I ran through the streets of Rawlin after Christen, who had been given detailed instructions to where the house was. We had been paid in advance, and I gave Christen a small portion of the gold, since she ran errands for me, so that I could sleep longer.

“You're going to do it?”

“Of course I am.” I said, “I was hired, it's what I do.” I snorted, “What you'll do if you really want to be an assassin.”

“I do.”

“No you don't.” I said, “Just stick to being a thief, plenty of opportunities there.”

“I will be an assassin.” She snapped, “First I'll kill Lord Necanda, and then-”

“You won't kill Lord Necanda.” I said as we turned down a narrow alley, and ran into a larger street and towards a wooden house. “And that's not even an issue now.” I looked up at the house, and then back at Christen. “Why are you even here? You should go back to the inn.”

“I'm your assistant, aren't I? I'm supposed to be here.”

I sighed and looked towards the house. All the windows were shut. “If you insist.” I said, “It doesn't really matter to me.”

“So, you're just going to kill them.”

I stopped and sighed. “Yes. I'm going to kill them. If it makes you feel better, he is cheating on his wife, remember?” I looked around and started walking again. “You'll have trouble as an assassin and a thief if you try to feel good about everything. But I did say you couldn't be an assassin.” I pulled her into an alleyway alongside the large wooden house. “Is this it.”

“Yes, I'm sure it is.”

I looked around and saw a window. I walked to it and set my ear on the glass to listen. I couldn't see into the house, it was too dark, but I heard nothing. The window was locked. Letting out a sigh, I picked up a rock from the ground.

Christen pushed me aside and took a small wire from a pocket in her cloak. A moment later she had managed to silently open the window. She slid it open.

“Good job.” I muttered. I climbed in. “Good thieving skills.”

Christen growled and looked around. We were in a lavish sitting room where pieces of furniture sat about, their shapes only a suggestion from the scant light from the moon. Glittering baubles sparkled on top of the mantle. “I'll take care of the assassination.” I said, “You steal whatever you want. It makes no different to me.”

“But I want to help!”

I sighed again. Didn't this girl realize: No one in their right minds actually wanted to be an assassin. People became good at it, and it was profitable.

“You did help.” I said finally. “You opened the window. That's enough for now. Stay here and wait for me.

“But-”

“Or I'll reject your offer to escort you to Lord Necanda

Christen paled, in the moonlight her face looked ghostly. “You wouldn't. You don't reject offers.”

“Most employers aren't so hands on. Stay here.”

I turned and left the room, closing the door quietly behind me. I didn't need her messing things up for me. Assassin's assistant. It was laughable. I didn't need an assistant- I've been doing this for years, and I've always been able to get myself out of trouble.

Maybe except for when Tenlon grabbed me and I fell to the ground below. Then Christen pulled me away. But that didn't count, I don't think. That damned Halfbreed was a new level of being that I hated. Even thinking of him started making my blood boil, brought back Foster's screams.

I shook my head. Now was not the time to think about Foster. Never was the time to think about Foster. Assassin's didn't have time to weep over the dead.

I crept thought the hallway, and found a set of stairs before me. I couldn't see any other room on the first floor, and the hallway reached back into the darkness. I crept upstairs, inching our my up creaking planks. It could have been worse: the stairs could have been rotted. Thankfully they were well built and well kept and made little noise. I got to the top, and followed one large hallway. The bright moonlight glowed eerily through windows, covered in a pale, light white curtain. The light shivered and moved as the wind played with the curtains. Shades of blue and black were the only colors we saw playing on the seemingly ghastly pictures of ancestors which hung from the walls. At the end of the hallway, there were two doors. One was on the left, and one was on the right. I listened to the door on the right first- just a random choice. I heard no noise, and opened the door.

I found Lord Grisly. It looked as though someone had done the job before I did. He lay dead on the floor. Drying blood clung to his clothes, centered around a spot on his chest. Likely a simple, easy kill. A stab to the heart, and he was left to bleed.

