Madeleine walked into the Irish port city. A single woman dressed in light armor attracted some attention, as did the fact that she was on foot. She was dressed in a red tunic and pants. She wore leather armor covering her torso, with the Gorgoneion of Mars stamped into it. She was slender but fit.Her long brown hair hung in a loose braid down her back. It did nothing to hide the large sword secured with a series of straps and buckles to her back. Its blade seemed to suck all the light in. It was wickedly curved and came to a very sharp point. It was at least as wide as its wearer's forearm was long, and taller than her.

This port was home to a crew of Irish pirates that must not reach Britain today. Maddie's superiors were very clear about that. Any surviving crew members would be seen as an inconvenience to be avoided.

Maddie wandered down to the docks, eliciting two kinds of looks: suspicion and fear. Walking through the docks, she found the right ship and waited nearby for the crew to finish their preparations. Once everyone was aboard, she walked up the gang plank. The sword was out of its sheath in an instant and the anchor chain was severed as she walked past. The ship began to drift away from the docks. One of the senior crew members noticed right away, but a sudden gale of wind pushed the boat out of the docks and out to sea. As the crew frantically tried to regain control of the ship, Maddie waited for the perfect moment to strike.

She started with a shadow step to the center of the deck. That usually scared her victims. With her abilities she was easily mistaken for a Shadow Walker; she used that to her advantage. Several crew members were cut down with a few swings to her blade. Their shouts alerted the warriors, who came out armed and ready for battle.

Arrows flashed through the air, heading straight and true toward the lone girl. With one hand she held up her sword, flat turned out. The arrows rebounded off the blade with a “tink.” She slashed in the air and a wave of shadow flew from her blade, slicing through the warriors in front. The wind picked up, pushing the boat further out.

Four pirates approached her from behind, trying to catch her off guard. She switched to a two-handed stance and pivoted, driving her sword through the lead pirate. She sidestepped another shower of arrows coming from behind. The pirate on her sword -- still alive somehow despite having almost his entire torso split in two -- was forced to move with her. She drove forward, flicking her blade down to free it from the pirate by cutting through his pelvis. The next pirate in line suffered the same fate, except she kept him on her blade as she turned, allowing him to take the next shower of arrows. She finished her turn, moving fast enough to fling the pirate off her blade. As she reached 180 degrees she sent put another shadow-slash at the other two pirates. The blade of shadows stretched in the air, cutting into both pirates, who had tried spreading out to flank her.

Maddie stepped back into the shadow of the mast and stepped out of one in the ship's stern. The archers and remaining pirates had no idea she would appear behind them. With a minimum amount of work she dispatched the rest of the pirates on the deck.

She stalked through the ship, searching for cowards. She found a few and dispatched them without fuss. Finally she reached the captain's quarters. She kicked open the door and dodged a blow from a longsword. While not approaching the size of Maddie's sword, the blade was at least three feet long. The pirate captain held it in two hands. He made another attack but she easily deflected it.

She stabbed her blade into the floor to keep it and ducked under the man's swing. She kicked his legs out from under him, sending him sprawling across the deck. She kicked his sword away.

This was the point where she went beyond her orders.

“What ship were you planning on raiding?”

The pirate captain snarled at her. She whipped her sword out of the deck and placed the blade gently on his chest.

“Answer.”

“Not a ship. A town. Caer Lug. Will you let me live?”

“Do you promise not to get another crew and attack the town?”

“I do.”

“That's nice.”

She pushed the blade into his chest, cutting through his ribs and into his heart.

Her work was done. Time to report back.