"Well, my little friend, looks like its just you and me. But it does look like Maatilani is very worried if she sent you looking for me… Don't want to make her worry too much. I'd appreciate your assistance on this matter." The sleek framed nighthawk stared longingly at the cuts of salted meat laying on a nearby plate. As if to respond to his avian friend's desires Caedyrn reached over, grabbed a slice, and allowed the hawk to tear off a mouthful.
Caedyrn's room was smaller than what could be expected for a man of his rank, yet the size suited him just fine. The room had an adjoining bathroom where a wooden tub had already been set, pre-filled with lukewarm water. Furniture was present as could be expected, and it was all high quality and exceptionally comfy. However, nice as the room was, it was for all intents and purposes a holding cell, and he was a suspected criminal. The pair of guards standing outside the locked door, and the inability to leave solidified that fact.
That was primarily the reason he was sitting at the window conversing with the bird resting on the windowsill. One of the few hawks he brought along on the trip, usually for hunting small game, but they had possessed another skill. Hawks were one of the animal species the Scholar took great care in raising, valuing their loyalty, speed, and intelligence. Smaller avian species such as pigeons, and doves were used as short distance messengers, but hawks were utilized only for high priority messages.
"Have you had your fill Silverwing? Sadly, that's all I was given, you've pretty much eaten my dinner you little glutton." Caedyrn carefully brushed his fingers over the crown of the creature's head, watching intently as the hawk leaned into the pats. Silverwing was an older bird, one of the first Caedyrn had raised, and the one who showed the most affection.
Content with his meal and the subsequent massage the hawk began to strut around airing his wings, showing off the long silver streaks in his coat. Caedyrn couldn't help but chuckle at the show, giving the old bird's belly a rub or two, just like when he was just a hatchling. "I always enjoy your company old friend, bit if you stay here any longer my cute little disciples will be worried. It's about time you head on back but take this with you before you go." Caedyrn retrieved a scribbled something onto a scrap of paper, rolled it up and attached it to the waiting Silverwing. The bird leaned in slightly for one last head scratch before extending his wings and taking off into the night.
"Well then, I better get ready here on my end." Speaking to himself, Caedyrn quietly removed a pair of hidden throwing daggers and a wooden pipe. "I hope you don't disappoint my expectations." Mumbling under his breath Caedyrn spoke to no one in particular.
______________
Three men walked up towards the door of the room, both guards took one look at the men and walked away, handing the keys to the group leader. "You have five minutes, and he was relieved of all his weapons. Be quick." The guard whispered, ensuring that no one on the other side of the door would overhear their conversation. With that both guards departed for a patrol of the wing, allowing the men to do their work without fear.
"Let's go." Whispering in a gruff voice, the leader of the group of three carefully inserted the key into the lock and turned until it clicked. They remained silent, only partially opening the door, propping it open before entering.
All three crept in slowly, their footfalls masked by the pouring rain outside the window. Their approach focused upon the bed, specifically the outline of the person sleeping under the covers. Spreading along both sides, all three men prepared their blades, the swords glinting in the light of the bedside glow lamp. Then as one they thrust their poison coated blades into the bed, through the target.
However, the blades felt little resistance, upon removing their swords and noticing the distinct lack of blood, only then did the reality dawn on them. An understanding that came a few seconds too late. The leader felt a sting, clutching his neck he found a dart lodged into flesh, within second he had lost his ability to stand and fell to the ground. Both his associates followed, the only difference being the daggers lodged into their neck and chest.
"Looking for someone friend?" To the assassin's dismay, their target emerged from the shadows of the bathroom. The Scholar had been waiting for them, all indicators pointed toward the assassin's having been betrayed, that their target knew they were coming.
"Well, I can see you have some questions… Probably wondering why you can't make a sound… can't move your muscles? Feels like you're caught in a vice, don't worry I know the feeling." Unable to move his neck, the assassin left staring ahead, the voice of his captor coming from seemingly every direction. "The Perlaxi is a venomous reptile around the size of a full-grown man, measuring from tail to snout. Those of us who live on the frontier have to deal with them daily, before I had arrived the people feared those beasts, feared the waters where they lurked. However, it isn't their sharp teeth or large size that one needs to be most wary of…" Caedyrn flipped the assassin onto his back, so he could witness his captor, feel the weight of the knee pressing into his chest.
