Even though it was just an hour or so past daybreak, the square in Lomedor was already busy. Not overly crowded busy but still enough people preparing for the day that one half demon won’t be noticed. The day was overcast but it looked like the sun would still come out. Valynna watched as the shopkeepers and others scurry around from her spot on the edge of the square, half in half out of an alley. She wasn’t dressed in black like the night before, that would be too obvious in the day. Instead she wore a white blouse with a deep purple colored sleeveless tunic overtop, a black skirt and her knee high boots. Her long black hair was once again tied back, revealing her pointed ears. Her staff sat casually against her shoulder, her red eyes kept searching for her partner, Elexis told her early, and this was early.

What if I’ve missed her? What if she doesn’t show? Would I recognizer if she did? These questions kept going through Valynna’s head, though as much as she was anxious about finally carrying out their mission, she was constantly trying to train her body to not show her emotions. Releasing a pent up sigh she began to enter the Square, slowly and casually she made sure she wasn’t acting suspicious, glancing here and there at the many different vendors. The crowd wad growing steadily with each passing minute, it wouldn’t be long now before the morning rush arrived.

As she wondered, her mind began to calm itself down by running though scenarios they may come across today, one after another Valynna played out what could happen and what actions she would do and with what result. She imagined everything that could go wrong, many of them ending with her getting beheaded. Though without much knowledge of the inside of the mansion she couldn’t fully plan out what they were going to do once they got in.

"could she stand out any more," Elexis said as she walked in the square, from far away it was hard to tell it was her, she was in her mortal form, her skin was no longer blue but fair and none of the black spines emerged from her skin, the only thing that would give away her being half demon was her black eyes but unless someone was closely inspecting her, it would not be given away. Her facial features and hair were exactly the same, someone who recognized her face could easily picked her out. She wore a simple dark tunic over her armor to help conceal it. Elexis still had her backpack on her back. But something Elexis didn't have the night before was a new set of fighting knives and throwing daggers that she was able to pick up from a cheap peddler in the marketplace, she smiled at the thought of using them tonight.

She started to walk towards Valynna, it was hard to sense what she was feeling due to the crowd, Elexis tried not to wince at the feelings, the person to her right was depressed, the man she had just gently pushed aside was happy at the sight of his daughter. And Elexis being in her human form did not help much, her skin felt as if it was crawling, but unless she wanted a lot of attention Elexis had to be like this. She walked up to Valynna, she didn't notice her without her blue skin. Elexis spoke in a mocking tone, "So are you ready or did you find another partner last night?"

Valynna turned her head quickly towards the sound of Elexis, she had startled her but not enough to make her jump, her face though showed her anger at being startled. When she saw Elexis’s appearance, she couldn’t help but stare, she didn’t have the blue skin from the night before, but her facial features were still the same, this time she coudl see her dark almost black eyes. This must bee her other form, Valynna thought to herself since she already knew that Elexis was a half demon like her. She wondered what it was like, to be able to change appearances like that.

“Sorry, it looks like I’m stuck with you.” Valynna replied as she turned her attention back at the bracelets in front of her. She never had enough money or interest in jewellery, she shouldn’t start now. With a board expression on her face, she turned back to Elexis.

“So, you ready to go then?” She asked in a more chipper tone so that anyone passing by would only think of two friends meeting for the day.

Elexis almost burst out laughing when Valynna was startled by her appearance, she didn't show it but Elexis sure felt it despite the others in the crowd. Then it swiftly turned to anger, "anger, what else is new?" She thought to herself, as she looked back onto the crowd. "The morning crowds are starting to build and thats when the hay cart comes around, I asked some of the shop keepers, don't worry they won't tell, apparently the person we are trying to kill is a wealthy landlord, and a brutal one at that." Unknown to Valynna Elexis got a look at him while he collected taxes, which every other day, and he has a couple strong men with him in case anyone either won't pay or can't. She thought back to his face, he was very short for a human, very fat of a man due to his lifestyle, dressed finely, obviously to try to impress and intimidate, he carried a golden scepter almost like that of a king, she could probably fetch a goof price for it on the market. Elexis realized that her mind was beginning to wander and she snapped back to Valynna, She got a better look at what"I hope that you wore you're darker tunic under those clothes, or else you're going to stand out ALOT at night when we make our move." Valynna was an amateur but hopefully she would not make a mistake that obvious.

“I’m not that much of an idiot!” Valynna curtly replied back. She was wearing her other tunic underneath her clothes, she had tried to prepare for anything that may happen tonight, once night came she would toss her outer clothes aside. Though it was clear that Elexis knew about her inexperience in these matters, but Valynna wasn’t going to hold up this operation she didn’t care what Elexis was thinking about her.

“So did you get a name?” Valynna asked as she kept an eye out for the cart. “Or are we not going to worry about that detail?” It may be better if that information wasn’t given, but might as well ask. “I guess we know why others want him dead now.” She added in a whisper for only Elexis to hear. “How brutal is he?” She asked, not expecting a response. She had witnessed previous Lords who had ruled with an iron fist, only to be overthrown in a mob they had created. But some of them were pretty vicious, living in Lomedor, it would be hard to get away with some of the stuff she had witnessed. Though they always seems to be a way.

Elexis was thankful that Valynna didn't make that stupid of a mistake, but the questions that she asked were actually not stupid for once, "Yea I did get a name, its Lord Beauchoc, something like that." The pronunciation made it hard to remember, but his face and tone of voice were unmistakable, "Sorry for not remembering the name but his face is unmistakable," But Valynna's other question made it a bit personal. Lord Beauchoc was an arrogant man. Hopefully Valynna would not notice the bruise on Elexis'es shoulder and the small scratches on her hand and face from this morning. She got in Beauchoc's way, and him being a rash and cruel man he struck Elexis to the ground, despite his physique he hit hard. "He only cares for himself, if it gains him profit or makes him look like a king he'll pay interest, thats probably why we didn't hear about the previous attempts from our client, he didn't send them, someone else did." Elexis'es fists clenched at the thought of what happened this morning, she didn't like to be trifled with, and she would take even more joy in burying her knife into Beauchoc's back.

