Allana jumped as someone put two tankards down at her table and sat down across from her. She had let herself be distracted by her anxiety and self-recrimination, to the point that she hadn’t even noticed Seo approaching her. Concern was writ large on the androgynous boy’s heart-shaped face. He knew as well as she did that even in a place as hypothetically safe as the Blackened Claw, that level of distraction was dangerous.

“Okay, that’s definitely the first time I’ve ever surprised you,” he told her with a hint of worry. “While I’d like to claim credit for getting more stealthy, I’m pretty sure something’s wrong with you.”

Allana accepted the drink, losing herself in a long gulp. Seo arched an eyebrow without comment, and took a more delicate sip from his own tankard. It was bloom mead, a drink the pair had taken to in the weeks since they first met. Like the whiskey they shared their first night together, the mead was partially made with magical reagents. In this case, petals from the intoxicating stumblebloom were steeped in the alcohol to give it a punch even Allana’s boosted resilience couldn’t ignore.

“Yeah,” Allana admitted, her voice shaky. She took another deliberate gulp of the mead, and Seo’s expression got more surprised at her admitting something was wrong.

“What happened?” Seo asked. He kept his voice low, knowing Allana had the awareness to hear him, while the noise of the bar would cover up the question for any eavesdroppers.

“I… I just…” Allana shook her head firmly. Her eyes stayed down, focused on her drink rather than meeting Seo’s gaze. The fingers of one hand started absently toying with one of the bangles on her opposite wrist, spinning a little clay charm back and forth. “I had a close call, that’s all.”

“A close call,” Seo echoed. “Pursuing your… whatever it is you do?”

Seo and Allana had come to enjoy each other’s company enough that they spent time together most evenings, whenever she didn’t have a commitment to Geoffrey. She found the boy to be sincere in a way she hadn’t seen from those born and raised in Emeston’s slums, and he made her laugh. She liked him. But she had still avoided the topic of what exactly she did with Geoffrey. She trusted Seo more than most, and was fairly confident he wouldn’t sell her out to Telik, but she had been disappointed before.

Besides, she didn’t want to see the look on Seo’s face when she told him she was an apprentice assassin.

“Yeah,” Allana replied simply instead. Her traitorous fingers kept fidgeting, spinning one of her bracelets.

“Okay...” Seo drew out the word. “How can I help?”

Allana blinked in surprise, and her gaze finally darted up to meet Seo’s blood red eyes. “You don’t… I…” Allana stumbled over her words, so shocked at the mere offer. “I-It’s dangerous!” she finally managed. “Why would you want to help?”

Seo shrugged. “I don’t know. I like you. You're scared, and knowing you I think it’s for a good reason. So I want to help you.” He explained his emotions simply, like he was justifying the sky being blue. As if the words should’ve been obvious, despite how little sense they made.

“It’s not that easy!’ Allana insisted. She could feel her cheeks starting to burn from the earnest explanation, and she wished dearly that she could just pull a veil up then and there. What was wrong with this kid? This wasn’t how people communicate, why would he just want to help her for nothing?

“Yeah, it is,” Seo said simply. “Easy isn’t the same as simple, but there it is.” The boy’s lips tugged up at one corner, and he added, “Does it help if I remind you how we met? I’m pretty sure I owe you one.”

Despite herself, Allana couldn’t fight off the smile the boy’s words wrung out of her, and she eventually looked up at him. Seo was staring at her with that same simple, sincere grin, his eyes open and honest. When they had met, Allana couldn’t have ever imagined blood red eyes looking cute, but Seo managed to make their imposing color just part of his charm.

She wasn’t sure how he did that, anymore than she was sure how he managed to calm her down the way he did. Slowly, Allana let out a sigh, feeling a tension she had carried since her escape from Algus’s shop slip away.

“Okay,” she told him. Then she started to explain.

#

“Cool.”

Allana shook her head. “It’s not cool!”

Seo tilted his own. “Are you sure? It seems pretty cool.” The boy held up one hand, lifting fingers to punctuate his point as he spoke. “You’re an apprentice assassin, learning from a wealthy and mysterious master with his own agenda, trying to get revenge on a crimelord, and you got threatened by a murderous old man who is apparently turning people into candles.”

