Assassin for Peace

The stories and lives of the Grim. ((Roleplaying Stories and In Character Interactions))
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Filora
Posts: 466

Re: Assassin for Peace

Unread post by Filora »

[[ Oh snap. You're one of those players other GMs warned me about, aren't you! ]]
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18:41:20 [Lilliana-TwistingNether]: I don't know how to play the game, just rp.
21:31:21 [Ulrezaj-TwistingNether]: What are we without the bw?
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Syreenna
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Re: Assassin for Peace

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Information Overload

Syreena's head hurt the next morning, after reading all night. She'd read each paragraph at least twice to absorb the content. Reading and studying did not come easily to her. It didn't help that the books weren't exactly textbooks. They were the rambling thoughts of a disturbed mind. Notes were scattered around her, filled with names and phrases from the books that she didn't want to forget. Notes and ideas of things to warn the cursed Grims about, if they would listen.

Yet, for all her efforts, it seemed there was nothing of real value. There were no step by step instructions on how to defeat Accalia. In fact, the author wasn't even present when Accalia was defeated. There wasn't even mention of Vionora. Seven years ago, according to these books, the curse only affected elves. Either things had changed, and the curse had evolved, or the author was wrong. And Syreena did not doubt the author. He was one of the most insightful people she'd ever met, sometimes uncomfortably so.

Frustrated, she swept the notes and books onto the floor. There was nothing here, and she had her own problems.


Later that day, she met with Malhavik. She'd tried to talk to Konro the night before, but the big brute didn't seem to understand. So she explained to Malhavik.

She would be questioned before Awatu about the events that happened on the little Warspear island the other night. She wouldn't dare lie to the Commander, but the same set of facts could be spun to tell various stories, based on sequence, word choice, emphasis. Syreena had been debating on whether to paint the three cursed Grims in a good light or a bad one. She needed to find out if they were in control of themselves, or if Accalia or Vionora controlled their actions. She needed to know if they were still Grim.

She also tried to warn Malhavik about what she'd learned from the books, although she didn't tell him about them. He didn't seem to be affected in the same way the author of the books had though. Soon Malhavik was telling her how it started, how he was being fed, and about the High Elf he'd used that started all this. Once he started talking, he didn't stop, as if he welcomed the chance to tell his story to someone who would listen. Syreena listened, asking questions here and there, but she was resolved to let it go and focus on her training. Until near the end of the conversation, when he spoke of Vionora's role seven years ago, and Syreena had commented that she never heard of such a person being involved back then. And Mal explained why.

Now, after speaking to Malhavik, she knew too much. She knew more than she wanted to. But there was nothing she could do with the information. She found herself wishing, not for the first time, for Yichimet or Malstrom, someone she trusted who also had the wisdom to make use of all this information. There was no one. And she wasn't even sure that what she knew was actually useful, and not just shocking.

Syreena studied her notes, from both the books and Malhavik's words, during office hours one last time. She only grew frustrated. She couldn't make the pieces fit to make any sense. She understood the links between the names, but she couldn't see how knowing which elf slept with which troll, or which elf tortured which, would help against Accalia. The information only brought more questions without answers.

The little rogue was not prepared for this responsibility of knowledge, that may or may not be relevant to anyone or anything outside the past. Not on top of her disappointment and belief that her Grim friends had betrayed her, or her anxiety about being questioned by Awatu, or her certainty that a particular elf monk was soon going to beat her to a bloody pulp with a new stick. She just couldn't deal with it all by herself.

After office hours, she returned to the garrison. She tied the books together and shoved them to the bottom of the trunk where she found them. Then she gathered up all her notes and took them to the bonfire. After watching them burn, she nodded to herself and headed back up the hill to her little hut, satisfied that her load was now just a little bit lighter.

"Jinsai tomorrow, Feorn the next day," she mused to herself, now focusing only on the problem that most directly affected her. "Maybe Kex'ti the day after that."
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Alts: Lirsha Deathwhistle & Ayidda
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Lilliana
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Re: Assassin for Peace

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((I like that one))
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Syreenna
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Re: Assassin for Peace

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Yet Another Package: Thistleheads

Feorn proved to be a no-show for practice, but she had met with Jinsai the night before. Her sore ribs and stiff muscles were still being repaired by the restorative potions from the alchemy lab. From her practice with the former Sanctuary monk, she was assured that her strategy was sound, if or when it came down to a fight between her and Kex'ti. But she still wasn't certain she had enough power to beat him.

