Preparations

[quelin]

Quelin sat quietly in the bushes around the city limits. Contemplating his plans. Finally he had the strength and will to do what must be done, but his past still haunted him. Anderith, the very country that he thought may help him ended up being some of the worst pain he'd experienced. He knew the king. He knew his motives. He would not stand idle. Revenge would be served this night.

Using his gift, he drew in the shadows around him, removing all light from the surroundings. The air felt still, with no breeze for miles. His breath, barely visible in front of his face. He waited. Waited for the perfect opportunity to jump the guards. Anger consumed him. His blood red eyes stared at the guards at the gates as they talked among themselves totally unaware of what was about to happen.

Quelin looked at them and visualized how it would all turn out. He moved his hand to the shadow blade on his back. He was ready. Ready to strike. He would not be seen, he would not be captured. He glared intensely at his targets and within an instant the light returned and he bolted straight for the guards. Blood would be spilled this night.

[quelin]

Without even blinking, Quelin's blade slid through the necks of the guards like a knife through butter. It was surprisingly easy compared to what he had expected. The guards were very big men and he half though they may put up a little more of a fight, but realistically he knew exactly what would happen. The bodies dropped straight to the ground, blood spurting from the stumps that were their necks.

"Shit, now what? I need to get rid of these bodies"

He grabbed the bodies by their collars and dragged them into the brush. Hopefully they wouldn't be discovered there. He turned and with a flick of his talent, he disappeared as if he wasn't even there to begin with.

He moved through the castle from room to room looking for his target. The king was nowhere to be found. He got to the royal bedchambers, and yet again nobody was to be found. Quelin turned to the desk in the room. There was a parchment with details about the execution of a traitor to the crown.

"Interesting... if there's an execution going on, the king will have to be there. if the king is there, then that means..."

Before he could finish his thought, the door whipped open. A couple stumbled into the bedroom, seemingly ready to make love on the spot. They were half naked already, and all it did was make Quelin wonder what would happen to them if they were discovered in the royal bedchambers because judging by their shambled clothes and distinct foul odor about them, they weren't royalty. Not that the king would be paying much notice to them when Quelin was finished with them. he quickly bolted out the door, headed straight for the courtyard.

Once he arrived at the courtyards, he found the king exactly where he expected; he was sitting in his own personal booth, overlooking the courtyard, with his trusted body guard. The body guard, large and muscular, with a smug look on his face, stood over the King. The king was an old, mad fool. He would run his kingdom into the ground. Thank god his kingdom was of no great consequence. Quelin bolted towards the booth with only one thing in mind: a kill.

[quelin]

The guard standing next to the king reacted much quicker than Quelin could ever had anticipated. Quelin knew he was gifted, but to this extent was staggering. The king fell off his chair in sheer terror. Too scared to make a sound he tumbled to the ground, landing in the corner of his booth quivering. But the King was not the target, the bodyguard was. Quelin latched on to the bodyguard propelling them both into the halls behind the booth. They landed with Quelin squarely sat on top of the man's chest with the blade of his sword, lying on the man's neck.

the man could only look up in sheer terror. If he made even the slightest move to defend himself he would be killed faster than he could think. "who... who are you? What do you want?"

Quelin's blood red eyes stared down at the man, stared into his soul. "I am blood. I am death. I am the shadow stalker and you will face my judgement." With a single punch to the solar plexus and a backhand across the face, the guard was winded and knocked out.

Behind him, the crowd and kings guard started an uproar, on the apparent attempted murder of the king. Quelin had to get out of here before the guards kill him, or rather would try to kill him. With a flick of his gift, he removed all light from the room, picked up the useless guard and bolted down the hall towards the tower.

The guards, hot on his tail, we're gaining on him. Running with a body over your shoulder is quite tiring, even for a gifted person. He finally reached the tower but to no avail. Two guards stood outside the tower door waiting for him, weapons drawn. This fact did not deter him. He dropped the body from his shoulder, whipped out his sword and started a fight.

The clash of steel rang through the halls. Swings missing limbs, crashing against the walls, rang through the long dark hallway. The cries of the royal guard barreling down the hall were growing louder. Quelin had to finish this now. A swift kick landed straight in Quelin's face to which he recoiled and swept the second guard's legs with his sword. The man tumbled to ground in agony. The first guard, regaining his balance, received a large ball of fire in the chest before he could even reassess his target.

