Industry & Intrigue (72 page)

“
Now,” she said. “Why don’t you
put the closed sign up and we can get back to where we were, before
being so rudely interrupted.” She pulled him towards herself and
locked him into a passionate kiss.

Chapter
72

A tall and lithe
elf with a shaven
head was chained to a chair. He was naked and covered in bruises,
sweat dripping off his body. Lucina had a revolver pointed at him
in her left hand and her right hand held a whip, part of which was
wrapped around her hand, while the rest dangled loose.

The whip
was made of soft leather and on
its own would not have caused much pain or damage to anyone. But
this whip had been modified. It had sharp barbs attached, designed
with hooks like the fangs of a snake. Once they pierced into flesh,
they would sink in deep and grab hold. If the wielder pulled the
whip back, the barbs would tear out chunks of flesh in the most
agonizing way possible.

The elf sitting in front of
Lucina was a fellow assassin, Sifyf or’Evro. He
specialized in poisons and had
established himself in the town of Kelburn. Kelburn was a small
town to the north of Longhaven, separated from the city by the wide
Hammer River.

“
Still so stubborn Sifyf. You’re
going to force me to use this.” She held up the whip so he could
see the gleaming points of the barbs.

“
You think you can intimidate
me,” he said. “You’re an idiot Lucina. You may as well take that
gun and shoot yourself in the head right now. It’ll be faster and
cleaner than taking on the Arm.”

“
So you know?”
she
asked.

“
Everyone
know
s. You
killed Handler Ral, the Prophet only knows why and you’ve gone
rogue. Orders are to kill on you site. Didn’t think you’d be stupid
enough to come this close to Longhaven. You should be on ship
headed for the other side of the world if you want to have a hope
of remaining alive.”

“
Why I am here is none of your
concern?” she replied. ‘What you should be concerned about is
telling me where the next
master hood ceremony is taking place.” Trained
assassins who completed all of their chosen kills were initiated in
a special ceremony that never took place in the same
location.

Sifyf
shrugged as much as he could in his
restraints. He didn’t want to cooperate. Lucina lifted the whip up
and swung it back. Then she brought it down with all her strength.
The snapping sound it made was ear-piercing.

“
Arrgh
!” grunted Sifyf. He had his teeth
clenched and was doing his best to ignore the pain as the barbs
penetrated the skin along his right arm. But this was the easy
part. He wouldn’t be so calm when she pulled it out.

“
Last chance to tell me what I
want to know Sifyf
,” she warned him. “Once I pull back on this whip, you
won’t be in much shape to tell me anything and then you’ll be
useless to me.”

He lo
oked up at her through his grimace of
pain and gave her a sinister smile.

“
Fine
,” she said and went to pull the whip
back. Before she had a chance, he was suddenly free from his
restraints and charging at her. She tried to pull up her gun to
shoot him but it was too late. He barreled into her, knocking her
back against the wall, the gun and whip falling out of her
hands.

“
You think I don’t take
precautions for someone ambus
hing me in my own home, you stupid bitch,” he said
and laughed. He slammed his knee into her stomach and she grunted,
it was hard to breathe. She felt him scratch something on her arm,
but it wasn’t painful. She pushed him away and looked for the gun.
She couldn’t see it anywhere.

She
suddenly felt woozy and dropped to
her knees, her vision was swimming. She heard Sifyf speak, but his
words sounded strange, slow and drawn out, “I’m a poisoner
remember. My house is stocked with the tools of my trade. Don’t
worry, what I gave you won’t kill you. It’s a paralytic agent.
It’ll make you nice and still, so I can finish you off at my
leisure.”

She had to do something
befor
e she
lost her senses altogether, she could already feel her legs going
numb. Sifyf approached and crouched down next to her, watching as
the paralytic took over her nervous system.

She tried reaching out to push him away,
but he easily swatted her hand aside. Her hand fell and touched
something, the loose end of the whip. The barbs were still embedded
in his arm. She clenched it tightly and pulled as hard as she could
with her remaining strength.

She heard Sifyf’s scream
through her dulled
hearing and felt his blood splash over her arm. He clutched the
ruined flesh of his arm. She grabbed the whip in both hands, the
barbs in-between and lunged at him, aiming the sharp metal points
at his neck.

In his assumption
t
hat the
paralytic had taken hold of her, he had made a grievous error. The
curved barbs cut into his throat and he made a choking noise. More
blood splashed down over her arms and clothes. Sifyf was still
struggling, so she grabbed hold of both ends of the whip and pulled
tight.

With the paralytic
in her system,
Lucina barely felt the warm blood spray onto her face. She let go
of the whip, her arms losing their strength and going numb. She
fell forward, her face landing against the wooden floor. In her
numbed state she didn’t feel uncomfortable at all, even with
Sifyf’s blood running along the floor and hitting her face. The
paralytic finally reached her mind and she lost
consciousness.

She had no idea how much time
had passed when she came to, but t
he sun was still down, so the paralytic
agent had only lasted a few hours. She stood up and wiped the
half-dried blood from her face and neck. She looked down at Sifyf,
the raw, open meat of his neck a testament to how much damage the
whip could do. She was not getting information out of him
now.

She went to the bathroom and
climbed out of her bloody clothes, then stepped into the
shower.
The
water was freezing, but she didn’t have time to wait for it to heat
up. She stayed under only long enough to wash away the blood. She
dried herself with a nearby towel and then searched for clean
clothes. They were in a basket outside the bathroom. She picked out
plain-looking brown trousers, a white shirt and a black jacket and
pulled them all on.

