FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Live your own life,

I've got myself,

Out of my sight,

Kill your idols.

It's ugly, you see,

I don't care what you think now,

Forgive, forget,

Don't take the easy way out."

• Static-X ~ "Kill Your Idols"

"When you get there will you kiss the dead for me?

Like the scream of the butterfly..."

• Acid Bath ~ "Scream of the Butterfly"

Chapter 4 - Contracts

Aiden sat in a darkened corner of an inn, just on the outskirts of Ska-Li, a city on the coast of the Blood Sea. It's reputation for being one of the most dangerous of cities in Mid-World was one forged from years of bloody wars, a soaring crime rate, and a never ending supply of mercenaries. Aiden preferred the desert and its rolling sand hills. A paradise if one knew the means to survive there. The climate here was too humid for his liking. A Neko serving girl approached and asked if he needed anything, and receiving no answer, moved on to the next table where two coyotes sat discussing a problem in their homelands. Aiden's eyes followed the girl's rear for a moment, images filling his mind with the possibilities. He smiled slightly and pushed them away. Plenty of time for that after the mission.

Chade informed him of their contact's arrival. Aiden nodded slightly and watched as a large griffin picked his way carefully through the crowded room. A large scimitar hung on his back, its blade fired black, the sign of a mercenary on business. Aiden waited for the griffin to sit down before pulling an envelope from a pocket and placing it on the table. The griffin picked it up and glanced in side, raising a brow at the contents.

"Is this his ring?" The griffin's voice was deep and raw. Aiden nodded. "What is in the box spell?"

Chade woke up long enough to answer the merc's question.

"The Duke's ring... As you see... And his hand..." Chade smiled beneath the mask.

The griffin flinched slightly, his hand shaking as he put the ring and spell back into the envelope, nausea creeping up on him. He stood and pulled a small coin from his pocket and put it in Aiden's hand.

"Your pay." He said, turning and moving quickly from the building.

Aiden looked at the coin and smiled again. The coin bore the face of an eagle and was carved from diamond. He slipped it into his pocket and stretched his arms before pulling a few coins from a bag to pay for his time not being interrupted in the inn. He made his way through the crowd to the door.

'Well, that was fairly boring... What is our target for tomorrow night?' Chade asked.

'The Prince of Ska-Li.' Aiden replied as the door to the inn closed behind him. Many breathed a sigh of relief as Aiden left. He had made many of them aware of their mortality.

The night had fallen quickly and Aiden still had to get to the inner part of the city. It wouldn't do to be caught out by a Peace Keeper. Peace Keeper's were Ska-Li's only form of law enforcement. There were no questions. If they suspected you were up to no good, they would kill you. A system that worked well, despite the number of bodies it produced nightly. He had run up on two Peace Keepers already and didn't want a repeat. It had taken him two nights to get the blood out of his clothing. The cobble streets were damp from the nightly fog that moved in from the sea, the torches giving the fog an eerie glow. Aiden moved down the street, stepping into an alleyway from time to time when a Peace Keeper wandered by.

At last he came to the abandoned building that he currently called home. The walls were falling down, trees grew inside the structure, and a generally bad feeling surrounded the place. Aiden felt that all of those reasons were enough that people wouldn't come wandering in while he slept. He yawned as he slipped in through a small hole hidden in a large clump of weeds. Moving from memory, he walked down the steps into the basement, hoping over the missing seventh step. From the wall, he pulled a small tinderbox and lit a candle, moving over to the only dry spot and laying down on the mess of blankets and pillows.

He blew out the candle and stared into the darkness before falling into slumber. The following night would be long.

***

Across the city, another assassin, too, was bedding down for the night, though her surroundings were much nicer in comparison than Aiden's. The albino skunk stood naked before the mirror looking over a small cut on her side. Lilth the White had been hired to find a merchant that had not paid her employer. She knew nothing about his past, nor cared. The end of the job meant that she would be free for a time. With a sigh, she turned away from the mirror and slipped between the covers. There times when the 'Ice Queen', as she had been dubbed, wished only for death. The final release and the only freedom that she felt she would find. Lilth knew over a hundred ways to kill someone without a weapon. Her aim with a bow was unparalleled, as was her skill with sword, sling, and a number of other weapons. Through all of this, Lilth had never been in love, nor felt the closeness of another. Sadness came in many forms; loneliness was her's.

"But... Who could love a killer?" She whispered to the darkness, tears running down her cheeks unchecked.

She cried herself to sleep.

***

It was raining when Aiden awoke. He sighed and washed himself in it, shivering. After shaking himself dry, he dressed and retrieved a box, hidden away for this night. Inside were a multitude of weapons; daggers, darts, poison, garrotes, several incendiary devices of his own make, and last but not least, his Shadow amulet. A talisman that had been given to him by the assassin he had replaced. The ferret had taught him how to use it. Aiden had figured out several things that it could do that its previous owner had not known about, one such being the ability to make shadows solid. Aiden knew that it would be taken from him if the Prince ever found out about it, but it didn't worry him, he never had it near him when he went to meet with the Prince.

