Part 3
I was scurrying around frantically, trying to get everything together. My pack that contained twenty feet of rope curled up in a circle, an elegant dress, a sleeping mat, cloth, thread, and needles. I had switched off my regular cloak with my hooded one, taking off the gold skull and replacing the clip with it. After I had placed the pack on my back, I grabbed my new bow-and-arrow, which had one strap that held both the case for the arrows and the bow. It was brown, went above my waist, with two straps going diagonally across my chest. I had also put on my new black gloves, the flared ends covering up the bottom of my sleeves of my tunic.
I looked out the window. The sun was beginning to rise. I quickly grabbed an apple and trotted down the winding stairs, exiting my tree house and running through the forest. I know the forest well. I know every shortcut; I know every tree, every rock, and every blade of grass. I was running to the west side of the forest. I ate along the way.
Finally, Exodis came into view. The sun was almost finished setting. I stopped by his side.
"Sorry I am late," I said.
"You are not late. I said sunrise. The sun has almost fully risen," Exodis said. He was watching it rise. The dark blue sky was fading to orange where the sun was coming up. "I finished your shoes." He held a pair of dark green shoes that looked like his out to me. I took them, quickly replacing my normal shoes with them, and putting them in my pack. "Let us go."
He walked quickly in front of him, following a trail where carriages would come through. I followed by his side. We were heading to another forest we could see in the distance. I then noticed that Exodis had a bow-and-arrow with him also.
"Is not a dagger all we need? I thought you said we travel light." I said.
"Yes, I did. A bow-and-arrow is light. But we do not use them for every mission. We need guard outfits. We will hide in the trees and shoot two guards down and take their outfits. This trail leads to Packor." Exodis explained. "Oh, and I have some things for you." He reached in a pocket of his tunic and took out two vials, handing them to me. "The red liquid is poison. That is how I am planning to kill the king. We work our way down from most important to least important. First is King Kedalow, then we kill Prince Tennan, then Queen Sikarey, then Princess Mylarra."
"But why do we need the guard outfits? Is that not why we bought the royal outfits? To get into the palace?" I asked him.
"No. We bought the outfits to get into the dining room. But I will leave the poisoning to you. Dress as a maid, go into the kitchen, and pour the poison on the King's food and in his drink. I will be disguised as a guard and will be guarding the door. After you have poured the poison on his food, switch into your dress and sit down at the table. Once the king dies, run out the door in a panic." Exodis said.
"Brilliant!" I exclaimed. "But how are we to kill the others?"
"I will come up with those ideas later. After you escape the dining room, run back into this forest. We will stay in that forest overnight, after we make our kill. I will meet you in the forest about a half an hour later."
"Okay. What is the other vial for?" I said, holding up the small plastic bottle that contained some weird dark-colored paste.
"If you ever get injured horribly, take out some of that mixture and cover your wound with it. It will help seal it up." He told me the names of the berries and herbs he used to create it. "You should keep some handy."
I nodded, slipping the two vials into a pocket in my tunic.
We were half way through the forest. We were no longer walking along the path, but on the sides of it. It sloped downward, so my feet slipped many times, which risked me tumbling down the hill. We did not walk on the edge, for we did not want to be seen. We kept our ears and eyes open, waiting for anyone to come through. The sky was gray. It was going to rain. I did not mind rain. It was quite refreshing.
Somewhere around noon we heard some hooves clapping on the dirt ground, along with the murmur of voices. Exodis put his index fingers to his lips, silencing me. He pointed to a tree. I got the idea and pulled out the rope from my pack, making a small loop at the end and tossing it up to the nearest branch, which was about ten feet from the trunk's base. It caught itself around the end of the branch. I tugged it to the side so it was not on the edge. If it was, the branch would snap under my weight. I quickly climbed up the rope, jumping onto the branch, taking the rope off the branch and twirling it in a circle, putting it in my pack.
