Coming Home
Saif carefully placed the body down, making sure no sound except the muffled groans from his victim could be heard. He withdrew his blade and smeared the blood on it over the clothes of unknown pony. The houseguard searched the body, noticing that the stallion was far younger than what he had initially thought. Under the black garment, he had a vibrant white fur and eyes of deep blue. He stepped to the side, avoiding the river of crimson that trickled from the wound and unfolded the note he found inside the victim’s vest. With crimson letters, the name ‘Athaal Ghazath’ was written; making Saif’s initial response justified. An assassin carrying a contract of blood would not stop until the target was dead or they themselves were rendered incapable of fulfilling the contract.
He sighed. He had worried that his brother’s rise in power would cause such effects, but he had hoped it would remain a distant fear. Now, with a dead Legion member at his hoofs, he needed to figure out how to respond to the now very possible threat on the Ghazath family. Right now, his immediate concern was to get rid of the body. He knew a good spot down in the merchant quarter, where the Legion often dumped the bodies of their old members as well. With a deep intake of breath, he looped the bulky body over his back and made way.
Venturing down the long hill from the house to the edge of the lower city area, he noticed how weighty the assassin was. This fact alone made this brawler like stallion unfit for any job for the Legion; he could be heard miles away, and the heavy limbs moved slowly. Saif had taken him down easier than he had anticipated, but he got struck once with a backhoof from the stallion. It made stars dance over his eyes, and earned him a throbbing headache.
As soon as he reached the first block of houses he put down the body and tied a rope around it before he jumped up with the help of a strong bat of his wings. He swirled the rope around his hoof and started to drag the body up, feeling beads of sweat protrude through his fur as his hoof muscles burned from the strain. With the body safely up on the roof, he sighed at the prospect of a long night. For while it was common for the residents of Ma’Galag to see houseguards sneak around at night; one carrying another body would raise suspicion. The rooftops at night was the best way to get down to the dump spot unnoticed.
The Legion never had more than one assassin out on the same night, so the Ghazath family would be safe till morning when this guy shows up missing during the morning reports.
He stopped a short while to survey the area he needed to traverse. On street level, the night workers made their move on drunk, loud nobles heading home from some of the bars in town. Most of them didn’t even notice the trained hoofs of the night gals slipping into their pockets and emptying the contents. Meanwhile others, most of them soldiers that were off for the day, went to the gals looking to spend their money on something not so safe nor as exclusive as they would normally get on the town’s whorehouse ‘The White Bridle’. Saif figured the excitement and tension relief drew the soldier to the streets.
The street light made the roof climbing easy. Focused down, they made any of the ponies walking on the streets blind to anything above them. His only worry would now be to remain silent. This was normally an easy feat, but made significantly harder with the deadweight of another pony. Saif’s body was lithe, made for speed, and not for heavy lifts. Under the pressure, the black leather covering his body made slight creaking noises. He placed the body down and wrapped his dark green and bright white tail in dark cloth. Now completely covered, only his green eyes could be seen through a small slit in the mask covering his face.
He lifted the dead weight again, and began to move. The destination was only a few blocks away; he landed on the first roof with a muffled thud, freezing. Being sure the sound was not heard, he continued forward, moving on the side of the houses facing away from the streets as well as he could. Taking the time to move over or behind obstacles meant the difference between discovery and success. The square forms of the houses made it easier than it would over the oval roof of a noble’s house, where the angled surface threatened to make him slip and fall. Here, the only difficulty was climbing around and over the air vents, just to make sure that he did not step too far into the light of the torches.
At the end of the first block, the gap between the houses became too large for him to effectively jump over without much trouble. The road below was guarded by two guards, hindering any possibility of jumping over unnoticed. They stood in tight form and were keeping an eye on one of the mares working at the other side. As both of them stood facing the same direction, Saif decided he could go behind the two guards, even if that required him to go down on the other street and risk discovery. Another way for him to end the night’s quest would be to just dump the body in front of the guards and vanish. While that would solve his immediate problem, it would not work in the long run. The guards would take it as a houseguard doing its job, but the noble behind the kill order would not be found since they had no means to get a hold of any members of the Legion. This in particular troubled Saif; he had a suspicion on who had hired the assassin, but he needed to be sure.
After a short silent argument with himself, he swirled the rope around his hoof and slid the body down the side of the house. Then he dropped the rope and followed down a pipe. He touched the sandy ground without making a noise. He looked around for any signs of life before taking the effort to lift the body again. With strong quick steps he closed the light filled gap. He sighed as he let the body fall onto the ground again. Taking the rope into his mouth, he climbed up the wall via the drainage pipe and pulled the body up after him once up at the roof. Breathing deep, but silent breaths, he lay completely still, listening to the chatter of the guards.
