Marquis Pharae checked that the door and two windows were locked, like he always did. He examined his tray of food or any strange colors or bits of poison, as he always did. He ate his food, alone, with only a small calico cat named Guenhwyvar to accompany him, as he always did. The assassin behind the curtain walked over and stabbed the back of the target's neck, as he always did.
Without a sound, the assassin lowered the body to the floor and wiped off his knife on the marquis' vestments. He silently walked over to the window and let out a birdcall, his designated signal. A grapple flew parallel to the window, and the assassin caught it nimbly. He tied the rope to the window, and slid down, a shadow against blackness. He landed and threw a kukri at the knot. It all fell down, and the assassin gathered the items and fled. When the guards entered the marquis' room later that night, all they found was the corpse of the marquis and a few strands of hemp.
In other rooms in the castle, similar assassins disposed of different clients in the same fashion. In the morning, all of Matthew Pharae's family was dead, except for his daughter, Elencia, who was out on a nature trip with her friend Alexei and the marquis' most trusted knight, Elliott.
Elencia was sketching a picture of a strange breed of grass growing in the deep parts of the Lycian forests. She had golden tresses that reached her mid-back, and her face looked childish, but she was strangely cool and analytical.. She sighed as the breeze rustled the trees overhead, then turned back to her sketch. She looked back to the plant, and wondered yet again why no one had found it before. It had a peculiar color, like if the sun had kissed it a deep orange. Many of the marquis' subjects wanted to know where the grass came from, and herbalists all over the continent were curious about its affects. She was just about to apply the last bit of shading to the picture, but a loud crack off to the side made her jump and draw a line straight through it. She irritably erased the slip, and adjusted the grass for a better view.
"What do you think that noise was?" asked Alexei, Elencia's best friend since childhood. He was about three years older, but still only twenty-one. "We should check to see if Elliott's okay," he said, and started up. "Are you coming?"
"To see if Elliott's okay? He can take care of himself. If I know him correctly, he'll probably come back here to check on us."
She was right. Elliott came running into the camp a moment later, a couple soldiers chasing him. She couldn't hear what he was yelling, but the way he was running for his life gave her a slight indication. She grabbed the sketching supplies and snatched Alexei's arm. They ran for several moments when they realized they had just bolted straight into a camp of the soldiers.
They tried to turn, but they were grabbed and brought to a slightly larger tent in the center of the camp. There was a thickly armored man sitting on a stump next to a fire. He turned when he entered, and looked straight into Elencia's eyes. He grunted something about knocking them out in an eastern accent, and the soldiers holding the friends hit them on the head with their fists. Elencia saw Elliott dragged into the tent and knocked out also, then there was darkness.
Faye, Marquis Pharae's wife, was in the garden, watering the lilies. She had the infant Harriet with her, and she was teaching her about flowers.
"Remember, water the shoes, not the hats."
"Shoos n' hass..." mumbled the baby.
Faye chuckled. "That's right... Not the hats." She turned back to the baby next to her, but she was gone.
"Harriet?"
"Your child is gone," said a voice that reminded Faye of death, right behind her. "But don't worry- you'll soon be with her."
She considered shouting for the guards, but it was too late- the assassin had already slit her throat. She turned around as she fell over, and saw a dagger in a bundle a few feet away. She could not scream out, and she fell down and died with the most horrible death mask the assassin had ever seen. He sighed about the things he had to do in this job, retrieved the dagger, and climbed over the wall and back into the city.
Elencia woke up with a cold sweat, not believing what she just saw. She quickly calmed down, though, dismissing it as a dream. She took note of her uncomfortable surroundings, and realized she was moving. She looked behind her, realizing what was making her sore. She was chained to Alexei and Elliott around a studded club. There was another prisoner off to the side, in a small cell. She looked frail, like a delicate flower. She was face down on her cot, her dark green hair flowing over the small pillow. There was a guard in the room, but he was asleep. Elencia saw a mug next to him on the floor, and she realized that the other prisoner must have laced his drink. Unless...
"Hey. Elliott. Alexei. Are you awake?" She whispered to the companions near her quietly, and jostled them a little. The guard was sleeping soundly, fully drugged.
"Where are we?" asked a drowsy Alexei.
"We are on a train, heading to Bern. That girl over there is Mina, a cleric. We took out the guard together. I had some sleep poison in my pocket, and she got them out and into the guard's drink. We stole the key, and she's not really asleep." Elliott described, obviously awake. He then twisted free of the unlocked chains, let Alexei and Elencia free, and opened the cell door. The girl, Mina, got up and took a staff from a chest in the corner of the room. She tossed Elliott his sword, and gave an axe to Alexei.
She moved to a window and looked out. She turned back and scowled. "We're only about fifty leagues from Bern. We need to get out of here pretty quick. There are only two more cars on this train, and the one between this one and the engine is full of Bern soldiers. There isn't any escape besides the engine, as these windows are tiny. Looks like we may need to fight." She turned to Elencia. "You stay here. We cannot risk losing you."
Elencia was about to give a stinging reply, but she realized Mina was right- she didn't know how to fight. She hid behind the chest, and told them to go on.
"Let's get fighting!" exclaimed Alexei.
Nilithak heard the commotion. The insect-creature entered the second car to see its entire force beaten by three kids. He turned back to his companion in the engine and told it to release their prisoners- and execute them.
Elliott rushed at the monsters when he saw what they were doing. Nilithak jumped forward, taking a big bite out of his arm. He stabbed the creature's head with his sword, and looked to his shoulder. His concerns were washed away when he saw the other insect running his way. He threw his sword, and impaled the thing to the wall. Elliott killed the man executing the prisoners in the engine, saving the only one left. He brought him back to the prison car after disarming the engine, and showed the tall man to Elencia. He described what had happened, and told the prisoner to tell them who he was.
"My name is Karel. I am a traveling swordsman. I was doing mercenary work for a noble when those creatures captured me. To give thanks for saving me, I will help you." He had long black hair, and an untrusting face. His thin frame was embellished with swordmaster robes. To his side, he had belted a long, curved sword.