I climbed up higher. There were more and more branches, as I got higher. Once I figured I was well hidden, I crouched down, took off my bow, grabbing an arrow and setting it in. I put the hood of my cloak up, just incase they spotted us. I pulled the string of my bow back, putting my fingers around the back of the arrow. I aimed the point at the guard on the right's neck, the one that was closest to me. I glanced at Exodis. He was aiming at the left. He did not have his hood up. Still, I did not take mine down.
The guards were riding horses, slowly walking down the trail. They were many feet away from us. We waited silently. Once they got close enough, I let go of the arrow the arrow flung out from my grasp and hit the guard square in the neck. I let out a silent cheer. The guard on the left yelled out something as the guard I hit fell off his horse. Exodis shot his arrow. It hit the guard in his face.
I flung back my hood, putting my bow back on my back. I looked to Exodis, who was staring at the branch above me.
"Nice shot... ASSASSIN!" Someone yelled. I looked up and gasped. A muscular hedgehog in a tunic was holding a sword up, ready to strike me.
I yelped slightly, grabbing my sword from its holster attached to the strap of my tunic. I held it up, but the sword was three times as long as my dagger.
The hedgehog swung. I jumped backward, landing on the branch behind me. With my new shoes, it felt like I was barefoot. My feet molded the curve of the branch, giving me a better stance. The male hedgehog growled, leaping down to the branch that I was on. His metal shoes clanked on the wood. Thunder grumbled and it started to rain down.
I looked to Exodis. The jump was too far away from his tree for him to help me. It was raining too hard for him to get a clear shot and there were too many branches in his way. I looked back to the hedgehog, swinging at his face with my blade. He moved his head back, slashing his sword at my stomach. I moved back also. A matter of fact, I moved back too far. My feet slipped from the branch. I swung my arms around wildly, trying to catch my balance. I glimpsed down on at the ground to see how far I would fall. It was at least twenty feet high. I would surely break my leg if I fell.
I lost my balance. I fell backwards, frantically moving my arms around to get a grip on something. Yes! I had grabbed the last branch possible with my left hand. But the force of my fall and the sudden weight put on my left arm strained it. Pain jumped through my body. I quickly swung my right arm and held onto the branch with it also, moving my dagger so it would not dig into the branch.
My body swung back and forth slightly. The male hedgehog jumped down on the same branch I was hanging from. The branch jiggled slightly from the sudden weight put on it. The hedgehog walked over to where my hands were and placed his feet in between them.
"So, you think you could kill us all that easily, assassin?! Well, you thought wrong!" The hedgehog yelled over the thunder. He lifted up his foot and slammed it down on my right hand. I roared in pain. My fingers were squished beneath metal and wood. I quickly yanked my hand out from under his metal shoe and shook it, trying to get rid of the pain. My dagger dropped to the ground. All of a sudden, something flew right by my ear.
I looked to Exodis. He had just shot an arrow. "Hey! Watch it!"
Exodis took another arrow and aimed.
"You see, people like you deserve to die…" The hedgehog growled, lifting up his foot again and aiming for my left hand. My right arm was still at my side. I prayed that Exodis would hurry up and shoot him.
"Maybe so, but your time will come first!" I shouted at the hedgehog. Just then, something made his head jerk forward. An arrow bounced off his helmet. I expected that to happen, the back of his helmet covered his neck from behind.
The hedgehog turned his head around. "Come out and show your face you…" Before he could finish, an arrow hit him square in the face. He fell backwards, his limp body hitting my back, my body swinging even more. I watched his body hit the ground and roll down the hill, which was now muddy.
I put my right hand on the branch and pulled myself up slowly. I put my feet on the branch and stood up. "Thank you."
"I am just doing my job." Exodis said, putting his bow-and-arrow on his back. He began to climb down the tree. I did the same.
Once I got down, I walked over to my dagger and picked it up. I put it in its holster and walked over to the two dead guards. Exodis and I took off our cloaks and placed them in our packs, putting them back on. We took off the guards' armor and put them on over our outfits. The chest armor was a tight fit since it was too small for me and my pack was squished under it. The helmet was slightly big for me though, but that was good, so it would hide the details of my face. Exodis and I continued our journey down the trail.
