Chapter 60:

The Fortress

Reverie's End: Blades of Malice


Day: 10/13/991; Time: 19th hour

It was a cold and windy night in Agra, the capital of West Valis. The heavily fortified city was surrounded by mountains on all sides. The city could keep out intruders that came by foot, but they could not hide from the Light of Ethos. The winds caused by the Light made it difficult to do anything worthwhile outside.

Agra had almost completely recovered from the earthquake that occurred ten years ago. Under the wise leadership of King Dallos, the hard-working people of West Valis rebuilt their city within a few months. However, very few people knew the truth; the king of East Valis had used the Topaz to cause the earthquake. It was a tragedy that created a series of events that ultimately caused the war to end in a draw and split the country in two.

Lita did not know all of this, nor did she care about the excuses and reasoning of aristocrats and monarchs. She only felt anger as she stared down at her birthplace; it was here in Agra that she lost everything. 10 years had passed since that fateful day, but she never once forgot it. Even getting remarried and having another child did not allow her to forget the anguish that she felt on that day. Lita had lost her husband and daughter that day; at least that is what she initially thought. Her chance encounter with Beowulf several days earlier had made her start questioning whether her daughter had truly died back then.

But the revelation that Beowulf, and maybe even her daughter, were alive did not put her heart at ease. Instead she became filled with anger and hatred; she was even more determined to kill King Dallos and bring to ruin those people that robbed her of everything. She stared down at the city of Agra with her cold hazel eyes impatiently; she couldn't wait to get her revenge. Officially, she was a hired assassin working for the Blades of Malice, but she had plenty of her own reasons to sabotage and overthrow Agra.

She waited outside the city and made her move as soon as she saw an opening. There were only two guards near the back gate of the city. Killing them would be easy, but there were better and more elegant methods that did not attract as much attention. Lita took out some sleeping dust and threw some into the air; the strong winds carried the dust and within moments the guards were asleep. Lita did not waste any time and climbed over the city wall while they slept. Perhaps Agra had grown careless, but Lita had been expecting more resistance. West Valians were a militant people and Agra in particular was one of the most fortified places in all of Ethos.

Lita did not spend much time pondering about how easy it was to infiltrate Agra and quickly began making her way towards the stone castle in the center of the city. It was dark, but Lita had great night vision, as did any skilled assassin. She could make out the stone houses neatly lined up in rows all over the city. West Valis had a culture of hard work and prized utility above all; beauty was secondary. Waste and vanity were not tolerated; even the nobility did not squander money frivolously too often. It was a rigid society, quite different from the pomp of the Golden City and the rest of East Valis.

The city had not changed much from how she remembered it; Lita had always appreciated the simplicity of it. She would have felt nostalgia, but her anger clouded her thoughts and made her forget about her peaceful childhood in Agra.

The streets were mostly deserted, but Lita used the shadows for cover just in case. She wore simple dark clothing and appeared inconspicuous; most would probably think she was just a poor citizen of Agra walking home from work. It was easy for her to blend in even if a soldier did see her. After walking for a while, she finally made it to the castle. Getting inside was not going to be as easy as entering the city. There were at least ten guards outside the large brick building that measured 4 skars in height. The castle was not necessarily ugly, but it certainly lacked the grandeur of the castles of the other developed nations in Ethos.

Lita watched and waited for a while, but the guards did not budge. They were trained to be highly alert. Her mission was just to gather intel and send back what she had learned with a carrier hawk. But she could not help but want to go into the castle; she was so close to tasting revenge. Lita was having a hard time staying professional and was about to go against her employer's wishes.

Her usual tricks weren't going to work; unfortunately, she was going to need to expend a decent amount of mana. Lita concentrated and created three illusions; the three Litas all ran in different directions and attracted the attention of the majority of the guards. She snuck up behind the remaining ones and quickly paralyzed two of them with her subjugation knives. Then she took out her Abyssal shortsword, coated in poison, and fought the remaining two guards.

They were skilled fighters, but they were no match for a poisonous blade. One got stabbed in the leg and fell to the ground; the other got stabbed in the back. They could not keep up with Lita's nimble movements and fell quickly. The wounds were not deep, but the poison was certainly potent; the men writhed in agony. In the corner of her eye, Lita noticed a guard running away and yelling for reinforcements. He did not get very far; with a flick of her wrist, Lita hit him in the back of the neck with a dagger and paralyzed him.

Unfortunately, he was able to alert the others of her presence. The guards all came running back after seeing the illusions that they were chasing dissipate. Lita quickly made her way inside and hid in the shadows; she had veiled herself with a cloaking spell, but it was not going to last very long. Lita had plenty of tools at her disposal, but she was no mage. Mana was a precious and finite resource that was bound to run out eventually; she was hoping to save some for when she needed to make her escape.

The guards were running around and looking for the intruder but kept passing her by. After a few minutes the tumult died down and she was able to explore the castle. It was not her first time inside the halls of Agra Castle; she had been inside the castle many times as a little girl. Although she no longer looked the part, Lita was of noble lineage. She was the only living member of House Berg, a minor house of Agra.

