Berdine took a leather-covered book from the shelf and sat down at her mahogany desk. Her half human - half feline figure remained in the shadows as the fire in the tent was now only big enough to keep the teapot hot. She opened a certain page where she had marked before and narrowing her lavender cat-like eyes, she lifted the candle with her clawed human hands to see better. Her busy face had the shape of a beautiful yet fierce-looking human with only her two sharp canine teeth betraying this pretty look as she read the page to herself.
The raindrops were hitting the ceiling of the war tent she was in. Her feline ears perked at the calming sound, and she took a deep breath before starting to scribble on the parchment in front of her. Not far from her, General Ninloth, a rather muscular human in plate armor, was silently examining a map with small figures on it. He gently moved a figure on the map and placed it where the map showed a deep valley. ''They will most likely attack from here,'' he said, his expression serious yet determined. ''This will not be the easiest task yet I seriously doubt that they will be able to move past our first lines under these conditions.''
Berdine looked up at the man in plate armor and tilted her head. ''What about the plans, general?'' she asked. ''Were the Adders able to catch the elf?''.
''They are on it.'' Ninloth replied, ''But…''
At that moment, the leather doors of the tent were opened and a dark elf wearing leather armor walked in with a sly smile on his face. Blood was dripping from him, and his dark hair was matted with dried blood. Both Berdine and Ninloth looked up at the newcomer and while Ninloth quickly returned to the map upon seeing him, Berdine seemed to be more interested. ''Arden…'' she said as she closed the book she was reading from. ''Finally.''
Arden was the sly leader of the Adders, which was the assassination guild of the kingdom. Berdine, being the most trusted advisor to the Queen and the master healer, was in charge of them along with General Ninloth. The assassin leader was a dangerous man with questionable morals. However, he very well was known for getting things done, whatever the job might be. That was why Berdine usually tried to bear his insolent behavior. General Ninloth, on the other hand, liked him most when he was off duty, and he frequently disagreed with the feline woman's tolerance of his behavior.
''Good evening,'' Arden said with a rather unnerving smile, opening his arms wide to the sides as if he were saluting them in an ironically exaggerated manner. Berdine narrowed her eyes as she stared at him, and the general, while acknowledging the newcomer, did not look up as he placed another figure on the map. ''Speak of the devil.'' he said sarcastically.
''You are dripping blood on my carpet,'' Berdine growled, looking rather unimpressed. ''Tell me you have the plans…''
''Shhh…'' the newcomer cut in on her. ''Don't be so hasty. I've brought you a gift.''
Berdine looked annoyed but curious, while the general scoffed with annoyance. ''Bring it on.'' the half feline - half human lady replied, making a gesture to let them in.
''Bring him inside!'' the dark elf assassin yelled while directly staring at Berdine, ignoring the general's judgemental looks. Two men dragged a silver-haired light elf inside. The elf was covered in blood and he seemed to be half conscious. The two men threw the elf on the floor and quickly left the tent. The adder assassin smirked even more slyly and kept staring at Berdine as if he was expecting to be appreciated immediately.
''Is this the elf?'' Berdine asked as she approached the body.
''Careful, my lady.'' The general said as he watched. Arden smirked wider, ''I made sure he is cooperative.'' He crouched beside the body and grabbed the cloth armor he was wearing, lifting the limp body and dropping it back with a short snicker.
''You mean you nearly killed him,'' the feline lady murmured as she crouched as well. She carefully placed her hands on the back of the body and kept murmuring in a foreign language as the two men watched.
''I advise against healing him without...'' the general began exactly the same time when the elf suddenly opened his eyes taking a quick glance at his whereabouts. He then sprung up and grabbed Bedine's throat. Her eyes opened with shock while Arden immediately grabbed the elf's long silver hair and pulled him back holding a dagger to his neck. On the other side of the room, the general drew his sword and ran to Berdine trying to pry the elf's hand off her throat.
''Let go!'' the assassin ordered. The elf was trembling with rage still grabbing her with a death grip. Arden drew another shallow cut on his throat. ''I said let go!''. Hopefully, Ninloth managed to get rid of the elf's hand, he punched the elf making him drop on the floor again.
''You oaf!'' he glared at Arden pointing his sword at him. ''You could at least tie him up!''
The assassin shrugged as he sheathed the dagger. ''Not my fault if she decided to heal without...''
The general cut in on him with deep anger in his eyes ''It is your job to make sure the captives are pacified! Don't you dare try making excuses for...''
''Enough!'' Berdine yelled at the two men, holding her throat. ''The plans...'' she said swallowing ''...where are the plans?'' She took a glance at the elf's body on the floor and sat back at her desk.
