Assassin*

She waited in line for that small cracker that would call for the killing of its giver. Her senses tingled as they always did while she waited for the moment she would strike. She could feel the calm that settled in the church. She could smell the sweat that flowed down the sinful woman behind her. She could taste the staleness of the church air.

Her white robe and hood concealed her face. She grew another person closer to the priest every few moments. Light from an open window shined directly onto her as the rest of the church was lit through stained glass save for the doors which were wide open as they always were during service. She took another step closer to the priest. She stepped out of the bright Sunday morning light glittering with dust that found chaos when she stepped away before slowly settling down.

"Good morning servant of the high ones," Said the priest.

She opened her mouth allowing the priest to place the cracker on her tongue. "Forgive me Father for I will sin. I am called Aiya."

"Come close servant of the high ones, Aiya. Tell me what happened." He pulled her in close so she could whisper into his ear, making her job all the easier.

"I said: for I will sin. Rest peacefully Father." She rubbed his cheek and stabbed into his jugular with her hidden blade attached to her wrist. "Find Utopia with haste for the hawk of the Great Fire will hunt you."

Aiya pulled the blade from the priest's neck. Blood splattered onto her face and hood. She unhooked her clasp releasing her robe letting it fall over the priest as she laid him to the mosaic he stood on before running towards the doors. When the crowd realized what had happened women began screaming and crying, the church guard surrounded the body, and the city guard was quickly alerted of the assassination.

As Aiya exited the church the city guard where already gaining on her. She looked around for options. The street to her left was completely empty (an easy route to run through, but she'd be target practice for archers). Straight ahead of her were advancing guards and directly behind them was the bell tower (it would be a fight, but no archer would dare shoot into a crowd of guards, and the tower was a route to the cities rooftops).

She ran straight into the oncoming guards. She slid to dodge a broadsword. While she was still on the ground she sliced the Achilles' tendon of the guard. She rolled forward and stabbed into the clavicle of another guard with her knife and pushed off of him running passed the remaining guards and into the tower.

The assassin finally made it to the first level of the tower which was higher than the roof of its neighboring building. Going to a window she jumped down to the rooftop. Aiya ran jumping from red rooftop to red rooftop escaping her pursuers. Her knife was still wet with the priest's blood. His blood splattered on her face and top. She looked back, one of the guards was, to her surprise, closing the gap between them quickly. The blood was still wet and still dripping from the tip of her blade.

Sergio was below on the streets enjoying a chocolate filled pastry when a drop of blood landed on his breakfast. He looked up to see a guard jumping from one building to the other. Apologetically looking at his wife he gently touched the top of her forearm and raised his hand at Scott who was working at the bakery. Sergio immediately began to run down the narrow road and turned left when he got to the nearest intersection.

Scott threw his apron off as he ran towards the staircase. As Scott ran towards the roof, Rascal the two year old boxer ran down nearly tripping the young baker. He grabbed his hood hanging from a display of antlers in the room with the door to the terrace. He made it out to the terrace, at the same time the slowest guard jumped onto the terrace meeting a hooded Scott.

"Do you know what is funny sir?" Scott joked with the guard as he grabbed him by his collar. "Your friends will just assume you slipped and fell while chasing her." Casually Scott pushed the guard back and looked over the ledge as the guard fell to his death.

Aiya looked back again. That guard was fast, he was now only about twenty seconds away from catching her. She looked ahead at all of her options as she ran. A ladder leading up to the top of the city's wall was only two buildings away (more guards, but an easy way out of the city), a spiral staircase leading to the streets (heavy patrols, more concealment in the Sunday crowds), or stop and quickly take out this guard before the others caught up (an unwanted fight with an unknown enemy and the other guards weren't that far behind).

She made it onto the ladder. She was only half way to the top by the time her nearest pursuer was getting onto it. When she made it to the top she attempted to kick the ladder back, but it was locked in place. City guards began to close in from either side, she turned and looked down one hundred feet to the ground below. Twenty yards south she could jump down into the Inka River which flowed west out of the city.

Sergio found his way up onto the wall through a badly guarded tower near where he knew his sister would go (She loved diving from the wall down to the river). He raced north towards his little sister still separated by one tower and nearly fifteen guards all racing towards the priest's killer.

After eliminating guards one by one Scott left the rooftops to avoid being spotted and ran towards the river. Acquiring a docked gondola, he quickly set out into the river heading west toward the small opening in the gate for the cities many small river boats. He kept the hood donned in case the boat's owner realized his taxi was missing.

Aiya looked left and decided to run towards the guards to the south (it was the only way to get into the river). Blade in hand she sprinted as fast as she could hoping to make it to the jump spot before the guards, but today she wouldn't be that lucky. A guard raised his sword above his head, Aiya quickly stabbed her spring assisted blade into his chest and spun around him going immediately to her knees to avoid a swinging broadsword. She stabbed her dagger into the inside of her attacker's thigh and stepped up and forward stabbing into his side as she kicked another guard in the throat before being tackled from behind.

Sergio climbed to the top of the tower separating him from his sister. Peeking over the side he counted only one guard who had his bow ready, but not yet nocked with an arrow to avoid striking a fellow guard. Quietly Sergio lifted himself over the ledge and snuck up behind the guard. He grabbed the back of the guards head and hit it against the stone ledge. The guard fell to the ground bleeding from his head. Sergio grabbed the guard’s knife and bow. From the tower he shot three arrows into guards as they gained on his sister.

The guard that tackled Aiya had her pinned and raised his knife wielding hand above her face; he was taunting her like a child. "I'm going to kill you assassin. I'm going to kill you slowly tonight while you're safe in your cell after my men and I have had my way with you." 'Swip!' An arrow flew into her tacklers shoulder. He yelled out a blood curdling cry. Aiya grabbed the arrow pulling it from his body. Blood oozed out onto her chest. She stabbed him in the neck with the arrow before pushing him to her side and rolling forward pulling the guard who had been chasing her close to her body. She kissed him and threw him over the ledge as he was taken away from his guard. She looked over the ledge to see that she didn't send the guard to his death, but to the very river she was about to jump in. After several seconds of not surfacing Aiya figured that he got pulled down by the current or was caught on a rock. More guards were incoming as Sergio ran towards his sister who stood over ten dead and wounded guards, many with arrows in them.

"I thought you were going to assassinate the Captain tonight in his home." Sergio stated grabbing his sister by the wrist before she could jump.

"What makes you think I'm not brother?" She asked with a smirk before swan diving into the river below.

"A Ra Priest than, you're kidding me," Sergio sighed before jumping off the wall leaving the guards looking over the ledge.

Scott followed, eventually.