Hunter & Prey by Aleia (online e book reading .TXT) 📕

heaters the white haired assassin was pretty sure his target would chose a shadowier place. Tilting his head in a silent warning for the tracker to be on alert.

It was later that night when Zyaen went to extract his revenge, and money, back from the innkeeper. It wouldn’t bode well for the woman if she refused the assassin’s persuasion. So far they had not found their target and although there were prospects the LasDra’aen was far from pleased with their progress thus far.

Silent movements went unheard by the late night crowd below, Zyaen himself had only stayed long enough to see the Inn Keeper off and promptly returned to his room. The next hour saw Adrian retuning to find the younger assassin moving out.

“Make a profit this time will ya?” Scratching the back of his head as he yawned the brown haired tracker rubbed his torso. “We’ll need a hell o’ lot more coin for the road to come.”

Zyaen only nodded, his thoughts already focused on the ‘mission’. Having only been a full time assassin for less than four years, the young elf had quite a bit of experience on his hands… all in the practice of killing the target. Unlike his father, Consort Tsukiya Chimayae, the White Rider took no pleasure in slow kills. It was the thrill of a quick attack that drove Zyaen and much to his disappointment; the young killer couldn’t risk a sudden death and lose the target in the ensuing panic.

It took no time at all for the assassin to reach the woman’s room. Sleeping alone that night, her foolish husband passed out under the bar, the inn keeper was fast asleep. Her fingers twitched with whatever dream ran across her sleep, unsuspecting of the glowing eyes that crept closer. Her attacker didn’t bother himself with the array of daggers hidden within the folds of his clothes, rather he settled with his hands, wrapping one about the chubby neck, the other covering the mouth.

Animalistic survival awakened the woman; eyes flying open as she scratched at the gloved hands. Two pools of gold looked down on the inn keeper, the faint glimmer of light revealed a sarcastic, blood seeking smirk upon the man’s lips.

“Who is she?”

Snarling the words past white teeth Zyaen increased the pressure on the target’s throat, waiting for the slight gurgling noise before releasing. He was thankful that the woman gave in quickly.

“She was the one drinking tea!”

Golden eyes narrowed. Zyaen couldn’t remember a woman drinking tea to be on his list of prospects. Letting go of the woman entirely the assassin stepped back to ponder, his eyes shadowing over for a moment. The inn keeper, seeing her chance moved to dart off the bed as fast as her chubby body would allow only to be met by a sharp dagger at the nose.

His head was slightly tilted as Zyaen turned to look at the woman; his right eye was partially hidden by the black bangs he’d inherited from his father. Twice the assassin shook the blade in a negative movement. “I’m not done with you just yet.” The inn keeper’s swallow was enough of an answer for the assassin.
Chapter Two

The assassin, having never gone to sleep after his attack, was still in a thrilled state. Even as much as Zyaen hated anything that reminded him of his father, the young man couldn’t deny the rush of his latest victim. The inn keeper had broken so quickly, offering no chance what so ever for Zyaen to feel turned off from the ordeal. After the mornings fresh bath, courtesy of his host, the elven man was dressed in traveling clothes. Slightly wrinkled; proof of hasty packing, Zyaen was still grateful of them. It was a well learned habit of his to never engage the target while dressed in his more “traditional clothes”.

Sliding soundlessly down the stairs, the assassin did a brief surveillance over the common room before letting his body bounce down the last ten steps. He wasn’t fooled. Zyaen was aware that the woman knew who he was, how could he not? His target had been sent to kill him and failed; of course his Listener would send him to kill her in return. These sorts of chases were not unknown to the Elven man, while a rare occurrence Zyaen would treat this particular chase the same as the others. The target had not seen his men; he was curtain of that as the small group had entered in pairs of two. As the unlucky underlings Zyaen’s companions had seen to the horses while he and Adrian entered first.

His all-nighter hadn’t gone to waste and the assassin was laying down his trap. Both assets were hiding among the breakfast rush, alert for any given command. A slight thrill swept through Zyaen as he settled himself down at the newly opened seat, of course only by the Keepers courtesy was his food delivered so fast. It was a display of power- why should he truly try to hide who he was? It was pointless. The message was clear- I have men and you are alone.

Kaari was a much older assassin- more seasoned in the practice. She’d seen many young elves die from smaller actions than this and yet here was this young killer just filled with cockiness but also dripping in potential. Most assassins would have already killed off their “partners” in order to get the full reward. So she was pleasantly surprise at being alive in the given moment.

