Blade(Part 1): Dawn

Chapter 18: Dameon

Dameon and Silas both crawled through a crack in the bottom of the walls in the back of the mansion before making their way through to the underground tunnels beneath it. They both had their dark hoods over their heads as they made their descent. The stone walls of the corridors made both assassins uneasy. They were old and crumbling, as if the slightest disturbance could cause them to collapse. Dameon had his cutlass drawn, while Silas held two large daggers in his hands. There was no way to tell what was in front of them, since the tunnels were dark and dreary, especially with the stars out. The tunnels were at least dimly lit, but only to where the assassins could see a few feet in front of them. They both began to hear the noises of conversation as they came to a turn in the corridors. Dameon and Silas pressed themselves against the wall opposite of where the voices were coming from, and waited for them to pass by. They were probably Skaolan soldiers. The assassins overheard their conversation as they drew closer.

"So, the King sends a Shadow to protect Nouzari instead of having us as his guards?" one of the soldiers complained.

"Well, they are King Aziz's elite fighters," the second one reminded. "Their power comes from the Abyss."

"I just cannot help other than to trust our sword arms rather than ancient myths and legends," said the first soldier.

"Then trust the sword arm of the Shadow that is at Nouzari's side," the second soldier advised. "He wants us down here for a reason, and that's good enough for me." As soon as the two soldiers turned the corner, Dameon thrust his cutlass forward, running its blade straight through his chest, while Silas stabbed both of his daggers into either side of the second one's neck. They were dead before they could draw their own blades, and the two assassins kept moving forward. They found a door with a glass window in it that had "Conference Room" for a label, and heard more sounds of people talking on the other side. Dameon took out a fragmentation grenade and jiggled it, quietly asking for Silas' approval. The older assassin shook his head.

"Too loud," he mouthed silently, moving his lips instead of talking. Dameon then took out a flash grenade, and Silas gave him a "thumbs up" sign with his hand. Silas looked away as Dameon hurled the device through the glass of the window. A flash of white light came from the other side of the door, then the assassins threw it opened and rushed in. Dameon took the head off a red-armored Skaolan General, while Silas threw his daggers at the necks of the black-armored officers. Filing cabinets lined the wall opposite to the door, and a map of Orathan's northern landmass was hanging on one of the side walls.

"I'll go drag those two soldiers' bodies in here and hide them," said Silas. "You look around here for whatever you can."

"Yes, sir," said Dameon, and Silas left the room. Dameon looked through every filing cabinet in the room, and in the drawers that hung from the long, hologram projecting table in the middle of the floor. He went through every file in every cabinet, throwing the papers out onto the floor behind him. It was an hour before there was only one more place left to look: one more drawer in the table. Suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps outside the door, and Dameon pulled out his suppressed pistol. He ducked behind the table with his heart pounding inside of his chest. When he heard the doorknob open, he waited for a short moment, then raised his head and fired a dim, silent plasma round from his gun. It was a miracle Dameon missed the shot, because it was Silas.

"Sorry," Dameon gasped.

"Damn good thing you missed, kid," said Silas. "What have you found?"

"No battle strategies," Dameon reported, holstering his pistol and standing up straight. "There's nothing that will help us. A few orders from King Aziz from months ago telling him to send soldiers to Acran to assist the other lords and ladies' forces. Of course, I haven't looked through everything just yet."

"Well, I'll look through this," Silas declared, stepping in front of the control panel of the holographic projector table. As he turned it on, Dameon turned back to the filing cabinets. As soon as he opened the last one, he widened his eyes.

"What the hell is this?" the young assassin asked, taking out a giant book that was bound in leather. It seemed ancient, written thousands of years ago. Dameon brought it and a second book, just as thick, to the holographic table. The first one was written in some kind of strange language that wasn't Fae or Draconic, but the second one was in the Common Tongue.

"This one must be the translated version," Dameon guessed.

"And bound in leather instead of flesh and skin," Silas added.

"What?" asked Dameon, then he pushed the first book away from himself. "Remind me to wipe my hands off, please."

"Will do," Silas assured, chuckling. Dameon began to flip through the pages of the translated copy. It was mostly filled with nonsense about ancient wars between light and darkness, necromancers' rituals, and also ancient fighting styles used by warriors of the Age of Ancients. There was one part that caught Dameon and Silas' eyes.

"Shadows of the Abyss?" Dameon read aloud. "Mortal servants of the Dark One, as long as the light and darkness in their soul is balanced before the ritual. This makes them more easily to change, and turn their own dark desires against them. A Shadow is bound to the will of the necromancer who turns them, and will obey their orders without question." He looked to Silas with his eyes widened.

"Shala said she sensed something dark and evil," Dameon reminded. "A Shadow."

"Tashira, give me an update," Silas ordered, speaking into his radio.

"The target hasn't shown himself yet," Tashira reported. "I don't know what's keeping him. Shala's been talking to this boy for an hour. She says that he is the source of the darkness she felt. Wait. He's walking away from her."

"He knows she's a Guardian, and he's going to warn Nouzari," Silas guessed. "Tashira, you and Shala need to intercept him before he can escape."

"And we should also try to cut him off," Dameon suggested. "He'll be heading to a secret landing pad on the farm. We'll have to kill him and get the hell out of here. Never mind the war plans." The two assassins began to rush through the underground tunnels to reach the surface as fast as they could. They eventually reached the back yard of the mansion, meeting Shala and Tashira.

"This way," Dameon led, drawing his cutlass and rushing through the cornfields. Silas, Shala, and Tashira followed him. If Nouzari was trying to escape, now was their best chance to kill him. They suddenly heard the roar of an aircraft's engines from across the night, and saw a Skaolan dropship lift into the air, then fly over the mansion across the starry sky. Dameon quickly drew his pistol and took shots at the aircraft. All of them missed.

"Damn it!" Dameon shouted, throwing the pistol to the ground.

"Damn it," Silas whispered. Nothing else could have come close to a major disappointment of a mission. Lord Nouzari had escaped. It was only because of something the assassins were unprepared for, though. They had no idea that a Shadow of the Abyss would be with Nouzari. If they were anything like the Guardians, then chances are he could have sensed Shala's presence.

"Did you two know there was a Shadow of the Abyss in there?" Silas questioned, to Shala and Tashira.

"I don't even know who they are," Tashira admitted. Shala didn't answer at first. She just had a look of sadness on her face as she hung her head.

"I had a good idea that's what he was," she said, with a tear in her eye.

"Then why didn't you kill him when you had the chance?" Silas demanded rudely.

"Silas," Dameon scolded. Dameon couldn't stand the thought of Silas talking to his friend like that. Before Silas could scold Dameon back, Shala answered his question.

"I didn't have the chance to kill him," she said. "And even if I did, I couldn't."

"Why?" asked Dameon. Shala looked up, meeting Dameon's eyes. She then lowered her head again.

"He's my brother," she said.