Still, she was as ready as she could be in the near future, and now she just wanted it to be over with. The tension of anticipation of an upcoming battle was becoming weary, leaving the usual cheery rogue in a melancholy mood more often than not. So far, Kex'ti had not done anything in retaliation to her Draenei killing sprees.

Maybe the blood thistle she'd been including with each package was having the intended effect. Maybe he was getting addicted to it, and had forgotten about her. The little rogue allowed herself a moment to imagine the confident elf in a haze of smoke from a blood thistle pipe, his eyes glazed over, lounging on an overstuffed chair, distracted by drugs and completely vulnerable, looking forward to the next delivery of Draenei parts just for the blood thistle that always came along with it. She wasn't even sure how elves consumed the thistle, but she liked the smokey image in her mind.

However, that was too much to hope for, and she wouldn't depend on him becoming addicted. At best, it might serve as a mild distraction. She still hadn't had any luck finding the Draenei woman named Remiuura, so she just kept slaughtering every woman she came across that had blue skin, horns, and hooves. Eventually, she'd get the right one.

Syreena prepared another package. If this one didn't get more than a few words in reply, she'd be surprised. She dumped a large sack into a crate. Draenei heads, all women, tumbled and thunked into the wooden box. She arranged them a bit, so that when the box was opened, the pained expressions on the heads would be visible. Then she stuffed blood thistle into their mouths and tucked bits into their hair, as if they were flowers.

She didn't bother with a note this time. There would be no question it was she who sent it.
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Syreenna
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Re: Assassin for Peace

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Two Elves and a Tauren

Syreena found it a bit strange that she barely noticed a particular person for so long, and then in one day hears him associated in three separate disturbing circumstances. All she knew about Naheal before was that he was an elf who had recently left Sanctuary.

In Warspear, while she was sitting on the balcony of the tavern, enjoying the view, she overheard a conversation below. Breygrah was sitting on Lilly's rock with Naheal, an elf with a long black ponytail. Kex'ti was standing near them. Kex'ti asked if the two had been training together, or working on the curse together, and Naheal replied that he and Brey were together. Kex'ti suggested they reveal it to Konro at an "inopportune time." Soon Kex'ti left, and Naheal suggested to Brey that they go to Broden'gar and get some rest. Naheal's home?

If Brey was planning to tell Konro right before their fight to distract him, at least Syreena could take that little pleasure from Brey. It was no secret she didn't like the Tauren woman. Syreena thought of her as a bullying coward, challenging a one-armed man to a fight to the death. Sure, Konro was loud and obnoxious, and he drank too much and couldn't hold his liquor very well. But he was Grim, and Syreena found herself fond of him, probably due to the influence of the many Tauren Grims who had come before him. Several of them were like big brothers to her, and her interactions with them had influenced her opinion of the race in a positive manner.

The little rogue, after reminding the big brute not to hurt the messenger, told Konro what she'd found out. He took it better than she expected. That is to say, there was lots of swearing and yelling, but he didn't try to squash her head or destroy any property. Better he find out now, when he has a few days to get used to the idea, than during an "inopportune time" right before his big fight with Brey.

Later that evening, she heard that Naheal had gotten his hands on some black book that was going to be used as a weapon against Accalia. She also heard that he is crazy, unstable, insane...several words that indicated he probably shouldn't have such a powerful weapon in his hands.

Then Malhavik said the crazy elf cursed him with the black book. She wasn't sure what the curse did to Mal, but Darethy seemed concerned when he heard of it. How dare that elf test his weapon on a Grim!

Kex'ti, Breygrah, Naheal.

Kex'ti cared for Brey. Brey cared for Naheal.

Kex'ti didn't seem to appreciate the gifts Syreena had been sending him. Maybe Brey would.

A small package was sent to Broden'gar with Breygrah Ragetotem's name on it. Inside the package were two pretty elf ears, and a long black ponytail. No note. No return address or any marking to suggest where it came from. Except the inclusion of bloodthistle.

The little rogue wondered what message would be read into it. Would Brey tell Kex'ti and Naheal? Kex'ti would surely know who it was from if the bloodthistle was mentioned. Would they see it as a threat against Naheal, for having the black book, for cursing Malhavik, for taking a Grim's love interest? Would it be seen as a means to hurt Brey by threatening her boyfriend, because she was planning to kill a handicapped Grim? Would Kex'ti, in all his noble chivalry towards Brey, finally be drawn out?

