Prologue

"Good, now let's rest." The day's training had gone by rather quickly for the student. She had spent it mixing together various herbs to create poisons and sliding daggers between breastplates and helmets on dummies. Panting, she sat across from her instructor, the second best in the guild, bested only by the Guildmaster himself. "What did you learn today?"

This question was asked after every session. A routine the student had become used to. "I learned that speed and precision are very valuable when the odds are against me."

"And?"

The student sighed, "And patience is always a virtue, on assignment or not."

"Good, you may go home now." The student nodded and stood, playing over the day's events in her head.

Chapter 1

Tina's alarm clock went off. Still half asleep and grumbling, she rolled out of bed with the sheet still tangled around her. Somehow managing to not fall flat on her face, she reached for the alarm clock and ceased its incessant buzzing. She yawned and yanked the sheet out from around her. She had been up late last night running errands for a friend and didn't bother to undress before crashing. Her bedroom door was still open from the night before. "I must've been really tired last night." She walked over to her door and pulled it closed behind her on the way to the bathroom down the hall. Once there, she flipped on the light. The sudden shift in brightness caused her to blink for several seconds. When her eyes had adjusted to the new brightness, she gazed at her reflection in the mirror. She saw the same person she saw the night before, except the fact that a small bruise had developed under her left eye along the cheek bone. "Huh… how did I get that?" The bruise appeared to be the result of a collision or blow from a blunt object, a wall, a fist or even a hammer. She studied the bruise a while, trying to decipher the reason for its sudden appearance and unknown nature. It was too narrow for a fist to have hit it, not round enough for a hammer. "I must've hit my bed frame or something." That resolved, she combed the tangles out of her hair and just let it fall loosely into its usual arrangement. She then climbed down the stairs and into the living room. There was a folded piece of paper on the coffee table in the middle of the room. Tina looked around and walked over to the coffee table. Lifting the paper up to a comfortable reading distance she unfolded it. In a flowing, minute script was written:

We have another assignment for you, be at the warehouse one block east of the Space Needle at four o'clock this afternoon.

"Great, I just don't get a break, do I?" She folded the paper along the creases and stuffed it into her pocket.

At school, Tina suffered through her classes, more than eager to get out of there. Neat the end of the day, during passing period, she heard someone say: "I'll kill them, they will die, all of them. I will tear their limbs from their body. They will know our pain." She slowed to a stop and peeked around the corner. The speaker was leaning against the locker with their head against the door, mumbling to a short blade, a dagger probably.

Chapter 2

The night was crisp and a constant wind blew into the city from the sound. The student was on her third assignment of the week. A man, who had stolen an expensive item from the museum, sold it and bribed his verdict of innocence, was walking down the deserted street, his hands shoved deep into his pockets and he had his head angled against the wind. The student watched him from her perch in a church bell tower, her bow trained on her target. He stopped and turned to look into an alley. "I know you are there, Vaelden." A tall, burly individual stepped out from the alley's shadows.

"It's a surprise to see you out this late, Aldrik." The other fellow said. Another came around the corner and gave Aldrik something. He looked at it for a while, as if reading. The student knew she only had tonight to complete the assignment, but with two witnesses, at least one of whom could easily beat her into a pulp if he caught her, it was going to be difficult. She continued to watch and listen. The three of them left the alley and entered Aldrik's house and sat around a table by the window. She readied her bow and aimed for Aldrik's neck. She then let the arrow fly. It shattered the window and hit him in the neck, killing him instantly. The other two, alarmed, drew pistols.

"There is an assassin in our vicinity, Vaelden." The unnamed one said.

"Indeed. Find them." The student ran back inside the building through the balcony and tore down the stairs. Vaelden was right outside the door, blocking her path to outside. She froze and watched him as he walked inside. "I will find you, assassin. You can't hide forever." She backed away, keeping a good layer of darkness between him and her. The other one climbed in through the window on her left and joined Vaelden. The student crouched behind a bed side table and steadied her breathing. The two men stopped and Vaelden looked at the table. She stiffened and backed slowly to the window where Vaelden's fellow entered. Vaelden's eyes began to glow a frightening purple as he looked in the student's direction. "I found you, assassin." The student leapt to her feet and was ensnared by a net of psychic energy. She cursed as she tripped and fell, hitting her cheek on the table. Slightly dazed, she looked at Vaelden and his companion.

"What're ya gonna do with her boss?"

"Make her useful." The student felt her eyes moving to meet Vaelden's psychic glow. No, she thought. Still, her eyes moved to meet his. Pheonix, I – She was unable to finish as her eyes met his, and her will succumbed to fulfill his desires.