The upper floor seemed to be completely voided of life Henry noted it was also bland without the customary ornaments and paintings that were often shown off in places like these. Henry could also scarce hear any more noise from the ongoing party.

He moved cautiously, keeping an eye behind him so no more bandits not caught him unaware. If that man’s information is to be believed that there are six guards, then I have three more to be aware of, Henry thought to himself. In the distance Henry saw that the hall came to a crossroads; he drew his sword as he approached, sure there was going to be one guard standing around the area, though he couldn’t see any; he stayed on alert.

Henry could once again hear the sounds of partying to the left of him where there was a door while in front of him and to the left there was only more of the hall, he pushed the heavy doors open and was assaulted by a flurry of light and noise he had to give his eyes a moment to adjust to the new light sources and when he did, he walked on to a balcony overlooking the main hall where Roland and the rest of his crew were celebrating this “new recruit” of theirs.

Taking a better look at the hall Henry could see why the rest of the keep looked so dull this room was filled with dozens of paintings on every wall up to the ceiling which was being lit up by what once may have been grand chandeliers and colorful embroidered cloths covered the whole length of the long table which went the whole length of the room while keeping enough room for some men to have gathered instruments and other men to dance around with each other. And at the end of the room there was another table covered in those same-colored cloths but lacked the same glee that filled the rest of the hall the men who sat there conversed amongst themselves only flashing a passing smile at those who walked before them, Henry figured that was Roland and upon examining the hooded man further he confirmed that was indeed Tess.

Now this is curious. Maybe it wasn’t so much of a kidnapping as it was a rescue. Still, a job’s a job and this one isn’t where I put morals before getting paid.

Henry looked back at the cloth covering the tables and got his idea to get Tesslyn out of the keep. He took his dagger out, eyed the chandelier closest to him, cocked his arm back, took a deep breath and hurled the dagger through two of the chandeliers as they fell.

Well, here goes nothing Henry thought to himself as he leapt over the banister and fell on to the long table and rolled off to the floor his body screamed in pain but he’d been in enough battles to fight it and jumped up.

The room was still filled with light and noise, only now that light was an ever-growing fire and the noise was men screaming as they were burning alive. He charged the back of the room, using the chaos to his advantage and almost made it, but the man at the head of the table was rallying his men furiously, shouting and waving his sword.

“If you damn cowards don’t get over there and kill that fucking bastard, I’ll shove you in the fire myself!” With that declaration four of the men who weren’t in any immediate danger stopped panicking and charged at Henry.

Shit, I didn’t the untrained bastards would respond to his call like that. Henry swore to himself as he drew his own sword, preparing himself to face them. The first that came at him ran in swinging his club wildly Henry ducked his attack and sliced at his stomach leaving him to fall behind, the next man followed behind him immediately trying to not give him a moment to recover but the mercenary was too quick and spun around the downward swipe cutting the marauder along the back the next two came at him at once so Henry jumped over the table as they tried stabbing at cutting at him hitting only the air.

So far, so good now to get this damn girl. Roland was the only thing that stood in his way now, but Henry would not let some thug in the middle of nowhere kill him. He stopped just short of the table and eyed Roland now that he was up close he could see the man was no amateur like the rest of the band even though he wasn’t very tall he had a stocky build and a cut going through his chin like Henry himself had, the bandit leader stalked around the table telling his associate something henry tried to hear what he said but the sound was being drowned out by the sound of the roaring fire that had spread from the table to the front of the room cutting off one of his exits, Focus girl first escape second. He told himself.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Who the hell are you?” Roland asked.

“Just a lone mercenary trying to make enough coin to eat and drink myself to death one job at a time, speaking of which I just so happen to be on a job right now.”

“Are you now? Well, you aren’t the first damn assassin to try their luck against me and you won't be the last.”