Syreena grinned, quite pleased with herself, as she walked to the alchemy lab to check on the progress of the modifications to Cobrak's plague.
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Filora
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Re: Assassin for Peace

Unread post by Filora »

[[ Lilly has a rock? ]]
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18:41:20 [Lilliana-TwistingNether]: I don't know how to play the game, just rp.
21:31:21 [Ulrezaj-TwistingNether]: What are we without the bw?
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Neevah
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Re: Assassin for Peace

Unread post by Neevah »

((That post explains a good bit of what has been going on, though I'm still clueless at times))
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Lilliana
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Re: Assassin for Peace

Unread post by Lilliana »

((so funny especially this part:
Would it be seen as a means to hurt Brey by threatening her boyfriend, because she was planning to kill a handicapped Grim? Would Kex'ti, in all his noble chivalry towards Brey, finally be drawn out?
))
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Syreenna
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Re: Assassin for Peace

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A Final Gift

Konro had just fallen in the snow of Icecrown. Syreena stared at his dead body. Sadness became masked by anger. The Mok'gara was supposed to be an honorable fight. The little rogue didn't claim to possess much honor herself, but she knew what it was, and she knew its value among most Tauren and orcs.

She lifted her cold gaze to the Tauren woman responsible for Konro's death. Breygrah stumbled to her feet with a groan as the little rogue stalked towards her.

"There is no honor here," the Shadowblade growled through bared teeth. "You killed a Grim. I won't forget that. Nor forgive it."

"I do not fear you either," Breygrah responded.

"Of course you don't, you stupid, stubborn, honorless cow."

"Say what you wish. Maybe one day you will grow up."

"I'm not really one for words," Syreena answered with one of her sickly sweet smiles.

"Neither am I. I can promise you that," Breygrah said with no expression. "Anything else? Or are you done?"

Syreena drew her blades in answer, eyeing the woman with deadly intent. She ignored all other voices, some trying to talk her down. She ignored their looks and glares. A Grim was dead. A friend was dead. Someone would bleed for that.

"Try it," Breygrah taunted. "I dare you."

"Syreena, you want someone to fight?" asked a voice that did give her pause just as she was about to lunge for Breygrah. Kex'ti invited her again. "Then fight me."

The little rogue spun towards his voice without hesitation. The shaman, who had facilitated this sham of an honor fight, was trying to command her to stop, telling everyone to go home. Syreena ignored her, and focused. She'd prepared for this. Jinsai's lesson came back to her. Finish him fast, or not at all.

Kex'ti had tossed his staff to the elf woman he seemed to be with, and he drew his blade. Syreena took to the shadows, moving silently and unseen, focusing only on the elf that had cost her so much. He would die in the snow next to Konro. It would be her parting gift to her friend, for Konro hated the elf almost as much as she did.

The Shadowblade struck, fast and hard, giving everything she had in those first few critical moments of the fight. It wasn't enough. Kex'ti still stood, injured, but still strong, and then he struck back, forcing Syreena to use defensive tricks.

The fight went on, for how long, the rogue couldn't say. She knew from her training with Jin'sai, that with each moment that passed, her chance of success dropped. She'd used all her tricks, but she still fought on, watching for one opening, one misstep by Kex'ti, that would give her a chance to slice him apart.

Finally, her injuries were too much, and she fell. The elf moved in with his blade aimed at her neck. In the background, she heard Darethy and Lilly and the shaman, shouting at Kex'ti to stop. Somewhere in the back of her fuzzy, exhausted mind she found that curious; Darethy had attacked her earlier that evening, and now he was telling Kex'ti not to kill her.

"You dishonor the Horde," Kex'ti said, as the defeated rogue looked up at him defiantly over the blade at her neck. "Say your last words to your guild. For no one else will mourn your loss."

Syreena glared at him. She knew she was about to die, and she felt nothing but hatred for the arrogant elf before her. There was nothing she could do; she was too injured to move. If her next words were to be her last, she would choose the words more important than any others. She gathered her last remaining strength and shouted, "Peace through annihilation!"

Darethy was yelling at the elf again, and even Naheal asked everyone to sit down. Kex'ti, still holding his blade to Syreena's throat, looked past her to where his companion was.

"No. You deserve worse," Kex'ti said. "Khorvis of The Grim. This rogue has failed twice in her efforts to kill a healer, and loyal member of the Horde. I want you to remember this."

Khorvis, the senior ranking Grim there, didn't answer. Lilly was quiet too, but Syreena could almost feel her anger.

"There's nothing I can do to you that's worse than your own 'family.' You get to walk away from this, Syreena," Kex'ti said with a smirk. "But I'm keeping a part of you with me."

"I didn't think you cared," Syreena responded weakly.

No sooner were the words out of her mouth than the elf's blade sliced down her face, severing an ear. Syreena screamed in rage and pain, slowly bringing up a hand to cover the hole in her head where the ear was.

