Ultimate Assassin Saga: Woodlands

Azrieal sat in the chair still and continued to wait. It had been fifteen minutes so far, but he wasn't as annoyed as he thought he'd be. His people knew better than to keep him waiting, but he knew the Mage that he'd called on did her own thing. She was one of the few Mages in Dalkia who wasn't afraid of him and she knew what she was doing so she was allowed to get away with things that others might not have been able to.

He continued to stare at the wall and wait. He could be patient when he needed to be, and considering it would make him more frustrated if he continued to look, he left well enough alone. It would do no good, and if he found something before she got here, there would be no purpose for her to even come to the palace. Then he would have to deal with someone without having a reason for them to be there and he hated dealing with people. If he was going to speak with someone, he had to have a purpose behind it. Otherwise, he remained alone.

A few seconds later, there was a knock on the door and the Chaos Demon's eyes moved to the door. He reached out with his aura and he could feel the woman that he wanted to sense on the other side. Straightening his spine and blanking his expression of all expression, he readied himself to welcome her.

"Enter." Azrieal called out in his usual cold, uncaring voice and he waited. The door to the library swung open and the short, but very curvy Human Mage that he'd called for walked into the room. Her clothing was barely there and what was there left very little to the imagination. If he were a normal man, he probably would've found himself lost in the beauty of her face and the curves of her body, but as it stood right now, he felt nothing.

No lust, no desire, and certainly no willingness to drool over those delicious looking breasts that bounced with each step she took. His gaze was drawn to her hips which swayed from side to side, making her look like a predator stalking her prey. In many ways, she was indeed a predator, but in no way was she his prey. He was the top predator and everyone knew that. Those who didn't would learn it soon enough.

The Chaos Demon's gaze rose to her eyes and he saw that her dark eyes were staring right into his emerald green one's. Her plump, luscious pink lips were spread back into a slight smile that revealed part of her pearl white teeth. He had to admit - at least to himself - that she had a nice smile. She was a beautiful woman, but she was much more than that.

She was a dangerous woman as well and that was what made her all the more effective.

The Human cutthroat stopped a few feet away from where he sat and she sank to one knee, showing him the respect that he was owed. She bowed her head low, staring at the carpeted floor and not daring to look up until he bid her. He stared at the back of her head and he smiled. This was the sort of loyalty that the Emperor of Dalkia, the most powerful Empire on the Mortal Plane, deserved.

"Rise, Darla." Azrieal said in monotone after a few more minutes of looking at her. She instantly followed his orders, rising from her kneeling position and she met his gaze, her dark eyes burning with interest. He nearly smiled at that, but he curbed the impulse, keeping his face blank. Then, he motioned to the seat across from him. "Please, take a seat. We have something of the utmost important to discuss."

The Human woman said nothing, but she did move to follow his orders. He watched her step around to the other side of the desk and pull out the wooden chair. She stepped in front of the chair and she sank down into the comfortable wooden seat, staring at his face with her face carefully composed, her spine ramrod straight.

"I've been searching for a spell in here and I need your help. The library is simply too extensive for one person to locate the correct book and find the spell." Azrieal told her in a soft voice, softly bidding for her help, though it was more of an order. However, he didn't want it to appear to be an order. He wanted her to want to help him because if she wanted to help him, she would search harder and they would find the book a lot faster. That was the only reason he was being soft with her though, not because he did happen to like her though that didn't hurt either.

The cutthroat woman frowned, her brow furrowing up and her eyes narrowing. She looked confused, but she didn't question him like others might've done. That was the only real problem that he had with the Mages of Dalkia was that they were too self important. They felt that they and their little pet projects were more important than anything else. There were times when he wondered if the Mages believed that they were exempt from his rules, laws, and orders, but he left them be for the moment. They weren't rebelling and that was the number one issue right now was stopping the desertions before they began to ramp up in numbers. He couldn't allow Dalkia to grow vulnerable at a critical time as this.