Voice? Valynna questioned to herself, she peered curiously over at Elexis her mind thinking aimlessly, so not only did Elexis find out his name, but by the sounds of it, she had heard him speak, did that mean she had already met him? Would that be a problem to them latter on? She hoped not, but if this Lord Beauchoc has seen Elexis, then they will have to be even more careful not to be noticed tonight.

“So he’s a pig acting like a lion.” Valynna said calmly, somebody like that would create a lot of enemies, no wonder there had be previous attempts on his life, unfortunately they all haven’t succeeded thus far. That fact still stuck out in her mind, he may be a fat pompous bully but obviously he had a knack for surviving assassination attempts.

Just then, as it seemed to Valynna the high part of the morning masses she spotted a hay cart moving slowly through the square. Everything that she was previously thinking about vanished from her mind as reached out to touch Elexis.

“So that’s our ride?” She questioned as she motioned her head in the direction of the cart. “We better get going then.”

Elexis smiled as Valynna's words described Beauchoc perfectly. And her words of him making a lot of enemies were right. Elexis was one for revenge at any cost, she hated to be messed around with, and being struck down just for getting in one's way made her blood boil, she would enjoy killing Beauchoc, the feelings of fear coming from him, Elexis would enjoy every moment of it. She felt uncomfortable in the crowd, too many people's emotions were flooding her and she was uncomfortable, her skin was crawling and felt like it was shifting. Small beads of sweat were beginning to form on her forehead. This was why she never liked being in large cities, there were just too many people. Her mind was working a mile a minute, someone has thoughts a suicide, someone just made a fortune, someone just ate for the first time in a week, someone just learned that they're daughter was deathly ill, Elexis felt everyone around her and it was beginning to take its tole.

"So that's our ride?" Valynna said, her voice felt like it was down a long well, "yea thats it better go," She said as she begun to walk up to the cart, walking at the same pace as the cart, she didn't look back to see if Valynna was following her, she wasn't that stupid. She looked around making sure people would not see her enter the cart. With her natural speed she rolled into the cart, hay covered her. Elexis still felt the crowd passing by the cart, she tried to block out everyone but it was like trying to stop a flood. She closed her eyes and hoped it would end soon.

Valynna followed Elexis’s shadow as they walked up to the cart, keeping with the same speed of it before Elexis jumped in and covered herself with the hay. Valynna followed soon after making sure that nobody had first noticed Elexis before jumping in herself, the hay covering her body perfectly. She just hoped that once they get to the mansion nobody with a pitch fork will be poking through the hay.

Despite the daylight, under the hay was dark and somewhat claustrophobic, Valynna had to keep her mouth and eyes shut to prevent any hay dust to enter her lungs or eyes. She had found heself in a fetal position, but not sure on which side Elexis was, the cart wasn’t that big, but with limited sight the mind could imagine other things.

Keeping her breathing calm and collective, she waited and felt the cart continue on it’s way, unaware of the stowaways. Valynna had no idea where they were going or how long it had been, but she felt the cart stop and heard voices. They must have reached the gates, she thought to herself. The stop seemed to take a while, Valynna began to worry about being found. But the cart soon started moving again, allowing Valynna a quick inward sigh of relief. It wasn’t long until the cart began to move more awkwardly, backing up and moving around as if to line up with something before stopping completely. Valynna stayed where she was, waiting for Elexis to make the first move.

Elexis heard a rustle and assumed that it was Valynna also rolling into the cart, but things sounded like they were far away. The cart moving through the crowd only made things worse, it was getting hard to think her skin started to feel like it was ablaze, emotions flooded her and her vision was starting the blur. It was near impossible to think about anything, depressionaboutsomeone'sillnessjoyatfortunesmadeangeratstolenitems
fearataoverduerenttherageoftwobrawlerscalmlessatthesightsofLomedoramonk'sinnerpeace
someonewioththoughtsofmurdersomeoneinadrunkerstuporsomeonecoveringuptheirinnerpain
withhumorsachild'sjoycommingfromtheirdoll, Elexis was having trouble containing all of these emotions.

Large drops of sweat were on her brow, she closed her eyes and was hoping for it all to end soon. She thought she felt the cart jerk to a stop, after a few minutes the rumbling started again and she could sense the crowds getting farther away, the feelings fading away, she was still a bit dizzy but things were getting better. The cart began to slow and move awkwardly. Elexis started to concentrate, feeling for emotions of others, trying to locate the guards, but all that was there was the boredom coming from the cart driver. Elexis rolled out of the cart, making just enough noise that Valynna would hear her moving, but not too loud that the cart driver could hear it over the cows.

She looked to the side and saw a stack of logs in the corner of the estate walls, That'll work for now She sneaked over there, making sure that no one was watching over where she was. She slid behind the logs and hoped that Valynna could find where she went to. If not I just hope that she was smart enough to find a hiding spot and wait until the night. Elexis was still a but dizzy and the sweat was cold on her forehead. She was glad to be out of the crowd, and she hoped that Valynna would not think some thing's wrong.

The sound of jostling within the cart told Valynna that Elexis had made her move. Moving around herself she slowly moved the hay away from her face to get a view of her surroundings. The cart driver seemed to be busy talking to someone at the far end of the stable. Other noises from the penned up animals would cover her when she made her move, but where? She had missed where Elexis had gone, she looked around for a hiding place for the rest of the day. She spotted a pile of logs, it looked like the most likely place to hid behind, maybe Elexis was there.

