The leather with the thick beard watched the dark figure snap both hands in a whip-like motion toward them and suddenly noticed he was the only one still standing. Looking down at his comrades, he saw a dagger buried deep into each of their foreheads, their expressions little changed due to the efficiency of the assassination. The dark figure snapped his hands toward the ceiling once more, and with a click, two more silver missiles appeared in his hands.
Having seen enough to know he was clearly overmatched, the surviving leather bolted out the door, screaming like a girl with a snake on her back. Whirling around, the hooded man walked slowly toward Vega. The girls were either face down behind the bar with their arms covering the backs of their heads or holding onto the big man with faces buried into his back, sobbing uncontrollably.
“I know who you are...Phantom,” he said evenly as he threw the crossbow onto the floor, “and I know you won’t hurt me or my girls. Go upstairs and pull the string hanging from the ceiling. It leads to the attic door. Take to the rooftops. They will be here soon. Go now!” he said, pointing to the stairs.
The dark figure paused a second, then bowed low with his hood almost flush against the floor. Vega looked out the window only for a second when he heard the bells begin to ring, but when he looked back, the Phantom was gone. Good luck, stranger. I’ll lose no sleep tonight.
Running across the rooftops, the assassin never broke stride, easily dealing with the slippery surface. He leapt over chimneys and oddly placed furniture items that folks stored on their roofs. As his lungs burned for air and his heart pounded relentlessly, the assassin ran on at full speed through the driving rain, spurred on by calls of “He’s up there” and “shoot him.” Crossbow bolts whizzed past his face and torso as the shouts became louder and more frequent. The next rooftop was a good fifteen-foot jump. The assassin picked up more and more speed then leaped with everything he had.
As if all of the world stood still for one moment, the assassin floated across the sky, standing out like a white rabbit in dark grass as his shadow crossed the moon in what seemed to take an eternity to reach the other side. A collective gasp could be heard from all those below who were watching the bringer of death float across the sky as time flowed like melting snow.
Lightning flashed as he finally landed on the other rooftop, rolling into a somersault just to gain footing once again and continue on at a speed that had never been lost. He could see the open gate off in the distance. Leaping to the ground and rolling twice, he gained his footing once again as he began to sprint like a deer. The assassin could hear the calls behind him to close the gate.
The soldiers heard the call and looked down to see the assassin running down the street. They each ran to opposite wooden wheels and began turning as fast as they could. They had just opened it minutes ago, getting ready for the morning traffic. He sprinted, heart pounding in his ears, watching it lower before his eyes. At the last second he did a sideways roll, just clearing the bottom before the gate slammed shut.
One final roll brought the assassin to his feet as he kept running down the path and into the trees. His white mare was hidden, tied up just where he had left her. Untying her quickly, he jumped on her back and sped off into the safety of the forest.
*
Soldiers filled The Bleeding Duck. The captain of the guard talked to Vega in the corner while the other guards examined the bodies.
“So there is nothing else you can tell us,” said the captain in a slow, even voice as he rubbed his chin. He was a very tall man with a thick blond mustache and long blond hair tied into a ponytail flowing from under his helmet. As with all the other soldiers he wore the customary red eagle on his breastplate. His eyes darted around the room wildly as he waited for Vega to reply.
“I told you everything. There was a man in a black robe who did all of this, and I never saw his face. Apparently it was the same guy reported by the guards at the front gate.” He sounded annoyed at the same question being asked over and over again. Vega had had a long night and was in no mood for this.
“Well, if you think of anything else, let me know,” he said with one final look around the room. “By the way, we found the owner of that hand. His name was Will Kalak. His body was found near the edge of the forest. All we know about him is that he was also a sword for hire...like these guys,” he said with one final look over his shoulder.
He and the other soldiers left with the three bodies in tow. Slayings were not really all that common in Denark, but sending out a search was really uncommon! If you got away with it, good for you. After all, what would be the point of using the manpower to look for someone whom they had no description of?