"What spell are you looking for, my liege?" Darla asked, her soft, slightly accented voice bringing him back to current time. His reverie had clouded his mind and blinded him from the immediate situation. He looked at her and he noticed that she'd sat forward in her chair, her hands folded on top of the table, obviously intent on finding out what exactly he was looking for to better assist him.

"The one to summon one thousand Hell hounds." Azrieal replied immediately and he watched her face for her reaction. She reacted just how he thought she would: her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. He knew the spell to summon the Hell hounds was one that few had ever done and there was a reason for that: it took a lot of magic, but not only that, so many Hell hounds were hard to control. "I need them to track my brother and destroy him."

The Mage closed her mouth and narrowed her eyes. Her dark eyes glowed with understanding and she nodded. He believed that she truly did understand where he was coming from. With the former Command Assassin deserting the Empire, it made Dalkia look weak, and if Dalkia looked weak, they might be attacked by their enemies. They couldn't afford that at such a crucial time and they both knew it.

Before he could say anything else, Darla pushed back her chair and she got to her feet. She turned away from him and she walked over to the nearest bookshelf, beginning her search. Seeing this, he smiled at her back and he nodded his head. Good, it was good to see that at least one person in the Empire took this seriously and he could trust to do their duties.

Confidence renewed, the Emperor rose from his chair and he began to move from bookshelf to bookshelf with gusto, searching for the book. His frustration didn't return and he didn't worry too much about it as he searched from book to book. He was no longer alone in wanting to save the Empire from his brother, and even though an ally had come from a very unlikely place - a Human woman - he wasn't going to turn that help down.

At this point, he needed all the help he could get.

XXXXXXXXXX

Several hours had passed and still they searched. Darla had seen the Emperor working with her a few times, moving from bookshelf to bookshelf, searching frantically, but neither one of them had found anything yet. It was a little frustrating to her, but she found that she rather liked the company of the Emperor. He was a handsome man, and even though he was a deadly Demon, she found him to be quite attractive.

She knew that many people feared Azrieal, but she couldn't imagine why. True, he was a deadly warrior and a powerful Mage, but he'd shown her no disgust, hatred, or any other reason why she should hate him. He was just the ruler of the Empire and he was trying desperately to keep what he'd built together. She understood that and that was why she eagerly helped him, searching the shelves for the proper book.

The Mage could admit that she wasn't sure that it was a good idea to use that spell, but who was she to say anything? She was just a Mage and he was the Emperor. The Emperor ruled all of Dalkia and it was no one's place to question what he did to keep the Empire safe. He sought to keep them strong and invulnerable, that was all she needed to know.

She hadn't known Acheron all that well, but from what she understood, he was just as dangerous - if not more so - as the Emperor himself. Many believed that Acheron was only the Command Assassin because of his relation to the Emperor, but she'd read the history of how he'd been the campaign General that spread the borders of Dalkia and she knew the truth: he'd earned the rank.

She had nothing against the man, but when he betrayed the Empire that he'd helped build, he'd betrayed his brother and that wasn't forgivable. She would do everything she could to help the Emperor to bring his brother to justice, even if that meant summoning the dangerous Hell hounds. She didn't think it was safe or wise to do so, but she wasn't going to tell the Emperor that. This was how he chose to protect the Empire, so who was she to question that?

The cutthroat reached up and pulled down a skin like, dark brown book. She cringed at the feel of the flesh against her skin and she found herself wondering what kind of flesh it was made from, but she blacked that from her mind. She didn't need to know that. All she needed to know was if this book was the one she needed so she flipped open the book cover and began to scan the pages.

Halfway through the book, her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open as she read over the words. This was it! This was the spell the Emperor had been looking for! She'd found it for him! Elated, she turned and looked in the direction of the Emperor who was busy throwing books in every direction when he judged that they weren't the right one's, looking even more frustrated than she could remember seeing him in the past.

