Chapter 98: What a Waste Part 1
Name Jasper Contract Assassin* Marks 3 Guild ???
“Is this the place?” Said Jasper, tugging his cloak about himself. Though the sun was going down even the barest suggestion of light was enough to burn his skin in the Waste of Esem.
His companion, a similarly swaddled man in his mid fifties, tugged the fabric down which covered his face and gave a tired smile.
“It is, call Lady Xemnara.”
After trekking for seven days in the wastes, they were now in a small gully in the middle of the desert. These were the first rock formations they had seen, and they appeared to have been afterthoughts of some forgotten mountain range AION had began and then stopped making. Huge peaks of stone rose from the desert sand and cast a great shadow about them. Jasper could see a small path leading into the rocks which appeared to had known no traveler or mule for centuries.
“Very well,” said Jasper. He panicked for a moment, and then calmed himself with his breathing techniques.
Can’t come all this way and then let Carlton know my secret, Thought jasper to himself.
“Actually, can you?” Said Jasper, pitching his voice to sound more tired than he was. “I fear the sun has drained me of energy.”
Carlton glanced at Jasper, his eyes hard and filled with disdain.
“Lady Xemnara needs stern warriors as her servants. You truly cannot do it? Has the sun sapped your manliness as well as your strength?”
Jasper spread his hands as if to say, ‘it is how you say.’ Carlton shook his head in disgust and then pointed a finger in the air.
Carlton muttered, “Light of the—.”
But the rest was lost to Jasper’s ears, as a bolt of energy burst from his finger and arced into the sky. Jasper followed the light with his eyes until it disappeared into the cloudless sky, and willed himself to keep his composure.
So this is the power of the Followers? he thought. He had read the reports of their spells, but this seemed far more advanced than anything he could imagine. He had read the dossier on his traveling companion, and knew that such power had never been in Carlton’s future. Carlton was a player with a mere two contracts under his belt, the latest being the Warrior Class. But now this Warrior had a spell which rivaled even that of a seasoned offensive Mage.
“And now we wait,” said Carlton.
They did not wait long.
“At last,” came a voice from behind them. It was female, and Jasper knew who it belonged to long before he turned around.
“Lady Xemnara,” said Carlton, falling to his knees. He kept his head bent, and Jasper quickly followed his example. “We have arrived at the Broken Mountains.”
“Broken is right,” said Xemnara. “The old man always had a bad habit of not finishing what he started.”
Jasper kept his head lowered, but the image of the Antagonista stayed branded in his mind. Her face had been hooded, but he had seen her skin was scarred and twisted as though by fire. Despite her mellifluous voice her face and even her presence belied a far darker nature.
“Rise,” she said.
Jasper got to his feet, but made sure to keep his face downcast. Suddenly he felt a finger under his chin and his head was being tilted upwards to look into the face of evil itself.
“You must be the new addition,” said Xemnara. Her mouth twisted into what Jasper imagined had once been a pleasant smile. He tried his best not to shudder as her eyes, pale and distant, seemed to bore into his mind.
“My name is T-t-t Targos, Lady Xemnara.”
“Don’t be afraid,” she said soothingly. “You have served me well thus far helping Carlton get me to the Broken Mountains. Tell me, when was it that I made you a Follower?”
“Only last month,” said Jasper. He tried to recall all the information then that he had taken from Targos, the Follower who his guild had captured and tortured for information regarding the Antagonista’s plans. Just before they had killed him he had taken the Follower’s face with a spell of illusion. “You made me a follower after I killed my guild leader, at your orders.”
“Now I remember,” said Xemnara. Her hand dropped and she sighed. “I’ve made so many people Followers these days I can barely keep count. I must be close to one hundred now. But it is time to swell the ranks, as they say. That is why they are here.”
Xemnara then turned around, and Jasper had to fight the urge to plant his danger in the back of her head right then and there. His purpose was to kill her, but only after his own guild had been altered by his signal.
Surely a simple dagger will not be enough, he thought to himself.
“Now then,” she said. She fished around in a pocket and produced a key. “Let’s set up camp.”
Xemnara then held the key out before her as though she were placing it into the lock of a door. She turned her hand and Jasper heard an audible click. A thin light then appeared in the air and the sound of talking as though through the door of an inn with it’s door ajar came from the light.
“Come out, my loyal Followers,” said Xemnara. She pulled the Lair Door wide and stepped out of the way.
