As Lon'thul crept up to the walls, hidden by shadow, he couldn't help but remember the last time he'd crept through the forest with so much hanging on the line. Once again, his heartbeat seemed incredibly loud. He couldn't help but wonder how no one but himself seemed to hear it. However, there was one crucial difference between then and now. This time he was the hunter. Still, once he reached the wall, he hugged it a moment, making sure no sounds indicated some unseen guard or villager hidden from view had been observing his approach.

Once he caught his breath and was certain no one else was nearby, he started fishing through his pack for the tools Lady Angela had helped Tel'ron design for him. Finding what he was looking for, he slipped some spiked shoes over his feet, then grabbed some metal hooks for his hands.

A part of him wanted to leap up and slam the hooks into place. It would only take a couple of seconds to scale the wall that way, but he'd also make a loud ruckus. So instead, he looked around for small gaps between the fence's stakes that he could wedge his hooks into, then did the same for each foot. He'd practiced on the palisade at the Outpost to make sure he could do it relatively quickly and quietly and was able to scale the wall without incident.

Once at the top, he laid a thick leather skin over the pointed edge of the palisade before slipping over and tossing it and his climbing gear back over the other side of the wall. Chal'ac would retrieve them while he finished his own task.

The hunter had been surprised when S'haar was so quick to trust Chal'ac with this mission, since she'd only been with them a few weeks now. However, the older woman had merely shrugged before addressing his concern. "I'm not worried about Chal'ac. She's blunt and honest to a fault, something I can understand. I might not trust her with all of Jack and Angela's secrets, but this mission isn't too far outside what would be expected from any village, in retaliation to the kind of aggression we've been shown. It's not like we'll be able to hide what's happened from Lord A'ngles for long, so it won't even matter if she reports back to him when we're through. What's really important is she has the skills and willingness to see the job through."

Lon'thul had to admit, the female knew her stuff. He always pictured Nala'ac as the type to dote on his children, but apparently, he'd also done well by her and taught her everything he'd known. With a few pointers and a bit of practice, she might make good competition in the trade.

But that wasn't important right now. What really mattered was that the village seemed empty, and his path looked clear. Still, in case there was a watcher he couldn't see, Lon'thul stuck to the shadows. His outfit was a patchwork of blacks and dark grays. He'd wondered if a pure black outfit wouldn't have been better, but Jack had shaken his head. "I suspect argu'n eyes are similar to human's in that we're excellent at pattern recognition. An all-black outfit might blend in slightly better, but it will also have a particular outline. Even with your poor night vision, all they would need to see is the slightest of outlines, and their brain would instantly recognize 'argu'n,' which could lead to a very unwanted situation. With the pattern broken up with different shades of gray, the eye has a much harder time putting the pattern together, and any observer is more likely to dismiss whatever they see as a trick of their mind."

Looking back at his night hunts, Lon'thul could see the wisdom in Jack's words. Night hunting wasn't common among argu'n because of their apparent disadvantages, but Lon'thul's father had insisted on going out into the dark from time to time. He'd insisted on a lot of training for his son that most hunters thought cruel or unusual, but Lon'thul was grateful now. After all, he was at least familiar with wandering silently through the dark. Something the town guard obviously didn't have practice in.

Lon'thul tucked himself back into a space behind a couple huts as a guard wandered past, torch in hand. The torch both served to make the guard's whereabouts obvious and limit their vision to that contained within the ring of light. But, of course, Lon'thul was well aware the tough part was yet to come.

Weaving his way through the village, Lon'thul finally spotted his target right where Em'brel had said it would be. Before him loomed the lord's manor. Maybe it was all the human movies he'd watched in Jack's cave, or perhaps it was because he was used to Lord A'ngles's manor, but the building before him was less impressive than he'd imagined. It did stand out from its surroundings by being two stories tall but was made from simple wood. Additionally, while it was far more spacious than anything around it, it hardly had room for a reasonably sized great hall, but maybe they simply had another building for that? Unfortunately, one way it managed to resemble Lord A'ngles’s manor was that it was well lit, and two guards were stationed at the door.

Now, Lon'thul could have taken them out quickly and quietly enough with a bow and arrow, but everyone had decided it would be best to pull this off without killing anyone, if possible.

That's where the debate had circled. Em'brel asked about "sleep darts" like she'd seen in one of Jack's movies. Angela shook her head as she replied, "Despite what you've seen in the movies, any serum that's strong enough to knock someone out silently in seconds will likely kill them unless they are treated right away. The 'safest' way to render someone unconscious is by asphyxiation, though even that has some risks."

