Blade(Part 1): Dawn

Chapter 5: Dameon

Learning how to fight swiftly, lurk through the shadows to go unseen, and watch the movement of enemy soldiers carefully were what Dameon knew for the next six months. Silas and Tashira had taught him and Sentia to fight with techniques that would counter the fighting styles of the Skaolan soldiers, even teaching them how to fight against the Undying, the special forces of the empire. They had also learned to use the strange equipment that Dameon found on his wall when he first woke up in the Midnight's Embrace. There were translocators, grappling hooks, flash grenades, sound grenades, and gravity charges that would prove more than useful in the work of an assassin. Dameon's skill with a sword had also impressed both Silas and Tashira. The blades that the Blades of Midnight used were made from mithril, which never lost its edge, and was incredibly light. Dameon now knew how formidable an enemy the Blades of Midnight would be to anyone who crossed them.

Sentia sparred with Dameon using a pair of swords, rather than a single one. She was fast, but just fast enough for Dameon to block every attack she threw at her with his cutlass. Sentia attacked aggressively, swinging her blades at every chance she could get. Dameon blocked and parried the ones he didn't dodge before attacking one more time. He raised his cutlass and swung it down. Sentia raised her two blades and blocked his attack, then Dameon swept her off her feet, knocking her to the ground. Before she could stand, he put his cutlass at her throat.

"I win," he gloated, then he held his hand out to her, pulling his friend to her feet. There were many times when they sparred that Sentia had won, and there were as many of those moments as to how many where he won against her. They were evenly matched in terms of their skill with blades.

"You're good," Sentia complemented.

"So are you," Dameon admitted. Suddenly, the doors to the courtyard opened, and both Silas and Tashira came walking through.

"You two," Silas announced. "It's time." Dameon could feel excitement rush through him. He knew what was about to happen, what he had worked towards for six months, and what he had suffered for. He sheathed his blade and approached Silas, while Sentia approached Tashira.

"Time for what?" Dameon wondered.

"You first official mission as a Blade of Midnight," Silas enlightened. "It is something you will have to remember everything for. Everything you've learned will be tested tonight. Your skill, your stealth, and your willingness to take a person's life." Dameon had no problem with that. He had seen people die at the hands of the Skaolan Empire, and now he was ready to return the favor.

"I won't disappoint you," he promised.

"I know," Silas assured, handing him a dark folder. "That's everything you need to know. I'll warn you now, though. Your target has connections all throughout these colonies. You must carry out this assassination very carefully and discreetly."

"Will it be a difficult mission?" Dameon wondered.

"Every mission is a difficult mission," said Silas. "Now, head out when you are ready. Go."

Before rushing into an enemy fortress, Dameon retired to his quarters and went over the folder that Silas had given him. It was a detailed analysis of a fortress that used to be the village of Pyusu, in Esmijan. It was a more recent conquest, with a large stone wall being erected around the tiny hamlet, and its villagers being enslaved. Dameon's target was a Skaolan General named "Fallah". Fallah had apparently taken Pyusu because it was right next to a vein of various kinds of the magical malakyte crystals. Dameon had enchanted his cutlass with a blue crystal of storm malakyte to electrocute whoever he stabbed, along with just killing them. There was no telling how many men that General Fallah had with him, guarding the village and the mine, or how many of the villagers were still alive. Dameon would find that out when he arrived there. For now, all he needed to know was that General Fallah was a bad man, and needed to die. That was good enough for him. He went to the wall that held his weapons and banged the knocker on it. When the panel of weapons and equipment was revealed, he equipped the rifle he saw on his first day in the Embrace, a dagger that had a mithril blade, and a pistol for his weapons. For his tactical equipment, he chose a translocator, a pair of electronic binoculars, and a grappling hook pistol. Dameon left the sound and flash grenades where they were for now. He had to be discreet, as Silas warned. For that reason, he also fitted both his rifle and pistol with suppressors that would dim the glow of the plasma bolts fired from them, and muffle the noise they made. Dameon looked at what he was carrying. If he was careful, he could go unseen in the shadows, and could carefully kill anyone who was unlucky enough to spot him. He was ready. Dameon turned to the door to leave, and found Sentia there, also fully equipped with her blades and firearms.