Jasper counted the Followers who came out of the Lair. He was pleased to note that their intel had been good. Xemnara had a dozen Followers traveling with her in the Lair, and they were the same faces he had familiarized himself with before accepting the mission. There was Dan Bleakly, the Mage who used to work for the Green Grottoes Guild. Melidur the Magnificent, a young warrior who had made a name for himself in numerous competitions, winning most and loved by all. Darling Betsup came next, her dark hair matching her desert clothes and her eyes scanning the horizon for predators. Jasper knew that she had been imprisoned for the murder of several people before she had suddenly escaped only months earlier.
“Over there,” said Xemnara, pointing to the side. “Stand there, come now. We haven’t all day, my brood.”
Soon a dozen Followers were standing in the desert sun, blinking and shielding their eyes. Xemnara made a show of counting them.
“…9…10…11…12,” she said, then tssk’d and stuck her head back into the lair. “Hurry up, you two. I told you before there would be no special privileges for your status.”
More than twelve? thought Jasper to himself. They had gathered from more than one source that Xemnara was only traveling with twelve of her Followers, not including Carlton. Who were these new additions, and would they prove trouble for his guild?
A female voice came from the lair.
“It’s too hot for me. Do you really need us now?”
The Followers who were gathered began to mutter in disgust. Who was this that was disrespecting their leader?
Xemnara’s voice remained sweet sounding but a hint of steel entered her tone.
“Now, please. This is exactly when I need you.”
“And what about me?” Came the voice of a man from the lair. “I am still brewing a potion.”
“You too,” said Xemnara. “Come now. And bring the prisoner with you.”
“Very well,” said the woman.
There was the sound of commotion, and the pleading of a third voice. Suddenly a small man burst from the lair to land at the feet of Xemnara. He was shackled and trembling, and had a pair of spectacles that appeared to have cracked in his fall.
“P-p-p-please! I told you I don’t know where it is!”
Carlton stepped forward and then struck the man across the face. He whimpered and said no more.
“That’s not what he told me,” said a woman who stepped out of the lair.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Jasper had to bite the inside of his mouth from gasping, and then even harder when a man joined her.
“Samantha Blood and the Dredman,” said Xemnara, inclining her head regally. “So glad you could join us.”
“Glad to be here, Lady Xemnara,” said Samantha blood.
The premier archer of the Old Guard was dressed in her customary red leather, and her blond hair was tied behind her head in a pony tail. Years ago Jasper had seen the entire Old Guard at an event in the Hub during the winter festival, and Samantha had not aged a day. She was still as beautiful as he knew that she was deadly. Dredman, on the other hand, was every inch the poisoner that he was made out to be. His robes were a dark green and his dark and scraggly beard was set around a pouting mouth. He glanced up at the sky and swore.
“I am also glad to be here, Lady Xemnara,” said Dredman. “Any chance you can do anything about this sun? I am not used to such weather.”
“Perhaps one day I can,” said Xemnara. “But our goal lies within the Broken Mountains, according to our prisoner. I am sure the shade will please you both.”
Samantha punched her companion’s shoulder and the man yelped and gave her a dirty look.
“Dredman will be fine, my Lady. Please, let’s make haste and see whether we have a correct Historian or a dead Historian.”
The Historian, still on the ground, swallowed and his eyes grew wide. Be began to open his mouth to speak but Carlton punched him in the face again.
“I told you I don’t—OW!”
“Quiet, you,” said Carlton. Now he drew a dagger from his belt and held it under the whimpering Historian’s nose. “You already told us you know the precise location of the glitch. Don’t try to deny it now!”
“I said I might know where it is. Oscuro killed all the ones who knew centuries ago. There are very few records and so it’s all just speculation on my part.”
Guess I need to show some worth, thought Jasper to himself. He took a step forward.
“What is your name?” Said Jasper, trying to sound friendly.
The Historian looked around and, perhaps sensing a possible ally in Jasper’s face, gave a sigh of relief.
“My name is Edgar the Historian. I am the preeminent Historian for the Guild of Thinkers in Great Nexia. My friends are powerful people, and they would not suffer such treatment of—.”
Jasper kicked him in the belly.
“Enough!” Said Xemnara, holding an hand in the air. Jasper could see within the hood however that her mouth was smiling as she spoke. “We need to find the glitch, now. Edgar, lead the way, and I promise no more harm will come to you.”
Edgar’s breath had been lost with Jasper’s kick, and so he only nodded, and another Follower helped him to his feet.
