The obscure figure loomed in the darkness of night. He stood in the shadow of a tree, unmoving, admiring his work. Dozens of corpses lay before him. Not bad for a minute’s work, he thought. He took another moment to examine his surroundings. It was nighttime, that much was obvious. But as he looked into it closely, he noticed something peculiar; the night was still. That might have been normal elsewhere, but not here. He disregarded the silence. Considering what just occurred, it seemed like the logical response. He continued to look around, absorbing the sights with his keen eyes. He looked at the cloudless sky. He saw glowing stars and the large, pale moon. He stared at the stars for a few moments longer. He began remembering his family. They had always admired the stars when they were together. Together. Oh how he missed that. Maybe someday…no. He had to concentrate on the matter at hand.

As he turned to leave the site, he noticed something on the floor, glistening in the moonlight. It was something shiny, golden. Not very large, but it looked valuable nevertheless. As he strode towards the object, he heard rustling in a nearby brush. With reflexes as quick as humanly possible, maybe even faster, he evaded an incoming projectile. It landed; embedded in a tall oak, right where his heart should’ve been. It was a long, slender silver throwing knife; tipped with poison of the highest potency. It wasn’t made for a swift death; but a long and very painful one. But the most significant feature of the blade was the silver.

Before he had time to examine the knife closely, he heard the rustling again. But this time, a shadow emerged from the bushes. What he saw made even his hairs stand on end. It was his brother, Lucien. “Hello Kaiser,” said Lucien, in an obviously mocking tone. “I love what you’ve done with the place. Too bad Father thinks otherwise.” He circled around the small grotto, ignoring his deceased comrades. Lucien’s facial expression then betrayed a shadow of rabid frenzy. “I’m surprised you came out of this unscathed. It was all planned out perfectly. I planned it out. I am the master assassin! I AM!” In a moment of temporary insanity, he lunged. Before he was even an inch off the ground, Kai struck him, millimeters from the heart.
“I have allowed you to live only because I pity your worthless life. There would be no pleasure from slaying one so… pathetic. Go back to your master and deliver this message: If you want me, come get me yourself. I will not die until I see your scrawny body burning in he**.” As he said those final words, he vanished into the night, never to be seen again.

Shaddo awoke to the sound of silence. The sun was rising. The birds should’ve been chirping by now, he thought. He rose slowly; hoping to at least hear the familiar noise of his mother’s snoring. He waited a few moments. When he did not hear anything, he nervously got out of bed. He strode to his mother’s room to see if she was there. As Shaddo pushed thee door open, he noticed something out of the ordinary; something bad. The lone window above her bed was forced open. The splintering frame made that much obvious, but where was mother? Before he had time to finish the thought, he feel a hand on his shoulder. He turns pale and shudders shoot throughout his body. He turned so slowly, it felt as if it took him a minute a centimeter. When he finally turned around, he let out a breath. It was just his mother. Nothing to be worried about, right? Wrong. “Quickly! Grab your things! We must leave at once!”