The rain stopped a few miles later. We began to see some of the many buildings of Packor, so we decided to find a place where we can sleep at night. Exodis and I headed into the right part of the forest that surrounded the trail. A few minutes later we found a small cave. We took off our chest armor and took off our packs, taking out our sleeping mats and placing them in the cave, along with our bow-and-arrows and sewing supplies. Everything else we kept in our packs, placing the armor back over them. We headed back to the trail and to Packor. Sunset was about three hours away. We assumed supper would take place around that time.
We came to the entrance of Packor. It had two guards in front of the gates. They saw our armor, along with a glimpse of our clothes under it. They looked at each other, and then opened the gates. Packor was a lot larger than our hometown of Sharrakor. There were many stone buildings towering over us, along with huts and other buildings. We walked down the trail and entered the main part of the town. People walked around, getting water from the well, buying things from carts, and talking to people.
Exodis gestured to the tallest building, which was the palace. It had four towers going up from the main part. Four guards guarded two large wooden doors. There were many balconies coming out from doors near the top of the palace, which there were also guards there protecting. We made our way over to the palace.
Once we got to the entrance, we walked up the stairs and stood in front of the four guards.
"What is your business here?" One of the guards asked us. He did not look at us, simply stood there, staring out in front of him.
"It is time for our duty." Exodis said, making his voice deep again.
"In what section?" The guard asked.
"The dining room." Exodis replied. "He is to guard the maid quarters." Exodis was referring to me.
"Then you must hurry, your shift begins in fifteen minutes." The guard said to Exodis. The doors slowly opened, making a slight creaking noise.
Inside it was a smooth marble floor with tall stone walls, which had many paintings hanging from them. Torches lit up the area. There were many hallways, and they were all empty except for a few maids running around.
"You go down the stairs. That is where the maid quarters always are. The dining room must be upstairs. If you get lost, ask a guard for directions."
I was scurrying around frantically, trying to get everything together. My pack that contained twenty feet of rope curled up in a circle, an elegant dress, a sleeping mat, cloth, thread, and needles. I had switched off my regular cloak with my hooded one, taking off the gold skull and replacing the clip with it. After I had placed the pack on my back, I grabbed my new bow-and-arrow, which had one strap that held both the case for the arrows and the bow. It was brown, went above my waist, with two straps going diagonally across my chest. I had also put on my new black gloves, the flared ends covering up the bottom of my sleeves of my tunic.
I looked out the window. The sun was beginning to rise. I quickly grabbed an apple and trotted down the winding stairs, exiting my tree house and running through the forest. I know the forest well. I know every shortcut; I know every tree, every rock, and every blade of grass. I was running to the west side of the forest. I ate along the way.
Finally, Exodis came into view. The sun was almost finished setting. I stopped by his side.
"Sorry I am late," I said.
"You are not late. I said sunrise. The sun has almost fully risen," Exodis said. He was watching it rise. The dark blue sky was fading to orange where the sun was coming up. "I finished your shoes." He held a pair of dark green shoes that looked like his out to me. I took them, quickly replacing my normal shoes with them, and putting them in my pack. "Let us go."
He walked quickly in front of him, following a trail where carriages would come through. I followed by his side. We were heading to another forest we could see in the distance. I then noticed that Exodis had a bow-and-arrow with him also.
"Is not a dagger all we need? I thought you said we travel light." I said.
"Yes, I did. A bow-and-arrow is light. But we do not use them for every mission. We need guard outfits. We will hide in the trees and shoot two guards down and take their outfits. This trail leads to Packor." Exodis explained. "Oh, and I have some things for you." He reached in a pocket of his tunic and took out two vials, handing them to me. "The red liquid is poison. That is how I am planning to kill the king. We work our way down from most important to least important. First is King Kedalow, then we kill Prince Tennan, then Queen Sikarey, then Princess Mylarra."