Allana lifted her hands in a motion of frustration, starting to respond sharply - but her mouth only worked silently a few times before she sat back with a huff. “Fine,” she admitted, “it’s a little cool.”

“It’s like something out of an over-wrought novel!” Seo told her with a laugh. “Are you sure Geoffrey isn’t secretly your father or something? That feels like the next plot twist.”

Allana rolled her eyes. “No. No, he definitely isn’t.”

“Are you suuure? Because–”

“Telik killed my father fifteen years ago when he couldn’t cover his gambling debts.”

“Well–”

“In front of me.”

Seo winced. “Yeah, okay. It’s a little unlikely, then.”

“You think?”

“So what now?” Seo asked, pushing past the point

“I’ve…” Allana trailed off. She hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. “I guess I’ve got to tell Geoffrey. And hope he doesn’t just throw me out.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Seo,” Allana replied with another roll of her eyes. “It changes everything. Algus clearly knew someone was after him, even before I showed up. Now he’ll be on his guard. That changes the situation - a wary, dangerous gifted with unknown abilities is a very different target than a cranky old cuss who pissed off a rich customer. If Geoffrey doesn’t know that Algus is ready for him, it could get him killed. And then… I just have to figure out how to make things right.”

Seo nodded thoughtfully as Allana talked. Even once she was done, he stayed quiet, his eyes going distant, as if focusing on something else.

Of course. She had told him way too much, and he was trying to figure out how to get out of this now. He was probably afraid of her! And what would Geoffrey say? Why had she told him so much?

“Seo, look–”

“What if we killed him?”

Allana blinked. “What did you just say?”

“I mean, he's still just an old guy. At least one of his gifts is just candlemaking, and even if we don’t know what his other gift is, it’s gotta be tied to those candles. Now that we know about them, we can handle them. Your master can’t get too mad if you solve the problem, right?”

“But… why would you want to do that?” Allana waved a hand at Seo. Between his lithe frame, his gentle eyes, and his heart-shaped face, which even showed evidence of a few simple cosmetics, the boy was no one’s idea of intimidating. “No offense, but you don’t seem like much of a killer, Seo.”

Seo frowned at her. His next words were slow, deliberate, as if he was carefully considering each before he spoke. “From the sounds of it, neither did Geoffrey.”

“Well, yes, but–”

“Allana.” A change seemed to come over Seo, gradually. His voice lacked any emotion, his back straightened, and he held her gaze steadily. Suddenly, it seemed like there was nothing sweet or cute about his eyes. They were hard pools of red, like fresh viscera. “This won’t be the first man to die because of me. And if this guy really is kidnapping people to turn them into cursed candles or something, I’m not exactly going to lose sleep over his death.”

Allan furrowed her brow as she studied the boy. She really knew very little about him - very little that was reliable, at least. He had told her a story the night they met about his parents being traders and his attempts to make something of himself, but Allana knew a lie when she heard one. Rogue, she didn’t even know his second gift. He was sharp enough, and she had never seen him use any powers besides his evocations, but she suspected his second gift must be something really dark, for it to be worth hiding.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

But he had also been a friend when she didn’t really have any. He had drunk with her, spent time with her, slept in her apartment. She was sure he wasn’t just an informant Telik had placed on her, even if she had considered it. Seo simply had a level of depth, of genuineness, that she hadn’t encountered anywhere else in Lowrun, except possibly glimpsed in the murky depths of Geoffrey’s heart.

Her violet eyes met his crimson gaze as she quietly asked, “Why?”

“To help a friend.”

“Bullshit. Tell me the truth.”

Seo shrugged helplessly, and the cool, hard young man of a moment before turned back into a gentle boy before her eyes. “That is the truth. I don’t know how else to say it, Allana. Helping a friend rid the world of an evil man… it just seems like the right thing to do.”

“Evil. Right. Those are simple words,” Allana replied bitterly.

“I don’t think you’ve had enough simple in your life,” Seo countered.

Allan blew out a breath and sat back, a small grin emerging on her face. “Are you claiming to be simple?”

Seo chuckled, “Maybe not. But this is. I promise.”

