SHOLEM

CHAPTER ELEVEN

PRESENT
THE PRATAYA'S SHIK
OUTSKIRTS OF THE PRATAYA'S SHIRK

For months, Yalowel and her sisters had been trying to kill Prataya and his brothers. In order to achieve their desires, they needed a way to assassinate them without the guards getting involved, to minimize the numbers of death and to avoid an all out war. They've tried different means to carry out the assassination, though they've been unsuccessful. A simple murder would be difficult and it would look too suspicious, too convenient and make people loose hope in them. They needed something more creative, so they decided to blow up their office during their usual evening meeting.

All of which explained what she was doing crouched in a shadowy corner of the Prataya's courtyard some minutes later, trying to fight off several familiars that caught her unaware. They'd chosen this night well and simply needed to wait for the guards to do their routine check-up of the compound. Once the guard left, they rushed across the yard and entered the main building, she was the one who remained to be watching and to notify them when the guards returned. 

She folded her lank frame almost double to present a smaller target, just in case any guards happened to be looking inside. Then, she quickly scampered up the wall she'd chosen days before, concealed from view. As soon as Yalowel crouched in the corner, the familiars descended on her. She didn't have time to change her position, her only choice was to fight them.

She already has several wounds from trying to fight them off, though, she is failing miserably. Yalowel shrieked in panic and rolled away from the three familiars that band together to attack her, if she didn't run, they would kill her. Scrabbling along on her belly, her swords dragging in the grass by its strap, she made for the open door of the Shik.

Yalowel could hear the loud clangs of sword clashing as she entered the Shik, everything was not turning out they planned. It is clear the guards were already prepared ahead, it was a trap to lure them and capture them. And the guards that left for the routine check-up were just a distraction, Yalowel can hear them rushing back and it was their familiars that attacked her. She stopped as she suddenly realized they may never make it out of the Prataya's Shik alive.

"Sheil!" she screamed and got down into a bear crouch, rushing along on all fours. Still trying to dodge the familiars trying to tear her into pieces. She was crying and panting, nearly hyperventilating and when she saw Sheil appear in the doorway she surged to her feet with her arms outstretched.

"Are you hurt?" She asked, wrapping her arms around Sheil protectively. Sheil was about to answer when a guard shoved both of them out of the door and let loose with his long rifle. Sizzling bolts burned long, black furrows through the grass and tossed up geysers of smoldering earth at the edge of the courtyard. Yalowel could only gape and weep as Sheil pulled her back inside the tower and dragged her across the floor to safety.

"I was so scared!" Yalowel cried and clung desperately to Sheil. Things weren't supposed to go this way, they were supposed to enter the Prataya's Shik, blow it up and moved out. The plan was well detailed without any errors, that was until they enter the Shik and they were met with more resistance than they were expecting.

"Stay here!" Sheil said, and pushed her hands off of her. Taking her throwing knives she went to the doorway and began throwing it towards the guard. Yalowel watched as her sister and the guards fought, with Sheil a little far away from the guards. A figure rose up briefly amongst the carnage and shot a rifle towards where Sheil was crouching. It flashed through the doorway and exploded against the ferrocrete* of the wall, filling the space with the stink of ozone and scorched limestone. Yalowel ducked down and put her head in her hands.