Dan gulped as beads of sweat glistened sliding down his nose. He was completely one with the shadows of the clouds, waiting for the right moment to grab. As long as he could remember, he had been taught to live in the shadows. He had no friends, no family but darkness. It was what had kept him alive till now. But tonight was different. He could feel it in the flow of the air, in the moonlight passing through the clouds; telling him, begging him Flee! Don't do this! But he couldn't turn back. In the guild, if and when you took a work, you either returned after completing it or you never returned at all. He watched the guards below him move away from his sight completing their cyclical route around the periphery of the keep. The walls of the perimeter was rough and easy to climb in the contradiction of the walls of the keep itself which were slick and smooth with fewer footholds. He reached for another foothold and slowly pushed himself upward.

Dan glided down from the second highest window of the keep, blending naturally with the shadows as if he were one with them. Guards within were less numerous than those without. Lord of the keep had complete confidence in the men of the sixth company of his army. Unfortunately Dan was the best at what he did. He crept from the shadows, gliding past half asleep men and moaning couples snuggling in the dark hiding from their Lord till he reached a large oaken door with exquisite carvings. The beauty of the door was of no notice to Dan as he slipped between the doors to go near the humongous round bed in the centre of the room. Though the room had a balcony, it was the most heavily guarded place besides the Lord's own room which had forced Dan to choose another route. The path to becoming the best at what he did was not made from just skill but also precaution and better judgement.

On the bed was a woman of delicate figure; her night garments made her figure more pronounced. Even while sleeping, her face had an alien heavenly charm. Her aroma was an exquisite mix of lavender and rose. Any man on watching a woman of such heavenly beauty, lying helpless, would lose all control and let his desires run wild. But not Dan. He had a task to complete. Beside the woman, in silk clothes lay a child, as oblivious to the world as the woman beside it. As Dan reached down to pick up the child, the child jerked up its hands as if sensing the movement and a smile appeared on its face. Dan froze as he calmed his breathing and then very slowly picked up the child and left the woman lying as she were. His task was half complete. Now all he had to do was deliver this child to the appointed place.

Besides the bay twenty miles from the keep Dan had just left behind was docked a ship. It was a merchant's ship; thirty meters in length and 15 meters in width at its widest towering another 10 meters above the water. The ship wasn't made for large voyages. Near the ship on the shore was a man garbed in a cloak. His face was shadowed by the dim moonlight giving off an eerie sensation. He had two swords hooked on the left side of his waist. Dan emerged from the shadows near the man cradling the child in his arms and said "I have the child."

"So I see. I must say I am impressed. A fortune worth spending. I take it that there were no ... unforeseen situations?" said the man with a slight tinge of muse in his voice.

"We deliver as we were asked to. We never go back on our word. If you have had any doubts about our ability you wouldn't have chosen us" replied Dan in a practised tone.

"Yes, yes as you say. Now I believe you would hand over the child" said the man.

"Yes, take him" said Dan handing over child. "Since the payment was already taken care off I would now leave"

"Wait a moment" said the cloaked man with the child in one hand as Dan was turning to leave. "There is the matter of an extra payment that I paid to your guild."

Flee! Run! Hide! Once more the wind howled into Dan's ears. Dan shifted uncomfortably on his legs. He knew nothing of this 'extra payment'. "What payment?" said Dan as he fumbled into his pocket for his devices. He was not sure of what payment the man was talking about. He was not sure why the winds were behaving so erratically today. He was not sure why he had been having this eerie feeling since he had embarked on his latest job. But one thing he was certain of. He had to flee. He turned and became one with the shadows just as the moon became covered with black clouds blocking out the scant little light present on the bay. He was sure in his abilities to flee. He never even heard the blade as it passed its throat. His last thought as he felt life leave his body was that the wind had betrayed him in the end, not telling him of the blade pressing on his throat.

"The payment for your silence" said the cloaked man as the moonlight once again shone on his blade revealing a long dark silver blade with blotches of red near the tip. He wiped the blade on Dan's clothes with one hand. The child in its own sleep jerked both its arms and legs with its small lips expanding in a smile.