Roland approached him calmly wielding his own sword and dagger, not wanting to prolong this fight longer than he had to he had to Henry advanced him and took a swing at him the bandit dodged to the side and swiped his sword Henry met him with his short sword and before Henry had the time to react, he felt a sharp pain in his side; the dagger had found Henry’s ribs, but he didn’t let that hinder him and retaliated with a slice to Roland’s face, causing him to step back. The men circled, eyeing each other, trying to find a weakness in the other’s form, for a moment Henry’s gaze went past him and into the fire he saw a certain shine and bared his sly grin to his opponent.

Henry advanced slowly, taking his time hoping it would cause Roland to charge in blindly and make a mistake, but he stood his ground. Henry went back into the fray and slashed at his foe but before he could make contact, his blade got caught in between Roland’s dagger he bared his own toothy grin before he plunged his own sword into Henry’s stomach, instinctively Henry grabbed the blade with his free hand, brought his knee into Roland’s groin and shoved him aside before falling to the ground himself.

He could hear Roland roaring furiously behind him but his stomach screamed in pain, he knew he had to end this before he bled out, before Henry could stand, he felt Roland’s large hand on his shoulder and he turned Henry to face him. “I told you, you wouldn’t be the last assassin sent after me”

Henry could only smile as he reached his own hand out and uttered one of the only two magic words, he knew that were inscribed into either side of the blade and instantly his dagger was back in his palm and he plunged it deep into Roland’s leg and kicked him over as the man howled in pain.

Henry forced himself onto his feet and stepped on Roland’s arm and neck making sure the man wouldn’t be able to move, he looked down at the man clearly in shock at what had just happened. “Won’t be the last aye guess you were wrong about that.” With those parting words Henry plunged his sword into Roland’s neck finishing the man off for good. He took his blades out his body and kicked his body into the fire to prevent him from coming back to haunt the area or even Henry himself as the stories said was the case when someone died with unfinished business.

Alright then, now for this damned girl. He thought to himself as he stumbled his way through the burning debris to the front of the room. But when he reached for her arm, she stepped back and pulled out her own knife.

“Get away from me, you murderer!” she wailed.

“Yeah, I killed them but they weren’t exactly an order of knights either, you know, but that doesn’t matter right now the building is bound to collapse any minute now and we need to leave.”

“No, I’d rather stay here and burn with Roland than go anywhere with you.” she spat at Henry who under any other circumstances would have left her to her fate but he was being paid to bring her back and he needed the money.

“Your father-” before he could finish his sentence a part of the balcony collapsed and sent flaming pieces of wood flying in every direction hitting the wall and table surrounding the two, a piece of the wood must've hit Tess because she dropped her blade and grabbed her wrist wailing in pain.

Henry jumped forward, picking her up by the waist, and turned back towards the door where he first saw the grand hall. Tess screamed and cursed at him to let her go but he ignored her and kicked in the door running over the body of the boy he killed, She yelled again pounding on his back as if she were a child throwing a fit but Henry kept his grip on her to the crack in the wall where he first came in but it was too small for them both to squeeze through at once.

“I’m going to put you down here so you can walk through the gap if you try to run, I might be tempted to kill you for making me do so much work on this job.” Henry said to her after letting her fall off his shoulder.

She said nothing in response, but shot him a hostile look. Finally, some cooperation, he thought to himself as he watched her push her way through the crack. Behind them the fire roared, creeping down the hall now engulfing the boy's body and the door in red flames.

“I’m going to need you to move faster than that, Tess, the fires spreading down the hall.” Again, she didn’t respond. I think I can get to liking you so long as you keep your mouth shut, Henry joked to himself, trying his best to ignore the fire that he could feel getting hotter and hotter on his back.

Tesslyn got slower after getting her body halfway through the hole and all Henry could do was hope the girl would get herself out and fast but after a few long moments she still had made no progress and he realized she hadn’t moved at all in a while. Shit, she’s going to kill us both! He thought to himself, the fire even closer had spread up to the stairs and was inching itself to his heels. Not wanting to end up like Roland and his posse, Henry pushed her more which was met with a groan from Henry and a cry from Tess but he was free to leave now and not a moment too soon the fire had spread to the whole in the wall and spat out Henry his boots slightly burnt but considering how close he was to burning to death he was fine with that.