In the coven, there were few who didn’t know about this elf. Most Brotherhood members had bad beginnings, but Prince Zyaen Auvrea Sairyn topped them all. Silently thanking the Night Mother that her new superior was such a faithful servant as to listen to the now almost forgotten Five Tenets. Her one saving grace was Tenet Five- Never kill a Sister or Brother. Slightly embodied to Zyaen, Kaari had resolved herself while working under him where as their fourth ‘partner’ didn’t seem so thrilled.

Wearing clothes close in appearance to Zyaen’s, Kaari was mingling with the crowd beer already in hand. The traveling men about her were taking full advantage of the break of pace; during sudden blizzards many towns and villages were going to be desperate for their goods and even if the route was hard, the coin yielded at the end of a trip was staggering.
Flirting along the lines of men, the red eyed beauty easily charmed information from them regarding the target. Turning comments about her looks into hidden questions, Kaari skillfully played the men like a puppeteer. Compiled with the information received from her partner, Kaari narrowed their search down to two people.

Her time working had been far longer than expected, enough time for Zyaen to finish eating and join Adrian at the fire place. Leaning as close to the hearth as he could without the feeling of burning himself, Zyaen idly chatted to the Tracker. The underlying text was easy enough to follow. Black haired woman, blue cloak most likely pulled over her hair and by the fires. Target was seen drinking tea in the night, action may be habit and a dead giveaway. Laughing a little in consent of the knowledge at the young Elf’s ‘joke’, Adrian was ready to get to work.

The sweep was acted out in swift motions on the team’s part. Tahlri was still hidden; his focus on the crowd’s movement, ever aware of its current awareness and when the time was right, gave the go-ahead signal. Kaari swooped in, needle strategically placed so that it was impossible to see even to his eyes. Only seconds after the attack, the male subordinate knew they had the wrong person. Giving the order for the kill, Tahlri hated taking an innocent life. He was an assassin yes, more importantly he was a Dark Brotherhood Slayer but even still he was reluctant to dispose of anyone unimportant to the assignment. The woman was a loose end however and would need to be taken care of, after interrogation that was. Smiling rather coldly, Tahlri tapped his fingers together as he watched his Dark Elf partner drag the woman up stairs.

Waiting in the room Zyaen controlled his annoyance at the failed operation. It was a simple enough task and yet they were given the slip, one as old as time too: clothes swap. Who the hell still fell for that? Obviously the answer was he and his teammates did. Communication between them was stiff, other than Zyaen and Adrian none of the partners trusted the other. Plus the fact that this was only curable by time the White rider couldn’t imagine working with the other two long enough for that to happen.

Each assassin’s skills were oddly balanced, none able to mix with the others. Kaari was what Zyaen would call muscle. Her body was formed perfectly for air assassinations. Her head on approach to missions was hardly useful in the current situation and was currently only useful for her looks. Tahlri on the other hand was exactly what the young leader was looking for. With the elf’s sharp eyes, little got passed him that was except for a target with black hair.

Letting his chin fall into his palm Zyaen looked at the frightened woman as he sat before her; knees slightly crossed. His behavior was almost casual but for his eyes. Observing the trader as she was tied to the chair, the Elf’s eyes were almost a shade of silver. Gone was the calm golden glow, now that he was linked so deeply with Kiryu Zyaen was in a state of rapture.
“You know of who we seek, yes?” Zyaen’s fingers touched his cheeks twice, body leaning forward as he delighted in the woman’s widening eyes.
“You purchased her cloak.” Wafting thin fingers in the air Zyaen rose from his sitting position to slightly bend at the waist. Looking into his captive eyes through his black bangs the assassin’s voice cooled.
“Just tell me who she is.”


With some further persuasion the trader told all she knew. The target was a woman of young age with locks of pure black. It was neither curly nor short but pin straight and long. Her stature, according to Belle the trader, was that of a short woman wearing the clothes that had been traded for the cloak. To the untrained eye she’d look unassuming but for the assassins… she stuck out like a sore thumb. It was always said it required an assassin to know one.

Once Zyaen knew all he needed, the Aena’yr silenced the woman. The resounding gurgle of her words was those of bliss to her killer who smiled against the light blood splatter on his face. The quiet of the room was broken as the young elf snapped his fingers at Kaari.

“Get rid of it.”

Wiping