Incineration [I]

Cottage Murder

We land in a heap outside of a small cottage in a secluded part of the woods. Trevor starts to get up, but I pull him back down as I see a cloaked figure enter the cottage. The room was lit up. Whoever lived there, they were home. I peered through the small window to see what was happening.

"Kayla? Is that you?" I suddenly heard a man's voice call. "I've started dinner and-"

The cloaked figure ran over to the side of a shelf that was hidden in the shadows.

"What?" gasped a man. "Who are you? Show yourself!"

The figure limped out from behind the shelf and looked up at him.

"So sorry, sir. I have been travelling, and I am weak... I came across your cottage and thought it wasn't occupied..." She groaned. The figure was a woman. She collapsed to the floor. The man gasped.

"Oh, are you okay? Here, come." He said kindly. He helped her to her feet and led her over to a couch, where she lay down.

"Now, what is your name? Let me get you some food too." He said, waiting near her.

"Rose," She said, opening her eyes a tiny bit.

"Well, Rose, I'll get you some tea to wake you up, and you rest your head. My girlfriend will be back soon, and she'll help you better than me." I heard him walk off. "She can get you the right things to fix you up, so you'll be back on the road."

"Thank you. Can I have your name?" The woman asked weakly.

"Matthew. But you can call me Matt if you want." He replied from in the kitchen.

I watched as the scene unfolded, but still couldn't believe what I was seeing. The woman's cloak shifted in just the right way, and I saw the tattoo on her forearm. A tattoo of a snake wrapped around a knife, the symbol of an assassin.

In a moment the man returned, balancing a tray in his hands with a cup of tea and some shortbread. He put it on the table near her and she lifted her head. He smiled at her as she lifted the tea up and held it to her lips. She was about to take a sip when suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"Matt! I'm home!" I heard from outside.

As Matt went to greet her, the woman carefully got to her feet and held a knife beneath her cloak. She backed up, flicking a lamp off to hide in the shadow as she drew out the dagger...

I watched Kayla walk in, with three small birds riding on her shoulder. Matt shooed a squirrel out the door. As Kayla turned, her eyes met the woman's.

I tried opening my mouth to warn them, but no sound came out.

Kayla's eyes widened, the pupils dilating to specks. She stood there in shock and her boyfriend turned.

"Matt!" she shrieked, not looking at him. "There's a woman in here!"

That was the signal that the woman needed.

She leapt from the shadows, her dagger aloft. The couple leapt out of my way. Kayla screamed as the knife shot towards her, and all I could do was watch as it sliced through Kayla's fair skin and she collapsed to the ground.

"Kayla!" yelled Matt, running to her.

"No!" she choked out.

"Listen to your lover, Matthew. Step away or I'll have to kill you too. You know me, you die." The woman snarled.

Matt choked back a few tears as he stepped away and Kayla's still body rested against the floor. He pulled a device from his belt and flipped a switch on it, making him vanish in a puff of red light.

"No!" The woman screamed. She tore off through the woods, in pursuit of her prey.

"Trevor, we have to follow her!" I saw that I was in the clearing of a forest, with pine trees that touched the sky.

He slowly got up, exhausted from his flight here and having to carry me around.

"Okay, let's go." He said after a few moments. We followed the woman until we came to a large meadow, where she lay against a large oak tree.

Trevor and I hid in the nearby trees, not revealing ourselves, but listening, always listening.

I suddenly heard rustling in the long meadow grass as a newcomer approached.

"What do you want, Selina?" The woman growled.

The newcomer was a young girl whose long black hair was streaked with blue, and who wore a black hood. Her eyes were golden like an owl's.

"Rose, I have a message." She said quietly.

The woman, Rose, got to her feet with a groan and waited.

Selina put her hand into her cloak and drew out a letter. She started reading aloud.

"Rose Asgravard and Selina Karen, we are delighted to inform you that the Princess, Taylor, has finally taken the throne. We know we have all been waiting for it, now the event has come. Feel free to come to the castle as the new Queen has a message for you. Take care.

- Angelina Fore."

The next thing I heard was a chorus of shouts and cheers. It was wonderful news for the two assassins.

The sucking sound confirms my next thoughts: They are headed to the Pyrobian Palace.