Pain. Darkness. Blood: soaking his tunic, his trousers, running up his ribs and neck to clot in his hair. Aching, blinding, POUNDING head. He wished the wretched horse would stop. He wished the pain would stop. He wished the WORLD would stop. He wished they would just end him now. Kill him and be done with it. Now, it would be a mercy-stroke. But no. They plodded on, and he gritted his teeth and willed himself to not be sick, because that would be particularly nasty while hanging halfway upside down. He didn't know where they were going. Didn't care. He wished he could die. Screamed as they held him down and poured something on his wounds that stung like fire. Then, more bone-jarring, head-pounding, fighting-to-stay-conscious travel. After a time, he existed only in a state of semi-consciousness. He didn't care what happened next, and he only held onto life because of the ones he'd left behind.

And then the travel stopped.

***

The soldiers holding him up cast him to his knees on the hard stone floor, held him there as they ripped off the sack that obscured his sight. Kedemar gritted his teeth, fighting to stay conscious, blinking in the sudden, harsh lantern-light that showed him a large room of stone. No windows. One door. No escape, even if he'd had the strength. His wrists had been tightly bound with rough rope behind his back, and he could barely feel his fingers. He suspected they were blue, but didn't care. A blood-soaked bandage tightly bound his ribs, stemming the bleeding at last; he had been divested of all armor and weapons, even his boots.

The tall, blond assassin stepped softly around him to stand before him, a naked sword in his hand, his face impassive stone. Kedemar, swaying on his knees, wondered without caring if the man was finally going to kill him. Why had he gone through the trouble of dragging Kedemar to this place? Where was this place, even?

The assassin placed the tip of his blade under Kedemar's chin, tilting his face up so their eyes met. They studied each other for a moment.

"Join us." Spoke the assassin finally, his voice deep, like rock grinding on rock.

"After this?" Sputtered Kedemar, incredulously. It was almost laughable, this offer. And not what he'd expected at all. Join them? Kedemar would rather die.

"You have the potential to join the ranks of the assassins." Replied his captor. "All you have to do to prove yourself to us is kill your companions when they come for you. Or I will kill you."

His threat fell on deaf ears. In reply, Kedemar spat, his well-aimed gob of saliva landing perfectly, insultingly, on the tall assassin's polished black boots. The man's dark eyes glittered dangerously, and his lip curled. But he made no move to strike Kedemar. The young captain was almost disappointed.

The assassin gestured to the guards. "Place this insolent fool in a cell for now. I will deal with him later. And make sure a healer tends him. I don't want him dying of infection!" The guards leaped to obey.

Right.

Well, he probably wanted to kill Kedemar himself. It was almost worth a smile. He'd wager that he'd be dead before the assassin ever decided to kill him, or his companions arrived. If they arrived.

"Make no mistake!" The assassin called after him as they dragged him away. "Dath and the girl will come for you. And when they do... make your choice wisely, boy."

Kedemar had no strength to reply.

***

They tossed Kedemar into a cold stone room, where he lay on a hard bunk for what felt like days, usually alone, lost in pain and fever dreams. His wounds were tended, by someone faceless to him, and, in time, he began to heal. He lost track of how long he was held captive, was too weak at the first to count hours or scratch day-marks on the stone walls of his cell. But after a while, he woke, then slept a peaceful, healing sleep, and woke again. He ate. He slept. He woke. And then he stayed awake, thinking, planning, plotting.

The time came when the cut along his ribs was nothing but an aching scar, and he regained his strength with every meal they fed him. One day, when his meal arrived, there was a curved dagger on the meal-tray. It was the first weapon they'd given him. He picked it up, caressed its razor-sharp edge with the ball of his thumb, remembered the tall assassin's offer. Then he cast that offer aside like all the refuse it was, as hope flared in his chest. Dath and Natalya must be searching for him and getting close, for the assassin to risk giving him a weapon. Kedemar chuckled silently. The man was a fool if he thought there was even a chance that the young captain would take him up on his offer. Kedemar already knew he would rather die than betray his friends.

Gripping the dagger, he stole softly to the door of his room and tried the handle, expecting to be in a prison. To his surprise, it was unlocked. He raised his eyebrows. Was the assassin really so confident as all that? Well, Kedemar would play his game, but by rules of his own, and he would win.