“Fine,” Allana relented. “Let’s say I believe you, and that I agree with your plan.”

Seo's face lit up, and Allana promptly held up a finger. “I’m not saying I actually do, on either front. But for the sake of the conversation, let’s say I do. How would you handle those candles?”

“Easy. You said he has big windows in the front of his shop, right?”

“Yes?”

“And the cursed candles, they were behind the counter? And they were distinctive right, all black and red and ominous?”

Allan arched an eyebrow, her eyes slowly shifting from Seo’s red eyes to the black leather ensemble he was wearing.

“I pull it off,” Seo said with a sniff.

“You do,” Allana agreed, trying to make the words sound reluctant. “And yes, they were. So what?”

“If I peek in the window, I can knock them off the shelf with a little force push,” Seo explained, “then you can be on him before he sets them back up.”

Allana frowned thoughtfully. As plans went, it wasn’t terrible, but… “What if he has other candles? Ones I don’t know about?”

“You think he does?”

Allana chewed her tongue while she considered the idea. “Maybe. Probably, even.” She shook her head slowly. “No, there’s just too much that can go wrong.”

“But what if he doesn’t?”

“Then everything goes great. But if he does, I die, and you might too. We don’t know what sort of cursed candles he has - maybe another could give him some sort of fire or explosive power.”

“Then… I’ve got nothing.”

“I know.” Allana’s mouth lifted at one corner. “Fortunately, I do.”

#

Allana crouched in the alley across from the chandler’s house. Behind her was the series of carefully arranged crates that formed a hidden path up to her usual perch, but she had stayed on the ground this time.

She had one of her conjured daggers in hand, the blade crusted in the most dangerous poison she could produce. Similarly, she was wrapped in the most undetectable veil she could make.

Obscuring Veil - Active, Illusion - Manifest an illusion that partially masks you from conventional senses. Veil is most effective in darkness or other obscuring conditions. Minor focus cost recurs as long as the veil is active.

Her head pounded with the focus cost of the ability, and she knew she could maintain it for only minutes, but if her plan worked, minutes would be all she needed.

“The four P’s,” Geoffrey had told her, “are the keys to being successful as an assassin.”

“So it’s that easy?” Allana had responded tartly. “I just need to remember four words and I can be as scary as you?”

“No,” Geoffrey responded with a tolerant frown, “but they might keep you from getting yourself killed on your first job, so pay attention anyways.”

Patience had paid off. Allana knew the layout of Algus’s shop, she knew where he slept, where he kept his nights, and how he managed the little showroom she had entered in the front of his building. She had a good grasp of his gifts, and therefore his limits.

As Seo had pointed out, the old man certainly had the gift of the chandler, but he couldn’t move around his candles physically with an ability, or he would’ve caught the shelf Allana had knocked over in her exit. Seo seemed fairly familiar with gifts of the Artisan archetype, and assured her that sort of manipulation was specific to Initiate level gifts, meaning that despite his advanced age, Algus was only an Apprentice. That suggested a significant limit to his attributes. They wouldn’t need to contend with high level awareness or resilience.

Allana didn’t know as much as she’d like about his second gift or its limits, but it was clearly tied in some way to his candles, as he had not even tried to chase her when she fled. Her successful escape revealed another crucial flaw in the old chandler. His shop was filled with tallow, wax, wicks, and a dozen other extremely combustible components. When Allana toppled a table of his candles, he had scurried to ensure they didn’t ignite the entire room, which meant he had limited precautions in the case of a fire.

Perhaps the gift of fire would’ve been his choice once he made Initiate. It didn’t matter, since he wouldn’t survive the night.

Planning came next. With everything that had been revealed by her patience, putting a plan together had been easy enough - Seo’s suggestion had been the missing piece she needed to complete the puzzle.

Now she had perception covered too - her location allowed her to see both the main entrance to the shop and the side door that emerged into the alley across from her. She was placed to move as soon as he came out of either door, as well as to see Seo approach the shop.

As planned, the wraith boy walked down the street with a brisk stride, the image of a busy passerby. Rare, at this time of night, in this neighborhood, but his stride warned anyone watching that he should be left alone. Only dangerous men would be moving like that this late.