Valynna took one final look at the cart driver to make sure his attention was not on the cart before Valynna jumped out and darted quickly to the logs only to almost slam on top of Elexis, it was only with her last minute maneuver did she avoid crashing into her partner but on the floor beside her. She was careful not to make a sound, though her face showed her apology for almost hitting her. Looking at Elexis, she could see sweat sliding down her face, it wasn’t that warm in there, was something wrong….but now wasn’t the time or place to talk, it was still day and their hiding spot could be discovered if they let down their guard.

In the meantime, they would have to sit and wait patiently until the sun went down. Valynna began to brush off the hay sticking to her cloths and hair, what else were they going to do.

Elexis didn't need to look over the logs to know Valynna was coming, either she saw her go behind them or it was random chance but she was heading here. Elexis could feel her eagerness coming closer. Valynna probably just went there by random chance seeing how she almost blundered into Elexis. Elexis was busy trying to recover from the crowd, she wiped the sweat away and hoped that Valynna would not ask questions, but from what Elexis knew about Valynna, she would ask. Plus they had a long time before night fall. "Crap, I don't want her to know that I can feel her emotions," She thought to herself, her thoughts fragmented by both Valynna's emotions. Elexis had trouble containing it when she was in her human form, thats why she tried to avoid crowds during the day, but in this case she had to. She sat there, waiting for night fall and hoping that Valynna's curiosity would not force Elexis to reveal yet another secret, "sometimes I hate what I am." she thought as she sat there, cramped behind a pile of logs, and waiting until night time, when they would make they're move.

The time passed slowly for Valynna, there was nothing to do really except wait, and her partner beside her didn’t look like she was up for a conversation. Though recalling their past conversation in the forest, they would probably just start arguing again that could end up with them being found. The thought had stuck her many times, but each time she began to open her mouth, she shut it tight and continued to star at the corner. She wasn’t going to be the one to ruin this thing.

The stables around them seemed quiet, there weren’t that many or stable boys around, the ones that did pass by, seemed very focus on their jobs then left. The animals kept up their usual racket, and stench. The thought of sleeping went through Valynna’s mind, but she knew there would be no way for her to totally relax to sleep, her nerves and anxiety were too high.

The sun was finally starting to set, and Valynna was getting fidgety. Time was getting close, and she needed to move around, to stretch, to fight somebody. Valynna couldn’t hear anybody in the stables so she took this time to break the silence between her and Elexis.

“The sun’s setting, when did you want to make the move?” She whispered over. Looking at her partner, she could see that the previous perspiration on her face had subsided a lot but it did still look that she was fighting something.

“Are you ill?” Valynna then blurted out, her voice still soft. If Elexis wasn’t feeling at the top of her game, Valynna would have to pick up the slack.

"I hope that once the time comes I won't have to be with Valynna that much longer," Elexis let out a long sigh after Valynna asked her question, she was feeling better, she could finally think clearly. With no one but Valynna and the occasional stable boy near her she was able to recoup. But Valynna had to ask, and Elexis paused for a bit before she talked quietly, "I'll be fine when the time comes, its just the city, I never feel too good in it." Elexis thought to herself, as the sun drew closer and closer to the horizon, "hopefully she won't ask why, I've never told anyone about my ability, and I don't think I ever will." She remembered Valynna's other question, Elexis thought about it for a bit before she answered quietly, "we should wait a bit after sundown, make sure that Beauchoc's in his home and the guards are fatigued and bored, then we can make out move with a better chance of success," Elexis really said the wrong thing, it was truly a chance but Valynna might get a bit worried, and by what Elexis knew about Valynna she would probally try to make a foolproof plan, but in all of Elexis'es time as an assassin, she knew that few plans went how they were originally planned.

Valynna fought the urge to ask anything else about Elexis condition, after all she was looking better, and she would know better then her if she wasn’t up to this. Instead she nodded her head in agreement to wait a bit longer before they headed out. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around them and starred at the wall in front of her. Patience, she kept telling herself, god this was harder then she had thought. Everything was so quiet right now, part of her said that now was the time to act, but the other part agreed with Elexis to wait until the cover of night.

The only way to keep her from bouncing out of hiding was by holding herself like this, but it was still hard, and the silence of the day was bearing down on her. She needed to talk about something with Elexis.

“Do you have any plans? Or are you one who makes things up as they go along?” She finally asked, thinking of nothing else by the mission.

Watching Valynna curl up almost made Elexis laugh, she didn't have any of the same urges to move. Elexis thought back to when she had to be in hiding for several months, that small cave in the woods, all the crappy furniture was still there, some small rations, Elexis used that place as a safe house in case anything were to happen where she was wanted, dead or alive. Elexis thought back the the long months spent in that lonely place, barely any space to move around in, she just wanted to scream some days. Hopefully the same thing wouldn't happen here, Beauchoc was so hated no one would try too hard to get justice. Elexis looked over to Valynna, she looked really inpatient, "she's new to this kind of thing, and patience is a virtue when it comes to my business." She saw the sun coming down, "not too long now, then the fun starts," She said as that wicked smile came across her lips yet again...

Valynna let out her last pent up sigh, stopping her fidgeting at once. She was always impatient, something she kept telling herself to get over, but never got around to it. Looking at her situation, she figured this would have to do as training for her. At least she hadn’t snapped and attacked one of the stable boys yet. It wasn’t long now, she could do this. Valynna closed her eyes, calming herself down and relaxing her body. Her eyes stayed on the light that shown through the stables, that was their only notion of time in their hiding spot.

Darkness began to increase in the stables, again few stable boys where heard from their location, doing the evening chores most likely, they did their job quickly leaving the two assassins alone again.