The group now followed the Historian in silence. The Follower who helped him up summoned an enchanted chain and wrapped it about the man’s neck, and they filed behind him like a platoon of scholars on a survey. They had come to a place in the Broken Mountains where a path led deep into the gully, and though the traveling was slow, they managed to get to the bottom where a large swatch of stone had seemingly been excavated and then abandoned.
“We are here,” said Edgar the Historian as they got to the bottom. He pointed with a shaky finger at what looked like a cave which had been boarded up with an off color stone. “My studies all point to that cave. You will have to—.”
Xemnara made a motion with a hand and one of the Followers extended his own hand, and a blast of energy rocketed out of his finger. Their was a loud explosion as the beam hit the rock and Jasper had to cover his face to stop bits of rock and stone from scratching his face. The sound was so loud that the echo in the canyon sounded long after the smoked had cleared.
“I expect Oscuro did more than to simply cover the glitch,” said Xemnara dryly. The smoke had now cleared and all could see the entrance of the cave, it’s dark maw open and waiting. “There may be dangers that are unheard of in the modern world. Of course, Oscuro was never one known for rampant creativity. It is best that I, Edgar, and a skeleton crew go alone.”
“What about us?” Said Samantha Blood. Her usual nonchalant nature had been rocked at the sight of the laser blast, and her eyes were still wide despite the show of casually checking her nails.
“You, Dredman, and the remaining followers may stay. I’ll have my people set up camp and get you out of this sun.”
“Much appreciated. We shall guard your back until you return.”
“Of course,” said Xemnara. “And perhaps once you have seen the power of my first creations you will join us.”
“We shall see,” said Dredman. He seem nonplussed by the Follower’s power. “To join you is no small decision, Lady Xemnara. Even with this magic you have given your minions I fear Solomon would still not be challenged in the least.”
“We shall see,” said Xemnara cooly, clearly straining to remain calm before the Old Guard members and their nonchalant attitudes. “Now then, first group, come with me.”
Japser watched Xemnara and six of her Followers, along with the terrified Historian, enter the cave and soon they were gone. Carlton seemed to be in charge and he soon had Jasper and the other Followers hard at work setting up camp. Japser allowed himself to join along making tents from the bags the Followers had taken from the Lair. His mind raced as he tried to play cool.
Dan Bleakly, Melidur the Magnificent, and Darling Betsup all followed the Antagonista into the cave, he thought quickly to himself. Even if they remained I think my guild would have not trouble defeating them. The Antagonista has now cornered herself within a cave. Normally I would call my guild now and we could dispatch all these Followers.
He glanced behind him at the two Old Guard members who were standing together chatting with one another. He felt the pit in his stomach grow.
But now we have two Old Guard members, he thought. He thought that his guild could kill all twelve Followers, but two Over Powered players of the most famous guild in Esem’s history? Their chances had suddenly plummeted to nearly zero.
Jasper stewed over this as he aided in making the camp. In a short period of time they had erected several tents. One of the tents was clearly for the Antagonista, another for the followers to lounge in, and a third was erected for the Old Guard. Jasper over heard Carlton tell Dredman that they could rest within the third one while they awaited Lady Xemnara’s return.
“Good,” said the Dredman gruffly.
“Thank you…Carlton, was it?” Said Samantha Blood.
Jasper was helping another man finish the Follower’s tent, and could not see the Old Guard but knew they must have been on the other side where he was.
“Yes, Lady Blood,” said Carlton. “But you are welcome to remain with us if you so wish.”
“Hmm, perhaps later. That lair was far smaller than I am used to and I could use a nap. Dredman?”
“What?”
“If you so much as touch me I will rip out your throat and feed you to a sand beast.”
“Sand Beasts don’t exist, Sam,” said Dredman. He sighed. “Whatever. Yes, I’ll join you. I could use some rest myself.”
No one knew Jasper’s powers better than himself. When he had joined his guild, The Assassin’s of Astatil, he had had to prove himself to them in order to even be considered. His guild was famed as one which took any assassination contract, and rarely failed to deliver. As an Assassin, he had one ability which always struck true and always killed it’s target: the Silent Death. One blow of this ability could kill even an Over Powered player, and so was rightly feared across Esem. This is what made the Assassin contract so powerful. Very few people were ever offered this contract by their Advisor, as the player had to distinguish themselves in either the Rogue or the Thief II class. Jasper had come up as a rogue, and he knew that his Silent Death ability was sure to kill even the Old Guard if only he could find the opportunity.