Jack nodded. "Risks, yes, but there's no sure-fire way to get the job done without a willing patient and a medical team on standby. It's probably his best bet for getting past any guards."

S'haar looked skeptical. "Ok, but how is he supposed to get within reach without attracting attention. Also, what does he do if there's more than one?"

Jack grinned. "Well, this is one situation where argu'n predatory nature works in our favor. When confronted with the unknown, you tend to charge in and ask questions later..."

Lon'thul wondered if it could be that easy, but he mentally shrugged and grabbed a stone. He waited for a moment when the wind died down, and everything was more silent than usual. Those were usually the times he froze up and waited when out on the hunt, but this time he took advantage of the silence by throwing the rock across the dark street to a different alley.

It definitely attracted the guard's attention, but they showed only idle curiosity. After a moment, Lon'thul threw a second stone after the first. This time one of the guards leaned over and spoke to the first, then grabbed a torch and trotted out in the direction of the thrown stones.

Lon'thul waited patiently for the guard to pass him. It would be obvious if he jumped the one with the torch. So instead, he circled around the back of the manor. There was only one door in or out, and there didn't seem to be any guards located anywhere other than the door in question, so it was easy enough to sneak up to the building from behind. Then he crept along the outside edge until he could peek around the corner at the other guard still at his station.

Sure enough, the guard in question was paying close attention to his partner's movements by watching the glowing torch he was carrying. Although, to be fair, this was probably the most exciting thing to happen during guard duty in the last week or more. Lon'thul grinned before quickly and quietly launching himself around the corner and grabbing hold of the inattentive guard.

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He used a hold Angela had taught him that was designed to both subdue and muffle his prey. To make sure everything would go as planned, he practiced on several different argu'n back at the base. Tel'ron, Lack'nul, Orth'kun, and Jar'maal all played willing victims, attempting to break free or cry out as Lon'thul subdued them.

If anything, this guard was even easier to subdue than any of the test subjects had been. But, of course, it was probably because they'd all known what was coming, while this poor guy hadn't had any idea something was wrong until Lon'thul's arm was already around his neck.

After a few seconds, the guard's body went slack. Lon'thul quickly dragged him around the side of the building, being sure to leave some marks on the ground as he did so. He then leaned the guard against the building to make it look like he'd sat down for a moment and injected him with something that Angela had assured Jack would make the guard sleep a little longer and more deeply but leave him otherwise unharmed, aside from an apparently pretty nasty headache. That done, Lon'thul circled around the other side of the manor and waited.

When the other guard returned, Lon'thul could hear him call out to the first guard. Not long after that, he could hear his second victim moving again, following the drag marks the hunter had intentionally left. A quick peek confirmed what he'd heard, and Lon'thul hurried to quietly catch up to the guard who was just starting to say something to his unconscious partner. Another muffled exclamation of surprise was followed shortly by the second guard collapsing into an unconscious heap. After another quick injection, Lon'thul dragged both guards to a location where they couldn't easily be seen from the street.

Not wanting to delay and risk that someone might stumble across him by luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Lon'thul quickly snuck around to the front of the manor, eased the door open just a crack, slipped in, and closed the door behind him.

It took Lon'thul's eyes a moment to adjust from the well-lit exterior to the more gloomy interior, but once they did, he got his bearings right away. He was right by the dining area. There was a table with a rug, rather than the traditional fire pit in the center of the floor most homes had. The firepit here was off to the side, inlaid in stone, and had an actual metal grill overtop of it.

Lon'thul paused in thought for a moment. Not long ago, such a thing would have seemed the height of luxury, but compared with the quickly produced billets Jack had designed, this seemed more like roughing it these days. A part of the hunter's mind wondered if he wouldn't have trouble readjusting to his own ramshackle hovel once he returned to the village. If he returned to the village...

The hunter shook his head. He didn't have time to get lost in thought right now. He could remember Em'brel telling him the living quarters were on the top floor. As he climbed the stairs, Lon'thul was careful to ease his weight onto each board, testing them out to see if they'd make any noise under his weight. A few times, he had to ease back off a particular step, but for the most part, everything was going according to plan.

When he finally reached the top of the stairs, the hunter looked around again. Em'brel told him the main bedroom would be off to the left, which meant his target was likely over to the right. As the hunter crept his way to the doorway separating him from his target, Lonthul couldn't help but briefly wonder if Jack hadn't been paranoid about overplanning everything.

Lon'thul was just easing the door open when he heard a voice behind him. "What did I tell you about sneaking off into the night like this..." Then louder. "Wait, WHO ARE YOU?"

