FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (114 page)

     “Three blocks down, turn left. There’s a factory there that offers a good price
!
” answered Grace.

     Dawn brought the cart to the factory that Grace had mentioned. She let Grace do the bargaining and stood by silently. She saw the factory owner hand Grace a small bag of coins. Then the factory workers began to empty the cart’s contents.

     “How much did you get
?
” asked Dawn as she pulled Grace away from the cart so as not to be overheard.

     “40 gold coins,” answered Grace.

     “Give me 25. You take the rest and go back to Eastpeak Grand. Tell no one about me
!
I’ll hunt you down and kill you if you do. Do you understand
!?
” threatened Dawn.

     “I understand,” complied Grace as she gave Dawn the money that was demanded of her.

     “Goodbye, Grace
!
I hope never to see you again
!
” said Dawn as she walked off and disappeared into the crowd.

     Dawn walked briskly amongst the citizens of Timberstock. She looked casually over her shoulders a few times just to make sure that she was not followed. But she was
!
Soldiers from the local garrison were scattered all over the place, dressed in civilian clothes. They acted naturally and blended well with the crowd, so well that Dawn was not even suspicious. She walked down to another main street and then turned into one of the smaller streets. The soldiers were smart
!
They did not follow her into this street, but had comrades waiting for her when she emerged from the other side. And true enough, she emerged from the smaller street to join another main street without her suspicions aroused. She finally stepped into a carriage depot where she bought passage with some of the coins that she had taken from Grace.

     After Dawn had left the carriage depot, one of the undercover soldiers went into it and approached the ticket salesman at the counter.

     “That woman with the worn-out, oversized dress, where was she going
?
” he asked.

     “Sorry, we’re not allowed to divulge such information
!
” said the salesman.

     “Provincial Guards
!
” said the soldier as he pulled out his military-issued identification, which was a small, flat block of jade that had the Fallsian emblem carved on it; and held it up so that the salesman could examine it.

     The salesman was obviously shocked. Then he nodded his head to signify his willingness to cooperate.

     “Eastsands Town, Southern Falls Province,” he said.

     “Eastsands
!
Are you sure
!?
” asked the soldier.

     “Positive
!
She paid me eight gold coins. That is the exact fare
!
” confirmed the salesman.

     “The kingdom thanks you
!
” said the soldier and then he went away to report the information to Serene.

     Serene sent out orders, via despatch riders, to the soldiers of all the local garrisons between Timberstock and Eastsands to set up hidden observation posts. She also commanded them to give Dawn easy passage and to monitor her movements covertly. A despatch was also sent to Fallsene City to notify Ray and Clover of the latest progress and to redirect 1
st
River, Royal Elementhar Pond to Eastsands. Serene afforded herself a little smile. Her plan was going well
!

     About an hour later, Dawn stepped into a black carriage drawn by four horses. An elderly gentleman and a man in his early forties joined her in the cabin of the carriage. They smiled politely at her and afforded slight bows, which she returned politely. As the carriage started to move, Dawn closed her eyes and relaxed. She was out of danger and on her way home, or so she thought. Unbeknownst to her, Serene and a few soldiers from Garrison Timberstock were trailing her on horseback from a distance away.

     The journey to Eastsands took approximately a week. It was late evening on the
4
th
Day of Fifth Month of Dry Season
when Dawn finally arrived at the coastal town. After saying all her polite ‘goodbyes’, she stepped out of the carriage and walked towards the local tavern, a worn-down looking place called ‘The Spot’.

     “Good evening
!
What can I get you
?
” asked the barman.

     “Nothing. I am here to see Gust,” answered Dawn.

     “Go through that door
!
” instructed the barman.

     Dawn nodded politely to the barman and walked through the door that he had indicated. She went down the stairs and found two muscular men guarding an entrance.

     “Name and purpose
!?
” asked one of the guards.

     “Dawn Breven, Lead Assassin of the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan. Weapons purchase
!
” answered Dawn.

     “Hold on while I check
!
” said the guard as he knocked and entered the room.

     A few moments later the guard reappeared and gestured for Dawn to enter.

     The room was well lit. Its size was average but looked small due to the fact that there were a number of swords, daggers, bows, crossbows, spears, tridents and other edged weapons hanging neatly on the walls. In the middle of the room sat a fat, elderly man behind a small desk. He beckoned Dawn to the empty seat across the desk from him.

     “Miss Breven, how may I help you
?
” he asked.

     “I need a sword. Single-edged, straight blade, three-quarter length,” answered Dawn in the same business-like manner.

     “Is this to your liking
?
” said Gust after he stood up and took a sword sheathed in black scabbard and set it down on the table in front of her.

     “This will do fine,” said Dawn after she had drawn the sword out and examined it.

     Gust did not sit back down. He remained standing because he knew that if he sat down, he would just have to get up again to get Dawn’s next item.

     “Anything else
?
” he asked.

     “Tactical clothing, some rations, an emergency medicine kit and three sacks of explosive powder,” replied Dawn.

     “Anything else
?
” asked Gust after he put on the desk a set of black clothing, a backpack, some leaf-covered packets, a small wooden box and three small sacks.