"You freaking jackass," Lilly gasped at Kex'ti.

"We're done here," the elf stated simply. "Lok'tar, Khorvis."

------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day, she sent one last package to Kex'ti Dalendala at Sanctuary's garrison:

"You have to eat it.
I would have."

Inside the package, wrapped in layers of bloodthistle, was her own ear.
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Alts: Lirsha Deathwhistle & Ayidda
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Xaraphyne
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Re: Assassin for Peace

Unread post by Xaraphyne »

Syreena wrote:"You dishonor the Horde," Kex'ti said, as the defeated rogue looked up at him defiantly over the blade at her neck. "Say your last words to your guild. For no one else will mourn your loss."

Syreena glared at him. She knew she was about to die, and she felt nothing but hatred for the arrogant elf before her. There was nothing she could do; she was too injured to move. If her next words were to be her last, she would choose the words more important than any others. She gathered her last remaining strength and shouted, "Peace through annihilation!"
[[ If this didn't bring tears to your eyes or make you want to bellow the same, you're not true Grim. ]]
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Khorvis
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Re: Assassin for Peace

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[[ I loved the ending. So fitting! That Mak'gora was an earful. ]]
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Lilliana
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Re: Assassin for Peace

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((Khorvis you funny))
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Syreenna
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Re: Assassin for Peace

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The List

A list of names is scrawled on a piece of parchment hanging in Syreena's hut within the Grim garrison.

Alliance
Blood Elves
Saphiara
Sanctuary
Kex'ti Dalalala
Julilee Liene
Kex'ti
Naheal ?
Blind Panda ?
Breygrah Ragetotem
Darethy

Breygrah !!!
KEX'TI !!!!!
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Syreenna
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Re: Assassin for Peace

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Broken

“Your…’punishment’ will be to hunt down these traitors,” Awatu’s voice still rang through her mind from the night she was demoted for failing to kill a Sanctuary elf. “Failure is not an option.”

She was the High Inquisitor, an Irredeemable, second in rank only to the Commander himself. Now she was just part of the Grim ranks like everyone else.

She’d failed to save Konro.

She’d failed, again, to kill Kex’ti, and had been mutilated and humiliated in the process. “The Commander will be pleased,” Khorvis had snickered at her afterwards. She had been thinking the same thing. She had failed again. Awatu would not take that lightly.

Several times, she crossed paths with Brey. And several times, people got in the way. Finally, she had had enough. She challenged Darethy, the one who had interfered the most, to a fight. And lost, horribly.

She had once been one of the most respected killers among The Grim. She’d won rank and titles among the Horde, and awards in the goblin run arenas. Now she couldn’t even beat a Sanctuary elf or an old Forsaken.

Then Cobrak, a Grim, stood protectively in front of Brey and informed Syreena that she was under his protection and threatened her. His words had hurt her just as much as the injuries she’d received in the fights she’d lost. His failure was hers; he had been granted his rank while she was High Inquisitor.

The idea that she would be facing yet another enemy was expected. That it would be a Grim, was not. That, on top of her recent failures, cause her mind to crack. A fissure opened, a welcoming blackness where none of this would matter. Still the little rogue resisted the temptation, drawn instead to Grim and duty.

Kerala, Brey’s Chieftain, threatened Syreena soon after that. The list of people wanting to kill her seemed to grow each day, and she found less and less support among The Grim.

And the blackness still reached for her with its promise of comfort and peace, and still she resisted.

She considered her options. Brey needed to pay for killing a Grim. But Syreena didn’t need at least three people – Kex’ti, Cobrak, and Kerala – coming for her head. So she thought of something else. She wrote Kerala a note, suggesting Brey sacrifice a horn, to be laid to rest with Konro.

The Horns’ Chieftain wrote back, agreeing it was a good idea. “Speak to Awatu,” she added, and if he agreed, Kerala would convince Brey. As if the Commander would agree to such. As if he wouldn’t rip her arms off when he learned of all her recent failures, or demote her to stablehand.

And still the comfortable dark place beckoned.

Brey was at the mailbox in Warspear. Syreena watched her from the shadows for a moment, considering. She could wait for an audience with Awatu, and hope he'd agree to what she'd asked for. Or she could take the horn herself.

Syreena lunged at Brey's back, swords slashing through the air to collide with the plate armor of the warrior. The little rogue was a flurry of vicious attacks, retreating to the shadows only to strike again and again and again.....

She may as well have been beating her blades against a boulder. Brey beat her back again and again, until Syreena was forced to retreat to the shadows for her own well being.