"But why do we need the guard outfits? Is that not why we bought the royal outfits? To get into the palace?" I asked him.
"No. We bought the outfits to get into the dining room. But I will leave the poisoning to you. Dress as a maid, go into the kitchen, and pour the poison on the King's food and in his drink. I will be disguised as a guard and will be guarding the door. After you have poured the poison on his food, switch into your dress and sit down at the table. Once the king dies, run out the door in a panic." Exodis said.
"Brilliant!" I exclaimed. "But how are we to kill the others?"
"I will come up with those ideas later. After you escape the dining room, run back into this forest. We will stay in that forest overnight, after we make our kill. I will meet you in the forest about a half an hour later."
"Okay. What is the other vial for?" I said, holding up the small plastic bottle that contained some weird dark-colored paste.
"If you ever get injured horribly, take out some of that mixture and cover your wound with it. It will help seal it up." He told me the names of the berries and herbs he used to create it. "You should keep some handy."
I nodded, slipping the two vials into a pocket in my tunic.
We were half way through the forest. We were no longer walking along the path, but on the sides of it. It sloped downward, so my feet slipped many times, which risked me tumbling down the hill. We did not walk on the edge, for we did not want to be seen. We kept our ears and eyes open, waiting for anyone to come through. The sky was gray. It was going to rain. I did not mind rain. It was quite refreshing.
Somewhere around noon we heard some hooves clapping on the dirt ground, along with the murmur of voices. Exodis put his index fingers to his lips, silencing me. He pointed to a tree. I got the idea and pulled out the rope from my pack, making a small loop at the end and tossing it up to the nearest branch, which was about ten feet from the trunk's base. It caught itself around the end of the branch. I tugged it to the side so it was not on the edge. If it was, the branch would snap under my weight. I quickly climbed up the rope, jumping onto the branch, taking the rope off the branch and twirling it in a circle, putting it in my pack.
I climbed up higher. There were more and more branches, as I got higher. Once I figured I was well hidden, I crouched down, took off my bow, grabbing an arrow and setting it in. I put the hood of my cloak up, just incase they spotted us. I pulled the string of my bow back, putting my fingers around the back of the arrow. I aimed the point at the guard on the right's neck, the one that was closest to me. I glanced at Exodis. He was aiming at the left. He did not have his hood up. Still, I did not take mine down.
The guards were riding horses, slowly walking down the trail. They were many feet away from us. We waited silently. Once they got close enough, I let go of the arrow the arrow flung out from my grasp and hit the guard square in the neck. I let out a silent cheer. The guard on the left yelled out something as the guard I hit fell off his horse. Exodis shot his arrow. It hit the guard in his face.
I flung back my hood, putting my bow back on my back. I looked to Exodis, who was staring at the branch above me.
"Nice shot... ASSASSIN!" Someone yelled. I looked up and gasped. A muscular hedgehog in a tunic was holding a sword up, ready to strike me.
I yelped slightly, grabbing my sword from its holster attached to the strap of my tunic. I held it up, but the sword was three times as long as my dagger.
The hedgehog swung. I jumped backward, landing on the branch behind me. With my new shoes, it felt like I was barefoot. My feet molded the curve of the branch, giving me a better stance. The male hedgehog growled, leaping down to the branch that I was on. His metal shoes clanked on the wood. Thunder grumbled and it started to rain down.
I looked to Exodis. The jump was too far away from his tree for him to help me. It was raining too hard for him to get a clear shot and there were too many branches in his way. I looked back to the hedgehog, swinging at his face with my blade. He moved his head back, slashing his sword at my stomach. I moved back also. A matter of fact, I moved back too far. My feet slipped from the branch. I swung my arms around wildly, trying to catch my balance. I glimpsed down on at the ground to see how far I would fall. It was at least twenty feet high. I would surely break my leg if I fell.
I lost my balance. I fell backwards, frantically moving my arms around to get a grip on something. Yes! I had grabbed the last branch possible with my left hand. But the force of my fall and the sudden weight put on my left arm strained it. Pain jumped through my body. I quickly swung my right arm and held onto the branch with it also, moving my dagger so it would not dig into the branch.