That familiar, annoying smirk returned to Arden's face. He casually kicked the elf's body as he walked closer to the desk and placed a small, old-looking, folded parchment on it. ''Have I ever disappointed you?''.
The general scoffed at his words and took the parchment opening it wide. His eyes narrowed as they quickly observed the contents of it. ''Well, well, well...'' he said placing the parchment in front of Berdine. ''Check it out.''
The advisor lady stared at the parchment for a while. ''This looks like a weapon.'' she said.
The general nodded, ''Indeed.'' He agreed as Arden approached the desk, looking down at the parchment. ''Ah, great. If the light elves started to fall back on mysterious weapons, then they must be really desperate.''.
Ninloth ignored his words and turned to Berdine instead. ''This is the blueprint of a strange weapon. It looks like it is used with something that is called black powder.''
''Aah, my dear general,'' Arden spoke again. ''Your skills in elven language always impressed me.'' It was not clear if he was sincere or was just simply being ironic.
Ninloth only glared at him and ignored the rest as he usually did with this insolent dark elf. Instead, he turned to the feline lady and tapped a finger on the blueprint parchment. ''I don't think this is an elven instrument, though. It seems to be a really destructive piece of work. It's unlikely that light elves would come up with such a thing.''
Berdine carefully examined the piece of paper, one clawed finger tracing the lines on the blueprint. ''What do you mean destructive?'' she asked ''What kind of a weapon is it?''
Arden hooked his thumbs in his belt as he spoke ''It looks like a sort of ranged weapon.''
The general nodded. ''It is. It's hard to tell more details as it seems the elves did not know either. The notes on the blueprint don't reveal much. Except that it somehow explodes and kills immediately and that's all.''
''That sounds like it would take my job,'' Arden said snickering.
Berdine's lavender eyes turned to him, then to the unconscious light elf on the floor. ''We need to learn more about this weapon. It shouldn't fall into our enemies' hands. The elves, well, the light elves were probably trying to keep it away from any nation that would try to build it. For good reason. Try to squeeze more information out of him.''
Arden smirked at the feline lady and bowed at her exaggeratedly. ''Of course, my dear lady,'' he said blatantly and straightened winking at her making the general scowl. ''Ah general,'' he smirked catching the scowl. ''You look like you have something to say.''
Ninloth scoffed and casually placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. ''Why don't you just leave and do what you are told?''
Arden kept grinning. He really enjoyed getting on the general's nerves. It was one fun side of these meetings. He wondered when he would just get annoyed enough to simply attack him. The foolish man thought he was good at hiding his feelings towards the advisor lady. But Arden knew and he enjoyed abusing this knowledge.
Berdine looked from one man to the other, apparently trying to figure out what was going on between them. She was aware that they did not enjoy each other's company but it certainly felt like there was something more to it. She just couldn't put a finger on it yet. ''Well, yes,'' she said as she picked up and handed the blueprint to the general. ''It is for the best if everyone minded their own business now. We're in the middle of a war here.''
''And don't forget to take the trash out.'' the general added gesturing towards the unconscious elf. As much as Arden enjoyed getting on his nerves, the general enjoyed ordering him around as it constantly reminded this annoying dark elf of his rightful place. Even though he was the leader of a powerful guild within the country, he was still under the command of the general who oversaw every warrior guild and troop. Even though he tried not to take Ninloth seriously all the time, Arden had to admit that he found the ordering around slightly annoying. Slightly.
''Of course, of course.'' Arden waved their words away then he turned and grabbed a fistful of the unconscious elf's robes. H started to leave dragging the unconscious body behind him. Yet he stopped right before the leather doors of the war tent and turned back to Berdine. ''Ah, I almost forgot. I might need some healing attention. The field healers already took care of it but I want the best to have a look at it.''
The general gave him a look of disbelief but did not say anything as he returned to the map he was working on, placing the weapon blueprint on it.
Berdine stood up and pointed at the light elf's body. ''First, get rid of that. Then I will see to it.''
Arden smirked and bringing his two fingers to his lips, he let out a sharp whistle that made the general give him an annoyed look. Two assassins in leather armor immediately came in and took the body. ''Done.'' the dark elf said smugly.
Berdine let out a deep sigh and walked to the leather cushion near the fire. ''Well.. approach then.''
Arden walked to her as he started to undo the top of his bloody armor. ''Sit down.'' the lady commanded.
Once he got rid of the armor top, Arden sat down on the cushion and Berdine leaned in to examine the cut on his dark gray chest. While seemingly busy, the general still kept an eye on them.