"My liege, I found it!" Darla called across the room to him excitedly and held the book open in her hands. He stopped throwing books when she yelled and whirled around to face her. He hurried over to her and took the book from her hands, quickly scanning the pages with those beautiful emerald green eyes. She saw them light up with excitement and she felt herself smile at the sight. He really was a beautiful man.

The Chaos Demon looked up at her, and for the first time, she saw him smile. The smile was wide and ear to ear, making his face light up. She felt her heart skip a beat and she stared at him, her mouth going dry all of a sudden. It was such a surprise to see such a beautiful smile and she never wanted him to lose that smile, though she knew that he would. War would being soon and that smile would be lost in the carnage of that war.

"Well done." Azrieal told her with a nod of his head and his smile fell once again. His face was quickly blanked of emotions and she felt sad that he'd hidden his emotions once again. She'd liked seeing them and she'd never wanted them to go away. Now that they were locked securely back behind that mask, she felt sorrow for that fact. "I shall award you accordingly later."

Without another word to her, the Emperor turned away from her with book in hand and he walked over to the table. She watched him sit down at the table and he began to study the words in front of him, obviously reading them while mouthing the words. Knowing that she'd been dismissed, she sighed, but she smiled a little. She'd gotten to work with the Emperor and he'd told her that she was going to be "rewarded" for her actions later.

As Darla walked from the library, she wondered just what that "reward" would be.

Morning found Darville walking out the front door of the palace and stepping out into the snow. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes, listening to the wind slipping past his ears. He felt the snow on his flesh, but he didn't shiver. Normal Humans would've been affected by the extreme cold, but after being born and raised here, the Barbarians didn't feel the cold any longer.

The large village was bustling with people going about their daily routines, some going about their tasks of work and others going about tending to their homes. He saw women leading their children back towards their homes or towards neighbors homes. Men in full armor and fur with their weapons were grouped together, walking towards the outline of the village to go on their daily hunts.

To him, it was a beautiful sight. To see his people working and going about their daily lives was greatly calming to him. It was something that he could take pride in and be glad that he ruled over. After all, he was their King and the outlook of a society depended on their leader. If the society was corrupt and greedy, it was most likely that the leader was the same, but if the society was near utopian, then so was the leader.

Being the King, he didn't have to do anything, and if he wanted to, he could sit on his ass in his home without a worry. He was provided for by his people without problem, complaint, or second thought. However, being who he was, the Barbarian King didn't like to do nothing. He preferred to go and hunt for his own food as well as skin them so he could make his own pelts and furs.

Reaching down with his left hand, the Barbarian touched the hilt of Icebrand at his hip and he was drawn into his memories. He had been given this blade by one of the other Barbarian tribes before they joined him and it was the weapon that had been the forefront of pulling them all together. Icebrand was made of ice steel, and because of this, it was nearly indestructible with the ability to slice through any other metal, save for diamond. Also, this had been the sword that had slain his brother and gotten justice for his father.

Icebrand was the single most important and powerful blade in the village. It was only fitting that it would go to the King of the Tundra. The Tundra was a land of snow and ice so for its King to have a weapon made of ice steel was a sort of irony that wasn't lost on him.

Darville smiled softly and reached up with his land hand, stroking his thick beard. He ran his fingers down towards his chin and where it was starting to dip down. He found it amazing that his beard kept growing thicker and longer. Ever since he'd become the King of the Tundra, his beard had been growing thicker and longer with every single day, but it seemed to be growing even faster now. Just yesterday, his beard had been much thinner than what it was now and he was sure that tomorrow it would be twice as thick as it was today.

He didn't know what that signified, but he didn't really care either. It wasn't like it could possibly be important on the larger scale of things. It was probably just because he was maturing and being the King of the Tundra was just a coincidence. He didn't know how likely that was, but he couldn't see the significance of his growing a thick beard after his brother's death.