"Where are you going?" she wondered, as they both walked down the corridor to the vehicle garage.

"Pyusu," Dameon enlightened. "In Esmijan."

"Really?" asked Sentia. "Tashira is sending me all the way to Esturg."

"Who are you going to kill there?" Dameon wondered. "I have to kill a Skaolan General."

"I think my target is a General, too," said Sentia.

"Lucky," Dameon jested, as they arrived at the large doors to the garage. Dameon walked towards a small dropship of Skaolan design. He and Sentia had learned to drive their vehicles, too, in case they needed to make a quick escape from danger. It was noon, so Dameon would probably arrive in Esmijan by midnight, and Pyusu an hour later if he took the large dune buggy that had a machine gun turret on top of it.

"I'll see you tomorrow," said Sentia, as Dameon climbed into one of the buggies. "Good luck."

"You, too," Dameon wished, and he opened the garage doors before the jungles before driving off on the dirt trail laid out in front of him. He drove south, and the sun began to set after several hours. Dameon stopped for a moment to snack on nuts and fruit he had packed for the trip, then continued the long drive. The sun eventually set, and it was midnight by the time he crossed the northern border of Esmijan. Pyusu wasn't far away, now. After another hour of driving, Dameon saw the lights of towers in the distance. The jungles were less dense, and he could clearly see the stone walls that were built around the village. The quarry of malakyte crystals must have been just beyond the hamlet. To avoid being seen, Dameon stopped his buggy behind a dense bush before covering it with a few huge leaves and branches he had cut down from low hanging trees.

"Alright," he sighed, pulling his dark Blade of Midnight's hood over his head. He then climbed the tree his buggy was parked under and took out his electronic binoculars. He spied the village through them, but there was no one there. There were only a dozen tiny houses in Pyusu, but there were no villagers or Skaolan soldiers. They must have all been in the quarry next to it. Dameon jumped down from the palm tree, then approached the wall before the village. He shot his grappling gun to the top of the wall, and pulled himself onto the ramparts. There were still no soldiers of Skaola in sight.

"Where are they?" Dameon whispered. He walked along the top of the wall, looking to the deserted village. When the deep quarry came into sight, two Skaolan soldiers also did. Dameon jumped from the wall, landing inside the village before crawling under a large bush. The young Blade then took out his suppressed rifle, aiming it right at one of the soldiers' heads. Both of the soldiers stood next to a siren that they could turn on at any time and alert the entire camp if something was wrong. Dameon needed to kill them both quickly and quietly. The rifle was silent as it fired a dim plasma bolt at the first soldier, then the second one before he could sound the alarm he stood next to. Dameon then crawled out from under the bush and climbed the wall. He looked out into the deep quarry that was dug out in the ground. It almost looked like a huge crater with a hundred soldiers guarding it and slaves digging it. A few soldiers held whips along with their rifles and khopesh blades. Dameon dreaded the sight of the villagers in ragged and tattered clothes being lashed by the ruthless soldiers. They held pickaxes that they used to mine glowing crystals of orange flame malakyte. Every one of the Skaolan soldiers wore black armor, and had helmets with crests of a golden eagle grasping a snake in its talons. Through his binoculars, though, Dameon spotted one soldier that wore red armor instead of black. He must have been General Fallah. He was at the top of the other side of the quarry, with three other black-armored soldiers around him. Dameon had found his target. As he took a step forward, though, he felt something cold against his neck. It was the end of a long, flat hook. Dameon's heart raced as he felt the blade press even harder against him, then he looked behind him. It was one of a pair of Yeiwynese hook swords, both with a hilt that had a shorter blade that was just inches long on the pommels. A girl with brown skin, slightly brighter than the skin of the Skaolans' was holding the hook blades, and she wore a suit of leather armor. Her hair was as dark as the night and her eyes were as blue as the sky. At first, Dameon thought the girl was a Huntress or another assassin, but then he saw a necklace that held the sigil of a winged shield with a golden eagle around her neck. The warrior wasn't a Huntress or a Skaolan. She was a Guardian.