     Dawn shook her head. Gust sat back down.

     “How much
?
” asked Dawn.

     “20 pieces of gold coins,” answered Gust.

     “I only have 15,” answered Dawn coolly.

     Gust sat silent. He thought about the situation for a moment. Would he be willing to get killed over five pieces of gold coins. No
!
His life was worth more than that.

     “15 pieces will do fine for the Lead Assassin of the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan,” answered Gust finally.

     “One last thing
!
Tell no one I was here, not even my clansmen
!
” instructed Dawn as she paid Gust the 15 pieces of gold coins.

     She then proceeded to supplement the contents of her sling bag with the rations and the medicine kit while she stuffed the backpack with the three sacks of explosive powder. The hunter’s knife and the sword, she placed with her bundle of black clothing.

     “Understood,” said Gust coolly.

     Dawn got up and walked casually out of the room. Gust got out a book and began noting down the details of the transaction that he had just made. For him, it was just business as usual. For her, however, she was embarking on something ‘different than usual’.

     Huge dark clouds covered the night sky as Dawn set out into Southend Forest at the edge of Eastsands. She was as dark as the shadows seeing that she had changed her clothes and smeared mud and dirt onto her exposed skin. Serene and her subordinates followed cautiously behind, trying their best not to betray their presence. But half an hour later, Serene realised that she had failed. Dawn had disappeared into the darkness, and neither Serene nor her subordinates could see her.

     Serene punched the ground in frustration. She signalled for her subordinates to gather around her.

     “Lost _ we have of this of Dawn Breven, so all of you are to spread out in pairs and search the area. Follow _ do of this to her if and when you find her, and when you have found The Lair, report back to me at Garrison Eastsands. Meet _ those of you who do not manage to find her, you shall do of this with me back here at daybreak,” instructed Serene.

     “Understood,” the rest whispered in unison and then they spread out in pairs, crouching and moving stealthily; searching blindly into the dark, dense forest.

     Dawn turned around. She thought she had heard something. She strained her eyes and ears. Yet she saw nothing and heard nothing. Did she imagine it
?
She was not sure. She decided to continue on.

     As Dawn continued on her journey through the dense forest her mind ran into overdrive. For the first time in her life she would be breaking into the clan’s lair. It would be no easy feat, but doable. After that, she had to locate her uncle and get him out. This part would be more difficult as Dawn knew her uncle would not leave willingly. He still had patriotic sentiments towards the clan, for it was only towards the clanmaster that he harboured resentment. How would she convince him to leave
?
Would she be able to do it in time
?
Or would he turn her in
?
No, he would not. He would try to convince her to rise up against the clanmaster instead. But she was not interested in a coup d’etat
!
That was not the answer that she was looking for. She wanted to go away and put everything behind her. She wanted to start life anew… and be ordinary, just plain ordinary
!
She wanted to be just a plain, simple, ordinary person living a plain, simple, ordinary life
!

     The familiar gushing sound of water greeted Dawn’s ears just as it had for so many years in her life. She was getting closer to home. She looked around in the dark. She managed to locate a huge boulder which she was familiar with. She stuffed her sling bag in a huge crack in the boulder after wrapping it with some large, waxy leaves. She then moved closer to the waterfall. She climbed the trunk of a huge tree nearby and tied into place a small sack of explosives with a long fuse that went all the way down to the ground. She called this ‘Panic-solver Number One’. Then she climbed down from the tree and crouch-ran towards the waterfall and towards her home, The Lair.

     The clouds cleared. The very dim moon above illuminated the silhouette of two black garbed guards crouching behind small boulders on a ledge either side of the huge waterfall. Dawn cursed to herself
!
She should have gotten more money from Grace. A few Airblades would prove useful in such a situation. But no matter
!
Dawn believed in working with what she had in hand, not what she
could have
had. So she drew out her hunter’s knife and crawled towards the closer of the two guards.

     Dawn gets to her knees. She takes careful aim and throws the hunter’s knife as hard as she can. The normally present whooshing sound gets drowned by the loud gushing sound of the waterfall. The closer of the two guards slump backwards as Dawn’s knife pierces one of his eye sockets. Dawn crouch-runs towards the remaining guard and draws out her sword. The remaining guard sees something moving in the dark. He gets up to investigate but it is too late as Dawn runs across the ledge to his end and slashes him in the throat. He too, dies silently. Dawn recovers her knife and procures a few Airblades, smoke bombs and pepper packets from the bodies of the dead guards; and with that, her weapons inventory is now complete.

     Dawn walked stealthily into the mouth of the cave behind the waterfall. The mouth of the cave led to a winding, multi-forking network of tunnels that were dark. This was the entrance of The Lair. It was an elaborate design created by her uncle long time ago to confuse and trap intruders. Due to her familiarity, Dawn had no problems avoiding the wrong tunnel paths, which were booby trapped. She also easily avoided the pits and large cracks in the ground, which would have sent her falling to her death if she had stumbled into them. Finally, after a quarter of an hour of feeling her way through the darkness, she saw lights coming from the main chamber of the cave. She was truly back home.