“It should be dark enough now, right?” Valynna whispered over to Elexis, anticipation rising up within her. It was time, Valynna could feel it. She began to remove her outer tunic along with her white blouse, revealing a tight black leather shirt underneath. She then reached under her shirt to pull out a pair of black leather gloves that she quickly put on, showing that they were long, reaching half way up her upper arm. She stretched out her arms, and looked back at Elexis.

“Ready?”

"not yet," Elexis spoke simply, she knew something Valynna didn't. It was almost as if on command a patrol of two armed guards walked past the pile of logs, if Valynna would have gone out, all the waiting was for nothing. Elexis took off her black tunic to reveal the dark leather armor that she wore. She closed her eyes, concentrating, trying to find if anyone else was nearby, after she was certain that there was no one, she slowly stood up, barely peering over the logs to make sure the guards had little line of sight for where she was going to move towards. She looked over to a narrow alley formed by the walls of the grounds and the manor house. "now or never," She thought to herself. Elexis steeled herself and broke her cover. She stayed partly crouched as she ran to the alley, once there she waited for a bit, listening to make sure that no one saw her. Hopefully Valynna would saw how she did it and not screw it up.

She looked at the alley, the walls of the grounds were made from fairly large stones and they should be easy to climb, if someone knew how, Elexis climbed up the wall, the large manor house blocking her from view. Once Elexis was on the roof she waited for Valynna to do the same, hopefully she would not screw things up, "hey if she dies screw up, she'll be a good distraction."

Valynna was stilled by Elexis words, she gave her a puzzled look, why not now? But her unasked question was soon answered as she heard two guards walk past their hiding spot. She then understood why Elexis had not wanted her to jump out just yet, but how did she knew they were coming. Once they past, Valynna watched as Elexis made her move, from her spot, her eyes followed Elexis as she made her way to an alley between the Manor house and the grounds, with one final look around Valynna quickly followed half crunched to the ground, she was still able to move quickly to the alley.

Once there, she saw Elexis scaling the wall, Valynna followed, a bit slower since she hadn’t much experience climbing but the large stone blocks made it easier to climb. Peering down at the opening she saw another pair of guards walk by, so far oblivious to the intruders. So far so good, she thought to herself as she pulled herself level with Elexis. Valynna wished that Elexis had some sort of plan that she would share with her, all she could do was follow her lead blindingly and hope not to be caught, though once thinking that wouldn’t it be fantastic if she was caught giving Elexis the break she needed to get the job done. If she had some sort of clue what Elexis was thinking, at least Valynna would then be able to anticipate her actions and follow more gracefully then just trying to keep up.

Now wasn’t the time to be thinking such thoughts! Valynna scolded herself, she needed to be focused. Catching Elexi’s eyes, she nodded to say that she was ready for the next move.

Elexis looked over to Valynna, she was glad that she didn't screw it up, she spoke softly to Valynna, "move with me towards the skylight, tread lightly, this room might make noise or you might slip, and thats the last thing we need." She began to move slowly but carefully across the roof. She could feel the emotions of two guards, walking below the overhang of the roof. But someone else's emotions tingled against her skin, one that she felt earlier this morning, one of arrogance and greed. Elexis knew instantly that it was Beauchoc, her hands clenched into fists at the thought of him, she would enjoy slitting the fat man's throat. She reached the skylight and waited for Valynna to catch up, they would need to go into the mansion fast and find another hiding spot just in case someone walked around inside. Elexis was making this up as she went, but that was how she worked.

Valynna nodded, not sure if a speaking would be a good thing, Elexis had kept her voice low and soft for her to hear, but she was afraid if she opened her mouth not matter how hard she would try to be quiet the guards below them might hear. Following Elexis closely they walked on the roof towards the skylight, they had passed right over the guards below. Valynna let her lips spread in a wicked smile as she thought of the fun she would have if she dropped from above on them. Of course it was only a thought, now wasn’t the time to pick a fight, though maybe on the way out, if things were going their way.

Reaching the Skylight, Valynna tried to get a view of what was inside, or if there was anyone in the room beneath. Once they entered the room, they will have to be prepared to face whomever they meet. What would the chances be if they could get to Beauchoc without bumping into a single servant or guard? Looking around, Valynna couldn’t see anyone in the room. She glanced back up at Elexis, she needed some direction here.

“It looks clear.” Valynna whispered. “So we jump down and dash to Beauchoc’s chamber?” She asked, of course she was obviously joking her face giving her away, as much as she would like to do this in record time, she knew that stealth would be key in carrying this mission out. She wondered if Elexis would scrutinize for her comment.

"I swear this woman needs to learn to close her mouth before something stupid comes out..." Elexis thought to herself as she finished picking the lock on the skylight. Elexis hated being in her mortal form, her skin felt as if it was not solid and was constantly moving. She looked back to Valynna, "give me just a sec." Elexis started to concentrate hard, she closed her eyes and waited for it to begin. Small patches of pale blue began to apear and spread accross her skin, and were spreading. Dark spots under her skin eventually emerged as spines on her face and forearms. Elexis supressed a scream from the pain, but when it was all over it was worth it. She could control her ability to sense emotions better.

Elexis opened the skylight and waited for a bit. She closed her eyes for a second, checking for the emotions of others. Only after finding none in the room below, she leaped down, making sure to land in a wider stance to keep the noise to a minimum. She signaled for Valynna to come down and waited, if she took too long Elexis would gladly go without her.