So he took to the dark halls of the assassins' hideout. The place seemed to be a fortress of sorts, but the halls he wandered now were deserted and lined with solid wooden doors, likely locked. Kedemar crept along until he saw a dark-cloaked man just ahead of him, slipping slowly along from shadow to shadow, silently. An assassin most likely. The assassin? Stealing up behind the shadowy figure, Kedemar grabbed him suddenly, hooking an arm around the man's throat. The assassin startled violently, nearly silently, twisting his body around to try to dislodge Kedemar's hold. The young captain hung on grimly. The man he fought was smaller than he, with a slight build and slippery maneuvers. Not the blond assassin, then.

Right.

The man slipped from his grasp, and Kedemar grabbed the back of his hood by the collar, and yanked him backward. A fist into the assassin's ribs, then another, as fast as Kedemar could punch. The man gasped and sagged. Kedemar quickly slipped his arm back around the man's throat, hauling him upright, and clenched his tunic in a tight grip. He held the dagger against the assassin's throat.

“Keep quiet and do as I say, or die.” Kedemar whispered savagely in his captive’s ear, noticing that the man was indeed an assassin, though not the same one that had nearly killed him. This man was younger, around Kedemar's age.

“I think I’d rather die.” Gasped the man, straining futilely against Kedemar’s arm. His breath wheezed in his throat, telling Kedemar that his captive was running out of air. Well, better finish this up quick then.

“That could be arranged, or you could give me your name.” Kedemar replied, thinking fast.

“Haeil.” His captive said after a tense, silent moment. Kedemar tucked the name into the pockets of his mind.

“Now, Haeil, you’re going to help me get out of this place, or I will make you wish you’d never been born.” Said Kedemar.

“Really?” Said the assassin, a smile in his voice. His suddenly cheerful demeanor caught Kedemar off guard. “Funny, I was planning on helping you escape anyway. Release me, please.”

Slowly, suspiciously, Kedemar let him go and stepped back, dagger ready for any treachery. The assassin staggered forward, sucking in air greedily. Then he faced Kedemar.

“Truth?” The young captain asked as Haeil turned. The assassin nodded. Grinned, his teeth bright white in the dim hall.

“Someone will surely have heard our scuffle. Come on, before we get caught. Your companions-- Dath ad Antoin of Anathod and a girl, right?-- aren’t that far away, but Gavin knows they're here. They're in grave danger and we don't have much time.”

"Why should I trust you?" Kedemar asked. "Almost nothing you just said sounds believable." The assassin spread his hands wide, empty.

"Because, if you don't, you will get caught, and you will die here, you and your friends with you. I really do want to help you, I swear! And if you want to escape alive, I'm your best bet."

Kedemar searched his dark eyes, looking for any sign of untruth. But Haeil's eyes were wide, honest, guileless. The captain growled in frustration. He couldn't believe he was considering taking the help of the assassin! He should just gut him and leave him dead in some lonely corridor. But... memories flashed through his mind. War. Men dying. Men lost. A friend, captured and believed dead. Revenge. Blood that had and always would stain his hands. He knew then that he didn't want any more red to add to the tally.

"Fine!" He growled. The assassin smiled, relieved.

"Excellent! Follow me." Still suspicious, Kedemar fell in step beside Haeil as he set off down the hallway.

***

Dath and Natalya tracked the assassin's band on foot for a week before coming to a small stone fortress deep in the forest. Dath hadn't even known it existed, nor did Natalya, and she knew Kenrath Province better than anyone. The assassin's tracks ended here.

For days, the two circled the fortress, trying to find a weakness, a way in. Kedemar was in there, and the more time that passed, the more desperate they became to rescue him. At least they hadn't found his body on the path-side somewhere.

"We need a plan. A real one." Natalya told Dath after another fruitless day of seeking a way inside. "If nothing else, we should try to fight our way inside."

Dath was shaking his head even before she'd finished speaking. "There is more than one assassin in there, lass. Elite killers. We couldn't hope to take them by ourselves. Maybe I could have, one on one, in my younger days, and maybe I'd try it if I were alone. But I can't fight them and protect you at the same time." He replied. Natalya set her jaw stubbornly.

"We can't do nothing." She said.

"And we won't." Dath reassured her. "But we can't be reckless either. Caution is wisdom. Vigilance is key. They likely already know we're here. In fact, I'd put money on it. So we need to be careful."

"Careful," grumbled Nat. "'Careful' was never an adjective I labeled you with. Time is running out!"

