Arryn, also called Nightblade, left the border behind himself and with it his home country Valuan. The assassin had chosen a rather inconspicuous set of rags. The beige and brown cloth pieces were dirty and a false, wild beard amplified the suspicion of him being a refugee. Migration towards the north was not unusual in these parts of the Zenshin countryside.

Again and again deserters that had fled their duty in the Valuan army tried to find a better life up north.

For Nightblade there were no lower people than deserters. They left their homeland when it most needed them and they were too cowardly to sacrifice their lives. Traitors! He himself would die a thousand deaths and more if it meant that his country would be safe and sound. His disguise was helpful in more than just hiding his identity.

As he was assumed to be a refugee, he was able to talk to others of “his kind” and thus gain their trust. Should they be deserters, he would kill them and claim the bounty on their heads.

There was a quite large sum of money to be earned with such dangerous work, but the assassin had never much cared for gold. Arryn was a member of the Temple of Order and every piece of the valuable shiny metal was honorably donated to them.

That also included his assassination orders, for which they were paid rather well. Besides, he had never really had the feeling of wanting to own something.

If fate decided to let him cross paths with a traitorous deserter, so be it. Otherwise he would not slow down his journey at all. Especially since his client this time was the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Valuan. The highest non-military organisation, with only the emperor himself outranking them.

First he would meet up with the informant. While killing was the main thing Arryn was tasked with, nothing worked without the basics principles of his line of work. Preparation. Information Gathering. Risk Assessment. It did not serve anyone if Arryn was unaware of the targets whereabouts or how well protected it was.

Even worse was when he chose a bad time or place for his attack or his clients were left in the dark for most of his operations. It did not take long and he arrived at his goal.

Zenshin had been allied to Valuan for nearly six hundred years now and the border patrols where done accordingly. Only two soldiers, stationed at a small guardhouse next to a two story inn. Out of those two guards, there were currently… none present.

As Arryn had expected. Even if there was one actually doing their job, one could just pass the whole farse by going through the woods about fifteen meters away from the road.

Nobody would notice. The two soldiers honestly were more of a defensive tool for the inn, rather than the road or god forbid: the border.

But in this inn, that lies closest to the border, Arryn’s informant waited. A merchant called Faruin Cér-Del’uin, had sent a letter via hawk towards the city Garuyeri.

The soldiers in this most northern city of Valuan, had tasked a rider to deliver it to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The hawks that were used for letters up north, sadly did not fly south so they had to use a rider or ship, depending on the weather.

Weeks later, the message had finally reached the hands of Jarya Zhulan, Minister of Internal Affairs in Antalia. The old noble nearly had a heart attack when he read of the bad news. Immediately he issued an order to assassinate the problem child and sent for the best killer the Temple of Order had to offer: Arryn Nightblade. Never before had there been such a dire case in his care, so he naturally feared the worst.

Within the same hour of receiving the order, Arryn had left the capital after borrowing two Tharken from the royal stables. Those huge battle hounds were far more durable and tenacious than horses were.

And even though they were unable to carry as much weight, it was still possible to travel fast by switching from one Thark to the other time and time again.

It was a special privilege, and one that Arryn very rarely had. And he felt a bit sad, ever since he had reached Garuyeri and continued on foot. Passing the border within hours and stepping into the cheap two story inn beyond, he knocked on a door on the second floor. The current location of his informant.

But instead of him, a very young girl opened. Apparently the man had payed for a bit of “companionship”. Disgusting. She was barely ten years old.

“Good day to you. May I enter? I have urgent business to discuss with mister Cér-Del’uin. You can wait out here in the meantime.”

The girl nodded shyly and stepped outside, while buttoning up her shirt. Arryn felt like he had to throw up, such disgust struck him. He stepped past her inside the room and eyed the half naked man lying on his bed.

Bandages around his upper body showed the heavy injuries he had sustained on his torso. Broken ribs maybe? When the merchant harshly yelled at him, asking why he intruded, the assassin drew his dagger and was next to the man with a quick dash.

The blade resting on his throat, he gestured with his forefinger in front of his mouth, ordering him to be silent. “Not a single word. I will ask you some questions now. And you will answer them as honestly and exact as you possibly can. Blink three times. IF. You. Understand.”

Arryn told him coldly. The man obeyed, now a little scared. “The child with the silver-white hair. Who took it? Tell. Me. Everything. You. Know.”

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The man gulped. “So-uhm. I... A Man called… called Thasun Torreí had found the child unconscious on the road. I tried to warn him and the other people. Tried to explain what it is. Why it has to die! They did- They did not listen. So I tried to kill the child.

Honestly I almost succeeded, if it had not been for that swordsman- the one that I told you about, he found the child- he… he attacked me brutally and nearly killed me. I mean look at what he-”

Arryn was able to see the lies in the merchants eyes. Not everything he said was the truth. “You are lying. I can tell. Do that again and I will make you lose a finger!” Arryn told him quietly and shot him a glare full of cold and deadly promise.

The merchant twitched back. “For-forgive me. I- I was… maybe not as brave as I just claimed to… be.” He gulped again as the blade was pressed a little harder against his throat.

“Who is this Thasun Torreí. Did you gather information, as it was your duty to do?”

Quickly Faruin tried to calm the assassin down with information. His answers shot out in quick succession. “Swordsman. Iordai Sword Fighting School. Up north. Valley of Ending.”

Arryn took back a bit of the pressure the blade exerted. North. That meant Zenshin Territory. A diplomatic nightmare. Valuan needed this alliance with the north now more than ever, since the south got more and more unstable. “What else do you know? Does the valley or the school have a special meaning to Zenshin? Are there diplomatic relations?”

