The Last Path: Chapter Seven ''Hesitation''

''How could I have done such a thing, knowing that it is wrong. The urge and lust so big I couldn't resist. To tread on territory even unknown to myself, a path I've never dared to walk before has finally opened''. Jethran lowered his gaze to the floor and stood there in deep thought, contemplating why he engaged such an act with the Grand Assassin. He knew that if the man was to ever discover it was Jethran whom gave him this unimaginable pleasure, the man was prone to personally kill his Right Hand. And to no regret, Jethran knew it was worth it. Ever since they were young boys, when they both were in the Crows, Jethran developed a friendship with Darren, and that became stronger over the years. Although, even though both had enough share of bloodshed and fun with women, which surprises Jethran, that he of all people would fall for his best friend, was unsettling to himself. The thought disgusted him, but it felt right at the same time. He hesitated if he should come clean, or keep it to himself by the risk it may be discovered. After thoughts have passed his mind, he was oblivious to his surroundings, and he heard someone approaching. The figure saw it was Jethran, and Jethran quickly pulled his mask up to cover his features, to no avail. ''Oh, Jethran. Were you with Darren? Is he awake?'' Loren asked, the woman evidently after the Grand Assassin. Perhaps solely physically, perhaps for a relationship, or for the power the man possessed. ''–-...He is..asleep. I went to see him for a mission, but he was asleep so I left again''. She rubbed the side of her neck before she gazed over to the door, eventually turning on her heels and waving. ''Alright, thank you. I'll go by tomorrow, sleep well Jethran''.

Jethran breathed out in relief as he gazed around with coppery colored eyes and strut down the stairs back to his own quarters. The night passed slowly for him, but morning eventually arrived and the sun shined through the windows that weren't entirely covered by the curtains. Jethran oddly enough was gone the entire day, Maker knows why he wasn't at the headquarters, but it wasn't odd for an assassin in the Crows to take a day off and forget all about the bloodshed and burdens they carried with them. Darren himself woke up quite relaxed, his mind wasn't as heavy as before and he quickly got up and indulged his form with the Grand Asssassin gear. It was the same gear he had when he just started, but with alot of upgrades, for example enforced shoulderpads, leather that originates from Cerlaís, and daggers of cold subtle steel, along with a long cloak that could envelop his frame and make him as dark as a shadow. It looked rather exquisite on the male, leave alone his tanned skin color was an attractive feature many of the Crows lacked, all that joined were rather pale as they came from the less sunnier parts of Serynthal.

Darren had arranged a meeting for the evening, one that entailed the income of the Crows, their equipment, the safety of their headquarters, and contractors along with discussion of missions that were still available. These meetings were held now and then, but this one in particular was important, since they were to discuss who would go to the Crucible the next week. The Grand Assassin passed his day by sorting things out in the headquarters, inspection throughout the entire building to see if there was any sort of damage to the building, which filled in his day. At the evening, they all gathered in the meeting room with the table in the center a map was seen on. Eavan there, along with the more important individuals of the Crows, but Jethran wasn't there. Darren gazed around calmly to see if Jethran was standing with the rest, but he was no where to be seen. ''Has anyone seen Jethran?''. Everyone shook their head and one spoke ''I saw him leave this morning''. Darren folded his arms and his right hand tapped his chin thoughtfully before nodding. ''We'll continue without him then.''.Eavan looked at Darren with growing agitation that the assassin decided to leave his Right Hand out, but nevertheless, the grumpy old sod remained silent. ''Now then, The Crucible is coming up again, and we have to decide who will be taking part this year. We always do this on short notice so we do not panic about the choice, and other organisations are not informed untill the last moment. Security measure as you all know'', he says, his palms flattening onto the table as he gazes at everyone, the man seems to have quite alot of confidence, unlike when he just started as assassin. He climbed his way up and results were made. ''I think we're all pretty sure you should go, Darren, the Crucible is your thing, we know the risks, but you will survive, you can do it''. Eavan casually adds without even bothering for consent, and the rest of the assassins seemed to be all nodding their heads in agreement. ''Eavan, you know that's not a risk we can take''. The man sighed softly as he shook his head and gazed down at the map upon the table, his vibrant green eyes holding a dim glow to the pair. ''Not a risk we can take, but you know deep inside you have to do it regardless''. Darren progressed the words of the older man, knowing he was right. He was right, and solely that fact annoyed the Grand Assassin. He wanted to avoid the Crucible as that is where Saren dissapeared, he didn't want to be reminded of it again after all the effort he had done to try forget the ordeal that occured there. But to be an assassin is to be amoral and not be bothered by emotions. He knew he had to see this through to improve himself.

