Two Contracts Tonight

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A wee short story I wrote a while back. I gotta kind of bored after a day of work.
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Ryo looked down from the tree branch, the thickness of the green leaves hiding his small frame from the guards below. Two far to his left, one patrolling around near the tree. He had been watching the guards clad in their silver and blue armour. His blue eyes had hardly blinked throughout his wait; hand never straying far from the tanto that hung at his side. He adjusted the black cloth covering his face and prepared himself. All thoughts left his mind bar the guard that moved ever closer to him. He leapt from the boughs of the green-leaved as a wind passed, masking the sound, and in mid air drew his sword with infinite speed as he bore down on the dead man.

Thelon had been on guard all day and all night. He had looked forward to this day for the past six months. After this he would be going back to his wife. Ah, his beautiful wife Tanya. He loved her more than their baby, the one he had not even met yet. God, it would be at least four months old. He hated this, working for this bastard. This bastard who had him on six out of seven days, non stop. How much he had hoped someone would kill Gewt. He walked in the blue and silver armour adjusting the cape that flowed over his back. He looked at the single tree in the courtyard and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Without thinking he drew his sword. He looked at the tree for almost half an hour, squinting. He had always, every night, without fail stopped and studied the tree. Thelon had always looked for any assassin but would find nothing. He shook himself and sheathed his sword. He turned his back on the tree and didn’t feel the tanto slice through the back of his neck.

Ryo landed on the grass with no sound. Keeping the same position, sword extended out to his side, he looked down at the decapitated body to his left blood gushed from the vicious wound. A trickle of blood fell from his sword and he stood up, picking up a rock and placing it in his pocket as he did so. Sword still in hand he turned to the two other guards. They were three feet from each other facing different directions but still talking. He ran at them sword still extended out to his left. His feet made no sound as he drew the other tanto into his right hand.

“What do you mean?” asked Pheol. “She didn’t even look at you.”

“I’m just saying’,” replied his companion behind him. “She was more interested in me than you.” They stood watching the gates at either end of the courtyard. Their hands on their swords. Their purple cloaks swept over their blue and silver armour. “I bet you, say, a weeks wages, I can get her in the sack before you.”

“Lerre, you’re married,” Pheol reminded him. There would be no witty comeback as two swords plunged through their necks simultaneously as Ryo stood up between them. The guards made no sound as the fell to the ground dead.

Swords back in their leather scabbards now, Ryo examined the wall in front of him. Twelve foot tall, he smiled, he could climb double that. He scaled it with effortless ease and stole into the shadows in front of him. The guard facing towards Ryo had blinked and missed him. Ryo looked from the shadows as he edged along, hugging the wall. He stood just outside the gaze of the torch which sat in a bracket near him. He was roughly ten feet from the man and removed the stone from his pocket. He threw it, with it striking the wall behind the guard who turned his back to look at the source of the sound. His last mistake, the tanto plunged straight through the back of his neck and Ryo threw him to the dark courtyard below. He scaled a second wall and his long fingers grasped the balcony above him. He pulled himself up slightly, just until he noticed the guard in front of him. The guard stared straight at him and Ryo froze. He had been spotted. Ryo clambered onto the balcony and his swords leapt into his hand. There was something wrong here. He had prepared for combat but the guard had not moved. He suddenly noticed the line of blood across his neck. He was dead. Ryo was, for the first time in his life, scared. Someone else was here. He moved inside the main bedroom through the glass door which he slide with infinite quiteness.

He peered through the curtains swords still in hand. Gewt lay on his bed. Ryo ran across the room and raised his sword for the. He froze. A dagger sat in the man’s chest he was already dead. He stood up and felt a presence in the corner of the room. He turned swords in hand in time to dodge a throwing dagger which plunged into the wood of the headboard of the bed. Ryo gazed at the man in front of him.

Hallm looked down from his perch. The first kill had been expertly done but the second and third where unnecessary. His green eyes could see the black garbed warrior hugging a wall on the walkway above the courtyard. Hallm sighed and removed his sword from the scabbard and dropped to the balcony below. The guard did not move as, just before he landed, Hallm’s sword sliced across his neck. Hallm sheathed his sword and removed his dagger from a hidden place in his clothes and moved inside the bedroom. Gewt was snoring loudly and in one flowing movement he ran forward leapt over the bed, thrust his dagger straight into Gewt's heart and landed in the far corner of the room. There he waited, throwing dagger in hand.

Ryo blocked the cut with both his Tanto’s. His opponent stumbled as he backed away and Ryo moved in for the kill. Hallm had feigned and Ryo saw it just in time to duck beneath the man’s sword and roll out of any more danger. Ryo back flipped to avoid another slash and landed in a crouching position. Hallm’s sword trickled with blood as Ryo felt the blood gush from his back. He had not even felt it until now. Ryo thrust and spun but his arm was caught by Hallm’s free hand. Ryo looked down to see the sword go straight through his chest from the other side of his body. He fell to his knees and dropped his tanto. Tears mixed in with the blood, he suddenly realised that he did not want to die.

“Please don’t kill me,” Ryo pleaded. “I only wanted to support my family. Please I beg you. I don't want want to die.”

Hallm pulled back on Ryo’s head and placed the sword on his throat, “then you should have chosen a safer profession.” The sword cut deep into Ryo’s neck and he fell forward dead. Hallm removed a bottle of ice cold water from his clothes and poured it over his blade, washing any trace of blood and returning it to it’s original gleaming self. "Two contracts tonight," he said to himself smiling. He sheathed the sword at his left side and disappeared.

[ July 05, 2005, 14:31: Message edited by: Taluntain ]

 

That was good, Lawless, but I noticed a line stolen from a David Gemmell book

 

If its "yous should have chosen a safer profession" I'm sure it was R.A. Salvatore when writing about Artemis killing some guard dudes.

 

I'm sure it's Gemmell, because I read it in the Waylander series last week

 

Maybe it was both. *shrugs*