edonil Posted July 28, 2011 Report Share Posted July 28, 2011 Phelan stepped inside one of the sword strokes, barely getting his dagger into place to block the second one. His left hand lifted, gripping the pistol he had hidden in his cloak, and he shoved it in the man's face. The bodyguard's eyes widened, and then disappeared behind the flash and smoke. The assassin spun quickly, keeping the pistol up. Though old and battered, it still had two barrels, and he had another bullet to use. A grin tugged his face as the weapon lined up, and he pulled the trigger. His world evaporated into pain as the barrel exploded. The shards of metal bit into his hand and shoulder, and he dropped the gun, screaming in agony. The bodyguard clutched his eyes, screaming as blood dripped down his face like tears. Phelan dropped his dagger, grabbing at his hand, staring at it and breathing raggedly. Blood fell onto the ground, sliding out from around the pieces of iron that bit into his skin. The pain was more than anything he'd felt, and it so overwhelmed his world that he almost didn't hear the sound of a pistol being cocked. Tears fell down his face from brown eyes as he looked up, staring into the eyes of the last bodyguard, a hard edged young woman with a scar that ran from her temple to her chin. "By rights, I should kill you," she said. "But I think the Guild would be far more interested in killing you themselves. They take it very seriously when someone kills one of their senior officials." Phelan looked past her, and saw that the target was on the ground, no longer moving or breathing. An insane sense of hysteria went through him, and he started laughing. How close he had been! The woman snarled, and slammed the butt of her pistol against his head, and he faded mercifully into unconciousness. ------- "Wake him up," a cold voice said, drifting through the veil of dreams that Phelan was submerged in. He stirred slightly, and froze as he felt the bonds around his wrists and ankles. Where was he? Before his mind could process anything more, his head rocked back with a thundering CRACK. His eyes snapped open, welling with tears, and immediately he bit out a curse as bright light lanced pain into his already aching head. This time, he saw the slap coming, but could do nothing to stop it. "Mind your tongue around the Governer's Secretary, prisoner," the Guild Guardsman snapped. Phelan shook his head, and stared at the slight, unassuming man who stood in the doorway of the small prison cell he sat in. Impeccably dressed in the latest fashion, his face was expressionless behind a pair of glasses. The assassin smirked, and tried to stand, but found himself unable to. "You'll pardon me," he croaked, "If I don't bow." The small man nodded his head, and a third slap slammed Phelan back into the wall. The assassin hung loosely against his chains, coughing and hacking, blood spattering the ground. After a few minutes, the secretary spoke. "Tell me, assassin, do you know where you are?" "I can hazard a guess. The Guild prison." "Very good. Care to hazard another guess as to why you aren't dead yet? After all, you did just kill one of the most powerful members of the Guild." Phelan spat out a mouthful of blood. "If he was that powerful, he should've been more difficult to kill. But...if I'm not dead yet, I'm betting you want to take your time with it." The secretary stepped forward, and sat down in a chair that was in the room. "That's one possibility. It is, in fact, how this would normally go. But the skills that you showed were...impressive, to the right people." The assassin laughed, and God, how it hurt. "Who? The Governor General?" "The Governor doesn't frankly care about what happens to you. He only knows you exist because you've killed someone who belonged to him. As it stands right now, he's already signed your death warrant, and given it to me. No, young assassin, you haven't impressed him. But you have intrigued me. Which is the only reason we're having this conversation, instead of you waking up to the gentle courtesies of a torturer, before being given to one of our executioners." Torchlight glinted off the glasses that the secretary wore. "How did you kill that man?" "My target in the alley?" Phelan blinked in surprise, then decided answering would at least get this pain over with faster, one way or the other. "A blend of powdered poisons thrown in his face. An inhalant, to be sucked into his lungs, and a contact poison in the hopes that it'd get in his eyes. Both extremely potent and fast acting." "Interesting. Could you make it again?" "Of course. It's one of various recipes I've used over my career." Lucius leaned forward. "I have a proposal for you, then. I let you live, and you work for me. You'll create examples, and write down recipes, of all the poisons you know, and you will perform any assassinations that I require. And, you tell me the name of the man who hired you." "And if I decline your generous offer?" "Well, then we go back to that situation of how this normally goes. And you'll give my torturers the name of your client, and then those very same recipes, and anything else we ask. It won't be long before you start telling us things that we didn't even ask about, just to end the pain." Phelan grimaced. "Not much of a choice, there." "The real world doesn't care about giving someone a choice," Lucius replied. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a pen and a folded sheet of paper. "If you're interested, just sign your name on this contract." He handed the items to the Guardsman, who brought them to Phelan. The assassin had just enough mobility to take them, and open the paper. It was blank. "There's nothing written on here," he said, surprise coloring his voice. The secretary smiled slightly. "Of course not. If you agree to this, there's no way out of it. You belong to me, assassin, until you die, one way or the other." Phelan glared hatred at the secretary...and signed his name as best he could, blood dripping off his face onto the paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absolution Black Posted July 28, 2011 Report Share Posted July 28, 2011 I like it, and the character of Lucius is as i imagined him to act. Though he is described as wearing glasses... in the fluff he is always seen wearing a mask i think.... just a minor point, and it doesn't detract from a very good story that is developing well... more to come? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edonil Posted July 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2011 I like it, and the character of Lucius is as i imagined him to act. Though he is described as wearing glasses... in the fluff he is always seen wearing a mask i think.... just a minor point, and it doesn't detract from a very good story that is developing well... more to come? I went back to Rising Powers, and the only physical description I saw for him was a note of him wearing glasses and being a small man all the way in the epilogue...I liked that better than the mask, at least for story. And oh yes, there'll be more to come. Glad to see that I'm nailing the personality of characters that are already established, at least as far as you're concerned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absolution Black Posted July 28, 2011 Report Share Posted July 28, 2011 I went back to Rising Powers, and the only physical description I saw for him was a note of him wearing glasses and being a small man all the way in the epilogue...I liked that better than the mask, at least for story. And oh yes, there'll be more to come. Glad to see that I'm nailing the personality of characters that are already established, at least as far as you're concerned. Ok, must have missed that bit! You are free to continue! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatnicguy Posted July 28, 2011 Report Share Posted July 28, 2011 By chance i read part one of this today, found part two then you threw part three up! good luck for me! Great story and character, well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edonil Posted July 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2011 (edited) By chance i read part one of this today, found part two then you threw part three up! good luck for me! Great story and character, well done Thanks, glad you're enjoying it! I hope to work on part 4 some tonight, depending on how much time I have and how smoothly it flows it'll be up Monday at the latest...I hope, lol Edited July 28, 2011 by edonil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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