“Help! Guards! H-help me please!” An old aging man cried out.

Blood and gore painted the room. The corpse of his wife was in front of him; her dress ripped apart, her body covered in multiple stab wounds. Her neck was twisted so violently that bones stabbed through the flesh. She was beautiful once, a gorgeous, caring woman, whom the old man would she to his jealous friend. She was a beautiful rose. Now she was a hideous monstrosity. The old man backpedaled and ran out of the room in the hall of his house. He was greeted with more bodies; guests, guards, and family.

“What is going on here?” he asked himself.

Tonight was supposed to be a peaceful night, he reminded himself. Tonight was supposed to be a fun party with a bunch of people from across the continent, deals to be made, agreements, and gifts! Tonight was supposed to be full of entertainment and pleasantry. Tonight was supposed to be relaxing!

The old man stopped and hugged the wall, he was going hysterical. He had to get out, and warn the Senate, get support to raise an army and kill these assassins. Assassins. The word tasted like oil in his mouth. He had seen the Blade on the Senate floor, being addressed by the three powers. It was outrageous to think that the three leaders would think about hiring such scum. He knew this Seth Nox was the mastermind behind these killings, he had to be. The Blade himself stated that he was exiled from his clan. He had no allegiance. Someone must’ve paid him a large sum of coin, there was no other option.

“Where are you, Senator? Come out, I only want to talk!” rang out another voice.

The Senator’s eyes widened, the killers knew he was still here. He bolted down the hall as fast as he could. He had never been more terrified in his entire life. His breaths were rigid and short, his heart beating unbelievably fast. This was the end, wasn’t it?

“I must not lose faith, I must not lose faith,” he kept whispering to himself.

Instantly a flare of pain in his side erupted. It instantly crippled him, collapsing on the floor. He cried out in pain and looked at his side; a shining silver knife had sprouted.

“Found you, Mr. Senator. You know it’s not nice to run away from your guests.”

It was that voice again, this time bone chillingly close. With a last ditch effort, the old man ripped off the knife and threw it in the direction of the voice, hoping it would hit that damned killer. His heart fell when he heard the knife hit and skid on the floor.

With great difficulty, he got back on his feet, and limped to the closest room he could find, closed the door and locked it.

“Oh my goodness,” he gasped.

He reached his limit, he threw up. His supper and wine erupted from his stomach out of his mouth. In front of him was his boy or rather the thing that used to be his son. His son was his pride and joy, a young lad sixteen years of age. He was so proud of his son, who now lay before him, met the same fate as his mother. His son had his chest opened up, his entrails spilling out, while he was tied to a chair. His eyes had been gouged out, with a cutting knife stuck in his neck.

“I’m so sorry son, I failed you,” the old man said to the body.

“You haven’t failed anyone Senator.”

It was that voice again and directly behind him. The old man jumped, tripping and falling on the ground, close to his son’s corpse. He couldn’t see the killer but he knew the killer was directly in front of him.

“It’s more like, your country has failed you, Senator. As you can see, your friends and family have met an uh, unfortunate end. But if it makes you feel any better, you’ll be joining them rather quickly.”

“Please, what do you want from me I’ll do anything!”

“Anything?”

“Anything! I’ll give you money, power, land-”

The silver of a blade emerged from the black. The old man could only let out a scream, as the bladed thrust into him.

“I don’t like people who beg for their lives. It is a shame though; he didn’t even let me enjoy his death.” The killer said clearly disappointed.

“So? The task is done, we can leave.” Another killer said, joining the other one.

“True, but I prefer targets that give a fight.”

“Well what’s done is done; I’ve finished clearing the second floor. We’re done here.”

“Do you believe that Sister Elrith will succeed in killing the Blade?”

A pause. “Sister Elrith is a devoted follower to the cause; however the Blade is too powerful. He has stricken fear into every person on the continent of Gaia. I believe that we will never see Sister Elrith ever again.” The second killer honestly answered.

“That’s a shame. The Blade will be a hindrance to our plans. He should be killed immediately, by me preferably!”

“The elders will in due time send someone that will be able to kill the Blade, but for now your mission here is down we are leaving.”

“You’re no fun, you know that right?”

When guards arrived at the mansion the next day, they were greeted by the gruesome killings that had taken place.

“These killings are getting more and more frequent.” A knight told his buddy. “This is getting out of hand.”

“Continent’s falling to shit I say.” His buddy responded.

They, along with a group of knights and local authorities, were cleaning up the mansion. Carrying the bodies away carefully, so they could be looked at. They cleaned the mansion from top to bottom, so that it could be resold to some other rich prick.

“Like anybody is going to buy a mansion where someone fuckin died.” The knight cursed.

“People are stupid pal, complete morons. They’ll bite if the price is just right.”

The cleanup of the mansion took a few days, the mansion was huge after all, but eventually, the cleanup was finished and the mansion went back on sale.The results of the autopsy of the bodies came in a few days later. The only traces of the killers were the markings on the body of the dead Senator: three vertical slashes under an O.