They seemed unfazed by any sound he may have made, so he pressed on down the alley. The roofs in this district were significantly easier to maneuver around as they were leveled to allow the residents to take baths on the roofs and dry their clothes. Quickly passing over two more houses, he stopped and listened for any unusual sounds before continuing.
Not long after, he reached the point where he needed to traverse the streets to get to the dumping point. By first glance, the street seemed empty. A sandy road going straight ahead, with arches stretching between houses. All the windows were barred with boards, and at almost each house there was a stand for selling merchandise. A rat skittering under the orange halo of the torches, biting in to a small sack of grains a merchant had forgotten to take in, was the only sign of life.
First he lowered the body down with the rope, and then followed after with a leap over the edge. He took the black wrapped body and laid it on his back again, before setting down the streets in a light trot. Stopping in each shadow, making sure nopony was around.
He slinked into one of the alleys, placing the body down and sat next to it. His muscles burned after the ordeal of carrying the assassin through town. Something weighed on his mind as he sat there. Normally, the Legion would send experienced members to take out nobles; but the way he had managed to execute this one told him that it was a recruit. What also struck him was just how big and clumsy the assassin was, it was highly unorthodox to send somepony with the bulk of this one to do a silent murder.
Saif rubbed a hoof on his temples. There was something more, he knew it, but he couldn’t pin it down. Perhaps they had sent a recruit to test him as a houseguard before sending a proper assassin? He stood up and hauled the body up on his back again. No matter what the cause for this was, he needed to hurry. After ridding himself of the body, he had a noble to visit, and needed to do so before dawn.
At the far end of the street he saw his destination, a hole in the wall leading down to the sewers, the perfect place to hide a body. The animals down there would remove any remains within a week; making identification near impossible if the body was found. What more, the maggots made sure to eat any decaying flesh, masking the smell that would come otherwise.
Seeing two guard on patrol heading towards the hole, he settled down in the shadows near one of the merchant stands; confident that his black clothing would mask any hint of his presence. While sitting in a bent down position, watching closely for any other signs of movement beside the guards, he flexed his muscles, hindering cramp in return.
After the guards passed the corner, he rushed forward and pushed the body down the hole, slowing its descent by sliding the rope between his hoofs. Feeling the strain on the ropes slack, he pushed the metal bracelet onto his chest, making a blade spring forth to cut the rope. He rolled up the remains of it and tossed the rest down with the body before he quickly made a retreat to the roofs of Ma’Galag.
He rushed over the roofs and stopped once he had passed a block. Then he took out the note he had taken from the assassin and inspected it. A plan slowly formulated in his mind as he read the name of his brother over and over again in those stained crimson letters. He knew that the noble in question lived near the edge of the merchant quarter, and getting there would be as simple as traversing a few blocks. What stopped him was that he wondered what he would do once he got there. He needed to be sure he was the right one before doing anything. He turned his green eyes to the note again, this time a grin drew itself under his mask. Tucking the note under his black leather vest, he made way.
It was obvious to everypony in the Guild that Fariis had taken badly to a noble as young as Athaal had gaining such a high rank. While the hostility shown by Fariis didn’t gain him any leverage or get any return from Athaal, it was still there. Perhaps the older noble had decided that it was best to get rid of a young, and perhaps a future rival, to secure his own position. As far as Saif had learned from his surveillance of the Guild meetings, there were no other nobles that held a grudge. No one that showed it, at least. He still needed to be sure, that did require a rather direct approach.
After a track over the housetops, he stood and surveyed the building. It stretched far in length and had a red, arched roof with yellow painted walls. Huge windows made any approach directly towards it difficult. He decided that the houseguard would most likely be stationed at front; this would make entering from behind significantly easier.
Saif approached the house, intently listening to any sound made by him, or the houseguard residing here. Near the end of the wall he saw a balcony. Assuming it was connected to the bedroom, he started for it. He considered using his wings to fly up and make his entry easier, but shot down the idea quickly as that would make a lot of sound. He ran a hoof down the column. The surface was rugged, but had no grasping point for him. He stuck his hoofs down into his chest pocket and drew forth a glove for each hoof and took the column on. He embraced it carefully and tested the friction he got from the gloves. Satisfied with the results, he used the muscles in his hind legs to push himself upwards. The climb seemed like it took minutes, and the strain already put on his muscles earlier made him clench his jaw as he climbed. He eventually made it over the rail and sat down, taking deep controlled breaths as his ears flickered, trying to pick up any sound.
While he regained his stamina, Saif grinned; it was a long time since he had needed to use every muscle like this. Furthermore, the skills he learned at the houseguard training camp finally came in handy. Silent missions had been his specialty at the Guild, but while his thin body gave him advantages in movement, it greatly stumbled him in close fighting and heavy lifting.
Saif finally stood up again and found the door locked with a hook on the other side, he pulled a feather from his wing and pushed it through the slit. With trained movements he easily took the hook out of its socket. He stuffed the feather under his vest and pushed carefully on the door.