Fine, Lord Grisly was dead. I could go back, tell Rick that I had killed him, made an example of him. Then I could get Christen, and leave town for a little. I didn't care who killed him, I wasn't being paid to kill a killer today.

I was almost to the stairs when I remembered something. I wasn't just supposed to kill Lord Grisly, I was to kill whoever it was that he had been sleeping with. The mistress.

The mistress. Could she have done that to him. It was my first guess. I didn't really care who did it to him, I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't done to me.

I turned and went to the other door, and listened carefully. I heard sounds this time. A soft, feminine muttering and the muffled moans of another man.

I changed my mind quickly. Maybe it wasn't the misrtress. Maybe that man wasn't Lord Grisly. Maybe Lord Grisly was still alive and ravaging his mistress as I stood, ready to leave.

I waited a moment, and realized quickly that there was no point in trying to be discrete at this point. If I opened the door, even if I was silent, so long as there were people awake in the room, they would see and hear me and try to keep me quite- likely in fun and imaginative ways. Better to just open the door quickly, and charge in.

Maybe.

I stood back and charged a much as the small hallway would allow into the room. The door opened, the lock breaking easily, and I was inside.

I was in a small bedroom. A plain wooden bed lay to one corner, cold and unused. Many candles glowed in the darkness. In the middle of the room was a young, red-headed boy with glazed-over eyes staring at a siren, who stood wearing only a sheath, holding a needle-thin dagger in her hands. The boy was unharmed, at least as of yet.

But I was in trouble.

Sirens are trouble for men, that's obvious, so my first logical thought was to run. My feet wouldn't move. Fine, that's fine, I could run at her and attack. My feet did move, but not as quickly as I needed them to. It was more like a series of slow, deliberate steps. Walking to my death.

The siren was beautiful. Her blue hair flowed around her as though she was submerged in water. Her figure was perfect- there was simply no other way to describe it, with a narrow waist, slender curving hips and full breasts, with pale skin like moonlight given living flesh. She turned and started walking towards me, her deep, dark blue eyes shimmering like water.

“Who are you?” She whispered, her voice fine and airy, as though it might disappear on the air.

“Stiri.”

“You're here to kill... me?”

“Yes.”

She came closer and ran one finger down my cheek. “Why don't you drop that silly dagger?”

A small part of my brain screamed out 'no', but I ignored it. If the siren wanted me to drop the dagger, then the dagger had to be dropped, otherwise she might turn away from me. I could never let her turn away from me. What would life be like if I did? How could I survive?

“Now, kneel down.” She said. I kneeled. “I want something from you.”

“What?”

“Your eyes.” She stared into my eyes, and slowly brought her thin dagger to my face. I would soon lose my eyes, so I had to take in all that I could of her face, remember every detail so that I could bring it up again at will- the eyes, the skin, the perfect nose, thin lips, the way the hair flowed behind her, the way she smiled, slightly pointed teeth glittering in the moonlight.

Suddenly I felt as though I had been struck on the head. I fell sideways felt my senses slowly trickle back to me. She had wanted to take my eyes! I was going to let her take my eyes! I scrambled to my feet and grabbed my dagger,

“What's happening?” Said a vaguely familiar voice. I turned and saw the red-headed boy, looking alert and awake, struggling to free himself from the ropes that held him. I stood up and spotted the siren and Christen. Christen had taken a tapestry from somewhere in the house, and had tackled the siren, covering her from head to toe. She had her arms tightly around her, keeping her from throwing the tapestry off. The siren's dagger lay on the ground.

I ran at the siren and plunged my dagger into the tapestry. The siren's form stiffened, and then fell limp as the tapestry was stained red. I moved back, and Christen let the siren fall to the floor.

“You almost died.” Christen said, gasping to get her breath back. I nodded.

“I know.” I said, “It happens.” I turned to the boy, who looked at me carefully for a few moments.