"I swear this woman needs to learn to close her mouth before something stupid comes out..." Elexis thought to herself as she finished picking the lock on the skylight. Elexis hated being in her mortal form, her skin felt as if it was not solid and was constantly moving. She looked back to Valynna, "give me just a sec." Elexis started to concentrate hard, she closed her eyes and waited for it to begin. Small patches of pale blue began to apear and spread accross her skin, and were spreading. Dark spots under her skin eventually emerged as spines on her face and forearms. Elexis suppressed a scream from the pain, but when it was all over it was worth it. She could control her ability to sense emotions better.

Elexis opened the skylight and waited for a bit. She closed her eyes for a second, checking for the emotions of others. Only after finding none in the room below, she leaped down, making sure to land in a wider stance to keep the noise to a minimum. She signaled for Valynna to come down and waited, if she took too long Elexis would gladly go without her.

Valynna could tell that she had yet again annoyed Elexis, even though this time she didn’t say anything, she let her smile linger as she watch Elexis fiddle with the lock. She could have suggested using her Bull Strength spell to break the lock but she stayed silent and kept an eye on their surroundings. Peering back she saw her partner stop, then her skin and other features began to change. It looked painful, she was glad that she didn’t have to go through such transformation.

Hearing a click , it sounded like Elexis had finished picking the lock and opened the Skylight, finally, Valynna sighed inwardly. With one quick look Elexis leapt down into the room beneath her, Valynna was right behind her, the excitement was running high within her, not to mention she was starting to itch for a fight. Calm yourself! She told herself as she landed gracefully beside Elexis making little to no noise.

Once on the floor Valynna immediately ran to the door, stopping right beside to hear anything on the other side. Everything seemed quiet, looking back at her partner, she gave her the look as if to say I’m ready. Time was running constantly, they only had so much of it to finish the deed before daybreak.

Elexis saw Valynna drop down, she didn't make any noise and was glad for that. She closed her eyes, searching for any emotions of others, she was in control of her abilities much more. Something tingled against her skin, she felt those feeling earlier that day, when Beauchoc came and gathered his money, when he struck her down. It was one of Beauchoc's goons. Just as she sensed it heavy footsteps could be heard coming down a long hall, She spoke to Valynna, in a whisper but obviously showing her urgency, "Valynna, find somewhere to hide, one of Beauchoc's goons is coming." Elexis saw a large plant that would easily hide her in the low light. She ran over there, making sure not to make enough noise to alert the goon in the room. She ducked behind the plant and didn't look to see what happened to Valynna, but she heard the doorknob turn and hoped for the best.

Just as Elexis had called to her to warn her of someone approaching the room, Valynna could hear footsteps from the other side of the door coming down the hall by the sounds of it. Valynna gave Elexis one dirty look, why hide? If they play their cards right, they could easily take out one goon. But she didn’t argue, there was no time, seeing Elexis hide behind a plant Valynna took action and spotted a corner table with a table cloth that sprawled to the ground and dashed under it. What a choice, it was very tight spot but it was the closest to the door where she was standing just seconds ago.

She heard the doorknob turn and the door creak open followed by heavy footsteps of someone who was overweighed by muscles. This was pointless, if there going to take him one, she could have stood by the door to close it once he was in the room, then it was just about knocking him out before he could make a sound. Instead Valynna cursed her hiding spot, she couldn’t see anything and wouldn’t risk it either. She was stuck on depending on her hearing of what was going on in the room.

Elexis was glad that Valynna had hidden herself somewhere that would work, "this girl may say the stupidest things, but at least she has some common sense when it comes to stealth." Elexis watched at the brute had almost walked to the other door and began to turn the handle, when his head suddenly turned towards the table. He had an evil smile, like someone that thought of a good idea thats really going to hurt another person. He walked over to the table. Elexis was expecting him to bend over and unfurl the table cloth, weapon ready. But he never did that, the goon just grabbed a loaf of bread and walked to the door, exiting to room this time. Elexis checked and made sure that the emotions of the brute were far away when she came out of her hiding place. Valynna probably didn't know that he left the room or even went away from the table. So Elexis quietly walked up to the table and quickly pulled up the table cloth...

Valynna just held her breath as the footsteps grew louder, a soft shadow of legs could be seen on the other side of the table. In her position she was unable to move quickly to tackle him down if he discovers her, all she could do is magic. With her hand outstretched just enough so that she didn’t touch the cloth she quickly began to ready herself with the Enervation spell. All she had to do was say the word and the guy wouldn’t know what hit him.

She waited but the guy didn’t pull up the cloth, he seem occupied with what was on the table, once that was finished Valynna could hear his footsteps moving away from her until the door closed behind him. She didn’t move, it could have been a trick, he could still be there waiting for her to reveal herself.

Suddenly before Valynna could tell if the coast was really clear the table cloth was tossed aside, revealing the legs of whom she concluded to be Elexis. Her hand was still outstretched and as the tablecloth was lifted she had begun to say the spell only to stop part way once she realized who it was, her mouth was still parted, the last syllable on her lips. She gave a sigh of relieve and dropped her arm to crawl out of her spot.

“You shouldn’t have done that so quickly, I could have stunned you.” She mumbled to Elexis as she got to her feet. The thought of how close she was to using Enervation against her partner dawned heavily on her. She considered it one of her most powerful spells, though she had only recently learnt it. But she knew if she had caste that spell, Elexis wouldn’t be that happy with her for the rest of the night, though she never seemed happy about her anyways.

Elexis only gave a cold harsh laughter (thats how she always laughs) at Valynna warning her about her spells. She walked over to the door that the brute came from and put her head top it again, making look as if she was listening for anyone else, when in truth she was searching for emotions nearby. She was able to pinpoint the emotions of arrogance, greed and gluttony. "Beauchoc," She mouthed to herself silently, her fists clenching at the thought of what he did this morning to her. Elexis was never one to be trifled with, she had a history of some man trying to grab her, or another woman accusing her of "stealing" her man. Only to be found hours later either dead or half dead from bleeding wounds. This tenancy had gotten Elexis in the town jail a lot for charges of assault, but Elexis was one for revenge, no matter the cost.