On the far side of the room Saif saw the noble sleeping soundly in his bed next to his wife. He made way toward the bed on the carpet stretched over the floor, easily muffling the sound of his hoofs. Once there, he sprung forth the blade in his bracelet and rested it just above the mare’s neck. He took the other hoof and put it over the noble’s mouth and woke him. Before the noble could make any sound, Saif motioned down to the blade then for him to get out of bed, the noble nodded silently before he started to move.
The houseguard removed the blade from the mare’s neck and over to the chin of the noble, guiding him into what he suspected was the office. Fariis was a fat form of a pony, with a dirty brown coat and black mane. Over a set of puffy red cheeks, a pair of squinting blue eyes looked at Saif. After all the doors were closed, Saif lowered his blade, but let it remain out, blood from the assassin still glinting in the meek light.
Saif glared at the noble, “Athaal is dead, and the blood price must be paid.” He said with a twist in his voice.
The noble got a confused look drawn upon him. “What do you mean?”
Hesitance crept over Saif, but he decided to try one more time. “The deed is done...”
“I heard you the first time.” The noble hissed back, “Now keep quiet; I already paid the Legion upfront. What is the meaning of this?”
“The houseguard... was more trouble than anticipated, therefore the price has increased.” Saif said, suppressing a grin over his own flattery.
“This is highly risky,” answered the noble, “If you were seen coming here, my career would be over.” Fariis made way to a drawer in one of the closets, shortly after he returned with a small pouch. “Here, that should cover any trouble the houseguard to the insolent whelp of a noble might have caused you.”
Saif accepted the pouch and stacked it into his vest, before turning to the noble again. “One more thing...” he said, gaining the attention of the noble then thrusting the dagger deep into his throat.
Fariis’ eyes widened and he stared awestruck at the blood trickling from his gaping wound and down the metal blade attached to Saif’s hoof. The houseguard pressed harder, causing the noble to fall back.
Leaning close, “You order somepony to kill my brother, and then expect to get away with it?” Saif hissed through clenched teeth. “You expect to have somepony walk in to my family’s home with no consequence?!” He said and twisted the dagger, gaining a satisfying crack.
He retracted his dagger and wiped the blood onto his victim’s fur. “I feel for your wife, I wish the loss of a loved one upon nopony; but for your decision to threaten my family your life is forfeit.”
As he watched the life of a pony drain itself out on the floor in a crimson stream, he took a note from the paper riddled desk and etched in the noble’s name before placing it over the eyes. Confident that even if Athaal would be suspected to have placed the hit, no proof would be found. He slowly walked back to the bedroom, stopping by the side of the bed. He looked ruefully at her sleeping form, watching the blanket rise up and down with her breath. Placing the pouch on the nightstand he sighed and walked towards the balcony. He stepped up on the rail and jumped off, flaring his wings out so it allowed him to glide down to the merchant quarter, right at the edge to the commons where the dumpsite was.
He landed on top of a roof, and then jumped down on the road once sure he was alone. He decided that he could use the relaxing stroll home while mulling over the night’s events. For his brother to rise so fast in the ranks of the guild would mean that more hits would be placed on him; which meant that more nights like this would come in the future. It would become what it did, he concluded. The Ghazath family had given him a home many years ago after he lost his own in the plague; and Athaal had continued to give him one, even after his marriage. Saif would protect this home with his life.
He passed the entrance to the temple of Eran and continued past it. As he stood at the bottom of the hill leading up to his house, he turned and looked back at Fariis’ house. He wished he could have made another decision to secure the life of his own family. Even when threatened, he did not enjoy taking a life, especially when the pony had a family. From what he saw, the Fariis wife was much younger than the noble had been, and he thought of her to be beautiful as well. There was no other option in his mind that the poor mare had been a victim of political play and was forced to marry the fat noble for power. Her father would no doubt benefit from the death of Fariis, but this would hopefully not get in the way for the mare marrying somepony else.
Saif made a mental note to go to the funeral, offer his condolences, and perhaps make sure the mare did fare well or see how heartbroken she was, if at all. Of course, he would set off time to make sure no deeper plot would be made against Athaal.
His brother would almost certainly inquire about the death of the older noble, for now the Council will be in turmoil as they decided the new head of import. Somepony more trustworthy and less vengeful than Fariis.
He saw the mansion of Athaal rise up in front of him, gaining size the closer he got to the top. He noticed the sun starting to paint the hillside around in light; only then did he realize that it had taken him all night to take care of everything. A smile then crossed his lips. To come home and sleep would be welcomed now.
Author's Note
A short introduction story I made for a character for the sequel of http://www.fimfiction.net/story/114143/a-faded-touch-of-blue.
Also, of course, expanding the world of Saddle-Arabia a bit more, having it be a little darker than its neighbouring country, Equestria.
