The Fae's Next Target

Yura crouched quietly a top the wall, hiding in the moon-cast shadow of a gargoyle. Her breathing was calm and steady as her black eyes without any whites scanned the dark alleyway below her. The Fae's gossamer wings the color of ink were drawn securely inside of her to prevent them from catching the moonlight and casting a rainbow of colors upon the unsuspecting people milling about below her. Yura brushed her belt to make sure her daggers were still safely tucked away in their sheaths. By the position of the moon she would be needing them soon.

Yura was an assassin, and one of the most gifted at that. She was born a Fae and her heritage afforded her several advantages. Her eyes for one were completely black lacking any whites or color. Her eyes gave Yura the ability to see perfectly both during the day and the night, though her clarity was a little better during the day. She also had wings that allowed her the ability to silently pass across any surface, as she didn't have to take cumbersome steps that could create noise. More than one assassin had been caught due to a squeaky floorboard.

Watching steadily as people passed along the cobblestones, Yura adjusted herself so that she would be ready to pounce the minute she saw her target. The number of people was slowly diminishing and Yura smiled to herself as luck favored her this night. Killing her target wouldn't have been an issue with a crowd to begin with, but less people meant a cleaner escape. Whispers of conversations drifted up to her slightly pointed ears, another advantage for her. The Fae, after all, had excellent hearing.

Suddenly her ears picked up the faint tinkling of bells. Yura stiffened, her pulse quickening. It was him, it was the target she was assigned to. She'd been told that he wore a necklace of bells as a superstitious warding against evil, though they wouldn't protect him this night. Yura trained her Fae eyes to the end of the alley where the man was slowly making his way. Her body tensed as the man approached a spot underneath her that Yura had chosen as the specific place to kill him.

The man reached the kill-zone and Yura turned into a blur of motion. Her wings sprouted from her back as she jumped from the roof. As she descended she unsheathed her dagger, the shining blade reflecting the moonlight.. Everything happened so fast the man didn’t know what hit him until Yura had him by the hair. She tilted his head back and, in one swift motion, slight the man's throat. His blood dripped off the steel blade. Yura reached down and quickly yanked the necklace of bells off of the corpse. The client had asked for it as proof the deed was done.

As if from a distance Yura heard someone scream. She turned quickly to see a young woman, eyes wide with terror, pointing at her. "Help! Help! A man's just been killed!" she yelled, drawing the attention of others in the alley. Time to make my escape, Yura thought. Dagger still unsheathed in case she needed it again, Yura unfurled her wings and let them catch the silver glow of the moonlight. It passed through the thin membrane of the wings and created little dancing rainbows. Her wings were like prisms that bent the light and sent shocks of color into the world. A small, dirty boy looked around in awe at the display and Yura smiled sadly. Don't grow up, kid, she thought.

Her wings began to flutter and she was off the ground, flying steadily away from the dead man, her job complete. She flew with speed, something she had spent years training to do since most Fae were not the fastest flyers. Yura could still remember the ache that spread from her wings into her shoulders and down her back. She glanced behind and bellow her for signs of pursuit, but she doubted there would be any.

Yura slowed as she approached her destination. It was a rundown warehouse, and it was here that she was to meet once again with her client. The bell necklace was tucked safely in the pocket of her leather vest. Silently she descended from the air and touched lightly on the ground. Yura took a moment to retract her wings before walking into the disgusting building. She may have been an assassin but at least she had standards.

Inside was the set-up from when the client had hired her. There were two chairs separated by a curtain and both cloaked in shadow. Yura knew her client was their before she turned the corner into the room with the chairs; she could hear his breathing. His back was to her, and though she could clearly make him out with her Fae eyes Yura could not make out a face. She slowly made her way to her chair and took a seat, facing back the way she had come.

"Is it done?" the client asked from the other side of the curtain.

"Yes," Yura said, handing him the necklace of bells through a small gap in the curtains, that unfortunately wasn't large enough for Yura to see through and get a good look at the man who'd hired her.

"Good. Very good," was all he had to say.

Yura stared ahead. "My payment?"

"Ah yes, yes." A purse was quickly pushed through the gap. She caught a glimpse of the hand holding it out to her. Yura took a brief second to observe it. The skin was young and uncalloused. That gave her something at least if she ever needed it.

Yura took the purse and gave it a quick look through. "It's all there, I assure you," the man said.

Yura didn't trust the man so she counted the gold coins anyway, and came away with more than was promised her. She removed the excess coins and stuck them back through the gap. "You know the conditions. No faces, no names, and I get the payment that was agreed upon nothing less, nothing more."

The man let out a low chuckle that put Yura instantly on guard. "It's an advanced payment."

"Advanced payment? That's not how this works," she said, hand hovering over the hilt of her dagger. What was the man talking about?

Another chuckle. "I think you'll find that this is exactly how it works."

"What do you mean?" Yura asked, teeth clenched tightly. How dare he talk to her like this! Was he not aware that the only thing keeping her from him was a flimsy velvet curtain and her honor.

"Well if you don’t accept the job and the advance you may go home tonight, Yura, and find a number of palace guards outside of your little abode." Yura jumped to her feet, almost throwing the curtain aside. How did he know who she was? Her name was always kept out of every transaction. Clients referred to her as The Fae, nothing more. The how's swirled around her head.

"What do you want?" she snapped at him.

"Nothing that's beyond your skills. It will be fast and easy," he said.

Yura glared at the curtain as she took her seat again. "So what is the new job?"

The man slide a piece of paper through the curtain. "I want you to kill this man. Publically."

Yura unfolded the paper and read the name that was scrawled on it. She gulped.

"Do you understand?" her client asked in a sickly sweet voice.

"Yes," was all she could manage.

"Good. I expect it done soon," was all the man had to say. She heard the scrape of his chair as he got up. A second later she heard a door close softly. Yura looked down at the paper once again. The name was a famous one.

Written in neat black ink was the man she was meant to kill next. The name was Fenrien Halstone.