Silence passed as eventually Darren succumbed and slammed a fist upon the table, his visual locking upon Eavan. ''Alright. I will matter is settled then. Now we'll continue onto the other things''. An hour or two passed before the meeting was adjourned and the assassins all moved back to their stations to continue with their business. Darren went to take care of all the neccesary means, such as equipment, the horse carriage for transport to Vilewood once again. After all this was done, he took few days to train rather intensely, preparing himself for the tournament. It was a heavy burden for the leader. But he departed for the Crucible with few other assassins, leaving Eavan to lead in the meantime. As they arrived, he furrowed his black eyebrows and adjusted his mask and hood, along with few straps around his leathed clad chest, leaving the carriage and moving to the guards that were the same pair that stood there the year before. Darren remained silent as he took out the invitaton and offered it to the guards. The two looked eachother, one bulky, and one rather chubby before nodding and returning the invitation. ''In you go when you're ready, lad''. The leather clad man inclined his head as he went back to his entourage and spoke to them. ''Observe. No interrupting. If I die, you return to Vadelore without question. Jethran will be the next leader, if he hasn't returned within two weeks, Eavan will be chosen''. After these words, the man initially turned onto his heels and entered the Crucible, moving into the halls and sat himself onto a bench located near the wall, awaiting his turn. It was audiable enough that many were slain and didn't even pass the first two rounds, many corpses soaked in blood with un-humane wounds were dragged in before his eyes, however this didn't bother him. He was amoral to corpses and blood. The announcers eventually yelled Darren's name, however another name was given instead. ''Nancio'' a rather plain, human name that certainly wouldn't raise any red flags, and it sufficed under the regulations of names. The gates opened and he strut inside, the audience thrilled and applauding the man that walked into the big field of drought sand. ''And here we go, Nancio has entered the arena. Now let's get started!'', Horace yelled, the crowds enthusiastic. Rounds passed as Darren reached the final round, stained with little as he is after all, the Grand Assassin, and proceeds his reputation and skills. ''Oooh, Hurley, Nancio made it to the final round, and the crowd is going wild! Now we bring the last contester to go against Nancio! Eluvian!''. Horace shouted out with utter thrill to his tone.

