"Hmm." I thought "Might be a bit harder to get in than I thought. Oh well." I pulled out my crossbow with the dart on it, raised it to the proper height then adjusted it to counterbalance the wind, aimed, then...
"Fire that weapon and i'll slit your throat." a cold voice rasped behind me. The tip of a knife appeared at my throat, causing me to go still. "Now place the weapon on the ground, slowly, and put your hands on your head." I set my crossbow on the ground, then slowly rose up. Before he could react, I whipped my elbow back into his stomach, causing him to double over. I then grabbed his arm, spun him around, and bent his arm so that now i had the knife at his throat.
"First off, you are a bone headed idiot for trying to sneak up on me. Second, I heard you from about a mile away with all the noise you made. Third, If you want to hold a knife to someones neck, for gods sake, don't point the tip at them. You need to use the side then...push on it a little." As I said this, I pushed the knife a little harder on his neck. tiny drop of blood slid down his neck. He let out a small growl of pain.
"Now, since I'm in a good mood today, I might let you off easy. I've heard how tempermantal your boss. Don't think he'd be too happy if he found out one of his guards was caught attacking his next job for hire. Besides, word is that it's quite a volatile and important mission."
"Fine. Let me go and I'll show you inside." I released the knife from his neck and he let out a long sigh of relief. I flipped the blade around and gave it back to him hilt-first.
"Nice blade." I commented. He just mumbled his agreement. I grabbed my bow from the ground and began following him. I guess he couldn't hear me follow behind him, because a moment later he turned around. He searched for a second before I moved. He jumped back in surprise.
"How..How did you do that?"
"What?" I grinned mischeviously. He dropped the subject and turned back around. In the next few minutes, we reached the large black gate. The guards stationed there were poised for attack, and when we walked up, they instantly had their spears to my throat. The one who led me there began speaking in some different language. The guards responded likewise. It almost sounded like... My eyes widened in realization.
"Calvayana torir." I told them. They all turned.
"You speak...You're..Alayvan? But I thought we were all gone." I shook my head.
"Well. Good to know we're not completely alone."
"What made you come here to work.?" I asked. The three of them shrugged.
"It was the only place that would take us. Once they found out through whatever sources and whatnot that we were Alayvan, no one would take us. It was like we were cursed or something. But then we found this guy. he didn't care what we were, as long as we were willing to work and fight." I nodded in agreement. I had faced many things like that. It seemed as though because of my being Alayvan somehow shunned me from society. The magic flowing through my veins didn't seem to let me live a normal life.
"Anyway." The guard said, all emotion suddenly gone, "enough chit-chat, lets get moving." They swung the large, stone-like doors inward. What met me was clashes of steel on forges, and strange guttural chants. All around the courtyard were strange beasts. They were strange to put it simply. With a mix between wolf and bear features. At our arrival into the gates, they stopped working. Their yellow eyes turned to us. But then, as if a silent force was compelling them to, they began back to their own previous tasks. After that, I was escorted into the actual castle. It was cold and dark, not even the few fire places seemed to dispel the chill that permeated the air. I was led through the dark, confusing, maze-like halls. I desperately tried to remember and locate any possible escape routes. If things went sour, I needed a quick escape. Throughout the halls were sentries posted at equal intervals. All of them had the same look in their eyes. Desperation, a hint of fear, and the look of bloodlust as if they were waiting for me to do something stupid like drawing my knife or using my longbow to good use. I grinned evilly. Just to mess with them, I switched my bow from my right hand to my left shooting hand and twirled it around a bit. All the guards in the near vicinity pointed their respective weapons at me.
"Whoa, fellas. Calm down a bit. My hand was just hurting." They all looked at one another and reluctantly lowered their weapons. The posted sentries went back to their spots and I was again walking down damp corridors. We eventually reached a wooden door with metal bars on it. One of the guards pulled out a key and unlocked them and i was led down some stone steps. At the bottom was a small weaponry. Various axes, maces, swords, knives, bows, and other suspicious looking items lined the walls.
"Weapons." He said. I sighed. i would have preferred to keep at least a dagger on me in case the worst should happen. But I reluctantly obliged. I went to take out my weapons but wasn't sure where to put them. The guard pointed to a large stone table. I laid down my bow and took my quiver off of my back. Then I grabbed all my various knives about my person. Two on each leg, one on either side of my hip, two crossed in an "x" in the small of my back, and two up each of my sleeves. I laid them all on the stone table, sad to relinquish my last bit of protection. I then undid my sword belt and set it on the table as well. I was about to walk away then I remembered I had a long dagger in my boot. I drew it and threw it at the wall. It embedded itself there and wavered a bit. Lastly, I reached around my belt and grabbed the small crossbow and and a small vial of clear liquid and a pouch of miniature arrows. Finally, I was out of weapons. I stood back and put my hands up in surrender. The guard turned me back around and up the steps. We walked down more confusing hallways until we reached a large oak door. The guards knocked a few times until a man came rushing out.
"Hold on a bit." He rushed back inside, then a few minutes later came back out. This time, he seemed more composed.
"Come right in." He turned to walk back in the throne room, then had another thought. "Try not to make him any more mad. He's in a bad mood. We've had enough trouble today already." The guards poked me in the back with their spears. The doors opened and I got my first good look at my employer.
A/N:HAHHAAHHAHAHA! SUPER EVIL CLIFFIE! Love you guys:) Loyal followers... Hope you liked. Next chapter should be up soon. See ya!
-KASMN