Valeraine was really getting tired of this. She had no idea how many of these rookies they’d sent after her, she’d lost count, and it was a real annoyance, an insult almost. She’d killed lesser kings in public and was never caught, so the fact that they thought newbies could take her down was an insult, and an unfamiliar, almost painful burning sensation ignited in her chest every time she spied more, inexperienced pursuers. What was this feeling, she’d heard the word used and understood the general causes but she’d never felt it in her memory, what was it? Frustration? Anger?
She sprinted tirelessly across the grassy hills of the Steppe. Her footfalls were repetitive, rhythmic, fast and only slightly audible thanks to her practice in remaining quiet while moving fast. It was time to teach these rookies a thing or two. So she took up a nice hiding place, in the grasses she was able to make herself look like the ground, making sure that the grass wrapped around her to cover her up entirely whilst she waited.
The first one came over the hill, quiet and to the untrained eye invisible, they might be rookies, but they were trained from infancy, so they were skilled assassins in their own right. Not as skilled as one with experience though, and it is because of this that this first assassin didn’t see her until it was too late, her long-bladed dagger buried up to the hilt in his side, piercing both lungs and his heart, the assassin soundlessly fell dead.
But that’s where her element of surprise disappeared. An arrow lodged itself in her thigh, making her grunt and stumble on the pained leg. A second attacker emerged from the side of another nearby hill, carrying a short, very short saber. She caught the bade on the crossguard of her dagger, and rammed her fist into the attacker’s chest, who planted his left foot behind him to prevent staggering, only to let her strike his throat. Even that wasn’t enough though. She had to gut him with his own saber before she could turn her attention on the archer, sheathing her dagger and taking out a more specialized knife, she let it fly, which buried itself in the archer’s hand.
The bow was dropped and the archer ran at her, a female this time. A dagger was drawn and another fight ensued. This time she took a cut across her upper arm and down across the hip before finally killing her opponent. No more enemies to deal with, but she definitely wasn’t running anywhere anytime soon. So she settled for a slow shamble.
She could just make out the shape of a man on a horse a ways to her left. But the Family's assassins didn't fight on horseback, so she wasn't worried about it. However this horseman would see her collapse after she made it about a hundred feet. She was bleeding out and the arrow in her thigh did a lot more damage than she'd thought it had.
Ablen
She sprinted tirelessly across the grassy hills of the Steppe. Her footfalls were repetitive, rhythmic, fast and only slightly audible thanks to her practice in remaining quiet while moving fast. It was time to teach these rookies a thing or two. So she took up a nice hiding place, in the grasses she was able to make herself look like the ground, making sure that the grass wrapped around her to cover her up entirely whilst she waited.
The first one came over the hill, quiet and to the untrained eye invisible, they might be rookies, but they were trained from infancy, so they were skilled assassins in their own right. Not as skilled as one with experience though, and it is because of this that this first assassin didn’t see her until it was too late, her long-bladed dagger buried up to the hilt in his side, piercing both lungs and his heart, the assassin soundlessly fell dead.
But that’s where her element of surprise disappeared. An arrow lodged itself in her thigh, making her grunt and stumble on the pained leg. A second attacker emerged from the side of another nearby hill, carrying a short, very short saber. She caught the bade on the crossguard of her dagger, and rammed her fist into the attacker’s chest, who planted his left foot behind him to prevent staggering, only to let her strike his throat. Even that wasn’t enough though. She had to gut him with his own saber before she could turn her attention on the archer, sheathing her dagger and taking out a more specialized knife, she let it fly, which buried itself in the archer’s hand.
The bow was dropped and the archer ran at her, a female this time. A dagger was drawn and another fight ensued. This time she took a cut across her upper arm and down across the hip before finally killing her opponent. No more enemies to deal with, but she definitely wasn’t running anywhere anytime soon. So she settled for a slow shamble.
She could just make out the shape of a man on a horse a ways to her left. But the Family's assassins didn't fight on horseback, so she wasn't worried about it. However this horseman would see her collapse after she made it about a hundred feet. She was bleeding out and the arrow in her thigh did a lot more damage than she'd thought it had.
Ablen
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