Darren stood there with his blades out in his hands, covered in blood as he gazed around before his vibrant green eyes landed onto Eluvian whom walked into the arena. The figure was clad black leather with crimson red accents, and downed a hood of his own, though not with a mask, the hood provided enough shadow, appearently he wasn't planning on letting anyone get close. Darren stared at the man, scanning over his frame to see possible weak spots in his gear, but he couldn't find any. A sharp inhale was heard before Eluvian charged at him, outwards to the side. Darren didn't had a good feeling about the name of the other as the other slashed at him and Darren managed to block him, but the other was unbelievably fast, unlike the others he fought. This man was well trained, he was for real. Darren let the other attack and attack, taking his time to see through the way of fighting the other had, eventually managing to apprehend and slice a pretty deep cut on the other's chest by a twisted turn of his body and his blades around himself like a tornado. The injured man spit on the ground as blood dripped down to the ground from the cut, now pushing it all and ran forth and eventually ducked down, sand blowing into the vibrant green eyes of Darren as he was overwhelmed by the blindness and couldn't locate the opponent. He was struck to the ground with a dagger that sank deep into his shoulderblade and bled him severely. ''You will die. Die like the rest. Unworthy of life''.The stranger spoke to him as he hovered over Darren, the Grand Assassin grew uncomfortable, eyes closing, the words ominous and almost as if his opponent was malign at heart. Something repugnant. Darren shook his head before he launched the hilt of his dagger to the man's jaw to uppercut him, managing to push him off of himself. He groaned lowly to himself as he retaliated quickly and didn't allow the deep wound to get in his way. The fight was going on for long, and the crowd remained entertained throughout the entire fight that almost lasted an hour. Two of the most skilled men in all of Serynthal were having it at eachother, and it was a mere matter of time before one would fall. At long last the fight was nearing its end as the crimson clad opponent managed to remove the mask of Darren by the tip of his blade connecting with the fabric, luckily for Darren the steel not reaching his skin. Black long hairstrands became visable as the vibrant green eyes were upon the other. ''This ends now..'' Darren spoke, determined as he lunged at the other whom was awaiting, and managed to counter the attack and quickly put Darren off-balance, pushing him down to the ground as the hood was moved down of Darren and the man held his dagger to the neck of the Crows' leader. ''Now you will die''. Eluvian muttered, his words empty and threatening, but a moment of pause went by. The opponent's blue eyes gazed across the features of the other, morely at the fact elven ears were revealed. ''..D-..Darren..-..Elven?''. His tone now clearer, and he let go of the elf, moving back onto his feet as his eyes were widened, staring in complete surprise at the man that crawled upto recover, the other returning the same stare.''..You. YOU. Where have you been?! Bas'vas..! I knew it. Eluvian means Lost..'' He shouted out, though only audiable for his opponent to hear. The opponent stood there, weapons still within his hands, his blue eyes shifting color, to a crimson red as if personallity was change, a hand moving to his forehead. ''..No..I can't...-...-YOU WILL DIE''. At sudden he made a strike at Darren and the other didn't defend himself, he didn't want to harm the other. But instead of harm, he went out of his way to evade the attacks made, and made a way to knock the other out. ''Eluvian is down~!'' Horace yelled. Darren stood still with widened eyes as the man fell before his eyes down to the ground, badly injured, just as himself, but it felt like nothing at the moment.

Luckily, it wasn't mandatory in the final round to murder eachother to be made the winner of the Crucible as the organisations of the opponent paid quite alot to keep their favourite fighter alive, along with the fact that it was good for sponsoring. The crowd ofcourse didn't mind it that much, they had seen enough bloodshed for tonight. ''Nancio wins, and so ends the Crucible for this year, amazing!''Darren took the liberty of carring the unconscious body of the other, the elf infact possessing the same height as a normal human being, along with a trained agile, muscular body that wouldn't betray his elven origin, slightly thinner, but not strikingly. He was allowed to move to a seperate room within the Crucible where they could spruce eachother up, take a bathe, converse, rest, anything of the relevance. He placed the crimson clad man down onto the stone that had sheets upon them along with a headroll, leaving the man to rest there untill he would awaken. At this time, Darren took the chance to remove his upper armor and attend to his wounds, teeth gritting as his back was turned towards the stranger, dipping a piece of cloth in alcohol and softly pressing it against the wound on his shoulder. He won, atlast, just like Eavan said he would, but he didn't feel happy about doing so. This..stranger. This wasn't good. Darren was too lost in his own thoughts he couldn't hear the man behind him get up and quickly move towards him, instantly pushing the assassin against the wall, wrists gripped as the warm breathe of the other fell upon his tanned flesh that is his neck. ''Elven. Little puny elf..- how did I not know''. Darren sucked in breath of fear, a feeling he hasn't felt for very long. The black strands draped down and swooped over his features, now covering the elven ears once again. Blonde strands were seen in the corner of the vibrant green eyes of Darren, breathing abruptly as the man moves both of Darren's hands down his back, needing only one hand to lock the pair together. The other hand running along the neck of Darren, down to the rear of the other. ''What are you..doing..S-..'' The elf felt lips of the other caressing the skin of his neck, disgusting raised up inside of him, another man doing such an act with him, his stomach turned completely. ''Stop it, damn you. Where have you been? Tell me where you have been Saren!''. Darren demanded, he wanted answers. ''Saren is no more''. Saren is no more, the words felt so empty once again, but with such a familiar voice..