Quelin picked up the gifted man, and ran into the tower. Thinking as quickly as he could he tossed the body over the side into the water below. He then took his own stand on the tower, and the door behind him burst open. Guards, bows and swords drawn, stood there watching him. The commander stepped forward, arrow knocked to bow;

"Step down and surrender or be killed here and now, assassin!"

Quelin turned around and smiled. Leaning back he fell over the side of the tower, but as he leaned back, the commander had let loose the arrow, and lodged it straight into Quelin's gut. He tumbled to the lake below with no idea whether he would survive this night or not. Had he truly fallen that far that he could have failed a task as simple as this?

[quelin]

With a huge impact to his back, Quelin hit the water. For the first time darkness surrounded him without him intending it. Pain seared through the wound that the arrow made in his side. It would surely become infected with the blight that plagues the water surrounding this citadel. But his task was not done. He was the best assassin there was, he would make his first failure on as simple a task as taking a hostage. Granted, this man was a gifted hostage, but a hostage nonetheless. He rolled over, careful not to break the arrow lodged in his side, and swam through the plith looking for the captive. The man sunk to the bottom as he had anticipated. He grabbed the corpse and rose to the shore as quickly and quietly as he could. Finally released the the disgusting water he landed on top of the corpse on the shore. Once again the untimely darkness surrounded him again as he blacked out from blood loss.

The darkness seemed to fade a little. There were muffled voices surrounding him. Finally coming into consciousness, he tried to stand up with no avail. Finally get his wits about him he threw his eyes open. How long had he been out? What happened while he was out? What the hell was happening now? Glancing around Quelin spotted the arrow still lodged in his side, and that he was carefully tied to a tree, so not to break the arrow.

"Ah you are alive after all" a voice said from the shadows of a nearby wayward pine. With a chuckle, outstepped the man that Quelin had attempted to capture. A man who's face had been hidden before, but was now in plain view.

"Allister Cot" Quelin uttered with complete displeasure for the man standing in front of him. Although it came as a surprise that it was indeed Cot that Quelin had almost captured, he had originally believed that the guard was simply a pawn of cot. It made much more sense now that he was so powerfully gifted.

"What do you want Allister? You going to try and cause me more pain than you already have? I assure you, that's not possible"

Allister could only chuckle. He looked at him with an inherently evil grin which flexed the scar running from ear to chin on the left side of his face. "Oh yes Quelin. I will cause you more pain. But I need to know why you came to capture me and kill my king."


Quelin stared at him with a look so blank it rivaled looking at a wall. "There's nothing you can to hurt me, nor will I tell you anything behind what I did, or why I did it."

Allister stepped closer and knelt beside Quelin, helpless tied to the tree, and twisted the arrow in his side. With a bolt of pain Quelin screamed. "Now. Tell me what I want to know Star, or this will become very painful" Quelin could only laugh, before the arrow twisted again, and again. The more he refused to answer, the more his insides were sheered.

Allister did not know that Quelin was gifted, at least he didn't think he knew. With a flash of the gift the ropes vanished in a puff of flame, and with a swift kick to the face, Allister landed on his ass. "That is the last time you touch that arrow again Allister.

With a swift punch to the solar plexus, Quelin rendered the man incapacitated for long enough for him to rummage through his rucksack. Out of the pack, came a large silver ring. It was a rada'han. He clipped it around the winded man's neck, and unsheathed his sword from his back.

"Now why don't we start the real interrogation. It's time to explain a few things. The Shadow stalker has come for you Allister Cot, you better be ready to speak."

[quelin]

The tides had turned. He should have killed Quelin and left. Deciding to question Quelin could prove to be the one bad decision he won't live to regret. Strangely enough though, there was no fear in his demeanor. Allister remained on the ground under Quelin's sword, on death's door, beaten. Yet there was no fear. This fact was extremely troubling. The shadow stalker always struck fear into the hearts of his victims. IF there's no fear then the opportunity of letting a target live was completely out of the question, not only that, extra precautions must be taken to ensure the ball doesn't leave Quelin's court.

