Finally exiting the narrow confines into less restricting land, I gaze up at the partially covered sun to work out which way is west.

Since I don’t know where the rest of my squadron is, I can only regroup with them at our destination unless I randomly stumble upon them.

Hopefully, they’re much further on than I am and safe from their pursuers.

Since a young age, I’ve always gotten nervous when separated from Torben too long, with him having a similar response. Not that either of us would admit it, but we’ve both developed a dependence on each other.

Since the wind is blowing south whilst the hellhounds are to the east of me, it should be more difficult for them to track me.

This said I locate the nearest body of water, in this case a stream, and submerge myself in the cold clear water. Hopefully, this should make me harder to track since they should primarily rely on scent, and now have an uncomfortable damp smell, as well as being very cold.

To warm up and cover more ground, I begin to jog across the mountainous landscape, ever vigilant against threats.

Some minutes later I begin to hear voices nearby, men by the sound of it but not any voices I recognise from here.

Shadow Blend

With the movement benefits of my magic, I move over the rocks and slowly come over an outcropping, looking down at a camp of battered men.

One of the groups from the Dancing Swans, but the group is suppose to number around twenty. Either they’ve had severe losses or they’ve split their squadron into two, which would make little sense.

Then amongst the noise, I hear a familiar noise. A laugh… An infuriating laugh that makes me want to strangle something!

“Fuhahaha! Please, if I wasn’t taking it easy I could’ve bedded another two that same night! It’s just that my beds only so big, I would feel bad if some had to sleep on the floor y’know! Fuhaha!!!” These annoying noises came from Dixon, the cocky prancing egotist that I beat during the tournament.

Who, as usual, is boasting to his royal arse-kissers about his ‘great feats’.

MuHeHe!

I won’t be getting a better chance than this now will I!

The dim lighting and the overconfident swans are practically asking to be hunted down.

It is my civic duty to kill rodents after all, and I’ve just found a nest!

The first to die was someone who decided this was a good time to go and empty his bladder. Moving around a corner and soon receiving a quick cut to the throat by yours truly, the friendly pest exterminator.

Next was a sentry who actually seemed to be interested in not being caught unawares by monsters, but like the previous, he received a fatal cut to the throat before he noticed the slight ripple of the shadows.

Four of the five remaining gathered around Dixon, with the last remaining one making an attempt at sleeping.

Since I’m much closer now I can notice that everyone, bar Dixon and his two most fanatical toadies, look like they’ve been dragged through a field of mental shit that has stuck to them, putting them in an eternally miserable mood.

Though those near Dixon make a feeble attempt of putting up a façade of interest and awe.

Dixon has bragged extensively about belonging to a noble family, one of the many reason I hate him, and in turn why he hates me.

After all, from his viewpoint I’m a random commoner who exists to clean the dirt of his boots, however where I’m from there are no nobles. I’m not even sure if they’d know the meaning of noble, not that I’d believe for a second that pricks like him could ever represent any remotely noble traits.

Due to being closer to them, I have to move slowly to reach the sleeping man. Just a step at a time, not to risk anyone catching any movement in the corner of their eye.

Even though it is shadowed enough to use this ability, it is still day time and lighter conditions makes it much more noticeable. If it was pitch black, I would easily be able to sprint though the camp, stealing the boots of their feet as I passed and still not be noticed.

…Not that I’ve attempted such a thing before… That would have been stupid of me.

Finally getting to the sleeping man lying on his belly, I slide one of my daggers upwards though the back of the skull and into his brain. Killing him instantly without any unnecessary gurgling or momentary yelp of shock.

Now, for the remaining four.

Not including Dixon of course, I intend to leave him to last so I can kill him slowly as he sees the face of his killer. This whole thing would have been pointless otherwise.

Beginning to quickly close in, I grab one of my balanced daggers which I mainly use as a throwing tools and release it at the toady with the loudest laugh.

Suddenly silencing him as he claws at his throat to find why it is so difficult to breath, his hands reaching my dagger just before he collapses forwards.

Still running forwards and not waiting for a response, the other devoted member of the Dixon fan-club met my blade , with his head hitting the floor followed shortly by the rest of his body which took a second to realise the absence of a head.

As the two unfortunate bystanders fumbled at their swords, I had already cover the metre distance between us and ended their lives with two precise cuts.

Now I disperse the shadows surrounding me, showing my face to the horrified man before me, holding his sword between us as if to ward me away.

“D..d demon… Die you evil bastard!”

With this he charged at me, ready to make a killing blow.

Shadow Blend

Though before he reaches me, I blend into darkness again, only making small measured movements to make it even more difficult to see me.

Seeing this again, he strikes in the area I was but hits nothing but air. I only needed to shift slightly to the side to avoid it.

Again, due to it being relatively lighter than I would normally use this magic, he could still see I was there in front of him. However, it is similar to focusing on something that is almost completely transparent, but in this case I would appear as a dark patch of shadow surrounded by slightly lighter shadows. Which also makes it difficult to target specific body parts above using the system of; hitting high, medium, and low on the body.

Since he still knew I was there, even though it appeared as if he was about to hit on his last swing, he made a horizontal swing in an attempt to cut me in half with his longsword.

Using my increase in speed, I move under his blade and around him exiting his peripheral vision before crouching low to the ground and becoming stationery.

Dixons attempt to turn in my direction was slow since the momentum of his swing pulled at him in the opposite direction.

By the time he was facing in my direction his eyes frantically darted about in an attempt to find my shadows.

I’m not prepared to wait here all day, so I grab my remaining dagger suited for throwing and landed it into his leg, resulting in a howl of pain as he struggles to stay standing.

Finally looking over to where I am, he stumbles towards me making at desperate attempt at attacking my shady form.

I redirect the attack with my shortsword, reducing the distance between us enough that I can tear my dagger out of his leg.

Which I did. Causing a sound of pure agony that caused an ecstatic shiver to run down my spine, finally a noise coming from him that isn’t tainted by pride and egotism!

As a result, the ducklings sword has been dropped and he’s holding onto the ruin of his leg.

Now, just a couple of stabs here, two cuts there… and done!

Dixon is now unable to stand and can’t use his hands. Since a few Tengu are already circling around, I think I’ll leave him for the crows.

“Fresh meat!!! MuHeHeHeHeHe!”

Deaf to his plea's and screams I walked on west.

Wait… What was it I was doing before I was distracted by the swans again?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Any helpful criticism would be welcome in order to improve my writing.

Plus please take the time to rate the fiction.