The man looked a little overwhelmed. “Uhm. I… It is a sword fighting school, they-they-they train swordsmen. They usually work as soldiers for nobles in Zenshin afterwards. Please! I don’t know anything else! I’m telling the truth!”

But Arryn was not finished. The man was just so useless. Such a filthy, disgusting man. He had not even gathered any information like he was supposed to. “Are you a member of the Iron Guild? Or the Trading Legion?”

Confused the man began to stutter again. “N-N-No. W-What does this have to-to… to do with the child?”

Nothing Arryn thought, before jamming his dagger deep into the man's throat. Quickly he pulled up the sheets to quiet the gurgling sounds the man began to utter and drew his weapon out of the bleeding wound. Then he proceeded to methodically stab the man into the torso. Left lung, heart, liver and right lung. Then he let go and covered the dying man in his bedsheets.

A quick search later Arryn was a wallet and a few valuables richer. A big sum, apparently the merchant had been on his way back from a successful journey.

“The Temple of Order thanks for your patronage.”, he spoke quietly. Then he turned to leave the room. But just as he opened the door, the young girl stood in front of him. Arryn eyed her closely. She showcased a very emotionless mask. Did she notice? From the door it should be impossible to see the blood soaked sheets.

He reached into his pocket, drew a silver coin from the pouch and handed it to the girl. Fear shot in her eyes for a moment, before returning to show an empty mask again.

Arryn was certain that she suspected him to be another client and that she was just paid by him. Arryn crunched his teeth. Poor thing. “Thank you for your service. He wants to rest now. You may go.” Confusion was quickly replaced by a tired smile. Then she turned around wordlessly and left the first floor of the inn.

This girl was no individual case. It happened far too often, that those rich Valuan merchants indulged in the otherwise forbidden crimes, they did not dare commit at home. Especially they were always accepted happily by the towns and cities they traveled through, since they brought valuable goods and prosperity.

Officials closing their eyes to such perversions and small crimes to protect the wealth they brought in by trading was common sight. If he had the time, Arryn would burn the whole inn down and he would gladly end the lives of all that had known of this.

Regretfully he asked the guards downstairs for the way to the Valley of Ending. Towards which he immediately proceeded.

Should the innkeeper find the corpse, they could only search for a nameless refugee. Refugees that came and went on a frequent basis. If the soldiers cared, that is.

A random trader, not even member of the merchant guilds. Usually that would not justify an investigation.

Satisfied about having ended the career of a child abuser, Arryn Nightblade advanced quickly. The weather was steady. With the sun mostly hiding behind the clouds, it was very comfortable to travel. A few days later he reached the mountain pass Dunéin. It was not a steep climb, and not long either unlike other mountain passes. But the ambience made this place something special.

Two statues had been chiseled into the steep cliffs to each side. Both over twenty meters in height. The two men held their weapons, ready to fight, while staring at each other aggressively. One of the statues missed a part of their shield, the other the head of the axe. The frayed monuments of a long lost time. They were both brothers, heirs to a long forgotten kingdom, that had found its end in the Valley of Ending centuries ago.

The civil war they both wedged in order to succeed their father had split the opinion of the public and a resulting battle had charged so many deaths, that the kingdom broke shortly afterwards. Hence the name “Valley of Ending”.

They were then attacked by Valuan from the South and Zenshin from the East and completely annexed by them.

Arryn eyed the worn down stone men and the small ridge that granted access to the valley. It was a place made for ambushes and traps. The assassin thought about all the available information regarding his target. The boy was sheltered within a valley that had only one exit. Additionally he was likely protected by them which meant he would not flee for now.

All in all it seemed like a good idea to place a trap within pass Dunéin.

Later he would be able to activate it in a few seconds. Should it be necessary to flee he could shake off anyone that tried to follow him.

After spending the night next to those two tall monuments, he slowly transcended down towards the valley. Surrounded by dense and huge forests as well as huge mountains, a green and prosperous valles unfolded.

Wide green grassland was riddled by livestock and a few fields were tended to for grain, vegetables and fruits. It was insane to think, that such a fertile land was hardly used.

But it was a deceptive peace. A few dozen kilometers up north lied the mountain fortress Than Dúin. A Stronghold so massive, that no human could even think about conquering it by military means. It was just unheard of. Only a about six meter wide mountain road lead straight towards the gates, where anyone stupid enough to walk in was riddled with arrows, bolts or stones from catapults.

In addition to that there had been an incident about a hundred years ago. A village on the border of this fortress had vanished overnight, with all their inhabitants gone and the houses reduced to dust. Nobody had been seen ever since.

And since the valley had no valuable riches beside its soil, the Zenshin kingdom had decreed a stop to settling in that area.

They viewed it as some sort of buffer area between them and this mysterious stronghold. If a attack from Than Dúin took place, they would at least have time to react. In Arryn’s mind a bit overly cautious, but he was no king. What did he know?  

As soon as it was possible he switched over into the dense forest. He did not want to be spotted beforehand so he could maintain the momentum of surprise for as long as possible. His disguise as a refugee fell off.

False beard, dusty and dirty clothes and the unnecessary luggage were places between the roots off a tall tree. Freed from his additional weight, Arryn fell into a slow run, getting closer and closer to the village through the woods.

Now it was time to spy, find weak spots and to exploit them. With a little bit of luck, he would not have to stay long. His experience however told him that a small village did not have that many weak spots in the first place.

He would have to plan and investigate thoroughly if he wanted to find the boy and work around his protectors.

Doubts were foreign to him. He was Arryn Nightblade. The best assassin Valuan had ever seen!