Ascendant

CHAPTER EIGHT: THE CRACK IN THE GLASS

Runa traveled by dragon southeast until she reached the shores near Nagu, Finland. Stepping off the saddle of her dragon. She put her hand on the scales of his head and gave it a small kiss. "Get out of here, boy. It's time for me to be as invisible as possible," she told him and it made a gurgling noise before its wings hit the ground and it took to the air, a black form against the sunset as it flew west and out of sight.

She was grateful that she got here at night. It would be easier to hide, especially in such an uninhabited place.

She pulled a green cloak over her shoulders and put the hood over her head as she headed further inland, finding the road and traveling close enough to it to see where she was going but not so close that she would be seen by someone.

The landscape here was tall grass, dotted with trees here and there, the road a barely traveled trail of two lines from carriages.

It took her about an hour before even seeing anyone else around. It was a couple of horses that were leaving to go to the port, their riders a couple.

Runa kept silent as she stuck to the tree she was near, the trunk wide enough to hide her completely. From there, she studied the man on the horse but noticed he was too young to be her target. So she let them by and moved on.

Seeing lights ahead, she eventually arrived at a small village of four buildings. From there, she knew where she needed to go. She took south, where there was a road hardly traveled nearby.

She followed it all the way to a sawmill at the edge of the woods, a small lantern hung outside the door of the thatched roof stone house.

Since there were a couple of windows in the house, and she wasn't sure if anyone was outside, she kept low to the ground and ran silently towards the huge piles of lumber stacked high around the mill.

Out of sight, she sat there before making a plan. Of course she couldn't help but wonder... why Tempus Mora would want this man killed. What did it have to do with his conquest and how would it help anything? He was so far out here it was clear all he wanted was a quiet life?

But she didn't have all of the facts. So she wouldn't question it. She had a mission, and she would follow that through.

Quieting down, she listened carefully but heard no one around. So she got up and ran swiftly to the wall of the house, sticking close to the back door to listen to whomever was inside.

There was no noise. So she had to scoot to the window to listen more carefully. And here, she could hear the faint sound of a metal tip scratching parchment; a quill.

She had to stay perfectly silent for about fifteen minutes, filtering out the sounds of the forest in order for her to hear better.

Confirming there was no one else in the room—at least no one who was awake—it was time to move in.

Pulling out her dagger from its sheath, she moved upwards to peek through the window of the stone house. But just as she did, she caught sight of her target—a man of about age thirty-seven with greying blond hair and matching beard—just as he was sitting at his desk near the window.

She moved back down quickly, hoping she wasn't spotted. But listening to the sound of his quill on paper still, she realized she was hidden.

Now that she knew where exactly he was, however, she could strike.

She walked in the grass along the wall, turning the corner to kneel beside the back door. Finding it unlocked, she shed her cloak and opened it as slowly as she could, careful as to not make one singular sound.