A few minutes later, unwilling to give up such a prize (and the chance to regain a shred of dignity), the rogue struck again. And again, the Tauren warrior beat her down. It almost felt like Brey was toying with her, taking her time to deliver as many blows as possible before Syreena fell to the ground, unable to move.

Brey approached her, and knelt down on the ground where Syreena was still sitting, and asked if she was done now. The beaten rogue, expecting a death blow, mumbled something in answer. Only then did she notice the three warlocks who had been watching. Malhavik, Darethy, and Grimal.

Syreena mustered just enough strength and will to crawl away into the shadows…..and into the welcoming darkness.
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Syreenna
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Re: Assassin for Peace

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Elf-Stabbing for a Purpose

In the days since Malhavik had forced her to return, the Shadowblade had much to sort out in her mind. The conflicts and complications she had run from were still here, though she was able to look at them more objectively after her break.

Although she was still angry and bitter, she’d set about trying to see to her problems, one by one.

Breygrah was broken, mentally as well as physically. There seemed to be no fight left in her after she’d gotten the ‘kodo in a butcher’s shop’ treatment.

Syreena talked to Cobrak and gotten his assurance that he was still a Grim. “You are Grim, or you are nothing,” she reminded him of the old Grim saying. She then suitably promised to end him if he ever threatened a Grim for the sake of ‘nothing’ again.

Kex’ti was the worst problem for her personally, but she’d seen him beaten and bloodied in Malhavik’s crypt, so she knew he had suffered. She was also not ready to face him again anytime soon. Syreena sent him a letter, offering a truce, at least until after Accalia was dealt with. She offered to meet with him alone to discuss it. That would at least give her some time to get things in order so she didn’t have to worry about him the same time she was dealing with so much else. Or he would set a trap for her at the meeting, and end her. That thought didn’t frighten her as it once did. Kex’ti accepted the truce in a written reply though, and indicated they could discuss their situation after the battle with Accalia.

Accalia, obviously, was the biggest problem. There was nothing Syreena could do about that though. Not yet.

Vionora was still a problem too, of course. A problem that she recently discovered others had plans on solving, or at least, minimizing. Darethy had entrusted her with those plans—plans that would hurt a Grim—and Syreena had assured him she’d keep his plans in confidence, for the good of the Horde and even the world.

Since that night, she’d been conflicted. She’d promised not to warn a Grim that people were planning to hurt him, if necessary, to get what they wanted from him. She respected Darethy’s worldly wisdom, and she had an odd trust in him ever since she’d challenged him in Orgrimmar, and he didn’t gloat or treat her cruelly when he had her beaten. Maybe it was because there was pretty much nobody that she fully trusted on a daily basis, that she often found herself wanting his approval. She realized now, that desire had interfered with her judgment as a Grim.

She didn’t deserve approval or friendship from anyone if it cost her even a small amount of her loyalty to the Grim, even someone like Darethy, who acted like a father among the Forsaken and even the Horde. She would not start down that slippery slope and end up like Lilly or Khorvis, helping enemies when it seemed like a good thing to do. No, she would have to find a way to make sure she didn’t allow anything to affect her loyalty to The Grim.

“You are Grim, or you are nothing,” she muttered to herself. She would hold herself to the words she held others to. She would not let a Grim be attacked without warning just because she had made a promise to an outsider.

She sent off a quick note to Malhavik, grabbed her swords, and headed out in search of someone.

---------

Syreena stepped from the shadows onto the path in front of Alfirin. The elf was looking down at some paperwork when she realized the presence before her. She looked up, blinking her eyes at Syreena.

“Excuse me?” Alfirin asked.

Syreena looked around briefly. There was nobody too close to them. She looked back at Alfirin, and asked, “Where’s Darethy?”

“Darrethy?” Alfirin asked as she blinked again, somewhat taken aback. “He’s off running some errands. Why, is there something I can help you with?”

“Yeah,” Syreena answered, “you can help me.” She drew her blades, hesitated a moment, then resigned herself to making Darethy hate her.

“We can talk about this,” Alfirin assured her, her brows furrowing lightly at the tone of her voice. She looked at the blades before glancing back to the rogue.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Syreena said, and she stepped forward and stabbed at the elf with the longer blade.

“I ins-,” Alfirin started. She had reached out just then, but the rogue had been too fast for her. She blinked and looked down, finding the blade had pierced her clothes. Her belly drew some blood onto the torn robes. She blinked at Syreena.

“Please,” Alfirin said.

But Syreena had already disappeared into the shadows. Alfirin peered around herself, and then groaned, holding her stomach. She bit her lip, and then muttered a quiet spell under her breath.
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