''This was a nasty cut, I can see.'' the healer lady murmured as she gently touched the
now-closed wound. ''It looks like the healers already did a good job on it but I can also give it a bit of my touch.''
Arden was just watching her face the whole time she spoke. She indeed was a beautiful woman. He could see why the general would have his eyes on her but she was also a felinar, which was a half-cat, half-human race, with her light gray, spotted fur.
''Arden.'' the felinar lady spoke again making him snap out of his thoughts ''Are you listening?''
''Well, yes. I am,'' he said as he momentarily stared at General Ninloth studying the parchment. Then he turned back to face Berdine. ''I want it to be fully healed before I hit the road for my next mission.''
Berdine narrowed her eyes as she asked ''Your next mission?''
Arden's amber-colored eyes met her lavender pair. ''He…'' he began as he indicated the general with his head. ''...did not tell you?''
Berdine looked up at Ninloth who was obviously listening to them as he quickly dropped the parchment and replied immediately. ''It was a direct request from the queen.''
''And why have I not heard of this request before?'' the felinar lady demanded, her beautiful features showing that she was annoyed. Arden was smirking inwardly as he enjoyed this moment of tension between the master healer and the general.
''I do not know, Berdine.'' the man in plate armor snapped. ''I thought you were already aware of it. Not my fault if the queen did not inform you.''
Arden couldn't tell if Berdine looked resentful or just simply furious but she did not speak as she frowned at the general. Shaking her head, she returned to the dark elf's wound placing her clawed yet soft hand on his chest.
Ninloth watched her work as he began to regret his words even though they were the truth. ''Well…'' he said with a softer tone this time ''It is indeed very odd that she did not inform you about this. But it is probably because she thought you already know of it as it involves the matter with Sergeant Atkins.''
''It is done.'' the healer lady told Arden and she stood up to return to her desk.
The dark elf checked the wound on his chest yet it was not there anymore. Even the scar was gone now. ''Thank you, my lady.'' He stood up as well and started to pick up his clothes.
''What is this mission anyway? What of Atkins?'' Berdine asked as she watched him fasten the straps of his armor.
Arden's smirk widened and his amber eyes flicked with a mischievous gleam. ''Ah, the queen's secrets are always juiciest, aren't they?'' he said, a hint of amusement lingering in his voice.
Berdine narrowed her eyes at him. She was definitely not in the mood for his games. ''Get to the point, Arden.''
Arden approached her desk and leaned in slightly, lowering his voice as if sharing a tantalizing secret. ''It seems our dear queen has finally decided on his fate. I am to spot his whereabouts and finish him.''
Upon hearing this news, Berdine's frown turned into a more relieved expression. ''Finally.'' she said. ''We already let him live long enough.'' she waved her hand and added before anyone could interrupt her. ''But, yes I know. We needed more intelligence on his affairs with the light elves.''
''Right.'' the general spoke. ''Our inner spies have caught wind of a possible alliance between the light elves and our very own Sergeant Atkins who is currently leading the third troop. His…'' he made a gesture towards Arden ''...mission is to… disrupt their negotiations. Permanently.''
Berdine frowned, her mind racing. ''You had better deal with this well, Arden.'' She looked over at the dark elf who seemed free of any sign of tension. ''Should such an alliance happen, it would cause a lot of unwanted trouble within our ranks and that would tip the balance of power significantly.''
The general nodded. '' Thus, we cannot afford any surprises. I'll prepare a scouting party to follow up on this lead. Extract any intelligence we can find. Then…'' he looked at Arden ''...you can go on your way to finish Atkins and capture whoever he is negotiating with. We will need that elf alive.''
''Well… I will try to bring them alive but I cannot promise.'' Arden said grinning ''Light elves are such fragile creatures. They happen to die quickly when pushed a bit and…''
''You will bring them here alive. And in one piece. No excuses. No torturing. No blood draws.'' the general said his voice sounding dead serious.
Arden let out a fake sigh. ''And where's the fun in that?''
Berdine rolled her eyes. ''And try not to leave a trail of bodies leading back to us. You sometimes seem to forget that subtlety is key in your job.''
Arden's smile turned wolfish. ''I'll be subtle as a shadow, my lady.''
With that, he turned on his heel and strode out of the tent, leaving Ninloth and Berdine to exchange a disturbed glance. However, the general was now very satisfied that they were alone. ''I don't trust him,'' he muttered.
Berdine sighed. ''Neither do I. But he's effective. We'll just have to keep an eye on him and be ready to clean up any messes he leaves behind.''