"It's the venom that you have to watch out for. A fast-acting paralytic which leaves the victim immobile, doesn't last too long, maybe an hour or so, but for the victim it can feel like an eternity. Especially when you are dragged into the dark cold waters and devoured, piece by miserable piece… until there is nothing left but bones." As if on que Caedyrn violently pressed the man's head into the floor, ignoring his slurred cries. Continuing by jamming his dagger into the man's open mouth, muffling his cries and covering Caedyrn's hands in blood and saliva.
"The Perlaxi are vindictive and cruel beasts, there is quite a bit of intelligence behind their eyes. Intermittent culling and population control measures go a long way in reducing the threats to my people. Yet I find that the most dangerous beasts are the ones closest to my side, human greed and desire know no bounds… that is after all why you are here. Why you unfortunate souls were employed, pawns in a game larger than you will ever know." Wiping down his hand with a nearby cloth, Caedyrn deposited a handful of white and yellowed objects onto the floor. Teeth, some even had pieces of the gum still attached. "Can't have you committing suicide now can we, I still have so many questions after all."
However, just as Caedyrn was about to get to his interrogation, both he and his captive heard the doorknob turn. Caedyrn acted instinctively jumping up like a startled cat and rushing towards the door, catching the first guard just as he crossed the threshold and before he had a chance to understand what was happening, and what had happened. The expression in his eyes the second the dagger penetrated the bottom of his chin was that of confusion, both men had expected their associate's to be gone and the job done. Instead, they found their charge alive and well, while the assassins were all on the ground.
"Damn you!" The second guard yelled out in anger, thrusting his spear towards Caedyrn who pushed the first guard into the path of the spear. Blood splattered onto the grounds as the spearhead erupted from the chest of the first guard, his friend stunned by the action. Even when Caedyrn picked up the first guard's fallen spear and thrust it through the second man's heart, only then did he look down as the lifeblood drained from him.
Caedyrn grabbed a nearby rag from the table and wiped away the blood coating his face and hands. Carefully positioning the dead guards on either side of the door, fully expecting the relief soldiers to notice the disappearance of the two and come checking early the next morning. He would only need to put up with sleeping in a room full of corpses for one night, not a new experience, but not really a desirable one either.
"Sorry about that my friend, had to deal with a slight disturbance. We wouldn't want anyone to bother us in the middle of our chat." The captive tried to scream, but the toxin persisted, resulting in a series of slurred cries and muffled screams. Caedyrn returned to his mounted position, pressing his knee into the man's chest, grabbing a firm hold of his face, while the bloody attire added a demonic aura to the dangerous scholar.
"Do you know why I told you about the Perlaxi?" Caedyrn moved his hand from side to side, forcing the captive's head to follow the motion. "Of course you don't. You live in relative safety, a Perlaxi would be considerably dangerous for you all, for us they are inconveniences. Bottom feeders, an irritant due to the speed of their reproduction, but valuable due to their skins, fangs, and venom… Just like you, you are a useful irritant, a small fish in a big pond. I want to know who the big fish is, and you're going to tell me… We have all night to become acquainted with one another, and I can be very persuasive."
By the next morning when the guards came to relieve those on the night shift, they found a grisly sight. Three unknown men along with the guards tasked with watching the door lay in a pool of blood. The three men had their faces and bodies so badly carved as to be unrecognizable, and yet the target of their focus was the man sitting up in bed calmly sipping from a cup of tea. "Good morning gentlemen, as you can see it was quite an exciting evening. The entertainment you provided was a bit lacking, but it did get the blood flowing." The sinister laugh which followed left the veteran soldiers quaking in their boots.
"Run along then, go and get your boss. I'm positive he is just dying to see me." Using the Scholar's words as justification the two men turned and left, leaving their charge to sip his tea in silence.