Book 2 Chapter 30

The night air carried a slight chill as Tirr walked along the docks they been on earlier that day. The faint trails of moonlight acted as the only guide in these late hours as he walked through the darkened streets with Maria and Nerida at his side. They moved carefully, with senses fully alert as the searched for the man they were looking for.

They had left the palace behind some hours ago. After hearing the news of Lutel’s plan to invade Rasor, the king had refused all further discussion. He bid them to go search for the assassin but ignored Nerida’s attempts to persuade him. The only consolation he had given them was having a guard show them where Claire was being kept.

On seeing his Apostle of Fire behind bars, Tirr once again felt the urge to simply break his follower out and fight their way through the palace. He was cautioned once more though by Nerida, who mentioned that killing their way out of the palace now would be the same as confessing in the eyes of the public. They would change from the heroes to villains in a night.

Claire backed Nerida’s claim, ensuring Tirr that she was alright and that any more fighting now would make this war impossible to stop. After hearing of their plan to find the Reaper she hurried them out, saying she would take care of the still weak Garm in the meantime.

After thinking about and discussing the best ways to try and find the reaper, they decided to try the docks where he had been seen last. While there was an off chance that the assassin had made the area his base, Tirr thought it more likely that the Reaper had been watching them. He hoped that if they gave him the chance, he may well appear on his own. With the only real question being if he would be there to finish the fight they had started in Rasor…

As they walked along, Tirr thought back to the last confrontation he had had with the strange young man. Though they had fought, Tirr had never sensed any actual enmity from the man. In fact, it had been hard to get any sense at all from his smiling face. Yet he found it hard to believe he had been responsible for the attack.

They had only spoken for a few minutes, but it had seemed clear the young man was much more interested in the shards then accomplishing his job at the time. Had the assassin heard about what had happened in Rasor and come looking for them? And if so, why hadn’t he spoken to them earlier and what connection did he have with the attack on Lutel’s Palace?

“Tirr…” Maria’s voice, tinged with caution, drew him from his thoughts. He looked up to see they had stopped and instantly spotted why. There in front of them, barely visible in the darkness. Stood a dark figure in a white mask.

The figure faced them silently as they cautiously approached. The white mask seemed to float in the darkness.

“Torvus?” Tirr called out carefully, the atmosphere seemed off, nothing like the almost jovial nature he had seen in the man before. As they watch the figure slowly showed its hands revealing two slim daggers that gleamed dangerously.

The action set off alarm bells in Tirr’s head instantly and he warned Maria and Nerida before the sounds of others approaching came from all sides. He turned just enough to see more cloaked figures appear. They came from the nearby allies and from behind the stacked shipping crates until the trio found themselves surrounded by at least a half a dozen of the cloaked assailants. Each one held a dagger at the ready as they closed in slowly, cornering them.

Tirr looked back at the white mask and following an instinct asked angrily, “Who are you? Where’s Torvus?”

The White Mask tilted silently, examining them, until some silent signal seemed to pass at which point it sprang forward, at a speed that surprised even Tirr. The others followed suit, launching themselves towards the trio with daggers forward.

“Shit!” Tirr cursed as he channeled his Blessings. Strength surged through his body and flames sprang awake in his hand. They roared as Tirr sent them surging forward, hoping to quickly take out the leader. But as he watched the figure seemed to shift, the hurtling flames passed by without touching it.

Tirr frowned as he remembered the strange fighting style that Torvus and his men had used… Was this really them then? Either way, it didn’t seem like they would be able to win without taking some wounds. He signaled to Maria and they both moved to cover Nerida as they prepared to fight.

Maria lifted Bren’s Hammer, knowing her place as a frontline while water seemed to spring up from nowhere to flow around Nerida. Spikes of ice whistled as they flew, yet the figures dodged them easily, their forms flickering as they seemed to phase through the attacks.

In a moment, the assassins had reached them. Bren’s hammer swung in a wide arc forcing them back as Tirr launched another attack on the white mask in front of them. The assassin flickered again, appearing suddenly only a step away as one of his daggers stabbed towards Tirr’s throat.

Tirr caught the blow on his arm and pushed back only for the assassin to slip away in an instant. Before Tirr could chase however more blades came at him as the other cloaked figures attacked. He fought them, taking more and more wounds as he hoped to catch them in a counterattack.

Maria kept swinging her hammer in large swathes, leaving the offense to Tirr and Nerida as she simply tried to hold the line. Icicles came flying in a constant stream, aimed at any of the assassins that stopped for even a moment. While had held so far, they had yet to land a strike on the fleet-footed attackers.

As the white mask approached once again Tirr focused on the ground around him. Raising his hand in a swift motion, a wall of fire sprang up suddenly, just as the white mask struck out. As the flames died down, Tirr noticed the white-masked man examining his own burnt arm.

Before he could revel in finally having connected, the figure dashed forward again. Tirr once more raised the wall of fire but was unsurprised as the white mask seemed to slip through easily, not having expected the same trick to work twice. As Tirr prepared himself for another strike he realized the figure had dashed past him, as he tried to call out to Nerida its dagger was already slashing towards her.

She turned quickly, moving to condense a shield of ice, but the dagger was too fast… At the moment it was about to tear into her flesh it suddenly came to a halt. Standing there in the middle of the fight, having appeared out of nowhere stood a white-haired young man.

He pulled his blade from the white-masked figure’s back as he turned to the remaining assassins. “Been waiting for you lot to appear!” Torvus said as he smiled with empty eyes…