“Stiri! It's you!” he cried. I remembered him finally. Rico, from Primus, the firemage. I sighed and stepped towards him. I knelt down and sliced off the ropes that held him.

“Yes, it is. You seem to like getting involved with dangerous people, don't you?”

Rico gave a weak chuckle and cringed in pain. I frowned at him and moved his cloak out of the way. His arm had blood pouring down it, and his dark green tunic was stained with blood.

“You're hurt.” Christen whispered. She turned to me. “We have to help him!”

I shook my head. “We don't.” I snapped. I looked him over, and glanced at Christen. She was going to drag him out of here no matter what. “But, since I'm done here, I guess that it wouldn't hurt to get him out of here. We should leave anyway.”

Christen nodded and helped Rico up. Once he was to his feet, he gently pushed her away. “I can walk.”

“You two know one another, don't you?”

Rico looked closely at Christen for a moment. “No, I don't”

“Interesting.” I turned to Christen and waved a hand. “This is Christen Whyte, Lord Whyte's daughter, and-” I paused as Christen shook her head. I had been going to mention that she was also the barmaid from Primus, but if she knew that I was going to say that, she clearly didn't want me to. I guessed she was still ashamed of that, or those times were to be forgotten.

“And?” Rico said.

“And now she's a thief. And my temporary assistant. Christen, Rico- A mage....Who couldn't protect himself from a siren.”

“Neither could you.” Christen muttered.

“Fair enough.” I moved the tapestry covering the sirens slender figure and revealed her lifeless head. Even in death I could feel her beauty tugging on my mind. But it was weak. I shrugged it off and cut off a piece of her hair. “As proof.” I said. “I got paid in advance, but I might as well supply proof.”

“We should leave.” Rico muttered, a slight moan escaping from his lips.

“Yes, I need to take care of those wounds.”

Rico shook his head. “No... I mean, I need help... But there's a dangerous man here. We need to leave- now! I won't be long before he comes to check in on the siren, and see what she's gotten from me.”

“How did you get here anyway?” I demanded. Rico stayed silent. I sighed. “If it has anything to do with the Vanguard, or Vitam, or-”

“You know about us?” His expression turned suddenly dark, and the candles in the room flickered dangerously. “Who do you work for?”

“Don't get uptight.” I snapped, “I just happen to know. I'm not working for anyone.”

Rico chewed on his lower lip for a long few moments before he spoke again. “I suppose you know about the shard of moonlight?”

“... Shard of moonlight?” Christen asked, looking up from the lock.

“I'll tell you later..” I said to her. “Yes, I heard of it.”

“I was sent here to find out where it was. That was why I was in Primus... Not because of the shard, because of... Another item- a pendant.”

I grunted. I wanted to let as few people as possible know that I had it. Especially after what happened to Foster. I wouldn't let anyone know I had it. I wouldn't let anyone take it. “Let me see that arm.” I said. Rico looked at me for a moment. “That siren might have been using poison.” I remembered the corpse of the man in the other room. Could he had been poisoned as well? Rico nodded and showed me his arm,

“I came here.” He said, “ And climbed to the rooftops. But... Tenlon was already the- OW” Rico pulled his arm away from me. “That hurt!”

“It's poisoned.” I muttered without even knowing that I muttered it. Tenlon. Tenlon. The damnedHalf-breed that killed Foster so easily. I saw him, an image burned into my mind. Holding Foster up, Foster's neck snapping so easily under his powerful hands. “Did you say Tenlon?”

“Yes, he's one of Kos' men. He's a Half-breed, and very powerful, and he has the shard now.” He looked down at the floor sadly. “All I can do is hope to escape.”

