A Hunting Start
As my cloak blew with the nights wind, I jumped from rooftop to rooftop, taking the form of an eagle. My hood covering my masked face, I approach my goal, the goal that I must succeed in. As I get closer I pull out three knives, steadying my pace I blend in with the surrounding shadows. I crouch low waiting for my prey to walk past his voice sounding as I approach. I pounce. Two of my knives pierce the wall and the third knife last pierces my victim, he collapses in shock. I bend down beside him and pull my dagger from my boot and place it under his chin. He struggles but soon lies still waiting for me to whisper into his ear. He knew that I was going to kill him, but he was still frightened of my blade. I pull his head towards mine and leaned closely to his left ear and whispered softly.
"You have now paid the price of betraying his grace"
The man's eyes widen in fear and struggles under my blade, he tries to turn me onto my back but I place all of my body weight onto him. My victim is powerless and soon he will die.
"Who are you? What are you?" the man whispers with fright. I sense the man's moods and soon feel the need to leave but I must carry out the order, the order that I was given.
"I have no name but those who die by my blade call me 'The Black Mask'; you have betrayed his grace and now you must pay."
I plunge my blade into the man's throat and pulled with all my strength to the right. His head separating from his shoulders and then lay only a few centimetres from his body, a pool of blood surrounding the dead. I pull my knife out of the corps and place it back into its holder, my dagger cleaned with a cloth belonging to the man and then replacing it back to its rightful place. I search the body and collect anything I find, a few coins, and a little book but nothing of interest. I pack the book and the coins into my wallet bag and turn to face the moon. The moon is the only thing that guides me through this life and will for the next. I spot my knives in the wall and run towards them jumping on the edges of the knives tips and pulling them out as I go. My order is fulfilled and I succeeded. As I run over the roof tops once more the town clock strikes twelve, telling me that it is time for me to retire to my home. I sneak through the churches doors and inspect the tombs making sure no one followed me. When I am happy I push the stone eyes of a tombed and a staircase appears at my feet. I expect the church for the last time and descend down the stairs, the secret door closing behind me.
As I walk I face another door that can only be opened with a key. I take my dagger and push the blade through the slit, opening the door with ease. I'm home. I place my weapons on the table where I keep my others. I pull my hood back revealing my masked face, its colour showing with great force. I undo the ribbon holding the mask and place it onto its holder, watching it as the silver streaks sparkle in the candle light. I open the cupboard doors beside the table and start to undo my belt, the metal brace shaped into an eagle head clipped onto the belt shining like an endless moon. I remove my cloak and place it around the manikin leaving myself wearing my white top lined with black and showing my flat stomach. My pants are also lined with black, the same with my hood. The black fabric around my waist still dangles down beside my left leg. My boots are black and are about half of my leg height. Inside my boots short knives are concealed, only coming out when I put pressure on a certain part of the sole. I remove my clothes and replace them onto the manikin along with my cloak and ready for bed.
I wake early in the morning and shower, dressing afterwards in my silkiest underwear, making sure no one can see my knives which are strapped to my thigh. I tie my corset with quickness and slip my shoes onto my feet while tying my hair into a messy bun, throwing my red and yellow dress over my head I tidy the chambers. When it was time for me to leave I tidied myself yet once again and climbed the secret stairwell leading back into the church.
"Nahdia Florintan, where have you been?" says a familiar voice.
"Father Landau, I'm sorry I'm late, I got distracted" Nahdia replies with a smile.
Father Landau gave Nahdia a small smile and then gave her a piece of paper containing ingredients for an herbal tea.
"Nahdia I need you to go to the markets and get those ingredients, I have more important things to do and seems you're free"
Nahdia placed her hand in the air telling father landau that she understood, she gave a little bow and left father landau exiting through the northern doors of the church. Nahdia took her time walking to markets but still kept her guard in case someone attacked her. Nahdia was only three blocks away from the markets when a man bumped into her, apologizing repeatedly and walking away, instantly Nahdia's hand went to reach her purse but it was gone, it wasn't by her side. Realising that her bag still contained the book and coins from the man she killed the night before, Nahdia sprinted after the man. Nahdia wished that she wasn't wearing a dress so she can run the walls and follow the thief by rooftop but she had to make do.
Nahdia kept eyes on the thief for at least 2 blocks but soon lost him down an alley way. Nahdia arming herself with one of her knives, descended down the alley way searching for the thief. She looked in the shadows and even in the bins. Soon Nahdia thought that she was getting close when all of a sudden a man about her age jumped onto her. Nahdia instantly going into offence attacked the man and landed only a few punches into the man's ribs and jaw. Unfortunately the man was stronger than her and grabbed her wrists and wrestled her to the ground, knocking her knife from her hands.
"Wow, calm down, I'm not going to –"
"Get off me" Nahdia yelled at the man.
The man let go of her writs and rolled away, leaning against the wall. Nahdia grabbing her knife stood and dusted herself off waiting for the man to say something.
"I wasn't going to hurt you, I just wanted to give you something" the man said as he watched Nahdia dust herself off.
"Well what is it, it must be important for you to wrestle me to the ground and hold my wrist with force" replied Nahdia with anger.
"I didn't mean to hurt you miss, I just wanted to give your purse back." The man smiled as he held Nahdia's purse out to her. She grabbed it slowly thinking about what she would do next if he tried to attack her again.
"How did you know it was stolen?" Nahdia asked with sudden soft tone.
"I was sitting on top of that roof over there and saw the man running, I got suspicious when I saw the bag so I caught up with him and stole it back. He told me who it belonged to and then ran off again scared. I've never seen a lady run after a thief before, just for a purse." As the stranger told Nahdia this he smiled, his eyes looking from her face to her shoes.
Nahdia gave a quick smile and said thank you but the stranger wasn't finished, as Nahdia started to walk away he grabbed her by the sleeve pulling her back to him.
"Let me go, I said thank you now please remover your hand." said Nahdia with harshness.
"Look miss, all I want to know is your name. Can you please tell me in case we meet again?" replied the stranger with a soft tone.
Nahdia moving away from the stranger when his grip loosened walked through the alley and out onto the main street looking back at the stranger she left stranded. The stranger looking after Nahdia felt hurt when she didn't give him her name but he knew that this girl was no ordinary one either.