Thief Assassin: Chapter 8

Taylor hung upside down  from the roof of a house that was just inside the Inner Circle. He was observing the crowds milling around the streets to relieve his boredom but it wasn’t helping much. He wanted the Council of assassins to give him a job so that he could play, or better yet, he wanted to see Auxi again. Her expression when she had seen him had blown away his boredom. She had gone from terrified, to annoyed, to furious, then finally to scared all with the few words that he had said. The emotions he loved seeing all in the space of a few minutes, and from the person who he had made his “friend” when he had still known her.

When Auxi had just joined the Assassins she had been quiet and skilful but obviously terrified; easy prey for anyone who wanted to use or abuse her. Taylor had gotten to her first. Only a year older that her, he had seemed confident and so much more at ease with what they had to do to survive. She had latched onto his offer of friendship and followed him everywhere like a little puppy unless one of them had a mission. He had gained her trust so quickly that it amazed him. When he knew that it would hurt her the most, he had tried to kill her, blowing away all of her disillusions of friendship. Her despair as she had defended herself had been so beautiful to him that he had continued to try and kill her, every time revelling in her despair, eventually turning it into a cruel and twisted game. Later, when he had been told that Auxi had been exterminated, he had only been disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to ‘play’ with her anymore. In some ways he had lost his favourite toy.

As the sunlight hit the middle of the fountain in the square below him, he sighed and pulled himself up onto the roof using his legs. Once he was up, he ran off towards the Outer Circle. It was near the wall that he had seen Auxi again after six years. He had been twenty at the time and on one of his jobs. She had been running away from it on the High Road during the day time, when assassins rarely used it. His surprise had been so great that he had completely forgotten about his job. He had immediately gone to the Council and told them what he had seen: an alive and healthy Auxi, certainly not dead like she was supposed to be. The Council had been shocked. No one left the Assassins and live tot tell the tale. And even if they managed the impossible and did, they certainly didn’t use the High Road with such audacity. They had wondered what to do about her and come up with three solutions; leave her be, kill her, or force her to become an assassin again. The first was unthinkable for most of the Council. Auxi had been one of the best assassins and knew secrets about the guild that others didn’t. She also had an alternate personality that loved to kill. It was an asset that then didn’t want to lose or let loose in the city. If they killed her, the Assassins would lose this asset and attract rub from the Thieves since Auxi was a well liked Thief and had a big influence on what went on in the underworld. Killing her would create chaos in the Outer Circle as other Thieves tried to claim her territory and would be detrimental to the Assassins. Not many people on the Council particularly like the last option, but all of them agreed that it was the most beneficial to the Assassins. The thieves would be happy as long as Auxi was alive. The Council reasoned that she could be an assassin again as long as she had a tight leash.

And Taylor was the leash. He had chosen mainly because he was the only one who was able to scare her or goad her enough to become an assassin again. Once she had become one, he would be the one to make sure that she wouldn’t try and escape. He was the only one that the Council could trust. But first he had been told to make sure that she was still qualified to be an assassin. Which was why he had attacked her, aiming to kill her like always. She had still been able to protect herself from his daggers. The first had been aimed at her ankle, meant to cut the tendon so that she wouldn’t be able to run away. She hadn’t been able to see the dagger before it had hit, that he was sure of, but still, she had shifted slightly at the very last moment so that it missed her and thumped into the tile next to her. She probably hadn’t even noticed that she had moved, the movement was so natural to her. She had always been instinctive like that. He also knew that if she was still had the reflexes of the Auxi that he used to know then she would be able to block his second knife and he hadn’t been disappointed. She was definitely qualified to be an assassin again.

However her ferocity when it came to her so-called friend had surprised him. He’d have to get rid of that guy when she became an assassin. She knew that she wasn’t allowed to have friends. All that happened was that they were hurt because of her. She had learnt that before. The little girl that she had played with had ended up dead. He had killed her. Auxi was not allowed to have friends. Taylor ground his teeth in frustration. He swung from a roof and through a window in the building in front of him, landing on the floor of a temple. The Assassin’s headquarters. Well, more precisely, the place where the Council met was above them, in the huge dome. The temple had been used by the Assassins for longer than any record could remember, probably since the Outer Circle had sprung up. Taylor found the secret hatch that let the assassins into the dome and leapt into the open space, shutting the hatch behind him.

He was standing in a narrow corridor that had a door at each end. He knew that one of them went into the Council room, which took up most of the dome. The other door led to the holding cells, where new assassins or assassins to be exterminated were kept. He could hardly remember the time that he had spent in there; he had only been nine and hadn’t stayed there very long; he had decided to become an assassin of his own will. He knew that Auxi, however, had stayed for almost three weeks in the dark, tiny cells. When she had re-emerged she had been completely broken, which had pushed him towards her. He shook the memories from his head and made his way towards the Council room’s door, ignoring the deep red smears on the walls. After eleven years he was used to it; in fact it had never bothered him. He was used to the smell of blood and fear that reigned in the headquarters and defined the assassins.

He knocked on the door and waited for someone to call out before entering and bowing. However prideful an assassin was, they always bowed before the Council unless they wanted to be killed. As it was the person at the head of the Council, the one who ran the Assassins and that no one had ever seen was capricious and would easily kill someone for saying one word; or not saying anything at all. From what he had heard, Auxi had never said anything apart from five words in front of the Council: yes, okay, it’s done and once, just once, no. Someone on the first row of the Council called his name, calling him back to the present.

          “Taylor, what have you found out about Auxi? Is she still fit to be an Assassin?” The person’s voice was completely monotone, not betraying whether the person was a male or a female. The four balconies in front of him were shrouded in darkness. On the highest balcony was the leader of the Assassins, on the balcony beneath, his deputies. The less important people were on thebottom two levels. The only light filtered into the room through a tiny window and hit the floor exactly where he was standing. Taylor assumed that it was their way of exerting their power, even if the Council knew that all of the assassins were at least respectful of them. He let out his breath before replying

            “Yes, she’s still fit. She hasn’t lost her instincts. Once an Assassin always an Assassin after all.” He muttered the last sentence. “She has someone important to her though; that might be a problem later.” He listened to the Council members mutter and smiled slightly. Auxi should have known better than to make a friend. She was his. He waited silently as the Council conferred. After a while a gravely voice called down from the second balcony.

            “Continue to approach her and let her know that you are watching her until we tell you otherwise.”

            “Yes, sir. That suited him just fine. He had been planning on visiting Auxi later in the day anyway. The same person that had called his name dismissed him; he automatically bowed then exited the room, grinning. Auxi was going to get an unexpected visit.