My body swung back and forth slightly. The male hedgehog jumped down on the same branch I was hanging from. The branch jiggled slightly from the sudden weight put on it. The hedgehog walked over to where my hands were and placed his feet in between them.
"So, you think you could kill us all that easily, assassin?! Well, you thought wrong!" The hedgehog yelled over the thunder. He lifted up his foot and slammed it down on my right hand. I roared in pain. My fingers were squished beneath metal and wood. I quickly yanked my hand out from under his metal shoe and shook it, trying to get rid of the pain. My dagger dropped to the ground. All of a sudden, something flew right by my ear.
I looked to Exodis. He had just shot an arrow. "Hey! Watch it!"
Exodis took another arrow and aimed.
"You see, people like you deserve to die…" The hedgehog growled, lifting up his foot again and aiming for my left hand. My right arm was still at my side. I prayed that Exodis would hurry up and shoot him.
"Maybe so, but your time will come first!" I shouted at the hedgehog. Just then, something made his head jerk forward. An arrow bounced off his helmet. I expected that to happen, the back of his helmet covered his neck from behind.
The hedgehog turned his head around. "Come out and show your face you…" Before he could finish, an arrow hit him square in the face. He fell backwards, his limp body hitting my back, my body swinging even more. I watched his body hit the ground and roll down the hill, which was now muddy.
I put my right hand on the branch and pulled myself up slowly. I put my feet on the branch and stood up. "Thank you."
"I am just doing my job." Exodis said, putting his bow-and-arrow on his back. He began to climb down the tree. I did the same.
Once I got down, I walked over to my dagger and picked it up. I put it in its holster and walked over to the two dead guards. Exodis and I took off our cloaks and placed them in our packs, putting them back on. We took off the guards' armor and put them on over our outfits. The chest armor was a tight fit since it was too small for me and my pack was squished under it. The helmet was slightly big for me though, but that was good, so it would hide the details of my face. Exodis and I continued our journey down the trail.
The rain stopped a few miles later. We began to see some of the many buildings of Packor, so we decided to find a place where we can sleep at night. Exodis and I headed into the right part of the forest that surrounded the trail. A few minutes later we found a small cave. We took off our chest armor and took off our packs, taking out our sleeping mats and placing them in the cave, along with our bow-and-arrows and sewing supplies. Everything else we kept in our packs, placing the armor back over them. We headed back to the trail and to Packor. Sunset was about three hours away. We assumed supper would take place around that time.
We came to the entrance of Packor. It had two guards in front of the gates. They saw our armor, along with a glimpse of our clothes under it. They looked at each other, and then opened the gates. Packor was a lot larger than our hometown of Sharrakor. There were many stone buildings towering over us, along with huts and other buildings. We walked down the trail and entered the main part of the town. People walked around, getting water from the well, buying things from carts, and talking to people.
Exodis gestured to the tallest building, which was the palace. It had four towers going up from the main part. Four guards guarded two large wooden doors. There were many balconies coming out from doors near the top of the palace, which there were also guards there protecting. We made our way over to the palace.
Once we got to the entrance, we walked up the stairs and stood in front of the four guards.
"What is your business here?" One of the guards asked us. He did not look at us, simply stood there, staring out in front of him.
"It is time for our duty." Exodis said, making his voice deep again.
"In what section?" The guard asked.
"The dining room." Exodis replied. "He is to guard the maid quarters." Exodis was referring to me.
"Then you must hurry, your shift begins in fifteen minutes." The guard said to Exodis. The doors slowly opened, making a slight creaking noise.
Inside it was a smooth marble floor with tall stone walls, which had many paintings hanging from them. Torches lit up the area. There were many hallways, and they were all empty except for a few maids running around.
"You go down the stairs. That is where the maid quarters always are. The dining room must be upstairs. If you get lost, ask a guard for directions."