S
he recovered her gun then sat in the
kitchen chair, rethinking her plans. She had gone about this wrong.
She should have known Sifyf wouldn’t break. All she would get were
pieces of information, whittling away at the sides. The assassins
she confronted only had to get lucky once, like Sifyf nearly had
tonight.

If she wanted to reach the
higher members of the Arm, the Circle of Five, she needed to use a
different approach.
She could not get to them, so she would bring them out in
the open to her. All she had to do was kill enough of them and
interrupt their business that they would have to take action to
stop her.

She
wasn’t equipped for a task like this,
yet. She had hoped to ambush a master hood ceremony with handguns
along and take the Circle member conducting it alive. Instead she
settled on a different plan. She would need new weapons, long-range
rifles. And that would mean a trip to the House of
Blades.

She went
and searched Sifyf’s body. She
found a set of keys. She used them to unlock the large set of
drawers in the room. The first drawer contained nothing but
documents. The second was empty. But the third one was packed full
of fifty crown notes. She grabbed her bag and stuffed the money
inside. This would be more than enough to get her the weapons and
equipment she needed.

I wonder how Rius is
doing.
She was doing all
this to protect him, she hoped it was the right decision, but she
could think of no other way. The Arm had given her a life and
purpose but she would not let them take away her brother. The only
way to prevent that was to eliminate the threat, like she had been
trained.

The Arm of Assassins had
existed for centuries and survived wars,
vengeful emperors and martial law.
They trained assassins to be merciless and loyal, but they hadn’t
accounted for her sibling bond with her brother. Neither had she,
in fact. When she saw Rius again, she felt something; a part of
herself that she thought had been buried and put to rest many years
ago. Now that she had it back, she had to bury her life as an
assassin and the Arm along with it.

Chapter 73

“
You a
re certain about this decision Mr.
Galius? It is not something to do lightly or on a whim. You are one
of my brightest students.” said Professor Xerin.

Reese felt the
drakon’s dark green
eyes focus on him as if trying to read his intentions. “I’m certain
professor,” he replied. He had sat in his room for a long time,
thinking about his choices and he finally made a decision. He could
not stay here and continue studying, at least not right
now.

“
May I ask why you decided
to tell me first?” she asked.

He thought for a few moments
about
that.
“Your class is my favorite one. It’s what I’ll miss the most about
being here.”

Xerin n
odded, her draconic shaped jaw
curving in a smile. She looked glad to hear that.

He reached into his bag and
handed bac
k
the book that she had lent him. “Also, I wanted to return this
before I forgot. I won’t have a lot of time to read in the army,”
he said.

He had
already signed up at one of the
recruiting stations. He was due to report to Rainac Station at the
beginning of next week, where he would travel to the army training
camp. He would undergo rigorous training for three months before
being sent out for combat.

The drakon picked the book up.
“
Thank you.
I hope you found it useful.” She walked over to her bookshelf and
put it back in place. When she came back to her desk she remained
standing. “Mr. Galius I know you’ve suffered a terrible loss and we
went through hell up at Crean. The whole empire has gone through
hell, but you do not know what you’re getting yourself into. War is
nothing like how it is depicted in the history books. It is messy,
dirty and bloodier than you can imagine.”

She sounded like she knew what
she was talking about, but Reese remained adamant. “I’m sorry
Professor Xerin, but I’ve made up my mind
. I’m doing my part for our
nation.”

“
There are other
wa
ys-”

He didn’t let her continue. “I know, I
know,” he said. “One doesn’t have to be a soldier to help in the
war effort, but this isn’t about that. I’m doing this for myself.
It’s something I need to do.” He wished he could elaborate further
on his reasons, but he dare not say anything about his
sister.

I
t was irrational, but a part of him felt
guilty at what Lucina had started. The man she had killed is what
had led to the emperor’s death and started the war. He felt that he
had to make it right, even in only a small way.

Xerin sighed and sat
back
down in
her chair opposite him.

He hoped
that meant she had let it
go.

“
W
ell, Mr. Galius. I do not agree with your
decision. But it is yours to make, so I will do my best to respect
it.” She sighed again, “I am three hundred and eighty years old. I
have seen far too many people I care about die, especially in
war.”

“
But Weicarus
hasn’t had a war
since the Daiyun Ascension,” he said, curious at her
statement.

“
I was still in my adolescent
years during that and only remember pieces, but I am far more
travelled than most drakons. I have lived in many nations and seen
wars start for stupid reasons, stubborn reasons and fanatical
reasons. Once in a while for the right reasons, but it does not
happen often. I only hope that this is one of those, for I fear
that this war will grow far larger than either side can
anticipate.

Alkos has never faced an enemy
as capable and determined as Galria.
And already the elves are involved,
renewing their cycle of religious war.” She hung her head for a
moment then looked him directly in the eyes. “Make sure you are
fighting for the right reasons.”

“
I will
professor
,”
he replied. “Good luck with the rest of the class. When I’m done
with all this, I may come back and finish what I started
here.”

He stood up and bowed to her
in
the
appropriate Wei fashion for a student to a teacher. She had a
surprised look on her face at this unexpected display of culture,
but she made the return gesture with her hands and dipped her
head.

As he walked towards the
door
, she
said, “I’m glad to see that your interest in my books didn’t end
with the myths of the colossi. Farewell and good luck. I hope to
see you here again.”