Rain and freezing winds were constantly pelting me. High in the mountains, these storms were constant. I was hiking up the mountains following my prey. Earlier in the week, a shrine maiden had offered a great sum of coin to rescue people who were kidnapped and planned to be sold as slaves. The sum of coin was quite high some 1 million Terres. The reward was understandable if you take into account who exactly was kidnapped. According to the shrine maiden, the enslaved people were Wolf sprites. The planet of Vexel is an unforgiving, cruel world. Humans aren’t exactly the only intelligent species to walk the face of Vexel. Sprites, ogres, elves and many more species live alongside humans. Wolf sprites happen to be a rare sub-species of the Spirit kingdom. The other more common Sprites such as the Fox and Tiger sprites litter the world. However, Wolf sprites are only found in small clusters on Vexel. They are a highly protected and endangered species.

“Please, I beg of you assassin. Please rescue them and ensure their safe passage back home.” The maiden begged.

That was about a day ago and I still haven’t caught up with them. But I was gaining on them fast. Sometimes distant yells of the slaves or slavers would echo throughout the mountains. I had to move fast but quietly, I couldn’t risk giving away my presence. The harsh weather conditions were troubling but I didn’t falter, I kept moving forward. As night closed in and the conditions worsened, I was forced to set up camp in a nearby cave. Obstacles always tried to halt me, but I wasn’t going to give in.

“An assassin’s path is never an easy journey,” I told myself, reciting the words of my father.

I stared at the fire I had made to keep warm, letting the warmth seep into me. These few moments of peace and tranquility were rewarding to me, a rare delicacy for the troubling life I lead. The moment was short-lived as the noise of footsteps echoed in the cave drawing nearer. Had I been found out? No that was impossible. Hiding behind a slab of rock, I patiently waited for the person to come into the open. She suddenly burst into view, soaking wet from head to toe. She was one of the Wolf sprites and must have escaped from the slavers. I smiled knowing that I was not far from my targets. I observed the girl as she collapsed near the fire to keep warm. She couldn’t be older than twenty years old. Hysterical laughter emerged from her lips.

“I did it! I can’t believe I managed to escape. Freedom at last!” she said laughing.

I stepped out from my hiding spot to confront her. Instantly, her ears perked up and alerted her to my presence. She sprung up to face me but a deep gash on her right leg caused her to fall to the floor. She cried when she realized who exactly I was.

“You! You’re the Blade! The raiders must’ve hired you, didn’t they?! Here to bring me back, we’re doomed!” she yelled.

“Please calm down. I’ve been hired by the shrine maiden back at your shrine to bring you all back. I do not work for the raiders.” I reasoned.

I kneeled next to her and started to give her injuries as much relief as possible. It also allowed me to get a better look at her. She was one of the slaves alright. She wore a large dirty tunic, littered with holes and stains. Cuts and whip markings covered her entire body. On one of her ears, a price tag was placed. I quickly took it off. Once I was satisfied that her more grave injuries were taken care with, I gave her my rations, which she devoured.

“Listen, I need to know where the others are. They need to be rescued as well. Can you tell me exactly where these raiders are?” I inquired.

The Wolf sprite informed me that they couldn’t be more than a couple kilometers away from my current position to the east. She said while they were busy making camp that she and a few others ran for it but she was the only one who survived. The others were killed. I told the girl to stay put. I made my way to their camp, to end this chase. Three dead bodies were on the cold ground. I closed their eyes in respect.

“You’ve all died a noble death. May your journey to enlightenment come to a peaceful end. Now go, walk the stars and join your kin in the sky.” I preached.

Their bodies shimmered and vanished into the air. May they rest well I thought as I continued my way to the camp. Soon enough, I reached their camp. It didn’t look much to me. A big bonfire was erected in the middle of the camp. I counted only two tents, which I assumed was strictly for the raiders. All the slaves huddled beside the slowly dwindling fire. I counted ten captives, male and female and two were children all equally beaten like the girl back at the cave.

“Come out, come out little raiders.” I sang humorlessly.

Right on cue, seven raiders exited the tents into view. The party from the looks of it was composed of lookouts, swordsmen, and a leader; the common raider party. The leader called two of the swordsmen over, talking to them and pointing in my general direction. At first, I thought I had been spotted. But I dismissed the thought. They were a search party, for the girl back at the cave.

“Let the prey come to you,” I mumbled.

Things were already turning in my favor. The two search and capture raiders geared up and headed up. To conceal myself, I laid on the ground and let snow pile on me to make a natural camouflage. Heavy footsteps and the crunching of snow and ice gradually got louder. Only when the noise was starting to diminish did I move, following them from behind. Naturally, their guards were down not expecting anyone or anything to attack them. Walking in back of the closest one, I kicked him in the back of a knee, easily breaking the bones. As the immense pain registered in his brain, he crumbled to the ground. With a satisfying snap of the neck to end him, the other raider was pierced in the heart with a blade.

“Well, that’s two of them.”

Heading back to the bandit’s camp, I gleaming item slung on the back of one of the corpses caught my attention: a crossbow with a quiver filled fill bolts. Lady Fortune was blessing me today. Everything was falling into place, in my favor. I grabbed the weapon and its ammo and dashed to a nearby cliff that allowed a sniping position. The sprites hadn’t moved an inch; they were still huddled up together. The two lookouts were at opposite ends of the camp, doing anything but being lookouts. One was stargazing while the other was cleaning his rifle. The two remaining swordsmen surveyed the slaves.

