Blade Song

The Gemstone Reaper:

He’d exhausted his supply of Shimmers, smoke bombs, shadow walks and gas bombs in a futile attempt to escape the palace. The damned place was riddled with an ancient magic that made it harder to get out of than wet leathers. All that was left was running and, like any assassin worth his salt, he'd chosen to make the chase as difficult as possible. Though, he was worth much more than his salt.

He was quick, lightly armored and had one, or two, tricks left up his sleeve, so he led the guards up, because ancient mages only ever seemed to enchant from left to right, on a grueling chase through the corridors and stairwells that would eventually open onto the roof of the palace.

He cursed the contract as he alternated between sprinting and evading. How could he have known that this king bore protective magic and abilities that no other had? His poison contingency failed, his bolt deflected by the king’s own axe, even his Miasma Bomb had no effect other than exposing him to detection and pursuit. He had never failed before, but death at the hands of this king’s elite guard would be the jagged edge of a bitter pill.

He rounded the top of a flight of high running tower stairs and slipped deftly onto the conical, stone rooftop. He sighted a place to land along the keep wall and leaped, opening his cloak as he fell. He heard the astonished shouts of his pursuers as his cloak spread open, bearing him upon the air. A smile crossed his lips.

“I may just escape this!” he mused just a bit too soon.

“DISABLE!” a voice roared from below and a barrage of whirling blades whizzed by, tearing hole after hole in his glider’s fragile wings.

“That has to have been The Divine Archer! He could have easily killed me. Why did he not?” he wondered as he broke into a dive, wincing as he listened to the ripping of his cloak as he slowed his descent and landing short of his mark and.

He came down with a roll to absorb the hard landing and found himself closer to where he wanted to be than he thought, but trapped between two groups of guardians along the wall.

This was , ultimately, doable. He charged the guards nearest his chosen point of egress with abandon. They held their ground, spears at the ready, and when he reached them, he sprang high, over their raised spears, and ran across their helmeted heads to the rear of their formation. Before they could turn, he leaped from the outward facing side of the wall and snapped out his last trick, a whip, but not a normal one.

Once again, guards stood astonished as his whip snaked around a crenulation and increased in length, safely depositing upon the far side of the keep’s drawbridge, then suddenly snapped back to him.

“I AM JEREMIAH COVEN! THE GEMSTONE REAPER!” he shouted at the as they scrambled to lower the bridge. “AND I BID YOU GOOD DAY!”. He then turned to make good his flight, but his way was blocked.

Coven recognized the prince immediately. He stood in court clothing, a look of rage upon his face.

“I AM KORAYN OF SOLOR! WERE IT NOT FOR MY FATHER’S EXPRESSED ORDER, I WOULD SLAY YOU WHERE YOU STAND, ASSASSIN! RELINQUISH YOUR WEAPONS AND SUMBIT TO CAPTURE, OR DIE!”

Coven gave a broad bow. “And how is an unarmed boy, bearing no weapons going to stop The Gemstone Reaper?”. As he spoke he produced two very formidable scimitars from beneath his ragged cloak and stood ready.

Korayn extended his hands, there was a deafening clap of thunder and suddenly he stood dressed in armor, his blades drawn.

“THAT IS A NICE TRICK!” Coven gasped. “Can you TEACH me that?”. He was well aware of the sound of the bridge dropping behind him and bristling of the myriad guards on the other side.

“Please!” Korayn spoke. “My father wishes only to speak with you. We have been ordered only to harm you if you resist.”

Coven took a long moment. There was something earnest in this boy’s voice. He was used to being lied to and could discern any deception without fail. This warrior spoke the first truth he’d heard in quite some time.Also, all those stairs had been quite exhausting.

“I don’t kill those I’m not contracted to kill!” he smiled, flung his scimitars to the ground and held his arms akimbo. “Perhaps we’ll get another chance to try to kill each other after I have heard the words of The Great And Kind King Ghent!”