The Broken Assassin : Prologue

The patter of rain drowned out most noises, only the boom and rumbling of thunder
cutting through it.A lone figure made his way through the moaning wind and the
occasional sheets of water. Lightning lit the sky, revealing a starless, cloudy
night and a modest town. Dressed in dull black clothing, a sword strapped to his
left, only the brief moments of light allowed him to be seen.

         Finally, as he neared a rundown building, he could hear something other
than the storm. He stood outside the door of the Siren's Song inn. The tall,
lanky man lifted his long leg, slammed his brown boot into the door. He fell
hard onto his ass.

         "Damn, that's what I get for trying to look cool," he muttered. His pants
were wet before, now they were soaked through and his butt covered with mud. Smack
-ing his rear clean, or relatively so, he pulled open the rather sturdy door. The
calming scent of rain and dirt was replaced by the stink of sweat, beer and cheap
food.

         He scanned the room. Just as he was told, his mark was sitting in the back,
right corner, surrounded by four armed men. Something nagged at him, it felt too easy.
A barmaid served them their beverages, their leader decided he wanted more than that.
He snatched her small wrist with his meaty hand, placed his palms where they didn't
belong. His goons merely laughed and urged him on, meanwhile the other customers
pretended it wasn't happening.

         The dark man's calloused hand rested on the pommel of his sword, he shook
his head and walked over to the table. His four guardians glared at him, clearly
eager to fight. The old, balding bastard was quite oblivious to the stranger.
Brushing his long silver bangs from his gray eyes, he set his face to a grimace.
Each of them was armed with a longsword, all four bearing the seal of the king.
It was sad how power corrupted the weak-minded.

         "Die, Major Karreg," and with that the inn burst into chaos. The four
guards shot out of their chairs, two of them hitting the floor. The Major shoved
the girl away and joined his men.

         "What the hell is this, an assassination attempt?" spat Karreg. People ran
out quickly, none eager to catch a careless blade being swung about. The first charged
him, sword drawn. He slashed downward at his shoulder, the assassin merely shifted his
body to dodge it, leaned forward and slammed his left elbow into his teeth. The man's
long brown hair moved with the impact, he was out. Not even a second later a stockier
fighter swept out with a horizontal strike, barely clipping the assassin's black shirt.
Just as the blade went past, he rushed forward and gave him a backhanded fist from hell.
As he fell his right cheek rippled and turned crimson.

         Two remained, they glanced to eachother, not eager to repeat the mistakes. These
two were clearly much smarter, they waited for him to make a move. The assassin blew at
strands of hair that blocked his view. Thinking him distracted, they attacked in unison.

         The assassin drew his sword, parried a thrust, ducked under a slash, shoved his
blade through the bottom of the taller guard's jaw, then punched the older one right in
the nuts. Karreg was quite pale now, backed into a corner, his sword drawn and shaking,
pointed at his reaper. "I-I..please don't kill me. I'll give you all my money!" pleaded
Karreg. The dark man swayed a bit and frowned, walking toward him. Karreg attacked,
but the assassin merely grabbed his wrist, spun him around, and snapped his neck. The
deed done, he turned around, only to stare at the point of a huge sword, held by an even
taller man with short, wavy black hair.
         
         "You're coming with me, Uzriel Raven."