoyance was replaced with a bright smile which then turned to a scowl as she said “took you long enough!” she grabbed Kadin’s arm and pulled him into her rooms closing the door behind them. The room was large and rectangular; most would have had this as standard living area however this room had been converted in to an enchanter’s lab where various shelf’s lined the walls with all manner of crystals, tools, vials and other objects. There were also several different tables some with rune marks etched into the surface, others with different levels and some with glowing crystals set into the table work itself, in one of the corners of the room was a small table a couple of comfortable chairs and very large book case that was overfilled with books, so much so there was stacks of books on the table, on the floor and on one of the chairs, Aurora didn’t have many visitors it seemed. Two other doors in the room, one to the left that lead to her bed chambers with a small dressing and washroom off that, and the other room on the right that lead to a small living and dining area.

“Where did you get this?” Aurora went on waving the black soul gem in front of Kadin’s face to emphasise her question as she began to move books from one of the chairs onto the floor to offer a seat then taking the other seat herself, as she did this, again Kadin explained the details of his last

contract the skeletons, the necromancer and that he found the gem hidden in a book. Auroras eyes were bright and shone from amusement as she said

“I like Skeletons... you know you can get the same results with animation magic that you can with necromancy with that, except animation magic is more fun – I remember once I used it on a chair that would move out the way whenever someone tried to sit on it” she glanced at Kadin’s chair realising too late that he had already sat down, before she went on “some hilarious results came out of that one .... untill I got caught...that is.” she finished with a smile then went on.

“Anyway, I assume you want to go over this” she said indicating the gem in her hand “Is there anything else?” she asked

“I also found this axe on one of them it was better quality than most so I was wondering if there was anything special about it?” Kadin said having unstrapped the axe from his back before he sat down, Aurora sighed as she took the axe and said.

“Your last gift to me was a gem ... an actual GEM!!” she said waving the soul gem at him before going on “now – you give me a stick, with some metal on it! well lets have a look at it then.” She said as she set the gem down and took the axe, she held it in both hands, felt the blade looked over the wood and the engraved runes on it. She then took it over to one of her tables and placed the axe on it over a glowing green crystal she hovered her hands over it while whispering something. The axe began to glow with a soft yellow light before it dimmed back to normal. At which point she picked it up and brought it back to Kadin and said

“Its pretty basic, has a rune on it to keep it sharp so you it will never need to go to a grindstone there is also a rune that dose fire damage as the blade hits something, that needs a charge in it, which was empty – I have charged it again for you so you should be good for a couple of dozen swings but its a pretty weak fire damage rune, Value wise if you want to sell it on as loot – the guild merchant will likely give you three or four gold for it .. or if you like the sound of a bigger number – between thirty and forty silver... or bigger still three or..”

“I get it,” Kadin interrupted,” what about the gem? Can you use it to track or find the necromancer I am after?”

“That one is going to be a little bit more trouble.” She said biting her lip before going on “I can get information from the soul inside so I can find out where the person was killed, but trying to pick up the magic used to kill him and trace it in the real world – thats going to take me some time. I am assuming you need this complete as soon as possible? As in ‘this is the most important thing to happen ever’ type thing right?” She asked sarcasm filling her voice

“I need it to fulfil a contract.” Kadin replied

“Fine!” Aurora sighed “I will work on it tonight and I should have more information for you around mid day tomorrow. That is the best I can do!” She finished seeing Kadin’s prompting look to get it done quicker.

“Thanks for this Aurora.” Kadin answered “I will head to my rooms – I have some sleep to catch up on anyway”

“Ohh lucky for you.!” Aurora said “I will need to be awake and working on this all night!

And just so you know I am keeping this when I am done.” She said holding up the gem.

