A Dagger in the Night I

Sometime later, Freya walked into the command tent, followed by Ariane. Captain Morris, Alex and the recently arrived Maria were positioned around a round table. On the table was a large map of Havenfall and its surrounding, along with a few candles illuminating the room.

"Finally, you two are here." Morris spoke as soon as he saw them, "Now we can begin, Maria, please share the details of your mission with all of us."

The veiled assassin nodded at her captain's orders and began, "We were able to find their hideout quite easily due to information we gathered from the orc but we had to wait awhile, until the main forces left the hideout, to make our move."

"They left the hideout sometime after midnight, leaving behind two orcs and a few bandits to keep an eye on the hostages." Maria continued her narrative, "Luckily, I was able to take the orcs by surprise and easily dispose of them. After that, the bandits were easy to deal with."

The rest of the team listened carefully as she continued her report, "Then we freed the prisoners and took the western route to the town in order to avoid the orc army. As most of the hostage were in bad conditions, we were forced to move at a slow pace."

That explained the large amount of bruised civilians Freya had seen outside the tent. They didn't have enough healer to tend to them all so they had to wait for their turns, but none of them were in critical condition, so Freya didn't fear for their lives.

"Well done, Maria." The captain praised her on her successful endeavor. "The team that I send with you is also in good shape so they will be able to help in tomorrow's battle."

"If we include them and the mercenaries, our total number is a hundred and fifty individuals." Morris explained as her turned their attention towards the map on the table. "If we send fifty soldiers along this path, we may be able to ambush the Orcs from the backside, giving us the edge we need."

Alex and Ariane nodded at the suggestion as it was a good strategy. Even Maria agreed with the plan, however Freya saw a small problem with it.

"It's a good plan, but the path is a little too exposed." She began more serious than normal, "If the orc have a scout in the area they will be able to spot the soldiers coming from a mile away."

"How about the mountain path that Maria came from." Freya suggested, "It has a lot of cover and they won't even expect an attack from this path as they considered it clear. If the soldiers leave at midnight, they will be able to ambush the orcs at dawn."

"Excellent Idea! Freya." Morris was honestly impressed. Although he had been captain for many years and even praised by a lot of people but he wasn't particularly exceptional in strategy. It seemed that he had found a good strategist for the team.

They were about to continue when they heard a commotion outside. Screams and shouts were heard by the four and they instantly ran outside to see what it was about.

Outside the command tent, they witnessed a horrible sight. The injured hostages were attacking the soldiers with sticks, knives, axes and anything they could get their hands on. Their ferocious screams and desperate swings forced the soldiers on the defense as they used their shield to try and contain them, but to no avail.

When Morris and the rest saw the attacking mob, they were stunned for a moment, and in that single moment a hidden enemy struck. While the rest of the team were frozen in shock, Maria moved swiftly and pulled out her dagger.

The black dressed assassin lunged at her target with her twin swords, ready to implant them into her target's heart and head. Her target, the priestess of Orion, standing merely a few feet away from her.

Her plan were thwarted however as two ice daggers came flying out of nowhere, hitting her twin daggers and diverting their path. It saved Ariane's life as the daggers passed merely an inch away from her body. Before Maria could recover, she received a powerful kick to her stomach, sending her crashing into a tent.

"You guys help subdue the civilians, I will take care of Maria." Freya's authoritative voice brought the other three out of their stupor. While the rest of the team were in a state of shock at the strange behavior of the freed hostages and Maria, Freya had been wary since the very moment she had entered the command tent and laid eyes on Maria.

[Mary Woodgard

Species: Vampire (Bloodborne)

Age: 32

Level: 37

Job: Shadow Assassin

Highest Stat: Agility 58]

She had instinctively used her trait as the last she had used it on Maria it only showed three types of information and she just wanted to check Maria's highest stat but it was her species that had surprised her even more.

With her past history with the vampire, Freya had been wary of Maria from that moment and had activated 'Mana sense' the moment she heard the commotion. As it turned out, Freya had been right to be wary, and activating her skill had paid off.

'It's not Maria.' Art spoke up, stopping her train of thoughts. 'First, it is not just her, but the hostages are also attacking the soldiers.'

'Secondly, if she was one of the vampires that are after you, she would have captured you a lot sooner and also why would she attack Ariane instead of you.' Art's reasoning forced her to think. 'She likely under a mind spell, so try to subdue her unharmed.'

'But she is a vampire?' she argued.

'And your friend as well.' Hearing her partner's words, Freya remember all those times she had trained with Maria and even fought side by side with her. Freya had an irrational fear of vampire, since she had been chased by them for most of her life and it had clouded her judgement, but Art's word had helped her see clearly.

She sheathed her sword and walked in to the tent through the tear in the wall. The inside of the tent was pitch black as the candles inside had been extinguished. As soon as she took a few steps inside, her Mana Sense warned her of an approaching dagger.

Freya swiftly ducked under the dagger slash and tried to grab the outstretched hand, but the assassin vanished in the blink of an eye and went out of the range of her skill. Freya realized that in this dark environment she was at a grave disadvantage.

Not only did Maria had the Shadow Assassin job which made her deadly in dark places, she was also a bloodborne vampire, giving her improved vision in the dark. Add to that the condition of capturing her without harm, made her task exponentially more difficult.

Her only ally in the dark was her new skill, but even that had a time limit, so Freya had to come up with a plan quickly if she wanted to successfully capture her friend without any significant harm to herself. The mage carefully stepped through the dark tent, trying to keep moving silently and avoid staying in the same place for more than a second.

Suddenly, she sensed a dagger enter her detection sphere at the back of her head. She immediately turned towards, expecting the assassin to come from the same place. Alas, it was trick. Maria had thrown a dagger from behind her and instantly relocated to the side she was just facing.

Freya sensed the assassin coming from the direction she was just facing with astonishing speed, her dagger aimed at her heart. The mage had no time to turn around, and her speed fell short of Maria's.