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

The next few days were spent making and remaking various plans for how to infiltrate the assassin's hideout. None seemed like they'd work. All were scrapped. In frustration, Dath and Natalya crept up to the huge dark doorway entrance of the fortress, Dath concealing their presence with a cloaking mage-token he'd somehow found. When he saw Natalya looking at it, he explained,

"A friend of mine gave it to me. You're familiar with how it works?"

She nodded. "The power is tethered to the token by a mage, but it draws its strength from the one holding it. Is it very draining?"

Dath stood straight and sighed.

"Not especially so, lass." He said. "Not as much as, say, Wind or Lightening magic would be. I can handle it."

Natalya fixed him with a stern look, in the face of which her companion merely smiled.

"Well, I can take a turn using it if I need to. Do not drain yourself to the point where you're no use to anyone." She said.

The two turned their attention back to the walls of the fortress. There had to be a weakness in the fortress here, somewhere, and they would find it if it took them a year!

They circled the stone building, ending right back at the front where the doorway of the dark tunnel entrance gaped and yawned. Neither could see much farther than a few feet inside. A whisper of sound came suddenly, from within. Voices. Two of them, and both male. And footsteps. With the echoes, there was no telling how many.

Both companions froze, then hid themselves around the side of the doorway. Natalya and Dath looked at each other, then nodded. This was their chance. Capture at least one of the on-comers for information, and kill the others if they proved to be too much trouble to subdue. This was likely their only chance, come what may. They drew their blades and held them ready. As the strangers came nearer, Natalya counted under her breath.

One...

Two...

Three...

Two men, cloaked and hooded in black, faces obscured by shadow, stepped out into the forest. They glanced behind them as if afraid they were followed. Dath and Natalya burst out of hiding, Dath wrapping one man in a choke-hold. Natalya grabbed the other man and held her blade to his throat. He broke her hold and flipped her over his shoulder. She hit the ground with a grunt, the wind knocked out of her, as the breeze gusted and the man's hood fell back.

"Kedemar?!" Natalya cried incredulously, eyes wide, staring up at a familiar face she had honestly nearly given up hope of ever seeing again.

Eyes wide, Kedemar lowered his dagger and helped Natalya up from the dirt.

"Aye." He said with a smile, regaining his composure. "What kind of welcome is this?"

To his surprise, Natalya threw her arms around him and burst into tears.

"I was so afraid you were dead." She sobbed. "It'd been so long since they took you, and we couldn't find a way inside."

"It's alright now." Kedemar said, embracing her awkwardly. He patted her shoulder.

A noise like a booted foot scrabbling at the ground caught his attention. His eyes shot up, over Natalya's shoulder. Went to Dath and his prisoner, and he gasped. Kedemar gently pushed Natalya away from him and stepped toward Dath. Poor Haeil's struggles were weakening in the bounty hunter's unrelenting hold. The assassin's air was running out.

"Dath!" Kedemar shouted. "What are you doing? He helped me escape! He's on our side!"

Haeil fell limp in Dath's arms and the man lowered him to the ground, swiftly producing a length of rope and binding the assassin's wrists together tightly behind him.

"Never met an assassin who'd betray his master or do anything for free." Dath grunted. "He didn't mean you anything but harm, lad." He tore a strip of cloth off of the bottom of the assassin's cloak and tied it over Haeil's eyes.

"Dath!" Kedemar protested. Dath ignored him. "He helped me!"

The bounty hunter hoisted the assassin over his shoulder, moving toward the cover of the forest. It was time to be away from this place.

"Only for his own ends, lad." He replied. "He's nothing but murdering stars-cursed scum who'd slip a knife between your ribs as soon as look at you. Be grateful I didn't kill him outright. At least this way he'll be able to provide us with valuable information before he dies."

Natalya sucked in her breath, turning pale. "You wouldn't kill a man in cold blood, would you, Dath?" The bounty hunter didn't answer, just strode into the trees, the girl on his heels.

Kedemar followed more slowly, seething anger building in his chest. This wasn't right. This wasn't the Dath he knew. Thought he'd known. Perhaps he was just now seeing a darker side to Dath, a side that didn't take chances with anything or anyone. Or maybe the bounty hunter was playing a convoluted game. One that Kedemar neither understood nor wanted to play.

He'd keep silent.

For now.

He'd see what Dath was up to, and then act accordingly. The man was his leader, and he did respect him. Those were the only reasons Kedemar didn't rebel against Dath's decisions.

***

Haeil woke with a start and a gasp. He couldn't see! He couldn't move, either. Tight rough rope chafed his wrists as he twisted them around behind his back. The knots were out of reach. A line of tautness across his chest and something uncomfortably hard at his back told him he was tied to a tree. He was well and truly stuck.