Lita knew the layout of the castle very well as it hadn't changed very much in the last 10 years. The castle managed to withstand the earthquake quite well. The stone statues of knights decorated the halls and the portraits of various nobility hung on the walls. There were few windows; it almost felt like a prison. The entire castle gave off an ominous vibe; the atmosphere was hard to bear. Lita's phobia was beginning to take effect; she knew this was going to happen, but her desire for vengeance overruled her reason. Lita took a deep breath and concentrated; she began to calm down and started to quietly, but quickly make her way up the stairs.

She made it to the 3rd floor without any incident. The lack of guards was suspicious, but Lita continued to press onward regardless of the warning signs. She eventually made it to the 5th floor's throne room and never saw a single guard the entire time.

The king's chambers were just beyond. Lita clutched her weapon with anxiety and prepared herself; she would finally get a chance to exact her revenge. However, Lita's plan never came to fruition. Moments after entering the throne room, the dark room was lit up by several torches and she saw that she was completely surrounded by Agra's royal knights and mages. They were all arrayed in green and brown armor or robes and were ready to strike at any given moment. In front of her sat King Dallos upon his minimalistic throne while chuckling at the cornered Lita.

The assassin had dropped her guard; revenge had blinded her from being her usual cautious self. She quietly swore under her breath and stared at the king with fury in her eyes.

The king chuckled a bit more and then quickly switched to a stern expression. King Dallos had a long greybeard and was starting to show signs of aging, but his tall stature and strong build still struck fear into the hearts of many. He had been a warrior all of his life; he was not a pampered noble that needed constant protection. Even now, he was wearing armor and a green mantle. He was always ready to fight and wanted everyone to know that. Few kings in Ethos' long history possessed this much authority and were as respected by their vassals. Everyone knew that it was not wise to question King Dallos.

He looked down at the furious Lita with his piercing hazel eyes. The two stared at each other for several seconds as if they were trying to read each other's minds.

Suddenly the king exclaimed in his deep voice, "Welcome, Ms. Assassin! Congratulations on making it this far. Unfortunately, your little journey has come to an end. The others will be caught soon as well."

Lita's expression turned to one of surprise. "Our plans were foolproof. How did you know?" asked Lita in an inquisitive tone. The Blades' men were well-hidden inside Cana Jungle. They were supposed to strike Agra at an opportune moment once Lita had scouted the castle and found a weakness. Of course, Lita had already gone off-script by trying to kill the king with her own hands.

"Simple, my dear. Everyone has a price. Not everyone in your organization is loyal and devoted, you see. Some were more than willing to sell out their comrades. Such a shame," chuckled King Dallos.

"I see. They were too careless, it seems," said Lita as she stared intently at the king.

"What will you do now, Ms. assassin? Will you continue this foolishness and try to kill me or will you try to escape? How far do you think you'll last against my men?" bellowed King Dallos.

Lita's mana was running low, but it was just enough to make her escape. She looked around the large dim room and saw plenty of windows. It seemed that jumping out of windows after a failed assassination was becoming the new norm for Lita. She sighed and took a deep breath before making her next move.

She created a smoke screen and then quickly created 3 illusions. Lita was going to bet everything on this next move. The knights and mages scrambled to find the real Lita and capture her. The Litas were all running towards the windows, trying to make their escape. The success rate of this plan would have been good if it weren't for the fact that the real Lita ran towards King Dallos and tried to kill him during the confusion. Logic had been thrown out the window; she picked a fight with an enemy twice her size and much stronger than her.

The king swung his lance and knocked down all the poisonous daggers thrown at him. She then lunged at him with her abyssal shortsword and he kicked her down effortlessly. She fell down the steps leading up to the throne. Lita's approach was too direct. In her rage, she forgot that she was an assassin. The king grabbed Lita by the neck and threw her halfway across the room.

Lita began wheezing and coughing. Her plan was foiled so quickly she didn't even know how to respond. Meanwhile, the king's men had dispelled all of the illusions and the smoke began to dissipate.

"Seize her!" yelled the king. Lita was powerless to resist and she was quickly handcuffed by the guards. The king walked over and looked at Lita intently. Her eyes were filled with pure hatred. He began to look at her with curiosity.

" You aren't the typical hireling are you? It seems that you really don't like me, young lass," said the king in a questioning tone.

"I am Lita of House Berg! You will pay for what you did 10 years ago, King Dallos. Justice will be served!" screamed Lita while trying to break free from the chains put on her.

The king's eyes lit up. "Ah! You're one of those displaced traitor nobles. Now it all makes sense why you want to kill me," said the king while chuckling deeply. "Justice has already been served. It is the strong's obligation to rule over the weak. The people needed a strong ruler and there were simply too many contenders for the throne," said the king in a lamenting voice.

He looked closely at Lita's face and whispered, "I remember you now. You're Beowulf's wife. That man put up quite a fight, but he is no more. Anyone that can possibly stand in my way is no longer alive. And all those that think they can conquer my kingdom shall be put down just as he was."

Lita's eyes darkened. Her anger had left her speechless. She was standing in front of her sworn enemy and was powerless to stop him.

"Take her away! I'd like to have a chat with the damsel later. I'm interested in how a lady of a renowned house became an assassin," said the king in a firm voice. He then continued, "Capture the other intruders and take them in for questioning. I want to learn more about this organization of theirs. The Blades of Malice shall feel the wrath of West Valis."