Road Trip

      So far this trip has been very quiet. Peaceful even. The birds chirped out loud, bees pollenated flowers, chipmunks chattered quietly. The breeze was nice, calm and subtle. Flowers filed my nose with pleasant smells, making it nice and relaxing as we trotted through the hills.  Even the horses, normally wild and rambunctious, where enjoying the nice day. I felt at ease and at peace, despite having added baggage on this trip. I think my out burst earlier set tone for the trip. Which I was grateful for. Chatting wasn't necessarily my forte. Especially with men. Only Sebastion and I would talk openly to each other.

      "How far is this place?" I could feel the reins gripped tightly in my fists as Aspin spoke. The calm and wonderful feeling lost with his irritating words. Every ounce of my calamity was out the window. Aspin had asked this question five times already and it was grinding my nerves. I glanced over at Sebastion and he rolled his eyes. Irritation written plainly on his face as he stared ahead. 'Their skills might be of use.' Master you are so horrible.

      "We are passing through Drako's territory. It would be best if you kept quiet, Aspin." I threw over my shoulder. Not that I wasn't already itching to kill something. A few men wouldn't hurt us, but unfortunately the Master wouldn't be pleased. Especially if I lost my temper and Aspin some how managed up dead... We might have to kill bigger pray when we go hunting next time. The challenge might ease my nerves. Anything but a damned bear.

        "So we might get to see you in action?" I imagined him bouncing up in the saddle like a child. A big grin upon his face as he gripped the reins to his chest. Such a child. 'He is impressionable.' This kid was going to drive me nuts.

        "Master does not want us to get our hands dirty. But if it where to come down to it, then yes, we would fight." Aspin gave a soft squeal.

        "Can you please share an assassin story? I think the idea of an assassin is so cool." Sebastion and I glanced at each other. He had absolutely no idea what it was like, and it wasn't something I wanted to share openly with him either.

        "It's not everything it's cut out to be Aspin. Believe me, you would rather not hear them."  I grimaced just thinking about all the men and women I've killed, and how blood thirsty I was now. The Guild turned an innocent child into a ruthless machine. I was not proud of who I was. I was only impressed by how long I have survived.

      "Stop pestering them Aspin. They don't want to talk about it." Merrick hushed him. Aspin sighed heavily and went quiet. The only thing that broke the silence, was the horses hooves as we continued on our journey. Quiet once again. Wait, were where the birds? I held my hand up to signal them to stop. I felt the dread flow through my veins as I pulled on the reins. How long have the birds been quiet? That was usually a sign there was trouble in the area. So close to the border as well? It couldn't be a coincidence.

   

      "Something is amiss. You two stay here and watch our backs. Signal for us if you find someone of something. Sebastion, let's scope it out." I dismounted my horse with one graceful kick, landing with a soft thud. I pointed towards the tree line, casually walking to it. With a signal, I motioned for Sebastion to mask up. If Drakos men where around, our cover would be blown and gods know what would happen. I can't go back to the Guild, not a chance.

      A few more steps and the stench of rotting flesh hit my nose. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. From the smell, it had been a few days since the fresh kill. As we grew closer to the dense bushes my stomach further clenched displeased with the smell. What ever it was, there seemed to be a lot of it. Bile rose in my throat, wanting to vomit from the horrid smell. This was definitely the spot.

        With a quick flick of my wrist, I pulled a single blade from it's holster and cut the bush down to reveal to decomposing human bodies. Mostly just scraps left. Bones where visible as they laid on their backs, faces frozen in horror and pain. Most of their skulls where now visible as they decomposed. Clothes tattered and torn, there skin cut up, sections of flesh missing from their torsos, legs, and arms. Bite marks appeared numerous times from hungry animals.

      Flies swarmed around the bodies, eating away at there decomposing flesh. I grimaced as I scanned over the blood bath. A piece of blue catching my eyes. I grimaced as I casually I crouched next to a dead body, and with my sword picked up a piece of blue piece of fabric. It was a small square that was frayed around the edges. A piece of a North Eastern Tunic. Must have been a guard. With the border not to far ahead, they probably heard a noise and got jumped by some animals. I looked up to Sebastion, who was shaking his head slowly.

      "Looks like a few unlucky North Eastern Soldiers. The bite marks on the body seem fairly fresh. Which means these guys have been here long enough to get snacked on." Sebastion Pointed to the leg of the dead solider. Chucks missing around the pale leg. I rose to my feet, pushing down the feeling of unease.

        "What ever attacked them could still be in the area may it be wild or human. With the body so decomposed its hard to tell cause of death. With it being so close to the territory border, I'd have to say foul play." I rubbed the back of my neck uncomfortably as he continued to speak. Of course that was always an option too. North Eastern Kingdom wasn't exactly known for it's open arms and polite charms. Their Alliances change like the winds direction. With their territory also being on top of a diamond mine, they where the perfect targets.

