Beyond the Great Red Desert of Zethon, which separated humans from the barbaric trolls and goblins, lay the lush green forests that contained the human kingdoms.  For many years these kingdoms had peace, but Kronen, the king of Silverhill, became corrupt and sought power and magic beyond his understanding.  His exploits and ambitions caused much tension between the kingdoms of Silverhill and Glaceau, and the kingdom of Mossalley was caught in the middle. Though a great ally and friend to Kronen, the queen of Mossalley was reluctant to go to war.  Kronen, however, was desperate, greedy, and willing to do just about anything to instigate a war.  Somehow, it seemed that the king was not quite himself.  He began making mistakes and doing foolish things, almost as if he was under some sort of a spell.

Times were getting desperate.  The supply lines to the Assassins Guild were cut off by local authorities.  They did not take kindly to us.  I was on a mission with 13 other assassins.  I was not only their leader but I was the leader of the Guild itself.  We travelled a good way from the Shadowlands to Kronen, but the job was a high paid one.
It was simple; Intercept a caravan carrying opium from the kingdom of Mossalley passing through King Kronen’s kingdom, Silver Hill. I never liked this King but a job was a job, and this one paid very well since it was escorted by military instead of hired thugs.  I was suspicious and did not believe a word this king was telling me but the pay was just too good.  How insane I thought this king must be to attack one of his own Allies’ military.  I made him sign the magical contract as required by the guild to protect us from a curse that was cast on the Assassins’ Guild long ago by powerful sorcerers to regulate and tax our work.  The curse would not allow us to vanish into the shadows.  Once the client signed the contract sorcerers from far away would either reject or approve our work.  If it was approved the curse would be lifted for the duration of the contract.  The king’s contract was approved, and I gathered my brothers to begin preparations.
As the 14 of us prepared in the forest we mixed potions, poisons, and meditated.  Meditation always helps to get one focused and blend in the shadows better.  My 13 brothers relied heavily on the potions to make themselves vanish so it took more time to prepare.  It only lasted 30-40 minutes for them.  They had no magic.  I only needed enhancement potions. My powers, or my brothers’ use of potions, allowed us to slip into a sort of non colored mist-world.  Yet the impressions and visual representations from the real world could still be seen by us.  Any interaction with an object or person in the real world would cause our stealth to go away, so most of the time it was a one shot deal.  We used special dyes that we put on our clothing so we could see one another while we were in stealth, and used special hand signals to communicate.
The had come.  I heard the caravan coming as I peaked around the tree I could see one of the military guard’s head.  I motioned my brethren to silence themselves and drink their potions.  I drank mine.  It tasted very bitter and burned as it went down.  We then slipped into stealth and made our way across the road.  We positioned ourselves around a large tree that we had cut down earlier to block the path and force the caravan to stop.  However I did notice that what was before us was not a buggy that carried cargo but a carriage that normally would carry people.
“A job is a Job”  I thought to myself.  “Now focus.”
Two guards on horse back in front of the carriage, two other guards riding on the front seat on top of the carriage, two on horse back on each side and two behind making a total of eight guards that are seen, and possibly two or three riding inside the carriage.  Too easy.
As soon as the caravan stopped I began making the signals to my men as to which target to take out.  Myself and my 2nd, Jacob would take the pilot and rider in the seat.  We were all well trained we knew how to deal with situations such as this, and deal with it easily.  I took a deep breath and gave the go signal.  I sprinted right up to the front of the carriage and leaped into the air as I landed feet first onto the seat I brought my blade down into the chest of the rider.  Jacob was off a bit and instead of landing on the seat landed on the driver.  He quickly recovered however and dealt with the driver before he could recover and draw his sword.  All was going very well and happening very quickly.  Only one of my men took wounds as he was not so successful taking a rider off his horses but his brothers quickly came to his aid.  One man emerged from the carriage, and drew his sword.  He looked a bit important and high ranking.  I decided that I should deal with him and called my men off.  He made a flurry of attacks at me all of which I dodged.  He then tried a lunging attack leaving himself open.  I parried his blow then grabbed his arm and tossed him using a hip throw.  As he tried to regain his footing and stand up I struck him on top of the head sharply with the handle of my knife knocking him unconscious.  I didn’t want to kill this man as I was interested in what he had to say.  It was over. Now time to check the cargo.  Part of the deal was that we get to keep it.
I opened the door and to my surprise there was no cargo but the queen of Moss Hill.  Not good. Not good. She was wearing A long yellow dress pale skin and was curled up in the corner trying to avoid me.
“Don’t hurt me” she cried.
“What is going on here?”  I spoke in bewilderment.
That is when I heard the bolts flying through the air and the cries of my brothers being wounded.  It was an ambush.  I didn’t have time to react before I turned around I felt a sharp horrible pain in my back.  One had struck me, and it was poisoned with crippleweed.  My joints and muscles began to freeze up.  I tried to bring myself to stealth but failed because I was weakened too much.  I fell to the ground then looked up only to see several of my men being slaughtered.  I heard the queen scream and saw one of King Kronen’s men slit her throat with one of our own weapons.  So this was it.  Blackmail.  Then everything went dark.
I awoke, with my head hurting badly.  Felt like I was hit with a mallet inside my brain.   One of my brothers was tending to my wounds, and I noticed that we were locked up in a cell.  I could still fell the crippleweed coursing through my veins.
“They keep some crippleweed in our drink” he said.  “Just enough to keep us from fighting back.  It’s like the bastards know what will stop us, like they had somebody from the inside of our guild.  I suppose the crippleweed will keep you from using your powers?”
“It will”  I said.
“That’s too bad I was looking forward to killing some of these idiots. They killed Jacob and Meredith.  They have been torturing everybody else to get false confessions out of them saying that they are soldiers of Glaceau Hill ordered to kill the queen.  They even put uniforms of Glaceau Hill’s military on some of our fallen brothers at the scene of the crime.  The king will now have his war if he pulls this off.”
“So that is what this is about”  I sighed in disappointment.  “He betrayed us and Killed the queen of Mossy Hill so he could orchestrate a war.  Mark my words.  I will not let him get away with this.”
For weeks I watched my brothers get tortured and die.  Some would sign false confessions with the promise that they would stop the torture, but as soon as they signed the confession they were killed.  I was tortured as well, but I never gave in or signed anything.  I simply waited it all out to find my opportunity to strike back.  That opportunity came in the form of another assassination the king desperately needed done.  Since I was the only one left alive they nursed me back to health so that I may for-fill my new assignment.  To kill the Powerful Bishop of Silver Hill that was preaching peace and causing the king to loose a lot of favor with his subjects.  It was always tradition and a requirement to sign a magical contract with the Assassins Guild before an assassination could take place.  Although the king was reluctant to sign the contract he was more desperate than anything else.  He also seemed to be under some sort of sickness or spell.  I guess he figured after the job was done he would kill me and destroy the contract.  They kept the crippleweed in my system so that my use of magic was limited.  They would only release me at the last possible second to for-fill my job duties.  I prepared, and when the time came to kill the Bishop I would make my move, but tonight I rest and meditate.