As Lon'thul turned to deal with the complication, the older argu'n was already shouting. "GUARDS! GUARDS! COME QUICK!"

The hunter led with his elbow spike, seeking to drive his opponent back and buy himself a few moments, but as he turned, he could see his opponent was an overweight male, hardly used to physical exertion of any kind.

At the last moment, Lon'thul pulled his attack. He could have simply killed his target if he'd kept going, and while that might have solved a few problems, it would have created others. So instead, he brought his other fist up and into the older male's stomach, doubling him over in pain.

Lon'thul was just contemplating using a similar sleep hold on this interloper when he was tackled from behind. As he fell, the hunter twisted and brought around his elbow again. This argu'n was younger and much more fit. He could dodge and back off in plenty of time, giving Lon'thul a good look.

The new male wasn't as large or developed as the hunter, but he wasn't too far behind, either, putting him close to Em'brel's age. This was his target.

Just then, Lon'thul could make out the sound of the first male running down the stairs, still shouting, "Guards! Guards!"

The hunter didn't have time to think, so he hopped up on the banister and leaped down onto the older male below. The two of them tumbled together, but Lon'thul landed a good hit to the male's jaw on the way down.

As the male's landed on the ground floor, the hunter could see his eyes roll up into his head, but then the youth was on him again, repeating the same tactic Lon'thul had used against the older male, except he wasn't as well trained or developed as the hunter. When they tumbled down, the hunter kept hold of his young assailant, bringing him to the ground as well.

The younger male rained blow after blow onto Lon'thul, but despite having some power behind them, the swings were wild and erratic, letting the hunter easily deflect any that would have posed a significant threat. Still, the barrage was getting old fast, and eventually, the hunter reached in past the boy's dubious guard, grabbed his shirt, and pulled him forward to slam their foreheads together.

Lon'thul saw stars. That move had always seemed effective in the movies Jack had shown him, but when his vision cleared, he could see the younger male had gotten the worse end of the deal, as he still lay clutching his head.

Shaking his head to clear his vision further, Lon'thul walked over while pulling some leather straps from a pouch at his waist and began tying the kid's feet together.

The kid started struggling, but Lon'thul punched him in the gut once, and the fight went out of him. The hunter felt a little bad about that. He'd meant to do this quicker and cleaner, without anyone getting hurt, but that wasn't possible now.

To make things worse, the kid began crying, "You killed him! You killed my father!"

The hunter had just tied his hands together when he responded, "Your father's fine. I can see him breathing from here. Of course, he'll have one monster of a headache when he wakes up, but it was never my intention to kill anyone tonight."

The kid looked up at him miserably. "As if I can trust you! An assassin sneaking into my home in the middle of the night!"

Lon'thul growled as he gagged his target. "Listen, kid. Your old man there is the only one hiring raiders and assassins. I'm just here to kidnap you, so we can make him stop."

The younger male glared at the hunter, expressing his disbelief more clearly than words. Then, with a sigh, Lon'thul rolled his eyes. "Ok, how about this. I'll let you check him to make sure he's fine, if you agree not to make this any harder than it's been so far. Deal?"

The youth glowered a moment longer before nodding. Lon'thul grumbled about being too soft before cutting the binds on the kid's hands.

The younger male scowled at him as if expecting a dagger in the back before reaching for the gag. Lon'thul grabbed his hand. "You don't need your mouth to check on your dad."

The kid glared again before turning and working his way over to his father's side. He checked the older male over before taking off his own shirt and placing it under the other male's head. The hunter smirked. "Lucky for you, it's a relatively warm night, but you still might regret that before we get where we're going. Anyway, satisfied? I said you could check on him, not that we'd wait here all night."

The youth turned and held out his hands. Lon'thul raised an eye ridge as he went about retying the kid's hands. "Huh, you got both fight and honor in ya? Are you sure you're related to this guy?"

The kid started to draw his hands back to protest, but the hunter had too good a hold. Still, Lon'thul shook his head. "Sorry, that was uncalled for. I'm just a little on edge from things almost getting out of hand, but you didn't deserve that."

Once the kid was tied up, Lon'thul grabbed another syringe. Angela had told him this wouldn't knock anyone out fast, but until they passed out, it would make them sluggish and uncoordinated.

The hunter grinned a little at the kid's wide eyes focused on the needle. He'd obviously never seen anything like it, and it worried him. "Relax, kid. Like I said, I'm not here to kill anyone. This will barely hurt, then you'll get drowsy and pass out. By the time you wake up, we'll be long gone."

They were about halfway back to the wall when Lon'thul felt the kid finally go slack over his shoulder.