"Stars!" He cursed under his breath, feeling his heart beginning to pound. This was not how this was supposed to go. Not at all. This was supposed to be his escape from the assassins, not his capture and possible execution!

Footsteps crunched in the dirt and someone crouched beside him.

"Kedemar?" Haeil called, fear tinging his voice. Whose prisoner was he? His former oath-brothers'? Kedemar's?

"Kedemar can't help you." A deep, grim voice sounded close by next to him. "There is only me." A cold fear took root in Haeil's chest. He was entirely at the mercy of this stranger.

"Who are you?" He asked, trying to keep his breath from coming in gasps. Show no fear.

It wasn't working.

"Someone you do not want to anger." Was the stranger's dangerously calm reply.

"I wish to see the face of the man with whom I speak." Haeil spoke with boldness he didn't feel. The man fingered the blindfold around Haeil's eyes.

"And I don't feel like becoming a target for your blade." He said.

"You won't." Haeil promised. The man snorted. "It's true." Haeil insisted. "I betrayed Kathiare because they're cruel. I didn't want to be part of that life anymore! Please believe me!"

"Did you now?" The stranger's voice was soft. There was a swift sense of movement next to Haeil, someone's hand clenched around his collar, and something cold and sharp pressed against his throat. Haeil gritted his teeth and leaned away, swallowed against the pressure.

"If you lie to me, " the man's threat was soft in Haeil's ear, "so help me, it will go the worse for you."

"I know that there is nothing I could say to make you believe me, but I swear I'm not lying!" Haeil cried out. "Truth!" The pressure lessened, but the blade didn't disappear from his neck. He babbled on. "Yes, they trained me to kill, and well, but I hate that life! I saw my chance to escape in helping Kedemar, and I took it. I led him through the seldom-used secret ways to the exit of that fortress, and we killed sentries when we had to. We escaped to his companions. It's as simple as that!"

"Hm." The man seemed skeptical still. The blade vanished. The blindfold was pulled off. He found himself staring into the cold eyes of a man whose reputation he knew well.

"How about I just leave you here for the assassins to find?" Dath said.

"NO!" Haeil pleaded. "Please, no!" He felt the blood drain away from his face and saw his short, miserable life flash before his eyes.

"And why not?" Dath asked softly. Haeil found the calm softness of his voice most chilling.

"Because that would be a fate worse than death!" Haeil cried. "What they would do to me... please don't leave me to them!" He pleaded.

Dath regarded him silently, thinking, tapping the blindfold against his knee. Haeil held his breath as his heart pounded in his ears. He looked up as Kedemar and Natalya strode toward them from the surrounding trees. Natalya's bow dangled from her hand. Kedemar had Haeil's sword thrust through his belt.

"We won't leave you." Said Kedemar, giving Dath a hard look. "And we won't kill you either. That is not how I pay my debts. However, Dath is right. We can't take any chances. You'll still be our prisoner. Sorry, Haeil." Dath stood and inclined his head to the young captain, accepting his decision. Relief flooded through the young assassin.

"Thank you. I'll give you any information you want, help you any way I can, I swear it!"

Dath smiled coldly. "I know you will." He said. "Remember what happens if you lie."

Haeil blanched, even as Kedemar stepped over and untied the ropes binding him to the tree. Haeil's hands were still tied behind his back, but he was grateful all the same as he came to his feet.

"Thank you." He said again. Kedemar nodded briefly.

"Let's go." He replied tersely.

"Not so fast!" Came a shout from the forest.

A full company of Kathiran soldiers stepped from the dense trees around them, a tall blond assassin with a bloody bandage around his chest at their head. Dath turned slowly to face him, a rueful smile curving his lips.

"Hello, Gavin Fay. I might've guessed it was you hunting us."

"Dath," the assassin greeted in return. "Give us the boy."

Dath glanced behind him at Kedemar and Haeil.

"Which one?" He asked.

"Ours." Gavin replied. Dath grabbed Haeil by the collar and shoved him, stumbling, to his knees before him, setting his dagger against the boy's neck, ignoring Kedemar's protest.

"Let us go now, or I'll kill him right here." Dath threatened. Haeil gritted his teeth in pain, closed his eyes against the death-blow he was sure was coming. Gavin didn't twitch.

"You'd be doing us a favor." The tall assassin said. "No, I meant the other one. Kill this traitor if you wish."