“The leader is probably in his tent.”

My first priority was to eliminate the lookouts. If they were to spot me, they’d alert the others or maybe even kill the sprites, and I couldn’t risk that. The nearest lookout was the one stargazing. I loaded a bolt into the crossbow and took aim. The bolt flew and planted itself in the back of his head. I didn’t have time to be satisfied with my kill, as the snow beside me exploded. Yelling and shouting from the raiders and Sprites broke into the air.

Running downhill towards the rifle the stargazer had dropped, the other rifleman was constantly shooting me while the two swordsmen ran towards me. Ditching the crossbow, I grabbed the musket and made aim at the last lookout. With a pull of the trigger and an echoing boom, she dropped dead onto the ground. With the swordsmen closing in on me fast, the rifle couldn’t be reloaded in time, but it was still of use to me.

“Die asshole!” yelled a bandit as he raised his sword.

My reply was to hurl the rifle at him like a javelin. The rifle flew straight and true, stabbing him in the gut. Quick to finish the job, I yanked his sword out of his weakened grasp and stabbed him. Whirling around and bringing up the sword to block the incoming sword strike. We hacked and slashed at each other, but I couldn’t get to him.

“You’re pretty good for a bandit. Someone train you? A town guard?” I asked as our swords clashed.

He only grinned. “Nope used to be a soldier of the royal army myself.”

A former soldier of the royal imperial army. The Royal Imperial Army of Gaia is the army of the Imperial Gaian Empire. The Empire is the ruling Kingdom of Gaia. It controls the entire west of the continent. The other two kingdoms are the Sixth Sanctum ruling the east and the Valkyrian State to the south. When the Empire which is normally ruled by a king was suddenly ruled by a queen, not everybody was fond of the idea.

“So you left the army just because Rex’s daughter took charge?” I pressed on.

The bandit shook his head. “I got discharged for killing a superior.”

Bringing back my sword I attacked him again. As expected he easily blocked and parried it. I reached into my cloak as we backed off. I grabbed the object and threw it, which was easily deflected.

“A throwing knife? You doubt my skil-“

He was cut off as I thrust the sword into his neck, silencing him. The knife was a simple feint. The sword was dropped as I made my way to the Wolf sprites cutting of their bonds.

“What about the Captain? He’s still in his tent.” One asked.

“You can deal with him. It’s one against ten err eight if you exclude the children.”

I left them to their task as I went to go fetch the other girl from the cave. On my way, I heard what was a terrified scream and gunshots.

“We are forever in your debt assassin,” said the shrine maiden. “Here is your reward of coin as promised.” She handed me a bag with the coin.

I stared at the bag of gold coin now in my grasp. With this much coin, I wouldn’t have to take any new jobs for a long time. But I rejected the offer putting the bag in the maiden’s hands.

“Keep it. You’ll need it more than me. Use it to hire guards, to invest in better defenses. Use it to help aid your Wolf Sprites. I can make coin from other jobs.”

With that, I left the shrine and headed out.

“You’re the Blade aren’t you? The man who rescued us?” a feminine voice asked.

I turned around to face the girl. I recognized her instantly. She was the Sprite that tried protecting the two young Sprites. But that was all I noticed. Now being up close I got a better look. The first and most obvious thing was that she had three tails, which surprised me. I’ve heard of one or two tails but three? Her tails were two different colors. The right one was completely white and the left one was pitch black, while the middle on was a mixture of both. This trait carried over to her eyes and hair as well. I’d give her an age of seventeen.

“Yes, that’s me.” I bluntly stated.

She didn’t seem at all frightened by me. I was surprised, most people trembled in fear.

“Well sir, I just wanted to thank you for saving us.”

I blankly looked at her not responding. In all honesty, I took the job mostly because of the reward.

“Not the talker I see. Well, I'll make this quick. I want you to train me in the ways of an assassin.”

Surprise coursed throughout my body. Nobody has ever approached me and asked me to do anything like this. Jobs or bounties were the only things I was asked to do. Never to train somebody.

“No. you will stay here at your shrine. More people will just slow me down.”

“Jeez, your real gloomy aren’t ya? Look I’m asking to leave for a single reason.”

No response from me.

She sighed. “I want to leave this place, this shrine.”

“Why leave this shrine? Don’t Sprites live at shrines?” I asked.

“Normally yes, shrines are the only home for Sprites. It’s where Sprites search for Enlightenment. But I hate it here. I don’t know if you’re aware of the beliefs us Sprites, but the number three is considered as the unholiest number; the false number. I happen to be born with three tails. The Sprites here have shunned me no matter how hard I help. In our belief, I’m a Sprite who is born to represent the bad in life. My parents were embarrassed and humiliated when I was born and would still be.”

“They’re dead,” I stated.

“Yeah, they reached Enlightenment according to the shrine maiden. Look, Mr. Assassin, nobody will be sad to see me leave. They’d actually prefer it.”

I was backed into a corner by this stubborn girl. She was determined to come with me. If I refused she’d follow me or continuously be a bother. Killing her would be unethical and I am forbidden to do so. Accepting was my only option as far as I could see.

I sighed in defeat. “Very well, I’ll take you in Sprite. My word is absolute law.”

“I have a name you know. It’s Elrith. How about you Mr. Blade, what’s yours?” she asked.

“Seth Nox.”