I nodded and turned to Christen. “Take him to the caravan.” I said. I took a small key out of my cloak. “This will unlock it. There's a clear bottle with yellow liquid in a box on the floor. That will help his wounds. There's some poison, but it's not fatal. That bottle will help provided that you get him to it soon”

“Why, what are you-”

“I have something to take care of.” I snarled. “You can stay here and ask questions, or you can keep his blood from boiling and get him the antidote.”

“But what will you-”

“Go” I snapped. I pulled Rico and christen out of the room and pushed them towards that stairs. “I'll meet you at the caravan later. Wait for me.”

Christen looked at me intently for a moment, then turned and pulled Rico down the stairs. I waited until I couldn't hear them anymore, and ran down the hall. A moment passed, and I saw a ladder going into an attic. I climbed it easily, pulled my dagger out as I reached the top. The attic was cold and empty of everything but dust and birds. I saw what looked like a makshift door at one end. I hoped Tenlon was out there. I wouldn't kill him, I would rip off his wings and take away one of the few envious gifts he had. I would scar his face beyond recognition. I would happily sink my dagger into his feathery flesh. I knew that it was stupid. I knew he was more powerful than I was. Perhaps I could kill him, but not like this. However, overpowering as the voice of logic in my mind was drowned out by the sound of Tenlon snapping Foster's neck. The hallow thunk of his lifeless body hitting the floor. I wanted to kill Tenlon for that, and he was here, at this very house.

I was an idiot. I was a furious idiot, the most dangerous kind of person I had ever met. But for the moment, it was as thought my rage had just as much of a hold on me as the Siren had. It didn't matter what was stupid, what was senseless, just so long as I obeyed what the rage told me, what the blood pounding through my head, my viens wanted me to do, and the power that came from that made me think that I could kill him.

I swung open the door and looked around. The slanted roof rose up behind me. I climbed up and saw Tenlon, standing silently, looking into the stars.

“I hope you brought me information, Siren.” He said,

Without stopping, I ran into the room at the top of the stairs. Tenlon stood before a window. Before he turned, before he even saw me I was upon him. A roar of fury rang out through the rooftops as my dagger ripped through flesh and feather. My mind screamed out in feral exuberance. I felt my mouth form a twisted grin as I tried to stab him again.

I didn't get to stab him a second time. A flurry of wings and I felt his powerful muscular wing-tip strike me in the face. Blood ran down my cheek and neck. I was startled, and the wind in me stopped. I froze, and he struck me again. He knocked me down to the floor, kicked my dagger out of my hand, then kicked me.

Quickly, my blood slowed, and I was able to think. I looked around, the rage, the adrenaline I had felt only moments earlier faded, ebbed out of me with the fresh blood that ran from fresh wounds left from his sharp and deadly talons.

And now, I lay on the roof. I was a fool.

Tenlon let loose a terrible laugh, horrible laugh. “What a fool.” he said. he walked over to my dagger and picked it up from the floor. “What did you think you could do to me?”

“My job.”

“Oh? You were paid to kill me?”

I coughed, and tasted blood. This was very bad; one of his talons must have hurt me more thAn I thought. No wonder my blood wasn't pounding in my head anymore; it was flowing out of me.

Tenlon ruffled his wings, and then examined his injured wing. “You didn't even harm me badly. I can still fly on this.”

“Is.... Is that so..”

He clicked his beak. “I admit, I am surprised.” he said. “Surprised you survived, surprised you came here. Surprised you came after me like that. I had heard so many good things about you. Stiri, the cold-hearted killer. That is you, is it not?”

I gave a weak laugh. “It is.”

“Yet, here you are.” He knelt down next to me examining me closely. “Why?”

I coughed again, then turned my head to let blood pour out of my mouth. I tried to reply, but I couldn't. I was getting too weak.

Soon, It would be over.

My vision faded, but I could still hear Tenlon. “I suppose it's only human nature after all. Humans are such stupid, self-destructive things. They get angry or hurt, and they can't think for their own lives anymore. Better, I suppose, than the noble ones who throw their lives away in the height of their rationality.”