Kadin gave her what he hoped was a grateful smile before saying “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

They chatted for a while after that Aurora had more questions about his last mission and generally both caught up with the other, as dusk began to fall Kadin left and went towards his own rooms. Bronze and silver guild members had barracks in the grounds of the guild, gold members had rooms in the guild hall itself, the diamond twenty each had an individual building on the grounds the size of a small home and the Mithril five each had their own grounds, two of which had towers built on them. Kadin made it back to his own rooms without further incident the few traps he encountered were easily bypassed. As usual his guild seal unlocked the door to his rooms as he approached; he pushed open the door and stepped inside. Kadin’s rooms was similar in design to Aurora’s but the main room was his living and dining area and the room to the right had his gear and equipment, various armour and weapon racks made up most of that room, and the bed and wash area were the same in all the rooms in the hall. The enchanted glass orbs lit themselves as he closed his door leaning his back against it for a few seconds to let himself relax. He walked towards his equipment room to his right and opened this door. His equipment room – Armoury would have been a more apt word for it, was split in two half’s on his left was various sets of armour with three mannequins one in each corner with one in the middle with amour racks and stands in between and on tables in the room. Kadin preferred lighter armours so as not to impact his agility in a fight so most of his was various leathers, a few with plate attachments, the middle mannequin had on his favourite set of Chimera hide armour as light and smooth as spider silk but could stop a crossbow bolt at point blank range, dyed in blacks and dark greys to conceal the wearer in shadows. He removed his cloak and placed it on a stand by the door, he nearly always used his cloak as it had a lot of hidden pockets for potions, or hidden weapons and more for carrying trinkets or other things picked up in his travels – it also weighted almost nothing, made with queen spider silk it was resistant to most physical and magical attacks and impacts – it had also been further enchanted to have protection spells on it that would absorb low level incoming attacks which would actually make his shield stronger and there were runes etched into it in silver wire that would recharge the shield if it took damage. He moved to his right as he began to unstrap his weapons, on the right side of the room was his weapon collection a range of one and two handed swords, as few axe’s and bows but most of the collection was made up of small swords, long bladed daggers and knifes, as well as a range of throwing weapons. He removed his twin short swords and placed them in a rack. Next he removed the belt of throwing knifes along his back and at his side, he then slipped out the two throwing daggers strapped to the inside of his wrists, the long knife tucked into his boot and finally his twin elfin blades that were strapped upwards across his back so he needed to draw them from the bottom of his back. The elfin blades were a gift from Aurora, after he helped her on a contract before her becoming a teacher at the guild - A warlock gathered some goblin shamans to cause havoc in the north eastern edge of the kingdom by the mountain border, the warlock able to stay one step ahead of Aurora as she was needing to deal with the shamans and carnage that was left behind at each of their attack sites, Kadin joined her and took care of the back trail leaving her free to go ahead and catch the warlock, for that help she gave him a set of her blades that were enchanted to speed up the reaction time of the wielder and quicken their movements, they could also strike with more force and the blades themselves were almost unbreakable. The enchantments Aurora made herself

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as a non to subtle dig that Kadin would never be as quick or graceful as the elfs.. He got the jibe but also appreciated the extra speed and power the enchantments gave him. He removed his armour and placed it on a stand close to the door – despite have dozens of sets he tended to only wear the same few sets over and over, the standard set had a pair of bracers on each writs that covered his forearm that was made from some sort of enchanted hide (he never learnt what creature) there was also metal working in these bracers a thumb width wide and sharply angled that would allow him to catch a swing from a blade and deflect it away from his body, his chest piece covered his upper arms but was much more form fitting on the arms with a light gray Mithril woven chain covering the upper arms and chest, there was also a light plate of dragon bone covering the chest and stomach under the thin mithril chain.

Once undressed he went straight to his chambers and to bed, he was asleep a few second after his head hit the feather pillow.