She looked thought the keyhole to check and then opened the door, and motioned to Valynna to follow her. She walked silently through the long hall, and stopped at a door and opened it silently. Like a hound that just caught the scent of its prey, Elexis knew exactly where Beauchoc was. She motioned for Valynna to stop for a moment, as she entered another room. She didn't look back to see if she actually listened, she was bent of revenge. She entered the room quietly, a guard was there, half asleep, but he was in a chain mail and carried a large halberd that would pose a major threat if Valynna was caught, Elexis might be able to fight him head on, but not silently. She crept up to him, just as she did to Valynna, but this time it wasn't a prank. She Grabbed his mouth, the guard's emotions shifted from boredom to shock and terror. But before he could fight back the dagger already left a ragged slit in his throat. Elexis lowered the body silently He still struggled on the floor like a fish out of water, Elexis kicked away the halberd and left him to suffer. She turned back and whispered silently to Valynna, "you coming, or am I going to have all the fun." She said, waiting for Valynna to .come into the room, she didn't want to enter the room with Beaauchoc alone, there might be some nasty surprise that Valynna's spell casting might help with.

She didn’t have to laugh, Valynna said to herself, keeping her face clear from the hurt she felt by Elexis’s laugh. But once in the hall, she could sense a change in her partner, she stopped looking over her shoulder at her for starters, and she seemed to know exactly where to go. How can she do this? Was it a spell, or something to do with her demon nature? Whatever the reason, Valynna wasn’t going to argue it. As Elexis lead the way, Valynna made sure to watch their backs, keeping her mind on what could come up behind them and letting Elexis look after whatever was a head.

It wasn’t long until they came up to their first victim of the night, a guard in chain mail holding a large halberd. Before Valynna could do anything Elexis had snuck up on the guard and slit his through with one quick and clean motion with her knife. The man fell to the floor in silence, his body wiggling around like a fish out of water.

“Not if I can help it.” Valynna replied back her lips parting in a smile, she paid not attention to the man on the floor but focused on the door in front of them, she had a feeling that this was it. Preparing for whatever lay on the other side, she quickly cast Bull’s Strength on herself, then readied herself for another spell once she knew what was inside. “Try to stay out of my way.” She added to Elexis grinning to herself.

Elexis admired the woman's enthusiasm, but Valynna would only get in the way. Elexis checked the lock on the door, checked to make sure Beauchoc's emotions were just on the other side. She pulled out her throwing daggers, keeping them between her fingers. She quietly opened the door, and slipped through. The room was large, unnecessarily large, full of shelves upon shelves of books. A large window was at the opposite side of the door, and silhouetted against the moonlight, was a large chair. Elexis knew that Beauchoc was there, he had to be, his emotions tingled against her skin. But something didn't feel right. The greed, the arrogance, the gluttony, they were all there, but it kind of seemed blurred, as if something was keeping her from pinpointing where the emotions were coming from. But Elexis was certain that they had come from that big seat, they were the most potent there. All the hate, and thoughts of revenge had boiled into her hands and she threw the daggers. The flew through the air and into the back of the chair. But something was wrong. There was no shift to horror, or the last bright flare as one died. But a bright spike of joy came from behind her, Elexis had somehow been tricked. A mocking voice came from behind her, she recognized the voice from this morning, "Such a stupid girl, come back for more." She turned around in time, only to have a magic missile smash into her midriff and send her flying out the large second story glass window, unconscious before she fell plummeted to the ground.

Something wasn’t right as Valynna entered the room right behind Elexis, moving off to her side. The room was huge, filled with books on bookcases, a chair was silhouetted by a window straight across from them. From that position, why didn’t Beauchoc move? He would have a clear view of the doorway, why didn’t he sound an alarm? It was only after Elexis had thrown her daggers had Valynna figured out it was a trap but it was all too late. Whatever sense that Elexis had used to guide them here, only half worked, as the voice spoke behind them Valynna knew they were in trouble. Without hesitation the magic missile was cast and hit Elexis dead on, causing her to be thrown across the room and through the window.

Turning around herself Valynna saw their target for tonight, he was alone for now but she knew it wouldn’t take long for guards to come investigate the broken window. Valynna was torn by what to do, she could heal Elexis and save her life, but that could mean abandoning their mission and getting caught as well. She wasn’t going to give Elexis another reason to doubt her skills. She had already casted Bulls strength on herself all she really needed was one shot at him. Another Magic Missile came flying at Valynna, but she saw it coming, and leapt out of it’s path as it collided with the bookcase behind her causing an explosion as paper remains filled the room.

Immediately Valynna shouted “Fireball” as a ball of fire grew in her palm she shot it towards Beauchoc, who seemed distracted by the destruction of his books. The fireball hit him directly, causing his right arm to become engulphed by flames. He began to yell and scream as the fire ate away at his clothes and began burning his skin. Some magician, she thought to herself with sarcasm, as she charged Beauchoc with her staff ready to use all her strength to finish him off. But as she swung down hard she felt something collide with hit, something that didn’t feel like meat and flesh. Looking up she saw a guard holding her staff, he was massive, twice the size of her.

Bringing her leg up she kicked him hard in the gut, her Bull’s strength causing most of the damage as he let go of her staff. Her opportunity was up, Beauchoc was still on fire but still alive. Seeing no alternative, Valynna ran towards the broken window and jumped, landing like a cat on the ground. Elexis wasn’t that far away, but torches could be seen moving towards them. Picking her up she carried her partner out of the open and away from the approaching lights, finding some sort of storage room she locked them in before laying Elexis down and casting Dark Regeneration. It took a moment but her spell worked as she saw her partner’s eyes part open.