The following morning I was released and given my gear and tools of death.  I made my way to the cathedral.  As I approached I pulled the cloak I was wearing over my head and limped like and old man.  There were two guards standing outside the door.  They were not threatened by my presence but were not going to let me in.  I easily dispatched of them and quickly pulled their bodies behind a set of bushes to hide them.  I stealthily made  my way through the cathedral, hiding in the shadows.  I had to stop for a moment and take refuge behind a large podium to sharpen my blades; I spotted my target.  He was kneeling in front of some sort of an altar.  The bishop was an old man wearing a white cloak decorated with purple and golden abstract marks.  I’m sure they meant something to him, but they meant nothing to me.  One more guard was standing six feet behind him.  He was flanked by two other priests.

I crept down beside one of the pews, positioning myself just a few feet from the guard and staying hidden.  He passed his eyes over where I was crouching but never saw me.  I reached out with my mind and projected myself standing on the other side of him.  (This takes much focus, concentration, and the use of magic.)  As I materialized, I tapped him on the shoulder.  He turned around and saw nothing.  In an instant, I sprung forward and ran my blade through his rib cage and into his heart.  The only sound that the priests heard was the body thudding on the floor, but I was already flying through the air making my next move. I hurled my other blade and hit one of the priests square in the forehead with the handle.  He stumbled back, grabbed his forehead, stunned and in excruciating pain, and was useless for several seconds.  My knife fell to the floor.  The priest on the left turned around, startled, and I crashed my knee into his sternum, knocking the wind out of him. As I bounced off the priest, I grabbed the shocked bishop around the neck and kicked my knife from the floor up into my hand.   I pressed the blade close to the bishop’s throat.
“Wha.. what do you want?”  Asked the bishop in desperation.
“Not to worry” I said.  “I’m not going to kill you today.  Lucky for you, I’m seeking justice for my fallen brothers.  You see, if you look in your pocket now, you’ll find a contract written by your king, hiring me to kill you in exchange for my freedom.”

“What do you want me to do?  The king wants me dead because I preach peace.”  He gasped under my grip.
“I want you to make this public and expose your king for what he is.  The contract in your pocket should be enough to stop his war and reduce his power.”
“What is to say he won’t send somebody else?”
“Before night falls he will be dead for his betrayal.  Now make haste, and show that contract to everybody you can.”
As I released my grip, he turned around and looked at me. Then he reached into his pocket, unfolded the contract, and looked down at it for a moment. He looked up at me again, but I had vanished.  The shadows are my friends.

To read more about Shadow Blade please visit http://rhyminggoat.com

Illustration by Charlie Harper http://charlieharper.net/