Kadin was in a forest, he was running, he was being chased – No, he was being hunted. There was no time for stealth or quite, he charged through the underbrush, twigs and low branches whipped his face and arms leaving stinging red marks on his skin, whatever was chasing him was getting closer he couldn’t see or hear it but he felt it, he knew. A loud crashing noise came from in front of him and from the underbrush into full view came a werewolf, twelve feet high, elongated arms and legs bulging with muscle a feral maw with teeth as long as his hand, not thinking Kadin drew and threw three throwing knifes at the beast in front of him, a blade hit the werewolf in the head, another in the neck and one in the chest, it lunged forwards but stumbled and fell as it did, that was all Kadin needed, he leapt at it his hands hitting its back he felt the course and matted fur as he pushed off and flipped over the beast and forwards, the low rumbling growl following him as the beast was regaining its feet, Kadin landed in a smooth motion and continued running on. The growl behind him was quickly replaced by a strangled yelp and low whine that ended abruptly, as whatever was chasing him caught the werewolf. Kadin found his view pulled to the trees above him as he ran and there ahead and off to the right he saw it – the figure of a man outlined in black against the moon lit the clouds behind him. The figure didn’t move, he just watched as Kadin ran past. Pulling his eyes forwards again and there in front of him was an wall of trees trunk to trunk blocking his way forward, he was trapped, he got to the wall of trees panting, decision made for him, no choice - a quick breath and Kadin turned to face whatever was hunting him.

He awoke in a start covered in cold sweat, springing up into a sitting position blade in hand as he scanned the room, his chambers a small book stand with table and chair in the corner, the trunk at the foot of his bead, the archway to his washroom. He didn’t see anything but a voice asked

“Troubling dreams?”

Kadin turned to the sound of the voice in the corner of his room the small armchair he used for reading. The shadows seemed to condense around the chair; it looked like they were pulling into themselves and sharpened into the outline of a figure sitting in the chair. One of the five – Stealth.

“You could say that.” Kadin replied putting his weapon away in it’s sheath at the head of the bed.

“At least it didn’t catch you” Stealth replied face unreadable

“How did you ...??” Kadin left the question hanging. After a few second and there was no response, he thought Stealth was not going to answer – but then

“I saw you, as a vampire I have the power to enter dream’s – its not something I consciously do and I can normally block it out – put particularly vivid or strong dreams can still pull me in.” Stealth finished

“Was that you in the tree?” Kadin asked remembering the figure outlined then went on “What was chasing me?”

“No that wasn’t me in the tree – you cant see me in a dream, as for what is chasing you I don’t know – I can only see what you can.” Stealth answered in slightly amused tones before turning cold and serious.

“I have paid a visit to the King, as expected the magistrate was beheaded for learning of a national secret. What was not expected was after his head was removed his body, it got to its feet and attacked the king, it was hacked apart by the royal guard before reaching him- but the king is afraid, he fears the undead rising and causing chaos and death in the kingdom.

Our agreement stands and he was not foolish enough to challenge it – but he has asked for help with whatever had possessed one of his magistrates and threatens his lands. I have informed him that you will resolve this issue, normally it would only be one of the five, or one of the top five diamond members that deals with him directly – but this is still your contract.”

“I understand” Kadin said – he never had a high opinion of the king ... but then he never would have thought to work this directly for him – he found himself somewhat nervous at this prospect – unfortunately Stealth wasn’t finished.

“You will present yourself to the king tomorrow at third bell and be ready to progress with your mission after that.” He stood up to leave – there was silence for a moment but then stealth spoke again.

“Diamond fourteen has died – she was ambushed by an orc tribe in the south, they had hill trolls, she was still able to kill them all and complete her mission before succumbing to the poison they used. With the challenge of this mission, if you are successfully you will be promoted to diamond twenty, or you can go to the diamonds for assistance in which case gold one will be promoted.” Stealth finished, he then turned and walked towards the corner of the room away from the door, as he approached the shadows darkened to complete blackness it remained black for a few seconds before visibly brightening to show Kadin was alone in his rooms.