Chapter 11

I escaped without so much as a dust ball moving in sight of my presence as I blinked my way out of the distillery. I pulled my hood lower over my face, the rain going down hard as I climbed my way back into Granny's house and met her in the walkway of her purple lit backyard.

"I knew you wouldn't disappoint me. Now I can stroll along the waterfront in peace. And don't think I've forgotten about your little gift. Go on upstairs dear one." She smiled as kindly as she could, pushing wrinkles back in such a way I thought the gods never meant for her to smile.

I nodded and walked my way upstairs. To my surprise there was a whale bone charm dangling from a string. I took it and jumped out the window, finally able to focus on my current goal of assassination.

Wasn't that fun? The Outsider whispered.

Keep me out of your dirty work. I snapped, walking briskly around the corner, past the distillery.

I cannot, Corvo. You are the only man I can trust for my…deeds. He purred softly.

Why don't you just get Daud to do your "deeds"? I flicked open my blade. I went up the steps around the artist's apartment and blinked my way to the top. The large rocks the buildings leaned against created a pipe line against rock and brick. I climbed onto the pipe line, inching my way up to the edge of Clavering Boulevard, there was one guard by the second Wall Of Light while two others went through it, walking over to make rounds.

I knew these men. I thought as I loaded an arrow into the bow-gun. With a well-aimed shot I took down the lone guard and bolted, grabbing him by the shirt front and dragging him along to the sidewalk. The other side of the sidewalk gave way to an edge, I tossed the body down and jumped down after it.

I rolled on the body, giving me a soft landing. I took out the arrow from the side of his head and cleaned the bloody steel bolt in a nearby puddle. I heard voices, shouting for their lost comrade. I kicked the body down another flight of stairs and let it rest underneath the Boulevard bridge.

The screeching of rats made me leap over the side, the rodents distracted by the dead weight I just kicked toward them. I landed on the cobblestone street, a blinding light made me raise my arm against it and run past. I stopped short as I got past the large light, a man, civilian more like, was kicking around at the end of the street.

You don't have to kill anyone, Mr. Attano. The Outsider came back into mind. You have sleep darts you know. You may be an assassin, but that doesn't give you right to spill all the blood.

"Sleep…darts?" I looked into my side pocket and found a heavy bolt, the middle made of glass filled with neon green fluid. I loaded the bow-gun and aimed it at the civilian, he collapsed on the spot as soon as the bolt softly embedded in his skin, the fluid draining into his body.

I took the empty dart from his body and climbed up a set of steps to the right. I had been on this road before, Jessamine wanting a walk in Dunwall. Bottle Street is what it was called. The next street was Gaff Street. I pressed myself against the wall as soon as I heard someone speak.

"Cold as a whaler's gaff hand. Fifty years old at least. This guy fought for the Empress."

I peered around the corner, this used to be a large clearing where children would play. Now only single lamplight held over the corner, three men looked down at the body before them.

"Forget his old ass. I can't even remember the Empress. We tagged it plain. Under Clavering street is ours."

Will the gang ever stop? My lips pulled back into a silent snarl. Murdering was a crime. Insulting the dead was one thing. But, murdering and insulting a solider of the Empress was a whole other concept.

"Come on, what's the take?" The one I could barely see from my corner asked his companion who was searching the old man.

"Twenty and two elixir." He answered.

"Looked more like twenty five to me." The other snapped.

"Look here," He stood, "It's twenty. That's five each. Counting Boo."

"You want me to check your pocke-"

I refused to let him finish his sentence, the anger and honor of the Empress racing through me like a fire I loaded the bow-gun with steel bolts. I blinked out of the way of a bullet, slicing the man to the right with a flick of the blade. I blinked once more and caught the other straight in the chest just as he put the barrel of the gun to my mask.

Blood leaked out from the corner of his lip as the gun fell from his hand and his body sliding back out of my blade, dead weight. I went to the dead, robbed man and muttered a prayer before closing his dead brown eyes.

"You have served good and well." I ended the prayer, walking from the scene and up the next flight of steps. There was no time to waste.

Yet you wasted it on honoring a dead man.

Shut up, fat whale.

I came up to the top of the steps and felt the heart beat. My vision fazed for a moment, showing me a white halo of another rune just about a few meters away from me. I stood straight for a moment, peering over the stair rail and saw a guard making his rounds. To my right, beyond a brick building I heard the beeping of the Wall Of Light. I just passed the second wall. I waited until the guard turned to head back and dove into the guard station just some meters beyond me. The guard station was blue and red, made of hard iron and steel there were gaps for the guards to watch from the station. Inside was a small table for supplies, I crouched low to avoid being stopped inside of the station and reached for the rune atop the table, beside it was a note.

Corporal Meadows,

We found this strange rune on the woman who used to sell pastries up the street. Not sure how she died, but since the thing looks superstitious we set it aside for the Overseers. After your shift is over, take it to them for disposal or whatever they do with them. Don't forget.

Oh, our dear friend Granny Rags paid for a box of raspberry filled cookies with a rune. The Outsider commented.

I only breathed in response. I was too focused on the current situation to answer the mocking god. Using a sleep dart I put the lone guard to sleep, to my luck he fell behind a crate of boxes. I held out my hand, trying to put my blink spot as far as I could and released. I planted my foot on the second lowest box and pushed upwards with the power of the blink, leaping over the boxes and next to the sleeping body.

Not a single alarm. Not a single shout. Nothing.