With his gift suppressed, Allister was nothing more than a simple man, a skinny and lean muscled man. Not much strength should he hope to put up a fight. Without his gift, this man was useless. Maybe it would be better just to set him free. Imbue the Rada'han with both additive and subtractive magic. Without his magic, Alliester was nothing. Fact was, Allister Cot only had his magic to defend himself. Without it, he would surely be dead within a week. But the Shadow Stalker left no traces.

"Allister Cot... Allister Cot. Oh how I've imagined the day I get to run you through. You don't deserve the powers you have. I should bring you a witch women to skin you alive. Actually you know what? That sounds like a great idea, but first I need something from you."

And there it was. Fear. Apparently Allister had originally thought Quelin simply sought revenge. Now there was something else. Something unforseen. This truck fear into Allister's eyes. Clearly he was hiding something.

"Oh? Afraid are we? I never took Allister Cot as a coward... Well you will give me what I want or your death will be much more gruesome and painful than you can withstand. Not only that, I will insist you suffer. It will take a long time, but you will give me what I want. There is no way to avoid it."

[quelin]

Hours passed. There nobody in sight. Allister screamed with every fiber in his body. But Quelin didn't slow. His torture was slow and painful. Allister wouldn't even be allowed to die. He may be gifted, but against Quelin, especially with a rada'han around his neck, he didn't stand a chance even on a good day. Quelin was patient. He didn't care how long it took, he would get his information.

"Ahh! Stop! STOP!" Allister screamed "I'll tell you everything!" Quelin removed his hands from the side of Allister's temple and sat down on the trunk just behind him. He sighed "You better start talking then, I'm losing my patience"

"Okay, okay. The two people you're are looking for are difficult to find. Lord Rahl is always moving, but he many times if just hanging about in People's Palace, although I don't know how you'll get in, but at this point I really don't care. But he should be in the People's Palace." Quelin's hand found his forehead, he was getting impatient. Allister panicked. "And the seeker. The seeker, I'm not really sure where she is exactly, but last I heard she was in Bandakar. I don't know why but it was about a week ago that i heard this, if you hurry you might be able to catch her. That's all i know I swear!"

Quelin stood. "Well I suppose if that's all you know..." He extended his hand in front of him. A ball of wizard's fire appeared in his hand. "Then I no longer have need of your services" Allister lay against the tree in flames, screaming in agony as his body turned to ash.

"Right. Now where do I turn? Lord Rahl should be easy enough to find... Let's find that seeker."

[quelin]

Quelin had made his way into D'Hara on his way to Badakar but something felt strange. Was the seeker really necessary to accomplish his goals with Lord Rahl? Or was he too busy chasing women to care? The fact remained that Lord Rahl was the main target and even though he would be easy to find, it is possible that he would move. Should he move out of the palace, Quelin would be no better off than when he captured and killed Allister Cot. The Seeker could wait. Quelin moved towards the Palace of the Prophets

************A few days later***************


The night was cold. The cold breeze cut right through Quelin's body. He scrambled together to set up a fire pit. With a flash of his gift, he let loose a small shot of wizard's fire creating a long awaited fire for warmth. He had gone without food for almost 3 days now, and he needed to eat something soon if he were to keep up his strength. He was already weak, but if he went much longer he wouldn't make it to Lord Rahl, never mind the seeker.

"Why does D'Hara have to be so scarce of game these days?" He questioned. "I could really use some food."

He knew there was a town near by. Maybe an hour's walk, but the thought of sitting in an inn with only enough money for a bowl of soup and piece of bread, if the prices weren't extortionate was unsettling for him. But he needed food. He sighed, put out the fire and started walking.

*************An Hour later************************

After arriving in the town he went straight to the inn. "How much for a bowl of soup and some bread?" he asked the innkeeper.

The innkeeper looked at him suspiciously. A man standing in his inn, dressed all in black, cloaked and hooded was not a daily occurrence so there was reason to be suspicious. "1 silver and 35 copper" the innkeeper responded

"You have steep prices don't you? No matter, here's a silver and 50 copper. Thank you good sir."

He sat down with his warm soup. It was a wonderful taste. Spiced soup was some of his favorite foods in all the world. He had only just finished his soup when a group of young boys came into the inn boasting about having seen Lord Rahl. Quelin's attention was instantly grabbed. They boasted about seeing him leave the palace on his way to the Dark Lands, towards Fajin Province. That was it. That was Quelin's cue. He grabbed his things and left. Fajin province was his destination and he had to get there as fast as he can.