Shaking his head at his own mental melodrama, the Barbarian King began to walk towards the base of the basin where he made his home. He walked between the stone homes that surrounded the palace in the bottom of the basin and he knew that atop the basin were homes that were built in a tight knit circle, creating a powerful defense for the royals in the middle of the basin.

People stopped as he walked by, put their hands tight down their sides, and bowed formally to him. It wasn't uncommon for the Barbarians to do such a thing, especially when they received a new King and they were trying to show the right amount of respect for the man while he was first in charge, but he'd been the King for more than six months now. It was starting to grate on his nerves and he wanted to tell them to knock it off, but he kept his mouth shut for some reason.

Reaching the basin, the Barbarian began to steep climb up the slope towards the lip and he kept his eyes up the entire way. Snow fell hard, coating the ground in its perfect whiteness and hitting his skin, but he barely noticed it. His muscular legs burned as he walked up the basin and he hoped that he could get there soon. This climb kept his legs in shape and he was sure that his legs had grown in size ever since he'd become the King. It was a hard workout, though one that he enjoyed thoroughly.

Finally, he saw that the lip was only five feet ahead of him, and when he reached the top of the basin, he stepped over the lip, but he stopped. There was a person in front of him that he knew all too well, but he hadn't thought that she'd left her room today. She hadn't left her room for months now after all and this was a surprising - though not unwelcome - sight. Diana was the one that stood before him, staring at him with a determined light glowing in her dark blue eyes and her hands on her slender hips, decked out in her armor and leathers for the first time in months.

The blonde Barbarian man frowned and turned around fully to face her. He looked her over from the top of her head to her feet, wondering what she was doing. He was glad to see his sister was feeling well enough to come outside, but he found himself wondering why she was wearing her armor. Barbarians didn't wear their armor unless they were going to battle or going hunting. She was neither a warrior nor a hunter so she had no reason to be dressed in her leathers and armor.

"What are you doing?" Darville asked, careful to keep his voice even and empty of all emotion. He didn't want to appear that he was judging her and trying to protect her. If there was one thing he knew about his sister, it was that she hated to be seen as weak enough that she needed protection.

He stared right into her eyes and she stared back, seemingly unfazed. He was proud that his sister was able to meet his gaze so evenly and without fear, but he didn't miss the shiver that went through her when a man passed too close to them, nearly brushing her. No matter how much she might want to be, she wasn't over the rape and they both knew it. She was just trying to move on, but she was having a hard time doing than while surrounded by thousands of men.

He'd heard the stories of rapes before and they were all horrible accounts. Women who were victimized by rape often withdrew into themselves and they sometimes even found it impossible to to be around men. Some women never got over it and lived alone, careful to avoid men if they could. However, there were others that were able to move on and live a normal life with a husband and children. He found that the one's getting over the rape were in the minority and it was because of this that rape was a capital offense among the Barbarians. If anyone, man or woman, were to rape someone, man or woman, they would be executed no questions asked.

He was aware that there were those who didn't believe a woman could rape a man without sodomizing him, but he saw it differently. Even if he was capable of becoming aroused, if he said no, that was it. That was the end of his consent, and for the woman to go beyond that was nothing short of rape. It was black and white to him because it wasn't one's body that made their decisions, but their brains, and despite what people liked to say, men did think with the brains above their shoulders.

"I need your help, brother." Diana's soft, demure voice broke him out of his reverie and he focused his gaze on her. She was gnawing on her bottom lip and staring at the ground, seemingly unsure of herself all of a sudden, but then, she raised her eyes once more to his. Her dark blue eyes - one's that were identical to his, the very eyes that they'd gotten from their father - were filled with her determination once more. "I need you to train me how to fight. I want to get stronger."

The Barbarian King frowned to hide his surprise and his dark blue eyes darkened even more. This was something that he'd never thought his sister would come to him with. She was actually asking him to train her in hand to hand combat and blades. If he did this, she would never have to live in fear again and could spend time with men without fearing what they might do to her.