The Other Assassin

Zierra wrapped her arms around Soren's waist and whipped him out of the way as I grabbed the wooden sword and ripped it from the young man's hands. We jumped back from each other and he glanced me over a bit before a devilish smirk grew across his face.

"So he really did hire the Mistress of Death to protect him," the quiet and timid voice he used before was gone and instead he sounded exactly like he looked. Cold, detached, and a little crazy. "I'll admit I was hoping I would get to fight you."

"Zierra," I reached behind me and grabbed her wrist but never took my eyes from my opponent, "take Soren to Kari and Lyon. Tell them what happened and do not let Soren out of your sight."

She grabbed my wrist in return and squeezed it. "You better not lose to this kid, Sapphyre."

I smirked. "Don't worry, this will be done before the party's over."

Before she whisked him away, Soren gave me a hard pat on my back. "I hired you for a reason, darling, prove to this imposter why you're the best."

The killer growled and tried to charge after them but a quick kick to his gut sent him flying back. He jumped back to his feet and laughed. "I wanna know if the rumors about you are true."

"You're going to have to be a little more specific there, kid, there are a lot of rumors about me."

My unimpressed tone with him successfully irked him and he grabbed one of the wooden swords from a nearby stand, making the nobles who still insisted on watching scatter a bit. "They say you aren't human, that you're a monster."

I kicked the sword I ripped from his hands earlier into the air and caught it with a bit of flair, grinning as a few of our audience members awed. "I'm not the one here trying to kill a man who only wants to help the people of the Slums. Remind me who the real monster is here again?"

There was a brief moment of silence where we just sized each other up and the nobles were too enthralled to speak, then our swords clashed in an instant. Wood splintered from both of them but they didn't shatter under the pressure we put against them. He pushed against his and even though I barely had to use a third of my strength against him I was still impressed with how much force he had considering his small frame. Knowing he wasn't stronger than me, he shifted and I disengaged our swords to jump out of the way of his boot but not before I felt something graze my thigh. When I looked down I saw a small cut in my pant leg that was beginning to grow darker with blood.

"You have a boot blade," I huffed a laugh. "I'll admit I thought about getting one myself. Thing is," I bent down and pulled a dagger from each of my own boots, "I'm a bit old fashion."

He eyed my blades wearily. "How did you sneak those in here? Soren had his guests searched."

I shrugged. "Perks of being the ones hired to keep him alive I suppose."

He kicked the heel of his other boot and another small blade popped out of it. They were small, only a couple inches but, with the right maneuvering and knowledge of the human body, they could be just as deadly as a regular blade. "I'm not afraid of you," he growls. "I was chosen for this job for a reason!"

He switched his fighting style with his boot blades, they forced him to rely heavily on kicking and fancy footwork. Each of his kicks was met with a spark as his blades connected with mine and, while his kicks and speed impressed me, he still seemed like he was getting used to his new blades. I parried his newest attack, a fancy trick to make me think he would kick me with his left foot but twisting in midair to actually hit with his right.

"You've never used those have you?" I teased him. "You're footwork is good but you really should stick with what you know."

The insane look in his eyes turned to frustration and his chest heaved as he got worn out. "Don't act like you know me!"

"But, you see," I met his kick with my own, our feet connecting at the soles, "I do happen to know you," I twisted my leg to knock his away and, with a quick flick of my wrist, I flung my dagger at his other foot where it embedded itself and he doubled over in pain. In his distraction I spun behind him, twisted his arm behind his back, and held my other blade to his throat. "It bothered me when you first directed us out here. I know everyone in this town, save for the select few who are just passing by, but I didn't recognize you at first. But once Soren tossed you that sword and you revealed yourself I realized that I actually did know who you are," he struggled against me and pressed the blade harder to him, a small bead of blood rising from where the tip nicked him. "It's rude to interrupt kid. You're new to assassin work but you've still made quite the name for yourself at being incredibly quick and efficient. You usually wait to attack your mark when they're alone or manage to lead them away. In the few times you actually had to fight you've proven yourself quite the swordsman but you still rely heavily on your speed."

"What's you point?" He hissed.

"My point is that you're quick but you're weak," to emphasize my point I twisted his arm a little and he cried out in pain. "Malcolm Trace, known by the moniker Ghost Killer since you're so rarely seen. Now I'm sure whoever hired you wanted you to take care of Soren quietly but the problem is that he's so active at his own parties that getting him alone would have been hard. However, if there was an unfortunate accident during a duel then surely it wasn't your fault, right?"

"So what? Are you going to kill me?" He kept his voice calm but I could feel his heartbeat pick up through the pulse in his throat.

"That remains to be seen," I sighed as I heard fast footsteps and looked to the crowd where I found Kari looking back at me. "I thought you were supposed to keep an eye on Soren."

"Zierra and Lyon have it under control," she shrugged and glanced around at the other nobles for a minute before quickly tugging on one's tie. "Mind if we borrow this?"

He looked confused for a moment but Kari flashed him a sweet smile and he handed her the tie with a light blush. She thanked him and helped me tie the assassin's hands behind his back. Her eyebrows shot up when I knelt in front of him and began removing his shoe. "Like his boots?" She joked.

I grinned back and clicked the heels of the boots to reveal their blades. "I do actually."

She hummed in interest at them, reaching her hand out for them. I traded her the boots to examine while I led our prisoner back inside where we migrated to one of the many empty rooms in Soren's mansion and tied him to a chair. It wasn't long before Zierra, Lyon, and Soren joined us. Lyon gave my shoulder a light punch.

"This is the kid? He's tiny! You had problems with him?"

"His boots came as a bit of a surprise but no, he wasn't a challenge."

"So you were just taking so long because you were toying with him weren't you?"

"Can you just kill me and get it over with," Malcolm complained from his seat.

"Who said anything about killing you?" Soren asked from the bed he flopped on to. "I just want to know who hired you to kill me then we plan to hand you to the authorities so they can deal with you."

"I'm dead if I say it."

I grabbed him his hair and forced him to look at me. "And you'll wish you were dead if you don't."

He stared at me for a moment, weighing his options, before he decided that he was screwed either way. "Fine but if I tell you then you have to make a deal with me that you'll kill me yourself and you'll make it quick."

His request shocked Zierra and Soren but Lyon, Kari, and remained unphased and nodded in unison.

"Robert Hart."