Which, Allana reflected, was more accurate than she expected from the cute, charming wraith boy she had met weeks before.

As he approached Algus’s storefront, Seo slowed to a stop. He looked briskly about, and Allana winced. He was dangerous, but he was still new at this, and if anyone was watching, there was little explanation for his suspicious behavior.

But no one interrupted him as he leaned closer to the windows, cupping both hands over his eyes and peeking between the curtains in the showroom.

Then he stood there.

And stood there.

And stood there.

It was several minutes before there was a crash inside the shop, by which time Allana was wincing from the worst focus headache she’d ever had. Seo turned to move away, and Allana’s awareness, boosted by her gift of stealth, was sufficient to see the wraith boy stagger for a moment. What could only be blood dripped from one hand, and for a moment, she thought he had been ensnared by one of Algus’s tricks. Then he started moving again, clutching one of his arms as he did.

Gift of math my ass, Allana thought.

Seo slipped into the alley on the other side of the building from Allana, where they had prepared a hiding place for him. He didn’t know where she was, only that he was to stay there until she showed up, or until an hour had passed.

Within moments, the incandescent flickering of flames was visible even through Algus’s thick curtains, as the candles Seo had knocked over quickly caught fire. Then there was another crash, and one of the large windows suddenly cracked, then shattered, as if hit by an invisible projectile.

What is he doing!?

Allana didn’t have time to second guess him - with the window broken, oxygen rushed into the shop and smoke poured out. The light of the flames got brighter, and in the distance, Allan heard a bell starting to toll. The city watch of Emeston may have been as deeply corrupt as the rest of the city’s government, but they were well equipped to handle two things: fire and riots. Both could spread through Lowrun in a matter of hours, and both required rapid responses to control.

That didn’t change anything about the plan, but it made her window for action that much more delicate.

Allana’s fingers tightened on her dagger as she crouched in place, hidden by her veil, fighting through the pain of her rapidly draining focus to watch for Algus. Finally, the chandler, having evidently given up on saving his shop, rushed out of the side door, and it was time for the last P: performance.

Concealed by her magic as she was, even had anyone been watching for her, they would’ve seen only a brief ripple in the air as Allana dashed across the street. The heavy smoke pouring out of the burning shop was heavy enough that not even that was visible, however, and Algus never saw her coming. He was still in the heavy shadows of the alley way, mere feet from the door, when Allana reached him, proximity shattering her veil even as she struck.

He lifted his hands in a futile gesture, his weathered face twisted in fear and fury, and then her knife sank into his throat. Allana didn’t hesitate to twist the dagger, tearing the wound wider even as she stepped to the side. The spray of blood from Algus’s cut throat splashed onto the wall instead of her. Enough resilience could have allowed him to survive even that wound - but already, her poison was mixing with his blood, the magical toxin attacking and leeching his resilience.

Allana didn’t hesitate. People were pouring out of nearby homes and businesses, including the building she had used as her perch, and her window for escape was closing into mere moments. The pain nearly blinded her as she pulled up another veil, but Telik had driven her hard over the years, and she pushed through the ache of her low focus.

The veil was weaker this time, but the smoke had become thick enough in the street that it didn’t matter. No one noticed her run back across the street, ducking into the same alley Seo had, and after a couple turns, she was out of the light of Algus’s burning storefront.

Allana relaxed, panting, as she let her veil vanish, and she fell to her knees on the dirty cobbles of the alley, the fatigue overwhelming

“Allana!” Seo’s hand on her shoulder shook her out of a daze she didn’t realize she had fallen into. “We have to go!”

How long had they been there? Allana blinked, forcing herself to think through the muddled pain of her exhausted focus, but it only made the pain worse. Why did they need to leave? What was going on?

“Allana!” Seo hissed, panicking. “Someone’s coming!”

She felt his hand loosen on his shoulder, and still, she couldn’t get her body to listen to her thoughts. He should just run, Allana found herself thinking. He can still get away.

The wraith boy released her shoulder - but he didn’t run. Allana watched helplessly through half-lidded eyes as Seo stepped in front of her, his slender frame set in a confrontational stance.

“I think you’ve gone far enough,” a smooth, confident voice said. “You’re coming with me.”