Book 2 Chapter 31

The white-masked figure’s body collapsed as soon as the blade holding it up was removed…. It fell to the ground, twitching as blood pooled around it.

There standing over it was a lean young man with a wiry frame. A handsome and innocent face sat under a mess of loosely cropped white hair with eyes that didn’t match his smiling expression.

“Reaper!” Tirr yelled in surprise, “You…” He stopped as he blocked another swinging blade, letting the blade cut him to the bone before letting loose a plume of flame at the assailant. Unfortunately, the assassin reacted as quickly as ever, retreating in an instant with that strange flickering movement.

The sight of their fallen comrade hadn’t stopped the other assassins for even a moment… If anything, it seemed to energize them as they came at the group even faster. Tirr and Maria held the line, forcing the attackers back as the blades came in quick and heavy.

“Whoa, you’ve gotten a lot stronger since the last time I saw you, little guy…” Torvus called back as he watched. He stood in the middle of their group, taking advantage of Tirr and Maria’s protection as he put his hands over his head to stretch.

Nerida stopped, two thin spikes of ice forming at her sides as she faced Torvus, anger plain on her face… “Who are you? How dare you speak to God so disrespectfully!”

“Hold on now, no need to get so upset!” Torvus replied with a grin, holding his hands up as he backed away from her. “The little guy and I go way back!” He stopped, hands still up as he let out a chuckle, “Or at least longer than a fake like you…”

Nerida’s expression froze, then hardened… The thin spikes of ice suddenly launched forward, whistling viciously as they flew straight for Torvus’s head. Nerida stood glaring, her killing intent clear as she directed the attack towards him.

Torvus grin lasted right up until the ice struck him… His form flickered just as the icicles were about to pierce him and Nerida watched as they passed through him, miraculously hitting one of the assassins that had finally managed to break through Maria and Tirr’s front line.

Nerida’s eyes widened for a moment at the coincidence but Torvus just gave her a thumbs up, “Good aim! And don’t worry, takes one to know one as they say…” Torvus muttered with another chuckle as he looked down at the dying assassin behind him.

His words just made Nerida angrier and another round of spikes formed around her, ready to strike.

“Nerida, stop!” Tirr called as he realized what was going on, “He’s the one we were looking for so help us deal with the rest of these guys first!”

“Yes!” Nerida replied obediently, smiling happily at Tirr after giving Torvus one last look.

“Scary, scary…” Torvus said to himself as he turned back to the remaining attackers. “Guess I ought to help out as well.” His form flickered and he appeared behind one of the assassin’s attacking Maria. His body dropped, spinning as his leg came out like a whip to trip them.

The assassin was caught by surprise, losing his balance for just a moment as he tried to right himself. Before he could though Maria’s hammer came swinging… It plowed into the assassin’s chest, crumpling it like paper before sending the rest of the body skidding across the ground.

Torvus stood and flashed another thumbs up at the stunned Maria, who could hardly believe she had finally managed to hit the fleet-footed attackers.

The third death seemed to signal something as the assassins back away, taking some distance. They looked at each other in concert and then turned, breaking into an all-out sprint as they fled. Their forms disappeared almost instantly into the dark streets.

“Scum!” Tirr yelled, moving to chase after them. He stopped as a hand caught and pulled on the back of his shirt. The sudden tug sent him off balance and he fell back, looking up angrily at Torvus who stood over him with a smile.

“What are you doing? They’re getting away!”

“Calm down little guy…” Torvus said with an easy tone. “Now’s not the time to go after them anyway.”

“What do you mean? Those are probably the guys that attacked the palace here. We need them! Why are we letting them get away?”

Torvus didn’t reply as he started walking off, waving a hand back towards them to indicate they should follow as he turned down one of the nearby side streets.

Tirr looked back at the direction the assassins had fled with a frustrated expression, before turning and running after him. Maria and Nerida followed silently, leaving the bodies of those they had defeated to bleed out onto the ground aa they chased after the white-haired young man.

Torvus’s body seemed to move at an unnatural speed. Without showing any strain or effort he glid along the streets at a pace that made even Tirr and Maria work to keep up.

“Why didn’t we catch them there?” Tirr repeated, unwilling to let the question go as he was still unsure if Torvus was ally or enemy in this situation. He had helped them fight off the attack but seemed to have some unknown connection with the same group.

“If you had followed them, they would have just led you to even more of them…” Torvus answered with a shrug of his shoulders.

“So?” Tirr asked exasperated, “I’m not afraid of…”

“I didn’t think you would be, but if you go and shake them up too hard they might just change their plans, and then we’ll have no chance of ever finding the little princeling before Rasor and Lutel kill each other.”

“You know about the prince?”

“Of course! That's who you guys need to find right? Find and rescue him from the people that murdered his mom…” Torvus asked as he looked back at them.

“Who are you?” Nerida asked with more than a little frost in her voice. They had talked with Agir in a private room within the palace and all information about the attack itself had been kept quiet… So how had this man known about it so easily?

“Oh,” Torvus said as he skidded to a halt. “Allow me to introduce himself once again…” He turned and bowed to them, his head lifting once as again as he smiled.

“I’m Torvus, formerly known as the Reaper and once the leader of the Merchant Confederation’s Assassin Guild…”