I tried to speak, but simply croaked, mouthing the words, unable to force my remaining breath out of my throat.

“Stiri.” He whispered. “I don't like you. Not at all. You have caused me a lot of trouble. Kos was very... Upset when I failed to bring you back. However, I cannot be blamed for your stupidity, not now. And, your stories have impressed me. So, I will give you a death befitting an assassin such as yourself. And with your own dagger no less.” He kneeled down, and pulled me up by the neck of my cloak. I felt the cold pendant tug at my neck.

“What is that...” Tenlon said quietly. I tried to lift my hand to push him away, but it felt heavy as lead. I felt heavy and weak. I didn't even hurt anymore. I was so tried. Then there was a flash of heat.

***

I woke up in one of the fields around Rawlin.The sky was clear and cold, and bright stars glowed around the slender slice of moon in the cloudless sky.

I sat up, my head throbbing with pain as I did. Christen and Rico sat around a small campfire. My caravan sat nearby, Dawn and Night chewing on some fresh grass nearby.

“What happened?”

Christen looked up from the fire and ran over to me. “That's the third time I pulled you're half-dead body away from something.”

I groaned and sat up. My body was stiff, but I was getting used to that. Rico walked over, bringing me a few bottles of potions. “Good, you're up. You can drink these now.”

I groaned and sat up, drinking the things Rico gave me. One I recognized, the others I didn't.

“Some of them are herbal remedies that I made. Not as potent as the potions, but still good.”

I drank more, and I felt the stiffness leave my body.

“There were a few wounds to your side that we could only bandage.” Christen said. “What were you thinking.”

“How did I get out?” I asked. Christen sighed and went back to her bread. Rico sat down and handed me one more container: My flask. I grabbed it took a long drink

“It was obvious you were going after the halfling. We didn't know why, but... Well, even you couldn't take a halfling on in an even fight. He was about to kill you, but Christen and I got there. I used all the power I could.. Used my flames to drive him away.”

“Did you kill him?” I asked. Rico shook his head.

“No. He flew away. He took the shard of moonlight with him. I actually thought maybe you were after that?”

I took another deep drink from my flask. I felt more and more human by the moment. “Why would I want that?”

Rico frowned. “You're pendant-”

“My father's pendant.” Christen interrupted.

“The pendant around you're neck, it's.. it's the one we've been looking for. Myself, Kos, Baliancia.”

Carelessly, I leaned back. “So, you found the pendant.”

“Yes. And so did Tenlon. He knows you have it now. You'll be hunted down by them.”

I shrugged. “I'm always facing death. It's part of the job. Besides...” I took the pendant out and looked at it. The cold, icy silver glittered in the sunlight. “Besides. I don't think I want to give this up yet. Not yet.”

Rico nodded. “You're stuck now though. No matter what, people will be searching for you. I'm not going to let the pendant out of my sight. The fact that you have no loyalty to any side is the only thing that kept me from taking it and running off.” He glanced sideways at Christen a moment, who looked from me to him, and then back to her bread.

“Also, I told me not to take it. Didn't seem right.”

“Whatever the reason,” I said. “I'm not stuck. I'm still an assassin, and I'll still act as an assassin. I don't care about Vitam, The Vanguard, Baliancia, or any other group of desperate dolts you can think of. I'm good at avoiding people who want to kill me.”

“Except for that Almond...” He said. Christen looked up again.

“Almond?” Christen looked up at me

“Yes, he wants to kill me... I killed someone-... I killed his lover. ”

Christen sighed and popped the last crumb of bread into her mouth.

“Where's my dagger?” I asked. Rico passed it to me.

“Tenlon dropped it.” He said. I nodded and put it in it's sheath.

“So, now what?” Christen asked. “You're going to be hunted now. You have to figure out what to do.”

I stretched and stood up. “Well...You hired me to bring you to Lord Necanda, didn't you?” I smirked. “Let's do that next.”