**ooc; sorry about the late post I was on vacation this weekend and I forgot to tell you :$ **

Elexis saw shards of color fly past her vision as the shards of glass flew past her vision as she flew out the window. She hit the ground hard, stars flying past her view. She looked over to see Valynna set Beauchoc on fire. She would have laughed at the sight of him flailing in panic, but she landed on some of the shards of glass and blood was flowing from some of the minor laceration wounds. Elexis screamed to herself in her head, "Elexis, get up, finish Beauchoc, you can lick you're wounds later with the reward well spent... JUST DO IT." But the pain was paralyzing, she still had her dagger in her hand. Her vision was darkening, the voices of Beauchoc, Valynna, and the guards coming to see what the commotion was, they all sounded like they were coming from far away. Just before she blacked out Elexis saw Valynna flee from a guard and come to pick her up.

Elexis awoke in a small storage closet, her wounds patching themselves up. The tingle of a dark regeneration spell all over her body. She could see that Valynna was breathing heavily. And by the emotions coming from all over the place, Elexis guessed that they were still on the mansion grounds, and worse, that Beauchoc was still alive. Elexis sat up and spoke to Valynna in a very angry tone, "Are you stupid, you let Beauchoc live, I would have been fine. Now even if we escape he'll send for us, either that or we end up in prison... and I'm not going back to prison."

(OOC:That's okay!)
IC:

“I’m sorry but I take my partnership seriously, you really didn’t look so good. If I’d finished the mission I doubt I’d be able to get out of there alive, and most likely wouldn’t be able to grab you, meaning you would end up in jail anyways.” Valynna argued back.

“But I’m not stupid, I was outnumbered and took what I thought was the best choice of not only getting us out but also finishing the assassination. Beauchoc is seriously injured which means he’d be getting some sort of healer soon, but I doubt even the best healer would be able to heal him back to full health in the next few hours.” Valynna let out a small laugh, before being snapped back into seriousness by Elexis.

“Yes everyone is on high alert, but they would think we will be trying to escape, that we have assumed victory and left. The perimeter will be the most heavily guarded right now. I bet you that Beauchoc will be guarded by two or three guards at the most, the healer will be wanting space he could very well be alone in a room right now.” She tried to convey her thoughts, to her it made more sense on getting back into the mansion then trying to flee. Something told her that Beauchoc wouldn’t expect it.

Elexis didn't like Valynna's plan, mainly because it relied on chance and it would be longer until she gets her revenge. But doubt was in the back of her mind as she began to think about what if some guard or servant stumbled upon their hiding spot, then she would be back in prison. Immediately bad memories came back to her. Everyone treated her like garbage in there not only because she was a half demon but because she was a woman. Men pushed her around, put cruel punishment on her. She eventually killed her jailer with a fatal dose of poison before she escaped but she still hated the though to returning to that dreadful place. But right now they didn't have any other option. Elexis let out a long sigh before she spoke simply to Valynna, "alright, I guess we'll do it you're way, I guess more waiting." She hated the thought of letting Beauchoc live for another moment, revenge still hot in her veins, but for now she didn't have any other options if she wanted to plunge her dagger right through Beauchoc's black heart...

Valynna let herself smile in the darkness, although it seemed that Elexis didn’t like her plan, she was willing to give it a try. After all, what did they have left to loose? This had started out as just a job, but now, Valynna felt as if she needed to accomplish this to prove something, she didn’t know for who but the urge was there to succeed no matter what.

“Well, if you feel better, I can’t see why we should wait any longer.” She had begun to search the storage room they were in, finding a lot of nothing, she then stumbled upon some spare uniforms for kitchen servants. Raising her nose slightly, she sniffed in the air, she didn’t have as good a sense of smell like her mother, but she could still smell the faint aromas of the kitchens not far away.

“Here, put these on, we need to blend in as much as possible right now.” Valynna then threw the garbs of clothing over to Elexis as she then moved to the back of the room, finding another door, this one on the other hand, appeared to enter a dark hallway. Valynna then put on her own matching clothes, tying her hair up under the hat, pulling the hat down to cover as much as her face as possible without damaging her vision.

“Before, you seemed to know where everyone was, so who do you sense around us right now? In particular, in this hallway back here.” Valynna’s idea was growing the more she thought about it, she just hoped that Elexis would play along with it.

Elexis grabbed the clothes and immediately realized what Valynna was planning. Her expression of anger and rage at her defeat turned back to her usual wicked smile. Elexis put the clothes on over her armor, lucky her armor wasn't too bulky that it wouldn't give her away unless someone inspected it closely. As she quickly put on the garb she concentrated on her surrounding's, she could feel the anger and fustration of the guards, but something else was in the air, several emotions of fear and panic. They were probably coming from the kitchen workers. "give me a sec, this'll really throw Beauchoc off..." She said as she collapsed to the ground, her blue skin turning into a regular skin tone, albeit one thats unusually pale. Her spines receded into her skin, leaving shallow scars. Elexis put all her will into not screaming from the pain, she hated transforming, but she didn't want to take another magic missile to the chest again, and this was their best bet. After the change was finished, she stood up again and straightened her clothing. She spoke softly to Valynna as she walked out of the closet. "I guess my secrets out, I cannot find specific people but I can sence emotions from others around me, tell anyone about it and I will make it my goal to slice out you're tounge." Elexis hated the idea of others knowing that she could sense what they were feeling. It was one of the advantages that potential targets were never aware of. Elexis let out a small sigh before speaking to Valynna, "I'm still a little dizzy from the magic missile and from changing forms, you lead the way."