          "We should scan the area and see if we can get a better idea of what happened. I'll have Merrick and Aspin send back a message to Master. At least that's what we'll tell them. If this was foul play and they are still nearby, we could have a fight on our hands. I don't know about you, but I don't trusts them to hold out with a group of Assassins." I nodded my head in agreement. Merrick was old, not frail, but he might falter and make a mistake which could get him killed. Aspin was still so young and naïve, I wouldn't put it past him to be so arrogant and try to fight his way to death. Sebastion and I know their tactics and can handle them on our own. It wouldn't be the first time I had to kill a group of Assassins.

        "We'll radio the Master as soon as we get an idea of what transpired." Sebastion clapped me gently on the shoulder as he left me to talk to the others. I could faintly hear him in the distance as he spoke urgently.

          "Get a message back to the Master. Tell him a handful North East Kingdom soldiers where murdered just on their territory line. Its hard to gauge how long they've been dead. Their bodies are too decomposed. Hopefully we can get more info as we continue our search. Once we scout out the area we will continue with the plan." Merrick, With a firm nod, motioned to Aspin and they took off like rockets with their horses. Their hooves kicking up a plume of dirt as they went.

        Grimacing, I stepped over the dead bodies and further into the tree line as Sebastion headed back my way. The smell only grew worse with every step further into the forest. I came upon a cluster of bushes right before a clearing and pushed my way through, something feeling off. When I gained my footing and looked up. I held in my breath as we came across a whole field of dead bodies. Mostly those of the North East kingdom. These where more recent. Their bodies where still significantly intact compared to the other two. Turkey buzzards circled the air above, waiting to dive on their meals.

      "What the hell..." I whispered looking at the sea of bloated bodies. We where no strangers to death, but this was remarkably overwhelming. I mean it looked like a whole platoon had been leveled out and tossed aside. This wasn't just foul play, this was a planned attack. I had a sinking feeling I knew who it was against too, because no ordinary group could cause this much damage.

        "Come on. Let's try our comms and see if we can report back." Sebastion muttered, walking back towards the horses. Being this far out, I would doubt it worked. Our comms where one of the very few sources of magic that worked. Magic had been dead for a long time. They had been banned by Drakos's great great great grand father Malfathicus. So our possession of these items was highly forbidden and was grounds for death. That was why we only shared comms between Sebastion, myself, and the Master.

          I followed Sebastion closely behind, stepping over bodies as we went. My stomach still continued clench tightly at the sight. It wasn't until we got back to our horses that the smell faded. But the gross feeling still lingered. We each dug through the side saddle pouches and pulled out small, round, black ear pieces. We each held one bud in our hand as we carefully placed them in our ear.

        "Can anyone hear this?" We waited patiently as we listened to the white noise. Sebastion tried again. There was a crackling that came over the ear piece.

        "Sebastion? Have you made it?" The Henchman came over the comms. Sebastion sighed rubbing his head agitatedly.

        "Not quite, we've run into a problem. Aspin and Merrick are already on their way back." There was a pause on the comms. He must have went to get the Master. Another crackle.

        "What's going on?" The deep rich tone of the Master came over.

        "There has to be at least 40 dead North East soldiers. They have been sitting for a few days now considering they have sat long enough to get eaten. But there are no other signs of another attacking party. It's.....bizarre. We felt it was safer for Merrick and Aspin to head back. We are going to scope it out more." Another pause on the comms. Sebastion and I passed worried looks. He was not normally this quiet. Would he make us turn back?

      "It's too risky. Come back now. We don't know what we are walking into. It could be a trap." Master's voice came on the radio. We could handle it. We've dealt with worse.

      "Are we not Assassins? This looks like the work of Drakos with how much blood shed their is. We will pop in and out and be back before tomorrow morning." I offered. The silence continued, it was long and it made me nervous. What was he doing that it was taking so long to communicate with us.

        "I have sent help. If you are to get ambushed, he will more than help you get out unscathed. Do not move from your location until he is there with you." Master was stern in his tone, so I knew he meant business. If we where to disobey there would be a consequence. Sebastion didn't look pleased but said nothing against it.

        "Yes Master. His name?" Sebastion replied, tone quipped. Thin ice Sebastion, I thought as I glared warningly at him.

      "Drake. That's all you need. He isn't too far from your location, so hang tight." The crackling stopped. I took the ear piece from my ear and shoved it back into the saddle bag.

      "We could have handled this. Why does it seem that with Drakos we where actually respected for our skills, and with this guy, it seems that he can't even trust us to do a simple scouting mission." I angrily sighed at him. He could be just as annoying as the other guys sometimes.

      "Do you have to question everything? Can't you behave and obey? I don't like this either, but I'm not gonna sit there and question everything he does. We aren't allowed too. Just be thankful that you aren't suffering anymore, yeah?" He closed his eye angrily, and then sighed with defeat.

      "I know Aria. I know. I guess I would just ask for a little more freedom. That's all." I knew how he felt. But unfortunately with our freedom, we would become terrible killing machines, and that's what the Master didn't want. His intentions where good.

      "I suppose it's for our own good. After all, we are still blood thirsty, are we not? Are we still not Drakos's trained monsters? He has always had his reasons. So stop questioning him."  I know sometimes its hard to trust people. It takes time, but after 3 years, you think you could start to. Right?