Devils' Own Steam Punk Mystic Tale 1.3

1.3.

Three months ago from that night of the murder of Lord Tannen, a hooded man in the dark robe took his strides rather swiftly while he crosses the streets. He was in the seedy side of the city where the thieves and murderers congregate openly. He had crossed over a few streets and always checking for any one tailing. Once he was sure that he was not followed and proceed on the route that he was familiarize with. It was the next third street that he sneaked past the third door after the right corner. The gas light there lighted at dusk revealed it as a hat shop.

Inside the shop, the rows of hats had been there for some time, and the owner of the shop was seen dusting off some imaginary dirt when the hooded man walked in. The owner looked up and nodded before reaching for the hidden switch below the counter. The wall cabinet at the rear of the shop slide open to reveal an open passageway. It was a short walk descending with careful steps as there were a series of traps there for the uninvited. He came on a grilled gate padlocked from the outside. There was a guard there, seated behind a desk. The guard was a bulky man dressed in a plain tunic, but he was underrated by many opponents who normally ended with injuries.  His right hand was placed below the desk holding a pair of pistol aimed at the hooded man.

“Welcome, Kassius.” The hooded man was greeted at the end of the passageway. The hooded man did not bother to reply but he shown the hand signs of the Guild to allow him entry to the door behind the sentry. The sentry pressed the switch to activate the lock on the grilled gate. It was a pneumatic switch which when activated, released the air to push the latch back. The door opened to a small hall where another sentry was seated there behind another desk. The man was also dressed in a loose plain tunic smiled.

“You are late. Way too late.” The man in the loose plain tunic reached to raise the desk board before he pulled the lever there. The hooded man ignored the guard there, and walked on towards the door next to the desk. It opened to what will be called an elevator. It was a metal cage measuring six by eight feet that was hoisted by a pneumatic pump that brought it up and lower.

The hooded man stepped in while the elevator lowered him three levels. The ride took over a minute before it stopped before opening to show a larger hall. In the hall, there were rows of larger and wider desks manned by more men dressed like the one that was in the earlier hall. They were all busy at their desks. He knew some of them; recorder of the tasks carried out by the assassins.  The Hall was lighted by the overheads oil lamps that were the tradition of the Guild.

“Kassius, you are needed.” A voice boomed from the end of the Hall. The hooded man drew back his hood to reveal his face. The face was half covered with the unkempt facial hair while longer hairs flowed past his ears to his shoulders. It was the emerald eyes that brought out his expression.

“Master, I was away.” Kassius replied. “For too long.”

“No, Kassius. You were away not of your own doing, but the test to rebuild your strength and also your faith in yourself.” The man who earlier spoke limped on his half stump encased in the metallic leg. The man was similarly dressed like the others, but he had an appearance of leadership in his move.

“Kassius, your return is timely as you are to embark on another task.” The man whom Kassius called his Master replied. “But first, get some rest and meet at the Main Hall for the brief on your next task at dawn tomorrow.”

The figure beneath the hood whose name was Kassius nodded and proceeded to the lower levels where the personal chambers are based. He was soon in his personal chamber. The place was furnished with bedding and some basic furniture. On the side of the chamber, his uniforms were stacked there in an orderly manner. The servants ensured that he always have three sets of those uniforms at any one time. There were three sets there when he arrived. He holds no other personal memorabilia of himself, except the curved sword given to him by his Master on the completion of his fifth task. He had expressly his desire to keep it that way.

Kassius removed his robe before he took out the tatters what was once his uniform. He had survived a grueling pursuit across the land and hills, with not a single wink of sleep for over a week. His pursuers were after his head after he has killed their leader in the sleeping chamber. It was a simple task to sneak in and administered the killing blow, but Kassius was discovered upon his escape. The alarm was raised and the guards came to apprehend him. He had fought and escaped but the pursuit was tedious. The pursuers had formed three groups to hunt him. During the pursuit, he had lost two horses and all his belongings but the pursuers had also lost a fair deal of men.

“Kassius, you are a lucky man.” The voice belonged to a lady; about his height but was build plain like a boy. She may not be most beautiful lady but her nature as a tomboy fascinated the other. She was dressed in the same plain tunic like the others. She helped Kassius to pull his tatter uniform off. The later cringed when he felt the fabric of his uniform opened up the older wounds.

“Kassius, you are a fool.” The lady muttered. She slowly peeled the vest and saw the lacerations on the back of Kassius. “Did you get caught?”

“No, Irina. I was dragged by the horse for some distance.” Kassius replied after he dropped the vest. He walked to the wash tub that was prepared for his return.

“Why Kassius? Why do you get all these difficult tasks? Even Marcus has rejected two of your tasks, but you just nodded like a fool.” The lady sighed. “You are not the best among them but you are darned lucky to alive today.”

Kassius ignored the other and lowered himself into the tub of water. It was his first bath after some days. He laid back and smiled. He believed what Irina said; he was one lucky bastard from the eight tasks that he had undertaken. It was within a time period of one year, given the risk they undertook as assassins. The experienced one retired after the ninth escapes from death, as they were all paranoia of pushing beyond the ninth attempt. He had taken all the difficult ones since he was commissioned into the ranks of assassin. Not all the commissioned ones made it past the fifth tasks on average.

“Kassius, let go of the next one.” Irina told him while she dabbed the cloth over the wounds but Kassius had fallen asleep. Irina continued on her ministration and then left the assassin to his rest. She loved the man so much but the she accepted the works of Kassius made him a different man.

A harder man to be in love with.

“God! I hate myself for loving you.” Irina sighed. “But I can’t help it.”