FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (100 page)

     “But Founder Menox, I look ridiculous
!
I look like one of those expensive porcelain dolls that are displayed at the shop windows,” protested Dawn.

     “Yes, Dawn; but it’s what the mission calls for, so you do what the mission calls for, right
!?
” said Eclipse.

      “Right
!
” said Dawn.

     Half an hour later, everyone was out there on the busy streets. Hay, Eclipse and the rest of the trainees were walking slowly down the street in their Receiver and orphan disguises. They were there to watch and learn. Smugglin’ Sam, Venom and Dawn were seated in a carriage that was parked at one end of the street. Smugglin’ Sam held up a large piece of paper. On it was a sketch of a young woman. Venom told Dawn to memorise the woman’s face, for she was the target.

     A few moments later, she appeared, the young woman whose face was sketched on the piece of paper Sam was holding. She was a cheerful young woman. But then, why should she not be
?
She was just recently married, and she had just come back from her honeymoon. Her husband was a handsome, dashing Deputy Governor. Not only was he handsome, but he was of wealthy parentage and he held a high-paying job. She was looking forward to the bright days ahead of this new life that she had just started.

     Dawn got off the carriage and ran cheerfully down the street towards the young woman. In her hand, she held a bouquet of fresh tulips. She then approached the young woman, smiled and gave her the bouquet.

     “Pretty flowers for a pretty woman,” she said.

     “Thank you, little girl. That’s so sweet. Did my husband put you up to this
?
” responded the young woman.

     “They’re fresh. Smell them,” said Dawn.

     “Mmm… They
are
fresh
!
Thank you, little girl,” said the young woman.

     “Bye
!
” said Dawn as she ran cheerfully down the street.

     At the end of the street, Dawn got into another carriage. Immediately, that carriage started moving away. The young woman took but a few more steps before her smile turned into a constricted look of pain. There was no scream or cry for help. She just collapsed onto the ground and died. Passersby had initially thought that she had fainted. But when they checked for her pulse and realised she had none, they yelled out desperately for help. Nearby Provincial Guards came to assist. But nothing could be done except to carry the body to the nearest garrison to search for her next of kin. The young woman was dead. And no one could help the dead.

     Dawn meet up with Venom and the others half an hour later at the room in the inn where they were at earlier.  Smugglin’ Sam shook her hand and congratulated her on a job well done.

     “Why did you want her dead
?
” asked Dawn.

     “As a warning to her husband. If he doesn’t turn a blind eye to my smuggling operations, I’ll kill his entire family. Of course, you know who I’ll hire for that job if it becomes necessary
!
” answered Sam.

     So that was it
!
That was Dawn’s first kill
!
All she had to do was to act innocent and lace a bouquet of tulips with poison. Then she had to get her victim to smell the tulips and breathe in a lungful of poisonous vapours. It was
that
easy. And she had not even graduated as a fully trained assassin yet. She was beginning to see why Smugglin’ Sam was so useful to the clan, for only he could have provided such a poison.

     Stack and Grain’s mission for Smugglin’ Sam was to assume the disguise of schoolboys and help kidnap the son of a rich shipping merchant. They did so by entering the target’s school, stealing the sandwich that their target was eating and then running out of the school and into the city streets. The target, of course, chased after them. When they reached one of the quiet back alleys, the target was kidnapped by Smugglin’ Sam’s goons.

     The third and final mission of Smugglin’ Sam propositions involved Dart, Joy and Flutter. They were also dressed as schoolchildren. They were brought to a particular house to knock at its front door. The excuse was that they were students selling biscuits to raise funds for their recently burnt down school library. When the house owner opened the door to answer, Smugglin’ Sam’s goons rushed in and beat him to a pulp. Then he was warned to stay away from a particular woman, whose boyfriend had paid Smugglin’ Sam handsomely to deliver this message.

     And with that, the trainees’ field trip to Fallsene City came to an end. It was quite a productive trip and Venom was very pleased with it. Not only did the trainees get to observe the different mannerisms and dressings of the city and village folks, but some of them had managed to get some practical experience as well. As such, the trainees became well versed in the art of disguise, which was the point of the whole trip. The clan managed to earn some coins on the side as well. And earning coins was what it was all about
!

     Dawn came away from the experience very happy and proud. She could not wait to tell her uncle about what she had done, or more importantly, what she had managed to do. She was sure that he would be proud of her. Every kill and every mission accomplished was a step closer to getting her, her uncle’s and the clan’s vengeance upon the evil government. And the evil government must be made to pay
!!!

     Stack and Grain, however, were hiding their true feelings all the way. Stack had an aversion to killing, thanks to his grandmother’s indoctrination. Grain was just not interested in killing. He just wanted to read books, or maybe write a few for a living. Besides, he doubted his ability to survive his training. He was still weak, the weakest of the batch. And perhaps where strategy and deception were required, he could still deliver. But when the more physical aspects of assassination came into play, he had always found it difficult just to keep up, let alone perform and deliver.

     Joy and Dart felt happy that they had managed to play their part convincingly. Joy began to wonder if she had the talent to be an actress. So she could be an actress by day and an assassin by night. The idea sounded great to her. She was sure the clanmaster would not object. An actress would be a great disguise for an assassin. Or was it an assassin would be a great disguise for an actress
?
Besides being happy, Dart was glad that he did not make any mistake during the mission. He was beginning to feel confident in himself. Perhaps he might make a good, or even a great, assassin after all.