If I can sneak into their tent, then I can kill them, and then call my guild, he thought to himself. This was the only way that his guild could prevail, and he knew that he was too close to turn back: retreat to his guild was means for execution.
But he had to wait for his opportunity, and so he joined the other Followers in their own tent and hoped that they would not pry too much into his stolen identity. As it happened, the Followers were not a chatty bunch. They sat around their large tent mostly keeping to themselves, sharpening swords, and in general not speaking. After a convincing period of time had passed, Jasper made to leave.
“Where are you going?” Said Carlton, looking at him over a dagger he was examining.
“Bathroom,” said Jasper quickly.
“You’re better off pissing into a water skin,” said another Follower with blonde hair. He appeared to be the same age of Jasper. “There isn’t much water out here and if something happens you may wish you didn’t waste your piss on the sand.”
“I ain’t pissing into my water,” said Jasper, trying to remember how Targos had talked when he had been his prisoner. Targos usually spoke more emphatically more exaggerated even the smallest point. “How disgusting! Drinking my own waste! Would you next say we should dine on our own feces and toast one another over goblets of blood?”
“Enough!” Said Carlton harshly. “Go, Targos. But do not dally. Despite what Dredman told me of Sand Beasts not being real I am not so sure. Better we stay together as much as possible until Lady Xemnara get’s back.”
“I’ll be very fast,” said Jasper, nodding at Carlton. He left the tent and then made for the Old Guard’s own living area. It was a tent made of dark blue cloth and would have looked more in place during a tournament in Avalon than in a dry and dusty canyon in the Broken Mountains. Using his Thief Ability, Silent Steps, he walked briskly to the edge of the tent and remained very still.
Zzzztrzzztrzzzztr
They are asleep! realized Jasper. The journey must have been more straining on them than he realized. He waited a moment longer in order to make sure that Samantha Blood’s gently snoozing sounds were heard, and then silently prayed. He felt sure of his abilities, but there was a small amount of doubt still within his mind.
Surely this has been tried before on the Old Guard. They have survived a thousand Assassination attempt. If I can do this, then I will be the most famous Assassin to ever live! he thought to himself.
He did not allow himself to think anymore. Jasper crept around the edge of the tent and silently entered through the tent flap. On the ground were a pair of cots, and upon the cots the forms of two sleeping bodies. Jasper could make out the faces of both the Dredman and Samantha Blood. They looked almost peaceful in their slumber. He waited another moment, to make sure they did not awaken, but were both clearly fast asleep.
Here it goes, thought Jasper.
He crept to stand between them both, and then drew a pair of daggers that he kept within either sleeve. Most Assassins could only use the Silent Death ability with a single weapon, but his guild leader had taught him to use it with two at the same time.
He raised the daggers above either of his soon to be victim’s faces. Once the ability was activated, the daggers would break through whatever enchantments they had surrounding themselves. They would be dead without ever waking, and would suddenly find themselves in whatever world existed for the dead and the murdered.
“Silent,” muttered Jasper. He felt the energy of his ability course through either arm and build in his hands. “DEATH!”
He plunged both daggers into the heads of the Old Guard. The blades easily pierced their skulls, and blood leaked out of their heads as he pulled the knives free. Just for good measure, he stabbed them several more times without his ability, leaving them both a bloody mess. Their faces had been utterly ruined by the time he was done.
“It is done,” said Jasper to himself, looking over his work. “Jasper the Assassin on this day did kill not one but two members of the Old Guard.”
Samantha blood’s corpse stared up at the ceiling. It made no sound.
Jasper chuckled.
“Time for the real fun to begin.”
Jasper retuned the daggers to his sleeves and exited the tent. When he was outside, he pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. On it was written “The Assassin’s of Astatil.”
Tearing it in two, Jasper almost laughed. His guild would be there in seconds. He was already hearing the commotions of the Followers in their own tent, likely asking where he was.
“It’s too late,” said Jasper to himself. “You and your stupid NPC leader are all going to die.”
“Who exactly is going to die?”
Jasper spun around and nearly cried out with alarm.
The Dredman and Samantha Blood were standing before him, arms crossed. Their faces bore no sign that they had been stabbed, and even the blood which he spilled was gone. They both stared at him with a look of mild annoyance.
“Uh oh,” said Samantha Blood, her lips curling into a smile. “What a twist, eh?”