Valynna watched patiently as Elexis changed forms back into her human looking one, it looked just as painful as it did before on the roof, but at least Elexis had caught on what she was planning, and seemed to approve, finally.

“Other’s emotions, huh?” She questioned only half interesting, at least she knew how her partner could find others, well sort of. “Sounds sort of annoying really.” Again a side comment Valynna said out loud, not paying much attention to the threat that had followed it. Opening the door slightly, she took one quick look before opening it all the way and passing through it into the hallway. Taking the lead she began to follow the hallway that seemed to descend slightly downhill until a light could be seen at the end. Not pausing for anything, Valynna continued towards the light and the smell of food.

Getting closer she could hear all the commotion, some of the young girls were crying in the corner, others were talking wildly about the attempted assassination on their master. During their conversations, cooks and servants continued to clean up and prepare a tray that held a bowl of hot water and elixirs that sounded like it was to be taken to Beauchoc’s chambers. Perfect! Valynna thought as she hovered on the darken side of the doorway to the kitchens. There seemed to be enough commotion around that two extra bodies wouldn’t be noticed.

On servant began yelling at the young girls in the corner to take the tray up, but they were frightened, and protested causing the servant to become even stricter, that she approached the girls to give them some sort of punishment leaving the tray where it was on the table. There was only once chance at this, and Valynna wasn’t going to pass it up. She immediately walked into the room and headed to the tray with the attitude of purpose, and obedience.

“I’ll take it.” She said simply as she lifted the tray off the table and headed towards the servant’s staircase. The servant who had been castling the young girls stopped and raised her hands in dismissal.

“Fine, as long as it gets to the master, go.” She said to Valynna, not even looking at her. This was too easy, she thought to herself as she approached the staircase and proceeded to walk up them. She didn’t look back for Elexis, she couldn’t or she could risk it yet, she continued to walk until she got further up the staircase that she could look back with confidence.

*ooc sorry about the late post again I came down with a bad case of the flu and couldn't get time to post :$ *

Elexis followed Valynna, there wasn't enough people around to overwhelm her, as she walked down the hall she saw Valynna enter the kitchen, there was a lot of fear coming from the room, but even with out her abilities that was obvious, other servants were on the ground, crying or looking around like they were afraid. It was almost pure chaos in there, and hopefully Elexis'es black eyes wouldn't be noticed. She watched as Valynna offered to take a tray up to Beauchoc, she took it and headed up to where he was. "thats too easy," She thought to herself as she watched Valynna leave the room. The one servant that was terrorizing the others saw Elexis and looked over to her, emotions of anger and fustration bleeding off of her. "You, at least you're not like these worthless scum, take this to the guard barracks, and be quick about it." Elexis looked over to another tray loaded full of tankards of ale. "things never go as planned..." She thought to herself as she grabbed the tray and went through the door that the woman was pointing at. As Elexis walked through the door she noticed that this was the hallway that they were in before she tried to kill Beauchoc the first time. She left the tray on another table and took the route that she had took before, the guards body still there from before. She came up to the door that lead into the study, just as she had done the first time. She peered into the keyhole, she couldn't rely on Beauchoc's emotions because something was masking them. As she looked into the keyhole she saw Beauchoc ordering his guards around, his fancy robes badly burnt. "I'll just wait till Valynna takes the first shot, she can probably distract Beauchoc well enough." She thought to herself, waiting until Valynna made the same mistake as her.

Something hadn’t gone right….Elexis wasn’t behind her. She had no way of tracking her like she did with emotions. Valynna would have to trust her partner to find another way to Beauchoc and that they would both get there in time, the last thing she wanted was to repeat their previous mistake. Suddenly she heard footsteps above her on the stairs coming down towards her. Lowering her head she began her climb, eventually running into a guard on his way down.

“Where have you been girl!” He shouted at her. “The Lord needs these elixirs now! Stop twiddling your thumbs and hurry kitchen brat!” With that he grabbed her shoulder and ushered her up the staircase until they reached a door and he pushed her into the room. From the corner of her sight beneath the hat, she could tell this was the same room where they had first encountered Beauchoc, she had thought that he would be in his bedroom or something. “Here are the medicines my Lord, this girl was taking her sweet old time on the stairs.”

“Hurry, it’s burns!” Beauchoc said, not paying any attention to Valynna. Behaving like any other servant girl, she kept her head low, her eyes on the ground as she moved to set the tray down. She then proceeded to count the guards…the one who caught her on the stairs, and about 3 others in the room besides Beauchoc. “Where’s my Healer!” Beauchoc shouted, and on cue, Valynna jumped like a girl would. “You girl, bring me some of that ointment!”

Valynna paused, unsure of what to do next. None of the 4 guards in the room was looking at her, just Beauchoc…she hoped that Elexis was close. As her eyes scanned the room, they were caught by Beauchoc, and his face slowly grew in remembrance. Before he could shout at his guards. Valynna caste Claws of Darkness, causing dark energy to form around her nails, making her humble demon claws, larger and more powerful. She immediately went for the closest guard who had grabbed her and pushed her into the room, before he could unsheathe his sword, she had dug her Claws of Darkness into his right arm and lower stomach, then moved her the hand that was in his stomach up to his chest before releasing him as blood sprayed out of his blood and he fell to the ground astonishment in his eyes, death slowly began to merge down on him as she made quick note that her identity was now out.

“It’s her the Sorceress! Kill her!” Beauchoc said, with what Valynna thought was fear in his voice as he backed up to the door, pushing his guards in front of him, their swords out. Her lips curled in a smile, the blood from the guard she had just killed dripped off her fingers, the smell of blood began to sharpen all of her senses, allowing her to connect with her demon traits with ease. Her red eyes began to glow as she prepared for her next move against the guards approaching her.