I took the dart from the man's side and opened the door to Holger Square.

I was met with a large, stone made arched structure over the street. Further down the line was a cobblestone clearing with a statue in the middle. Large search lights were trained in on the statue...rather the person chained in front of the statue. There was a guard standing, hands crossed against his chest as he spoke to the prisoner.

Must be one of ours. I thought, training the bow-gun at the guard.

"Hello, Martin. I heard the second day is when the skin really starts to come all the way off, is that true? Or is it the itching that really gets you? Or the rats?"

The chained man looked lazily up at the guard, his hair plastered against his head as the rain came down hard.

"Jasper, isn't it? It's not so bad in here, except I miss your wife."

The guard didn't have a chance to reply, I struck the blade hard into his neck and tore it out from his flesh, letting him bleed out on the floor for a few more seconds before the light died from his eyes. The chained man raised an eyebrow at me.

He wore similar uniform to Admiral Havelock. His hair was short, brown and drenched with water, the beginnings of a heavy beard shaded his hallow cheeks and sunken black eyes.

"What a sight you are in that mask. I know who you are and what you're hear to do. And I can help!" The sarcasm was still thick in his voice but his eyes told me he was true to his word, "Unlock me and I'll buy you a drink in a couple of days. By the Void, I'll buy you a hundred drinks."

"Who are you?" I asked.

"My name is Martin, although if you're not with my people then I'm just target number two." He glanced down at the blade.

There was a heavy silence between us for a moment, although he couldn't see I had my eyes narrowed at his sarcasm.

"I have poor circulation and I seem to have forgotten my mittens. So I'd appreciate it if you could release me or at least gather some firewood."

I cracked a smile at that and turned to the lever at the side. I pushed down and heard chains release themselves. He collapsed onto the ground with a groan, satisfyingly ridding himself of cramps.

"It feels good to stand up straight. Thank you, Corvo." He nodded at me, rolling his shoulders.

"How did you...?"

"What you're hear to do tonight is of highest importance. We've got to find Emily, so kill Campbell and make it quick." He continued without answering my question, "Once it's done, search his body for the journal- his notorious black book- and get out of here."

I nodded.

"Campbell is meeting with a guard named Curnow and word from my informant is that Campbell is going to poison him. Maybe you can use that to your advantage," He let the words sink in for a moment before continuing, "Alright, I won't be of any help here, so I'll make my own way back to the Hound Pits Pub. If I see Samuel the Boatman, I'll tell him to pick you up in the backyard, behind the Office of the High Overseer."

He started down the steps.

"May all the spirits guide you, and may your enemy's head hit the floor without you taking a scratch." He said.

"Same to you." I managed to speak.

"I'd rather like a fight," He cracked a smile, "But you. You stay in the shadows."

I nodded once more. Martin started out of the door I came from, leaving me alone in the clearing. I walked over to the end of the clearing, a massive gate blocking my way to the large white building. Holding out my hand I blinked up onto the top of the gate, on the stone edge. In a flash, I was back as a lone assassin without any backup.

"I was just reading the Archives about the Heritic's Brand. It sounds painful. Have you ever seen the ritual?" A guard on the other side of the gate spoke to his partner.

"I've never seen the Heritic's Brand used, no. It's a rare occurrence. But I did spy the face of one so branded. A former member of our order, of course. Out on a retreat, we passed through a fishing town and saw him begging."

"Who can say? The brand is reserved for an Overseer, or even the High Overseer himself, who violates our codes and must be cast out, permanently. Remember the Seven Strictures and you never need to worry about such matters."

"I will, brother."

If I brand the High Overseer, he'll be cast out without his blood on my hands. I thought.

But will you really go through all that trouble when you can just stick a bolt in his eye? The Outsider yawned.

Wouldn't you love to see a man harming another man with a symbol only man could denounce as betrayal? I toyed with him as I blinked down behind a large crate, avoiding the eyes of the guards. There was a steel door a few meters from me.

Oh you do know how to interest me, Corvo. He purred again.

The guards were gone from the area. I took the chance to slip behind the steel door and shut it behind me. It was a larger guard station, a large sign hanging above it with the words "ORDER SHALL PREVAIL" above it. I saw a guard standing over the front desk, looking in a different direction. I took the chance to induce him under a sleep dart, he collapsed without a sound. I took a bunch of bolts from the guards closet in the far wall behind the drugged guard and peered through keyhole of the other door.

There was a set of stairs leading down. Everything else was a large lit clearing with at least a dozen guards making their rounds. It'd be nearly impossible to dodge all of them. But if I killed any an alarm would be raised.

With Dark Vision I found no guards coming my way, I opened the door and opened my hand, blinking into the lower stair case. To my great luck there was a water way passage that lead right under the High Overseers building, I remember there was a flood problem here, Jessamine requested I fix it. The sign underneath the large tunnel read "Warning: Over Flow Area"

I followed the winding tunnel, chopping down the wooden planks I set up at least three years back. The wood moist from the rain and months of water leaks, it was easy to break through. At the end of the long tunnel there was a chain, gripping it I climbed up, landing on a grate.

The room was damp, moist and had two large pipes, made for draining out water, aimed straight for the grate I came out of. At the end of the room was a blue door, the next room was empty. A storage room. There was one door in front of me and another leading to different room. The door opposite me had a draft, it led to the outside, but the other door didn't.

I went to the door and read the label above it.

Kennels.

I was directly under the High Overseer Building.