He slipped it on and began placing the weapons in their pockets, sheathes, and clips. Finally ready, he pulled a last item from the bag and pulled it over his head; a hood that was rather stiff and dyed black. Anyone looking at him would not see his face, but a vague outline of a face, which even then was hard to see even in the best of lighting. With a last glance at the room, he slipped up the steps and into the rain, walking through dark alleys, bending the shadows around him as he passed unseen through the dwindling night crowd. After a moment's thought, he entered a temple and climbed the many flights of stairs to the top and into the bell tower. From there he could see the Prince's palace, it's features dark in the rain. Below him on the street, he noticed a merchant running quickly with no regard to anyone around him. He ran into several people, oblivious to their yells and curses at him.

With a shrug he grasped the talisman and concentrated on the roof of a building about fifty yards ahead of the merchant's path. A sudden darkness engulfed him, the familiar nausea that he could never overcome seeming to cause time to slow. At last, the darkness faded and he stood on the roof. He tucked the talisman away and sat on his heels, watching as the merchant moved closer. Just as the merchant moved in range, he jumped atop him, dragging him into the shadows in the alley beside the bakery. The merchant tried to scream but was silenced as Aiden grabbed his throat.

"What are you running from?" Chade asked, his cold whisper full of morbid curiosity. "And where do you run too?"

The merchant trembled in fear as he looked at the figure before him. Without knowing why, he answered him.

"Someone wishes to kill me! If you spare my life and protect it, I will pay you handsomely. Name your price! Gold! Jewels! Anything!"

Aiden shook his head slowly. This creature was not worth the trouble. If someone wanted him dead, he would simply wait until they arrived and let him get on with his business. The merchant was potentially dangerous to the civilians and Aiden didn't want innocents getting hurt. If they died, how would he know if they were potential targets? It was bad for business to allow such people to go madly on their way. He felt more than heard a presence behind him. Turning slowly, he beheld a female, dressed in black and wearing a mask. She held a wicked looking dagger in her paw.

"Who are you and what business do you have with him?" She asked. Aiden couldn't place the accent.

Aiden moved behind the merchant, who was trying to scream again. He tightened his grasp on the rat's throat. With a small bow, he pushed the merchant to his knees and took a step back, his other paw on the amulet.

"Speak or die. You deal in matters that do not concern you." She said, moving closer and falling into a fighting stance.

"Ah... As do you... Farewell..." Chade said, the shadows growing thicker around him.

Lilth watched in confusion as he disappeared, leaving only a dimly lit alley. The merchant, seeing what seemed an opportunity for escape, tried to run past her, only to catch her knife in his throat. She ripped it viciously from his neck, sending a fountain of blood onto the wall. She looked at the blade for a moment before wiping it on the merchant's clothes.

"What just happened?" She asked the corpse before shivering, despite her warm clothing and leaving the alley quickly, less a Peace Keeper arrived.

***

Aiden watched from the alleyway across the street. Shrugging, he continued on his way toward the palace of the Prince. He needed to explore the palace before he made his move. Chade asked Aiden what he thought about the female, a cold wind inside Aiden's mind.

'Do you think she was an assassin?' Aiden could feel Chade getting excited.

'Perhaps... She certainly used the knife correctly...' He replied, going through a mental list of his equipment.

'What do you think she looked like?'

'It doesn't matter... Let's complete the mission.'

'Agreed...'

***

Aiden watched as the fourth patrol of guards crossed the large garden. He sighed quietly, annoyed by the chatter of the guards as they passed. They never seemed to shut up. One or another would be talking about a wench he had met the night before, or one that he would meet that night. It was a never ceased to grate at his nerves. After a moment, he slid down from the tree and flitted into the shadows under a balcony. With practiced ease, he climbed quickly up the brickwork and onto the balcony, just as another set of guards roamed by. He glanced around the room and, not seeing anyone, quickly made his way out into the hall.

Aiden roamed the palace, making his way slowly to the Prince's bedroom. He studied the lock on the door and tilted his head slightly. Then, with a sudden burst of speed and strength, kicked the door in. The Prince jumped from his bed, only to find Aiden's knives sticking in his chest. Aiden moved in quickly, planting a thin spike in the Prince's skull. He jerked it to the side, breaking the spike, and pocketing the handle moments later. With a shudder, the Prince died. Aiden looked around and recovered his knives, pausing a minute to remove the Prince's ring from his dead paw. Just as he had finished cleaning and sheathing them, the guards for that shift came around the corner. Aiden grabbed his Shadow amulet and teleported back to the garden where he climbed the rope ladder he had left, pulling it after him as he jumped to the ground. Behind him, he could hear the alarms beginning to sound.

'Home?' Chade asked as they made their way from rooftop to rooftop, using the amulet to move faster.

'Home...' Agreed Aiden.

***

For the first time since Lilth could remember, she didn't cry herself to sleep. Her mind was filled with the image of the other assassin. Her thoughts turned inward, loneliness creating fantasies in the darkest corners of her mind. She blushed and fell asleep smiling.