Hours quickly passed under the haze of silence and swift death; the princes and the fertile women they were lucky enough to call wives dying peacefully in their sleep. With each kill Kane felt himself becoming more and more distance to the world around him, his body going through the trained motions of taking a life as it was trained to; going room by room as silent as a whisper, locating the sleeping target and swiftly rising his bloody dagger, one quick downwards thrust and that person was gone, the whispering of the blade just loud enough to stir the partner until they quickly followed. To Kane the air screamed past the dagger, the warm blood spraying over him, hidden and absorbed by the black fabric.

Alula stayed back, away from the quick showers of red rain as he leaned Nydia against him cooing to her as she slept. The smell of warm copper awoke long buried instinct within Alula causing his eyes to glow in the darkness around them. As he closed his eyes to breathe deeply images of fresh still warm bloody meat danced before him.

“That’s the last of them.”

Opening his eyes Alula focused on the task at hand; ignoring the instincts telling him to hide the meat from other predators. “What now?” he asked moving Nydia to sit higher on his hip.

“We meet up with the other back in the tower, some will have finished before us and others will still have some left,” Kane quickly walked toward the door, the cooling bodies and splendour surrounding them no longer having any impact. Kane was numb to the world around him, not even checking for guards unless his own instincts hadn’t demanded it.

Although only a few hours had past since the killing had began the air around the royal wing had started to turn foul, the smell of congealing blood seeping through the gaps of the door of the King’s Chambers. The Queen’s own rooms had starting to smell of stale cooper air and within a few hours Kane knew every member of the guard and servants would know what their king had supposedly ordered.

“It’s so sad,” Alula said quietly as they retraced their steps towards the servant corridors. Kane said nothing as he led the way. “Whole family lines wiped out in one night and no one will question it. I guess the people of this place are loyal to their king.”

“That’s not true; some will resist the thought of Xander being their king, believing the rumours they hear about both him and me. They will try and fight us, believing one of their own people should be king.” Kane had tried not to think about more of the bloodshed, about children left without fathers. “With all the court members also dead there will be internal power struggles, weakening Kai’Ling on all three sides. To make sure neither Kai’Pan nor Kai’Wan overtake Kai’Ling Xander will most likely send some men to watch over the take over; most likely Zev and our new guards and allies will be here with the week.”

They walked down the long corridors in near silence, the thick grey stone surrounding them muffling their footsteps.

“Your brother, Xander planed this well,” Alula said as the faint torch light dimmed. “For someone who has not taken a life before tonight, you did well Kane.” The quite complement caused Kane to briefly freeze, the ice hardening around his heart as the images repeated in his head melting slightly. They stood in the grey darkness as the minutes slowly crawled by.

“Thank you,” Kane said some time later, “that means a lot to me.”

Alula gently placed a hand upon Kane’s shoulder, the weight telling Kane Alula wouldn’t, couldn’t leave him. They could have stayed like that forever if Nydia hadn’t made her presence remembered. Removing his hand Alula placed it over her pressure point, gently squeezing until she once more fell into a deep sleep.

“We better hurry; servants will be up soon and someone will notice the dead.”

Alula nodded his head in understanding to Kane’s orders. Without looking back they quickly spirited down the corridor and out into a small alcove on a wide staircase. Seeing no end to the curling stairs either up or down, Kane quickly raced up the stairs, careful to listen for any patrolling guards. Once again luck seemed to be on their side as they ran up the stairs; with each floor they passed the stairs got smaller and smaller until it was clear they were entering one of the many towers with not a guard in sight. Knowing the end to the seemingly never ending stairs must be near Kane forwent stealth for a quick dash up the last half of their upwards trek.

Alula sensed the patrolling guard long before he heard him walking slowly down the stone stairs. From his place behind Kane in the narrow staircase he warned his human of the danger before pulling Nydia closer.

“How high is he?” Kane asked placing his bloody dagger’s within his black clothes.

“We’ll meet him in a few more minutes running at this speed.”

“Well then, we’ll just have to act quicker then him.”

That said Kane pulled out a clean knife, the thin curved blade seven inches long and ending in a deadly point. Much like his other short range weapons there was nothing special about the knife expect that it was designed to cut through the rips of his enemies. Having seen the full body armour the Kai’Ling guards favoured Kane lowered his upper body ready to rush his opponent. Following the curve of the stairs Kane quickly met the single guard.

“Hey You stop right there.” The harsh order echoed down the stairs, the guards booming voice full of surprise. The guard protected by his thick steel armour drew his broadsword and thrust downwards in one swift move.

With no light leather armour hidden away under his black tunic and fabric warp Kane knew to keep away from the sharp sword. Quickly dodging to the left Kane pressed into the cold stone as the blade sliced where his head was. Taking a spilt second Kane appreciate the speed moving without the heavy steel chainmail and plating gave him, the lack of extra weight making him feel weightless as he once more rushed the guard.

The guard bought his sword up once more levelling it to his steel stomach and slashing it sideways level with Kane’s neck. Seeing the move Kane ducked low, the sword skimming the top of his hair and brought himself into the guard’s reach. Quickly reaching the step below him Kane watched the guard try to right himself from the powerful sideways swing. Bringing his knife up Kane quickly thrust the thin blade into the unprotected armpit of the guard. Passing between the steel arm guard and chest plate the knife sliced through the long sleeved tunic and short undershirt and buried itself into soft flesh.

Just as quickly as he thrust it in Kane was quick to pull his now bloody knife out, watching as the blood flowed onto the floor. Looking up into the covered face Kane saw the guard’s eyes widen as he looked past him.

“Princess…” said the muffled voice. The guard loosened his grip on the heavy broadsword, letting it fall loudly to the stone floor where it quickly fell down the stairs.

Quickly twisting around Kane looked to see Alula come round the stone column and rest next to the fallen sword.

“Why? Why do you have the Princess?” the guard asked softly staring into the soft sleeping features.

“I was asked to bring her, but don’t worry she wont be harmed.”

The guard looked down into Kane’s green eyes and only saw the knife flash as it was moved to cut through his neck. The blood was everywhere, the knife cutting through tendon, muscle and the windpipe. The nearly headless body fell down the stairs to rest at Alula’s feet.

“You’re filthy,” Alula said as he stepped through the puddles of blood to stand near Kane.

“How can you tell?” Kane asked as he looked down at the black fabric quickly absorbing the ruby liquid.

“Dragon,” Alula replied as they once more set off. Kane’s clothes squelched with each movement, the wet cotton heavy with blood. Moving in near silence they quickly walked up the remaining distance between them and the tower doorway, careful for any more guards wondering around.

Once out in the open Kane looked towards the other balconies, seeing small shapes waiting in the fading darkness; looking up into the dark blue sky he tried to make out the drifting shapes of the dragons circling down towards them. On the horizon the sky was slowly turning a light grey of prey dawn.

“That took longer then expected” Kane said quietly as the large crimson dragon lowered towards them.

“Will we make it back in time?” Alula asked as Nydia cuddled into his body’s natural heat, the still cold night air seeping into her thin bed clothes.

“As long as we leave before sun up there is no limit, by midday Xander should have sent the Dragon Knights and the most trusted guards to fly here.”

Once the large serpent like dragon came within reach they quickly climbed onto his rough back, ready for the flight back surrounded by cold air. From their perch above the other towers they over watched the assassins slowly climb onto the saddle less backs of the winged dragons. Alula watched as small shapes began to collect below them, screaming echoing up to meet them as the bodies were discovered.

In silence the mighty beast quietly moved away towards their brethren.