[Cspace]

Toward the north and west edges of town, there exist the broken remains of what used to be a wall. It used to surround Maldenar, but today this is all that remains of it. The highest sections of the wall are about seven feet high and three feet wide.

A few knights are stationed here to help defend against attacks, as the wall still provides some protection for this side of town.

[Darkness]

Rahvus began walking at a brisk pace down a street chosen at random, listening carefully for footsteps. Shadows stretched long across the streets as the sun began to sink below the horizon. He turned down road after road, passing abandoned inns and shops. Trash blew randomly amongst small possessions and items dropped in the people's haste in fleeing the city. Rahvus stopped for a moment to look at a small doll with a painted face, that someone's parent had spent so much love and time in making. A little girl somewhere was probably missing that doll.

He removed it from his mind and continued on. It wasn't a long time of walking before he saw the old, ruined walls that surrounded some parts of the town. He strained his ears harder, trying to hear... And then the sound met him. The soft padding of boots on stone. Gazing around, he saw a long shadow moving in his direction from a perpendicular street to him a few yards off. Moving down a parallel street, he glanced across the wall before him. Lodging his foot into the corner of a window, he pushed himself up and jumped. His hands latched onto a post parallel to the ground, from which an inn's sign was hanging. It creaked softly as he pulled himself up on top of it. Walking onto the roof, he moved across and gazed over at the guard moving along the street.

Rahvus pulled himself over the roof's apex and dropped softly onto the street a couple yards behind the guard. His landing was soft -- his training assured that -- but at that distance, the man would've had to have been deaf to not have heard. The guard turned, obviously not expecting an attack. Rahvus leaped at him, drawing a knife from the inside of his sleeve in one fluid movement, and fell on top of the guard, quickly pinning him to the ground. But the man was already dead. The knife had been stabbed cleanly through his neck. Blood already poured from the wound.

[Cspace]

"Villain!"

A knight happened to look just in time to see the assassin do his work. He draws an impressive sword and lifts a wooden round shield, threatening he who murdered the knight.

Pointing his sword toward Rahvus, the sun's light dances across the silvery blade.

"Come fight me, you coward!"

[Darkness]

Rahvus looks up at the voice, a bit startled but, of course, not showing the surprise. Drawing the blade from the dead man's throat, another one seems to appear in his other hand from no where as he pulls one from his sleeve. Standing from the corpse, he pauses for a moment, looking at his opponent. Sometimes the Aderonians were just too honorable. If the knight had simply attacked Rahvus instead of calling out to him, he might've had a bit more of a chance. But that would've been unjust. And therefore the knight would have none of it. Their honor would eventually be the death of him. At least, that's what Rahvus thought.

It seemed almost that perhaps there would be no fight, as Rahvus stood there for a full five seconds moving as much as a marble statue. And then in a fluid movement, he threw a knife straight at the knight with deadly accuracy, followed a moment later by another. The blade from his other hand joined it a half second later aimed several feet lower in the hope that by blocking one the guard would expose himself to another. But it was not over. Another blade quickly followed the first two, and then another, as Rahvus pulled blades from his sleeves. Reaching into his robes, another knife followed, and then again. Then, reaching behind him, he pulled a dagger from a hidden sheath situated between his shoulder blades, and that too was sent soaring at the knight -- and all of it so fast that it might seem almost a blur of flashing blades.

[Cspace]

The knight was ready for Rahvus to try something like this, but not with so many daggers. He intercepts two blades with his shield, and with great skill bats another away with his sword. He then quickly jumps to his left and ducks behind a fallen piece of the wall. Blades whistle past, but one strikes his leg causing a somewhat deep wound. If it weren't for the distance, he would not have had a chance.

The knight cannot walk right now due to the injury, so he remains behind the rock and prepares for Rahvus to approach. One would assume that an assassin would take the opportunity to escape, but one can never be too careful. There's nothing else this knight can do.

[Darkness]

Rahvus wanted no witnesses. Besides, he wanted his knives back. Drawing his sword in his left hand and, with another small twist of his hand, wielding another knife in his right, he moved forward, his footsteps so soft in his leather boots on the dust and stones that there was no sound at all. Hopefully, the guard had thought that he had run away. That would make finishing him off much easier. Or, even better, perhaps the man was paralyzed by fear. Unfortunately, being a seasoned Aderonian soldier, that was unlikely. Those of Aderon were known for their courage and honor.

Hopefully the element of surprise would once again help him. The wound that the guard now sported on his leg would likely keep him from defending himself as well. With any luck, he would be dead in seconds. He moved into the line of sight that had been hidden from him by the ruined wall. The moment the guard came into view, the knife flew towards the man's abdomen. A moment after it, Rahvus lunged, bringing forward the sword to stab as soon as he got within range of the guard lying against the wall.

[Cspace]

Without being able to react or speak, the knight drops his sword and falls back, slain by Rahvus.

[Darkness]

OOC: Woot.



Rahvus moved forward, rather sure that the guard was dead but unwilling to let down his guard until he was sure. As he neared the seemingly fallen man, he nudged the guard's thigh with foot. There was no movement. Other than, of course, that which was caused by his foot. Kicking the sword from the man's grip, Rahvus leaned forward and felt for a pulse in the neck. There was none. Now rather sure he was dead, Rahvus pulled the knife from the guard's leg and placed it back in one of the many hidden places, and then got a firm grip of the man underneath his arms and dragged him over to the broken sections of wall. Hoisting him up, he pushed him into a hollow crevasse that was created, no doubt, when the wall was broken. He then proceeded further down the street, collecting the knives that had fallen haphazardly after they had missed their target.

The assassin then returned to the body of the first guard he had killed. Stripping the corpse of its armor, he quickly placed the armor over his own clothing. He then dragged the body of the guard to the same place that he had hid the other and pushed it into the same hollow cavity. Looking around at the scene of the killings, he frowned for a moment at the stains of blood. It was very unlikely that anyone would pass through here before he was done with his work, and even if they did, they would probably pay no attention to the blood. But even so... Going back to the bodies, he tore a few pieces of cloth from one of the corpse's outfits and placed them over the blood. He then kicked dirt and dust from the ground over it all, hoping to make it seem as if this cloth was simply a remnant of the citizen's fleeing. Assuming this was enough to keep him concealed, he continued into the city -- stopping only once to ask a guard where he might find the command center.

[Neraphym]

Riach approaches the city walls to find this area devoid of any guards.

Riach: "Hm, this looks like a good place to sneak in."

Under cover of darkness, Riach slips through the gap in the fortifications. While walking through, she steps on a piece of cloth haphazardly strewn amongst the sand. She figures it must have been discarded in haste by the hordes of townsfolk fleeing the city. That is, until the smell of blood pierced her nose. She looks down at the cloth, which is where the smell of blood seemed to be coming from. She picks it up to find fresh blood underneath, though mixed with sand.

Riach: "Fresh... and it looks like someone wanted to conceal it with this cloth. It was very expertly done, too. No human would have picked up this smell...."

Riach hears the sound of clinking metal from a crevasse in the wall. She goes over to examine the sound. As she approaches, a rat flees from the crevasse! Riach is startled, but not enough to keep her from noticing the fresh blood staining the rat. She looks into the crevasse to find the corpses of two guards. They have been slain! Riach is concerned, and stops to think of what to do next. It does not occur to her that if she is seen near these bodies, others might think that she was the one who killed them...