Haeil tensed. His breath came fast, hard. His stomach surged against his will. He really didn't want to die. But at least dying was better than capture and torture, or killing innocents. The magic tethered to the brand on his arm seemed to roil in his mind. He shoved against its frayed and broken strands with all his might, determined not to let it own him.

"Hm." Was Dath's only reply before hauling Haeil to his feet and shoving him back to the custody of Kedemar. "I have a better idea." The bounty hunter said. "Single combat, right here and now. Just you and me."

The tall assassin almost smiled. “What are the stakes?” He asked.

“If I win, we go free and you help us any way we say.” Dath said. “If you win… you may do with us as you wish. I only ask for a quick death.”

Gavin’s mouth twitched. “And why should I accept your challenge? I have you vastly outnumbered, and I care not a whit for the men you will kill.” He said.

Kedemar’s voice rang out. “Accept it, or I die!” Everyone turned to him in surprise. He had his dagger out and held to his chest over his heart. “You don’t want good talent to be wasted, right, Gavin? Win the challenge and I’ll become one of you. Deny the challenge, I'll end myself right here and now!”

“No!” Dath shouted, fear flaring in his eyes. Natalya echoed his cry a second later. Gavin snarled angrily, defeated somehow. Interesting.

“Very well. I accept your challenge and your terms.” He said, drawing his sword. Dath sighed, and mirrored his action. The duel had begun.

The whole forest seemed to hold its breath. Then, ordered chaos. Dath sprang first. Gavin batted aside his powerful blow like it was a soft breeze. He countered with a series of wickedly fast strikes that Dath seemed barely to defend against. They separated and circled, neither even breathing hard. Then they clashed again in a blurring dance of death. Gavin feinted, Dath blocked. And then… Dath overextended. With a cry of triumph, Gavin smashed him in the face with the pommel of his sword, then, when Dath dropped to his knees spitting blood, drove his sword down at the bounty hunter's unprotected back.

Haeil's and Kedemar's eyes went wide.

Natalya screamed out, "NO!"

Kedemar had to haul her back from the fight.

“You always were too impatient, Dath!” Gavin shouted triumphantly. “You never learned!” But Dath twisted at the last moment, grabbed Gavin and threw him to the ground. Gavin's sword fell from his hand and bounced out of reach. Dath held his own sword to Gavin’s throat. Gavin scrabbled at the dirt with his fingers, straining unsuccessfully for his blade as Dath held him down.

Dath smiled.

“I did learn." He said. "That was a feint. Now yield!”

Gavin let out his breath in a rush, knowing he was beaten. Dath’s blade was sharp at his throat as he swallowed.

“I yield.” He growled.

“Louder!” Ordered Dath.

“I yield!” Shouted Gavin angrily. Dath rose to his feet and let Gavin up.

“Now tell your men to stand down, and then tell us how you found us. I covered our tracks well.”

Gavin turned and gestured to his men, who sheathed their swords and relaxed. He sighed, then pointed to Haeil.

“Have you really forgotten? Him. We found you using him.”

Dath cast a stormy look at the young assassin, who blanched.

“How?” Dath growled. “He was unconscious up until half an hour ago.”

Gavin smiled. “You think we didn’t know he would betray us? We knew he would attempt to help Kedemar escape. Truth, we didn’t know just how well he’d succeed, but we already had watchers in the forest. We’d known you were there from the moment you arrived. When you fled, all we did was follow. You knew our mark, once, long ago. You know how it works.”

“So it was a true betrayal?” Dath asked. Gavin shrugged.

“As true as any could be.”

Dath sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“What would you do with him if I gave him back to you?” He asked quietly. Haeil heard all the same, turned even whiter, and sagged to his knees. Gavin barely spared him a glance.

“We’d get any information we could out of him and then he would be executed.” He stated matter-of-factly. Dath grunted and nodded.

“What else do you require?” Gavin asked, calm but impatient. And angry. Quietly so, but furious nonetheless.

“Custody of Haeil, and a safe and speedy passage to the coast city of Bethmüda.” Dath replied. Haeil felt like falling on his face in relief, or vomiting from the tension. Or both. That was also an option.

“Fine.” Gavin said.

“Can I trust your word?” Asked Dath suddenly, grabbing Gavin’s arm.

“It’s worth more than yours, oathbreaker.” Sneered Gavin, already turning away. “Don’t worry. It will be done as you say.”

Dath nodded, releasing him. “Thank you.”