     Flutter was angry
!
The first mission should have been hers, instead of Dawn’s
!
How was she ever going to win Hay’s heart if she was relegated to only minor roles in minor missions
?
She needed to dazzle, to be seen, to be noticed
!
She needed to be the first in her batch to achieve a kill
!
But instead, that prestige went to Dawn
!
Why
!?
Why
!?
Why
!?

     The caravan was back at The Lair two weeks later, and after a short break of three days, the trainees were back at their assassins’ training.

     Several years had passed, and Dawn had reached the age of 15. This was the critical year for her and her batchmates. This was the year where they either graduated or failed, and it usually meant that if they survived, they graduated; and if they died, they failed.

     Dawn, Stack and Grain were summoned to one of the briefing chambers. The trainees were joined by two ‘Chosen of the Clan’ clansmen. This was the term used to identify fully trained and graduated clansmen who were active assassins. Those assassins who had served honourably to the age of retirement, which was the age of 60, were termed as the ‘Honoured of the Clan’. The two ‘Chosen’ clansmen were named Claw and Spike.

     The trainees sat down quietly. Dawn felt a little bit anxious. This was to be their first proper assassination mission. This was also to be their final test. This was to be the end of their many years of training, and suffering. This would either make their parents and loved ones proud, or curse them with a great deal of grief. Stack, meanwhile, felt a little bit of dread. He still loathed the idea of killing another human being, and this mission signified a critical juncture for him. This mission would force him to compromise, nay; it would force him to abandon his principles completely. Or should he abandon the clan instead
?
Grain, meanwhile, felt very nervous. He was still weak. He had always been weak. He knew this fact very well. The years of training had toughened him up, but had it toughened him up enough to accomplish and survive the mission
?
Would he, could he pass this test
?
Or would he end up as a lifeless body stripped of clothing and identity, just like the many failures who came before him
?

     Venom stepped into the briefing chamber a few moments later. He began the briefing. The first item was the mission objective. The clan had been hired to assassinate a wealthy businessman in Fallsene City. The reason why they were hired to assassinate him was, of course, insignificant. Somebody paid good money, 1,500 gold coins in all, to end his life. So his life must be ended
!
The name of this unfortunate businessman was Abacus Watt. For this mission, Spike was designated as mission commander. Claw was designated second in command. Then the order was Dawn, Stack and lastly, Grain. They were given the mission designation of Kill Team One. This information registered a fact in Dawn that did not register in Stack and Grain, that there was a Kill Team Two.

     Venom then got into the second part of the briefing, which was profile and background information. He told them that Abacus Watt was a son of a wealthy businessman who sold furniture. After his father’s death, Abacus took over the family business and expanded it. As a result, he owned not only a furniture factory and several furniture stores, but a great number of grocery shops, hair salons and clothing boutiques. He had a wife and three young children. The Watts called Number 7, Street 4, Fairweather Zone, Fallsene City their home. His wife was a housewife. His three children attended Fallsene Goldenprosper Educational. Abacus was a heavy smoker. But he neither womanised nor gambled. And he was not a heavy drinker. He was an industrious man by nature, always working until very late at night in his office. He was also slightly paranoid. He employed a number of bodyguards to protect him and his family. There were no less than 15 bodyguards on duty at any one time, divided between protecting, him, his wife and his three children.

     Next, Venom briefed them on the assassination plan. The client wanted the assassination to be done brutally so as to send a message. As to what the message was or to whom it was addressed was insignificant. As such, a very complex plan was devised. A direct attack at the target’s home was required. This meant that they had to get through the bodyguards protecting him. The plan was divided into three complex phases.

     Phase One was intelligence gathering and infiltration. Stack and Grain were to take up the guise of farmers transporting grain on a horse-drawn cart. They were then to ram their cart into one of Abacus’ maid, kill her and make it look like an accident. This would create a job vacancy at the target’s home. Dawn was to then apply to fill up that vacancy. Once inside, Dawn was to function as a maid until the time of the assassination. Meanwhile, she would have to learn the layout of the house and identify potential entrances, exits and death-traps. She was also to learn the duty patterns of the bodyguards and identify any weaknesses in their procedures.

    Phase Two was execution. At the time to be designated by Spike, Dawn was to poison the bodyguards to weaken or kill them. The rest of the team would then sneak in and brutally kill the target in front of his wife and children. Then they were to exit the house as fast as possible.

     Phase Three was evasion. After the assassination, the team was to hide out at Soft Pillows Inn for two months. As this would be a high profile assassination, it was expected that the Fallsian Military would conduct a massive manhunt for them. Numerous roadblocks and house to house searches were expected. Travellers into and out of Fallsene City would be subject to thorough searches. The whole city could go into a lockdown. But the lockdown would not last for more than two weeks. The city’s economy would be ruined if the lockdown lasted any longer than that. And when the situation cooled down, the team could then return to The Lair.

     Venom then opened the floor to questions. Spike and Claw had a number of technical questions for Venom, but the three trainees just sat there silently. They did not even know what to ask. All they knew was that this was a complicated mission with multiple phases and there were many things which could go wrong with it. And if the mission went wrong, they would be dead
!